We’ve Been Tagged!

And now for a bit of fun. We’ve been tagged by some of our favorite photographers on their blogs: The Bebbs, Tamara Lackey, Paul Johnson, and Teddi Maull. That means we’re supposed to list 8 facts that most people don’t know about us on our blog, and then tag 8 other photographers, who then have to do the same thing. Sounds like fun, right? So here we go. I’ll go first:

Jenni:

1. I’m a health food nut. I could live on organic Fuji apples dipped in Skippy creamy peanut butter, with organic skim milk. I don’t eat everything organic, but some things definitely taste better, and apples and milk are two of them. I also love oatmeal made from steel cut oats. If you think you don’t like oatmeal but haven’t tried the steel cut, you must.
2. I love mornings. I am totally a morning person. I could literally jump out of bed in the morning. I love that quiet time before the phone starts ringing, and I get so much done.
3. As a kid I took ballet, jazz, tap, Tae Kwon Do, gymnastics, and piano. I loved all of it.
4. Growing up, we had every kind of pet: Fish, gerbils, ducks, rabbits, dogs, cats, birds, and even those sea monkey things, but no, we didn’t live on a farm. However, we did once live across the street from cows and horses.
5. I once trained some wild chickadees to eat out of my hand. They would actually call me from inside the house, and greet me when I came home. They all had different personalities, so we really got to know them individually. One was very nervous, and would always grab a seed and fly off so quickly that she would drop it. Another was very social, and would just hang out on my hand for a while before taking a seed. Another was greedy, and would always try to grab two and wind up dropping them both as it was flying off. I walked around with sunflower seeds in my pockets all the time.
6. I’m passionate about fitness. I take spin, Pilates and strength training and have a personal trainer. Exercise is my happy pill and gives me tons of energy. I even work out before shooting a wedding. My sneakers and Ipod go with me everywhere when I’m traveling.
7. One of my very favorite things to do is walk on the beach with Ulysses.
8. I love essential oils. Synthetic fragrance gives me a headache, so I discovered essential oils. They’re so wonderful for so many things, and so much fun to play with. I make my own cleaning supplies with them, and scent my rooms with them.

Ulysses:

1. I love music. All sorts of music. At an early age, I was more interested in the harmonic and melodic relationships between the notes and sounds I was hearing than who the music was actually created by. So, I was sometimes the odd man out when everyone else wanted to listen to R&B or pop (although I liked these as well) while I may have been more interested in Beethoven and Rimsky-Korsakov. I even taught myself to play the piano to a degree. I wrote and sang a song for Jenni on our wedding day.
2. I’m a huge astronomy nut. In fact, I wanted to go to school for astronomy. My life took a different turn, but I’ve always maintained my love for the stars. One of the most moving astronomical events was seeing the aurora borealis for the first time during a solar storm so powerful that the Northern Lights were visible from my area of NY, a very rare occurrence! Footnote: One of Jenni’s first anniversary gifts to me was something I still hold dear — a big red Newtonian reflector telescope. You could say she gave me the gift of astronomy again.
3. Spanish food. Love it! Rice, beans, enchiladas, sopopillas, and almost anything else. My latest obsession is sofrito for flavoring (thanks to a beautiful friend who made us a large batch large to last the entire winter!). I put it on everything, breakfast, lunch and dinner! YUMM!
4. I never had a pet of my own while growing up. But Jenni wants me to mention that I had a “pet” jumping spider; I maintain she was NOT a pet. She had no name, and I wasn’t emotionally attached to her. I did find her… fascinating. I’ve always been interested in the natural sciences and unusual creatures, and spiders are about as interesting as you can get in the world of tiny creatures. Jumping spiders would almost convince you they had some degree of intelligence. Like I said, she was NOT a pet. But I’ll admit it was a happy day when she spun an egg sack after I found her a “boyfriend”. Don’t ask.
5. I’m a huge fan of the old Star Trek series. And Shatner! No one does it like William Shatner. His legendary acting abilities are so over-the-top that it’s a thing of beauty to watch him take charge in a scene. Hilarity aside, the lofty goals of that show are similar to those of many who harbor a positive view of the future.
6. I’m from LA. But not *that* LA. I actually mean Louisiana. That’s right, the southern home of New Orleans, jazz, and Cajun cooking.
7. I think I was about 20 years old when I rode my first roller coaster, while visiting Disneyland with some friends who wanted to ride Space Mountain. After proudly telling a few other friends of my accomplishment, several told me Space Mountain didn’t qualify as a roller coaster. I’ve neither found a new roller coaster to ride, nor have I been on Space Mountain again.
8. I’ve read a ton of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of the Tarzan books. If you’ve only seen movies and cartoons, do yourself a favor and go find the ORIGINAL Tarzan books and check them out. They don’t write them like this anymore. And for bonus points, read Burroughs’ “John Carter of Mars” series of books.

So that’s it! More than you ever wanted to know, right?Now I get to tag 8 others:

Tirado Photography

Jessica Johnston Photography

Be Creative Photography

Holland Photo Arts

Kenny Pang

Lena Hyde

Alt F

Humza Yasin