Purple Daisies

I purchased this beautiful bunch of purple daisies to put on the table at a little "cookie reception" we had last night at church following a send-off for our Summer missions team. I couldn't resist taking a few photos.

 

 

There were a couple little blooms and so I put them in my sweet new vase!

 

 



I love taking pictures of flowers. And I love having fresh flowers in my home.

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this pretty bit of sunshine today!

A Slow Start

My plan to get back into the blogging groove has been thwarted once again! Like many of you, my kiddos have had their Christmas Break extednded two more days due to the "Artic Blast" that is blowing across the country. I know some of you are ready to send the kids back to school, but I was kind of happy when I got the automated phone call last night. We've had a good break. Trading the stress of school for the stress of running around to spend time with people we love has been good for us. The meltdowns have been fewer and peace has [mostly] been kept. And I have no problem with two less days to pack lunches, get up early, and help with homework. I'll take it!

That said, I feel like I am blogging by the seat of my pants again....which I don't like. The Christmas season was very planned and now I am just winging it.  But I thought today that I would at least give you a peak at how things are shaping up in the kitchen post-Christmas.



I had fully intended to keep a little red throughout the house through February. But then my sister and her family gave me some pretty Anthropologis mugs and a bowl for Christmas. I just started playing around with them in the kitchen and found that I loved the way they looked with the pine cuttings that were left from Christmas.

Unfortunately the days are numbered for the greens as they are starting to drop needles, but hopefully this cold weather won't last too long and I can go cut some more from the backyard. Incidentally, I placed the cuttings in cold water and only replaced them once right before Christmas. So each bunch has lasted a good two weeks or more.

 The long shelf in the kitchen was brightened up with the two Anthro mugs, another cup and saucer I had, and a couple blue Ball jars.

I apologize for this photo. So far I'm finding winter photography to be challenging. And have I ever told you how hard this shelf is to photograph. It is on the wall right above our dining table so angles are kind of limited. I always feel like no matter where I stand, the shelf always looks crooked. Also, I have no direct outdoor light in my kitchen, so lighting is a challenge too. But I wanted you to see it. You'll ignore that wonky shadow of my ceiling fan, right? On a positive note, if you look at the right side of the photo, that is probably the best representation of the paint color of the kitchen that I've been able to capture. 

Anyways, I like the way things are brightening up in the kitchen. I will probably move in that direction for the living room too. With the Christmas tree and decorations down, it just looks a little sad to me with the red still there.....like I didn't finish decorating or undecorating, or something.

Before I go, I wanted to share one last thing. I am loving this White Barn Winter candle (from Bath and Body Works) that I received for Christmas. Hubster and I agree that it has the scent of a fire in the fireplace, but I can also smell some spices and citrus. It is really lovely. And I love the beautiful label as well. I highly recommend it.

Have a great day!

New Camera Photos

Good morning all!

First off, I want to say thank you for all the Anniversary wishes and "likes" yesterday!

If you follow along on Facebook, you know that my sweet Hubster gave me a new camera. We have this thing about gifts. I think I've mentioned before that my love language is gifts. I love giving as well as receiving well thought out gifts.

Hubster's love language is not gifts. But after 20 years of marriage he has figured out that mine is.

So our anniversary gift giving went something like this.....

Me: (opening camera) Thanks Hon', but I didn't get you anything.

Hubs: That's okay.

Me: Well actually, your gift is that I didn't spend any money.

Hubs: Thanks! It's just what I wanted!

and then....

Hubs: The camera is actually for both of us. Your gift is that now you can take better pictures and my gift is now I don't have to listen to you complain about how bad you think your pictures are.

See how well we know each other after 20 years?

Anyways, I thought I would pop in and show you a couple of the MANY photos I've taken with the new camera. (By the way, it's not a fancy schmancy camera. Still a point and shoot, but WAY better. The old camera was actually only about five years old, but you can hardly keep up with technology any more!)

These are straight out of the camera too. Normally I would do major Photoshopping to my photos to make them half presentable. It's been pretty overcast here the last couple days so I'm looking forward to trying it out in some better lighting too.

Have a great day, everybody!

Today's Thankfulness.....

* For a kind and generous husband.

* For the leaf storm that swirled around me yesterday when I was out. What a sight!

* For fun times and celebrations with family to look forward to this weekend.

* For the opportunity for my daughter to participate in a fun after school activity.

I'm Still Learning

So, when I decided to blog, I knew that the photography was going to be my weakness. I mean, I love pretty things, but I just was never too concerned about great photos because I was only taking snapshots of the family with my pretty basic Kodak point-and-shoot.

 

The last couple of days I've been dreaming of a fancy-dancy camera. But, alas, that is DEFINITELY not in the budget. So I'm trying really hard to be content with what I have been blessed with and have adopted the mantra that it's all about the camera OPERATOR and not the camera. Which means I've been practicing.

 

I've been experimenting with some of the few settings I actually do have on my camera. And I THINK there has been some small improvements. For example, in this photo, I increased the sharpness so much that you can see the dust on my shelf. (Note to self: Always dust first! Picture me embarrassed.)

 

 

I've also been playing around with Photoshop a little more. I've had it for years but mainly used it for digital scrapbooking. I've only dabbled in editing photos. There's still a ways to go with that too. I have been using the "Guided" editing mode which has been helpful to get me thinking about what things I should consider when trying to improve a photo.

Photography in my kitchen has always been a challenge, even when just taking pictures at one of the kid's birthday parties or something. The light is kind of funky and photos always have a golden cast to them. I'm working on trying to improve that as well.

And trying to take clear tight shots.

And just experimenting and having fun. 'Cause that's what it's all about, right?

So I'm learning as I go and I hope you will bear with me. And maybe forgive a grainy photo here or there.

In the mean time, check out some GOR-GEOUS photos that Sasha a.k.a. Lemonade Makin' Mama took....with her PHONE. Amazing!
(I AM in the market for a new phone....hmmmm.....)