Relocating...

It's not you, old blog - it's me. Really. I just needed a change of scenery, a place to grow and expand - and admit it, old blog - you were tired of me too, with my neglect and my constant auto-blogging from Flickr.

I have been in a blog quandary since Mr. T's birth. A lot of this was due to lack of time, but I've also lacked direction. So it's time for some new scenery - visit me at Searching for Awesome Avenue.

Storm Rollin' In

Moody, eh?

Morning on the Beach

Morning on the Beach, originally uploaded by TNEmily.

We just got back from the beach last week (Destin, Florida). After two days of rain (which included a tornado hitting Pensacola), we got this one beautiful day at the beach to end our trip. The boys experienced the ocean for the first time, and loved the waves. I took a walk on the beach on this particular morning, and took tons of photos (losing my lens cap in the process - it's likely in the Gulf somewhere). I loved the results in this one - I have another taken a day or two earlier of the impending storm that I will upload later.

Putting it all in perspective...

I took the boys to the mall today. I'm not a big fan of malls really - too much time spent there in my suburban youth, I suppose - but a trip there was necessary as I had to go to Eyemasters to pick up my new frames....purchased as the J-Man fell on my head two days ago and busted my previous pair (the day after I mentioned to A that "after Mr. T gets out of this pulling my glasses off phase I think I will need a new pair of glasses"...how very prophetic).

Anyway, I normally take the boys places where they are, well, contained - library story time, Kroger/Target (confined to the buggy), a mom's house for playgroup. I try to avoid the closest mall as, well, for one thing our mall is not in the best part of Nashville, and plus the mall represents to me one big open area where a moment's distraction could cause me to lose my child forever. Overprotective much? Anyway, there were big talks to J-Man about not wandering off, and staying with mommy, and stressing on my part of make sure J-Man and Mr. T would be appropriately occupied for the 10 minutes we would spend in Eyemasters.

No child was lost, and I didn't owe anything in damaged merchandise at Eyemasters. The boys were generally well behaved. And then I read this on Laura's blog, which put it all in perspective.

A trip to the mall pales in comparison to traveling miles on foot in a conflicted country with your life on your back.

Photo Friday: Purple

Untitled, originally uploaded by TNEmily.

In Miniature

StingRay, originally uploaded by TNEmily.

I played around with photographing some of the J-Man's cars a few weeks back (a fun little project), and finally got around to playing with the results. Unfortunately my light was not the best (I don't exactly have pro equipment), but changing it up in post created some noise that I actually liked. There's more in my flickr - I'm actually taking the whole lot (there's several more) and creating a collage on Snapfish for J-Man's room.

Taking Advantage of the Moment

Grass, Sky & A Slight Breeze IV, originally uploaded by TNEmily.

A little lazy bloggin' from Flickr again.

This afternoon Mr. T and I took the dog out for her, uh, business, and I noticed our own hardy and flourishing-despite-the-record-heat ornamental grass against the blue sky and clouds. After bringing Annie and the youngest in, I told A "watch the boys for second, I have to take some pictures".

Sometimes you just have to take advantage of the moment. I should have used a tripod on a few of the shots, but overall I was pretty pleased with my efforts.