The Final Post...

Two years ago I told my family I was moving to Ohio. I told them I was sick of the crowds, sick of the high cost of living and even sick of the constant sunny weather. In reality, I felt lost. I didn't know what I wanted out of life or who I wanted to be and I felt like the only way to figure that out was to move away from everything I knew and start fresh. The idea of leaving terrified me but the idea of never experiencing life outside of California scared me even more. It was now or never.

There was one person who picked up on my fear more than anyone else and of course that person was the only one who really had a chance at changing my mind, my Dad. We had many conversations about my decision to move before I left, but there was one particular conversation that I will never forget. He told me, "I know what you're looking for and you're not going to find it in Ohio. You could move anywhere in the world and you're not going to find it. What you're looking for is here." Then he pointed to my heart. If you know my Dad this conversation may shock you. He's not a mushy, heartfelt conversation kind of guy. He doesn't even say, "I love you." But he was right. I was looking for myself and my purpose in life and the only place I was going to find it was within myself. What he didn't know though, was that it would take almost a year of living away from home and pushing myself to try new things before I would be able to hear what my heart was telling me.

So I, along with my boyfriend Derrick and our two dogs, Mya and Stitch, drove across the country via Route 66 to the Promise Land. Grafton, Ohio. LOL! What a big shock that was. I went from Orange County, California to a small town in Ohio where the nearest thing was Walmart and that was a decent drive away. The next few months were filled with tears, sad phone calls home, long drives and lots of loneliness. But through all the struggles, I learned to rely on myself and the more I relied on myself, the more my confidence grew. I started to explore new places on my own, driving down roads just to see where they led. I had conversations with strangers (a big California no-no but a common occurrence in the Midwest). I even went to events all by myself, which is something I had never done before.

The more I put myself out there the more people I met and the more I learned about myself. I was able to form a relationship with Derrick's Mom who I didn't know at all before moving. Now she's like a second mother to me (which is good since one day she probably will be). The people of Cleveland are an amazing group of people and I am so thankful that I pushed past my fear and became one of them. Clevelanders have taught me it's ok to fail, as long as you get up and keep trying. They've taught me it doesn't matter what other people think. That no matter who you are you should stand tall and be proud because YOU have something to offer that no one else does. These were the things I needed so badly to understand and it was the city that so many people disregard that taught them to me. In addition to Cleveland, each city we lived in, Grafton, Avon and now Lakewood, have brought to life parts of my soul I never knew existed. I now know I could move anywhere and thrive.

Thank you for going on this journey with me the past two years. If it wasn't for your comments and requests for more pictures I probably wouldn't have stayed committed to documenting and sharing my experiences. I hope you've enjoyed the past two years as much as I have. You can continue reading about my life and viewing my pictures at my Kimberly April Photography Blogsite: www.kimberlyapril.com. I really appreciate your interest in my journey. This was only supposed to be a 1 year adventure. Two years later I now know my whole life can be an adventure. It doesn't matter where you live as long as you get out and live.

Thank you Cleveland for helping me find myself.

Love,

Kimberly

What's A BlogSite?

In an effort to make reading my blog and viewing my photography website more enjoyable for you, I have started a BlogSite. At least that's what I'm calling it. It's basically my blog and website merged into one happy location. I've only been working on it for the past two days so it's not finished yet, but you can view it here if you would like to see my progress. Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Snow - The Natural Alarm System

This evening I went down the the Cleveland Metroparks to see if I could capture the amazing fog we are having. There was hardly anyone in the park which made the fog and increasing darkness a little eerie. I tried to keep my imagination in check while I was walking along the trails with my camera and tripod. Maybe watching scary movies with Derrick the past two nights in a row wasn't such a good idea. After a few brief encounters with some runners, I felt more at ease and started to enjoy the quiet stillness.

There were some cool tracks in the snow. I think maybe these are from a raccoon?

On the way back to the car I decided to set my tripod up with my back towards a snow covered trail so I could get a different angle of the Lorain Bridge. As I was bending over with my face in my camera, I suddenly heard a, "CRUNCH" in the snow directly behind me. I whipped around prepared to defend myself while letting out a quick gasp. Behind me was a man who happened to be taking an evening stroll on the trail I set my back towards. I think my reaction scared him as much as he scared me because his eyes opened really wide he and muttered, "Sorry," right before he put his head down and walked away.

Snow Angel

Ever since I moved to Ohio I have been dying to photograph someone in the snow. I would plan the photo shoot in my head; beautiful young woman, cute winter clothes, bright colors and fresh snow in the Cleveland Metroparks. Well, today my dream came true. Katie met up with me in the Rocky River portion of the Metroparks and modeled in the snow in below 0 temperature! She was totally awesome and even laid down in the snow for some pictures. It's so exciting to see something you've dreamed about come to life. Thank you Katie for being awesome and smiling like it was summer. You're way tougher than I am!

Daddy's Gonna Kill Ralphie!

Derrick's birthday was the 23rd and to celebrate we went to A Christmas Story House! I love this movie and it just so happens that a portion of it was filled in Cleveland not too far from our house. The house it was filmed at has been turned into a museum. We had a total blast at the museum and we even met the mean woman elf from the movie. We met the guy who delivers the leg lamp too. The gift shop was really entertaining. A mom and her daughter were arguing because the daughter really wanted her mom to buy her one of the hats from the movie. The one the kid in the mall wears with the goggles and says, "I really like Santa." Super creepy (the kid in the movie, not the daughter). Their conversation went like this:

Daughter: "Mom, will you buy me this hat?"

Mom: "Why? So you can wear it once and never wear it again?"

Daughter: "I'll wear it more than once!"

Mom: "You're not going to wear it to school."

Daughter: "Yes I will! I'll wear it every day!"

I'm not sure how it ended since we finally made it to the front of the line to buy our tickets for the museum, but I'm thinking the daughter didn't get her hat. Either that or she was really embarrassed on Monday when she went back to school.

Merry Christmas!

Cookie Deocorating

Last night I decorated Christmas Cookies with Derrick, Zoey and Johnathen at Derrick's Mom's house. I forgot how fun it is to mix all of the colors of frosting. I might need to add frosting cakes to my list of hobbies. I tried to make fashionista gingerbread women but it was hard using plastic knives as decorating tools. Derrick taught Zoey how to use sprinkles without dumping them all on one cookie. She seemed to be doing a good job of keeping everything on the table until it was clean-up time and we saw the floor. At least the walls were frosting free!

Icy Photo Adventure

Today Derrick and I braved the cold and went on a photo adventure to Cascade Park in Elyria. It's been so cold that the mist from the waterfall has been freezing layer by layer on all the branches nearby.

Derrick was such a trooper. He absolutely hates the cold and yet he bundled up and guided me through the park.

Here's me playing on the playground. The plastic was so cold I thought I was going to freeze permanently to it.

Since it was so cold we didn't stay for very long. I need to invest in gloves that I can handle my camera while wearing. My cotton mittens don't really cut it.

My Favorite Christmas Ornaments

When I was a kid we had a peacock Christmas tree ornament. It was my favorite ornament and every year my sister and I argued about who was going to get to put it on the tree. We actually kept track of who put the ornament on each year so it was fair. Well, now I have my own Christmas tree and the very first ornament I wanted to buy for myself was a peacock. That way every year would be my turn! The sad thing is, my ornament is only a few years old and it already looks more used than the one my sister and I fought over. Here's a few of my other favorite ornaments from my Christmas tree this year.

I Have A New Lens!

I'm super excited because not only did my parents bring me home for my favorite holiday, but they also gave me my Christmas present early. I know I sound like such a spoiled punk right now. They gave me a Nikon 60mm Macro Lens. Here's some pictures I took right after I opened it. Luckily, California still has flowers in bloom. I'm looking forward to photographing some portraits and snowflakes!