Memories, Dreams, and Reflections ~ 2015

I know it is has been a while since I last posted here.  Let's face it ... blogging takes time.  And I have just not taken the time to post anything.  Summer 2015 was incredibly busy with raising Monarchs.  And dealing with our house being hit by a car.  (More on that soon).  Then fall was incredibly busy with photo sessions and editing.  Then the holidays.  

And even now, when I typically have time to get caught up and work on projects that I didn't have time to do during the summer and fall, I have been blessed with more work opportunities.  A family session between Christmas and New Years and a wedding on New Year's Day.  I'm currently working my way through the wedding images and hope to have them finished up this weekend.  Especially since I need to report for jury duty selection on Monday morning.  Ugh.  Praying I don't get picked to be on a jury.

Anyway, I always like to participate in Ashley's Memories, Dreams, and Reflections recap each year, so I made a point to seek out the photos this year.  I will be honest and tell you that I took less photos of my family.  I had a tough time finding a photo for a few of the prompts.  Between butterflies and photographing clients, I apparently didn't pick my camera up as often as I would have liked.  I plan to change that also in 2016.

So here are my selections for 2015's memories, dreams, and reflections ...

{me}

If you know me, then you know I hate selfies.  But I did want to share a pic of a new t-shirt that I bought last summer.  So this is me.  Kind of.  :)

{i love you}

Doug and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary in November.  I had Keira take some pictures of us while we were both dressed up before we went out to dinner.  However, none of them turned out very well.  So we tried again on Christmas Eve.

{still laughing}

Since I realized that I hadn't taken many photos of my babies in a while, we set out one evening to remedy that.  Of course, the boys started getting silly.  Nick first, then Alex followed his lead.  I giggle every time I look at this photo.

{winter wonderland}

Honey loves the snow.  Although this particular day it was super cold and windy and even she didn't want to stay out long.

{birthday}

Nick asked for cold, hard cash for his birthday.  So my sister-in-law made sure to make that happen.  :)

{friends}

My friend, Sharon, and I met on Facebook through a photo-a-day group.  When we discovered that we lived close-ish to each other, we decided to meet up.  First at Phipp's Conservatory then at the zoo.  We both love photography and both places are great for photographers.  We both love the polar bears at the zoo also, so this was a perfect place for us to hang out.

{i was inspired}

I have been raising Monarchs for 6 years now and I had yet to take a photo of a Mama laying eggs or a couple mating.  Well, this year I got both.  The mating pair was taken with my phone though, so I still need to get a good shot of that.

{spring fever}

Nothing says spring like tulips.  

{travel or vacation}

We didn't take a vacation this year but we did go on several day trips.  This is a phone pic from one of them.

{summer days}

Butterfly season started a little later than usual for us this year thanks to all the rain, but once it got started, it consumed my summer days.  And some of my fall days.  We raised and released 1,062 Monarch butterflies along with some Black Swallowtails and Spicebush Swallowtails.  For a while there it was like a full-time job.  But one I wouldn't trade for anything.

{a day in my life}

These guys are always part of my days.

{all smiles}

Kobe appears to be smiling for me.  I just love her!

{autumn harvest}

Fall was such a busy time for me that I didn't seem to take many photos other than clients.  However, we did take a family day to go to Elk County to see the elk.  We came up empty in the morning but after lunch we were fortunate enough to see a few elk including this bull.

{family or home}

As I mentioned above our house got hit by a car in September.  I had planned to write a blog post about it (and I still might), but short story is the guy fell asleep at the wheel and our house ended up in his path.  This happened on a Saturday around 1:00 a.m.  The kicker is that we live about 100 feet off the road and up a hill.  Not a house that you would ever expect to get hit by a car.  This photo shows the wall that he took out.  Our homeowner's insurance had to cover the repairs since the driver didn't have insurance.  The house repairs just got finished on Tuesday.

{celebrate}

My in-laws celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year.  They didn't want any gifts, just a nice gathering of friends and family.  I offered to take pictures for them.  This photo is of Doug's two sisters, his parents, and him.  It had been a while since they had a family photo taken.

{let's do it again}

Can't wait for butterfly season to start again this year!

{i miss you}

Kobe is so much fun to play with at the zoo.  It has been a few months since I visited her and I miss her.  Must get back to the zoo soon!

{beautiful}

Keira participated in a princess day at a local banquet hall.  All the "princesses" (and the "queen") looked so beautiful.  Keira is 2nd from the left, beside Mary Ellen, the owner of The Gathering Spot, and the host of the princess day.

{dress up}

We're pretty much past the days of dressing up (for play anyway).  However, they do still have a fun costume party at youth group.  Keira dressed up as a Geisha girl.

{macro}



Thanks to my macro lens and my stalking this Black Swallowtail egg, I was able to capture the tiny caterpillar hatching out of its egg and then turning around and eating the egg casing (the baby caterpillar's first meal).

{holidays}

My babies on Christmas Eve.

{my favorite}

It is really hard to pick one photo as a favorite, but I'm pretty happy with this one.  A Black Swallowtail (one of my babies perhaps) depositing an egg on my parsley plant.  They are super quick, so I was excited to capture her.

{don't ever change}

Silly, funny, loving, helpful.  I hope he never changes.

{just because}

I love her!  :)

{hopes and dreams}

Of course, I have lots of hopes and dreams.  For my family, our home, my business.  But I had to pick just one photo, so my hope is to help the Monarch population even more this year by raising LOTS more butterflies.  If you've never raised one, you should give it a try.  But be warned, you will be hooked.  :)

If you made it this far, congratulations!  And thank you!

Be sure to stop over to Ashley's and see her gorgeous pictures!

I hope to be back to blogging soon.  In the meantime, wishing you a blessed and Happy 2016!

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Weekly Summary ~ 6/21/15 - 6/27/15

Vacation Bible School week!  Fun. Long. Exhausting. But oh so worth it!

{June 21: Performance}

Alex's performance in yesterday's kickball game wasn't stellar, but he still had fun. Until he decided that jumping on the trampoline would be more interesting.  :)

{June 22: Loud}

Nick definitely lives life out loud. He can have fun in just about any situation. He can also get himself in trouble in almost every situation.  :)

{June 23: Tickled Pink}

I was tickled pink to see these two Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies loving on my milkweed blossoms this afternoon. They aren't Monarchs, but I'll take what I can get right now.   :)

{June 24: Photographer}

One from the archives. During Vacation Bible School week my time is not my own. Plus I hate taking selfies. That is probably why I became a photographer ... so I could spend time photographing other people.  :)  This particular photo is my profile pic on my Facebook photography page, Kimberly Vensel Photography.

{June 25: Stands Out in a Crowd}

This gorgeous lady, who surprised us with her arrival, most definitely stands out in a crowd. Say hello to Frances, formerly known as Rambo.  :)  We came home from Vacation Bible School to find this beauty had emerged from her chrysalis. Then we walked up to show her to our recently-widowed neighbor and asked her if she would help us rename her since Rambo isn't a good girl name. Her sister's name was Frances, so we blessed her day by allowing her to name our first Black Swallowtail butterfly.  (Posted this in the group on Friday due to being so busy with VBS stuff on Thursday).

{June 26: Tick Tock}

The window of time to capture a gorgeous sunset is limited. Although sometimes when you slow down, sit, and enjoy watching the sun setting, God treats you to an even more beautiful sky.

{June 27: The Big Day}

The big day for this incredible couple is in just under a month. I have the honor of photographing their wedding in July. I can't wait!
This photo was chosen as one of the Top Shots of the day!  WOOT!


I posted in time to link with Tamar!  :)



Sunday we celebrated Father's Day.  Doug cooked dinner, as he often does on the weekends.  I offered but he said he didn't mind.  That way he can cook what he wants (corn and sweet potatoes).  :)
Monday VBS started.  Need I say more?  :)
We actually had a great week at VBS.  Everyone who helped was right where they were meant to be.  Everything meshed together nicely.  We had an average of 40 kids each day.
Also on Monday my sister-in-law sent me a cell phone picture of a Monarch butterfly she saw while out walking.  Yay!  It was about 10 miles from my house.  I have yet to see one with my own eyes.  Soon, I hope!  If this stupid rain would ever go away for more than a day at a time.
On Thursday after VBS Nick left for Boston.  He qualified to go to the Regional Bible Quizzing event.  It was kind of tough letting him go alone but I knew he was in good hands.  They got to the college in Quincy around 2 a.m.
I was up until almost 2 a.m. finishing up the slideshow for Friday's VBS.  I always take pictures all week and make up a slideshow to show the kids on Friday.  They love seeing their pictures up on the big screen.
The last day of VBS we always host a picnic in the fellowship hall for the kids and their parents.  Everyone had a great time.  We had been raising money all week to help dig water wells in Burkina Faso, Africa.  On Friday at the end of VBS, Jenn announced that we had raised $3,000!   But then during the picnic she announced that someone had put in an additional $1,000 taking us up to $4,000 raised!  It costs around $6,000 to dig a water well so the villagers can have clean drinking water.  We plan to continue to raise money until next year when missionaries from Burkina Faso come to visit our church.  I can't wait to present them with the amount we raise!
Keira had made chocolate chip cookies for the picnic.  They were a huge hit!  Several people asked for the recipe and there were NONE left at the end.  
When we got home from VBS, we had a wonderful surprise.  Our first Black Swallowtail butterfly had eclosed!  She is pictured above as the June 25 photo.  I didn't get to post my photo on Thursday because of VBS busyness.  Some days are like that.  :)
On Saturday we got up early (instead of sleeping in like I usually do after VBS week) and Doug drove Alex and me to Ohio to get some Monarch eggs and baby caterpillars.  A very generous woman that I met on one of the Monarch butterfly groups on Facebook offered them to me.  And since she was just over 3 hours away, we made the drive out.  It rained and poured and rained some more, which made me very thankful that Doug was driving.  :)  Sarah, the butterfly lady, was so gracious.  She took us to lunch at a local diner called The Nutcracker.  We loved the place!  They had nutcrackers all over the place and an old jukebox where you can play 3 songs for a quarter.  And very cool retro decorations.  We didn't let her pay for lunch though.  After her generosity with the Monarchs, I couldn't let that happen.  :)  Buying her lunch was the least we could do.
On the way home we stopped at Cabela's.  I bought a tent for butterfly rearing.  Got the idea from Sarah.  I am hoping to breed some Monarchs this year and have eggs and cats to share with others.  Wish me luck!  We made it back home around 7:00, exhausted but excited to be back in the Monarch raising swing of things!
On Saturday I also got word that Nick was awarded a Silver medal at Bible Quizzing Regionals.  So proud of him!

Here's hoping for another great week!

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Weekly Summary ~ 6/14/15 - 6/20/15

Our first week off from school!  Finally!  Thanks to all the "snow" days, which were more like "too stinkin' cold to go outside" days, the kids' school year got extended by a week.  After losing almost their whole Easter break.  :/  It was another busy week (aren't they all?) but we had some fun in there too.

{June 14: Within My Reach}

My camera is almost always within my reach so when I see something cool, like one of my Black Swallowtail caterpillars eating while upside down, I can snap a quick pic.  :)

{June 15: Masculinity}

Apparently the proper way to show their masculinity was to scowl at the camera. No smiling allowed when you are trying to look manly.

{June 16: Hat}

About this time last year Nick learned how to make paper hats. This is one of his creations.   

{June 17: Begins with "C"}

I was pondering what to photograph for this prompt and then it hit me. Caterpillars and Chrysalises ... in a Collage.  :)

These are my babies right now. As of today, we have three Black Swallowtails in chrysalis, one getting ready, and two still munching away. Their names are (top row - left to right) Cupcake, Sylvester, and Stallone; (bottom row - left to right) Rocky, Pickle, and Rambo. Nick named four of them and Alex named the other two. I'll let you figure out who named whom.  :)

{June 18: Inside}

Alex bought a new toy at our church's rummage sale today and then we went to buy batteries for it. He loves it! However, he's not allowed to play with it inside because it makes a lot of noise.   :)

{June 19: Casual}

Just a casual, make-believe phone conversation on a cool, old-looking phone that doesn't work.  :)

{June 20: All Dressed Up}

How convenient that Keira was participating in a Story Book Princess day today and the prompt is All Dressed Up. She certainly was all dressed up and had a great time playing princess with some sweet little girls.

About our week:

Doug cooked supper on Sunday.  I love when he cooks!  Even if it does usually involve sweet potatoes and corn.  :)  I'm actually starting to like sweet potatoes.

Monday morning I taught a friend how to use her camera in manual mode.  We had a fun time learning and exploring her property.  Alex came with me and had a great time playing with some trains she has for her grandkids.  After that we went to my friend Sam's to fill up her bird feeders.  She was away on vacation and wanted to make sure the birds didn't go hungry.  :)  Keira's violin lesson in the evening wrapped up our day.

Tuesday we lost power for 9.5 hours.  It went out while I was in the shower.  I was almost done so it wasn't a big deal.  But it is so dark in the bathroom when the lights are out!  :)  We were gone for a lot of the down time.  I had a meeting regarding VBS prep work.  And we finally had a day that was nice enough to get in Abby and David's engagement session!

Wednesday we did more VBS stuff.  :)
Thursday too.  And the youth group's rummage sale started.  Keira helped with it all weekend.
On Saturday morning Keira got to dress up like a princess and help entertain some little girls.  She had a great time.  I stayed to help with registration for a little while.  I went home for lunch and then the boys and I piled in the car with my sister in law and one of her girls and drove to Pittsburgh for my cousin's birthday party.  The kids had a blast!  The rain held off until almost the very end.  My mom and sister were there along with a bunch of other people I didn't know.  :)  The boys swam and played kickball and had a really great time.  We all came home exhausted.  
I have to add that I am proud of Keira for making the tough decision not to go to the birthday party.  She had already agreed to help tear down the rummage sale and didn't want to go back on her word.

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Weekly Summary ~ 5/10/15 - 5/16/15

We had another busy, fun week!  Mother's Day was great!  The boys (aka Doug) made me breakfast in bed.  French toast and tea.  I'm not a breakfast eater - usually just drink a protein shake - but for them, I ate and enjoyed every bite.  :)

Last week I mentioned a Plumb CD giveaway.  I got busy and forgot to choose the winner, so thanks to random.org, I chose it today.  The winner is Jennifer Pittman!  Congratulations!

I haven't mentioned it in a while but if you ever want to check out my Facebook photography page, here it is:  Kimberly Vensel Photography.  I'd love it if you'd go over and give me a 'like'.  :)

Now onto last week's pics:

{May 10:  Something Orange}

The sun glowing behind a dogwood tree at golden hour.  {love}

{May 11:  Eyes}

Somehow I didn't manage to get a photo of eyes today, so I'm sharing a photo from last week. The eye(s) of this Julia Longwing butterfly look like a checker board. Pretty cool! 

{May 12:  Pieces}

Many little pieces make up this dandelion fluff.

{May 13:  Lucky}

While I really don't believe in luck, in the spirit of playing along with today's prompt ... 

I feel super lucky (blessed) to have spent several hours with my friend, Sharon, and the polar bears today. They were in the water MUCH longer than normal and Sharon and I had a blast interacting with them and taking pictures. This is Kobe. She's 14 years old and is AMAZING!

{May 14:  The Human Condition}

The connections we make and the emotions we feel aren't always with other humans. Love and admiration for God's creatures is indeed part of the human condition. After all, He did put humans in charge of them. 

{May 15:  Under Pressure}

Nick was under pressure this afternoon during his 1600 meter race. He was determined that he "wasn't going to get beat by a girl. No way. No how."   :)  Boys!

He did great and finished in 5th place! He was in the back of the pack in the beginning - starting out slow - but he really picked up the pace and passed several of the other kids during the 3rd and 4th laps. I'm so proud of his effort!

This photo was chosen among the Top Shots of the day! WOOT!

{May 16:  Connections}

I would have to say these two frogs were feeling a connection, don't you think?    :)

Linking with Tamar:

Sunday afternoon my mom and sister came up.  Linda made an incredible apple pie.  I broke my sugar fast for the day just so I could have some.  And some chocolate chip cookie pie that Keira made.  I had a slight headache on Monday - probably because of all that sugar.  :)  We played UNO as usual.  The kids love playing UNO with them.  Doug made dinner.  It was a great day!
Monday night we attended Keira's National Junior Honor Society ceremony.  She wasn't really into it.  I guess knowing that she's going to be cyber schooling next year (her choice) is making this year's events less exciting to her.  Either that or she's just ready for school to be done.  Maybe a combination of both.  :)
Tuesday morning I went to the boys' school to take some pictures for the yearbook.  A couple students and staff members needed their photos taken.  The kids are much more cooperative than the adults are.  :)
Wednesday I met my friend, Sharon, at the Pittsburgh Zoo where we spent the entire time with the polar bears.  Fifteen minutes or so after arriving, Kobe, the female, jumped in the water, followed shortly by Kona, the male.  They were in and out for the next four hours.  That is the longest they have ever been in the water while I've been there.  Sharon, who visits them more often than I do said the same thing.  They were so fun to interact with!  So playful!  Kobe was very interested in my blue back pack.  She tried to bite it through the glass many times.  (That is what Sharon is holding in the photo from the 13th).  She must have thought it was one of her toys.  I can't wait to go back and visit them again!  Hoping to post photos of our visit soon.
Thursday I went to get my car inspected and fixed (again!).  The same thing they "fixed" back in April.  Which still isn't fixed.  :(  Good thing it is under warranty.  While there I had the pleasure of meeting a World War II veteran, Chester.  He's 91 years old and was a joy to listen to.  We told him he should write a book about his life.
After a PTO meeting, I had to dash out to a Monarch presentation.  I spoke to 22 Girl Scouts about Monarchs and other pollinators.  It was fun.  Every time I speak it is a completely different set up that I need to adjust to.  This time I actually took notes to refer to.  I had written them out while waiting for my car to get inspected/fixed.  It went really well.  Several of the kids there had raised Monarchs in 1st grade at school.  And I believe I inspired several of them to try to raise more outside of school.
Friday evening Nick ran the 1600 meter race at the 6th grade track meet.  (See the photo above).  He likes running and thinks he'll stick with it.  Afterward we stopped and ordered pizza, then met Doug at Home Depot so I could pick out a toilet for our newly-remodeled bathroom.  The original one that I had picked out wasn't going to fit.  :(  Then Nick and I stopped to pick up a couple half gallons of ice cream (instead of going to DQ to celebrate his effort at the track meet), picked up our pizza, and went home to relax.
We rented the movie UNBROKEN and watched it Friday night.  Wow!  An amazing story.  If you haven't seen it yet, you must watch it.
Saturday morning Honey and I went for a walk, came home and did some planting.  Doug helped me plant my Spicebush trees and Black Cherry trees - both host plants for butterflies.  :)  After a shower, we headed over to the Spring Garden show at a local park.  We made sure to visit the Master Gardener's area and talked to the ladies we had met last month while volunteering at another local park.  I bought some dill plants (another host plant) and some Shasta Daisies.  Then we went to my niece's birthday party.  It was a bowling party.  The kids had fun bowling.
Oh, and I did week 2 of couch to 5K over again since I had missed running all the prior week.  Today I started week 3.
It was a fun week!

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Weekly Summary ~ 2/1/15 - 2/7/15

It's February!!!!  I'm so excited!  Only 38 more days until spring!

Last week I decided to take on a second photo challenge.  There is a group on Facebook called 365 Photo that posts challenges also.  The FMS PAD group that I am involved in is getting pretty big and this group is much smaller.  I will continue with the FMS group until at least the end of March to get in my full year with them and then I'll reevaluate.  I'm not sure I'll be able to handle two prompts per day.  Especially when business picks back up.

Anyway, here are last week's FMS photos ...

{February 1:  On my plate}

Alex has been asking for a week or so now if we could have shrimp for dinner.  So today we made that happen.  Grilled shrimp with pasta and broccoli.  Mmmmm.  And we finally got to use our new dishes.  Yay!

{February 2:  Mail}

I love getting happy mail! And conveniently a friend of mine sent me this thank you card and it came today.  :)

{February 3:  Water}

My quandary for the day - how to get a water picture without actually leaving my house as I don't feel well today and it is awfully cold out. Thanks to the icicles hanging from the front of our house, I was able to do it.

{February 4:  Reward}

On Wednesday nights at church the kids can earn coins as rewards for doing certain things - like answering questions correctly, saying their Bible verses, or getting caught being good. Then once every two months or so we have a "store" where they can spend their coins for prizes. The kids love it and it seems to be a great motivator.

{February 5:  Something blue}

There is a special time of the day called "blue hour". According to Wikipedia it is "the period of twilight each morning and evening when the sun is a significant distance below the horizon and the residual, indirect sunlight takes on a predominantly blue hue." 

I'm not sure I captured it exactly, but I still love the look of this photo. I was walking out on my way to a meeting and had to run back into the house to grab my camera so I could capture this. And in case you are wondering, no, I wasn't late for the meeting.  :)

{February 6:  Makes me smile}

"I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose." ~Woody Allen

We laughed and laughed while Nick was being silly singing and carrying on.

{February 7:  Stripes}

Colorful stripes help to brighten up this colorless season.




And my usual rundown of the week (feel free to skip this - it's more for me anyway):
Sunday we watched the Super Bowl and even though I truly didn't care who won (since our Steelers weren't playing), I was disappointed the Seattle lost.  Especially after that last drive.
Monday the kids had a snow day.  Or rather an ice day. 
Tuesday evening was spent at the Senior High school watching Nick and a bunch of other 6th graders playing volleyball.  Or at least attempting to play volleyball.  Nick's team won 2 out of 5 games and are moving on to the finals.  Not quite sure how that works.  Must be like the NFL.  :)  Anyway, those games are on the 17th and are single elimination, so if they lose, we get to go home sooner.  :)
Wednesday was normal stuff.
Thursday Keira was sick.  I took her to the doctor since she's been having ringing in her ears which then becomes a nasty headache.  The doc thinks the tinnitus is leftover from Keira's recent illness and gave her an antibiotic to try to kick it out of her.  If that doesn't work, we will see an audiologist.  Keira was playing her guitar some tonight (but not her violin yet) so she must be feeling better.
Thursday was also PTO meeting night.  We had a meeting with the 6th grade activity committee afterwards to discuss what we want to do for the 6th graders at the end of the year.  It is sad that this might be our last year to do this at our current school.
Friday I ran some errands, did some couponing (which I'm going to try to do more of this year), and we had our normal popcorn and movie night.  We rented Mr. Peabody & Sherman.  It was cute.
Saturday morning was soccer.  I finally got to go to a game.  Alex's team lost again but they had fun.  We sat with friends of mine whose son is also on Alex's team.  After the game we ran a few errands and came home.  Doug and I were supposed to go to the symphony that night but he didn't feel well after dinner, so we stayed home.  I was okay with that.  I really enjoy the symphony, but sometimes I just really don't want to go anywhere.  That seems to be happening a lot this winter.  I'm just content to stay home.

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