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Saturday, January 9, 2016

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}
01 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}
02 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}
03 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}
04 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}
05 birthday
Nick asked for cold, hard cash for his birthday.  So my sister-in-law made sure to make that happen.  :)

{friends}
06 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}
07 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}
08 spring fever
Nothing says spring like tulips.  

{travel or vacation}
09 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}
10 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}
11 a day in my life
These guys are always part of my days.

{all smiles}
12 all smiles
Kobe appears to be smiling for me.  I just love her!

{autumn harvest}
13 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}
14 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}
15 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}
16 lets do it again
Can't wait for butterfly season to start again this year!

{i miss you}
17 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}
18 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}
19 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}
20 macro1

20 macro2
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}
21 holidays
My babies on Christmas Eve.

{my favorite}
22 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}
23 dont ever change
Silly, funny, loving, helpful.  I hope he never changes.

{just because}
24 just because
I love her!  :)

{hopes and dreams}
25 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!




4 comments:

Tamar SB said...

Your photography is always so stunning!! So glad your house repairs are done!!

Anonymous said...

Your butterflies are beautiful and I would love to meet that polar bear. She looks fun. Wow on your house. That's scary and sad he didn't have insurance. Happy New Year.

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

Beautiful collection of photos Kimberly! The butterflies, your daily and the polar bears! What's not to love! Doug's mother looks like a stunning and confident older woman. It's great that you have a growing business with your photography too.

Liz said...

What a fabulous wrap up of 2015! You are a gifted photographer, Kimberly.