Photos for health;-)

Today was a great day-a really GREAT day. Remember this post? Well, today was the day that we headed to Indy to view my selected photos and spend a little time in the "big city".

It was all so great. We arrived at the IUPUI Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center at about 10 til 3 and waltzed right in. They told us there would be a ceremony in a few minutes in the lobby, so we patiently waited...









and then noticed this cool poster:




It was the small gift that they had for us...each of us were given a poster and a coupon for custom framing;-). My picture is at the very top, 4th from the right:-) And the names of all the those whose photos were selected were listed on the poster. There were over 6000 photos entered and about 700 were beautifully framed and placed all over the $150 million, 405,000-square-foot building (which was breath taking, by the way!).

Finally, they got started (about a half hour late, but it was ok-minus the fact that the kids had used up all their "good" behavior within the first 15 minutes or so;-). It was a really nice little ceremony where a few people spoke about the center and how the photos for health program came about and how well it turned out (despite concerns that it might not work out to have this photo entry type contest). Anyway, when the ceremony was over, they gave us a print-out where we could easily find our names and the location of our photos. Mine was listed twice and both on the 2nd floor waiting. Should be easy enough...






...but we looked and looked and could NOT find the pictures. There were truely lovely pictures everywhere. It was so neat. I really can see how these beautiful pictures of nature will touch the lives of cancer patients and their families for generations to come. Not only are pictures of nature timeless, but it is very soothing and inspirational as well. Anyway, we knew that the ladies who spoke in the ceremony knew where the photos were so we headed back down to ask. One of them had thought maybe it was on the 3rd or 5th floor so we split up and looked and looked. Finally, we found the gal in charge and she knew just where they were placed...they were on the second floor-just up the main staircase and not in the waiting area per se:








Ta-da! They were blown up and beautiful! Tim had made a joke when we couldn't find them that they were probably in some bathroom which I quickly poo-pooed (pun intended) to let him know what an honor it would be for your pictures to be in such a public area...tons of people will use these bahrooms!!! Isn't it cool?

So we had to have some fun with it:







SO much fun!!!

It was such a neat event and they really made us feel special and we could go pretty much ANYWHERE within the building with pretty much nothing off limits. We really saw a lot of the 2nd floor. I recognized 2 other names on the poster including a local pediatrician and my coworker Selina's husband Dan, who is a very talented photographer. Incidentially, they are on a very special vacation in Selina's home country, Austailia! We'll be working at Clarian Arnett together this fall.

Anyway, we shot a few more pics before leaving:




And then we headed to Castleton Mall:







Tim poked fun and said I must think I'm a photographer now...course on the way down, I swear while driving he thinks he's a Nascar driver-so, whatever.

The mall was awesome and we found the most amazing deals on kids clothes at Sears! Like seriously, $90 for 29 items!!! Jeans for $3 and $4!!! Plus, Sears already has the best garauntee ever with kids clothes -so if they wear out before the grow out, they'll replace them for FREE! Then I got t0 go to one of my fav stores, White Barn (a division of Bath and Body)~more great deals there, of course!

Oh, I almost forgot...I even had to perform first aid at Sears: please note-while paying for your large purchase, do NOT allow your husband to distract the kids on escalators. TJ nearly ripped his toe off...he has about half a toenail left-but he was a trooper even in the midst of the blood and pain. Thanks Tim, you always keep it interesting;-).

And finally, we headed home:




These truly are days to remember. A special thanks to my family for taking me to feel so honored today;-)