Tag: Happy

  • this man is my hero

    Jared and I got in a fight today. And the content or reason is not important, nor is how it resolved other than to say that it is over now.

    In the process, though, I found out something that reminded me of why Jared is my hero:

    Before my October meeting with the man-who-shall-not-be-named, Jared sent said person a message demanding respect for me during said meeting.

    Jared never told me a word about it, until the heat of the moment today, when I accused him of never standing up for me against said individual.

    And that specific knowledge goes a long way toward both healing last December, and also making me feel very, very, very safe with my husband. It also rather dramatically explains that while verbal harassment occurred in October, physical boundaries were observed.

    I’ve long known that Jared will go to bat, at great length, for me.

    But knowing that he warned this particular individual as to protecting my safety, regardless of what actually happened, I am certain went a long way toward ensuring at least physical boundaries were observed.

    I love my husband. Emotional and physical safety and protection are just two more reasons why. Indeed, they are the whole reason I chose Jared 22 years ago, when presented between the choice of the two of them.

  • thankful

    Arapaho National Forest

    I am aware that most of the time in writing at least, I am the bringer of doom-and-gloom.

    Today, though, I am grateful.

    I have a gratitude practice that I do most days in my journal app. I just don’t publish it because most of the time it has things that I wouldn’t necessarily want the world to know.

    Here’s today’s gratitude list:

    1. I am grateful for Jared.
    2. I am grateful for my marriage to Jared.
    3. I am grateful for Porter.
    4. I am grateful for Liam.
    5. I am grateful for Oliver.
    6. I am grateful for Abby.
    7. I am grateful for Trixie.
    8. I am grateful for Mow.
    9. I am grateful for Nancy.
    10. I am grateful for Bess.
    11. I am grateful for my side of the family.
    12. I am grateful for Jared’s side of the family.
    13. I am grateful Jared has a good job.
    14. I am grateful our kids are getting stellar education.
    15. I am grateful Porter has a safe place to live in Athens.
    16. I am grateful Liam got into UGA.
    17. I am grateful Oliver had such a good time doing the play, “Oliver” at school.
    18. I am grateful that all three of our children are healthy.
    19. I am grateful that we have a home.
    20. I am grateful that we have a nice home.
    21. I am grateful that we have reliable transportation.
    22. I am grateful that Jared and the boys helped me clean up our house yesterday.
    23. I am grateful we are all physically able to clean and do household chores.
    24. I am grateful we have enough to eat.
    25. I am grateful for good friends.
    26. I am grateful for our church family.
    27. I am grateful to be a photographer.
    28. I am grateful to like to write.
    29. I am grateful to be learning to leave the past in the past.
    30. I am grateful we can pay our bills.
    31. I am grateful that I am learning to like living in Carrollton more.
    32. I am grateful Porter and Liam have their driver’s licenses.
    33. I am grateful Porter and Liam are good drivers.
    34. I am grateful to be having Costco deli Mac and cheese for lunch today.
    35. I am grateful to be alive.
    36. I am grateful to be 46 years old.
    37. I am grateful to have learned a lot about caring for my mental health over my adult lifetime.
    38. I am grateful for healing.
    39. I am grateful for time alone to think.
    40. I am grateful to have been married to Jared for 20 years.
    41. I am grateful for good choices.
    42. I am grateful for a good night’s sleep.
    43. I am grateful that my whole family has enough clothes to wear.
    44. I am grateful for my education.
    45. I am grateful for appreciating history: my own, my family’s, and the broader world.
    46. I am grateful I was a religious studies major.
    47. I am grateful it’s not too late.
    48. I am grateful for my life.
    49. I am grateful for love.
    50. I am grateful that today is a good day.

    And with that, I am going to focus on today, today.

    I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving.

  • changes

    I’ve been quiet since Friday. 

    I’ve been introspective. And depressed. And busy.  

    We went to pick Porter up yesterday in Athens. Today, Jared and I cleaned house all day long to prepare for tonight. Our house is not embarrassing finally, if we have guests.  

    Tonight, we decorated for Christmas. My Rich’s Richie Bear and Priscilla Pig stuffed animals came out for the decorations for the first time in our married lives since Porter was an infant and too tiny to hurt them.  

    We got Nannie’s ceramic tree decorated. I pulled out my Rudolph collection of stuffed animals and Jared’s sweet Mama’s Christmas woodcarvings and stockings.  

    We ate dinner, the five of us having Jared’s famous grilled cheese sandwiches, and then we had an outing for milkshakes at Chick-fil-a because it is peppermint milkshake season.. Except for Oliver, who doesn’t like sweets, so he had an eight count nugget because two grilled cheese sandwiches were not enough for an 11-year-old boy.  

    And somewhere over the past week, I remembered that I missed taking pictures for other people and I’d like to be able to do it again. I really enjoyed the maternity session with the Cinelux lenses. 

    And so, things are in the works. A new page is on this site. There is a new domain name also pointing to that page and a new instagram site that has been held for about a year or more, waiting for something to do.  

    And yes, a new LLC has been filed for, waiting for approval. Business expenses will be kept to an absolute minimum, no new equipment is required.

    The idea is a completely artistic-driven portrait experience. One that I don’t pay to support, fees that support a living wage. Portraits will be made exclusively with my existing Cinelux and Minolta lenses, with my GFX50sII.

    I may never get a client and that’s okay, but I’m going to create the kind of art that feeds me. I have a clear artistic voice waiting to scream out in my head and it’s high time that I fed that vision.

    It’s time.

  • we have another dawg!

    Well, I don’t actually know that we have another Dawg. It’s not his top choice. But, Liam did get into the University of Georgia! Yay! So he does at least have one place to go next Fall.

    I am so very, very, very proud of this young man. He has worked so, so hard these last two years in particular, doing the International Baccalaureate program at Carrollton High School. And he’s done it while doing marching band, and learning to play the bass trombone, and I can’t keep up with the number of clubs he is in (and an active part of).

    Liam is a great friend to his friends, and he is just so very smart. His work ethic is the best of any individual I have ever known in my life. I worry about him quite a bit though, as he works himself too hard.

    This kiddo of mine has had a job every summer since he was 14 years old. He has more common sense (and financial sense) than anybody else in our household.

    He declared his prospective major as accounting at UGA but as we understand it he would have to apply to the Terry College of Business in his second year should he go.

    It has been a good day. I got some household organization situated during the day.

    And the Carrollton Trojans won! Next week is against Grayson at home.

    I don’t normally go down where the band parents are waiting for the band to come into the stands….lots of them stand on the track by the football field. But tonight before the game as the band was walking onto the field for pregame I went down and snapped this, of Liam:

    It’s not a great pic. I was in a hurry and frankly flustered to be on the sidelines and well. Whatever. I used Topaz to focus their faces.

    This was the shot of the night, though:

    It was nice to get out of the press box hallway for a little while. I snapped this shot of the band in the Amp before I went down to the sidelines to wait. The press box hallway is my hangout while Oliver does the instant replays and Jared helps with the broadcast kids on Friday nights.

    I snapped the pictures, but the whole point of going down was to meet Liam and give him a giant Mama hug. He’d texted in a big group text to let us know he’d gotten into UGA but he’d stayed at school between school and the game tonight. So I’d said congratulations, but I didn’t want to wait until he got home from the game for the hug.

    The hug was 100% worth it.

    It was a good day.