Welcome to Missoula: my first blog.

Well, I'm a little late on starting a blog. I wanted to begin this when I arrived in Montana or when I started school. Now, 4 weeks later (has it only been 4??) I'm just now getting around to it. My intent with this is to have a great way of showing my friends and family what I'm doing with my photography and reveal the daily adventures I encounter along the way. Lets just all hope I can't find the time to keep up with it and follow through. School is strenuous, tiring, and very time consuming. It's also an unusual mix of getting you inspired, and sucking all your creative energy away at the same time. Frustrating to say the least. Common phrases I've heard so far:

"It's like drinking from a firehose."

"You are going to learn so much, that the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know."

"Oh, don't worry about that, you'll be a PRO at it by the time you leave." (sure..)

I've taken more pictures in the 4 weeks I've been here than I think i've ever taken in my life. Shoot,shoot, shoot. It's so fun to not have to go to a meaningless job and instead totally immerse myself into what I love the most. It's going to be hard

to return to a "normal" life. And that, is why I plan on not leading a normal life. Normal is boring. RMSP is the beginning of a whole new life for me. I feel one of my favorite quotes fits well here.

"If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space." Amen.

So enough gabbing. Pictures! (I've taken so many, lets just say it was very hard to pick a few for this first sampling...)

Well, this is Missoula. Before school started, I climbed the "M" trail at Sunset, this is what you see.

Beautiful, right? Yeah, I'm in a LOVE affair with this town. It's beautiful inside and out and there's no limit on things to do. A few things I've noticed about Missoula :

1. bicyclist EVERYWHERE.

2. Pedestrians EVERYWHERE.

3. To a vehicle driver, both come first. (this would not be the case in Oklahoma.)

4. People are not at all judgemental like they are back home.

5. One way streets are the devil.

6. There's a sense of "community" I've never felt anywhere else.

7. You can often get somewhere by bicycle a lot faster than by car.

8. Garage sales are in the alley behind the house, because garages are behind the houses. There are no driveways.

9. There's a bike lane on nearly every street.

10.A vegetarian option is at every restaurant because so many people don't eat meat.

11. Children are cuter. By far. lol

12. Most people use push mowers, you know, the ones that require elbow grease, not gas.

13. They eat a lot of huckleberries. (I actually just bought some jam yesterday at the farmers market. See photo below) I'm trying to find the best place that serves a

homemade slice of huckleberry pie. :-)

Speaking of farmers market, I've been three times now and LOVE it. It's only in the summer and it happens every Saturday until 1:00. I went yesterday, this time, I took my camera.

After the market, my friend and I from school rode our bikes all over town and up and down alleyways to see what we could find to photograph. Twas a fun day. It ended in night photography. I suggest everyone try this, and bring a friend (preferably male. lol) Expect to encounter many drunks, homeless people, and creepy shadows that are all just a part of your imagination. :-) But it's worth it!

I was so excited to find these poppies! (I love poppies!)

This is my friend Chad. Don't be afraid. He's actually a really nice guy. He was patient enough to try all my crazy ideas until they turned out just right. Just whatever you do, don't let him hold your camera.

Self portrait. I can't hold a serious face, even if you bribed me with chocolate.

Chad, meet Chad.

Well, thats all for now folks! Hopefully next time you see my night photos they are of star trails and light painting! I'll post more next time on assignments I've been doing. Trust me, I have plenty of photographs to share.