This is What A College Reunion with Your College Family Look Like

     Well, another blog post to be posted today!! Yikes....Let's see... life has been kind of busy and my camera has take random shots here and there but nothing specific to speak of. So as I search through my thousands of photos, I came across these from my college homecoming this fall. The idea of this blog is to focus on my OWN family..... Well, that said, the friends I made in college I am happy to say have definitely become family to me over the years. Some of us are near, some of us are far, but either way we are family. It was great to spend time back on campus after all these years with such an amazing group of friends/family. The weekend was short and quick, but the memories will be lasting.

      It is a pretty amazing group composed of the McCoys (four boys), Butkus family (one girl, one boy), The Reynolds (two girls), and us The Schneller's (two girls). The kids range in age from my "baby girl" being the oldest at twelve down to the final McCoy boy of age one and most ages in between! I have to say however we did miss part of the "family" in the Smiths (two boys) and the Weitkamps (3 girls), who could not make the journey to Missouri at the time. They were not there but they were not forgotten!!!!!

My "Baby," the oldest of the crew of kids:)

My oldest and the oldest McCoy

Two peas in a pod:)

Mr. Rod Walton and myself....
MY FAVORITE TEACHER EVER:) He is Awesome:)

"What the heck kind of phone is this?" says my smallest in  red glasses
(My how times have changed)

The kid crew minus one who was wandering around doing his own thing
(HOMECOMING PARADE)

My two having fun on the bouncy slide!!
FUN FOR ALL BIG AND SMALL!

From left to right--Butkus two, Reynolds girls,
The McCoy boys and my two ladies.
Sitting on the steps of where I lived my first year at college:)

Cheering on the Wildcats from the Hillside! GO WILDCATS!!!

Sisters having fun before getting ready to make the journey home

The ride home...it may have been a successful weekend:)

It was a good weekend had by all with nice weather and good company. It was good to be back on campus and see the changes as well as see some friendly faces, most notably of my advisor Mr. Rod Walton (Recently retired and back for us to surprise him with our visit). It is where it all began many years ago for all of us couples (except my husband--but they have all welcomed him with open arms into our "college family." I could not ask for a better group of people who have been there for me through the smiles and the tears...



Remember This: "I think if I have learned anything about friendship, it's to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don't walk away, don't be distracted, don't be too busy or tired, don't take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that hold life and faith together. Powerful stuff."--Jon Katz


Check out another fun blog by an amazing photographer
.http://daniellesullivanphotoraphy.blogspot.com

This is What Honoring My Brother Looks Like

When it came time to post for this month it did not take me long to know what I should post about. Though it has been a busy month and many, many, many things have taken place which I could post about, one stood out as the most important to share.

On January 7th, 2008 I lost my only biological sibling--my older brother Chad-- to suicide. This is something that I hope no one every has to experience. The days and years since that very day have been filled with many emotions from anger and bitterness to feeling sorry for myself to hating the world to wanting to know why to sadness and grief. It has only been recently that I have been able to shift some of those emotions to joy and happiness as I can recall memories of my brothers life and I can remember the happy times. The happy moments are finally starting to outweigh the sad, though the sad moments still surface time to time as I miss my brother daily. The hurt never goes away, it only gets less. Time helps to ease the pain but another thing which has helped to make it through these moments is the support I have found from an amazing foundation The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, or the AFSP.

Last year I participated in the walk for the first time in honor of my brother. That year through donations from family and friends I was able to donate $1,100 in honor of my brother. Following that year I was asked to help chair the walk for 2012 in Springfield. Reluctantly I agreed to do so, as this would be something totally out of my comfort zone. So to fast forward to October of 2012--it had been a whirlwind adventure for me!!!

The AFSP hired a wonderful girl by the name of Katherine to help with the walk in Springfield. Therefore she and I teamed up to pull off what turned out to be a totally amazing walk (if I may say so myself) on October 14th, 2012 at Washington Park. The whole adventure from the planning phases to the publicity for the walk to the actual walk, have really made me reach outside myself and step outside of my box in order to make this happen. I was on News Channel 20, Katherine and I were on the radio, and I spoke at the walk. Had I not had the support and encouragement from my family and friends I would not have been able to reach out to others who may be experiencing some of the same things that I have been over the years. There IS strength in numbers, as I definitely learned here with the walk. I know for a fact that I did make a difference and I will continue to be involved with this walk and the AFSP as long as I am able.

The pictures here may not exactly be all of my family as this project was intended to be for, but ON this day ALL these people were my family. We all had a common ground. We all had emotion. We all had tears. BUT we all gained STRENGTH for that moment, on that day. SO that said, my photographic skills were definitely not at the forefront of my mind and my emotions simply took the pics. And you will see as well that I am in a good deal of the pics snapped by my husband....

Thank you to all my friends and my family who donated to this years walk. As a result I was able to turn in over $1,500 to the AFSP in my brother's name. I cannot thank you enough.

To all those of you reading this please do one thing for me. Call a family member. Hug someone. Tell someone you love them. Lend a hand to someone in need. Make amends. TODAY. Why? Because tomorrow may be too late..........

My friend Melissa and Kim (bright blue shirts) coming out to show their support.
Love these gals!!

Me:)  Speaking to the crowd about why I walk.

The walkers.......

My daughter (in blue) and her friend walking in support

My amazing co-chair and I 

The radio station support....VERY VERY SUPPORTIVE!! 

MY AMAZING HUSBAND DAVE!! I could not make it without him

The Memorial Wall

To my brother

TO MY BROTHER: I love you and I miss you
(note the writings from Alyssa and Addison)

                             Please check out the following link for another blog:

http://courtneywestlakeblog.com/2012/11/02/what-our-own-fall-portraits-look-like/

"This is a Rainy Labor Day Weekend with Your Family and Friends Looks Like!"

Labor Day Weekend! Finally, a much needed and very much anticipated weekend away with my husband and 2 daughters and my college "family." AND of course........IT RAINS!!!!! However, I ought not complain as the rain was much needed, but to go all summer with next to none and NOW, it decides to rain......

However, a little bit of rain, OK, A LOT OF RAIN, did not spoil our weekend getaway. What do you do with three cabins, 1 camper, 10 college friends (2 of which were unexpected visitors but always welcome), 10 kids (plus 3 more with the 2 unexpected college friends--so 13), 1 dog, one set of college friends parents,  and A LOT OF RAIN!!!!!???? Well sit back, relax, take a look and enjoy! This blog may not be big on words, but it is big on memories for me and my family.

The girls on the way to Cannon Dam....

Notice the legs in the sweatshirt...this always makes me smile!

CANNON DAM......and RAIN!!!!!!!!!!

A few lights can always brighten up a room

RAINY DAY LAUGHTER amongst the two oldest girls:)

A CABIN

The old, unstable, kind of frightening, yet still standing playground!

Addison and Madeline making funny faces during a break in the rain!

Not exactly a fish, but hey, nice work anyway!

Fishing instruction in the rain

Playing fetch with the dog during a break from rain as well.....

PLAY BALL.....

More rainy day fun with the little kids

The bigger kids deep into Pictionary

MUDDY SHOES

....AND there we are posing for the camera and tripod! All kids present except the smallest was taking a nap.
That is one good looking crew if I may say so! AND no the girl is the gray shirt in the middle is NOT one of the kids! 

I can still see you but nice try.....

When it rains, why not go to the Visitor Center?

Skirt from the dress up clothes at visitor center

What? Are those kids actually squinting due to the sun coming out?? OF COURSE, go to the Visitor Center and the rain STOPS and SUN COMES OUT!!!

My love.....

My youngest sneaking in some bunny ears:)

Beautiful day after all......

Mother Nature is amazing.....

Good way to wind down a day....

Tired kids after swimming....

Excitement


As you end reading this entry please remember this:

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain."

Now please check out another amazing blog by my fellow photographer friend Tara!

http://www.taralongphotography.com/blog/2012/9/what-a-color-run-looks-like

This is what Sisters look like.....

 Well, here it is the last day that I have to get this post published. Needless to say I have been a bit behind on doing so. I should be filling this blog with all the pics of all the events which have taken place to explain why I am so behind. BUT I am not any more busy than the next person, so I will spare you the details. SO, this month I will keep this simple because that is what time allows for. I decided to simply make this a quick blog post about my two daughters: The smallest loves of my life. The oldest is in 7th grade and the youngest is in 2nd grade. They are off to a good start at school and seem to be loving it! What I love about that is that they have each other there. They may not see each other often, but none the less they have each other. And let me tell you I know that little one sure looks up to her big sister. It amazes me how different, yet how similar, they are really are. I am glad that they have each other to share this life with. The girls are 5 years apart in age, but all things considered, that age difference works well for them. They laugh, they fight, the share, they play, they joke, they yell...they do what siblings do. And under it all, they really do LIKE each other (I think). The days that they are at each other and have had enough are the days I remind them that they ought to be thankful they have each other. I remind them of when my grandma told me the story about she and her sister. My grandma was the oldest and her sister was substantially younger. My grandma Dorothy was not the most fond of her little sister Mary Lou growing up, but as adults they were best friends. I remind them of this. Often.....

SISTERS HANGING OUT TOGETHER

SOMEONE JUST MAY LIKE HER BIG SISTER:)

ALL SMILES

MY BEAUTIFUL LADIES

THE BIG SISTER: 7th GRADE  THE LITTLE SISTER: 2nd GRADE





So for those of you out there who have a sibling or who are a sibling to someone--
If you have not done so lately, use the small phrase "I love you."
If you have argued with your sibling, say "I am sorry."
If you have not spoken with your sibling in quite some time, stop reading this and go make a call.
If you have lost a sibling (such as I have), I am thinking of you as it is a hard loss to endure.
If you have kids who love each other one minute and fight like cats and dogs the next--embrace both aspects of that as that is how siblings (most) work.
In other words, when all is said and done, do not take your sibling for granted as you never know when it may be the last time you see your sibling.

                                

    Now please go check out another blog entry (and a very nice one if I may say so) by fellow photographer Angie Jackson. Nice work Angie!                                    

    http://www.angiejacksonphotography.com/2012/08/what-looks-like.html