Eggnog and Candy Canes

Texas Storm

Today we had rain in the Hill Country for the first time in months. Since we've been having so many wildfires in the area it was way overdo and it turns out that storms are pretty interesting to photograph. Here's to being the best storm chaser in the Texas!

My photos are famous.

Okay not really, but today I noticed that one of my photos is being used on the Invisible Children website. From this I learned 2 things: One! I should really start blocking my photos from photo theives, because it's obviously easy to do. And two! my photos are worth stealing :)

The Fourth Estate

So I was told that a 'blog' is what is happening at the moment. So I guess what I do isn't really blogging because I don't have the time or the patience to share each great moment I experience... I don't know who does, but they obviously have a better computer than I do!

I just came back from San Diego two days ago after being there for four days. This was the only part of the city I saw except for USD which is seriously amazing. I was a little obsessed with the plant life in Old Town where I stayed in a hotel my first night. This place was cute and historic and I had no trouble walking around by myself.

I left Texas on my own but I came back with several friends. 600 people flew from all over the United State, and a few from Canada, to come together in San Diego at the Fourth Estate. You're probably like "umm like what is that?" and I honestly can't explain exactly what we did all weekend. We basically sat in a theater listening to people speaking to us and while we weren't sitting and listening and being filled with greatness from great people, we were eating, sleeping or getting coffee.

The Fourth Estate was a conference put on by Invisible Children to bring together six hundred of the organizations members who are serious about putting an end to the longest running war in Africa. (If you're not familiar with Invisible Children, get familiar here: Invisible Children) We had speakers from Tom Shadyac to the mind-boggling Jeremy Rifkin. Kristin Bell came out to introduce us to John Prendergast and we even heard first-hand stories from Carl Wilkens, the last American in Rwanda during the genocide.

This sums up the feeling that pretty much everyone felt throughout the entire weekend. Bringing together six hundred people who all believe in the same cause that are excited beyond belief can create am overwhelming setting. There were a few puddles on the floor.

Just to add to the beauty of the weekend, knowing that we were all coming together on common ground to discuss saving the lives of thousands of people, these two shoes belong to a beautiful couple that I was lucky to meet. These crazy kids got engaged on our last night in San Diego. When I asked Zac to tell me how he proposed I had to fight back my tears so I wouldn't make the man uncomfortable.

These contracts are where we all signed away our lives; we agreed to 'be' the Fourth Estate. Upon signing we all gained super powers that allow us to always feel a connection with the people of Uganda and DR Congo. Being the Fourth Estate meant that we agreed that we were not going to allow the war to continue and we would work together to bring peace to the people affected by it.

My first and last Flash Mob was at the Fourth Estate. This was one of the most amazing moments all weekend. These are the MC's that made us laugh and cry for four days. Jason, on the right, started Invisible Children with two of his friends and is just plain beautiful. Jed, on the left, loves everyone and has a brilliant mind. A poem of his was in the notebook we all got upon arriving and one day in the theater (while we all waited for the session to start) there was a flash mob of poem reading. As each row stood, another line of the poem was read aloud. By the end of the poem everyone in the theater was standing and Jed and Jason had come out on stage, having heard us from behind the curtain. To make a completely nerdy moment even better, we all saluted each other with the IC peace sign. Happy Day.

I will never be the same again. That's such a lame thing to say...okay, my life is forever changed. Equally lame. I can't express how I feel now; people all over the place at USD were thanking me for the work that I do with Invisble Children but I can't accept it. IC is teaching me, not how to be a better person, but how to be the person I should be and the person I love to be.

Summer in Texas

I've been playing around and experimenting with my editing process on the photos I brought home from my trip. Before I went I normally tried to keep editing to a minimum but after seeing some of my friends' processes I decided to branch out a little and see what I could do. My usual style is darker than most; I love shadows and harsh light but I've come around to higher exposures these days.

I think I like it.

Pisan Bus Stop

These guys at the bus station in Pisa interested me. They would do just about anything to get your attention and once they had it they would sell you whatever they could get money for. "Lady Gaga!" Most, if not all, of their merchandise is counterfeit and illegal to sell, but they still do it. We were told that their "jobs" are very similar to prostitutes; they work for one man selling these items daily and at the end of the day keep very little of their earnings. Life for these men must be hard. What was life like before if this is the better alternative? Where are they from and why did they go to Italy? I am intrigued most by the man below. He saw me photographing him and automatically showed his sense of humor. I was afraid, since he knew I was watching him, he would hound me to buy one of his purses. He didn't though. He just walked away to try and make a sale.

 I wish I knew more about these men who camp outside of bus stations, waiting on tourists to give them money for stolen goods. They scare me a little, but I know they are just trying to make a living.

a little heavy

                                                     
I'm sad to say that tomorrow my little brother will be attending a funeral for one of his buddies. My brother is 16 years old and he's going to say goodbye to a guy he played football with for a few years now. I knew this boy only through watching Bubby play football and I knew him to be very passionate and good at the game. What exactly went so wrong in his life that made him end it may never be known, but I wish that such pain did not exist in our world.

There is so much good in this world and I want everyone to be able to see and experience it. Not one person, as a teen or even as an adult, should have to endure something so terrible that they think life is not worth living. Life should always be worth living. Even when we are down, lessons can be learned and happiness can be found. I wish I had the power to save the life of at least one during my time here. I wish we all did. Because if each and every one of us had that power then no one would need to suffer.

I want to ask everyone to try and make this happen, if you can. Make it your life goal to help at least one person. If you save one, then hopefully, your life will be more fulfilled. Know that your life is worth a lot, to yourself and to others, even if you don't know it. You are beautiful to me and I'm sure I am not the only person who thinks so.

On one of the first days of my trip some friends and I were walking down a street and this is what we turnd the corner to see. This building, The Duomo, is pretty spectacular when you see it for the first time. It never really got old to me; it was my favorite building to revisit most days while in Florence.

Snack time.

This was taken on my first day in Florence while I was lost with my roommates. Being lost can sometimes lead to good places; we all learned this on the trip.

Jet-lag isn't always bad.

It is 6 am and I've been awake for an hour now. My body is still a little confused on when it needs to sleep and when it needs to have waves of great thought. I returned from a month-long trip in Italy two days ago and needless to say I am still recovering from it. I went there for school, studying art history and drawing. Florence, where I lived for the most part, is absolutely the best place to study anything art related. The amount of Michelangelo, Caravaggio and Picasso originals I saw was enough to blow a mind for life. The trip was one of the best experiences I have had and will ever have in life; I am a very lucky girl indeed.

I took two cameras on this trip to capture what I saw in two different ways. I have my Nikon D60 and my Nikon 3000 point and shoot. Obviously I am a Nikon lover [as opposed to those Canon Snobs] and I'm proud of it. My photo instructor on the trip told me that I just needed to switch over, but that is the thing about Snobs, you don't need to listen to them for what to do in life. :)

I took thousands of photographs while in Florence, Venice, Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa, Cinque Terra and Rome. Before I left everyone's advice was to take plenty of pictures; I always thought to myself 'you have no idea'. Photos are my crutch for life. If I go anywhere that I may want to remember later, I take a camera. Photos are a way to look back and remember the nuances of a day or to smile at the thought of how you felt at that exact time.

PS: love to the Canon Snobs; I know and adore many of them!