cross country trip - first destination IOWA

So my first destination was Iowa to see my daughter and my grandbabies... they recently moved there and opened a diner/drive-in.  They are doing great but it's hard to know they live so far away..

But here are a couple of shots of their place.

Catching up AGAIN.... cross country trip (first leg)

.. okay ONE day I will not have to call my posts Catching up.  

So I have lots to catch up on where do I begin.. 
I just got back not two weeks ago from a whirl wind trip DRIVING by myself across the country.
For the first leg of my journey - I started here in Florida... drove through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and finally landing in northwest IOWA to see my GRANDBABIES that I have missed so very much!!!

Along the way though I stopped in Tennesse and did a Zipline through some trees.. but they would not let me take my camera to take photos or video along the way.. ugh!  But they assured me they take photos of you and I could purchase at the end of the zip line.. so what happens... their camera broke so NO photos of me doing the zipline.. I was like.. WHAT.. no one is ever going to believe I did this.... but honestly I really did. 

ON day two of my journey to Iowa I stopped at the St Louis Arch...  AWESOME!  I have to tell you that the last time I was there I was VERY young and they were bldg it..  (okay aging myself but whatever) 

It was really nice seeing it up close and personal and complete ..  So the Arch was great but what was really great... was fate intervened and I met these fantabulous women.. they are a bunch of scrapbookers from all over the country that meet once a year in a different city.  THEY WERE SO MUCH FUN!  They wanted me to spend the day with them but I was on a mission of driving.. I gave them all my card and asked them to keep in touch.  I took photos of them with each of their cameras... that was hilarious..all these women and all these camera.. but I loved it!  This photo that I have here is them laying down taking a photo of the arch right after I did it.. it was so funny.. they were also gracious enough to take a photo of me by the arch right before I left.. it was grey and it rained a bit .. although as you can see the sun did try to peek out as I was leaving but it was still beautiful.. thanks ladies for a fun break from my crazy driving...  :)

NEW NAME AND LOGO....

OKAY.. I HAVE FINALLY DONE IT.. I AM CHANGING MY BUSINESS NAME TO:

CONSTANCE AVELLINO PHOTOS

Thanks to Megan.. i now have a lovely logo to go with it..

Isn't that great... thanks Megan for helping me out... you did a great job.

CATCH UP TIME #2

2. The next big event.. my mom.. my sweet mom.. had to have open heart surgery..

She did great but then there were many complications and for a while there it was scary.

I was at her side for weeks in Indiana... but eventually had to come back home to Florida.

My sister and brother have been there so it made it a bit easier.. she is doing much better now and may be coming home soon....

I took this candid shot of her while I was up there... she had just had a stroke but was doing remarkably well for all that she had been through..

Things like this put your life in perspective .... I really love my Mom.. she doesn't give herself enough credit but she really is remarkable...

she paved the way for women's rights at a company many years ago. She lost her job but things changed for women for the better from that point on.

She use to be a championship roller skater.. she was scheduled to go on a world tour when she was in her early 20's but instead .. like many women in her day and time .. she chose marriage and children.

And some of my fondest memories of my mom when I was young are those times when we would crank up the record player with our 45's and sing and dance... doing the twist, the cha cha and anything else she could teach us.

Those are the things I thought of while I set by her bed.. those are things I asked her about when she was able to tell me.. those are the things I choose to hold to my heart and never forget..

Thank you Mom for loving me and ALWAYS believing in me even when I am not sure what the heck I am doing.. :)

CATCH UP TIME..... #1

Before I upload any client photos I am going to go.... dun dun dun.... PERSONAL....

Lots of things have happened... but to summarize the two biggest events in my life..

1. My daughter took my ADORABLE and SWEET and PRECIOUS grandbabies and along with her husband.. moved to IOWA!!!! It has been one of the hardest things ever... I set the camera up on the tripod and the night before they left.. these are the photos i captured.. I love love love those babies... I miss miss miss them now.. but hopefully i will see them soon..

My daughter and her hubby opened a little diner in a small town and it is going very well... i only wish the best for them. Even if it means living soooo far away. I love you all very much... I miss you all terribly... but when we are together.. it is that much sweeter.

I am a bad bad blogger..

Okay this is it.. i am making a committment.. at least once a week ... even if i just HELLO.. i am going to post something..
I mean i post to facebook.. why not my blog.. so blog world.. i am making this committment to be the a weekly blogger..
Now with that said... let's move on...

Check out my February Special.. click on the photo