Amber Ludlow Photo & Design

Our next Photographing the Everyday class will begin May 7^th. This most likely will be the last time I offer this class until sometime in August or September. There are a few spots left! Look to the right ----> of your screen under Class Information for more details! You can also e-mail me at amberludlowphotodesigns@hotmail.com 

Oh my goodness..I am the world’s worst blogger. I think I reached a point where I wanted to blog about what’s going on in my life but it had been so long and so many things have been happening that I didn’t know where to even begin. Then I think naturally you begin to question if having a blog is really worth it, you pay to have it up each month and what is really the point if you are not even using it. And on and on...

So here I am, for today at least. I hope that I can keep up with this a bit better. We shall see..We had a great time on vacation. It was actually really hard for me to relax. My husband laughs at that because he knows me so well. Not you he says..haha

It was really hard...I swear. I think I forgot what it is like to just sit, and be. I am always on the go, running around a hundred miles an hour. If I am not working on projects or the classes then I am doing something else. I need to always be doing something or cleaning, or chasing the kids etc. The kids had a great time..they loved, and I mean triple loved the beach. I think they would have picked up and moved the ocean and all the sand with their bare hands if they could have. It was pure joy watching them.

Jackson made lots of friends on the beach ‘my social butterfly’..Maddie is more content playing by herself or with me. She is a lot like I was as a child. She is a hoot, and our friends & family can tell you that she has the best facial expressions ever. I can not even begin to count how many she has, so funny. I will have to start posting some videos on here, that would be fun.. :)

My husband drove down and surprised us on Wednesday. It was such a nice surprise. I missed him, the kids missed him. When he first walked in we were seated at the breakfast table and Maddie of course had the best look on her face. She kept saying ‘Is it really you daddy’? So cute..

Well I have lots to say, but little time. I hope to post some more over the next few days..I have lots of pictures to share..

-Amber

Spent today doing laundry and started to pack for our trip..I love packing, it's fun getting everything organized, and checking things off my to do list.  I believe it is the un-packing that I hate..I am known to have clothes still in suitcases weeks after arriving home..hehe..Lastnight we took the kids to the store to let them pick out their own suitcases, they got the biggest kick out of doing that. We have had lots of trouble here lately trying to keep Maddie in the cart at the store. 

I know she is 3 1/2 and is old enough to walk around the store, but my goodness she is a runner, just takes off, no cares. And I have noticed lately that when we do let her down to walk that she will almost run into anything right in front of her. It's like she is in her own little world and as soon as you say 'MADDIE, watch out', she snaps back.  Need to have chat with her eye doctor..Anyways, she was doing so good sitting in the cart lastnight helping me with my list, until we got to the suitcases and then it was all over from there.  She wanted to get down and wheel her suitcase around the store.  So after that it was a race to get everything and get out of there as soon as possible!! I almost always dread going to the stores now..

Looking forward to Easter this weekend, we always do a lunch at my mom/step-dad's and that is followed by our traditional Easter egg hunt.  It is such a vivid memory of my childhood and hope that it will be with my children as well. It is going to continue to be chilly through the weekend here. It was 80 degrees on Tuesday, and snow flakes today..(Singing to myself "I am leaving on a jet plane, I don't know when I'll be back again"...) :) :)

 

Being aware..

Up late tonight, it seems like as soon as my head hits the pillow my mind starts racing. I start to think about what I did not get done, or things that I want to talk about on my blog. When in fact I should be snoozing and getting myself ready to face the next new day ahead. I guess I need to get a little notebook and pen to keep on my bedside table, so that I can jot down what comes to mind.

This evening I was sitting on the couch returning e-mails and all of that fun stuff and I turned to look out the window for a second, and saw the most amazing light outside. I quickly grabbed my camera and headed out the front door and started snapping away. I am so glad that I took that moment to be aware of what was around me. The light only lasted for five minutes, but in those five minutes I saw some of the most amazing light I had ever seen! Make sure that you take time to be aware, you never know what you will miss.

(The first photo I shot through the window of our SUV sitting in the driveway, it had just sprinkled for a few seconds, but the sun was still slowly sinking into the horizon. In the second photo I could not resist taking this photo of my tulips that just bloomed this morning, I loved the warm colors from the other flowers as well as the warm glow that the sun was giving off against that dark stormy sky.)

This week is going to prove to be yet another crazy one for me..You think I would be use to this by now! Haha.. :) I am not sure if you can ever get use to chaos. Jackson starts Spring soccer this week, (two days a week). I need to get him registered for school, make appointments, work on classes, go to the store, finish making my grandparents fiftieth anniversary invitations, and pack.

Yes that’s right I said pack! My mom and I and the kids are flying down to Florida next Monday to visit my grandparents! I am so excited! I am really looking forward to spending lots and lots of time with my kids, playing with them, and just sitting back and watching them! It seems like lately I have not been able to do that as much as I would like..I only wish that my husband could tag a long! This will be the longest time him and I, and the kids have ever spent apart! So that will be hard, but I am really excited about taking a week to un-wind, and not be attached to everything that I am attached to on a day to day basis! I so need this!!

So this week I need to get down to business and get everything organized so that the week I am gone runs smoothly!! I have lots of to-do list going. Four in fact, with about ten different things or more on each of them..Crossing my fingers that I can get most of it done!

One last thing, and then I promise I will stop rambling.. :) I ran across this link the other day, and I think it is so important to share with the rest of you. They are photographs that Jayel Aheram a solider who is now serving in Iraq has taken. I found the link to his photographs last week and I spent an entire three hours looking at each one. They each tell their own story in their own way. They are captivating, beautiful and inspiring. Here is a bit about Jayel (taken from his blog).

"A tale in photographs. Jayel Aheram presents a photo set of things seen, experienced, and lived while serving (and still serving) in the harsh deserts of Iraq. A unique view of things rarely seen in the nightly newscast, a point-of-view of one troop in a war zone, and a glimpse of a vastly different and sometimes beautiful Iraq."

Here is the link to his photographs: Jayel Aheram

Have a great Monday everyone! :)