Curve Balls

For the past two years, our son and by extension our entire circle of family and friends have been focused on a singular goal; becoming state president of NC DECA.  By the time his car is a year old, Chris will have put 20,000 miles on it, mostly traveling for DECA.  He has worked tirelessly and without complaint, and along with the support of his amazing teacher/adviser (Evan), mentor (Dennis) and a great group of kids, has brought incredible success to our local school and DECA chapter.  With the guidance of a beautiful and brilliant State Adviser (Pam O'Brien) and five other amazing young men and women, NC DECA had a record setting year with Chris as part of the 2012-2013 State Action Team.

This past weekend we went to Greensboro NC for the state conference.  We had tears in our eyes during his "farewell address" as Vice President of the Coastal Region.  We sat breathlessly as the election results were announced.

                His name was not called.

Honestly, we were stunned.

I have always believed, and still do, that success comes to those who work hard for it.  Another quote I love is, "To those whom much is given, much is expected," (or something like that.)  Chris has met, fulfilled, and far exceeded all of our expectations.  He has grown, over the past year, into a man that I am proud to know...much less to have given birth to!

After many conversations with the people whose opinion I value most, I know in my heart that there is a reason he was not meant to hold THIS office, this coming year. 

I have had some extra time to sit and think and digest the events of last weekend thanks to a winter storm that once again closed the only road off of and onto our island home.  Luckily, we had a place to stay just north of the Oregon Inlet bridge.   We got a good night's sleep and a visit with one of our favorite people.  In less than 48 hours I have watched Chris process disappointment with more sportsmanship and class than I was able to muster although I have more than double his life experiences.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

So this morning, we will get our cars packed again and head south on Highway 12.  The road may be covered in sand, under ocean and/or sound water in patches, our drive may be slow and full of unexpected debris and obstacles, but we will get home and life will be good.

I can't wait to get back and finish getting the shop open for the year, unpack the inventory that has arrived since I left last week, and look forward to watching all of our children realize that great benefits of overcoming adversity.  I am thankful for the life lessons that each of my children teach me.

The tide will rise,
And Fall
The Ocean May be Angry Today
And Throw Unforeseen Challenges Our Way
But Tomorrow is another Day...

You just never know what life has in store for you.  You might as well enjoy the ride.

Life Lessons....

When I started this blog, I thought I would post every day. That way, when I can't remember things from one day to the next (who am I kidding...from one MINUTE to the next,) I could read back over my daily online journal of sorts. Those readers who know me, however, know that things do not usually go the way I plan. 

I am married to a highly energetic, active, "spur of the moment" kinda guy. My Aunt Polly Carden remembers one day several years ago when our daughters were small. I have to paraphrase a bit here, because I don't remember it; we were trying to pull it together to go somewhere as a family (with extended family.) We had to take at least two cars and no one could decide who was going to go in what car...or something like that. We kept moving around, all except Delaney. Aunt Polly asked Delaney why she was just sitting in one place. Delaney answered something to the effect of, "I'm just going to sit here a while and see what happens." So, I've had one of those "see what happens" weeks.

Today the only thing on my "had to" agenda was a haircut. I left a little early to stop by the Really Really Free Market (the first Saturday of each month in Avon,) to drop off some of the clothes the girls had bagged up.

 I was also "planning to" take photos of some of my jewelry, at the beach. Thankfully that meant I had my camera with me.  I backed out of my driveway, only to see a "plethora of nature" in the pond in front of our house.  A white heron and a few ibis were fishing, so I put my longest lens on the camera to see what I could shoot.

A plethora of nature

I would love a longer lens (this one is only 200mm) but that hasn't worked out yet.  Anyway, back to the story...while I was watching, a cormorant landed just on the other side of the heron.  The ripples in the water that you can see (in the above photo) are that cormorant diving under the water for a fish.

I thought my settings might be a little "dark" (it was pretty early in the morning,) so I changed a few things for the next shot.  When I put the camera back up to my eye, I was almost but not quite as surprised as the heron was, because the cormorant popped up right under the heron, with a tiny fish in his beak.

Surprise!

Thankfully the shot was still in focus.  With a longer lens, it could have been stunning!

I did get one last shot in the series, when the heron landed back in the water.

Smooth Landing

I really love the way the ripples in the water are reflecting off his body...they truly are beautiful creatures.  As a postscript to the story, the kingfisher that I have been trying to get a picture of, dove into the same pond and caught a fish, JUST as my battery gave out on my camera.  I think it's time to give my camera a little love because that has been happening a lot lately.


To make a short story long, I got my hair cut and traded vehicles with my husband so I could take a drive on the beach.  It was a BE-YOU-TI-FUL day!  I backed the truck up, perpendicular to the ocean (as is now required by NPS regulations) and snapped a quick picture with my phone.

Alantic Ocean in the Mirror, Cape Hatteras, NC

There is an exposed shipwreck just south of ramp 55 now.  

(Sometimes it is exposed, sometimes it is covered by sand.  I took the picture below, titled "Beached", several years ago when it was exposed and the image is just this year being retired.)

"Beached" (c) Jennifer Johnson

I spent the next couple of hours next to the wreck, taking photos and picking up shells to use in my Seaside Memory Lockets and for other projects.  Maybe someday soon I can get the jewelry posted on my web site...until then, if you see something you like, comment below or message me on facebook or email blue_pelican@mac.com.

Thanks for visiting and sharing my wonderful day!

OH!!! I almost forgot!  The "Life Lessons" part of the day?  I have been stressing all week over not having time to write.  I have managed to fill all of my available time, but couldn't squeak out any extra. Today, when I was on the beach, I was chatting with my mom.  

In case you missed the first post, my mom became my guardian angel on New Year's Eve.  

Today on the beach I heard her voice telling me to slow down and enjoy myself, to not try to force things to happen, to be more thankful, and to trust that everything is going to be the way it is supposed to be.  I looked down and saw a shell that I call an "angel's wing." I don't know what the real name is, and it's too dark outside to snap a picture for you, but that is what I have always called it. 

 I spent more time than I had planned on the beach, found several more angel's wing shells, and then went BACK later, with my best bud "Lucy" (she called me "Ethel" in her blog,) and walked four miles...AND we saw a whale spout water three stories into the air...amazing day.  I am so thankful.

The jewelry photos?  

I think they turned out pretty well.  I'd love to hear what you think:

Mint Porcelain Beads with Silver Metal Starfish Pendant

Pink Mother of Pearl, Glass and Porcelain Beads
Whenever I create with Pink I think of my Mom, who battled Breast Cancer for years.

Blue and White Mother of Pearl and glass bead set with Silver Metal Starfish
Swarovski Crystal Fish Earrings

Multicolor Earthtone Porcelain Bead Set with Handmade Raku Tree of Life
Pendant by NC artist Olivia Brown, "Odd Designs"

Five Strand Springtime Glass Bead Set featuring several of the 2013 Spring/Summer Pantone Colors

Muti Color Mother of Pearl and Glass Luster Bead Jewelry Set
Handmade Pendant by Olivia Brown, Odd Designs

Poppy Red and Earth Tones Glass Bead Dangle Jewelry Set

Poppy Red, Gold and Black Lampwork Starfish Glass Bead Set

Cape Hatteras, NC - Do you see the clouds and rain, or treasures, beauty, and potential?

Insomnia.  Again.  I see posts from friends almost daily on facebook about being up all hours of the night.  I am envious of my husband, who can fall asleep in under 10 seconds and not wake up until the alarm goes off.  I spend a lot of time on my computer in the middle of the night, wishing my brain would turn off so that I could enjoy the same kind of rest and rejuvenation.

When I woke up a few hours ago (it's 5:00 now) I started to fall into that same grumbling trap.  I checked my facebookpages, played around on pinterest, thought about all the things I need to do and haven't gotten done, listened to the wind, and finally started to think about what I wanted to write about today.  Yesterday didn't end as well as it started, so I decided I needed to work to change the way I was starting to look at things today.

........ HOW? ......

I have taken thousands of photos in the past several years.  Most of them are "not good enough" to print and offer for sale in the gallery.  After deciding to delve in to blogging, however, I have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of sorting through the files and looking for images to match up with quotes that inspire me.  SO, this morning, I went back to the archives.

Take the beach photo above, for example.  It was a rainy, cloudy, overcast day...not optimal for walking on the beach.  I don't remember the day at all (I have a yet-to-be-explained issue with short and long term memory, you'll probably read more about that later;) but it was probably a lot like today sounds like it will be.  That is, overcast, windy, damp, dreary...the kind of day that makes you wish you didn't have to get out of bed in the morning.  For some reason, I must have decided to brave the elements and go to the beach.

 

December's Glory (c) Jennifer Johnson

Living on Hatteras Island, most visitors would think we spend all our time at the beach.  The truth is, we spend most of our time working, driving on and off the island, and going about our daily lives.  We are either too busy or preoccupied to remember that we live within minutes of such peace and beauty.  We "save" our beach time for whenever we can sneak away and get there, usually with friends, on pretty days in the summer.  When I first decided to embrace photography as a "career," I would make time to go to the beach for spectacular sunrises and sunsets...

Lately, I've been going to the beach to take pictures of "products," like my Seaside Memory Lockets or Jim Downey's Glass Turtle Pendants...I've been looking for oyster shells and driftwood to use to make displays for the shop.  But I haven't gone just to look for a happy place to be.  THAT's what I will look for today...THAT's what I plan to see.

I hope that, if you are sharing my journey through this blog...you look for the same thing today.  Maybe you can't get to the beach, but maybe you can SEE something in a new way, just because that's what you are LOOKING FOR.  Enjoy your day.

Epiphany - A new year; a new PLAN

e-piph-a-ny:  "A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization"

Have Faith and Have Wings - photography by Blue Pelican Gallery owner Jennifer Johnson

I had an epiphany yesterday.  

On a rare day when my husband took our twin teenage girls shopping, and I spent the day with my son and a friend, touring the campus of UNC, and we all met back up at the Carolina Brewery to go to the Dean Dome to watch my beloved HEELS defeat NC State in an improbable win, (take a breath here) 

...I made a great business decision.  

As we reopen Blue Pelican Gallery in Hatteras Village this week, I am going to change my management style.  Instead of struggling to do the things that don't come naturally, I'm going to find people to help me who specialize in those areas of a business and LET GO of the feeling that I have to do it all.  If I hold on to that control that I have grasped so tightly since we opened our doors about seven years ago, I will continue to stifle my creativity.   

Love Family, Enjoy Work, Live Life    

My role model, the strongest woman I have ever known, my mom, Barbara Foster passed away on New Year's Eve from complications of her seven year fight against metastatic breast cancer.  The week before she died, she asked me to take better care of myself: lose weight, become healthier, stop volunteering so much, and focus on the things that make me happy. 

1950's - Barbara Foster, aka "Grammy"

 SO, Be on the lookout for fun, exciting, creative, NEW things at Blue Pelican.

 NEW artists.  NEW work from me.  A NEW look.  

New boards on Pinterest.   

New specials for our facebook fans.  

And finally, I'm going to find instructors for those knitting and crochet classes I have been promising since we made the commitment to add YARN to the shop at the end of 2012.

Step 1 - A Blog. I love to write. I always have. Thanks to the power of social media and the pages I have created to share information, I've realized that I really am pretty good at it.  THANKS to my friends, family, and "the kindness of strangers," I have received enough positive feedback and encouragement over the past few years that I am putting my fears aside and taking flight.

Step 2 - ...Stay Tuned!  I'm still figuring out step one