by emilyneal | Jul 11, 2019 | Uncategorized
“There are three kittens under the car.” My husband warned his cousin as she fastened her three kids in their car seats and climbed inside the driver’s seat. She started the ignition. The black one darted out the side. My husband and a few of his...
by emilyneal | Jul 9, 2019 | Uncategorized
I had a few hours to myself this morning, so I decided to spend the time in Starbucks working through some ideas. As I was walking out, a man held the door open for me. “I wanted to tell you that I really like your laptop,” he said. “Oh,...
by emilyneal | Jul 8, 2019 | Uncategorized
Alayna and I are back with episode 11 of Life in the Middle! In this FARM LIFE edition, we visit the farm in southern Illinois. Alayna is the one driving in this episode and we discuss our vast farm life knowledge. We take a look at Kent’s farm boy boots, play...
by emilyneal | Jul 1, 2019 | Uncategorized
I loved June. Goodness. I feel like I became a different person in June. Without the pressure to go to work everyday, I just basically enjoyed life. I spent time with my husband and kids without feeling rushed to cram everything in. I relaxed. I practiced creativity....
by emilyneal | Jun 30, 2019 | photography
For the past few years, I’ve been working on growing my skills in photo editing. I’ve learned to retouch skin, create sky overlays and add bursts of sunlight. But lately, I’ve been wanting to stretch my editing skills in new ways. A few weeks ago, I...
by emilyneal | Jun 30, 2019 | photography, Uncategorized
Can you believe it? It’s already been one year since my close encounter witnessing the birth of a gorilla baby. Little Ali turned one on June 1, and I’ve been meaning to make a trip to visit her before my zoo membership expired today. I finally made it! I...
by emilyneal | Jun 21, 2019 | Uncategorized
One of my favorite things about where we live is going for a walk every day on the trail behind our house. For the past few months, doing that has been a challenge. It has been raining for about four months straight. The prairie behind us has become a lake. Several...
by emilyneal | Jun 20, 2019 | photography, Uncategorized
People often ask me if I can take photos of their high school senior or their family. For the past few months, I have been telling people “no” due to the busyness of starting a new job. But now that I’m not going to work everyday, I would love to do...
by emilyneal | Jun 18, 2019 | Uncategorized
When is the last time you took a real rest? I asked that question recently to a group of friends. It sounded like a fairly simple question. And yet, trying to answer it was harder than I had imagined. First of all, what does that mean? Is it the last time I slept...
by emilyneal | Jun 11, 2019 | Uncategorized
For the past week since school took a break for summer, our 14-year-old daughter has been hanging out almost daily with a group of friends. A couple of guys in the group ride skateboards, and they will ride across town to spend time with friends at our house. A few...
