"Gramma's Hands"

August 2011

Weekly Photo 6.5.2011

Lake Michigan, Lake Bluff Beach, June 5, 2011

Weekly Photo 5.2.2011

Taken 4.29.2011 in front of the Museum Center in Cincinnati, Ohio

Weekly Photo 4.23.2011

So, it's been about a month since I posted a "weekly photo". I guess time just got away from me!

Since there are only about 5 months until my trip to Brazil, I've been going through my old pictures and scanning them all. Believe me, this has been no small task as I have 2 large boxes of photo albums!
Here is a photo I took in 2002 on a trip with Belo Tours to Foz do Iguaçu, where we visited all 3 sides of the falls in Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, in addition to 2 other cities in Brazil: Curitiba and Florianópolis. This is by far my favorite picture from that trip!

Taken in June 2002, Foz do Iguaçu
Photographed: Chris (NY) and Matt (OR)

Weekly Photo 3.26.2011

The countdown begins! My boyfriend and I will be going to Brazil in September, and in honor of that, here is a photo I took in 2002 in a place called Ouro Preto, Brazil when I was an exchange student. I'm so excited to be going back!

Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil; 2002

Weekly Photo 3.19.2011

What can I say? I like bridges... So here's another one!

Taken 3.16.2011. Five Mile Trail, Anderson Township, Ohio.

Weekly Photo 3.12.2011

Taken in December of 2005: Brooklyn Bridge, New York City.

This was taken on my first of many trips to New York City to visit a friend who still lives there. My trip to visit the suspension bridge in Cincinnati last night reminded me of the time my friend an I walked around NYC and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. Good times. :)

Weekly Photo 3.5.2011

Taken in 2006, Indianapolis, Indiana

I figured this photo taken in a Cajun/creole restaurant in Indianapolis would be appropriate since it is that Mardi Gras time of year. The friend that took me to this restaurant 5 years ago is getting married this year and I can't help but think about all the major transitions both of us have gone through - together and separately. Many moves within the Midwest and abroad and to the southeast. Living together in an old apartment where we could hear the man upstairs coughing all the time. Working together and being the only 2 front desk clerks for an entire shift on Christmas. Almost missing our flight to Brazil in 2001..  and many more.
Enjoy the colors of the photo - as they probably help remind those of us in colder climates that spring is on its way.

Weekly Photo 2.26.2011

Taken 2.26.2011, Notre Dame-AmeriCorps National Conference, Washington, DC
We Americorps members ARE the essential piece to the puzzle.

Weekly Photo 2.5.2011

Yes, I'm going to go ahead and post another photo. I miss my maternal grandparents. Lately, a new project has been started in our family: to rebuild / repair the house my mom grew up in and my grandparents lived in until they passed. It's a beautiful old house that has a secret stairway that used to be for the servants - it is now closed off and the house has been divided up for renting. I am the oldest of the 3 girls in my family and I have the most memories of Gramma and Grampa, and that house. The following picture was taken a long time ago, and probably when I was either very young or not yet born. The location is the porch of the old house, where I remember swinging in that very same swing, probably singing to myself.

Weekly Photo 2.5.2011

This photo was taken my my grandparents when they visited me at college. It reminds me of another time.. I made a few good friends that I still keep in touch with today, I studied a language I love, and I had an awesome professor that was also a good friend. It's amazing how much a life can change (and how many things can happen) in a mere 7 years.

Taken some time in 2003-2005, Florida International University,  Miami, Florida

Weekly Photo 1.30.11

I am posting a second photo this week because without realizing it, I skipped  last week.
The reason for this particular photo is that I was reminded of it during a phone conversation last night with my Dad. His father's sister passed away over a week ago at the age of 103. We started talking about the cemetery at the small church on top of the hill on Scotch Ridge and I remembered the time I walked through there in 2007 with Grampa. The cemetery sits atop a hill next to the church that, up until a few years ago, was merely a one-room church with an outhouse. (They have since added on a gathering area, running water, and bathrooms.)
The tombstones date well into the 1800's and some are sinking or leaning over. Some are so eroded the names can't even be read.
At one point during our walk that day, Grampa placed his hand on the corner of one of the newer tombstones for leverage to walk back up the hill. I captured that moment with my camera and below is the resulting photo.

Taken in 2007, Scotch Ridge Church, Martins Ferry, Ohio

Weekly Photo 1.30.11

"Two Farmers & A Cat"
Taken in 2007, on the Kithcart Farm, Dillonvale, Ohio

Weekly Photo 1.9.11

Taken 11.25.2005 in Hocking Hills, Ohio

Weekly Photo 1.3.2011

The Field Road at Dusk - Taken 12.23.2010