My weekend visit to Ohio.

July 24, 2014

  You're crazy, they said. That's a waste of money and time, they said.

My favorite building
on campus.

  Do I care? No. I rented a car and hit the road at 1 am Saturday morning to Ohio and made it back home at 9:30 pm Sunday night. Do you think I'm crazy?



  My getaway last weekend was back to New Concord to see a few college friends. On the way I had to drop my brother off to my Mom's so he could go camping in northern Michigan (lucky him!). I had an amazing time just catching up, being in a different scenery for a change and being alone with my thoughts. I love driving lone distances, especially in a nice car with air conditioning! When people say he or she needs a getaway, I wonder if this is what comes to find. Open road, music, beautiful scenery.. doesn't get better than that.

  I loved catching up with two of my sorority sisters. We didn't have to do anything crazy. We enjoyed ourselves and had many laughs. We mad a pact that now we have to make pancakes every time we see each other, which will hopefully be more than we expect. It's like we haven't been over 300 miles apart from one another for such a long time. Those are the friends you want to keep around.

Zanesville, Ohio.

  We also did some photography. I am finally getting back into it and super stoked to start one of my favorite hobbies again. It's rough not doing something you remember spending so much time doing and having that realization that you did in fact stop doing it. Why not keep up with the passions in life that help shape who you are? I was telling a friend at work about my love for photography, and he was surprised. No one should be surprised photography is my art and self expression. Really! It should be known by everyone. I remember as a young child taking pictures with the throw away cameras, and in Junior High, I thought I was a photographer, haha.

  Long exposure photographs can turn out to be amazing. I never attempted to take photos like this, and I should have taken advantage of doing it while I was in college. There are so many amazing spots close to campus I could have taken photos of with this technique. We have very little stars over in the suburbs, so it's very difficult to get good results.

Mount Prospect, Illinois.

  This trip was important to help me realize that and to get started up again with taking photos and exploring what power I have with a camera. I understand everyone goes through phases back and forth with hobbies like this, but it's silly to think photography is a come and go thing for me. I'm making a promise to myself to take time once a week to take a way, explore a new area, go anywhere, and to bring my camera and just shoot. Any style. Just do it.

  I also realized that money is worth spending. Yes, I have loans and bills to pay, but sometimes it's worth spending an extra buck or two to do something that will make you, or someone you love, happy. What's the point of letting money sit all the time? If I want something, I should suck it up and pay! It's a constant struggle that comes with my anxiety, but it's slowly breaking. I work full and part time, so spending a little here and there won't kill me.

  I cannot wait to start adding more photos to my collection. Keep a look out!