Count on Up

Countdowns are a staple of our lives for many special occasions during the year. They're the best kind of celebration, especially since no one is exempt from them. From a New Years countdown to a birthday countdown, every single person on the planet participates in both whether or not they like it.

Since I got back from India, I feel like I haven't had anything to look forward to, no specified countdowns or fun excursions and ideas. I itch for my creativity, art and writing rule to my life. I hardly feel as though I can call my self as "artist" of any kind since I don't believe I am anywhere near being "established."

While I am stuck under these fluorescent lights of reality, the only thing I can do sometimes is to count up. Count up to all the things ahead of me that will find it's fateful way to me no matter what I do or what happens.

There are at least two pieces to every slice of life: fate and determination, yin and yang, love and hate, in and out & up and down. I love that I can always count on the count ups of my life.

Going to India changed me and still continues to every single day. Being an Ambassador to show the orphans of India every ounce of love and goodness I possess was the hardest thing I have ever done. What's even harder is feeling the pain of a third world country and trying to bring back a message to everyone at home about what it's like and how we can change it all. Every day was the more intense than the day before. Up and down.


One minute I was having the time of my life playing a ridiculously fun and traditional game of bulldog, and the next minute my heart would be breaking while holding a tiny toddler the size of a newborn who was suffering from malnutrition. I was the photographer for the trip and with all this going on you would think it would be a cinch to capture a defining moment on film was a lot harder than I thought. A lot of rules surround the exposure of the children and the people involved with the orphanage for their safety.

I had been hoping to have an art show ever since I got back in March, but with some of the expenses that come along with the process of presenting pieces to the public can be expensive. Lucky for me, a great little art gallery called Buffalo Totem opened recently just down the street from my apartment. A young local couple I'm acquainted with run the store and are going to show some of my pieces at the next Paseo First Friday art walk. These are some of the prints I'm thinking of showing:

"Suns over Sooch"

The sunsets in Oklahoma are incredible, and India is the place that most closely compared to it's orange beauty. It made being homesick a lot calmer.

"Class for class"

In the morning, we would see the kids off as they traveled by bus to a nearby village to attend school.

"prayer, eat, polish"



Each morning, they would patiently polish their shoes and neatly comb their hair. They were so proud and thankful to be lucky enough to be going to school.

"House mothers"

The house mothers of this orphanage are Saints. There are a total of 20 houses on the orphanage grounds and each woman is a house mother to about 15 kids per home. They are incredible strong, immensely loving and always smiling.

"Pink in pretty"

This little girl was one of the few kids that was too young to attend school during the day, so she was incredibly fun to hang out with during the afternoons. Some of the kids had never seen a photo of themselves so the attention and curiosity of photography was very humbling.















So, my count down to my next count up celebration:

I am so excited. It's a great start to so many count ups coming up in my life.

Namaste.

Windy Knights

If you don't like the weather in Oklahoma, wait 20 minutes.

Sometimes you just have to make the best of our crazy weather. No matter what kind of weather, there's always a cure. That's why people invented the slip and slide, kites sleds and Gary England. Those 4 things could get you through rain or shine.

The wind didn’t stop us from enjoying the sunlight and playing frisbee. Another big positive; it gave me a chance to play with my camera. Photography is trulsy my number one passion. My dad did it and was incredible so I know it's in the blood. The best photographers have always said to never go anywhere without your camera. After months of making excuses to not carry my camera around as if it was my child, I rode my bicycle around town for hours in search of some must-see photo opportunities. I came home with nothing.

Then, the next night on a whim I rode my bicycle to the convenience store less than a block away and I see this older woman, stretched across her lawn in her short shorts and moo-moo, trimming her grass with scissors. Inch by inch she snipped away while she carrying on conversations with herself.

Since then, I haven’t left home without my camera.

My friend Rachel and I decided to have a girls afternoon and play frisbee.

Always play frisbee, even if it's windy! Did you know that Oklahoma actually gets more annual wind than Chicago? Yup, it's true.

Oklahoma has one of the best sunsets I've ever seen. That's how red dirt makes magic.

I learn something new everyday. On this particular day, I learned how much fun triple exposures can be.

I always hear people from around the country say that Oklahomans are the nicest people you'll ever meet. That ain't no lie. A neighbor nearby noticed how much fun we were having and let us borrow a huge stuffed banana they had won at the State Fair.





And with the recent news of Arrested Development signing to do another season, it had to be a sign.



 There's always money in the banana stand. Why not meet someone new everyday? It makes life spicy.

Project Tourism

Ever since I graduated college in 2005, I've contemplated this whole blog thing. It wasn't until I heard Kevin Durant was caught allegedly saying his new home, Oklahoma, was boring.

Excuse me, Mr. Durant. Spend one week with me and I'll show you what Oklahoma is about. Sure, it isn't L.A and it definitely isn't the coolest place to live but I get so tired of hearing about how much people hate Oklahoma. So it's my duty to Oklahoma to show all those nay-sayers just how cool Oklahoma can be if you just look around.

Take for example my most recent project. Project Tourism. The Oklahoma Department of Tourism provides anyone who signs up a very large and information filled box bursting with brochures and maps of things to do in Oklahoma sent straight to your door.

From hunting, camping, wine tours, pumpkin patches, museums, Operas and the Zoo, you can find all the information you need to keep you busy for an entire year. My friends and I have already mapped out how to get ourselves to a winery, a pumpkin patch and an opera all in one day. The best part: it's FREE! With all the commotion about budget money, I personally like to know that my tax dollars are going towards a good cause I can appreciate.

The fun part about this project is no one knowing who sent it to them. I'm already quite the fan of snail mail, so my address book is packed full of friends and family that have received my sneaky little gift.

Get your own box o' Oklahoma goodies at www.travelok.com/brochures. (Of course I'm having trouble making it an actual link, go figure)



Now if only I knew what Durant's address was.


Until next time!