Kratky Girls Photo Shoot

This was so fun. I really love doing this. Melanie, thanks for asking me to take photos of your sweet girls. And I'm sending a cd to you with many more :)

Back Home

Martin and I went to Texas for Christmas/New Years. It felt really good to get out of Dodge for awhile. It was nice to re-connect with our Texas family too. We took photos on a few occasions and I'm sure I'll be adding some of them here. Martin's sister Melanie asked if I would take photos of her girls, I was so honored! I love taking photos of children, it's probably my favorite thing to do and I need practice still so of course I said absolutely. Her girls are so sweet and fun. Martin and I were talking all the way home about all the cute things they did and said.

Hi mom

I'm in love with this guy! (photo by martin)

Oh and if you want to see a really cool tattoo (with an even cooler meaning), click on my friend Katie's blog titled "The Kolbs"

Friends and their Families

Fall in Northern Michigan is hard to beat. And What I'm loving the most is that states below us are getting snowed on like crazy and all I've seen up here is a couple little sleet-like rain drops that were gone in about 5 min. LOVE THAT. I really love that.

So, with most of our friends having children now, it's been a great time to get outside and enjoy the crisp weather, leaves, sideways sunlight, and take photos. I've got at least two more families to try and squeeze in before the bitter cold arrives...that might not work but I'm hopeful.

I've been cooking so much more now that I'm not working. I didn't plan on it but have remembered that I really enjoy cooking. So far, Martin isn't complaining about the hot meals, apple crisp, and banana bread that have been showing up. It used to be a stressful time of the evening when we both got home from work and were trying to get each other to figure out what we were doing for dinner. I really think that home-cooked meals do something to a house that makes it instantly cozy and comfortable. And what I think I love the most is that when friends drop by (and they do almost nightly, which is another thing I love about living in town), I have some sort of home cooked something to offer them. It instantly puts them in a relaxed, calm mood. There's a lot of stressful things going on in all our lives that it makes me really happy to see people sit, relax, talk, and eat something tasty.

Happy Fall everyone.

Going a different Direction

I'm finally done working at Eye Health of Charlevoix. While, I was very thankful to have a job, especially in Michigan. And especially while we have been trying to aggressively pay student loans off, I'm more thankful that we are at a place where I can move on to things that will give me more freedom and self fulfillment.

I'm currently working on a course to train me in Medical Transcription. This is the freedom part of the previous statement. When I finish the course (hopefully in late January), I'll have a job that will let me work from home. (did you notice the South Africa tab on the site? Yeah, I did too.)

I'm also in Petoskey now which is great. All our friends and dealings are here in town and I hardly know the people here. I could tell you every family in Charlevoix but that's not where my life is. I can go to the functions here that I used to miss because I was out of town. I can now meet friends for lunch, I've been taking photos of our friends and their little children which is nothing but pure fun.

So yeah. I'm perfectly content with not working there anymore. It feels good when you know without a doubt that you made the right decision.

That hardly happens with me.

Took some photos of my sister's family when they came up for a visit. I think they wanted to kill me after making them climb up the sand dune, but they'll get over it. Love those sand dunes at Petoskey State Park.

Goodbye Neon

My 1st car, the little blue Neon, came to a violent and quick end. On my way to work, I turned left crossing what I thought to be two very open lanes of traffic. Apparently, there was a van in the outside lane (hidden by a large truck in the other lane, trying to turn left at the same time) that ran right into the passenger side of my car, spinning me completely the other direction. It's the most violent wreck I've been in.

Some guy who saw the whole thing was talking to me through my widow asking if I was alright and telling me that he was calling 911. At this point, I'm still processing where I was and if I'm alive. Once I determined that I was alive and wasn't bleeding out of my ears or anything, I decide to get out of the car. This involves me crawling over the driver seat to exit out the bent up passenger door. (I would've been stepping out onto oncoming traffic if I would've opened my door.)

As soon as I get out, I meet the driver of the van. He's from some other state, up here visiting. He immediately tells me that he was just trying to get to the "harbor" (no one up here calls the lake shore the harbor) to enjoy a day on the boat. "Well, gosh. I'm so sorry to have held you up, "I think. The very next thing he tells me is that he was in that lane the whole time and was "almost completely stopped" before hitting me. Seriously?? I'm just getting my head cleared after him totaling my car and I have to listen to him talk to me like this? Not to mention that I'm pretty sure if he were "almost stopped" he wouldn't have spun me around the other direction and practically tore my tire right off the axle.

I don't know what to say to him. I know what I want to say to him. But I somehow manage to use higher reasoning, and after glancing over to his perfectly drivable van, just walk away.

Not a good Monday. After a few days and many pain-killers and muscle relaxers, I'm starting to get back into the normal life. I'm still pretty down about not having a car.

A Thought

Read this today and it's stuck in my head:

"There's a difference between something that makes you happy and something that doesn't make you unhappy"

That could be a good conversation.