My Semi-Colon Tattoo

I was going to include my latest tattoo in my last post but decided this one deserves a post all of it's own.  There's a story behind my latest tattoo and those of you who follow my blog are more likely than not to know my story, or a part of it.  I've been wanting this semi-colon tattoo for some time and while I was visiting my friend in Sylvan Lake this past weekend he set this up for me as he has a friend who owns a tattoo and design shop in Sylvan Lake.  

And me being me, well I didn't want just any ordinary semi-colon so here's what I chose...

I absolutely love it, I love it so much that when I first saw it when it was done my eyes leaked a wee bit.  I can't thank my friend enough for this amazing gift, the gift of a lifetime which will last a lifetime! 

Sylvan Lake

  This past weekend I went out to visit an amazing friend and spend time with him and his boys.  They live in a town about two hours from the city and this town is right on a lake, it's stunning!  To be able to go out for a walk five minutes away and see this, just wow! 

The first night when I arrived I learned the carnival was in town and away we went.  I went on a few rides and then the ride to end all rides for that night, one which made my stomach extremely queasy but I said I'd go on the Zipper the following day, what was I thinking?  I know this next photo is a blur, but this is how the guys looked when they got off this ride, yup... I wasn't thinking and looked the same when I got off the ride the following day!  Lesson learned. 

Abbie found some new training wheels while we were away...

And here are the guys who opened up their home to me, thanks guys I had an amazing time while I was down for a visit.  I appreciate your hospitality immensely, you're all remarkable people with hearts of gold! 

Just Dance

I am still laughing about this one my oldest son Shayne sent me...

I think many of you can relate! 

EXTREME PHOTOGRAPHY

And one photo from the 25th anniversary I shot photos for on 

Saturday night, this was way too cute! 

Yup... just dance! 

A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss

It's interesting how busy my life has been, with taking this summer off after 

completing my degree I thought I'd have tons of time on my hands...

nope, not by any means.  I've been so busy but doing things I want 

to do which is fantastic and I'm having tons of fun! 

Hmm lets see now, two weeks to catch up on...

I spend time with a girlfriend I hadn't seen in ages, I met her 

when we were in our early teens and reconnecting with her 

after not seeing one another was absolutely amazing!  She was 

my maid of honor when I got married the first time so I have 

photos from way back when, the bottom photo is us last weekend. 

I've enjoyed spending time with my precious granddaughter as well...

I went with her and her daycare on two fieldtrips this past few weeks 

and had tons of fun! 

The first one was to the Telus Science Centre...

Then Elyssa spent a night with me, I wanted to take photos of her with 

her sunflowers I've planted for her and as you can see they're way taller

than she is!  We also went out to the splash park and had tons of fun!

And a few days later the next field trip was back to the same 

splash park, twice in one week which Elyssa loved! 

I've done one photo shoot for my cousin whose sweet precious 
baby girl is only two weeks old...

I spent an afternoon with friends out at a lake not too 

far from the city, a short 20 minute drive and now that I 

know this lake is there I'll be visiting more often.

A few of my friends and me out at the lake...

And today was a 25th wedding anniversary photo shoot which 

I've decided not to even start looking at the photos tonight, 

if I start now I'll be up the entire night... I know myself and my 

photos so tomorrow's another day. 

I'll try to get back into my blog so I don't post two weeks at a time, 

and this isn't all I've been up to... yup, as they say a rolling stone 

gathers no moss and no moss growing here! 

Off to the Rodeo

I went back home for the yearly rodeo and had an amazing time, I stayed longer than I anticipated but it was such an amazing trip I wanted to stay as long as I possibly could.  

 Abbie made this trip with me and she found a friend...

However, this new friend of Abbie's is either brave or stupid, not too sure just yet which one after watching him chase the horses!

I spent the first night at my friends, then off to the Stampede grounds where we camped.  This is dinner the first night while we were 'roughing' it, and the lobster was amazing! 

I've tried to find the photo of our 'tent' but can't seem to find it, our roughing it consisted of sleeping in a 30' 5th wheel trailer and it's definitely the way to go.  We did however have our fire going most of the time we 'camped'. 

The following day it was time for the rodeo...

Hang on c'boy, it's probably the longest 8 seconds of a cowboys life when they ride! 

Yee-haw! 

Calf - roping...

And at the end of the day this is where the cowboy walks away to prepare for round two the following day. 

I left the rodeo, went and tucked my camera away and found my friend who is also from the city and had returned home with his children for a visit and to take in the rodeo.  I went on rides with his children, then it was time to get ready for the dance.  I didn't take any photos while I was enjoying the music, I was far too busy visiting and dancing.  It was a long day, but an awesome day! 

Young Love

My great niece ... wow it just hit me, my great niece is now engaged to be married.  I'm so happy for her and this young love, well there's nothing like it.  Remember your first love?  I remember mine, it was my dog! lol 

Anyways, my how I digress... My great niece asked me to do a photo shoot for her and her fiancee for their Set The Date announcements, naturally I said yes and felt honored she would want me to do their photos.  

We did the photo shoot two days ago (more of my fun, re last post!), and although it had been raining all day, it came time to leave and by the time I got to the park the sun was shining.  I love when life happens this way, mind you I would have shot in the rain as well, there's nothing like dancing in the rain! 

Here's a couple of the shots, a few of my favs, and yes it's extremely difficult to pick just a few shots as there's so many fantastic photos! 

I personally don't think that a person can take a 'bad' shot of young love.  

The following photo is definitely one of my top ones, my great niece is into swing dancing and this, well it just suits her personality and doesn't this just scream young love? :-)

Now down to my top choice, this is the one I'm going to suggest they use for their announcements, mind you who knows which one they might use, they're going to have a tough time choosing... there's at least 50 to pick from! 

Three little words can change lives; these three words make this Great Auntie's heart extremely happy for the young couple.  How cool is that, I'm a Great Auntie, and I come by this title honestly! lol 

Congratulations David and Ashley! Wishing you both a life filled with joy, love, peace, prosperity and always remember why you fell in love, no matter what transpires in life, always keep your love young!  Love and hugs from the Greatest Auntie ever (pushing it a wee bit here...'cause I can!) 

Fun

We all have our own ideas of fun, I've been busy doing nothing more than,

but nothing less than,  plain out having fun.  

We had our family picnic last week, now this was fun!

 Two of my gorgeous nieces, Cheryl who is on the left, lived with me for quite some time and it was awesome to reconnect. Her sister Amy, well I don't see nearly often enough. 

More of my fun is definitely spending time with my family.  This is my favorite daughter and my favorite oldest son!  They were teasing me about my middle son being my favorite, they all know they're all my favorites... or at least I hope they do! :-)

And this is my larger family unit, those who could make it to our annual picnic in the park.  This year our park was my nephews back yard and a short jaunt away there are these HUGE pumpkins.  It was so funny, my remote for my camera wasn't working so I 'photo-shopped' myself into this photo right on top of the pumpkin where my two nieces sat. Now how they got up there, guess I'll have to pay more attention next time! 

Right after the picnic, which was two hours away, I drove back into the city and went the other direction, this time 3/4 hour from my home, to listen to one of my all time favorite entertainers.... Sarah Smith and her band were in the city! 

                             

A few days later I was off again, this time to a neighboring town about two hours away, opposite from the previous trip out of the city.  I was going to visit with Sarah and spend some time at the beach.  I ended up going to the show, spending the night with a very welcoming friend of Sarah's and traveled home the following day. 

Sarah is not only an amazing, talented singer/song-writer, she has become a near and dear friend whom I enjoy spending time with! I love her to bits!

And one last photo for now, this is the band once again.  I shot this photo in Olds, Alberta on Tuesday evening, about 3/4 hour drive from where we were staying.  The weather was insane and it looked like tornado weather.  The town we stayed in got pelted with hail the size of golf balls five minutes after we left for Olds.  Thankfully the only tornado was Sarah and her dynamic voice!

So as you can see some of my fun is taking photos, listening to music and spending time with amazing people, family and friends.  How do you have fun in your world? 

Powwows

Here I sit looking at my blog and realize yet another week has slipped on by since I've posted anything, how does this happen?  I keep myself busy, it's the season of festivals in my city and I'm taking in as much as I can this year before I take the plunge and enter the workforce.  I feel I deserve this summer off, after all of the studies, 7 years of them, I've worked hard to earn this down time.

Not only is it festival season in Edmonton, it's also Powwow time in Alberta.  I love going to the powwows, listening to the drum beat, watching the dancers, seeing folks I haven't seen in ages and meeting new people... I also take way too many photos and was going to contain myself this time but from the first click I knew I was on a run away once again.  

I'm going to share only a few photos with you, all 800 would take far too long to load! :-)

The regalia is absolutely amazing, the endless hours put into one outfit in the beading alone is extremely admirable.  

The next few photos are of what is known as the Chicken Dance.  There's a story behind the chicken dance which you can read by clicking on this link... Prairie Chicken Dancer

Another young man doing the Chicken Dance. 

The children are also included in the powwow, those who take an interest are taught from a young age and to watch the young ones dance, well it makes my heart dance as I know tradition will carry forward.   

One final photo, this one talks to me...

I absolutely love going to the powwows, not only does my heart dance, my blood comes alive and I feel right in my element. I just realized I haven't shared much on the female dancers, I've just edited the photos I'd taken of the Chicken Dancers and next powwow I'll share more on the female dancers. 

Dance Like Nobody is Watching

My month has started off with music, music, and more music
 and I'm loving this!  

July 1st, Canada Day, a park not too far from my home 
puts on an amazing display of fireworks and there's entertainment 
all day long. I went later in the day and the band 
I listened to was Souljah Fyah and what a band they are!  
 The lead singers daughter, as you can see in the top left 
 photo, knows all of their songs and sings right along... 
 soooo precious and adorable! 

Saturday night it was the Dirt Road Angels, I didn't bring

 my camera, just my cell phone, hence the blurry shot.  

These ladies are amazing, I've blogged about them 

before and it was fantastic reuniting with these ladies 

and the friends I've made who also appreciate these talented 

 musicians. 

And the next band I've been looking forward to listening to again since
 I went with my children to Canmore for my pre-grad celebration.  I enjoy 
 this band so much I went both nights I was in Canmore and when I found  
out they were going to be playing at the Takin' it to the Streets Festival  
yesterday,you bet I grabbed my camera, invited two of my nephews  
 and away we went. 

The Johnny McCuaig Band

This band is in our city for a full week, you bet I'll be going 
 back to Whyte ave., and this time I'm going to dance like 
 nobody is watching!  

Sleeping Beauty

I had the pleasure of doing a young ladies grad photo shoot and
 we spent about 2 1/2 hours in sweltering heat doing this shoot. 
 Thankfully the first few hours weren't done in her gown, she would
 have melted!  I'll share a few of my favorite shots...

As I mentioned to this young lady,
 she made my photos look good! She's 
 so photogenic and was a blast to work with! 

I've discovered this amazing park to shoot 

 photos at, it's not only free to park there, the

 scenery is stunning! 

Not the 'typical' grad photos, but then again I'm not the 
 'typical' photographer! ;-)

Time for a break! 

And this photo I call Sleeping Beauty. 

We never actually melted but talk about hot, the  
 temperatures I later learned hit 33c, way too hot to 
 be dressed in a formal gown... thankfully I'm the  
 photographer and she is young enough to tolerate the heat!