Donations

One of the tasks Gerred and I took on our stay during Winter Break was de-cluttering and organizing both Gerred and his brother Gerome's room. We found lots of interesting clothes, magazines, photos, and memorabilia from his past that got us all talking through the whole process.

Both guys went through their clothes (they have a lot) that dates from middle school to the end of high school. Gerred had a collection of both band t-shirts and marching band shirts. A majority of it all was black (he went through a stage) and was promptly put into the donate pile.

The next task was to tackle the dresser. Gerome was moving to a new apartment and needed the dresser so we went through years and years of stuff.

Look at the Crown. He was Homecoming King! Anyways after hours of hard work (ok Gerred's hard work while Gerome and I just chatted) it went from this...

...To this. Not even sure how that happened.

But we were left with so much stuff. We decided to keep the cool stuff (Nitendo 64 and Lord of the Rings Mugs) and brought it back with us to Annapolis. As for the other stuff, clothes were donated to the American Rescue Shelter and technology was traded and sold.

Gerred is selling his Gameboy and all it's accessories on Amazon. The broken Game Cube and a few Playstation games were sent into Gazelle.  Then all his CDs were brought to Hastings to be traded in for a $30 gift card which was used to buy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1 and Part 2. Both have since been sold back for a different assortment of games.

The cool thing though is that, I'm trying to do the same at home for Spring Cleaning. I try to go through my closet and check what I didn't wear at college. So here are a few things to do with the stuff you don't know what to do with.

For Profit

Gazelle

I've traded in my old laptop that barely worked as well as two old iPhones that were screwy and got over $100. Remember broken things can be recycled to the right place for a good price.

Hastings

I need to find a place like this in Maryland. They pay you for used books, games, movies, and CDs.

Re Reads

Go to a used book store in your area and give them the weird fantasy books you read when you were thirteen. You can either trade them in for better books or get money for them.

Plato's Closet

I've yet to go here but basically you trade in brand name clothing and get cashola.

Ebay or Amazon

Textbooks and stuff

Donations

What warms your heart

Goodwill

Purple Heart

Cell Phones for Soldiers

Homeless Shelters

Teens for Jeans

Whether you plan on donating or making a profit off the old things that have been gathering dust in your room. Having a new organized room and feeling good for helping someone else out is the best thing in the world.

Shannon

Sante Fe

Here is the rest of Sante Fe, the sight seeing that is.

The architecture out in New Mexico is far different than Maryland. Lots of stucco and sandstone.

This door I found on the side of a building. It looks like a door that you'd have to say "Open Sesame" to open it.

Believe it or not, this is a parking garage. Yeah, with pretty vines and a nice patterned door.

This is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

A statue of Kateri Tekawitha, the first sainted Native American, stood outside the cathedral. I was so happy to recognize who she was immediately since I had recently read about her in the Sacred Heart calendar.

Lighting a candle and saying a little prayer.

Just a bit of graffiti of an angry bird?

And the bags on top of this building is unique to winter in New Mexico. They take tea lights and put them into paper bags and fill them with sand. At night they light each bag and there's a golden light shining from each bag around the house.

It's called Luminaria and this is what it looks like at night.

Shannon

FAQ Photography

Now that it's getting warmer, I have photo shoots booked each weekend in April. I love photographing people and am glad I get to pursue it again this Summer with Shannon Kirby Photography.

 I recently photographed family portraits and today I'll be photographing an engagement shoot. I have a few couples lined up for the weeks to come and I've noticed a few people have been asking somewhat of the same questions.

So I created a FAQ page on my photography site to answer them all.

How much does it cost?

It costs $100 regularly, but there is a student discount for $75 if a student ID is presented.

What do I get?

You get 3 plus hours for the photo shoot, editing*, as well as a digital copy of the edited photographs on a CD.

**Editing includes the removal of blemishes, color enhancement, and black and white or sepia adjustments.

What should I wear?

First of all you need to consider the season, location, and feel of the photo shoot and try to match it. Generally, solids and neutrals are a safe bet, but remember you should wear the outfit that makes you look great and feels comfortable too. If you are having your picture taken with others discuss what you’re wearing first. And the biggest tip is to not wear brands or logos. For instance, a small eagle in the corner of a polo is fine but having a shirt that reads American Eagle right across the chest is going to have the shirt steal the spotlight.

Where should we go?

I operate the Annapolis area as well as Chestertown and am willing to travel around Maryland to find the perfect spot for you. I’m always up for new places that you might have in mind. If you’re stumped on a place to go here’s a few suggestions:

Annapolis

Downtown Annapolis

William Paca House

Quiet Waters Park

The Naval Academy

Edgewater

Paintball Field

Londontown

Mayo Beach

Chestertown

Downtown Chestertown

The Campus Green

The Waterfront

Feel free to check out the page and if you'd like to book a photo session just contact me.

Shannon

Study Abroad Accepted

I finally got my letter from University College Cork, Ireland after a long wait. I've been accepted for the Early Start Program in Folklore and Ethnology as well as the 2012 Fall Semester.

 I absolutely cannot wait to go back and travel around Ireland. I might even do a little bit of sight seeing in England and Scotland if I'm lucky. But, oh isn't University Cork College a picturesque campus?

Now this blog will start to have an added element of travel and I hope you're willing to come along for the ride.

Shannon

Loretto Chapel

Now for more tales from the Winter Break trip to New Mexico. One day we went to Sante Fe to sight see around the city and the first place we visited in Sante Fe was the beautiful gothic Loretto Chapel.

The Chapel is most famous for the Miraculous Staircase that spirals up to the choir loft. The reason it's called "miraculous" is because there are three mysteries that surround the staircase.

Who made the staircase?

The church was originally made sans staircase. Nuns had to climb a steep and dangerous ladder in order to get up to the loft. So they prayed and sure enough a drifter came through town and built them a staircase and vanished before they could pay or thank him.

How does the structure stand on it's own?

By all laws of physics, the staircase should not be able to stand without a beam in between. It simply spirals and what's even crazier is that nuns have been going up and down the staircase since its construction in 1898. They've had architects and engineers look at it and they are still baffled.

What type of wood is the staircase made of?

Well this is just weird, but the wood the staircase is made of is mysterious. They took a piece and sent it off to a Naval Researcher in San Diego who specializes in wood (I would never specialize in wood) and he concluded that the exact type of wood is unknown.

So with those three mysterious surrounding the staircase, the nuns concluded it must have been St. Joseph. Whether you believe in it all is up to you. But it's an interesting phenomenon and a beautiful chapel all the same.

 Aside from the mystery there was also a tree in the front with hundreds of Rosary beads strewn around the branches, dangling.

Shannon

P.S. There will be a video to come from this day.

Caine's Arcade

"9 year old Caine Monroy, who built an elaborate cardboard arcade inside his dad’s used auto parts store, is about to have the best day of his life."

This boy's imagination is wonderful. Ah, to build Caine's Arcade all of that out of carboard and never give up. Wow, just wow.

Caine's Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.

Honestly, there need to be more people like these three men:

1. More creative minds imagining greater possibilites and having fun doing it.

2. Parents encouraging and believing in their children's creativity.

3. Outsiders that reach out, help, and make a kid's day.

Think outside the box today!

Shannon

Easter

I really enjoyed this year's Easter since it was hosted at my house for one of the first times and everyone seemed happy. There were practically two Easter celebrations there that night, my Mom's side in the morning and then Aunt Sue and the kids came over at night. What I really loved is the fact that I have little cousins that can enjoy the egg hunt part of Easter.

Gerred and I hid eggs in the backyard in some tough spots and Jesse (4 yrs.) found all the eggs. The best part was that he kept saying "That sneaky Easter bunny!" whenever he was having a difficult time finding an egg.

Oh and Ilyssa, my baby cousin is just the most adorable baby. Here she is taking a nap with Grandpa after a long day of being held by everyone and doing flips in the air.

She was happy the entire day which qualifies as a pretty amazing baby if you ask me.

And here's an odd picture of Gerred and I.

Then some normal-er ones

briefly

Before we all went crazy.

Now my brother, Ryan, gets in the picture and we start doing some seriously weird photos.

Like this...

So this is just to say that getting the family together is a weird occasion.

Shannon