New Year's Resolution...

Fact is, I'm pretty good at writing in my journal everyday. Perhaps it's come from years of habit, but I am really consistent at it. As far as blogging everyday goes, I stink at it. But I want to do better.

I've realized lately that I need to start challenging myself everyday to look at things a little bit differently. Maybe it was an epiphany I received from watching the latest episode of Survivorman (of all places) and taking a tidbit of his good wisdom to heart. "By challenging yourself to look at things a little bit differently, and little bit of ingenuity, the possibilities are endless." This is the challenge I'm giving to myself this new year. Everyday I want to find subject matter to photograph. From things that are simple, to those that are wonderfully complex, and intricately beautiful. Everyday something different.

For me, it starts by stopping myself in my busy life to breathe, then challenging myself to see beyond what I saw at first glance to see how line, balance, texture and form work together to create art. It requires effort on my part. But I love being in that place where I see the world differently. It truly makes me happy.

Tell me, what things do you do to help yourself look at things differently? What do you do to stretch your mind creatively? I'd love to hear your responses...

December Photography Challenge...

So this week I enlisted in a little photography challenge that I'm SO incredibly excited about. Basically you capture the holiday season through your camera. http://www.tredways.org/2008/11/25/december-photo-project-2008/ I've gotten a little bit of a late start, but didn't want to wait until tomorrow to make my first post. So I was sitting in my living room contemplating what I was going to take pictures of. As I was staring into the warm glow of the Christmas tree, I was reminded how much I love white christmas lights. I heart them with all of my soul. If I could hang white christmas lights up all year round I would. I would stream them across my bedroom ceiling and sleep under a canopy of warm glowiness. That was it! I whipped out my camera and started taking pictures. I got a little crazy...I'm sure my roommates think I'm so weird.

Over the next few weeks I'd love to see some of the photos you take that capture the season as you see it. Feel free to post your links with mine. This is Day 2, so you'd better get snapping!

Texas troops...

These past four days have been pretty crazy. Basically, I became a single parent of four kids and two dogs overnight. Not literally of course. My brother and sister-in-law went to San Francisco for a vacation, so I've been sitting their kids. It was a good swift kick in the reality for me of what awaits with parenting. Parenting is like multi-tasking at it's best. To be quite honest, I'm not sure how moms do it everyday. Everytime I turned around it was like some toy, article of clothing, or something just appeared out of nowhere. And trying to keep the floor clean throughout the day was more like trying to "shovel snow off the driveway during a snowstorm" (as my sister calls it) than anything else. So hats off to you moms!!! Granted, I didn't exactly work my way up to it over the course of nine years, it was more like baptism by fire in a lot of ways. I knew it was going to be tough going into it, but let's face it.....kids grow up way to fast and you've just got to enjoy them while you can despite the moments of intensity that without a doubt just happen. Unfortunately, the distance between Texas and Utah keep me from spending more time with them. It was a good chance for me to spend some time with them.

On Monday we all sat down and had a "planning meeting" where we outlined all of the things we needed to do, and the things we wanted to do together on a big piece of posterboard. Then, we voted on two out of three of some fun activities to do after homework and chores were finished. They chose to decorate the house for Halloween, and to go to the local Pumpkin Patch and pick out pumpkins to paint. I took some pictures of them while we were there. Now, I know I may be biased, but I really do think that they are some of the most adorable kids. Here are some of my faves...

Stepping out of a rut...

So I've decided that I want to make my blog more interesting. Let's face it, even I've gotten a little bit bored with my blog lately and can't imagine how everyone else feels. Lately I've been swamped with photography. I've been working with a high school taking their yearbook pictures and it's taken most of my time, hence the lack of new entries on my blog. That, and I've just felt a sense of complacency with my entries. So I've decided to spice things up a little bit by offering different contests, etc. I have to admit, I'm a little bit of a junkie when it comes to reading comments on my blog. What is it about that anyways? So here's how it will work. If the prize for the contest is a photosession or something along those lines then it will apply to locals only. That is, unless I'll be visiting your city or you'll be visiting mine within 3 months time. So all you Texans whom I'll be visiting next week, pay very close attention.... Anyways, most of the give-aways will be based on comments left by you. Now, you can only have one entry....it doesn't mean that you can't have your spouse leave one...or a relative. But sadly, you may only enter once. I'm looking forward to giving away some pretty stellar stuff, so you'll have to make sure to tell all of your friends. Happy blogging!