The Long and Winding Road

I recently had the immense privilege of driving across our country. I think that its something that everyone's adventurous side has an ambition to do, but actually getting to realize that was incredible. Me and "my friend Ryan", as I am often known to refer to her as, left Nashville on a Friday to arrive in sunny Southern California on Sunday afternoon, surviving the hours only with a little help from Nickel Creek, Imogen Heap (thanks Mel), and Reba's SoCal mix. It definitely helped close the gap between coasts to see the journey state by state and city by city. I think we both had visions of a very Thelma and Louise type of adventure, but sadly we have few of such excitements to report. We did, however, take a few hours on Sunday morning to do a driving tour of one National Park in Arizona. And take a couple of photos.

As many of you know, my photography website hasn't been updated, ummm, err ..., ever really. So one of my main goals with my blog is to be able to share a some of my more recent photographic pursuits. So here are the first of hopefully many photos to come. Enjoy.

The Guna

Well, its that time of year again when we all put aside our carefree ways of the summer and get back to whats really important in life . . . Laguna Beach on Mtv.

Season 3 brings a new cast of characters, new drama, and none other than . . . yours truly. You see, my perspective on the show, affectionately coined by my fiance as "The Guna", has changed significantly since season 2. In perfect timing for the premiere of season 3, I officially got my LB residency this week (the sticker's on my car to prove it!). While scenic shots in Seasons 1 and 2 were beautiful but unidentifiable to me, I watch now and am so blown away to see all of my daily stomping grounds - Ocean Ave., Taco Loco, the lifeguard tower at Main Beach, the walking path by the Montage, etc., etc. Its so bizarre but so fun!

Fortunately for me, they were in the middle of filming season 3 when I first arrived here, so I saw the crews around town filming several times, and yes, I have had several sightings and even a couple of appearances on The Guna. My second day in LB brought the best encounter when I was shopping at Muse side by side with Jessica and blonde Alex. I was not even paying attention and glanced up to see I was directly across from them and we were surrounded by movie cameras. Alex is wearing one of those little green engineer hats and she and Jessica were discussing the evening's activities. Watch for me there.



I also was eating lunch at a great outdoor cafe here when a couple of the new characters showed up and were being filmed. Because Season 3 was only in filming stages, I wasn't able to recognize the characters at the time - I'm still speculating about who it was and hoping to see myself in the scene! The latest sighting was also a new character Rocky - she was at Salerno, a little local Italian eatery on Thursday, just hours after her big national TV debut.



Yes, its WAY over-dramatized.
Yes, its all 17 year old girls being catty.
Yes, they're all filthy rich and full of themselves.

But what can I say . . . I LOVE THE GUNA!

Old news but still cool

So, I know its not brand new information to anyone or anything, but I can't help but mention how incredible NBC's The Office is.

Don't miss this promo for next season. Sept 21 is many, too many moons away.

Thanks to my bro-in-law-to-be Michael for getting me, Adam, and potentially many others addicted to this blogging thing! It's strange because it was like I woke up one day and suddenly everyone had one . . . kind of like the RAZR phone. I'm not one to miss a good bandwagon, so here we go.

We were just discussing the future of blogging and if it will be as fleeting as other forms of communication - Zack Morris-sized cell phones, cassette tapes, and my personal favorite - the pager. I think that as long as people think that they are important and what they have to say is important, it will stick around. Which will probably be for quite a while. So check back for my future important thoughts and hopefully a lot of photos. Or page me.