Day at the SPCA

Miss A and I got to spend some time Saturday with her Girl Scout troop at the local SPCA. The girls got to learn a bit about the animals that come into the shelter and how to easily make pet toys from items we have around the house. We also learned that we can go back to the SPCA anytime we want to so can we can have cuddle time with the kittens and puppies.

I don't play guitar

If you ask me, I will never tell you that I play the guitar. I will tell you that I "mess

around" on the guitar.

I can't play a full song and I am a plucker, not a strummer.

I prefer to play on a classical guitar verses a regular guitar or an electric, although we do have all three at the house. (Side note: My husband tends to play on electric guitar the most with "Mr. Amp" which is a Fender Princeton 65 Amp).

Day 2

On the way home I wanted to stop and take pictures of the sky. It was so wicked looking thanks to the thunderstorms we had just had. The calm after the storm. I called my husband and told him about it and he was able to capture some beautiful pictures while I was stuck in my car driving in the evil 5 o'clock traffic admiring the sky wishing there was an easy way for me to pull off the road and get a picture with my purse camera. So instead of showing you a picture of the odd looking sky, I get to show you a picture of the beautiful Miss Luna Little, also known as Miss Ma'am.

Lent-A-Day Challenge

Confession time: I have hit a creative wall and I can’t get around it. It has been there since I got “laid off.” I have felt unworthy. Like I am just not good enough to create anything worth showing the world. It’s not that I haven’t taken pictures, because I have. I just have not posted them or edited them. I have kept them locked away on my memory card and on my hard drive where no one can see them.

I am honestly scared. Scared of what people will say once they see my work. Scared that I am no longer “good enough” or as good as I thought I was or as good as I once was. All of my ideas that I once had, just aren’t coming to me. And I know the longer I am “out of practice” the harder it will be to “jump back into the saddle,” but somehow that hasn’t motivated me to pick up my camera.

Until today that is… when I was sitting at my desk at work trying to think about what I was giving up for lent. Most Catholics choose to "torture" themselves by giving up pop or chocolate which is super hard for them for the next 40 days.




But for me, I am going to use this time to get back into the swing of things. So for the next 40 days, I will take a picture every day. Not only will I get back into my picture taking habit, but hopefully it will make me start thinking creatively again.

Be sure to stop by every now and then to see how I am doing. After all someone has to keep my accountable :)

Memories, Dreams and Reflections...

Life for me has been a whirlwind since the beginning of the year. We closed on our house and we moved; I have been packing and unpacking boxes; and then I lost my job, so I am job hunting non-stop. Needless to say, my mind cannot stop going. Today, my dear, sweet husband has asked me to take a break from things and try to relax. This is just not in my vocabulary, but I am giving it an honest try for the rest of the day. It has given me a good chance to FINALLY post all my pictures for the Memories, Dreams and Reflections Challenge that Ashley Sisk hosted. Better late, than never right?

Me!

So here I am. I took this image one day before I started work, just messing around with my camera phone. Isn't it amazing the pictures you can get with those things these days?

I Love You

This is my husband doing what he loves - fishing. I took this picture when we were on our summer vacation to my house on Banker's Lake in Michigan. I am afraid he doesn't really look much like this anymore, since he is now sporting a set of chops on his face. I have yet to get a good picture of him with them, but I will one of these days.

Still Laughing...

Here is Little Ladybug on her birthday. Once she opened this bear, she would not stop jumping on it and loving it. She was very possessive over her new friend. Looking at this picture just makes me laugh remembering how she reacted to him.

Winter Wonderland

We have had a lot of snow here in NC this past year. It is crazy when you think about it. As I am sitting her typing this, Miss A is off school on a "snow day." This picture is from the snowfall that occurred mid-February.

Birthday

There were many fun birthday memories this year, but this is one of my favorite birthday pictures. I just love how Booger's cheeks are all puffed blowing out his candles and if you look in the background you can see his friends all helping him too :)

Friends

A friend of mine is getting married this May at Childress Vineyards in Lexington, NC. This past May we all took a trip there to do a wine tasting and just tour the grounds. This is a picture of her and her bridemaids that I took. They have all been friends forever and I just love how it turned out. I will always remember the day and the fun we had.

I Was Inspired...

Little Ladybug always inspires me. She is just too cute and smiles come so easy.

Spring Fever



Travel or Vacation

This summer while we were at Banker's Lake Miss A learned how to kneeboard! I was so proud of her. I must of snapped a dozen pictures of her while she was out there riding around the lake. I know it doesn't look like she is having a fun time, but I swear she was!

Summer Days

Living in the middle of NC, we are pretty close to the ocean which makes day trips pretty easy. After a day at the aquarium, we stopped at the beach so Miss A could play in the sand a bit before we started our trek home.

A Day In My Life

I've shared this picture before. This used to be a daily thing for Mr. Miso and I. I would put on my makeup as I got ready for work and he would sit on the sink and watch me. Unfortunately, the sink at house is not nearly as big, so he no longer is able to sit there and watch me.

All Smiles

This is Miss A's real smile. It is hard to capture it most days, as she is in the "I don't like my picture being taken" stage of her life.

Autumn Harvest

The leaves on the trees took a long time to change colors this year, so I couldn't get any really good pictures of Miss A with the pretty colors in the background. If you look real hard you can see the colors reflecting in the lake.

Family

This is my grandma and Aunt Nina. They are two of the most influential women in my life. They are so strong and wonderful. I wish they lived closer to us...

Celebrate!

My SIL and her fiance got married this year! It was a small, but sweet ceremony. This is one of the pictures that I captured right after they were announced husband and wife. They are just too cute together.

Let's Do It Again... & I Miss You

My mom turned 50 this past year and my sister and I threw her a "surprise" party. The largest surprise of them all was that her three sisters all flew down from up north to celebrate with us. Because the family is all in separate states now, it is very rare that we are all in the same place at the same time. It is super hard because at one time we all seen each other weekly. I know that picture isn't the best, but you can just tell from the smiles on everyone's faces what a great time we were having...

Beautiful & Dress Up

Another one of Little Ladybug. This is her all dressed up before her dedication at church. My little muse...

Macro


Holidays

The only Christmas shot I got of Miss A this year. It is kinda sad when I think about it. That partly has to do with the fact that we didn't put up a Christmas tree and I wasn't really in the spirit.

My Favorite

This is another shot of my SIL's wedding. It is one of my favorites from that day. I took this as they were walking to the ceremony. They were both so calm and just taking in every moment.

Don't Ever Change

There are certain things of Miss A I would like to change, like the attitude she is developing and the fact that she is an utter slob (she really is), but for the most part I really don't want her to change. I love her just the way she is :)

Just Because...So There!

This is Shadow hiding in one of our moving boxes. And no I didn't Photoshop in her tongue or the fact that our moving boxes were from the ABC store :)

Hopes and Dreams
There are so many hopes and dreams that I have for 2011. Right now the main things on my mind are to find a job and to get our house organized and not have boxes and bags everywhere. If I were to put a lofty dream out there, it would be to upgrade my camera to a Canon, perhaps to a T2i. Like I said, it is a dream... But who knows, maybe by next year at this time I will be posting my first pictures with one???

The Paper Mama Challenge: Family

I was doing so well with my participating in a challenge a week... and then our router broke. And all of a sudden I couldn't get online with my laptop and I was all off balance. But now I am back in business, I think. I just need to get back in the groove.

So my first order of business is to post my picture for The Paper Mama's Weekly Challenge. This week it is to post a picture of your family. This was not an easy task for me to do. I have so many pictures to choose from. Do I go with your typical family shot? Something staged, where everyone is looking at the camera? NOPE! Not even close! In fact if my Aunt Patti finds out that I posted this picture she is likely kill me... hehehe.

This picture is from my mom's 50th birthday party and it just makes me smile when I look at it. My Aunt Patti was teaching Miss A how to do "the bump" as we were all dancing around the living room during the party. I just could not help grabbing my camera and capturing the moment on forever.



For more Family pictures, head on over to The Paper Mama :)

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

It's time for Scavenger Hunt Sunday with Miss Ashley Sisk (sorry, I spelled you name wrong last Sunday Ashely). I almost didn't get my pictures this week because I was down with a migraine all Saturday which is when I planned to go out and snap my pictures. I know, I know, shame on me for putting things off until the last minute, but I was REALLY busy last week with work. Luckily for my mom, sister and I went to the Carolina Christmas Show on Sunday which turned into a WONDERFUL place to capture pictures :) I even got a jump start on the December 2010 Photo Challenge List.

1. In My Home

My MIL gave us this plant when my husband and I moved in together. She started growing it when she got pregnant with my husband. It is called Drunkard's Dream because the the little segments look like little bottles. I can't wait until we move into a house and can give it a space of its own. Right now it is living in my daughter's room because we don't want our kittens to mess with it.

2. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like....


I almost posted a picture I had of leaves on the ground for this picture, but then it snowed on Saturday and I thought I needed to get a bit more of a Christmas spirit :) This is from the Carolina Christmas Show. There was a little place where a bunch of Christmas trees were displayed and it was hard not to get in the holiday spirit when you seen all of them in one place.

3. Sweet Treat
Okay, you can't exactly eat this sweet treat, but I saw this table scape at the Christmas show and it made me smile. It was a Dr. Seus theme with a center piece full of bubble gum and these mint topiaries with lolly pops! So beautiful! I almost posted a picture of it fully colored, but then decided to do a selected color one. I only wish the lolly pop on the topiary was a colorful one.

4. Time


So my grand idea for time was a table full of watches, but ofcourse there wasn't one. The closest thing I could find at the Christmas show was some watches that were hanging. Bonus points since they aren't all showing the same time?

5. Everyday



Every morning Miso, our little boy kitten, sits on the bathroom counter and watches me as I fix my hair and put on my make up. He has done this since we first got him. He is my little shadow in the morning :)