Friends...

"A friend is a hand that is always holding yours, no matter how close or far apart you may be.  A friend is someone who is always there, and will always, always care.  A friend is a feeling of forever in the heart."-unknown

This past week has been whirlwind of activities for me.

1. Luke came...not to see us, but on business.  We just enjoyed the benefit of his business being here, and we provide a free place to stay, and pretty good meals...although we had to go out to eat at his favorite spots: Schlotzsky's,  Zen diner, and Mama Tuckers.
2. The Eastern New Mexico fair was in town.  I had entered some pictures that I had to go see...and take photos of the fair.  (I won some great prizes.  More about that later).
3. I attended a "I heart faces" photography workshop where my favorite photographer, Sue Bryce, http://www.inbedwithsue.com, was the guest speaker.
4. My friend, Liz, drove up to Allen, Tx (north of Dallas), to be with me for the whole weekend.  Liz has been my friend for...hmmm, let me calculate the years...Holy Moly, can it be that long...42 years.  Are we that old?  Maybe physically, but not mentally.  Liz was my suite-mate in college.  Her heart is as big and warming as her smile.  She is just plain fun!  And I love her dearly.   

Liz...what a beautiful smile...

and beautiful blue eyes...

And a gorgeous lady!

I was worried about what she was going to do while I was at my workshop all day, but she told me not to worry my little heart about it...she would find plenty to do.  She did.  Our hotel was located next to an outlet mall, AND a huge regular mall, and tons of restaurants.  I was kind of jealous that I did not get to go shopping.  Too bad I cannot be two place at one time.  My workshop was great, but I will have to get to that later.  The next photo challenge for the "I heart faces" is "friendship."  The prize...an amazing Tamron lens, or is it a camera?  I forget which one, but whatever it is, I would like it.  So Liz and I decided to take some pictures for me to enter in the challenge.

Our goal was a picture of the both of us.  The problem: no tripod for the camera.  We used the hotel room coffee table turned on end with my suitcase on top of that for height.  Still not high enough, we added her iPad.  Our pictures were okay, but not great.  Liz had scouted out a place on the third floor that had a bubble decoration that was hanging from the ceiling earlier in the day. She thought it would make a great backdrop for our picture.  She was right, but we still needed something to act as a tripod.  We spotted a trashcan by the elevator that we thought might work and...yes, we dragged it down the hall.  It was very heavy.  Maybe so someone could not drag it down the hall.  It was still not high enough.  Rats.  Finally, we hit pay dirt.  A couple came walking down the hall, and we asked them to snap a few photos.  The lady agreed. We liked the photo.  The lady was relieved.

Liz and me in front of the bubble decoration...pretty cool, I think.

Next, we went downstairs to take pictures in front of a wall decoration behind the reception desk.  I think the receptionist was wondering what we were doing because we made ourselves right at home. We set the camera up on the reception desk, and finding it still too low, Liz grabbed the stapler, put it under the front of the camera.  We got a pretty nice shot.  We liked it!  We are just so photogenic!  We were so happy.

Now behind the reception desk.  I liked all these colors and shapes.

Hmmm! Now I have to figure out which one to enter into the challenge.  (If you have an opinion leave it in the comment section).  After our photo shoot, we went back to the room, got ready for bed, talked, and played a game of Dr. Seuss until about 1:00 a.m. When our eyelids refused to stay open any longer, we went to bed.  We had such a great weekend.  Morning came too soon.  And we had to part company.  We were better for having been together.  Enriched. Renewed. Grateful.  Friends are the best.

Hip, Hip..

Hooray for Friends!