365 | week 2 | shadows & hiking & sickness - oh my!

January 9/Day 9:

-Still sick today, but not nearly as bad as the day before.

-Will & Ruby had a waffle picnic on the stairs.

-Will started singing, "Drop it, drop it low girl. Dropt it, drop it low girl." while sitting in front of the sofa playing with his cars. I think I might need to reevaluate playing Zumba music in front of him. Hilarious! & so perfectly innocent.

January 10/Day 10:
-A wonderful, sunny day.
-I see the world a little differently sometimes.

January 11/Day 11:
-We need to find new knobs to replace the current ones on our entertainment center. The're all starting to break.
-Went on a walk in the woods today. I brought the tripod with me, so we could get some family pictures. It was so much fun having Will push the shutter & come running towards us to get in the picture in time. Love his enthusiasm for photography.

January 12/Day 12:
-Ruby loves to cuddle after waking from her nap. It's even more special when daddy's home to be with her.

January 13/Day 13:
-Nana & Papa drove home from Utah last night & spent the night with us. It was so good to see them.
-We/ve all had pretty nasty colds lately.

January 14/Day 14:
-For "school" today, we read The Snowy Day & went "sledding" down the stairs in sleeping bags. Will has found a new favorite thing to do.

January 15/Day 15:
-Caught up on laundry.
-We rolled out butcher paper, & Will made different tracks by painting with his feet. (Day 2 of The Snowy Day)

 

Continue to Christina's blog to see how her 365 is going.

Project 26 | A is for . . .

AMBIGUITY

& for 10 minutes - GO.

I've had a hard time figuring out how to interpret "ambiguous" into photography. What does it mean exactly? Unclear? Unsure of intent? Not typical? Whatever the true photographic definition is, I'm pleased with the way it has stretched me this week.

It's our first week of our 26 ABC project, & I cannot WAIT for all the things I get to try along the way. We choose whatever word we want to go along with the week's letter of the alphabet & just go for it. I'm a total nerd & love my lists, so I went through the back of a bunch of my photography book indexes & wrote down terms that came up. I hope to spend this year stretching & experimenting through this project, & I am thrilled for the opportunity!

I often go back & forth on whether or not photography (or anything I attempt to do) is something I can possibly excel at. I know I'm not alone in this. We all have our moments of self-doubt, of comparing to others, wondering if we're doing things "right." For some reason, this week I've been worrying myself about this more than normal. But then I realized that I have something to say with my work. Whether others understand it or not shouldn't matter because I LOVE the beauty in creating. Is my work typical? Maybe, maybe not. I like to think that it's honest, even if it is a tad obscure at times. I often have the quote come back to me, "Comparison is the thief of joy." We are ALL blessed with innate abilities & gifts - perhaps that innate ability is to push yourself to continue trying until you become something you never thought you could be. Whatever that thing is, that gift that's deep down inside of you, PLEASE don't shun it before you've given battle to it first. And I mean a true & honest battle. Keep pushing & trying if it's something you are passionate about. If you have something to share or say, don't let those self-deprecating voices in your mind & the taunting from the outside cause you to cover the light you have to share. Even if it's something that you can't get others to see eye to eye with you on, it's still something that will allow you to grow & progress until you are overflowing with joy & purpose.

STOP.

Next up, Jackie Petersen Photography. I love this woman. She is wonderful all around!

10 on 10: January | our disorganized life

"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

-Voltaire

Who says a disorganized life isn't a wonderful life? Yes, I wish I were better about having a clean home & wish that my hair & makeup always looked stellar, but guess what, this is life! As it is. We have our meltdowns, me including the kids; we have our sick days; we have what feels like absolute chaos in our home at times, but we are defined by more than that.

We love one another, we play, we laugh & dance, we build beautiful memories that will last a life time. We cherish the everyday. It might not look perfect from the outside, & trust me, it doesn't always feel perfect from the inside - honestly, it rarely feels perfect, but at the end of the day, week, month . . . all that time has passed, & I feel we've lived a pretty beautiful life, chaos & all.

Next up is Aimee Confer, Central Pennsylvania Photographer.

365 | just another week

Day 2 - It's shopping day, & I was determined to keep to the list & not buy a bunch of extras. I always spend too much at the grocery store! Will kept busy on my phone playing Angry Birds, & Ruby spent the whole time munching on a free cookie from the bakery. We were all much happier this way.

Day 3: Daddy comes home from work. Hallelujah!!!

Day 4: "Some Bunny Loves You;" It's always a treat when Grandma & Grandpa come to visit; Making charred green beans - some of my favorite!

 Day 5: We took a trip down to Modesto to have dinner with some of Scott's PA friends from Stanford.

Day 6: Sunday, our calm day. We love snuggling on the sofa as a family. (I heart that bum.)

Day 7: Grandma & Grandpa went home today, so we spent a very casual day around the house.

Day 8: I woke up sick last night, so I spent much of the day lying around & attempting to read. You know you're not feeling well when you can't even muster the engergy for that much. Scott stayed home from work to take care of the kids while I rested (slept) pretty much all day.

Continue the 365 journey by visiting Sharyn next.

365 | A New Year

 RESOLUTION(S)

Every year, it's the same story. The same start. What can I do to be a better person? . . . a better mother, wife, homemaker? There's no end to the improvements I could make. But I tell myself not to get discouraged. Not to get overwhelmed. Keep it small. Simplify. Always that word going through my mind . . . simplify, simplify. By small, consistent things, are great things brought to pass.

Since last year was the "Year of Liz" for all the wrong reasons, this year is going to be a year of looking up & finding peace, of allowing myself to make mistakes & feel hurt without letting the world cave in. I want to take life in & digest it. Roll it over my tongue & savor it. Take it deep inside of me & feel the love & beauty it has to offer flowing through my veins & soul. To see the bigger picture & not let the little things drag me down into darkness. I want life to be a celebration in all its simplicity & in the everyday, seemingly mundane moments. I want to take it in - all the chaos, to dos, chores, redundant routines & see the gift they can be if I just choose to see it. I want to BE PRESENT. To trust in myself as a mother, creator, teacher, photographer. To cut myself some slack. I want to enjoy the little things & not look down in defeat. When I slip & fall, I will not burrow myself into a hole in the ground again, but rather, I will look up & allow the light of God to penetrate me, to shine & redirect me on my course. I will look up more.

Join me each week on my 365 photo journey & feel free to click through & see a day in the life of other photographers around the world.

Cara Harrison of Mischief & Laughs is next.