I hear Wedding Bells

So... SOMEONE is engaged, but since I can't yet say who... I just have to put this teaser post out there until I can.

Good luck guessing.

8 years and one week

So with the passing of last weekend (aka the UT/Rice game) went our other anniversary - 8 years of dating. Sure, we knew each other and started going to football games together 9 years ago... but it wasn't until after the Rice game that it *officially* started.

I love that first year (between 9 and 8 years ago) because we got to know each other so well without pretense or trying to impress the other. This is mainly because I had sworn him off as the only guy in this world I would never date. =)

Turns out, we don't remember the actual day. We tried to figure it out the Thursday prior, but eventually settled on it being okay that we just reference the 'Rice game' as the date. I kinda like it that way. We celebrated by going on a date. No re-enacting the scene this year, though: the next Rice home game will make 10 years, so maybe then.

Silence & Frustration

Did I mention I was sick this week? "Severe Sinus Infection" as the doctor put it (and prescribed a z-pack). I was fairly asymptomatic other than being light headed and loosing my voice. Boo. Yeah, that's the kicker.... ever tried to go a week without talking? Let me just tell you, it is miserable and totally sucks.

To make matters worse: our cable hasn't had sound all week. Oh, the irony of it all! Haven't watched TV all summer (except a few hours during the olympics) and this week I've been home and a wee bit spacey and primed for watching the tube and .......................the silence continues. ARRRUGGGHH. Couldn't call customer service because they couldn't hear me.

One night this week I went to throw a 7up can out the side door and into the recycle bin. Swung my head out and ***AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!*** a massive spider had spun a huge web in the doorway and I didn't see it until he was a couple inches from my eyes. Oh, I screamed alright. And my heart raced - And Joe was about 5 feet away... but he had no idea any of it until I pulled it together and started clapping at him. because when I screamed, i didn't so much as make a sound. Which actually freaked me out worse --

The upside is that I've been home to watch the yellow leaves start falling off the trees. Texas version of the changing of the seasons. So I got that goin' for me~

Coming to Fruition (well, kinda)

It is a "Phase 1" kind of fruition.

You know, like when your salad arrives (ref: headline for my blog)? Sure, something delicious is finally in front of you and you can enjoy it... but you also have the excitement and anticipation of knowing that something bigger and better (and even more delicious) is on it's way. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the moment.

This week I finally pushed out my welcome-to-the-world, work-in-progress business in development. For many years now -at least since my days on Cole Ave- I have seriously tinkered (is that an oxymoron?) with the idea of a photography based business. At other times, a stationery business. Whether it was behind the camera or artistic layout, my creative side itchin' to get goin' and I finally have found an intersection of all those things. To top it all off: I can still incorporate my uber-type-A planning and consultant-process mapping. Who knew!?

So I proudly announce the rock I will now start pushing up hill:

Fireflies & Magnolia
Photography and Memories you can see again
Get reacquainted with your memories!

Sure, it is in blog form - not exactly the polished 'professional' website. But you gotta start somewhere and this will be the home for all my content until that fancy website comes along. And I now have a place to direct people if they are interested - even if only marginally interested... or vaguely curious... or whatever.

Given that you are actually reading this, you most definitely classify as a blog-surfer and a friend (which includes friend-of-a-friend). Sure, I prefer to keep this blog a bit 'close to the vest' (you'll notice that I don't link back to this blog from 'Fireflies') and I don't share this blog with just anyone. However, I would *love* it if you would like to link your blog to Fireflies & Magnolia at http://firefliesandmagnolia.blogspot.com/ or tell friends about it.

As is quite obvious: my little developing biz is a not fully baked so if you have any insight, feedback or commentary or anyone who might like to be a customer-- I'm all ears!

Onward!
~emprice

p.s. Dig my 'teaser' campaign over the past couple days?? i didn't even have to pay MS/Seinfeld rates for it. =)

What's in a Name?

Call 'a rose by any other name'.... and people might not know what the heck you're talking about.

When trying to decide what to call this labor of love, I turned to the brilliant and insightful people in my life. Family and friends of all ages and inclination offered their amazing insight that lead to "Fireflies and Magnolia."

The quest was set to find a name that somehow captured the familiar feeling of those magical memories from our lifetime. Family gatherings, celebrations with friends, childhood, marriage.... How to refer to your friend in photography who could not only take your photographs, but could also literally take the pictures, and without hassle, hemming and hawing- provide you with a treasured keepsake that captures the essence of your journey.

With much intention and thought: "Fireflies and Magnolia" became the clear choice. What else did my clever and witty family and friends have to say about it? Well, not only was it the definite favorite of several options, here is a sampling of what first comes to their minds when they think of “Fireflies and Magnolia”

• fun, creative, youth, young, effortless, ease, calm, pretty
• Summertime
• summertime backyard
• Childhood Summer memories-big oaks, moss, brick streets, gas lanterns, etc my childhood
• something peaceful
• the scene at an amazing, relaxing and classic celebration
• southern goodness and tradition
• My grandparents street
• kids dancing around with streamers
• Childhood summers
• something warm and snuggly, like a personal thing you can relate to
• fun, carefree, youthful, southern
• old times
• summertime weddings
• childhood and yummy smell
• a backyard with lots of plants at dusk
• southern evenings and innocence
• Summer nights, backyard barbecues
• summer, carefree
• little kids running through the pastures having a grand ole time
• this is my favorite.....i think whimsical, light, airy, fun
• a magical, summer night with twinkle lights
• the south in the evening time, sweet
• Lazy summer days
• Classy and intriguing
• family reunion on a big lawn at dusk
• whimsical fun
• Austin
• the outdoors at night, country living
• childhood
• i like this one best
• summertime at my grandmother's house
• reminds me of the deep south
• bright sparks at night

These were direct quotes from the survey. Notice any themes?

What does it make you think of?

Put something naughty and I'll hunt you down!! Unless it's REALLY funny... then you get props. =)

What 'fireflies' means to me...

"For a long time it seeemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first... At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. This perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one. Happiness is a journey, not a destination. "~Souza

Armed with the belief that Happiness is about the Journey - the goal of Fireflies and Magnolia to ensure that your most precious memories are not only captured, but are easily accessible for reminiscing.

More here

A long time in the making

or How 'Fireflies' Came To Be

Once upon a time, there was a girl who had incredible friends and family. I mean, seriously, these people were beautiful, brilliant *and* funny. The girl had many great times with these people and so she took tons of pictures. All the time.

Pictures, pictures, pictures!

...And then maybe a couple more pictures... (when no one was looking). Her friends and family got to the point where they would ask her to take pictures for them for special occasions and portraits. To which she loved and happily agreed to do, of course!

After awhile, the girl became quite perplexed about what to do with all these great pictures? She loved flipping through them, but they were slowly piling up in the closet in shoe boxes, rarely to ever see the light of day.

Once she begrudgingly made the switch to digital photography (which she came to love), she realized that the pictures were no longer piling up in a closet never to be seen again... instead, they were piling up on a hard drive, rarely to be seen again.

"Such a shame!" she thought, of her sad and rarely reminisced pictures and memories. Then horror stuck deep in her heart... *gasp* what if her hard drive crashed?! Then what?

Something must be done! And could be done. But what exactly? ...it would take awhile to get that part locked down

....TO BE CONTINUED...

An Interesting Question

So, as I noted last June, Mr. Price has gone back to school. One of the classes at Acton is called appropriately called "Life of Meaning" and to "Live a Life of Meaning" is in the school's mission statement and at the core of everything they do. In fact, it has such a profound impact on students, the school started offering the class to spouses. This year, they actually opened up to a format that allows more than 20-30 people in Austin to participate. It is actually online and with monthly luncheons with a teacher who speaks for awhile. Don't know if it is still open for new students... but in case you are interested, more info here.

Essentially, the course pushes people to really analyze there lives - where they're going, what they're doing.. think about what you would want said of you in your Eulogy... what do you want your legacy to be? What are you doing when you are happy and lose all track of time? What is there a need for in your community and how can you meet that need? Find those critical questions that define who you are, who you want to be and then work to answer those questions. Wow- sounds like a lot of soul searching, huh?

Hmmm. Well...

In sum, the idea is to live purposefully and take the time now to refine your direction so that 10, 20, 40, 60 years from now... you will be exactly where you want to be. Where ever or whatever that may be to you.

So - Yes, I'm taking the class. Fascinating so far... but I digress.

Lots of interesting and insightful little discoveries along the way, but this one floated through my head all day. I asked it of a couple people I work with and think that most people answered honestly. Anyway- i just think it is interesting. So on with the question?

If you had to choose: would you continue working at what you do for -the same pay and half the hours, or -the same hours and twice the pay?

Sorry for all the build-up. Guess it's not THAT interesting, but I guess I felt like I had to frame it a little bit...

I'll post some other 'interesting questions' as I discover them to reduce the amount of PRPQ (post reading per question).

Hoping this Ike doesn't do H-town like the other Ike did Tina...

So with all the crazy "Ike" hype going on, I can't help but think back to the weekend of Sept 24, 2005 when people were saying "they'll be a 30 foot storm surge in Austin!!" and all the panic and mayhem that surrounded Rita.

I then recall quite clearly that although the fan rental place refused to supply fans to Laguna Gloria (because the "high winds would damage their fans if we attempted to run them") there was not a breath of a breeze nor a drop of rain... in fact, there was a helluva lot of humidity... as I stood there (and later danced) at Matt & Kim's wedding.

Back to Ike-

I have to admit, though, the radar and satellite pictures of Ike that almost completely cover the entire Gulf of Mexico do seem a bit ominous. And the path and the wind speeds and such...

We were going to Threadgill's tonight for dinner (Thursday night date night) up on Lamar. While at -actually turning right in the middle- of the intersection of Lamar and 38th, we saw ambulances barrelling down Lamar towards us. Of course we stopped as did everyone else.... But I really can't describe how completely eerie it was to watch what was literally a stream of a dozen ambulances -lights and sirens blaring- wheeling around the corner past us, headed for Seton. In the middle was an emergency mini-ambulance-type-car that said "Organ Transplant" (never seen one of those before!) Of course, at that point, we weren't realizing they were hospital transfers from the Houston area that had been evacuated. Once they finished, our light had already turned red and the other side started going ...nice, people... so we just reversed back so traffic could get through. But to look around the intersection, you could see every one's eyes wide open, mouths gaping open... it was quite a site. Another mile up Lamar and another stream of about 5-6 ambulances passed us.

For all the chatter and warnings and precautions - as much as I might have rolled my eyes as the rediculous reports of people stocking up on water and TP (you know, the basics) If I had to pick... I'm going to side with the let's over-react, even if it is an excercise in futility.

My hope is that in a couple months we can talk about how silly it was that they cancelled the UT/Arkansas game for some silly little storm with the short name that was all bark and no bite. Yep, that would be great.

In sum, I think the brilliant Morgan W Garvey said it best. She just "wants hurricanes to take a chill pill."

my favorite words, addendum

silly me. a section of my brain apparently turned on during my drive home today and i couldn't believe i left these gems out:

i love words that fall into the same category with:

shenanigans, hootenanny, debauchery and boondoggle.

not only because of all the crazy vowel and consonant combos, but because they are fun to say and they generally describe a raucous good time. like the find of wild fun a group of friends may have had in the late 20's...

that's all i can think of now.

my favorite words

schooch: what happens when you just moved just a little closer in... as in 'schooch' on over

tump: what happens when you are in a tube and you fall over... you 'tump' over. this can also happen with inanimate objects such as a potted plant or basket.

redonkulous: something that is so absurd, that it is beyond ridiculous and it's on it's way to redonkytown

the phrase: "I heart [fill-in-the-blank]". it's awesome. it's more than like - it's love (but not the freaky stalker type) and it is super fun to say.

the old classic: "turns out..."

Oh-em-gee

Yes. I admit it. It used to make me cringe. But now not only to I say it... I think it. "OMG" Yes, I say "OMG" I type "OMG" and I think "OMG!"

Is this how it happens? I remember being young and just about doubling over with laughter when my (or a friend's) parents would say "like" because it had finally rubbed off on them... and it sounded so redonkulous coming out of their mouths...

I'm now the old person what it finally rubbed off on, huh? Fine. I'll deal with it. No really...

Whatever, It's so perfect for so many occasions. OMG! Go on, try it.

Brilliant & Bite Sized

It goes something like this:

"You spend the first half of your life trying to be successful and the second half trying to be significant"

Anyway, I found it both interesting and intriguing.



hmm. food for thought.

The Perils of Lime in the Sun

Public Service Announcement:

Did you know that lime juice can give your skin 3rd degree burns in the sun?

Well, I didn't. And so it is five weeks later, and I still have scars on my hands and stomach to remind me of our first day in Mexico. Thankfully, the semi-circle on my upper lip has gone away (I have to credit the SPF 45 and the wide brim hat for blocking out most of the sun. The not-as-bad burns look like a speckling of age spots on my left hand.

Mr. Price's hand is still torn up; his was much worse than mine. In fact, we were at dinner last weekend and I noticed the waitress staring at his hand. Five weeks later! In case you were wondering, when I say 'third degree burns' I mean bright red, water-filled blisters. The only other time in my life I've had something similar is when I seared my hand on the iron.

I'll post pictures if I can remember to take some. Of the prolly 20 people who have asked, "What happened to your hand!?" 1 person knew that lime juice could do that and 1 other said they thought it was a myth…besides for that, all other people were surprised. (of course they could have just been faking it for me, and really thinking, "you moron, how did you not know lime juice + the sun = massive skin burns!!")

So anyway, my hope is that the next time you find yourself poolside or on the beach squeezing a lime into your drink, you can remember my sad, pitiful tale and learn from our misfortunes. Then you quickly rinse that lime juice off before you, too, have a permanent reminder.

Endorsed by the Coalition of Vacationers Against Lime Burns.

electrician, pt 3

he came, he saw, he went.

yes, the electrician came yesterday. he (once again) got a copy of the electrical plan and mr price walked him through it all - and then he left; nothing accomplished.

and no, he didn't return today.

on a separate but related note, i am so inthralled with my current surveying, i don't mind the least bit. ~ not even phased. ~ but i am loving the additions to the playlist.

Get in my belly, baby

Celebrated Brittany and her shorty that she's growing last weekend. In the process learned that EVERY baby shower should have a 2 year old mascot: in this case Sophie played the part flawlessly.

Sophie assisted Brittany on opening gifts and not only was it endlessly entertaining to watch her silently know exactly what to do (including holding the gift out for everyone to see - unprompted!), but she also moved things along by constantly unwrapping gifts as she carried them over to BPJ-Z. Sadly, I didn't capture a great pic of Sophie holding the gifts out to the 'crowd' as I was too busy laughing. Fallin' down on the job, I know...

The only catch to this plan is that: should you 'employ' a toddler to entertain and move things along... she most likely will become enchanted with a gift or two. In this case, it was the white stuffed polar bear. So once the gift opening was done, Sophie's little internal homing device brought her straight to the furry little fella (when she thought no one was looking). She pulled it right out from the bottom of this bag.

But honestly, I suppose it wouldn't be right to not give her some form of payment for a job well done...

Will Wonders Never Cease...

Just got a call from Mr. Price: lo and behold..... the electrician just showed up!

Yes, friends, in case you were counting, he was a full month late.

and so it continues...