Meet the Blogger - Stepping Out from Behind the Camera Is Scary!

Where to start? Where to start......Let's first start with a big Thank You to all of our hosts for this blog hop. It truly is a great idea....


For many of us I imagine this blog hop will have us stepping outside our comfort zones. I know it's a stretch for me. I've hidden from the camera and center of attention my whole life. I never graduated from high school, skipping senior year to go straight into college. No pesky graduation pictures or party to deal with! College graduation was from a large university that used the football stadium for the ceremony. It rained that day so I skipped it and got my diploma in the mail. I've never had a wedding, so HUGE center of attention bullet dodged there. Whew! And I don't have a job that puts me out in front of people. No, that would never do. The only place in my life where I push the envelope just a tad is with my agility competitions. When I first started training, I remember thinking I could never get out there and compete with all those people watching! Well, with a bit of agility trial experience under your belt, you quickly learn 99% of the people are NOT watching your run. They are busy chatting, playing on their tablets, napping, whatever, but they are very definitely not watching me.

So the anonymity of blogging suits me just fine!

What are some of the things you may or may not already know about me? Let's see.....

My name is Taryn.
I live in Virginia within easy driving distance of Washington, DC.
I own two Cardigan Welsh Corgis. (Duh! That goes without saying....)
I love to take photographs, primarily of said corgis.
I love the game of agility, probably a bit too much.
I've got a home-away-from-home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
I love the water, beach, and ocean!
I hate having my picture taken! I avoid it like the plague!

This past summer at La Tourelle Resort in Ithaca, NY

Now, let's move on to some of those questions that were suggested to get the conversation (however one-sided) going......

What makes you feel fabulous? As mentioned above, I am an agility addict. Coming out of the ring after a well done run on a challenging course, where Jimmy and I were truly in sync, is an incredible high! I'm grinning ear to ear, and my heart is singing!

Photo Credit: Victor Steel

Photo credit: Jim Poor

What do you like to do in your free time? It's quite simple really...... Be outside!  I am oh-so-grateful for my excellent job as a web application developer, but it truly hurts to watch gorgeous days go by through an office window. Knowing it is a day you can never get back really bothers me. I know working now is the price we must pay for freedom/retirement later, but sometimes I really rue all those lost days.

If you could change one thing about your life what would it be? Where I live. I grew up in the country with lots of pets and the space needed to have them. Becoming an adult meant getting a job, and that eventually led me to the suburban areas of a good job center. While the cultural life is wonderful in the DC metro area, many other aspects are very stressful, traffic and way too many people being at the top of the list. I would love to return to the simpler life in the country with more trees/animals and less people. I am sure I would miss the convenience of a grocery store on every corner and an abundance of good restaurants, but such are the trade-offs.

Other than blogging, what are three things you do that bring you joy? Reading, exercise, and photography...

What’s one thing you have to do every day? Brush my teeth! Kidding aside, I truly need to get a good dose of exercise each day. I am just one of those oddballs that loves to exercise. It doesn't have to be a formal gym workout, just a long walk will suffice. I am very disciplined about staying fit so going to the gym is actually enjoyable for me. It makes all the difference in how well I sleep at night and helps keep the grouchy tendencies at bay. In the words of the Hulk, "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry"!

If you didn’t have your current pets, what pets would you choose to have? If I was told I could not have a dog....my next choice would be a horse. I pretty much grew up on horseback. From the time I was a 7 or 8 year (and even before with the help of my dad), catching our gentle mare for a bareback/bridle-less tootle around the pasture, to my teenage years when I would disappear on horseback from sun up to sun down, horses were a huge part of my life. I miss that deeply.

I will stop this narrative here. That was more than enough soul-baring for me, and there are lots of posts you need to go read. I hope you have enjoyed this peek behind the camera lens! Thank you for taking the time to learn more about me. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask away in the comments....

I leave you with one last photo, a recent professional/work photo...with a close-up like this, you will now be able to recognize me should we pass on the street......

Oh, BTW, I didn't use this blog hop as an excuse to skip my Wilson's Wordless Wednesday post. Check it out!