The Peach Tree

We bought a peach tree on a whim last summer and have been anxiously watching it grow the past few months. Over the winter it lost all it's leaves and I was really worried, but apparently that's what is supposed to happen. The past few weeks it's been blooming like crazy, and lo and behold, peaches are actually starting to appear!!

Here are some pics of the last few weeks progress. I can't wait to see it as it continues to blossom. Maybe we'll get a small harvest this year!

 

CameraShy Week 9: Roots

This is a picture of the roots of the crepe myrtle in my backyard. If you know anything about crepe myrtles, you know that they should be cut down each year in the early spring to keep them the correct size. No one did that with this one and when we moved it was already the size of a regular tree. It takes it longer to flower each year, but when it does it's a beautiful purple. The roots spread all over the yard, popping up out of the ground.

Photochallenge.org Week 9: Landscape - Panorama

This week has been fun! I've been enjoying putting together panoramic shots. I think it's definitely something I'll continue to do, and that's exactly part of why I'm participating in this challenge, to learn new things and add new skills as I move forward.

I had two shots this week that I really liked. One was of the walking path at my work. The other, Lake Mirror in downtown Lakeland.

Even as I type this I'm not sure which one to make my final submission for the week, which is why I'm going to finally link my blog to the post, to share both.

Photography is such a personal thing, that no matter which one I submit, I'll have people who prefer the other one. I need to stop worrying so much what is the "best" picture I've taken each week and just go with my gut, because at the end of the day, it's me who will be looking back and remembering my own life with these pictures. They should really reflect me, because if they don't, it isn't worth remembering.

So here they are, the path that I walk around in circles at work to get some fresh air everyday (from the view of the bench, which I will also post a photo of):

 

and Lake Mirror, the setting of my first "professional" photo shoot and other great memories.

Which is your favorite?

Camerashy Week 8: Blue

I love the color blue: blue oceans, blue skys. My car is blue, my house is blue, and my bedroom is blue. I think blue is such a great color for a room, it's so soothing, which is what your bedroom should be.
My bedroom is tones of blue and brown. I have a few different decorative accents placed around the room, and I decided to use this plate as the focal point of my "blue" submission this week.

It sits on top of my armoire with some candle sticks. When our cats lived inside they used to jump up there and I was always so afraid it would get knocked down and break, but it survived. I love the details of the lining. It's funny, things you pic up along the way that become pieces you grow to love and will keep forever. I think this might be one of them.

Photochallenge.org Challenge Week 8: Birds in Flight

After hitting the backyard and a nearby lake full of birds, I still didn't have anything I liked for this week. So on Saturday, during my breaks at work,  I headed out to our walking path, which circles around a little man made lake ie: retention pond, and finally had some success. I got a few pics of an egret, but most were too blown out. Then, on break two I got lucky. I got some great pics of a heron flying across the lake, some hawks circling ahead, and even a little cute sparrow moving from limb to limb.
After I had put my camera in my bag and was walking back to work, I noticed two birds above that seemed to be fighting. I assumed it was the hawks, but when I really looked, one was way bigger. I grabbed my camera and grabbed some shots as he flew by, having chased the hawk away. Once I got home and loaded my pics on the computer my suspicions were confirmed: a bald eagle!! I couldn't believe it. Jordan was uber impressed. I got three or four really clear shots, albeit far away. Even though I love the composition of some of the heron shots, I had to use the eagle as my picture submission of the week, but I've put some of my other favorite shots here too.

 

Camershy Photo Challenge Week 7: Cherish

I thought a lot about this week's theme. Of course I cherish my husband and my kids, but I take so many pictures of them already I wanted to do something different. I ended up going with something along the same theme, family, but I used my Willow Tree figurines as the focus. The pregnancy figurine is actually called "Cherish" so I decided to use that one as my focal point and then place some of the other figurines behind. I used a small depth of field in order to really focus on the first piece.

When I went to edit the photo I was playing around with a few effects I had downloaded from The Pioneer Woman website. This one is called "Heartland" and while I normally don't like anything this bold I felt like it worked for this picture with the wood.

I also took some pictures of the other figurines, set up in the way our family looks right now. I love my Willow Tree figures. I still know when I got each one and why. They represent the love I have for my family.

 

Camerashy Week 6: Ancient

Cold front!!! A cold front at my house means a fire in the backyard, and as soon as I thought about it I knew that was going to be my "Ancient" submission.

I took a LOT of pictures of our fire. I've played with taking fire pictures before and I think it's fun to adjust the shutter speed and see what effects you get. I had a few pictures that were my favorites. This is the one I'm picking as my submission for the week. Even though it isn't as sharp as I would like, I love how warm it is, showing the embers burning in the bottom of the fire.

This is a really cool picture too though. It's my husband's favorite. The longer shutter speed caught the flying embers that were going around the fire

Photochallenge.org Week 6: Panning

Panning is way harder that I thought it would be!! I wanted to do someting different than a car, so I decided to use Jordan on his bike as my subject. He was so accomodating. He rode circles around me forever in order for me to take my shots.

In the end, I didn't get anything sharp. I should probably bump up my shutter speed but found doing that lessend the panning effect, so maybe I just need more practice.

Here's the final picture I've submitted for the week. It's the clearest one. I actually really like it and the fact that Jordan is a little blurry doesn't really bother me.

Photochallenge.org Week 4: Nature and Wildlife - Backlit Leaves

So, I am not happy with my picture for this challenge this week. Don't get me wrong, I like the picture itself, but it wasn't until after I selected and posted it that I really thought about the fact that flowers have "petals" and not leaves, and it doesn't really qualify....  I really thought about reshooting, but alas, the sun has been hiding the ENTIRE week and I've decided to just let it go and get ready for week 5.

Here's my pic:

 

 

Update : I couldn't resist, I had to reshoot.  Here's a picture of a palm tree on my patio, with lighting from above coming from a flood light.

 

CameraShy Challenge Week 4: Creamy

When I think of creamy I think of food, and one of my favorite creamy food items is mashed potatoes. I love mashed potatoes!! Creamy, buttery, homemade mashed potatoes.
One of my favorite things to pair with potatoes is meatloaf, so this challenge gave me a good excuse to make some yummy comfort food this week.

Here's some pictures of the process:

Photo Challenge 2014: Week 3

I had fun with the themes this week. The first picture I attempted was "Still Life - Fruit." This is really the first time I've ever set up a "photo shoot" environment. I wanted to use berries, I thought the colors would be so nice.

I ended up using this as the official submission for the week.

Overall feedback was good, but some people mentioned that that they found the bowl distracting. I posted this second picture as an alternate, and some like it better, but I don't. I like the bowl... which makes sense since that's the one I choose originally.

It's hard for me to hear that someone isn't in love with the picture I like the best, but photography is personal and not everyone has the same likes and dislikes. And constructive criticism is good, right? Right??...


The CameraShy theme this week is "Routine." Unlike the first theme, where I knew right away what I wanted to do, I had a lot of ideas for this one. I took pictures of my running shoes (a new thing I'm trying to add to my routine), of baby bottles (a theme that will be around for awhile longer), and while I was in the garage, just because I had my camera in hand, I took a few shots of my washer and dryer. Once I loaded everything on my computer I ended up liking the shots of my dryer the most. One had the clothes I had hanging up to dry reflected in the knob which I thought gave it some extra interest.

Photo Challenge 2014: Week 2

Another week, 2 more pictures.

I lucked out with an easy answer to the "Crisp" theme this week for the Camera Shy challenge. I was making fresh green beans on Wednesday night for dinner, and I knew it was the perfect subject. I took a few different angles and decided to submit the close up, with the just the beans showing. I love how shiny they are!

The second theme this week is "Lighting." This is more of a technical challenge, to submit a picture that uses lighting in an interesting way. I took a lot of different pictures through the week, including some of a fire from our fire pit (that couldn't quite get lit enough to be worth it), and some of the moon, which were cool to take, but pretty uninteresting to look at.

I finally decided on this picture of my wine glass with backlighting from the street lamp in the neighbors backyard shining through the window. If you look closely, you can actually see my living room fan reflected in the front of the glass.

Photo Challenge 2014: Week 1

So, this is week one of my 2014 photo challenges. I've joined two different challenges this year, one is at photochallenge.org and the other is for the blog http://beginnersphotographyblog.com. I'm really excited about making sure I stick with it and take all 104 pictures. I participated in a photo challenge in 2012 and only made it through July, so I really want to finish the entire year this time around.

Of course, each week will have a different theme, and each challenge will be different each week too, so I don't know yet how I'll end up blogging each week, as one post, or two. Maybe I'll change it up if I have a bigger story behind one picture that week. Who knows - I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

This week, I'll be posting both together.

My first picture that I took this week was for photochallege.org. The theme this week was Landscape, with a focus on trees. I went down to Lake Hollingsworth to take some pictures of the trees around the lake. I actually got a few different pictures that I liked, but I finally chose this one and my submission for the week:

The second theme this week was "Revitalize." Since I've been addicted to coffee from the third trimester of Rylie's pregancy, that only seemed fitting. I need that extra boost in the mornings right now with a 3-month old waking me up during the night.

I'm excited to share my pictures here each week. I haven't blogged in quite awhile, and I really do miss it. A caption under a photo just isn't always enough to convey what you were going for.

Starting the Year Off Right

As 2013 comes to a close I can look back and say that this year was not the easiest I've ever had. While some amazing things took place, like gaining a new daughter and making some great new friends, there were also some very hard moments to get through. One thing I have learned this year is that trusting that God has a plan that is bigger than the one you have for yourself is hard, but worth it in the end. I also learned that having family you can lean on when you need them is one of the greatest gifts in life.

I'm not making any "resolutions" for 2014 but I am making some decisions in my life moving forward that I hope will have a positive impact on this upcoming year.

1. To trust God with my heart and my head, not just my words.
2. To not focus on a number on a scale or a size on a tag, but on making choices that benefit my health, not take away from it. A healthy body = a healthy mind.
3. To remember that the most important things in life can't be purchased, but do require my attention and time to be the best they can be.

In addition to an attitude change, I'm also going to be doing some things for just me this year, including running a 5K for the first time in May and joining two photo challenges that require me to take a picture a week that complies with a specific theme. That's primarily what I'll be blogging about this year, the theme of the week for each challenge and my thought process behind what I chose to submit as my picture for the week.

Maybe I'll share my blog - maybe I won't... I guess we'll see as the year progresses. Right now, I just want to do it for me so I can look back in 2015 and see that I kept up with my promises to myself this year.

Introducing Rylie Ashyn

Phew!! It didn't happen how I ever imagined it would, but we are now an official family of four!!

I checked into the hospital on Sunday night, 10/13 for induction. Thank goodness it wasn't the same experience as Jordan, where they turned me away for an extra day. This time we got in nice and simply. After changing and getting my IV and paperwork set up there wasn't much else to do that night since they weren't going to give me any pitocin until the next morning, so we waited.

I surfed the internet, watched a little TV, and then tried to sleep. That didn't really go that well once the Cervidal started to kick in. Nothing big, but contractions big enough that it was pretty obvious sleep wasn't going be an option.

Things had fizzled out in the early morning, so next came some pitocin to jump start the arrival of my stubborn daughter. I was able to manage the pain pretty well in the early stages and was off to a great start. Then I got the news that completely changed the course of the rest of my day:

"NO EPIDURAL FOR YOU"

 

That's right folks, no epidural like I planned. Apparently I had a low platelet count and anesthesiology said no way Jose. So, after quite a few tears and a mini panic attack, I had no choice, she had to come out, and we did what we had to do. It wasn't easy, and it was painful, and I wouldn't want to do it again, but I'm super proud of myself and the end result - my beautiful Rylie Ashlyn.

 

Jordan came in to meet his new sister about 45 minutes later, after things had calmed down a little bit. It was love at first sight, and only continues to grow.

 

 

She was not happy about her eviction but settled down finally and rested really nicely the rest of her time in the hospital. We were both recovering nicely the next day, so we got to go home after 24 hours, just like I wanted.

We'll never be just a family of three again, but now we get another face to love, another hand to hold, and another soul to guide and care for. I can't wait to live each day as a mom of two!!