Project 365

So I've decided to join in on a little movement called "Project 365". The idea being that you take a photo a day for 365 days. Ideally I should have began this on Jan.1st, but June 22nd is just as good to me. I take photos all the time anyway, but now I will be carrying the camera with me everywhere I go. My goal is to inspire myself to take better photos, find the unexpected, capture my year in film. Some days may be odd photos that are a comment on life, others will capture events such as the intense Bocce Ball game below.




This is photo 8/365 and captures not only my family, but also documents my first picnic in my new home. To get to my Project 365, just click the button on the right side of the page, over there >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
or just click here.

Wish me luck. I am excited to be doing this and I think my Lizzie has decided she would like to do this as well.

inspiration

Thank you to Melanie from My Sweet Savannah for this lovely quote.

I ♥ Faces - Week 24, "Let's Hear it for the Boys"

In honor of Father's Day, I ♥ Faces challenge this week is "Let's hear it for the boys". All boys, all men, all week long. That's fine with me!!


ADULT CATEGORY - This is a photo of my brother-in-law and nephew enjoying some great father/son F-U-N!


KIDS CATEGORY - Here is my nephew at a wedding. His expression is one of a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, which is exactly what happened. He snuck a cookie before dinner and was caught looking all coy with crumbs on his face and cookie in hand.



Now go check out all of the terrific entries at I ♥ Faces. That's where I'm headed now!

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful Father. You are a terrific dad & grandfather. We love you so much!

Happy Fathers Day to my loving husband. You are an amazing dad & I am so blessed to have you as the father of my children! I love you baby.

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ... Dad.

Author Unknown

7 Quick Takes Friday - vol.4

~ 1 ~

A few days ago I won concert tickets on the radio to Def Leppard/Poison concert. I haven't done that in years! I was just driving home and listening to the radio and she said call now to win 2 tickets, so I called, and I won. The concert is next week already and hubby is going with me. Last time I saw either band I was 18 years old and yound and carefree. My guess is that most of the crowd will be 30-somethings like us, just takin a trip down memory lane to those crazy 80's. Can't wait!

2~

I got my nails and toes painted today - Cha Ching Cherry! Love it! It's a great summer color.

~ 3 ~

I am going to a jewelry party tonight with my mom. What makes this kinda special is that it is at the home of my son's girlfriend. She lives with her parents and this is the first time I will be meeting them. The 2 of them have been dating for about 8 months so I guess it's about time I meet them. She is a total sweetheart, so I imagine her mom will be too. I am really looking forward to it (and buying some jewelry).

~ 4 ~

Blast from the past. I got a text message today from an old friend that I haven't talked to in forever. The friendship didn't end so well and we haven't really spoken since. She hurt me and a lot of others, but I hear she has her life on track now, so what to do? what to do? Still thinkin about that one.

~ 5 ~

My brother and I had a conversation yesterday and we have remarkably both been thinking the same thing - it is time for family Sunday dinners. It doesn't have to be Sundays, but that would probably work for most. We would each take one Sunday a month, and whoever is available that Sunday always knows where to find everyone else. With life being so hectic, and no one getting any younger, I think it would be amazing to do that. Family is most important after all, and what a great way for all of us to keep in tune with each other.

~ 6 ~

I've been really thinking of starting my own business. I have a few ideas kicking around, but the only thing missing is confidence to do it. It's definitely something that would be really super small scale at first, but in these economic times it would be something that really didn't take much of an investment at first and I could build it as I go. Hmmm.....great adventure or failed endeavor?

~ 7 ~

Rain, Rain, Go away, come again another day.........gotta run and get ready for the jewelry party.

Hop on over to Convesion Diary to read other's Quick Takes on their lives.

Life is a Rollercoaster

This Life is a roller coaster full of twists & turns and ups & downs, but it is an exhilarating, thrill ride nonetheless.

opposites attract

One of my favorite things in life is the outdoors. A sunny day, a warm day, being surrounded by trees & flowers, birds chirping, green grass, a soft breeze, little wispy clouds dotting the bright blue sky - these are a few of my favorite things.

I was raised to be in the outdoors. We were not an adventurous family in that we weren't snowskiing or bungi jumping, but we did spend a lot of time in nature. Whether it was hiking, walking, bike riding, or camping, we all learned to be in tune with nature and enjoy the outdoors.

My husband? Not so much.

Hubby is a city boy, born and raised. He's all about the indoors, which I guess you learn to be, growing up within the city limits of a major, metropolitan city. His idea of outdoors was taking out the trash, riding to the baseball diamond, or cutting the lawn. I have tried over the years to introduce him to the outdoors. He has endured several family camping trips, but I use the word "endured" very lightly. "Suffered through" is more like it. "You want me to sleep outdoors? In a tent? You want me to go to the bathroom where? You expect me to eat food off of what?" I think he almost passed out the first time he saw us using a real stick to roast our marshmallows. A real stick. From. A. Tree. Oh, and you can't forget his obvious glee when a camp worker had to come and shoot a skunk near our tent. In broad daylight. With a shotgun. 30 feet from our campsite. Highlight of his camping trip that year!

To Hubby, being out in nature ranks right up there with posing for a picture:

So my love of the outdoors and his not love of the outdoors brings us to where we were this past Sunday afternoon. Me reading a book on a blanket in the backyard, and hubby in front of the television. It was a gorgeous day. The sky was blue, the sun was beating down hot, and the breeze was cool enough to keep you comfortable. This is when I decided that the current state of our Sunday afternoon was NOT OK. So I marched right in and said to hubby "Hubby, get your shoes, we are going down into the Park. It is way too nice of a day to be a-wasting!"

Because he loves me and always wants me to be happy and because he's the best guy EVER, we headed off to the Metroparks. Of course as luck would have it, we no sooner left our street than the skies clouded over and the nice, cool breeze was not so nice anymore. This did not deter me, I was a woman on a mission. We will be outdoors and we will walk in the park dammit! We decided to hit the trails behind our local Nature Center.

This is the inviting path that greeted us at the park. How could anyone resist this?

We passed a pond/wetland and saw tiny baby ducks and heard bullfrogs croaking. It was so peaceful.

Forget-Me-Nots: my favorite flower from my childhood home.

We spotted a young buck in amongst the trees. He had the cutest fuzzy antlers growing up out of his head. I hid behind a tree and snuck up on him.

This is the beautiful path we followed as we looped around and headed back out of the park.

As we left the park we passed this stone:

How true this is! Even though we don't share the same love of the outdoors, we do share a greater love: the love for each other. He endures my outdoor "adventures" for that very reason. Because he loves me. And the end result of the afternoon was we were able to spend time together, alone, amidst the beauty and wonder of nature. So peaceful, so right. I truly did receive far more than I sought when I dragged my man to the park that afternoon.

I ♥ Faces - Adult Category

Continuing on with the I ♥ Faces Sepia Toned challenge - this was an easy pic. I love this photo of my handsome hubby, it is one of my favorites.

Go check out all of the great entries at the I ♥ Faces photography blog !

I ♥ Faces - Kids Category

It is that time of the week for I ♥ Faces photo contest. This week's theme is Sepia Toned.

In the Kids Category I had a lot of fun playing around with sepia, and finally decided upon this Super Hero from last weekend's Family Picnic. I think his face paint & mohawk gave him super powers!

Check out all of this week's entries over at I ♥ Faces photography blog.

Moments with Pinky & the Momma

Ever have one of those days when all is right with the world? Today was one of those days. My day began with a whole bunch of "me" time, then flowed into some much treasured "mother/daughter" time. I try to remind myself as often as I can that "The best things in life are not things", and how very true that is.

Today was my day off work and did I sleep in? Hell no! I headed out the door bright and early to do a little yard saleing, one of my hobbies. I love the thrill of the hunt, the excitement of a good buy, and the anticipation of transforming other people's "junk" into something beautiful for my home. The sun was shining, the wind was in my hair, and the ole' mini-van was haulin ass down Rte. 252 to be the early-bird at the yard sales. Woohoo - what a rush. I know, weird, right? Well after an hour and a half of hittin the sales I stopped in to see Ree, my favorite hairdresser. She cut my hair as cute as always and since she is also my daughter's dance coach, I got the skinny on the upcoming season.

Loaded down with a fresh new 'do and a van full of "junk", I headed home and was met by a hungry daughter. Off I went again crusin in the mini-van, this time with my teenage daughter. We had the windows down, music pumpin, and made a pit-stop at Jimmie-Johns for lunch. YUM! If you haven't had their sub sandwiches then you are missing something special sister! I love these stolen moments with my girl. I call them stolen because her time does not really belong to me anymore. Her time is her own and she chooses to give most of it to the cell phone, her girlfriends, "the boy", and her endless cheer & dance practices. I wait ever so patiently for moments like this afternoon when I can stealthily swoop in and steal my moments in time. Moments that belong to only her and I. Moments when we are in sync, when I am not rushing like a mad woman, and she is not endlessly texting. Moments when we share jokes and stories, and laughs, and time together. Does it get any better than that?

She helped me pick out a paint color at Home Depot (Fresh Pineapple in case you're wondering), and she chose a perfect throw pillow to match my chair that will soon be glowing in Fresh Pineapple, and we shared in excited glee when she found her favorite candy at the cash register (Sour Patch Watermelon - VERY hard to come by).

Twice today we grabbed hands and cracked up laughing at something that was probably random and goofy and that I can't remember now, but who cares what we were laughing at right? We were sharing an awesome moment to remember. It is the little moments such as this that I treasure these days. The moments when I am not lecturing, or issuing warnings, or dashing here or there, or working. Moments when her phone is in her pocket and she's not worried about being taxied to a friend's house, or practice, or school. Just time for us to chill, enjoy each other's company, and get a little whiff of the good old days. The days when she was a little peanut and I was the mommy that she looked up to, and imitated, and adored. Today I was not the Mom that gets on her nerves. Today she was not my sassy-mouthed teenager.

Today I was Momma and she was Pinky, and the sun was shining, and the radio was blaring, and we were singing along. Today we laughed and we shared and we were goofy and we both just "got" each other.

Today, all was right with the world.

Edited to join Chatting at the Sky for Tuesdays Unwrapped.

Also linking up with Melissa at the Inspired Room for her Beautiful Life Fridays.

Happiness Is.....

....flowers I picked from my yard - some wild, some planted. Love it !!

my magnificent monday - week 4

My Monday is Magnificent because:

1. My perennials are in full bloom right outside my office window.

2. My boss stopped over today and we got tons accomplished without any friction. Yay!

3. I am "back pain" free today. Another yay!

4. I lost another pound (I know it's only 1, but I'm gettin there).

7 Quick Takes Friday - vol. 4

~ 1 ~

Garage Sales, Estate Sales....Love them!! Tis the season and I am loving it, especially since I have Fridays off of work now. I get up each Friday morning and can't wait to rush out to the driveway to get the local newspaper and start circling the ads and planning my route.

~ 2 ~

Cell Phones.....are a necessity for my family.

Cell phone Companies....will be the death of me.

~ 3 ~

My daughter had summer plans to go to Florida with her best friend's family (her bestie's momma is my bestie). Well, life throws curveballs and with the economy being what it is, and with my bestie job-hunting after just graduating from nursing school, the summer vacation has been postponed. They were supposed to have spent 10 days in Florida which included 5-day "park hopper" passes for Disney. Lizzie and her best friend (who just celebrated their 15th birthday on June 3rd) were looking forward to this trip as a birthday celebration.

Our girls are so precious! Did they complain or whine when they found out they wouldn't be going to Florida in a few weeks? No! Instead they thought for a few minutes and graciously and enthusiastically asked, "Can we go to Dave & Busters instead"? Bless their sweet little hearts (and the pocketbooks of the parents involved)!

~ 4 ~

Last weekend my hubby bought me a treadmill!! Yay! I have really been wanting one, and I must say I got up early every day this week, with the exception of Wednesday (it just wasn't happening that day), to hit the treadmill. What a great way to get in a vigorous workout while catching up on all my reality TV shows. Simply perfect!!

~ 5 ~

Chicken Fajitas! Yum! I smell them cooking in the other room as I type this post. Have I mentioned that my hubby does the cooking? I know ladies, how did I get so lucky! Simple, I have the best man EVER!!!!!!!

~ 6 ~

Photoshop Elements. Does anyone else find this program difficult to use? Maybe I just haven't taken the time needed to go through all of the tutorials and study them as I should. It just seems SO NOT user-friendly at all. I use Memory Manager from Creative Memories, and it is just so much simpler and has such an ease of use about it. However, the photo editing capabilities are not as extensive as Photoshop Elements which is why I insisted on it as a gift this past Christmas. I don't want this to be another gift that hubby spent money on and that I don't use, *coughsewingmachinecough*.

~ 7 ~

Congratulations to my Bestie. She passed her State Board Exam this week and is now officially an RN. You go girl!! Not only that, but she was offered not one, but two jobs this week! Yay!

Now go visit Conversion Diary and check out loads of others' 7 Quick Takes!!

my little girl

Today is June 3rd and it is cloudy and a Wednesday, which means that I have to work both jobs today and won't come in the door until 10:00 tonight. But what makes everything OK is that today is my little girl's birthday. She is my youngest, my baby, my little "pinkie", and today she is 15. Wow! Such a young woman she is becoming. She seems to have all of the great qualities that I never possessed as a teenager. She is beautiful, outgoing, a social butterfly, goal-oriented (meaning she's thinking about college), and confident.

She is the light of my life. Yes we have our mother/daughter moments, but she really is a joy to have around. If the occasional argument and sassy mouth is the worst that I have to deal with, then I am pretty lucky. Yesterday her and her bestfriend (who is also turning 15 today!) informed me that an acquaintance of theirs that is in their grade and the same age ---Is. Pregnant. Uggghhh!!! Is it that time already? Time to worry about boys, and sex, and babies, and boys, and growing up too fast, and boys! And my oh my, how she likes the boys. Yikes! Hubby is freakin out. She is such a daddy's girl. They have this special bond. She truly does have him wrapped around her finger, yet she doesn't dare upset him. Not because he is too stern, but because she just doesn't want disappoint him. Like that's possible!!

Thus far she has earned our trust and hasn't gotten into any trouble and is an absolute joy of a daughter. She is funny and sarcastic and cracks us up. She loves shoes & clothes & shopping. Actually she's obsessed with those things. She loves to do her hair and get her toes done, and shop for clothes, and text like mad on the lastest and greatest cell phone (which is on her birthday list) and hang with her friends and listen to music. She is an amazing athlete, cheerleader, and dancer. She astounds us with her tumbling abilities and somehow, with no dance training, has become a beautiful dancer over these last 2 years. She is quick-witted and keeps me on my toes. She knows when enough is enough, and regularly lectures her girlfriends when they talk back to their parents. I am so proud of the young woman she has become and so very excited with anticipation over what is to come. I know these high school years will go by so quickly. We will try to slow down, take a breath, and enjoy every moment. And take loads of pictures!

Elizabeth Marie, you are a joy, and you are sunshine in my day.

We love you so much pinkie.

Momma

I ♥ Faces - Week 21, Birthdays & Pets

I love this photo of my neice. When you ask her what color her eyes are, she casually responds "Diamond blue". She's cute and she knows it!!

PIGGY-BACK RIDE :)

Check out other great birthday & pet photos at I ♥ Faces. The themes this week are Kids' Birthdays and Pets.

my magnificent monday - week 3

My Monday was Magnificent because:

1) I had 2 visits from family today.
2) My wonderful hubby bought me a treadmill this past weekend (no more excuses).
3) Tonight I had my last "junk food" meal before tomorrow, the first day of workouts on the treadmills.
4) I ♥ Chipotle (see #3)