Crafton Travel Blog

Live it, feel it, cling to it

2012-01-10T16:28:00.000-08:00

I had a lovely chat with one of my grooms today and got all excited over the trip that Angela and I are taking to shoot their (sure to be fabulous) wedding. Afterward I spent a good bit of the afternoon looking over, and organizing, all of my upcoming trip schedules for 2012. Oh I love my life. I feel alive and present in so many of my waking hours and equally so with my work AND family. I saw this quote today and wanted to record it:

"Remember, remember, this is now, and now, and now.
Live it, feel it, cling to it."
-Sylvia Plath

Nashville foodie in Atlanta

2011-12-23T14:47:00.000-08:00

I have no idea how I ended up marrying a foodie. The Good Reverend was dying to go to culinary school when I met him and I think I ate maybe 6 or so foods (you think I'm kidding) at the time...add to that he was a vegetarian and I was basically a meat-&-potatoes-atarian. Over the years he's worn me down to trying his (amazing) cooking and venturing outside of my comfort palette. I have to admit, I would love to head to culinary school now too and he's gotten me hooked on shows like Top Chef. TGR and I religiously watched Kevin Gillespie rock his season of Top Chef and for this year's anniversary/Christmas present we decided to head down to his restaurant, Woodfire Grill, in Atlanta, Georgia.
I can't even begin to tell you how amazing that it was. My endorsement really holds no weight (you know, since I could live off of mac n cheese) but I've never seen my foodie husband so blissful at a meal. Truly. I didn't take a lot of pictures at the restaurant but we snuck one iphone picture and here's the fantastic menu, for your drooling pleasure.

First course:
Sauteed Nantucket bay scallops. Fork crushed chickpeas. Mushrooms & winter greens ala plancha. Brown butter emulsion.

Second course:
Crispy North Carolina trout. Red potato "skordalia." Oil poached cherry tomato. Oregano. Raita. Pickled cucumber & onion.

Taste:
White truffle potato soup. foie gras emulsion.

Third course:
Wood grilled quail. Celery root and white chocolate puree. Roasted sunchoke & citrus salad. Marcona almonds.

Fourth course:
Wood smoked berkshire pork loin & belly. Roasted garlic crushed black eyed peas. Charred broccoli chow-chow. Caramelized meyer lemon. Parmesan emulsion.

Dessert: 'Twix'
Valrhona jivara milk chocolate gel. Buttermilk ice cream. Salted caramel. Shortbread crumble. Walnut tuile.

While we were in the Atlanta area, we stopped off to see our friends Ashley & Tony and shoot their new little bundle, Max. Ashley suggested that if we had extra time that we might want to visit Kennesaw Mountain - National Battlefield Park. Perfectly peaceful.

Two nights of blissful sleep & a caffeine shot in the morning and we were ready to head back to see our babes!

I'm off on a holiday break but will be back to blogging in March with our Key West trip!

Zombie Apocalypse

2011-10-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

This isn't exactly travel so much, as an adventure in our home base of Nashvegas. Through a round about way, I found out about a race happening in downtown on the one weekend I actually had free in the fall. Having just started the C25K program, I thought "I've got this...I can run a 5k". Did I forget to mention that this race included zombies? Seriously. Zombies. The Zombie Buffet 5K was basically that....zombies "feeding" on runners. There's zombies, runners try to avoid zombies while keeping their flags intact, runners get "eaten" and turn into zombies themselves and then turn on their former fellow runners.

I did relatively well, having never run a 5K race before. Rando and I made it about half way before getting devoured by the undead. My saving grace was the fact that I'm pretty squirrely and could dodge and weave pretty well. I didn't feel so bad after seeing that NO ONE around me still had a flag left on their runner belts.

Should you have to say "no shoving, striking, tackling or restraining" on a race waiver? lol

And just to show you the chaos of the day, here's what the carnage looked like when the runners came over the bridge into zombie territory:

No one around us finished without turning into zombies so I'll be interested to see if ANYONE finished without being changed! I have another 5k coming up in a few weeks, this one without undead chasing me. ;)

Drop Everything Now

2011-10-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

Saying I'm an overprotective mama bear is a slight understatement. My Peanut girl has had a tough year in her class. To summarize things, let's take a look at a little excerpt from a meeting with the school counselor and psychologist this past week:
"I think you talking to G's bully is a good idea. Better than me going to jail for punching a 1st grader in the throat."
Counselor: < crickets >
Psychologist: < uncomfortable laugh >
(yes I really said that, as a joke, and I'm not sure they knew how to take me)

Peanut is obsessed with Taylor Swift but when she came through Nashville I was out in LA and couldn't take her. Scratch that, I really hadn't PLANNED to take her because she's 6. I wasn't even 10 when I went to my first concert (Tiffany...seriously...Tiffany) but 6 seemed a bit young for my girl. We've already established that I'm overprotective. After all of this happened in school though, I decided that I wasn't going to wait another year to create that memory for my child. I wanted her to have some joy in an otherwise frustrating few months. Even if that meant going 6.5 hours away from home to find that joy in, of all places, Little Rock.

I had no shame before the concert and chased down a promoter to get upgraded comp tickets. 4th row on the side, which is the closest that I've EVER been at a concert in my life. Way to set the bar high for the kid's expectations, eh? Even though it physically hurt me, I left the professional camera & lenses at home. Opting for the iphone and POS P&S helped me spend time with my girl and not being tempted to worry about getting amazing images.

Yeah, our seats didn't suck

Sweet girl crashed out at the hotel, while visions of Taylor Swift danced in her head...

Mama needs a taser

2011-09-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

Let me start this by mentioning that I am not a violent person. Aside from the occasional jokes about "I cut you!" or saying I'd punch someone in the throat, I'm generally a chicken when it comes to holding a gun or even the mention of violence. However, traveling alone these past few trips has not only made me feel more independent but it's also convinced me that I need a taser. My husband will not allow a taser in our house. I'm assuming because he thinks, rightfully so, that I might try it out on him if he made some crude joke that was not well received. But after our last trip to Chicago, where we basically were running away from some creepy dude on the L who was eying my photography equipment, I feel I need that little nugget of protection when I'm on the go.

See, I've lived in fear for a good chunk of my life. Fear of the unknown, mostly. I would cling to my husband at every airport or new town and refuse to leave the hotel room if he wasn't with me. Sad, eh? It's just been the past few years that I've relished traveling alone and the excitement that it brings. I finally feel like an independent woman. This, by the way, does not mean that I'm going to stop having my husband order for me at restaurants. I get the biggest kick out of him relaying my choices (which I've told him in advance) and then watching the waitress/waiter look at me questioningly. Then when the server leaves the table Randy and I giggle over their shock and reenact him saying things like, "The lady will have a salad and a water." We're terrible people, we know. Not quite as terrible as the LA vendor this weekend that told me (when he asked if it was too much food and I told him I could eat all of that and more) that "he liked a girl with some meat on her bones". Nice, buddy. But I digress...

Here's just a few images from my trip to LA this past weekend. A dear friend was getting married and I found, when I arrived, that I was able to just sit back and NOT photograph the wedding. Nope, the other photographers had it covered. I was a GUEST. A GUEST!!! A full meal, a little place card, a night of dancing...a real guest! And to make things even better, my best friends in high school were all (except one: We missed you Mel!) assembled together to celebrate this new union. 15 years of friendship, 5 marriages, 9 kids and a lot of joy and laughter. I love these women.

Every time I sit over the wing I always think of "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet". My parents let me watch that as a kid. And they wonder why I'm so neurotic now. ;)

When I arrived, Alice & I went out for some amazing food & drinks at C & O:

Maybe a few too many drinks

The next day, I shot some images for my high school bestie. She also happens to be my daughter's Godmother and a talented actress to boot.
(Good lord I look pasty. Obviously I 'm not a California girl)

And, of course, I had to show her how a model/actress moves. I've watched enough ANTM to rock the poses (orrrrr not. I have no shame.)

I like to call this pose "Butt stuck in a tree". It's a classic really.

Then it was off to Mrs. E's wedding! We took a party shuttle there. A party shuttle that had poles. Inappropriate opportunity, say whaaaaat?

I didn't even know this couple on the shuttle but they looked like rockstars in that evening light.

We liked to pretend that Mel was with us at every point. My amazing photoshop skills made that possible.

I have a good number of images still to go through so we'll leave off there for the night. Hope you all had an amazing weekend!

Sweet home, Chicago!

2011-08-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

I *almost* called Chicago home. My 2nd college choice, for photography, was there. I won't share with you the reason I didn't go but I'm thankful that I ended up here because I really am a TN girl at heart. I love going to The Windy City to visit, though, and in August I was able to meet up with some friends (and shop) and wander the city (and shop).

Oh, there's a statue where you can look up Marilyn's dress? Why, of course, I'd love to see that.

And like any good travel photographer...I forgot my camera when we went out to Shaw's and Frontera Grill. *headpalm* iphone anyone?

Oh yes, grown *ss women still have slumber parties.

And just for kicks...a few images from the last time Rando came with me to Chicago. I love wandering the city with my friends and solo but experiencing new places with the hubby is still my favorite.
Buckingham Fountain & The Bean

Gooooooooo cubbies! (Cubbies still got spanked that day but we had fun anyway)

Billy Goat Tavern, Cheeseburger Cheeseburger Cheeseburger!!!!

and some smoochin' @ Navy Pier

New Harmony, Indiana

2011-08-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

On our never-ending search of where to live, The Good Reverend and I took a short weekend trip to check out a place that I had visited years ago. When I was a sophomore in high school, my friends and I set off on a road trip to see New Harmony, Indiana. I know what you're thinking....Indiana. My husband thought the same thing. Not exactly a state he longed to visit on vacation. However, nested amongst the endless corn fields is this picturesque little town which is truly one of the most peaceful places that I've ever been. I fell in love with it when I was 15 and felt the same way when I returned last weekend. It's a gorgeous little arts community which has an amazing history. I'd rehash it for you but I'm sure the Wikipedia entry would probably be more factual and well written.
Our first stop was the visitor center in New Harmony for a movie about the town's history and a golf cart rental, as suggested by multiple websites. I'm not sure what Randy was more excited about, that he could zip everywhere in a golf cart or that there were beautiful cultivated gardens just about every block along the way.

The Buddha baby decided to check out Pop's Grill...

and I decided to check out the fried mac n' cheese wedges *drool*

The Roofless church is a stop you'll want to make if you visit New Harmony. TGR was so content to see faith and nature all wrapped up into one.

Because, you know, every town should have its own labrinth.

We'll be taking another trip back to New Harmony in the coming months to spend more time exploring and contemplating what it would be like to live there. TGR found a house that he was ready to move into but, alas, it already had a pending contract. Forgive me for the lack of time to be creative with my images. I had a little camera assistant strapped to me the entire trip and, well, he gave out part way through the tour. I stopped taking pictures as not to wake the sleeping beast.

I'm off to Chicago this weekend (sans baby) so look for a new post soon!

San Francisco

2011-02-22T11:47:00.001-08:00

A few pictures from our trip to San Francisco (where we, yes, stayed in another Marriott). SF is one of the best places that I've visited in the states. Open atmosphere, gorgeous scenery...I loved it!

The sick little blogger

2011-01-26T15:45:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed that this blog has been...ahem...pretty much dead since our USVI trip. I dove in head first to destination weddings and traveling just in time to find out that I am expecting baby Crafton #3 (any day now!).

I wanted to quickly drop off these images from our work trip to Old Town, Alexandria. The couple, Lauren & Josh, could not have been more caring and concerned about how I was doing with my morning sickness. I really have the most fantastic clients!
Hotel Monaco was really lovely!

A pet fish for the room? Yes PLEASE!

And, of course, after the wedding we had to try out one of the ghost tours. I heart cheesy tourist things! Chris & Steph and Kate Monroe were my travel companions for the weekend. =)

My 12 week belly was so tiny at the time... (not so much now!)

Back to the beach in November for another wedding! The weather was really blissful the entire time we were there and we got to spend some much needed family time relaxing.

Toss a camera at the kids and chances are you might get a decent picture out of it!

We were back shooting in the Nashville area until December, when R and I made the trip up to Calgary, Canada. Because of a travel mix up, we almost didn't make it into the country. Doh. All worked out in the end and we arrived to an artic smack of cold air. My northern blood has thinned since moving to the south...talk about freezing!
Ah the ever-disappearing lap....how interesting to travel with a basketball bumping into everything on the plane!

The snowy tundra from the air:

I'll be pretty quiet for a while with that whole "new life" endeavor but will be back to travel blogging soon! More to come in a few months!

USVI

2010-06-23T06:11:00.000-07:00

Virgin Islands bliss...

Aside from that bliss, what a wild week it's been! After the airport found Anna's luggage and we settled into the Westin, we were able to have a fantastic time capturing the wedding and celebration for Stephani & Travis. What a beautiful, gracious couple. More of that on my work blog today! The next day, our day off, was apparently monsoon season. We had about 30 minutes total outside without this:
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We could have cared less though, Anna and I had an amazing time with girly bonding and lots of laughter. Here are a few images from our time around St. John when it wasn't a torrential downpour!
I love how light creeps into the room in the morning. Sort of a slow, spreading progression of travel.

A little friend outside our room and the raft Anna and I swam to for what we thought was relaxation. After the swim out there, we realized there was no ladder and our tired arms had a hard time hoisting ourselves up onto it. Anna managed to drag herself on top and help heave me up as well. God bless her, I was about to turn back for shore. ;)

Both of us LOVED the light in our bathroom. Usually the bathrooms in hotels are terrible with their lighting but not here!

I couldn't get over the color of the water, between St. John and St. Thomas, USVI.

I want to end this post saying a huge THANK YOU to my darling Anna. We are such different women but I love working with and being around her. I'm all adrenaline, loud laughs and nervous talking and she is calm words, connection seeking exercises and light touches. I adored seeing Anna use her quiet charm and genuine caring with the wedding party, guests and everyone at the resort. Thanks for coming with me, love!

(Let me end this post off with saying, I'm going to do away with watermarks on my images on the travel blog because, honestly, I HATE watermarks. I've run into issues with people stealing images though, on my work blog, so I'm going to try going back to watermark-less images here...so play nice folks. No image stealing.)
And a few images from sweet Anna can be seen HERE!

Virgin Islands

2010-06-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

2 hours on the plane, during the lighting storm, one lost bag of luggage, identity theft issues resolved and 13 hours later...Anna and I made it to St. John's, USVI. Life is an adventure, my friends. I know that sounds so terribly generic but really when all those things were going on we just had to laugh. Things worked themselves out and we're safely here to capture Stephani & Travis' wedding today! I only have a few quick pictures because we have to get ready but enjoy part of our trip together!

Anna, the ninja jungle-cat photographer...

The hotel met us with rum drinks as we checked in...it doesn't get any better than that!

Rehearsal dinner starting...on the beach.

Wonder

2010-06-16T09:07:00.001-07:00

Just a simple quote that one of my dear friends sent to me, about wonder, and a few images from the Kids Rock The Block Party at Rosemary Beach.

"Do you allow yourself to feel wonder about the amazing things the universe has to offer? Children do it with no problem. A cloud becomes a giraffe; a bug is diligently followed with incredible intensity; an ice cream cone is an exercise in sheer delight. Don't allow life to take away those magical feelings because you're too busy or stressed out. It's what makes life worthwhile!" ~ Loretta LaRoche

And then came the family

2010-04-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

R and the kids came down the last few days of the trip. My babes have never been to the beach! We had a blast lounging in the sun and taking a ride on a pirate ship!

seeing the beach for the first time (in our pajamas)

Until our next adventure...

Behind the scenes

2010-04-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

On one of our last evenings at the house, the girls and I took the opportunity to shoot head shots of each other (except for me, I chickened out of letting other people shoot me). What resulted is a lot of images of us shooting each other, shooting each other. Ha!

So here's a series of me shooting people, while people were shooting me!

I did let my husband shoot an image of me on my way to the wedding though...I loved riding my bike! The coordinator was a bit shocked over my "sweet ride", I think.

Little drink umbrellas

2010-04-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

Of all years, I really wanted to take my 30th birthday as an excuse to celebrate in Kate style. The most important things in my life are my family, friends, my art...and the beach. I booked a FL wedding a few months ago and made the decision to take some extra time away from normal life and rent a beach house, in a quiet little community, for just over a week. From Saturday to Wednesday my photography girlfriends (Anna, Krystal, Kim & Kristen) joined me and on Wednesday they flew out and my hubby, kids and other friends came to stay at the house. I am never happier than when I'm in the midst of large groups of friends. Add to that, I'm a beach bum at heart and it's been such a beautifully perfect vacation. I only have a handful of images edited so far but here's a quick peek at our get-away so far!
Fun with beach bikes

I'm really blissful...can you tell?

Anna, Krystal and I kept trying to get us all in frame with the auto-timer...not so easy.

You'll see lots more of Anna in the next few months. We're shooting multiple weddings together this year.

Normal picture and then an image as we got attacked by a FREEZING wave...

More later!

Laziest travel blogger ever

2010-04-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, if there was an award for world's laziest travel blogger, I would probably win. I've been shooting on vacation but with 4 lady photographers in the house I've been able to ooh and ahh over their work. Here are a few images that Krystal (Krystal Muellenberg Photography) has taken of our trip...more to come (from me) soon!

Our beach house!

Anna, Krystal and I trying to ride bikes after YEARS of not being on them...

Anna and all of her royal hotness at the state park, where I did my recent engagement shoot.

Exploration close to home

2010-01-13T10:34:00.000-08:00

Recently, my darling friend Anna called and asked if I'd be interested in coming to PPA's Imaging USA with her. It was 30/45 minutes from my home, so we planned to get a hotel for the early morning classes. For the past four days we've been running ourselves ragged and having a blast with new and old friends. There were a few speakers at PPA who I loved and a few that reminded me what I DO NOT want to become in this industry. But most of all, it was adventure in the city that I know best. Anna is such a precious friend...I'm so thankful to have people in my life who push me professionally. I wanted to share just a few images from a very moving and inspiring weekend.
Dane Sanders went live from the trade show @ Imaging USA and here are some of the interviews. Below is the link where he interviews Laura Novak and Jesh de Rox.

http://askdane.com/2010/01/11/imagingusa/
This is the interview with Jesh, who captured our connection (the day before this interview) with a Beloved Session. I won't butcher the experience by trying to describe it with my stunted verbal/written abilities...so please take the time to listen to what he has to say. Be inspired.
(he speaks about the Beloved Project @ 12:50 into the interview)

Anna & Dane

R and I with Jesh, when our session was finished

After the conference was over, Anna and I indulged at Five Guys with Casey & Laura and Chris & Adrienne.

Portrait posing all around...

Adrienne so adorable. She has the best.laugh.ever

We dislike silliness...can you tell?

Sometimes you just have to laugh

2010-01-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

Randy and I rarely celebrate our anniversary on New Year's Eve (when we were originally married) but instead choose to make a bigger deal out of the anniversary of when we met. This year was tough, though. With frustration over trying for another child, and two baby showers looming on the same weekend, I really needed to get away somewhere. R and I came up with the idea of finding something that I wouldn't be able to do when I got pregnant.

Soooooo, after some thought we decided to go skiing in:

wait for it.....

wait for it.....

(Oh yes, I am sans shoes. Taken just for my non-southern-loving friend, Judy)

hahaha, nice eh? Originally we wanted to go skiing in Gatlinburg, TN or North Carolina but Gatlinburg was PACKED the weekend we wanted to go (I loathe crowds) and the drive to NC was a bit hefty for two days. Randy and I searched out other local options and found this gem about 2 1/2 hours from us. We're not "jaunting to Aspen for the weekend" type of people and nothing is more wonderful than laughing and creating a story together. I haven't skied since 8th grade and Randy hasn't ever tried his hand at the slopes...so off we went.
We actually chose a morning where it was snowing!

Scary, windy road on the way up the hill

Yay for snow makers!

wax on...wax off

After a few wipe-outs we got the hang of it...

"We'll see how this goes"

R coming down the hill

Good info to know BEFORE you park

In my head I can hear my mom singing, "Oh what a beautiful morrrrrrning, oh what a beautiful dayyyyyyy"

Mama, I'm coming home

2009-11-15T16:39:00.000-08:00

R and I arrived safe and sound back in Tennessee. I'm scared to dive into my work email (must attempt that tomorrow after some sleep) and Randy is already talking about moving to Hawaii but we're thrilled to be here. When we pulled into the driveway there was a giant "welcome home" banner that our kids had created...with the help of Nana. Love you mom. Thanks so much for watching our babies so we could experience Hawaii. I know you had fun doing it but we still want you to know how much we appreciate you.

Until our next adventure...

I have crabs

2009-11-12T17:34:00.000-08:00

Let me rephrase that post title, I have PICTURES of crabs. Yesterday we took Randy's work buddies (Jim & Andrew) out to Hanauma Bay. Apparently it's overrun with tourists in the later hours of the day, but during the morning and for beginning snorkelers (I've only been once before) like Randy and I...it was a perfect location. Now, our skills? Not so perfect. We spent most of the time sucking in water and flailing around in the waves. Pure comedy. Even though I didn't have any snorkeling images that turned out decently (not as clear as one would think) I did have fun with a few crabs on the beach.

After R and I made fools of ourselves in the water, we all hit Ono Hawaiian for lunch. Dear baby Jesus, it was delicious. Although, the waitress did have to teach us how to eat....which was hysterical. We had no idea what to do with the billions of plates and bowls that she put on our table.

R and I are dainty eaters, obviously. lol

hehehehe

I didn't take a ton of pictures of the luau because it was a work function for R and I only had my 35mm 1.4L on the camera. Note to self, for next luau bring a big lens and big flash.

We spent more time with the underwater casing today, playing around in the surf and not doing anything. Ahhhhhhh, so nice.

Arrrrgh. Scurvy saltwater in the eye.

hahahaha Randy wins for most amazing water hairdo ever.

I probably won't have another chance to post before we head home...but I'm SO looking forward to seeing my babies. Rando and I had an fabulous time but I can't wait to snuggle those little monkeys. We'll leave you with pictures from our "relaxation hour" on the beach.

Aloha!

Getting LOST

2009-11-10T14:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, after R was finished working, we spent some of the afternoon @ Kualoa Park and took pictures of Chinaman's Hat.

I know, I'm the picture of maturity.
"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts...There they are all standing in a row"

Then it was time to drive to the Kuaola Ranch to head out on our 2-hour horseback riding tour. By far, the most beautiful and awe-inspiring thing we've done since arriving here! If you're not familiar with the ranch it's acres and acres of gorgeous scenery and has been host to multiple movies and shows, including LOST, 50 First Dates, etc. Randy was so thrilled to see part of the LOST filming set that I thought he would explode. Personally, I was the most excited about seeing the area where they filmed Jurassic Park. I remember being 13 and sitting in a little theater in Minnesota, watching the movie, and being blown away by the beauty on the screen. I've been humming the score to it while we've hiked around the area. lol

This is why Randy was so very wrong to marry me (well one of the reasons). I, of course, feel the need to do my stumpy-armed T-rex impersonation when we pass by the Jurassic Park set. Oh yes, I embarrass myself on a regular basis.

From J.P. in the same area.....rarrrrr!

Isn't it beautiful?!?!?

More to come soon!

We interrupt this fun-filled blog...

2009-11-10T12:11:00.000-08:00

I am a wee bit overwhelmed. Vacation relaxation FAIL. First of all, I've plowed through The Time Traveler's Wife....so that doesn't help matters any. If you've read it, you can understand how it accounts for a bit of my emotional-weepyisms today. I miss my babies something fierce. After talking to mom today and hearing my spirited little girl cackling in the background, my heart was heavy. I want to snuggle her and munch her little cheeks as she squeals, "Mommmmmm, stoppppppp!" and chase my little man around the house. He measures himself against me almost every day in hopes that one morning he'll wake up and will have surpassed me in height. Oh he would love it here. Before he was even a year old he'd gaze out the window in car rides and call out "TREE!" over and over. That's daddy's boy...he is drawn to nature.

After laying on the beach and reading for a while I shuffled around the resort. Such a strange world where someone isn't begging for attention or help. What in the world would my life be like without my children? Usually my days are a dance of packing lunches, playing chauffeur and attempting to work while they climb all over me like a jungle gym. There are moments where I want to duct tape them to the wall to get a bit of silence. Now I have silence and I am longing to see my Peanut go streaking down the hallway, with orange goldfish-covered fingers, daring me to catch her before she imprints her hands onto the wall. Ha, my life . The energy that they bring into my world strengthens me.

Now I'm headed back to the beach before Randy accuses me of moping.
I love you kiddos, mom will be home soon.

Loving life

2009-11-09T08:19:00.000-08:00

My darling friend Anna (who is often my rock professionally and personally) commented, after seeing the surfing pictures, that I love life. I do. Funny that I never thought of our adventures that way. I am far from fearless. Because I was terrified of heights I chose to jump out of an airplane....and I hope to cliff dive before we leave this island. I never want fear or regret to stop me from doing anything in life. Enough babbling, I'm off to enjoy another beautiful day. Here's a quick image from a few minutes ago....ignore the low quality, it was taken in complete darkness and I didn't bring Noise Ninja on our vacation. ;)

Laying in wait for the sunrise in our room...

I fought the board...and the board won

2009-11-08T17:39:00.000-08:00

Don't let anyone tell you that surfing is easy. My knees have coral cuts on them, my hip has a baseball-sized purple and blue goose egg from where the board walloped me and we thought our arms were going to fall off from paddling so much. That being said, Randy and I had such an amazing time surfing our first full day in Hawaii. Thanks to the guides @ Hawaiian Fire!

Sunrise on Waikiki Beach (the view from our hotel room)

What fascinates me about this island is that we can start here...

and by taking a short little 10-15 minute trip in our jeep...

through a mountain tunnel...

...we find this!

One of our favorite outings so far was the Byodo-In Temple. So peaceful.

"Can we move here?"

"Don't fall in!"

I'm hoping that we're able to see a few more waterfalls while we're here because they're breathtaking! And my clumsy self managed NOT to fall in for once. ;)

Channeling my inner Naked Jen pose...minus the naked part.

At night on the beach with Randy's work buddies...which is the reason we're here!

Reflection of the sun on the water-soaked pier, with Diamond Head in the background:

I have more pictures to upload and edit but right now I'm off to watch another beautiful sunset!

Tales of a neurotic suburban mother

2009-11-03T13:17:00.000-08:00

Another saving post...

How to cure yourself of a fear of heights:
a) Go to therapy, lots of therapy
b) Read self-help books and work around your issues
c) Throw yourself out of a perfectly good airplane

Most "normal" people would choose the first two options. Right?
My past clients are probably well aware of my fear of heights. I jump and climb on things like a monkey to get the shots that I want but only at the expense of a rapid heart rate, severe anxiety and shaking limbs. There is no real reason why I should be terrified of heights. I've never fallen from anything and there are no traumatic experiences that caused my neuroses. So as one of my goals for this year I decided to deal with my fears the old fashioned way....face them head on. Thank you to the crew at Adventure Skydiving Center in Clarksville!!!!

As a side note:
Dear mom, sorry about the use of "Oh sh*t! Oh my God!" before I went out of the plane. I love you and hope you don't disown me. =)

Happy to be on the ground and hugging my baby:

Yellowstone

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Another saving post...

By Sunday the weather had gone downhill significantly. Most of our day was spent in 30-something-degree weather and rain. *ugh* My poor bones have gotten used to southern warmth but that didn't stop us from having fun!

At the entrance to Yellowstone, they handed this pamphlet to us. Notice the little camera next to the attacked tourist? You would think that would make us stay AWAY from the buffalo.

Randy and I have a problem listening to what we're "supposed" to do.

The less populated areas of Yellowstone were extremely eerie (at least for me, I'm a chicken in the wilderness) and most of our 6 mile hike looked like this:

Badly timed kiss as we were boarding the plane...

The kiddos stayed with Nana during the trip and had a fantastic time as well. When we woke up yesterday, R brought them into bed with us for some much needed snuggling. I love my little family....

And then off rock climbing:

Self portrait on the side of a cliff:

Bozeman, Montana & Florida

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Previous posts that I'm saving on the travel blog...so I don't lose them!

How can you not love this area of the country? Everywhere we traveled to in Montana was breathtaking.....

R and I spent Friday morning hiking:

Listening to the river

Post-hike meal....BBQ & Mac n' Cheese! It doesn't get much better than that!

Florida:

Thursday I caught an earlier flight (which worked out well because the other one ended up being canceled) and was in Memphis for hours. The best part of the night was when I asked the car rental man if he had a convertible....so we upgraded. You should have seen us trying to jam our luggage into this thing (silver eclipse spyder):

Anna made me breakfast the next morning and then we lounged on the beach for a while.

Then we went into Rosemary Beach for lunch and browsed the shops.

That night we had dinner at a yummy oyster bar that was mostly locals.

It was perfect and away from the craziness of Panama City.

Saturday was the wedding for a big chunk of the day.
The coordinator was wonderful, I can not even begin to say how sweet and efficient she was. It was a beautiful day for a wedding, sunny 75 with a little breeze. We pretty much went home and crashed after the wedding. Sunday we shot Stephanie's trash the dress session and then lounged on the beach and had some lovely girly chats.

Lunch was at Margaritaville (mmmmmmmmmm) and I had a cheeseburger in paradise. Gooooood cheeseburger, I might add.

Monday I got up early and swam with the dolphins. Oh it was wonderful. Being in the water with them and having them pull me was an amazing experience. I'm so glad I did it!

Peanut had waited up for me when I flew home that night (crazy kid) so I got some wonderful snuggle time in to end the trip. Perfect.

About Us

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Welcome to our travel blog!

About us: Flighty, junk food loving meat-a-tarian (Kate) marries grounded, tree hugging vegetarian (Randy). Two dogs, two kids and eight years later we're still madly in love.

Feel free to visit the following links to keep up with our work!

My website
My work blog

Randy and I have been blessed with jobs that allow us to travel the country and explore new places, as well as the added thrill of working from home. Best of both worlds. For years I've been planning to set up a travel blog to house our images and stories from the trips we take. I don't want to clutter up my work blog with silly day to day ramblings, so here we go! No better time to start than now...a few days before we leave for Hawaii!

Here are just a few images from our past trips:
Boston

New Orleans

Chicago

Wyoming

Florida

Chattanooga

Montana & Venice

Louisville

Arkansas

BBQ joint in DC

Aix en Provence

Wisconsin

San Francisco

Nice, France

The blog link phrase comes from one of our favorite artists, Ben Harper. Randy and I saw him at the Ryman a few years ago and it was easily one of the best concerts we've ever attended. Not that we were surprised, Mr. Harper is on repeat in our home most days. As our daughter would say, we love him to the moon and back.

Not Fire, Not Ice -- Ben Harper

There is not a river wide
Not a mountain high
And neither sin nor evil
Could change how I feel inside
Could change how I feel inside
Not all the strength of the ocean
Not all the heat from the sun, from the sun
Now, others have tried, I just can't deny
To me you are the one
To me you are the one
The true love is priceless
For true love you pay a price
But there's nothing can keep me from loving you
Not fire no not ice
Not fire no not ice
Like a hero or a champion
You are the best, you're the best
Like religion or superstition
With you I am blessed
With you I am blessed
Now the river may grow wider
The mountain may reach past the sky
And wether or not you feel same
My love shall never die
My love shall never die
The true love you give and take
The true love is sacrifice
But there's nothing can keep me from loving you
Not fire no not ice
Not fire no not ice