Apr
21
A Relaxing Moment With Pumpkin
Happy Caturday, friends!
Canon EOS 7D
Mar
26
My New Rainboots
Sometimes I think “EASILY EXCITED” should be tattooed on my forehead so I don’t alarm people when I gasp about just how incredible the cranberry orange muffin I’m biting into tastes. Or whatever else it is that’s catching my fancy at the moment. (It runs in my family, it seems, and just the other day my dad called me and had me on the phone for three hours while he waited for his new iPad to arrive from FedEx. I can only hope that when I’m 50+ I still find things like this thrilling and exciting.)
But I’ll tell you, my heart fluttered when I found these rain boots in the store a few weeks ago. Tom told me to keep an eye out for “the pair” before our trip to Ireland, but luckily for us it didn’t rain during our three week stay (unheard of!) so I managed to get away without them. But when I saw these babies -it was love at first sight- I tried them on immediately, fell in love, and asked them if they’d like to come home with me. They said yes of course, so I wandered through the store with them on and carried my shoes with me until check out. I’ve been dying to try them out ever since, and do a little rain dance every morning. I’ll even admit to wearing them when there wasn’t a rain cloud in sight.
This weekend Tom and I did a collaborative photoshoot to break them in, he took his first bokehrama (photo #1 is a 4 photo stitch), and I discovered a new found love for levitation photos. I hope your weekend was as grand as ours, or grander!
Photos 1-4, 5&6 taken by Tom.
Photo 1 is a 4 photo stitch.
Photos 7&8 are each a 2 photo stitch.
Feb
28
Measuring Cups, A Running Gif, and Prompt Advice
Happy Tuesday, everyone! (Sorry that I didn’t post this yesterday.) Choosing a favorite photo in this weeks line up of the Spurred project was hard! I’m obviously particularly fond of the photo “After”, which takes first place. But tied in second is “Missing” and “Fly”. “Fly” was so fun to take! I actually had to slow my pace down because I apparently run too fast for the camera to catch each part of my step. My least favorite photo is probably “Repaired” because I feel it’s just lacking in something.
Kristina asked, “I liked that you found unique ways of interpreting the prompts. Do you have any advice for those of us trying a project like this?”
I used a very simple trick for this project, but I didn’t always use it! For each word I wrote down the first two things that popped into my head, and then I didn’t use them. Instead, I tried to use the third association that came to mind in an effort to keep things fresh and challenging for myself. (Sometimes it proved a little too challenging!) And I always tried to incorporate a part of my day somehow, if could. Remember that at the end of the day all that matters is that you take a photo, and some days it’s not going to be your best work, and it’s not going to be the most imaginative interpretation of your prompt, but that’s okay! Just make sure to snap that photo.
“Repaired” September 19th (Day 262)
One of our measuring cups snapped in half as I was scooping out some brown sugar the day before this prompt. It was beyond repair, so we decided to bring home some new ones. I was excited at first because it meant that I could perhaps bring home some wooden measuring cups and spoons that I’d always dreamed my kitchen would have! But during my hunt I came up empty. (With all these new bamboo cutting boards and bowls, why has nobody made measuring cups and spoons?! So much better than plastic or metal!) I must tell you, though, I saw these from windrush during my quest for the perfect measuring cups and absolutely fell in love. But I don’t love them $250 worth.
“Missing” September 20th (Day 263)
Somehow I had this for the prompt of “missing”, and it made sense, but I wrote it down without a description (obviously a while ago now) and I’ve since forgotten it.
“Fly” September 21st (Day 264)
Want to see a moving picture?
“Glow” September 22nd (Day 265) Only 100 left!
This furball actually singed his whiskers by sticking his head over a candle. Now before you think I’m some horrid cat parent, I’ve been so fortunate to have had many a cat in my life, and when it comes to learning about fire- I’m always standing right there and they’ve always simply sniffed and then backed way off, realizing, “Hey, this is HOT.” But not Atlas, no. He just put his face right over that candle and singed his whiskers! I may have already told you this story, but I hope you’ll forgive me if I have because it’s a fun one.
“Straight” September 23rd (Day 266)
“After” September 24th (Day 267)
Happily Ever After, Kelly & Tom. (This was taken with the 100mm 2.8!)
“Landmark” September 25th (Day 268)
There were no processing tricks for this! As we were leaving Traverse City, the sun was setting behind us yet because of the rain everything in front of us was still blue. I kept turning around unable to really believe what I was seeing. It was one of the prettiest things I’ve seen and I don’t think I could do it justice with photographs.
“Circle” September 26th (Day 269)
This fruits basket was such a fiasco to hang up! We don’t have a lot of kitchen space in our apartment, so we’re always looking for ways to adjust things and make room- so we thought a fruits basket would be a great help! Turns out you can’t hang anything in the ceiling and some places on the wall are steel so you can’t hang anything there, either! We eventually managed to hang it up using an outdoor plotted plant hanger and it’s helped us out quite a bit.
“Late” September 27th (Day 270)
I almost always leave the tea bag in too long. (Taken with the 100mm 2.8)
Feb
25
The Clowder Club Tree House
I came out of the bedroom one day a few weeks ago to discover our three furballs (I affectionately call them the Clowder Club sometimes) hanging out on the top of the cat tree together. I guess it’s now officially their tree house! Happy Caturday!
Feb
24
The Water Is Too Cold In February
My family always tried skating on Lake Michigan every winter. I’d been hoping for a chance this year but it just didn’t get cold enough. Sitting beside the lake yesterday watching the geese come and go, the ducks try to make their way around feathered territory, I imagined being on the lake with Tom. As children we loved it, and we’d come home from such outings and talk to each other about them on the computer. “I wish you were here,” we’d say. I want to go skating with you now that we’re finally together. For new memories and old memories to collide. Red and runny noses, double layered mittens, and blades scraping against the ice. We etched our names into the lake.
Feb
13
The Hardest Part Is Taking The Photo
Happy Monday, everyone! Tom is finally feeling better and up and walking around, so thanks to everyone who sent him well wishes. =) And since I usually share a digest from the Spurred project with you on Mondays, I thought today I’d start answering questions I’ve received regarding the project. If you have any questions you’d like answered- feel free to
Melanie asked, “What was the hardest part about doing a 365 days project?”
The hardest part of this project was, if you can believe it, actually taking a photo every single day. It seems really easy (at least it did to me) but it isn’t. There will be days when you don’t want to take the photo, there will be days where you want to quit (there will be several, actually), and when you’re done the project will leave you feeling photo-ed out for quite a while. For me the difficulty came while trying to relate to the prompt and putting too much expectations on myself. It takes some time to think about shots and how you want to compose them, but when you’re pushing yourself to take an “amazing” shot every single day, you’re just setting yourself up for failure. Which is what I was doing, which obviously isn’t going to happen, and so towards the end I just had to let go and shoot whatever came my way.
My favorite photo of this batch is “Dead” because of the light and my least favorite is “Gold” because I wish the quality had been better. I didn’t take my time with that shot at all!
Random tidbit: The “Dance” photo was taken while we were in the car driving. Music was playing and I thought it was just a neat shot.
“Dead” September 10th (Day 253)
“Tranquil” September 11th (Day 254)
“Change” September 12th (Day 255)
“Reality” September 13th (Day 256)
“Dance” September 14th (Day 257)
“Dull” September 15th (Day 258)
“Pleasure” September 16th (Day 259)
“An unexamined life is not worth living.” September 17th (Day 260)
I like to think that I try really hard to better myself all the time. I’m constantly evaluating my habits, my responses, even my thought process sometimes, for ways to improve or ways in which I would like to change. And I admire that immensely when I see it in other people. Tom is one of those people, and so is his mother. She just had her birthday and she is still examining her life, her situations and thinking of ways to improve or make her quality of life better.
“Gold” September 18th (Day 261)
Making homemade waffles for the cookbook.
Feb
06
The Beginning of September
Did everyone have a good weekend? Ours was fairly good, but Tom came down with a fever of 102 last Tuesday night and was 101 today. (It broke on Friday but came back Saturday night. We’ll be visiting the clinic today! Just so you don’t think I’m a horrible wife or anything! GEE.) It was a very laid back week of eating light and taking it easy for both of us. Today is also my sister Kait’s (who visited in December) birthday, and we talked for a while this morning. I just can’t believe how fast the years are going. You know how they say the years go by faster and faster the older you get? I really think that’s the truth. I’d like to make an effort to slow down, in life in general and in work.
(Are you ready for a Spurred update? =P )
“Library” September 2nd (Day 245)
Last year when I did my vegan challenge in September I checked out three vegan cookbooks from the library, and haven’t borrowed any since. To celebrate the healthiest year of my life, I went and checked out some more.
“Curl” September 3rd (Day 246)
“Note” September 4th (Day 247)
I left a note for myself to do a photo like this of Atlas with my feet in the frame because I have one of Morn and Pumpkin just like it, and I thought it would be nice to have one of Atlas too.
“Square” September 5th (Day 248)
“Silhouette” September 6th (Day 249)
Morn, Pumpkin, and Atlas gazing out the window.
“Journal” September 7th (Day 250)
Work out log!
“Falling” September 8th (Day 251)
“Favorite” September 9th (Day 252)
Gluten free fries.
Jan
31
Layers, Vanity Stations, & Dinosaurs
For the last few posts I’ve been thinking “OH, yay, I can finally share how it snowed!” but then I get up and look out the window the morning of and everything has melted. (I talk about the weather a lot, I’m sorry. But before I share this week’s Spurred recap, let’s get personal… about the weather!)
Because I grew up on a tropical island, the first time I remember seeing snow was when I was ten years old. It was the best thing in the world. I’d never been so cold before. My nose stung so badly it felt like it was going to fall off. My eyes watered and ears burned. Snow pants were the coolest invention ever. Hats and scarves were my new favorite accessory. I remember walking to school completely decked out in my snow pants, coat, mittens, you name it- I wore it. Most kids walked to school in a coat and jeans. (I like to use the excuse of not being used to the weather. Really I was just super excited about the snow.) Perhaps it’s strange, but I think the snow makes the cold bearable for me. Without the fluffy white hills and their diamond sparkle everything just seems dead and dreary. I’m confident it will come, even if I have to drive an hour outside the city just to see it, I’m just feeling a little impatient.
“Layers” August 26th (Day 238)
One of the best things about autumn is layering up.
“Neglected” August 27th (Day 239)
Tom saw this book tucked away in a shop, the last of its kind.
“Distorted” August 28th (Day 240)
Distorted view because of the fog. (Fog is one of my favorites.)
“Mirror” August 29th (Day 241)
After much debating, I finally picked up a mirror to go in the bedroom so I could do my make up in natural light instead of the bathroom. I’ve always wanted one of those vanity stations so I could put my make up and hair things, etc etc there and use the natural light of the bedroom instead of standing in the bathroom and cluttering it up with my stuff, but unfortunately we’re a little tight for space in the apartment so that will have to wait. This is close enough for me.
“Close” August 30th (Day 242)
Mmm, macro!
“Art” August 31st (Day 243)
I have this problem with dishware, specifically cups and mugs. We have plenty, and our cupboards are full, but I love collecting them anyway. When I saw these I really fell in love with them and just had to make room for them.
“Mail” September 1st (Day 244)
From overseas! (How serendipitous some arrived on the day it was my prompt.)
Jan
26
Mansions of Madness
Mansions of Madness was probably the craziest game that we played when our guests were here for Christmas and the New Year. It took us quite a while to get set up, and if I’m totally honest, I have a really hard time sitting and listening (and or reading) instruction manuals of any kind. I’m more of a learn as I go, hands on kind of lady. When I build those do-it-yourself tables/chairs/cabinetry, I always look at the pictures and have to tell myself to read the instructions too. I rarely do, but haven’t ever had a problem so far. Once we fumbled our way through an initial play through of the game, we had so much fun that we played it three more times. (It’s a 3-4 hour game!) It’s set in the 1930s, and you start off as a team of detectives and you is to run through the mansion collecting clues to discover the objective to win. (It changes each time!) One time we had to escape the mansion alive (we failed), another time it was to defeat the hardest monsters, and you can change the layout of the mansion every time too so it was really a new experience every time! And each character is extremely different so you really have to work together to win. And the best part is that one player is the game master (much like D&D) and his objective is different every time too, but it’s always against yours. Now I don’t want to bore your head off talking about games, so I’ll leave you with some photos (of course).
Photos 7, 8, & 10 were taken by my sister Kait.
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