Thirty-One Days of Photos: Day 14

I'll be the first to admit, this is a pretty low-quality picture, but sometimes you've got to work with what you've got. Tonight, it was just the cell phone.


Clinton High School's A Capella Choir performed at our church tonight. It was fun to see Hannah, Lindsey and John, and the group sang beautifully. Of course, free pie Wednesday at Village Inn afterward was the best part. :)

I don't have much else to add. I'm about to pass out in my bed, so I'll have to save the reflective part of the post for later. Thanks, as always, for keeping up with my blog entries. I love hearing from you that you're checking my pictures and reading my posts. It means a lot!

Thirty-One Days of Photos: Day 13

On Day 13, I am featuring the best 13-year-old I know...


Tonight was another home game for my brother's basketball team. This time we played West Carroll, a public school team, and dominated. The boys led for most of the game, finishing with a score of 33-28. It was pretty exciting and intense at times, and needless to say, my mom and I were yelling... a lot.

I'm pretty sure Michael knew I was taking this picture, hence the hint of a smile on his face. He also knew I was yelling the whole time, but isn't that what big sisters are supposed to do? Or maybe it's just me, because sports bring out my bad side.

So you know those moments where you wish you could freeze time? This month has been made up of a lot of those moments. There have been so many instances where I wish I could just stop time and keep that moment forever. I guess it's good I'm keeping this photo-a-day blog, because in some ways I'm getting to do that.

It's true that the older you get, the faster time goes. And while granted, sometimes I just want to get through life, other times I can't get it to slow down. Every little moment, every conversation, every relationship is so important. None of them can last forever it seems, but I can't help myself in wanting them to.

So I'll go on keeping this little treasure trove of moments, the precious memories that have made this year one of the best.

Thirty-One Days of Photos: Day 12

I know today's photo isn't overly exciting, but I do have a surprise as well.


I finally started reading this book today. It's the third and final book in the Hunger Games series, and though I finished the second one a while ago, I didn't have a chance to start this one until today. I finished the first chapter between coming home from work and heading to my brother's basketball game.

I really like Suzanne Collins' writing style in these books and the way she makes the main character (and narrator) reason and process the situations around her. She's also had good character development and conflict, so I'm looking forward to finding out how she finishes the series.

My surprise is that I also have a guest photo for today! This next photo was taken by my mom (and edited a little by me).


We went to Manny's Too in Fulton tonight after my brother's basketball game. On the dining room side of the restaurant, there are always senior pictures and portraits on display by a local photographer. My mom started talking about how she wants to take photos of hands and feet. I happened to have my digital SLR in my bag, so I dug it out and passed it over to her.

Being anti-flash, she got stuck with my pre-set options, but I thought this one turned out really great. I liked the lighting, the depth of field and the composition. So, as a way to make up for having a fairly blah photo for today, I decided I'd make it a guest photo and share it with you all.

Thirty-One Days of Photos: Day 11

Today's photo is of one of my favorite ornaments on my tree. I love it not so much for what it is, but what it reminds me of when I look at it.


This ornament was given to me by my "first Denver friend," or at least that's what I call her. Her name is Margaret. She was the first person that reached out to me before I even moved to Colorado in 2009. And she was one of the few people who stuck beside me after everything sort of crashed and burned in my life.

You could say she took me under her wing that year. She invited me to church, had me over, and her family invited me to spend Thanksgiving with them that year so I wouldn't be alone. They celebrated the holiday up in Estes Park, and it was my first time going up there. The elk love that area and roam freely around Rocky Mountain National Park which is nearby.

Margaret bought me this ornament as a reminder of that Thanksgiving, but it also reminds me of another time we went up to Estes Park. She and her husband Jon took me on my last camping trip in October of last year. It was unseasonably warm up in the mountains, so we took advantage of it and met up with a group of their friends in Rocky Mountain National Park.

The elk were in mating season mode and bugling all night long. I remember the sound echoing across the park, and I remember the stars, so many of them. I was trying to take timed shots, but I only captured a fraction of what you could see. I remember that trip every time I look at this blog; my header picture was taken the next morning. You can see a hint of smoke from the breakfast campfire, the sun just beginning to peek over the mountain tops.

And I remember that trip when I look at my ornament. I remember feeling unlovable, but friends like Margaret reminded me that there was more to my life than my mistakes. I remember feeling alone, but not when Margaret and I would go out for a girls' night and dance away our worries. I remember the snowy night I lost my job, and Margaret drove 30 minutes just so I wouldn't be alone.

Sure, when I look at the ornament I think of a quaint little mountain town. That's what it's all about at face value. But there is so much more behind it. There is the reminder of a true friend, what one looks like, and what I hope to be.