Thursday, May 17, 2012

Photo-Shoot Fun!

I hope everyone has that cousin, the one who is basically a sister. The one who is close to you in age and shares her million Barbies with you. I have a cousin like that. We practically grew up together.

You could usually find us sleeping in a tent in the back yard, or playing Tomb Raider on the PlayStation. Well…she was playing the game, and I was screaming about the giant Yeti or bear or wolf that always came out of nowhere. Or we would be making home movies of Bounty paper towel commercials or a cooking show about how to make a summer sausage sandwich. Yes we were awesome.

Now that we’re older, we have to live far apart. But when we get together we still have a grand ol’ time. Like last weekend. I had asked her if she’d like to be a model for my new jewelry and she was coming home so it was perfect!


Of course she did her part of bringing her boots and rope and clothes. But I, on the other hand, was lucky that my camera was already charged! So we gathered everything in my little car and we took off in search of some photo-shoot worthy scenery.
Of course we ended up at an old barn! Which turned out to be a perfect setting to snap some slightly cheesy but fun photos. Of course it’s hard to be serious when it’s just you and your cousin…


She's going to kill me.


But you can't just show the chic serious photos...


You've got to laugh at the behind-the-scene shots too!

After the shoot we really didn't think we got any good photos. But when I went to edit them, there were some really good ones...some even showed my jewelry haha...(I had a hard time focusing on the actual jewelry...I wanted to include the entire landscape, you know?!)



It turned out to be a great shoot and a fun day! This weekend we might be having another little shoot so look for more pictures on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/hangitontheline (You can see the rest of this shoot's pictures there too, plus new projects I'm working on!)

So even though we're "old" now and we live far apart we can still have fun like we used to. That's what family is for! We'll always be those little girls playing Lara Croft and Natalie Danger Mudd and running around our grandparent's huge pine trees and breaking tree swings. Oh wait...that last one was me. I'm still scared of swings hung by ropes...

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

When I grow up...

When I was little, I was a huge rock collector. Anywhere I’d go, if there was a gravel driveway, I’d be out there bent over and picking up any little pebble and stone that caught my eye. I even thought I was going to be a geologist when I grew up. It was intense. I guarded my rock collection like a mother bear guards her cubs. If my little brother even tried looking at my rocks I’d hunch up and hiss then slink away. Okay I wasn’t that bad…maybe…but you get the idea.

One of my favorite memories about rock collecting was going with my dad to check on wells. Not to look at gauges with him or to observe the stinky black stuff pumping out of the earth, but to stare at the pink rock that made up the location. Scoria. North Dakota is filled with it and it is amazing! When you first glance at it, it looks pretty boring. It’s not sparkly or spotted like granite and it doesn’t have beautiful colors and designs like agates. It’s just chalky and pink. But when you’re only 3 foot something and you love rocks, none of that stops you from hunkering down and digging into the long dikes surrounding tanks. And I found something magical! Unbelievable! Something I had only seen in museums!

What was it you ask? Fossils! Fossils and fossils and more fossils. When you first start looking it’s hard to spot, but once you know what to look for, you can just walk along and pluck up the ancient impressions. I had ziplock bags full of scoria with all different types of leaves on them. I even found a dragonfly fossil once. That was a day for the history books!

It’s funny how things like that mean so much to you when you are little. I try to channel that kind of enthusiasm now but I still find myself sitting on the couch sipping my ginger ale with a straw. Where has my passion gone? I blame responsibility. I have no time to collect and categorize my rocks…I have to go to work and I have to wash my car and I have to comb my hair. Absurd! Haha but lately I have been trying to channel my long lost inner child.

Last Friday, my family and I were out at our new house location planting trees. And it just so happens that our new road is made of that beautiful pink, chalky rock. SCORIA! YIPPEE! So while my dad was waiting for me to bring him a fence post to string our planting line, I was lost in that familiar world…overwhelmed with curiosity and a need to find something to fill another page in my history book.

That little dot is my father...waiting for another fence post...responsibility, schmonsibility.

At first I was dismayed…have I lost my touch? Was I just imagining those delicate veins and stems pressed into the hard stone when I was 5? Maybe this batch of scoria is leafless.

But alas! A shape caught my eye…and sure enough, as I dug the chunk of scoria up, I could see the faint impression of a leaf carved into the surface. The familiar feeling of victory was back. And I had to find more!







After my fourth fossil, I felt I’d better go help the family plant trees before I got disowned. But for a little while I got to be 5 again, giddy with excitement. I think I’ll bring my inner child out more…but don’t worry…I’ll still comb my hair.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

If I could ride the clouds...

Happy May Day! I just love the month of May...besides it being my birthday month (Yahoo!)... it's when I can really tell that warm weather is here to stay and there's no more dreary winter days to put up with. May just gives me the travel bug and makes me want to get going!

Last weekend the manfriend and I made a very quick trip to Bozeman, MT. I wanted to see the mountains so bad, and since it was raining he couldn't farm anyways. PERFECT TIMING for a road trip! It was so much fun to get away from the busy oil boom and to see the glorious Rocky Mountains. Those dang mountains do something to me...there is so much inspiration radiating from every little teeny tiny pebble, I can't stand it! When I was looking through some of the pictures I took I couldn’t help but stare at the clouds. I think clouds make a picture. So…I had to write a little poem to show my love for those fluffy formations. Don’t pay attention to the bad grammar (my writing is terrible), just let your imagination take you for a ride on the clouds…



If I could ride the clouds,

I’d never leave the sky.

I’d wake up every morning,

And watch the birdies flying by.



I’d touch the tips of mountains,

And with the wind I’d sing.

I’d dance with the Northern lights,

How much joy that would bring!



I would call to the wild horses,

And they would whinny back.

There would be no hurry,

No time to keep track.



At night I’d soar up high,

And count the stars all around.

Then catch some fireflies,

As I drifted back down.



If I could ride the clouds,

I’d never leave the sky.

I’d live my life in peace,

Knowing angels were nearby.



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