day 90.

I didn't shoot a whole lot today that would be of much interest...and although the sky was beautiful tonight this shot was too blurry for me. I thought maybe I could salvage it somehow, so I processed it using MonoPhix. Better.

Digital Field Guide: I have my first photo shoot in a couple of days (a good friend of mine and her family), so I am re-reading the section on choosing metering modes, pages 41-43.

Images: Diane Arbus

dec. 9: challenge.

Something that really made me grow this year.

Well, it wasn't until the last part of the year (around the beginning of September) that I felt inspired to start blogging again. I've had this blog since 2006 and did well for a while but then just ran into a wall. So, I stopped. No one was reading it anyway so I knew it really wouldn't be a big deal if I just stopped updating it.

Then in January of this year I randomly wrote something else and someone responded. "Welcome back to blogging," the comment said. I was so appreciative of that little comment! And it made me want to share other things going on in my life.

But I didn't.

I just went back to my day-to-day and fought with the motivation to journal in any kind of way.

Until August. I had been dealing with all of these creativity ideas swirling through my head and was motivated to write about it.

September came, and somehow the "newness" of it all (Autumn feels like a sort of Spring to me, for some strange reason) had me wanting to share everything. Especially photos, since I had taken like a bazillion. Then, somehow, I discovered Tasra Dawson's blog and month-long challenge and I totally jumped in with both feet, inspired to see how much I could grow as a photographer.

The month came and went and by the end, I did not want to stop. I wanted to keep going and keep seeing how much I could grow. I turned it into a 365-day project. I NEVER would have done that had I not seen Tasra's blog.

Today, I am on Day 90, and thinking about taking my photography to a new level. I already have two photo shoots scheduled this week! I'm so excited to start building a real portfolio.

This time last year, my camera was still pretty much brand new. I got it a few days after Thanksgiving. I never thought of doing any of the things that I am doing now. As a result of starting that photography challenge, my attitude has definitely changed to one of, "I can do this." And it's given rise to me having the guts to step up to other challenges, like Art Every Day Month, and this one, the Best of '09 Blog Challenge! The photography challenge opened up so many things for me. So, thank you, Tasra.

dec. 8: moment of peace.

Today's topic is: an hour or a day or a week of solitude.

The very cool thing about this year is that at the beginning I had several moments of "solitude." I wasn't actually alone but I was able to just breathe deeply and feel at peace.

Those moments were when I was driving up to Charlotte with my kids every week to be with my husband, who was working on a project up there. It was only a three-hour drive, so that was very easy for me to do (considering I drove non-stop to Albany, New York and back. TWICE!). I would drive up on Wednesday evenings after we were finished with our day.

Once I got gas in the car (a full tank would take me all the way there) and shortly after the kids finished their dinner (usually Zaxby's), the babies would fall asleep. My oldest son would either take a nap too or listen to his iPod and zone out. I, too, would turn on my iPod in the stereo once I was out of my radio station's range, and driving and listening to my music, and of course the anticipation of seeing my sweet hubby and chilling for a few days, made for the most peaceful and relaxing times. I had similar experiences the year before when I was driving weekly to Nashville (for the same reason). There's something about going for a drive that has always relaxed me. I have just always enjoyed it.

day 89.

Today was not the best shooting day. Most of my shots, which were pretty decent, were ruined because of a random black speck in the top of them. I'm guessing some dust got into the sensor, since I examined the lens and there's nothing there. Awesome.

The speck is camouflaged a bit in this photo by the tree branch.

I processed this using Picnik.

Digital Field Guide: page 71, Light transmitted by the lens. I glazed over it more than re-read it yesterday.

Images: IrenaS on Flickr (it's Irene Suchocki, who I mentioned here. I am totally in love with her work.)

dec. 7: blog find of the year.

"That gem of a blog you can't believe you didn't know about until this year."

Okay; this was not easy. In fact, it was darn near impossible.

I didn't even know about Gwen Bell until, like, a month ago. And now, here I am reading her blog and I'm like, "Gee Whiz." So, I'm gonna say hers is certainly a gem.

But there are several others. Several. Unearthed just this year. I am not going to list all of them, just...because. You should see my Google Reader.

I will mention just a few of the many gems I have discovered this year, and provide links, because you should see them for yourself if you haven't already.

Style Rookie. Seriously. If I had been this clever or stylish or cool when I was thirteen, my junior high and high school years would have been way less traumatic.

Kind Over Matter. This is just a bunch of loveliness wrapped up in RSS feed.

Ali Edwards. I love paper crafting and scrapbooking, and her projects really make me want to do stuff like that all day. Mega-inspiring.

Notebook Doodles. Because I love photography, and I love doodling, and this sweet little blog is a delightful combination of both.

I'll stop there.

day 88: a new self-portrait.

Remember when I said I was gonna get over it? I am really trying.

Taken with my iPhone and processed with CameraBag.

Digital Field Guide: Page 71, Light transmitted by the lens

Images: Here's lookin' at me kid

dec. 6: workshop or conference.

Today's question is: was there a conference or workshop you attended that was especially beneficial?

There was. It was called the Supernatural Creativity Conference, and it was held at my church.

They actually did the conference twice this year. The first time was in January, and it was so successful that they did another one a couple of months ago.

We did not go to the first conference, because we were in Charlotte. I was so bummed about missing it. I was looking forward to the day sessions and the worship at night.

Oddly enough, something took hold of me that January. That same thing took hold of my son too. Although we were not at the conference, the spark that was being lit in so many that attended was being lit in us too. It was a spark that awakened new aspects of creativity in me. Those aspects had probably always been there, deep inside, but lay dormant and I really was not aware of them. Now, as a result of that spark being lit, I feel like I am firing on all cylinders. There is nothing that I won't try now.

By the time the next Supernatural Creativity Conference came around this year, I had ideas I'd never dreamed I'd have. Sewing. Painting. Collage. Knitting.

Not only that, but by the time the conference came around again, I had already learned to play several songs on the guitar, had taken more photos than I ever have in my life (buying that camera was like one of the best purchases EVER), and had learned to do post-processing on photos. Not to mention the fact that my iPhone has been used as much for taking and editing photos as for anything else.

And now that the year is winding down to its last moments I can look back and think of those things that I have done for the first time as a result of being so inspired from BOTH conferences. I've watercolored. I've made Christmas ornaments. I had the courage to sign on for the Daily Photo challenge, and turn it into a 365-day project. I had the guts to sign on for Art Every Day Month.

And I recovered things that had been lost in the shuffle of my life for a while. I wrote new songs. I invented new recipes. I started doodling and drawing again. I started blogging again.

And wow...thinking about what it has done to my son! After three years of guitar lessons, he managed to pick up in five weeks what he hadn't in almost three years: inspiration. The guitar was becoming a "thing" for him before the first conference that we missed (you know how everybody has their "thing"), but after January, he just moved at warp speed with it and by the summer he was in a band and learning the bass. He learned it well. In five weeks. He now plays bass at our church on a regular basis. And has one guitar student. Not to mention he has picked up drawing and painting again (he's always been an artist) and is growing passionate about that too. Watching the painting going on at the second conference really did it for him.

So, yeah. I'd say it was a good thing.

day 87.

Taken with my iPhone; processed using CameraBag.

So yeah. I like taking pictures of churches.

Digital Field Guide: page 70, Light produced by a scene

Images: Amanda G.T. on Flickr

dec. 5: night out.

Today's topic is a night out with friends or a loved one that rocked my world.

Another easy one.

Thankfully, just like in the eating out post, I can say that my husband and I have had an awesome year hanging with friends, hanging with family, and hanging with each other. We have immensely enjoyed the fellowship. And there's quite a list of fun times we've had this year! Valentine's Day, all those times we went out in Charlotte, random costume party, fourth of July, the ENTIRE trip to Chicago, the Aquarium, DragonCon, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and yes, I am going to include our "accidental tourist" night in NYC although it is just outside of the time frame (and yes! I still need to post that story and the craptastic photos! I will totally do that this week.). It's all been aMAYzing.

But I must say, the most awesome night out this year for me had to be TONIGHT!

I capped off a week of birthday activity (my birthday was Tuesday the 1st) with a girls' night out, which I did last year as well. The date coincided with a Christmas crafting/cooking get-together that a good friend of mine was having, so it ended up becoming more or less an all day fun-filled festivity! I went over to my friend's house this afternoon and indulged in cookies and brownies and made a couple of ornaments (well, one and a half. I still have to finish the other one. It is labor-intensive.). Then we decided that our husbands should accompany us to the girls' night out, so it would just be a night out. Two hubbys came, including mine, with us girls to the Cheesecake Factory. We had dinner and dessert and just HAMMED it UP! I think our waiter thought we were drunk. He did not want us to leave. I assure you, none of us was drunk. We were just having a grand ole time. And it was superiorly grand. You just had to be there.

I had a Kobe burger.

And Red Velvet Cheesecake.

And way too many laughs.

day 86: ornamentation.

These are some (six) of the beautiful ornaments that my friend April made at our Christmas crafts-travaganza this afternoon. She is quite a crafty talent.

Digital Field Guide: page 69, Light produced by a scene

Images: Love is the key on Flickr

dec. 4: book.

The question today is: What book - fiction or non - touched you?

That's easy.

It is a book that I cannot recommend to everyone.

Not that it is not a good book, because it is. It just is not suitable for everyone.

It is, however, a book that has helped this year in awakening a passion in me that I did not even know I had.

It is my Nikon D40/D40x Digital Field Guide.

Now, I realize that reading that sentence above may have been a letdown for many of you, especially if you were expecting something profound and life-changing like...I don't know...War and Peace or something.

But this book has been profound for me, because since I got it in...December or January (?...maybe later) I have been on a mission to learn my way around my camera. Admittedly, I started that mission rather late (like, September) although I had already taken hundreds upon hundreds of photos with it. I stayed in three settings though, and I wasn't trying many of the things that I am now trying. Reading through this book (slowly) has fueled the flame of a passion for photography that I am so grateful to have discovered, a passion upon which I have begun to reflect often (like here and here.)

It isn't suitable for everyone, because not everyone owns a DSLR camera, or a Nikon DSLR, and not everyone needs a guide to walk them through their camera. For those that are like me, however, and do need that and do own a Nikon DSLR, I heartily recommend this book.

day 85: birds on a wire.

Taken with my iPhone; processed with Photoshop Mobile and CameraBag.

I thought the birds were cool. And yes, my thing for signage creeps in.

Digital Field Guide: I started the section on exposure over again. Because I need to.

Images: I actually went through my iPhone and started deleting stuff! Because I need to.

dec. 3: article.

For those wondering who Gwen Bell is and what this blog challenge is all about, here is the button. Took me a couple of days to figure out how to do that.

And now I don't know how to format my post to look how it normally does! haha

But no worries. This post will just look different. I kinda like it. Too bad I won't be able to replicate it!

Anyhow, today's question is about an article that I read that stuck with me this year. Honestly, I've read a plethora of articles that I felt were so important, or inspiring, or informative, or all three. I've got way too many posts starred in my Google reader, tons of things Delicious-ed, countless links bookmarked. There are a lot of people saying a lot of important things out there in the blogosphere.

One particular article that I remember reading and thinking, "Oh wow, this is good. This is such a good idea and I'm totally gonna do this too" is this article by Simple Mom about creating a family mission statement. This is something I'm going to share with my husband so we can do one of our own this next year.

Simple Mom always has incredibly helpful content on her blog. It's a worthwhile RSS subscription.

I've noticed that several blogs that I read regularly do a weekly roundup at the end of every week where they post links of articles that they've found of interest. I might start doing something like that every now and then.

day 84: the tree.

Taken with my iPhone; processed using CameraBag.

What dreary weather we've been having. Bordering on bitter cold (and by bitter cold, I mean for Atlanta), and there's been talk of snow. I certainly hope, if snow comes, that it waits until Christmas. You know, for the white Christmas thing.

Speaking of white Christmas, we trimmed our adorable little tree tonight. My hubby put up the tree, which is pre-lit, the day before Thanksgiving. That's the earliest we've ever done it! We needed some new ornaments though, because I decided years ago that I would alternate themes every year--all solid color lights and uniform colored ornaments one year, all different colored ornaments and lights the next year. That way, the kids would always be excited and get to have the fun colors-everywhere theme and I would get to have my refined theme. Since this tree (that I bought last year...I've NEVER had a non-green tree before that) is pre-lit the lights aren't colored, but I went crazy buying new ornaments for it! It was actually a treat from a good friend of mine, who took me shopping for all of these ornaments on my birthday. Yay for gifts and surprises!

We cranked up the Pandora Christmas music stations and I watched my three kids trim the tree. They had so much fun doing it, and every now and then I would peek in on them while I was cooking dinner. When they were done, my son gave me a snowflake to hang on the tree and I also put my white dove on top. Squeeee!

This really is the best time of the year.

Digital Field Guide: page 72, Light captured by the sensor

Images: Margaret Bourke-White

holiday giveaways.

I've entered the Holiday Blog-abration, hosted by the fabulous photographer Tasra Dawson over at her scrapbooking site, Real Women Scrap. She has several giveaways going on this month, so be sure to head over to her site and enter some!

dec. 2: restaurant moment.

We're pretty hard-core carnivores over here.

We really like meat. A lot.

I could probably subsist on steak and vegetables as my only meal the rest of my life and not get tired of it. Steak is just good.

Which brings me to our best restaurant moment this year. I am thankful that we had restaurant moments! 2009 was a pretty comfortable year for us financially, and we were able to do more in the area of entertainment and dining out than we have ever done. Ever.

My husband was working on a project in Charlotte from November of '08 to March of this year, so I traveled back and forth with the kids every week to be with him. We would spend Wednesday evening to Sunday afternoon with him, then head home for school on Monday through Wednesday. We really enjoyed living in Charlotte, almost as much as we enjoyed living in Nashville the year before.

One of my husband's co-workers suggested we try out a restaurant in the city called Chima. It is one of those Brazilian steakhouses. We went one weekend in January and thought we had died and gone to carnivore heaven. There were so many different cuts of meat, and the gauchos (waiters) just kept coming with more. The meat was very well-cooked and succulent and delicious. Also delicious was everything on the salad bar, and the appetizers, and the wine. Pretty much everything was delicious. We liked it so much we went again a month later with a friend. I tried to get a good photo of the place on my iPhone, but it didn't really work out, as you can see above.

I ended up signing up for Chima's email club or service or whatever it is, and they sent me two $25 gift cards in the mail. I was psyched, until I found out that the Chima in Atlanta had been closed. So, yeah.

day 83.

Taken with my iPhone; processed using CameraBag.

When it's crappy weather, you're fighting to overcome a three week-old illness, you're in need of a new SD card for your camera, and you have gone all day without finding anything interesting to shoot, take a picture of a McDonald's barbecue sauce packet. While sitting in your car.

Digital Field Guide: page 72, Light admitted by the shutter

Images: Cassia Beck

dec. 1: trip.

What was your best trip in 2009?

This is the first question posed by Gwen Bell for the Best of 2009 Blog Challenge.

I wish I could say that my best trip was the impromptu trip to New York City in the middle of the night (the "accidental tourist" story, which I promise I will share this week!), but that was in November of '08.

The best trip this year was the trip that we took to one of my new favorite cities. A city that I like almost as much as New York. So much so, that I refer to it as Almostnewyork.

That city is Chicago.

We spent a marvelous week and a half up there for my husband's job (which I mentioned here), and I am so glad we got the chance to go. The Navy Pier, Giordano's Pizza, Portillo's, and of course Lake Michigan were some of the places we frequented.

We want to go back. Soon.

day 82: 36 years.

I was born at 7:58 a.m. on this day, 36 years ago.

It's very hard for me to believe that I have been on this earth that long. I still remember riding my red tricycle down my driveway, wearing a little white cardigan with green horizontal stripes and my black patent leather t-strap Sunday shoes.

I remember the Christmas when I got my Strawberry Shortcake house that smelled so sweet. It was the same Christmas that I got a little Mickey Mouse watch. I remember wanting the Strawberry Shortcake digital watch (digital watches were the new big thing it seemed) but I have a feeling my parents had a hard time finding it or it was too expensive. The Strawberry Shortcake house more than made up for it. That thing saw years of use.

I remember sitting in the den countless times listening to Minnie Riperton and Dionne Warwick albums, along with a lot of Isaac Hayes and George Benson.

I remember pretending to be Wonder Woman in the front yard.

And wearing a t-shirt on my head like it was long hair and pretending to be Diana Ross in my bedroom, standing in front of a mirror with a hairbrush microphone in hand, tossing my "hair" back and forth.

I remember going to see Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back at the drive-in with my parents.

I remember trying to break dance on my kitchen floor.

And all of those times I helped my mother make the meatloaf and cornbread.

So so many memories. Way too many to list here, but those are just a few of the many fond ones. It's just so bizarre that I've got 36 years worth of memories.

I really have lived a rich life so far. Even with all of its tragedies and heartaches (losing my father at age eleven, going through a few years with no close friends, suffering a broken heart at the hands of my first love, suffering another broken heart and a broken family years later after a painful divorce), I can thankfully say that the good times in my life far outweigh the bad ones.

I now, 36 years after entering this world, have a wonderful husband, a beautiful and happy family, good friends, and simple interests that give me immense joy. Thank you, Lord, for all that you have done for me.

The photo displays some lovely pumpkin tarts that I bought at the grocery store to share with my students today. I took it with my iPhone and processed it using CameraBag.

Digital Field Guide: pages 70-71. Again.

Images: it's not a cabaret on Flickr

a new challenge.

I keep 'em comin', don't I?

In September I decided to do a 30-day photo challenge along with Tasra Dawson and several other amazing photographers. Their work inspired me so much that I decided to turn it into a 365-day project. I've already grown some as a photographer and I am so excited to see the year unfold.

Then in November I decided to bite the bullet and embark on the Art Every Day Month challenge along with Leah Piken Kolidas and several other incredible artists. Just in that short month, I started learning watercolor, and have taken up drawing, along with doing something I hadn't done much in a while: doodling. Now I look forward to continuing with all of it and growing as an artist over the next year.

So, now it's my birthday and the start of a new month, really like the best month of them all! And with all of the festiveness in the air, I am energized. I am celebrating entering another year of my life by entering yet another challenge.

It is the Best of 2009 Blog Challenge, hosted by Gwen Bell.

She has posted a journaling prompt/question for each day, and I just have to answer it. That's all. I can do that.

If I can't, no worries. She says one or all of the 31 prompts can be addressed, so if there's one for which I don't really have an answer, I just won't write anything that day.

Or maybe I'll just write something random, like a poem or a song or something, if I get inspired.

I'm looking forward to doing this, and will post the first entry this evening.