LaCresha's Lens Focuses On...page 151...Downtown Nashville

One thing about living in Nashville, TN is that the downtown area is always available to you.  I am now to a point where I have been downtown enough that I don't enjoy going there anymore.  There are too many people and tourists are walking around drunk.  It isn't something enjoyable for me to be surrounded by drunks.
Where downtown Nashville has its allure, it does not interest me much anymore.  Plus, the first few years I was in Nashville I would go downtown on my own to see the bands, take photos and I have had my fill. 
Nashville is growing at a crazy rate right now.  I recently read a statistic that 1,000 people a month are moving here.  I'm not sure of the rate of those who are moving out, but it is substantially lower than 1,000.  Traffic is getting crazier and more dense on the interstates.  This town is growing so quickly that homes are being torn down and four are being put up in their place.  This is not the town I knew when I moved here a few years ago.  It is not quite the town I want to continue to live in, but until that plan falls into place it remains my place of residence.

 

Looking straight down Broadway

 

LaCresha's Lens Focuses On...page 150...Home

With May coming to a close, the strain of being away from home increases.  Come this July it will be three years since I have been home.  Where the opportunity has not come along for me to make it home.  I love Wisconsin and being home, it is absolutely beautiful there.  The days during the summer can get warm, but the temperature drops at night.  Each season holds its own special aspect and each one brings in its own spectacular beauty.  Winter can get cold, but the snow is stunning.

I keep hoping this summer or this Christmas I can finally make it home.  With this new job I have I am hoping I will be in a better position to travel and go home more often.

 

Me with my boys

 

Barefoot Country Girl

Hanging with my friend Krys at Hansen's Hideaway in Haugen, WI

LaCresha's Lens Focuses On...page 149...The Moon

When I have the opportunity and the moon is just right, I grab my tripod and camera and head out the door.  I love the night sky, filled with stars and wonder.  Evenings are usually more calm and peaceful and any given excuse to be outside to take it in is a good excuse for me.
Growing up in Wisconsin it was not uncommon for my Mom to come into the house and tell me to put on a layer of clothes and go watch the northern lights.  I would be out there for hours and I never wanted to go inside, but cold or sleepiness would be setting in and off I would go.  I love the night sky and miss being able to see the milky way from the drive way of my parents farm.  I crave to see the northern lights again and again and again.  It is beautiful to me to see a full moon light up a field, a road, river or lake.  It allows you to see into the depths of darkness which most nights offer.  It is peaceful, it is beautiful, relaxing and allows you to free your mind of the daily hustle and bustle.

Nashville, TN

Nashville, TN

Gulf Shores, AL

LaCresha's Lens Focuses On...page 148...Never Look Back

Have you ever been told that, to never look back?  Yet, how often do we stop and ponder about yesterday, last year, or even ten years ago?  As I reflect on where I have been and how I have gotten to where I am now I don't always understand the journey I am on.  However, it ultimately is what it is and I am here in the south.  I do give great thanks for my various experiences and certainly for the people I have met and have been blessed to call friends. 
The photo below was one I took while in Wisconsin several years ago.  It was taken in my truck, I can tell because of the shape of the mirror.  It is ironic as it reflects the past, my past.  The past of when I took this photo, that time when I was home, and it reflects the past of growing up on a farm.  I miss that life, I never knew I would miss it like I do.  I don't have the desire to be a farmer, that life is so much work and you really need to love it.  I would love to have some property out in the quiet and serenity of the country.  I keep hoping it is in my future.
As it is healthy to look backwards and ponder on the past, you never want to get fixated on it.  The past is the past, and it needs to be left in the past, but not forgotten.  Any mistakes made hopefully have been something where you have gained life experienced and found something in the process to learn.  All we can do is learn from our past, try not to continue to make the same mistakes over and find a way to make our life the best we can as we move forward.

LaCresha's Lens Focuses On...page 147...Happy News

Tonight while messaging with mister online, Richard 'Chad' King Jr, we were in a discussion when I openly said to him, "I think about you a lot".  He asked, "what does your friends say about that?"
This lead to a conversation of me sharing with him what my friends have been saying about me having an interest in someone online.  I have been wanting to ask him for a while if he has mentioned me to anyone.  I felt this was a door of opportunity so I asked, expecting the answer to be no.  Imagine my surprise when he said he has told someone about me, and not just any someone, his family. 
This evening I have learned that he has told his Mom, Dad and brothers that he "thinks he has finally found someone to settle with".  Apparently their response was, "about damn time" ha, ha.
I couldn't believe he had not only told his family about me, but something so...big!  This leads me to more questions and conversation I want to have with him.  Unfortunately, he will be leaving for Canada in the morning and expects to be gone for a couple of weeks.  His work schedule has kept him hopping and unfortunately, prolonged our chance to meet.  I have also found out he has been repeatedly requested to be sent back to Tennessee.  I thought he only asked once, I was wrong, he has been asking every single time he drops a load.  The load planners in Des Moines, IA where the home base is for the company he drives for tells him he is overqualified for the loads coming here. 
I don't know what the plan is for this man and I, however, despite the set backs and delay's I have a sense of calm about it all.  I don't know what that means, or what is to come.  I know what I want, and being patient for just the opportunity to meet him has sometimes been tough.  Yet, after reading what he said to me tonight...maybe, just maybe something good will come from this wait?

LaCresha's Lens Focuses On...page 146...Team Roping

There I something about the energy of a team roping.  There is also something about team roping that can be as exciting as watching paint dry.  The photos in today's blog are from a USTRC Team Roping in Franklin, TN.  As I look at these photos the pungent odor of horses and cattle come back to me.  When you walk into the arena it engulfs you and takes over your senses.  There is this endless row of horses tied to the panels from a few yards as you enter the back of the arena, that leads all the way to the front.  Some are tied on each side so it turns into an aisle way with two walls of horses.  It would have been a dream of my coming true to be around that many horses when I was a kid.
For the most part these horses get along, occasionally these beasts find a neighbor who is not their favorite. 
This photo also brings back fond memories of when my friend Nicki is in town.  I love spending time with her, I met her when I worked at the arena in Memphis and we clicked immediately.  We consider one another sisters, and any time she ropes within driving distance I try to be there to watch and support her.
The USTRC brings in a lot of roper's from all over the east of the Mississippi and Texas.  I am impressed each year at how the Florida ropers will drive up, even from the southern most region of the state to attend this roping.  What they call the "Short-Go" ends up being the most anticipated part of the day, as it is the winners of their division who go on to compete.  Some of these ropers are really good and make their living by traveling around the country competing.  A lot of these competitors know one another as they see each other just about every weekend. 
While I have never team roped, I have been around my share of team ropings and ropers.  They are usually blue collar workers and tend to be just all around good people.  I'm glad I have gotten to know the few ropers I have encountered over the years from when I was in high school to the present.

LaCresha's Lens Focuses On...page 145...Taking On Nashville

This is me in 2007, just a few months before I finally decided to up and move here.  Life was so different then than it is now.  I was dancing more, riding and training horses.  Yet, the confines of Memphis, TN had me nervous.  I was no longer at the arena, and the stable I worked for continued to promise me hours that never came.  I was hoping with a move I would find something, and I have, good friends, life experience, a relationship that ended (as many of them do). 

I have been in Nashville, TN for almost eight years.  I'm getting more serious about what I want in life.  Yet, I am not sure how I am going to get there.  Where my cowboy hat doesn't get worn as much as it once did, my boots continue to move me forward.  Continuously, I hope that I will find that break, find that opportunity, find that person where life can really take off.  Where I may not be sitting on the sidelines waiting, I keep wondering if and when that next step, the next phase will come into play for me.

LaCresha's Lens Focuses On...page 144...Romance

One thing I have come to really desire in my life, which I had closed the door on, is romance and love.
I have found these things on Pinterest to put on a virtual vision board which I am hoping is putting out in the Universe and to God what I want in my life.
Below are just a few examples of what I hope to have in my life.
Maybe...just maybe...it will find me and help me gain direction to where I want to be in life.

LaCresha's Lens Focuses On...page 143...Amazing Treehouse

There is an amazing treehouse near Cookeville, TN.  This man made it himself over a course of a very long time.  Fortunately, I was able to get in and explore this treehouse before the Fire Dept closed it.  I am not sure why it had to get shut down.  When I was there is was perfectly safe, and absolutely incredible.  The passages were windy and took you into different rooms.  One large room is where they hold a church service.
I wish this place would re-open to the public.  It truly is something spectacular and worth taking the time to explore.
Here are a few photos from my time spent there.  We went while it was cold, and yet the day was absolutely awesome!!

LaCresha's Lens Focuses On...page 142...April Showers have brought May Flowers

I love, love, love, love flowers!  I have been seeing daffodils, which are my most favorite flower, blossoming everywhere!  There is a stretch of road I like to explore, just outside of Nashville, that has an entire beautiful row of them!  I have stopped every time I drive down there to pick a few to smell and enjoy.
I look forward to the day when I have garden beds and sections of my own yard filled with flowers.  Until then, I will enjoy the flowers other people plant and those that grow wild by the roads and trails.
I was never big on photographing flowers, it wasn't ever an interest of mine.  But, I know people who absolutely love it more than anything and can give you more info and details on a flower than you ever realized existed.
For me, I just enjoy them because they are pretty.  Maybe there will even be a day in my life when there is someone special who will surprise me from time to time with a nice bouquet or occasionally fresh picked flowers.

LaCresha's Lens Focuses On...page 141...Trail Less Traveled

I love finding little nooks and different trails.  Just being out and about in the outdoors, whether a road trip, at the beach, by a lake, in the woods, I love it all!  The photos below reflect some of the trails I have been on while out hiking or just exploring.
You never know what you will find it you just take a side or back road and just find where it goes.  It is one of my favorite things to do, especially on a Sunday.  Growing up, I hated Sunday drives.  It was something my parents would do for a cheap adventure.  Now, I love them. 
Hopefully, whoever may end up in my life will enjoy taking off a day here or there to just go driving or hiking and see what we can find.

A stop off the Natchez Trace, found a farmer at work in his fields.

A stop at Narrows of the Harpeth

A random bench I found by a creek on a stop I made while waiting on some cavers to catch up to me.

A random arena I found not far from Ashland City.