Vacation: Rags to Riches Story
March 23, 2012 by Aimee • 22 Comments
Hi Friends!! Tonight’s Photo Friday is a little different! Why!?!? Because my hubby rocked my world and landed the best job EVER {yes, I’m biased}. What does that have to with Photo Friday!? Well, when he went into tell his current boss, guess what he said, “Well, let me know you’re resigning in two weeks so you can have some fun while be covered by salary and insurance in the meantime.” Seriously, I’m not even kidding you! Doesn’t that just totally amaze you!!!? So guess what we’re doing….YEP, having fun! This year I’ve been using a collection of books to teach my sweeties about the Fifty States for our history curriculum. All year I dreamed of showing them the US, but never in a million years would have imagined it would happen!
I’m living my dream right now!! We’re traveling cross-country and despite one car sickness battle…yes, that was ugly! And despite Little B and Big B acting more like an old married couple than even Stud and I, it is even better than I’d hoped it would be! Here are some pics from our first couple of days of travel…Texas to Little Rock….Little Rock to Memphis….Memphis to Nashville. In other words, I have tons to share about our trip {you know the grandparents are begging} and will only have a few true “photography” tips for you at the end of this post. Hope that doesn’t disappoint you too much.
Oh and I have to tell you about our WILD moment in Memphis…or maybe we should say STUPID moment, even though I’d be in big trouble for saying that word in front of my Sweet B’s. I don’t know, since it turned out good, maybe I should just call it our BRILLIANT moment! Okay…on with the moment.
We took the riverside trolly through Memphis, Tennessee for about a half hour. The locals loved telling my sweeties about Martin Luther King, Jr! A few blocks from where we parked, we decided to get off the trolly and have a little walk and exploration time. Seconds after getting off, a man approached the kids and asked if they’d like to see the rooftop of his building. In shock, I slowly followed behind after hearing my hubby accept the offer! Really!?!
Jay, as he had introduced himself, insisted that he show us one of the oldest candy shops first. The kids loved that idea and selected their favorite candy, to which Jay treated, despite my hubby’s attempt to beat him to it! We started to follow Jay out the door and the candy shop owner, stopped us, treated my sweeties each to two more lollipops and a little speech on the history of his shop. Then he asked for our camera, jumped up and our 65 year old candy shop owner straddled two counters and took about ten family pictures for us, saying, he doesn’t do this for everyone, but he really thinks we’re a nice family.
At this point, I was thinking that this was the nicest city, EVER or we were the target of a big conspiracy. My gut was telling me all was good, so we followed Jay a few blocks down and went tinto his building where he shook hands with all the tenants. Since we’ve been reading Nancy Drew books through this road trip, my childhood curiosity was perked and I was determined to get to the bottom of it. Finally after many questions, Jay gave us his story.
He was a fireman for a lot of years and right after Martin Luther King, Jr. had been shot, he was hanging out downtown Memphis, up to not a lot of good. Late one night he overheard some police complaining about having to always care for these downtown buildings when they were broken into or vandalized and they were troubled that the owners were out of state and unreachable.
The next morning he went down to the courthouse and looked up the contact persons for tons of buildings downtown. By the time his calls were complete, he was the “babysitter” for almost all of them for the lovely price of $400 per month. In other words, by having his phone number listed as the contact person, he was bringing in tons of money. From a really bad spot to a really great spot overnight! A year later, he was talking with a CFO of a bank and friend of his who encouraged him to ask the landowners to sell him their properties. Downtown was still a mess and the value on these wasn’t great. He asked and they gave a price that was too high for him. He thought it over and called back asking if he could “babysit” for the next year for $200 instead and then purchase the property for half the requested price. They obliged and years later, Jay lives in the Florida Keys and visits Memphis one week out of each month to check on his properties. Everyone in the city knows him and he is the friendliest, most generous and humble man I’ve ever met. He’s also our newest friend and played a huge role in our family absolutely thinking Memphis is totally blasting!!!
And for my friends that were hoping for a little tutorial…here are just a couple tips.
- Straighten your pictures along the horizon. Sometimes in the moment it’s easy to forget this, but when you edit, be sure to go back and make this simple adjustment.
- Consider your viewpoint when taking a picture. Although pictures taken at eye level are sometimes GREAT, a photograph can offer so much more interest if you attempt photographing from high above, ground level, from the back, from close up or from far away. As your looking through the view finder look for an interesting composition.
- Symmetry is beautiful, I love it. But sometimes if you can break up symmetry just a bit with one object out of place, the composition will offer greater interest for your viewers.
- Pay close attention to your background when your taking photographs. Beware of objects that may distract or conflict with your subject. Walk to the left, right, forward or backward, paying close attention to what is beyond your subject, making sure that your subject is being framed rather than being competed with.
Hopefully these are helpful for you this week and next week I’ll be back with more Photography Friday!!! Until then, I’ll be posting as usual and definitely stopping by for brief updates on our travels. We showed the map to our sweeties before the surprise trip began and they were overwhelmed, so we’ve been surprising them with only the current day’s adventures each morning and it’s working GREAT!!! At over 1000 miles, we’re all going strong!!! Each day is full of adventure and discovery and of course, “Are we there yet!?!?’ Wouldn’t be a trip with kids if it weren’t for those words, right!
What fun. Thanks for all the great photos. Have fun.
Oh how fun!!!! We Loved traveling to Tn. Your pictures have brought back some GREAT memories…. I actually called my husband over to see the Bridge… Enjoy!!!
Wow! What a great experience!! Have a great trip!
Dawnn
Sounds like fun – and what a nice boss! I love your pictures. Enjoy your trip!
What a great story about your time in Memphis. Such wonderful family memories you are making.
This trip is beyond fabulous already. I’m glad you’re living out one of your dreams. Enjoy!
Girl, you went right by me on I-40 headed to Little Rock. Things coming up roses for y’all. I’m glad
Congratulations on the new job, and being able to spend some quality time with your family!! Well-deserved, that is for sure!
Enjoy and thanks for sharing with us!
What a great adventure you all are on. Jay sounds like quite a character. I love talking with people and my husband is always amazed at the wonderful people we meet that way.
Traci
Wow some really awesome photos I am not one to take awesome photos I am lucky if I do not cut someones head off………lol Ok I may not be that bad but I am still not that great unlike you and the photos you have shared here really they are great…..I loved reading about your time in Memphis thank you for taking me somewhere I have not been before and in reality will never go except through other people and their awesome blogs……
What neat stories! So nice to hear that people like your husband’s boss and random strangers are still so nice!
Enjoy your trip -looking forward to your updates!
That’s a trip you will never forget and the kids will have great memories. Great photos and good tips! I love visiting old cities that have so much history and interesting stories!
Oh wow!! What an amazing opportunity for your family! I hope you guys have a lot of fun and that your kids learn tons. I needed to catch up on my composition anyway… Will be staying tuned…
Catherine
What a fun trip! I love road trips and Memphis is so fun!
Allyson
http://cupcakescandycanes.blogspot.com
Wow, I loved seeing this pictures! I’ve never been to Memphis, but your story makes it sound like such a sweet place to visit. Enjoy your time together as a family!
Congratulations Aimee!! What a wonderful trip, and wonderful news too. Great photo tips, and now I need to find some place as great as Memphis to try them out
Thanks!
What fun! I live in Nashville and love it here. I could have been your personal tour guide. Oh well, next time. So glad yall are doing this. Your kids will remember it. My parents did it and I remember that time more than anything!
Congats on the wonderful trip thanks for sharing with us- loved the shots of the old homes and buildings didn’t see many pics of Texas though if you come back through don’t forget to snap some of our beautiful blue bonnets I’m heading out today to do just that- safe travels and look forward to hearing more about your great adventure.
What a cool story and experience!!! Ya’ll were in our neck of the woods! We grew up in Memphis and moved away after college, and now we live right outside of Nashville! I hope you enjoy the rest of your cross-country trip!!!
Looks like fun!!!
I found your blog through works for me wednesdays. I’m glad you had a good time in Memphis. I’m from Memphis and it doesn’t always have the best reputation so it makes me happy to see people experiencing the best Memphis has to offer.
LOVE it! I love it when dreams come true. Then, they’re not dreams any more… they are reality.
Blessings,
Janet