Love List Number One

I will fill you in about Yellowstone hopefully later this week, my life has been absolutely nuts since almost the day I got back so I apologize for my lengthy absence from the blog. My photography which was doing nothing - zero - zip, has suddenly exploded. I have worked almost every weekend since coming back from my Yellowstone trip. I have done a shoot for a brochure for a personal trainer, I have done 3 senior picture shoots with another scheduled in October (usually I do one a year as a graduation present or something), one family portrait with another also scheduled for October, and a wedding - AGAIN with another scheduled for October.

I would still like to sell more of my outdoor prints but I am loving every minute of it - but it is keeping me insanely busy, and I am feeling the toll its taking. I need to make more of an effort to make some time for myself.

Love Lists are not my original idea - this gal, Kris Carr, over at Crazy Sexy Life blog started doing them and I love them - but I don't think there were her original idea either so I feel alright about adopting this practice on my blog - but of course I will do it Stephanie style! These are lists of things I love - a chance for me to write about things I enjoy in my life, that make my life easier, more comfortable and more enjoyable and maybe they will for you too! Mostly its a chance for me to focus on the positive, to be grateful and hopeful.

Monday Love List

#1 Horses (Duh)

Horses keep young girls out of trouble (boys too but my experience is the later), as they did for me. Who has time to go to parties and get mixed up in the wrong crowds or sleep around when you are too dang busy getting ready for your next horse show? They gave me guidance, direction, and character as a youth and then support and drive as an adult. I had to make sure I could get a well paying job cause I had to be able to afford my ponies! Aren't they dangerous? Yes. Thus we have strength, wisdom, guts, and intuitiveness all as a result of growing up with horses. I believe every young girl needs a horse to hug, to cry on, to run with, to compete with, to learn to win with, to learn to lose with, and learn about the responsibility of another life with. Enough said.

#2 My Dogs - and pets in general

My dogs keep me balanced and in check. How can you come home from work all crabby and yell at your dog who has just been dying all day just to see your face again? You can't - at least if you are a normal person capable of love you can't. They are the last to see me leave and the first to greet me back at the gate every day - always just freaking THRILLED that I returned. Most of my bad moods dissipate right there at the gate. They keep me honest on my workouts - which are WAY FUN walks for them. Even if I want to take the day off that look they get when they suspect the "walk" has been cancelled will get me up out of the house even in the rain. There is almost nothing like the warm softness of petting a dog - if you need to relax or de-stress for a minute go pet your dog, scientific studies have proved over and over again that you will live longer for it.

#3 Mornings

While I used to be a night owl I am becoming more and more an early bird. I can't believe what I have missed. The quiet stillness, the crispness of the air, the space to yourself, the sound and smell of the furnace kicking on, the amazing sunrises - every day its like a little miracle. I especially like seeing the dogs in the early morning they are kinda sleepy and VERY snuggley - all yawns and stretches, completely content to doze by you while you sip on a hot cup of coffee. Traffic is also much improved in early morning hours.

Image credit: T. Rex: Michael Ochs Archive.com (yes this is legal too)

#4 70's Rock Music

While I do enjoy several of our current trending rock bands - they just don't hold a candle to the older favs. What they produce is exciting but like static noise in the face of silence is exciting while what the 70's produced was more like a classical composition compared to that static..... There is just something about KISS and AC/DC - when even today you can crank up either band with a case of beer and a bonfire and STILL have a party that attracts people of all ages. And to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Stones, Queen, The Who, Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Rush, The Ramones, Bob Seger, Deep Purple, Creedence Clearwater Revival, ZZ Top, War, Yes, Doobie Brothers, Bad Company, Steely Dan, Sex Pistols, Moody Blues, Journey, Patti Smith, Heart, The Doors, Van Halen, Supertramp, Bee Gees, Blue Oyster Cult, Ted Nugent, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Genisis, Billy Joel, and yes last but not least and not really in the "rock" category but the immortal Bob Marley - I say, WE ARE NOT WORTHY!

#5 The Outdoors

Seriously? Get off the computer, go outside. Get in touch with the world around you. To me every time I see a beautiful cloud formation, an Elk in a meadow, smell the thick scent of pine, or look at an expansive view from the summit of a mountain - it is evidence of God. What does the dirt in your area feel like in your bare hand? Mine right now is dry, warm and crumbly with larger rock hard chunks of clay mixed in. Where does the weather come from in your area? Mine oddly enough comes from the NW traveling SE and will swing back that way but usually not enough to hit us twice before continuing on. Can you smell the seasons change? If I had no calendar no way to mark the passage of time I could still tell when Spring or Fall was about to hit by the way the air smells - true, and you can too if you are outside enough and pay attention. Did you know that you can see just fine in the dark outside without a flashlight or any ambient light from the city - in the middle of the woods no less?? You have to give yourself at least 45 minutes of uninterrupted darkness, that means no indiglow on your watch to check the time either. Your pupils will slowly and cautiously dilate to the point where you can see what is around you and even depth. Coyotes? Night Hawks? Deer bedding down? Not scary once you know what those sounds are.

#6 Books

Real books, paper in your hand, the smell of the pages and the sound of them flipping as I pour though a new story. I love the feel of the weight in my hand, the cover art, the look of a shelf full books and the ability to tell alot about a person by glancing at those books. Hopeless romantic? Devoted outdoors-man? Sci-Fi geek? I will know when I see your bookshelf. I love leaving this world and entering another - the ride a good story takes you on. I am just me - but I can be anyone I want to be in the world of a book. Read to your kids - you will be giving them a priceless gift that will keep giving...