And This Concludes It.......

Today is June 30th, which means it's the last day of the 30 day photo challenge. I've learned what I've liked and what I'm not a big fan of. Self portraits is something I'm not fond of. So I really drug my feet on this one today and, to be honest, I didn't put much effort into it. I wish today's challenge would've been to pick a favorite "theme" to conclude. But it's not and I'm a rule follower so here is my last self portrait for awhile............

The Fear of....

**I wrote this late last night while moths swarmed me, but it wouldn't post. So here it is a day later when the sun is out and my fear has subsided.**

I have discovered I have mottephobia, the fear of moths. Every Fall I forget about it and every Summer, when those pesky little things start entering our house, it all comes back to me. This Summer is the worst my fear's ever been. I think it's because P likes to open the doors- which don't have screens thanks to Ruby- so we have way more moths in our house than usual. I go after them with a vengeance, taking delight in killing them. Then, at night, the moths and their buddies seem to get revenge on me. As soon as the sun goes down, it's like the scary movie music starts. Then the sound of moths follows.....their wings flapping rapidly, their bodies making a thud sound when they hit something. Soon the disgusting little creatures start dive bombing me. I can't read because they're attracted to the light. Then when I go to bed they're close to me, even after turning off the light. I know it's my imagination, but I feel as if moths are in my hair most of the night. I wake up, hear their wings flapping and my blood pressure shoots up. Then I can't go back to sleep because I'm torn between putting a pillow over my head to protect myself or leaving the pillow on the ground so I can still hear P if he wakes up. This is a nightly occurrence and I find myself counting down til Fall again, when I won't have to deal with these disgusting little buggers anymore! Ah, the joys....

Black N White

Today's challenge is black and white photos. 2 of the pictures below are ones I took recently and was waiting to use. Today I wanted to capture some of the beautiful clouds and I did in an indirect way....The one of our kitchen windows is one I really like. Just as I was getting ready to go inside, a herd of mustangs made their way through our yard. One of the things I like about living here is the variety of animals P gets to see on a regular basis. Today he was pretty excited about seeing the colt up close. (I was pretty excited that I still had my camera in hand) Enjoy today's pictures....

Character Flaw

Yesterday a friend of mine, Chris, blogged about marriage expectations. He wrote that expectations should be less, not lowered. This got me to thinking about my biggest character flaw. I'm a perfectionist! I expect a lot from me and those around me. Then, when I was dealing with insomnia yet again last night, my thoughts drifted to my own life, my own personality and discovered that, with being a perfectionist, I am selfish instead of selfless. I used to be the opposite. I gave and gave and gave.... until I had nothing left to give. If I only had a dollar to my name I'd give it to someone in need rather than keep it for me. I drove lots of miles to meet up with friends just so it'd be more convenient for them. I called friends regularly, checking in to see how they were doing. Somewhere along the way I lost that. I don't know if it's because I became a mom and give so much to my boys or because I just got tired of giving. If I'm honest I don't think it's because I became a mom because my friends, Julie in Reno, and Marisa in Cali., both have babies and they are some of the most giving people I know (along with Kirsti and Aimee). I also don't think it's because I'm a mom because my mom and mother (in law) both give more than most people combined. When we visit them, they both wait hand and foot on us. I think, "When they come to our house, I'll make sure they don't lift a finger"....and that doesn't happen.
When I hosted our monthly book club last week one of the newer members washed ALL of the dishes and loaded the dishwasher, leaving me little to clean up. I laid awake that night, wondering if I would've done that at someone else's house, especially a lady I didn't know too terribly well. It's things like that that make me realize that I'm more selfish than selfless.
Often I find myself asking people questions and then not listening to their answers. I start focusing on things in my own life. Sometimes I just walk away in the middle of the conversation, not realizing until later what I did.
All that to say, I'm going to focus more on being more selfless and less of a perfectionist. Thanks to Chris's blog, I think that making my expectations less instead of lower is just the trick for me!

Stop and Smell the Flowers

I've always loved flowers! I worked at a flower shop off and on for about 7 years. When Rob and I were dating he sent me flowers once a month. I loved getting the flowers but the spring bouquet were always my favorite because of the variety and color. So I was glad that I had the chance to photograph flowers for this challenge.
That being said, I can't believe the 30 day challenge is almost over! I've had so much fun and have learned a lot. In fact, I learned that I love bokeh! (I never knew what it was before this challenge) So, for today's pictures I added one with bokeh. I also added one of a dandelion. I've never thought they were beautiful until my handsome lil guy started picking them for me. Now I love them! I hope you're able to stop and smell the flowers at some point today. Enjoy!

Family Time

This past weekend P and I went to visit my parents. It just so worked out that my brother and sister in law were visiting as well. We had a fun family weekend together. When my family's together we like to try new things or visit family favorites. We're always on the go, exploring so it's no surprise that this trip was full of new adventures. It started with lunch at a small aiport landing strip. P got to meet my sister in law's nephew, who is close in age, and had fun playing together while watching planes. Saturday we celebrated P's birthday a little early with a train ride at a local outdoor mall and then topped it off with a pizza dinner and Thomas cake. He LOVED every minute of it! Sunday after our afternoon naps P and I met up with one of my childhood friends and her son. The boys didn't play together all that much but they both had fun at the playground. To top it off, we had family time at the railroad museum this morning. I seriously think P thought he died and went to heaven. He played with the countless trains in the kid section of the museum. Although we didn't get to do the train ride, he would've stayed all day had we let him. But, alas, it was time to get home to daddy and the doggies. We had a fun filled family weekend, one full of lots of fun memories!

From a Distance

I can't say I'm proud of these 2 shots. I made a bonehead move and left the camera battery charger at my house, 150 miles from where we were this weekend. I was excited to get a fun shot at the railroad museum this morning but I spent the last of the camera battery playing with the manual settings. Needless to say, I didn't get the shot I wanted. So I took out my point n shoot (which I had forgotten to take to the museum- another bonehead move) when we were stuck in traffic on I-80. Here's what I saw....

How Close Can You Get?

I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this challenge! In fact, you'll have to forgive me because I chose to post A LOT of pics from today. I'm still at my parents' so these are unedited pics. But, I doubt I would've done much to them had I had access to my software because I love them that much.


(DaddyBull)



(If you blow this one up you can see the spider web to the right of the flower)


(The dancing dog that P is afraid of at my parents' house)


(What's left of the delicious Thomas the Train cake my mom made for P's 2nd birthday)




On a side note, today I got together with a childhood friend that I've known for 30+ years. It was good for my soul and for my camera knowledge! Kim is the one that has spear-headed this challenge and has supported me through countless questions this month. She showed me things about my dad's camera that I doubt I would've ever discovered on my own. Thank you, Kim, for helping me so much in the world of photography. Love ya girl!

Pink!

Please forgive me for displaying such RAW photos. I'm having technical difficulties on my dad's computer and he hasn't uploaded any photo software to it yet so I'm limited on my editing. So here is my pretty n pink shots....

A horse, a chicken, a llama...oh my!

(Neigborhood mustangs)


Today's challenge is a favorite of mine because it's become a favorite of P's....ANIMALS! When I saw today's challenge I decided we'd go on an early morning fieldtrip to find some animals. I just discovered a place down the hill that has ostriches, llamas, donkeys and goats. P is in heaven when we stop by there. So here are today's animals......





(Our neighbor's chicken that lays us good eggs.)



(This is one from our anniversary trip that I think is funny...(read the sign and look which way the cow is headed.)


(P's favorite...mama llama!)

Sunflares!

I LOVE sun flares and (now) bokeh! So I set off this morning to capture some great shots of both. I was not 100% sold on the sun flare shots I was getting so I came home and researched it. I learned that if you set the ISO at about 400(ish) and the f/ up as high as it'll go it's pretty simple to get some fun sun flare pictures. So, I ended up capturing quite a few but here are my favs...with minimal editing.

Complaining Hands

I know. I know. Hands don't complain. But today's photo challenge is hands and I want to complain for just a second before showing you my shots. I'm not fun to be around when I haven't slept and since you don't get the joy of being around me today I thought I'd just share my complaints with you so you don't feel left out. This morning was FABULOUS! My friend recommended a website called LivingSocial.com, which sends you daily coupons to your email. You can choose to take advantage of them so I did when they sent me one for a massage and facial. I figured it'd be a nice post race reward for myself....and it was! I was so relaxed that I just wanted to crawl into bed for the rest of the day. But I couldn't because I had a carpet cleaning appointment (Get ready cause here's where the complaining starts). My appt was at 1:15 so I raced home to be here in time. I didn't need to do that because the guy was almost an hour late....and acted like it was no big deal. Then I got an email that P's swim lessons were cancelled due to the instructor having problems with her pregnancy. I can't fault her for that but I'm frustrated that I'm back to Square One with finding swim lessons, which isn't as easy as it sounds. Once I finally picked P up from daycare and ran to Walmart he decided that Walmart was a good place to demonstrate his Terrible 2 tantrum, making everyone comment while I stood in line. In the whole scheme of things, my day was not bad at all. But I do feel much better venting to you my friend. Thanks for listening/reading.
OK, today's challenge is hands. I have veiny (is that a word?), old lady looking hands. So I used my men as my hand models. P's new thing is "knuckles" so that's one of the pics. Enjoy...

Faceless Self Portrait and a big Thank you!

I was going to wait until the last day of the photo challenge to send a shout out of thank-yous but decided against it. I'll do it today instead. I'd like to thank everyone, especially Eva of Love From Eva, Valeria of ZenMind Project, Kimberly of Human Behavior, my husband, my parents and my mother-in-law for all the encouragement and compliments during this photo challenge. It's been challenging at time, fun most of the time and a learning experience all of the time. I'm inspired by the other photos that Kimberly posts every day on her blog. It makes me want to learn everything I can about the camera, lighting and software. Thanks everyone for making this challenge so much fun!

Today's challenge was one I really had fun with. I don't know if it's because P has been a pistol since he woke up (early) and it was my escape or because I just really liked it. Either way here are my shots for today's faceless self portrait.....

Day 20: Bokeh

I packed up P and the camera this morning and headed to one of my favorite parks while the lighting was good. I had studied up on bokeh last night when I couldn't sleep. As you can see by the pictures below, bokeh is when the background is blurred out but you can see white "lights" from another light source (in this case, the sun). Although this was a challenge for me, it gave me an opportunity to learn more about the camera and its settings and less about the editing (in fact, none of these pics have been edited). It took quite a bit of adjusting but I got a few shots that I liked. Ken Roswell may not be impressed but I'm happy with them. Enjoy.....








(Although this one is not considered bokeh, I really liked it- it's unedited!)

Nigh, Night Sleepyhead!

I got a total of ONE hour of sleep last night. Not one hour at the beginning, one in the middle and one at the end. One TOTAL! It started earlier in the day when I took a 2 1/2 hour nap, fairly late into the afternoon. It then took another turn when I drank soda at around 6pm. I'm like an old lady and can't have caffeine that late into the day. The reality of no sleep set in when we went to bed. It's that time of year that opening our windows at night cools down the room but doesn't get too cool for P in his room. So, instead of turning on the A/C, that's what we've been doing most nights. Well, somewhere around here a bonehead neighbor leaves their dogs out. The dogs bark incessantly, to the point I'd think they'd lose their voices. But they continue to power on, barking strong until after 11pm. Once they finally stopped I couldn't get my mind to slow down enough to fall asleep. With the little sleep I got, I dreamt about today's photo challenge and where I could go to capture the shot. By the time Rob's alarm went off at 4:30 I was exhausted! I tried to sprawl out across the bed and go back to sleep but by now the sun is up and the birds are singing (some prettier than others). I don't want to continue the cycle by taking another long nap today but I honestly don't know how I'll get through the day without one. The joys of no sleep!

father's day

this could take a while. i guess i'll begin with my fondest memories of my dad growing up. most of them involve my grandpa as well. heading out at night to go frog gigging, listening to ole miss on the radio on the way to deer camp in grandpa's truck, my first deer i ever killed, throwing the football, Christmas mornings, hunting on thanksgiving day every year, sitting around and watching football games, all night drives to my rodeo's, family reunions at kentwood, going over to grandpa's house to watch ole miss play, everything deer camp, my first truck, letting me drive the family car home from the bay, coming to the bay after school where dad was working, fishing behind number 7, handgrabbing, living in the apartment, taking me to the casino, my wedding day, visits out west, and probably one that will rank among the best ever is our upcoming elk hunt in colorado. my dad always put us first. he always taught us to work hard, do our best, hold our head high, never let anyone talk down to you, give respect, earn respect, be honest, and always know that he was there for us. i couldnt have asked for a better dad, then and now. of course there were times when i hit "that stage" where we didnt get along, but i knew he always loved me. my dad is my best friend and it really sucks to be this far away from him. i miss our weekends at deer camp, fishing, and watching ole miss play. i hope and pray that i will be as good of a dad to preston as he is to me. there;s so much about this hunt coming up that im looking forward to. the hunt itself, being with dad the first time he hears an elk bugle and sees one in the wild, being in camp every night after the hunt with our friends and my brother, but i have to admit the thing im looking the most forward to is the ride out there. he is either flying here or to salt lake city and we will ride to delta colorado together, just me and him, driving through the rocky mountains together. i think often of how lucky i am. i was fortunate enough to be brought up with a dad that taught me so much about life, most of those lessons i learned hunting with my dad. i couldnt imagine growing up not hunting. i know some kids dont have what i did and that is sad. so, i guess ive rambled enough. just thought id share some of my thoughts about my dad on fathers day. i wish i couldve been there with him today. i love you dad

Day 19: Something Orange

I can't say that orange is my favorite color. It's one of those colors that agitates me more than anything. So I had no idea what I was going to take a picture of for today's challenge. On the way to church I found plenty of inspiration and I found even more when I got home! The question soon became what I would CHOOSE to take pictures of. Here is what I chose for today's challenge:


(Important piece in bird training Ruby)


(Rock formation at our local park)


(One of P's favorite snacks)

Happy Father's Day

As I've mentioned on occasion, my family was similar to "Leave It to Beaver". My dad worked 9-5 at a government job, in charge of several people. Then he'd come home between 5:45-6:00 every night, at which time he and my mom would go have alone time. After that we'd sit down to dinner as a family, my dad asking-and LISTENING- about our day. Then we'd have family time, playing or having family devotions. My dad was there for all of it, participating, wanting to spend QUALITY time with us.
At times my dad traveled a lot for work. But, when he came back from his trips he always had a surprise for me and my brother. He also started a tradition of hiding money in the rental cars, something my brother and I loved but were clueless to (We couldn't figure out why dad always got the "lucky" cars with money in them but we weren't complaining.) When he got home, he could've easily played the "tired card" but he never did. He wanted to know what he had missed while he was gone.
He was, and is, a calming presence with sound advice. When one of us got upset he would calmly assess the situation and react accordingly. He didn't get mad often so when he did we knew we were in the wrong. I remember one particular road trip where everything that could go wrong, did. He could've easily yelled and thrown things but instead he figured out a Plan B that would get us to our destination. He's always been good at the "Plan Bs". That's why he's the first person I go to when I need advice on BIG subjects. I know he'll listen first and give advice second.
Growing up, he was involved in our church. He was never "preachy" that I can remember but he led by example. He doesn't judge because he's made his fair share of mistakes. He was always the spiritual leader of the house, showing us God's unconditional love on a daily basis. He made sacrifices that I didn't learn about until much later in life. He lived without a lot of wants because of me and my brother. He prayed for us and lost sleep over us.
When people say I take after my dad that's the highest compliment I can be given. He's human so I know he's not perfect. But, in my 35 years, I have yet to find his flaws. He's my hero, someone I will always look up to, no matter how old I am. Happy Father's Day to my hero, the person I strive to be more like!!

Day 18: Marathoning Mamas

Today's photo challenge is "Your Shoes" so I'm incorporating that into my day. I woke up at 3:30AM, got out of bed at 4:40AM and was on the road by 5:15AM. All for a race! My friend and I took part in our first marathon relay today. I had planned to blog all about my experience and feelings but, to be honest, it's been a whirlwind day and I'm exhausted. So instead I'll give you the abbreviated version.
I've been training for weeks and was glad the day finally arrived to test my endurance. The hard word paid off! I ran a half marathon in a little under 2 hours!! I am SUPER happy with this accomplishment. My goal was not to walk, which I did, and run faster than I've trained and I did that. My teammate and I placed 2nd, which we were happy with. All in all it was a great first marathon relay. That being said I'm retiring my running shoes for awhile. I've learned that I like running much more when it's for enjoyment and not for training. I'm glad I can cross off "running a half marathon" off my Bucket List now!


(My race photographer)


(The last tag between me and my teammate, Michelle)


(Michelle and I with our biggest competition)

Day 17: Tech

After spending so much time behind the camera yesterday, trying to figure out how to capture the long exposure shot, I didn't want to spend too much time messing with it today. To be honest, I wasn't all that excited about today's challenge, even though I have no doubt people will get creative shots. I just took our laptop into the closet and closed the door. This is what I got......