P52 Week 8 Cabin Fever

The topic for this weeks P52 challenge is "Cabin Fever". This has been a very mild winter for Wisconsin, so cabin fever hasn't been much of an issue this year. We have had very little snow and fairly mild temperatures so I havent been too cooped up. When I do get cabin fever, I like to go and spend some time out in nature. This is a shot at one of my favorite places to go. You just never know what you will see, from geese, to deer and even an occasional bald eagle! Its a little slice of heaven.

CABIN FEVER

P52 Week 7 "True Love"

I know, it is Valentines week and I should be posting a picture of a human "True Love". I already celebrated my human true loves on Tuesday, so I thought I would honor another non-human True Love. This is my boy Maddux. He is 7 1/2 years old and is a black Chinese Shar Pei. He is so special to me. He has never hurt my feelings, made me mad, talked back to me, ignored me or deserted me when I needed him. If you have never known the true love of a dog, you are really missing out on something special. Maddux knows when I need to laugh, knows when I need comfort or a shoulder to cry on. He is a great ear when I need to vent, he is adorable and so smart. When I ask him who he loves most in the whole world, I kid you not, he says "MAMA".

P52 Week 6 2-10-12

Well, first off I have to admit I skipped out on week 5. The subject for that weeks P52 was Shadow. I didnt have anything at all to use for this prompt. I went out to shoot something for it, and just wasnt happy with any of the shots I got, so I had to admit defeat and just not participate! Not so this week! The photo prompt was "Drink up". This I can do! Here is a photo of the Peppermint Mocha I had today when Kim and I went to the coffee shop. It was short but sweet, and I had a great time as always. I was only in the teens today, windy and blowing snow so we decided to skip out on our usual photo session and just get together for coffee, lunch and visiting!

DRINK UP!

Yummy!!

P52 Photo Challenge 1-27-12 "Self Portrait"

So when I saw this week's P52 Photo Challenge topic, I let out an audible groan. Are you kidding me? A self-portrait?? I absolutely HATE pictures of myself. I would much rather be behind the camera than in front of it. One of my New Years Resolutions was to be completely committed to the Photo Challenges I take place in each week, so I knew I had to bite the bullet and just take a darn picture of myself. I am so critical of every photo I take, that I find all kinds of excuses not to post them. I am who I am, and I need to just accept that! I will never be thin enough, pretty enough, photogenic enough, my hair and make-up will never be perfect, but people love me anyway for who I am. Like my Sister-in-law Kim told me last week, "You need to learn to love yourself". I know she is right, but wait, let me go check my hair and make-up, haha! In all their glory, here are the 2 of 30 pictures I took that are "ok". Don't laugh too hard.

 Yes, I am a Canon girl!

Maddux and I

I Dreamed A Dream P52

It is week 3 of the 52 week photo challenge named "P52". This weeks theme was in honor of Martin Luther King day, and was aptly titled "I Dreamed a Dream". I didnt have any photos of myself (surprise, surprise) so I decided to use a picture of Grandbaby Kileigh (3) I took this week. She is so deep in thought a lot of times. I wonder what she daydreams about, where her thoughts take her, what her hopes and dreams for the future are. I wish I knew. It could be she is thinking about her Mommy when I watch her, or her toys, her favorite cartoons, or maybe its more deep like about when she grows up, what she wants to be, where she wants to go in life. Maybe she just thinks about what she wants to eat or play next. I hope that the latter is the case. Kids grow up much to quickly these days. I hope her dreams are all about happy thoughts and simple pleasures. She will have to face the rest soon enough, just be little Kileigh. Growing up isn't always what its cracked up to be. I Love you!

Project 52 Photo Challenge 1-13-12

Week two of the year-long photo challenge nicknamed P52 is here. The theme for this week is:
Made with Love.

Jeez, my creative energies have been flowing, but not in a crafting way, in a photography way lately. I haven't actually MADE anything with my photography other than some canvas prints. What to do? Then I remembered one of the gifts I received from my daughter, well, technically my 2 year old Grandson Ethan. He "made" me a coffee mug, actually more aptly a "Tea" mug. He decorated it beautifully, I am sure with a little help from his Mommy. I loved it when I opened it. Later when I was home and washed it, I noticed a TINY little heart on the handle I had missed earlier upon opening my gift. I talked to Jess later in the day and said, "How cute, I missed the little heart you made on the handle". She said "I didn't make a heart on the handle, Ethan must have made it"! Now keep in mind that Ethan just turned 2 in November. Here it is "MADE WITH LOVE". Have a wonderful weekend.

My Tea Mug

Ethans tiny little heart

Project 52 - Weekly Photo Challenge

Ok, I like a challenge! I came across Project 52 while on my daily journey around the blogosphere and thought to myself, just what I need! Something to give me a kick in the pants so to speak, something to get me out there taking pictures. As many of you know, I already participate in "I Heart Macro" as well as "Scavenger Hunt Sunday". I wanted a challenge where I would be told what the subject matter is, a subject matter that would send me out into the world to find a shot that fit the theme of the week. Viola! There it was, Project 52. The theme this week is RESOLUTION.
In visiting many blogs, I was struck by how many people use a word of the year as their New Years Resolution. I have never been much of a resolution making kinda girl, but as many of you know, "the Times, they are a changin"! I decided to pick a word that would represent something that is lacking in my life. I found it in the word SERENITY. 2011 was a great, but stress-filled year for me. I lost my Mother, had some personal set-backs and some challenges in my personal life. I won't bore you to tears with details, but I have my word now. The definition of Serenity is: 

\Se*ren"i*ty\, n. [L. serenuas: cf. F. s['e]r['e]nit['e].] 1. The quality or state of being serene; clearness and calmness; quietness; stillness; peace. A general peace and serenity newly succeeded a general trouble. --Sir W. Temple. 2. Calmness of mind; eveness of temper; undisturbed state; coolness; composure. I can not see how any men should ever transgress those moral rules with confidence and serenity. --Locke. Note: Serenity is given as a title to the members of certain princely families in Europe; as, Your Serenity.

Now, the use of Serenity as a title to address members of princely families doesn't apply,  but boy the rest sure does.I decided to combine the first of the Project 52 Challenge with  my word for 2012 and present to you my first photo! "SERENITY"