Wednesday, December 18, 2013

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!



Meet the Pet Bloggers Hop



39 comments:

  1. Nice to learn more about you Taryn and we love the outdoors too and likewise we'd love a horse but then again mucking out on a cold Winters day is not that great. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  2. Hi Taryn, great to learn more about you :) This is such a wonderful blog hop, I'm so glad to be involved. I really love the picture of you in the river/waterfall with your two pups, it's such a great shot!

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  3. Loved reading more about you! I'll have to go over to my blog and get started on mine. Like you I hate sitting behind a desk all day and watch the pretty day go by. And if I don't get to take a hike in my little free time its not pleasant.

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  4. Yay! I'm doing this today too. Well, once I quit procrastinating... :)

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  5. That was great! I loved learning more about you. You and I have the exercise thing the same. Yep, keeps me from being a grump.

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  6. So great to learn more about the people behind the dogs we know so well. I'm with you on the exercise - have to do something everyday or I feel like a slug!

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  7. Nice to meet you!
    I also do my best to avoid the spotlight, but can see the irony between that and blogging. If I could've avoided all the grad stuff in high school and university, I happily would've. But, you know... grandmas get what they want. lol

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  8. This was great! I had no idea you were a rider before...very neat.

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  9. I really enjoyed reading your post and learning more about you. So happy you decided to join the hop. :)

    Considering you are within easy driving distance of DC, I'm not sure why we haven't already hung out. We may need to fix that at some point! :) (And I agree... the traffic around here is not okay. Not okay at all.)

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  10. Real great to meet you and you take great photos and have an amazing smile! Looking forward to seeing more of your blog
    Maggie

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  11. You're lovely! I was so terrified of my wedding day - so was the hubs. The night before we started to toally freak out, but then it actually ended up being really fun. Not sure how that happened. Must have been the margaritas... We fantasize about moving away from the Big City too!

    Itt was great tto get to know you better!

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  12. Nice to finally meet ya and put a face behind Jimmy and Wilson's Human. I had no idea you were such an active person. I guess it makes sense since you love agility so much!

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  13. It was lovely to see and learn more about you, Taryn. You sound like a super person, I'd love to have an owner as active as you!
    Pippa :)

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  14. Nice to meet you! Since my brother and his family used to live in Arlington (North Illinois St.), I suppose it's possible we saw each other in passing at least once. Too bad we didn't know it so we could pause for a cup of coffee somewhere! I lived on Long Island most of my life until I met my hubby...and having spent several long weekends with my brother before he married...I hear ya about the traffic in the metro DC area!!

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  15. Nice to meet you! This is alot of fun, meeting the bloggers behind the pets!

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  16. So you dodged all the big attention-getting activities most of us do. But what if your blog blows up and you become famous?

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    1. LOL! Not too worried about that...No one has ever even asked me to do a product review yet :-)

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  17. We were wondering where Wilson on Wordless Wednesday was...BOL!

    SHE grew up in Annandale.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  18. Hi Taryn! It's so wonderful getting to know more about you. I wish I could enjoy exercise more. I love to walk and I used to go hiking all the time. I love the outdoors too. But I can't stand any other forms of formal exercise.

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  19. I wish I could get outside more! I wish I was able to type outside or go for lunch time hikes or something! Love your Corgis! From a pem to a cardi mom!

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  20. Very nice! So now if you meet any of us in person, you won't have to wear a red carnation on your lapel, or be holding a leash attached to J or W!

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  21. Nice to meet you. One of my dogs, Gretel, would be amazing at agility I think. She has no fear and is a wiry little thing. I call her my accidental athlete. Do you use those ladder things (like a ladder laid on the floor)? The first time she tried one - made of PVC pipe and raised off the ground like a horizontal ladder on stilts - she walked the whole thing ON TOP of the rungs! I like to play around with her on obstacles but lack the discipline to get good at it with her. I always say our hiking is like our own natural form of agility :)

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  22. I understand the reluctance to be in front of the camera, but you're beautiful! Okay, and that one photo in the water? Looks like you're skiing and the dogs are skis. That's pretty cool.

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  23. Glad you joined the hop and nice to get to know you. For some reason I thought you lived in Michigan, and didn't I send you a sample of shampoo? Hope you got it and it didn't go to Michigan. Your dogs are very lovely and so are you!

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    1. Yes , you sent me shampoo and I received it here in Va :-)

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  24. Yay!! I am so glad that you joined the hop and I got to learn more about you and see some pictures! Love your smile!
    I love your love for the outdoors....that is awesome :)

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  25. I have no idea why you would not want your photo taken - you are absolutely adorable! It was so fun to learn more about you! My hubby and I lived in Murrells Inlet, SC for 3 years - we get out there a few times a year! Thanks for joining in the hop!

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  26. Photography used to be my favorite hobby, but then I tried to turn it into a business and the shine kind of went away. I'm going to get back in to it in 2014.

    Thanks for sharing so much about yourself!

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  27. So wonderful to "meet" you! My husband and I ran off to the West Indies to get married pretty much so he could avoid having to speak in front of a huge group of people. So I loved your intro and your answers.

    Thanks for sharing and joining the hop!

    PS - I'm also a web apps developer. And I am so with you on the 'missing out on beautiful days' thing. :)

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  28. I loved reading that! You are a lot like me. I think my answers to some of those questions would have been the same as yours! I'm so glad that you and Jimmy have found agility together. It sounds like you truly truly love it!

    PS You'll quickly get over the lack of grocery stores when the day comes that you return to the country!

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  29. Nominated you for the Sunshine Award. Check it out on our blog! :)

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  30. Nice to meet you! I went to a large university too, and I have joked that I could have skipped my college graduation and no one would have known. Lol. I can also relate to missing the quiet of the country after years of city life. I will be back to see how your knee is heeling and agility goes. Looking forward to future posts. Thanks for stopping by!

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  31. I was ooohing and aahhhing throughout your post. I love the top photo and the porch. Is that your house further south? I would die for a porch like that. I also love the action shot of you and Jimmy. I know a ton of agility people through my Sheltie rescue work and I can vouch for the obsession thing. Maybe that's why I haven't tried it yet? :)

    I can totally relate to the desire to live in the country and to have a simpler life. It's a dream of mine too. I love the photo of you and the cardi's in the river. Where is that???

    So very nice to finally meet you!

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    1. Both pictures were taken in Ithaca, NY this past summer.

      My place in SC is just a condo, but it does have a gorgeous view of the ocean :-)

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  32. Nice to meet you.I can totally relate to sitting in an office and watching a beautiful day go by. I think it just makes me more appreciative of the days I do have off and can go out and play.

    An agility story: a trainer convinced my to take my dog Lilah (a border collie mix) to agility class. She started skittish and fearful and by the end of class, found her confidence. While she'll never compete, it was a life-changing experience for her--and for me.

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    1. Agility is great for building confidence in a fearful dog. It is great to see them blossom.

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  33. Thanks so much for joining the blog hop. I hope it wasn't too bad for you! :-)

    I grew up in the country too, in fact my house was the old black smith shop and our barn housed the horses when the pony express came through town. I am most comfortable in the country and thankfully our current house is off the beaten path which gives me the 'feel' of the country, but still close enough to all the city conveniences. I think I can say with confidence that a large city would not be a good fit.

    I think it's wonderful that you run agility. I've tried casual agility here, but there is really not a great training center (for that) anywhere close by, at least not that I've found.

    I hope stepping out wasn't too dreadful. :-)

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