Thirty-One Days of Photos: Day 10

This is a new level of lateness for posting, and I'm sorry. We went to Chicago yesterday and it was after midnight by the time I got home. By that time, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed. It was a fun, yet exhausting day.


The Bean. Or the "Cloud Gate" as it's supposed to be called. No one calls it that, it's always the Bean. We had to take Mason here (since it was his first trip to Chicago), it's one of the biggest tourist attractions of the city.

We rode the Metra into the city, walked down Michigan Avenue, went to the top of the Sears Tower (Now Willis Tower, but who honestly calls it that?), and ate delicious Chicago-style deep dish pizza at Giordano's.

Going to Chicago reminded me how beautiful it is, especially looking down over the sparkling lights at night from 103 floors up in the Sears Tower. How can you not fall in love with this city, even a little bit?

Thirty-One Days of Photos: Day 9

Once again, sorry for posting a photo late... Friday nights get away from me and then before I know it, it's Saturday morning. This photo was, however, taken on Friday.


Tonight my brother had his school Christmas program. Along with singing, he also played in the band (he's the one hiding to the far right). He's really good at playing percussion and usually gets to add in the fun details of the piece.

Today felt insanely long, like the day was stretched over more hours than normal. But it was also a good day. We decorated the newsroom for Christmas in hopes that we'll win the annual department decorating contest at work. Then I got to film one of the reporter's interviews with Texas Gov. Rick Perry's wife, Anita. I got to talk with her on a personal level, which I loved. She complemented my outfit, we laughed about shoes and of course talked about politics a little.

I had lunch with my mom at Yen Ching. Friday lunches have become a tradition since before I moved to Denver. After I moved home, we sort of picked back up where we left off. It's nice to have girl time, even if it's only for an hour once a week.

After my brother's concert, I ran into my writing friend, Claudette. We determined that our lives are too insanely busy (without us even trying to make them that way), projects must be selected based on simplicity, and that it is perfectly acceptable to wear pirate costume boots to church.

I have also decided that some relationships are impossible to describe. Like why "liggity" meaning "left" is hysterically funny, an irrational fear of mustard tempts me to obnoxiously play with it, and indecision is the capstone of time spent together. Essentially, why try to put some things in a box when they are far too impossible to contain.

Tomorrow, I and my friends shall venture to Chicago. I haven't been there since April (to see my beloved Rockies play the Cubs, as a matter of fact), so I'm looking forward to it. I'm slightly dreading the process of getting there since transportation is iffy at best, but like the old adage says, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

I'm sure I'll have at least one great photo to share tomorrow.

Thirty-One Days of Photos: Day 8

Today was Chris' birthday, so I made him pose with his Taco Bell Big Box Meal for my photo of the day.


We (Mason, Chris and myself) have made a habit of carpooling to Thursday night Bible study together. Then we usually find someplace to eat afterward. Since it was Chris' day, we made him pick.

Tonight we talked about how life works out, how you happen to meet people because all the right details fell into place at the right time. If I hadn't moved back to Iowa, I would've gone on living my life in Colorado, never knowing that the guys I call my "little family" existed. But that's the thing with life, it's not random chance or fate, it's God working out those details, making things exactly how he wants them.

We're all glad we met this fall. We've shared some good times and I think we felt a little introspective since their time in Clinton is drawing to a close. Pretty soon our nights spent laughing about silly jokes, goofy movies and (as I like to remind him) Chris' weirdness, will be just a memory. Life will keep going, filled with more of those little details that come together at the right place and the right time.

That's why I love photography. And writing. They're small ways to preserve nights like these, nights you don't want to end and you definitely don't want to forget. Nights that are so simple, yet so good. December 8, 2011, was one of those nights.

Thirty-One Days of Photos: Day 7

Today I took some Christmas card photos for my co-worker Angie Bicker and her dog Cordy.


This obviously isn't the cover shot, but if you know me, you know I have a love affair with candid moments and natural lighting. We were trying to get Cordy to sit up and look at the camera (which she eventually did after I threw out key words like "bone" and "lettuce"). I love the expression in her eyes on this one, like she's saying, "Mom, who is that strange girl and what is she holding?"

Angie is one of the editors I work with. She does a lot of page layout and editing of stories for the paper. She also writes a weekly column that appears Wednesdays in the print edition and online. I really enjoyed her column from this week, and I got to read it before it hit the press. Angie has quite a following, and people seem to especially enjoy reading about her adventures as a chicken farmer.

I got a little taste of said chicken farming today when I took Angie's photos. I got to see her state-of-the-art chicken house and some of her "girls" as she likes to call them. They were pretty interested in checking me out too, or at least seeing if I would let them fly the coup. We regularly buy eggs from Angie, so it was fun to see where they come from. I'll be honest, I don't think I'd have the patience or dedication to raise chickens like she does.

In the newsroom, we like to tease Angie about all the chicken dishes she could make and share with us once the hens have seen their last egg. (What can I say, we're food-driven. We have "doughnut parties" after we get a certain number of likes on our Facebook page.)

Other than the photo shoot, it was a fairly average day. I hope you all are having a good week, and thanks as always for checking out my photos and reading my posts!