And tears are welling up.

Yup.

That’s me, right now.

From hilarious to annoyed, JUST LIKE THAT.

With me.
In my head.
In my life.
Really.
I want to complain.

Everything is going to shit.
Sure, our summer was great and our family is amazing but….
Our house is a disaster.
Everyday is not an Apartment Therapy House Tour.
Dishes need to be washed.
Clothes need to be put away.
And it is never quiet here anymore.

Living in a neighborhood is hard.
Especially when your neighbors are 10 feet away.
You can HEAR everything.

Unfortunately, our neighbors are DJ’s.
Yeah, that’s right – hip hop techno fucking DJ’s.

MY WORST NIGHTMARE.
I feel like I’m still an RA.

We’ve been dealing with this for the past four years.
Knocking on their door at 11 pm or 1 am asking them to please, TURN IT DOWN.

They actually have gotten A LOT better about this and it has been way more tolerable. Victory!

Then their are the new neighbors across the street.
Who on nice days and nice nights enjoy BLASTING heavy metal in their backyard — you know, while they do yard work or have a fire, while everyone else is also enjoying the nice weather.
Who gave them the right to choose the music WE ALL HAVE TO LISTEN TO?

I’m sure it sounds nice FOR THEM.
But when I can actually hear lyrics across the street, in my backyard, it’s not so nice for me.

Then we’ve got Curly and Mo – yippy dippy dogs that BARK ALL DAY at anything that moves.
Cats, squirrels, leaves, grass, cars, people, birds, bees, THE WIND.

You might remember them from this little pre-homeownership vid:

oh god from Anne Ingman on Vimeo.

I know I know. We work from home. We have to deal.

But we don’t play loud music, and if Judy barks we pull her inside right away.
We try to be incredibly conscientious neighbors.
I mean, I was an RA in college.

Well, I am about to hit my breaking point.

Because now we have CHICKENS on our block, and holy shit they SQUAWK.
Did you know that chickens squawk??
I didn’t, so when they came around and asked me to sign off on them getting baby chicks I was like, “Sure!”
I mean, all I heard was baby chicks, and who doesn’t like baby chicks??

Well, baby chicks grow up to be full grown chickens!
WHO SQUAWK.
And it is the most awful sound.
I am so over urban chickens.

**Disclaimer: These are all things that test my patience and help me to become a better person — Jake made me type that.**

Everything is falling apart around me.
I feel like I can’t keep up with the house, or work, and now it will never be quiet in our house again.

I just want to move and have some SPACE between — well, everything.
Don’t get me wrong, I love people and animals and music, but I hate annoying sounds that I can’t control.

Like bass music that comes through the houses, and heavy metal from backyards, and yippy dogs in the alley, and fucking chickens that squawk.

**Whew, that feels better. Thanks for reading. You can judge me now if you want, no worries, I can take it. I judge myself all the time.**

I’m happy as a clam.

And Jake, well, he is a bit stressed out.

And do it all, at once?

The jury is still out on that point, but here’s hoping we can.

Maybe not all perfectly — but doesn’t everyone say perfection is overrated?

Here’s to trying.

Trying to do it all.

At once.

And not all perfectly!

On Sunday I was shooting a wedding reception at Theodore Wirth Chalet in Nouth Minneapolis and had one of the most traumatic experiences of my life.

Basically, I was in a tornado.

Well, not exactly in it, but I could practically touch it. And I saw it coming right towards me.

I was in the Theodore Wirth Chalet, a local Blue Grass band is playing, bride and groom are dancing, and family and friends are dancing.

I am standing in the open doorway (because that is a wide open light source and I want to be in control of that area :), after shooting some dance photos I decide to turn around — and look outside.

All day the weather had been crazy — cloudy with powerful downpours of rain, then it would stop and was just normal cloudy and overcast.

As I am turned around, I looked up to see what I think are, birds. I think to myself, “That is strange, those birds look weird.” — I say to the guys next to me, “Look at those birds. Don’t they look strange? They are really high up.”

THEN (maybe a second later) I see what looks like a rectangle swirling around 1000 feet up, and I think to myself, “Wait, birds aren’t rectangular! That is NOT a bird. Is that stuff? Is that a THING???”  And then I say it all OUT LOUD, “That is STUFF. Is that a tornado? THAT IS A TORNADO.”

Random, quick thoughts inside my head, “Why am I just finding out about this right now? It is going to hit us? It really is going to hit us. What is it going to feel like when it hits us?”

I seriously thought the tornado was going to hit us and I couldn’t believe it.

No sirens. No warning. No one telling me to find safety.

Just Blue Grass playing and people dancing.

I turn around, and in that split second I see the fear on the faces of the guests, as they realize what is right outside.

And then the power goes OUT.

It is now crazy pouring outside and I am now officially scared.

Totally and completely freaked out.

I hear people saying “go to the basement” so I grab my camera bag and apparently in the second it took for me to grab my bag — everyone is already in the basement.

I suddenly feel very very alone.

Luckily I’m not – it’s just the groom, the guy that was standing next to me in the doorway, and me, and then I start to cry.

Because I am scared.

The groom is super sweet and grabs my hand and tells me it is going to be okay.

I believe him and we head to the basement.

I give Jake and very quick frantic call and tell him that I just saw a tornado and we are in the basement. I am shaking.

This tornado, that I saw with my very own eyes, ripped through North Minneapolis killing at least 2 people, tore the roofs off houses, took down many huge trees, and smashed countless cars.

I saw it. It was powerful. It was strong.

And it was so scary.

I can still replay the images and hear my thoughts over and over in my head.

It was so bizarre to be that close to it. So freakin’ CRAZY!

But I feel very lucky to be safe and that everyone in the Chalet was fine.

Mother Nature is one tough cookie!

To help support the rebuild efforts in my friends Kai and Tia’s North Minneapolis neighborhood please check out the very cool t-shirt they designed and organized as a fundraiser.

Pizza on the Farm is one of my favorite places to visit with my friends!

And, yes, we did technically “cheat” and enjoyed our pizza on a Tuesday (a non-cheat day). But we are okay with this because we aren’t going to stop living. We are thinking different about what we eat and making better choices and that is what matters most. All the ingredients used to make these delicious pizzas are organic, locally grown, raised, or harvested — which makes us feel really great about supporting this farm and makes it totally worth the “cheat”!!

Saw a fox tail in a tree.

Anyway, now I have a cold because I let down my defenses. I stayed up too late, I had too many pieces of pie, cocktails, and I didn’t get enough rest. Sinus pressure nasal congestion and I don’t like it. But Jake’s at Mississippi Market getting me some soup. Judy got a bath so I let her up on the bed to nap with me. I’ll get better soon. I have things to do. Like the house to clean and the tree to put up and the holiday party to plan.