endings...and beginnings

it's a fact of life that things begin and things come to an end. sometimes they're for the good, and sometimes not so. it seems there have been a few of these in our lives this past week, so i'm posting, and venting, about them.

this week, my photography class ended. very sad. i was taking the class with my friend, christina. she and i have both sparked such an interest in photography with each other, and by the end of our 8 week class, both have an inkling to eventually start a side business in kids photography. i'm a looooooong way off. have lots of practice to complete, and more hardware to purchase, but i am so glad that i took the leap and decided to take the class. this has been something i have always wanted to do, and i have learned more in the past 8 weeks than i think i ever could forcing myself to sit down and read my camera manual or a how-to book. i learn better when someone is teaching me, and i am able to get hands-on practice. i think, personally, that my photography skills have improved. i have a better idea of how my camera functions, how i can change to make a photo better, and i'm taking pictures of EVERYTHING. i don't really care anymore if people think i'm crazy because i'm laying on the woodchips at the park on my back looking up at harper on the swing. i'm gonna get the shot i see in my head. and no one can stop me. so, i guess the ending of class is the beginning of a lifelong passion for capturing beautiful little real-life moments. and the beginning of a deeper friendship with christina, since we so intensely share the interest. in a recent e-mail to me, she wrote "this wouldn't be half as much fun if i didn't have a friend interested in the same things!" so true. we swapped more e-mails recently than you can count. which isn't so sad after all.

and a quote she saw on a blog that fits "well with our new love for photography-"

find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it. julia child

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i also reached the last page of the book i've been reading since i checked it out at the library in february- eat, pray, love by elizabeth gilbert. mid-read, i found out it was being made into a movie, so i definitely had to finish it. it was a good read, so i'm looking forward to seeing it on the big screen. but with the final word read, it means that i have a new book to choose. i have a few resting on my nightstand next to our bed that i scan every now and then, plus more in the nightstand drawers, under the bed and on bookshelves downstairs. but, i received a book in my easter basket last weekend from my mom that i've been itching to get my hands on, and i think it's the next one i'll tackle.

i am often asked where harper got her name. well, here's where i got it from...

actually, it's where my sister got her name from. we were in chicago for our cousin's bachelorette party. i was 5 months pregnant, and heather and i were strolling downtown, shopping and lunching on deep dish pizza. we were throwing out names, back and forth. ones we liked, ones we hated, ones we thought were humorous, ones we saw on the awnings of boutique shops on the magnificent mile. then all of a sudden, heather suggests harper, after the author of to kill a mockingbird. i liked it. i came home and told michael, and he liked it. it stuck with us, stayed in the running on the dry erase board and was one of the top 3 in the delivery room. it was secretly my favorite name of the 3. and after she was born, and we were being asked what her name was, i looked at michael holding our newborn bundle of yumminess, and said i really like harper. michael responded let's do it. and there she was. our beautiful little harper elizabeth. so i feel the need to read the book that inspired her name. and i can't wait to tell her about it.

another new beginning is the book club that my friend kellie and i are starting. she's sent out word of a date, and she's thinking about the first book that we'll dive into. i'm excited to embark on another something new, something i haven't been involved in before. hopefully, we'll get a good response, and there will be more on this to come.

and finally, an ending to our spring break. it was a lovely, much needed break, full of rest, time spent at home and catching up with friends. the weather wasn't so cooperative the entire time, but it worked out fine. i'm definitely looking forward to our summer break in 48 school days, not that i'm counting or anything.

so, i guess in the end of all this, endings aren't always so bad. 'cause you get to look forward to more beginnings.