GUESS WHAT???? Kroger has peanut butter on sale – 10 for $10 – making them just $1 a piece. Soooo when you’re shopping for your bread and eggs to save you during the snow storm, you should pick up some peanut butters!

Shelby County Public Schools sends home food to the neediest children in our community through the backpack food program to keep them fed while they’re away from school. As I have worked on many of my documentary projects, I got to see how important this opportunity is to the survival of kids in our own town. The program runs off of donations from our community, both food and monetary. Peanut butter is a staple for longer breaks and snowy times. Kids can eat for days on a jar :)

Feel free to drop your PB by the store and I will take care of it. You can even drop it by the Shelbyville branch of Republic Bank and at the School District’s Central Office on Main Street.

Together, lets stock up their pantry!

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I’m whooped, and I’m working as hard as I can on all of this goodness…so I’ll be short here. I am one little blessed lady, living my little dream. And I am so thankful to each of you for being a part of it.

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Hannah Montana time…

Sweet Jacqueline’s birthday.

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Lots of my clients ask about my experience at WKU, and I always say, ‘it’s the most awesome place on Earth – better than Disney World.’ They usually laugh, and I continue with ‘no really – I swear, it’s the most amazing school EVER….have you visited yet?’ I am absolutely in love with my Western, from the butt-shaping walks uphill (both ways, I swear) to the constant rain Bowling Green seems to face. I’m obsessed with the bunny statues at the top of the hill and our infamous ‘blood clot’ of a mascot.

It is with a tear or two (hundred) that I am packing my boxes and hugging my friends good-bye, because I really am going to miss the most beautiful campus in the world. My college experience was truly blessed and wonderful, but I am very excited that I get to leave school with a game plan and a career in tact. I look forward to having one main focus: Lizzie Loo. I am so excited to not have to bend my life around classes and projects. To be able to complete tasks in a timely fashion and be available to answer my phone more often :-)

The pictures below should be credited to Jake Stevens, one of the many wonderful people that made Western such a joy.

Chatting with President Ransdell….he wouldn’t let me go.

Myself, Joy and Libby – some of my best girlfriends.

I’m trying to track down a photo of my sparkle-tabulous hat…but for now, here’s an image of me.

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For my final semester I latched onto the idea of girls growing up quickly – and how poverty pushed that process along at an alarming rate. I have kept this project under wraps for some time, because I was unsure of how I felt about the images.

I know that this project isn’t complete. I believe this series aspires to be told in book form. Image after image that cries for a fix in our nation’s young women. I was shocked on a regular basis as I became a fifth-grade girl for a few months. I wonder how this generation of young women will change our world. Will they grow into homemakers? Will they avoid marriage at all costs? Because that is their attitude right now – that marriage isn’t made to last, that is it painful and not worth the time. Will they grow to be strong or fall to everything that pushes at their emotions? Will they stay away from pregnancy before middle school ends? High school?

I still don’t know what to think about this. My hope is that, for now, these images be seen. I hope that these images push women to become involved in the younger generations. Through my work with the girls I saw how much a mentor program of some sort changed them. Having a good example and someone to hold them accountable really helped. I look forward to finding a new group of girls when I return home and latching onto them. I encourage you to do the same. Find one little lady that could use a mentor, a listening ear, someone to fight for her character. Engage yourself with her, support her and love on her – for that is all these young women need – love.

All I know for sure if that I LOVE the young women that you see in these images. They have each added to and changed my life and perspective on the world. I also know that I will continue to work on this project for many years to come – and I would love to know what you think about what you see.

At the completion of the semester, my class’ projects went up for review. An exit exam of sorts – photo style. You can listen here to what the PAC team had to say about my project.

And here is a link to the homepage if you’d like to understand a little more or listen to other reviews.

Enjoy and comment. Remember, for each comment made, a canned good is sent to feed a needy child over the weekend through Shelby County’s backpack food program.

A link to more images and a slideshow I prepared for my Women’s Studies class.

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All I do know is that I have had a lot of fun with the girls I am photographing. We sit and talk, play on the playground and learn from one another. Yesterday I swung and talked with one of the girls for at least an hour about what she can be when she grows up. Today my buns and legs are paying the price – oh well. We’ve been doing our homework together, talking about boys and sharing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Most of the girls live in section 8 housing, a community I wasn’t always soo fond of. The more I learn about these little ladies, the more I see their resiliency and their genuine hope to be strong, productive women. I am learning that you really can become a product of your community, if and only if you never see anything past your little circle of friends. My hope for these girls is that they will see just out of their community and learn that there is a whole world for them to explore.

For now we’re working on their camera skills…here is a photo 5th grader Sara took of me. I made a print of this and they think it is absolutely the most hilarious thing they have ever seen. Enjoy this pretty day – I’m off to the playground.

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Coming this week – Loo Seniors can win an iPod. Class of ‘10 seniors can earn wallets, senior albums go on sale, graduation announcements come out in full force… Ohhhh the excitement…and it will all be delivered to your email box!

Sign up by entering your email. You can always unsubscribe at any point!

Join Lizzie Loo’s Email List Email:

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When Danny called me to remind me about the banquet, I was a bit surprised when he asked me to be their guest speaker. I was a bit confused on why the boys would think listening to me over a WKU football player or sports personality of the like was the way to go. Danny reassured me that when he asked his son and a few of the other players they were super excited…so was I up for it, or what?

I accepted and (more nervously than I expected) attended the banquet and talked about hard work. I knew the boys had seen me give up many hours of my life, most of my Saturdays and lots of dinners with my friends to spend time with them – so a spiel on hard work and getting you what you want seemed appropriate.

It all seemed to go well and the boys really enjoyed seeing the photos of them. I drug along my computer and let the images play all night in a slide show. It was definitely fulfilling to see the project come full circle. I think they finally understood why I took their picture every time they cried and why I felt it was important to be with them ALL THE TIME. I hope you enjoy these – and thanks to Jake for shooting me speaking.

Lots of Bear love was shared – as always.

A note to my Bears: You pictures will be in the mail soon – if you didn’t get on the list, be sure to email me or give me a call with your address. Hope you all are well! Thank you again for sharing your lives with me.

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