Day 20 - 4/30/07

Where did these come from???

See yesterday's early morning shadow picture - these were not here yesterday!

They're here today though! Although it is nice to see that the weed prevention stuff I put on the lawn last summer is still working to some extent - since our hose would only reach so far, I could only get the small square that is between the house and the red car. Notice how there are almost no dandelions to the left of the photo - they really pick up as you go right. I'm planning to buy a longer hose this year, plus a connector to hook two hoses together so that we can get a lot more of the lawn this time.

Day 19 - 4/29/07

I was all set to have a "shadowy" post today, but unfortunately the sun was not completely cooperative for me. So I have both shadows and silhouettes today.

First photo: front yard shadows, early morning, shortly after I arrive home from work. The second photo was supposed to be afternoon/evening shadows, right after I get up, but alas, it's cloudy this afternoon and there are no shadows in the yard.



Second photo: trees a few houses down backlit by the setting sun. I walked outside searching for where the sun might be, and this is where I found it. You can also see those pesky clouds blocking the sun from helping me with my shadow day.

Day 18 - 4/28/07

A few weather shots today.

I woke up this afternoon to a thunderstorm. I never checked it myself but DH tells me that we had pretty much the only storm in the state - it was a few miles wide and just slowly making its way across Michigan.
This first one shows our driveway being pelted by hard rain.

Second photo: clouds over the house - can you see the sun trying to come out? (upper right corner)

Third photo: It's hailing in this one - hard to tell that it's hail but I like that you can actually see something falling! You can also see the rain and hail bouncing off the road. The blotchy-blurry effect is caused by taking the photo through the storm window of our screen door, which was wet with rain.

Day 17 - 4/27/07

This is a group of DH's friends. He is a graduate student, and a member of an honor society (Pi Sigma Alpha, Political Science Honor Society to be exact). This past year he has served as President. This was taken at their initiation last night. As you can see, it is not a large group.
My DH is the first one in the back row (left side). I think he looked really nice in this photo.

Day 16 - 4/26/07

This is an older photo, but I think a funny one. I was trying on dresses for my BIL's upcoming wedding (I'm a bridesmaid) and my mother came along to take pictures because I asked her to (I also knew that she'd tell me if a dress looked bad on me - I wanted someone on my side). This is one of my favorites from that day, despite it's being out of focus. I'm the one in green, talking to someone off-camera. My mother is the one reflected in the mirror, holding my camera (and obviously, snapping a pic of me). We both got a huge laugh out of it when I was looking through the pictures and pointed out - "Mom, you took a self-portrait!"

Day 15 - 4/25/07

The sun was not cooperating to give me nice shadows, but this bee decided to land on one of our dandelions while I was outside, so I took a picture of him instead. I was hoping for a nice side shot, but right as I snapped it, he mooned me!

Day 14 - 4/24/07

I came up with this one as I looked back at the window to make sure the blinds hadn't sagged. It's a long set of binds and they tend to sag, but I didn't want them resting on the leaves. I looked and realized that my view from inside the house was a great silhouette of the plant.

This is my African Violet, and I am very proud of it. Usually when I get one of these it just dies off - no matter what I do. This one has not only lived, it has thrived. It even re-grew some flowers at one point (although right now it's in a "no flowers" phase). I tend to be a plant killer - unintentionally, but it's still true. I do well for a while but then they just die off on me. This one has been going strong for almost a year now. My only higher record is a Christmas Cactus I was given as a Christmas gift one year - that one is over a year old and still alive. Yay for me and my two living plants.

Day 13 - 4/23/07

I'm a big reader. This is only one of the books I am reading currently. I really like this author - he's great at alternate history. This particular book is about how the US got into World War Two. In this book, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, they didn't stop there - they also launched an attack on the rest of Hawaii and took over the islands.

I love history, and as it turns out, I REALLY love alternate history. This author has been called "The Master of 'What If'" - and it is so true. He writes alternate history as if it were the real thing. It's sometimes hard to believe that it did not really happen the way it is depicted in the books - the stories feel that real.

Day 12 - 4/22/07

I joined Weight Watchers yesterday. I know many people who have had a lot of success with it and I am hoping that it works for me as well. I get 31 points per day, and so far I haven't had much trouble staying within that range. The real test will be Monday - it's the day I am awake the longest and that I actually eat the most. I guess that Mondays will be the day that I use some (or all) of my weekly points (35 points per week are allowed as "freebies").

Day 11 - 4/21/07

I was just trying to decide what to post when there was a knock on my door - I opened it to find Jehovah's Witnesses on my doorstep! To my knowledge, this is the first time in over five years that ANYONE has come by our house to proselytize to us. I did what I was brought up to do with anyone who comes to the door for that purpose: stay at the door, listen politely, accept their books, and thank them for stopping by. I have nothing against anyone who is a Jehovah's Witness - I simply am not interested in becoming one myself. I am a Lutheran, and happy that way.

Day 10 - 4/20/07

At a complete loss for what to photograph, I picked up my camera and took a shot of my computer screen of a message I had posted on FROGs. On that particular board, that's how the ladies know me. On other boards, I have different looks. Each one is different, and yet each is truly, uniquely, ME.

Day 9 - 4/19/07

I am a NASCAR fan! If you had asked me 10 years ago what I thought of NASCAR, I would have said that I thought it was stupid and pointless. Now, I just love it. I can't really describe what made me change my mind, but I did. Now I tape the races on the weekend and watch them during the week. This photo shows the television screen during a pit stop for our favorite driver, Matt Kenseth. He ended up finishing this race in 2nd place, and is now 3rd in the points standings. We're glad to see him in the top 10!!

Day 8 - 4/18/07

My yarn crafting is a very big part of who I am. DH says I have an addiction to yarn - I tell him that there are worse things I could be addicted to!

I make and sell these beaded socks. Everyone loves them!

The books I photographed were Christmas gifts from friends. Neither had spoken with the other about what they were going to get me - one got me a knitting book and a pair of needles, the other got me a crochet book and a set of hooks. They know me well!!

The two yarn photos show only a small portion of my collection of yarn. A very small portion.

I took a picture of my knitting needles and crochet hooks - again, this is not all of them.

Day 7 - 4/17/07

Friends.

I am a friend. When I make friendships, I tend to make strong ones. I have very few "acquaintances only" friendships. This photo shows a portrait of me with my three closest friends.

Online friendships are a little different - the very nature of them leaves some closeness out of the equation. However, I find that I often form very close friendships online as well. With some of my online friends, I feel as close to them as I am to any of my in-person friends.
The biggest difference between online and offline friendships for me is my boldness. In reality, I would never just approach a group of people and ask to join them. Online, I have no trouble doing just that.

Day 6 - 4/16/07

I am never without my sunglasses. I wear them all the time - and get made fun of because they're still on even when it's midnight and pitch black outside. This is the most common place to see them, and it honestly feels strange when they're not there.

I even wear them at the dentist's office to keep that bright light out of my eyes.

This ended up being easier to get than I had expected it to be. I was going to have DH take the picture, then I came up with the idea of holding the camera up over my head and attempting to aim at the sunglasses.

What's really interesting to me is that if I didn't know better, I would have sworn that this was a picture of my sister.

Day 5 - 4/15/07

DH's dice.

DH is a big gamer. He loves D & D, and plays as often as he can. I have played a few times, but it's not as fun for me. Yesterday he had a friend over and they played for several hours. I interjected a few comments here & there, but I didn't do much else.

The dice are sitting on his DM screen, next to the pencils he uses to update the maps and character sheets.

Day 4 - 4/14/07

Disney Clothes.

These are a couple of outfits I made for a friend's daughter. They're going on a trip to Disney World next week and I thought she'd like these. I'm going to be making a pair of overalls for her son in the Mickey fabric so that the kids can match. They're pretty little (4 and almost 2) so it's still very cute to see them in matching clothes.

Day 3 - 4/13/07

I love to sew. Lately I've been doing a lot more. Some of it is for me, some is for others. Today I have been working on a couple of cute outfits for a friend's daughter.
This is slightly out of focus, but then again so are my eyes after several hours of sewing!

Day 2 - 4/12/07

Today I woke up to find the snow trying to melt. But apparently we had some little visitors last night. Here is the evidence - they left footprints!





I wasn't sure how good the focus would be on these because it was so bright outside while I was taking them.



These were on our front sidewalk, just outside the door. Lucky I took the photos when I did, since DH went out and shoveled the walk right after I came back in with the camera!

Day 1 - 4/11/07

This week's theme is "The Little Things" - so my first photos are....

April Snowflakes

Getting Started

I discovered something really fun on Mommy Zone - it's called the 365 Project. I decided to join up and see what I could come up with. Unfortunately, I have nothing on my computer to edit photos with, so for now my photos won't be all that exciting. However, as soon as we can manage to get me something to edit with - I'll be having all kinds of fun!!

There is a weekly theme, but the basic idea is that you take a photograph of something - anything - every day for 365 days.

I'm really excited to see how this blog looks next year at this time.