...show!

'No more suspense...my piece made the show.


James couldn't make it, so I had Sister Blake (a full-time missionary assigned to the visitors' center) take my picture...


FYI: The show runs through September 14th at the Washington DC Temple Visitors' Center.

...be in suspense!

So, I got this email from the folks running the photo show I entered. It was a mass email to all the entrants. I wasn't selected as a judges' choice winner, but I wasn't expecting to even make the show. 'No biggie there. But I'm not sure if I should be hopeful that my work actually made the show. Here's what the email said:

We were able to hang at least one photo from each person who submitted according to the guidelines on the website.

I believe that my submissions were "according to the guidelines." So, does that mean I'm in?! If I missed something--or if they didn't think my pieces fit the categories, then I may not be in. The suspense is killing me! So I'll go to the opening reception tomorrow and see how many photos I take home. Will it be all three or just two? It would be so cool to make the show.

James will probably be in the field all Saturday. That means I may be on my own for the opening reception. I'd love to have a friend there to snap a photo of me with my work hanging. It may sound silly, but it's kind of a big deal to me. Of course if I didn't make it in, then I'd rather make the hour drive home alone. If I knew for sure...

Oh, the suspense!

...enter.

I entered another photography contest. I'm not sure why I felt it important to enter since I don't have much hopes for being selected for the show. Perhaps it is the experience of entering that is important to me. There is a lot to do to get your work ready for a show. You have to select your image and make any digital edits (like cropping) prior to printing. Then, printing can be a challenge as well. After printing, you need to mat and frame your piece so that it is show ready. The guidelines were fairly specific for this show, so that was helpful. Then, I needed to take it to the site--which happens to be on the other side of DC. So, that meant over two hours of driving to drop off my entry. I will do the drive again next weekend to attend the opening. I'll probably be taking home my work then, but I'll have a chance to see the artists and pieces that will make it in. So, I think it's all about the entry experience for me. Maybe sometime in the future it will be about being in the show. Then at some future date, it might be about winning.

BTW, here is the show website: http://monumentsoffaith.org

Here is one of the photos that I entered:

...reflect.

Our New York trip was fun. We rode the train up to the city. Then we wandered around a bit because we forgot to bring a map. We managed to find our way around all the hustle and bustle. We avoided the honking cabs and walked up and down Broadway. We made it to Tiffany's, but the store was closed for the 4th. We still saw several things. We walked thru Times Square, saw beautiful, Gothic cathedrals, found MOMA, bought a picture from a street vendor, and found a few fun stores. My favorite part of the city was Central Park. It was so nice to go and sit there after making our way thru several blocks of people, people, people!


We had a nice dinner complete with cheesecake before we were off to catch the show. WICKED was wonderful! We both enjoyed it very much. We laughed and were amazed at the talent. James bought me a WICKED themed umbrella at the show that we put to use directly after. It rained that night, so we didn't do much more than make our way back to Penn Station to wait for our train. In the early morning hours we road back to Quantico. We pretty much slept all Saturday, but it was worth it!

...melt!

I wanted to blog about our NY trip today...but it's too dang hot! I'm melting!