Black Belt Living

The End of 2010

I've been a bad blogger in 2010. It's been a bad year, what can I say. It's even ending badly, which is basically why I haven't updated in two weeks. 

I am looking forward to seeing them parade old Dick Clark out there like a puppet on New Year's Eve. 2011 can't come too soon. 

I've been working on putting together some of my favorite shots of 2010, and I've got some great ones that have never been seen before. I'll put that up on New Year's Day. 

Shannon and I are going to Festival of Lights tonight assuming that it's not pouring down rain, and I'm looking forward to some great fun with photographing Christmas lights before they're all gone. 

I'm still hoping to put up a new blog early in January (it got sidelined for a few other projects and sometimes life just gets in the way), so I hope you'll follow me when I move!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year has pretty much been a turkey for us. Actually, we love turkey. Turkeys get a bad rap. But this year hasn't been rosy, no matter how you look at it. On the flip side, bad times always give us the opportunity to take stock in our lives and count our blessings, and our blessings are many.

I am grateful for so much and I try every day to not take anything for granted. Life sure has a way of putting things into perspective, doesn't it?

I hope that this Thanksgiving, you have many blessings in your life to be thankful for. And for my friends and loved ones who are dealing with grief during this holiday season, may you know peace of mind and know that I am thinking of you. I care, and please let me know if I can help. 

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! 

Lights and Costumes and Pumpkins, Oh My!

I admit it. Halloween used to be all about the costumes and the Almond Joys. But no more, now it's about bokeh and lighting and taking photos in challenging light. 

Halloween is fun! I hope yours was full of Almond Joy!

Storyboard from Andie Smith Designs.  

 

Saturday Update

Wow, I swear, you blink and another week is gone. 

I feel like another seven days just flew by. And speaking of flu, that bug hit here too, which kept both Shannon and I down and out for a day or two. 

But here are some peeks at fun things that we managed to do:

St. Xavier High School / Good Counsel High School Football

My husband, his brother, and my father-in-law all went to St. Xavier High School here in Cincinnati. Last week, they played a football game against Good Counsel HS of Maryland, where my niece and nephew attend...lots of family connections in that game. My brother in law Chuck flew in for the weekend and we had a lot of fun at the game. Did you see us on ESPN?  

Here's a pic of Chuck and Andy. Chuck has his St. X shirt on with his Good Counsel hat. It's nice to go to a game and know that no matter what, your team won't lose!

After the flu bug left the building, I decided to try my hand at making and canning homemade salsa. I've made salsa a lot in the past, but never canned it. At the end of the day, it went well, but it was a TON of work. Unfortunately, when pulling the last jar out of the canner, it slipped out of my hand. A hot bomb of boiling salsa and glass hit the floor and exploded all over the place. Yuck. Lesson learned ~ get a jar lifter. I have one now and made spaghetti sauce yesterday. I should have purchased one of those gizmos long ago. This week I think I'm going to do a bunch more tomatoes and maybe some peach preserves. Yummy!  

Canning is fun and easy, don't be afraid to try it!

This weekend the pro beach volleyball players are in town for their annual tournament. It's fun watching the Olympic gold medalists and their top competitors do their best. I'm amazed at how high these people can jump in the deep sand. Wowza. Lots of eye candy too. 

Yesterday I was there for the day session and got to see a lot of great volleyball. I got to meet Kerry Walsh (that's her in the teal tank top above), one of the Olympians too. The volleyball players mingle with the crowd and are super nice. They may be world class athletes and famous, like Misty May Trainor (above) who not only won a gold medal, but danced a mean cha cha on Dancing With the Stars, but they are super friendly. We're going again today...a lot more pics coming this week! 

Happy Labor Day Weekend everybody. We're going to watch more volleyball today and are going to a barbecue tomorrow, so I need to get running. I've got food to make and pics to take!

 

 

Happy Holiday Weekend

What do you get when a holiday falls on a weekend?  Extra time for fun!

Happy 4th of July weekend, everybody!  

Memorial Day

Wow, here we are on the edge of Memorial Day weekend, 2010.  I never get over how quickly time passes and this year is no exception. 

The odd thing for me this year, and I'm keeping it real here, is that 2010 hasn't been the greatest. In fact, there have been way too many days that have done nothing but suck. Loss, illness, hospitalizations, funerals, and just generally really crappy things. In 2010, bad things didn't just happen in threes, they seemed to happen in thirty-threes. 

But on the bright side, I am convinced that things are truly looking up.  We're still standing.  We're all healthy and happy. We have much to be grateful for.  And yesterday, as I stood on the Kentucky side of the Ohio river and took in the gorgeous Cincinnati skyline, it was so bright and beautiful that the sky looked like it was overexposed. 

When I came home, I decided to look back on 2010 and pick out good things, things that seemed to have gotten somewhat overshadowned by the gloom-and-doom. I found a LOT of good, and so I've decided to share some of it with you.  Not all the pics are the best, but that's okay. These are going to be my memories of 2010 on this Memorial Day weekend and we move on from here!

January

Festival of Lights - we nearly froze to death, but it was still great!

A few good snowstorms.....

Shannon riding the Zamboni at the Cyclones' game for her birthday

February

The Olympics - I LOVE the Olympics!

   Birthday party at The Mad Potter

  My inlaws celebrated 50 years of marriage!

March

A 7th grade science project turns into a pet with her own Facebook page.  Meet Shellbey.  

and then there was Michael Buble' and making some new friends...

April

Easter and beautiful spring blossoms...

  a big, beautiful party to celebrate my inlaws' anniversary!

The Cincinnati Cyclones kicking off their playoff fight, sometimes literally!  

Skating at US Bank Arena

 

Seeing Maggie and Marco and the family in New York after way too long...

 May

Witnessing a new baby coming into the world.

There is NOTHING better than that.

Waking up the yard and garden with some powerwashing and a bunch of new color....

Watching the Cyclones win it all and take the Kelly Cup Championship. We watched them win...

....and we celebrated with the team! 

And so....here we are ready to jump into summer.

I know ours is going to be great, and I hope yours is too.  Here's to a fantastic 2010 from here out!     

You Raise Me Up

I have heard this song probably a bazillion times in the past.  I've always liked it, but never really listened to the words until this Easter season, when we started rehearsing it in choir.  It's so touching and hauntingly beautiful, I can hardly get through it without tearing up. Today at Easter Mass was no exception.

So today on this Easter Sunday, I share with you my new favorite song of the season, compliments of Josh Groban. Even the video is so emotionally raw and beautiful. I hope you enjoy it!

You Tube won't let me imbed it, so I'll just have to give you the link instead.  You Raise Me Up

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;

When troubles come and my heart burdened be;

Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,

Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;

You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;

I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;

You raise me up: To more than I can be.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;

You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;

I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;

You raise me up: To more than I can be.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;

Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;

But when you come and I am filled with wonder,

Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;

You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;

I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;

You raise me up: To more than I can be.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;

You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;

I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;

You raise me up: To more than I can be.

Happy Easter!

Paw Paw and Grampy

It's become a bit of a tradition to have both families over to our place on Father's Day to watch the US Open golf tournament, eat ribs and salmon, and generally just have a great time. Yesterday was no exception!

I've been taking a bunch of pics lately, but not that many of the really important people in our lives. Take Paw Paw (my dad) and Grampy (Andy's Dad). Now it's not like they're going anywhere any time soon, but you just never know. If you've got the opportunity to snap some pics of the people in your lives, do it, because down the road those pretty pictures of your flowers aren't going to be the ones that you care about!

Grampy was in both the Army and the seminary - now there are two polar opposite experiences for you!

Paw Paw has been a teacher, athlete, and a coach all of his life. He now keeps the young sales associates in line at the golf shop. Grampy was a university professor and now teaches religion to Catholic homeschooled kids during the school year. 

Both Paw Paw and Grampy are cancer survivors. Here's hoping that they've both kicked it for good. 

And finally, happy Father's Day to the Big Daddy in our house. We love you!

 * * *

Speaking of photos, I rented my dream lens for our upcoming vacation and it is being delivered tomorrow. I'm giddy with excitement.  No, really. I am seriously excited about it. For me, it's like renting a really hot sports car for a week or two. I can NOT wait to try it out. You'll hear all about it on Wednesday I'm sure. 

Tomorrow's recipe is a kick ass pasta salad that's probably different than what you're used to, and different in a REALLY delicious way!

Paella Again and the Holiday Weekend Agenda

A few weeks ago, I posted about taking photos for my friends Carrie and Maria who have started their own authentic paella catering business.  Well, the website is up now, so please go and check it out!

Maria's Paella

Next Friday we'll be hosting our own dinner party featuring all of this yummy goodness. I hope the weather cooperates, it's going to be GREAT! It seems like everybody's social lives revolve around food at this time of year, doesn't it? Barbecues, graduation parties, etc.

Speaking of barbecues, we're having a BBQ at ACME today ~ we're all looking forward to that!

Busy and fun day today too. When I get home from the office (Friday is my early day), we're getting our carpets cleaned. I know that doesn't sound sexy or fun, but believe me when you have light colored carpet and a black dog, it's worth celebrating. Just sayin'.

Later in the day we're going to see our friend's son play in his final lacrosse game, then coming home to watch our Detroit Red Wings outwit, outplay, and outlast their Chicago Black Hawks.

The rest of the long holiday weekend will include powerwashing the deck and the outside windows, finishing up my planting and the last of the gardening (have a few pots to do, and need to feed the roses and tomatoes), singing on Sunday, and just hanging out and having fun with the family.

Do you have any fun plans for the holiday weekend?

The Most Random Mother's Day

My Mother's Day....

 

• took the 5:20am shuttle to the airport
• flew home from Salt Lake City
• attended the end of our family Mother's Day brunch, thanks to a flight that got in an hour early
• watched hockey at our friends' house
• ended up in the ER because S sprained her ankle (turned her ankle wearing heels, ahh....fashion!)

Anyhow, I'm kind of whooped and I'll be updating tomorrow with last week's winning chili recipe! Yay!

The spice on Salt Lake and the DSM Scrapbook retreat here on Weds, along with pics.  See you tomorrow!