a S-L-O-W and agonizing tale

I never thought I would see the day. I've heard all of the horror stories, but never actually thought IT could ever happen to me....

Yesterday afternoon Lia and I trekked over to Cornish, Maine to visit the largest yarn store in Maine. It was indeed quite large! One could get lost among the thousands of skeins of yarn and the hundreds of needles and patterns. It was a neat place to visit, but the story of getting there takes the cake!

I had just entered Parsonsfield, Maine, which the the small town between my town and Cornish, Maine. The main street is all of a few hundred feet, but the speed limit drops to a thirty along that stretch. I thought I would be nice and let the little white Subaru pull out in front of me...bad idea #1. The recipient of my good deed proceeded to go 10 mph. I was fine until the speed limit went up to 40mph and the little white suba-roo continued to putt along at a mere 20mph...tops. 17-18 was more like it. A few miles later when the speed limit went up to a 50...there we were behind that little white suba-roo going a mere 19mph. Here's a photo to prove it:



Once we actually got to the yarn store it was great. I found this book titled "No Sheep for You" and it made me laugh. Photo evidence:



The whole idea of the book was to hook the common, everyday person on the craft of knitting. The do-it-yourself booked claimed they could hook you on knitting so fast that you wouldn't even have the time or need for sleep, or anything else for that matter! I found it quite hysterical. We perused the eight rooms full of floor to ceiling yarn and made the trip back home, happily going the speed limit the entire way.

Link for Rosemary's Yarn Shop: http://www.maine-crafts.com/

Thank a Farmer!

Even Brunettes Can Have Blonde Moments

Here's a funny "Peterson moment" for you:

I was out shopping the other day and bought the following shirt:



Now mind you, I do not follow football or even pretend to follow football, so....I am vaguely aware that this shirt may have some athletic connections, but that is where my brain power stops. At this point you may be asking, "Lindsey, then why did you even buy the shirt?" and that is an excellent question that has a relatively simple answer...you ready for it?

I bought the shirt....because....it has a COW on it. A Texas Longhorn to be exact. That, my friends is why I bought the shirt. Now, you may think that this is the end of my tale, and if that were true, well, let's just say I might need a bit more of a life than any of us thought! ;)

Jerrod, my invincible 16-year old brother, and I were watching some television the other night. Just channel surfing mostly; we weren't really watching anything particular. Imagine my surprise when a commercial comes on featuring men running around in tight shorts and jerseys featuring my beloved Texas Longhorn! Jerrod made a comment about this particular team having a great season, and in a typical blonde-on-the-inside moment I said, "huh?" My brother looked at me rather incredulously and said, "Well, they are only number 2 in the entire country."

Well, what can I say? I know how to pick 'em!

My Lover Boy

July of '08 would make Trey just one year old, and only a few short months after he came to live with our family. These are two of my all time favorite photos of him and I. Lots of good memories are wrapped up in this layout:

Of cows!

Since this blog is supposed to be about me, my family, my creativity, my passion for photography, and my addiction to cows, I guess I had better talk a bit about my passion for all things agricultural! So, let's take a tour of where I spend all of my life during the summer and half of my life during the school year:

Welcome to the Remick Country Doctor Museum and Farm. A historical museum that doubles as working farm. I make my living as a farm hand, i.e. lowest slot on the totem pole. But, hey, if you're doing what you love in life, that is all that matters, right?



For years I spent my summers working for their summer camp program. Six weeks out of the summer would find me in the basement surrounded by 10-15 small children, all claiming that they wanted to farmers when they grew up, how cute is that? A favorite camp activity? Why, walking the sheep of course!



Last summer I split my time between the summer camp program and the farm crew. I milked goats one day and caught pond creatures with the kids the next.



Sheep are my second favorite farm buddies. Lambing season is awesome and watching the little ones grow over the summer is so rewarding. Getting them sheared in the spring is always a highlight; they look so funny for a couple days after!



My first favorite farm buddies are the cows! They are so beautiful and have such a distinct and individual smell! (my mother looked at me a bit funny when I told her that. In the same sentence she said that my cow-smelling farm boots could live outside from now on.) Our herd consists of mainly Herefords, which we raise for meat, but we are currently expanding our herd to include one cow of each of the major breeds. The Holstein, Jersey, and Brown Swiss breeds are my favorite.






My contract stated that I would be employed through the summer, but once the beginning to autumn rolled around I was asked to stay on for the rest of the year, and well, now that the end of the year has rolled around I have been asked to stay on straight through the winter. So I spend my early mornings breaking ice and hauling water, throwing hay and hauling manure. And, oh man, I love every minute of it...except for the mornings when it is below zero out...and then I am thankful for heat in the truck! But, it is a beautiful place to work!

Merry Christmas from the Petersons!

Here is a little Christmas message from Trey, with a little help from his friends!





And a few PhotoBooth snapshots of me and the boys:






Trey and Micah thought it was the funniest thing (and probably most entertaining!) to shoot the video and then watch it over...and over...and over...AND OVER again! They are too cute!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Love,

Bob, Jennifer, Lindsey, Jerrod, Erik, Erika, Kloey, Cora, Trey, and Micah

A Hair Raising Ordeal!

Here is a bit of a photo diary for you:

I have only ever had my hair short once in my life and that was when I spent four weeks on the continent of Africa. 'Nuff said.

I do not get my hair cut very often....like once every year and a half often. The last time I had my hair cut was exactly a year and a half ago (BIG surprise there!), and it really could not qualify as a cut, because it was really only a trim. When I had my hair "cut" a year and a half ago, I also had it permed. Here is a photo of me with it permed....I had also grown three-four inches onto my "African haircut."




Now, fast forward about three months. It is the middle of the summer in New England, which equals hot, sweaty, and humid! I work on a farm. This dictates that I work outside year round. In the summer I generally work 9-10 hour days and I'm outside the entire time. Photo example:



This generous exposure to the sun bleached the permed section of my hair, giving me a two-tone effect that I wasn't even going for! Photo example #2:



I finally became so disgusted that I agreed to let my MOTHER cut my hair, and by cut I let her hack off a good four-five inches. Special thanks to best friend and, uh, co-conspirator Lia for the following images (WARNING: I did not take these images, I did not alter them in anyway, and I certainly DID NOT see the need to capture the entire event on film, but I have a very persuasive mother...)

Saying good-bye:



SOMEONE thought it would be funny to let my sisters all give the art of hair cutting a try...on my head (sketchy idea #1) Also, notice the pleasure my mother seems to find in the whole ordeal:



Needless to say, after a few "oh-no's" and "hmm...how can I fix that's," I managed to survive and am actually quite happy with the end result:



Even Lia got bitten by the "hair bug" and got some attention out of the moment!

Christmas Cheer

Last weekend, the girls and Trey got to decorate gingerbread houses and they came out awesome!

This is Cora working on her masterpiece: (She strikes quite the pose, doesn't she?)




And Trey working on his: (I don't know which got more candy, his stomach or the house!)




And Erika, who was quite diligent in her construction:



Kloey, who was determined to wear her red coat!




And just because he is so stinkin' cute, a few more of Trey!

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

How Can You Resist Faces Like These?

This is my Micah-do, all grown up! Now, come on, how can ANYONE resist this face???



And this is Trey, who is also very grown up, such a happy little boy, and was not going to be outdone by his younger brother! We may be in for a wild ride with these two!

No Life???

I did something the other day....I deactivated my facebook account (gasp!). In my mind I decided that winter vacation would be a great time to take a break, and well, let's just say that I am having withdrawals! If you have a facebook account, you know that you are never only on for five minutes, but more like 45 once you get sucked into the black hole of life online. So, I decided that while on break I wanted to put some different priorities first, like my family, playing outside, cooking, baking, and crafting. These are all good things, BUT facebook still seems to haunt me! I can't tell you how many times I have thought, "That was funny, I should put that on facebook." Or, "I need to facebook so-and-so to ask about their ___________." People, the sad part is that it has only been three days! What I am going to do with myself for a whole month? I may go crazy....

On a happier note....Micah is saying my name now, which is so incredibly cute! His brother Trey didn't talk until he was much older, but Micah is just shy of a year and already has half a dozen words; it is really exciting!

I think that is about all that is new. I just got back from work, so I'll probably hop in the shower before I head out for a girl's night at a friend's house. Work was ch-ch-ch-chilly today! We harnessed up the horses to break our winter sleigh ride trail and brr!!! it was cold! So farewell my dear friends and please commiserate with me in my facebook withdrawals, or you could just tell me to suck it up and get a life, which would probably be the better option!

Where to?

For the last two years I have been working towards a Visual Arts degree at NHTI in Concord, NH. In May, I will graduate with my associates degree, so the pressure is on to figure out my next steps!

I am have picked four colleges to apply to. Listed in order of preference they are:

1) University of New Hampshire. I want to enroll in their Animal Science, Dairy Management program. With my transfer credits I could have my bachelor's degree in two years.

2) University of Maine at Orono. They also have an excellent animal science program, but it would be an out of state school and I'm not sure if any of my credits would transfer from NHTI.

3) Art Institute of New Hampshire. To work on a bachelor's in photography.

4) Savannah Institute of Art and Design; also for the option of pursuing a bachelor's in photography. NHTI has an articulation agreement with this school, so I would be transferring in as a Junior, with all my credits from NHTI transferring 100%.

I am very sure that I want to get my bachelor's in animal science, but I also want to apply to a few art schools to be able to weigh my options. Who knows where one open door may lead....You'll have to stick around to see where I end up!

This is me...missing you!

One of my best friends, Lia, attends college in upstate New York, which equates to the fact that we only see each other over school breaks. I was missing my giggly, bubbly friend tonight, so I pulled out some old photos that had been taken on our trip to Haiti this past March and whipped out a quick page...This one is for you my friend!

D-O-N-E

Spell it, d-o-n-e for the semester! Wow, what a big sigh of relief. The past couple of weeks have been one hectic day and one sleepless night after another. It will be nice to not have anything to do for a change...I think! Here are some things that I am looking forward to doing while I am on winter break:

1) Spending time with my family. This is an A#1 priority right now.
2) Working less...No, I am serious (I know that you all are shaking your heads!);)
3) Taking some fabulous photographs, maybe even booking a few more portrait sessions.
4) Driving horse drawn sleigh rides at Remick...It would be great if we had snow flurries for the effect!
5) Scrapbooking lots of great pages!
6) Spend time with LIA! My NY college friend...tea, hot tub, sleeping on the futon, maybe a little shopping?!?!?
7) Buying a pair of fleece lined jeans and my first pair of Carhartt pants.
8) Writing my artist's statement for next semester's Senior Capstone art exhibit. My project is going to consist of a series of 10 photographs that will be united by a common theme.
9)Making Christmas cookies with my siblings. Yes, all of them.
10) Making the best of everyday and making every moment count.

One Cool Dude!

Trey is a very special little man! He is 2 going on about 16, but that just adds to the cute factor, right? Anyways, this is one of my favorite shots of him. It was taken with a slower shutter speed, which gives the image that cool blurred effect, which I am loving in this print. He certainly is one cool dude!

A Blessing

Trey (2) and Micah (1) have a baby sister who was born last month. Last week we took them to go meet and visit her. The boys were so cute; Micah was kissing her and all Trey wanted to do was sit on Mom's lap and hold "his" baby. Sadly, I couldn't go (some silly excuse such as work...), so I sent my 13 old brother with my rather expensive camera. When I came home from work my brother was SO excited to tell me that he had filled a 2 GB memory card to capacity! Later I was flipping through them, most were just family snapshots, but there was one that really caught me eye and few minutes of editing later I had an image that I loved and that just HAD to be scrapped. Here is the finished product:

Back at it!

New Hampshire is snowy! As I blog, several inches are covering the ground. Winter is one of my favorite seasons, so I'm excited! My day has been fairly uneventful... I went and visited my four legged friends in Madison (I am the weekend livestock manager at a small family farm) and played Santa's little helper. I put snow tires on my car (price = "ouch") and spent the rest of my afternoon scrap booking.

I LOVED every minute of my afternoon of scrap booking... It felt good to get back in the saddle and pick up some new ideas as well. Here are two of the pages I did today.

Scrappin'

I'm headed to a scrapbooking class this afternoon, something which I love, but have just not found the time for lately, so I am excited that I can have this time to myself all while doing something that I absolutely love! How awesome is that??? I'll have to post some of my creations later on tonight....

Meet the Fryburgs

I was honored to do a family session for a good friend of mine last week. She wanted some family photos of her husband and two sons before their oldest son deployed. I was honored that she asked me, and I'll admit that I did feel a bit under-qualified, but the results were fantastic!

Senior Portraits

It is official...I have opened a new window! This fall I began taking senior portraits for a few close friends of mine. It was an awesome experience and I am quite pleased with the results. Keep scrolling for some of the favorites....

Well, it has been awhile since I first started this blog, and I certainly haven't kept up with it at all, which gives me all the more reason to try again, right?

This blog will be a space for me to just be myself and post images and ideas that reflect who I am.

Enjoy the ride!