Words.

I  saw this video on someone else's FB page and felt inclined to share. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

Weeeeeeee!

Can you tell how absopositivelyfreakinglutely EXCITED I am??!?! 

I get the to use this nifty cool little camera to do THIS:

You can read more about it HERE.

Just want to give a HUGE THANK YOU (!!!!!) to Shark Diver Magazine for hosting this contest and to Fumfie.com for giving away the camera! I get to leave tomorrow to Isla Mujeres, Mexico and will hopefully come back with tons of amazing photos to share from this trip!
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

rock on,
rachel

Matt & Kim

Matt + Kim + Cool Geology =  =)

You should go and visit  Hickory Run State Park in PA.!!
rock on,
rachel

Teeth!

I recently paid a visit to the dentist (twice in one month, ouch!). First, to have my teeth cleaned, and then I went back two weeks later to have a cavity fixed. At 28 years of age. A CAVITY. Sigh. During prep, after they stuck that cinnamon-type flavored q-tip (which really hasn't changed flavors since EVER) in the region where the injection goes, I was told to rinse and spit, and rinse and spit I did! I refilled my cup, rinsed and spit, and then as I typically always do because I'm a neat-freak like that, I rinsed the bowl except, the water squirted violently out and the dentist looks over and says, "Oh! You don't have to clean that up!" I confessed to him I was a bit of an OCD neat-freak (sometimes). I then proceeded to tell him to forgive me for acting like Mr. Bean. My dentist knew exactly what I was referring to and began to laugh, nay, cackle hysterically. He cackled so hard he had to recompose himself (you know, since he was holding the world's longest and biggest needle in hand ready to inject me). I too had to recompose myself, and finally got my cavity fixed. I'll soon have my remaining wisdom teeth removed.  I hope not to be so OCD or hilarious next time around. 

It's cold.

The craziest thing about wintertime? The snow? Ice? Harsh, bitter winds? Artic jet stream? No. The static electricity, and with long hair, well, somedays it seems as if I walk with a forcefield around me.

 I thought it was high time I put a picture of myself somewhere on my blog. The concept of the crazy hair came from suffering from really intense static electricity. Seriously, I'm a shocking person. I'm like Storm from the X-Men whose only superpower is controlling lightning. So, how did I get my hair to sort of stand on end? I taped shish-kabob sticks unto my headband. At first I was going to tape my hair to the sticks, and then thought against it. Instead, I put my head down and sprayed copious amounts of hairspray in my hair. When I raised my head, the hair caught on the sticks and violá, crazy-electrified-hair-look. And the light? My nifty little flashlight. The flash (on a stick) is on my right side and went off initially. The shutter was left open for a few seconds, so I held the flashlight and rotated in place, with each rotation bringing the flashlight further up and taking care that my face didn't get affected by the light!
Ta-da! Crazy self-portrait.

I <3 lightpainting. 

~rach

A conversation.

 I grew up being that person in the family with a camera in hand. I took it upon myself to be the one to capture our vacations, birthdays, holidays, and the random everyday stuff. I love(d) it. I wanted to hold those moments in hand on printed paper. I wanted to see how we grew up. I wanted to look back and laugh at how ridiculously we dressed up. I wanted reminders of the places we've visited together and together reminisce about the places we've been. I wanted to capture what others may not have seen and maybe in a way, feel what I felt in that moment. (And still do). 

This photo right here? It reminds me of a man I was blessed to know these past 5 years. That smile rarely left his face. He loved talking about his past, about his church, and his family. He loved his chocolate, grandma's cooking, his salt, cocktail hour and serving the platter of cheese and kielbasa. I love this image of Upi speaking with my brother-in-law. They were so engrossed in their conversation, in that little corner of our tiny dining room for what seemed like forever. Just the two of them talking about the past, church, and family (I assume). A conversation I never heard, but one that I'll always remember. 

Lazlo Karoly 1921-2012.

~rachel

Christmas 2011.

Not sure about you, but for me, this year has flown really, really quickly. Maybe it didn't help that I was working multiple jobs? Sleeping very little? Stressed and worried most of the time? Yea, those things certainly didn't help. Fortunately, my family and I went away Thanksgiving weekend to Newport RI to relax for a bit. For months before my sister and I talked about doing my niece's Christmas portraits then. We knew we were going to visit one of the mansions, so my sister and I came up with a plan. I had this "Marie Antoinette"-type vision, told my sister and she got Nayita this adorable-looking Belle dress from the Disney store.

 Ever seen those posters where there is a picture/product/whatever that a person wanted to copy and right next to it is the person's final product?

NAILED IT.

Ok, maybe not so much. Most of my "visions" never turn out as I want. Gotta keep working on that. 

My niece's favorite part of the whole ordeal? Wearing that dress? Wearing her new boots under that dress? Being called a princess by everyone? Throwing sticks into the water fountain? Nope. It was finding those dandelions. Oh the shrieks of JOY.

May your Holidays be filled with JOY and LOVE as well.

~rach