I Am A Photographer Campaign

Awhile back I posted about the I Am A Photographer campaign that Clickinmoms was hosting.  You'll find that post here: I Am A Photographer-campaign

I am thrilled, honored, and proud that my photo was selected to be a part of the video campaign.

The video is inspiring and very powerful!  I am so blessed and lucky to have found Clickin Moms and to be a part of such an amazing community of women!

Check out the video and the campaign here:  My picture is at the very end. 

http://www.clickinmoms.com/iam/

My kind of town

I love Chicago!  I lived there for nearly 10 years and have had some of my all time favorite memories happen there!!  Having moved there right after college it's a place where I really came into my own.  I lived in first time crappy apartments. I was a wide eyed twenty something exploring the city as if I was a child in a new playground!  I gained confidence and experience in my teaching career.  I jumped feet first into working in the inner city Chicago Public Schools.  It was the hardest job I ever had yet I look at those years as a tremendous time for personal and professional growth.  It made me love Chicago even more because I loved and adored my students who lived in these neighborhoods. Neighborhoods that had I not been employed there I never would have stepped foot in!  It made me want to be the best teacher for them because gosh darn it they deserved it as much as the kids in the near by private schools or the swanky suburbs!  I was proud of my work and I knew I was making a difference!  I also made life long friendships during my years living there.  When your single living in the city friends were your family!  Long before Sex and the City made it trendy, my girlfriends and I would explore new restaurants, bars, festivals, etc.. We met boys and dated lots!  All the while sharing and laughing at our experiences together.  I was a joiner...I somehow always knew this was my time for me!  I had a career, I had a great apartment in a great neighborhood, I had great friends and family and I lived in a wonderful city with so much to offer!  I volunteered with Chicago Cares- working every other Saturday at place called The Living Room Cafe- a food shelter for the homeless, I took up guitar lesson for years at a little place called The Old Town School of Folk Music.  I was on a volleyball team where we played in the summer every Wednesday at North Avenue Beach.  I attended plays and improv shows at quaint little theaters.  I got involved with my church and went to Guatemala with Habit for Humanity to build a house!  Eventually, after many years of being single I met my husband in the city at the Old St. Pats Block Party...we later that evening had our first conversation at a friends party- on a roof top with The Sears Tower as a backdrop.  Yes, indeed I will forever have a special place in my heart for Chicago and the countless memories it brought me!

On Saturday, June 25th I was a tourist in Chicago going sailing with some friends.  It was a fantastic time and reminded me how fun it is to take advantage of all the city has to offer!  While we were driving through our old stomping grounds I was reminded of all the memories I made while living there. While I sometimes miss those days I take comfort in knowing I left no stone unturned... I whole heartily embraced those years there!  While I write all this down as sort of a love letter to my beloved city I also want to remind myself that I experienced so much before I got married and had kids.  It's something I'm very proud of and it's a lesson I want to teach my girls someday.  While I was waiting for love to come along I didn't stop living until I found the one.  Which reminds me of two favorite quotes I often referred to back in the day: 

"How wrong is it for woman to expect the man to build the world she wants, rather than set out to create it herself." - Anais Nin

"People often understand love only as a need.  They begin to see love as something that flows to them rather than from them. The secret to love is that it's a gift and can be made to grow only by giving it away."

Some photos from our sailing excursion-

The interview...

I recently came across this blog post (check it out here... blog post) from Becky Higgins blog and was inspired to try it out on Mallory.

The blog post discusses ways to document what your children say.  One of the ways they discussed was to conduct an interview with various questions they can answer and to write down word for word what they say.  I used the sample questionnaire (from the blog post), eliminating some questions that weren't age appropriate for a 2 year old.  I asked Mallory the questions while I video recorded her answers.

These were some of her answers: 
What is your favorite color? Purple
What is your favorite book? Llama llama Red Pajama, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie 
What is your favorite food to eat? Chicken Nuggets 
What is your favorite song to sing? Turkey in the Trot (from Barney)                                             

My hope is to continue to do this every so often as a way to preserve their words, ideas, and thoughts as they grow from age to age.  Awhile back I wrote a blog post about Mallory at 22 months: all her favorites, her skills, the things she loves to do etc.. I recently went back and read it and was surprised that some of the things I never would have remembered had I not written them down.  Everybody tells you how fast they grow, enjoy every moment etc..  As self appointed family archiver I love being able to chronicle our family life for safe keeping.  I truly believe these are the little things we can do for our children that someday will be cherished in really big ways.

Here's my Mallory update at 2 1/2 years old....

-You love Mac and Cheese, Chicken Nuggets, Guacamole, and any fruit ever offered.
-Some of your favorite toys are puzzles, train set, doctor kit, Mr Potato Head, Crayons (coloring), Candy Land, and playing in your kitchen.
-You love your routine and like things to be done the same exact way over an over. If we or a babysitter happens to do something out of the routine you get very upset.
-You are a great big sister to Jillian.  Lately you have been trying to teach her words, you say "Jillian, say Ma Ma", "Jillian say Lady" etc.  Every night when mommy is reading to Jillian before bed you turn on her night light, turn on her lullaby music and giver a kiss goodnight.
-You are a great "sharer"!  You aren't territorial over your toys and never have been.  Whenever someone comes over to play it never occurs to you to say "That's mine", or "You can't play with that".
-You are 100% daddy's girl through and through!! 
-You love Barney!!  You know all the songs from it and sing and dance along with each episode.
-You continue to love books and have moved on from board books, you prefer real storybooks.
-You know almost all your letters, can count to 15, you know what town you live in, can say your full name, can spell your first name, can say your birthday, can identify basic shapes and colors.
-You are not potty trained yet and every time mommy asks you if you are going to go on the potty you say "soon mommy", or "sometime". 
-You and Jillian are the light of our lives and always will be!!

“Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them.”  -Richard L Evans

So much inspiration....

Wow, since I decided to do project 365 I have been searching through all the other blogs/projects of fellow photographers who are beginning this journey as well and I am overwhelmed with all the inspiration I am finding....not to mention the unbelievable talent of so many women photographers who continue to blow me away!!  I stumbled upon this fabulous blog and had to share this article also written about 365!!  Good golly does this inspire me beyond belief!!  Simply beautiful sentiments.... http://shuttersisters.com/home/2011/1/4/a-day-in-the-life-of-365.html 

In keeping with the 365 discussion, I thought I'd share a photo that is a runner up for today's 365 shot....

Mallory had her first "All By Myself" class today, where she was in a park district class without me for much of the time.  She did fabulous and seemed to enjoy it!! This shot was taken right before we left for the class...
my baby is growing up so fast...

Project 365

I am thrilled and so excited to be starting Project 365!!  After being part of the clickinmoms (http://www.clickinmoms.com/)  community this past year I learned about project 365 through other members/photographers who were in the process of  the project.  In short, it's taking one photo a day for one year. My goal is simply to document my family, complete the project and hopefully learn and grow as a photographer. The whole idea being that it forces you to pick up your camera everyday.  My hope is to capture the "every day", the times and moments that I wouldn't normally have my camera out.  My friend Tiffany took on the task and completed it this past year!  Her blog post about it inspired me even more to decide to do this challenge!!  For great inspiration check out her blog post here:   http://www.peanutblossom.com/blog/2010/12/life-is-too-precious-to-let-the-days-go-by-unnoticed.html

I have included a link on my blog home page entitled Project 365.  Would love any feedback, if you're interested in checking it out!!  Wish me luck!! 

Update: As my first week doing this project comes to an end, just thought I'd add a runner up from one of the days.

A Little Bit Of Old Town

Once in awhile, if we’re lucky I believe we can stumble upon a place that truly makes us be in the moment, and truly makes us think this is where I’m supposed to be. That place for me was The Old Town School of Folk Music. I discovered The Old Town School in the summer of 2000 when I became a guitar student there and then went on to work at their Music and Theater camps for several summers. During those years I met wonderful people, saw countless performances, learned guitar, and made life long friendships. Every Tuesday night after class all the students would convene in the concert hall for one big jam session, strumming collectively to the music of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and other folk legends. I was there the night of September 11, 2001. Classes were cancelled but we all gathered in the concert hall playing songs like Helplessly Hoping and This Land is Your Land while we tried to comprehend the horrific events that unfolded that day. I remember performing on the stage there with my fellow coworkers during the end of the camp session. I remember meeting friends for coffee at the cafe before class. I spent many a summer day teaching kid’s improv games during Theater camp. There truly are endless memories that this place brought me. This past weekend I experienced little bit of old town while at my good friend Naomi’s wedding celebration. I was reminded of how special that place really was to me as I saw my friend and reminisced with some old friends from the school. I’m not sure if I’ll ever have another Old Town, I think much of the experiences were derived from a combination of where I was at in my life coupled with the good fortune of meeting all the great people at that time. However, what I can do is to take those experiences and remember. Remember what brought out that feeling of never wanting to be anywhere else. In doing so, perhaps I’ll bring a little bit of old town into my everyday life and all the while I’ll never forget what I was given. This Blog entry is dedicated to Naomi and Claire.

Old Town At Night

My music camp kids in the concert hall

Naomi and me in Wells Park during camp, summer 2002

Naomi and me at her wedding celebration