I grew up in Santa Barbara. I have a special fondness for the beach and the open expanse of the ocean.  I love the smell of the salty air and water and the way it feels on your skin after a day at the beach.  I am addicted to bubble water and don’t require much sleep.  I have daily conversations with my dog and sometimes I think he understands me better than most people.  I love the color orange and sometimes wish I was from the Netherlands to somehow justify my passion.  Sunflowers are my favorite flowers and I don’t like diamonds.  I love feeling the warmth of the sun on my back and generally don’t fare too well when I get really cold.  Sometimes I have to get in my hot tub to recover.  I wish there were more hours in the day so I could still workout as much as I did in college. I cherish the years  that  I got to row six days a week and the years after when I got to coach.  I love water... being in it, on it and under it. I would love a small house on a lake.  I hate wearing make-up and over the last couple of years I have lost all sense of what style is. My house is small and my dog is huge-perhaps I have size issues. I generally don’t watch TV but I love movies… however, I hate going to the movie theatre.  I often work out while watching a movie.  The greatest compliment that anyone could ever give me is telling me that I captured an image of their pet that they will cherish forever.  I really want to win Powerball so I can buy a million acres somewhere and build a sanctuary for all those pets who don’t have a home.  I will  never win Powerball so I dedicate much of my time taking pictures of family-less pets in hopes that I can help their family find them (I still want to win Powerball though).  My favorite time to  take pictures is either really early  in the morning  or at dusk.  The quality of the lighting at these times is truly magical.  I don’t like surprises and I hate baseball.  My favorite time of the year is early spring - when the flowers start to bloom.  The death of winter begins to be replaced with the newness of spring.  Halloween is my favorite holiday and I love the crisp air that fall brings.  I was fortunate to grow up in a house full of animals and a mother who  felt it  necessary to rescue every stray she encountered.  Fortunately, my father did not  seem to object.  I  had a turtle in college.  He had a limp and made an audible clunk when he walked.  I prefer keeping my house clean, (which is no easy feat with the hairy yeti I welcomed into my home) yet my car is a disaster all the time... That I will never understand.  I am my own worst critic and sometimes  forget  that I am  not  super woman and  can’t leap tall buildings in a single bound - small ones either for that matter. I wish I were about four inches taller.  I love wearing high heels for that reason. I don’t particularly care for Thanksgiving because I think the menu is terrible. I held out as long as I could…but now that I have an iphone, I could never live without it. I am suspect of people who don’t like animals.  I drive a Honda Element - not because it’s  my vehicle  of choice but  because it is most comfortable for my for my dog - who is the size of a small pony.  I have an unnatural fondness for parmesan cheese and think it should be a food group.  I love taking pictures of my pets and your pets and have a pretty good knack at capturing their personalities in my images. I am loyal to a fault and a perfectionist.  I think Great Pyrenees are like no other breed.  Their eyes are the gateway to their soul. There is nothing greater than  peering in and getting a glimpse.  I  hope my life will always have room for at least one.  

Well there you have it…a little insight into who I am.