“I’m not closing the book, simply turning the page”

It is the end of a part of my life that I will never forget. The opportunity to move 6 hours away from home into a community that’s larger than I’ve ever lived in is once in a lifetime. I was able to live my dream. Since I was a little girl, I’ve dreamed of cheerleading in college. The dream is not over, however it is time to move on. Not only have I been blessed enough to be on a nationally ranked squad with an expereinced UCA instructing coach, but I’ve also been able to experience a lifestyle I never thought I would. Living close to the city has opened up so many doors for me. I now know that in the future I will definitely end up in a larger area than the one I grew up in, no matter what. The friends I have made are undescribable. I truly have never had more in common than I do with my IWCC girls! They each have qualities that I wish I had myself. I know I can count on them and depend on them. The times that we’ve shared are more special to me than they could imagine. The laughs, the sad times, the break ups, the random trips to town at midnight, the silly inside jokes.. all of these make us who we are. My experience at IWCC has given me so many opportunities. I have made friends that I know will last a lifetime, and gained knowledge I know I will use in my career. Here are some of the people who made my IWCC experience unforgettable.

Digital Photography Class

Digital Photography is a “cosmic” experience! Okay, so that was a lame joke. But I really have learned a lot in a class that I’m enrolled in here at IW. It’s getting close to the end of the year and my work shows how much I’ve learned! The teacher is awesome, and the experience is worth all of the hard work! Here are a couple examples of what I’ve done !

Behind the Camera?

My last post was about some modeling that I’ve done.. this post is exactly the opposite! I took some shots of a couple of my friends. It’s my first try at photographing people. I hope they turned out okay! I’ll let you decide!!

Mpix Meet Up!

One of my previous blogs explaine a little about a photography convention I attend each year. Well, I just got back yesterday from this year’s Mpix Meet Up. It was a BLAST! I am lucky enough to get to model in classes each day at the meet ups each year, however, this year I found the content of the classes to be interesting! I got to attend classes taught by well known proffesional designers and photographers. Some of the images are amazing! I love the modeling aspect, but even more I love learning the secrets of how to capture such perfect photographs.

Not only did I learn, but I also met a lot of fun and interesting people! I can’t wait for next year! I have always loved being creative and artistic, but I think I may have found my calling! Here are a few images taken of me over the weekend!

Love my Mom!

I had so much fun on spring break! My mother and I did a lot together. A lot of shopping in particular! My favorite thing that she bought was a BEAUTIFUL watch!! I also got a dress and a pair of gorgeous shoes!

My Life at the Moment

So many things are going on lately! But what I have been looking forward to the most is coming up in about a week! My mother is a photographer, and every year we go to a meet up. 300 hundred photographers are going to be there this year! There are classes, one of which my mother teaches, and each class needs one or two models. I am lucky enough to be one of those models for a different class with a different teacher each day! This year one of my shoots is a mock engagement session, otherwise known as “e-session” (photographer lingo) Anyway, I will be doing an update after the meet up, stay tuned!

New Obsession!

Lately all I can think about is staying in shape! My best friend and I work out almost every day, and it is beginning to become sort of an addiction! We do Zumba, a dance type arobic video, pretty regularly.  At first it was a bit challenging, but we are starting to get the hang of it! Along with the Zumba, we do ab work outs a few days a week. They’re a bit painful, but totally worth it! With Spring starting to peek its head around the corner, running has been on the agenda! We went for about a 3 mile jog the other day. It seems as though I am addicted to being sore lately! Working out seems to be a good habit to have!

Eco-friendly Shampoo

Almost a week ago I announced that I would be doing a little experiment with shampoo in attempting to help out our ecosystem. I had read that water works great as a replacement for shampoo… Let’s just say, NOT TRUE. It did not work at all. My hair was neither healthy, or clean. Haha! I am assuming that this regimine would work better if one were to do it for a long period of time.. I, however, have no desire to stick it out through the “greasy hair stage”. Not happening!

Free Pancakes!

So I might be a little lame.. I might not always have exciting things to blog about.. and I might not have any money… but who doesn’t love free food!? I mean, come on! Last night a few of my friends and I enjoyed free pancakes in the student center here at I-dub. We all love a little midnight snack! the Pancakes hit the spot. YUM!

Eco-friendly Shampoo

How about NO shampoo?! I’ve been doing some researching on eco-friendly substitutes for shampoo. I found some interesting concauctions, but one of them definitely caught my eye. A girl decided to go all natural, and use only water on her hair. No shampoo, no conditioner. It sounds a little gross, right? Well, according to her experience, her hair was noticibly healthier after a short period of time. She did the experiment for about a year… My experiment won’t last that long, but I’m going to give it a try! I will probably do it for a week or so. But don’t worry, if it backfires, and my hair is gross; I won’t be finishing this experiment!  I will be blogging about this along the way though, so stay tuned!!