A professional portfolio for photography.
It’s about time I created a little space to showcase the work I’ve been doing over the past year. I’m also looking forward to linking to all the sites and photographers who inspire me on a regular basis.
Stay tuned!
Here’s the face paint shot you’ve been clamoring for. (What? No? Ohhh, so sorry.)
The holiday party for Jeremy’s company was held at Teatro ZinZanni on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. I’ll admit I was a bit nervous about potential audience participation for this event, but the evening ended up being so. much. fun. It was the dinner theater to end all dinner theaters—and I believe it was the perfect counterpoint to all the cold, snowy Saturday nights Jeremy and I have spent at home this winter. We were out! in San Francisco! eating five courses! and drinking! and being entertained! [sigh] It was lovely.
And the facepaint was an added bonus. Just try doing this at home!
The other face shot was taken on our doomed flight home. It was the precise instance of photographic inspiration and traveling companion exhaustion. Let’s just say the subject at hand was getting beamed ferociously by the sunrise and didn’t want his picture taken. I believe we stayed in the air—after departing San Francisco 45 minutes late—for only 20 minutes before making an unscheduled landing in Reno, Nevada.
We were informed that we needed to make a landing, and that there might be emergency vehicles awaiting the plane, but not to worry. The mood was remarkably calm; we passengers sat and patiently waited to figure out what was going on. We landed easily and sat still while mechanics entered and went into the cockpit. I overheard a flight attendant saying a cockpit computer had electrical problems and the cockpit had filled with smoke, the pilots had to don oxygen masks(!). Eventually we de-planed and spent way too much time in the Reno airport where Diet Mountain Dew is NOT sold and you can play slot machines in the hallways. Charming. And eventually we made it home to Lincoln, about eight hours after we had planned. By that point, we were simply relieved to get back to our daughter.
Our luggage found us the next day.
Give my kid a coloring book and a brand new box of Crayolas and… nothing. Girlfriend does not like to color paper.
Give her a mirror and a brand new box of facepaints and… hello, Sweet Cheeks! (Papa calls her “Sweet Cheeks.”) Livia is all about physical art. She’ll pass on the 2-D, but anything with a bit of texture under her fingers excites her.
Part of the challenge of parenting—and I think this is universal—is figuring out your child’s unique, God-given personality. What makes her tick? What excites her, frustrates her, encourages her, pleases her? I could sit and color for hours on end, even as an adult, but when I press my child to do it, it’s a challenging endeavor for both of us. I want Livia to glorify God in all things. I want her to be the very best Livia Tredway she can be. I want her to grow up knowing that I am proud of her, that I enjoy her, that I will stand behind her and encourage her—even if she’s pursuing activities that I have very little natural interest in.
For today, though, Liv is into face paint. And that’s something I can get into.
It’s late. You’ve been traveling all day and you stumble into your hotel room, looking for the lights. What’s this you see? Refreshments. Ah, perfect! you think. I could sure use some refreshing!
Wait a minute. Back away from the tantalizingly-positioned peanut butter cups. And don’t even think about grabbing those Pringles because once you pop, you can’t stop. These snacks probably cost more than the purse you bought on sale at Target. And that purse? It contains at least one small package of fruit snacks and perhaps two mostly-smooshed NutriGrain bars. Even though the Snickers are calling your name—afterall, Snickers in a canister must be good!—and for some odd reason white cheddar popcorn sounds like exactly what you want at the moment, you can persevere. You will be strong. You will back away, slowly, from the refreshments, and then you will desperately try to avoid looking at them over the course of the next three days.
And you will think, more than once, it’s a good thing your five year old stayed home.
We flew out to San Francisco last week for Jeremy to meet his coworkers at ThoughtMatrix—and for us to attend the company’s annual holiday party.
We arrived at our hotel late at night (at least according to my body’s Central Standard Time) and didn’t get a glimpse out our window until the next morning. Then, looking down 14 floors, I located a Walgreens and a Starbucks and decided I’d be just fine on my own for one work day. Jeremy and I wandered the streets that morning, looking for a simple egg breakfast, and eventually killed two birds with one stone: we found Jeremy’s office building and a lovely organic restaurant that served breakfast sandwiches.
The following photos show the Flood Building, from which much of genius of ThoughtMatrix flows. (Many employees, such as Jeremy, work from home offices—so I’ll reserve some of the genius quality for them.)
Friday morning, when we first explored the city a bit, I threw my red winter coat over an apple green sweater I got for Christmas. And then I slung my bright red purse over my shoulder. Woman from a small midwestern city meet… the dress code of the working men and women of San Francisco. Black, black, black, black, grey, and black. I’ve never felt so very bright in my entire life and, darn it, there was just no way to blend in.
Now Saturday was a different matter. The tourists came out while the natives stayed home and slept in—and I fit in just fine, red coat and all.
While I don’t personally know anyone in Haiti, friends from Grace Chapel have been traveling there for years and I know they are terribly concerned about friends and loved ones among the earthquake’s devastation.
If you’d like to send monetary aid, consider the agencies from the blog posts of Pastor Mike Hsu and Renee Welstead. Thank you!
My first thought upon looking outside this morning was, Ugh, more snow! But a quick walk to the curb to drop off the recycling was all it took for me to be smitten by God’s handiwork.
It’s amazing how the snowflakes cling to every surface, coating all the trees and shrubs in furry white coats. It’s a winter wonderland. And I get to enjoy it in person this morning.
It’s enough to make a girl grateful for living in the arctic tundra.
Turns out we left our heart (Liv) in Lincoln and headed to the West Coast last Thursday. Jeremy traveled for work and the annual holiday party—and I tagged along. It was absolutely lovely to get away for awhile. We walked all over San Francisco, enjoyed a farmer’s market on the Bay, and then had an awesome evening of dinner theater on Fisherman’s Wharf. Jeremy’s coworkers are a great group of people and it was easy to enjoy our time with them.
When I can grab a few moments—that is, between removing contraband from the dog’s mouth and playing referee between him and Livia (ah, home!)—I’ll post more shots from our trip.
Or rather, “banging” the ivories.
As long as it’s cold outside and their mothers are confined to the indoors, these three mischief-makers will be playing together. The good thing is, they enjoy one another’s company. The even better thing is, their mamas do, too.
Category: Surviving Winter 2009-2010
Alright, peeps. I need help finding a good book to read. I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t really read anything since I completed the Harry Potter series back in November.
I’m looking for a really solid, suck-you-in type of story. Fiction or non, doesn’t matter.
Help!