Life

Revamped and Renewed 2022!

September 21, 2022September 21, 2022 Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment

The date on my last post was 2017 and to be perfectly honest I completely forgot that this blog was still active (I happened to notice the renewal receipt email among my hundreds of unread email). I thought that maybe it is about time to get back into it. If there’s still any followers left from the old days I’m sorry to tell you that I will no longer be focusing primarily on photography anymore. Not because I don’t like taking pictures anymore (because you will still see a lot of them) but because like so many I have grown and I have changed.

So much has changed since 2017.

I have experienced childbirth, and have been blessed with 2 beautiful daughters. I am their mother, their friend, and their teacher and while I will do my best to not be one of those moms who only talks about their kids, if you don’t like hearing about children then this blog may not be for you because I am sure that they will come up again.

That being said, the road has not been smooth sailing because while there are beginnings there are also ends. I have experienced loss of both a grandparent and a mother and have experienced the sorrow of losing a loved one. I have lived through a pandemic, have gone from working in the office to working from home. Have both gone back to school as well as start to homeschool.

The years have truly flown in a whirlwind of change. I have gained new friends, and have reconnected with old ones. I’ve gotten back to drawing and writing stories, have started painting, and have even learned to crochet.

Mom’s Funeral 2021, Masks still required

So you see with so much change in the world and in life it only makes sense that it is time for this blog to also change as well. I can’t continue with the blog as I did back in 2017 because I am not the same person that I was back in 2017. My life has changed so much and the times back then are now memories that I look fondly back on.

So without further ado, I will be posting now during my little pieces of quiet moments. The moments where I have a minute to sit down and type. To share in thoughts and life and whatever else may come in between. I honestly don’t have high expectations for this blog because I am not a social influencer and am not striving to be. I can’t really say I have a set theme because it is pretty impossible for me to stick to one. I have so many interests and life gets so busy and hectic sometimes that it feels as if it is stuck on fast-forward. This blog, is instead, a way for me to take a step back from it all and take a moment to breath and if anyone reads this, I encourage you to also take a moment for yourself to just breath. Take a minute to quiet the noise.

There is strength to be found in the solitude of quiet moments.
Harpreet M. Dayal

Cades Cove Camping

November 20, 2017November 20, 2017 Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment

Had the awesome opportunity of going camping with my husband’s family this year. It’s an annual tradition on their part but this was my first time attending. It certainly was an experience, I don’t think I’ve been camping since I was about 5 or 6 years old.

But I enjoyed it. Huge family gathering in the mountains, no cell service, no internet, if you needed to make a phone call you had to drive down to the ranger station to use their phone. It was a completely tech free vacation… except for my camera.

To be honest, I was a little worried about sleeping in a tent. Mainly I was worried about falling off the inflatable mattress! But I was glad we weren’t sleeping on the ground, it was freezing at night. One thing I was not expecting, were the pretty frequent visits from Black Bears. They generally skirted the edges of the camp ground but always managed to slip away before I had a chance to capture them on camera, only picture I got below is pretty blurry but managed to see this bear cub as well.

Of course seeing a couple of bears right outside your tent door so to speak (it was really probably 200 feet away) made it even harder to sleep at night.

But anyways. Other than the wildlife and cold, the trip was over all very fun, I can’t wait to go again next year. We had fun in the streams, checked out the nearby historic sites, and just overall had fun. I also caught up on some reading. I will admit, this was a much needed, reprieve from the harsh realities of life. Didn’t have to talk to anyone on the phone or have customers yelling at me for trivial things. I wish I could do this once a month.

Photography · Travel

California Dreaming

November 8, 2017November 8, 2017 Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment

Hello Everyone.

Wow, it feels like an eternity since I last posted anything. It’s my fault I know but life’s been ‘interesting’ to say the least.

Finally have a chance to tell you about our long over due vacation.

It felt amazing to be on a plane again, didn’t realized how much I missed them, although I we did run into some technical difficulties in Nashville when our plane was de-commissioned due to maintenance issues. But hey at least they found it before we took off so that’s all good.

The other thing I enjoyed this trip was all the coffee. We tried a new coffee shop every day (coffee addict at heart). Everywhere we went the coffee was great. Delicious!

And then off too the main subject of our trip. The sun, the beach, the palm trees, and the awesome adventure of whale watching. All of it was absolutely fantastic, and the whale watching was an amazing experience. I can’t wait to do it again!