Happy 4th of July and looking back at June

 It's hard to believe that today is the 4th of July already. Time seems to pass so quickly that sometimes I feel that I've missed a few days somewhere along the way.

I had been dreading the month of June for a couple of reasons. The biggest one being that Ashton would be leaving for Italy on the 13th.

One week prior to leaving she began getting things ready to pack. I remember one day while doing laundry she came downstairs with a hand full of empty hangers. Empty hangers in our house are always in short supply {where do they go exactly?}.

No matter how many I buy there never seems to be enough.

Anyway, she handed me the hangers and said in a few days you'll have plenty of empty hangers. Me, sniffle, sniffle {I cry easily} said well you are coming back ya know. 

I went upstairs to her room and there she was going over her list to make sure she had everything she would need for the next six weeks. Passport, camera, cash {I don't like for her to use her debit card when traveling alone, I always worry someone will be watching her} so just enough cash in the pocket to buy food and snacks, the rest in the purse. One suitcase was for books, laptop, magazines and other girl stuff. The other was for shoes and clothes.

Before I knew it June 13th had arrived.

On the drive to RDU I told her to be prepared to go to the gate alone this year since she was 17. The past two summers I had been given a pass at the check in counter to walk back with her. After handing over the suitcase she would be checking she looked at the lady behind the counter and, pointing at me said "she has to ask you something". I asked about the pass and as soon as the eh hem "nice" lady behind the counter said "no shes old enough to go alone", Ashton immediately started crying which of course made me start crying {remember, I cry at the drop of a hat}.

The lady's attitude then changed and she said "it's ok, your flight doesn't leave for another forty minutes and we have a waiting area over there {pointing to our left}.

We sat together talking and sniffling and that forty minutes flew by so fast. I told her we had to stop crying at least long enough to take a picture together.

So, this is us sitting together in the lounge area next to Starbucks.

As we stood at the end of the line for me, putting off the goodbye, I said to her "you know, last Saturday I got misty eyed driving to work because I knew I would be driving to work alone for a while". She works weekends at the animal hospital with me so we kinda have our routine, breakfast for her at Mickey D's and Starbucks Hazelnut latte for me. So of course we both started to cry again,  we hugged and she slowly made her way through the line. I stood and watched her until I couldn't see her anymore just in case she turned around {which she did several times}.

As I made my way to the car she was already texting me, "you remember where we parked, right"?  "Don't forget to plug the garman back in", "don't get lost", text me when you get home, etc, etc, etc.....

So this is me following the garman, taking a wrong turn and getting lost {sort of}. I guess sometimes when the voice in the little box said take next right, it really means the next, next right. Fortunately before long I was back on track and home within and hour and a half.

This is my birthday gift. After using Ahston's a few weeks ago I knew I had to have one. My little point and shoot that I carry in my purse is convenient but this entry level DSLR is sooo much better. Hopefully at some point I'll graduate to something better, but for now this little girl suits my needs. And I'm loving learning how to use it.

We spent Father's Day at the North Carolina Zoo in Ashboro so I'll be back soon with pictures that I took there. I got a little picture happy using the 55-250 zoom lens that came with my camera kit.

This is my camera bag. It's really the Perfect Pocket Tote from Vera Bradley but it is perfect for my camera and all the extras that I carry. The two front pockets are big enough for a long lens, and inside zip pocket holds filters, manual, cords, extra batteries, memory cards....... you get the idea.

Sorry that this post was sooo wordy, I did try to keep it as short as possible. I'll be back soon. I hope everyone has a safe and blessed 4th of July.

Till next time,

Kimberly: )