let’s wrap up summer…
July 19, 2010 | Filed Under events | Leave a Comment
new orleans | mardi gras 2010
March 9, 2010 | Filed Under events, travels | 1 Comment
i’ve been to new orleans many times when i was younger but never for mardi gras….until this year. it was everything i had been told it would be; pure chaos. here are just a few images from the trip.
a couple of the images are from my point-n-shoot camera because i was afraid to take my big rig into the drunken debauchery at night. please excuse their poor quality.
the infamous bourbon street…
that’s me…in the middle: (not really)
i thought this was so sweet…
waiting patiently for his beignets at cafe du monde…
i think the 5 millionth bead necklace was thrown from this float…
this should be a wedding cake…
i love this picture…
red hills horse trials 2010
March 7, 2010 | Filed Under events | Leave a Comment
red hills horse trials is an annual (with the exception of last year) 3 day equestrian event taking place in tallahassee, florida. i look forward to it every year because to me, its a marker for the change of the season. i love the weather, the people, the horses, the events and the exhibitors,but most of all…i love the funnel cake! 
day one is dressage which i missed but i got to enjoy the perfect springy weather on saturday and sunday. saturday was cross country racing and today was stadium jumping. here are a few shots from this weekend:
one of my favorite spectators…
i think i’ll be a volunteer next year so i can sport around on one of these…
i love detail shots…
julie + kyle | the surprise wedding
February 12, 2010 | Filed Under events, weddings | 1 Comment
julie and kyle’s wedding day is an interesting story. they surprised their friends when they all arrived for the “wine-tasting party”. more images to come.
extreme makeover | tallahassee
April 13, 2009 | Filed Under events | 7 Comments
i am sure most of you are aware of how the wonderful tallahassee community pulled together and helped give the kadzis family a new home along with extreme makeover: home edition. the show aired last night and although i have watched the program a few times, there was such a connection to this family that i could not stop sobbing; they are strong and beautiful! mary beth from mary beth tyson photography and i volunteered to spend some time with the family on “door knock” day and also visit with them for portraits at their beach rental. Here’s a slideshow with some of my images from those days:
it was an honor and a privilege to work with EMHE and the kadzis family!
red elephant gives to broken hearts of the big bend
March 18, 2009 | Filed Under events | Leave a Comment
how about dinner out on April 14th at The Red Elephant
and here are a couple of images of the most recent AHA event here in tallahassee, the 2009 heart ball:
Chairpersons: Randy and Jerri Hanna
Mayor John Marks and wife, Jane
tallahassee extreme makeover: home edition air date
March 12, 2009 | Filed Under events | Leave a Comment
the show that took tallahassee by storm at the end of february and changed the lives of the kadzis family has been upgraded to a 2 hour special and will be airing on Sunday, April 12, 2009 @ 8pm EST
grab your tissue and tune in. their story is amazing and heart rending.
again i must say what a special honor it was to get to know this family. thanks to susan stripling for the referral and to mary beth tyson, it was great working with you!
2009 leon county heart ball
March 5, 2009 | Filed Under events, personal | 1 Comment
you may remember me blogging back in october when i participated in the heart walk festivities at tom brown park. this friday i get to participate again at AHA’s annual heart ball. the proceeds from this shindig benefit the american heart association and the research and programs they offer.
mostly i want to share a letter from my sister that she sent out to all of her friends, family and coworkers telling the story of the last 7 years with her amazing daughter and the struggles they have been through and the hurdles they have leapt. and if you can come out to the heart ball, come! if not, consider sending a donation to…
American Heart Association
Greater Southeast Affiliate
ATTN: KIM ROOKS
2851 Remington Green Circle
Suite C
Tallahassee, FL 32308
From: kim.rooks@heart.org
Subject: My daughter, Taylor Madison
Good evening! Some of you may have heard me talk about my daughter so I wanted to give you all an update, but here is a little bit of her history and what’s to come.
Seven years ago last Wednesday, a miracle came into our lives, Taylor Madison. Life changed completely, and for the better. If someone had told me back then that Taylor would need nine heart surgeries by the time she was 3, I would have fallen apart and said there was no way I would be able to handle anything like that. After she was born, I wondered how I would manage to go on with life if I lost her. But God was watching over her.
We knew Taylor would need at least one, major open-heart surgery to repair her many, complicated problems. We never dreamed she would have to have nine surgeries by the age of 3. She was born with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries, which includes not only transposed arteries but ventricular inversion, too. She also had a ventricular septal defect and complete heart block. Outside the womb, Taylor’s heart was 60.
Born at Shands Children’s Hospital, Taylor needed an operation that few pediatric heart centers were capable of doing. One Florida hospital offered a palliative procedure that would keep her going until she could have a transplant. Children’s Hospital Boston said it could perform a relatively new, but promising procedure called the double-arterial switch, which would not just be a hold-over until transplant, but a correction that would allow Taylor to live a normal life. We chose Boston and Taylor was the 29th patient to undergo the double-switch procedure at Boston.Taylor’s procedures did not always go well. At times, it seemed as though Taylor couldn’t get a break — she would go into the operating room to correct one problem and come out with another one. She suffered from life-threatening infections and pleural effusion. Complications from her surgeries left her with no function in her left ventricle. We often wondered if she would even survive, and if she did, how would all those surgeries affect her physical and mental development. But Taylor is a fighter. She survived every surgery and every hurdle in front of her. She has thrived, physically and developmentally. She is an extremely bright, exhaustingly active, incredibly independent and captivating little girl.
Watching her on her 7th birthday was a miracle, and I feel blessed that God has given Robin and me this precious gift. All birthdays are special, but the birthdays of heart children are especially remarkable and wonderful.
Now, after several years with no invasive procedures, we must prepare for Taylor to undergo surgery to replace a pacemaker lead to her heart and to replace the pacemaker itself. Pacemakers work off generators, “batteries”, and Taylor’s pacer batteries are due to run out in the next six months. It’s been such a blessed and peaceful few years. It’s very hard, knowing she will go into the operating room again. Her surgery is scheduled for March 30th at Wolfson’s Childrens Hospital in Jacksonville at 12:30. Maggie Bartlett has offered to let us stay at her house while we are in Jacksonville. She ROCKS…THANK YOU MAGGIE!!!! Children are so sweet and unknowing, it’s difficult to watch any child undergo such grueling procedures. While I know in my head that pacemaker procedures should be routine, I simply cannot forget how hard Taylor’s previous pacemaker surgeries have been, and I worry and I’m afraid. But I also believe and have faith that she will come through this well. She will bounce back like never before. This will be Taylor’s 6th pacemaker and her 10th surgery.
I know that God has a plan for Taylor, and all his heart children. We may not understand what his plan is, but our special children are here with us for a reason. Taylor is an inspiration to me because of everything she has been through, because she has fought so hard to be here with us. She is an incredible child and even though I think she acts like her father, everyone else tells me she acts just like me. And if that really is the case, all I can tell you is: Look out, world!
To all of my co-workers: I want this to be an inspiring message for you. I know fundraising is not easy with the economy but the money your events raise helps save children’s lives too! Research saved Taylor’s life and from having a heart transplant at 3 years old. Please continue doing a great job and if you get frustrated just think of the children and adult lives that AHA has saved.
Have a great day!!!
Kim Rooks
Assistant Director/Executive Assistant
American Heart Association
extreme makeover home edition | tallahassee
February 25, 2009 | Filed Under events, personal | 2 Comments
although i am not much of a television girl, i had heard of abc’s extreme makeover home edition on the wind. it especially hit my radar back in january when cliff mautner and susan stripling took portraits of the girard family to fill the halls and nooks and crannies of their new home in connecticut.
i began to watch the show reruns regularly realizing what an amazing impact this ty pennington and his crew were having on people’s lives; so many of these stories tragic and heart rending.
when it was known that extreme makeover home edition would be coming to tallahassee and with susan’s referral, it became mine and mary beth tyson’s honor to work with the kadzis family to create some of their own family art for the walls being raised for them by the EMHE crew and myddelton parker builders.
thank you susan, extreme makeover, and mary beth for such a wonderful, life changing experience. the time spent with the kadzis’ strength and courage will be with me forever.
photographs coming soon as the show is to air in ~5weeks. in the mean time…catch extreme makeover home edition sundays 8/7c on ABC!
heart walk | american heart association
October 19, 2008 | Filed Under events | Leave a Comment
i had the honor of working with the american heart association saturday during the annual start! heart walk.
the broken hearts of the big bend is a “circle of support for families affected by congenital heart defects” in the north florida area. during the heart walk festivities, they had a photo area where i took pictures of the team members that had volunteered to walk and raise funds for heart disease research.
here is team tpd…
i would like to introduce my niece taylor who was born with such extensive heart defects, it is difficult to understand or explain….
her left and right arteries were switched, there was a hole between the chambers causing the blue and red blood to mix, she had a defective valve and there was no electricity flowing through the bottom half of her heart requiring a pacemaker. she has had about 9 surgeries, 3 or which were open heart. she has already had several pacemakers and will probably require a new one next year because she outgrows them quickly. her case is being studied and the funds raised from events such as this help further educate the people who have saved her life.
