Phoenix Rising: The Story of a Vermont Woman's Journey to Freedom

  It's been 2 weeks since I sent in my PASS application. I haven't heard anything yet. I am trying not to be anxious, but that is hard. So to keep my mind busy I have been going out to places that I have never been before. I certainly did not have the confidence I do now. I have been going on more back roads and stopping in places I wouldn't normally go. I was always told NOT to go places. I was fed fear morning, noon and night. Now that I have decided to live my life for myself and now that I have been through so much in the past 6 years I have gotten a lot braver. I don't care what people have to say when I'm on the side of the road. I have been traveling around so I can get comfortable for when I do some real traveling across America. Hopefully that will happen this year, but that's ok as long as I can do it by next year.  I have a rather big photoshoot in the mild of June. I will be doing several types of photography in Proctorsville, Vt. I will be doing a p

A lot of people ask me what I do when I'm not going out and shooting. I not only do photography, but I also donate my time helping the homeless and the elderly. When I'm not doing those I end up a great deal of time giving impromptu animal training lessons. They happen everywhere all the time. I'm also an animal rehabilitator. Not so much right now, but I do rescue animals I find in trouble out in the wild or move dead animals out of the road. I also am an avid bird watcher and have a profile on ebird.org I have been doing that for the past couple of years. I always carry a notebook with me and I write down all the birds I have seen and I try to get as many photos as I can. Bird watching has become a very great release for me. A way to wind down or if I'm not feeling well I will pack up a lunch, grab my chair and I will count birds all day. Or I will travel around in a certain area and do the same thing.  I do have a couple of places that I love to go and just sit and r

  One of my favorite things to do with photography is the traveling. Now that I'm not taking care of my parents and my daughter is all grown up I miss the chaotic running around I used to do. On an average day when I was working on three farms, taking care of both my parents who lived thirty miles I would put on about 100 to 250 miles a day from dawn till dusk. Now that I'm alone with just Caera and Little Bean I have learned to enjoy driving. Living in Vermont you can take your time. You don't need to rush. And there are always places you where you can pull over to let someone by.  Living in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont there is so much to see. It's almost like there is a photo opportunity around every corner. Today I went to Comerford Dam in Lower Waterford, Vermont. I was going to go to a different place this morning, but it was busy and I really wanted some quite time. So Comerford it was. It was amazing because I happened to pull up to one of my favorite places

 I know it's been since February since I have written on my blog. Well! That's because I have been super busy. I finished up with my grant through Vocational Rehabilitation and it was approved!!! I was able to buy a car and I got my business established with the state of Vermont. So as of earlier this week the Sierra St. Francis Mobile Photography Studio is up and running. With my grant money from Voc Rehab I was able to get a 10x15 tent and a lighting kit. I am currently working on the PASS program with Social Security. Here is a link on it if you are interested in knowing what it's all about. It is such a great program. https://www.ssa.gov/disabilityresearch/wi/pass.htm Since getting my car you would think I would be out everyday, BUT I don't want to run up the mileage on my car because I plan on getting an SUV or a Pick Up so I will be able to pull my trailer around. That is the next step when I get accepted into the PASS program. I had to create a "shopping lis

  Whether you believe in a higher power or not, when you are in the bubble of a pure soul you can be over come with emotion. Caera is literally an Angel on Earth.. When we got Caera I didn't even want her. I was done having dogs. I have been without my boxer Brandy that I had for 10 years and then I had to give my little Jack Russell mix to my mom so he wouldn't be euthanized. I was so busy at that point in our lives that I didn't feel I had the time or energy to train a puppy. My daughter just graduated the 8th grade. She really wanted a dog. Her best friend's family golden retrieverjust had a litter of 10 puppies. I was completely against it and we couldn't afford them anyway. But my daughter was bound and determined to have a puppy. I told her that if she saved all of her summer job money then I would try to get the other part of it for her. So my daughter worked her butt off and by the end of the summer she had half of what we needed. It didn't look like we

 In this story you will meet the many people I have been working with for the past two years. Some of these folks have either passed away or moved on. You will see photos of my dog Caera with her patrons and my rescue kitten turning therapy cat work her magic as well. I have been a caretaker my whole life. I was raised on a farm in Lyndonville, Vermont and then became a horse trainer that then took up photography. For 17 years I took care of my father who was schizophrenic. Not only did I take care of him, but I was also at the time a single mother. I was working my own animal training business working with everything from wild animals to all sorts of barn animals. I work with Positive Reinforcement Training and Clicker Training. I have been training animals for 40yrs. I still work with animals on a part time emergency basis. My main goal with animal training is working with my dog and cat. I was also working up to 3 farms at a time with all different size of animal on their farms. I w