day 3...my first love

i'm sure you can tell by my first post on here who my first love is. there were, of course, many silly crushes during elementary school and middle school, but J takes the honor of being the first boy to tell me he loves me.

love is a funny thing and at times it can make you crazy and sometimes it seems impossible. somehow we've managed to make it through and stick together through things most people would break up over. he's always willing to work it out which is one of the things i love most about him, he isn't a quitter. 

i could go on and on about the things i love about him but it's been a busy day. all i can say is that i hope someday we will make that vow to spend the rest of our lives together. 

**just to make a note on my other challenge. i've been doing pretty good so far with my goals. i decided that i'd weigh myself once a week to see how i'm doing. so i'm starting out at 116. i'll make more detailed updates about this goal some other time.

day 2!

today I'm supposed to discuss the meaning behind my blog name. I would think it's pretty self-explanatory but nonetheless, I'll let you all in.


I've had a passion for photography for as long as I can remember. my favorite person in the whole world helped me to see that photography could be something I could do for a living. my aunt chris was one of the most amazing women I have ever met. she married my uncle when i was about 6 or 7 and they had their first baby, emily, when i was 9. being one of the oldest cousins in a big family, i liked to look out for my younger cousins, and especially the babies. they had another little girl, annie, when i was 10 and every time I went down to my grandma's house, I would always go over aunt's house to play with the little girls.


chris also had a passion for photography and she always had her camera out at every family gathering. she was also really in to scrapbooking and keeping track of family memories. she would tell me about all her photography tricks and also told me that for each amazing picture that she took, there were about 100 bad ones she had to throw out. she was young and funny and listened to the cool radio stations, which I thought was awesome.

Chris with Emily and Annie

somewhere soon after annie was born though, my aunt chris found out that she had breast cancer. she was only 30 years old. as i got older, my aunt and uncle would always ask me to come down and babysit for them so I spent a lot of time with my aunt and cousins. she always stayed strong and had a smile on her face. it became even more important for her to write down and record their memories into her scrapbooks. 


five years passed and she went in to remission which was a miracle. what was even more amazing was she was able to get pregnant again and gave birth to their third daughter, ellen. everyone was thrilled because they were sure that this meant she was in the clear. but soon after ellen was born, she started to go down hill. every chance i got i would make the 2 hour drive to Cincinnati, since i had my license by then, to spend time with the girls and my family. 

Chris with Ellen

my aunt fought a long and courageous battle, but about two weeks after ellen's 5th birthday, she went home to God.


it's been about 3 1/2 years since my aunt passed away and I still have trouble telling her story without getting upset. i wouldn't say that the reason i majored in photography was because of her, but she definitely started the spark that led to my passion. right after she passed, i went through a hard time in my life where it seemed that everything was going wrong and i didn't have much hope. but through photography and the insight that it gave me, i was able to make it through. 


so this is where "picture me" comes from. it is also the reason why I got my first tattoo. I'd thought about it for a long time and finally decided to have my favorite bible verse, Corinthians 13:13, written in italian, which is where my mom's side of the family is from. Faith, Hope and Love are three virtues that I live my life by and the three things most important to me. to see it every day in my reflection is a reminder of what I went through and what I still have to look forward to in the future.

another thought...

so i've been thinking about this thirty day challenge and about possibly adding another challenge for myself at the same time. it's been a loooong time since i've worked out regularly and i've gotten pretty out of shape. so i decided that i wanted to do a 30 day weight loss/get in shape challenge.

i don't necessarily think that i need to lose weight, but i feel so weak lately and it's sad to say that i was probably in the best shape of my life when i was 13 years old. i went to a gymnastics meet at my old gym last weekend and while i could still do some of the basics, i tried to do a kip on bars and it was NOT happening. and i was sad. lol i officially feel old. 

btw...for those of you who don't know what a kip is watch this 6 year old do one here. She's flippin amazing. 

anyways...back to my challenge. i'm so busy with class this quarter that i don't have much time to go to the rec center to work out. but here are some goals and guidelines i'd like to achieve: 

• play the workout feature on Just Dance at least twice a week for 30 minutes or more
• go the the RPAC (rec center at OSU) once a week for cardio and strengthening
• stretch at least 5 times a week
• do some strength exercises twice a week at home
• drink more water!
• no fast food unless i absolutely have to...and if i do try to make the healthiest choice
• 1 sweet thing a day
• try to cut back on soda. i usually only drink one a day if that so it shouldn't be too hard.

so those are my goals...kind of wimpy but I'm still young and I don't have the budget to eat like a health freak right now. i'll record my weight once a week and we'll see how it goes! wish me luck!

Day 1!

15 interesting facts about myself:

1.) I competed in gymnastics for 7 years and also pole-vaulting for 6 years in high school and college.

2.) When I was 8 I caught a muskie (fish) that was almost as big as I was.

3.) I've traveled to Europe and visited Austria, Hungary and Germany.

4.) I hate corn bread.

5.) Many of my body parts like to randomly dislocate (toes, hips, shoulders...well the shoulders aren't random haha).

6.) My dad's side of the family has 40 family members: 1 grandma, 10 children, 9 spouses, 14 grandkids, 3 step-grandkids, 1 husband of grandkid, 1 fiance of grandkid, 1 great grandchild. I love my family!

7.) I love babies.

8.) I traveled the historic Route 66 with one of my best friends.

9.) Someday I'd like to visit all of our country's national parks.

10.) My favorite color is green.

11.) I just bought myself a new camera, the Canon 60D, and I can't wait to use it!

12.) I have never broken a bone...minus a small chip when I sprained my ankle and stress reactions in my back.

13.) My favorite smells are lilacs, my grandma's house, and rain.

14.) I think it would be awesome to be a storm chaser.

15.) I have been in school for...19 years of my (almost) 24 year life.

30 Day Blog Challenge

So I was having trouble getting started with this blog and thinking of things to talk about. I saw this blog challenge and I thought it would make a good starting point so I'm going to give it a try!

Day 1-Introduce yourself and give 15 interesting facts

Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name

Day 3-Your first love

Day 4-Your parents

Day 5-Your siblings

Day 6-A picture of something that makes you happy

Day 7-Favorite movies

Day 8-A place you've traveled to

Day 9-A picture of your friends

Day 10-Something you're afraid of

Day 11-Favorite TV shows

Day 12-What you believe

Day 13-Goals

Day 14-A picture you love

Day 15-Bible verse

Day 16-Dream house

Day 17-Something you're looking forward to

Day 18-Something you regret

Day 19-Something you miss

Day 20-Nicknames

Day 21-Picture of yourself

Day 22-Favorite city

Day 23-Favorite vacation

Day 24-Something you've learned

Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

Day 26-Picture of your family

Day 27-Pets

Day 28-Something that stresses you out

Day 29-3 Wishes

Day 30-A picture

snow day

so one of my goals for this year, or resolutions i guess, was to be more disciplined with how i spend my time. i'm taking 5 classes this quarter, the most i've taken since starting at OSU, and i don't have time to waste. 

yet here i am on one of the very few days i'm at home most of the day and instead of reading for biology or studying for one of the two midterms i have next week, i'm browsing itunes and uploading new pictures to my flickr.

ugh. it always starts this way. i was hoping to get my room cleaned and organized but i always find something to distract me and i lose my motivation.

plus it's snowing outside!! 

well i suppose i will try to get back to work now. i'm trying to find good music to use in videos that i make. like more music and less singing. i'm having a hard time finding it though because searching for "instrumental" on itunes doesn't come up with what i want.

adios

the daily wave

eight years ago i was a sophomore in high school. i found out through a mutual friend that a guy i had met in study hall the year before had told her he had a crush on me. naturally i was excited and shocked because i didn't really think i was anything special (i hadn't learned how to do my eyebrows yet and i had braces) and i'd never had a boyfriend before or anyone asking me out for that matter. plus he was HOT! so i put my amazing stalker skills to work and figured out which classrooms he was in at certain periods through the day. i discovered that he had a class down the hall from my locker when i went to switch books for the day.

i was a big wimp and shy in those days so i was too scared to go up and say hi to him. so in an attempt to be coy and flirty, i made sure he saw me and then go to my locker and walk back down the other way of the hallway and just before i turned the corner, i would turn around and wave to him and then he would wave back. i thought i was a genius and that eventually he would come up and say hi so that i wouldn't have to make the first move.

this went on for weeks with nothing! i was almost to the point of giving up when i decided that i would have to be the one to make the first move. so, i wrote him a note asking him if he knew how to snowboard because i had really been wanting to know and maybe he could teach me?? i left it on his desk in his first period class before he got there and had butterflies in my stomach all day waiting for the next time i would see him at my locker. so the time came and i went to my locker and he had left me a note inside my locker saying yes! i was so excited i didn't even notice him and his friend walk up to me and i about had a heart attack. he asked me when i wanted to go and i was so shocked that i could barely talk. but i managed to get myself together and we made a date.

i dragged my friend lee ann along because i was too scared to go by myself and he brought his friend ben. we went on our first date january 16, 2003 to mad river mountain. it almost didn't happen though because he showed up an hour late! but he did show and we had a good time and at the end of the date i got my first kiss. i was in heaven.

eight years later i'm still kissing this same boy, a man now, who can still make my heart flutter. even though we've had our ups and downs and haven't stayed together the whole time, i know we were meant to be together. 

i want to use this blog to tell my stories, worries and hopes. people have always told me that i'm a good writer and i believe that too. i'm much better at communicating this way than i am through speaking which frustrates me sometimes. but anyways, even if nobody else reads this, at least i will have some of my favorites stories from my life written down so i will always remember.