10/375: T.J.

Tonight Katie and I went to the Ferguson Center on campus to see Thomas Jefferson. Clearly it was not ACTUAL Thomas Jefferson (that would have been AMAZING) but it was one of, if not THE leading first-person historical interpreter of Thomas Jefferson. I saw Clay Jenkinson a few years ago on campus and loved him. I got really excited when I saw he was coming back to campus and wasted no time inviting Katie. She is my kindred spirit history nerd so I knew she'd enjoy it.

Mr. Jenkinson came out "as" Thomas Jefferson, spoke to the audience for a while about his presidency, books, etc. and then entertained questions. He did a great job, was interesting, made us laugh and made us want to learn Greek so we could read the original Homer.

Sadly cameras weren't allowed during the presentation and he took his wig off so we couldn't get the second month of our Katie and Beth Meet the President's calendar taken care of. (We met Lincoln a few summers ago.) I did, however, snap this of a tree branch with the Ferguson Center in the background. Hurray for Spring!

9/374: Post-Its

This is my view of the couch for most of this evening...trying to get some work things to work. *fingers crossed*

8/373: Dancing with the CNU Stars

One of the things I enjoy about working on a college campus is getting to be involved in some fun programs. Tonight I sat as a guest judge for "Dancing with the CNU Stars" competition. It was an event set up much like the actual TV show with a Ballroom Dance Society club member being paired with a staff/fraternity/sorority/club representative. It was a lot of fun and, although I was nervous about having to make commentary in front of a crowd, I feel like I wasn't a completely incompetent judge!



And in case you are wondering, yes that is a person in a bear costume. The bear was the representative from our Alpha Phi sorority chapter. The bear danced a very energetic polka!

6/371 & 7/372: Weekend

On Saturday night a group of friends went to Luckie's a new dueling piano place in Hampton. As many of you know I was a long-time fan of Crocodile Rocks, the dueling piano place that used to be in Norfolk. I had very high expectations for the piano players and the place in general because I loved Croc Rocks so much. I must say that Luckie's was a great time and I look forward to going back again.



Today I got to enjoy watching friends play some kickball AND soak up some sun. It was another nice day here and it was nice to be outside. At the kickball fields I noticed a large bird's nest on the top of one of the light poles. The bird was initially in the nest but then it flew away. I kept an eye out and snapped some shots when it was returning to the next with some food. Based on my basic ornithological knowledge and then some follow up internet research I think this is an osprey. (If you know different, please let me know.)

5/370: Tale as old as time...

Tonight Eddie and I met up with some friends to see the Tallwood High School production of "Beauty and the Beast" the musical. Tim conducted the pit and Katie was rocking it out on horn. The show was pretty good...once I changed my ear/eyes from Broadway perspective. The highlight for me was the girl dressed as a GIANT whisk in the Be Our Guest number. Amazing.

I snapped this quickly at the end of the show of the pit:

4/369: Genus: Narcissus

The weather has finally had a few nice days in a row. The buds on the trees are popping and the daffodils on campus have popped up and bloomed. I enjoyed seeing the daffodils today and went out behind our building after work to snap this.

3/368: Fridge

Eddie and I have put together quite the collection of photos and such on our fridge. I don't really pay much attention to it on a day to day basis but it caught my eye tonight and thought it might be fun for a mini-scavenger hunt for you loyal readers out there.



For those of you with a keen eye you might spot:
-Dolly Parton
-The magnet from the apartment complex I lived in at JMU
-A JMU football ticket stub
-Matt and Sarah's wedding Save the Date magnet
-Two baby Hannahs
-Two pictures of Eddie and I with the Easter Bunny

2/367: Tiptoe....

Kathleen brought tulips to the apartment as a suprise before Eddie's marathon with a nice note thanking me for supporting them. Truthfully I'm thankful for Kathleen because she's been a great support for Eddie. They make a good team and I am also glad she's there to be a support for Eddie's running. (At 5:30am being able to turn over in bed while another person heads out to run 10 miles in the cold with my husband is a nice thing!) I am very proud of both of them as they really stuck to their guns, powered through some very cold training mornings and accomplished their goal on Sunday.

The tulips she brought over are beautiful and I knew they would be a photo of the day at some point this week.

1/366: Photography Club

First photo of the second Project 365...so technically Photo 366. I feel like I should do something different this time around but I think the format works for what I want to do and I can try new themes and methods throughout the next year (i.e. shooting in manual for a week, trying new Photoshop techniques, etc.).

Tonight we had a CNU Photography Club meeting. (I am the staff advisor.) At the end they played a hilarious game that involved teams of two having to pass tissues between a person laying on the floor with a straw and a person in a chair with a party horn. I'll have to remember this activity for future social gatherings/parties because it was pretty funny. I didn't know they had this planned so I had to run up to the office to borrow the office camera to snap this:

365: Much to celebrate

Well....I did it! I have officially completed my Project365. It has been well worth the time and effort. I have loved documenting the events of my life from the very mundane to the lifechanging. In going back through the last year I feel very lucky to have had such amazing opportunities to travel, to grow in my job position, to spend time with so many wonderful friends and to have a great husband to support me.

Speaking of my husband....today he ran his second marathon! I was out of the state at a conference when he had his first marathon so I was so proud to be able to be there today to support him. Today was also a big day for Kathleen (Eddie's faithful running partner, who I am forever thankful for because she is the one up with Eddie before sunrise for long runs) and Dan (work friend) also completed their first marathons.

And as my Photo#365 I present this shot of Eddie with Riley (Kathleen's niece who loves her Eddie!) after the race today.



Oh, and for all of you faithful readers out there...I think I am going to continue with my PhotoBlog. I have found such satisfaction in sharing a snapshot of each day of this year. I know that the next year is going to bring even more changes and I look forward to sharing them with you. Thanks for reading!

363 & 364

363: Eddie and I headed down to my parents' house after work on Friday to watch the Duke basketball game and put Eddie closer to VA Beach for his big race weekend. I snapped this last night before heading to bed. It's a photograph of grandfather (Mom's dad) who I never met. My parents have his photo up with some of his Army items.


364: It was a gorgeous day here in Moyock. Mom, Dad and I sat out on the deck to play a few rounds of Upwords. It's a really fun game and especially enjoyable when played outside on one of the first nice weekends of the year!

359-362

I have had a series of late nights this week that have kept me from posting my photos but I have been keeping up with actually taking them!

359: Sugar and Spice

Nothing that inspiring about my day this day but I was eating some gumdrops and thought they'd make a good subject for the day given their colors and the sugar texture.


360: For a Cause...

Last week our state's attorney general issued a memo to institutions of higher education regarding the place (or rather, the inappropriateness) of sexual orientation in the non-discrimination policies. The CNU students put together a rally this week to voice the student opinion about keeping the policy alive on our campus so that our LGBT community can remain safe. I was proud that a rally actually happened on campus...it would have been nice to have had more people attend but it was good that something happened!



361: Luck Of the Irish

Carbon Leaf is an AMAZING Irish-inspired rock band from Virginia. I've seen them quite a few times but last night's concert was, by far, the best. Any band with a lead singer that rocks some serious pennywhistle solos is okay by me! I didn't do much edits to this photo other than cropping it since we were in the back of the venue. I really like the lighting and shadows on the stage.



362: The Madness!

This is the third year that I have organized a NCAA Men's Basketball Bracket Competition for our department. This year we have 19 staffers participating. I love "grading" the brackets as games are played and seeing how everyone is doing. What a fun time of year!

Late Nights

It's been a little nutso in my work world this week so taking power naps and relaxing before late night meetings have taken precedence over posting my photos....I do have photos for the last two days but updating will need to wait.

358: Ice Cream, Ice Cream, Iccceeee Creeeeeeeeeeeeam!

My subject heading is a reference (a vague one) to The Music Man when Professor Harold Hill gets the School Board members to become a barbershop quartet. Classic.

I got some ice cream (well, frozen custard) from Rita's down the street this afternoon. I managed to take a break from eating it long enough to take a photo of it. Delicious!

357: Rikkers!

A good friend from JMU, Scott, was in town for a band event this weekend so a group of us went out to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. We had a great time and laughed a lot. This is a photoshopped photo of Scott's martini and his glasses.

356: Elphaba!

It's a rainy and windy evening so I have enjoyed just laying on the couch and taking it easy. I'm not feeling super today (headache,a little bit of a sore throat, just generally tired from a crazy week at work) so it was a welcome quiet night.

Katie got me a fantastic Wicked (The Musical) pop-up book for Christmas and one of my favorite pages is this one:

355: March Madness!

My favorite time of the year is almost here! March Madness! I am very excited to get the brackets going and to start following the games!

354: Na na na na na na na na, Na na na na na na na na....

....BATMAN!


The highlight of my day today was being told by a student that there was a dead bat under a sofa in the building where I work. I crouched down and sure enough, there it was! We got one of the floor supervisors to come with a broom and dustpan to remove it. I snapped this shot with my wonderful student worker Susan's cell phone since I didn't have a camera with me. I photoshopped it the best I could from a really dark cell phone photo but it was just too ridiculous to pass up for a Photo of the Day.

In case you need some assistance "seeing" the bat:

We're Baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Greetings loyal readers. Thank you for your patience as I enjoyed a long weekend away in Florida. It was really nice to get away, see Eddie's family, watch Ellen play softball and enjoy some Disney. Here are my shots from the last five days:

349: Welcome To Orlando!

This fountain is in the middle of the atrium of the Orlando airport. There is a semi-Hidden Mickey in this shot. :-)



350: Experiments in Spectromagic

When I was in Atlanta the hotel had a series of four photographs taken of city scenes (traffic, buildings, etc) that were out of focus. I really liked the effect and tried taking some during the Magic Kingdom Spectromagic parade. I am pleased with the outcomes. Here is one of them:



351: Up, Up and Away...

We have been going to Florida at this time of year for Eddie's sister's softball tournaments for a few years now and each year we notice hot air balloons in the morning. This year the house was located near the flight path of the balloons so we got a great view of them each morning. It was really beautiful. I shot this from our bedroom window:



352: Practically Perfect In Every Way

I've never been a princess kind of girl but I AM a Mary Poppins girl. I, at the age of 28, get really excited when I see her in the Disney parades. I was pleased to spot her on the "Characters In Flight" balloon in Downtown Disney. (We didn't ride this balloon...$16 is a little steep if you ask me!)



353: S-C-R-A-B-B-L-E

Eddie and I met up with Heather in Williamsburg at our usual restaurant for dinner and Scrabble. We had a great time enjoying good food, good music, good Scrabble and our youth (we were very young compared to most of the other people there). I forgot to get a photo when we were at the restaurant to I took this when we got home.

Note for readers

We are in Florida this weekend (yay!!!) and just got settled. Since it's late tonight and we will probably have another late night tomorrow night I may not updated until Sunday. Thank you for your patience and have a great weekend!

348: A come from behind (almost) victory

Trivia night tonight was quite fun as we battled to tie for first. We didn't win the Rock/Paper/Scissors battle to officially come in first but we were proud of our performance.

I was tired tonight and so didn't try too terribly hard for my photo so here is Karen's mug from tonight taken with my pocket digital...obviously played with in Photoshop.

347: Big News

Well, we didn't win the lottery last night but we do have other exciting news...

Eddie and I are really happy to announce that we are expecting our first child at the beginning of September! It's been hard to keep this a secret for so long! So far I've had some of the normal pregnancy fun with nausea and fatigue but with the start of the second trimester I'm already feeling better.

We get a weekly email with updates about what is going on with the baby in terms of development and size. This week the baby is the size of a lemon, hence this Photo of the Day.

346: *fingers crossed*

The MegaMillions lottery is up past $100 million so Eddie and I are playing tonight. Here's to hoping for a little luck!

345: Squished!

I have been a collector of pressed pennies/coins for quite some time now. It's a fun thing to collect because of the simple fun of finding the machines and only having to spend 51 cents for a souvenir. It's also fun because now I have friends that will see machines where they are visiting and bring me one.

Fun Facts about Beth's Pressed Coin Collection:
-The collection consists of 277 pressed pennies, 6 pressed quarters, 4 pressed dimes, 3 pressed nickels and 2 pressed euros.
-The first pressed penny was from the Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee.
-The pressed coin from the furthest away is the pressed euro Beth's grandmother brought her from Italy with a portrait of The Pope on it.
-One of the most random pressed pennies in the collection is from Baltimore and has Frank Zappa on it.
-The funniest place Beth ever got a pressed penny (although she watched someone else actually crank it...*cough* Mother-In-Law *cough*) was in front of an adult video store in New York City.