Day Fifteen: Kissing & Day Sixteen: Together

I had planned on combining day fifteen and day sixteen of the Joy of Love. Day fifteen was all about kissing and capturing you kissing your loved one or your kids kissing your husband, kids kissing each other, dog kissing kids, etc. Day sixteen was about taking a picture with your loved one. We had to use a tripod and self timer for this one. So, I thought I would take a picture of me kissing Zak while using the tripod and self timer...I know, genius right? Well, you can see in my picture we are not kissing. I tried it by kissing Zak on the cheek but I felt cheesy and it looked cheesy. So I'm going with this. Me looking at Zak laughing (with him) knowing that I'm not kissing him. If you don't know the background of this picture and know how many I took before this was achieved you might find this cute. Hopefully you still will...I do but I'm biased.

Day Fourteen: Wedding Bands/Jewelry

Day Fourteen was to photograph your wedding bands or a piece of jewelry someone you love gave you. I am cheating a bit on this one. I wanted to show a picture I took on Zak and I's first wedding anniversary. Zak bought me flowers for the occasion and I took a picture of our wedding bands on one of the flower petals. I have always loved this picture and wanted to share.

Day Thirteen: Routines

Day thirteen of the Joy of Love was about your loved ones routines. Zak work outs just about everyday. He is either weight lifting and working out on the eliptical or just the eliptical. So, I'm capturing Zak today at his number one routine. Can I just say how much he loves me photographing him working out....j/k but he is a trooper!

Day Twelve: The Eyes

Did you think I forgot about the Joy of Love? Lets just say it's much harder than I thought to do a photo class and blog everyday. Things have been a little busy around here lately but I'm catching up! Day Twelve was all about The Eyes. We were to capture our loved ones eyes. There were many ways to do this such as, wearing glasses, them reading, their laugh lines, etc. I wanted to show this picture of Maggie. I love this picture of her yawning.

Eat, Pray, Love

My college roommate, Jennifer, brought an idea up to me. Read Eat, Pray, Love and blog about it. Mention blogging and I'm intrigued. If you haven't read the book or watched the movie, it is about one woman's journey to self discovery.

I feel like this has come at a good time in my life. I too need some self discovery. I've been struggling with this since I got out of college and more here recently for some reason. I always thought: go to college, get good job. Well, I studied hard in college, made the dean's list every semester, graduated with a bachelor's degree, made cum laude but the job never came. I didn't have Plan B because Plan A was fail proof...so I thought.

Zak and I went out and bought Eat, Pray, Love the other night and then decided to take a drive. We do this often, usually in the day time. This time it was dark and we just drove. There wasn't much to see and we had no plan but we always enjoy these types of drives. With the book Eat, Pray, Love still on my lap from Target it was a little ironic. I realized my life was a lot like this particular drive tonight. I'm having fun along the way but my path is still very undecided and a little dark at times. There are a lot of things and decisions that are overwhelming but I keep on driving hoping that something will show itself. I sometimes wonder if my self will ever be discovered.

It is hard to say at 25 what you want to do for the rest of your life and then feeling confident when you think you have reached a decision. I'm hoping this book will give me a little insight and little hope that one day things will work out. They have to right?

I do have to say I'm lucky in love. I have the best husband anyone could ask for and that I'm so in love with. He supports me and encourages me with everything I do. I'm not looking for pity. I'm a very lucky person! I got to go to college and marry my childhood sweetheart. I have the best family anyone could ask for. I have a roof over my head and a job. I just needed to talk and I hope that one day I'll find my own Eat, Pray, Love.

So, here I go...onto another journey, another book, and another woman's story of how she found her way through life.

Day Eleven: Dreams

Day Eleven is about Dreams and what our loved ones want to accomplish or do someday. Zak's dream is to build a hot rod. I have heard of this dream since we first met. It is something he is determined to do and we will make it happen one day. But how do you show this in a picture...hmmm....I decided to work on my selective focusing while Zak showed me one of his model cars that is the closest to what he wants to build one day. He says he doesn't have a model car of the exact one he wants to build (Don't worry. They all look the same to me too). I thought this looks pretty good though. My hubby makes it so cute!

Day Ten: Space

Day Ten was about spaces and where your loved ones are the most comfortable. I had a hard time with this one. I couldn't think of a way to portray this. I had several ideas and no clue how to make it come across in a picture. I went with Maggie and her ball. I don't know if she is comfortable but this is a routine for her every. single. night. She stares at this ball and waits for Zak to throw it all while I am trying to zone this out. It can be noisy! I'm not crazy about this picture but I'm going with it!

Day Nine: Passions and Hobbies

You might have noticed I'm a bit behind in the Joy of Love. I'm catching up tonight before I sit down and watch last nights CSI with my hubby. Day nine was about your loved ones passions and hobbies. Zak is very talented at a lot of things and drawing is one of them. I decided to take a picture of a drawing he is working on. He didn't design this hot rod but did draw it free hand. He loves doing these small projects for fun. He loves rendering too. This one isn't completed but he's almost there.

Day Eight: Gift from the Heart

Day Eight for the Joy of Love is about a gift from the heart. The assignment was to capture a picture of a gift that was given to you from the heart. I have a ton from Zak that are really meaningful. The jewelry he gave me on our wedding day, my camera, my engagement ring when he asked me to marry him. The list goes on but I wanted to share something else that is very special to me. My little rocking chair. When I recieved this chair from my Mema and Granddaddy it was the perfect size for me. It was a tradition that they started and that my parents have continued today. My Graddaddy passed away shortly after but I will always have this rocking chair. It sits in our apartment right now and hopefully one day in a nursery.

Day Seven: Generations

Day Seven of the Joy of Love is about Generations. Getting together kids, grandparents, grandchildren and capturing all the generations in your family. I will do this lesson but not right now. When I can get my family together and Zak's family together we will make it happen but until then...

Today's camera tips were just to keep practicing metering and selective focal points.

Day Six: Who They Love

Day Six in the Joy of Love was about Who They Love. I had to ask Zak who he loved besides me. We were going to take this picture with him holding Maggie. I was going to work on my selective focal points as well. When Zak picked up Maggie, her most beloved yellow monster squeaky toy came with her. So, I captured who Zak loves and who Maggie loves all in one.

Notice my selective focusing!

My Passport has Finally Arrived

I got my passport today! I can now leave the country!!

Puppy Sleepover with a Trip to the Emergency Vet

Friday evening we were dogsitting Ella, a boston Terrier. Not only is she Zak's Mom's dog but Maggie's BFF. We were excited and looking forward to having them two together. They played non stop for several hours. A couple of pit stops here and there but they were having fun. Even Zak got in on the fun.

About 11pm we were getting ready for bed. Zak ran the dogs out and I was making my lunch for work the next day. When they came back in Maggie started to have a seizure. She had never had one until then and we were scared. I ran and got dressed and we grabbed Ella and Maggie and headed for the emergency vet. By the time we got there Maggie had stopped seizuring but started having muscle tremors that were just as scary. The doctors told us that she may have eaten something like a dead animal that was toxic and it caused the seizure. Her blood work came back fine but they needed to keep her for 24 hours on an IV and had to give her muscle relaxers to stop the tremors. We left that night with just Ella and thus ended the sleepover. I called the vet first thing the next day and they said Maggie was doing better and would probably get to go home that night...which she did. She still seems fine now but we can't let her play or jump or climb stairs for 3 days. She is miserable that she can't see her buddy Ella until Wednesday.

Maggie's shaved leg from her IV

Day Five: Love to Hate

I know I'm behind on my Joy of Love photo lessons but I'm catching up. Day five was about capturing what you Love to Hate about your loved ones. I chose Zak's model car collection. We have model cars all over our apartment. When we first moved in I designated a whole room for him to put them in and still they have crept out into other parts of our apartment. But I love him.

Now I had to be fair. When pointing out something I love to hate about Zak I had to give him a chance to tell me what he loves to hate about me. As much as he puts out model cars I put out flowers. For a guy, I guess this isn't his choice of decor. He doesn't say anything and I don't say anything about his cars.

Our camera lesson for the day was about selective focal points and metering. I put my camera on spot metering and practiced with my selective focal points. I also learned about toggling.

The bear on the left is in focus

The bear on the right is in focus

Until tomorrow...

I don't know about you but I've been a little busy. I am definitely going to catch up on my blogging tomorrow and post my recent photography challenges but I just wanted to quickly post this picture I came across. I did not take this photo but the message was really clear. It might make you feel good. It did me...

Conversations with a four year old

Yesterday I got a chance to talk to my 4 year old niece, Maddie, and I wanted to share some of the highlights of our conversation:

Beth: Maddie, Can you tell Emily what you say to someone when they say they're sorry?
Maddie: (Something I didn't understand)
Emily: What did you say Maddie?
Beth: Say it again Maddie. Emily didn't hear you.
Maddie: (Screams to the top of her lungs) I FOOOORRRRGGGIVVVVEEEE YOOOOUUUU!!!!!!


(Getting ready to say bye)
Beth: Maddie, Do you want to tell Emily one more thing before we say bye?
Maddie: YES! One more thing (holds up one finger). Ummmm...thinking.....still thinking....Ok, What's the first letter in snow?
Emily: Ummm....Well....I think it's a 'S'.
Maddie: Mommy? Is 'S' the first letter in Snow?

Day Four: What They Wear

It's Day Four in the Joy of Love and today's assignment is to capture What They Wear. You could photograph a whole outfit, their closet, favorite piece of clothing, etc. I had no doubt what to do with this challenge because when I think of a piece of clothing that represents Zak my mind immediately goes to his hats. Zak always has on a hat and he has many to choose from. I wanted a fun angle with this one so I put it on a door knob and laid flat on my back. I also wanted to show just how many hats Zak has...minus the ones in his drawers.

Our camera tip for the day was about metering and I have been reading up on it and practicing since I got home from work. It's a work in progress.

Day Three: Then and Now

Yesterday's photography lesson for The Joy of Love was all about Then & Now. The purpose of the picture was to showcase the changes in someone you love. That could be age lines, hair lines, weight gain or loss, etc. I chose to showcase our dog Maggie and how much she has changed since we first got her.

I first need to tell you that Maggie was living at the Humane Society when we adopted her. She was in a pin of 5 or 6 other dogs her size. She was so sweet and hyper and very skinny. You can see in the top two pictures in the collage her bones sticking out. That was then...Now Maggie is well fed, a little meaty, and still very hyper and sweet. The two bottom pictures showcase her plumpness.

Our camera tip for the day was all about cropping our pictures and eliminating distracting backgrounds.

Day Two: How They Look

It's Day Two in the Joy of Love and it is all about how our loved ones look. The challenge was to capture your loved ones at their best (or worst) and getting a picture that screams who they are.

Also, our camera tip for the day was all about positioning and how to place ourselves to capture our subject.

If anyone is interested in this you can visit the website: http://www.willettedesigns.com/newsite/wordpress/

My subject was my husband, Zak. He is a goofball and a sweetie and I just love his smile.