My Attitude of Gratitude

Today, I say thank you to you - yes YOU

For supporting me and being an amazing fan of my art. 

2014 hasn't been an easy year for me and, to be honest, there were enough big wham-o life changing things that happened to me which made me walk around and say "I can't wait for 2014 to be over".

Then I talked with a wonderful friend of mine who said "Wait a minute, I know it's been a lot but what about....." and then she proceeded to list all sorts of positives that happened to me this year. I hired a personal trainer, I beat my yearly reading goal (30 books and counting), I moved closer to my parents and the beach, my photography has grown by leaps and bounds.....and her list went on and on. She made me cry because not only was she right but she also had paid attention enough to remember my positives FOR me. After that, I realized it was time to step off my pity party of one (want some cheese with that whine?) and remember the positives still happening in my life.

So today, I say thank you for being in my life, providing me with amazing support, love, positive feedback on my art, and all around fantabulousness. You are friggin' terrific and today I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving (and for those not in the U.S., let's call this Gratitude Day) full of people you love, comfort, and naps......lots of food coma naps.

And may you also have wonderful people in your life to help remind you, when the negatives get you down, of how many positives there really are in your amazing wonder-filled existence on this blue marble called Earth.

Hold Onto Your Shorts, January | Beach Sunset Photography

My theme for this month of January? Hold onto your shorts.

I thought with the end of the Holidays, the new year would start off allowing me to eeeaaasseee on down the road like The Wiz......apparently not. It has been fast and furious both at work and with life at home. I typically fall into bed like a sack of potatoes and I'm asleep. It's ok though. I am not ashamed in admitting I just put my Christmas tree away. Well, it's now in it's box which has yet to make it to the garage. That's pretty much away, right?

Why so blase about this? Well, I spent most of last year learning how to just chill the eff out about silly things. I worked really hard on letting go of the things that I just have no control over and taking a stand on the things I can. So, the naked Christmas tree standing in my living room staring at me for most of January? I decided it could wait. Instead, I focused on working my new goals this year both personally and professionally. Have I maintained them? No, I already dropped the ball but that's ok. I just try, try again.

I decided to start a daily gratitude journal. Just a little something to remind me when I am feeling all dramatic and nobody loves me (so I'm gonna eat some worms) I can refer to this and enjoy those things that make me feel grateful. I wrote in it for 5 days and then it's sat dormant in my purse the remainder of the month. It's cool. I'll re-start soon. Maybe even tonight? My hope (and I already started it) is to convert it into a smash book. I used to love scrapbooking and this is a way chill version with a lot less rules. Totally more my style.

I also realized the amount of books I read last year was just abysmal so I went on Goodreads, upped my book challenge, and have already read 2 books this month. Remember that Christmas Tree in my living room? It's been my book reading buddy. Read a book or put away the tree? Yeah, there's no question there.

As for this year? I decided I want to live a lot more positively. My daily question I now ask myself is did I make someone happy, help someone out, reach out to someone I haven't spoken to in awhile, and/or let someone know how special they are to me? If I can say yes to even one, it's been a great day. I've been doing this for awhile though - probably since last August - and it's been fantastic.

So yeah, January is almost over and I am just now getting a blog post out but, honestly, I kept getting really stuck on a topic and after my long days I would stare at the computer to inevitably decide sleep was more important. As for the topic, I finally went with honesty. I've been told that's the best policy.

Notice how I put lovely beach sunset photos in between my ramblings? I figured I'd give everyone the choice to:

A) Look at the pretty pictures

B) Read the randomness or

C) Do both and join my Awesome Possum Club. I should get around to making a sticker for that.

Anyone else working on personal/professional goals? Have you kept them going smoothly or randomly like me? Should I mention Floridians are complaining about 50 degrees as being cold while everyone else is experiencing snowpocalypse? Who else out there was annoyed at how soon they had pukey pink Valentine's stuff up in stores?

Fantabulous Fall Fun At The Magic Kingdom | Disney Photography

During the fall season, I get very jealous of the beautiful weather happening up north. Florida's fall weather consists of cooler temps (70's), some rainy days depending on the fronts moving through, and the official ending of Hurricane season (yes, we Floridians celebrate the end of Hurricane season - especially the "dry" years). The major photographic bonus of fall are some amazing sunrises and sunsets.

As a result, I fill my home with red/orange/yellow hued fall decorations to help get myself in the spirit of the season and I also make the time to go to Disney to see their wonderful fall and Halloween decorations. When I see their decorations up, then I know fall has arrived!

Magic Kingdom always adds the sparkle with multiple decorations, especially up and down Main Street. Mickey pumpkins are in every corner, fall leaves abound, and it definitely gets you in the spirit. When these decorations go up, it's not only seasonal but it indicates Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party has arrived! This is a specialty party requiring a separate admission ticket and I love going because it means adults can dress up too and trick or treat! I'm all about socially accepted adult trick or treating. Yet another reason why Disney is awesome (yup, just letting my Disney nerd flag fly right now).

At night, the park gets even more into the Halloween spirit with specialty lighting and Halloween music playing. I truly believe Disney's most magical time in the parks is at night. If you haven't seen the park at night (or only when you're crazy exhausted from hoofing it through the parks all day), then you're missing out. I am such a fan of visiting at night. Can you tell?.

........And here's a bonus set of pictures showing my cousins and I dressed up for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We had a blast coordinating as a group and made lots of people smile and laugh with our colorful nerd costumes. EVERY SINGLE character we met tried to spin the propellers on our hats. Buzz Lightyear did it repeatedly, which cracked me up. It was loads of fun. We have already started throwing around some ideas for next year.

FYI, I'm in the green.

That Time I Broke My Tailbone In Central Park | NYC Photography

Full disclosure: You have my full permission to laugh. I would (and do!) laugh at this story.

Approximately 3 months ago, I went on an amazing trip to New York City, NY and Paris, France. My husband and I visited Paris once before but it was for only one day and the majority of our time was spent on a bus traveling to/from the city. For this visit, we wanted to do everything on our wish list, and then some.

We started off in New York City for a couple days because despite having gone multiple times, there were still many things we had not seen or done. It was amazing. We visited the Statue of Liberty, the top of the Rockefeller Center building at sunset (so crowded!), and multiple locations that were all memorable. We topped off our last day in NYC with a bike ride through Central Park and this is where things went downhill for me.

After renting the bikes and getting them “fitted” to our height, we circled most of Central Park and stopped at specific locations. I am so short I had to make a choice, either have my seat 1) low enough so my feet could touch the ground when stopped but my knees in my chest while pedaling or 2) too high off the ground but more comfortable while pedaling. I went with the 2nd choice. It was a fantastic way to see Central Park because it is so large and we were lucky, on that day, there was no traffic within the park.  As we pedaled up a small hill to our last stop, to visit Strawberry Fields (John Lennon) memorial, everyone was ahead of me and I stood up on my pedals to get some extra push going and that’s when it all fell apart.

My flip flop slipped off the pedal, I fell downward, my tailbone slammed the seat edge, and I was stuck dangling there mid-air because my feet couldn't touch the ground. I was in so much pain and was trying to stay conscious and not vomit over the side, all while angling myself and the bike downward so I could touch the ground. No one else saw it happen and when they turned to see where I was, rather than admit I was hurt I lost my mind like a crazy person.

My husband asked me if I was OK and I proceeded to ramble / yell / froth at the mouth about how I hated riding bikes, where could I return the bike, when would this be over, this was the worst idea known to mankind, and told him I was taking the bike back and didn't care about stupid Central Park. Mind you, this was filled with some super salty language. Quite a few f-bombs and other creative unsavory words that would make my grandmother blush scarlet. I was like a pirate after a bottle of rum who had just stubbed his toe and forgotten to take his meds that day.

As I went on my crazy lady rant, my husband looked at me with such confusion. He’s known I've always wanted to see the Strawberry Fields memorial, especially since I had the poster of the memorial hanging in my room starting at 15 years old.  He looked at me like I had lost my mind (I had) and said “What is wrong with you? Just get off the bike and walk up the hill. It’s RIGHT THERE” as he pointed to a distance of less than 50 feet away.

Still not admitting I was hurt, I heaved my leg off the bike so I could walk it up the hill. Once I got to the top and started turning a normal shade of coloring from purple to semi-red, I then explained to my husband what happened and finished with “I think I broke my tailbone”. All he could do was shake his head because, if you know me well, this isn't surprising news. I am always hurting myself.

By the way, our flight to Paris was scheduled to leave in several hours.

We visited the memorial and I walked the bike back to return it (the location was literally at the bottom of the hill we were on). As we got closer to the flight departure time, I knew and feared the pain was going to be tremendous on the flight and I wasn't wrong. I couldn't sit, stood instead, had the flight attendants ask me multiple times if everything was OK (Yes, everything is fine. No, I’m not planning on doing something terrible). It was 8 very very long hours.

The good news is, I toughed it out (the worst was trying to stand up from sitting and sitting in the taxi cabs), slept on my stomach, took tons of pictures, visited every single thing I had on my list, and was teased about my “broken butt” constantly. I had to laugh because yes, this is EXACTLY a story I could add to my “Rachel’s List of Stories”. I've been told I could write a book – like the time this guy asked me for directions while he was in his car and it took me several (far too long) seconds to realize he was stark naked behind the wheel. To be honest, I was distracted by how sweaty and red he was. I’ll save that story for another day though…..

P.S. It’s 3 months later and it STILL HURTS. It’s definitely improved but I still can’t sit too long, sit in cushy seats (like the couch or movie theater), sit comfortably in a car, or exercise extensively. I've read it takes forever to heal. They weren't wrong.

P.P.S. (or is it P.S.S.?) I will be posting more Paris photos in my next several posts. Sorry for the tease photo above :-)