Thirty one.
Thirty one days of January completed. Here's to the next twenty nine that February has!!

All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark. ~Swami Vivekananda
{31/365}

It is so hard getting use to the cold...

Especially because last week this time we were sinking our toes in the sand...**sigh**

Eight years ago.
When I just really started to get into photography, the picture below was one of my most favorite moments I ever captured of my two. I remember the day as if it was yesterday...I just turned around to walk back to the blanket when I happened to look up and see both of them sitting together staring out into the waters of Glendale Lake. I remember grabbing my camera and snapping the shutter...freezing time...capturing that moment forever! Everytime I look at this image it brings me back to that exact moment, the warm sun, the breeze blowing in our faces.

And, I remember after I got the roll of film developed, how I was so estatic being able to capture such a sweet moment shared between the two of them. And, ever since that day, I have had it hanging on my living room wall. It is one of my most favorite pictures that I never, ever will replace in the frame it hangs in.

Then, this past week, eight years later....the same moment happened again. I just turned my back to walk back to our beach towels and I looked up and I saw this...

Another special moment in time, frozen, captured forever!! And, I absolutely adore it!!!! That is why I love photography so much...not the posed, cheesey smiles...but the everyday moments of life is it what I love capturing the most. Special moments shared between them, frozen and imprinted on my heart forever.

Destination ~Cocoa Beach, Florida.
Way back in June, I went to a psyhic lady with a bunch girls from work. In one of her predictions, she predicted that I would have a trip in the near future that would consists of sand and water....yeah right!! I even rolled my eyes and chuckled when she mentioned it.

Never in a million years would I have thought that the prediction would come true...considering my husband hates the sand and the beach and the hot sun. So, I totally blew it off.

Then the opportunity arose in October...a trip to Florida for a whole week. Nothing but sun, sand, surf and lots of relaxtion. Oh yes please, sign me up!! Reservations were made, airline tickets were booked and...last week, for seven whole days, we enjoyed the time of our lives that included sand and water.

And, it was the most amazingly, beautiful and relaxing vacation we have had in five years. We could not have asked for any better weather!! High 70's the whole time and sun. Pure bliss!

I have so many wonderful memories that I cannot simply wait to to start to go through all of them!!!! But, now I am back to reality and must go brush the snow off my car and head off to work. More to share later!!!

{day 29}
On day 29, one day after we return home from our vacation...I literally have thousands of pictures to download...six camera cards completely full; 4,515 images to be exact!!! Yikes!!!

My husband asked...."So do you think you took a thousand pics?" Uh...yup! Kind of like quadruple that!!!! Ha!! But, I didn't tell him that!!! And, that does not include about 300 taken on my Iphone.

I still have to do some catching up for my 365...as soon as I get organized and settled back into the bitter cold, I will post the ones for the days that I missed being away from the computer.


And, lots and lots of VK photos!!! All 4,515 of them!! Just kidding!!! No, seriously, I'm kidding!!! Well, sort of!!!

A good excuse.
I really have been MIA for a good reason....


Because where we were, there was just not much internet access....just lots of sun and sand. More to come....

Frosty.
Art is the colors and textures of your imagination...


{19/365}

A quote.
Just another quote I stumbled upon and fell in love with....and had to share.

The most important thing about love is that we choose to give it, and we choose to receive it - making it the least random act in the entire universe. it transcends blood, it transcends betrayal, and all of the dirt that makes us human.

{18/365}
Remember my addiction to fire hydrants? Well, if you didn't already know, I do have this major thing for fire hydrants. I just LOVE them.

Well, I still have that addiction. But, my new found addiction...yup, you guessed it....old, rusty mailboxes.

{18/365} Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time. ~James A. Baldwin

Berry, berries.
Do not condemn the judgement of another because it differs from your own. You may both be wrong. ~Dandemis

{17/365} I am a sucker when it comes to berries. I can scout them out most anywhere!!! :)

Day Sixteen.
I try to avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward.
~Charlotte Bronte



Frigid...is the only word that comes to mind this morning, oh yea, and brrrrrrrr!!!!! My view from looking up at the stop sign this morning...the icicles frozen in air.

Day 15.
Nature's music is never over; her silences are pauses, not conclusions. ~Mary Webb

{15/365}
This is the effect of how cold it is out there. The frosty windows in my laundry room from running the dryer all day. Brrrr......

Red.
An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while a pessimist sees only the red stoplight. . . The truly wise person is colorblind. ~Albert Schweitzer

{Day 14} Comforts of home.
Today, it was waaaayyyy toooo cold to venture outside and try to capture something for Day 14. So, instead, I looked for some inspiration inside the comfort of my home. And, I did not have to look very far...Mr. Chip was happily enjoying the comforts of his home laying all sprawled out on the heat register resting his perfect little head off of the entertainment stand. I just love how cozy he can make himself look.

{14/365}

Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure... ~Oprah Winfrey

And, the glorious light filtering in from the outside today was just as beautiful.

Sometimes...

Sometimes you just need to sit back, relax and unfocus. Yep, unfocus. That's what I'm gonna do right now! Just like in the shot.

I am pretty sure I have mentioned it before, but I will say it again...I love technology. And, my NOOK is one of the best gifts I ever received...thanks Mom. I love you!! And, I am pretty sure I have mentioned this before too....I love lazy Saturday mornings! Enjoy the weekend!

Winter on a stick.
I just love these. They are one of my most favorite to photograph. And, just another example of a "drive by" shoot that I took yesterday morning on my way to work in the bone chilling temperatures.

Thirteen.
It is all very beautiful and magical here - a quality which cannot be described. You have to live it and breathe it, let the sun bake into you. The skies and the lands are so enormous, and the detail so precise and exquisite that wherever you are you are isolated into a glowing world between the macro and the micro, where everything is sidewise under you and over you, and the clocks stopped long ago. ~Ansel Adams.

{13/365}
I must admit, on Day 13, and nineteen degrees...I did not even attempt to get out of my car for this shot...another "drive by"!! Keep warm my friends!

Winter rain {Day 12}.
Okay, its raining again! And, I could not decide what picture I wanted for my 365 today. I took one in the morning before work of the rain and one at night after work. Hmmmmm......I guess it is better than snow since it is January, but we are expected 3-5 inches tonight.


I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.
~Vincent Van Gogh


So, maybe snow pictures tomorrow??

{Day 11}.
We have had such weird weather. One minute it is 56 degrees, the next is snowing and now...this morning there was a beautiful white frost covering almost everything including the garage shingles.


Every mile is two in winter ~ George Herbert

Day 10.
Whew!! I made it for ten days straight now...but feeling the winter blahs today. So,this is all I've got on Day 10. Because, Winter doesn't have to be colourless.



At least the weather is not too cold! :0

Days seven, eight and nine.
I know I have mentioned it before...and I have no problem saying it again, I LIVE for the weekends. No ringing of alarm clocks, no rushing in the morning, just leisurely getting up and enjoying the morning sun and new flannel sheets.

{7/365}
And, going for long afternoon walks in the woods and finding hidden treasures like this old bowl with ferns spilling out of the sides...

{8/365}

But, on Day 9, back to the grind and one of the biggest challenges of the day...finding parking at work. Ugh!!!! And, just wanting to keep on driving straight into the mountains to reach that gorgeous morning sun.

{9/365}
Enjoy another work week. :) The countdown to the weekend is on!

6/365.
Oh, as much as I love the internet and email...I still LOVE getting snail mail!!!! Nothing beats going to the mailbox and seeing a delivery...except for bills, of course!!

The Internet reaches across a vast world. But doesn't that also include your own backyard?

And, I LOVE old rusty, weathered mailboxes too!!!!

Day 5.

The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. ~Arthur C. Clarke

{5/365}

And a big shout out to my nephew Trent. Happy 14th Birthday!! On this day, 14 years ago, I walking across this hospital parking lot to meet you for the first time. Happy, Happy Birthday!!!!!

Queen of the Roll.
I have given myself a title, aka as "the official toliet paper roll changer" and "Queen of the Roll". Not one that I am necessarily proud of. Just one that I think that I have honestly earned because no matter where I go...whether it be my house, work, my mom's, my sister's...I have to change the toliet paper roll. Why? I don't really know. I mean how is it that I time it just right to be the one everytime, everywhere??? But, I will admitt it, I tend to express my bitter feelings about it. I stomp my feet and grumble everytime. So, tonight when I went upstairs, this is what I found...


I some how think that my message finally got across...well, sort of. And, I have not found out who exactly did this yet...but, when I do I am going to give them a big o'le kiss!!!!!!! And, a free lesson on how to actually remove the old roll before actually placing the new one.

The end.

Day 4.
Sometimes on my way to work...I simply must pull the car along side the road and get out. Today was no exception. I just had to stop when I spotted this lonely post surrounded by the snow that had just freshly fallen the night before and the morning sun starting to rise up from behind the mountains. Even though my car registered only a whole five degrees.

The rays of happiness, like those of light, are colorless when unbroken. ~Henry W. Longfellow


{4/365}


And, somedays I wish I could just keep driving and find more of natures simple beauty.

Day 3.

"It is your duty to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight. "
~Elizabeth Gilbert


{3/365}

2/365 ~ A new day.
Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. ~Oprah Winfrey

I really don't know what these are....but I love them!

Project 365.
So, what should I say? I finally decided that I am going to start one of these. Give or take a few days maybe? I don't know. I may call it quits after three months, or I may make it the whole 365. A photo a day for the next 365 days?? Hmmmmm.......

{1/365 }

What I expect? I don't know, to be honest. I just want to make more photos, have fun, learn, make mistakes and then learn from my mistakes. Create art out of everyday life. Capture everything I possibly can. What you can expect? Photos, that's all. Good one's? Maybe, maybe not. But, I am hoping to grow and learn from this experience. I am going to try and go out of my comfort zone a little. Try different lenses, try some different processing. I am hoping to really find my style.

(And yes, I know this year has 366 days.) Wish me luck. Oh yeah, Happy New Years 2012!!!!