About Me

My photo
I am usually typing on a computer most of the day, but today I am trying my hand at a new project: My 2011 365-Day Photo Journey. I gained a love for photography when I was required to take a fine arts class for college--I chose photography. The course required a lot of work--Professor Loehr saw to that--but it opened my eyes to a new world. It's been many years since I took that class and I don't know how much I actually remember, but following Laura Delagal's 365 Photo Journey and watching my niece's love for taking pictures has peeked my interested in photography again. Although I don't have a professional camera, I did receive a really nice Sony digital (point-and-shoot) camera from my sweetie for Christmas this year. Going through some difficult times in my life, I thought that undertaking my own 365-day photo journey might be a way to relieve a little stress and have some fun with my new toy. Through this journey I will capture some of life's joy and its pain, but I will also be able to refocus the lens of my life on the many wonderful things that God has created. Well, here goes. Wish me luck!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Day 179 - June 28, 2011


This is where I blog.


(P.S.  It doesn't always look this neat)

Sometimes I kick up the footrest and get comfy, so I can work on my pics and check in with friends on facebook.  I can't wait to see where you blog.

I did a little research on my camera and figured out that it had a timer on it.  So, I decided try to take a pic of me in my blog space.  Tada!  Not the best lighting, but not bad for my first attempt.  Well, I'll see you on Misty's page, hopefully.  Now to figure out how to link up.  This will be my first attempt.

Post your pic at the link below:

Through a Photographer's Eyes - Where I Blog

Monday, June 27, 2011

Day 178 - June 27, 2011

I saw a butterfly!
This isn't the best picture, but I'm afraid it's the only pic.  Today has been another rough day with mother.  I was called by the nursing home twice today to try to help settle mother down and to try to get her to take her medicine.  I had planned to go by to visit her this afternoon, but then changed my mind after talking to her twice.  However, during the second phone call, she remembered that I had planned to come and was wanting to know what time I was going to get there.  So, I came home, let the dog out, and headed to the nursing home for a short visit.  It was rough and I'm exhausted.  I didn't even get this photo edited.  It is SOOC without even my watermark on it.  I'll try to do better tomorrow.  But for tonight, I'm going to bed.

Goodnight my blog friends.  I hope I get a chance to visit some of your blogs over the next couple of nights.  Sweet dreams, and as one of my friends says, say a prayer for you and me!

Goodnight!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Day 177 - June 26, 2011


Melvin was waiting on me while I was over at the pond taking a few pics.  See him like this made me think of the lyrics of Brad Paisley's song,

Waitin' on a Woman!


Sittin' on a bench at West Town Mall
He sat down in his overalls and asked me
You waitin' on a woman
I nodded yeah and said how 'bout you
He said son since nineteen fifty-two I've been
Waitin' on a woman

When I picked her up for our first date
I told her I'd be there at eight
And she came down the stairs at eight-thirty
She said I'm sorry that I took so long
Didn't like a thing that I tried on
But let me tell you son she sure looked pretty
Yeah she'll take her time but I don't mind
Waitin' on a woman

He said the wedding took a year to plan
You talk about an anxious man, I was nervous
Waitin' on a woman
And then he nudged my arm like old men do
And said, I'll say this about the honeymoon, it was worth it
Waitin' on a woman

And I don't guess we've been anywhere
She hasn't made us late I swear
Sometimes she does it just 'cause she can do it
Boy it's just a fact of life
It'll be the same with your young wife
Might as well go on and get used to it
She'll take her time 'cause you don't mind
Waitin' on a woman

I've read somewhere statistics show
The man's always the first to go
And that makes sense 'cause I know she won't be ready
So when it finally comes my time
And I get to the other side
I'll find myself a bench, if they've got any
I hope she takes her time, 'cause I don't mind
Waitin' on a woman

Honey, take your time, cause I don't mind
Waitin' on a woman
 Waitin' on a Woman: Sung by Brad Paisley

Day 176 - June 25, 2011


My birthday flowers
 These are some of the flowers from the bouquet that my daughter sent to me on Friday.  Aren't they beautiful?

Day 175 - June 24, 2011

My daughter took me to dinner at San Miguel's.  Many of the family were there.   My daughter Kelly, her husband Bill, and their daughter Kellyanne; my sister Phyllis, her daughter Amanda, and Amanda's husband Joe and their daughter Madilyn, one of Phyllis' twin boys James; Bill's dad Ron and Ron's wife Cathy.  My dad and his wife, Mama Jean were able to make it because both were working and neither were two friends--Becky and Larry Shirley.

Chip anyone?

My daughter Kelly, and my granddaughter Kellyanne

This is two of the prettiest red-headed girls that I know.  I love them so much!!!


My niece, Madilyn (Madi)

When you come to San Miguel's for your birthday, they give you sweet tortitos with whipped cream on them and then they will give you a face full of whipped cream.  Surprise!  Happy Birthday!
Fortunately, my daughter asked them not to put the whipped cream in my face, so I just got the tortitos as a dessert.  Madi loved the tortitos with whipped cream on them, and SHE got the whipped cream all over HER faced and loved it!  I was more than happy to share it with her.  :-)

Happy Birthday to ME!

My day started off with a orangish/peach colored roses and some other flower sent to me by my dear sweet daughter and her husband and daughter (delivered to me by a dear friend), then my co-worker took me to lunch at the Palette Cafe (at the Mobile Museum of Art0, and ended with this great get together of friends.  And in the meantime, I received 70 plus birthday greetings on facebook.  All-in-all it was a great birthday.  Oh well, Melvin finally made it here about 10 p.m.  We celebrated my birthday on Saturday.

As Madi sang, Happy to You!

Day 174 - June 23, 2011

DIRECTV Satellite
I might still have the satellite on the house, but I packed up the receivers and the remote contols and sent them all back.  Bye bye satellite!  I will miss you, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!!!


DIRECTV Shipping Boxes

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Day 172 - June 21, 2011


White Crepe Myrtle
I had an unexpected visitor this evening--my granddaughter Kellyanne.  And of course, Nonna got to play with the camera some.  However, I didn't have time to upload and prepare any of those pics for posting.  I already had this pic ready to go before she came over.  I just might have to cheat and post one of them tomorrow, if they came out okay, since we tried quite a few different poses.

Anyway, I have white, pink and cherry red Crepe Myrtles in my yard.  I would also like to plant some of the lavender ones.  I am actually surprised that they are all blooming at the same time.  They usually begin blooming at different times.  These trees have such lovely blooms on them.  I have been trying to capture some pics of these blooms that I think are worthy of posting.  Some of them or just so so, but this one, after a little color adjusting in post-production came out pretty good.  I liked the detail I was able to capture within the small blooms.  Something that is generally difficult with my point-and-shoot camera.  So, I was fairly pleased with how this shot turned out.   I hope the pic shows up as well in this blog as it did in my edit program.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Day 171 - June 20, 2011

Better Boy Tomato - Yummy!
This is the first tomato off of my vines.  I think it's time for a BLT sandwich! Yummy!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Day 170 - June 19, 2011


water faucet
 Anything to do with water catches my attention these days.  Hmmm . . . I wonder why?  [draught]

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Day 169 - June 18, 2011





It's so nice to see raindrops on anything.  We have had so very little rain in the past month until most of my grass is completely brown and growing anything, unless you water it every day, is out of the question.  I liked the way the light caught the water droplets in the first photo.  I added starburst in the second photo.


I also added a third photo that I didn't take at all.  Actually, that's not true.  I think I did take the photo using the camera that my sisters and me gave my dad for his birthday/Christmas present a couple of years ago.  It's a pic of my dad's wife.  Today is her birthday.  She has been such a blessing to this family.  Dad couldn't have picked a better woman to marry.  We love her dearly and so glad that she is a part of our family.


Mama Jean (left) and Phyllis (right)
 Happy Birthday, Mama Jean!  I hope you had a GREAT day!!!  I never managed to catch up with her today, but I left her a message on the phone. We will have to celebrate her birthday with some good Mexican food.  Yummy!

Day 168 - June 17, 2011

rusty fire hydrant
Why is it that things with rust on them seem to catch the eye of a photographer?  I don't get it either. 

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Day 167 - June 16, 2011

Kellyanne
She's her daddy's little girl and Nonna's little angel.  Her daddy had her smiling so big, which was the perfect time to take a picture of one of my favorite models.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Day 166 - June 15, 2011


I ran out of ideas so I took a pic of a piece of my lamp.  It has some beautiful designs on it.  When I captured this one shot of it I wasn't sure what I thought and, honestly, I'm still not sure.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Day 165 - June 14, 2011

Arthur Crocker
Arthur has been working out of town for a long, long time.  It is so nice to have him back in town with his family.  We missed him soooo much.  We love you, Uncle Arthur!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Day 164 - June 13, 2011

Madilyn Grace Courtney
Today is another cheat day.  I have been suffering with tremendous back pain all day long.  I took this photo yesterday at the family get together at my daughters house.  There were so many photos that I could post pics for a week.  I have been looking for some really unique photos, but I have been on a heating pad all afternoon, so, no new photos.   Instead, I have been trying to catch up on my posts. It's a good thing that my house is cool.  :-)  Besides, how could I pass up posting a face that cute?  Isn't she a doll?  Madi is actually my nieces daughter, and she is just a cutie pie!  She gave me quite a few photographic moments yesterday, but I also missed quite a few (using my point-and-shoot--).  This little lady, who is 18 months old, moves around like lightening.

Since I am about caught up on posting, hopefully I can now catch up on visiting your blogs.  Thanks for your patience with me, my friends!

Day 163 - June 12, 2011I

Kellyanne Elizabeth Moody
My precious angel.  She gets prettier with each passing day.  I know I'm prejudice, but I'm allowed to be, she's my little sweetheart.

Have I mentioned how much I love being a grandmother.  Well, let me say it again, just in case you missed it.  I LOVE BEING A GRANDMOTHER!  It is just one of God's rich blessings He has bestowed on me.

Day 162 - June 11, 2011


This is one of the many cats at the nursing home where my mother is a resident.  I went to visit her on Saturday but it wasn't a good day, so the only pics that I have from my visit I took outside of the cats.  I know how this cat feels, I am very sleepy!


What a lazy way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  The cats, dogs and various other animals keep the residents company.

Day 161 - June 10, 2011

Let us pray!

Our Father Who art in Heaven.
Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdon come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory
Forever!  AMEN!

Day 160 - June 9

Day 159 - June 8, 2011

A lone weed.

With the high temps and no rain, I have very few weeds in the yard.  I also have very little grass.  I was able to find this little beauty to take a pic of out of all of this dry, brown yard.  Needless to say, I haven't had to mow my grass in quite some time.

Day 158 - June 7, 2011

Bridget trying to get cool.
As you saw the on June 6th, our house has been rather hot due to the fact that that the AC at my house been out.  Bridget and I have been about to roast!  I pulled out several fans and borrowed a window unit from a friend to try to stay cool.  We spent the night with my neighbor one or two nights in order to get some sleep.  Here's Bridget with her double coat of fur lying in front of the fan trying to stay cool--poor baby!  I was just before trimming her down when we got the AC fixed.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Day 157 - June 6, 2011

The temp in my house!
Needless to say, by the temp on the thermostat my AC was broke and I was roasting!  I had a huge leak in my A-coil, so my unit was down for several days until my boyfriend could come down to work on it (he lives 100 miles away and was dealing with back and foot problems).  Once he came down, he found the leak and repaired it, cleaned the outside and inside coils and it's working beautifully again!

Note:  My AC didn't get fixed until Friday & Saturday, June 10 & 11, which is why I am so behind on posting pictures.  I was busy trying to borrow fans and finally was able to borrow a window unit.  I also spendt the night with friends because the heat in my house was just too much.  It may take me a night or two to get caught up with posting and visiting everyone's blog, but I should see each of you soon.

Day 156 - June 5


Kellyanne



Kellyanne


I got to keep my cute little granddaughter for the morning while my daughter took some time for herself.  Unfortunately, my air conditioner is on the blink and me and this little lady started to get very hot.  I pulled in a couple of fans that I keep in the garage to try to keep us as cool as possible. Even though it was hot, we got in our usual photo shoot.  I would love to try a few poses with her but I think she is teething, not to mention it was about 87 degrees in my house, so she wasn't too cooperative as a model. She also wants to stand up at 3 months old.  She can't even sit up on her on yet or even crawl, but she keeps trying to push up on those legs.  She is going to be running around before we can even blink!

Day 155 - June 4

yellow crookneck squash plant
This will produce something scrumptious to eat (or it would have--most of my plants have died in this extreme heat).

Monday, June 6, 2011

Day 154 - June 3, 2011

Day 153 - June 2, 2011

This past 6 months have been mentally, emotionally and spiritually difficult.  But although they have been difficult, God has used this time to bring me to a place of healing.  The wounds were deep, and there were times when I didn't think I would make it, but God never left me.  He binds up the broken hearted and heals their wounds.

Just a couple of weeks ago I noticed that my church was offering two Beth Moore bible studies.  Well, I knew that I couldn't participate in both of them, even though I wanted to.  I chose "Breaking Free."  I have heard so much about this study, and Lori, the leader of the other study ("David") told me, "girl, if you've never done Breaking Free, you need to do it."  So,  . . .




Here goes . . . I'm BREAKING FREE!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Day 152 - June 1, 2011

Lavender Althea
Today is a cheat day, I'm afraid.  I was busy at work all day today and then, I came home to check the AC (which was not working yesterday), let the dog out, change into jeans, and head to the hospital.  My ex-husband, whom I am still friends with, is have triple to quintuple by-pass surgery tomorrow.  So, taking a pic just totally slipped my mind until I got ready to go to bed.  So, I hope this will do for today.

Tomorrow will be another long day.  Dave has surgery tomorrow, I am supposed to take minutes for a Board meeting (although I do have someone on standby in case I need to head to the hospital), and I have the first meeting of my summer Beth Moore Bible Study called Breaking Free.  I don't know--it might be a little much for one day.  I promise to try to take a pic of something tomorrow.  And, who knows, maybe I'll find something to take a photo of besides a flower.  :-)

Please say a prayer for Dave Kirkland, and continue to remember my mother in your prayers.  Thanks - goodnight!