Photo Blog

I have started a photo blog!!  To see the page go to www.lifeviewphotography.blogspot.com

:)

Sarah

Dreams

There is a certain amount pressure on people to have dreams and goals. This comes about with fathers that have high expectations, the hundreds of motivational books and of course, New Years Eve. When someone has asked me what my dreams and goals are I've been annoyed because I have never been a forward thinker of more than about 5 seconds. My dreams? Well, last night I had one about a clown chasing me. Goals? Try not to fart in public. I don't think that's what people mean although the last one could be taken seriously.

It seems to me that people with dreams and goals become angry with themselves when they don't achieve the numbered items on the list. This is why I don't write down dreams and goals for myself, never have, most likely never will. Therefore when I don't accomplish said goals I won't be disappointed in myself. I already disappoint myself daily with the little things. Tim thinks this is appalling and has never understood my refusal to make goals and have dreams.

As of late though I have been dreaming of becoming a photographer, one good enough to actually have people pay me for it. One usually needs a bit of self confidence to realize their dreams and self confidence is something I lack. Sure, it may look like I have self confidence but this is a ruse. Do not be fooled. This whole photography thing is just a dream right now and maybe I will become bold enough to make it a goal in life.

Oh, my other dream is to have a maid. Ah, to have a maid. Then I wouldn't have to feel guilty sitting here writing a post while my kitchen is in serious disarray.

Dreams:
1. be a good photographer
2. get a maid

There, it is written.

Sarah

Road Rage

This week has had incident after incident of near accidents.  I have never witnessed so many awful drivers in the near 5 years I've been in Greenville.  What are these people thinking?  Do they have a death wish?  Are they just hoping someone hits them so they can claim insurance and get rid of their janky car?  Left and right people were pulling out in front of me like I was invisible.  Ooh, maybe I am!  Now that would be kickin'.  

Tim and I lived in Florida for a bit and Southwest Florida has its share of stupid drivers.  There is your 'I'm too old to drive' group which you expect because it's south Florida and then there are the 'I'm so cool' group who show up everywhere but these two groups do NOT mix well.  The old drivers insist on taking their good ol' time moseying down the main freeway (only 4 lanes btw) at the most inopportune times of the day.  Rush hour.   They are in no hurry but the dangerous part of this is they go below the speed limit, which is about 75.  Any person driving the speed limit is going to encounter these folk and inevitably you will have to slam on your brakes or slow down considerably because Mr. False Teeth thinks the sign reads 35.  Even a patient person becomes quickly irritated.  Then mix in the "cool" group.  They are quite the opposite and feel the need for speed.  They whip in and out of cars like a race track and give absolutely no consideration to others around them.  They also don't care if you're going 90 mph.  This means they have to go faster and will come up right on your tail, honking and flashing their lights.  In most places you have a good mix of drivers.  Yes, there are older drivers and dangerous drivers but for the most part people are rational.  Too bad this isn't the case in Florida.

Admittedly, I have flashed my lights at people who were in the left lane going the speed limit or below.  This is shameful I know.  I blame Florida on my road rage that I carry with me today.  Anyone who has been a passenger in my car knows how much I abuse the word moron in reference to other horrible drivers.  If someone isn't driving how I think they should I feel there is a great injustice that must be addressed.  Why do people insist on driving slow in the passing lane?  Injustice.  Why don't these morons get over when they see you trying to merge on the freeway?  Injustice.  Where do they get off cutting in front of me?  Injustice.  Can the girl in front of me not keep a normal speed limit when on the phone?  

As you can see I have some pent up agitation which I hope will not result in me going off on someone someday.  Why can't everyone drive as perfectly as me?

Morons.

My Cuddlebugs

It's my favorite time of day except for when I'm eating chocolate. The short moments between taking the dogs out in the morning and getting up to shower and make myself ready for the day. My sweet babies insist on waking me up every morning at 6 to do their business and eat. I personally hope they grow out of this with age. The only good part about this rude awakening every morning is the fact that after we go back upstairs and I crawl back into bed, my two sweethearts want to cuddle up next to me. In fact, they want to be the first one to jump up on the bed to see who can get to my side first. Flash is a gentleman. He waits until I'm in the bed and under the covers patiently waiting for my signal that he's allowed up. Lulu is a woman. She waits for no man. This has resulted in some shoving and pushing until one gives up. But I am an equal opportunity cuddler. If I lay on my back they can each get a side and put their head on my shoulders. This is my moment and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I can't wait for tomorrow morning!

While Tim and I get ready they woefully watch us from the bed half asleep knowing we will be leaving them soon. It's sad, cute and pathetic. Now you can feel sorry for them as well.

I love my sensitive, big headed Flash. He is a momma's boy

Independent diva, Lulu who never wanted to cuddle; still independent, a diva but cuddly (on her terms)

They break my heart...

Adulthood: It Welcomes You

This past week I turned the big 3-0. My age has never mattered to me before and turning 30 has not changed that. In fact, I often get my age wrong when people ask. Sometimes I make myself older. But when you turn 30 there is the teasing and goading of arriving at this stage in life. Unfortunately to the teasers and goaders I do not fall prey. I can be pretty uptight about some things but age isn't one of them. It is interesting to hear what people have to say though.

A friend of a friend wished me a happy birthday and told me "the good Lord gave me a wrinkle and a gray hair on her 30th birthday". Well, the good Lord must love me more because the wrinkles haven't made an appearance yet and the gray hair didn't show up..at least not on the day of but more of that later. My sister told me that there is a girl in her church that experienced a meltdown of sorts when turning 26. Holy crow! 26??!! Can you imagine that poor girl turning 30? She'll be in a straight jacket and padded room. Bless her heart.

Apparently when you turn 30 you're allowed to freely speak your mind. If someone gets on your nerves you can tell them they're getting on your nerves and to leave you alone instead of asking nicely or just ignoring the feeling of wanting to punch them. I don't believe I can speak my mind anymore than I already did starting at around 28. I am way ahead of the free speech game. I'm sure there were some people, namely Tim, that was hoping 30 would have an opposite effect. The hope that I would become agreeable, soft spoken, demure, ladylike. *insert a laugh and a snort*. Yeah, that ain't gonna happen. The only change I was hoping for was less acne and that hasn't kicked in yet. Really? At 30 years old I can't have less acne? Have mercy.

I do believe some of my friends were more pumped at me turning 30 than I was. It is an exciting time but lets be honest, I'm not in my prime anymore. My prime was about 24-26 and I will never see those years again. This only bothers me every great once in awhile but not due to my age. Age is just a number and as someone told me, "thirty is the new tween". I think I like him. He's a smart guy.

When it comes down to it, how old I am doesn't matter to me but I love birthdays because I love presents. And turning 30 means you get presents and a lot more than when you're 29 or 31. Next year will suck. I want to turn 30 over and over and over again. Does this mean I have to wait until I'm 40 until that goodness comes my way again? That is for the birds. I believe everyone should receive a multitude of presents every birthday. Thankfully, I have wonderful friends and family. They know me well and fed my love language of gift receiving. I felt absolutely gluttonous.

Back to the gray hair. It was the day AFTER and my friend was talking to me at work at my desk. She made a small noise out of her mouth (she does this often so I don't get alarmed) and looked at me funny. Then I had to ask her what was wrong. She proceeded to lean over and tell me I had a gray hair to which I was shocked and horrified! Thankfully she was there to notice the ONE white hair and pluck it for me before they multiplied? Oh wait, don't they multiply when you pluck them. Oh whatever. The good Lord still loves me.

Climbing the hill,
Sarah

ketchup...I mean catch up

The last several months have been a whirlwind of activity and laziness :) When I last left you it was March maybe? The following can quickly sum up what I've been up to:

Lulu: Our puppy we got in December went through the whole house training phase, obedience training (by moi), having her ability to produce babies taken away and just general "diva"ness that must be tamed.


Hobbies: My new hobby is photography! I am still in amateur mode but I keep practicing and reading everything I can get my hands on. Once I can get some more experience under my belt I'm contemplating making it a side business to make extra cash because could all use that nowadays, am I right? I've had a couple of "jobs" taking photos already and I'm excited for more.

Other Activites: T.E.A. Party, Weekend in Wisconsin to see Liz, hiking at Cesar's Head, Bunko!, The Masters, Edisto Island, P90x, Charleston, Liz coming to Greenville, Downtown Alive, Shrimp & Grits, hiking at Paris Mountain, video making, Artisphere, Freedom Weekend Aloft, Willy Wonka play and that is all my brain can think of right now.


As you can see I've been a bit busy but it's all been good. I am sure the coming months will prove to be just as fun filled as the last few and I look forward to it.

Now I must sleep.

Writer's Block

I've been away for awhile I realize but I've had a sort of writers block as of late. Interesting things have happened but I have not felt like writing about anything. I hope to be back soon but I don't believe I'm disappointing millions of fans :)

karma is a fitch

Ugh - I am sick! Do you know how much I hate being sick and how much everyone around me hates me being sick? I am dramatic and whiny and horrible to live with. Last Monday I was sort of sick and took a sick day and now I'm 'achy-can't-move-sick' which is much worse than how I felt last week. I remember telling myself and Tim that karma would get me and I was really going to get sick but I don't believe in karma so no harm. Well, guess what? I still don't believe in karma but it is slapping me in the face and laughing with much glee.

Now I must take drugs beyond galore so I can drag myself out of bed tomorrow and go to work. Like I said, karma is a fitch (even though I don't believe in it!).

Sincerely,
Sniffles

kids

Our church recently announced to us that they are partnering with the SC DSS in fostering, adoptions, prayer support and weekend/holiday visits. Apparently there is only one other church in the nation that is taking an active role in their states DSS. I am surprised that more churches have not taken this step before. It could be that they did not go beyond the Baptist denomination, but after a quick search on the internet, I wasn't able to find other instances of a church doing this. There were plenty of stories of how churches would donate items, but nothing so proactive as asking their members to take the next step of actually taking a child into their home whether temporary or permanent.

Do some people believe this crosses the line of separation of church and state? Since I couldn't find much on the internet, I don't know if people feel this way. I love the idea of our church aligning with the local government and taking action instead of just sitting around saying we need to do something. So many of us have strong opinions on ethical issues but never do anything to change the situation. I don't believe abortion is right, but what have I physically done to try and stop women from having an abortion? I'm not talking about going all crazy and hurting a doctor like some nut jobs have done in the past. Pro-lifers seem to have all of the "answers" for a girl who is entertaining the idea of an abortion and one of those solutions is adoption. But would I be willing to take that child myself? I would hope so! Of course, a handful of people can't be responsible for the thousands of children that are and will be up for adoption but if a group such as a church comes together and is unified in having a heart for children, the result could be mind-blowing.

Action is the key to proving we truly care. Sometimes passionate speeches, rallies & debates aren't enough. I know that not everyone is called to foster or adopt a child but if we are willing to argue a point we believe in, we should be willing to do something about it. Would I adopt a child? I'm definitely not against it and have thought about it, even more frequently now since our church has aligned with the DSS.

I am looking forward to seeing how the program at our church continues and wish I had a link to post but they don't have any info posted yet.

Tomorrow is Friday! YAY!

Sarah

wrinkles

Just an fyi to everyone - if you have a pair of pants that are wrinkled and when you put them on the wrinkles disappear, you probably shouldn't wear them.

hibernation

I am considering imitating a bear (no comments from the peanut gallery) so that I can hibernate all winter long. How wonderful would it be to sleep all of the time? I could handle it. I feel as though I have hibernated this winter by abandoning the blog updates. A lot has happened since the Greenville Christmas Parade of 2008.

The big news is the latest family addition of Miss LuLu Bean. She is a boxer/lab mix and full of abounding energy and personality. She came from a litter of about 6 or 7 and friends of mine had 3 of them but needed to give up two. There was a short period of indecision because Tim said I needed to choose between another dog and a camera. This was quite a conundrum, but I decided to go with a living thing that would love me (hopefully). Having a puppy has been quite a learning experience for me. She forces me to have patience when I don't want to have any and she is definitely testing my patience with her little presents she leaves me occasionally. I'm sure she does it because she loves me. LuLu is a cutie and will steal your heart and then chew on it but I love her to death!

Tim and I spent Christmas in Florida and had a wonderful 3 full days spent with family and friends. We visited the condo in Naples and took a walk down memory lane. It's really hard to be back there because I miss our friends and who doesn't like 80 degree weather in December? There was much laughing, a lot of eating and surprises! I love surprises. On Christmas day we were at my sister-in-law's house from breakfast to dinner. Presents had just finished being opened and I had bought Tim and iPod even though no presents were suppose to be purchased for each other. Of course he was surprised but that isn't the best part. There was an extra bag and it was for MOI! Can you guess what it was? That's right folks - a dSLR. Are you freaking kidding me? I was in true shock. Not only did I get a puppy but I got a camera to take pictures of the new puppy. Just so you are aware and possibly haven't figured it out, my love language is gifts. Albeit, I don't receive gifts very often and they don't have to be extravagant like cameras but it's still my love language.

This year we strayed from our traditional NYE with our best friends. We had to save some money this year so next year can be BIG so we met my dad, sister, uncle and significant others up in North Carolina for a weekend at a cabin. It was just so beautiful and I have pictures on my Facebook. I can see myself living in a log cabin one day and maybe I will...who knows.

2009 holds big changes for me. There are things I'm ready to take the step to do which includes taking better control of my life. I feel I don't have much of a purpose so I'm trying to turn that around. I do not make resolutions on an annual basis. The chances are high that if I write my list, check it twice and vow to stick to it that I won't and I'll only be disappointed in myself. Therefore, as I go along I try to make decisions and commit to them. For the past several months I've been very unhappy with my job. There are a plethora of reasons I believe it didn't work out, but they don't matter. It was time for something new and contrary to my personality I did something about it. Instead of quitting and running from the issue I asked to do something else which worked out extremely well. The position is more of a fit for my black and white personality and today I was asked "having fun yet?" to which I responded "yes!" and I was serious even though the question was meant to be sarcastic. The other decision I've recently made is to lose weight which I have succeeded at only once in my life. Here's to hoping for follow through on my part. There are other decisions I've made that haven't come to fruition but I'm being patient.

One more thing before I go. I haven't seen my sister Liz since July of last year. It's actually starting to hurt almost physically. She is so far away and it's not feasible for either of us to fly and see each other. I'm praying for a miracle at this point and crying while I type this so words are blurring and I need to log off. I love you Liz!

Until the next time I decide to write...
Sarah