50 X 30

I feel like all my recent post have been on turning … 30 .  This is one of the things I meant to write about in September, but if you read the “dark truth about thirty” you’ll remember that I was a bit under the weather that month and also went back to work, so needless to say I’m finally getting around to writing this.

Bryce Canyon, Utah

So 50 by 30 is in reference to a bucket list item Joey and I crossed off our list this summer.  Seven years ago I was privileged to marry an amazing man who had many of the same passions as I yet also balances my weakness and shortcomings

 Hounaunau Bay, Hawaii

Growing up, I had always dreamed of taking road trips and I’m not talking about an 8 hour drive to grandmas.  I dreamt of driving across the country not knowing when or where you were going to stop/sleep and being in a new place each day.  

Glacier National Park, Montaina
 (not my photo, some how we lost all our Glacier photos)

Well the summer before Joey and I met, he had done a road trip covering the states west of the Mississippi River.  Needless to say, it wasn’t right when we got married but shortly thereafter we started taking road trips… longest 9000 miles in 3 weeks shortest 300 miles in 5 days.

Calf Creek, Escalante, Utah

It took us three years to visit the 48 contiguous states and I was ok with ending there, but in 2010 Joey’s mom took us to Alaska for our birthdays and although it wasn’t a road trip we did take a cruise which meant we were in a different place each day.

Honolulu, Hawaii
(Hanauma Bay, Diamond Head Crater,  Pearl Harbor, Luau)

So, we couldn’t stop now we had one more state till we hit all 50!  So this summer we went to Hawaii, visiting Oahu and doing our shortest road trip around The Big Island. 

Savannah, GA

 The 50 is referring to visiting the 50 states and 30 is in reference to the fact that we did it before either of us turned 30!

Arches National Park, Ut.
(notice the little arch beneath) 

My top 10 places in the United States are represented by the Photos! Although this list is not quite fair, by far my favorite states are Utah and Hawaii, they both offer so much beauty but there are some really amazing places, both city and scenic, in the United States.

Volcano National Park, HI

Needless to say I feel very blessed to live in such a beautiful and fun country.

Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, AK
(the glacier is 7 miles wide and it is 300 ft above water, equivalent of 30 stories)

Also, like any girl my favorite city is New York, it just doesn’t seem to count as a “road trip” since we usually just go there.  Oh and trying to find photos of the top 10 I realized I love Sana Monica, CA.  Also some romantic New England areas are the Thousand Islands, NY,  Bar Harbor, ME, and New Port, RI. 

Seattle, WA

PS. I wouldn't recommend doing 9000 miles in 3 weeks; all you do is Drive J

Sprout 8: Photo Project

Lydia’s senior pictures:

This summer my sister asked if I would take her senior pictures for her.  This was not because I am an excellent photographer but for two reasons.

1.      She thought most of her friends photo’s looked the same and were taken in the same three locations

2.     She is awesome and even at 17 she is frugal, why spend money when you don’t have to!

So two weeks ago she came to visit with a friend and we had some fun around town.  There were tons of amazing photos; of course my sister is beautiful, although not all were “senior picture” in nature. These are a few of my favorite.

I also took some photo’s of Lydia’s friend any my other sister, maybe I’ll post some of them later.

Chickahominy Harvest Festival

A few weeks ago Joey and I attended the Chickahominy Harvest powwow.   This was a work trip and I had to write what I learned in order to get points for re-certification.  Most of what I learned was in the car ride on the way to the event. Since I was going to write this and had some awesome photos I figured I would share it.

While spending the day with a member of the Chickahomoiny Tribe I had the opportunity to clear up many misconceptions about the American Indians (what they prefer to be called).

 First, there are East Coast and West Coast Indians, and much of the media portrayal of Indians is based on the West Coast traditions.   The differences cover a vast array of things, from the mundane to core traditions and beliefs.   On the surface level the dress and housing are different; the east coast tribes lived in cabins and lean-tos not teepees. 

But more complex is the difference in belief. The Chickahomoiny are monotheistic.  They believe in creator God, who sent His warrior Son, as a sacrifice for them.  This influence came from the Baptist missionaries that settled in the area in the 1600’s.   The Chickahomoiny hold to Rev. 7:9-10, “After this I looked, and behold a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”  This is a far cry from the spirit worshipers I had imagined, or the talking trees Disney taught me about. 

Our guide was an American Indian from the Chickahominy tribe and there was also a member from a New England tribe that traveled with our group. One of the things that frustrated our guide was the historical inaccuracies in the First Thanksgiving

There are three widely believed myths: first, it was not the “first”.  There had been a harvest gathering each year in Burkley, VA starting with settlers before the pilgrims.   Second, is how the actual events of “thanksgiving” occurred.  The Pilgrims were starving, so in order to feed themselves they had been killing and raiding Indian homesteads.  While on one raid they desecrated a grave and the Chief gathered the warriors to kill the pilgrims.  When the Chief arrived in the village he saw that the people were starving and instead told his men to go and kill deer and pheasant and make a meal for the people who were on the verge of death.

Third, the Indians portrayed in most Thanksgiving images are far from an accurate representation of the East Coast Indians.  They did not wear headdresses like the ones in most images, the headdresses that are usually shown are western and were only used in times of war.  Also the northern east coast Indians would have had a blanket/wrap/poncho type of attire in the cold winter months; they would not have been bare-chested.

This information was given in our car ride to the powwow; at the powwow we saw some of these traditions in action.   The Chief started the day out with a prayer that was clearly Christian then we were able to see native dress or regalia of the local tribesmen which was different depending on what type of dance you did.  Also, since this is a Harvest Powwow, we were told that the Tribe does not worship the earth or the harvest but the intent is to show gratitude for the blessings.  

The Powwow started with the booming of a drum circle and the haunting singing/chanting of the men involved.  Then the dance circle started with Warriors (veterans) first and then the various forms of dance.  Once they had filled in the circle they asked that the Warriors move to the center and all other veterans in the crowd come and join them for an honorary dance.  The rest of the Powwow was a competition for the six different styles of dance. The powwow ended with honoring those from the tribe who have passed on.

heartbreak on the shenandoah

All good things must come to an end; this old adage didn’t mean much to me until tragedy struck.  Two weeks ago the zoom on my dear camera, a Panasonic Lumix, stopped working properly. This was hard to deal with, but things took a turn for the worst this past Saturday.  I took it tubing, which I have done many times before, but this time it got water logged. I placed it in a dry sack just I have done every time before, but it seems I did not close the sack properly or the sack now has a leak because about half way through the 4 hour float I pulled out the camera to find that it wouldn't turn on and the LCD display was full of water.  My heart sunk and I gingerly held it in my hand for the remainder of the float, hoping to revive it.   Upon arrival at home I placed it in a bag of rice hoping again to dry it out, but alas when I just took a look at it, there is still water in the LCD screen.

My Lumix was a dear friend; one might even say we had a 5 year love affair. During our years together we had many joyful adventures and captured many memories. This friend traveled/road tripped to 49 states with me, and sadly won’t be making it to number 50 this year.  I loved My Lumix and am sad to see it go.   The Lumix is survived by his loving parents Joey and Elisabeth and will be missed by all. Here is a photo montage of some of our favorite memories together, it was very hard to limit it to just these.

Left, above and below- Savannah, GA

Santa Monica Sunset

Las Vegas

The Grand Caynon

Boston, Mass.

Inside Passage, Alaska

Bryce Canyon, Ut

"Jump" Arches National park,
winner of PC World Photo Contest

Shenandoah Nat. Park

July 2011- Lightning Storm

Burlington, Vt

above and below, sunset at Badlands Nat. Park, SD

Swimming with Stingrays, Cayman Islands

Trying to get a Family Photo
before my brother was Deployed to Iraq

Being tucked in by Dad who's in Iraq

Cherry Blossoms DC

Washington Monument

Winter 2009-2010

Playing the the snow!

After looking to find my favorite Photo's, I realized perhaps this is the real reason I love my Lumix so much! The ability to capture the memories with the people I love.