A Year Older -

A year ago today, I think I spent the entire 24 hours glued to the computer. Furiously typing, listing, tagging, uploading, and voila! Loud Waterfall Photography had an Etsy shop & a Facebook page. A year later, I have many new dear friends, a few photos scattered throughout the world, a brand new blog that I am still trying to get the hang of, and a sense of accomplishment that I've managed to keep something alive for this long.

What will the next year hold? I have a few branches I am thinking of adding to the tree. New products based on my images, maybe a trip or two to replenish the archives and the soul. An expansion to the family is in the blueprints and permits stage (pinkprints?!?). The house needs a bit of a revamping - Pinterest has a way of igniting the fires & imagination. The next 12 months are shaping up to be full of excitement & adventure ....

Downtown Los Angeles - Chinatown - Walk-About

Thank you for joining me on my little adventure! I'm having lots of fun and learning even more. If you are ever in the Los Angeles area, I would love to buy you a cup of coffee (glass of wine?!!) and maybe we can go for a walk-about with our cameras ...

This Is Not A Test ....

Ok. No more dilly dally-ing. This is not a test.

I want this, me, to be viable. I want this whole experience/ hobby/ project/ what-have-you to not only be something I want to do; but something that is more than it's own reward. Emails have gone out to blogs I like (non-sellers) to inquire about advertising. I have researched about having my site retooled by someone who knows what they are doing so it can become a finished product much sooner than I ever could do by myself. My office is just this close to being functional. This is not a test.


There are several aspects to Loud Waterfall :: the shop, the blog, the charity that I support. Then there is me. Loud Waterfall is me. This is not a test. This is me.

My time is not always my own. I have an amazing husband who has been promoted (sorta) and has entered about a year's length of training and added stress. I am so very proud of him - he works very hard and when he actually is home, I want to be there. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. This is not a test.

Discovering a snail in the rain - she was fascinated!

Then there is Sadiecakes. The two year old sparkly tornado that brings a smile to face on a minute-to-minute basis. She blows my socks off with her smarts and silly-ness. I want to play every game, decorate every cupcake, slide down each slide. I don't want to miss a single moment. I still have pangs of sadness for that I have missed. I do not want to add to the tally. This is not a test.

So where do I fit in? Where is my time? LWP time? Heaven forbid I get a few hours out of the house a week to go to the gym and lose the baby weight I have zero excuse to still have saddled on me. Time to go shoot something that isn't Sadie. Please do not get me wrong - I love that nearly all of my current photos are Sadie themed - I just need to find me. This is not a test.

Prague

So how do I morph these compartments of me into one functional, fun, a bit of old me/ a bit of new me? My Etsy shop turning one seems to be a turning point for me. The next few months should be eye-opening for me. This is not a test ....

This is not a test .... This is real. This is me.

My question is ....

Jenn of LavenderAvenue selected my Fenway detail as her thank you gift for hanging out with us! Off to Colorado we go!

Thank you Danny! Maximonsterjte Photography has been one of my favorite Etsy shops (Thank you fPOE team!) She snagged her thank you gift too! A bit of San Francisco is on it's way to the Netherlands ...

So ... I have made no secret of the fact that this endeavor, blogging, is anything I really understand - impact-wise or relevancy-wise - in a society where we are reduced to 140 characters or simply a headline, why would someone be interested in me prattling on about .... what ... anything? Everything? Just art stuff? Are you as excited as I am that my daughter is learning new songs at school and can now hit a ball off the tee (she's 2, by the way) and run to a base? That I tried a hit Pinterest recipe and it was just awful?

I guess my question is ... what interests you? Why do you follow a blog?