52 Photos 2012 Week 5

Hello!

Thanks for dropping by today to see my photo of the week.  You can always link over to the Flicker Group to see all the photos posted for the week -- there are AMAZING photographers there! 

Anyways, on to my photo.  The theme this week was "Create" and I must admit I've fudged a bit!  This is a photo I took in November of last year, on a creative trip to the pottery shop with my sis and her friends! 

This is our beautiful friend, Colleen, with her sweet little frog she created!  (Bonus points for Colleen, because she loves purple as much as I do!)  We had SO much fun that night -- wine and crafting and friends!  Who could ask for more?  Thanks for stopping by!  Until next time,

52 Photos 2012 Weeks 3 and 4

Thursday somehow passed me by last week, and I had taken my photo early in the week!  LOL!  So I'll share both last week's theme today as well as this week's.

Last week's theme was "Community."  I asked my husband for his impression of this prompt, and he said "Hmmm, I'll have to think about it."  Which, in translation, means, "I have no idea and I'm not giving it another thought."  So, on my own, I looked the word up in the dictionary, and one of the definitions was "a group of people who share a common interest."  We happened to be going to a play at one of our local playhouses with a group of friends a week ago last Saturday, so I snapped a photo of the audience with my IPhone.  

This weeks theme was "Rest" -- and there is nothing my puppies do better!  I captured one of our Chocolate lab, Sydnie, curled up in Daddy's chair.  This is also taken with my IPhone, with the Instagram app.  (I'm addicted!  Follow me at mnkware).

I like my phone because it's always with me, it's compact, and it's fast!  However, as I'm participating in a couple of different challenges using Instagram (more on those in another post), my goal from here on out is to force myself to get my big camera out to take my 52Photos. 

The new theme for this coming week is "Create."  Check back next Thursday for my capture!  Until next time,

52 Photos 2012 Week 2

In the mountains above the little suburb I live in, there is a tiny old cemetery called the "Pleasant Green Cemetery."  (Why it's called that, I don't know, as that's not the name of the town, but anyways.)  It's a pretty little cemetery, and though most of the headstones are older and neglected, the cemetery itself is kept up by a local scout troop.  Recently, and I'm not sure who did this, a huge metal cross was erected, with little spruce trees around it as well as plaques and markers.  This is an odd place for a cemetery, for while it is in the foothills, in a tiny valley surrounded by mountains, it is also near the power plant for the large copper mine here, so there is a road behind the cemetery where the big mine trucks run.  It's a crazy mix of modern and yet, when I go there, it's almost as if time stands still.  Yes, I'm one of those people who finds cemetery's peaceful.  Anyways, we had an unusually lovely day here yesterday, as it had just snowed and cleared all the smog out of the air.  There was not a cloud in the sky, and so I wandered up to see if I could capture a picture to represent this weeks theme:  SHINE.  I am thrilled with what I captured:

Of course, there is the obvious result of the "sun" shining.  But I feel the cross adds to the theme, by letting the "SON" shine!  It's just a reminder to me of the opportunity we have, each and every day, to let God's love SHINE in our life.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!  Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to check back next Wednesday for next weeks photo challenge!  Until next time,

52 Photos 2012 Week 1

I'm sharing my photo here, as well as on Flickr.  This is my submission for the first week of 52 Photos 2012.  The theme is "NEW" and I wanted to do something a little different . . . so to me, the empty road signifies a "NEW" journey I'm starting.  

Thanks for looking! Until next time,

Habits, not Resolutions!

Ah, welcome, my friends, to 2012!!  I hope that you all had a blessed Christmas and a fun and happy New Year celebration!  I've been somewhat MIA on my blog, as I started the Christmas week with strep, which quickly moved into a rather nasty sinus infection.  We postponed our trip for Christmas by one day, and so have just arrived back home and are getting settled back in.  Our "girls," who were at the doggie spa for a week, were happy to see us, and have needed a little extra attention these past few days as they felt neglected over the holidays!

So, it seems that the blog topic for the week is New Years Resolutions.  Do you make them?  I have for years, and have just as consistently failed at most of them!!  Anyone know what I mean?  I resolve to lose weight.  Mmmmm, not so successful.  I resolve to exercise more.  Does shopping count?  I resolve to quit (fill in the blank.)  I'll say "chewing my nails."  (Nervous habit I've had since I was young.)  Never happened.  And each year, I feel a little worse about myself.  Anyone else feel this way?  Ever?  Well, I've decided to change my thinking this year, and do things a little differently.  Instead of making resolutions, I'm going to change habits.  Yep.  You heard me.  Big difference.

For one thing, when you set resolutions, they are often arbitrary, and so you are spending all your effort working towards something that is (basically) meaningless -- IE. "I'm going to 'get fit' in 2012." And then if you don’t achieve it, you feel like you failed, even though you didn't define what "get fit" meant.  Did it mean exercising more?  Eating better?  Changing habits is different, if you approach it with an attitude of “this is one little change I can make and I will enjoy the change as I do it."  Another thing we do to set ourselves up for New Year's failure is trying to do too much at once.  Ten resolutions.  I'm going to eat better, exercise more, get up an hour earlier, blah blah blah.  And when we fall off the wagon with one, more often than not we fall of the entire track, because why bother?  You can make a list of habits you want to change.  That's fine.  But don't change more than one habit at once.  Why?  Because it takes about 30 days to create a new habit.  So, if you plan just one little change a month, in a year you'll have formed 12 new habits!  

To start myself off for 2012, the habit I want to change is how often I post to my blog.  So I've created the following schedule to follow, to make myself accountable, and to hopefully keep you all coming back for more!

Blog planner 2012:

Weekly:

• Project Life – Weekly on Tuesday
• 52 Photos – Weekly on Wednesday
• Gratitude Journal – Weekly on Saturday
• Sunday Scriptures – Weekly on Sunday

Monthly: 

• One Little Word – Monthly on the 2^nd Monday
• Scrapbook*Life* Journal Class – monthly on the 2^nd Thursday 
• Close to My Heart 
• Layout/Playgroup – Monthly on the 4^th Monday 
• Stamp of the Month Card – Monthly on the 4^th Thursday 
• Studio J Layout – Monthly on the 4^th Friday

As needed:

·         CTMH Special Projects

·         CTMH Constant Campaigns

·         Art Journaling & Sketching

There may be a few things added or taken off of this list as I fine tune my year, but I hope that you'll follow the posts that interest you, and encourage your friends to, as well.  

I'll be back tomorrow with a NEW Close to My Heart Special, and later this week with a "Special Project" that relates to my "changing habits" goal for 2012.  Check back soon!  You won't want to miss it!  Until next time,

52Photos: 'Crave' and 'Green'

So, here I am, with my first two official photos for the "52Photos" challenge.  I am, as usual, behind, delayed, er, LATE, so I'm submitting two at once!

The theme for week 33 was "CRAVE".  I so easily could have take a picture of a chocolate chip cookie, a brownie, or an ice cream sundae, but I wanted to do something different.  Here is my capture for "crave:"

This is, of course, my sweet Sydnie, craving that dog biscuit that her dad is holding up for her.  I was SO trying to get her to drool, thinking that would REALLY drive the 'crave' theme across -- and trust me, she's REALLY good at drooling.  But, no such luck.  She is such a soft soul -- takes things so gently.  A true lab.  :)

Week 35's theme was "GREEN."  I admit, I'm going back to a photo I took early this summer when I was doing a senior photo shoot for a friend.  I have no idea what this plant is, but have been told by not a few people that it looks like 'weed!'  I don't know what 'weed' looks like (honest!) but this was growing in the middle of a city park, so I'm assuming it's pretty safe!! LOL!

You can visit the Flickr group, 52Photos, by clicking on the button in my sidebar, to see all the other awesome photos that have been submitted -- or, to sign up for yourself and play along!!  This upcoming weeks theme is "WATER."  Tune in on Friday to see what I come up with! (I'll also be posting for week 34, which was 'Happy.')

52Photos

Ok, so, since I've taken my two photography classes with the awesome and very talented Brooke Snow, I've been somewhat remiss in practicing my newly learned skills.  I'm not a very motivated person, so having something to push me seems to work much better than Brooke saying "the best way to get better is to practice!  Take one photo a day, or a week, concentrating on something you learned in class.  Aperture, lighting, shutter speed, whatever."  (Likewise, the whole "practice" concept didn't go over so well with me when I took piano lessons, either.)   I needed something to hold me accountable.  And I think I found it with 52Photos!

I have been following the blog of this wonderful, gorgeous, and also very talented lady whom I now consider a friend (isn't that crazy, how you can make friends across the country and across the world with the internet?) , Monika Wright.   Her blog, iloveitallwithmonikawright.blogspot.com, is filled with crafty ideas and beautiful photos, and she is one of the founders of a concept called "52Photos."   Click here to read her first post about it.  So!  Of course I would have loved to have joined in beginning in January, but she and fellow founder, Lisa, encourage you to join anytime during the journey.  So, even though the year is more than half over, I'm jumping in, and going to practice my photography and document the world around me!  Am I a multi-tasker, or what?  :o)  

If you would like to check out the group, 52 Photos, click here, or on the blog button on the right hand side of my blog.  I'll be posting my photos to my blog (as well as to the flikr group) each week, so be sure to check back and leave me some love!  Wish me luck!