Strong

You would think that Strong would be an easy theme for me to tackle. But I admit, I mostly bailed on this week's challenge.

The photo above is of a drawbridge that I saw on my weekend adventure to Connecticut. It was the closest thing that I had shot to fit in with the theme. I did consider submitting a shot of Time Square, but decided that this was a little more fitting.

There will not be a poem over at Impassioned Versifier this week. I know that it would have been a fairly easy challenge for me since I try to include the underlying themes of strength or love in most of my work there. Truthfully though, it is just not easy to write a poem on an airplane.

There will be photos from my trip posted soon. In the meantime check out the rest of this week's submissions at Photography139.

Painting With Light

I enjoyed this week's Random Challenge theme, partly because I finally figured out how to do something new with my camera.

This was my first submission, it seemed to fit the description of how to Paint with Light given by Chris last week. The kids informed me that I was nuts going out to play in my flower beds with a flash light & camera at night. Thankfully, the neighbors seemed to be a little more understanding. Or maybe they are just used to me doing random odd things around here.

This is my favorite photo from the shoot. You may recall that one of the themes a few weeks back was Long Exposure. After many failed attempts since then, I finally figured out how to lengthen the exposure on my cheap digital camera.

I have several more photos that resulted from this discovery. They may end up on a post later this week if I get a chance before my upcoming mini-stress relieving-vacation. On that note, I have a few updates that need to be made to my 101 list. Hopefully I will get to that later tonight!

I do have a poem posted at Impassioned Versifier this week. Be sure to check out this week's other amazing takes on Painting with Light over at Photography139.

Enjoying Our Freedoms

I'm not going to lie. The weekend was very hectic and stressful for me. I know that a lot of you have been checking back here often in anticipation of the blog announcing my reactions to the latest life changing events around here. You will just have to wait on that one, if it appears at all.

On Sunday, Bug and I decided we needed a break. It was a three day weekend due to Memorial Day and we hadn't set aside anytime to enjoy our freedoms other than the freedom to assemble at Friday Night Supper Club.

We decided that we wanted to do something that we both thought was relaxing and fun plus take advantage of the beautiful weather. So we changed into our swimsuits, packed the blanket, a book, and the camera and headed to Ledges.

We followed the creek to a bend where we couldn't be seen from the road.

While I sunbathed on a sandbar and read my book, Bug enjoyed splashing around.

He even found a perfect skipping stone, which ended up traveling home with us for him to use again.

This was my view laying back on the blanket. Ahhh... so peaceful and serene.

I had to keep a watchful eye that Bug didn't wander too far away while I dozed off and on.

Two hours resting and relaxing was exactly what I needed. It still didn't make my stress hives entirely disappear (that didn't happen until last night), but it did help strengthen me. Make sure to thank a soldier for our ability to enjoy peaceful days at the park, a day off from work, and the millions of other little freedoms that we have because of them and their families!

Harmony

I was really looking forward to working on this week's challenge theme of harmony. The theme seemed so full of possibilities.

I took shot this photo at the beginning of the week, partially in response to John sending me a photo of a beautiful double rainbow outside of his window. A double rainbow would have been an ideal subject for harmony, but I did see harmony in watching the ants open up all my peonies that same evening.

The harmony and peacefulness of my week changed after that and I'm afraid I haven't been able to concentrate on composing even the simplest of poems. So there will not be a challenge entry at Impassioned Versifier this week.

I guess I'm not the only one that had trouble meeting the challenge this week as the only other submission at Photography139 is from Chris himself.

Running in Circles

We've already established that the weekend flew by for me. This week seems to be a little slower (probably because I am waiting in impatient excitement for news about an impending visit from someone I really want to see). It probably doesn't help that I am spending the week cleaning and reorganizing my house. We all know that that isn't on the top of my favorite things to do list.

Friday night Bug & I attended Friday Night Supper Club where we discussed my 101 List point by point. They helped me to come up with a few more items to add to my list. When we got done eating and discussing we ventured over to Perfect Games so that Bug could wear off a little energy and the guys could challenge each other to air hockey.

Saturday morning I woke up to beautiful sunshine. It wasn't overly hot and seemed a perfect day to tackle a few of my house projects.

I had lost a few boards off the front steps over the winter, so this seemed the ideal day to play with my new circular saw again.

I trimmed down my closet door as well, but don't have a picture of that yet as I still need to purchase and install a latch to keep it closed.

Saturday night Sis felt the urge for some family time. This mama can never pass up the oportunity to spend a little fun time with my kids, especially when the teenager is trying to spread her wings and doesn't always want me so close.

We loaded up in the truck and drove to Madrid for some Cosmic (Laser) bowling. Obviously this is where we took last week's challenge photos at.

Sis got a little pouty when she threw a string of gutter balls.

Concentrating on my form, I guess?

Sis had had enough.

I don't have any pictures from Sunday because I forgot my camera at home. Bug and I went with the Cub Scouts on a clean-up hike. The goal was to pick up trash littered along the bike trails at Seven Oaks. That one and a half hour hike reminded me how sorely I've gotten out of shape during the winter. Looks like I will need to step it up before we go hiking in Yellowstone!

The hike was considered a success but not in the way we planned it to be. The trails were actually fairly clean, good job mountain bikers at keeping nature as pristine as possible! With not much work to do we did manage to lose three scouts.

No, literally.

We lost them. Or I should say they lost us. After repeated warnings to stay within sight of the rest of the group three of the boys decided to explore on their own. They took off in a dead sprint ahead of us, laughing when we told them to stop. Then they jumped a few paths that wind close to each other. The next thing you know they are no where to be seen and couldn't hear our calls.

I took my group of three well behaved Scouts and six stow away ticks and made our way out of the woods. Forty minutes later the missing boys emerged from the woods with the search party leaders. Whew!

Boys were fine, leaders and parents lectured and used them as an example to the rest of the group. I chalk it up to a learning experience for our next outing.

I spent the rest of the evening keeping a vigilant eye open for more ticks and enjoying the first of my "alphabet" movies from my 101 list. Eating ice cream and watching Avatar with the kiddos was a perfect ending to my busy weekend.

Pan & Blur

This week's theme was Panning Camera Blur, the object of which was to follow the subject with the camera while keeping the subject in focus and allowing the background to blur. It seems it was an appropriate week for such a theme as the whole week and especially the weekend seemed to blur by for me.

I do have a lot that I could post about from the weekend and there are some photos to share, but that will have to be a post for another day. Today I only have time to share our submissions.

It took several attempts and adjustments before I was finally able to follow Bug's ball down the lane during our Cosmic (Laser) bowling trip. The bowling ball still isn't in crisp focus, but this was my most successful attempt.

Sis decided that she would try her hand at this week's challenge. One of my 101 goals is to become more comfortable in front of the camera, so she used me as her subject. She was sneaky enough to photograph me without my knowledge, thus in this one I am pretty comfortable, or at least concentrating on my task.

Make sure to check out Sis's first submission and all the other wonderful submissions over at Photography139. Sis has dug herself a slight hole by accusing Chris at Photography139 of cheating in this pretty much rule-less challenge, but he has come up with some very good reasoning for her silly banter.

I am glad that we are nearing the end of the technical themes for the challenge. It is fun to think outside of the box occasionally for my poetry challenge, but next week's poem is a welcome break from the brain-strain of trying to fit the subject with a poem. Be sure to check out Impassioned Versifier for this week's challenge poem

101 Things

As if I don't have enough on my plate already, I have decided to take on a new project. I am hoping this one will actually help me along with all my other projects though.

Some of you may have heard of the Day Zero Project. The website describes it as "a unique challenge that inspires you to set and achieve your personal goals in life".

The Challenge:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple challenges such as New Year's resolutions or a 'Bucket List'. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips, study semesters, or outdoor activities

I currently have 63 tasks on my list due to be completed by February 14, 2013. That seems like such a long time away, doesn't it? I started with my short term goals and added a few I hope to accomplish by then. I also put in a few things that I should do a little more often. Some of those even include pampering myself just as a reminder that sometimes I need to remember to do that.

Now I feel like I am at a wall, I can't think of anymore tasks to finish off my list. Even though I am sure I have more goals that I'm just not remembering at the moment. So if you can think of anything I should add leave me a comment below.

You can help me cross one task off by starting your own list. Just leave me a comment so I know that I've inspired you!

I created a new page (you can check out the link underneath my header) so you can keep track of my progress and cheer me on. I will strike through each item as I complete the task.