Riding Lessons and the Facts of Life

When I was about 5 years old my grandpa Cook bought me my first pony, his name was Pepper.
Thus started my lifelong love affair with horses.



My grandpa also bought my 2nd pony, and my 3rd, and my 4th, until my dad surprised me with 2 registered Morgan horses when I was 16. Once adulthood hit me square between the eyes, my focus shifted to working, raising my family and supporting my children. About 9 years ago I bought my first horse all on my own. I traded a dirt bike for him and met my friend Michelle when I needed a place to board him.
I ended up owning 2 horses, one for me, and one old granny horse for the kids. Once I married Eddie and we blended our families into one huge team, the struggle to support such a large family by ourselves got it the way. I was forced to sell my horse and the other died of colic and old age.
Although I don't have the funds to own horses right now, my love affair with horses has never waivered and I continue to share this love with my children.
This past week Damian and Carrie had their first official riding lesson with my friend Michelle who owns the Innisfree Horse Farm in Canal Winchester. Saturday they rode in their first horse show!
I'll post pictures from the show later once I have a chance to edit them, but here are a few from their Lesson on Tuesday.
Rock On!
ps....a special THANK YOU to the owners of "ACE" for sharing your horse with us.

The Mystery of 11 :11

So back in the day I used to have this boyfriend, and he had this thing about 11 : 11.

My birthday is December 11th, and his was January 11th, so he decided fate had stepped in after my divorce to make me his. I never really noticed the numbers until he started pointing them out to me. We'd be watching TV and the clock would say 11: 11 and he'd jump up and go, that's us make a wish!

Every once in a while, I'll still notice the numbers on a sign, a clock, just random places, but it always made me think of him and smile. Of course we didn't work out, and we have both since moved on, but when I saw someone had posted this secret on one of my favorite sites that I visit each Sunday, PostSecret.com , it made me smile.

And although I know it was not intended for me, it made me smile because someone else out there knows the numbers and uses them to make wishes. It's amazing sometimes how small the world really is, and where ever my ex boyfriend is...I wish him well and hope he is as happy as I am.

I just shot another Horse Show at the Innisfree Horse Farm yesterday. I'll try and post a few sneek peeks by tomorrow.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend Everyone!!!

Rock On!

The Golden Child

They say sometimes children experiencing childhood tragedy are more determined in life. They become more focused to succeed. They learn pain and suffering early on, and live the rest of their lives making sure not to make the same mistakes that were made to them. Sean is my Golden Child. He's beautiful and brilliant, makes excellent grades, and he loves his mom!

Since he was a toddler he has focused on making sure I'm all right. I tell him he needs to focus on himself. I'm just fine. So when he came bouncing off the bus one day last spring with papers clutched in his hand for football sign ups...how could I say no. It all started with a 3 hour long line at the high school for his physical, then came football camp at the beginning of summer that he proudly paid for with his own lawn mowing money. It ended up paying off. After a few intense weeks at bootcamp this past month, where many kids were cut before even finishing, Sean made the team!
He is beside himself with pride and joy, and you can see him looking for me on the sidelines with his "look at me mom" grin on his face. Of course I have my camera, capturing his every move.
Here's to you baby! I'm so proud!

























They won by scoring 3 touchdowns to the other teams 1 touchdown. GO BOYS YOU ROCK!




SCORE!!!






A pooped but happy young man!

All Summer Long

Summer has long been my favorite season. It's when I feel most alive, energized, ready to take on the whole world. So I've been off my game lately by feeling overwhelmed, tired, and just plain unmotivated :-(
Anyone who has known me personally for an extended period of time knows I suffer from headaches....bad ones....sometimes lasting a week or more. It's a combination of a screw up from a childhood orthodontist making a huge mistake with the alignment of my teeth, causing me to lose 16mm of space in my mouth and thereby causing me to suffer from TMJ. On top of that I have that wonderful thing called genetics from my mom who is a long sufferer of migrains. Oh boy! I've been working on a huge assingment from the Youth Leadership Forum and can finally say ...I'm Done! Whew! Now If I can just get rid of this horrible headache I've had for over a week now.
So what makes me feel better? Watching my kids grow, experience, and thrive of life. I could not imagine not being a part of watching them become their own individuals. They each have such different personalities.
They literally swell my heart with happiness until it feels like it could burst with love. But I'm also an overprotective, paranoid mom. I just couldn't imagine being without them. Still, I have to learn to let go, just a little at a time and let them grow.
Last weekend we sent off all but 2 of the kids...YAY! Eddie and I took that opportunity to spend a little one on one time with the two youngest, and what makes us happy, is watching them grow.
love you boys!

Are these happy kids or what!?!


















Jeannie Cochran, Columbus Ohio Family Portrait, Wedding, High School Senior, Live Event Photographer.

I like to let Eddie drive....

You mean to tell me after driving there the last eight times we have drove there together you still don't know how to get there?!, Eddie asked. Umm, nope, I was ashamed to say. Every time we've drove there I was looking and talking to you, I said in my own defense.
Oh please, remarked Eddie, and huffed off to the computer to print me yet another mapquest map.
I'm a dreamer sometimes, ok, all the time. I just love to live life to the fullest, and pull in the warm summer sun, and everything that's going on around me. My mind is contantly thinking, analyzing, running through the scenes, taking it all in, except taking in directions when Eddie drives.

We love the beach! We can't get there enough. We make any excuse to go.
So when Eddie's sister came to town a few weeks ago....we went!
I am so spoiled when it comes to our travels, Eddie does all the cooking! I just get to relax and keep the kids from killing themselves, which can sometimes be a challange all of it's own.
It's a good thing I got to relax, I wasn't feeling good at all this day, but still managed to get the kids to pay attention long enough to fire off a few shots. I have been practicing for beach portraits and would love to have more families to practice with. Holllla if you want to do a session on the beach!

Here are a few of my faves.














The beautiful niece.





Greg


Brandon



Sandworm



Trying to get a group of kids this size to cooperate is challenging...there's always someone looking away... or trying to grab your boob :-)


or touching someone else....





There was enough of them for, The Pyramid...how sweet!

Come on Norman, you can do it....



Whoohoooo



and within a half a second of taking the shot...........


.....it was all over!

Ohio Youth Leadership Forum 2008!

Back in January I was contacted about being the photographer for Ohio Youth Leadership Forum for 2008. It's a group of high school age kids here in our state, who show leadership qualities, despite the many obsticles that stand before them. At first, I was asked just to take a group photo of about 85 people, kids included, outside Ohio's Statehouse in Downtown Columbus. Bout 45 minutes of my time, no biggie. Groovy!
I was so excited and a bit nervous, but ready to take on the challange! A few months later my friend Tanya asked me out for dinner to discuss taking the whole challange a bit further.
Shoot for 4 days! Awesome!
After waiting nearly 6 months, the week arrived. I was able to take one of my kids with me for each day of the event. They made friends right along with me. I was so honored to be able to participate in this, and even more stoked to be responsible for capturing it all for them!
Thank You Tanya for trusting me enough, and wanting to see me succeed enough to recommend ME for the job! Love you baby!
Although I won't post any pictures of the kids, because I don't have their parents permission, here are a few of the ones I can share, and a few of my new friends.


The Awesome Geri Jewell



Our State Governor, Ted Strickland

Tanya on the right with Governor Ted Strickland


The Gov'

The Ohio State University Swim Team



Ohio State University Swim Team Coach Bill Wadley


This Young Lady is on her way to the Olympics in Beijing! Good Luck Girl...You Rock!



The Ooober Talented Guys from LimeLite Productions who Rocked the house with the videography skills!


This is a glimps of their personalities! If your looking for a videographer, DJ's, or Event Planners, these are your guys!








Damian went with me for 2 evenings and snapped his own shots with my old Sony point and shoot. He has now decided he too is going to be a photographer!
Here's one he took us Us...LOL