Take Time to Stop and Smell the Flowers

Taylor didn't go to school today because she's had a bad cold all weekend. She's much better today, but I decided to go ahead and keep her home since she's still coughing a fair bit and low on energy. I had an appointment for myself and I brought her along. As we headed out the door, I grabbed my camera and stuffed it in my purse. On the way there, we discovered a surprise field of wildflowers! As I pointed out the flowers to Taylor, I was instantly happy I had my camera. When I asked if we could stop on the way back so we could take some pictures and pick some flowers, she squealed with delicious 5 yr old delight and said "Yes!".

I'm so glad I had my camera because I love the shots I got! Of course, I like to keep it real and these pictures don't capture some of the other details of this spontaneous sidetrack in our day, so I'll fill you in on some details. Taylor was scared of the ants on the ground, she didn't like the feel of the weeds on her feet because she was wearing sandals, and she was whining about a few bees we saw while wandering in the field. I was worried as we picked the flowers that a cop would drive by and fine us because I believe picking wild flowers in the state of California is a crime. Oh, and the "field" it wasn't much of a "field". It was actually an empty corner lot at a very busy intersection. But a field of wildflowers sounds much more magical than an empty corner lot, doesn't it?

I edited these photos using free actions from The Pioneer Woman. On the first photo I used Lovely and Ethereal. On the second one I used Sunshine. And on the third photo I used Soft and Faded. I think that last one is one of my new favorite photos.

Thanks for reading. I hope you're having a good day, and remember to take time to create a little magic and stop and smell the flowers. :)

Happy 4th of July!!!

We're off to a party with friends, but I wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy 4th of July!

More Weekend Photos...

I wish weekends were longer than 2 days...

Weekending...

I had a much needed relaxing weekend. A time to reconnect with my family and with myself. While my job as a social worker is very rewarding, it also requires diligent self-care. If I don't take the time to tend to myself, then I'm no good to anyone else. Pretty good words to live by for anyone. So, I spent this weekend tending to myself; doing things that are good for my soul. My camera is good for my soul. I've learned a lot about photography by playing with my camera this weekend. I've got plans to share the little lessons I've learned about photography since I bought my DSLR, so I hope it's not too long before I'm able to share my resources, links and inspiration with you. Until then, I share a few of my shots I captured this weekend.

Hubby is an avid golfer and Taylor's been watching golf on TV since she was born. She's been asking when Daddy's going to take her golfing pretty much since she could talk. Well, strong willed, independent, high energy, and short attention span, are not characteristics that combine to create a good golf student. So, we had held off on exposing her to the actual game until we were convinced she would have the patience to listen to instruction. Golf is taken very seriously in our household. Lucky for her, today was that day, and Daddy took her to a nearby driving range.

This last shot is my favorite from the whole weekend. She did really, really well. She listened to Daddy the whole time. No arguing and was very focused. In looking back at the shots, Daddy is quite impressed with her form, too. She was just disappointed that she didn't get to ride in the golf cart.

I had a great weekend. Hope you did, too!

Project 365 {Week 6}

OK, so, once again, I have less than 7 photos for this week. Actually, I have a bunch of photos, but only photos from 5 days this week. Oh well, I think we can all get over it and get on with the pics I do have ;). And, apologies for not posting these yesterday but I've been hit with a nasty cold and I was up against a deadline for Crafts Unleashed so I spent what limited energy I had yesterday, finishing that project and writing the post. By the way, I'm quite happy with the finished project and it will be published Wednesday, so stay tuned and I'll post a link when it's published! OK, now, on with this week's photos:

Spontaneous date night with hubby!

Finishing up a page from one of my Donna Downey albums

We're undecided if we want to have another baby. (Well, by "we" I mean hubby and I. Taylor made up her mind long ago that she absolutely wants us to have another baby.) Until we decide we want one, we'll just borrow this little cutie from our friends. I can't even imagine how many shots I'd be snapping if we had another baby in our house!

There's something so fun and playful about sidewalk chalk.

I actually got my girl to wear jeans!!! She hates the feel of denim, but somehow I got her to oblige on Saturday. We enjoyed a beautiful "spring" day at the park. This time of year is just gorgeous in the desert.

I hope you enjoyed your week ;)

Project 365 {Week 4 & 5}

I'm doing my best at taking pics every day. Turns out a lot of pics I take are crafty pics of projects in progress. I don't really want to include those in my 365 because they get blogged anyway. So, I'm going to make a point of taking pics of other things every day. For now, here is Project 365 week 4 & 5 with a few days missing. Those crafty pics will make it onto my blog along with tutorials, later this week. So stay tuned. (All of this week's shots were taken with my Canon 50mm 1.8 lens, except the laundry room pic that was taken with my kit lens. Photos were minimally edited in Picnik).

Remember my one word for 2011 is Organization? Well laundry is my nemesis and much of the disorganization in our home revolves around too many clothes, clothes piled in baskets and an overflowing an inefficient laundry room. So, while Taylor takes a bath, I'm folding laundry and I spent last Sunday reorganizing and cleaning our laundry room.

My favorite dinner...pasta. I should really be Italian.

The next American Idol. Taylor started watching American Idol with us and felt the urge to set up an audition room in her bedroom. She's holding her number on her belly.

These are her judges. I must note this was totally unprompted and created all on her own. Ah, the imagination of a little girl. So precious.

And, in case you haven't already seen what a little drama girl she is, this pose and dress up was also totally unprompted. Even though we live in sunny Southern California, we had no intention of actually swimming when she decided to set up her own little beach in the living room.

And this was my shot when I realized a day had gone by without me reaching for my camera. Taylor was already in bed which left me with my beautiful calico as my subject.

I was struck by the irony of this beautiful blooming tree. Not sure what kind of tree this is, but when the city of Chicago was shut down this week due to severe snowstorms, I was walking from my office to my car and was taken aback by the beauty of these blossoms. The pure whiteness and shape reminded me of snowballs.
And this is a shot of a gorgeous desert sunset. When I'm sweltering in August in temps of 120 degrees, I'll look back at these shots and remember that it's the late winter/early spring weather that makes the area that I live in paradise.
And we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and did a little photo shoot with Taylor yesterday. This is one of my favorite shots from the day.

Remember, if you're doing a Project 365 of your own, add a comment with a link to your shots. Thanks for looking!

Project 365 {Week Three} *Still Catching Up*

I appear to be missing days. Hmmm...oh, well, I guess there's only 5 shots from week 3 and 2 of them were actually taken the same day! I certainly took more than 5 shots that week.

This was my first moon shot with my SLR and this shot made me fall even deeper in love with my Canon 50mm 1.8 lens that hubby gave me for Christmas. In my opinion, this lens (or the step up 50mm 1.4) is a must-have lens for anyone who owns an SLR. I couldn't have gotten this shot with either of my other 2 lenses. In fact, I think all of this week's shots were taken with this lens.

Another low-light scene in which my nifty-fifty came through for me. Taylor's learning how to play tic-tac-toe in this pic.

A birthday party for one of my BFFs. This was her desert and we all shared. It was sooo yummy.

Another moon shot taken outside the restaurant at the party.

Friday afterschool/work trip to Dairy Queen. There was a time when I wondered if Taylor would ever get to eat a Sundae from Dairy Queen due to her dairy allergy. Fortunately she outgrew her dairy allergy and had her first Dairy Queen Sundae 3 weeks ago.

Project 365 {Week Two} *Catch Up*

Yeah, time really got away from me this month! Ah well. It happens. It's life. But I am documenting it and I've been taking my Project 365 pics everyday, I just haven't been diligent in downloading, editing and posting. But here is Week Two...

This is Taylor's first Barbie. I have "issues" with Barbie. I think Barbie perpetuates to unrealistic expectations for girls and women to have unhealthy bodies and subsequently, unhealthy body image. Although, I played with Barbies as child, I swore I wouldn't let my daughter have Barbies in our house. I've adhered to that until Taylor was given a Barbie by a classmate at school as a Christmas gift. After several weeks of contemplation, I decided to allow her to play with Barbie. This pic was taken just before we opened it. I'm still a little torn about the decision, but ultimately, I cannot protect her from all negative influences in the world and it's my job as a parent and more importantly as a mother, to model healthy self esteem and body image so she doesn't feel the need to strive to become some sexualized, flawless looking female. (I warned you I had issues with Barbie ;) ).

A before pic of a corner of my craftroom before I started reorganizing.

Woo HOO! My first shipment of crafty goodness from Consumer Crafts for my first Crafts Unleashed Design Team project!

Taylor's babies (well, 3 of them at least). I discovered them when I went into her room to wake her for preschool. This is a common scene in our house.

Taking a moment to stop and smell the flowers.

These flowers don't smell. :) I used these on my Mixed Media Love Canvas. Tutorial for the flowers is here.

Getting Taylor involved in cleaning her room. She loves to vacuum and it's good for her sensory seeking and fullfils her need for heavy work and auditory stimulation. And, it fulfills my need to get her room vacuumed!

Well, that's all for Week Two. I hope you've enjoyed these snapshots of our life. Remember to add a link to your pics if you're participating in Project 365. Thanks for stopping by!

Project 365 2011 {Week One}

Project 365. Have you heard of it? Probably. Do you know what it is? Maybe not exactly. Well, in 2011, I'm doing it! Project 365 involves taking one photo a day as a way to record an entire year. At the end of the year, the end result is that you truly have "snapshots" of your whole year.

Well, when I got my camera {my new baby as I affectionately call it}, I purchased it with the goal of improving my photography skills and a big dream of maybe even going pro at some point. Well, I certainly LOVE shooting. The more I shoot, the more I want to shoot. So, I carry my camera with me everywhere. I take several shots everyday, so why not be really creative with those shots, really purposeful and capture all of those moments that make up my life?

Project 365 is perfect for this! So, I'll be choosing one picture from each day to post here in a weekly post every Sunday. So, check back here each week to see what I've been up to and waht I found inspiring that week. All of these photos were edited (very minimally) in Photoshop but my version is ancient as far as technological age. I've got version 6. It's about 10 yrs old and I haven't found any actions that are compatible with it. If you know of any that will work with such an old version, please share!!! In the meantime, I'll make do and keep dreaming of a new version ;). I'm also going to play around with piknik more. Anyway, enough rambling...onto the pics...

1/1/11

a fun shoot with my mom and step-dad

1/2/2011

feeding the ducks at the park with Grammie and Grandad

1/3/2011

my first self-portrait

1/4/2011

I joined Twitter!!!

1/5/2011

She's a STAR! She holds the family record

(and she gets a ball with gold stars on it! How cool is THAT?!)

1/6/2011

snuggles with Daddy before bed

1/7/2011

therapeutic play - more posts will be coming on this!

1/8/2011

date night a local Mexican restaurant

Are you participating in Project 365? Post a comment with a link to your pics/post! I'm always on the lookout for photography inspiration.