~Common Grounds Cafe~

Tucked away inside the Brewer Library on the Decatur Campus of Calhoun Community College is a hidden treasure called the "Common Grounds Cafe"
If you haven't had a chance to visit the "Common Grounds Cafe" this is your personal invitation...it is the next best thing to Starbucks! Actually I am going to go a step further and say it's better than Starbucks because their menu has more variety overall than Starbucks does!

Helen Dunn is the Owner as well as the Manager! :)... She does an awesome job of keeping the place in tip top shape! Her smile is one of the first that you will see! :) ...  I had only been there just a few minutes when I could tell she already knew her regular customers, and knew them by name!  

Heather Berry and Jerica Johnson work along with Helen...

Their menu includes Coffee~ Lattes~ Mochas~Smoothies~ as well as Breakfast and Lunch Sandwiches! ...  They open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursdays.  I recently enjoyed a Smoked Turkey Sandwich while I studied for a test in between classes and it was awesome!

There is another great thing that "Common Grounds" does for Calhoun Students... They support their Student's Art work... you may notice in some of these pictures there is "Art" hanging in the background...  Some of that "Art" just so happens to be mine ... ! :) ... After my Photography Exhibit was complete in September I was asked by Ms. Beddow the librarian if I would be interested in hanging some of my photographs in the Cafe!  I was honored to do so.  They will be hanging there until the end of December.  It has been such a privilege for me to be able to continue to show my Gallery in the "Common Grounds Cafe" and I thank them for allowing me to do that!  In turn, I asked for their permission to highlight them on my "Blog"!  I was also recently honored with an article in "Calhoun Community College Library" , blog where they shared some very kind words about me and my photography journey.  Thank you again Ms. Beddow for your support and encouragement and thanks again Helen & your staff for letting me slip in and play for the day and do what I LOVE to do with my camera!  You guys were GREAT!  I loved watching you work!  :) ... and I loved the smell of that Coffee!!

Stopping moments in time... on "Common Grounds" ... Make sure that you take time out for a cup too!

Tina :) ...
http://www.tinawrightphotography.com/

~Reflections Past and Present~

Reflections Past and Reflections Present ... starting from 1978 ... and jumping to 2010!



The picture on the top was taken Craig's Senior Year "1978" and the picture on the bottom was taken this past August, 2010!  ... :) ...  and I took them both! LOL! ...  I could remember the top picture well, and I even described to Craig the jacket that he was wearing, although I couldn't remember the exact pose.  He was swearing to me that I was making it up!  But... at my 30 Year Reunion this past August, I coaxed Craig into letting me try & recreate the shot (obviously the best that I could remember it!) right there in the halls of Sheffield High School! Too Much Fun for me!! (Craig... ??? not so much...) ... :) ... I love this man!  He consistently lets me "play" and do what I do, knowing I have this crazy idea in my head, and he knows it's going to make me smile, even though he thinks it's gonna cost him some possible embarrassment.  I didn't care which row of lockers, I just knew it had to be in front of some lockers!  So... we made our way upstairs (avoiding some of the teachers who were working on their classrooms getting ready for the new year... and avoiding some of my classmates who were still hanging around!).  Craig, Thank You for being such a great sport!  I loved being able to combine my new shot with my old one!

Why am I just now posting these you ask???... Well... I only last night found my "1978" picture!  I knew that it existed, but I haven't been able to put my hands on it!!  Craig and I started dating when he was a Senior and I was a Sophomore.  We were involved in club activities at school, and my guess is that I took this picture after one of our meetings.  (Like I mentioned before... it wasn't unusual for me to carry a camera around with me!!) I finally found this picture tucked away when I was searching for these ...  :) ...

With today being Veterans Day I wanted to post a picture of my special Veteran as my profile picture on FaceBook.  Craig served in the Persian Gulf War on the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy.  He spent six years in the United States Navy and three of those years we spent in London, England as a family.  It was truly an incredible experience and many God Stories in the middle of it all! :) ...  I am very proud of my husband!  A 1978 graduate of Sheffield High School, a 1983 graduate of The University of North Alabama, a part of The United States Navy, Veteran of the Persian Gulf War, a God Fearing Man, Loves Jesus with all his heart, Loving Husband and Loving Father!

Thank you to my precious husband, for who you are and for serving our country! and... Thank you to all of our Veterans past and present for helping to provide for us the opportunity to live in this great land we call The United States of America ...

Capturing Memories ... Past and Present... 
Tina :) ...
Tina Wright Photography
www.tinawrightphotography.com  

~Where the Wild Things Are~

                                                             

I would like to say that this story began several weeks ago when my oldest son, Alex (age 24) asked me to make his Halloween costume for this year! :) ...  But... in actuality it probably goes back much farther than just two weeks, in this mom's eyes and mind at least! Because, by just being asked a simple question by my 24 year old ... that began with... "Mom...I know you're busy with school and everything, but I have a favor to ask you... Would you make me a "Max" costume, from "Where the Wild Things Are", for Halloween?" ... Now, I'm pretty sure, no matter... this mom, is NOT saying "NO"! :) and you see... My Alex has always been the one that loved Halloween and the one that I have gotten to sew for!  His list has included a masterpiece Mickey Mouse Costume (around age 3), a masterpiece Captain Hook Costume (1st Grade, and he even won 1st Place in the Costume Contest with that one!)... and I also made a Pink Tuxedo for him during his Senior year in High School, for him to wear to a friend's prom!  (too bad I wasn't blogging then!) 

My journey with "Max" began by first finding a pattern to improvise with. Alex brought me the book over to read, and the movie to watch, because you see... I had never read the book, or seen the movie!  I know! I know! ... Boy, was I ever missing a blessing!  He also emailed me pictures of "Max" from the movie.  I was on my way to coming up with the perfect "Max"!! ... My goal is never to do anything halfway! ... (God's Word challenges us to "Work with all your heart as working for the Lord!" ... Colossians 3:23)

I read the book the morning that I planned to cut out the pattern... imagine my surprise as I read this wonderful children's book.  By the time I reached the end of the story, I was in tears.  Here is why:  A young, rowdy boy gets into trouble, he is sent to his room without his dinner, his room grows into forrest of trees, he sees a ship, takes the ship to an island, "Where the Wild Things Are", they make him King of the Island, eventually the young boy realizes he misses his family, takes the ship back "home", goes back into his room and there sees a plate of supper ... "and it was still hot" ... :) ...

  By the time I reached the end of the story I was in tears... I saw so many beautiful pictures along the way, literally and very figuratively.  Here is a young boy who realizes the love that he still has at home, longs to go back, goes back into his room and arrives with a hot plate of supper waiting on him.  I could see Jesus, and how in spite of ourselves, He allows us to make our own decisions and still waits for a time for us to return to Him, if we have wandered away. God's Word tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Even those times we neglect our personal times alone with Him, and He patiently draws us back to Him waiting with that wonderful plate of supper... and "it is always still hot".  I could see that Mom and that Dad who waits so patiently for their dear, sweet child that has "run away" or they perhaps have just closed their parents out, yet those parents are still waiting and that wonderful plate of supper is there... and "it is always still hot".   Isaiah 26:3 says "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is fixed on Thee." ...  I pray we all continue to look Up and always seek the One who gives us Peace and be Thankful for the fact that "our supper is waiting for us... and it is still Hot" ... Because of Jesus... Amen! :) ... 

So many things to learn from young "Max" and as he did a lot of growing up on the island "Where the Wild Things Are..." I believe he took those lessons back home with him.  I took time to watch the movie while I cut the pattern out... I personally thought it was nicely done. 

and while my "Max/Alex" ... "Let the wild Rumpus Begin!" ... he didn't have a ship to sail away in but I did have a small tree for him to climb!  LOL!  and to Alex, I say "Thank YOU"!  for allowing us to make some new memories this year and for introducing me to "Max" and all of the "Wild Things"!  What a Treat! :) ...

                                                                                             

Stopping "Max" Moments in time,

Tina :) ...

http://www.tinawrightphotography.com/