A Quick Trip to Memphis--Day 2

Today was so suffocatingly hot that we could barely go outside. The humidity was like 90%, and it was about 97 degrees. Plus, we had thunderstorms. Steamy.

But after the storms cleared, I took Kendall and Jax outside to grab a few pictures of them. Just some casual, summer stuff. I processed some of them using Flora Bella's Spring actions.

I also snapped a few photos of the neighbor's spectacular backyard--including my favorite Stargazer Lilies.

I had to head back home right after an early dinner, and right around Jackson, TN, I caught this spectacular sunset--which I shot while holding my camera over my shoulder, driving down the interstate, not even looking to see where it was aimed.

What a Lovely Surprise!

One of the dear girls from the Two Peas in a Bucket Photography forum sent me some great Happy Mail all the way from Hawaii! Elizabeth has an ETSY shop where she sells designer camera strap covers. She sent me this beautiful strap cover as a gift! I just love having so many friends all over the world and being able to stay connected through Facebook and internet forums and message boards!

A Little Western Flair from Thursday...

Here are a few more from last Thursday. Love the attitude I'm getting in some of these. Of course, she threatened to steal my boots and take them back to Hawaii with her.

Our Downtown Session

So after the field in Kingston Springs, we headed to downtown Nashville. I should have been paying attention to local news, and I would have known they were getting ready for CMA-fest, previously known as Fan Fair. So some of the place we wanted to shoot were either inaccessible because of flood damage, or because of CMA-fest. The Symphony Hall was still barricaded while they tried to dry out all the water damage from a month ago. The Country Music Hall of Fame had a bunch of white tents in front of it for Fan Fair. And there was heavy machinery on the Pedestrian Bridge. We worked around all that as best we could. That and the harsh sun which was still blasting down on us.

How freakin' awesome are these shoes?

Aleah + Skye

Here are a few more from Thursday morning. This is Aleah and Skye...

Vintage Betsy Johnson

This is Parrish's favorite dress, from Betsy Johnson's Vintage Collection. Betsy is Parrish's favorite designer, and she was absolutely thrilled to find this darling dress in a second-hand store with the original tags still on it. She got it for a steal! We shopped everywhere for the perfect shoes, but couldn't find what we were looking for. We finally gave up and she wore my Kenneth Coles. I made the headband for her.

So this morning, we met up with Rebekah, Aleah, and Skye, and drove down to my favorite neighborhood in Franklin--Westhaven. It was the perfect spot for this session. Unfortunately, it was miserably hot! We lasted about an hour and a half before giving into the heat, and deciding to go to lunch.

Just as we were about to leave, Rebekah discovered the battery in her van was dead! If I had driven my car instead of Parrish driving hers, we would have been fine, as I have two sets of jumper cables in my truck. But Parrish didn't have any. A very kind man coming home from his morning walk knocked on several doors to try and find us a set of cables, but no one who was home had any. We finally drove to Wal-mart in Parrish's car and bought a set. But first we had lunch at Genghis Grill. Love that place! (Ran into Zach while I was there, too.)

Fortunately, Rebekah's van started right up with a little jump from Parrish, and we all headed home to our air conditioning and Photoshop!

Here's the first set of images from this morning...

The Aftermath

One thing I can say about Tennessee--we are the VOLUNTEER STATE! In the wake of catastrophic flooding, volunteers have literally flooded the neighborhoods to help others. The Red Tree Coffee House has been the command center for Kingston Springs and Pegram, and owners/sisters Amy Bruce and Katie Conley spearheaded the organization of volunteers and dispatched them to those in need. (See local news story.) The Methodist church across the street was command center for food, with volunteers making sack lunches for both those who lost their homes, and the volunteers helping with the clean up.

Kelly volunteered to help clear debris and rip out ruined drywall from homes in the Shacklett area, which was particularly hard hit. And is a rather poor area to begin with. I volunteered to help make lunches and deliver them to workers in the Harpeth Meadows and Tanglewood subdivisions. I also spent some time at the Middle School, which has been turned into a Red Cross Relief Center, helping them organize donations of food, water, clothing, tools, and cleaning supplies.

I didn't take any photographs today. There was something about it that would have felt like I was intruding on people's pain and suffering, since I was seeing first hand the damage to people's homes, not just public areas and streets.

There was a big BBQ for all the victims and volunteers at Red Tree tonight, but I had already committed to photographing a graduation party for some young men at Brentwood Academy.

It's Finally Finished!!!

After months and months of planning and work and spending money...my new home office and craft room is finished!

After Parrish announced that she was not moving back here after she finished college, we decided that space was too precious around here to waste it on a room that was only used for two weeks at Christmas and a month in the summer. So Parrish's bedroom is now my office.

No matter how much planning went into it, there are still some things that aren't exactly as I would like, but I haven't been able to figure out a better solution at this time--like where my printer and scanner are located. And my craft desk is a bit too small, but nothing any bigger will fit. And I'm not thrilled with the filing drawers--they are made for 12x12 scrapbook paper, not my business files. Also, we plan to replace the ceiling light fixture with a fan now that I have experienced how warm the computer equipment and lights make the room.

But overall, I am very pleased with the results, and I really enjoy spending time in this room!