Before I left for Oklahoma, and before the Mexico trip, I took my daughter out with one of her besties and did a best friend shoot. These girls have been friends since they were two years old and if truth be told, they are perfect for each other. I hope they stay friends forever. True BFF’s…

I went home to relive a little of that passion with my comrades and it was amazing. Truly. I had the best trip ever. During the show, Rick came into the audience to invite a few children onstage with him to sing a snippet of “Don’t Talk To Strangers” and in a wonderfully serendipitous moment standing next to me, he chose my friend’s son to come onstage..which then elicited backstage entrance for pictures. IT was amazing and I realized in that moment, we had come full circle. My life just goes like this sometimes. At 15 when I would lie in my bed at night listening to Living In Oz and Tao, I used to imagine meeting Rick…to be able to vocalize how much he meant to me. Silly, perhaps. A teenage crush…I can’t tell you why him. It just is. But here I am, 25 years later and I’ve met the man six times…as an adult. Respectful, mature and full of a lifetime of experiences greet him, when I shake his hand. And you know what? I’m still that 15 year old girl at heart. And I still get giddy after all these years. Who is your teen heart throb?

Myself and Teri (right), my lifelong friend.

Pictures from the show…

Here are some images of my friend’s son, David, onstage with Rick. He is the little boy in the black shirt. The ages of these children are between 7 and 2 years. The little girl on the end with Rick, is only 2 and completely adorable in every way. I have video footage of this and will post soon.

During my Tulsa trip, one of my dearest high school friends and I were able to get together after many years apart.  She has a four year old son who is so perfectly cute, I wanted to pack him up in my bag and take him home with me.  We met at Woodward park in Tulsa and she brought along her niece Madison.  It was a beautiful warm day.  I hadn’t been to Woodward park in at least 15 years, I had forgotten how beautiful it is.  Kerri had asked me if I would be willing to get some photo’s of her son and his cousin together.  They live four hours apart from each other and so I was very happy to do this for her and her family.

At the zoo with friends.

I was invited out to the Becker home this past weekend to shoot family portraits.  I have a lot to say about the Becker family as they are a testament to the spiritual gift of Faith.  I know that when a person struggles through something it is very difficult to see the good in it.  An unfortunate twist in our economy left Joe out of work, couple that with the geographic location of where they live and to say that it’s been a struggle is an understatement.  Trying to sell their home has been challenging but they’ve managed to find enough work to keep them afloat through all the changes.  The Beckers are a family of ten and Kara homeschools all of them.  When I see the the decisions they’ve made to do things THEIR way, I stand back in awe.  Because their decisions are not based out of fear, but by faith.  The faith that although things may be hard and the outcome is uncertain, they believe with their whole hearts that God will come through for them in the end.  I think some people are meant to live lives this way to show the rest of us just how amazing God is.    The home will finally be sold and they will be free to, as they say, move about the country.  You can visit them at http://jokars.com/ They are just getting started!!

Who are the people in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood, in your neigh-bor-hoooood?  Starting a series this week of people in my neighborhood.  The challenge will be to get people to do it.  HA HA!  And have them not become self conscious.  Hmmm….

Yesterday, while my daughter was working on her rollerblading skills, it seemed to spark a frenzy of attention with the kids who live on my street.  Suddenly there were rollerblades and bicycles and ripsticks all up and down the sidewalk in front of my house.  And I love being the house the kids come to.  When kids are free to be, anything can happen!

This is my 100th image post for Project 365…as if you hadn’t figured it out yet.  I am dedicating this day’s post to my long time radio friend Bill “Doogie” Hauser.  Doogie was part of the morning show for a radio station in Tulsa, that I later interned and eventually had a weekend gig with.  We have known each other since the early nineties.  I recently mentioned that I was about to post my 100th image for Project 365 and Doogie gave me a wonderful idea.  So, Doogie, this one’s for you!   P.S.  You’ll never know how much I had to pay my husband to do this for me.. oh, and P.S.S   I was listening to Boot Scootin Boogie while coloring your signs.