PHOTO DUMP, GRATITUDE LISTS, & AN UPDATE ON KENIDI

I've been obsessed with the instagram app on my iphone4 recently. I love being able to snap a shot, throw a filter & quick border around it and then instantly share it with hundreds or even thousands of others all at one time. Technology today never ceases to amaze me. With that said, I have a blogger on my daily blog reads that I love and I noticed she is doing a "phone dump" of her photos once a week. I thought this was a great idea. For those of you who haven't ever friended me on facebook, you miss out on A LOT of photos I share on there that never actually hit my personal blog. So...I thought the weekly phone dump from time to time would be great to do as well. I figured I'd share some of the photos I've taken via my cell throughout the past 7 days. The top one above was of my Dad holding Kross in his irrigation sprinklers the night before we left Indy. I love that shot. It reminds me of an old vintage image from years gone by or something. The joy that both of their smiles bring to me in that one photo is indescribable. Thank you camera phones!

The next shot is one that I snapped out of the car window as we left the Indiana state line in our rear-view mirror last Friday evening and crossed over into Kentucky via the Louisville bridge. Brent always laughs at me when we pull out of Indiana after our visits there. He tells me that I cry from the time I leave my Dad's driveway until at least Louisville each trip. Truth be told, he's probably right. It never helps when my Dad sends me texts such as exhibit A...(sorry Dad...I know you dislike when I share your texts but word pictures always help tell a story waaayyyyyy better. As a blogger, my job is to tell a story the best way I know how. That involves sharing your awesome words too. Nothing is sacred in our family, I know. LOL!)

Do you see now why a daughter might cry her heart out all the way from Indy to Kentucky after receiving a text from her dad telling her that he misses her already and that she needs to move back home? I must mention that he sends these each time I leave - before I'm ever even out of his neighborhood. See why I love him so much??? It's very clear what an exceptional father he is, isn't it? I know I brag on him a lot but really...this type stuff just confirms it all. I cherish my Dad's text messages. I should've listened to him when he tried to give me the box of Kleenex's from inside his house as I left though. I assured him that I had plenty of baby wipes in the car to use should I need them. Always heed a Father's advice. Always. Even when it comes to a simple box of Kleenex's. Dad's are always right.

At some point in the 18 hour drive back to Naples each time, I finally regain my composure, put away the Kleenex's and regroup. I sit and watch the sky, the clouds, the sunshine or rain as we drive that horrific drive back to Florida. I have high hopes that reciting what I'm grateful for (crayola blue skies, puffy white cotton ball type clouds, the golden sunshine, etc.) in my head throughout the drive will help pass the time quicker. It never does. Eighteen hours is still 18 frappin' hours. No matter how you look at it...the drive sucks. Bottom line. The only time it starts to get better is on the 2nd day - when you're about 45 minutes from home per the Navigation screen that you've been watching the whole 18 hour trip like it's the movie Twilight or something and Edward is secretly placed within the screen somewhere. See...you also begin to get delusional along that drive too. It's a serious side effect. Anyway, back to my point. You roll down the windows and begin to smell the sea salt air. It's a fo' sho' sign that you're in the home stretch now. In no time, you look to your right - and then to your left - only to see scenes like this again...

Moments later...you are driving over the ocean and the sun is setting...reminding you of that gratitude list that is forever embedded in your brain at this point...

Eventually, you pull up in the driveway and are never so glad to get out and touch your feet to the ground in all your life. You hit your bed that night still reciting the gratitude list..."sunsets, Starbucks, my parents, my friends, my kids, my own bed, air conditioning, palm trees, the salt life, my camera, my eyes to visualize shoots, pringals new honey butter stix, the fact that I didn't have to kill my husband this trip because he finally decided to stop at a hotel rather than drive straight through, and so on. Home is good. Real good. However, I have two homes. One where I lay my head every night and one where I lay my heart. You can guess which is which.

The next morning, I always jump up to watch the sun rise over the pond behind our house. It has a magnificent way of shining the most beautiful honey golden light down on the water as well as the tips of the palm tree leaves. The colors as the sun rises are amazing around here. When you live just 5 minutes down the street from the ocean, everyday is amazing around here. Even on the days when the enemy sets out to ruin your gratitude list or your "peppified spirit," you can still manage to always find something to be thankful for. A-L-W-A-Y-S!!! Like being able to stand under palm trees each and every day.

Even when it's raining on the palms and your power is out in your house due to the storm, life is still amazing and the palm trees are still beautiful.

Yes, life is good.

On a final note, before signing off tonight, I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who posted here on the blog last week, privately emailed me, called, texted, facebooked, etc. in regards to Kenidi's situation. I had no idea that my post last week would provoke such an outpouring of support. It breaks my heart that so many of you are experiencing similar trials in your own lives. On a positive note though, your words of encouragement, advice, and your own experiences helped our family beyond imagine. You guys armed us with so much knowledge that we didn't have previous to my post. Your own journey has helped prepare us for ours. There are no words to thank you guys for your love and true concern for our Kenidi. We are 4 days into her new medicine (Tenex) and unfortunately haven't noticed any positive changes. She is extremely tired because of it and can barely keep her eyes open most of the day. The doctor warned us that this would happen in the beginning and so did some of you who have your own children on this particular medicine. We are hopeful that her body will adjust to the dosage soon. We were told to give the prescription three weeks before we made a decision to switch to resperdal. So...we will give it 2.5 more weeks. It's still very early and we are still very faithful. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. We'll go to plan B at that point. For now though, I know without a shadow of a doubt that all will work out as it should and that like always...God is leading the way. Again though, thank you to each of you for continually being so supportive of our family in the past 5 years since I began this blog. I always know I can come back here, to my online cyber-space friends, and find encouragement and advice thru this blog when needed. All of you are on my gratitude list.

Much love, Angie

PS...If you'd like to friend me on my personal Facebook page, you can do so by clicking on the following link: ANGIE ON FACEBOOK If you would like to become a fan of my Angie Seaman Photography fan page, feel free to do so by clicking this link: BECOME A FAN I'm always posting new session images there that you never see here on my blog. I also post "casting calls" for models that we need for certain creative shoots there too. It's a great place to keep an eye out on all of the Angie Seaman Photography happenings. No matter what...I just appreciate your support. :)