June Twenty Nine

Black and White

Now, if you want some fine art black and white, check out "Pepper" by Edward Weston. Sadly, I don't have a film scanner to create true black and white photographs, BUT, if you missed my birthday, it was a few days ago.. and I would LOVE to own my own film scanner... just sayin ;-) jk. Well anyways, tomorrow's the last challenge day, and then I'll have a new adventure to embark on, but you'll just have to stay tuned for that! :)

June Twenty Eight -- No Flowers

So, I have been trying since last night to upload my flower picture, but alas, I keep getting error reports from Blogger. This photo just doesn't seem meant to be. On the other hand, I was deleting old messages from my inbox, and stumbled upon a guest contributor to two previous challenges "Clouds" and "Sunset". Below are two entries from Marcia N., who recently returned from a surfing trip (so jealous!). Thank you so much Marcia for your lovely contributions!

June Twenty Seven

From a Distance

A pretty rad thermos I received for my birthday -- it's in the form of a Nikon 24-70 mm lens.. it looks just like it up close. What a fun treat!

Hailey Grace

I think someday we may just have to try and add a baby girl to the family in addition to our precious boy, so I can have an afternoon like this. Sweet as can be, little miss Hailey seems to be the perfect candidate for an afternoon tea party, and I have a sneaking suspicion that one of these days her daddy is going to get pulled into having one with her. Eight months old and perfectly sweet she seems to be everything precious that little girls are made of.

June Twenty Five, Twenty Six

June Twenty Five: Something Pink

Perfect. Took this shot today, but it was of the sash on the dress that was worn at my husband and my joint birthday party yesterday evening, made by a very special friend last fall who couldn't join us, for she is partaking of an adventure of her own all the way in South Korea. So, today I'm 23 and a day, and I think I feel one year older officially. Riiight, you say, but, I think this year hit me for some reason. Whatever the case, this year of my life began memorably, with precious time spent with my family, friends, even a little pampering time that I was blessed to be given, and the night ended with a very special and beautiful dinner party. I think this may just have been my most favorite birthday yet.

June Twenty Six: Close-Up

Any childhood toys you see around that bring back a special memory? Well, we went over mine this month with the Polly Pocket toys, but the other day I received a special package in the mail from my sister in law that contained some toys (and memories) from my husbands childhood. This one was a little child's record player that has some "records" with it, that play some sweet little songs. I think this will be one that our little boy will love, and hopefully he'll have a few fun memories of his own playing with one of daddy's old toys!

June Twenty Four

Animal

Well, technically today is really tomorrow, but here's Pigo anyway.

So, much more importantly than a dog, or a challenge, or really much anything else right now is the fact that I found out today that one of the moms I used to babysit for has been diagnosed with cancer. This is a call to those who have grounded themselves in the Lord: Please pray, I'm not sure what for exactly. Healing? Peace and comfort for her and her loved ones? Faith and trust in God's will? Please just pray. Thanks guys :)

June Twenty Two, Twenty Three

Here's the deal: I didn't forget about our daily challenge, yesterday I shot a photo I was kind of excited about, then it wouldn't load to photo shop. THEN, I realized today I took today's photo yesterday, and since it didn't upload anyway, well, I just took two today. Alright, now that that's settled... let's get blogging.
Hands

Mom and Dad. Married 29 1/2 years. Met through a relative/mutual friend, wrote back and forth four years before meeting, and that's just the beginning. 34 years of being friends later, they're still two of the closest parents I know. They tell each other everything, just like best friends should. I've seen these hands held like this more times than I can count, and it makes me happy every time I see it. These hands are significantly dear to me. They comforted me when I was scared of monsters coming through the door. They held the Bible that taught me what's important all through growing up. They held my son on the day he was born. They gave me away to my husband on my wedding day. They've worked harder than I could ever know just to show me they love me. These hands belong to some of the most wonderful people I could ever hope to know.

Sunflare

or, once again my version of it at least :)

June Twenty One

Faceless Self-Portrait

Alright, I took the bum way out today and cheated, used some photos from a b/w film photography class I took last fall. My final project was an expose of some of my physical insecurities. Among them, my nails (we went over this on "a bad habit", 'member?) my snaggle tooth, yes, it's true.. my "mama belly" and others. So, after thinking through the project and carrying it out (no arrogance here) I'm not as bad as I may sometimes perceive myself to be. Yes, I have what I thought were some physical malfunctions, but, there are certain things I can help (nails, weight, etc), and what I can't -- well, if God made me that way and thinks I'm beautiful, shouldn't that be good enough for me?

June Twenty

Bokeh

..or my version of it at least :)

June Nineteen

Photography by Amy Glover Photography (One of my most favorite and inspiring photographers, for her work, AND her life!)

Happy Father's Day to three of the most amazing men I know. My Daddy, a man who has taught me to love past mistakes, and instilled in me a passion for knowledge, silliness and most importantly a reverence for God. My husband who loves on our little one with arms wide open and heart overflowing. My father-in-law who, even though far, is someone we love deeply and know we can turn to always. But most MOST importantly is God, who is Father to the fatherless and loves with all of the above qualities and SO very much more.

Happy Father's day to those who have been dads for a long time and daddys only for a little while :)

Something Orange

We collect bottles that come along holding various types of beverages, that may or may not have been purchased on the day of a particularly special memory. This one, however, was purchased at my son's first birthday dinner at a local farmhouse restaurant.. wrapped around that bottle are memories of a first dessert, eating under the early evening sky lit by strings of lights and the glow from the inside of the restaurant.. a birthday candle and a picnic table full of laughs and love.

June Eighteen

Ok, so much much more importantly than today's photo challenge - today, June 18th is my wonderful husband David's 25th birthday!! He is the best husband, father to our son, brother, son, son-in-law that anyone could ever ask for, and we are all so blessed to have him in our lives. Happy happy birthday love, may God bless your year richly!!

The Challenge: My Shoes

June Seventeen

Technology

June Sixteen

Long Exposure

Even though it's after midnight, I'm counting this one for the 16th, and what a fun challenge this was to boot. First - I tried it by myself and it wasn't as fun, but when my husband David joined in, it turned into a mini photo flashlight fest. We were trying to create light crosses, light words, and finally, light love.. hehe. Here is the fruit of David's labor, and my expert shutter release skills, but more than that I find this to be a little symbolic. Look hard, don't you?

June Fifteen

Silhouette

Alright, so this is not a silhouette in the truest sense of the word, and to be honest I added more darkness via the Photoshop, AND I took the photo yesterday and not for the challenge, but I'm going to bend the rules of this challenge and post this one all the same.

June Fourteen

Eyes

The sweetest little eyes I ever did see.

June Thirteen

Myself and Thirteen Things
1. Our family Bible, most treasured

2. My wedding ring - a constant reminder I got to marry my dream guy

3. My son's first blanket he was wrapped in

4. My husband's old guitar

5. A teddy bear a great friend gave my son the night he was born

6. A metal owl my mom found among my Gramma's old things

7. My favorite perfume

8. My bouquet from my best friend's wedding

9. My first film camera

10. A pillow I made out of an old shirt

11. A coupon.. I'm into saving

12. A New Orleans Saints Teddy Bear

13. Numchucks

June Eleven, June Twelve

Consistency isn't one of my strong points, so today is day three(ish) of photo catch up.

Something Blue
A little onesie bought with love last year in honor of my father in law's years spent working on submarines in the Navy

The Sunset
My mom and dad taking a walk with little Christian sometime around sunset in my old familiar neighborhood.

July Ten

Childhood Memory

My dad used to take me to Toys 'R Us to play on the video game consoles they had out, and sometimes my special treat would be to pick out a Polly Pocket toy. I probably have more Polly Pockets than any one person should have, but it's ok.. I collected memories of special treats with my daddy.

June Eight, June Nine

Behind again, hmm.

A Bad Habit
No, I'm not a glove collector, just a nail biter.. but let's keep that between us, shall we?
Someone I love.
Love dearly that is. Even with cheese on his face.

June Seven

She might kill me for posting this, but I'll take my chances since I think this is such a lovely and perfect summer picture. My other beautiful sis-in-law Abby contributed the delicious looking lemonade photo featured above, and some other sweet treat photos for today's "fruit" challenge, while all I had was a who-knows-how-old apple and some bananas, but I think the monkey may have helped it all work out.

June Three, Four, Five, and Six

Although the June photo challenge hasn't slipped my mind, my time has been taken with three things far more precious - my lovely sis-in-law and her two sweet girls who just left for home today. Playing a little catch-up, here are June 3 through 6, with June 7 coming later this evening :)
Clouds (taken with my sister-in-laws 50 mm f 1.4 lens)

Something Green (again, taken with my sister-in-laws 50 mm f 1.4 lens, not for the challenge, but it works!)

From a High Angle

From a Low Angle

June Two

And for our second challenge, what I wore today.

June One

Today's challenge: self-portrait - check. My niece brought over a minute-to-win-it game, and although I haven't played it yet, I think I could win a million... or at least a few dollars.. come on, have some confidence won't you?