“Enjoy Life, Give Joy, and Be at Peace!” 365 day 121

Yes, there's still snow on the ground but the sun is shining, its warm and we don’t need our big winter coats, which means spring is on its way... I hope!
On a more personal note, she's been growing like a weed. We mesured her yesterday and she's grown 2 inches since the 1st of the year. I realized from looking at my stream I don't have many full body shots so that's my photography goal for the month of April...

My Eyes Can Smile : )

Still working on my backlighting. I waited a little closer to golden hour. How did I do? Hopefully I'm getting better at this... it sure isn't easy to master, that's for sure.
Btw, she's laughing at her dad being silly behind me...

Flying High: 365 day 120

Spring break fun!! They decided they didn't want to change out of their pajamas when they went outside to play. Ahhh to be this carefree...
**not super proud of this picture. Wish I could've composed it better & the sun wasn't so bright which created shadows all over the place. Oh well, it's all a work in progress.

Nutella Love: 365 day 119

Ahhh, the joyful simplicities in life : )

C R E A T E: 365 day 118

Free as a Bird: 365 day 117

It's spring break for her so she's free free free all this week... can you just feel her joy? And if that wasn't enough, the weather has been really nice today--sunny and in the mid-30's. Yes, believe it or not mid-30's is awesome weather for us in late March ; )

Trying Backlighting... again: 365 day 116

I'm having such a hard time with backlit pictures. Can't seem to get the colors I want... seems so washed out to me. Oh well, just have to keep working on it. Happy Weekend blog friends : )

Daughter: 365 day 115

A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart. ~Author Unknown

My Guilty Pleasure: 365 day 114

I rarely indulge my chick-lit guilty pleasure, because when I start reading them, I can’t stop. They’re crazy addictive... And just an FYI, Marian Keyes is my favorite chick-lit author. If you're a chick-lit fan you must read her books :)

Go Away Winter: 365 day 113

Not in the greatest of moods today... it's March 23 and it's snowing, yes snowing, not just light flurries but full on SNOW!! And if that wasn't enough it's grey, dull, cold and extremely gloomy. I am so sick of winter!! I need green grass, flowers, bright skies and some warmer temperatures ASAP!
I went out with my camera to see if I could cheer myslef up and... NOPE everything was dull, duller & dullest so here's my attempt at capturing my mood.

{365 day 112}

“My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter" ~Thomas Helm

I love reading but I haven't found a good book in quite some time. The last set of books I really enjoyed reading were Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo etc.) So I'm in need of some good reading material... Any recommendations?

btw, can you tell I can't get enough of these book shots?

{365 day 111}

“The eyes have one language everywhere” ~Geroge Herbert

Hope: 365 day 110

Stay strong Japan and Libya we're all thinking of you...

{365 day 109}

I restore myself when I'm alone ~Marilyn Monroe

{365 day 108} Whoo-hoo, I learned how to...

add text in Photoshop!! So happy... it's always the little things, isn' it?

How to Cookie Splash: 365 day 107

I’ve been wanting to do one of these cookie splash pictures for a long time so when I saw today’s topic over at Flickr's Our Daily Challenge I was so excited. It’s not the best cookie splash out there but it was my first attempt and I know there will be many many more to come. I thoroughly enjoyed taking this. It’s actually not as hard as I thought it would be. Here’s what I did

I filled the coffee almost all the way to the top, focused the camera on the tip of the mug. My settings: ISO 400 f/2.5 1/640 Set the camera on continuous shooting. Used a round rock, pressed the shutter and dropped it in... voila!!

Thoughts: 365 day 106

"We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves" ~Buddha

Kisses & Hugs !! 365 day 105

XOXO to all my blog friends !!

The Good Book: 365 day 104

"When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion." ~Abraham Lincoln

It's mid-March and: 365 day 103

it's still snowing... I'm pretty sick of it and am so ready for spring. I'm longing to take some pictures with bright spring-y colors. But I realize I'm not going to get my wish until at least mid-April so I'm trying to make the best of it. Btw, a photographer on Flickr said this picture reminded her of Narnia; I have to agree--it does have a fairytale look to it, doesn't it?

Lazy Saturday: 365 day 102

My dog Chaos enjoying a lazy relaxing nap on a lazy Saturday morning

Simplicity: 365 day 101

“The simplest things are often the truest.” ~Richard Bach

Me, Myslef and I: 365 day 100

I went through so many ideas for my 100th shot but then decided I’d go with a picture of me. I hate pictures of me but I figure I’m the staple in everything I do including my 365 project, right? So this is me, taken by me with my favorite lens the nifty fifty!!

Thanks so much for all your support; it really keeps me going on this amazing photography journey. Absolutely couldn’t have made it to 100 without you guys! Much LOVE to you…

Compassion: 365 day 99

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion ~Dalai Lama**btw, can't believe I'm one day away from 100 days of my 365 project. I'll have to think of something creative for tomorrow's picture

Deathcicles: 365 day 98

Back from our mini vacation and found some death-cicles hanging from our roof so she pulled one down and I snapped a picture of her being goofy. It also gave me a great oppertunity to practice my backlit pictures...

Just Baked: 365 day 97

While we were in Ann Arbor Naomi and I went to Just Baked a cupcake shop and bakery. Absolutely the best cupcakes I've ever eaten. Naomi thought so too...

Frozen Beach: 365 day 96

Been driving for 10+ hours to get downstate for a mini-vacation. Absolutely had to stop at the side of the road to take this picture of frozen Lake Michican. My picture doesn't do the scene justice... it was just stunning!

Peek-A-Boo: 365 day 95

Trying out some different styles of processing. Feel like I'm all over the place when it comes to my post processing--wish I could discover my style already! I know what style I like in other people's pictures but I don't really know if that's what works for me. Can't seem to recreate it in my pictures... urgh!!!

Welcome to my Diner: 365 day 94

Just a picture of my breakfast... super low on inspiration today : (

Dreaming of Summer: 365 day 93

Still snowing outside but she had "Summer/Hawaiian look" at school today so she really did it up...

Blade of Grass: 365 day 92

“The moment one gives close attention to any thing, even a blade of grass it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.” ~Henry Miller**asparagus always looks like grass to me.  Either that or I'm desperate for spring so everything green and long looks like grass to me...