A Year (and a Half) in Photos, Part Two

<— More photos that-a-way!

I’ve been looking through old photos for the last hour or so, and I’m having a hard time deciding how I want to order these.  I mean, I know it should be chronologically, but some are just snapshot/candid photos and some are my actual break-out-the-good-camera-and-pretend-I’m-a-photographer shots.  I think I’ll save the latter for the end.  Hey, I’m all about ending on a high note!

I’m pulling these together from a variety of places — Flickr, my Facebook page, my phone.  Some of these photos may seem insignificant, but each one sparks a significant memory for me.  I’ll try to explain as we go along.

Like this one.  I’m sure it seems pretty insignificant, but for me it’s not.  I took this photo in the mirror of Jaxx, a concert venue that I now regularly visit.  I hadn’t even moved to Virginia yet.  This was the week I flew up to look for a place to live.  And this was the night I met Chris.  I had no idea then that eight months later we would be in a relationship.  This was also the first photo that I took to post as my profile picture on Facebook.  As silly as it might sound, that one simple action was a very liberating feeling since it was something I previously had not been ‘allowed’ to do.

Part of the story that I haven’t completely filled you in on yet is about Tammy and the awful friend I became.  When I first moved to Texas, we still talked regularly, as we always had.  But over the first year, our conversations became and few and far between, and they eventually stopped altogether.  We didn’t speak for a little over a year.  Because of the stress and the fear that it caused, I stopped calling her, and I typically wouldn’t answer when she would call me.  Around the holidays in 2009, Tammy and her husband and two kids were traveling home from Ohio when they were hit by two separate drunk drivers that were racing.  Jeremy was in ICU for weeks, but everyone survived.  Because of his injuries, he was out of work for almost two years.  I abandoned her when she needed me most, but a year later when I called her to explain what had happened to me, why I had been so distant, she welcomed me back with open arms.  I don’t deserve a friend like her.  This picture says 01/01/2011, but it was actually taken 10/30/2011 (hence the costume).  I drove through Nashville on my way to DC, and you can imagine Tammy’s surprise when I showed up at her front door unannounced.  Well, I had planned it with her husband, but she had no idea.  There were many, many tears that night, and god, I needed that moment with my best friend.

Figured I’d mix in some of the concert photos along this journey, as well.  Suicidal Tendencies at the 9:30 Club.

ISS Christmas Party 2010.  I don’t remember if I talked much about Christy here prior to my hiatus, but she has also been a lifesaver for me over the last year.  We’ve worked together since 2008, but she was still in Colorado Springs, when I moved to Texas.  Just before I moved to Alexandria, she moved to Hampton to work out of our office there.  She would drive up and stay with me a couple weekends a month, and it was so nice having a female friend to hang out with again.  Most of my exploration of DC and NoVa has been with Christy, and she has since moved offices again.  Now she literally lives next door to me.  She watches my cats when I travel, and I pick up her mail she she’s out of town.  We ride the metro to work together in the mornings, and take Bruce to the dog park in the afternoons.  It works out well.

Christy and me at CoCo Sala waiting for bourbon and bubbly flights and chocolate.

And of course, it snowed.  It always snows the year I move somewhere, even if snow is unusual for that area.  This is where I live by the way.  Taken from my balcony.  Those are townhouses on the outside edge, and the taller middle section is apartments.  I have one of the townhouses, and it’s awesome.  I even have a garage, which is a hot commodity around here.

Rather than spending Christmas home alone (Christy was at her parents, and my brother was in Florida, I believe), I flew back to Nashville to spend it with Tam and her family.  It still amazes me that even after a year of no contact, she and I just fell right back into place with our friendship.  It was like we’d never been apart.  I am so lucky to have a friend like her.

I love these guys.

"You should totally wear the elf hat.  Put it on right now, bitch."  – Tammy

Pretty self-explanatory. Again at the 9:30 Club.

New Years Eve 2010 spent with Christy at a dance venue called the Rock and Roll Hotel.  Yeah, I think I was starting to find my spirit again.

30 seconds to the New Year!

When it’s snowy outside, Bruce likes to cuddle up with me in a blanket.

Me and Rob at an ROH show in January.  I seriously don’t know how I would cope with things without my brother.  He’s been my rock for the last many years.

Joe Black with This Way to the Egress at the Red Palace.

February 2011.   My main group of friends after moving to NoVa — David (a long time friend of my brother and now mine), Christy, Rob and me — at Zola. 

Buckcherry at Rams Head Live.

All That Remains also at Rams Head Live.

March 2011, traded my Audi in… on another Audi.  I heart my car.  So does Chris.  He drives it more than I do.  I’ve had it for 8 months, and it only has, like, 2000 miles on it.
 

May 2011.  Started getting back into art, and took a wine tasting and art class with my soon-to-be ex-sister-in-law.  Yes, Rob and Becky are getting a divorce after 14 years of marriage.  It’s a long story that maybe I’ll recount one day, maybe not.  They separated a month after I moved, the week of Thanksgiving last year, and they should be officially divorced any day now.  But there’s no bitterness between them, and she and I remain friends.  Hell, this picture was taken 6 months after they split.  It’s life… it happens.

Close up of my painting.  It’s hanging on my wall at home now.

Bruce has started doing this thing where he pulls back his jowls when we sleeps.  He looks like the Joker.

Ah, summer!  My favorite time of year.

This is what I used to wake up to every morning.  Bruce is a pillow hog.  He has since been banned from the bed.

Well, I think that’s enough for one entry.  Still more photos to come.

Cheers,
Felina