.....light............

It is the photographing of ordinary things, in extraordinary light, which results in extraordinary photographs....

LIGHT!!!!  YES!!!!  This weeks word is LIGHT!!!!!  Can I tell you that LIGHT is my muse for just about every photo that I shoot!!  I am drawn to the way that light seems to change the ordinary into the extraordinary.....  it takes my breath away!  My shot this week is of the window in my foyer with the light of sunset beaming through (I caught FLARE!!!  yeah!!!)......  the same window that I spoke of in my shot of architecture.... these window are FABULOUS..... and no photo could ever do them justice....  seriously.....  they are like a firework show of reflection and light dancing throughtout the day with the changing direction of the sun!!!  They are by far my favorite detail of our house!!!  LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!!  :)  Seems that when it comes to photography I am ALWAY chasing light....  and pretty much do that in life too!!  :)  LOVE a sunny day.... it makes me HAPPY....  renews my soul!!!  (especially if I get to spend it at the beach!!)  So....  hope that you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.... filled with LOTS of light!!!  :)  I'm hopin that I get a chance to see some AMAZING light reflected on the shores of Orange Beach!!!  heeheehee  HINT HINT RICK!!!  :)  Be sure and head over to check out Nicole's shot for this week too.....  SHE ROCKS!!!!! 

.....simplicity.........

The greatest step towards a life of simplicity is to learn to let go....

The word for this week is SIMPLICITY.....  can I tell how much I LOVE this word!!!!  I actually "adopted" this word for 2011!!!  My goal for this year and basically the rest of my life is to live a simple life!!!  As I grow older, it is becoming painfully clear to my what I value most in my life and that is TIME!!!  And with that discovery I have also realized that it is all of the STUFF that I thought I just HAD TO HAVE....  that steals away most of my time....  The "American Dream" is really just a consumer trap!!!!  Every day we are made to believe....  through commercials, advertisements and those "keeping up with the Jones" people that surround us,,,,  that we NEED a 5 bedroom house, a giant gas guzzling SUV and that white picket fence!!!  THAT will surely make us HAPPY!!!???  But we never really find happiness in any of those things.....  as a matter of fact, we are miserable because of all that STUFF!!!  We drag ourselves to work every day....  spend more of our TIME with strangers than with the people that we really love and care about and then end up spending what time we do have off either cleaning that 5 bedroom house or running our kids all over town keeping up with those "Jones"!!!  And for what???  In the end we will all want for MORE TIME....  and even the "Jones" can't buy more of that!!!  So with that thought in my head I decided that the only way I could escape the choke hold of the "American Dream" was to just LET GO!!!  Yep.....  keep it simple!!!  From the top to the bottom of my life....  SIMPLIFY!!!  Now don't get me wrong....  this is not an overnight thing for me....  it is a process....  I have started by getting rid of the things that clutter my life....  those things that I have held on tight to forever but haven't needed or even looked at for years!!!  You know what I'm talking about....  the things that you find in the bottom of a box and say out loud... "OH!!  I forgot I had this!!"  If ya didn't even remember that you had it....  guess what.... ya probably don't NEED it!!!  So just go on ahead a put up that YARD SALE sign!!  :)  And as much as I love my awesome house....  it is way too big for the two of us....  and there is always some very time consuming "project" to be done!!!  I have realized that a simple little place (near the beach!!) just big enough for me, my guy, our puppies and the occasional overnight guest....  is all that I really need!!!  Just letting go of the clutter in my life has been liberating!!  And motivating!!!  I have begun to adopt the idea of simplicity in all corners of my life...  I'm growing a little box garden out back....  Never in a million years would I have dreamed that a box garden could bring me sooo much joy!!!  Not only am I growing and consuming simple organic veggies, I am also appreciating the simple beauty that God blesses us with every day....  but we often are too busy to notice!!   I have always appreciated the breath taking beauty of a sunset...  but I can't tell ya how often that I have only had just enough time to glance at that beauty and say "oh... that's so pretty" and get right back to the nonsense that was consuming my life at that moment!!  NO MORE!!!  I have vowed to STOP....  savor the moment.... notice the little things.... the breathtaking SIMPLE things!!!  The dew drops on my roses that sparkle like diamonds....  the birds that sing to me from the trees out back....  the ever so gentle jasmine filled breeze that blows through my window....  the excitement of my sweet puppies when I walk through the door!!!!  The things that you can't buy!!!    Yep.... getting back to the basics....  seeing beauty in the simplicity of this life.... grateful for the realization that there are very few THINGS that I really NEED....  and humbled by the simplicity of the things I have discovered that I WANT in my life!!!  Be sure to head over and check out Nicole's shot this week too!!!  :)

....blossom......

And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud, was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.......   it is my time to blossom...............

well....  here we are at week 15.....  can't believe how fast this year is flying by!!!  This weeks word for Nicole and I is BLOSSOM!!!  Be sure to head over and check out Nicole's shot for this week too... 

Wow.... I sure wish that we had this word a month ago....  blossoms were everywhere then....  summer has settled in down here way too soon and robbed spring of all its beauty...  makes me kinda sad :(   So.....  blossom, by definition, is a period or condition of maximum development, a time to develop; flourish....  this definition got me to thinkin about myself and my life....  and then I came across the above quote and that really put things into perspective for me!!!  As I grow older (by the day... heeheehee) I realize just how important it is to LIVE!!!  Not just occupy space and breath air... I mean REALLY LIVE!!!  Seriously people..... what are we waiting for????  TODAY may be all that we have....  tomorrow is never a promise...  only a hope!!  Just this morning, Rick and I were talking about living life....  and our dreams and goals....  Why wait to do the things that you want to do???  Why wait to live your dreams and accomplish your goals???  Why remain "tight inside the bud"???  TODAY is the day that we all should BLOSSOM into the beautiful creature that we were intended to be!!!  With no fear....  the risk is worth the beauty that will fill our lives when we allow ourselves to blossom!!!  :)   There are really NO EXCUSES for not living life to the fullest EVERYDAY!!!  Now.... by no means do I think that I will fulfill a life long dream every day of my life....  that's not what I am saying here!!!  But I will work toward those dreams EVERYDAY!!!  And I will appreciate EVERYDAY for the beauty that it holds....  that beauty may be as simple as the tomatoes that I am growing in my little box garden out back....  or as profound as the accomplishment of a marathon!!!   I will not wait for "someday" to LIVE my life!!!  .....  it is MY TIME to blossom!!!  :)

....green......

"Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises."

 Pedro Calderon de la Barca

Soooo....  this weeks word for Nicole and I is GREEN!!!  Be sure to check out Nicole's shot of green too!!!  YIKES!!!  I have to say that this weeks word was a tough one for me....  not because I couldn't find anything green....  heck green is EVERYWHERE....  just that green is my second least favorite color!!!  I HATE ORANGE.... that is my #1...  but green and purple have always been tied for #2!!!  :)  So with all that being said I decided to try to figure out WHY I don't like the color green....  turns out that I really don't mind the COLOR green at all....  it is the FLAVOR of green things that I don't like!!!  :)  Yep....  the green lifesaver's were ALWAYS left uneaten from my roll!!!  And green kool-aide....  not for this girl!!!  So with the discovery that the color green might not be so bad after all, I decided to do a little research on the good ol color green....  and THIS is what I found:

The natural greens, from forest to lime, are seen as tranquil and refreshing, with a  natural balance of cool and warm (blue and yellow) undertones.

Green is considered the color of peace and ecology. 

Green occupies more space in the spectrum visible to the human eye than most colors, and is second only to blue as a favorite color.

 Green also affects us physically....  it soothes, relaxes mentally, as well as physically, helps alleviate depression, nervousness, and anxiety and offers a sense of renewal, self-control, and harmony!!! 

Green is the color of the Heart Chakra.  This chakra is located at the center of the chest area and is linked to the heart, lungs, circulatory system, cardiac plexus, and the complete chest area.  The Heart Chakra bridges the gap between the physical and spiritual worlds. Opening the Heart Chakra allows a person to love more, empathize, and feel compassion. And I LOVE the HEART CHAKRA....  just never knew that it was symbolized by green!!! 

Green is used worldwide to represent safety.

Green is the color of Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty.  WOOT!!! 

Green was the favorite color of George Washington, the first President of the United States. 

The color green signifies mystical or magical properties in the stories of King Arthur. (can't believe that I didn't know THAT ONE!!!)

Green is the color used for night-vision goggles because the human eye is most sensitive to and able to discern the most shades of that color.  Now WHY didn't I already know that!!!!  :) 

Green is the color of absinthe.....  thus the term GREEN fairy!!!  :) 

Kermit the Frog is green!! 

And so are margaritas!!  :) 

and GREEN MEANS GO....  and that is one of my favorite things in the world to do!!!  Soooo....  maybe green isn't so bad after all!!!  BUT.....  I'm still not eating the green lifesavers!!!!  :)

 

.....speed.........

runners just do it - the run for the finish line even if someone else has reached it first.......

Man has this week flown by....  and appropriately enough week 13's word is SPEED!!!  :)  Be sure and head over to check out Nicole's word this week too!  I have been wanting to take a shot like this for some time now....  not really with my running shoes IN the shot but of the double yellow lines on a stretch of road!!  For some goofy reason I really LOVE those stinkin things....  maybe it's because it reminds me of going somewhere.... road trips....  who knows!!??  I'm just weird like that!  :)

If ya know me at all, you know that I LOVE to run!!!  It's true....  it has (at times) been almost an obsession for me!!  But don't let this shot fool ya.....  I am not a speedy runner!!  Nope... I will never win...  and I am perfectly okay with that!!!  I am slow and steady.... running for the view.... for the clarity that it gives me.... running oddly enough at times is what gets me through the day!!!  Ya see I take care of some serious business while me feet are pounding the pavement....  it is where I sort out the drama in my life.... where I clear my head....  where I talk to God!!!  And all of those things take time.... Kinda guess that I run just like I try to live.... slow and steady....  taking it all in!!  :)   So my shot this week is a symbol of my chosen path in this life....  Not sure where it leads.... but I know that there is NO need for speed!!!  :)

.....romantic.......

I could search my whole life through and through an never find another you

well....  here we are at week 12 already!!!  Can't believe that it is almost MAY!!  This week mine and Nicole's word is ROMANTIC!!  Be sure to head over and check out Nicole's shot for this week too.   Now I took hundreds of shots this week of flowers and such trying to capture romantic in a photo....  and in the process I discovered just what the word romantic really means to me!!  You see....  I think that we girls have this whole "romantic" thing all wrong!!  I think that our expectations of romance or something romantic are unattainable...  and therefore we are always left expecting or hoping for more....  just like I was this week with my photo!!!  :)  Trust me on this girls...  Prince Charming might be real but I promise you that someone still has to wash his underwear!!  :)  So to expect otherwise is creating a standard that can never be met... 

So this all got me to thinking about the romantic moments in my life... and I have discovered that they are NOT the staged dramatic moments...  now don't get me wrong those moments are great.... but they are usually not the romantic moments that I remember the most... Romantic to me is that moment....  in a crowded room.... when our eyes meet and I can feel my heart almost burst!!  Romantic is the flower that he picks for me off of the "fruit loop" tree as he pulls up in the driveway...  it is the Coke Icee that he brings me when he runs out to get gas for the lawn mower.... it is the text message that he sends me that simply says "I sure do love you"....  it is him reaching down to hold my hand while we are waiting to check out at the grocery store....  it is a day trip to the beach two weeks after surgery because he KNEW that the beach was my healing place!!!  Simple little romantic moments the FILL MY LIFE!!!  EVERYDAY!!!  So the story behind my shot this week is just another little romantic thing that we do....  for as long as I can remember, everywhere that we go.... we bring back a rock and we write on the bottom of the rock the date and where its from!!!  We have rocks from all over the place (I even have one from Iraq!!) now these rocks would have absolutely no worth or meaning to anyone else....  but to me, each one holds a reminder of a special moment.... a memory.... of the day we biked to Ringing Rock.... the time that we sat on Little Big Top in Gettysburg watching the sunset....  the weekend that we spent hiking the Catskills....  endless memories captured in a glass jar full of romantic little rocks!!!  So I really don't need a Prince Charming.... I don't need Richard Gere to drive up in a limo and rescue me "Pretty Woman" style.... nope.... I just need a guy who will fill my days with endless laughter, unconditional love and simple little romantic moments!!! 

....monochromatic.....

  “Our lives at times seem a study in contrast... love & hate, birth & death, right & wrong... everything seen in absolutes of black & white. Too often we are not aware that it is the shades of grey that add depth & meaning to the starkness of those extremes.”  Ansel Adams

This week mine and Nicole's word is MONOCHROMATIC.... holy cow what a word!!!  :)  Be sure to click on over and check out Nicole's shot this week too!!  Now before I even get started let me clear up a few things....  YES these are SHOT GLASSES....  and NO they are NOT full of tequila!!  :)  My purpose for shooting these glasses was to capture a natural monochromatic shot....  I didn't want to just desaturate my shot in Photoshop...  I wanted to capture the monochrome that exists naturally...  the extreme contrast of light and dark... and more importantly the GREY'S that are present in our lives!

Now the FIRST thing I think of when I think of monochromatic photo's is Ansel Adams.....  his work takes my breath away...  but the above quote is the thing that I love most from him!!!  It is one of my favorites!!  I think I love it so much because THAT is how I see life!!!  Too often we feel that we should only live our lives in the "black and white"....  the place that is obvious....  clearly defined....  safe!!  The place where a strong sense of right or wrong, good or bad exists!!  The place where EXPECTATION lives.... At least in our minds any way!  :)  What a HUGE injustice we do to ourselves.... trying to live in only the black and white!  I believe that we need to open our eyes and see the GREY that exists....  the places, thoughts, beliefs that are not so clearly defined!!  The grey area is where we learn and grow!!  It is the unexpected and unforeseen....  the place where things don't turn out like we had hoped....  the place where things go wrong!!  It is sometimes a scary and difficult place because it forces us to look outside of ourselves.... to see things differently....  to DEAL with the HARD things in life!!!  And while I would prefer to live my life only in the black and white (and who wouldn't...  things are a whole lot easier there!!)....  I believe that God really intends for us to live in the shades of grey....  to realize daily that this life is a test....  it is not meant to be absolute or predictable!   I can't tell you what my path in this life is supposed to look like.... no one really knows that about themselves!!  We can plan.... we can hope.... we can dream.... But the truth is this.... you get what you get!  Simple as that....  And our disappointment in life comes from believing that we can have some sorta control over that!!!  I'm not saying that you just need to wander aimlessly through this life with no purpose or desire....  I'm saying that you should take what you get (cause ya really have NO CONTROL over what ya get!!) and turn THAT into what you need!! To me....  THAT is living in the shades of grey!!!  THAT is the place where you give your life depth and meaning....  and THAT is the place that I want to live MY life!!!