Get out and go...

As I have been daydreaming about getting out and going far, I have been thinking about how I can use this same idea everyday or just once a week to fulfill my need for wanderlust.

I don't believe you have to go far to explore and start to understand the world.

I came up with a list that would remind me to see what is in my town. First, get out of the house. Second, know my block. Third, walk down my street and around my neighborhood. Forth, go to the shops around the square. Last, set a goal- walk all the streets of my town. 

You must first get out of your house. Spend time in your yard, watch the day go by laying in the grass. If your scared to lay in the yard, find a chair. 

Second, get to know your block. Talk with your neighbors, be friendly. Relationships will develope and a stronger sense of comradery will be formed. 

Third, take a walk down your street and then your neighborhood. You can find so many interesting things, people and ideas. Your world also becomes bigger at this point. 

Forth, if there are business, go to them! Support them, shop them, eat at them, use them. I love errand days where I can put the kids in the stroller and walk around our town. 

Last, set a goal. See every street, ally, neighborhood, shop, business, park, walking path or civic area within your town. Do this all by foot! We miss things when we get in our cars and start moving faster.

Getting out and going doesn't have to be anymore than a destination across town. The point is to explore and grow.

Four Years...

Emerson, you are officially four years old. 

People all the time say, enjoy it because it goes by fast. Just so you know, I have enjoyed it and it has gone by fast. 

I am so glad that you are our first child. You have set us up to always be prepared, keep our eyes peeled and your dad and I can both run the 40 yard dash in 4 seconds. Your a great trainer!

I asked each family member why they love Emerson...

Rhys- I love Emerson. (Me- why do you love him?) Rhys- Ummmmm....

Eric- I love Emerson because he's such a free spirit and a little rambunctious, independent, and adventurous, but also caring and thoughtful. He has such a great sense of humor & wild imagination. He has such a fun personality. I love him so much!

Jill- I love Emerson because he is a love that I had not experienced until I met him. He is independent, strong willed and daring. He makes my hands full and my heart overwhelmed with joy. He is fast, always thinking, observant and caring. I am grateful he is mine. I love him more than I can say. 

For the entire school year you talked about having an Optimus Prime birthday party. We hosted a messy play date for your celebration. The swimming pools, sprinkler, sand box, finger painting and tattoos were a hit with everyone. Your cupcakes had homemade Transformer picks that filled your want for an Optimus Prime cake. 

You truly enjoyed spending that day with your friends and your official day camping and hiking with your family. 

Happy birthday to our first little boy. We love you more than you will ever know!

A walk in the woods...

I love hiking. I love the sense of accomplishment that it gives me. We hiked a lot while camping this past weekend. 

The County Fair...

One of my favorite summertime traditions. 

Favorite things...

Street Photography.

The other day I was going through photos and I opened up the folder with all of my pictures from my study abroad in Italy.  I knew that I had taken a lot of pictures of people in public space, I just forgot how much I liked what I saw. I tried "making art" with these but failed at my first attempt. I now love them just the way they are.

So, for your viewing pleasure my art project about how people use public spaces or events and why are some spaces are better than others. It's a working title. I was trying to merge my landscape studies with my art studies. I think what I ended up with is some really great street photography.

This last picture, I want to be that lady. This was a street race that was going through Florence. It was pretty cool to see and I bet even more spectacular as a passenger in one of the cars.

So, these are all shot a little differently. Some I am looking right through the lens at the people, those are the ones where the someone in the picture is staring directly at you. The rest are all shot by pointing my camera at what I saw, shooting away and hoping that I captured what I wanted. 

I have been taking so many pictures of my kids lately that I don't think I am looking at what is all around me. Looking back through this Italy file makes me what to photograph more of the world around me.

Daydreaming...

Of road trips.

Somewhere in Pennsylvania.

We have been talking about our next camping trip, Labor Day Weekend plans and a couple of adult getaways we have planned. All of that talk has me daydreaming about our next great American adventure. I am hoping for a road trip through part of the south and southwest. Not really sure when we are going to tackle a big trip like that, again.

Since meeting Eric, we have been on over a dozen road trip adventures. I think it's the best way to see everything and anything in the USA. Our first trip together was a trip to Florida to bring in the new year at the beach. We sailed through the trip with ease, I think our only mishap was too much sun. Oh, and maybe the fact that I fell asleep way before the clock struck 12 on New Year's Eve. 

After realizing that we travel pretty well together we knew we wanted to travel more. Over the next couple of years we took a few weekend trips, I joined Eric on a couple of his work trips and we kind of followed a band around a bit. 

It wasn't until we planned a vacation trip with a work trip in 2010 that I really fell in love with road trips. Our trip took us through Ohio and Pennsylvania, to some places in New York State, a few nights in  Niagara Falls, Canada, a couple of nights and some places in Connecticut, and then a final a night in Pennsylvania. We packed so many places into this trip and a super important event in our life that I didn't think anything could top it.

Our first morning we awoke to being in the clouds.

The view from our room on the 52 floor! This is the highest I had ever stayed in a hotel. It was so cool to be looking down at Niagara Fall, all of the city around, and Buffalo. We totally lucked out on the room. As we drove into Canada we booked a room that was super cheap that had a fireplace. We thought, it's got to be nice, right? Well, it was! It was a suite on the 52 floor with a view. 

We were there about two weeks before the high volume tourist season. That is how we lucked out!

I recommend taking a Maid of the Mist tour. You get pretty close to the falls but not close enough to touch them. You can feel how tall they are, the noise they make is crazy loud and you hear all about the attempts to go over the falls.

This was in the hallway on the walk to the dock. Of course you will slip if you are walking on an oil spill. I am sure there is a better graphic they could use.

The band that we kind of followed around for the summer. This was our forth show. Hartford, CT.

 Somewhere in Connecticut.

Somebody's kite.

We then started heading home and called a friend along the way for a visit. They graciously offered for us to stay the night. We did. When the morning came we started our trek back across Pennsylvania through Ohio and home to Indiana to start planning our next big thing. Our wedding.

This is the trip that Eric asked me to marry him.

We love seeing things in the world but the sight of our home after a long road trip is so welcoming.

I think I am going to share some of our older trip stories, so these old memories are written down with our new memories.