About 10 years ago, someone sent me one of those online quizzes. You know, the ones that ask "What is your favorite color?" (mine's ocean color - any ocean color, gray, green, blue...ahh, the ocean. Salty air, crashing waves, seagulls...). But I digress. One of the questions was "What is your dream job?" I answered that my dream job would include being a photojournalist for National Geographic. I mean, what could be better? You travel the world, spend a lot of time in warm, tropical places, take pictures that everyone wants to look at and you get an expense account.

Of course, my life is no where near that exciting. I'm a wife and mom, raising 6 great kids in a country that sees winter snow for 6 - 8 months out of the year, maybe more. I teach my kids at home and run a business with my husband. I enjoy staying fit and eating healthy, playing sports and hanging out with my family. I love to stay up too late and although I love to get up early, my staying up late gets in the way of that sometimes. That's why you won't see a lot of early morning sunrise photos in my stream. ;-)

I wish I had more time to dedicate to photography, but since we have been renovating our century home for 8 years, raising our kids and working etc. it has always taken a back seat. We had a darkroom in our previous house, but have no place for one here, so it got packed in amongst the busyness of life. Some time ago, I was asked to model for a photographer friend who paid me in photography lessons. That's when I decided that I should pay more attention to this hobby, found out how much I really enjoyed it and how happy I am with a camera in my hand. I enjoy the arts and with digital photography, I have no need of the darkroom (for now) and it satisfies my need for creativity without taking up too much space. So, while I may never be called upon to place a cover on NG magazine, I'm enjoying what I'm learning and getting better at documenting the life around me.

Please feel free to openly critique my work, but if you're going to be rude, do it nicely. :) Thanks...and may the road rise up to meet you, wind always be at your back and all that - happy shooting!