I figured this would happen! I got busy with LIFE and missed a few weeks. Here’s my make up.

WEEK 5: Wildlife

A few weeks ago we had THIS little visitor in our backyard. We normally have herons, cranes, ibis and a few other birds, but this guy was new. And surprisingly friendly. He would get pretty close to us, which is odd (it’s taken a year for our usual ibis friends to be comfortable enough to come over). In any case, he was a beautiful specimen and was a great poser for me!

WEEK 6: Independence

I took my daughter to Universal one weekend – which we do often – and she completely shocked me at the Curious George Playground. She climbed (what I would deem) the scary wall up to the top of the playground equipment BY HER SELF. I was shocked. I was right there, taking pictures, and I still couldn’t believe it. My big girl took her first steps all over again in my eyes. It made my realize that, yes, it does go fast and, yes, my baby girl isn’t a baby any more.

WEEK 7: My Sweethearts

For V-day week, it’s only fitting that I would choose a picture of my two loves. Here are Izzy and Adam at the lake behind our house. They go out every night to feed the birds and fish. This picture is one of many that reveals how much my little girls is just like her daddy…and I love it.

Hopefully I stay on track! In this meantime, I have a few shoots to edit and post up here as well. Until next time…

Well, this week the Picaboo peeps did not put their subject up until WAY too late (it’s “white,” btw). SO, this week is a free for all. Which is good for me! Today I visited the Viera Wetlands for the first time and I had a blast. It’s a beautiful area with alligators, fish, turtles, flowers, and birds galore. I’m not a nature photographer, but I truly enjoyed having such beautiful subjects and landscapes to record. This is my favorite photo from the day. It’s just a wide angle shot of the wetlands, but with the beautiful sky and reflection of the water…I don’t know. It’s the first photo I’ve taken of nature that just took my breath away. Make sure you open this to full size to truly appreciate the beauty in this picture!

Hopefully this week Picaboo will be on the ball and get their subject up. If not, I’ll shoot for “white” and make up for the “lost time.” Until then…

Ok, I’m cheating this week. I am including an old photo from last year – but it’s the best I could come up with. I thought about all of these different scenarios that I could come up with to symbolize hunger and, quite frankly, didn’t have time. So this week, the Iz in “Hungry.”

There are many ways I could have attacked this week’s photographic challenge. First of all, we have two cars in our driveway and who knows how many around our block. We live 6 miles from a yacht club, not to mention an inlet, river, and the ocean, so boats could be an obvious answer. And of course we have an airport, Air Force Base, and the Kennedy Space Center in our back yard. So options for “Transportation” were not difficult. My choice, however, was my ratty old pair of running shoes. I’ve been running quite a bit lately, finishing my first half marathon and training for my full. It’s been a great experience and I’ve enjoyed every mile along the way. These shoes have taken me on runs all across the state of Florida, along the Mississippi River, around Massachusetts, and so many other destinations. While I’ve put hundreds of miles on these shoes, the farthest they have ever taken me in one trip is 13.1 (to date, anyways). That doesn’t stop them from being my #1 mode of transportation. Nothing – not a Mustang, Porsche, 747, or ocean liner – makes me feel as powerful on the road as these shoes. The roads they take me on aren’t all paved, but they ALWAYS lead to a stronger me.

What do YOU capture for this week’s challenge? Feel free to post your photo on my Facebook page.

Hello 2012 and welcome to the LaRueBoweRs Photoblog (yes, we’re changing it up, folks!). I’ve decided to follow Picaboo’s 365 Project – though not the entire 365. The 365 Project is basically about documenting each day with a photo based on a weekly theme. We’re going to go ahead and stick with a weekly photo based on a weekly theme (let’s see how long I survive this project!). This week’s theme is “Goodbye Holidays”. The photo above is my mass of Christmas decorations just before I shoved them back into boxed and bins to be stored until next year. Have any pictures that represent YOUR send off for the holidays? Feel free to post them on the LaRueBoweRs Photography Facebook Page! I’d LOVE to see them!

Now the decorations are all stored, it’s time to get to some chores before heading back to work tomorrow. Until next time…

2011 has been a great year full of changes. I took quite a few leaps – opening my own business and leaving a great job with amazing friends to follow my passion (which ultimately will help in my business – and am thankful that everything has worked out as well as it has. I’m not sure if I believe in fate, but things just seem to have a way working out and I have definitely seen evidence of that this year.

Since I’ve had such a positive experience with change in 2011, I have decided to continue with more changes in 2012. The one I am writing about today is the conversion of my “Rants and Raves” blog to the LaRueBoweRs Photography Photo Blog. I may still add a few quips here and there, but I’d like to have a place to post pictures of all the great people I am privileged to shoot other than Facebook (because, I have found, not EVERYONE is on “the ‘book”!). I’ll keep the R&R archive up and available, but look forward to some changes in content in the next few weeks.

This will be my last blog for 2011 and I want to end it with thanks to all my friends, family, and clients for helping me to achieve my goals and follow my dreams. Your thoughts and support are amazing and I am truly grateful! 2011 – thanks for the memories. 2012 – I can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store for me!

Until next time…

Last week, I made a major accomplishment (the half marathon) and decided to reward my self with a week off from running (which, I’ve found, is not a reward for me so much as torture). I was ready to run on Monday, but held off. By Tuesday, I was waking up with a sore throat. NEVER FEAR! I had Emergen-C’s – they would save the day! Wednesday, the sore throat reappeared. Emergen-C stepped in once again to ward off the evil spirits of whatever bug was trying to plague me. Thursday, the sore throat brought it’s friend, fever, and they decided to hang out for the day (Emergen-C is apparently afraid of fever because he backed out completely). Since Thursday I have been on an up and down roller coaster of feeling “ok” to feeling like complete BLAH and I’m OVER IT! I’m sick of being sick. I hate the 30 minute sinus rinse sessions (which are amazing – don’t get me wrong – but I hate the necessity), the waking up and not being able to go back to sleep, and the Day and NyQuil regimen (ok, who am I kidding. I’m down with the NyQuil regimen. It’s about as close to a “buzz” as I ever get…but I hate that I’m miserable and HAVE to take it). It’s been a week of feeling miserable and I just want to feel better. I’m pretty sure that I’ve got a sinus infection and am also pretty sure that I probably should have seen a doctor by now. The problem is my schedule right now, but I’ll have to figure it out, I guess. In the meantime, I’ll still keep my friend Emergen-C on board (even though he’s sort of bailed on me this week), maybe I’ll try some OJ to help out, I’ll head to bed early to get as many Zzzz’s in as I can, and my bestest pal running…well, I’ll see you soon, dear friend!

Until next time…

It’s been 3 days now and the thrill has still not worn off. I can still see the crowds, the finish line, and the back of my eye lids as I try to hold back tears. On Sunday, I got halfway to one of my “30 before 30″ goals: I finished a half marathon.

When I got up at the ridonkulous hour of 3am on Sunday, I was nervous as can be. I’m not sure why – I mean I had no intentions of WINNING or even “RACING” the race (my goal was to never stop and to finish) – but I was nervous nonetheless. It felt like those days back in middle and high school when I went to different music competitions. I knew I was ready – I had been practicing (or in this case, training) for months – but the excitement of all those months thinking about this day just gave me the jitters.

The race was the Space Coast Marathon, a series celebrating its 40th year. The countdown to race start was given by a former astronaut and depicted on a big screen by a shuttle launch. Super. Cool. Of course, I couldn’t see it, but that doesn’t matter. You could feel it.

My running partner and I decided to not fight the crowd of over 3,000 runners and to start in the back of the herds (with our D-tags, we could’ve grabbed breakfast, taken a nap, and started the race an hour later without issue). We crossed the finish line 8 minutes after the start of the race and the adventure was on.

The course was pretty straight forward – basically 6 1/2 miles out and 6 1/2 miles back – along the river in Cocoa and Rockledge. The weather was perfect. Not too cold, never too hot. A hint (or threat as I saw it) of rain, but never a downpour. Slight wind along the way, but nothing over powering. It was perfect.

Along the way, crowds of friends, family members, and volunteers kept our spirits up with motivational cheer, songs, and (of course) drinks. I had to be reigned in several times because I would get so pumped from just their presence that I would increase my run time by 2 minutes (not a good thing when you’re doing your first half and trying to finish). That’s one of the great things about having a running partner – you have someone to reign you in when you get too excited, and of course someone to cheer you on when you think you can’t take any more.

At the halfway point I was feeling fabulous (and I’m sure that had a lot to do with all the Marvin the Martians and Spacemen who were spraying us down with water. THANKS GUYS!). By mile 10 – with only a 5K to go – I was feeling stronger than I had ever felt before. Well, except when we got lapped by the guy from Nicaragua who was finishing the full marathon (I think he had done this before, though…). =) Nevertheless, at that point I knew I could finish and was ready to prove it to the world!

At mile 13, the race became surreal. We were getting closer to the finish line, crowds were getting thicker, and the reality of completing this task was coming to fruition. When I actually saw the finish line, a burst of energy jetted out from inside me. I picked up the pace by over 3 minutes as I (now) raced towards the finish line. The announcer called everyone’s name, but I didn’t hear mine. It was drowned out by the cheers of the wonderful people who got up early not for themselves, but for their family members and friends. They got up to be cheerleaders. I’m not sure if they understand the impact they had but it was pretty major and I am truly grateful.

At the finish line I felt a sudden woosh of relief, followed by tears as we were handed our medals, patches, and towels. I felt like I had won the Miss America pageant and was being handed my roses! It was an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment that I don’t think I can ever fully explain. It was simply amazing.

I had an incredible time at my very first half marathon and I want to thank a few people for all their help. To Chris, my running partner – thanks for sticking it out with me and signing up for this crazy journey. To all my friends and family for supporting and encouraging me, a big hug and thanks! To all the FB friends who gave their love and support, thank you! To Denise and Don, Running Zone, and all the sponsors of the event (including Health First who saved the day with chap stick and Publix who saved it with oranges) – a big, whooping thanks for helping to make my very first half memorable. For the volunteers who cheered and hydrated us along the way, who woke in the early hours not to compete but to support, THANK YOU. You have no idea how important you are and how much you helped along the way. And of course, to my husband, Adam, for taking on extra chores so that I could get some run time in (and for dealing with not-so-happy night time routines while I pounded the pavement), THANK YOU.

Now that I’ve completed my first half it’s time to train for my first full. I’m planning on doing the Melbourne Music Marathon in February. No problem! (Yea, except for the 4 BRIDGES along the route) It’ll be fine, I’m sure. Right now, there’s a blank spot on my back windshield that’s waiting for a 26.2 sticker…right next to my 13.1.

I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since my last post. For those of you hanging on my every word (and believe me, I know that’s basically just me and my 1 year old), my sincere apologies.

A lot has happened in the past month. For starters, my husband and I ventured to Boston to see the Noles take on Boston College. Boston, you need to work on your tailgating skills. As a matter of fact, I would put that up at priority #1, right before even THINKING about working on your shoddy football skills. That is all…. Other than severely lacking tailgating, Boston was beautiful, just like our last visit, and our wonderful family made the trip special and eventful! I’ll post more pix another time.

LaRueBoweRs Photography is getting busy, which is exciting! Because it’s going so well, I’ve decided to step up my game and make some day-to-day changes so that I can continue learning and perfecting my craft. I’ve got some great plans ahead and can’t wait to share those with you! BE PATIENT!

That’s all I have effort for right now. It’s been a terribly long day and I’ve just finished a fantastic project that just took all my heart, soul, and energy to complete (it’s totally worth it!). I’ll keep this updated more and let you know what I am ranting about!

Until next time…