Easter: Instagram Style

This morning, I was laying in bed playing with my phone and made an exciting discovery.  Instagram finally has an Android app!

Perhaps this is old news, but it was new to me.  So, I promptly hit download and have been playing with it all day.  Well, it is Easter, so not quite all day.  You catch my drift.

So, we figured it would be a good day to photo post about our Easter: Instagram style!

Can't have a photo post about Easter without the infamous pretty flower picture.

I was having fun playing with the settings...and curling my hair.

Off to Easter with the fam!

Carefully supervising the Easter egg hunt with my dad.

Thanks, Easter bunny!

How did you spend your day?

Hope you had a happy Easter!

Ashley's Photo Challenge...One Day Late

Photo Challenge:  Something that REALLY annoys me ~  Storms... I don't find them "relaxing" like some people say... they are way too unpredictable for my liking.  I am not afraid of them; just would rather they not exist.  Rain by itself however...that I do find relaxing.  Unless of course I want to be outside!

Alrighty then, for next week's photo challenge, I want the more colorful thing you can find!

Running Roadblocks

The weather here is amazing.  Totally amazing.  In fact, I find it a little ridiculous that I am in here blogging right now, haha.  We went from this just a week or so ago...

...to this today...

Yesterday, I was totally excited to get out and run--in shorts and a tank top, might I add.  I had a tempo run scheduled, and it ended up being an EPIC failure.  Very frustrating.  So, this got me thinking of this article I saw on Runner's World not too long ago about roadblocks to running.  To bounce back from yesterday's rough one, I thought today would be a good time to brainstorm some solutions to my biggest roadblocks...maybe it will help you too!

Roadblock:  Energy Crash
I seem to have a tendency to not feel well when I run in the afternoon.  In the morning, this is rarely an issues, but some afternoons my energy suddenly plummets after only a mile or so.

Solutions: In yesterday's case, it became abundantly clear to me that I need to me more careful about what I'm putting in my body in the afternoon and when.  The culprit yesterday was definitely my beloved diet pop.  So, I've got to commit to no more pop before I run.  Monday's run wasn't great (not an epic failure), but I remembered later that after school I ate and then came straight home to run.  Need to give it a little more time, missy!

Also, I try to get myself to just cover the mileage, even if I have to walk.  Of course, then I come home furious about my time, but that serves as a good motivator for next time.

Roadblock: Thinking too much about how much I have left

Solutions: I sure do love my RunKeeper app on my phone, but I definitely need to just turn it off every once in awhile.  The reminders of your pace are great, but sometimes they turn into reminders of how far you have yet to go.  I need to remember to just run for fun sometimes! 

Another good solution for me, the teacher, is to think about lesson plans.  I come up with some of my best ideas while I'm running, and, consequently, these are some of my best runs!  When I get my mind out of it and just go, good things happen!

Roadblock: The evil shin splints

Solutions: I decided to try wearing a compression sleeve on my right leg, which is oddly the only one that is giving me trouble.  I'm about 2 1/2 weeks in, and so far, so good!  I have learned, though, that wearing it after is just as important, if not more so, as wearing it during my run.  I can definitely feel the difference in the hours after a run if I don't have the compression sleeve on.  Interesting what this will do to my routine when warm weather rolls around and I want to wear capris...maybe I'll just have to bust out the screaming-hot-pink ones!  :)  I've also given kinesiology tape a shot, and it helped, but I find the compression sleeves to be much more user-friendly (although much more expensive).

Well...I feel better!  Sometimes all you need is a little action plan!

What are YOUR running roadblocks?  How do you overcome them?

We changed up the routine a little this week, so here is Ashley's photo challenge for the week:
Challenge :  A day I thought was going to be OK but kinda turned out not as planned but now I can laugh about it.

A silly picture for sure... unfortunately it was taken on the first day of our honeymoon in Wisconsin.  The reason why I thought it would be awesome is because we were on vacation! Celebrating our wedding.  You see the weather on our wedding day was gorgeous, sunny, slight breeze and 75 degrees... we got to Wisconsin the morning after our wedding and it was about 50 degrees and freezing cold and rainy... therefore our honeymoon turned into a "stuck inside because of the weather" honeymoon and all of our plans for shows to see and things to do were washed away (literally!)  Now I can laugh about it because just knowing all of the other things we went through to get to our wedding day (drama, drama, drama) having a not so "sweet" honeymoon seemed to follow suit!

And next week's challenge:  A picture that shows one of your favorite traits about yourself.

All about the light...or is it?

Now that I have a reason to really get into photography, I find myself really wanting to take a course to learn to make my photos worthy of being hung up on the wall.  A few times a week, I login to Pinterest and look at the photography boards of a bunch of people.  Some days I find a ton of inspirational photos, and other days not so much, but, lately, I've been really into nature photos.  If only nature was a little more predictable and didn't move so fast. 

Anyway, tonight the moon is HUGE up in the sky.  I saw it while I was driving home today and wanted to stop and take a picture but didn't think that the car behind me would like that very much, so I kept going and tried to snap a picture when I got home.  My little point and shoot camera just wasn't having the distance and wasn't letting me snap a clear picture without the flash on, so no pictures of that.  I stood out on my patio, frustrated, wishing I had the big camera to lug around that could zoom in on the moon and make people oohh and ahh when they saw the picture... NO LUCK.  So I found myself thinking that if the light was a little better, I could get a good picture... (now thinking) Well duh if it was light out there would be no moon ya dork! 

So anyway.. I've been going round and round in my own head asking --- is it REALLY all about the light? 

I've gone through my collections of photos (and yes I have many!) and found some photos that really are all about the light!

My own challenge to myself for next week is to figure out how to make my point and shoot camera take pictures like a big SLR camera!  I still have some more saving to do before I'm able to lug around the camera and take the classes that will teach me how to use it but...for now I'll keep trying to take a good picture of the moon!    dreaming....   = )

Photo Challenge Results:  

Challenge:  A photo of a day I thought was going to go very badly but actually turned out OK.

May 9, 2009-  My Graduation day.  I was set to graduate at 5:00 PM which left me all day to DREAD it, and I sure did.  A huge arena packed to the brim with people who don't even know me but will be hearing my name being called... watching me and 1 other person cross the stage to be handed an empty diploma cover.  That minute or two of my life was extremely important but just didn't seem to be worth my time, hours sitting waiting for ONE minute.  I remember begging my mom to allow me to NOT walk at Graduation and her saying "you have to you worked so hard for this."  I remember asking Amy how many stairs there were to get to the stage (wondering how many chances I had to trip and humiliate myself).  I remember spelling out our last name letter by letter and writing 2 different ways to pronounce it CORRECTLY... and it turns out that lining up with the 40 girls that I spent 2 years of my life with was one of the best moments of my life (yes that's correct...when your major is Early Childhood you do spend two years of your life in classes of only females).  We had so much in common that we never really let sink in until we we faced with that big stage, crossing over to our future.  By 7pm that night, it was all done--no tripping, no falling, no humiliation, no mispronouncing my name... just me... the college graduate-  with my empty diploma cover and a whole lotta memories!

Alrighty time for next week's challenge...let's reverse this week.

How about something that reminds you of a day that kind of sucked...but now you can laugh about it.

Make em' Care

In the world of photography, the options are endless: you can photograph anything, you can glorify something that is typically not fun to look at, and you can also use a photo to add effect to a given situation.  When something happens around the world, people are drawn to the event through the photos taken of the people and the events, whether good or bad.  There is no right or wrong when it comes to a picture because images look different to everyone-- what one person may want hung on the wall may be only good enough to throw in the trash to others--, but one thing never fails, a photo is the ONE thing that can really make people care.  I think of all the ways I'd want my photos to be displayed some day, and I also think that the "bigger," the better when it comes to a photo I love.  So out of the photos I've taken or have had taken of me, I'll share some of the ones that have made me care.

This photo taken from above the trees, and it seems there is no end.  It makes me care, care in the respect of this photo- rise above- and set your sights on the horizon...don't settle for what is in front of you, because there's so much in the distance, and sort through the layers.  Just as this photo has layers and each does something else for the world, each goal can have a layer that will do something positive for yourself or those around you.

                                      Family- Because they give you so much to care about!

 Care for those who care for us.  It's so easy to forget unless you are reminded, so remind yourself to care for those who care. 

Photo Challenge:

A photo of my goal

My result:

My goal was to begin on a track to train myself to become a runner and accomplish a 5K with Amy at some point in the future.  I know it is going to take me awhile to get to the point where she is, and I have done most of my planning on my own... but hopefully in the future this picture can be retaken, and I can be holding a medal of my own!

Amy here...before I add my challenge I must say YAYYYYYY!  It's on the blog, so it's official!  5K, Summer 2012?

OK, on to the challenge:

How about a photo of a day you thought would be bad, but turned out great?

Black and White

Have you ever felt silly for liking something that is really simple?  There's nothing special about it;  it doesn't DO anything, but still you just really enjoy it?  I feel that way about a lot of things, but for this post I'm going to focus on the simple colors black and white.  Some of my favorite photos are black and white; it seems to make something much more simple in this colorful world.  They are not "busy," nor over-stimulating, and, even when mixed-up, still only make gray.  That's what makes me feel silly for liking something so simple.  I love to use the black and white tones on my camera, however, I am not a fan of the fact that some image settings on my camera (like Kids & Pets!) can't be changed to black and white before I take pictures, but it's just as easy to change them myself -- another project I enjoy.   Who would have thought photography could turn someone into such a perfectionist!!  So in this world where everything is judged by looks and color, enjoy the originality, simplicity, cut and dry ways of black and white!

Photo Challenge Results!

My challenge:  A photo primarily showing my favorite color

Raindrops on the window... My favorite color is blue (yes even after all of that B&W talk!)

Next week's challenge:

 A picture that shows one of your goals for yourself.

What simple things do you love?

Old Memories

I've been thinking more about WHY I want to pursue this love for photography and didn't have any trouble realizing why it is so important to me-- simply put, the memories.  A photo (good or bad) provides a memory; it tells a story; it's a description in some sense.   Even if a memory may be one we want to forget, there may come a day when you feel the desire to have the memory resurface. 

As many people in the general area and across the world have heard, on February 14, 2008 the world of Northern Illinois University was shaken.  As Alma Mater to both Amy and myself, as well as most of our friends, it hit close to home.  I was on the campus of NIU that day, so this week was the anniversary of this heart breaking day, and it has made me appreciate the memories I have of college.  Some are great, some are not, but each one tells me a story, which to me is extremely important. 

Since I have felt the need to take a break from my camera this week, I haven't taken many photos to add to this post but along with my photos come my memories so I've picked a few photos that tell an important story to me.

A photo of me as a child feeding a baby doll.  This is around the age I established that when I grew up I wanted to be a mom.  While I have no children of my own, I still carry on the passion of working with children.  A photo to begin years of memories...at the time this photo was taken no one could have told me that it would be a preview of what my life would be 20 years later.

Sorry about the way this photo is presented, it has been scanned and cropped and now wont present correctly.   Anyway, this is a photo showing me as Amy's "mirror" a way to show I've always looked up to my sister.  Little did we know at this time we would be so much alike yet different in so many ways. 

There is not enough ways to describe the memories depicted in old photographs, but I find it amazing to think that the same photo has so many different meanings to every person who looks at it! 

That, my friends, is WHY I want to take this photography thing and run with it!


Amy's Photo Challenge!
Challenge:  A photo of something I like to spend my free time doing... to which I'll also provide you this picture of the cover of the book The Hunger Games (more information found here.)  a recommended read by you guessed it....

Amy!

So here you have it... I love to spend my free time READING!!

Until next time....

Alright sis...for next week's challenge, I'd like to see a picture that prominently shows your favorite color.

Have you read The Hunger Games?  Who's excited for the movie?

Only the beginning...

After last week's feeling of defeat, I'm feeling much better about myself behind the lens.  I'm realizing that a hobby is just that, a hobby; some people are better than others, and others learn to be the best.  So, in order to learn to be the best,  I've started to study what it takes to establish yourself in the world of photography.  Thanks to Pinterest, I've discovered numerous lists of props that a photographer should have, and I've also discovered some tutorials on camera settings.
 
I plan to enroll in a beginner's photo course once my camera is purchased. 

Another must-have is a portfolio.  Some things I have on the list to add to my future portfolio are...

A photo (or gallery of photos) including-
- Engagement
- Maternity/ Birth Announcements
- Newborn/ Children
- Family (including kids and pets)
- Famous monuments or landmarks
- Sunrise/sunset using shadows
- Animals (specifically a pack of wild horses)
- Memorable Reunion (parent/child, Army/Miltary family, spouse, sibling)
      I have many more ideas but that will all come with time. 

Here are some more of my photos I'm proud of!

One of my favorite shots of nature...If animals could talk, what would this goose be saying...

Amy's Photo Challenge:  Something that reminds you of High School 

Well here is one of my group of friends and I when we were actually in High School...

and I have a few more photos that I'd like to share

 

Yes, this IS a collection of my graduation materials from college... but it reminds me of high school because a certain teacher I had tried to convince her students (me included) to not give college a shot.  In other words I was forced to feel as though college wasn't for me, but I followed my dreams and got the degree I had dreamed of my whole life.  I hope this photo can serve as an inspiration to someone out there who may be doubting themselves.

This photo has been seen on this blog before... but here it is again.  Why does it remind me of high school?  Because Amy was my biggest fan, my support system as well as my motivation.  When I didn't like something someone said or the doubt that was forced upon me, she was the one who remained positive and believed in me...this picture was taken at her half-marathon, and it is proof that now it's my turn to be her support system and motivation!! 

Uh...ok...that description made me cry.  How about for next week...a photo that shows one of your favorite ways to spend your free time?
Until next time:   Who do you turn to for motivation?

Defeated....

While I am in no way, shape or form, by any means a PROFESSIONAL photographer, I give it my all behind the lens.  My mind is always working on ways to take the ordinary shot and make it into something that everyone wants to see.  I have found that some of my favorite shots have been candid photos of children doing what they do naturally...PLAY!

When given the chance to photograph some family portraits yesterday I can honestly say it was my first (while I'm sure not my last) time feeling absolutely defeated by the camera.  How an object that can't acknowledge me in any way could seem to cover my whole day with this tiny dark cloud...I do not know.  But I didn't seem to get a single good shot and just couldn't get the right angle or the right position being either zoomed in or zoomed out.  I wouldn't call it a failed attempt, but certainly not what I had hoped would come out of the opportunity. 

To reassure myself that I'm not the only one in the world who has walked away from the chance to give a family some memories through photography...I have looked up some quotes I'd like to share.

I found them here...

“ You don’t take a photograph, you make it." - Ansel Adams

“ Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst." – Henri Cartier-Bresson

Maybe just random photography IS what I should go for... however setting a goal may get me a little further into this hobby... one last quote of goal-setting inspiration...

“ You’ve got to push yourself harder. You’ve got to start looking for pictures nobody else could take. You’ve got to take the tools you have and probe deeper." – William Albert Allard

So there you have it... on my journey to probing deeper and taking that shot that no one else can!

Amy's Photo Challenge result:

 

Challenge:  A photo of something people would think I'm weird for laughing at...

It's no secret to anyone that knows him... Matt is an avid sports fan.  He loves every sport, but football is his favorite.  Even though we don't live in Wisconsin, the Green Bay Packers are by far his favorite sports team of all time.  A few weeks back when they lost the game resulting in the end of their season, Matt watched in the position he is in this photo.  Amy and I thought it was funny how he sat like this for the majority of the game so I decided to jump in the photo and mimic him.  This photo kind of sums us up...I, really could care less about sports (except hockey), and he is my total opposite. 


For next week's challenge: Something that reminds you of high school.

Until next time....How do you overcome the feeling of defeat? 

The start of a hobby.

    I thought I would use this blog entry to share some special photos I've taken.  I have come across letter photography at a few craft shows that I was at this past craft season and one show last year; I thought it was so cool.   So this year I wanted to personalize a gift for Christmas, but I just couldn't find photographed letters that I liked enough to put them together into a wall hanging.  Instead, I took out my own camera and took some letter pictures of my own.  I have only one or two shots of just a few letters of the alphabet, but it's a start!  Here is some of my work...

*Please do NOT copy or reuse or erase the watermark on any of my photos without permission*

  

...and the photo responding to my challenge from Amy: 

Challenge was -Something I am proud of

The Chevrolet symbol on the wheel of my car.  I am VERY proud of my car that I bought on my own shortly after graduating college. 

Alrighty, sis...here is my challenge for this week:  Take a photo of something that people would probably think you were weird for laughing at.

My kind of crafting..

As Amy posted here we have decided to change the blog a little bit and my main focus will be on types of photos and things I can do with photography.

Before I delve into that, I'll give a little bit of my history about it.  As a child when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I always answered "a mom."  I was a huge fan of baby dolls, and playing with Barbies was rare for me.  Anyway, I'd always take my dolls on "trips" to get their picture taken, and I would always practice staging a photo with props.  If I had a disposable camera (yep I'm showing my age by talking about a disposable camera, do they even make them anymore??), I would take pictures of my toys set up.  Anyway, the other day I had a thought...I'm currently an Early Childhood professional (they aren't my own kids but I still work closely with them), and I have also developed an extreme interest in photography-- the two things I played daily when I was a child.  It makes me wonder if this has always been my calling in life.  So there you have it, my focus for the blog, along with some DIY projects and of course New Recipe Nights, I will document my learning as I venture into trying to become a better photographer. 

I'm working toward a camera like this and my goal is to have it in my possession by Christmas 2012. 

Once I get my camera I plan to enroll in some photography classes to help me learn exactly how to do the fun things that I'd love to photograph. 

Working with an easy point and shoot digital camera at this time these are some of my favorite photos of scenery:

This isn't scenery but it is Amy crossing the finish line at her first 5k.  I love how you can see her, the finish sign and the time.

Taken at the zoo

A lone Cardinal in our tree.

 

So there ya have it!  My intro to my interests!

Do any of our readers have ideas of things I can photograph?  I'm always up for a challenge.