Being Happy

I’ve been going through a lot of emotional stuff this year. I can honestly say it’s been the hardest, most taxing year that I’ve ever had. I know there may be more to come (seeing as how I’m only 23), so I’ve decided that I need a way to stay creative and focused on what makes me happy.

For the next month I want to take a picture of something that makes me happy and thankful to be alive. If I choose to, I’ll write some words to go with my pictures, if not, I won’t.

I’m hoping this exercise will keep me grounded and remind me that everything I need is right around me.

So to start:
John opened the car door for me this morning as he often does. He’s done this for almost 8 years and I sometimes forget how lucky I am to have someone who cares enough to show such kindness every day. (Thank you, John.)

Things that have been keeping me occupied

Tea, of course.

Keeping my plants alive.

Occasional knitting (with the softest yarn ever!)

My new otocinclus who cleaned the tank all by himself!

And last but not least: reading. I’m in between 7 books… I must have ADD. (My current reading list)

What are you drinking, knitting or reading? What’s occupying you?

Christmas Vacation

It’s really late for me to be posting about my Christmas vacation but I thought I’d do it any way. I haven’t been knitting as often as I’d like, nor drinking tea ceremoniously and I’ve had this yearning to just be able to read a little bit. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve had nothing much to blog about – so instead of trying to write something up, I’m just going to post a few photos from my vacation that I took up to Pennsylvania to visit my family.

My dad and step-mom live in Thorndale, PA; my sister & co. live in Bethesda, MA; and my mom lives in McKees Rocks, PA. (Yes, there was a lot of driving done during this trip.) During my visit, my dad and step-mom also took me to New York City for the first time in my life! Needless to say, I saw a lot of new places in the span of two weeks. I tried to take my camera everywhere I went but failed.

There were desserts.

Stolen photographs.

Gifts galore.

Museums full of beautiful art.

Giant ornaments in the street.

And there was waiting for taxis.

Imagining in the park.

Movement.

There were beautiful skies.

Seatbelts.

Overlooks.

A little snow.

Tea time.

And smiles.

I had so much fun with my whole family and the visit just made me miss everyone so much more. I’ll have to travel up there again soon!

Finally Looking Like Fall

Florida’s a little behind in the seasons. The little tree by our back porch has finally started to change colors. There are leaves all over our porch. I love the sound of them scraping against the pavement when the wind blows.

I love this plant, it seems like it has so many little hiding places for bugs and lizards.

Our cactus is flowering again!

It has grown very strangely. I should probably get a bigger pot for it.

I love this picture – I managed to get a great, clear shot of the sun hitting the leaves. Click the picture for a larger, more detailed shot.

Photography: Went to the park today!

My favorite photography days are when I go to a park. There’s always so much to see and anything in nature makes a good photo opportunity. Here are a few pictures from today’s field-trip!

What a cute little bridge!

Cool little dragonfly.

The sun offered some great texture off of these flowers.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a clearly focused picture of this little guy. He was so playful!

Need to get a macro lens! This picture would have been amazing!

View the whole Park in Winter Park set!

Photography: Mysterious Toys

I love these little vinyl toys! They’re all from “blind box” sets of toys. We have a small shop in our closest mall that sells Japanese things (mostly Hello Kitty) and they have all kinds of blind box sets! I saw the Scary Girl City Folk set and just had to try to get something cool! Then my little obsession started. Fortunately I haven’t been to the mall lately to spend tons of money on little toys that I might not even like!

These toys were made by Kidrobot but they don’t seem to sell the City Folk set online. Check out their other vinyls! They have cool stuff, like MUNNY—the DIY toy!

Photography Friday: Lazy Afternoons

The cats were invading the bed one afternoon. They looked so comfy, I had to take pictures. I love the lighting in the first shot. You can see all of my plants!

Photography: Little Frog

There have been a lot of frogs around our apartment lately (even in our apartment)! I caught this one out on the porch. He’s so tiny!

Late photography and a little update

John and I went to Moss Park last weekend so that I could take a million pictures. The Sand Hill Cranes there seem to love little photo shoots.

The other update is that John and I are going to be in Beach Colony Key, FL for this week. I was going to write a post over the weekend warning everyone that we’d be here but we’re having too much fun for me to remember to do that.

If I have time, I thought it would be fun to write random posts about things that we’ve done here in the Keys. So, until then, have a good week!

Photography Friday: Yay!

I took a ton of pictures on Independence Day. Me and my little sister and some dudes we don’t even know (I kid) had a little cookout!

This was my favorite picture of the day, though. The tree in our back”yard” has been flowering. Teeny little flowers.

Well, the flowers and these delicious-looking kabobs! Mmmm. :9

View the whole Independence Day set.