Colleen

My name is Colleen and I am a proud single mom of 3 amazing children. I am
31 years old and I live in the beautiful city of Lake Elmo, MN.

My hobbies are; photography, going to drive in movies, thrift store shopping
& spending as much time as I can with my 4 year old before she starts full
time kindergarten next year.

I look forward to adding my creativity to Envisage as one of the 84 women.

Ghada

Name: Ghada V
Bio:
I am a KiwiCanadian mother of one nearly terrific two year old boy who
will feature in many a photo, he never ceases to amaze me. Married to
my equally terrific best friend.
I am a Creative Online Marketing Strategist, Writer, Blogger, Online
Community Manager, I ♥ Wordpress, Gadget Enthusiast.
Bikram Yoga, Spinning and Travel keep me sane.
Listening to music and singing keep my soul light.
I look forward to sharing my photos with you.

Bianca

My name is Bianca and this is my second year of Envisage. Unfortunately,
due to a handful of life's little dramas, I was unable to complete year one.

I am 33 years old, separated for 6 months, and the proud mother of a six
year old Boxer named Heap. I have managed and done all of the buying for a
surf shop in Ocean City, MD for the past 14 years. The 2 brothers I work
for, along with the handful of other employees at the store are like my
second family. I'm pretty sure I have the coolest and most fun job ever,
and I wouldn't change it for the world!
Since my separation in February, I have come to realize I am back to the
"old Bianca". Those that knew me before I was with my soon to be ex are
amazed at how I have bounced back from this adversity. I hate to admit I
had changed, but being on the outside looking in, I see now that I had
become a shell of my former self. The feeling of independence and
self-reliance is like a breath of fresh air!
I'm curious to find out if those that new me from the beginning of
Envisage 1 will be able to see a difference in the things I take pictures
of!
I'm super excited to see there are so many new faces and so many
returning faces. I'm also glad to see a few friendly faces that are new to
Envisage, but that I know from elsewhere across the net!

Gracie

Gracie is a mom of five, a poet, a writer, a reader, a teacher's aide and
kind of scatterbrained. She moved 2 days before the beginning of this blog
and is trying to find sanity amongst the boxes. Her Bio pic just happens to
be her favorite picture she's ever taken.

Carrie

My name is Carrie and I am a 40-something mother, wife, part-time model and
Certified Medical Assistant living in southeastern Michigan, approximately
40 minutes outside of Detroit.

I have five boys (one a stepson and one an angel-baby) that keep me hoppin',
that range in age from 12 to 20, and an incredible husband who works as an
Electrical Engineer in the (eek!) automotive industry. We also have an
awesome black and white, purebred Shih Tzu named "Oreo Cookie". Well, his
name is really "Oreo", but I added "Cookie" and he answers to both.
Actually, he answers to anything as long as you have food in your hand. Oh,
and he's dangerous as there is a high probability that he will either lick
you to death or smother your lap.

I'm a certified SCUBA diver and an awesome snowboarder (hey, I can swoosh
down a black diamond and the only bone I've broken so far is my elbow!),
mountain biker, fanatical boater (we own a *giggle* yacht) and I am
currently the passenger on hubby's Kawasaki Ninja. Which will be mine next
summer. Something about having to learn how to drive it first. Details!

I can guarantee you that you will be seeing a lot of pictures of flowers,
Oreo, and our boat. The rest will be a surprise. To you AND to me!

Gaylynn

Hi! My name is Gaylynn and I'm thrilled to be a part of the Envisage
project. I have followed the project over the last month and have been
amazed at the photos and stories - some have made me laugh; others have
almost moved me to tears. But I love the project because I think it
encourages us to see the world in a whole new way.

I'm 52 years old, divorced, 3 kids - 2 grown sons with daughters of their
own, and a daughter that is a freshman in college. I also have 2 more
grandchildren on the way. I have lived in the area around Austin, Texas for
22 years. And Andrea (also in the project) is my sister!

Over the next few days, I will catch up with everyone and share more about
myself.

Ronda

i am ronda and live outside of atlanta, georgia with my husband and 2 kids.
i am a nanny for 2 more kids. so my days are filled with kids. and most of
my pictures will be filled with these kids!! i am addicted to coffee,
couldn't live without it with all of those kids! i do not like to cook, but
enjoying baking, sometimes. i have an art degree, but i am a painter, not
really a photographer. our family enjoys camping and hiking, generally just
playing outside! this is my second year of envisage.

Syene

Wow, here I am already a few years into my second half of a century! I love
being this age. I am inspired by so many
wise and wonderful women who are thriving as they mature and, of course,
younger people as well. This will be an interesting
year for me as I have very recently relocated to Vacaville in Northern
California after living in Pennsylvania all of my life.
There is so much to explore here in
CA and the Envisage project will be a great way to share my discoveries.

My real name is Barbara but online friends know me as Syene, my long
time internet nickname. I enjoy
socializing online, playing about in virtual worlds, photography,
music, good books, excellent movies and making art.
I am setting up my small
art studio in a little apartment that I share with my partner Michael
who uses his half as a shop for
his piano servicing business. We also share our living space with my kitty,
Niki, who moved here from Pennsylvania, too!

I am so glad to be here moving forward into a new year with all of you!

Dannette

Dannette Bourne is a 24 year old graduate student studying for her masters
in school counseling. Tempted to ask "what spare time?" when she's not
studying or playing with her nephew Xavier (many, many pictures this year
will have him in it), she likes to laugh, sing, embroider (yes, embroider)
and write (poetry, a newly brain-child'ed script, and is currently working
on a novel).

Erica

I'm Erica, and this will be my second year participating in Envisage. The
first year was a wonderful experience, and I've come to think of many of
those ladies as friends, even though I've never actually met them. I'm
looking forward to year two, and especially so because my daughter Hayley is
participating along with me this year.

I'm a mom of five by day (two I birthed and three stepkids) and an ER nurse
by night. I'm happily engaged to a wonderful man who's charming, funny, and
smart, and a paramedic (and yes, we met at work) - and I only occasionally
want to donk him on the head. Together we've had a tumultuous three years,
and life is finally starting to settle down for us and hint at some
semblance of normalcy.

I'm a writer and an editor on the side, time permitting, and I love to ride
on the back of my sweetie's Harley and cook and bake and read and dabble in
photography.

I never have enough time or enough money, and I've almost come to terms with
the fact that it'll always be that way. I'm happy with myself, mostly, and I
try to live my life so I have no regrets. I hope you enjoy this window into
my crazy world.

Marie

Hello, I'm Marie. Mom to 5, wife to Shawn of 7 years. Life is full of chaos
and disorder. The last year has shown us challenges I wouldn't wish on
anyone. Here's to hoping the next 365 days are better than the previous.

RobinTwo

Hi Ladies, I'm Robin. I'm 39 years old and live in Middleville Michigan. I work as a Protection Services officer for Steelcase Inc. My job is in a dispatch center where I answer phones, monitor alarm systems and cameras. I do this 3rd shift which makes for some pretty long nights. I've been married and divorced twice and am currently in a 3 year relationship with my boyfriend Tim. In addition to Tim, the relationship also consists of his two boys Jake 12 and Kole 8. I don't have, children of my own, so having these two in my life has been a real learning experience. I'm very fortunate that they are really good kids. At this point in my life, I am really enjoying myself and feel very fortunate to have what I do. My health, a nice home, good job, wonderful girlie friends and a few great family members. What more can I ask for?

Nicole

Hi, I'm Nicole (also from Envisage 1.0) and I absolutely hate writing these
things so I will try to keep this short and sweet! Well, short anyway.

I am 28 very soon going on 29, and I live in London (UK). I am originally
from Northern Virginia just outside of Washington, DC, and moved to London
in 2004. Although I have always loved being in Europe I wouldn't exactly say
it was love at first sight for London and me - everything they say about the
weather is true!! - however it has its good sides and I still find myself
here 5 years later. I have no idea how long I will stay or where I will be
in a few years. No kids or pets though sometimes I wish I was settled enough
to at least have a cat.

I don't have any theme to my photographs, other than the vague guideline
that they be somehow representative of my day. I think this year I may try
to write more to accompany each photo. When I first signed up for Envisage I
thought it might turn out to be a burden but now to quit would leave a huge
hole. I am excited for the next year and that some of the wonderful ladies
from last year are continuing the project. I look forward to seeing
everyone's photos!

Claudia

I don't have many pics of me since I am usually behind the camera. This one
was taken 8/29/09 at Chuck E Cheese. I swear I don't have those wrinkles
under my eyes!!!!!!!

Name: Claudia
Age: 33 years YOUNG
Marital Status: Taken by Ricardo
Offspring: Claudia-Elena 2 year old teenager (or so she thinks)
Location: Southern California (Orange County)
Employment: Full Time, Loan Processor
Nationality: Mexican
Languages: Spanish, English and Spanglish
Loves: Family, Friends, Movies, Music, Shoes, Purses, Shopping, Disneyland,
Tinkerbell
Misses: Grandfathers, Paternal Grandmother, Good ol times when I was a kid
Dislikes: Chocolate (yes you heard that right), Melon, the smell of tires
(Ew)
Likes: The smell of vitamins (a lil weird what can I say), the smell of my
daughter, a child's laughter
Looking forward to making new friends in this project and getting to know
more about my current online friends that are doing this project!

Charissa

Hello everyone! My name is Charissa and i just turned 26 in July. Right
now the hats I wear include girlfriend, sister, daughter, and 4-H leader.
Hopefully as the year goes on I'll be able to add grad student to that
list.

I'm going to keep this bio short for now, as I'm a little preoccupied with
preparing for a two week backpacking trip with my mom. I leave tomorrow
(Aug 22nd) and will get back on September 7th, so I won't have any posts
until then. We both hope this trip will be more than mother/daughter bonding
time, as we are setting aside a lot of time for meditation and yoga. I
can't wait to share more pictures with you as the year goes on, and I'm
excited by what I've seen so far. What an amazing community of women! Take
care and I'll see you all in a few weeks!

Elizabeth

Elizabeth is ambitious, tenacious, a published author, a college graduate, an aspiring graduate student, an avid reader (of fiction and non-fiction, alike), a recovering workaholic of sorts, addicted to her Blackberry, lost without her morning coffee, but is slowly discovering tea, beginning to practice yoga, and is in the never-ending process of trying to determine what she wants/seeks in life.
I'm excited to participate in this project and am looking forward to getting acquainted with everyone!

Becky

"I'm Becky and was a participant in the first Envisage where I really
enjoyed getting a glimpse into the other ladies' lives. I decided to do
this again as the year ahead of me will be filled with change. My older
daughter is leaving in a few weeks to spend the next three months studying
in England, and my younger daughter just started her senior year in high
school. I enjoy baking, blogging, hiking, adult beverages, reading and
Colts football. I live in the Indianapolis area with my girls, my husband
and our two chihuahuas who get way more camera time than any of us humans."

Mary

I recently turned 34 and live nearby Chicago. I like taking photos and
sometimes like the photos that I take. This one is me in the Bean.

I think doing this project will be good for me. I’m not sure yet what the
photos will be. I hope this will be a good year.

Bex

Nickname: Bex (I also answer to Ribs, Reeds, Klutz, Funky, Rebel, and
Mommeeeee, depending on who’s calling.)

Home: South Africa

Age: Well, my body is 35 and my mind is 25… My ID book says I’m 30, though.

Work: Boring topic best left for later or never. Let’s just say I chase
deadlines for a living and dreams in my spare time.

Children: Codenamed Ba for this project, sent just under three-and-a-half
years ago, my first-last-and-only (I’m SURE!) angel, her daddy’s little
princess and mommy’s “mini-me”, a beautiful, sassy, talkative (and terribly
cheeky) little girl.

Marital status: Never married. Never will be!

Love: Boots, blue jeans, poetic license, wild untouched parts of Africa,
driving, fabulous intelligent creative funny people, adventures, shooting
guns, adrenaline, stubble on men’s faces, music, sleeping, traveling…

Hate: Traffic, having my photo taken (even by me!), abuse (directed at
anyone/anything!), taxis, politics, celery, being told what to do, getting
up in the mornings, anything “diet”, “low-fat” or “sugar-free”, washing
dishes, rules…

Personality traits: (I relied here mostly on friends’ comments, so this is
all over the place!) Impatient, stubborn, caring, kind, tomboy, hyper,
generous, loving, straightforward, blunt, rebel, weird, organized, reliable,
flexible, dedicated, perfectionist, random, gorgeous (?!?! Thanks Dodge! My
best friend…), dangerous when crossed, independent…

Pets: A cat called “The Kitten” who lives with my ex (Johnny Bravo for this
blog) on our plot.

Talents: I’m pretty sure I don’t have any. Still, I can cook quite well,
bake acceptably, change a tyre (tire for those from the US) AND a clutch
cable, and I’m handy with screwdrivers and hammers and stuff, and I can sew,
crochet, embroider and knit a little…so I’m not a complete oxygen thief!

The rest: After reading the bios so far, I am even more excited to be
participating. It looks like we have some really amazing women here, and I
look forward to finding out more about everyone and finding part of myself
in the process of sharing.

To be continued…

Nickie

I'm 37 years old (yipes - when did that happen?!) and living in South
Carolina. I haven't decided yet what I want to be when I grow up, but I
recently gave up a job in environmental protection to stay at home with my
son, 2.75 yo, and daughter, 6.5 months.

My favorite color is blue, green and purple (though red, orange and yellow
are nice, too). My favorite food is carbohydrate. My favorite TV show is a
book.

Over the past couple of years, nearly all my photographs have been of my
offspring, but over the upcoming year, I hope to rediscover my love of
nature photography - as well as some other pre-mommy interests.

Oh, and I'm usually typing one-handed, so please forgive my many spelling
errors!