Orange Tic Tacs

I took this photo months ago. I had planned to tell the story of our family tic tac tradition, but Ashley beat me to it! From the time that Jay and Ashley were very little, orange tic tacs were in their Christmas stockings and Easter baskets. They were a favorite of their dad's. Even after the divorce, I continued the tradition. They seemed to look forward to that predictable treasure in their stockings or baskets. When they went to visit their dad for a weekend or longer period of time, I would occasionally slip tic tacs into the bottom of their bag. When Ashley went on church service trips, I would put the tic tacs in her bag secretly as I would load it into the car or unload it at the church or airport. When they left for college there were tic tacs. When they would bring laundry home it would go back to the dorms with some tic tacs from time to time...always slipped in quietly. I am sure that they saw me sometimes, or heard the familiar sound in their bags, but they never mentioned it. Recently when Ashley and Travis visited, I slipped tic tacs into her bag when she was out of the room. It was this container of tic tacs that I photographed. (Not very creatively!) I was surprised to find that she photographed the same container of tic tacs and added them to her blog with the story a couple of weeks later. Her photograph is much more creative and inspiring! The photograph was partially for a contest submission that asked for an object that inspires. This week the contest announced the five finalists and Ashley's photo and story were selected as a finalist! How exciting. You can check out the contest at http://www.merakohblog.com/ You can even vote if you like, but most importantly, I just wanted to share her accomplishment. I am very proud of her and her courage to develop her passion for photography!