14 through 18

Day 14: eyes

While I'm still learning to correctly shoot in macro, it's always fun to practice on my sisters! Gary is reflected in her pupil, faintly visible.

Day 15: silhouette

"Silhouette" is my second favorite word, after "ethereal".

Day 16; long exposure

My white lights bring a lovely ambiance to my little bedroom.

Day 17: technology

Photography has come such a long way! The options are seemingly endless now. My lens collection is slowly growing.

Day 18: shoes

Behold, some of my favorite shoes.

The past few days

Day 8: a bad habit

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How to make a hipster motivational photo:

1) take a bad picture

2) apply a vintage filter

3) add motivational quote

Day 9: someone I love

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Delaney is a fun kid to have around.

Day 10: childhood memory

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This brings back many memories of traveling for me. Stopping at gas stations and having lunch on the tailgate was a common occurrence.

Day 11: blue

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Well this is pretty self-explanatory!

Day 12: sunset

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I'm getting tired of Gary photobombing my scenic shots. It's hard enough taking a sunset picture in a moving car between trees!

Day 13: 13 things

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Pictured here are 13 things that I always have on trips--lip gloss, my small Bible, journal, phone, a pair of shoes (one pictured, obviously), hairbrush, EOS raspberry lip balm, a bookmark, sunglasses, a hotel key (to wherever I'm staying), wallet, my happy hat and Gary. 

*5, 6 and 7*

Day 5: high angle
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Kick those shoes off!

Day 6: low angle
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Unpacking. Gary is a ladies man!

Day 7: fruit
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I love using my extension tube to get shots like this!

[3 and 4]

Day 3: clouds

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Gary is into window art these days.

Day 4: green

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Lamplighters books--highly recommended reading for all ages!

Days 1&2

Day 1: self portrait

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Took this in a downstairs window.

Day 2: what I wore

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The most comfortable dress ever!!

Photo challenge & Gary

It's been wayyyy too long since I used my dear old Canon Rebel t2i on a regular basis, so I have decided to do another 30-day photo challenge to get creative and have some fun!

Maybe you're wondering where this post's title came from. I answered the first part for you, and to answer the second part, NO I am not dating some fellow named Gary. Just to make that clear. Gary is a Lego guy we have had for several years (we tend to give our toys permanent names) and he will be a subject in this photo challenge. Actually, Gary will make an appearance in every photo for the next month. Sometimes he may be harder to spot in some photos, but I thought it'd be a fun, unique way to get the creative juices flowing.

Each day I will base my photo off of the suggestion that the challenge gives me. They are:

1. self portrait
2. what I wore
3. clouds
4. green
5. high angle
6. low angle
7. fruit
8. a bad habit
9. someone I love
10. childhood memory
11. blue
12. sunset
13. 13 things
14. eyes
15. silhouette
16. long exposure
17. technology
18. shoes
19. orange
20. bokeh
21. faceless portrait
22. hands
23. sunflare
24. animal
25. pink
26. close-up
27. from a distance
28. flowers
29. black & white
30. self portrait

SO, keep checking in to see new photos! This should be fun! Manana!

"Mother's Day"

~Photos taken on our Mother's Day adventure in the Smokies~

"No language can express the power, and beauty, and heroism, and majesty of a mother's love. It shrinks not where man cowers, and grows stronger where man faints, and over wastes of worldly fortunes sends the radiance of its quenchless fidelity like a star." -Edwin Hubbell Chapin

"A mother is a person, who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie." -Tenneva Jordan

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. -Abraham Lincoln

"The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness." -Oscar Wilde

"Call your mother. Tell her you love her. Remember, you're the only person who knows what her heart sounds like from the inside." -Rachel Wolchin

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, sudden and heavy, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts." -Washington Irving

"A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them." -Victor Hugo

"Being a mother means that your heart is no longer yours; it wanders wherever your children do." -Unknown

"What is a mom but the sunshine of our days and the north star of our nights." -Robert Brault

"A little girl, asked where her home was, replied, 'where mother is'." -Keith Brooks

"Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, comrades and friends--but only one mother in the whole world." -Kate Douglas Wiggin

"The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom." -Henry Ward Beecher

"A man's work is from sun to sun, but a mother's work is never done." -Unknown

"Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever." -Unknown

"Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all'." -Proverbs 31:25-30

Words from the wise

"Sometimes I think of Abraham, how one star he saw was lit for me."

"With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity." -Mark Twain

"When a train goes through a tunnel and gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer." -Corrie ten Boom

"Words are...our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it." -Albus Dumbledore

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." -J.K. Rowling

"To a great mind, nothing is little." -Sherlock Holmes