Moving (Wo)Man

July 12, 2018October 28, 20181 Comment

I drug myself out of the woods late Sunday morning to head into town to pick up the 26 ft U-haul truck waiting for me in Evergreen. Thanks to the help of my in-laws and their amazing friend John, I was able to have the entire storage unit cleared out in around an hour and the excess stuff we’d had stored around the Bennett house pack up in another.
I set out early Monday morning. The scenery -as always- was beautiful and the drive was relaxing despite the heavy construction and the giant vehicle I was soloing. My first stop was Missoula for a quick ice cream stop with two of my favorite people.

After Missoula, I spent the next 3 days taking my time traveling down to Albuquerque. With only a few hiccups along the way, I was able to take my time moving our household goods from Montana to New Mexico. One of the hiccups involved our new house not being ready for us to move into yet, so I hired a few movers for a couple of hours to help get everything out of the truck and into a storage unit. I’m about to hop an earlier flight back to Ohio for a few extra days with family before picking up Brian and driving back across the country to start the next chapter.

Annual Camping Trip

July 8, 2018October 28, 20182 Comments

My mother-in-law has been telling me about the annual family camping trip since before Brian & I got married. Finding myself not working and back in the lower 48, I planned a trip out to Montana to spend the 4th of July with my husbands family. It was a blitz trip in the woods before packing up the u-Haul and relocating our household goods to our future home in New Mexico; that’s for another post…

National Zoo with Steve

June 28, 2018September 8, 20184 Comments

The next day – after returning Emily safely back to her parents following our trip to NYC – I was up early and in the car driving once again towards another mega-metropolis.

My friend Steve and I managed to squeeze in another day of shooting together, only this time we were at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. It’s been a pleasure shooting with you Steve. I hope we get the chance to do it again someday my friend.

No Sleep Till Brooklyn

June 27, 2018August 28, 2018Leave a comment

Growing up in a small town has its perks. It also leaves a lot to be desired if you’re born with a strong desire to travel the world.

When my brother and sister started families of their own I knew in my heart that I someday wanted to have the chance to travel and adventure with them each individually. Seeing my oldest niece’s 12th birthday fast approaching I took advantage of my time on the east coast and planned a trip to NYC exclusively for her and I.

We left early one morning for the 6 hour drive from Somerset County, Pennsylvania to NYC. Since we are both the animal lovers of our family our first stop was the Bronx Zoo.

Afterwards we traveled by car [during rush hour] to our AirBnB in Brooklyn. I only got lost twice before finally making it across the right bridge to get us over the East River. After a quick check-in we were back out the door for Emily’s first culinary adventure of the trip – and one that should not come as a surprise to anyone who knows me – sushi!

We arrived back at our homestead around 8:30 and started readying ourselves for bed, but before we made it there Em informed me that she was plenty awake to take a late night trip to Times Square. After a quick check of the subway map we found ourselves on a train bound for Manhattan.

It was nearing 2am when our heads hit the pillows and we both dreamed of lights that night. In the morning we found ourselves bound for Battery Park.

We took a boat to the Statue of Liberty.

Then found my grandmother’s (Em’s great-grandmother’s)name on the Memorial Wall at Ellis Island.

When we returned to shore Em had her first taste of Starbucks (have I ever mentioned it’s a really, REALLY small town we’re from),

and faced the raging bull.

On a previous trip to NYC the 9/11 Memorial was still under construction. Being from Somerset County, Pennsylvania – not far from where Flight 93 found its resting place in a field – it was important to me that Emily and I visit this place and read the names along the memorial fountain.

While we were there I watched this man weep over a name and captured this image. I choose to share this picture to remind us all that although it’s been nearly 17 years since these attacks, the horrors of that day and the memories of those lost are still very fresh wounds for some…

Needing a mental break we walked to our next destination to clear our heads. Doh was a much needed treat to pull us back into a happier place before dinner with my friend Ty.

On Wednesday morning we packed our bags and set our sights back on Pennsylvania. Little did Emily know that her adventure did not end with our return home. While waiting for her family to get back we walked around the land enjoying all the animals, especially the baby ducks that had recently hatched. Em received an early birthday gift she’d been wanting for so long. Enjoy your time with Mo!

**It should also be noted that while I did take my nephews on a special day trip with just them and myself, they have also requested I take them on ‘an awesome overnight trip like their sister’s trip when they’re old enough.’ Ben would like to drive an RV to Hawaii and Aron has set his sights on Hollywood. I better start saving (and figure out how to drive an RV to Hawaii)!

Gettysburg Gettaway

June 18, 2018August 15, 20182 Comments

My momma had some days off she’d been planning to use on another trip that had been cancelled. Since I was available she asked if I would like to take a trip with her instead. Not a fan of long drives, but wanting to visit her cousins, she asked me to escort her a few hours east to some towns near Gettysburg, PA for the long weekend. We both got to spend time hanging out with family on Thursday.

Brian also had the weekend free so on FridayI dropped down to DC and picked him up after work. I had brought Kratos with me for the weekend so that he and Brian could see each other for the first time since he left for school. It was after midnight when we got back to my cousin’s house for the big reunion, so there isn’t a video to share (it’s hard to capture an all black dog after midnight. Especially one who’s practically vibrating from the excitement of seeing his papa)

Saturday morning, after brunch with my mom at one of my favorite local shops, the three of us headed to Gettysburg for a self guided tour of the battlefield.

Saturday night Brian & I took off for a little date night @ Hershey Stadium to see Imagine Dragons. It was an epic show. Grace VanderWaal was their opening act too!

Before mom & I dropped Brian off on Sunday he had a little surprise in store for me too. Looks like it won’t take me [what feels like] 12 years to edit photos anymore!

Living Treasure’s Animal Park

June 14, 2018August 18, 2018Leave a comment

There is a small animal park near my parents house I had visited once in high school. I distinctly remember it being tucked away in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania as well as a place to get up close to some exotic animals. Both points still hold true today, although some enclosures of the menagerie (like the lions and bears) seems far more depressing than I remember it being way back when.

Bowman the Beautiful

June 13, 2018August 18, 2018Leave a comment

Dogs are to me as horses are to my old roommate Debbie. For as long as I’ve known her I’ve known her love of horses as well as her dream to once again own one someday. Since parting ways & moving to Florida, Debbie has made that dream come true for herself. I had the chance this past week to stop in and meet not only her wonderful fiancé, Phil, but her beautiful horse, Bowman.

Randoms with Family

June 6, 2018August 18, 2018Leave a comment

Life has been all over the place lately and it’s going to stay that way for some time now. I’m okay with that. What I’m also okay with is all the time spent with family. 🙂

Maryland Zoo

May 30, 2018August 18, 2018Leave a comment

Where do I even start this story? I guess at the beginning…

I met Steve the fall of 2005 at Delaware Valley College in Pennsylvania. Despite the fact that we were in the same (very specialized) degree program and have lots (and lots) in common, we were more mutual acquaintances than friends at the time. We had many mutual friends and of course, like most people our age, were Facebook friends by association.

Fast forward to several years later when, through the lovely channel of social media, we reconnected through our love of photography.

You see, Steve is not only a keeper at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, MD, but he is an astounding wildlife photographer who has been taking leaps and bounds in his practice. When he invited me to a behind the scenes tour of his home zoo, I not only jumped at the chance to get up close and personal with some amazing animals, I jumped at the chance to see such a gifted photographer in action.

Below are some of my photos from the trip, but if you’d like to see more of Steve’s work (and I highly recommend you see his work) you can give him a follow on Instagram @Steve_Dombroskie or here @ www.flickr.com/sdombroskiephotography

House Hunters

May 29, 2018August 18, 2018Leave a comment

We found out back in the first week of April that our newest place to officially call home was going to be New Mexico.

Neither of us had ever stepped foot in the state before let alone knew much about the city of Albuquerque, but you couldn’t find a pair more excited for the change life is about the bring our way.

I have spent much of my free time on the computer and phone searching for and screening potential housing while Brian is away. There is only so much one can do though as a keyboard warrior and for the long, Memorial Day weekend we hopped a few flights to the Duke City to check things out for ourselves.

We were smitten with a place online and just as in love with it in person so it made short work of checking out the other potential places pretty easy. With our spare time we took the rental car out for a spin to circle the Sandia Mountains.

Discovering Sandia Cave along the way. (Which we clearly weren’t prepared for, so all the further we went in is shown)

And even a lost soul from Alaska who just so happened to be in town at the same time we were!

While it’s true, you couldn’t find a place more opposite than Alaska, we are both really excited for the change of life. Especially ALL THAT SUNSHINE!