Where Have You Been Ollie Wills?

I have the distinguished honor of getting to work for myself and take photos all the time.  If I had to compare my love, I would say that it is very much like a happy marriage.  There are many more good days then bad days.  But I do have to say that I have an insane amount of gratitude for realizingmy dream and focusing on making my craft better.  Here's some food for the starving artists soul. I welcome criticism. These pictures are from various places I have shot in the last few weeks (yes, I'm insanely behind).

So for the past few weeks, I've been working with a wonderful company Charlotte Fashion Plate on their company rollout, SEO Management and photography.  This is been a dream realized.  I now can focus on my dream and my family.  I feel like I have spent so much of life planning for the start of life which has been.

I am thankful for the family that has supported me throughout this process of who what where when and when and when.  I appreciate those who stood by me and told me, "You are going to be somebody, not that you're not already somebody."  I appreciate my partner sitting with me through many a long nights that he didn't have to.  I appreciate the time he spent watching my children while I sometimes worked for 12 hours straight.

EYE opening.

Gratitude amasses within my soul to the point that it's almost overwhelming.

I thank you all for believing in me.

My Last Trip to San Antonio, TX.

It's almost a year to the date from when my grandmother died. I was extremely close to my grandmother.  Most days, I still talk to her and ask her if my life is going the way she would have it go.  My grandmother was my mother by all intents and purposes. 

When I was younger, I lost my first of many mothers, my maternal grandmother, Margie. After that, I remember praying to God to send me a mother.  Throughout the years, he has sent me numerous mothers including my mother who lives in Selmer, TN, Melinda Ann.  She taught me how to treat everyone like they are blood. He also sent me my other mother in Thaxton, MS.  She taught me how to appreciate every lesson life taught me.  She also sent me my grandmummy, who taught me how to love everyone as if the Lord embedded that feeling in your heart.

I was so very close to  her. She brought so much love to my life. And, even in the last days, when the life started to leave her voice, she was still there telling me to charge forward and do the best I could because she was already proud of me.

I miss her EVERY SINGLE DAY.

These pictures I'm about to share are from the day of her funeral.  We walked around San Antonio, TX. I absolved myself to making this my last trip I would ever take to San Antonio, TX.  This city was her last resting place therefore, it is my last visit.

I know it's taken me a long time to post these.  However, consider this my moment of grief.

Around the World in 8 Whole Hours

Once upon a time, I took a trip. The plan was to travel around the world and end up whenever my eyes opened. 

That place ended up being Dodge City, Kansas...Wyatt Earp City. The year was 2012.

I doubt people dream of this place when their whisked away at night to dream land.  But, this was it.  This was the place of my dreams.  The spot where my feet decided to plant for an hour or so. A place where the streets were paved with cobblestone, restaurants manned by the world, and abandoned beautiful buildings.

They were absolutely beautiful, the buildings, that is. They were red, blue, green and purple.  ROY G. BIV must have fathered enumerable painters and muralists who chose the street names and colors.  And, for a gal who liked the color red...oh red..oh how red abounded. I saw my life flash before me in a haze of understanding.

It made no sense...this town. It was literally in the middle of nowhere. It sat roughly 4 hours from Tulsa and 4 hours from the nearest city in Colorado (or maybe even the state line).  There were shops and theaters and bars.  The Italian restaurant was owned by a Hispanic Family. Yet, I saw no Mexican restaurants.  The streets were all frontier.  Cowboys lined door frames.  Bulls grazed on leaves of stone.  Auction blocks ran the town.  Many streets had no names.

This was my kind of randomness. My town. It was me.

Maybe that's why I stopped randomly on my way to nowhere in my general tour around the world.  Maybe I decided I needed a breath of fresh air. Ya..that was it.  Fresh air.

Living Vicariously: The Travels of June Grayjoy/Prague

I wish I could say that as I  was responsible for all the wonderful travels that grace the pages of Blue Arden photo. Unfortunately, I am not.  However, I am blessed to have friends who travel the world who share their adventures with me and continue to inspire me.  In the next few months, I will be visiting June to catch up on much needed friend time. Until then, she continues to send me appetizing pictures of her musings and misadventures (to entice me to move my ticket date up more).

Who is June?

June is my dearest (xoxo) friend I met while on one of many journeys around the US in my quest to learn everything about everything.  June just so happens to be my artistic kindred spirit who is, too, in search of something great worth learning on this amazing Earth. She just so happens to be my one and only and first travel correspondent for Blue Arden ;)

Why Prague?

Why not?

What is there to see in Prague?

Lots and lots of frothy golden brew, the astronomical face clock (refer below to June pics), the art movement (contemporary art movement worth screaming for), medieval warrens and saints  (actors dressed up as so of course), and much more.  June, went to a symphony, museum, and toured one of the oldest cities in Europe!

This past weekend, June went to the beautiful and historic city of Prague (grrrr..shaking in my boots with jealousy).  Follow her journey through these awesome pictures:

Good Italian Food & Games With Julia (AKA B) in little ole Petersburg.

Julia is one of my good friends I met while at school in Petersburg, VA.  She's originally from the Ukraine, but has been a Unites States citizen for well over 9 years.  She loved it here so much that she became an officer in the United States Army.  I mean, how rad is that. 

On one of our nights off, we decided to head down to downtown Petersburg for a bit of food and fun. If you have never been to Petersburg, be sure to go check it out.

Scenes from my Petersburg Summer...

...as in Petersburg, Virginia that is.  Petersburg is one of the most beautiful cities I have visited. There's a lot to be said about this quaint military town nestled right outside of Richmond, Virginia.  It is easy for any visitor to take the view for granted given the run-down nature of many of the buildings and how the lines blur between history and socio-economic distress.  But, it is VERY charming.  There are small pubs, cobblestone streets, and an old train station to name a few places.