Photo Shoot!

 Photo shoot with my sister; Alyxandra Rose ^_^

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Scripture & a Snapshot

I had a lot of fun last time I did this.  There were so many other results that I enjoyed looking at!

Here is my picture for this week: 

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Sonic Screwdriver!!!

I got the really amazing Sonic Screwdriver for Christmas!  It's the 9th/10th Doctor's, but mostly the 10th as that is what was on the box :P  It is so fun to watch David Tennant run around with this thing.  Mine lights up and has a pen at the bottom.  The pen is interchangeable with an invisible ink pen that only the UV light (black light) at the tip can decode.  ooohhh....  

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Audio 4 - Book of a Thousand Days

A book by one of my favorite authors: Shannon Hale!  Book of a Thousand Days very good.  I have enjoyed her other books (The Books of Bayern, and Princess Academy) and this one as well.  Perhaps not quite so much as the others, as I did not relate to Dashti so much as Isi or Miri, but the story was very enjoyable.  Full Cast Audio did an amazing job with recording the book! I am rarely let down with their adaptations.

"When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years for Saren’s refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment.

As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. But the arrival outside the tower of Saren’s two suitors—one welcome, and the other decidedly less so—brings both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.

With Shannon Hale’s lyrical language, this forgotten but classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm is reimagined and reset on the central Asian steppes; it is a completely unique retelling filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise." - from Amazon

I would suggest reading some books by Shannon Hale; I have read and listened to them several times, and enjoy each book every time I revisit it!

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Cat Speech Bubbles

I had some fun giving my cats phrases in speech bubbles XD

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Rory with Speech Bubble

This is what I found Rory doing this morning.  Like a true photographer, I ran and got my camera instead of getting him off the curtains. . .    XD

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Scripture & a Snapshot

I decided to link up with this very cool Photography idea: combining Bible verses and my photography together.  I had been wanting to do this for a while, and this blog helped finally get me motivated!  Here is the button leading to the challenge:

And now, here is my picture.

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Photography Experiment!!!

Perhaps no surprise to anyone, I was yet again inspired for another photography project.  I was actually pleased with the results!  Here are some of my favorites ^_^  They are Limes or Blueberries in Sierra Mist (I didn't label them, as I thought you could tell which is which ;)  I think I really like the "Fruit in Bubbles" technique!

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Book 7 - Hamlet

My seventh book of the year - Hamlet by William Shakespeare.  This has, probably, been my favorite Shakespeare I have read so far (which includes Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, Taming of the Shrew, and Henry V)  Some of this reason may be the fact that we watched the movie with David Tennant staring as Hamlet, so throughout the play I had his voice running through my head :P  Also, Hamlet has many soliloquies (parts of the play where he talks to himself/the audience) so for this character I could see what he was thinking, which frequently doesn't happen in Shakespeare's plays.  

I used The Annotated Shakespeare to read this play, which, like Folgers, has notes to help you with words you don't know, phrases that don't make sense, or definitions that have changed over time.  These were quite useful, as always, but I found myself looking at them less over the course of this play.  I am finally getting used to the flow of Shakespeare's words!  This was definitely enjoyable!

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Children Photography - Paint the Moon

Photographing kids is always an adventure, if your the parent, child, or the photographer.  I stumbled across this post at Paint the Moon that gives some amazing tips on how to get those wonderful, beautiful smiles and expressions, not the cheesy grin or dejected pout XD  Here is the link to this post:  Capturing Real Smiles and Expressions in Children's Photos | Photoshop Actions for Photographers by Paint the Moon   I would definitely suggest checking it out!  It certainly gave me some insight!

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Audio Book 3 - Boston Jane

My third audio book finished this year; Boston Jane by Jennifer L. Holm.  This book was enjoyable.  I definitely liked the reader, who could perform several accents quite well.  The story line was very good, though there were some parts about the Indian's gods which were, though not promoted or demoted, a bit...strange.  There were a few creepy/unnerving scenes with ghosts, of all things, but nothing terribly scary.  All in all it was about a "young lady" on the frontier, and I enjoyed it!  I will probably look for the next book in the series eventually :)

1855. The unknown wilds of the Pacific Northwest—a land not yet tamed, and certainly not fitting for a proper young lady! Yet that’s just where Miss Jane Peck finds herself. After a tumultuous childhood on the wrong side of Philadelphia high society, Jane is trying to put aside her reckless ways and be accepted as a proper young lady. And so when handsome William Baldt proposes, she joyfully accepts and prepares to join him in a world away from her home in Washington Territory. But Miss Hepplewhite’ s straitlaced finishing school was hardly preparation for the treacherous months at sea it takes to get there, the haunting loss she’ll face on the way, or the colorful characters and crude life that await her on the frontier." - Amazon

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My Pygmy Puff

This is Puffskein.  Isn't he so cute?  I was playing with my mom's zoom lens, which I haven't truly practiced with before.  Puffskein was one of my subjects ^_^

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Audio Book 2 - Wrapped

This is the second audio book I have listened too so far this year: Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury.  This book is set in the 1800's and was amazing!  The reader also had a lovely voice.  I very much enjoyed listen to her British accent.  Several references to Jane Austen and Mr. Darcy ^_^  A beautiful and intriguing mystery.

"Agnes Wilkins is standing in front of an Egyptian mummy, about to make the first cut into the wrappings, about to unlock ancient (and not-so-ancient) history. 

Maybe you think this girl is wearing a pith helmet with antique dust swirling around her. 

Maybe you think she is a young Egyptologist who has arrived in Cairo on camelback. 

Maybe she would like to think that too. Agnes Wilkins dreams of adventures that reach beyond the garden walls, but reality for a seventeen-year-old debutante in 1815 London does not allow for camels—or dust, even. No, Agnes can only see a mummy when she is wearing a new silk gown and standing on the verdant lawns of Lord Showalter’s estate, with chaperones fussing about and strolling sitar players straining to create an exotic “atmosphere” for the first party of the season. An unwrapping. 

This is the start of it all, Agnes’s debut season, the pretty girl parade that offers only ever-shrinking options: home, husband, and high society. It’s also the start of something else, because the mummy Agnes unwraps isn't just a mummy. It’s a host for a secret that could unravel a new destiny—unleashing mystery, an international intrigue, and possibly a curse in the bargain. 

Get wrapped up in the adventure . . . but keep your wits about you, dear Agnes." - Amazon

Definitely a recommended book!!!

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Random Portraits

This afternoon Elizabeth and I went outside to take some pictures.  It was very cold, but we still had so much fun!  These were some of the results ^_^  (these are all portraits of her that I took.  The portraits of me I have yet to play with/look at as closely.)

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Random Word Picture 2

I have been uncertain of what to use for this word: Isolating.  Today Elizabeth and I went outside to take some random pictures, and upon editing this one with the contrast bar found that it actually seemed to fit.  It looks like she is alone on the street, and it looks more gloomy and dusk-like.  Of course I was there too ;)  It almost looks like she is cut off from the world, running.  (Though in reality she was twirling and skipping and grinning.)

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Fuzzy Snuggle

Tonight Rory came to cuddle with me.  When I moved, he didn't, instead staying to lay on the warm blanket.   So I draped the end I had been using over him.  He stayed just like that, sleeping, all snuggled up, for a while.  SO CUTE!!!!  

I am not sure which is my favorite, but I am quite partial to the third and fourth :)

My Boys ^_^

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Random Picture ^_^

Upon sifting through my files, I found this cute picture of Aly's feet.  I didn't like it before, for some reason, but I actually found that it wasn't too bad :)  By changing it to B&W and upping the contrast, it really made a difference in the photo!

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Some Photos :)

As was mentioned on my photo blog I took several pictures today in attempt to try to find the "right" picture of the day.  These are two others that I liked ^_^

I've been knitting . . . again . . .  ;)  (maybe this hat will actually fit me)

 Playing with White Balance!  And other things XD

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Audio Book 1 - Princess Ben

I also decided to keep track of all the audio books I listen to this year, since I like to listen to them at night before I fall asleep.  The first one I chose (and borrowed from the library's digital library) was Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock.  Unabridged, recorded by Brilliance Audio, and read by the author. I did enjoy this book, though not as much as others I have read.  There were some parts that would have made slow reading, but as I was listening to them, I didn't turn it off as I would have set a book down to go do something else for a bit.  Also, as it was read by the author, she put some amusing and enjoyable emphasis into some of the scenes.  The characters were enjoyable, though Ben was not the most charming heroine for a while, until she realized how unkind and apathetic she had been.  Still, the plot was rather good, and I enjoyed following her journey before I fell asleep.

"Benevolence is not your typical princess and Princess Ben is certainly not your typical fairy tale. With her parents lost to unknown assassins, Princess Ben ends up under the thumb of the conniving Queen Sophia, who is intent on marrying her off to the first available “specimen of imbecilic manhood.” Starved and miserable, locked in the castle’s highest tower, Ben stumbles upon a mysterious enchanted room. So begins her secret education in the magical arts: mastering an obstinate flying broomstick, furtively emptying the castle pantries, setting her hair on fire . . . But Ben’s private adventures are soon overwhelmed by a mortal threat facing the castle and indeed the entire country. Can Princess Ben save her kingdom from annihilation and herself from permanent enslavement?"  From Amazon

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