So to start this year with a bang, I'm doing another photo challenge. I've always loved these because they force me to examine my creativity. They push me to get out of my typical box and make me use parts of my creative brain that I don't use on a daily basis. They also allow you, the reader, to get to know my personality a bit because I explain why I chose the shot I took and how it relates to me.
So, without further ado, here's to January. *clinks glasses* I hope you enjoy!
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January 15th ~ Theme: Natural
It's amazing to me that we can drive through the gorgeous Ozarks and see the miraculous creations of God yet still fall into depression. It's baffling to me that we can look into the faces of our sweet children and loving spouses yet still feel as though we can't handle life. It's shocking to me that we, especially Christians, can know the promises of God yet still doubt that our lives will turn out perfectly fine.
I'm the type of person who goes through phases; I have enormous amounts of joy and gratitude for the life that I have been given but I also struggle with anxiety and depression from time to time. Personally, I feel way too many emotions and I struggle to find a way to deal with them.
Today's theme was perfect for my condition. It forced me to stop worrying, stop stressing, stop crying, and look around. It forced me to see the beauty that is around me and realize that God is in control. It gave me the opportunity to appreciate all of the little things around me that I never realize are there, let alone how beautiful they are.
My wise Dad once told me not to take life so seriously. "It's just life" he would always say. Through the years, I have come to realize that my wise old Dad was nearly always right. I can't count the amount of days when I have felt like the sky was falling but if there's one thing to remember it's this; sometimes the hardest days of our lives lead to the greatest moments of our lives. Just keep your faith strong and your eyes on Him and it will all turn out just fine. It may not be today but at least you're one day closer.
I'm the type of person who goes through phases; I have enormous amounts of joy and gratitude for the life that I have been given but I also struggle with anxiety and depression from time to time. Personally, I feel way too many emotions and I struggle to find a way to deal with them.
Today's theme was perfect for my condition. It forced me to stop worrying, stop stressing, stop crying, and look around. It forced me to see the beauty that is around me and realize that God is in control. It gave me the opportunity to appreciate all of the little things around me that I never realize are there, let alone how beautiful they are.
My wise Dad once told me not to take life so seriously. "It's just life" he would always say. Through the years, I have come to realize that my wise old Dad was nearly always right. I can't count the amount of days when I have felt like the sky was falling but if there's one thing to remember it's this; sometimes the hardest days of our lives lead to the greatest moments of our lives. Just keep your faith strong and your eyes on Him and it will all turn out just fine. It may not be today but at least you're one day closer.
January 14th ~ Theme: Warm
Nothing warms my heart more than when my hubby does the little things. I started out today thinking of warm sun rays and fuzzy blankets but as this gloomy day lead on, I decided to choose a different side of warm. If I'm 100% honest, both my husband and I entered into our marriage with baggage and not every day is rainbows and puppy dogs but those little things remind me every day that he cares and that he puts forth the effort and that we will be united forever.
(Another side note: I had trouble picking one particular photo so I posted two again.)
(Another side note: I had trouble picking one particular photo so I posted two again.)
January 13th ~ Theme: Gray
There are so many things in this life that we just pass by, not even noticing. We get so used to seeing them everyday that they are no longer miraculous in our eyes. This photo challenge has made me stop and take a look around. It has made me appreciate all of the little things in my life that I thought had no meaning. I've spent this entire challenge thinking about my husband and my daughter, about our home and our lives. It's a nice break to stop and really admire my life because when you stop and look around this life is pretty amazing.
January 12th ~ Theme: Sweet
Truth is, I'm a sugar fiend. I have a serious sugar addition that I attempt to work on from time to time. Needless to say, there is PLENTY of sweets around our house to use for my subjects. As I shot several differently candy items around our house from our Silver Dollar City taffy, to our Christmas candy, to the Halloween candy that's mixed in there I couldn't pick my final one, so I posted several.
Sorry guys, I feel like today was somewhat mundane. As I said yesterday, we've been super busy around our house. I promise tomorrows will be more elaborate!
Sorry guys, I feel like today was somewhat mundane. As I said yesterday, we've been super busy around our house. I promise tomorrows will be more elaborate!
January 11th ~ Theme: Glam
You know what isn't glamorous? Exhaustion..
I'm sitting here, barely able to keep my eyes open. At this point I feel like it should be Friday, not Wednesday. My body aches, my eyes are tired, and I don't want to move. It's been a busy beginning of the week for us and the adults in the house are getting very little sleep. We've all been waking up early and staying up late. Needless to say, tonight I'm enjoying the couch cuddles with my toddler. I'm going to be honest with y'all, I'm just not gonna make it tonight. I'm skipping today's theme for the sheer fact that I am not even functioning properly. I'll be back tomorrow, I promise!
I'm sitting here, barely able to keep my eyes open. At this point I feel like it should be Friday, not Wednesday. My body aches, my eyes are tired, and I don't want to move. It's been a busy beginning of the week for us and the adults in the house are getting very little sleep. We've all been waking up early and staying up late. Needless to say, tonight I'm enjoying the couch cuddles with my toddler. I'm going to be honest with y'all, I'm just not gonna make it tonight. I'm skipping today's theme for the sheer fact that I am not even functioning properly. I'll be back tomorrow, I promise!
January 10th ~ Theme: Cute
My daughter was an elaborate plan set in place by God. She was planned and perfectly timed. She was my miracle rainbow baby who prompted my escape from a terrible situation. Everything she does just mystifies me; her intelligence, her sense of humor, her tenderness and independence, her random mannerisms and her genuine kindness. She motivates me to love life and to appreciate the little things. She, in herself, is my definition of cute.
January 9th ~ Theme: Colorful
Colorful [kuhl-er-fuh l] adj.
Full of life, interesting.
Yep, that perfectly describes my husband! He's almost always in good spirits and always positive. He's got the most amusing sense of humor. One of the things I love most about him is the way he makes me laugh everyday, no matter what mood I'm in. He's the one person who can always lift my spirits. To top it off, you can regularly catch him in bright clothing or in something that will catch your eye. Between his personality and his style, he's my sunshine, my light when there are dark days. He's the other love of my life and he makes me incredibly happy!
Full of life, interesting.
Yep, that perfectly describes my husband! He's almost always in good spirits and always positive. He's got the most amusing sense of humor. One of the things I love most about him is the way he makes me laugh everyday, no matter what mood I'm in. He's the one person who can always lift my spirits. To top it off, you can regularly catch him in bright clothing or in something that will catch your eye. Between his personality and his style, he's my sunshine, my light when there are dark days. He's the other love of my life and he makes me incredibly happy!
January 8th ~ Theme: Organized
Organized... Or not...
Generally this is a word that describes me well. I'm thorough, tidy, and sometimes just plain OCD (and that's ok) but lately, nothing in my life has order. We're still adjusting to married life and moving in together at our house, we're adjusting to a family of 3, and we're definitely still adjusting to the new cleaning chores and schedules. So, as I looked around for organized, I found nothing except my daughters rows of shoes (who is also OCD).
I had every intention of being the perfect wife. I planned on having the perfectly staged house, dinner on the table at 5, and my child always in order... and then life hit. I'm trying to run a business, work part time, maintain the house, all while my daughter tugs at my shirt every night to come cuddle with her. There have been areas where I have failed already and there have been areas where I feel like I am just mediocre. I tend to take life so seriously and my poor husband just rolls with it. My life is chaos right now but you know what? That's ok. I'm only human. This too shall pass and the best is yet to come!
Generally this is a word that describes me well. I'm thorough, tidy, and sometimes just plain OCD (and that's ok) but lately, nothing in my life has order. We're still adjusting to married life and moving in together at our house, we're adjusting to a family of 3, and we're definitely still adjusting to the new cleaning chores and schedules. So, as I looked around for organized, I found nothing except my daughters rows of shoes (who is also OCD).
I had every intention of being the perfect wife. I planned on having the perfectly staged house, dinner on the table at 5, and my child always in order... and then life hit. I'm trying to run a business, work part time, maintain the house, all while my daughter tugs at my shirt every night to come cuddle with her. There have been areas where I have failed already and there have been areas where I feel like I am just mediocre. I tend to take life so seriously and my poor husband just rolls with it. My life is chaos right now but you know what? That's ok. I'm only human. This too shall pass and the best is yet to come!
January 7th ~ Theme: Fancy
When I was 14 years old, my Dad bought me a ring. That ring laid the groundwork for purity and a promise that we would always be close. It's promise was tailored so that I knew I could always talk to him when I needed something and that I could always lean on him for support. Through the years my dear ole' Dad, has been with me through my utmost highs and also my extreme lows. That ring held a special place in my heart every day from the day I accepted it, to my 25th birthday.
On my 25th birthday; after losing my purity in my late teen years, moving away from home, entering into an abusive marriage, having the most amazing baby girl, a harsh divorce, and moving back home, my Daddy bought me a new ring with a new meaning. This ring had the same principle of support and love; however, this new ring was more of a "new life" ring. It meant that although I was started over, I still (and always had) had him. My Dad has been my constant hero through a majority of my life and he continues to be. This strong, influential, respectful, selfless, loving man deserves every applause in the world. So, here's to you Dad! I love you so much.
January 6th ~ Theme: Kids
My intention for today's theme was to shoot anyone's kids but my own... I adore my child but she's my go-to model for everything and I wanted to do something a little different. However, it was a busy day and once 8 pm hit, I gave up and grabbed my camera.
Almost two weeks ago I got really sick (I'm not the type of person who gets sick, ever!) and I was down for four or five days. In that time I explained to my sweet EmmaLynn that she had to play by herself or come cuddle and watch a movie. My sweet girl, who was not a cuddler before this, suddenly became a cuddler and has been asking to snuggle every night since. It's my favorite phase that she's experienced recently. I will forever cherish these little moments. They may be minor little details to her but to me, they are everything!
January 5th ~ Theme: Winter
It was magical. I woke up to my phone blowing up with text messages because it had snowed and school was canceled (I had no idea we were even expecting snow). Last night, I was laying in bed trying to think of anything winter that didn't involve snow.. and then I woke up to snow! I literally took photos all morning and afternoon. I was in photographer Heaven with these giant snow flakes. This particular snowflake was one of the many, and my final selection.
I don't own a macro lens unfortunately, but maybe some day. *cough cough dear Husband* Since I don't own a lens dedicated to close up pictures such as this one, I had to do some work post processing. I enjoy showing you guys some of the behind the scenes stuff as well so I'm going to share that with you too.
This is my original photo:
I took the original and cropped it in a bit to see the exact snow flake that I was focused on:
Then I took the image and cleaned it up a bit by removing the dust and dirt around it as well as the broken snow flake that was also in the frame:
Once I had it cleaned up a bit, I decided I wanted to get a little bit closer so you could really see the detail. And this is the final product:
January 4th ~ Theme: Outdoors
"The only difference between a weed and a flower is judgement."
Unfortunately, today's photo doesn't have some huge sentimental mushy meaning behind it. Outdoors was a pretty broad theme so I tried not to overthink it. As I was driving home this afternoon, these weeds on the side of the road caught my eye. (On a side note, I'm that girl that will get in the way, awkwardly maneuver, and sometimes cause a disruption to make sure I get the perfect shot.)
Unfortunately, today's photo doesn't have some huge sentimental mushy meaning behind it. Outdoors was a pretty broad theme so I tried not to overthink it. As I was driving home this afternoon, these weeds on the side of the road caught my eye. (On a side note, I'm that girl that will get in the way, awkwardly maneuver, and sometimes cause a disruption to make sure I get the perfect shot.)
January 3rd ~ Theme: White
As I got ready this morning, took my daughter to school, went to work, ate lunch, took my daughter to the dentist, then came home to oblige my daughter in watching Zootopia and cuddling; I looked around at all of the white. Do you have any idea how many things there are out there that are white? In case you don't, it's A LOT! Once I was home and starting to settle down for the night, I realized how many of my daughters things were white. There is little pieces of evidence throughout our entire house where she has played through the week; white socks, a black and white rubber duck, a scooter with white handle bars, and then there was this white tissue. This white tissue has been laying on her makeup stand for several days. She used it to wipe the lip gloss off her brushes. It's the tissue that reminds me that my little girl is slowly fading out of the toddler phase, she's growing and changing, and becoming truly girly.
Let me explain my passion to you. I have 2 favorite things to photograph; one is little details (fingers, toes, hair, tissues) and the other is expressions. My passion is photography because you can't get these moments back. Someday when the kids are all grown, Grandparents are old and frail, and moments have long passed the only true evidence you will have is pictures. One day those little detailed shots and those expressions of love and joy will make you feel warm and wistful. I yearn to give you the evidence of those memories, to give you something that you can never again experience.
Let me explain my passion to you. I have 2 favorite things to photograph; one is little details (fingers, toes, hair, tissues) and the other is expressions. My passion is photography because you can't get these moments back. Someday when the kids are all grown, Grandparents are old and frail, and moments have long passed the only true evidence you will have is pictures. One day those little detailed shots and those expressions of love and joy will make you feel warm and wistful. I yearn to give you the evidence of those memories, to give you something that you can never again experience.
January 2nd ~ Theme: Coffee
Generally I find these challenges online so I don't pick the daily theme and am completely unbiased. With that being said, coffee is still one of my favorite things! I'm your basic white girl, I enjoy the occasional overpriced Starbucks but I usually make my coffee at home each morning. The Monday after a Holiday weekend, unquestionably needs coffee even more than your typical Monday!
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