Road Warrior

It's no secret that the coach and I travel a lot. And by a lot I mean 8 months out of the year. Well... maybe 9. Regardless - we travel. So it really should be no surprise that when I decided to go home (PA) for Christmas, I figured I would drive instead of fly. And take our pup. Am I cray? Yeah, probs. 

For those of you who failed geography, Texas and Pennsylvania are not neighboring states. Note picture below....

Like I said... not next to each other. I'm cool with that. I love road trips and I think J-cray will enjoy being in PA for a few weeks.

With that, I plan on arriving in Lancaster Co. on the 14th (tentative) and be home until January 6th.  This way, I will actually be able to go to Farm Show (PA's state fair) which I haven't done in God knows how many years. Oh, and the coach will be flying in (up?) after he gets back from winter workout. So, yes, we will actually be spending our anniversary together. He's such a wonderful husband. 

And of course, I will have my camera and lighting equipment (yes I now have lighting equipment... and it's awesome!) with me. I've got a number of sessions scheduled while I'm in PA, but if you are interested in getting pictures done, just let me know. I will be posting my schedule in a week or so. 

I'm excited to head home, and to see some wonderful folks along the way. 

Only three more weeks. I kind of hope it snows. 

Eww, what the heck is wrong with me?!?

Photo "Friday" / Home Sweet Home....Pennsylvania?

This one is going to be like my typical photo Friday... except on crack. If you follow my blog, you know the coach and I were in Pennsylvania last Sunday until yesterday. It's was a really great, busy week. I miss seeing my family and friends, so getting to catch up with everyone (including my brood ewes) was nothing short of wonderful.

So with that you are about to witness some of my favorite shots from the week. Most were taken at my county fair - where I got to wear three different hats ... official photographer, judges wife and (most crazy of them all) judge. I know, I know... I said I would never judge a show again for as long as I lived. But it wasn't bad. I survived. My champions were straight studs. Plus, I didn't even make a kid cry this time (yes, I actually have done that) so I'll count the experience as a win.

Anyway, let's begin with my babies.

Now, need I remind all you snoops that I DO NOT edit my livestock images. Aside from slapping a logo in one corner and occasionally taking off a halter or some crap - the literal kind - I do not, will not and think it's tacky and retarded to alter my livestock images. So critique away and call yourself a "photographer" because you put corny, cheesy and just plain ugly color techniques and "design" manipulations on your pictures... oh and while you're at it... get the H off this page. Go stalk someone else.

This is my parents' new buck, Spook..... I dig him. Thankfully, the coach is getting pretty good at helping me picture sheep ;)

My baby, Iris. 7 years old and still lookin' like a stud. This shot kind of sucks...but regardless... I love her... please ignore the POS in front of her. 

Meet Maddison, my AMAZING niece. I love her. So precious. Too cute for words.

I ventured into the horse picturing world last week, too. This shot didn't make the cut of final images selected (something about her nostrils not being as flared as they were in some of the other shots or something), but I still thought it was cool. Looks like I'm not too shabby at Arabian photography... kind of exciting... that is if I wasn't TERRIFIED of equine. Makes no sense. None. 

Welcome to the Lancaster County 4-H Fair ;)

One of my faves from the sheep show... it was one of the coach's first breeding sheep judging experiences. He did a nice little job, if you ask me. 

LOVE THIS!!!! He's so great with youth. I love him.

One of my favorite families of all time.... Ben Welk with his champion market hog. I kind of fell in love with this hog. But, I mean.... look at her. She's a stud. 

'Sup homie?

It does not get ANY CUTER than this little lady! She made our week/weekend!!!! And yes, we show dairy steers in Lanco... we call them "baby beef" or "dairy beef". Their purpose is to prepare 4-Hers for "big" steers..... so typically, the cute, adorbs little showmen flock to this club.... and I love it. 

You remember the picture I posted Monday? Well, this is the corn field across from my parents' place.... yeah.... the crop is lookin' pretty solid this year. 

I finish with the loves of my life. Iris is on the far left with two of her daughters by her side. I love this shot. I don't care how much crap I catch for raising sheep, I wouldn't change it for the world. I am 100% a cattle girl at heart (yes, it's true) and I will be for the rest of my life... but I would not trade my momma Iris for anything. I miss my babies already. 

Hope you enjoyed a few of my fave shots from PA. More posts will be coming soon, I promise.

Oh, and it's good to be back in Texas :)

#MCM, another day-late edition

Don't hate. Life happens. This past weekend we were in ftw for the AMAZING Taylor/McGolden wedding (SO MUCH FUN). Then we flew to PA on Sunday.... and I got lazy yesterday.... So you are getting your #MCM a day late. Again, get over it.

This week's MCM :: Cheap airlines and hidden fees.

This is a good one. So the coach found some REALLY cheap tickets for our flight home from DFW to Philly. Thought we were getting a great deal. It was with an airlines that neither of us had ever heard of - it shall remain nameless... but it starts with an S and ends with a pirit. Anyway, when we got to DFW, we found out the price for checking a bag was nothing short of retarded. AND your bag had to weigh under 40, not 50. AND you could only carry one personal item with you on the plane. AND the cost of any extra personal items with $50. ANNNNNDDD you had to pay for everything on the actual flight... including a cup of water. It was a little less than ideal.

Essentially, we ended up paying way more for the flight than what we would have it we had just booked through one of the more popular airlines.... or just drove to PA.

But our fun didn't end there. Now, I realize this next part is NOT the fault of our not-so-beloved "cheap" airlines... but still... it adds to the story. About 10 minutes before landing, the captain came over the loud speaker saying we were going to have to stay in the air an additional 20 minutes because the weather was so bad in Philly and most of the runways were flooded. Super. Awesome. NOT. Did I mention that  HATE HATE HATE flying? I mean I froggin' HATE it. I have the WORST luck with airports. I'm talking red-headed step-child bad luck. Last year on the way home from NAILE, the coach and I had two sperate flights. Mine was supposed to leave five minutes before his. Well, my flight got delayed 12 FROGGIN' HOURS and he made it home before I could even find an earlier flight out of louisville. And that's not even one of my really bad stories.... Anyway. Once we got on the ground, we then had to wait for a gate to open... again because the flooding was so bad that only a few gates were in operating condition. We literally "drove" the plane through water. Like ponding water, flooded. I digress. That took another 30/40 minutes. Here comes the really super part --- one of the stuartist came over the speaker and said our luggage claim would not be in a typical area, because the airport was experiencing power outages. She said there would be someone directing us to where we could pick up our bags. Well.. That ended up meaning walking out of the airport and back in through the departure check-in desk area. WHICH WAS COMPLETELY PITCH BLACK. Like no lights.... nothing.... and it was nearing 9 PM outside... during a storm. So.... Picturing the scene from a slasher movie? Yeah, I was too. It was froggin' scary.   In order to get our bags, we all waited around until they were hand taken to the front check-in desks. From there, the check-in, cranky, "I need a stiff drink" wenches used a flashlight to one-by-one call out the names on each bag and wait for the owner to come up with proper identification to claim it. It was special. Needless to say, security was almost called on numerous REALLY pissed off ladies and gents... this Yankee not included (my mother should be proud). I mean, I don't blame the flashlight ladies... it wasn't their fault the lights went out. But I also totally understand where the guy who threatened to "call TSA on all their ignorant a$$es" was coming from. It was kind of a high stess situation. Oooooh yeah, one big pile of brother-love in the Philadelphia airport, lemme tell ya.

Oh, and once we had our bags, we still had to direct ourselves around a PITCH BLACK airport with our over-40-pound bags to the rental car area... You want to talk about creepy, I'll give you creepy. Yuck.

Yeah, it was great. Did I mention I hate flying? I hate it. And stupid fees and charges from cheap-o, crappy airlines.




But I sure do love PA.. more on that later. That is, if I don't get lazy.





I'm walking back to Texas