Summer Travels

The photo upload process is going very slowly and I have heard that a few people just can’t wait any longer for their chance to view some original shots taken by Tim and Nicole. I will continue to upload as I get a chance, but for now, you can view Switzerland and Milan. Florence, Cinque Terre and maybe one shot of France will be coming.

July

Tim and I were able to travel to Europe this summer for about 3 1/2 weeks to visit my Africa bound brother (and family) and to take advantage of a vacation. Our first stop was Switzerland. We stayed in a small mountain village for a week and were able to get in some quality family time as well as some quality mountain time. I have to admit. I am a mountain girl. Many people like the beaches or trees (both of which I love) but I am stunned each time I see mountains. At one point during our trip, Tim said he thought the Alps were better than the Rockies…and I have to agree. Sorry Rockies…you are great, but my breath was taken away.

We were able to do some sitting, hiking, eating, as well as spending quality time with our family. This was vacationing how it was meant to be. It was enjoyable to start the vacation with relaxing. Stay tuned for the whirlwind part that was Milan and Florence…followed by relaxing on the cliffsides of Italy, followed by visiting great friends in France. July was a great month.

You must watch this right now.

School is Almost Out

We haven’t finished up our school year yet. Tomorrow is my last full day of school with the kiddos. Next week we have an entire week of half days, culminating Friday with numerous grade level picnics and a fourth/fifth grade field day. I’ll make sure we are watching our clocks for the final days. I refuse to come back this summer to make up days due to a too early release. 12:10 it is.

What should I do with my $20.00?

Donate it to an extremely worthy cause. Kevin is turning 30 soon and wants to save people’s lives by giving clean water to as many people as possible. $20.00 gives 20 people clean, fresh water for 20 years. Amazing. He has already raised enough that he will be shaving his head, but help him reach his new goal of $5000 by his birthday. Let’s make him really happy for his birthday. Check his site out - easy to donate, hard to refuse.

Water=life.

NERDS

I can’t find a small box of nerds to purchase. I tried to get a package to include in my letter to NBC, but since the packages only came in supersize, I didn’t do it. Then I started thinking about how sad it was that you can’t purchase a small candy for $.25 cents. Why does the USA have to supersize and over-portion every form of food?!

Free Movies

You might have heard I currently have a bit of extra time on my hands. So today, Tim and I went to a pretty bad movie (by bad I mean good. Lots of explosions and car chasing with a funny unplausible plot…always good for excitement and a laugh) and were the only ones in the theater.

I think in that case - you being the only ones in the theater - the movie should be free. The movie theater is not making any money on the movie and they were going to show it anyway, so why shouldn’t we get to see if for free?! We don’t get movie treats, so there is no mess…so what’s the harm? Give us our movie for free. Someone needs to listen to my soapbox and make this happen.

Grade A Grapefruit

Whenever I eat grapefruit (which is as often as I can when it is in season) I faithfully dig out as much fruit from the wedges as possible then squeeze every last drop from the peel bowl. Then I give myself a grade on how well I did.

What? You too?!

When we were little and had grapefruit in the morning, we would then shove the peel bowl in my dad’s face and he would give us a grade based on how well we cleaned out the shell. It seemed that no matter how hard I tried, I could never get an A. My dad could take my shell and get more fruit out of it. Well, I’m glad to say I think I have become a grapefruit master. Thanks dad for instilling such a determination within me.

Montana Outback

Whenever I drive my Subaru, I feel like I am in Montana. I purchased the car in Montana while I was a student at college in Minnesota. I spent most of my breaks driving home through North Dakota into the great state of Montana. I lived in Montana for 18 months while driving the Subaru through the beautiful mountains and snow of Gallatin Valley. I then drove the Subaru through North Dakota once again to reside in Minnesota for a year before we landed in Connecticut. And yet…the Subaru still reminds me of home.

Yes, mom, I am calling Montana my home.

I’m a photojournalist

Schmap contacted me a while ago saying they would like to enter one of my Boston photos (that we had on flickr) in their contest to possibly be included in the newest edition of their Boston map. I won!

Please feel free to contact me with requests to photo your wedding, baby, or life event. We can discuss my fee at that time.