Day 59

Baked potatoes. Yum! 

This was my dinner tonight. It was warm, delicious, and soft :) I've been trying to avoid hard foods because my jaw has been acting up again, and I'd rather not go through dislocating my jaw again. So, soft foods are good. 

I feel like I'm running out of ideas for my pictures. Anyone want to give me some ideas?

(F: 5.0; 1/50s; ISO 320)

Happy Monday! 

Day 58

Today I did laundry. So great :)

(f: 4.0; 1/30s; ISO 200)

Day 57

I went on a walk today. It was beautiful out :)

Day 56

This one is kind of boring, but I was out of ideas :)

(f: 6.3; 1/10s; ISO 400)

I am finally done with my BUSY week. I realized about halfway through the week that I was completing 3 credit hours in one week.... in addition to having exams in every other class. It was fun stuff.

I really enjoyed my internship this week though. The days were SO long, but I've learned so much. :)

EDIT: Actually, now that I look at it again, I do really like it. It seems to describe my life right now. In more than one way.

Day 55

I actually really like this picture. It turned out better than I could have hoped. I was actually about to stop taking pictures because I was tired and just wanted to be done (I didn't really like the pictures that I had taken before this), but I decided to take one more... and this was the one. 

It must be a theme this week, but this is also new to my room. (I already have one picture of these flowers). I spray painted the red and black vase (they were the same as the white one), and now they go with the red and black theme :)

(f:4.5; 1/30s; ISO 500)

Day 54

Along with the pictures I put up, I also bought these cork boards and spray painted them as well. :) I think I like it better in black and white, but I wanted you to see the colors :) 

(f: 4.0; 1/13s; ISO 800)

Day 53

I love kisses.... chocolate kisses that is. 

(f: 5.6; 1/25s; ISO 800) 

After I got home, I was eating one of these, and when I unwrapped one, I accidentally threw away the chocolate and kept the wrapper. I mourn the perfectly good chocolate that is now in the trash :(  

Day 52

My pictures may be pretty boring this week. It's such a crazy week. I have 3 exams. I also have to go to a three hour class that is only once a month. Along with that I am doing about 27 hours of my internship this week. That is a lot more than what I am used to. I cannot wait to be done with this week. :)

My pictures will most likely be of random household items, because I don't really know what else to do ;) 

I bought these picture frames at Target, spray painted them, and then mounted them on my wall. All for less than $5. 

I like them.

(f: 4.5; 0"3s; ISO 800)

2 Corinthians 6

We live in such a way that

no one will stumble because

of us, and no one will 

find fault with our 

ministry. 

2 Corinthians 6:3

We prove ourselves by our purity,

our understanding, our 

patience, our kindness, 

by the Holy Spirit within us,

and by our sincere love. 

2 Corinthians 6:6

We serve God whether people

honor us or despise us, whether

they slander us or praise us. 

We are ignored, even though

we are well known. We live 

close to death, but we are

still alive. We have been

beaten, but we have not been

killed. Our hearts ache, but

we always have joy. We are 

poor, but we give spiritual 

riches to others. We own 

nothing, yet we have

everything. 

2 Corinthians 6: 8-10

These few verses seemed like a wonderful reminder to me :) 

Day 51

This is a little boy from church :)

(f: 4.5; 1/50s; ISO 200)

I didn't really like many of the pictures I took today. It's hard to capture kids when they're moving all around :)

Day 50

I cannot believe I've been doing this for 50 days. It seems so much longer, yet so short at the same time.

I really don't have much for you tonight. I studied all day. Almost all of my classes have exams this week... why they all have them the same week? I don't know.

Tonight I helped out with a concert, and I thought I might be able to get some good photos there... but not really.

This is what I got.

(f: 5.0; 1/15s; ISO 800)

 At the concert there were bottles hanging from the ceiling.

This is what the picture looks like on my camera.

On the first one I pretty much changed it to sepia, and added a tiny bit of vignette.

For those of you who may be wondering, I just use Picnik to edit my photos.

Day 49

Today I bought some flowers. They're fake. But they really brighten up the room :) I like them.

(f: 4.5; 1/15s; ISO 800)

Day 48

I really don't know why I liked this picture. Maybe it's the empty room. Or maybe it's the precious boy I'm holding (or throwing in the air ;) He laughs so hard). It's probably the latter. I still don't really know. Maybe it's both. I don't know. But there's something about an empty room, how it's void of furniture. How it feels open and clean. It's different. 

(f: 7.1; 1/30s; ISO 200)

This is the only picture I took. I'm not so great with the timer thing, but hey, maybe I'll start getting better :) 

Happy Mid-Week :)

It's been a little while since I last posted (other than my daily pictures). Although I've been busy, I decided to make time to write a short post. I mean, it has been a complete month since I returned from my wonderful adventure to Ecuador, and I haven't written much since then.

That's crazy. One. ONE. 1 month. It seems so much longer, yet it has gone by so quickly.

I'm no longer afraid of sleeping my dark, quiet room all alone. YAY :) Last night I actually found it the most comforting place to be. Quiet. Warm. Peaceful. A week ago, I spent Wednesday night, all day Thursday, and almost all day Friday in my big, blue bed. (of course I was sick... but still)

In some ways, a lot has changed since the first few days that I was "home". I don't have that fear of being completely alone constantly around me. I actually enjoy being alone... at least for a few hours.

I don't feel I miss Ecuador or my family nearly as much, but it helps that I have been so busy. My days usually revolve around school, work, homework, and sleep. That's really all there is to it. With the 17 credits I'm taking. I also work 20-30 hours a week. That leaves me enough time to see friends once, maybe twice a week, take care of myself, and go to church.

Tonight I read this post, and it reminded me of the burning passion that I still do have for Ecuador. The kids there. The need there. It's easy to forget about that passion when you are so consumed with other things, but it's there.

I've also just read my sisters post on what she has been doing in Ecuador, and it makes me so jealous.

I'm happy to stay busy. I also like to remind myself of the things that I am excited for.

• My mom is coming at the end of March :) 
• Spring break (the end of March) 
• Prom (april 2nd) (this is the third year in a row that I am going with David :)) 
• The end of the semester (May 11)
• My family coming home (for a few months :) (May 24) 
• Graduation (May 27)
• Summer time :) 

Those are just a few of the bigger things. I'm sure there is more to look forward to. 

That is all I have to say for now :) 

God is GOOD. 

Happy mid-week! :) 

Day 47

It's rare that I cook for myself. I eat a lot of cereal, leftovers, ramen, quesadillas... etc... I find it somewhat pointless to cook just for myself. Plus, it takes time. Tonight I made beef stroganoff. It was one of my favorite meals growing up, and thankfully it's in the cookbook that my mom made for the family. I LOVE this cookbook. It has all of the family's favorite recipes :)

(f: 5.0; 1/25s; ISO 800)

I have a question. Does anyone ever have trouble with their camera actually taking a picture? I was having trouble tonight... I would hold down the button, and it would focus, and then I would push down all the way, and it wouldn't do anything, it wouldn't take the picture. This has happened to me before, and the only way I can figure out how to get it to take a picture is if I change the settings.

Day 46

Today we went to the park. It's been another beautiful day here in Colorado Springs. Asher tried out swinging for the first time, and he was giggling the whole time. (although it doesn't show it in the picture). Caden and Maxwell really only wanted to swing the whole time. It was quite the arm workout for me :)

(Left: f: 5.0; 1/4000; ISO 200; Right: f: 18; 1/160; ISO 200)

I always have trouble taking pictures outside. It's hard to tell how the pictures turn out, which then makes it hard to change up the settings to be the correct settings. I also hate all the shadows...

Day 45- v day

Friday, when I went shopping, I found some candy hearts. I love candy hearts. Sadly, I bought the tart candy hearts. Definitely not as good.

(f: 8.0; 1/15s; ISO 800)

I really liked the colors in this picture.

Happy v day for real.

Day 44

I'm sad to say... there will be no picture today...

Okay, I'm really not that sad, but maybe you are?

I just didn't ever take out my camera to take a picture(s) today. Today was a good day though.

With a potluck at church, a few hours in the sun at the park, spending time with people that I love, today couldn't have gotten much better.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have a picture to show  you :)

Happy Sunday!

Day 43

I walk by this everyday. Either going inside from my car, or leaving to go to my car.

(f: 9.0; 1/60s; ISO 200)

Day 42- (wo)man in the mirror

I do want to get into the habit of having myself in more photos. I'm usually the one that is behind the camera (although I do enjoy being in front of the camera as well) and there are fewer and fewer pictures of me. I know in the future, I will enjoy seeing pictures of myself, and my future kids will enjoying seeing pictures of their mom when she was "young" :) 

(F: 4.0; 1/25s; ISO 800)

Day 41

I got this necklace for Valentines Day. I like it a lot.

(f: 5.6; 1/80s; ISO 500) 

I'm not a big fan of valentines day, but happy early valentines day to you all!

Day 40

I would have posted yesterday, but then I got sick. Like, throw up, achey body sick. I feel quite a bit better today (although still not back to normal) and here's my picture for yesterday.

(f: 5.6; 1/10s; ISO 1600)

I had my friends David and Travis come over to help me with my computer, and Poncho was so scared of them that he ran and hid under my desk. It was so funny. Poor puppy.

I think this would have been a better picture if I had messed around more with lighting. I know I've been told to try with a higher ISO, but with my camera it only goes up to ISO 1600. I have the Canon Rebel xs, which I believe is the lowest quality Canon Rebel (Compared to the xsi, or the t1i or t2i.) Am I right?... but I LOVE it, and I'm enjoying learning how to do more, and more with it :)

I also want to try to start using my telephoto lens that I have, but I keep forgetting because I usually have my other lens on my camera!

Day 39

I like the superbowl. I just don't like cleaning up after the superbowl. This is what the kitchen where I work looked like.

(f:3.5; 1/60s; ISO 1600)

Day 38

I ran out of time... this is the best I could do... it's kind of lame. I realized that it was going to be a bit hard to capture because as soon as I took my camera in to the steamed filled bathroom, it would fog up.

(f:22; 0"5s; ISO 1600)

 This one is just for fun (I took it last week). How cute is he???

Day 37

I like the superbowl for several reasons: the social aspect... and the food. 

Lydia and Caiden seem to be very enthralled with the... half time show? It's was pretty horrible. The Black Eyed Peas were not good at all.

(f:4.5; 1/8s; ISO 1600)

The rest of the pictures are just for fun. 

Grady's face in this is priceless. 

Notice the brownie in Caiden's mouth. He can do pull ups and still eat fatty food. 

It was cute. 

Grady was proud of himself for climbing up on that chair all by himself :) 

Sorry about the horrible lighting! 

Day 36

Tonight I babysat the cutest, funniest, most energetic, and mischievous little boys. Seriously, they make me laugh out loud. for real.

(f:4.5; 1/15s; ISO 1600)

How can you even resist them??? This is when they were actually calm. I put on a song for them. They enjoyed it.

I love me some Caiden and Grady :)

Aren't they the cutest brothers?? They do EVERYTHING together.

Day 35- Say Yes to Mess?

Today I was in one of those moods... you know the mood, where you just want to say yes to everything? If the kids ask you if they can have popcorn for lunch, you say yes. If they want to dump said popcorn all over the table, you let them. If they want to go out to the car barefoot, you let them, and then they later start wishing they had shoes because their feet are FREEZING. It was one of those days where I let the kids do more or less what they wanted, but then let them discover the consequences that come from some of the (not so good) decisions. I think Maxwell will want to wear shoes when we pick up Caden from school next time. Just sayin'.

(f: 5.6; 1/80s; ISO 1600) 

Day 34

Today I really had no inspiration.  I also realized that throughout this year, there will be many days where I have no inspiration. I mean it could last for weeks at a time. Oh well, my hope is that I become a better photographer by the end.

(Left: f: 3.5; 1/80s; ISO: 1600. Right: f: 4.0; 1/80s; ISO 1600) 

Maxwell loves to mop. Definitely his favorite way to help :)

Day 33- camera strap

This is definitely not the best picture that I've taken, but I am so excited to show you what I made! I found the idea on a blog, and I wanted to try and make it myself! Surprisingly I made it and it turned out quite nicely! This is where I found instructions, and it is SO incredibly easy. :)

(f 4.0; 1/6s; ISO 1600; 35 mm) 

I can now dress up my camera! and the strap isn't itchy around my neck anymore! If you use your camera a lot, I suggest you try this :) Even the most incompetent person at sewing can do it, I mean, I did :)

I was too lazy to take the strap off of my camera, which made it harder to capture a decent picture. But that's okay. I'm allowed to be lazy :) It's a snow day!

Day 32

I'm managing to stay warm in this -4 degree weather. Yay for hot chocolate! :)

(f: 3.5; 1/125s; ISO 1600)