This year Thanksgiving has taken on a whole new meaning to me! On November 13th my Dad, Ron Disrud, suffered a massive heart attack, in the Minneapolis Airport, while traveling back to North Dakota from South Carolina. The amazing thing about the whole story is that the man my Dad grabbed onto, when he collapsed, turned out to be a doctor. The doctor also happened to be with another doctor friend at that moment. Lucky for my Dad, they began administering care immediately and saved his life. Dad spent a week in intensive care and another week in a regular room. Fortunately, Dad was discharged from the hospital today and will receive outpatient care until his open heart surgery in two weeks. I am so incredibly thankful that Dad missed his connecting flight, or wasn’t driving, when he had his heart attack. It is said that an airport is one of the best places to have a heart attack if you’re going to have one. My prayers of thanksgiving go out to all of the people who helped to save my Dad’s life, the people who took care of him in the hospital and most of all to God for the timing of it all! Below are are couple of my favorite picks of my wonderful father!

I have always loved this photo of my Dad when he was a little boy! Dad is still a big kid at heart!

I am a huge fan of old photos. This is another photo of my Dad that I have always loved! It is his high school graduation photo. Do you see a Harry Connick Jr. resemblance?

I was going to post an old wedding picture of my parents here but will post that with old family photos in the about me section very soon. This photo was taken a couple of years ago at my sister’s wedding. While this is a posed shot, I feel that my parents’ spirit shines through the image!

My soul is always fed when I go out and photograph something for myself! One of my favorite places to photograph, and has been for about ten years, is Mount Olivet Cemetery. Mount Olivet is a place where I feel inspired, peaceful and hopeful. As strange as this may all sound, it is a place where I go when I need to take a deep breath and contemplate my life. Below are a few images from my last visit to my little refuge!

There is nothing like a trip to the beach to comfort, calm and heal the mind, body and spirit! When I look at the vibrant colors that exist in nature I am reminded that God is the ultimate artist! The sunset that I experienced, while visiting Marco Island, was the most stunning sunset that I have ever seen in my life! Thank you God!

While I love going out to watch the 4th of July fireworks, I must confess that it does not happen every year. Typically the primary reason is that I do not exactly enjoy the hassle that comes with crowds and traffic. This year I decided to make the effort to view the fireworks from a different vantage point where there weren’t very many people. I also decided that I would take a few shots and see if I get anything cool. Although I was not shooting from my perfect scenario vantage point, I did come up with a few shots that I like. The second photography class that I took was Abstract Photography at Watkins. The class was so inspirational and forever changed the way I see and photograph. When I look at these images I am reminded of that class and beauty of looking at things in a different way!

Fireworks often remind me of flowers dancing across the night sky!

I see a martini glass in this shot! Does anyone else see this?

I think of Hydrangeas when I look at this shot!

I like the simplicity of this image!

This image is one of my favorites!

I like how the patterns look with the smoke!

This image reminds me of design elements from the fifties.

I love animals…especially my three cats. Todays blog is featuring my three, fury companions that I refer to as the objects of my affection. Not only do I find human behavior utterly fascinating, but I also find animal behavior to be intriguing. My animals have truly enriched my life and I have learned a lot from them. Although cats may have a reputation for being aloof (at least to those who do not like them) my cats follow me around the house, love to cuddle, often come when I call them and love hanging out on the ledge of the bathtub during shower time. Whenever I find myself stressing over little things, all that I have to do is take a look at one of these loungers and I am instantly reminded not to sweat the small stuff. I am reminded patience is a virtue, a nap is a wonderful way to recalibrate, it’s important to play and finally a little hug and kiss makes one feel special!

This is Cleo, short for Cleopatra, the first cat that I adopted. My best friend rescued her in a parking lot where she worked at the time. Cleo is my cat that loves to snuggle and be the center of attention. She has many nicknames like “Rumpletumkins” and as of late “Boss Lady.”

Cleo loves Shower time!

Sheba is the second cat that I adopted. She is really girly and a little neurotic…but very sweet! Sheba’s nickname is “Polly Prissy Pants” and if you ever met her you would see why!

Sheba is definitely the “don’t hate me because I am beautiful” cat!

This rascal, at eight weeks of age, living in a drain pipe.  The moment I saw this little guy my heart went out to him. My baby’s name is Smokey Robinson and his nickname is “Little Smoke.” Smokey is so full of life and spunk as he just celebrated his second birthday yesterday. Smokey loves to sing (he is rather vocal), climb trees, chase anything that moves and adores snack time!

Smokey and Cleo bonding!

Welcome to my inaugural blog posting! After several months of procrastination I have finally broken down and am sharing a little more of my world and self. Since my website is new, as of December, and is current with wedding shots, my first post is of personal work. One of my obsessions is travel and I love it all! Lately, I am learning to find the joy in little weekend excursions from Nashville. This past fall I made a trip to Clarksdale, Mississippi to experience the Mississippi Delta and stay at the every so funky Shack Up Inn. The Shack Up Inn is home to six shacks and the Cotton Gin Inn that are reserved year round. The Inn is quite popular and I was informed that it gets visitors from all over the world. During my visit I stayed in the Robert Clay Shack one night and a Gin Bin the second night. I never thought that I would pay money to stay in a shack but I must admit this was a very eclectic experience that I would do again!

While Clarksdale is a fairly small town it boast an impressive musical history. At one time is was home to famous Bluesmen as W.C. Handy, Robert Johnson, Son House, Ike Turner, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker and many others. Being a girl that grew up in North Dakota, along the Canadian border, I didn’t exactly grow up with the most rich musical heritage as my fellow Southerners. It was an incredible treat to step foot on the same soil that gave birth to so much talent!

As far as musical talent is concerned I was fortunate to meet Jerome & William (pictured below) while hanging out in a cafe one afternoon. These guys are two of the nicest guys and are very talented! They refer to themselves as “freestyle hip-hop artists” and I must say they are the real deal! While hanging out and talking about their passion for music and storytelling, they even indulged us with a little of their “freestyling.” Now I must admit I am not really into hip-hop or rap, but these guys really moved and inspired me! Their message is very honest and real but it does not glorify whatsoever that which shouldn’t be glorified. I really hope the best for these guys and that there music takes them where they want to go. Another musical talent that I heard perform was Robert Belfour. Here is a clip of him from YouTube doing a song that he performed at Red’s Lounge. Robert’s music was so soulful and hypnotizing and we hope to hear him perform again, perhaps at the Juke Joint Festival someday. Several people whom I met raved about the Juke Joint Festival. It would be exciting to attend sometime however accommodations typically book up a year in advance and being the last minute travellers that we are that doesn’t work out very well.

Well, I could add more about Clarksdale but don’t want to bore you with chattiness. Anyway to make a long story short, I really enjoyed my little Clarksdale adventure and all that it entailed! Below are a few of my fave pics!

Cotton Gin Inn

Self-portrait

Silhouette of man at Morgan Freeman’<p><p>s Ground Zero Blues Club

Puttin Hatchet at Ground Zero Blues Club

More Puttin

Magic Bus at the Shack Up Inn!

Cotton Plant

More Cotton with Dramatic Sky

Shacks to be added to the lineup at the Inn

Green shack & cool, old pickup

Jerome Williams & William Ellis

Jerome Williams & William Ellis