3 months into the , "Journey of JOY"!

Hi all,
As of November 7th, I have been a resident of Sedona, AZ for 3 months!  What a fun, exciting, challenging and awesome time it has been and will continue to be!  At SFS, (Sedona Film School), we are now doing 2 week cycles.  In my previous post I discussed 1 week cycles.  We will begin our 3rd-2 week cycle Tuesday of next week.  What is a 2 week cycle you ask, and how is it different from the one week cycles?  We now are working as a whole production crew, the whole class, all 11 of us!  3 producers, 3 directors, 3 camera and 2 sound people!  You can just imagine the fun!  Lots of egos, lots of creativity, lots of learning to get along, compromise, listen and learn to really just stay in whatever role you are supposed to be in.  You see, camera person sometimes wants to direct, director sometimes wants to be camera.... well you get the picture, HAHA!  All in all it is a blast!!!  The first 2 week cycle we produced a doc. about the Llowell Observatory in Flagstaff.  The one we just finished shooting is about the existence of Lemurians, Crystal City and a secret military base in Sedona!  Our next adventure will be to produce a wildlife doc.  where we will be traveling to the nearby city of Cottonwood to "Out of Africa" and creating a doc. with minimal narration if any, using mostly visuals and music.  I am really looking forward to it!  I am currently in Scottsdale, AZ at some dear friends home where they are so graciously watching Charlie Joe for me over the wknd , while I travel to Boston.  I will be attending, "Loss to Launch", a workshop on coping with and healing grief!  I experienced an online and phone grief support group a few months ago, and now I will meet lots of the people in person!  I am very excited!  My latest hike in Sedona was at Fay Canyon and WOW< what breathtaking views!  Loving life, appreciating each and every moment the creator has gifted me with! Until next time, take care, love one another and ENJOY the JOURNEY!

2 Months into the Journey!

Hello all,

I have been here in Sedona, AZ almost 2 months now!  Attending film school has been quite the experience! I have been DP twice (Director of Photography), Director once, Producer once and Sound once.  For four weeks we took turns in small groups of 4 students playing each role.  On Mondays in class we watched movies and did film analysis.  Tues we pitched an idea for a short film, discussed with our group and picked one to produce.  Wednesdays were production days, another words go out with all the equipement, camera, lights, microphones and make a documentary!  Thursdays was watch raw footage day and Friday we watch each others DVD's of the previous week and give feedback to one another.  What a wonderful, awesome and sometimes overwhelming task.  I am loving it!  I am learning how to edit with Premier Pro on a Mac computer.  Other than school keeping me pretty busy, I have also joined a gym and try to get over there at least 3 times a week.  Charlie Jo is my constant companion, thank goodness!  I have been on a couple hikes in the gorgeous red rocks.  I am becoming more and more comfortable here in Gods country, Sedona, AZ!

I miss my Ralph terribly and feel his spirit here with me always, guiding me, lighting the way and loving me!  His picture sits on my "alter", a sacred space where I have gifts from nature, redwood, rocks, pine cones and such.  Also I have a gorgeous picture of a sunset over Lake Huron that Ralph took during our Lighthouse Keeper experience May 2011.  I will keep you posted as often as possible.