Relay for Life

I don't have words for Relay for Life. It was an amazing experience but it was also really, really HARD. At the Plantation Relay, they take it very seriously and someone from each team has to be on the track at all times. But it was worth it. Words cannot do this event justice. Images really don't either but I can try.

The survivors' lap




My reasons to Relay:

My Uncle (2 year cancer survivor), my aunt (his caretaker) and my grandpa (who took care of my grandma)

The luminaria ceremony






Having great friends makes it easier to stay awake and on the track all night


The Mr. Congeniality drag lap

(Everybody "awww" with me at the littlest competitor)

Of course 'Diana' won. We <3 superheroes! It was a long night and there were many times where I just wasn't having fun and wanted to pack it up and go home. But I didn't. And watching the sunrise as I walked those lonely laps, it was nice to reflect on how rewarding doing Relay for Life really is.







By closing ceremonies, everyone was exhausted but happy



Surprisingly, I didn't take too many photos during the 18 hours(!) we were there.

I'm back with no tales to tell

It's been a while since I posted and I feel like One Thousand Words Home has been in a bit of limbo. I didn't announce I wasn't going to be blogging because I didn't plan to be gone. I hope that some of you stuck around and checked occasionally for an update.

I lost my love for blogging a few months back. I also haven't really been shooting much either. Work's been time-consuming, I've been knitting like a fiend, and Relay for Life prep has been eating away at what little 'downtime' I have.

I don't know how frequently I'll post or what caliber my posts will be but I love this blog and I want to keep it alive. I'm coming up on my 4 year anniversary here at OTWH and I'm proud of that.

I didn't want to just jump back into the swing of things with Relay so you're getting these instead.


On Easter Sunday, a Mickey Mouse balloon drifted into our backyard and that's where he stayed as he slowly deflated.


Before I gathered him up and tossed him, I decided to take some photos of 'Crime Scene Mickey'.

march of the spambots

I guess this little blog is bigger than I initially thought since it is now a target for spam bots!
I see a lot of it at work. People buy a tool, pick blog specs (like page rank, blog type, where it's hosted, whether there's word verification to comment, etc.) and set a robot to leave comments galore. Apparently my blog is awesome enough to attract some attention because I keep getting spam bots. I considered following their links and spamming them but that's silly and a waste of time.
So... One Thousand Words Home is getting the dreaded captcha. I know it's a turn-off and may deter some comments but I need to stop the influx of spam. I'm sorry, I know it sucks but it needs to be done. I refuse to let their links be cached and have Google think I support them. You have to earn a link from me.

Since this post became a little ranty, I figure I owe you a picture from the archives.

When I was photographing Baby Ariel the first time, there was a wedding going on just down the beach. The view was great. I took a photo during one of Ariel's outfit changes and wasn't going to blog it. I guess you can thank the spammers because now you get to see it.

I [love] Baby Ariel

In my last "oh crap, I haven't posted in a month" post, I introduced you briefly to Baby Ariel (and by 'introduced', I mean I threw up photos and didn't tell you anything about her). Ariel is my boss' daughter; she's also a baby model. She is one of the sweetest/best tempered baby ever. She's a pretty good sport and doesn't really cry. And she's so photogenic!


This photo was taken to be sent to the company that made the high chair. I'm secretly hoping it gets used in a promotional campaign and I get photo credit.


I feel the need to point out that they are not, in fact, models; this family is just super photogenic.









This is my favorite shot of the entire shoot:

I'm considering making this into a LARGE canvas for my wall.

The best part is that I get the snuggle her at the end of the shoot!

Blogging Backlog

Once again, my "apology" tag is going to see some use.

I feel like such a terrible blogger. Shooting has slowed down a bit in 2013 since life has been somewhat hectic. Not to mention, I keep running out of time to post!
Here's what I've been forgetting to share with you:

food shoot for a gaming-themed cookbook my friends are making

The cookbook is still in progress but you can find out more on their Pinterest

baby shoot with Ariel

Preston's 4th birthday party

Remember how small he was in 2010?

It also doesn't help that this year's photo challenge is a little different than the past two years. MCP is no longer running a Project 52 or Project 12 through Flickr and so I don't have an external influence giving me things to shoot. Instead, I'm working on a new challenge for myself: putting together an album of my personal photos and actually printing them. So far, I have photos from New Year's and our trip to the Keys.

You may be seeing a lot of photos from the Keys in the coming months as we make trips down to scout out locations for our wedding!