Lake Darling

Yesterday, we traveled twelve miles north of where we live to a little lake named Lake Darling. It was a cool 19 degrees, lightly snowing, and very windy. We pulled off onto the first boat ramp, but there were several trucks parked. When we pulled in a little further, we noticed some shacks where people were doing some ice fishing. We were trying to find a somewhat secluded area as our dog does not like strangers, so we continued around the lake. The next boat ramp area was empty. We parked our vehicle and got out to explore. We let our dog off his leash and let him run around. He was so excited he was running and sliding all over the ice! I wish I had captured one of his falls. As my dog and my husband played on the ice, I sat down and took hundreds of photos and played around with different settings on my camera. Here are a couple of my favorites..

The second one was pretty blurry, but I decided to go with it and give it an old time feel. After 20 minutes or so, my fingers were red and feeling pretty frozen. We decided to move on to a different area. I defrosted my hands in the car while we drove around. Next we found a small hill that overlooked the lake. Again, our dog was so excited he was running around in circles. My favorite pictures came from this spot.

If you look closely in the second photo, you can barely see our dog's tail! I also love that the lake in these pictures looks textured from the dusting of snow sitting on top of the frozen water. The final area we checked out was a refuge area. We walked a short hiking trail before heading out, and I got a couple pictures that I liked from there.

Even though I was freezing, my fingers and toes were hurting, and there was snow blowing onto my face, I had a really great time! My dog and husband were such great models, and I'm so happy they agreed to come with me. I could hardly wait to get home to edit some pictures.

Here is one last photo from our ride home.. Taken with my camera phone. All others were taken with my Nikon P500.

Photography Project

Calling myself an amateur photographer is an understatement. I love taking pictures though! When I don't have a camera or camera phone nearby, I am constantly taking still images in my mind.

I am very excited because today I will be starting a 16 Photography Ideas Project. I might not have time to take pictures everyday, but I will do my best. I will also try my best to tap into my creative side for some unique shots. I will post my favorite pictures from each category to my blog. Here is the list in no specific order:

1. Self portraits

2. Moon shots

3. Nature macros

4. Portraits

5. Fun macros

6. Musical performances

7. My city's landmarks through the seasons

8. Bokeh shots

9. Architecture & building shots

10. Landscapes

11. Raindrops on windows

12. Food photos

13. Pet portraits 

14. Sports & action shots

15. Sunsets

16. Night shots

I already take a lot of pet portraits :) my dog is the easiest model I have, and he doesn't complain!

This will be a continuing project throughout the year. I do not own a dslr camera and will be using my point-and-shoot that is pictured in the background of my blog.

Baking Lessons

One of the best parts of the holidays is the holiday treats. There's not a lot that smells better than warm, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.. However, I am definitely no Betty Crocker. In fact, baking and I do not agree, which I have proven time and time again. I even have a difficult time baking pre-made dough properly.

Tonight, I decided to make homemade chocolate chip cookies. I sifted, measured, beat, and mixed the ingredients listed in the recipe. The dough had the consistency of cake frosting. I scooped the dough into tablespoon-sized balls onto the baking sheet and baked a batch anyway.

The end result....

That is how chocolate chip cookies are supposed to look, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, That's how cookies are supposed to look.......... if you don't add flour! This just confirms that baking is not my friend. Feeling defeated, I added a few scoops of flour into the rest of the cookie mixture and tried again.

Much better.

They were not the best cookies I have ever had, but they were the best cookies I have ever made. I don't think baking likes me still, but hopefully in time we can begin to understand eachother. Note to self: don't overlook the obvious.

 

Happy birthday, Jesus!

What does Christmas mean to you? This is something I have been thinking about more and more in recent years. For most of my life it meant gifts.. specifically receiving gifts! To me, it was a day where Santa, your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends showered you with gifts. I would spend the month leading up to Christmas writing, editing, and re-writing my Christmas list.

In seventh grade, I wanted what all of the other girls at my new school had: Adidas winter jacket, JNCO wide-leg jeans, and some Puma cheerleading shoes. They had to be these brands and exact same style too. I also asked for some CDs.. I think I was probably listening to Backstreet Boys at the time. I think I got some Reeboks and a Fiona Apple CD.. which was completely unacceptable. I probably stewed in dissatisfaction for the following week.

As I mentioned in my previous post, it was probably what Santa could afford at the time, but money and budgets are a really hard concept for most children to understand. Children in other countries would have been ecstatic to have shoes of any brand, thrilled that they had anything to put on their feet. I was spoiled.. for some reason I had developed an attitude of entitlement.

I, like a lot of children in America, have never known real hardships and assume toys and brand name clothing are owed to us.. while food and clean water are luxuries to other children. Now that I am starting a family of my own, I often think about how I want to raise my children. I want my children to be unassuming and selfless. I think expectations and ideals begin to cultivate at a very young age. I want to start a new tradition for my family where we put less emphasis on material items and more emphasis on enjoying and appreciating our blessings and also on doing more for others.  

I still love presents! But I realize now that the most valuable thing in life is time spent with loved ones. I want to focus more on the act of giving than receiving.. I also realize that money spent does not equate to love, and there are many other ways to give.. Throughout the year I often get wrapped up in my own wants and desires.. It's easy to do that when all of your needs (and beyond) are met. I need to remember that. I hope to continue to grow as a person and to continue to strive to be the type of person I wish my unborn children to be.. to TRY to be more like who we are celebrating today! I will cherish the moments spent with my loved ones and remember those who can not be with theirs.

Why Blog

First Post. Christmas Eve 2011. I always begin my day just like everyone else.. checking facebook mobile from bed. I got on my smartphone this morning and scanned thru all the new posts. Most people mentioned Christmas or Christmas Eve and some of the gifts they have opened already. A lot of people received a Kindle Fire.. nice job, Santa!

As I lie in bed, I start to reflect on Christmases of my childhood. The memory of the actual gifts I received is a little fuzzy, but I vividly remember my feelings. Feelings of disappointment and resentment.. Wow! I instantly felt ashamed as I remembered. My family didn't have as much money as other families in town, and I usually didn't get the absurd and expensive items on my wish list, but Santa gave me the most he could! It must have killed Santa to see how ungrateful I was.

Most days, I am extremely aware and thankful of the blessed life I lead. I'm thankful for my job, the food I enjoy, the clothing I choose, and especially for the relationships that I have and continue to build. Of course I have my days where I catch myself having ungrateful thoughts.. I sometimes even say those thoughts out loud.. I want to slap myself those days. Tonight, on Christmas Eve, I know I will be genuinely grateful and happy to receive socks! Socks that I picked out for myself and stuffed into my own stocking! :)

Anyway, I decided to start this blog because I don't have a diary. I wanted to have an area to reflect or vent and to give in to my narcissistic nature.