Laundry Explosion

>>click to the right>>

Yeah... so I'm practically doing laundry all day today. Nothing else.
Maybe some day I'll learn to do it a little more regularly :P
But my mind is too full of exciting things I can finally do and buy now that I have a job to really care about all this laundry I'm doing. :) Life is pretty great... even with laundry to do ;P

-MarLeahCole

Conglom.

It's been a good week, a great week. But it's one of those weeks that I can't remember one thing I did besides go to work and edit pictures like crazy and fall asleep at random times because I was so exhausted!

But here is a really random conglom. -er... ation of photos :)

The ducky is just darling isn't it? Somehow ducks remind me of bunny rabbits. And bunnies remind me of our cat. And I love our cat! So let's just say I always have happy thoughts with ducks, bunny rabbits and kitty cats. Haha! They are all great. 

Then the picture of my car is one I took of it while I was taking the sunset panorama (which is the next picture).

And then you've got me happily holding the large print of that ice glazed tree that's been showing it's face several places. And now it will be decorating someone's home above a couch or something.

This weekend is going to be filled with lots of loads of laundry (If I told you how many, you would say, "No way!" Yeah, it's somehow possible for me to have this many dirty clothes and still find plenty of outfits for work). .....And I will still be editing wedding photos. So maybe I'll be able to take some really creative laundry shot (you never know! lol) Or I'll share a few from the wedding.
But that's all! I hope you have a marvelous weekend!
-MarLeahJoy

Evening Walks

When I blogged yesterday, I almost apologized and admonished myself for taking pictures with my cell phone... because it's not a nice camera at all. And I have a 7D sitting at home?? So hopefully this will be the last post with cell phone pics for this summer. 

I took a little adventure with the dog yesterday after I blogged and still didn't take my camera. Shame. on. me. And I was regretting it the whole time because I knew that I could actually get the picture I wanted with it.

Today on my lunch break at the park I actually took my camera. See, I'm learning! ;) Or re-learning!

 Even my cousins have been getting on to me for not bringing my camera places. Also, I have wedding pictures to edit, but for some reason I really don't want to even touch them. o.O And editing has always been my favorite part. It might just be the busyness/excitement of the new job. But whatever it is... I mean to kick it this week! And let my creative juices start flowing some more. :)

-MarLeahJoy

On the Road Again

I was so happy that we got my car running just in time for my first week on the job, but we had a few mishaps after that and I couldn't drive it on Tuesday. :/ Wednesday it was fine again. Thursday, though... D: I was on my way to work and it wouldn't go in to gear at the stoplight after it had turned green. I'm sure the people behind me were soooo proud of me for making them miss the green light! I was finally able to get it into gear by the time it was red again, and I barely made it to work. It was a miracle that the car even went into gear that morning though! Because when we found the problem... it was a wire that had completely broke loose. So I wonder how it even made the connection for me to get it in gear and make it to work. So thankful! 

But now I'm back on the road with my little old classic.

I tend to take a lot of pictures of my car while I'm driving because I just love what I see...

I also really like the way the light from the speedometer falls over the interior when I'm driving at night... maybe I'll try to get a photo of that next. :)

-MarLeahJoy 

Gentleness

There were so many things packed into this little scene that just made me so happy. Being at the park, a beautiful evening, the evening sun shining down, excited squeals from a little girl, all her Uncles helping her play and open presents, just being with family, playing tennis, and relaxing. Things like this make me so nostalgic that all I can do is shake my head and smile at the beauty of life.

Also, it's crazy how we can spend twenty minutes fully captivated just watching this little girl opening presents, playing with new toys, and trying on pretty new shoes... :)

-MarLeahJoy

'Morning

Yeah, you want to talk about mornings? My word, I was a complete zombie this morning... thank goodness I have a little bit of a drive to work to wake me up. :P Nah, actually I really like that I have to wake up in the wee hours of the morning (before 6) every day.  And I really do like mornings... it's just that I love being awake at night a little more ;) But since my job makes me go to bed a little earlier, I can wake up and enjoy some time by my open window. I love hearing the birds... there are oh-so-many birds making such a joyful "ruckus" in the tree outside of my window.

(and if you want to see how I got this shot...? check it out on >> instagram << )

btw... I have like NO time to blog at all right now because I'm working full-time hours with my new job during these first few weeks, but I should be on a part-time schedule later so I will still have time for photography. I have to just hang in there for a few weeks until I re-define what is normal.
-MarLeahJoy

A Little Life

Today I woke up bright and early for my new job :) I'm so happy that I finally have something to make me responsible and go to bed at a decent time, because I had developed a pretty bad case night-owl-ism over the past year. And I just couldn't break it no matter how hard I tried to. So every week day and every other Saturday I have to be there at 7:15 to open. And the little procedure we have of opening the bank is all so official and professional. Haha. I love it! :)

I got off a little early today because the teller that I was shadowing took an earlier lunch break, so I changed clothes and hit the trails! :) 

These are all just cell phone pics because sometimes I just want to enjoy nature and not be wrapped up in taking photos, but I always end up wanting to take some anyway so I just have to get some snaps with my phone.

That little place with the pool is a peaceful spot that's actually not too far back in the woods. I like seeing it, but I'm always too ready to keep going to spend much time there. 

And then you follow the green, grassy path :) but beware of ticks. (I think I probably picked at least 50 ticks off of myself :/ during the whole 2 hours I was there - of course)

I had taken some new trails and I had absolutely no idea where I was for a good 45minutes, but I just kept going. And I ran into some pretty diverse trails and old buildings. And I actually hit the very back edge of the trails where the land is fenced off. I knew that if I kept taking new trails it would eventually dump me back somewhere that I recognized -- whether that was 3 hours later or just within minutes.

The picture I took above was a field that normally has horses in it, and I had been down there at least twice, so I was finally back in the area I knew a little better. Even though I wasn't really too worried about how "lost" I was, it was kind of a relief to know where I was again. But I wouldn't trade the adventure and newness of the trails for the comfort of knowing where you are.

And then I just decided to take a straight path back to my car, so I just followed this clearing for the electric lines instead of going back into the woods.

Someone built a little rock house for a little rodent or something ;)

When I got back to my car, I saw this thing on my windshield from a distance and I was like "I'm pretty sure I had no reason to get a parking ticket... Ha!" But it turned out it was a little note from my cousin who was likely passing by on his way home and saw my car.

On the subject of work though, I'm ready to start another day tomorrow! I can't wait until I can actually do my job on my own instead of following someone around, though.

-MarLeah Joy

Mommy and Daughter Session

Ah! Okay, so I finally got around to blogging this little family right before Mother's Day. How fitting!

Yes, I apologize that I have not blogged them any sooner. Once I get past the point of "Oh my word, I love this session so much!!!" Then I kind of lose my enthusiasm to blog them, but I forget that everyone else still hasn't seen them, even though I've been forced to move on to other sessions.

Sometimes the hardest thing about sessions is to try to find somewhere unique that all the locals won't recognize. I guess it doesn't have to be that way, but that is my personal preference. But when we got down in this area of Big Springs where the spring actually starts, I was so happy that there was nice lighting down there and I've never really seen people take many photos of it. Either that, or I haven't had my eyes open enough to see all of them ;)

Before the session I asked Sacha if Ava gave many kisses. Sacha was kind of like, "Eh, sometimes..." I guess that day was one of those "sometimes" because she would keep on giving her mommy kisses :) So cute :)

Somehow I am really in love with that photo above. Maybe because it was just so natural, because Ava kept getting sidetracked by the water and she wanted to look over there :) She kept saying things like "rainbow!" and "water!" and "ducks!" And it was just too cute! :D

And btw, when I put the little pez dispenser on top of my camera, it actually worked :) And she loved getting candy out of it :)

-MarLeahJoy

Thursday

I thought next week would be the pivotal week in my life so far... But no. Thursday was the day. The day that marked the change in what I will be doing for the next couple of years. It's weird to say that, because obviously I don't know what the next few years will have in store exactly, but according to what happened Thursday... I at least have a good idea about some things.

So as you know from my last post... on Monday I got a call for an interview with a local bank. They apologized for such a short notice, but asked if I could interview on Tuesday or Wednesday. I chose Wednesday. 

The day of the interview I walked into the bank 10 or 15 minutes early, so I sat and waited until they were ready for me. While I was waiting, I had a flashback to the time last summer when I interviewed with the same bank at a different branch. There were two women interviewing me, and I just could not be comfortable with them; we just didn't click it off at all. I'm not sure if they saw that I was nervous or something and it just turned them off... or if they we just not very gracious. I mean, they were friendly and nice, but our whole conversation just seemed to be stifled by something. I remember they asked me a lot of questions that I answered with really awkward anecdotes. :/ And then they told me how hard the job would be and blah blah blah -- probably trying to actually scare me out of the job. And I think it worked because after the interview I was so overwhelmed that I thought to myself: "I'm not sure of I would even like this job..." D: And I escaped to a clothing store to do a little therapy shopping before I had to head home.

11 months passed since then, though, and I still came back to the point where I thought I might enjoy working as a teller. So here I was, waiting at another bank, trying to look calm and collected because the Vice President's office had nice little windows where he could see me the whole time ;)

But while I was looking around and waiting on Wednesday everything just seemed so right. I loved the design and layout of the bank and it just gave me all the right vibes about the type of atmosphere it would be while working there. It was comfortable, but classy. It was quite, but not awkwardly silent. I don't know how else to describe it, but when I was job searching, I would think of places where I already liked the atmosphere (as a customer) and I would apply at those places first. And this bank was definitely becoming among my favorites as I observed things going on.

 We spent 30 minutes in the interview. It would be too hard to tell you exactly what went on, but it was much more relaxed than the previous one. As I left I thought I saw another young girl sitting in the same spot I was at when I was waiting for the interview. But of course (in my mind) she looked more sophisticated and business-y. o.O Ack! "There's already another person they're interviewing??" :/ I walked out, feeling like I had a little less chance of getting a job, just because they would be comparing someone else to me so shortly after my own interview. D:

When I got home I wrote them a "thank you" for the interview (thanks to my mom's promptings) and I assume they received it the next day.

But after that, I tried to push all thoughts about the interview off, because there was no need to think about it until I got a call the next week anyway.

Thursday I went to College for an awards ceremony for the Quill magazine where they publish college, high school and community artwork and literature. 

Here are my four photos that were published...

After that, I had to hang out at the college for a while until an appointment I had in the afternoon. So I went to the library to do homework. I had barley settled in, logged onto a computer, and started reading about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 when I saw that I was getting a call. :P So I grabbed my purse and phone, deserted the computer and rushed out of the library. I didn't recognize the number, but somehow I was sure that I knew it was from the bank. It was. And I got the job. :D I went back into the library and I sat back down at my computer. All the words to my homework was a complete blur. I couldn't do anything, so I didn't :P That whole day I felt like I was completely scatter-brained! I actually almost still can't believe I got the job. :) But yeah... that's what happened Thursday :) I will officially transition from college to an employee on Monday and Tuesday when I go in to work for the first day and when I finish up my last college final.
The Lord and his timing is so perfect, though. A month after I had my first interview (last summer) with the bank, my dad was talking to a man at a wedding and Daddy told him that I had been interview, etc. The man happened to be the Vice president and bank manager at the branch here in my hometown. He told my dad that if I ever needed it, to put him down as a reference. So I put him down on the last two applications I've sent in since then. When I got the call from him on Monday, he said that he had actually just transferred to a branch (the one I applied to) and they needed an employee. Little did I know when I submitted my application to this same branch a few weeks ago, that the person I listed as my "reference" would actually be the person to hire me. Haha! Yep, he's my boss now :) And I am soooo glad he is at this bank now because he is such a nice older man with a really kind heart. (And he has a great bass singing voice, too ;) I've actually heard him sing at a concert before). I already really love the people that I will be working with... and like I said, I feel like the atmosphere of the whole place is perfect. :)

So, here we go. I'm leaving my life as a student, and I'm becoming a bank teller and photographer... the two careers I had always considered and couldn't decided between... and now I have them both! :)

-MarLeahJoy

Changes

I am feeling so productive today, so I decided to take a little time to blog a bit.

Productive as in... I already went to town, had an interview, came back and completed a 2 page case review for business law. Boom! Oh, and I added the pictures of Sacha and her girl to the templates I use for posting them to facebook and to post official session posts on here... So maybe I'll have the post up by Friday or Saturday. Or tomorrow if you're lucky. ;)

The interview was for a teller position at a bank. Actually, it's the bank I primarily use so I know the manager, and he was one of the ones I interviewed with. He said there wouldn't be a second interview if they choose me, because they need the positioned filled as soon as possible. And as I left the interview he said that he could call next week when the decision was made. Well, next week also holds the very last day I have to go in to college and take my last final (the rest are online). No more school at all after that! 

So next week could mark some of the biggest changes in my life. Because I've been in school ever since I moved past that stage of spending days on end at my neighbors house playing pirates, drawing on her white cat, and pretending like their kitchen window was our fast food service (aka Micky D's). And I have never, ever worked a public job... nor had the government take half of my gross pay for taxes ;P jk
I have no clue if I will get the job, of course. I know that God knows and understands, though, so I'm not really worried. But! Just considering that if I did get the job, what better timing than to finish school and get a job the same week? I know that the Lord did that for my cousin, Heather's brother. :) If it falls through, then no more job excitement for me, :/ but my excitement for finishing school will forever remain! ;D Whew! That is one thing I at least have assurance about right now. ;)

Have a great Wednesday!
-MarLeahJoy

Leading Lines

Well, well! I really want to blog two sessions, but I guess it will just have to wait. I've got a lot going on this week and I've already promised to help my mom do a little spring cleaning this as well (you know how that goes...)

But I have time to share my last little photography assignment of the semester. And it happens to be a picture of my favorite little girl from her birthday party Saturday evening. The assignment was leading lines... I'm not sure if I was really supposed to have several leading lines or if one leading line will qualify...? But it's what I got.

P.s. I've noticed while I was writing out this blog post that I had to backspace over like 20 sets of these little things "..." that I had typed out! :P Apparently... <<< those little guys have always been my favorite additions to writing. They just seem to make it "flow". :P Honestly, the only reason I try to limit them is because I'm thinking, "My AP English teacher would probably cringe if he saw this nonsense!" Ha!

C-ya! ;)  <<< Jared Polin slang right there! ;)
-MarLeahJoy

Ode to Sleep

(4 photos: click to the right)

I'm not going to write an ode, though. I found out in highschool that poetic writing really isn't my thing. The only time my English teacher really liked one of my poems was because it was comparing men to horses and it made men look really strong and perfect. My teacher was quite sexists (mostly in a joking way), so the poem pleased him so much that he made me read it out loud in front of the class. As I recall, it resulted in a lot of "Awww!"'s from the girls in the class. :P Yeah. So that poem was a big mistake. Lol. And so are the rest of the lyrical pieces I try to write -- in a different way.

But I like the word "ode" because it just seems to give a lot of reverence to whatever the subject is. And in this case: sleep! Yes, I love sleep :)

This is a 4 picture series that I took one time while I was actually going to bed and I saw my camera laying beside me. :) I am a really big lover of textiles/texture/organic fabric. It somehow seems to make the whole sleep experience 10xs better :P Oh, and the cat, too! It makes me happy when he decides to curl up next to us, but he hardly every stays :/ So it means a trip downstairs to put him outside at 3am or whenever he decides he wants out :P

-MarLeahJoy

Lil' Monster

There's this little guy that my great-aunt has been fostering, and boy! do I love him dearly! He's quite the mess, though! Actually, the words that always come to my mind to describe him is "little monster". And that was exactly what he was doing here. It was right before a little children's bible night we had at church. He was running through the grass, and he would swoop down and run his hands through the dandelions just to destroy them and to make the seeds fly everywhere around him. It was so cute to watch him :) I love watching children play in their own little carefree world of innocence. I wouldn't wish to go back to being a child like that, though, because as I recall, I never thought to myself as a child: "Man! My life is so carefree! I just love it!" No, children never think that because they don't have any trouble to compare it to. So there's no need to wish to be back in those days, because we have the best perspective on it right now... as grown-ups looking on the life of little children we can see the true beauty of their life. :) I hope that wasn't confusing :P I tend to have very complicated emotions and thoughts :P

-MarLeahJoy

Reflection at Sunset

I'm so happy for green leaves on trees!

Normally I don't think too terribly much about the seasons and about "how bad winter is" and "how much I love summer"... but about every time I'm in the car and drive past all the green trees I think about how much different it all looked just a month ago. And then I dread the thought of having to go through winter again. :/

But hey! Happy May 1st! :)

-MarLeahJoy