Scavenger Hunt Sunday 09.29.13

Hello!  Welcome to the last Sunday of September!  Life is flying by at warp speed these days so I'll just get right to the hunt ...

{rule of thirds}

We've been having dew in the mornings now that it is cooling off so much at night.  One morning this week, I was able to get out to have some more fun with my new lens.  

{made me smile}

A friend of mine asked me to take her family photos yesterday morning at their camp by the river.  On the way there the sun was shining and beautiful and I was worried that we should have gotten an earlier start.  But by the time I got down to their campground, it was terribly foggy.  Then I was concerned that the fog would interfere with our session.  Until I noticed a man walking his dogs along the river bank and all I could see were their silhouettes.  Inspiration hit me and this is one of the first photos I took of this lovely family.  A foggy silhouette.  Accentuated a bit in post processing.  It's fun to get artsy sometimes.

{lines}

Alex has been asking to have his pictures taken on train tracks for a while now.  So Friday evening we set out to find some that we could use.  I'm using this for "lines" as in leading lines.  A technique I still have yet to master.

{alone}

My baby girl went to her first homecoming dance last night.  Even though she went alone, she met up with some friends there and had a great time.  (On a side note, I would really love it if someone would please slow time down.  I'm not ready for this next phase of our lives.)  :)

{together}

The boys and I went to a fall festival yesterday afternoon where there was a civil war encampment set up.  Together, Alex and Nick were trying to figure out how to make this cannon work.  Thankfully they didn't figure it out.  

That's it for me today.  Hope you have a wonderful week!  And be sure to visit Ashley for more great Scavenger Hunt finds!

But before you go, be sure to go check out the books I'm giving away.

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Week 41 & 42 in Pictures

Hi there!  Remember me?  I'm finally back in business now that my new laptop is here. I ordered it on Thursday evening after finding out from the computer repair guy that he could not fix my Gateway.  Well, that's not entirely true.  He could have replaced the processor.  But after spending around $300 on parts and labor, that may not have fixed the problem.  So I opted to have him not fix it and we bought a new laptop.  An ASUS.  It shipped on Friday and was delivered on Saturday!  And I didn't even pay for expedited shipping!  I was glad I didn't since it came so quickly anyway.

Of course it didn't come until around 4:05 p.m. when I was planning to leave at 4:15 to go to my friend, Laura's, for a girls' night filled with hot soups, fresh breads, games, and fun.  So I ended up leaving a few minutes late 'cuz you know I couldn't leave without at least checking it out first.  :)

I spent most of Sunday getting it ready to run.  Burning recovery discs, updating Windows, installing Photoshop Elements, etc.  It felt good to be able to edit some photos today but it took a while to get back into my normal routine.  I had to re-do a couple because I forgot a step or two.  I'm blaming that on my cold which is making my head sort of foggy.

Anyway, I hate to overload you with pictures, but since I didn't post last week's pictures, you get two week's worth in one post.

{Sunday, Oct. 7}

I had taken this for the October 14th Scavenger Hunt prompt "water drops", which I ended up not participating in because of the laptop.  Or lack thereof.

{Monday, Oct. 8}

Woke up to a foggy morning.  Glad I didn't have anywhere to go.

{Tuesday, Oct. 9}

I had the pleasure of photographing Anna at her family's beautiful farm.  We had a great time!  Here are more photos from our session, if you are interested.

{Wednesday, Oct. 10}

My not-so-great attempt at foodtography.  :)  I was excited about making homemade dinner rolls and tried to capture that.  Obviously I need more practice.

{Thursday, Oct. 11}

Alex had helped me try out a new location for photo shoots.  We took Nick's little pumpkin along since Alex's is huge.  I truly have no idea what he's doing in this picture.  I do know that we had fun though.

{Friday, Oct. 12}

My sister-in-law, Terri, had asked me if I'd take Jordan's school pictures this year since the ones you get at school aren't so great.  We had a good time.  I even managed to get Terri in a few pictures.  More from this photo shoot will be coming soon, now that I can edit again.

{Saturday, Oct. 13}

My friend, Lindsey, asked me if I'd take some family photos for her.  It was challenging but fun - trying to get four people (including a 4 year old and a 9 month old) to look at me and smile at the same time.  And I just love the color combinations she chose!  More from this shoot coming soon also.  (Yes, I will be an editing fool this week.)  :)

{Sunday, Oct. 14}

Pretty grass.

{Monday, Oct. 15}

While out running errands, I stopped at a local park to see if it would be a good place for a photo shoot.  While I was walking around, I happened upon this mama deer and her two fawns.  Notice that the mama only has three legs.  It didn't seem to slow her down though. She grunted, snorted, and stomped at me a few times but eventually ran away when she realized I wasn't going anywhere.

{Tuesday, Oct. 16}

A friend asked if I would take her daughter's senior pictures.  Natasha was so easy going and would do just about anything I asked.  This photo isn't my normal style, but I thought I'd try going for the hazy look (in camera, not in processing).  I like it.  More of Natasha's photos coming soon also.

{Wednesday, Oct. 17}

Sometimes I just walk around in my yard to see what I can see.  This day I saw this wasp.

{Thursday, Oct. 18}

Doug found another stick bug while he was cleaning out the flower beds.

{Friday, Oct. 19)

The leaves are just so pretty this fall.

{Saturday, Oct. 20}

You'd think I would have taken a photo of my new laptop since this is the day it arrived, but I didn't have time.  In fact, I didn't take any pictures this day.  I even took my camera to Laura's for girls' night but never got it out of my bag.  So instead, I give you a cheat picture of the mums Keira bought me.  I just love the soft pink/purple colors.

     

If you made it this far, thanks for sticking in there with me!  Hope you have a fabulous week!  I plan to be back to my normal posting schedule soon.

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Week 20 in Pictures

Another week gone!  I can't believe Memorial Day is in a week!  And that the kids will be done with school soon!  This past week kept me pretty busy.  I helped with our church's Ladies' Luncheon, which was Saturday.  It went pretty well considering we decided to throw it together just about a month ago.  :)  We will get started planning earlier next year.  


I also had my first official photo shoot with a sweet almost two-year-old.  It was fun following him around, seeing the world through his eyes.  I still have to finish up editing the photos, but the few I showed his mom made her very happy.

Anyway, let's see what the week looked like in pictures ...

{Sunday}

The kids each made me something special for Mother's Day.  Alex gave me this hand print he made at school.  Nick made a flower vase.  And Keira made me a couple bead necklaces.  And Doug bought me two new tires for my van.  He's so romantic.  :)  Actually we went out for lunch to my favorite restaurant on Thursday since he unexpectedly had the day off.  Then we shopped for flowers for my flower bed.  And I got a hanging pot of Petunias.

{Monday}

While at church on Sunday our Pastor told those lingering around afterward that we could take some flowers from the funeral arrangements.  His father-in-law's funeral was Saturday and there were several arrangements left there.  Keira was glad to pick through them and give me a bouquet for Mother's Day.  :)  This beautiful lily was among those she picked.

{Tuesday}

Woke up to thick fog that lifted pretty quickly once the sun came out.

{Wednesday}

Alex and I went to our church to get the flower beds ready for planting.  While there he wanted to walk over to the neighbor's and see the horses.

{Thursday}

I had a photo shoot with a sweet almost-two-year-old boy.  More photos coming soon.

{Friday}

Capturing some sun flare through my purple Lupine flowers.

{Saturday}

Our Ladies' Luncheon was today.  Everything went very well and now I can relax.  After the luncheon my mother-in-law, Sue, and Keira wanted their photo taken in front of the stone part of our church.  I love how they chose to look at each other instead of at me.  And I also love that Keira is almost as tall as my MIL, who is about 5' 9".  Okay, maybe I don't really love that so much since that means my girl is growing up.  But it is cool that they are almost eye to eye.

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Week 7 in pictures

I have been a bit lax in my blogging lately.  Just not feeling all that inspired to do it.  I've managed to get a few posts done, but haven't really been around to visit anyone.  Sorry!  Must be because I'm so looking forward to winter ending, even though we haven't had much of a winter, and I just don't feel like doing much.  Ugh.  Hoping I feel more up to it this week.

Last week after the Valentine's Day party for my son's classroom, I allowed myself some down time.  I read a really good book in two days (review and giveaway coming in the next few days) and I watched a couple movies with the kids (another review and giveaway coming :)).  We had a play date at a friend's house and I enjoyed an evening out with some girl friends.  They are all considerably younger than me, which at first made me feel old, but then made me shift my thinking and I actually felt younger.  Sort of.  I tried not to dwell on the fact that one of the girls there graduated high school in the year that I would have had my 20th high school reunion.  The one I never got an invitation to.  :)

Anyway, the Great Kitchen Remodel is moving along.  Doug made great progress and we bumped up the delivery date of the cabinets.  Yay!  We now have the ceiling, walls, and floor all completed.  Doug moved the range back to the kitchen so I can cook again.  (I was unable to cook for a few days last week).  And he also set the sink back up so I no longer have to wash dishes in the bath tub.  So now we wait.  Although I'd rather be waiting for cabinets than having them made already and not be ready for them.

I did manage to take a photo every day last week, so let's take a look, shall we?


{Sunday}

This sweet little bird was happy to eat from my feeder and I was happy to photograph him from inside my warm house.  :)


{Monday}

Spent some time this afternoon separating M&M's for a game we will play at tomorrow's Valentine's Day party.


{Tuesday}

The lilies in my flower bouquet are starting to open.  This is my submission for Be Inspired and Project 52 - Valentine's Day flowers from my True Love.

     


{Wednesday}

Nick sometimes gets to make up his own spelling practice activity.  He came up with hip-hop spelling where he rapped his words.  I recorded it because he just cracks me up sometimes.  


{Thursday}

Drove past a local reservoir on the way home today to see how frozen it was and got to see all this fog.


{Friday}

I've been told that my eyes are someone's favorite feature.  What do you think?  :)

{Saturday}

My friend, Laura, invited us over for a play date to celebrate her son, Jason's birthday.  The kids had a good time playing together.  Keira got to play dress up with Liza.  It was like she had her very own human doll.  :)


So that was our week.  The kids had Friday and today off of school, so we spent lots of time playing (and they spent lots of time fighting).  And we went to the zoo today since the sun was shining and it was a little warmer.  Hoping to post some photos soon.


Hope you all have a wonderful week!

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In November

Doug and I will celebrate 15 years of marriage.

And our niece's second birthday.

We will exercise our right and privilege to vote in next week's election.

And celebrate Thanksgiving with our family,


realizing just how truly blessed we are.

We will honor Veterans.


Watch a parade or two.

And learn about helping others 

through the school's community food drive.

We will pack shoe boxes for kids all over the world

so they can have a blessed Christmas.

And so they can learn about how much Jesus loves them.

I love the month of November.


This is how the first of November started here in Pennsylvania ...

Photo of the day - November 1 - ISO 200, f/9, 1/160s, 18-55mm lens on Nikon D40 
(added a layer of light purple to add to the mystery - mouse over to see original version before the purple layer was added)

Woke up to a very foggy morning ... outside as well as in my head as this cold has gotten the better of me.  
This tree is in my neighbor's yard.  I absolutely love it.  But since I can't have it, I will at least photograph it.  :)

         

The above photo was selected as one of the Top 3 for Tones on Tuesday and one of the Top 5 in Shoot. Edit. Submit.!
     



But the fog lifted and the sun shone brightly all day ...


 and we ended the day like this ...

And being out in the fresh air for a while this evening taking photos seems to have helped me feel better also.

Hope you had a great first of November!

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