BEST WEEK EVER!!!!

Today, I got home from the 2009 swimming Nationals/World Championship Trials. OMG! Let me tell you something, if you can ever go to a swim meet where the nation's best are competing, GO!!!! You will not regret it at all!! I kid you not when I say that last week was the best week of my life!! I have had so many amazing days and moments in life, but to have five consecutive day of nothing but pure awesomeness like I did last week has never happened to me!! I can't even begin to explain how amazing last week was!! It was so awesome, that as I got on the highway this morning to head back here to Ohio, I was on the verge of tears!!

I took over 2,000 photos last week!! I definitely have quite a few favorites already!! I can't wait till I get my new photo editing programs so I can resize, watermark, etc. the photos and share them with you guys!! I kid you not when I say I got some AMAZING shots last week!! Some of the shots I got look professional, which makes me very happy because sports photography is what I want to focus on!!

I got to meet SO MANY swimmers, past and present, last week. I got my picture taken with a lot of them, too!! I got autographs, photos of/with, had conversations with, joked around with, high-fived, and other stuff with swimmers, coaches, and family members of swimmers!! Even one of the swimmers "tweeted" about me on Twitter!! BAHAHAHA. That was so funny!! It was all just so amazing, wonderful, great, etc.!! Some of the photos of me with these people are really good, some are decent, and some are just down right hilarious!!!! Some of the photos had me crying because I was laughing so hard!!

I feel that while in Indy, I got to find part of myself that I lost a while ago. It was great being able to be that person again and have the fun that I did. I made some GREAT friends while in Indy, and I hope that next year, we will all be able to get together again at nationals!! We had so much fun and I will NEVER forget a lot of the memories we all shared together, if not all of the memories!! Those are memories I will be telling my children, grandchildren, and maybe even great-grandchildren [if I live that long]. I love what last week brought to me!! I haven't had that much fun in a LONG time, and I am so sad that it ended. I'm already making "mental plans" for next summer's Nationals, and maybe even going to some of the Grand Prix meets once they start back up later this year and go through next Spring/Summer.

I just don't know what else to say about last week. Words really can't even begin to try to explain how amazing last week was!! It was definitely a great way to celebrate the week before my birthday!! But now, it's back to my normal life, and I start school tomorrow!! I'm very nervous about starting school, but I'm ready for it, I think!! HA.

ONE MONTH TO GO!!!!

In one month, I'll either still be on my way or already in INDY!!!! Ah, so exciting!! It's going to be simply amazing!! I so look forward to watching 5 days worth of swimming [which will be aired on NBC, BTW]!! I really look forward to taking some hundred [maybe even over a thousand] photos!!!! I really do hope, though, that I do get to meet some of the swimmers there!! That'd be such a HUGE thing to happen to me!!!! I'm not even kidding - I'd be happy for the rest.of.my.life!!!! Of course, there are a certain few swimmers that I am dying to meet!! [::cough cough:: Ryan Lochte ::cough cough:: Dara Torres ::cough cough:: Aaron Piersol ::cough cough:: There are a couple others, as well, but those are the three I'd love to meet the absolute most.] I am just so ready for it to be July 6th, so my sister and I can be on our merry way to Indy, then wake up bright and early on the 7th and haul ass over to the Natatorium!!!! It's going to be so amazing photographing and watching the swim meet - for 5 days!!!! It'll be so cool having photos of Olympic swimmers [some of which are Olympic gold medalists]!! Those photos will definitely be cherished - as well as on display in our house once we move back down to NC!! Plus, those photos can be passed down to my kids, grandkids, etc., and they'll be able to see that I was able to go watch Olympic swimmers swim at a meet. I think that'd be really cool.

Also, in a little over a week, I'm planning on going to another Cleveland Indians baseball game!! I hope to get some really cool photos while I'm there. [Maybe Grady Sizemore will make a diving catch at this game, and I'll actually be able to get a photo of it.]

I love going to sporting events and taking photos. I really want to be a sports photographer!!