i'm participating in a photography project this year-- taking one photograph each week representing a theme.
having a word to focus on inspires my creativity... each week, my wheels start turning as i try to figure out a way to represent the theme through an image. i'm also hoping this project will inspire my photography too-- pushing me to stretch n' practice my skills. so we'll see?!?!
here is my photograph for the second theme :: cold
she stayed home. the day before, she came home from school describing that she was too cold for recess (she aLways goes out to recess) and kept getting the chills. sure enough she had a fever. so when you have a cold and you're feeling cold the best is to snuggle up in a big bed with some morning cartoons. her eyes just say it all.
******
yep, had to go another direction with cold-- since our winter has been so mild. warm temperatures and very little rain in december. although today as i'm posting this image it is now snowing here, wouldn't you know it.
as for this image... i was really drawn to the shadows n' dark colors to help convey the story. also how her face is just peeking out. i'm glad she still looks small in our bed.
about craig.
so, i wrote him a letter today. a love letter.
you see, tomorrow is january 11th.
we met each other 22 years ago on june 11th. then, we were married two years later on july 11th. and in just six short months, we will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary on the 11th. so, you see, i've been thinking about the 11th...
and, i've been thinkin' about our upcoming anniversary.
so today i read all our love letters. you see when we were dating and newly engaged, craig worked on fishing boats in alaska for months at a time. he was gone, in the middle of the bering sea, with only a few visits to port. we wrote letters to each other - to stay in touch. and when he was in port he would mail his letters to me and receive all of mine. i have saved this stack of letters. and today i read the set dated january 1992.
i loved reading craig's words and the emotion conveyed. it immediately sent me back in time to those days of early love. my favorite letter contained the words i spoke in response to his proposal. i have a very strong visual memory of our engagement where we ate dinner, what i wore, where we were seated, champagne brought to the table, people watching us in the restaurant and all the emotions i was feeling at the time. although trying to recall my response is just a blur. but he wrote them down verbatum. i'm so happy they are preserved within this letter for i could not remember my exact words--- except that of course i said 'yes!'
so today i spent time reflecting on january 1992. i spent time thinking of craig. i spent time thinking about us. all day. it felt good. i need to do this more often. as parents, our time is filled with the kids and happily so. but it is also good to spend time on us. so, i'm hatching a bit of a plan and...
it begins with a love letter written to craig that he will receive on the 11th.
it's a new year and i'm still continuing with my kitchen challenge.... you may remember, last year i decided to work on my cooking skills- that is, to actually do more cooking and to try new recipes. you can read more about it here on this blog post.
so in this month of january, 2012 i tried a new recipe for vegetable soup. it turned out pretty good-- wasn't our favorite soup but craig really liked it, so there you go.
but folks i'd like to point out that green leafy vegetable up there in the photo-- that would be kale. i cooked with kale. i had to review a youtube video to learn how to cut kale... but folks i cooked kale and that would also be a butternut squash in the background. kale AND butternut squash.
just sayin'.
or craziness?!?! you decide.
this is craig dressed for his pacific nw bike ride -- the first of the new year.
yep, he really likes cycling.
as for me, i'm happy to sip my coffee and play with the kids while he takes his bike ride.
i'm gonna wait for warmer days.
i'm participating in a photography project this year-- taking one photograph each week representing a theme.
having a word to focus on inspires my creativity... each week, my wheels start turning as i try to figure out a way to represent the theme through an image. i'm also hoping this project will inspire my photography too-- pushing me to stretch n' practice my skills. so we'll see?!?!
here is my photograph for the first theme :: newness
a new day.
to start again
to take a breath
new moments to be had, new adventures ahead
and there are those days that you just want to start over,
to try it again
so you wake up to a new day
each day a gift
this photo was taken after an evening of horrible wind, lashing rain and an early morning power outage. but the skies cleared and there was this amazing light streaming through all the windows all day long. everything washed clean. had to take a picture of the sky as the sun was moving lower on the horizon. a close to the day with the promise of tomorrow.
i had the intention of sharing photos from christmas but as i thought about our holidays and the happy blur of it all one of ally's infamous quotes stands out in my mind. this summer, she wrote about a family gathering for our writers club -- she had many, many details about the weekend but the best quote was "i can't believe how much talking and laughing there is from everyone."
she is exactly right.
this holiday season was all about gathering and spending time with the people we love. during the month of december, we hosted nine separate gatherings at our home with family and friends. this was intentional. we wanted the kids to have quality time with our friends and relatives. time that wasn't rushed. time that wasn't divided between the grand-parents, aunts n' uncles and cousins all squished into one night. for me, as always, i wanted to slow time down -- at least that was the strategy. it still went far too fast. think this happens when you're hosting. but that happy hum in our home was definitely one of my favorite memories of the season. and a lot of those moments happened gathered around the table. yep, ally was spot on... there was a lot of talking, a lot of laughing and a lot of love.
wish i had more images, but truly i just set the camera aside during most of the "happy hum"...
a very merry christmas.
