Well this is it friends. Time for the contest/give-a-way in honor of my 777th post. I've had many of you email me in regard to this contest questioning when it will begin and end. Therefore, I've listed some basic details about the contest below...
In order to enter the drawing, you must take a photograph and include a sign of some sort reflecting that "AGD was there" within that shot. The sign can say something like..."AGD was here in Dallas, Texas" or something like "We love AGD in Canada!" Feel free to be creative if you'd like to. The picture would be even more awesome if it could reflect something within your city, country, state, etc. along with the signage. Anyone can be in the photo as well. You don't HAVE to have people in it but it would be just as fun if you did.
PLEASE LINK DIRECTLY TO YOUR POST ABOUT AGD and not to your blog in general. When linking on MckLinky, we must be able to click and it take us directly to the AGD post.
You must leave a comment in the comments area here on my blog once you've linked to McKLinky.
The contest runs from today (Friday, July 31st) thru Monday night at midnight. The MckLinky list will close at 12:00am on Monday, August 3rd. Therefore, you must get your photograph taken and placed on your blog by then. Once you have, please link to your blog from mine by way of the McKLinky list. By doing so, everyone visiting will be able to travel to your blog, check it out, and see the AGD signage for the contest as well. Not only is this just down right fun but it will promote blog traffic to your blog A LOT!
If you are not a blog reader, no worries. Just email your photo to me at Angie@AngelicaGraceDesigns.com between now and Monday at midnight. I'll add your photo to the blog as well as enter your name into the drawing.
If you have friends that are bloggers whom which you can coerce to participate, have them post a blog and a photo as well. Then, notify me that this person is your friend and has added a post via their blog too. By doing so, you will get 5 extra entries into the drawing. Your friend who participates will also be entered into the contest drawing as well.
I will have one of my children draw the name out of the hat on Wednesday, August 5th. I'll announce the winner of the contest shortly after that. The winners name will be posted on my blog once we've pulled the name.
Here are some up close shots of the beach bag and the goodies that will come inside it...
ABOVE: We have Philosophy's "party girl trio pack." I love, love, love these. They came from Sephora and include three shampoo, shower gel, and body washes. The names of them are ROCKIN'! Tantini, Blingtini, and teeny tiny string Bikini. Too fun! Not only are the names and colors cute but the smell/scent of these are to die for. You will love them too! I'm sure of it. The blue tumbler you see in the background that reads "FLORIDA" on it with dolphins in the logo is not only a tumbler you can drink out of but it is also a mister too. You can drink out of one spot and then if you are in the sun and hot, there is a button you push that actually "mists" you as well. I love those down here. Perfect for summer! I've only seen these here and can't get them back home. Imagine! Another thing I can't get back home is the candle in the coconut shell that you see there. It is the "crushed pineapple" flavor. Love these! They have an incredible variety of scents but I went with the crushed pineapple for you guys because it is so beachy smelling and because it is my favorite scent. Ha ha!
Next up, we have a trio pack of super shimmer lip glosses from Sephora. These are a great collection of shades. they are perfect for the summer time as well. Then from Swoozies, we have their ever famous cookies in a jar. These are chocolate chip and come packaged in an adorable "Have a great Summer" jar. Also included is a set of Turbie Twist towelsfor your hair after a shower. I was so shocked at how many of you had never used these when I had them on my blog a while back ago that I just had to throw some in as well. They are addicting. You'll never be able to use a big ol' regular towel on your head again after using the turbie twist towels (positioned underneath the cupcake box above on right) And then, we have "The Cupcake Deck." I love these. Beings that I love cupcakes so much, I thought they were fitting. Not necessarily beach related but at least they are "Angie related." Ha ha! They are a box of oversized cards and on each one of them is a different recipe for another type of cupcake. There are 25 different recipes and cards in all. These will be great for parties or just for fun with your kiddo's.
In the shot above, we also have the "Beach Party Golden Girl Lip Shine" by philosophy. You guys know how much I love this product so I thought I'd include one of them as well. I actually featured it on my blog a few months ago.
In the shot above, it shows a really cute flip flop note pad and pen set from the Coconut Point Swoozies store. Adorable. Also from swoozies is the uber fabulous "Bikini Bag." I love these bags. They are great for your suitcase or your beach bag. I use them to put my cell phone, hair ties, key fob for my car, etc. in the inside of my beach bag. It keeps those specific items from getting wet or getting sand in them. How cute are the colors on this bag?Also as just a little "souvenir" gift, I shoved a small lil' magnet in the bag (shown above) that has Naples, FL on it with a little foot. The foot is filled with sand. Too cute! And lastly, one thingnot shown here is from Kaye Mackay. She is so generous and is offering up one of her custom made family tiles for the winner. It will be shipped directly to you via her. After the winner is announced, you can contact her and give her your info and she'll then make the custom personalized tile for you. thanks for doing this Kaye. I know our lucky winner will love your product. You are a gem!
So, you've seen the goods and you've got the rules. Feel free to email me with any questions. For now, let's get this party started friends! Thanks for all of your undying support over the past 777 posts. If someone would've told me back in 2004 what AGD would become as of today, I never would've believed them. And in the end, without you guys, none of this would even be possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart - for helping to make my dream with AGD a reality. I love you guys!
If I was a drinker, today would be one of those days where I'd bust out a bottle of wine. And drink it all by myself - The. whole. thing. Better yet, make that a bottle of whiskey. Or I know...let's go with the big "V" - Vodka instead. Yes, it's been that bad. My son is challenging me. Big time. He is 10 going on 16 with a mouth the size of Texas. And get this...his latest favorite statement to me is..."Oh look - you're wearing a pony tail today Mom. You get mean when you wear pony tails. That explains why you're acting this way." Yeap, he really said that to me. More than once even. The next time it went something like this..."See, I told you - you're mean today because you're wearing THE pony tail." OOOOhhhhh how I love him so. The first time I busted out laughing because his statement was so comical. The 2nd time, third time, etc...not so much! Instead of a drinking fest though, I took my bad self and plopped down in front of some Chili's chips and salsa as well as a big ol' fat plate of chocolate molten cake from their restaurant. After that, I topped it all off with more - yes "more" peanut butter oreo's. Now that is my idea of a drunk fest. ;)
In a nutshell, I'm beginning to understand why some animals eat their young...
Just in case you didn't already know it, I pretty much think that my web gal who did my new photography website and my newly revised photography blog is like ummmm...the snizzel dizzel. In my opinion, she ranks right up there with my favorite things like chocolate on an upside down souffle' or like sand along side the sea. She is da' bomb and totally rocks the house when it comes to web design, blog design, logo design, and now...TWITTER designs. Yeap, she just did a twitter design for me today and I couldn't be more pleased with it. We attempted to do a design that reflected both of my businesses. (AGD and my photography business) Therefore, making that flow nicely could have been potentially tricky. Not for Crystal though. She handeled that like an ol' pro! Why? Because she is da' bomb! :)
To check out my new twitter page design that Crystal whipped up for me, go HERE. If you aren't following me on twitter as of yet, make sure you click "FOLLOW" when there visiting. I'm a newbie to the twitter scene so it's always good to find friends on there. Also, for those of you who aren't a friend of mine on facebook yet but would like to be, hit me up HERE. If you are a blog follower and I don't know you as of yet, don't let that stop you. Friend request me and I'll get you added pronto!
And Crystal...thanks again for the new ROCKIN' Twitter page girl. Keep up the awesome work!
Hi all. Happy Wednesday. What a hump day it is! We are finalizing preparations for the new Fall AGD collection and meanwhile...I'm giving you another sneak peek at the 3rd new design because I know how much you guys love this part. The sneak peeks that is. :) If I had a buck for every time I got an email from one of you guys letting me know what "torture" the sneak peeks are, I'd be rich by now. LOL!
I'm so excited to finally be utilizing these fabrics. They are so yummy! The turquoise colors, the zebra print, birds, chandeliers, and polka dots. How can you go wrong with that combo, eh? I'm envisioning a really cool photo shoot in a really cool zebra print chair in a really big field with this outfit. Shame I'm not home in Indy to get to my zebra print chair or my really big field. ha ha! I guess the beach will have to do, eh? Wink wink...!
Until then, please don't forget that the AGD sign/picture contest is starting Friday. Therefore, get those state/country represented pictures ready to go. Tell all of your friends. The more you pass it on, the more drawings you get in the bucket. Tell your blog buddies to post it on their blogs - for every buddy that posts and links back to my blog contest due to your referral, you get an extra five drawings and they also get entered into the contest. The give-a-way basket that the winner will receive is up to $150 in value at this point. I'll be featuring a photo of the give-a-way "goods" once the contest begins Friday. YAY! What fun. Can't wait!
For now, I'm off to clean up this house and get it presentable before my Dad and Cathy fly back in this Friday evening. They are coming and staying with us again for those next 5 days. Then, it's back out for more school clothes shopping. We attempted to start it last night and accomplished a few things but then I quickly decided that Brennen was going to be going to school naked this year because he detested everything I tried to pick out for him. I was suddenly propelled back in time to the days of when my own Mom took me school shopping and the fights we used to go thru in regards to the school clothes I liked and the ones she liked for me. At one point Brennen looked at me last night as we were rolling thru the store and said, "I don't care if you like it or not...I won't be wearing it...therefore, it's a waste of your and Dad's money." No joke! He said that. Totally said that to me. So...we managed to find a few odds and ends as well as the "famous" backpack that causes so many headaches each year but that was it. We are off to try and finish it all up tonight. "Try" is the key word here. And for Kenidi, haven't found her a thing. Not a stinkin' thing. She is generally so easy to buy for because she LOVES any and all clothes and NEVER gives me push back on what I buy her. (of course) But...I'm having trouble locating the "out of the box" school clothes for her this year that I'm used to finding down here. I have several little boutiques that we hit when in town but I was really disappointed in their selections this Summer. It's time to whip up some more AGD designs I guess. Oh speaking of that, wait until you see the new skirt that is coming out soon. I gained inspiration for the design via an adult women's skirt that I saw. We are going to attempt to scale it down to a child's size version and ROCK it out AGD style. I can't wait to show you guys the finished product. I might just need an adult replica of it for myself once all is said and done. I'm envisioning a really cool photo shoot with it too. Think hippie. Think boho. Think..."da' bomb diggity!"
In comparison to the turtle we found in the neighborhood last week, this little guy deserves a sash and a crown for most beautiful. Is he/she not a cutie or what? Brennen found it in the driveway earlier today. Needless to say, I busted out the ol' 50mm 1.4 lens as well as my macro 105mm lens and started shooting away.
It amazes me what a macro lens can show in a photograph. If you could see in person how tiny this little guy was, you'd know what I meant. For example, just being able to see the granules of beach sand on his back is spectacular. I think that is my favorite part. He is apparently a "beach lovah" too!
And the little nostrils in the nose...oh my goodness...he is too cute for words. You couldn't see those with the human eye but you sure can with the macro lens on board.
And his leather like skin...oh how "turtle-ish!" Kenidi just couldn't get enough of this little dude. She kept getting down in his face and flapping her hands at him while yelling..."Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi." :) It was hysterical. I had uneasy feelings about her taking her foot and just stomping him with one fail swoop. That or visions of her running over him with her bicycle tire which she was sitting on for a bit while by him.
I had Brennen grab me a quarter so that I could place it beside him and snap a shot - revealing his true to life size. Yes, he was really no bigger then an oversized quarter. A half dollar maybe. He was a tiny little guy. Very tiny.
He is now outside in a white bucket in the driveway. Brennen has discussed with us how he feels we need to go buy him an aquarium. How if we don't, he'll just build him one in the yard with shells and rocks and coconuts. (I quickly reminded him that snakes would probably eat him in one bite if he stuck him out in the grass) He then resorted back to assuring me he had seen a pet store near by and that we could go get him an aquarium. In 5 small and short words...Brennen has lost his mind! Until I convince him that he "will not" be traveling home on the plane with us back to Indiana, the white bucket will remain his home for now. I told Brennen that he would have to release him back into the amazon wild before we leave. Now Brennen isn't overly happy with me. I'm pretty much the meanest Mom on the planet who doesn't care about the safety of animals on this earth. I think a reminder of me running over the snake 4 different times in 30.2 seconds was brought up and thrown out there a few times. Instead of his Mom that took him for Tony Sacco's pizza tonight (his fav), I'm pretty much now his mortal enemy. Remind me...is he 16 or is he 10? Oh lawdy lawdy...someone help me.
Much love,
The snake killin' - no aquarium gettin' - mean to God's creatures - Mom
UPDATE AS OF 7/28/09: Due to the overwhelming response to my portfolio building (waving of my session fee), I'm no longer taking any addtional clients for that particular promotion. However, for those of you still interested in booking a session with me, feel free to contact me for a separate discount code should you want to book a sitting. I'd love to share that discount code with you which is good for sessions booked thru November of 2009. A HUGE thanks to all of you with the undying faith in my photography skills and whom now will be participating in the PB promotion. And for those of you out of state readers who contacted me, should my travels ever lead me to your neck of the woods, you guys will be the first to know. I am humbled by the response to this promotion and can't wait to work with your families.
Much love and gratitude, Angie
Yes, you read the above correctly. I am waving sessions fees for a handful of people as I work on building my portfolio. If you fall within one of the categories above, please feel free to contact me. So far I have one couple, one maternity session, a 3 month old, a 4 year old, as well as a 3 year old and 11 month old brother and sister participating in this awesome event. I'd like to include a few more before completing my portfolio. The inquiries are rolling in and my September and October dates are booking up fast. I still have room for a few more if you anyone is interested. If you reside in Indiana and would like to be included in this incredible offer, please email me at the email address listed above. Thanks for everything!
PS...I have a real desire to photograph special needs children as well as babies or kids battling a life threatening situation. If you know of a child, be it a premature baby not expected to live, a child battling cancer or something similar, or a special needs child, please let me know. When I first began this new photography endeavor, I mentioned here on the blog how I wanted to photograph special needs children. I truly believe that we are put on this earth to give back in any way we can. Therefore, I'd love to give my services to families who are walking a trying journey with their child. In these circumstances, I would wave my session fee for the family experiencing the ordeal. Given that my own family has been touched by a child with special needs (our daughter Kenidi), I understand first hand what pictures mean to us and how hard it is to capture those children at times. And for the families whose child has limited time here on this earth, what a better way to savor those days with that child then through the memories of photographs. So...if someone comes to mind that you feel would be deserving of this type of gift, please forward them on to me. I'd love to work with them.
I know that I typically place prayers overon my prayer blog. However, tonight I felt it necessary to place this prayer over here - on the AGD blog - for an immediate rally of prayer from our prayer warriors who frequent all of my blogs - but mainly this one.
Many of you know MckMama and her son Stellan by now. If you don't, you can read this blog and follow the story there. Apparently Stellan is back in the hospital again and isn't doing very well. This is a direct result of his SVT (very rapid beating of the hearts upper chamber). As a person who suffers from a very similar heart condition and then some - due to my recent PFO discovery (patent foramen ovale - pin hole size hole in my heart), Stellan's story is very near and dear to my me. If you've never experienced tachycardia with your own heart (palpitations, rapid beating, heart racing 90 miles an hour, pulse pounding, etc.) then it might be hard to understand the scary nature of this medical issue. Tachycardia can take your day and turn it upside down within seconds once it sets in. I personally experience increased tachycardia after eating certain foods, drinking or consuming any caffeine whatsoever, taking specific asprin for headaches, etc. And once it happens, sometimes it can take a full 24 hours or more to get your heart calmed down again. When your heart is racing and beating out of your chest uncontrollably, it is very frightening. Many times you have similar symptoms to a heart attack patient. Tachycardia causes you to "have to have" deep mind over matter skills. If you don't, it can literally drive you crazy. You question over and over whether this time it could be "real." Should you go to the ER, etc.? Mind you - this is all as an adult. Stellan is just a baby and experiencing SVT three times as bad as my tachycardia. He has already been through one heart ablation several months ago. He went home after a couple of months in the hospital and seemed to be doing well - as well as could be for the condition he owns. Now things have worsened for him again. It just crushes me and makes me physically ill for he and his family. Especially Mckmama. They've all been through so much in the past year. Please keep Stellan in your prayers constantly. He needs us again and we need to rise to the occasion. His SVT has weakened him and he needs our prayers for strength.
Lastly, thank you to those of you who are always sending me notes inquiring about my health. Since learning of my PFO condition at the end of May, I will admit that life is different for me. Every little feeling or pain in my chest freaks me out. Due to the risk of strokes with PFO, even my limbs falling asleep in a normal situation have caused me grief that I didn't have before. To be honest, I loose a lot of sleep and time in the day thinking about this. Worrying about this. When I find myself lost in the "what if's," I immediately pray and ask God for peace, strength, and guidance to get through the moment. I'm constantly having to remind myself of his promises and constantly having to run the "enemy" off as he attempts to drag me down a road of bad thoughts. Scary thoughts. Terrifying and horrific thoughts. I truly think of this heart issue hour by hour these days. When I look at my kids and get lost in thoughts of them, my mind will sometimes turn to the worry or the what if's again. It's definitely spiritual warfare inside my head 24/7 since learning of my PFO.
I see my cardiologist for a follow up two weeks after we return to Indy. Future plans on how to handle this condition will be discussed as well as the fact that I hope to get some questions answered regarding some sudden increased heart palpitations that are leaving me restless, loosing sleep, and far from calm again. The palpitations had quit totally until about 3 weeks ago. On a good note though, the migraines I had been experiencing due to the PFO have almost completely stopped since being placed on the heart medicine for my PFO condition. Along with that medication and the high dose of aspirin each day that my doctor has me taking to reduce stroke risks, I have had all but maybe 3 headaches/migraines in the past 10 weeks since arriving here in Florida. In a nutshell, that is HUGE progress for me considering I was having a minimum of that in one week before I began the medicine ritual. I can't even begin to express what a difference my quality of life has been like since the migraines have stopped. I'm so very thankful for an incredible cardiologist and an incredible neurologist who obviously know their stuff. God is good!
Thank you for the continued prayers and your support in general. There are no words to describe what you guys mean to me. And your prayers...they are priceless. Please keep me on your prayer list but also add Stellan too. He really needs us right now.
Just a few house cleaning items today to discuss. I've had several questions recently and thought I'd take the space here to answer them real quick today...
1) When will your new fall AGD designs be featured & available for purchase?These will be shot and featured here on the blog before I head back home to Indiana. We had a slight measurement adjustment that needed made to one of the designs so that was the cause of the delay. Therefore, keep your eyes peeled late next week. I'm hoping to find time to photograph these sets and get them featured shortly after that. Thanks for your continued interest and your patience.
2) When will our photos be due for the AGD celebration give-a-way? After announcing the plans for the give-a-way, I've had several people contact me asking if I could wait a week to start the give-a-way contest. Apparently there are a ton of people going on vacation this next week and they wanted to get some fun shots of an AGD sign in their image while away in their vacation destination spot. I thought this was a great idea as well so we will now be holding the contest beginning next Friday, July 31st. That means that you have between now and next Friday to come up with your picture idea for the drawing. Remember, this is NOT a photo contest. We will NOT be judging your pictures. They are strictly just for fun. However, in order to enter the drawing, you must submit a photo with a sign regarding AGD within it. A good example of what I'm after can be found here on MckMama's blog. This is her son Stellan's name gallery. I got the idea from her back when Stellan was going thru his heart surgery. Great fun! If you click that link and scroll through the pictures, you'll get ideas or maybe inspiration on how to do the AGD picture with your sign in it. You'll just need to make sure you have the city & state or your country listed somewhere within your photo with the AGD name. Just so far today alone, we've had readers from Poland, Pakistan, Italy, Austria, Canada, the United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ireland hit the blog. (and of course tons of you from the ol' U.S.A) Therefore, I know there are many countries out there representin' for AGD. I can't wait to see what all you guys come up with. The blog post will go up next Friday the 31st so plan to have your image ready by then. Once you see my blog post go up about it, you'll include your blog post on your own blog with the photo in your update. You will then link from Mcklinky from my blog to yours so that everyone can see the picture you took. For those of you who don't have a blog, send me your picture via email (Angie@AngelicaGraceDesigns.com) in between now and then. I'll add your picture to my blog for viewing. At the end of the submission date, all names of those who entered will be placed into a hat and one name will be pulled from it. That one person will win a goodie "beach themed" bag full of wonderful surprises. The goodie bag already has a value of over $100 and it's rising. I'm telling you, you WANT to participate in this contest! Some of my favorite stores & products like Swoozies, Sephora, Philosophy skin care, etc. have items featured in the goodie bag. Definitely girlie, definitely beachy, definitely fun!
3) When will the registration begin for your next "beginner" photography class?Registration for the new class will start very soon. Once it does, I'll post the announcement regarding sign ups here on the AGD blog as well as on my photography blog. I can tell you that the next class will start promptly on September 1st. My month of August is completely swamped so I wanted to wait until September to start the next one. I wanted to be able to devote all of the time I could to the 2nd class and thought that September would be easier to do that then in August. Keep your eyes peeled, the class registration announcement will be going up soon. And like before, we are only opening 20 spots again. Those 20 spots sold out fast for the first class so as soon as you see the registration go up, I recommend signing up ASAP. I'm looking forward to "meeting" the next round of you.
4) Rumor has it that you are looking for photography "test shot" candidates who will earn a session for FREE when you return to Indy next month? Is this true? If so, how do we get involved? Yes, this is true. WOW! Word travels fast on the streets. Ha ha! I'm on the hunt for a couple of families, a couple of newborns, some pregnant bellies, some children, and a couple of seniors to participate in some photography sessions shot by me. If you reside in Indiana and are interested in finding out how you can receive a FREE session with me as well as a FREE 8x10 with that sitting, contact me at Angie@AngieSeamanPhotography.com. My schedule is filling up for August and September so if you are interested whatsoever, or know someone who might be, please let me know ASAP. If there is someone you know that is pregnant and would like to have some maternity images shot, or if you know someone getting ready to deliver a baby in the next month or two, pass my name on to them and have them contact me ASAP. I'll post more on this soon.
5) Will you be doing another Q&A session here on the blog again in the near future? I have so many questions about sewing/photography/Life in general that I'd love to ask you. Sure. I have no problem offering another Q&A session here on the AGD blog. If you guys ever have questions you'd like to ask me, feel free to email them to me or leave them in the comment section here on the blog. I'll pool them together and answer them on the blog in one big post.
6) Will you be offering any of your new jewelry designs again soon? Yes. I am eager to get home and back into my bead box. That 200 lb. bag wasn't conducive to carry on a flight with my 500lb. camera bag and my 300lb. lap top. Yes, these are exaggerations! :) Therefore, I had to leave the bead bag/suitcase at home this trip. Once I get back to Indy and get the kids off to school starting on the 11th of August, I'll have more time to begin beading again. I'm anxious to release some new designs fo' sho'!
7) Will we see you at BlogHer 09' in Chicago this year? Nope. Obviously not because I'm in FL for the summer. However, word just hit the street that BlogHer '2010'will be held in NYC next year on August 5th-7th. I'd love to go and make a "group party" of it. If any of you other bloggers or blog readers would like to go to, let me know. It would be a great girls weekend with tons of fun at the BlogHer event as well as all of the fun hotel parties to be had in between the event itself. If there are any takers, especially from Indiana, I'd love to fly with ya sista's! Let me know if anyone is up for making plans. It's a great event!
8) And just for fun...I got this question the other day from a dear sweet friend and blog follower (Thanks Jill!) So, I'm curious to know...are you missing Indiana at all? Just a little tiny bit? :-) Does it feel good at all to come back or do you wish you could stay south for good? Ummm...let's see...I'm missing my "real" bed and my "real" kitchen. Other than that...I'm pretty much good here in Southwest Florida. Ha ha! Indiana had such a rough winter and an even more "silly" Summer with low temps and lots of rain. Therefore, I'm in no hurry to get back home because of the weather and what I know lays waiting for me there. (school shopping, 6am mornings when school starts back, therapy sessions for Kenidi, a new school for Kenidi - separate from Brennen this year - doctor appts. at the cardiologist and neurologist for me, sports games and practices for Brennen and so on) Basically, "Life" is waiting for me back home. It's been put on hold for the past 10 weeks while here and I've loved every minute of that. There are pieces of me that are ready to return home and ready to conquer all of the travels and fun over the next two months regarding photography and such but then there seems to me more pieces of me wanting to stay here in FL this year. Typically, at the end of each summer, I'm ready to be home by now. I'm ready to jump up and down on my real bed and eat from my real kitchen, etc. But this year seems different. I have more of me wanting to stay then I do wanting to go home. That is scary. Whatever you do, don't tell my husband I said that. If he found out, he hound me even all that much more about moving to Florida full time. It's out little secret, K? Wink wink! ;)
When you look at this picture in general, what comes to mind? What do you see? If you were driving down the road and passed this lot/property, would anything register? Pay close attention now...
Maybe come in a little closer. Now what do you see...?
Well let me show you what I see.
I see these...
And my eyes see tons and tons of color. More color then my brain can wrap itself around...
How about this pink canoe (shown below) by the way??? Think we could letter it up with some AGD wings maybe? I think so!
Needless to say, despite the no-see-um mosquito type bugs that ate me alive the whole time I was shooting as well as the fear I had that a snake was going to come crawling out from underneath one of these stored kayaks and bite my ankles, my camera, my lenses, and myself had a ball capturing all of this color - this intrigue - these photographs.
You see...this is a small kayaking business off the side off the road which I happen to drive down many times a week while here in Southwest Florida. And each time I pass this store, my heart skips a beat (well it does that normally but you guys know that story - Ha ha!). Anyway, my heart skips a beat whenever I look over and see all of these phenomenal angles coming off the boats as well as all of this outrageous color. I have continually had the urge to get back there on this property and shoot these boats.
Finally one day, I got up the urge to call the owner of the business. I wanted to ask permission to get onto their property after hours and shoot. Although the woman I spoke with on the phone that day seemed confused on why I'd want to shoot there, she gave me the OK. She asked me if I could do it during the day rather then after hours. I explained to her that I wanted the evening hours so that the sun wasn't so harsh in my shots. Again, confused...but she gave me the permission I needed. She asked me if she could get copies of any of the shots I did and I told her "of course!" Definitely! We agreed that I'd leave my business card in her mailbox once I had completed everything. So, I waited until the perfect evening - where the sun was going down and we had a bit of an overcast cloud cover in the sky. Finally, it happened. The sky was perfect. The clouds were perfect. Even the palm trees on their property were perfect! Wink wink! ;)
I can't thank the owner enough for allowing my heart and I to skip a few beats together during this process. Yes, as the old saying goes..."Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." However, my intention of posting this shoot here on the blog was to prove that although that saying is somewhat true...I believe that there is beauty to be found, to be seen, to be had in everything if we will just take the time to look for it. I've said it before but I'll say it again...One of the best things about being a photographer is that life looks completely different from inside a camera. The things we'd normally pass up in day to day life become things we can't pass up behind a camera. Photography allows you to see things you never saw before. One of the major misconceptions people who aren't photographers have about photography is that the art of it is all about the beautiful things in life. Photography is about all walks of life. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Again, it's all in how you choose to see or view it. The other cool thing about photography is that you are the artist. It's your gig - you make the rules. Therefore, if you want to shoot an old lot full of kayaks...you can. And I did.
So today...I'm encouraging you to go seek out the beauty in the mundane or the not so pretty today. Find it. Hunt it down. It's just another way to actively turn the negative into a positive. And with that comes a better day then maybe the day you had before...you can be sure of it. Thanking God today for all of the beauty in life. Even when it comes to kayaks. :)
PS...Should your travels ever bring you to Southwest Florida and leave you wanting to take a kayaking trip for the day or leave you wanting to go canoeing, be sure to look up Estero River Outfitters. They have a great selection of boats and have a wonderful owner who was ever so kind & gracious to me.
Unless you are a long time blog follower, you'd probably never know that Kenidi used to be basically bald on top of her head. For those who've been faithful, frequent, readers of the AGD blog for the past almost 4 years, I'm sure you remember many photos of Kenidi back when she used to pull her own hair. I'd design sets and would have to hide the damage she had done with hats and such whenever I'd photograph the new outfit. When went through a long phase with her where she would get so frustrated because she couldn't speak or communicate, that she would ultimately pull out her own hair from sheer anger. With her hypotonia (low muscle tone) came the inability to talk. Because of that, she was trapped within her own body and unable to articulate what she wanted to say to us, or when she was hungry, thirsty, tired, in pain, etc. It was an awful time for our whole family. Each time she'd pull a handful of hair out, it would crush Brent and I especially. And because she was on depakote medication for her seizures, the hair she pulled would come out extremely easy for her because the medication promoted hair loss as it was. We tried everything to get her to stop. We took her to psychologists who studied her every move - trying to understand how to detour her. We had doctors tell us to put socks over her hands and put her in time out whenever she did it. We went thru H - E - double hockey sticks and back basically. It wasn't until she and I were interviewed by our local news channel in regards to AGD and the business it had become, that I finally found a cure.
To this day, I owe Angela Ganote, a news reporter from Indiana's own Fox 59, for the cure to Kenidi's hair pulling. When Angela was in our home taping and interviewing my story for the background on AGD, we sat down at one point off camera and began to chat. We got to talking about how Kenidi was doing this hair pulling thing and she was to the point now where she looked like a child going thru chemo treatments or something. Angela then proceeded to tell us that she had ironically gone thru the same problem with her own daughter. She said initially she would get on her for it but then she had a friend to tell her that when her daughter did it, she needed to acknowledge it but then pretend as though she could care less about it. So...she told me that when Kenidi did it next time...I should look at her and go..."I don't care if you pull your hair. However, if you are going to pull it, go in the other room and do it."
By acknowledging it, it showed Kenidi that I had seen what she was doing. But then by acting as though...no biggy - just go in the other room - it taught her that I could care less and she was no longer going to get a rise out of me.
Up to this point, we eventually had to cut her hair off up to her neck and attempt to let everything begin growing again so that it would become even. In the meantime, I had her wearing scarves, hats, and headbands to hide the fact that her hair was so much shorter on top then the rest of her head.
Because if I didn't cover it up with hats and such, she looked just like this...
And because she looked like that, we got stares every time we went into public. We'd get comments from people in regards to cancer because they thought she was sick. She was sick all right - but not with cancer. The damage she was doing to her hair was brought on by her frustrations and not an illness. Sooner or later though, our prayers were finally answered thanks to Angela's advice. After all of the doctors, tricks we were told to try, etc. - her advice finally won the war. We tried the approach she recommended to us and would you believe that within 3 days of saying that one line to Kenidi, she had totally quit pulling her hair? She quit pulling her hair and the front/top slowly but surely began to grow out and catch up with the length of the back. Before we knew it, we could start letting her wear hair bows again...
And then fast forward to about 3 years later and she now has this luscious head of hair. Hair that I dream about daily and wish I had myself. Hair that looks like what I'd imagine "Goldilocks" having.
Brent noticed her hair as she sat in the backseat of the car today. He turned to me and said..."Look how angelic she looks sitting back there with the wind blowing thru her hair like that." I was shocked because I had just been watching her earlier this morning after she got out of bed. I was watching her and her hair - thinking..."I need to go get my camera...her hair looks fabulous right now." So for him to bring up her hair after I was just admiring it an hour before - was pretty ironic. He said to me that maybe we had to go thru all of that hair pulling and baldness with her in order to get to the beautiful head full of hair she has now. I think he might be right. I can tell you this...she did NOT have the hair she has now - back before the hair pulling. Her hair is completely different today compared to what it was 3 years ago. I don't know why but it is. If you look at the above photos of the "before" shots as she was pulling it out, and then compare them with these current shots of her from today, you can really see the difference in the thickness, amount, etc. of her hair. She is blessed. As are we.
It just goes to show you that with a lot faith, a lot of prayer, and many conversations with God, anything is possible. 10 months into Kenidi's life, we didn't know if she would ever walk, talk, etc. But here we are today - 6 years later - with a beautiful daughter who has a gorgeous head full of hair...who walks...and who is getting better and better each passing day with her talking. Just this week she learned to say YES instead of yeah. Normally she can't pronounce the "s" on the end of things. However, she accomplished a new word a few days ago and we couldn't be more proud.
So parents...when you are wishing your son or daughter would stop jibber jabbering because they are talking non-stop and won't hush...just think of Kenidi and the struggle she goes thru on an hour by hour basis to even communicate the basic words like "yes and no." When you run your fingers thru your child's hair as you tuck them into bed tonight or as you comb their hair in the morning, remember how blessed you are that your child has a head full of hair and isn't pulling it out or loosing it via cancer/chemo treatments. Think about how blessed we all are and please say a prayer for those who aren't as fortunate as us. There are many parents in hospitals as I type who'd give up their child's hair for another month with their son or daughter who is fighting a loosing a battle to cancer. Again, we are so fortunate, so very blessed. Brent and I thank God everyday for Kenidi and all of the accomplishments she has conquered in her 6 short years of life. There was a day when we didn't have a clue if any of this would be possible. However, we had hope! We know without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus has big plans for Kenidi and her future. Will she ever be able to live on her own? We don't know. Will she ever be able to have a drivers license because of her Epilepsy? We don't know. Will she be able to grow up and get married like a normal girl would? We don't know. What we do know though is this...
God is good and God is in control! He has proven that to us time and time again. Maybe with a lot more faith, a lot more prayers, and God's constant reminders of his promises, we will one day be able to look back on this era and say..."Yes, she is driving a car and has a license. Yes, she is living on her own. And then Yes, she is getting married and having babies." As I've said before, the motto I live by each day is..."There will be years that ask and there will be years that answer. In the end, God NEVER wastes pain!"
We like to say we are beachin' it...Gulf Coast style.
This time 2 weeks from now, we'll be packing up to head back "home" to Indiana. In three weeks, our kids will be back in school. Where has the past 10 weeks gone already? We arrived here at the beach for the summer back on May 29th. However, it seems like it was just yesterday. Another summer in Bonita is coming to a close. Another chapter in the book of memories has been written. The minute we land back home in Indiana 2 weeks from now...craziness begins. School shopping, then school starts. Next, I have a photography mentorship program that I am participating in the week after we return. Tons of fun with a professional photographer as she teaches me the ropes - one on one. Then, we travel to Chi-town (Chicago) at the end of August for a photography workshop that I'm participating in there on the streets of downtown - Michigan avenue and abroad. On Labor day weekend, we fly back down here to the beach house for an extended weekend as a family and a breath of fresh air seaside. Then, the very next week in September, I travel South again and head to Atlanta for the Learnfest Photography workshop. So...the beach is my sanity right now. The beach is my current calm for just two more weeks. Our Summer of 2009 is slowly but surely coming to an end. In 15 days, we'll be back in Hoosier land. Back to reality in Indiana. Back to the hustle and bustle of life. Therefore, we are doing all of the "sugaring" of our toes that we can over the next two weeks. Stick around, we'll share the count down in photos.
xoxo, The Seaman Clan
PS...The top image was of Brennen's feet taken over Christmas break this past Christmas while here in Bonita. The bottom image is of Kenidi's foot/leg on the beach - taken this past Sunday. We like to call her our Coppertone baby.
Do you know what I love most about spending our Summers in Florida?
It's that everyone else (the "snow birds" who live here all Fall and all Winter long) go back "home" to their real homes for the Summer. They go back to visit grand kids and their families in general. And when they go back to their real homes, it leaves the neighborhood here in Bonita..."empty." And when the neighborhood is empty, the pools within the neighborhood are empty. (And yes...that is our very own Starbuck's - poolside. It doesn't get any better then that.)
And when the pools are empty in the neighborhood, that means we get them all to our self. Just the four of us. It also means that Mamasita (a.k.a - ME) gets to pick out any ol' sun chair on the pool deck that she prefers. Anywhere. Why? Because it is just us and we have the whole place and all of the chairs to ourselves.
Uh huh...this is "part" of the reason why we love spending our Summers here. No matter how hot and humid it gets, our family loves making new memories each time we are here together. And even though my make up and hair always looks like a drowned rat in the summer heat here in Bonita, I wouldn't trade our Summers, our memories, our extended weekends, our holidays, etc. here for nothing. And even though the neighbors go home to their real homes for the Summer, they are missed. The neighbors are great here. We talk to the neighbors and gather with them more then we do with our neighbors back home in Indy. These neighbors look out for Brennen and Kenidi. A lot! It's nothing for the doorbell to ring at 8:30am in the morning and it be a neighbor left here in the neighborhood (there are only a few this time of the year) bringing trinkets and toys to Brennen and Kenidi "just because." It's nothing for them to say, "Let's all go to dinner at the Naples pub - we'll call ahead - tell them we are coming - and ask for a back booth - one that makes it as easy as possible for you guys over dinner with Kenidi." One set of neighbors even offers up and hands over their golf, tennis, and social pass to the country club for us. Now that is an awesome set of neighbors, eh? These neighbors are all older then us but we never notice the difference in age. They all ROCK! Needless to say...we love the neighbors, the neighborhood, and the neighborhood pools. :)
And aside from the fact that I feel like the neighborhood is really the "Amazon" lately due to the 4 snakes (yes 4 - there was another one on the deck of the pool the other day.) and the "Florida rats" that we've learned are as common as mosquitoes are back home in Indy for us, we still love the resort feel of the neighborhood the minute you pull in. It sits off the road and is tucked back in there all by itself. A huge community that you can't see because it is hidden from the rest of the world. As soon as you come thru, you are instantly propelled into a vacation - a tropical resort - and we love that part. Yes, I could do without the fact that the big black rat snake and Brennen came face to face at the pool the other day. Thank goodness Brennen can run fast. And thank goodness he did. In the end though, this is home away from home for us. Snakes, rats, no-see-ums, spiders, and all. It is Florida at it's finest - it's just the Florida that you never see advertised on the picture-esque post cards in the souvenir shops. Well, maybe this guy is sometimes...
We found this guy at the entrance to the cul-de-sac on the way back home from the beach yesterday afternoon. The pictures do not do his size justice. He was HUGE! Brent spotted him out his window so we stopped, dug out Big Papa (my camera), and snapped a couple of shots real quick.
I don't know what kind of turtle this was but he didn't seem to mind us much. And...he was quite fast for a turtle. He took off on that hot pavement like nobodies business. He probably got scared that Mamasita here was going to take over the steering wheel and run over him - 4 times - like I did the snake. I'm sure the word is out - and on the street - about Mamasita and my crazy ways when it comes to the wildlife around here. "Rumor has it...you need to beware of the Mom at the end of cul-de-sac #2, she is pyscho!" Ha ha! It's not a far off exaggeration. Trust me!
But as all of my faithful AGD blog readers know, I lluurrrvvveee my beach B/F/F's. Each time we come to the beach, the birds, all kinds of them, flock to my camera lens. I swear they treat my lenses like they are food or something. They gravitate toward it. They let me snap pictures of them up close all day long. It's grand! I love my beach B/F/F's. Just LURVE them! Notice how they pose and work it for my camera...
They even get the "model strut" going with their legs and feet. Hysterical!
Their eyes are my favorite...very cool color!
The beaches are really dead this time of the year too. Not to many people come here right now because it is so crazy hot. And humid. However, that doesn't stop the Seaman's. Especially at the neighborhoods private access beach park. You have to be a neighborhood resident in order to use this area of the beach. It's totally private and trust me - they guard it like Ft. Knox. You can't park there nor are you able to walk up there off the beach either. They catch you. They know you - and whether you are a true resident. And when they are unsure, they ask you to recite your neighborhood info. If you don't have it, you better cough it up or be gone cuz' you outta' there. Ha ha! They don't mess around at all! You can't beat their free and private cabanas, the grilled cheeseburgers and hot dogs with coleslaw, cold drinks with ice, and of course the air conditioned rest rooms. Nothing says "the beach" like an air conditioned bathroom when you need it, eh? Ha ha! My favorite part to the private access though...it would be reading the water board as you walk up. Love it! And you know if the gulf waters - the ocean - is 89 degrees in itself, then the air is really HOT here in Bonita Beach, Florida right now. Just the way Mamasita likes it! :)
And no matter how hot it is temperature wise...you can always count on the sea to bring in a gulf water breeze. Thus, resulting in the palm trees swaying in the heat. There is nothing like laying under the leaves of a palm. Nothing says tropics like a palm tree. Nothing!
There you have it. That pretty much sums up what our Sunday looked like yesterday. Welcome to Monday. I hope it is off to a great start for all of you. Now...get ready...Mamasita has a give-a-way coming up this week in honor of my 777th post here on the ol' AGD blog. Tell your friends, tell you family, tell everyone! Remember those "AGD was here" type pictures I told you to prepare for a couple of months ago? Well, the time has come. Snap a simple picture in front of something that depicts your city, state, country, you, your family, etc. In that picture, add a sign to it that reads something about AGD. (i.e., AGD was here in Texas, We love AGD in Canada, and so forth.) There will be a Mr. Linky that will be posted with the blog give away. By entering and posting your the image to your blog, you will be entered into the drawing for the give-a-way. If you coerce a friend to participate too, let me know about it. Should that friend join in on the fun and post AGD signs within an image on her blog, it will gain you 5 extra names in the drawing. The more your name is entered into the drawing, the better the chance you have of winning. This is a give-a-way that you do not want to miss either. It will be straight from the heart of Bonita Beach and Naples. It will include multiple fun gifts within it. A gift from the famous swoozies store as well as gifts from other little stores that I love here in Bonita and Naples. Also, we'll have some shells picked by Brennen and Kenidi straight from the beaches in our area that will be included just as an added extra treat. We've worked hard to come up with a great give-a-way basket of goodies and we know you will love it. So...get those signs ready and then snap a picture with the sign in front of a landmark or something that reflects your state, hometown, city, country, etc. Include your kids...get them in on the fun too. We can't wait to see what each of you come up with. I'll be posting a photo of the give-a-way basket at the end of the week. Lastly, if you are a resident of Indiana, we are hoping to see some great shots from our home state. :) Have fun with it all.
PS...If you aren't a blogger but would still like to participate in the drawing, feel free to email me your photo at Angie@AngelicaGraceDesigns.com. I'll be sure to include it with the others here on the blog when the contest/drawing begins. Your name will then be entered in the drawing just like everyone else. You can start turning those images into me at any time this week beginning now. The earlier the better. It will assure your spot in the drawing.
