Burlap & Satin

Stole this from Elizabeth. I've got horrible insomnia, nightmares and flashbacks going on tonight so this is high quality blogging from me. Enjoy.

A is for age: 30... soon to be 31.

B is for beer of choice: None. I don't drink.

C is for career right now: In home Martha Stewart, Bob Vila and Beagle Whisperer.

D is for your dog's name: Bogey and Gypsy

E is for essential item you use everyday: Inhaler

F is for favorite TV show at the moment: Medium or Pushing Daisies (it had so better be back in the fall!)

G is for favorite game: Rummy

H is for Home town: Somewhere in Eastern Ky

I is for instruments you play: Flute, Piano, Voice, Steering Wheel

J is for favorite juice: Mango, Apple

K is for whose butt you'd like to kick: No one at the moment.. ask me tomorrow.

L is for last place you ate: Home? Before that, BK yesterday with the dogs.

M is for marriage: Yes. Yes, it is.

N is for your full name: Anna... wait for it... stazia.

O is for overnight hospital stays: Pneumonia when I was six. Four overnights on that one.

P is for people you were with today: Husband, dogs, cats, bed.

Q is for quote: "I'm addicted to placebos. I could quit but it wouldn't matter." - Steven Wright

R is for Biggest Regret: I don't have many, but the ones I have deserve more than one sentence.

S is for status: Married. See the letter M.

T is for time you woke up today: 3am. Thanks insomnia!

U is for underwear you have on now: charcoal gray crappy ones from Victoria's Secret. Why did they change the way they make their bikini underwear?! Now they suck!

V is for vegetable you love: Zucchini

W is for worst habit: Nailbiting. Good god, the nailbiting.

X is for x-rays you've had: Numerous chest x-rays (go asthma!), knee, kneecap, spine, tailbone, neck.

Y is for yummy food you ate today: Veggie Rice Casserole.

Z is for zodiac sign: Leo. And don't you forget it, baby.

So as some of you may already know, we are headed to the beach for a family reunion this Friday. We'll be driving 12 hours with two dogs and staying in a cottage (with no fenced yard) for a week. Through all of the family chaos, excessive dog walking and general tourist insanity, I know there will be moments when I don't want to pull out my camera because it would just be too much trouble and I wouldn't have enough hands. However, being that I am a photographer, my camera will be pulled out often regardless. My dilemma is this: how do I push myself to really re-discover my inner photog again without just taking 1500 photos of the ocean? How do I take a photo of a beach vacation that doesn't look like everyone's else's 4000 photos of their beach vacations? Sure, I understand that some beachy touristy shots will be standard, but I just don't want them all to be those kind of shots. I've been schooled in art and photography, I know what makes a great image technically and intuitively. What I'm afraid of is the fact that I've become resigned in simply documenting my life lately, and I fear I will be too tired or distracted to really push myself and be artistic on this trip.

This is where you come in.

I want to know what you want to see in truly artistic "beach getaway" photos. Not so much the technical aspects of the photograph, but actual objects, scenes, moods, adjectives. What makes a beach vacation shot surpass itself and become "art?" What moves you when you think of the ocean? What do you see in your mind's eye when you're looking out at the water with your toes in the sand? That's what I want to try and capture.

So send me all your suggestions. You can describe it as much as you like, but I like to really explore and bend ideas so single words, adjectives or moods might be best. Just free flow, think of the ocean and how you feel when you're there. Then give me that. I'll see what I can do.

Keep in mind a few things - where we're going, there are none of the following: palm trees, bahama blue water, porcelain white sand, waterfalls. Nor are there rocky shores, high mountain cliffs, hot springs, volcanoes. Think lower East Coast, small lazy towns, lighthouses, fishing, pirate history.

Also, I can still receive your comments and emails on my phone while I'm away so send as many as you like for as long as you like. You never know, it might be your suggestion that causes me to break out my camera at that exact moment and capture something great. Isn't that what creativity is all about? Taking one idea and creating something else with it? I think so. Let's find out. Suggest away...

We're off to the beach everyone. Please wish us safe travels and a happy and healthy return and send us all those good travel vibes you've got in your pocket. With 14 hours ahead of us and two beagles in the back seat, we'll certainly need it! See you next week!

We're home. We're exhausted. The beach was beautiful, damn near perfect even. So beautiful in fact that we've both determined we want to live closer to the water. I love my home state, but I can't shake the fact that both of us and our dogs feel 100% better when we're nearer to a good body of water. J. has promised to show me the west side of his home state next month and I guess we will start to make our decision after that.

I'll post more photos and stories over on the photolog later in the week. For now though, let me just catch my breath and come to grips with the reality that is post-vacation depression. Although I can say one thing; taking the dogs with us? Best decision ever. I had more fun just watching them have fun. Seriously, if you'd have told me that both my water-fearing beagles would become splashing happy water dogs in a space of a couple days, I'd have laughed in your face. But that is exactly what happened.

1. What did you do 10 years ago?

After burning out at college, becoming homeless and being placed on academic suspension, 1998 was the year I got my shit together. So ten years ago, I was paying off my debt by moving back to my hometown to live with my dad while I held a steady job, went back to school and became a full-fledged photography major all while making the honor roll. One bad thing though, I started to date my ex.

2. Five items on your to-do list:

-- Clean this god-forsaken tropical storm of an office
-- Start busting up tile in the dining room to make way for the new hardwood floor
-- Find a workout program that I can actually do and also enjoy
-- Get Gypsy scheduled for a teeth cleaning and with the veterinary ophthalmologist
-- Decide if we're taking the dogs to Michigan next month
-- Celebrate our one-year wedding anniversary on Sunday :-)

3. Snacks I enjoy:

-- Late night bowl of cereal
-- Pizza
-- Popcorn during good tv shows or movies
-- Granola bars... for real
-- Fresh fruit with dip

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?

-- Pay off my debts
-- Give plenty of money to my family
-- Donate to several different animal causes
-- Buy a vacation homes on Mackinac Island and Ocracoke Island
-- Build a custom home on a giant piece of land and start a beagle rescue
-- Take lots of vacations with J.

5. Places I would live:

-- Mackinac Island, MI
-- Ocracoke Island, NC
-- Horse farm in KY

6. Jobs I have had:

-- Cashier in a grocery store
-- Cashier in a pharmacy
-- Pharmacy technician
-- Veterinary Assistant
-- Patient Care Coordinator/Risk Mgmt for publicly traded gigantor company
-- Adoption Counselor for no-kill shelter
-- Stay at home beagle mom and in-home Bob Vila

7. Bloggers I am tagging who you will enjoy getting to know better:

-- Shelby
-- Rasee
-- Donna
-- Nicole
-- Michelle

One year ago today, we became husband and wife. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Do you believe in signs that whisper inside your mind 'till you have to follow through,
leading you home again to someplace you've never been? Well I feel that way for you.
For how can it be true, the first time I see you,
I look into your eyes,
and suddenly I knew you all my life.

-- David Wilcox "All My Life"

Found this link over at Leah's place and damn near peed myself laughing.

This is how my blog would look if Snoop Dogg wrote it:

Burlap and Satin, bitches.

Sure, the entries are funny but the About Me over on the right is damn hilarious. If you don't pee yourself, you don't have a funny bone.

Oh, and if you scroll down to the bottom of the right column below "Powered by," you will see that yes indeed, I am tha mothafucka.

Like there was any doubt.

Would love to have an incredible and entertaining blog entry for you, but....

we're a little busy right now.

The de-fuglification is going strong, my friends. Hard and back-breaking, but strong.

Send luck from the Home Improvement Gods and hopefully I'll have something really nice for you in about a week. Stay tuned... :-)