Photography Class Week 2

The past two weeks have been crazy busy! I haven't been home before dark most evenings and haven't had an opportunity to break out the camera.Roller derby is in full swing. We traveled with the Cowboy Capital Rollergirls this weekend to Dallas to play two games against teams in Assassination City and this weekend we're traveling up to Wichita Falls to play in a mashup with 4 other leagues. Maybe I'll be able to take my camera while we're out and about this weekend!

Here are my week 2 photos... xoxo-L

Week 1

It is the first week of the online "Shooting in Manual" class I'm taking with Bella Pop Photography. I was super busy this week and waited until late in the week to take pictures. (I attempted earlier in the week and my camera battery was dead once I drove out to my shooting destination! Epic fail.) I only had a few moments of good light once I got home after work, but I had a blast shooting pictures around my neighborhood. I can't wait to learn more and feel more confident shooting in manual. Here is 4 photos from Week 1.










Thanks Bella Pop! I'm having so much fun!!! oxox

Recap

Well I've been on a sort of blogging hiatus for some time now. I have thought several times about deleting the account altogether. My wonderful cousin from Bella Pop Photography asked me to join her online photography class. In this class I'll be expected to post my progress. I'm so excited to be a part of this project and to learn new tricks on my dslr camera. Stay tuned!!

Meanwhile, I'll catch you up on some important highlights of my life.

-I now have 3 nieces and they are all beautiful!!

-I have joined a roller derby team. Check us out @ www.browncoderbydebutaunts.com

-I have recorded my very first song. You can listen to it HERE

-I had a baby! Okay, just kidding :)

Be love, Tipsy Gypsy

Thanksgiving

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever"-Ps 107:1

This has been another exorbitant year. I spent the majority of my time in San Antonio and I am thankful for the time I had there. I'm thankful for the opportunity to share a home with my best friend and thankful for all of the new faces I met and new friendships that were made. I am thankful for my family's health and for my own and for surviving the H1N1 flu virus. For a while I thought I wasn't going to make it. I am thankful for my family and for the favorable circumstances that allowed me to have lived close to my brother, his wife, and my beautiful niece for the majority of this year. I am thankful for healing and for another year of moving forward; pressing on toward the goal. I am thankful for friends and loved ones that have encouraged me, prayed for me, spent time with me, laughed with me, thought of me, and loved me. I am thankful for my dog Kona, my car that is finally back up and running (thanks to my big brother!), having a roof over my head, and a job that provides; a God that provides. I am thankful for all of those that our paths have crossed and made my life the richer, like Misti for her ceaseless friendship and advice, the Metcalf's for their sincere love and friendship, Shaye Miller who was my first role model, all of my hookers, the Hot Bod Pod,old co-workers, new friends, old friends, my brothers and their wives, my amazing and very large family, and most of all for the unfailing love of our Heavenly Father.
May you be blessed today and always!-L

Happy Birthday Zinnia Pearl!

Zinnia Pearl is not so little anymore. She's a big one year old! We had her birthday party this weekend and she was so adorable opening presents and smiling with her sweet little three toothed grin. She's walking all over the place and even saying a few words too. She did such a great job opening presents and loved her pretty pink birthday cake.





Her very first Build-a-bear from Aunt Linzie



New ride from Grandma Bunny







Cake time!!



Yum Yum!


Clean up time

Zinnia Pearl is almost 1

Turning 1 next month...



Where did the time go?

McGuyver to the Rescue!

My job has its busy moments. It has its junctures of impulse and adrenaline, but most days are calm and quiet with only the simple action of assisting someone who has locked their selves out of the room. I am very grateful for those days. The days I don't have to respond to a fire alarm or a student who is unconscious. Today I responded to a very unusual call. The complainant advised that there were baby ducks in the fountain and unable to get out. Sure enough, when I got to the fountain there were 12 baby ducks all swimming around in the fountain. The cement step leading out of the fountain was about 6 inches from the top water and the poor little ducklings were unable to get out. Now, I am no animal buff, but growing up we had several animals that abandoned their young after having had human contact. I decided the best thing to do was to make some sort of ramp for the ducks to walk up. I searched around campus and finally found a 2x4 that was long enough to reach the water and the first step of cement and it worked! The ducks got the hang of it instantly and helped one another waddle up the ramp and onto dry land! Who knew ducks could be so smart? Unfortunately three little ducklings didn't pay attention to their brothers and sisters and didn't use the ramp to escape. Instead they swam around the fountain darting under water and swimming until they had no breath left. I found a shovel and took off my shoes and socks and climbed in the "recycled water" fountain to scoop the ducks out and place them on dry land. I like to think that they're all safe and sound now and that all of the little ducklings found their Mom and are nestled safely under her wing tonight. They sure were cute little things. As for me, I'll add duck rescuing to my resume tonight.

1/2 Marathon

I took the plunge! A few weeks ago two of my good friends and I were discussing training for a 1/2 marathon. They completed their registration earlier this week and today I did the deed too. It's official. I am running in the 2009 San Antonio Rock'n Roll 1/2 Marathon.
The race is in November and the vigorous training starts now! I spent the day gearing up with some new running shorts and tennis shoes for extra motivation. Say an extra prayer for me this week. I'm sure training this week will have me pretty sore!

My Mimi

Today marks one year of the death of my grandmother Clawson. Some called her Betty, Mom, and Betty Blue, I called her Mimi. She battled many illnesses in her life time and fought a vicious battle of cancer in her later years.
Today I'll share one of my most treasured memories with my Mimi.
I must have been in the 4th or 5th grade. It was the first year my family made what has since become a yearly trip down the Rio Grande River. I was much to young at the time to make the 83 mile paddle, so during spring break I stayed with my Mimi and Grandy in Austin, Texas. At the time Mimi worked for the Texas School for the Deaf and during my week long stay I would tag along with her and "help" her in her office. I spent the days playing on the playground outside, tagging along with the custodian Joyce, who was deaf, or helped Mimi do "important" stuff in her office. She would give me a few quarters to get a snack out of the vending machine across her office and she'd also pack fun lunches for the two of us too. They spoiled me good by taking me to eat Chinese food (which at the time was my favorite!) and also my very first trip to Taco Cabana. Yum! I remember the two of them telling me how the food used to come down in a little shoot in the drive through. Is that true or am I making stuff up now? During the week we stayed at their house in town where I remember climbing into bed every morning between my Mimi and Grandy to watch cartoons. This was SUPER special as I did not have cable tv growing up, not to mention climbing in between the two of them. On Saturday morning we woke up early and went garage sale shopping. One of my Mimi (and Grandy's) favorite Saturday morning activities. Mimi loved going to garage sales and in true Mimi fashion would pick up most everything to inspect. Some days we would be going to garage sales well into the afternoon. She loved jewelry and anything with butterflies on it.
After the garage sale festivities we headed out to their weekend house in La Grange, Texas. They had a farm house on a few acres with a fabulous pond and lots of land to run and play on. After dinner one night Mimi got her mandolin and Grandy his guitar and entertained me with a few songs. My favorite was Skip to my Lu, which was very special to me as my Mimi always called me LuLu or Lu. In fact, for a few years growing up I thought that they had written that song just for me. I later found out while singing the song in school that unfortunately it was a very popular song that most of the world knew. On Sunday we went fishing in the pond. While Grandy was off searching for a big fat yellow grasshopper to put on my lure I was impatiently walking along the bridge over the pond dragging my bare hook in the water. I remember walking back and forth singing to myself (which I did often) and all of the sudden felt a little tug on my line. I quickly stopped singing and tugged back to reel in a small little perch. Who needs grasshoppers?
Unfortunately the week came to a close and my family picked me up after their week long excursion down the Rio Grande River, but my memories of that week will forever be printed on my heart. A weekend well spent with Mimi and Grandy.




"Till we meet, till we meet
Till we meet at Jesus' feet
Till we meet, till we meet
God be with you till we meet again"

Chuckle Chuckle

This March marks the 6th month I've been in San Antonio. Time sure does fly when you're.... working a lot!! It has been a fun ride so far. For the most part I like our little apartment, it's close to work, and I don't want to slit my wrists going to work everyday. (yet)I've met some great friends here too. It's been fun to meet new faces and get to know people from all parts of the world.
One of my favorite people I've collected here so far is Erica. She also works at Trinity and so far we've had many great memories. My roommate was out of town this weekend for Spring Break, so I asked Erica if she would like to go to church with me this morning. Now neither of us have found a church home yet and have been playing the church hopping game for a while. We both decided it'd be fun to try a new place that neither of us had been to. Thanks to google we found a baptist church up the road that seemed to have an active young adults program.
Erica, who grew up Catholic, was a little anxious about attending bible class. I assured her it would be fun and a prime opportunity for us both to make some new friends. Upon arriving at this colossal house of God, we managed to find the Information desk to ask directions to the young adults class. The red cheeked Santa Claus looking man with the lanyard around his neck holding his name tag in place cheerfully agreed to escort us to our class. There was a couple following this jubilant fellow as well. Over the river and through the woods we finally arrived at our class room and awkwardly took our seat as all of the eyes began to sink into my skin from the faithful attendees of this class. The chairs were positioned in a semicircle and we immediately began tossing our names across the room and greeting one another. One of the ladies brought me a visitors card to fill out along with a pen. I put my name in the proper blank and then realized something. There was another blank for "Spouse". I quickly looked around the arch of chairs only to notice guy, girl, guy, girl, wedding band, wedding band, wedding band....oh NO!!!!!!
I looked at Erica and she immediately realized the same thing. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a bulletin board. I turned to make out the title of the bulletin and it read "Couple's Class". I wanted to run out of the class room. Erica even asked if we could just grab our things and run. My face grew red like that stupid Santa Claus man that brought us here. What was he thinking?! Maybe he drank too much eggnog before service. We decided we'd ask for another card and clarify that we were NOT together.
It turns out that the discussion in the class itself was very enjoyable, apart from it being completely mortifying. We were invited to join them the following Sunday and it became apparent to me how willing they were to accept anyone. That is to say that my friend Erica and I were infact "together"--which we WEREN'T. I guess it was just refreshing to see Christians loving like Christ loved, if that makes sense. Needless to say, Erica and I bolted the first chance we could trying not to make eye contact with anyone...unless it was that silly red faced man and then I might have a few things to say with my fist. Oh, okay maybe I'm all talk!

Skipper and the Hog

I woke up early one day last week to a text message my oldest brother in New Mexico had sent me. It read "Dad hit a hog on his motorcycle last night. He's out of the hospital now and okay. Just broke some ribs and is skinned up". I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and read it again. My Dad? I thought to myself. My Dad doesn't have a motorcycle.

I immediately called my Dad to verify this information. He answered and I could tell in his voice that it was indeed true. He told me in his shaky voice how it had happened as best he could with being dosed up on pain killers and having suffered a concussion. He explained that he was driving back from Sidney and hit the hog. It was dark and knowing my Dad I'm sure he was having a hard time seeing. He was not wearing a helmet, which I made sure he would now and forever more.
Every part of me wanted to jump in the car and drive up to see him. My Dad is one tough dude, and I was afraid he was trying to put on a brave face for his little girl. With my new job I was unable to just jump in the car and go, but thankfully was able to get a picture of Dad so that my heart could rest easy...somewhat at least. The first picture I recieved was of him in the hospital before they cleaned him up from all of the road rash and it's a hard picture to look at, so I'm posting the after shot.
Keep Daddy in your prayers. He ended up breaking 4 ribs and has severe damage to his ankle and knee. Not to mention multiple deep gashes and lots of road rash.



Only in Texas would this happen AND you'd go back to take a picture of it.

Mace in ya face

It truly was the worst feeling ever. I had no idea that a person had feeling on the backside of their eyeballs. It was 45 minutes of excruciating pain. It felt like someone had dumped a pound of sand in my eyeball, stabbed them with 10,000 knives, and then set them on fire all at the same time. All the while I was trying to squeeze my butt cheeks together to prevent another ring of fire and taking deep breathes of extremely spicy air so that I would not vomit my McDonald's chicken nuggets I had eaten for lunch.

As part of taking on this new job I had to be sprayed with OC Spray. OC Spray is the law enforcement issued form of pepper spray. Oleoresin Capsicum is a chemical compound that irritates the eyes to cause tears, pain, and temporary blindness.The active ingredient in OC Spray is capsaicin, which is a chemical derived from the fruit of plants in the Capsicum genus, including chilis.

They first lined me up outside with my hands stretched away from my body, eyes shut tight, and mouth closed. I was sprayed from less than 3 feet away with a bright orange colored stream right to the eyes. I then had to open my eyes and let the chemical sink into my eyes for a few seconds. It took less than a second for me to feel the pain. I was then allowed to begin flushing my eyes with water and immediately dunked my head into an awaiting tub of water. It took me almost 30 minutes of splashing water in my eyes non-stop as fast as I could before I could stop without feeling like I would vomit or die. I remember even contemplating ways that I might could make myself pass out so that I could escape the pain. It took several hours to regain full vision and even when I went to bed that night it felt like I still had huge rocks in my eyes. Every time I blinked I could feel little pockets of burning gunk in the deep crevasses of my eye balls.
I don't recommend this to anyone. It was truly the worst pain I could have imagined and I was definitely not prepared for how bad it actually was.
Thanks to Lee I was able to get a few shots of this horrendous experience.

Officer Bessent

From waitressing to ice cream truck driving, cutting flowers to serving coffee, I am here to tell you I am now a Patrol Officer!
As many of you know I am in terrible debt from a semester unpaid at Abilene Christian University. They are holding my transcript until the amount is paid in full and as a result, I am unable to attend any University and receive financial aid. Don't worry, folks. I found the loop hole!!
I found that if you are an employee of a University classes are free! So, I looked online to see what jobs Trinity University had to offer. At the time they only had one job posted, and that was for a clerical position in the Security department. I quickly applied and had an interview later that week. Unfortunately, I did not get the job and continued to work my waitressing job. A few weeks later I got a phone call from Trinity's Security Department telling me that they had another position available that they felt I was "more qualified for". I quickly agreed to meet for a second interview and made an appointment later that afternoon. In the interview they told me of the new opening which was for a Patrol Officer position. How in the world was I more qualified for that?!! After discussing the pay and the benefits I took the job and am now a Patrol Officer!
I'm going on week 4 of training. It's been crazy so far. I never would have thought I'd find myself in the place I am today. Life is funny. I wear a badge and a duty belt loaded with cool weapons to work.

Happy 3 Months, Zinni Bug!

My how time flies! I can't believe my little niece is already 3 months old!! She's growing so fast and just gets cuter and cuter every day. My work schedule has gotten a little kink in it and I haven't been able to visit her on my regular Thursday each week. Here is a super cute shot from my visit with her just this Tuesday. It is still so weird to me that my brother is a Daddy! It seems like just days ago we were out tromping through the back 40. I sure do love being close to him and my wonderful sister in-law and of course my Zinni bug!

Dryer Fiasco

I dedicated part of my day to catching up on laundry. My poor roommate has been in and out so much I decided I'd help her catch up too. Our apartment complex has its own little laundry room with several coin operated washers and dryers. I was in a hurry to take the laundry out of the dryer, run it upstairs to our apartment, lay it all out flat, change into my clean work clothes, and get to work on time. As I bent down to grab the last of the clothes I hit my forehead on the metal quarter slot that protrudes out from the dryer. It was a pretty forceful blow. The girl that was next to me in the laundry mat immediately asked if I was alright and I quickly responded with a tough "Oh, yeah, hah, I'm fine!" while inside I was screaming "Sweet Lord!! Take MY LIFE NOW!!!" It hurt so bad and the worst of it was I couldn't even scream all of the profane things that were jutting through my mind. I gathered the last of my laundry and squeezed past the girl. She looked at me again, gasp, and said "Oh my! Are you sure you're alright?!". I assured her with the bravest of faces I could muster that I was great! As I arrived in my apartment I immediately dropped the laundry basket and went straight for the bathroom. As I looked in the mirror I noticed a stream of blood trickling down my forehead and onto my cheek! No wonder the girl in the laundry room was so concerned! I had to call work and tell them I'd be a a little late as I was panicking at home trying to decide if I needed to make a trip to the hospital for some stitches or if the bleeding would subside after a few minutes of pressure. Thankfully it did just that and I was able to clean up a bit and head to work with only a pounding headache and some yucky hair.


(picture not taken on the scene--compliments of Bella Pop Photography)

Happy Holidays!

I've been somewhat of a Scrooge the past couple holidays. I used to love Christmas time-- decorating the tree, listening to Carol of the Bells, driving around town looking at Christmas lights, making (but mostly eating) Christmas Candy. I guess the charm has been taken away a bit. My poor roommate has heard her fair share of my "Bah, humbug" exclamations when anything about Christmas is mentioned.
So, tonight I am turning over a new leaf! Our apartment now has a tiny bit of Christmas spirit. I bought my very first Christmas ornament today. Or my first 6. It used to be a little tradition that my family and I would do. Well, it was mostly just a custom with my Mom and I, because we enjoyed it the most. Every year we would pick out a new ornament to go on our tree. We had a few different "sets" of ornaments, but there was one set that was my favorite. It was a contemporary set with lots of bright purples, and greens, and turquoise's, and reds with a matching purple silk tree skirt. I loved it! I also bought two stockings to hang on our mantel. It's fun to actually have a mantel!
Lee is in Colorado for the weekend as Trinity has a game tonight. Go TU! I can't wait for her to get back and see that I'm NOT a Scrooge.....anymore!




How could I forget?! I spent yesterday (Thursday) with Zinni, Kim, and Cale. We had so much fun. We gave Zinnia a bath and she just LOVED splashing around in the water. Zinnia was wishing her Aunt Nikki could be in Texas to join the slumber party, so she decided to write her a letter. She's so smart and growing up so fast!!!






Love to you all and Happy Holidays!!!

Thursdays with Zinnia

So, I am typically off work each week on Thursday and have devoted this day to spending time with my brand new niece. It amazes me how much she has changed in just 6 days each time that I visit. Here are just a few shots of my Thursdays with Zinnia.


My first Thursday with Zinnia. I don't think I could give this girl enough kisses!


Little monkey girl.


Holding her head up like a big girl.


She can already roll over from her tummy to her back.


Another perk to 'Thursdays with Zinnia' is seeing my beautiful Sister in Law.

Being Thankful

I try to do this every year. Mostly they are jotted down in my journal, but since I've started blogging I think it'll be neat to express my gratitude through here.

I am thankful for my family,
it has been a rough year.
We are called to be thankful
through the good and the bad,
so for the bad times I am thankful.
I don't believe I'd have the relationship
with my Father as I do now
if the bad hadn't of happened.
I am thankful for my Brothers and their
beautiful wives.
I am thankful for the opportunity to
grow closer with my siblings.
The months we shared in Rockport
filled with many laughs and many tears.
I am thankful for the new place I am at,
my wonderful roommate, our quaint little apartment,
and living in a city full of people
that need to feel the love of Christ.
I am thankful for my new niece Zinnia.
She is healthy and beautiful and full of life.
I am thankful for the opportunity to live close to her
and see her often.
I am thankful for the Till family.
My friendship in Misti and the joy her children bring me.
I am thankful for my friends. Spread as far as Oregon
to New Zealand and everywhere in between.
I am thankful for the health of my family,
the health of my friends, and the health of my own.
I am thankful for my travels
and the friends I have made along the way.
I am thankful for my precious dog Kona.
I am thankful for my spiritual growth, for a little bit of healing this year,
and for the coming to do only more.

November 19th

Although my intention was to avoid another rant on the subject of my parents divorce, I'm having a bit of difficulty doing so today as my mind continues to return to this specific day one year ago. November 19th,2007. I never dreamed that that day would happen. It wasn't supposed to happen, I thought. MY parent's marriage of almost 30 years was proof that commitment could last forever. Then November 19th happened. I somehow feel at times that I am responsible for picking it up. A year ago today, I really thought that it was possible, to pick it all up. Like a cup spilled on the coffee table; something that could be cleaned up and mended. They say that time will heal, but I disagree. It only proves that everything is temporary.
I sat in church tonight and listened to a woman speak about Paul sailing to Rome. It's a story in Acts commonly known as The Storm at Sea. and about a man named Paul who displayed extraordinary faith. At this particular time, Paul was a prisoner aboard a boat headed for Rome along with 276 other men. This boat was caught in a massive storm, but through Paul's bold and unshakable faith all 276 men were able to arrive safely to dry land. You can read the whole story in Acts chapter 27.
I was thinking about this storm of Paul's and also thinking about this storm that I have been undergoing for the majority of this past year. I feel similar to Paul in the sense that a good man is trapped in such a tragic and tempestuous storm. It is often told that people are taken through these "storms" in life so that after the storm has calmed they will be able to help someone later in life who is going through a similar storm. I fully agree that that is possible, but tonight I encountered something different. Perhaps I am in this storm for all of the other people that are in this storm. I am like Paul, a prisoner amongst 276.

"22But now I urge you to have courage because there will be no loss of life among you, but only loss of the ship. 23For just last night an angel of God, to whom I belong and whom I serve, stood by me 24and said, ‘Stop being afraid, Paul! You must stand before Ceasar. Indeed, God has given to you the lives of everyone who is sailing with you.’ 25So take courage, men, because I trust God that it will turn out just as he told me."

Perhaps I am in this storm for my Mom and Dad. A couple who at one time had a beautiful family that took weekend camping trips together and sat down at the dinner table to enjoy a good home cooked meal.
Maybe I am in this tempest for my two Brothers and their new wives. So that I can be their Paul, and stand up with amazing faith and say take heed brothers, God has given me the lives of everyone sailing with me.
Maybe I am in it for everyone affected by November 19th.
Maybe I am not in this storm to pat someone on the shoulder later and tell them "I know what you're going through".
Maybe I am in it for the 276.

The good news to this story is that Paul and his 276 landed safely on an Island called Malta. Some of them were able to swim and some of them floated in on planks and remnants of the broken ship, but they all arrived protected just as promised. SO, take courage, friends, for I trust that it will turn out just the way God has told.

Tonight,I ask you, my readers, to say a little prayer for me and those who are sailing along with me. This storm has been long, it's been windy, and it's been very rough. Pray for courage and for the hearts of my 276.

Marge Simpson

We had a little trouble fitting.

I love Halloween. This year I thought long and hard on my costume and at the last minute finally decided on Marge Simpson. This costume was, for the most part, simple. Basically all I needed to focus on was the hair. I got two blue wigs from the local Wal-Mart, a three liter coke bottle, and a hot glue gun. I cut the top off of the three liter bottle and hot clued it to the top of the wig. I then, sectioned off pieces of the hair, pulled them up onto the bottle and glued them down for security. One wig was just not enough, as Marge's beehive is quite an updo. I took the second wig and cut pieces off to create a somewhat "curly" look for this cartoonish halloween costume. I searched high and low for the perfect green dress, and unfortunately this is where the costume fell a little short. If you recall Marge wears a strapless green dress with a strand of large red beads around her neck. Given the season, I found it difficult to find a place with a strapless green dress. People at work loved the costume regardless and I found that tips were much higher due to me wearing a costume. Thank goodness no one found any Blue hairs in their entree. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to blame that on anyone else!
Later that night after arriving home I found my roommate searching for a costume to wear throughout the house so that we could go out. Now, if you know Lee at all you know that she's not much of a "go out" girl. I was thrilled at this opportunity and tried vigorously to find her something to wear too. We tried being a hippie, a cowgirl, and finally--TOGA, TOGA, TOGA!!! We decided that Marge couldn't go out because Homer was drunk from all of his Duff beer, so I threw on a Toga too! (This brought back some good memories) So here it is folks, Lee's very first Halloween adventure!!!