Jake

 

Kemah Lake, Hampton, New Jersey

 

Winter 2010

 

 

"You can be a good neighbor

only if you have good neighbors"

~Howard Koch~

 

In the winter of 2010 we moved next door to Jake.

He became one of the best neighbors a person could have.

 

We met him the day we moved in and through the winter he became a good friend.

Every time the sky opened and snow fell down,

Jake would be out plowing snow in the neighborhood.

As soon as I heard his quad I'd start a pot of coffee for him.

 

With out asking and never excepting money he would plow our driveway.

So I found a way to thank him for all the hard work.

A nice big cup of hot coffee and something to snack one.

 

But snow removal wasn't the only neighborly thing he did.

When our furnace was flooded he gave us fire wood,

When Jeff need help with something Jake was there to help.

We were blessed to have Jake and his wife as neighbors.

 

When we moved out we knew we would miss him very much.

Little did we know how much he would miss us also

Firsts

 

Island Beach State Park, New Jersey

 

Fall 2011

 

 

 

 

"Who is staring at the sea is already sailing a little."
-- Paul Carvel --

 

I'm sure every parent experiences plenty of firsts.

This picture was taken during Winnies first day at the beach.

She had never experienced walking on sand and how it moved under her,

Or waves that come crashing at her faster then she could run.

 

She is a mountain puppy,

Solid dirty below her feet,
And slow moving streams.

At about six months that's all she knew.

 

She had a blast on the beach that day,

She would dig holes looking for the bottom,

And then look at them as the filled with water.

I think it impacted her for life.

 

A few weeks later we got our first snow fall.

She went running outside to play in this weird white stuff.

I think she thought it was sand,

Because when she started to dig and hit dirt she ran away,

And barked at the dirt patch like it had done something wrong.

 

Now when we take her to the woods,

And she comes across water she approaches a lot slower,

Once she reaches the waters edge,

She starts digging and watching the water fill the hole.

 

I have many great memories of her firsts,

But the beach on the over cast day is one of my favorites.

Take the chance

 

Zuccotti Park, Lower Manhattan, NYC

 

1994ish

 

 

 

 

"If you want to experience all of the

successes and pleasure in life,

you have to be willing to accept

 all the pain and failure that comes with it."

~Matt Hoffman~

 

 

There isn't much I can say about this picture.

We had traveled the Path from Harrison to the World Trade Towers.

On our way to the subway we stopped for this.

Grimaldo was determined to hit the rail.

What is missing from the picture is one of the guys holding the rail.

The moment you put weight on it the things wobbled like crazy.

 

The park we were in I only knew as flat bench park.

Back then the name was Liberty Plaza Park.

Now it is Zuccotti Park the home of Occupy Wall Street.

It is also the home of many 9-11 memorial services.

 

To me though it will always be the picture above.

Another adventure with my biker boys.



GECYGS

 

 

Rutherford, New Jersey

 

2008 or 2009

 

 

 

"The trick is growing up without growing old"

~Casey Stengel~

 

When you are blessed to become a youth minister you become a teen again.

Well you get the chance to become a teen and be an adult at the same time.

Through out my 9 years of being a youth minister many kids have come and gone.

Each one effecting me in a different way.

 

The picture above is of two of my youth members,

They just as those before them have grown up so much.

Life wasn't always easy for them but they have become amazing adults.

Yes Allison and Adrian you are adults now sorry.

 

I'm proud of the scientist, accountants, hair stylists, and mothers they are all becoming.

Of all the youth members almost all have gone to further their educations.

They have inspired me to become a better person,

And I am so excited when I get to see each of them.

 

I have led them through service projects, fund-raisers, and on many trips.

I've spent hours talking to them about problems,

Late nights playing games with them such as,

Ultimate Duck Duck Goose or Man Hunt. 

 

I hope that I have lead them all to make the right choices in life,

And that they will not make the same mistakes I have.

I love all my kids even the ones who have grown up.

 

Sunset

 

Lakewood, NJ

 

Early 2006

 

 

"Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as

if we are looking through the gates of heaven."

~John Lubbock~

This picture was taken threw the screen window at my parents house.

Not the house I grew up in but the one I found myself in as an adult.

 

Sunsets were always so amazing from the back porch.

They looked like oil paintings you would find in a museum.

I loved to stand and just look out at the beauty God gives us.

I'm still searching for those sunsets 120 miles north of there.

 

When I was trying to find myself in my 20's I traveled this great country.

When I had to rebuild myself in my thirties I sat and watched the sunsets.

I found peace with God and confidence in myself just from the simple beauty.

 

I still find sunsets to be peaceful,

They make me find my center,

They are pure magic and should be enjoyed.



1st Christmas Tree

 

Rutherford New Jersey

 

December 2009

 

 

"Christmas is the day that holds all time together."

~Alexander Smith~

 

This is our first Christmas tree,

All nine hundred lights and 40 ornaments.

If I had my way there would be more lights!

Of course Jeff thinks I'm crazy.

 

My entire life the tree has been the most important part of Christmas.

When I was a child my father and I would go and pick it out,

Dad would bring it in the house the day after my sisters birthday.

He'd get it all set in the stand and leave it for a day or so.

Once the branches had settled down he would go to work.

 

My fathers trees were famous for their lights.

I'm sure many of astronauts saw them from outer space.

It would take him two day to put on more then a thousand lights.

Then we would go to work placing each ornament.

 

I guess that is why I'm so particular with my tree.

Jeff just sits and watches me,

Says it's not worth trying to help,

I have it in my mind how I want it to look.

 

Our trees aren't as grand as my fathers,

But I've been very proud of each of them.

Our first is my favorite and probable always will be.

It's the firsts we will never get back.

 

New Family

 

 

Lancaster County Pennsylvania

 

June 2012

 

 

 

 

"Cherish your human connections-

your relationships with friends and family."

~Barbara Bush~

 

I was blessed with a ton of cousins,

But when I married Jeff I was blessed with even more cousins.

 

When one gets married just like birth the can't chose the family they get.

I knew I had great cousins that I love very much,

So I never worried about having cousin in laws I liked.

Yet I was blessed with such wonderful cousin in laws.

 

Jeff has 8 cousins on his mothers side,

Each one is very special to him.

 

In June 2012 we were lucky enough to travel to Lancaster,

Loaded up in a mini van with two of his cousins,

And one of their boyfriends.

We were taking them out to show them around.

 

We had a wonderful time showing them our favorite places,

Taking tours and watching films.

Jeff's favorite part was being with his cousins.

Mine was helping to form great memories.

 

We stayed over night and on Sunday morning

We took a horse and buggy ride through the back roads.

This picture was taken from that ride.

It was an amazing weekend and we look forward to more adventures with them.

Country Girl

 

Hawks Nest, Lumberland, NY

 

2011

 

 

 

"There is sunshine, there is grace, in my little country place"

 

 

Everyone has that one thing that reminds them they are close to home.

Eagles Nest was my reminder that I was close to my weekend home.

The excitement would hit when the winding road would appear in front of us.

 

Sitting on the side of the road sat my favorite place to eat as a child.

It was a little building that looked like nothing exciting.

But when you walked threw the door you found an amazing site.

 

In the back of the building was my favorite place to eat.

It was a partially in closed porch that over looked the cliff.

Below you the side of the mountain cascaded to the river.

The owner had wild flowers growing there with little walking paths threw them.

 

It was the simple food that made that place so great.

Soda's in big plastic cups, the smell of ketchup,

My chicken fingers coming in a basket.

It was everything I loved about being up there.

 

To this day when I sit in a restaurant and I smell that smell,

I go back to my childhood and the memories of Hawks Nest.

I loved feeling like I belong there,

A small town girl who was growing up in the wrong place.

 

Mo's Fishing

 

Lake Aeroflex, Andover, NJ

 

May 2013

 

 

 

 

I think it is a pity to lose the romantic side

of flying and simply to accept it as a

common means of transport.... 

 ~Amy Johnson~

 

 

Clear you mind and picture this,

Your sitting on the waters edge,

The wind slightly moves through the trees.

In the distance you hear the hum of a plane.

 

With in moments a single engine plane

Comes floating just above the water.

If you closed your eyes you would think you were back in time.

When the idea of flight was an adventure.

 

If you don't see the beauty I am talking about

I dare you to visit this special lake,

In the hills of Sussex County,

And sit and watch the planes come in.

 

It is not the flight of masses we have grown so use to,

Or the high speed planes we see so often taking off.

Its single engine prop planes coming and going,

And fisherman catching fish.

 

It is the romance of days gone bye,

The simple moments we have all forgotten.

I'd take thousands of those moments,

Over the craziness we have all grown use to.

Miles Apart

 

West Covina, California

 

January 2008

 

"Happiness is having a large, loving, caring,

close knit family in another city"

~George Burns~

 

I love this picture of my cousins Timmy, Denny, and Matt.

It was taken the morning of Denny's wedding.

This single picture represents each of them so perfectly.

 

Growing up we lived thousands of miles apart.

They came to Jersey a few times,

So the memories are very special to me.

When I moved to California I had the chance to really get to know them.

 

As of this weekend they all now live in Georgia,

Each moving there for a brighter future.

They have become amazing men,

And I am blessed to have them in my family.





The Flying Brick

 

 

Sunrise May 2000

 

Linden Airport, Linden, New Jersey

 

"There's never one sunrise the same, or one sunset the same"

~Carlos Santana~

 

There is nothing like working overnights,

Especially when you work ten hour shifts.

 

I can remember moving helicopters outside

And watching the sun come up in the distant.

The air temperature changing

The sound of the world around you waking up.

 

It was a moment I loved to enjoyed.

Working overnights was never an issue for me.

I had an amazing group to work with,

We joked around and worked hard.

 

I was doing something I loved,

And every clear morning I got to see this.

I loved working that shift.

Four days a week ten hour days.

 

Turning wrenches,

Joking with friends,

And dancing to Spanish music,

On top of a helicopter!

 

I don't miss that time in my life,

But it is one of the best memories I have.

 



Icicles

 

 

Hampton New Jersey

 

Winter 2010

 

 

"Winter never has to end.

With me around, it can be here forever."

~Jack Frost - Frosty's Winter Wonderland~

 

I love love love the winter.

I love how mother nature changes the landscape.

I love how much fun it is to be out in the snow.

I love how much fun it is to cuddle up inside.

I love winter.

 

Icicles have a special place in my heart.

As a child I always wanted to see how long they could get.

Our first winter in Sussex County I wouldn't let Jeff touch them.

Everyday I would look to see how long they would get.

 

The amazing thing when you live in a house with no insulation,

Icicles form quickly and get very very long.

They had gotten so bad in our front window,

That even I got sick of seeing them. 

 

This picture was taken when they will still forming.

Somewhere in my files I have the last day.

Then I knocked them down because the had grown to much.

I still like watching them form and I still love winter.



With Love Abubaca

 

 

BKNY JAM 2008

 

New York, New York

 

 

Make new friends, but keep the old.

One is silver and the other is gold.

~Girl Scout Song~

 

When I was 17 years old I met one of my closest friends.

He has become my big brother and I love him like one.

In March of 2007 after years of not talking we found each other.

You would have never guessed that we had lost touch.

 

We went right back to having our grand adventures,

And just as in the past he introduced me to some amazing people.

In 2008 we headed into NYC for a Jam session.

There we got see our new friends from Canada,

And I got to meet so many other great bikers.

 

I've been blessed to have these experiences in my life because of him,

And I am blessed for just having him in my life.

He has taught me so much in life,

But the most important thing was something he wasn't even trying to teach.

 

I learned from him that I deserved to be treated right,

That I deserved friends simply because of who I am,

Not for the things I have or things I do.

With out him in my life I don't know where I would be today.

 

Love You B!



Birdie

 

 

Hampton NJ

 

Late Winter 2010

 

 

O, wind, if winter comes,

can spring be far behind?

~Percy Bysshe Shelly~

 

When you look out your window after a hard winter

And your eye catches something so simple as a bird

You run to get your camera to prove spring is coming.

 

Our first winter in Sussex County was a mixture of weather.

March was the worst month for us with a flooded basement,

A furnace destroyed by it and a landlord who took forever to fix it.

 

We spent the end of winter and the start of spring sleeping in the living room,

The fireplace burning away with logs from our pile and our neighbors.

It was romantic the first night but after a week I was done.

 

The sight of this little bird meant that the warmth was coming.

I had never been happy to see spring come,

But by late March I was done and couldn't wait.

 

Lesson learned ~ Fireplaces are great but space heaters are better.



First Race

 

 

Dover, Delaware

 

June 2009

 

 

"Auto racing, bullfighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports......all others are games."

~Earnest Hemmingway~

 

NASCAR and I have been good friends all my life.

I grew up watching it with my father.

I fell in love at a young age with cars going round and round!

But I didn't get to see it in person until I was 32.

 

I was blessed that year to go twice,

The second time I even got to bring my baby cousin.

I love the sound of the cars racing around,

The excitement of the start,

The rush you get when someone collides into someone else.

 

I love going to races it's an amazing feeling.

I love watching them also

I just wish I had more time to sit and watch.

Until Sunday dear NASCAR until Sunday!

 

 

 



Purple Flowers

 

Hampton NJ

 

June 1, 2013

 

 

Nobody can bring you peace but yourself.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

 

 

There is a road that winds down the hill,

Crosses over two one lane bridges,

And heads up the next hill.

 

It is a peaceful drive,

One that I will go out of my way to take.

In the spring time little purple and white flowers flourish,

And you feel as if time has stopped.

 

It is everything that country living should be.

Quiet houses on the rivers edge,

Sunbeams shinning threw the tree tops,

One lane bridges bring everyone to a slower pace.

Wildlife walking the old railroad beds.

 

I'll take this drive over the more modern faster routes,

Even when I have somewhere important to be.

Why you ask,

Just look at the picture and see my escape from reality.