4/30/2013 12:43:47 AM - 002020640084
Gina- Hi! How are you doing? The updates are wonderful and your girls are beautiful! Have a Happy Mother's Day! We are heading to NY for a long overdue visit. It will be 18 months since we visited! I cant wait to see my 21 year old son Joe. Marina is still in Venezuela until June. I am not like the empty nest at all! :(
1/11/2013 3:37:32 AM - 002020640084
Gina- hi! I am back again this month. WOO HOO!!! I love all the new additions. Any plans for the weekend? We are busy trying to get everything ready for Marina's 3rd trip to Venezuela and her graduating this month. This month is flying by. Hoping when things calm down I can upload pictures and update my sharesite. Hope you have a great weekend. :)
1/6/2013 3:18:21 AM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! How are you doing? How were your holidays? Did you do anything special to ring in the New Year?
Hope you and your family have a good weekend! Stay warm and stay healthy. There are some nasty germs going around and people are getting so sick. Marina got sick with the horrible flu with a high fever. My son Joe got super sick with that flu in NY on Christmas Eve and spent Christmas Day at urgent care. He got the Tamiflu and felt alot better in like 4 days. I remembered they had that and forgot for Marina so she suffered for like 5-6 days with a super high fever and really is just feeling back to normal. She still has a cough after all these weeks. :(
12/31/2012 1:02:43 AM - 002020640084
Happy New Year Gina! :)
12/26/2012 7:33:38 PM - 002044683224
Great theme and cover photos!
12/20/2012 8:01:38 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! Hope you and your family have a truly magical Christmas! I enjoyed all your new holiday photos! :)
9/11/2012 1:09:19 PM - 002020640084
Hi Gina! I am back and loving the new baby additions! She is so gorgeous and your photos of her are stunning! :)
Have a great day! :)
9/2/2012 5:20:11 PM - 002020640084
Congratulations Gina! Your new bundle of joy is beautiful! She is perfect! I am so happy for you!
We are moving again so I will be MIA for a little bit!!Story of my life lately! The move is a long story that I posted on the project 52 sharesite. If I have time I will copy and paste it hear so you can read it if not you can see it there.
Take care and enjoy your girls. I will try my best to visit as much as I can these next few hectic months.
8/31/2012 7:13:37 PM - 001010638415
Congratulations Gina on your new little munckin!! She's ardorable!!
8/8/2012 2:13:13 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! I am so excited to hear you only have 2 weeks left before your sweet bundle of joy arrives. I bet you are busy getting ready for everything and then school is right around the corner. Is your daughter starting kindergarten? Do they start in late August or early September in your area? In NY we always started the Wednesday after Labor Day in September but here in Indiana they start August 22. Marina gets home August 20 so it will be a hectic week. I miss her so much she has been gone for almost a month now. I have never been away from her for so long. Marina is so homesick and misses me alot. We talk and blackberry message all day long!!! That helps so much. Thank God for modern technology or I would be in a mental institution if I wasn't able to keep in touch only by letters in the olden days. That would be horrible.
Anyways, just stopped by to say hi and check out all your new updates. I enjoyed my visit and I enjoy following you on Pinterest. Take care. Good luck with the delivery. Wishing you all the best.
6/25/2012 8:46:26 PM - 002088910291
Gina, I really don't know you, but you came and gave me such great comments on some of my pics, so I thought I would hop on over here and take a look! I like your journaling! And I take it now that you are going to have another little bundle of joy! I have to race and pick up my grandson from school, but I will be back! Deb
6/24/2012 2:49:34 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! How are you doing? Well I still have so much catching up to do on Shutterfly. This laptop that got fixed is weird you can't move anywhere with it like my daughter's laptop. I have to stay hooked up in 1 back breaking spot so I haven't had a chance to upload and post pictures on my site yet. Then I have to find my hard drive so I can upload pics from my daughter's laptop to this laptop since her laptop won't let me on Shutterfly it says Java error! Anyways, I wanted to stop by and thank you for following me on Pinterest. I will try to stop back this week! Take care :)
6/13/2012 5:04:57 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! Sorry I have been MIA for so long. I have so much to tell you. My computer broke in November and I have been using Marina's laptop once in a while but it would not go to the Shutterfly sites. I would get a Java Error message that was so frustrating. Well we finally had money to try to fix mine and its still at the shop but at Best Buy we were getting Marina's fixed because that broke too and the plan we got was for 3 computers. This is my husband's laptop that we thought didn't have any hope and its been broken for over a year. Well I am so excited with my husband's I can get on Shutterfly. I have so much catching up to do and so much to upload. I will be up day and night all week trying to upload and catch up. Sleep can wait until next week right?!!! LOL!!! Missed seeing your site. I will be back soon. Thanks for coming to my site when I was MIA. I was able to get emails and see the comment but not able to go on Shutterfly at all! I want to do tons of projects too. I have been lost without Shutterfly! :(
6/10/2012 11:47:34 PM - 002048530507
great pics i dont think i had checked in since like april! im glad i had a chance to catch up i need to update my 365! im almost done next month!
4/4/2012 9:26:51 PM - 002020640084
Congratulations Gina!!! Just found the pregnancy images! You look amazing! :)
4/4/2012 9:10:32 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! How are you doing? Hope all is well! Hope you and your family have a very Happy Easter! Sorry I have been MIA its been a rough 2 months. I will fill you in another day so much to explain. I have it all on facebook because I use my phone. I don't have computer access only by sneaking on Marina's computer every so often. When I do go on I only have time to check my bank account and emails....no time for Shutterfly fun! :( Miss coming to the sites and updating my site. Good news is that my son Joe finally moved here March 3rd. My dad and his girlfriend Susan drove in front and Joe followed them so that Rob didn't have to go all the way to NY to get Joe and drive his car. It was nice they offered to do that and they visited for the weekend. Then they left and a few days later my daughter Marina's boyfriend Raul came and is staying with us for a few months. Joe's girlfriend is coming on Monday and more out of town guests next month. We adopted a 6 month old new puppy Murray who keeps us really busy! He got deathly sick and was hospitalized for a week fighting for his life. Its been a very stressful March!!! Long story that I will soon fill you in on. Now thank god Murray survived and is doing great. It was so scary!! All meds are finally done! Woo Hoo!!!
3/22/2012 4:25:27 PM - 001024320926
Love all the new additons, I love how the project gives people such insight into their lives :)
3/8/2012 6:26:14 PM - 001024320926
Love the profile picture up there Gina. I'm sorry I can't get around as much as I did, I think I have over extended myself into a lot of projects. All projects I love and want to keep doing though.
Again Congrats on the news!!!
2/12/2012 1:48:01 PM - 004081350613
love your site. Thanks for sharing
2/2/2012 5:19:02 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! Wanted to stop to say hi. I am so busy with the moves. Can't wait to be all under 1 roof and for things to can't back to normal. 6 moves in 20 months = 1 BIG HEADACHE :(
1/20/2012 9:47:26 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! How are you doing? Did it snow more this week in your area? Its snowing lightly here. Its so funny what a big deal Indiana makes out of a few inches of snow. They don't clean up as fast as NY does and we get bombarded with huge amounts of snow in NY! Have you ever seen my Buffalo Snow page yet? Wish I had taken pictures of all our storms but we were always in such a panic trying to dig ourselves out! I do have a cool page with pics I did happen to take over the years and fun facts about Buffalo, NY snowfall.
Any weekend plans? We will be packing, cooking new recipes, playing board games, watching movies, and hoping the weather is a bit warmer so we can get outside for a walk and some fresh air. I am getting cabin fever! Hope to also get Marina's Venezuela pictures up this weekend as well. :)
1/13/2012 10:58:26 PM - 001024320926
Hope you're not drowning in taxes.
1/13/2012 8:51:31 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! Marina got back safely and I am sneeking on her laptop real quick! LOL! Hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by my site. :)
1/9/2012 6:38:53 PM - 001024320926
Loving all the new additions Gina! Thanks for adding them to the Project 365 site too.
1/8/2012 5:51:54 AM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! Hope you are enjoying the weekend. We have had mild temps here the past 5 days so we have taken long walks and tried to get as much fresh air as possible. Now I am taking advantage of free access to Marina's laptop. I have to get as much catching up done as possible because she will be back from Venezuela on Wed. I miss her so much. It seems like she's been gone forever. Today they went to Colonia Tovar. Its a german town in Venezuela. I added a journal entry with pics I got off the internet and it looks so cool. I can't wait to see the pictures when she gets home. Well I am going to get going but wanted to stop by and check out your updates and to say hi! I love the headers by the way. :)
1/7/2012 3:46:56 AM - 002020640084
Gina,
I see your What's New page is the RECENT ACTIVITY PAGE!!!! Don't mind me.....its lack of sleep from trying to catch up on sharesites and trying to upload on mine!!! I don't know how I missed it. LOL!!!!
1/7/2012 3:41:53 AM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! I see your What's New page is gone. I always love the WHAT'S NEW pages so that if someone one adds something you don't have to fish around and if someone comments back I can find it there. Its helpful when people have like over 10 pages because then you are able to immediately see that they updated their site. LOL!!! I will miss yours and hope its not gone forever. If its gone forever......RIP...WHAT'S NEW PAGE on the GM Sirmans Project 365. LOL!!! I know some people got rid of their page a long time ago because I think because they want people to look at all the hard work and effort they put into each page which I can understand but I do still look around.
Congratulations on finishing your project and starting up another 1. I look forward to viewing this years project.
I have added tons of albums on my site trying to get caught up before Marina gets back from Venezuela while I have computer access! LOL! It feels good to be able to do the stuff I love. Last night I stayed up until 5AM uploading and updating.
Any weekend plans? Did it snow in your area? Is your daughter back to school yet?
1/4/2012 7:01:01 PM - 001024320926
Congrats on finishing and restarting your 365!!!!
1/3/2012 8:22:53 AM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! Hope you have a great week. Did it snow in your area? Its so bitter cold here and snowed a few inches. The wind chill will be 0 degrees in a few hours! I'm ready for spring already. Marina is soaking up the sun and 80 degree weather in Venezuela. I miss her so much. Then of course my son Joe is in NY and I miss him like crazy too. We couldn't afford to go to NY so it was a really difficult holiday for us. Then it was another Christmas spent in the airport getting Marina off to Venezuela. She paid for her own trip. Well just wanted to stop by and catch up on all the sites since she will be home next week. I am getting in all the Shutterfly fix I can because my laptop is so riddled with viruses that I let go too long now may have done permanent damage. I don't know and I don't have the money to fix it again. It was a cheap laptop and I have paid almost as much in repairs as I paid for it. The problem is I have so much stuff saved on it that I want to keep it. I should try to transfer everything over to my external hard drive thing I bought. I did do tons of pics but not all the digital scrapbook stuff yet. Then once I am able to get everything off I think I will just save for a new laptop. Well talk to you soon! :)
12/31/2011 6:56:34 AM - 002020640084
Gina,
Happy New Year. Sorry I have been MIA. Thanks for stopping by my site. I haven't been able to get on the sites through Shutterfly but Lisa had the link to her 52/365 sharesite on facebook so I clicked and I got on! Isn't that weird?!!!! Only problem was that I normally don't go on facebook with Marina's laptop because her virus protection ran out. Well just now I thought if I put my sharesite link in my email that maybe I can get on my site and it works. Wish I figured that out sooner. I love all your new updates. :)
12/27/2011 8:17:57 PM - 002029331419
Gina, your 365 project is terrific!!!!!
12/27/2011 4:19:19 PM - 001024320926
I've made a Project 365 page, it has several other members, would you like to join?
12/9/2011 2:15:10 AM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! I love all your new additions! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Sorry I haven't been around my computer has been acting up and then I was using my daughtters and itw ouldn't let me get on the sharesites it would say Java script wouldn't run.
12/8/2011 3:41:38 PM - 001024320926
Not long now for you!!! Woohoo!!!
11/30/2011 11:01:30 PM - 001024320926
Ohhhhh my goodness! My project 365 is finished!!! Thanks for all the encouragement and inspiration chickie!!!
11/29/2011 1:13:17 AM - 001024320926
Just two days left on my project Gina, eeeee!
11/29/2011 12:12:08 AM - 002048530507
hey im back! im sooo behind! my computer charger went out and it was an arm and a leg to get a new one at a store so i ordered on on line and it just came in!
11/28/2011 10:41:54 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! I just got back Saturday night from NY and I am still EXHAUSTED! My son Joe came to Indiana for the 1st time for 3.5 days then we took him back to NY and spent 3 days with him. It was really nice having time with him in NY since the visit in Indiana was so complicated with my husband working 12 hour shifts and leaving 5:30PM every day, Marina being in school and having to drive her and pick her up everyday, then car problems and repairs, then Joe had to be back in the apartment every day for hockey and football games!
Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! :)
11/21/2011 4:15:22 PM - 001010638415
I hope you and your family have a great Thanksgiving!
11/17/2011 12:49:51 AM - 001024320926
Yea!! I'm caught up! Whew! You have some awesome new additions, loved them!!
11/15/2011 11:58:21 PM - 001024320926
i HAVE TO GET CAUGHT UP! Sorry for the MIA status. I have all my pictures, started working on sorting them today. I will be back tomorrow to visit and see all the great additions :)
11/13/2011 6:27:27 PM - 002044683224
I LOVE the idea of 30 days of Thanks. Lots of people spend too much time complaining about what they don't have instead of being thankful for all the things they do have. You're setting a great example for your munchkin and everyone else who stops by your site.
11/8/2011 9:08:43 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! How are you doing? Looks like you had a blast dressing up with your daughter on Halloween. She's at such a fun age. I love that you made matching costumes. That is so special. :)
My kids were both in NY for Haloween so it was my 1st Haloween without them. Marina used some bday money to travel back to NY to spend her fall break with her brother, her cousins, and friends. I was so sad to be without my kids. Thank god I had tons to do here in Indiana and got invited to parties and events. I had so much fun. :)
11/2/2011 5:02:29 AM - 002044683224
Sorry to hear about the computer crash. I'm super paranoid and have all the stuff on my computer automatically backed up "in the cloud" via SugarSync anytime I save a new file. On a happier note, great Halloween photo header :) I seemed to miss out on all the traditional halloween stuff this year.
10/26/2011 5:24:06 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! Just stopping by to say hi! If I am not back this week then....HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! :)
10/10/2011 5:03:33 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! How was your weekend? We went to Chicago's Navy Pier to celebrate Marina's actual 17th birthday,went on a boat ride in Chicago, ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp, had icecream cake, went to a service for a young fallen area soldier, went to the Chesterton European Market, went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Buffalo Bills football game, watched movies, and went Christmas shopping at JCPenney's and got some amazing deals! It was a fun, emotional, exciting, and action packed weekend!
10/9/2011 5:49:30 PM - 002044683224
Great new fall background :) Do you always change it for the seasons?
10/6/2011 6:04:23 PM - 001024320926
Gina, I went to Kansas to visit a friend and attend a PPA meeting, it was a great time and meeting too!! Kansas has fall colors, it was good to see because Texas is dead!!
10/2/2011 11:47:34 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Thanks so much for teaching me how to put the link hidden under a word. That is such a nifty trick. I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out. Actually you are the only person who has ever did it on their Shutterfly Sharesite so I don't think alot of people know how to do that trick. Now I feel like going on all the sites and putting links on it just to practice. LOL! Its so much fun! :)
9/29/2011 6:52:57 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! I stopped by again today to take a look around. I love the variety on here. I am hoping to get back in the swing of things when the weather cools down and gets yucky. We had quite a few dreary and rainy days here. Its my 1st time living here in fall so I am excited to see how the weather is. Hopefully there will be lots of nice fall days so we can go and explore the fall in Indiana. :)
9/29/2011 6:27:11 PM - 001024320926
Hope you had a wonderful weekend get away!! I love Blur Ridge Parkway. In November we are going to the Ozarks and Branson, drive around, just enjoy the area!!
I finally have my project update except for todays photo but I haven't taken one so it'll have to be posted tomorrow. I leave for Kansas Saturday, going to meet up with a fellow Photographer and play!!! Then Monday we'll be in a meeting in Kansas :) Looking forward to getting away for a minute or two :)
9/28/2011 6:35:25 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
How are you doing? Congratulations on completing 265 days of your project already!!! I am so impressed!!! I hope someday to do a 365 project. Right now I am on the go morning, noon, and night. Its a lot more time consuming than I thought it would be to relocate, everything takes so long. My daughter made an appointment with a dermatolist that was only 1 mile away and it took us about 45-60 minutes to find it. The GPS took us the opposite direction so my daughter called the receptionist for directions and she said something about a turn and to go in the opposite direction well 15 minutes later that was turning out, called again finally after 4 attempts and turning around we find a medical building that we think is the right one go inside to find out we are in the wrong building and it was over the railroad tracks where the road split. Sadly, this happens on a daily basis. Its extremely stressful and time consuming!!! At this point with me being here for 3 months I thought I would have all the time in the world to work on Shutterfly but I have less time than I ever did. We have been doing alot of exciting and fun things though. I will tell you all about the EEU program my daughter and I have been training and working with. Hope you have a great day! :)
9/28/2011 2:09:08 PM - 001010638415
Nevermind about my question below...I got it! :-)
9/27/2011 6:20:14 PM - 001010638415
Thanks for visiting my site! I love the photos in your header! Great idea on the 365 photos. Think I may start doing that also next year. If I could ask, which layout do you use on the left <--
9/22/2011 8:16:13 PM - 001024320926
I have been dragging lately, a few hits on the FB and no time for anything else. I have been taking pictures but it takes 4-5 days to get them uploaded.
It rained here twice, so good and the weather has been really comfortable, no more complaining about heat :)
9/13/2011 3:05:47 PM - 001024320926
Gina, the fires are east and west of us, not close enough for concern right now. Hope the state has something left to water when it rains again someday.
I dont' show in RAW yet, I plan too but I need to get a new computer and more storage units first, have to make sure I have enough space. So JPG it is for now. How about you?
9/11/2011 1:14:21 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Sorry I haven't been on the sites much in August we were so busy with getting my almost 17 year old daughter Marina adjusted to moving 500 miles away from her only sibling, her friends, her school, her house, her dog, her neighborhood, her family, etc. Over the summer Marina met a boy Raul at The Buffalo Bisons Game(a minor league baseball game) and they were inseparable the entire summer. Raul's dad is a baseball player and plays for the Buffalo Bisons and they are from Venezuela. Raul was only in NY for the summer so Marina went to the airport on Aug 1 to see him go. If you remember teenage romance its pretty powerful and can you imagine seeing your boyfriend get on a plane to go to another country then the next day your parents are there to pick you up to move you away from your entire WORLD?!!! How much can 1 kid take?!!! Its been really difficult and now Marina is in a school with over 2000 strangers. She started a few weeks ago. The only thing that really got Marina through all this was knowing we were going to NY for Labor Day weekend and having her early bday party. We left on Saturday afternoon and came back on Wed. night. We had so much fun on our visit to NY and we were able to see tons of our family and friends. I have to upload those pictures as well.
Hope you had a fun Labor Day weekend. Did your daughter start school? I am not sure how old she but I think about 4 or 5.
This weekend I went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival but the weather didn't cooperate so they didn't set them up, they didn't launch them, and they didn't make them glow! I was bummed out but I did meet alot of nice people so that was a HUGE bonus. Then I went to the Popcorn Festival and seen the parade and walked around downtown to see all the crafts and foods. Then I came home and Marina used the car to go hang out with a friend she met at school. They went go kart racing and had fun. I was so HAPPY!!!
Today we are heading to the beach! I am hoping to get some nice sunset pictures tonight. :)
I loved your fair page and all your new additions!!! You are doing an amazing job on your 365 day project! I give you so much credit! i can't believe you are on day 246! WOW!!!!
Have a great week! :)
9/9/2011 10:29:44 PM - 002048530507
lol my pic of the day was right here in town on a walking trail..we saw it when we went out geocaching.. my husband is such a city boy he would freak out when the kids took one step off the trail hahahaha
9/6/2011 6:29:13 PM - 001024320926
Think what I am going to do for Christmas is make sure I take 5 photos per day that are our Christmas, then make a book at the end of December. I'll start it on December 1st.
I have some ideas for my Project 365 for next year, thinking them thru :)
9/3/2011 12:19:40 AM - 002048530507
we need rain too :( they said it was supposed to rain today but i think they lied!
8/30/2011 10:21:38 PM - 001024320926
Gina, I will do another project 365 but I want to do a Christmas project first then on January 1 I will restart the Project 365, only this time I am thinking I will pick a theme and stick to that.
8/11/2011 3:46:30 PM - 001024320926
Whew! I'm caught up :) Love your new additions!!!
8/4/2011 5:41:13 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Hi! How are you doing? I am in NY with my kids. We actually got some much needed family time and got to go out to eat and then visit relatives together. Now today Joe has to work both jobs from 10AM until 1:30AM. Tonight my friend is meeting us for wings. Oh by the way....I lived in the suburbs of Buffalo, NY my entire life. I am sure you had to hear of Buffalo before! LOL! Check out my Buffalo Snow page when you get a chance its pretty wild and filled with a few snow storms over the years.
Hope you have a great day! :)
7/31/2011 1:27:54 AM - 002020640084
Gina,
How are you doing? I stopped by to see your new additions! I am so proud you have kept up with your 365 project! I love the variety and all your stories! Have a great weekend! I am off to NY in 3 days I can't wait to see my kids! I miss them so much it hurts! I will be bringing my almost 17 year old daughter Marina to join us in Indiana finally! I sure wish I could bribe my 19 year old son Joe into leaving NY! I did have a good talk about him dorming and going to college and not waste all this money on an apartment in NY! It breaks my heart to see him working 2 jobs everyday like a slave for pennies! I hope and pray he decides to come be with us in Indiana soon! I would love it if he went to college here in Indiana! That would be a dream come true! :)
7/28/2011 3:40:08 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
I loved your camping pic and lightning bug story. The nail polish shot is so colorful, creative, and fun! Looks like you are enjoying every precious moment of summer! I can't believe it will be August soon! I am not ready for summer to end and for school to start. Can you believe the stores have had school supplies out for almost 3 weeks now?!! I didn't get anything yet.
We are off to the fair again. I went on my own the 1 day and made a fair page then my hubby joined me 2 days ago and I have to post those pics still. Its really hot in the 90's and another heat advisory. Its been in the 90s and 100's for over 2 weeks. How has the weather been in your area?
7/19/2011 4:35:14 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Wanted to stop by and say hi! Thanks for checking out my daughter Marina's prom pics of her getting glammed up. It was such a crazy rush day that at least 85% of the pics were ones I snuck and took. I will try to add more this week so you can see her dress. It was so pretty. Then her corsage that her friend got her was so beautiful!!! I couldn't believe how it matched and it had a beautiful dragonfly jewel in it. It was the perfect touch! :)
7/15/2011 2:37:36 AM - 002048530507
i love all your pics i hope my project 365 turns out as awsome as yours! i am starting right now! but i wanted to ask how did you set up the page to put the pic and the description like that i really like the layout :)
7/14/2011 7:29:08 PM - 002020640084
I love all your new additions! The headers are so beautiful! Thanks for stopping by my site! I added some photos from the prom Marina attended. I hope to add more real soon! Any plans for the weekend? I am going to the beach. We now live 15 miles from the beach! Its amazing, beautiful, peaceful, huge, relaxing, and fun!!! Hope you have a great weekend Gina! :)
7/9/2011 1:05:01 AM - 002044683224
Wow...183 days into your Project 365. I'm impressed. I'm only into Day 6 and I'm already trying to plan things around the house/neighborhood that I can save for that rainy/snowy/humid day. I'll definitely keep stopping by to keep up with your progress.
7/8/2011 5:31:39 PM - 001024320926
Yep, I have the summer blahs! I was afraid it would happen to me because for me summer is just bright, bright, hot, hot and there's nothing inspirational about that for me. I have had a couple nights when I've realized late that I hadn't done my photo of the day, those are the hardest!! I was sick at home Wednesday and that's why I took the picture of the bunny that was in my camera bag (I did just find it but still I thought it was kinda boring). What I have learned about me is that I have to get out of the beaten path. The cloud photo I took the other day, I drove about 15 mins past the house to get a good shot for that, I'm glad I did, not just for the photo but the area I stopped at was so peaceful. In the end though it's 365 days not all of them can be inspired and wonderful, over all I think we're doing pretty good :)
7/7/2011 6:26:52 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Just wanted to stop by to say hi! Life has been so CRAZY with all the moves. Then we couldn't figure out the internet here and they said we had to buy a modem we tried that and didn't work then they told us at Best Buy to get a router I think it was called and that didn't work. Now after 3 attempts with buying trying to figure it out and taking stuff back we finally have it figured out and wouldn't you know my laptop is ACTING UP SUPER BAD! It takes like 15 minutes to turn on and get online then I will be online for like 3-8 minutes and it will COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN AND SHUT OFF on me!!!! Its so frustrating!!!! Now I have been online for like 45 minutes so fingers crossed I can upload some prom pics. My daughter got invited at the last minute in the mix of the 3 moves so it was REALLY FRANTIC trying to prepare my Sophmore for the senior prom that I we didn't plan on her going to! LOL! Everything worked out and she looked so BEAUTIFUL! I am hoping to post them SOON! Have a great week! :)
7/7/2011 5:01:40 PM - 001024320926
Hope your 4th was a wonderful one!!
6/17/2011 2:40:48 AM - 002020640084
I hope you are enjoying the end of spring in your area. I can't believe summer will officially be here in a few days! Any trips planned, parties planned, or reunions planned for the summer?
5/26/2011 5:38:16 PM - 001024320926
Thak goodness you weren't in all those storms, Dallas got hit hard Tuesday night I was up until 1:00am waiting on the last ones to pass over. Tornadoes every where.
I was off work Monday thru Wednesday, finally getting back into a routine.
5/23/2011 6:00:06 PM - 001024320926
Hoping you aren't near the storms in Missouri!!
5/21/2011 11:59:04 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Your site left me feeling a lot less stressed today! You are so talented! I love your new photos! Just stopped by real quick to say have a great weekend! I have a million things to do but I needed some Shutterfly therapy really bad today! Take care! :)
5/19/2011 8:27:15 PM - 001024320926
That rainbow is a double rainbow too! Just amazing!! Love it!!
Luckily I only had to take one picture with the swollen eyes, I was seeing way better by the next day and then today is even better :) I'm on steriods for it now.
5/18/2011 10:43:31 PM - 001024320926
I have checked out the coffee shot actions. My favs are definitely MCP right now.
5/18/2011 10:42:56 PM - 001024320926
I was behind two days because I had an allergic reaction to something, it swelled my whole face up, my eyes were almost sealed shut. I was home all day with it yesterday. I didn't take many pictures but I did take at least 5 on each day, they aren't great but I can live with that :)
5/17/2011 7:52:27 AM - 002020640084
Just stopped by to say hi! I hope you have a super fun Memorial Day(if I don't get back here in time) :)
5/11/2011 10:49:57 PM - 001024320926
Stormy here today, hoping you are getting some spring and summery weather there :)
5/9/2011 9:30:48 PM - 001024320926
Girl it has been in the 90's over the last couple days here. We went to the lake yesterday and I was grateful for the wind :)
5/4/2011 10:35:13 PM - 001024320926
Bummer! I hope that the warm weather heads there soon!! It has been in the 40's every morning here and a week ago we were already in the high 80's almost 90!
5/4/2011 1:12:07 PM - 002020640084
I probably won't be online for the next 2 weeks so I want to wish you a very Happy Mother's Day Gina! :)
5/4/2011 1:03:55 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
Thanks so much for stopping by yesterday! Have a great week! :)
5/3/2011 8:08:36 PM - 001024320926
Spring is sprung, boy is it sprung!
5/3/2011 3:02:31 PM - 002020640084
Gina,
I found your site from a post you added on the Shutterfly forum. Your work is such an inspiration. Excellent job on keeping up with your 365 project. I look forward to coming back as soon as life slows down. Its been extremely hectic trying to relocate 500 miles away to join my husband who got relocated 8.5 months ago. Its been a rough year. I am so grateful that I had Shutterfly to help me in these tough times. If you would like to check out my site then here is the link:
http://lucky4me.shutterfly.com/
5/2/2011 7:16:01 PM - 001024320926
Glad to hear you and your family were not harmed in the tornadoes!!
4/28/2011 6:25:18 PM - 001024320926
Gina. I'm not having any trouble, it could be they're doing some tweaking. I've had that happen before. My yahoo is down though, can't get to any of my emails at all :(
4/21/2011 2:34:46 PM - 001024320926
Looking forward to the next 6 days :)
4/21/2011 2:24:17 PM - 001024320926
Oh well I love the headers!! I cam eby yesterday checking to see if you had posted anything yet. Can't wait to see these new pretties.
4/8/2011 9:46:19 PM - 001024320926
I was 6 days behind on posting! That's the longest I have been so far. I was so sick for about 4 of those days, man I thought my head would pop off! I did manage to take a picture a day though :)
I hope that your vacation is the bestest :)
3/22/2011 2:10:32 PM - 001024320926
Love the newest photos and the headers are wonderful!!!
3/8/2011 5:19:11 PM - 001024320926
Great new additions!!!
3/8/2011 5:18:23 PM - 001024320926
Woohoo! I see you have some signs of spring!! I live in Texas so we tend to get the early spring stuff, right along with the storms that follow. We get the early spring but by the end of May we are lookin at triple digits for temps and by July it's unbareable outside, I literally can not stand summer here. I dread it more every year.
3/5/2011 4:37:33 AM - 000074469281
Hi Gina,
I saw your post on the blog about the 365 day project. I LOVE all your photos. I was just able to get on the Fourms as of recent - so I joined in on the conversation. I did the Photo A Week last year and I'm doing that this year too.
My pictures are under my 2011 page on www.joeyssite.shutterfly.com
Lisa is awesome and I love her photographs.
She is a great person. So many great people on Shutterfly!!
2/28/2011 8:44:31 PM - 001024320926
Gina I changed my mind on one of my photo of the day photos, I hadn't looked at all the photos from yesterday when I posted the swinging photo, I was a little unhappy with it because it was so dark, it was almost raining out. Later that afternoon I got a quick couple pictures of Punkin being silly, as soon as I saw the photo I thought that has to be the photo of the day. So I changed it this morning, it was from Sunday, hope that's not cheating too much :)
Thanks for always visiting. Love your posts, I get great inspiration from you!!
2/17/2011 1:03:06 AM - 001024320926
Love all the new photos! White kitty is becoming a fav of mine :)
2/3/2011 7:49:44 PM - 001024320926
If I don't do the uploads everyday I know me, I'll get behind and then I'll start procrastinating. So I have to do it every day. I wish I weren't like that though.
1/30/2011 8:35:39 PM - 001024320926
I think my favorite this week is the Lamb, it's too cute! Thanks for letting me see your world thru the 365 :)
1/19/2011 8:06:22 PM - 002088468197
Love your share site!
1/18/2011 12:19:06 AM - 001024320926
Love the snow on the berries!!
1/12/2011 12:29:47 AM - 001024320926
Loving those new headers :)
1/3/2011 7:51:02 PM - 001024320926
Happy New Year!!!
12/27/2010 1:10:11 PM - 001024320926
Love the headers!!! Beautiful!! I hope that your Christmas was joyous!!
12/24/2010 1:57:06 AM - 001024320926
Love the tree retake, it's beautiful :)
12/21/2010 2:52:27 AM - 001024320926
Woohoo!! I made the links section :) I think that I will do the same on my page :) Hope that you're fairing the winter storms better by now. It's warm here, almost hot. I am not a fan of heat in the winter months, I look forward to Christmas all year, that includes the cold weather!
Thanks for the tip on Pioneer Woman. I actually visit her site often but haven't been visiting much lately, busy month at work. I checked it out and entered a photo :) Do you have a flickr acct? I'd love to find you on there. I am ElleSnaps every where I go.
I'm loving all the encourgement.
12/15/2010 9:51:43 PM - 001024320926
I'll look up her photo :)
Thanks for stopping by! How about we keep each other motivated? :) I'll stop and check things out, see what's new. I darn near forgot on Day 13, yikes! Forgetting 13 days in can't be good, LOL! I'm enjoying the challenge though and seeing your photos is great inspiration!!
12/9/2010 1:54:21 PM - 000082906498
Please vote for Cheyenne in Shutterfly's Holiday photo contest! Here are the links:
http://contest.shutterfly.com/contests/showentry/621035/
http://contest.shutterfly.com/contests/showentry/621031
12/2/2010 1:53:44 PM - 001024320926
I started my Project 365 yesterday :) Thanks for the inspiration!!
11/8/2010 12:53:17 AM - 001024320926
I'm so excited about the 365 project that I'm thinking of starting it on 12-01-10.
11/5/2010 3:12:29 PM - 001023411097
This is a great idea! Can't wait to start this, but first I'm only doing 25 days of Christmas.
11/5/2010 1:57:11 PM - 001024320926
Love your idea. I plan to start a 365 day project on 1-01-11 :)
9/24/2010 1:05:10 PM - 003057943602
You have an awesome eye for photography!!! Love you girl.
May 2013
2013-05-19 Azaleas
My other azalea bush is finally blooming!
2013-05-17 Moody
The photo is moody and I love it. The funny thing is she wasn't being moody at all, she was just looking at her clover flowers she'd just picked. I just happened to catch this expression. It was hard to choose a photo from this day, I had several that I
loved. Especially
this one.
2013-05-16 9 Months old!
My baby girl was 9 months old yesterday. Good grief, time is flying with this one. With my older girl, it seemed to go a big slower. This time around, it's going by in a blink.
2013-05-15 More wildflowers
I think this MIGHT be a blackberry bush. I can never tell it from other thorny weeds until it puts on fruit.
2013-05-14 More Wildflowers
2013-05-13 Wildflowers
Late spring = lots of wildflower colors!
2013-05-12 Happy Mother's Day!
My sweet Mama and my baby girl. I love this photo.
2013-05-11 Fall Creek Falls Cable Trail
I have been to Fall Creek Falls State Park several times to photograph waterfalls and hike. There are several on the park grounds. In all the times I've gone, I'd never seen these, nor did I know they were here. These two gems were hidden by a short rock climb called the
Cable Trail. This was a very short trail, but one of the most fun ones I've done as the head of it is a
sheer drop off rocks that you must climb down using a cable to support yourself. It was AWESOME. After a fun, slightly scary climb down, this was waiting on me at the bottom. I FORGOT my tripod, so I had to shoot my long exposures hand held. This is a good excuse to go back with my tripod, yes?
This was one of those days where it's so hard to pick just one photo. Especially when I stumble upon things like
this little guy hanging down over the trail.
2013-05-10 Zoo Field Trip
My munchkin's final field trip was today. We went to the zoo. She had a blast running around with her friends (who she will be quick to inform you are also her cousins).
2013-05-09 Wild Azalea
The wild azaleas near home are in bloom. I love these things. I think every year I'll dig one up, but I forget where they are by the time transplant season arrives. I need to go mark this one so I can come back and get it come fall!
2013-05-08 Daisy
I got a bit wet taking this, but I couldn't resist stopping on the way home to snap some daisy photos. I love that they bloom along the road around Mother's Day every year. When I was at home, I would bike out on Mother's Day morning and pick a handful of them for my Mom every year.
2013-05-07 Wildflowers
Our fields are full of these flowers. They are beautiful, but invasive as they take over grazing fields. Flowers are pretty, but grass is needed to feed cows.
2013-05-06 See Rock City
I came by here with the specific intention of photographing and old, faded, peeling "see Rock City" billboard. Last time I noticed, it was in BAD shape. I was somewhat disappointed to find it'd been repainted. So here's a new
See Rock City billboard.
2013-05-05 Teacher appreciation week
The munchkin and I made this for her teacher for teacher appreciation week. This was my first attempt in
freezer paper stenciling, though I've previously done
glass stenciling with etching cream. I was THRILLED with how it turned out. I printed out the letter on the computer and used it to cut out the shape on freezer paper, which I then ironed onto the bag. I wasn't sure how well it'd work, since the freezer paper didn't stick well to the burlap. But using a
round sponge paint brush to dab the paint on allowed me to get the paint on the stencil without getting it UNDER the stencil. The
pencil bouquet was a pinterest find. They are stuck into a styrofoam plate that I cut to size and punched holes in to make the pencils stand up. The munchkin make the card which reads "You are a Tote-ally awesome teacher!" (another pinterest
find). The last part, which isn't shown because I am a doof and forgot to get it out of the bag, is a loaf of
homemade bread and a shaker of cinnamon with the note "a toast to you for all you do" attached. Yup, it was a pinterest
find, too. I like the pun-inspired gifts I find
there!
2013-05-04 Azalea in the rain
My
azalea is blooming. And it's RAINING. A LOT.
2013-05-03 Whatcha doin'?
Since Little Bit is crawling and pulling up, none of big sister's things are safe anymore. She was fascinated with her working a puzzle today. Which was fine until she wanted to "help."
2013-05-02 Green tunnel
I drive through a green tunnel on my way to work, now. My commute is definitely a
pretty,
interesting, and sometimes
terrifying one.
2013-05-01 Dandelion in columbine
I take photos of
this columbine every year. It's so pretty and colorful and uniquely shaped. This year, a dandelion decided to grow with it. I couldn't resist the weed amongst the flowers. And it's so pretty, even if it is annoying. Also, I can't see a dandelion without thinking of the
Hunger Games trilogy:
What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means
rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no
matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.
April 2013
2013-04-30 Wildflowers
This was taken in full sun. I used an umbrella to shade the area I wanted to photograph to get better, more even light.
2013-04-29 Iris
I love the inside of irises. They are so pretty. And make me think they are sticking their tongues out at me!
2013-04-28 Azalea
The azalea by my walk is about to bloom!
2013-04-27 Wedding
I got to attend a beautiful, simple wedding this weekend. This was my favorite photo from it - I like the almost blown background and the smile on the bride's face.
2013-04-26 Living room campout
My girl has taken to setting up her tent in the middle of the living room floor and sleeping there on the weekends. Little sister has to climb in and check things out, of course.
2013-04-25 Redneck driveway decor
Another "commute" photo. This hilarious display is at the front of a long drive to a private campsite along the river. I'm not sure if the toilet was put there by the owner, or if it was placed there by someone else as a joke. The Monday after I took this photo, the toilet was gone, so maybe it wasn't really supposed to be there. You never know, though. I remember a yard display a short drive from my grandparents house in Birmingham that was full of beautiful flowers and included a display of flowers growing out of a toilet. In the front yard. Just like in Gnomeo and Juliet.
2013-04-24 Da Plane
I live close to a small airport. This is a very common sight above my house. Occasionally we get get treated to a mini air show when a pilot practices aerial tricks.
2013-04-23 Daddy's girls
A beautiful spring evening found us all outside playing.
2013-04-22 Purple Flowers
Oh how I love to see things blooming! Of course, the weather guy just posted "snow possible by late next week".....UGH!
2013-04-21 Siblings
We got to visit with my brother's family today. My nephew is very proud of his baby sister and calls her "my baby."
2013-04-20 Birthday cake
It's a Lego party for my girls' little cousin.
2013-04-19 Dogwood
The dogwoods are blooming beautifully now.
2013-04-18 Blueberry blooms
The blueberry bush I got for Mother's Day several years ago is blooming like crazy right now.
2013-04-17 Crayons
More stock photography
2013-04-16 Sunglasses
Another stock photo - also known as "I can't come up with a new photograph idea today - but here sits my sunglasses."
2013-04-15 Bee on redbud
More signs of spring! I was afraid for my life taking this photo - this bush was SWARMING with bees. I felt like I was standing in a hive.
2013-04-14 Sisters
I shot my baby girl's 8 month photos today. My big girl picked a flower for her while I was shooting. So this ended up being my favorite photo of the day.
This was my next favorite one.
2013-04-13 First swing
We went to a birthday party at our local park for a good friend's 3 year old triplets (!!). This was my baby girl's first trip to the park and her first time swinging. She thought it was funny when I sat on the ground in front of her and she swung into my face.
2013-04-12 Smile!
Mom - are you done taking my photo so you can get me OUT of this crib?
2013-04-11 Bridge
I used to be able to do this. It's HARD now! She's got it down pat though.
2013-04-10 Dogwood
Dogwoods are blooming!
2013-04-09 Weeping Cherry
Blooms! Pollen! Yay spring!
2013-04-08 Bee on grape hyacinth
I think these are called grape hyacinths.
2013-04-07 Sunshine
Her first time in sunglassess. They lasted just a few minutes before she figured out how to get them off.
2013-04-06 Gardening!
My husband has been chomping at the bit to get to gardening. Hopefully our frosts are over now!
2013-04-05 Tracks...again
The extra cars were on the tracks today, so I stopped for another shot.
2013-04-04 Cookies
Chocolate chip cookies......yum!! I find the
tollhouse recipe to be a bit flat for my preference, so I add a 1/3 to 1/2 cup more flour than it calls for, and find it to be perfect. These didn't last long at all.
2013-04-03 Flowers for Mommy
I was greeted at my car when I stopped to pick my girls up today.
2013-04-02 Plum flowers
The ornamental plum tree in the yard of my old house (which is currently empty) has started to bloom. So on the way home today, I stopped and stalked my old yard to get a few shots.
2013-04-01 Bradford Pear
The
bradfords are blooming! My car will soon be yellow. I saw a
cartoon this week that sums it up: It pollened last night!
March 2013
2013-03-31 Happy Easter!
Happy Easter from my semi-mobile baby girl! She started to crawl today, by moving her hands, then "hopping" her legs together. This was made extra amusing by the fact that her after-church Easter outfit had a bunny on the rear end. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and let's remember the reason for the holiday: He's alive!
2013-03-30 Easter girls
I did my girls' Easter portraits today. I'm discovering that getting portrait quality photos of them both is a challenge. However, amusing ones are easy to get!
2013-03-29 Geese
There were geese in my yard. I chased them with a camera. They didn't chase me back, for which I am very thankful.
2013-03-28 Old sign
This old, abandoned sign tossed behind a building called to me for some reason.
2013-03-27 Time
Another stock photo shot. Also translated as it's 8:15 and I haven't photographed anything. (Yes, it says 7:15, I forgot to move this particular clock forward when the time changed. Oops.)
2013-03-26 This is life
Today was a girls' day. I had the day off work and got to hang out with my girls. They were still in their PJs, and playing in the toy littered living room floor. It was a precious thing to see and I grabbed my camera to capture it. So this is life, real life. Unbrushed hair, clutter in the background, toys everywhere. I'll take it. :)
2013-03-25 Snow
It's almost Easter and it's snowing. It didn't stick here, but still, it's snowing!
2013-03-24 Rainbow
I mostly missed this one. It faded quickly. But I can't pass up a chance to photograph a rainbow!
2013-03-23 Clean Baby
Peek a boo! I'm clean!
2013-03-22 Sunrise
I was late to work this morning. This was the reason. It was worth it. Amazingly, I did very little post processing here - just converted from RAW and ran a mild defog. I didn't increase saturation or adjust white balance at ALL. The sky was actually this red all across it.
2013-03-21 Quilt Square Barn
I found a second
quilt square a day or so after photographing
the first one. I got a chance to go by and photograph it today.
2013-03-20 Train tracks
Another "on my commute" shot.
2013-03-19 Bradford Pear
Spring begins tomorrow - and it's starting to show!
2013-03-18 Stop!
I read a
blog entry about an author who got sued for using googled images on her blog - even though she imbedded the link and didn't save them to her blog and credited them. It was an interesting perspective from the "other side" of image theft - where she didn't realize she was stealing and had to pay regardless. In the article, she recommended having your own "stock" images on file so you don't ever have to google what you need. While I don't plan on starting a blog (and certainly don't plan on ever stealing anyone's images!), it gave me inspiration to get some stock images, just because. Inspiration comes in odd places, and from that - my own stock image stop sign.
2013-03-17 Grandparent
These are my paternal grandparents, ages 85 and 88. My grandfather still works every day, either
in his garden, in the spring and summer, or chopping wood, building fence, or various other farm chores. He is one of the best men I have ever met. If someone needs something, he's there. He hand dug graves for families who couldn't afford the extra expense of having someone with machinery come do it for them until just a few years ago. He visits folks in the nursing homes and every time I've seen him at a covered dish dinner, I don't see him eating, I see him making a plate to take to a shut-in widow. He loves us grandkids, and now great-grandkids like crazy. He gave us all nicknames - mine was lightnin', and has carried the tradition onto the great-grandkids too. There are 10 of them now! My grandmother and I were so close when I was a kid. They live on the same farm I grew up on, so I would walk "through the woods" to their house most days. I spent as much time with her as I did with my own parents as a kid. When I was a teenager, I'd spend hours at her house, talking with her about teen drama. And she always listened. She suffers from dementia now. I think she still knows who I am, but I'm not positive. She doesn't call me by name anymore. The last time I visited with my brother, she didn't know who he was. It's a sad decline, but the key, I think, is to remember who she was when she still had her mind. It's easier to do some days than others. She didn't want me to take her photo, so I had to sneak and do it, so she's not looking at me. My grandfather was holding his newest grandbaby, so he had more important things to focus on than a camera!
2013-03-16 About to take off
My baby girl turned 7 months old yesterday. She's just about to crawl, but hasn't quite mastered it yet. She gets into position and then ends up scooting backward, which usually makes her a bit irritated. She was smiley and happy for me at this point though. The grass has greened up some and it was a warm day, so she got her first experience in sitting on the ground and playing with grass, and I got to do her first outdoor portraits. I much prefer to do portraits outdoors when it's warm enough to do them. The light is sooo much better than studio lights!
2013-03-15 Beautiful S'more smile
It was a warm, beautiful day today. We had a cookout/weenie roast with a friend's family, and it was perfect weather for it. The family has grown a lot in the past few years and there were 7 little girls there under the age of 6..and one tiny little outnumbered baby boy. This sweet little girl saw me taking pictures of all of them playing on the swingset and stopped to pose so sweetly for me. We were roasting marshmallows for s'mores about the same time...as evidenced by the chocolate on her face!
2013-03-14 Last project of sewing weekend
This was the last of the sewing weekend projects. This is a gift bag made using a variation of the cinch bags I made for Valentine's day. This one is bigger, lined, and a bit more reusable than the little Valentine ones. I made it for a birthday party my girl is to attend for a close friend's daughter this weekend.
2013-03-13 painful process
Oh, a fill up is such a painful process!
2013-03-12 Quilt block trail
There are several
quilt block trails around Tennessee. Folks apply to "host" a quilt block sign and hang them on barns and other buildings. This one is hanging on our old fashioned general store in town. I think I may have to search out some others in my immediate area. They are scattered
all around the region. The point is to give a nod to Appalachian heritage. To quote the quilt trail website:
"The Appalachian Quilt Trail is an economic development initiative
designed to enhance the quality of life in rural Appalachia by
providing sustainable economic development opportunities to local
businesses, artists, and farmers by encouraging the sale of produce,
value-added farm products, handcrafted merchandise and other local
items to visitors to this region. The Appalachian Quilt Trail provides
an attraction in rural areas that will assist with preservation of
historic locations and increase the economic impact of environmentally
friendly tourism (eco-tourism) in the region."
2013-03-11 Blocks are for chewing
This is such a cute phase - half the photos I have of her show her with something crammed in her mouth! :)
2013-03-10 Sewing part 2
I spent most of this weekend sewing. I made two skirts, this pencil case, and a gift bag for a friend's daughter's birthday next weekend.
2013-03-09 Sewing project
It's St. Patty's Day sewing day! This is a skirt for my girls - I'm making them matching ones, of course.
2013-03-08 Cool Ranch Taco
I had to try out the new Taco Bell Cool Ranch Taco! It wasn't bad - but not amazing either.
2013-03-07 Cat in the Hat Day
My munchkin in her Cat in the Hat hat that she wanted to make for Cat in the Hat day at school. (It's made out of poster board and duct tape). She's in her PJs and has unbrushed hair because school was on a two hour delay due to snow (see the snow in the background -haha) and she got to sleep in and get ready at my Mom and Dad's - so I took her over in her PJs before going to work. We live in the southern part of a mountainous county. The northern part of our county often sees a LOT of snow when we get a dusting, so we get school called off when there's not a thing in our yard!
2013-03-06 Snowy commute
Okay, I know those in the north will find this amusing. This was our awesome snow that closed most school districts.
2013-03-05 Smurf Theft
The munchkin left her Smurf collection out. Baby girl found it and found it perfect to chew on!
2013-03-04 Guesses?
Anyone want to guess what the munchkin and I have been making?
2013-03-03 Silly child
She unbraided her hair, as always, leaving a crazy crinkled part in the front. I could've edited the food off her chin, but come one, she's a kid. I want a photo of her as she really is - with crazy hair and a piece of pasta on her chin!
2013-03-02 Angel Hair Pasta
I stumbled upon a new favorite dish. This has a lemon and butter sauce, with roasted garlic, onions, tomatoes and broccoli. I could eat this every day!
2013-03-01 Shamrocks
Little Debbie has put out their
St. Patrick's Day treats! These are yummy!
February 2013
2013-02-28 Windy Commute
I'm not sure this really shows how steep this part of the commute really is. My engine is usually roaring to pull this hill. A lady I go to church with traveled this road for the first time recently and commented she hopes she never has to again. She's from "up north" and I don't think she's gotten used to our back roads yet.
2013-02-27 Oak Ridge
I had to make a trip to the "
City behind the fence" today. I stopped on my way in to get a shot of this old guard shack. It sits on the highway coming into town. Naturally, it's not used anymore as most of the city is just a normal city now (though heaven help you if you ignore no trespassing signs around here - you might find yourself face to face with a heavily armed guard, if you are lucky). I've lived close to the historic city my whole life. At one point, anyone in my tiny town who had a "good" job worked in Oak Ridge, usually at a letter plant - K-25, X-10, Y-12, etc.
2013-02-26 Commute
This is part of my daily commute. This tiny, windy back road is a shortcut, assuming survival. This end of it is only wide enough for one car, so you have to ease up through here and squeeze by that building to get out onto the "main" road. There is a river to the left of me, so there's no room for error. I'll post the climb back up later this week.
2013-02-25 Box Tops
A small collection on my desk at work - care of the many three ring binders I have to use.
2013-02-24 Spelling Test
My girl is proud of her 100 on her spelling test! My freezer door is papered with tests.
2013-02-23 Gas
This station was almost 40 cents cheaper than anywhere else around. It was packed.
2013-02-22 Flower
2013-02-21 Tumbling
It's tumbling day! The munchkin wanted me to take a photo of her doing a "carton wheel."
2013-02-20 Flowers
A bit of pretty on a dull winter day.
2013-02-19 Staples
Ugh...stuck at the office with little inspiration today!
2013-02-18 red flowers
Part of the bouquet my dad brought my Mom for V-day.
2013-02-17 Dinner
Omelet - it's what's for dinner. A sweet man at church shares his "yard eggs" with us and they are the best eggs! The make delicious omelets and scrambled eggs.
2013-02-16 V-day/6 month portraits
We shot our V-day portraits a couple of days late, but it coincided better with baby girl's 6 month photos, anyway. The munchkin cut out the hearts that we taped to the background paper. It made a little different background from our usual seamless paper background. And it was custom made by a 5 year old, which made it perfect for us!
2013-02-15 6 months
My baby girl is 6 months old today!
2013-02-14 V-Day
I made heart shaped biscuits for Valentine's day today. I also found all kinds of silly Valentine ideas on Pinterest to leave around the house, like the pictured "orange you glad I'm your Valentine" Orange Juice. Also had "I love you to pieces" (Reese Pieces), "So glad I caught you!" (Sweedish Fish), "I'm nuts about you!" (Can of nuts) and several others. It was a fun little project.
2013-02-13 Purple vine
This is a viney little plant at my Mom's house. NO idea what it is, and it's blooming really early this year!
2013-02-12 Daffodils already
A little over a week ago, we had snow. Now we have Easter Flowers.
2013-02-11 Silly Munchkin
I was trying to photograph my baby girl eating solids, quite messily, and my munchkin speaks up "take a picture of me!" then makes this face. This is her "picture" smile.
2013-02-10 Valentine Treats
I made these little treat bags for all the kids in my munchkin's class for Valentine's Day. I used the cinching method shown in
this tutorial from Make it and Love it. For the names, I cut fabric to 8.5 x 11 inches and ironed freezer paper onto the back of it, then ran it through my printer to print names on it. This worked shockingly well! Then I applied a heat bond to iron it onto the bag fabric and finished it with a very tight zig zag stitch to keep it attached and unfrayed. We stuffed them with a Valentine for each child, a Valentine Little Debbie Krispy Rice treat, a bag of gummies and a pencil to match the cars or princess theme. I had so much fun doing these! I hope the kids will like them as much as I do!
2013-02-09 Skate Party
A little girl in my girl's Kindergarten class had a birthday party at our local skating rink. It's not changed at ALL from when I was a kid, complete with blacklights! My girl had a good time and did very well at staying on her feet. I even tried my...feet...at it. And only fell once! I think it might be time to drag out the old roller blades and dust up on my skills!
2013-02-08 Clouds
Oooh! Pretty clouds! ;)
2013-02-07 Pizza
There is a Papa John's pizza near my girl's tumbling class. We got a free pizza from their Super Bowl coin toss giveaway, so we cashed it in after tumbling. YUM!
2013-02-06 Sneeze Guard
Okay, so I just found the "sneeze guard" tag amusing. Pretty smart marketing.
2013-02-05 Baby feet
She's fascinated with her feet! If you lay her down, they go straight up and she grabs them and tries to pull off whatever is on them. This gets interesting when she's wearing footed pajamas. Her leg ends up all twisted up in her jammies!
2013-02-05 Old shoes
My trusty old black flats, my every day work shoes, had seen better days. I've had them for four years or so and they get worn at least three times a week. Hence the need for the new shoes shown yesterday.
2013-02-04 New Shoes
My trusty black flats were falling apart, so I took a trip to the only shoe store in town on lunch today. They had these cute black flats on sale! Yay!
2013-02-03 Snow
We got more snow today. Unfortunately, it warmed up quickly and rapidly melted off. It was all gone before noon!
2013-02-02 SNOW angel
We got SNOW! This doesn't happen very often so even an inch or so of the white stuff gets me and my big girl all excited!
2013-02-01 Princess and the Frog
Our church hosted a tea party for the little "princesses" of the church. One of the games was "kiss the frog." They had little lips they were supposed to stick on to the frog like pin the tail on the donkey. The preacher's granddaughter saw it and immediately did this. She's the funniest little girl. She kissed the frog and then promptly stood back and said, "Well, THAT didn't work!" Side note - this was taken with my new Pentax K-5. I just got it today and brought it with me to the party, so it was a learn the new camera as I go experience.
January 2013
2013-01-31 Ibuprofen
Some days, this is a girl's best friend. Especially during tax season headaches!
2013-01-30 New Toy Too
My baby girl got a new toy, too! She likes her new walker. She's not moving in it much yet, but she'll get the hang of it soon, I'm sure, and be all over the place.
2013-01-29 Apple
Since I'm stuck at work instead of hiking, I tried my new zoom out on an apple...
2013-01-28 New Toy
I got a new lens! It is a
Tamron 18 - 200 mm and I can't wait to try it out on a hike!
2013-01-27 100 Beads
The munchkin had a "100 days of school" project to do over the weekend. We chose to show it via 100 beads.
2013-01-26 Day after Ice
This weather is crazy. The day after the ice storm, it was warm enough to be outside in a light jacket at most. The drastic change and melting ice caused misty fog to rise from the road while the
sun was out bright. Crazy and kind of eerie.
2013-01-25 ICE
EEk!
I am iced in! It's
beautiful but
SLICK. I have a gravel driveway, and it even feels like a skating rink.
2013-01-24 New Commitment
On the tail end of my
addiction confession, I've made a new commitment with a friend of mine. It's called 73K, and it's a commitment to do 50 reps of four different exercises each day for a year, so at the end of the year we'll have done 73,000. We chose crunches, push ups, jumping jacks, and squats.
2013-01-23 Beads
The munchkin is using beads for a
project for school, so I decided to play with them, too.
2013-01-22 Sky
The sky was beautiful on my drive home today.
2013-01-21 Addiction
OK, I admit it, I have an addiction. I have to have my coke! :) I try to limit it to one 16 oz or no more than two cans a day, though.
2013-01-20 Licking the beaters
Who remembers this particular thrill from childhood? The bliss of licking icing from beaters!
2013-01-19 What you talkin' bout?
I took my baby girl's
five month photos today. This isn't the
best portrait I
got, but I thought it was the cutest because it just looks like she's calling me on something. She's sitting really well for several minutes at times before toppling!
2013-01-18 Potato Soup
Pioneer Woman's recent
potato soup post inspired me to make some of my own. This isn't her recipe since I can't use heavy cream. This actually has no milk in it at all (unless you count the cheese) and was delicious! The bacon bits on top were freshly fried, too, adding to the yumminess. Instead of adding milk or cream, I simply saute onions and celery in butter until they are almost ready to caramelize, then add chicken broth and potatoes and enough water to barely cover the potatoes. The I cook it until the potatoes are good and soft and use a potato masher to "cream" some of the potatoes, so it thickens the soup, while leaving some chunks bigger. Add salt, pepper, cheese and bacon and you get a pot full of comfort food for a cold day!
2013-01-17 Milk & Bread
Anyone living in the south knows that any amount of snow in the forecast requires everyone's presence at the grocery store to buy milk and bread. I'm pretty sure it's a state law in Tennessee. I usually avoid the "snow rush" like the plauge, but I actually needed milk and bread, so I had to go. This was before the real snow rush hit, so there was still plenty of milk on the shelves, though the bread was lacking. Is a snow rush only a southern thing, or do northerners and westerners suffer from this as well?
2013-01-16 Actual Footlong
All the controversy surrounding
11 inch "foot long" subway sandwiches got me wanting a Subway. So I got one for lunch today and measured it. It was, in fact, a foot long. Another Facebook myth debunked! :)
2012-01-15 Historic Harriman
The "downtown" of the city I work in is full of pretty, old buildings. A lot of them are empty and the downtown is pretty abandoned looking these days. The highlight is the
Princess Theater, but there are several others as well. Our hospital is moving out of town this year, so I expect downtown will probably be even more empty after it's gone.
2013-01-14 Breakfast Run
It's breakfast burrito time!
2012-01-13 Trim
My girl insisted she wanted "short, fluffy hair" like she had last year, so I chopped it off for her. I didn't exactly get it even this time, though, so after her bath tonight, she had to sit for an even-up trim.
2012-01-12 Ready for a haircut
Munchkin has told me for several weeks she wants her
"short, fluffy" hair back. So after her bath today, I chopped it off for her. She was sitting on the sink, making faces in the mirror while she waited for me to get things together.
2013-01-11 Smiley baby
Everything is funny to this child! I love this smile!! She'll be 5 months old on the 15th...
how is that possible?!
2013-01-10 Tumbling
The munchkin started a tumbling class today. She was nervous going in, but she had so much fun.
2013-01-09 Fruit Snack - part II
I added "cutie" oranges to my morning snack. It made it even better! YUM!
2013-01-08 Carpenter in training
Apparently, my floors needed a little work.
2013-01-07 Fascinating Feet
Baby munchkin's
feet are utterly fascinating to her. I love the "grab my feet" stage, even if it does make diaper changes a challenge.
2013-01-06 Sleepy baby
All together now....AWWWWWW. :)
2013-01-05 Somersault
The munchkin had a friend over today and they wanted to play outside even though it was damp and cold. The got on the trampoline and took their coats off. I was standing out there shivering and they were saying "No, I'm not cold, I don't want to go in!" The munchkin starts
tumbling this week and her friend has been going for a while, so they were practicing their moves.
2013-01-04 Deep Fried Pickles
I've been on a
Sonic kick for quite a while. They just added "Pickle O's" which are deep fried pickles. They are delicious. I've wanted to try these since seeing a fair food special on food network, but haven't been to a fair to try them. I think I may have to try this at home, even if I'm the only one who will eat them.
2013-01-03 Bacon Bits
I'm taking inspiration, when needed, from Project Life 365. The theme today was optimism. So I am optimistic I can fry this bacon without burning it (which is what I usually do).
2012-01-02 Sleepy Girl
I just love sleeping child photos. The theme on Project Life today was "Images of You." This munchkin, I am told, looks an awful lot like me, so here is the image of me, much improved from the original version!
2012-01-01 Fruit
Happy New Year! I'm starting out with a healthy and delicious snack!