The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Greenhorn Gardener

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    Ruth Carter

    The beginning of my patio vegetable garden
    The beginning of my patio vegetable garden

    I started a little patio vegetable garden in flower pots about a week ago. I thought it would be fun to try to grow some of my own food.

    My expectations for this project are very low. Remember, I’m the person who killed a cactus.

    I’m having so much fun with this science project. Every morning when I wake up and every afternoon when I get home from work, I’m like a kid on Christmas morning. One of the first things I do is open the blinds to the patio to see if I have new growth on my plants. I’ll stand there for minutes observing the taller talks and emerging leaves. NEAT STUFF!

    A few days ago, I had just woken up and in my pre-coffee stupor, I was so excited to get out to my mini garden that I walked straight into the screen door instead of opening it first. That’s how much I love this garden.

    I have 6 flower pots in my patio garden. So far I’ve planted cucumbers, beans, and broccoli. The peas and parsley will be planted in a few weeks. The seed packets said there should be sprouts within 7-14 days. I had sprouts within 3 days on the cucumbers. I was filled with glee to see this project off to a good start.

    Every day I see new growth. The beans and cucumbers are doing well. The broccoli . . . eh, we’ll see what happens. I was warned growing broccoli from seeds is challenging.

    One of the things I’m enjoying most about this garden is the lack of expectations and wonder that goes along with it. Besides providing water, quality soil, and placing the pots in sunlight, there’s nothing I can do to impact the results. Either they’ll grow or not – and since all of this is new for me, it’s exciting to see the progress. And since they’re such tiny plants, there’s a noticeable difference every few hours.

    Yup – I’m a big dork who loves her garden.

  • Day 35/90 – Bodyscaping Photography

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 35 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I got to do a photoshoot with Ben Stadler-Ammon, including some bodyscaping work.

    I have friends who are amazing photographers. They’ve shot amazing photos of me over the years at Ignite Phoenix and doing flash mobs with Improv AZ. At the last Ignite Phoenix event, Ben asked if I’d be interested in doing a photo shoot with him. I jumped at the chance.

    One of the types of photo work Ben does is called bodyscaping. It’s a type of photography that is usually in black and white that focuses on shapes made with lighting and the curves of the body. (Yes, since this type of art focuses on the body, the photographer needs to see your body; therefore, most bodyscaping is done in the nude. And in case you were wondering, when you’re working with a professional photographer – like Ben – there’s nothing sexual about the shoot. It’s just about taking beautiful photos.) When done well, the resulting photos are absolutely gorgeous. Ben does an excellent job of capturing your best angles and making your eyes sparkle. We met for a shoot a few weeks ago and it was so much fun – and the photos were beautiful. Here’s my favorite one from that shoot:

    Gorgeous Photo by Ben Stadler-Ammon, June 13, 2015
    Gorgeous Photo by Ben Stadler-Ammon, June 13, 2015

    We did another shoot today. What made this one special was my friend and fellow model Sara Santiago was there to do some modeling and also learn about taking these types of photos to better understand how to take a good photo. It gave me a chance to learn about what makes a good photo and I got to take some shots with her so I got to see another artist’s perspective. Working with her was different because since this was her first time shooting, setting up shots took longer, which presented me with the challenge of holding still longer.

    Here’s something no one tells you about modeling – the most beautiful pictures involve contorting your body into poses that no normal person would use in their daily life. There’s a lot of twisting, back arching, and leaning in ways that no one does naturally. It’s funny at the time and the pictures that come from it are fantastic.

    Ben did some “organic” photos of me today too – just me being me. I can’t wait to see the results.

    In case you missed it: Day 34 of the 90 Days of Awesome – I finally hung my wall art.

  • Day 20/90 – I Love to Ride my Bike

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 20 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? Riding my bike!

    New bike pic
    I love my bike.

    I love to ride my bike. It gets me where I need to go. It’s a good workout. And looking at the world at bike-speed gives me a much more complete picture of each neighborhood than when I’m driving.

    This morning, I jumped on my bike and rode to the library to return and check out DVDs. When I’m not going that far and if I have the time, I’d rather bike than drive to my destination. I feel so much more free when I ride. I love the feeling of wind whipping past me as I zip along. It also make me feel like I’m more connected with my surroundings compared to when I’m closed up in my car with air conditioning and the radio blaring.

    My quads could tell that it’s been awhile since I’ve done a ride but they settled in after the first mile. Today’s ride was 6 miles round trip. It was a gorgeous way to start the day. Every time I ride it makes me think that I should ride more and look into biking to work and training for an all-day ride.

    I need to ride more often.

    In case you missed it: Day 19 of the 90 Days of Awesome – Lunch with Julia!