Self Portrait - Day 30

Sad face. This is the last post for our photo challenge, but I think we are going to try and do another one in the spring. It may be similar, but not exactly the same. You need to join us...you know you want to. Anyone is welcome (no experience necessary). Plus, it's really lots of fun and it forces you to learn new things. That's what its all about, right?

Black and White - Day 29

What to choose, what to choose, I had a hard time deciding. I didn't go out and take pictures, I sifted through the hundreds and hundreds of pictures that I have taken over the past year or so.

Flowers - Day 28

You know how I said I like to take pictures of things close-up, well several of those pictures are flowers.

From A Distance - Day 27

This was a shot that I took while on vacation. We were in the slot canyons in Utah. I love this photo because you can get perspective on how massive the slot canyons are comparing Todd with the walls. It truly was amazing.

Dear Santa

Close Up- Day 26

This is probably my favorite type of photo. I tend to take pictures close-up. I took a little time today and snapped a few shots.

I couldn't decide what picture represented "close-up" best, so I just posted the photos I liked best.

Girls Day Out

I didn't have much time to focus on the photo challenge today because Lexx and I had a girl's day out. Our first stop, Breaking Dawn, of course. It was AWESOME! Then we did what any good American would do the day after Thanksgiving and went shopping. We didn't bother with the malls or any major retailer, we went to Salvation Army, of course. I found an awesome leather jacket - $7.00 - SCORE. Then after my fabulous find, we decided we were famished and went to eat at The Cool Deli, of course. I had my usual PBC - nom, nom, nom.

What a great day.

Something Pink - Day 25

I have had this picture for a little while. I had another idea, but by the time I got home, there was no sunlight. I might try and take the picture I had planned on Saturday. We'll see.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am thankful for my supportive family, the wonderful life I have and chocolate.

Hope you had a wonderful day.

Animal - Day 24

I have so many animals it was hard to pick which one. I went to my go to guy, Thor.

Sunflare - Day 23

Because I was in the desert for a week or so, I had ample opportunity to take pictures with the sun in them. I chose this photo from Sedona because I liked the fall colors and the sun shining through the trees.

I also found this photo from Lake Havasu.

Hands - Day 22

I know I'm a little late posting this, but I had a headache and went to bed early. This time I used Austin as my model. He totally got in to it and even suggested some lighting ideas. He's such a creative little guy.

Faceless Portrait - Day 21

I liked this one, it was easy.

I always loved me a bad boy.

Bokeh Photo - Day 20

This photo was one that I could get in to. I used one of the pictures from the little Lexxa "photo shoot". I had Lexx do a little photoshop, and presto-chango, Bokeh.

Be sure to check out Amy's blog with the other Photo challenge participants at
amybretbrieadam.blogspot.com

Something Orange - Day 19

I really wanted to take a picture of the kayak, but that isn't happening when it's 40's out. I could have found pumpkins, mandarins or oranges, but I thought Lexx was much cuter than any of those things.

Shoes - Day 18

I would have loved to have photographed everyones shoes sitting at a bar, but I figured one of two things would have happened if I did that: 1) the patrons would have thought I was the biggest weirdo ever or 2) I would have been kicked out of the bar. So I scapped that idea, grabbed Alexxa and took pictures of her shoes. Pretty exciting, I know.

Long Exposure - Day 17

I hated this challenge. I tried for two days to get a decent picture to no avail. If I got a picture that was in focus, it was overexposed. If I got a picture that wasn't overexposed, then it was out of focus. So I finally said, "S?*!@ it!" and this is what you get.

Here are a couple of the other pictures.

Alexxa throwing leaves, but looking like she's flying.

Cattails blowing in the wind (kind of - not really).

Technology - Day 17

I'm not what you would call a techy. I don't own a cell phone, I barely know how to operate a computer, I'm not into the newest and biggest TV's or top of the line stereo systems. So I chose about the only thing I know how to operate (kind of). I have had the camera for 4 years and still don't know what all the little buttons mean. I still love it and would consider it my favorite piece of "technology".

Please don't judge the picture, I had to take it with my little point-and-shoot that we've had for ages.

Silhouette - Day 15

I had a REALLY long day yesterday. I left at 7:30 AM and got home at 7:30 PM, and then had to help Lexx register for Sierra. When all was said and done it was 11 PM. I really didn't have many options, and I started to panic because I couldn't think of how to do a silhoette. So this is what you get with no planning.

I know it's horrible. So, I looked through pictures that I had taken already and found this. I actually like this one so much better. It's fairly old, but still one of my faves.

Maybe I can figure something out for this photo challenge this weekend when I can actually take pictures with light and shadow and figure something out that is somewhat creative. Then again, maybe not.

The Rest of Vacation

So when I left off on the last blog, we were leaving Sedona. Our next stop was Lake Powell. We decided to camp here to try and save some money, however, after $23 for the campsite, $60 for the space heater, and about $20 in extra warm clothing, I'm pretty sure we would have been better off in a hotel. Todd didn't sleep well at all because I think he kept rolling downhill on top of me (get your mind out of the gutter), but I slept just fine.

The next morning we packed up camp and headed out for the slot canyons. They were pretty incredible. It's really hard to explain how magnificent they are. You just have to go see them for yourself. The hike was about 3 miles round trip, so that wasn't bad, but the annoying part was that the hike was through a stream/creek bed. I have to say though, it was worth the agony and annoyance of walking through that creek bed.

After the slot canyons, Todd and I were worn out, so we headed for Panguitch, UT. It's a little town outside of Bryce Canyon. We found a cheap hotel (cheaper than the space heater-cough, cough), ate dinner and hit the sack.

The next morning we headed out for Bryce Canyon. It was cold, there was snow on the ground, but it was incredible and totally worth going to see.

Us at Inspiration Point.

Yep, there was about a foot of snow to hike in.

This was going to be where we stayed. We decided on a hotel...ya think!

After a long and wonderful day of hiking, Todd and I headed back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep.

The forecast was calling for snow, so we boogied out of Panguitch pretty early and drove, and drove, and drove, and drove. We made it to Fallon, NV.

The weather was brewing.

Pretty cool clouds and mountains.

And the sun sets on our vacation.

We pulled in to our driveway on Sunday about 1 PM. We were exhausted, but so happy we had the opportunity to share time together. It was a great trip, and we can't wait to take the kids with us next time.

Eyes - Day 14

When Todd and I arrived home, there were some very happy puppies waiting for us (dirty, but happy). I happened to snap this picture of Thor. His beautiful eyes and cute little smile make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Just look at those pretty brown eyes, they match his pretty brown hair. One problem, he's not a brown dog, he's a light grey dog (close to white). I guess today he's not!

Yourself With 13 Things - Day 13

This one was hard for me. I did it on a timer, and I must have taken 100 pictures or more, so that meant jumping up and down and running from behind the camera to in front of the camera. I was pooped by the end of this and just decided the heck with it. At least you got a picture with 13 things in it...it could have been my camera smashed into 13 small little pieces.

Psssssttttt

I just uploaded my day 10 picture - A Childhood Memory. Go take a look.

Day 3 and 4 of My Vacation

I haven't been great about updating my blog on vacation, but most of the time I had very limited internet access = snail pace internet.

When I left you with my vacation adventures, we had gone to watch a hockey game. The next day was a little more laid back. I woke up at 9:30 so that I could go and watch Ava at her swim lessons. Before we wen't inside, Ava told us, "I'm not going to cry today." Uh oh...so does she cry all the other days? Apparently, yes. Ava cried a little, but when I asked her why she was crying she said it was a fake cry, that she really didn't cry. Phew, it's a good thing because they may not have given her a ribbon if she had REALLy cried.

We then relaxed at home, wen't shopping a little, and then wen't out to dinner with my sister, her husband and Ava. We wen't to Manuels, because well, it's Ava's favorite and she wanted to take us there. The food was DE-LIC-IOUS! Good picking Ava.

I would show you a picture of Ava's dad, but he was making an inappropriate gesture.

The next day, Todd and I headed out and we were going to go to the Out of Africa wildlife park, and we wanted to take Ava. The weather was a little, shall we say, scary, but we arrived safely and took pictures at the front of the park.

That's as far as we made it in. They shut down the park right as we arrived due to rain and snow showers. BUMMER! I really wanted to take Ava.

So, like troopers, we headed to Sedona, and boy am I glad we did. Sedona is Ah-May-Zing! If you haven't been, you have to go. We hiked, ate, shopped, ate, slept, ate, went to a gallery, ate and then hiked a little more, and oh, ate.

I'm not sure what the deal is there, but they have a lot of Vortex thingys. I'm not quite sure what that is, but I think it goes hand in hand with the crystals and stuff like that. I'm not really into that, but if you are, more power to you.

Sedona had several art galleries, little shops, restaurants, just everything. You can take Pink Jeep tours, helicopter rides, rent ATV's, ride a train to the Grand Canyon, you name it, they have it.

We ended up staying in Sedona 2 nights, 3 days, and that wasn't nearly enough. We could easily have stayed another week, but we had other things that we wanted to see.

Up next, slot canyons, Lake Powell and Bryce Canyon.