Hicks Family – Huntington, Indiana

My brother and his family have just moved from Massachusetts to Huntington, Indiana. He is a new professor at the university in town and the timing was just right for me to visit just days after their arrival and days before the school year starts. The last time Jonathan and I saw each other was in May 2008 when I drove with him across the country to help him move all their stuff from California to Massachusetts. Adrienne was very pregnant with Camille at the time and sitting in the car for days on end at that time was not going to happen. So here we are in August, three years later. Camille is turning three in a few days and we all have really enjoyed the week together :) Her little curls are my absolute favorite!

Ethan is a wild boy. Loves to be loud and all over the place. Typical boy. Below is the reaction I received when I told him his parents were not coming home and I would be taking their place. They went out to shop for some birthday stuff for Camille and we had some good bonding time with the camera.

Camille is really difficult to make look at the camera. She unfortunately got over me pointing it at her rather quickly. I only got the shot below because I told her to watch for the camera to blink at her :) It worked! Then Ethan also wanted to see the camera blink at him.

 

I LOVE both the shots below. Awesome :)

I love grumpy kid pics too...

Looks like he's up to something, definitely my brother's boy.

Ethan's got that look again... JUST like my brother! Sneaky sneaky ;)

Cute little country girl!

Balance

Sleep comes in sets. It's better to sleep for 4 hours than 6, it's a rem cycle sort of thing. Not that I know that much about sleep, but I do know that I feel more awake now than I would have had I slept till my alarm clock. I am off to get balanced. I leave for Hawaii in a few hours to see my other half. My motto for life is all or nothing. It's not a motto that I chose, but rather just who I have always been. Brian of course was the one that brought this realization to me six to seven years ago when we first met. I have been ALL into my job and I am about to be ALL into my vacation/marriage. Brian and I are pretty independent from each other. When we are apart we don't talk as much as most couples do, or let me rephrase that we don't talk ANYWHERE CLOSE to as much as most couples do. We function better that way and it works. I am not sure where I came from, but it seems that I am the only one in my family that is this way.

I am off to find my balance. Brian is my balance. He helps me to stop, take a deep breath, and relax. I have learned to do it on my own, but he can do it for more than moment that I usually do. I am excited to meet up with him again, and excited to catch up on each others' lives. He has been thoroughly enjoying his time in Hawaii. He works at night and bodyboards during the day. It's a replica of his time in Puerto Rico and I look at his FB page and wonder who the heck he is! Since we have known each other we never really lived in a place with good waves so he wasn't THAT into it. Aside from San Diego, but he was working constantly while we were there. So... I'm off to get to know (all over again) this man I am married to and hopefully I recognize him despite his tan and extra blonde hair :)



I love the shot below. Usually I am the one with the silly face and Brian is the serious one that is concentrating the second the shot is taken... a perfect opposite to our usual :)

Vote for Alaqua!

I know it's been ages since I posted anything. Sorry internet world, I have not cared to keep you updated any longer. Someday when I move and am going through my new living space excitement/boredom (yes my life is a conundrum) I will perhaps get back into blogging. Until then you can enjoy my very random posts. You have one job right now, ONE.

1. Go to this link and vote for Alaqua Animal Refuge (zip code - 32439). Do it! Go now! Don't waste another moment!



Alaqua Animal Refuge is a pretty amazing place (as you can clearly see in these pictures). It costs $50,000 a month to operate Alaqua. We receive no government funding and operate off of donations, fundraisers, grants, and fun contests like this! Please vote so we can win the $15,000 to help us continue to help all the animals! It's really easy and it only takes a moment. Thank you!

Chula - Pet Photography

The plan is to get Chula adopted. She is my foster pup and I have precisely three months to find her a home. If I don't she will be stuck here at Alaqua. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad place, but I know she will not do well in a kennel. She is already skiddish in new places as it is. I can't imagine her being in a kennel. She's a great dog. Minds well. Knows how to sit, down, come (most of the time), and she's crate trained. Seriously, if there is anyone in Northwest Florida looking for a fairly trained young dog, who LOVES her master, this is the one for you. Once she gets to know you, she'll stick by your side for anything. I'd keep her myself, but it turns out you can't have more than two dogs in base housing. And, realistically, three dogs is a bit excessive for the often moving military life. So here she is... born mid-September, Shepherd/American Bulldog mix, spayed, crate trained, and ready to go! If you know anyone interested in adopting her please contact Alaqua Animal Refuge at 850-880-6399.



I hate to split these two up, but what else can I do? I'm sure they'll get over it. Not like they have a choice.



Chula loves this little pool. She dunks her head in as far as she can and swirls it around :) It's pretty hot here these days so it's a pretty good idea.



This is THE BEST shaking dog pic I have ever gotten. I have tried quite a bit too. Pretty stinkin' hilarious :)

Thunderstorms + Angels

Thunder and lightning woke me up just before 2am. I lay there in bed trying to decide if what I heard was rain or the fan in my room. It shouldn't be a difficult thing to decipher, but I have confused simpler things when being awoken out of a deep slumber. Remembering that I was in charge of caring for Angel should it start to pour in the night I decided it wasn't raining, but knew it could start at any moment so I jumped out of bed, pulled on my boots and headed for the door. Chula hollered at me from her crate and I continued outside. It was only drizzling, but the sky was lighting up. Standing under the shelter I yelled for Angel. She nickered at me and started my way from the other side of the pasture. It amazes me how friendly she is, but I guess that's what happens when you get a horse from a neglect case and not an abuse case. She's a new arrival and seems to really enjoy the regular care and attention.  Pretty happy to have a visitor in the middle of the night, she followed me straight into her stall. I gave her a few pats and made a run for the house. How often do people get struck by lightning? I love thunderstorms, but something about walking around outside during them makes me a tad nervous.

Shortly after I went inside it began to pour. Good timing :) There was quite a bit of thunder and lightning and I grabbed my camera hoping to get some cool shots. I have never got any lightning shots and this was my perfect opportunity. Great idea. Poor circumstances. I have no tripod, and as I opened the door thinking I would just shoot from the doorway (using the chair as my tripod) I realized I was blocked by trees. Door number two... a bright light coming out of the shed, buildings, and more trees. Not quite a perfect scenario for good lightning shots. Maybe if I went to the barn I could get some shots, but I would have to make a run for it and have something to cover my camera. Too much effort. Chula is upset that I have been up for a few minutes now and have continued to ignore her in her crate. Who am I kidding? I have never had the patience to shoot night photography or anything that requires tripods cause I hate setting them up; and really, it's 2am and I should be sleeping.

Cocoa

I love this dog. I don't love all dogs. I can be picky. Small dogs have to seriously work for my love. This dog though? Instant. I think Cocoa has been here a week or two. Not sure how she was not instantly adopted. Clearly not everyone shares my affinity for large puppies with floppy ears. Do I need another dog? No. Can I turn down a puppy? It appears I am capable of such things!

If you live anywhere near Northwest Florida and want to adopt this puppy. Check out her link and call on her!

A New Season

I do not know where to begin. There are seasons in life and I think I have started one in which blogging just isn't going to happen. Let me explain. In my worry about the dogs and where they would spend their quarantine time in order to get to Hawaii I found a great solution. If you want it done right do it yourself. I am staying behind to wait out the dogs quarantine and we will meet up with Brian in Hawaii in September. I am hoping to visit him in July, but I know how ships can be and if he is out to sea too much or cannot get leave, I might not be able to visit. I'm not getting my hopes up and am trying to enjoy our last two weeks together. By the time he leaves we will have been together for a full six months. It seems like it's been a lot longer (and I mean that in a good way!).



So my plan to stay was secured by a job at Alaqua Animal Refuge. My life seems to revolve around being a jack of all trades, master of none, and it seems I will be the jack of all trades at Alaqua (or one of the many there...). I've been busy with Alaqua, preparing to move, and making sure I am taking the proper steps with the dogs' quarantine. I will still be doing photography work, but to be honest I haven't got a ton of work anyway, so my focus will be shifting to Alaqua and whatever photography work I get on the side will be great. But it will be just that, on the side. I'd like to keep blogging for you people who actually follow me. I know people like seeing pretty pictures and I will be taking plenty of the animals at Alaqua. Perhaps I will turn this into a place to advertise pups up for adoption that I photograph. Yeah, actually that sounds like a plan to me. I need to keep it simple. Maybe some days I will just post a picture, and some days you will get a story with it. Either way I will make an effort to keep this going. I like blogs. I think their fun. So there you go, that's my plan. Just remember, the puppies that are on here are up for adoption! The one below on the right... he was howling at me, in case you can tell :) Or perhaps it was at my camera.

So here's to a new season, a new job, another move, another separation from Brian to make our hearts grow fonder. Sounds kinda sappy to me, but it's true. Our hearts do grow fonder. Four months of something different. Four months of not having any of my stuff. I don't really care about my stuff, so it's not a big deal. I'll have my dogs and that's what I care about. I'll only really miss my whiteboard and my ice cream shovel.