10 Things That May Surprise You about your Teacher & Photographer
When I first started this blog in the summer of 2019, exactly 2 years ago, I published a little “Getting to Know You” post, but there are some things I didn’t tell you then and some things that have changed a bit! So I thought I’d give my readers a little update and some some tidbits of information you may not realize about me!
I have white-water rafted up the Nile River. And yes, I mean up! (Remember, the Nile actually flows North!) In the summer of 2000, I spent a month with my dear friend Rachel, who was a missionary in Hoima, Uganda. Her official title was church planter, so we held VBS with the children, taught English in the schools, and built relationships within the community. It was one of the best experiences of my life! Before I returned home, we did one touristy thing. We spent a night in Jinja and went white-water rafting at the head of the Nile, beginning at Lake Victoria! It was a full-day trip with 2 full rafts. We stopped for lunch and dinner, and we rafted through several Class 3 and 4 rapids, and I ended up in the water only once…until the Silverback Class 5 rapid. Silverback consisted of a series of three different rapids. My raft flipped on the first rapid, and I grabbed onto the side of the boat like we had been told, hoping to ride it out under the raft in the air pocket. But the rapids were so strong, there was no air pocket! I held on for dear life until I was tossed from the raft, and after what felt like an eternity, I popped up just past the third rapid, still holding onto my paddle with a death grip.
I’m writing a book. I teach Language Arts in a middle school, and every Fall, I teach my students narrative writing strategies. Instead of just modeling by writing random stories, I have begun using that time to develop ideas for a story I have had floating around in my brain for several years. It’s a ghost story based on an experience I had at Girl Scout Camp when I was in elementary school! I don’t know if it will ever be finished…maybe when I retire?
My nickname is “Pinkie.” When I was in college, I nannied for a family after school. That was when the Power Rangers was popular (the first time), and these kids were obsessed. The Pink Power Ranger’s name was Kimberly, and I actually looked a little like her! The children convinced all of the neighborhood kids that I was Kimberly, the Pink Power Ranger, and that if they did something bad, I would morph and “get them!” My friends in college thought it was hilarious and started calling me “Pinkie,” and it stuck!
My family is a little obsessed with Disney. Ok, not just a little…a lot. My husband proposed just after the fireworks in front of the Castle at the Magic Kingdom, both our boys were born a little over 9 months after a Disney visit (haha), and their middle names are “Walter” and “Elias,” after Walter Elias Disney! They both got their first haircuts at Disney as well. I just put together a Disney Wall Collage with all our favorite Disney milestones, and it is my favorite feature in the house!
I have become an exercise enthusiast. I would have NEVER thought I would like to exercise, but during quarantine in March-April of 2020, I was going crazy with stress and anxiety. My friend Chelsea talked me into joining BeachBody, so I signed up for a 3-month membership just to see if I liked it. Since then, I have worked out almost every single day, completed 4 programs (21-Day Fix, 21-Day Fix Extreme, Transform 20, MBF, and MBFA), and lost 6 inches and 7 pounds. It’s not a ton, but it has made me feel so much better! Exercising has given me a good habit to stick to, and it relieved a bit of the stress I have felt being trapped at home all day. My husband and I have even converted part of our garage into a home gym (where we can still park our cars when it’s not in use)!
I learned how to ride my bike in Forrest Gump’s Football Field. I used to live in Beaufort, SC, right around the corner from an athletic field that was used in the movie Forrest Gump. It’s in the scene where he is mowing the grass. That’s where I learned to ride my bike, years before the movie was filmed! Also, while the movie was being filmed, my family was able to watch the scene where Lt. Dan curses God during the storm from afar! The production team had rigged up a ship on a barge, which was rocked back and forth as a huge fan blew water into the scene.
I have photographed a wedding in a hurricane, and monsoon, and several during a global pandemic. I am NOT afraid of a little adventure! Lanae and Dustin got married in Rock Hill on September 16, 2019, which was the day that Hurricane Florence decided to blast through our area. It honestly wasn’t that bad…the clouds and wind broke several times, allowing us to take some outdoor photos, and this couple, their wedding party, and my 2nd shooter Haylie Jeter were absolute TROOPERS! I spent most of the day in rain boots, but we captured some great memories. This past Fall, I photographed Sunnye & Kyle’s wedding, where a literal monsoon began before the ceremony started, but that didn’t stop this couple of their friends/family from having a blast (or me and my second shooter—Haylie again!—from capturing some amazing photos)! And last summer, I shot four weddings while wearing a mask…and didn’t catch Corona. (Working in a mask is really not that bad.) Bad weather and pandemics can’t stop love!
I have had braces…twice! And a lot of other dental work. I wore a device called a bionator when I was in elementary school to help adjust my bottom jaw, then I had braces for three years during jr. high and high school. My teeth remained perfectly straight for years, so I quit wearing my retainers. And then I had my first child. Pregnancy hormones did a lot more than just allow my hips to expand to grow a baby—they also made my teeth move! I am grateful for a quick 6-month fix using Invisalign, and I will never not wear my retainers again!
I have psoriasis. No, I haven’t been attacked by mosquitoes…but that’s what it looks like. Almost ten years ago, I caught a case of strep throat. I am a public school teacher and am exposed to all the germs, and by now, my immune system is insanely strong! But sometimes, it lets in a germ that gets me. After a round of antibiotics, I am usually good to go, but not that time. A couple of weeks after getting over strep, I developed an incredibly itchy rash on my scalp and body. It took a few months for the dermatologist to identify it as guttate psoriasis—a type of psoriasis that is sometimes triggered by a strep infection. And it never went away. My case is not severe, but it is irritating. I get red splotches anywhere I have a skin trauma (a scratch, cut, bite, burn), and they don’t go away without the application of a topical steroid, which thins my skin and exacerbates the skin irritation. I was almost to the point of trying out a biologic when the pandemic struck, and I decided that weakening my immune system was not the smartest move! I am concerned that one day I will develop psoriatic arthritis, but so far, I have no joint pain issues. The worst part is when it gets so bad on my hands/arms in the winter due to the cold, dry air and my students start to ask what’s wrong. Then I usually use a few rounds of the steroid ointment to calm it down.
I was a camp counselor for 20 summers. I LOVE CAMP! (No, not lamp.) When I was in middle school, I attended a summer camp at the YMCA called Adventure Camp, and that’s where I fell in love with camp and camping. As soon as I turned 15 and was old enough to work, I became a CIT (Counselor in Training). Then I became an Adventure Camp counselor for 3 more summers! I have so many fond memories camping all over the Southeast with those people—we got into things that would NEVER fly these days, but man, we had fun! One summer in college I worked at Camp Greystone, an all-girls’ camp in the mountains of North Carolina. It was a completely different experience! I often compare it to the camp in The Parent Trap—we woke up to a bugle call, sang songs in the mess hall, wore all white on Sundays, and had a big themed banquet at the end of the summer. I served as a ropes course instructor that summer and discovered another passion of mine—hanging out in trees! Then for 15 summer, I worked for the South Carolina Baptist Convention’s youth camp, SummerSalt. There I led middle schoolers and high schoolers in Bible study, facilitated all kinds of recreation activities and water games, wrote and taught “PICs” (personal interest conferences/Bible studies), led students through a high ropes course, woke kids up in the morning by screaming as loud as possible and smacking them with pool noodles, designed and built sets, and helped act in and then write and direct theatrical productions. My summers serving as a camp staffer held some of the best experiences of my life—it’s where I learned a ton about working with kids, met some of my lifelong friends, and grew into the woman, teacher, and Christian I am today. I have so many fond memories of all of these places and still keep in touch with some of my former campers and staff friends, even from 20+ years ago! And those camp connections run deep—many of my wedding clients have been former campers or fellow staffers (see slideshow below)!
Please drop me a comment below! What else would you like to know?
Kimberly Cauble is a middle school teacher and wedding & portrait photographer who loves teaching and capturing special moments for people.