my photography || pictures i've been taking lately

I've been really trying to improve my photography lately. I'm starting to use Manual only (which is kinda hard to use).
And since Jason (my brother-in-law) is not here anymore to teach me photography, I've also been reading some photography books that a friend (who is very good at photography) is letting me borrow! I'm really enjoying them so far and I'm learning a whole lot!!!!
So, without further ado, here are some pictures that I've taken recently!!!















 



 

which picture is your favorite?
do you enjoy taking pictures?
what kind of camera do you have/use?

bloom.

 

 

 

 

 which picture is your favorite?
do you like wildflowers?

babysitting + planting in the garden

Jason and Katy went on a week trip to Costa Rica and while they were gone Kristen and I babysat the three girls. For the whole week.  We all had a good time though. :D






We jumped on the trampoline (quite a lot ;) ), colored pictures, listened to music, made cookies together, and Chloe and Bella spent the night in the room with Kris and I! We had fun!
They're all so sweet!


We had quite a time on Monday though. They were calling for really bad storms on Monday night so Mama and Daddy wanted us to come over to the house and bring Napoleon. Ben spent the night with us on Sunday night so he was with us. We all piled in to Kristen's small little Buick. Chloe, Bella, and Emma sat in the back (it was quite squished for them since they all have car seats), but it was even more squished for Kristen, Ben, and I who all sat in the front seat. Napoleon sat between Ben and my legs. He's gotten really big so you can imagine! ;) Also he gets car sick very easily and he almost got sick on Ben and I! Thankfully we got there safe and without Napoleon getting sick! :D
Also we ended up not having any storms!

(this picture ^ was taken on Sunday morning before we headed for church. The girls wanted Maw-Maw (which is what her granddaughters call her) to be in the picture too since she came for a short visit before church started)

We got six new chickens last week! They're called Red Sex Links Chickens! These chickens look so much alike, we were only able to name one, Maude the Second. :D I don't know if we'll stick with that name yet though! ;)
They are just pullets now, but should start laying in a few months.


(I know. Our new chickens aren't very photogenic. They look kinda creepy in the picture but they're actually really cute in person!)

Our garden has been going well. Our tomato's, beets, carrots and sunflowers have all sprouted up and are looking great! We just planted the rest of our seeds which were cucumbers, green beans, and squash! They seem to be doing very well too! :D
I weeded out our big strawberry patch a few days ago and now we have very small strawberries growing!
Hopefully we get enough cucumbers and tomato's for us to can and enough strawberries so we can make pies and jam!

 what is the longest time you ever babysat?
do you have chickens?
do you like gardening?

life post // shopping trip + april fools

I haven't done a life post for quite a while. So I decided what better time than today!!! :)
(Sorry for the blurry photos. They were mostly taken on the phone)

If you read my last life post, then you might be wondering about our sweet cat, Thomas. Well, we had to put him down. He was such a sweet cat and I miss him a lot. We buried him under the shade of a tree where he liked to lay in the summertime.



The ladies in our church took a shopping trip about a week ago. It was a lot of fun!!!I got some good deals on some things. For instance, I got a jean skirt for $2.50 at goodwill!
I got a shirt at goodwill and another shirt on the clearance rack at the Loft, some lotion and hand sanitizer at bath&bodyworks, and a necklace at hobbylobby!!! I'm real happy!

We ate at Chick-Fil-A for lunch!!! I got a grilled chicken sandwich, fries, and a lemonade!! Chik-Fil-A has the best lemonade!!!

Jason took Ben and I out on a bridge to get some pictures of the stars last week. The sky was clear, but right when we got on the bridge and got set up, clouds started rolling in. So I didn't get any pictures of the stars! :(
I did get a neat picture of a car passing us though, using shutter speed. I snapped the pictures in Raw, and since our computer is so old, it wont read them. So I couldn't upload them on here to show y'all.

April first was such a fun day!! I had been planning pranks for a few weeks!!!
I made "brownies" for my parents and grandparents!! They were a little disappointed when they found out they were literally "brown e's!!!"

And then I put a paper cockroach in our living room lamp!!!

I got Ben really good with that one! :)

The weather has been beautiful here!!! I've really enjoyed going outside!! Ben and I started our garden. We planted our tomatoes, beets, sunflowers, and carrots. We'll finish planting in a few weeks, when it gets a little warmer. I'm planning on canning the tomatoes and pickling the cucumbers! Hopefully it all works out!!

Did you do any April fools pranks?
Are you doing a garden this year?

busy days

It's been crazy busy around here with house cleaning, school work, Mama's business (moving and repurposing furniture) and just life in general. The family has been battling with sickness a lot lately. We just cant seem to get rid of it. Kristen is sick now. Hopefully we'll all be better soon and won't get sick for a while :)



Jason gave me another photography lesson last week. He taught me about shutter speed. He gave me an assignment to take a picture of the stars over our lake. I tried it a few nights back because the stars were out really bright, but I guess I didn't have it set very well. Jason told me to raise my ISO and set my shutter speed to 25 secs. I'll have to try it again really soon and maybe this time it will turn out better.



I finally got myself a lens cap! I'm real happy about that! :) And Jason bought me an eye piece for my camera since my camera didn't come with it. I didn't even know there was supposed to be an eye piece when I bought it. Oh well. Thank you Jason for buying me one! (He's so sweet :) )



Daddy and I took Thomas to the vet this morning. He has lost a lot of weight and he can't walk right. The vet took some blood work to see if he had a virus. They said if he did they would have to put him down. Thankfully he didn't have a virus, but he has to stay overnight while they take some more tests. I pray that he'll get better and he'll be back home with us before too long.

f e b r u a r y // thankful things

Hey guys!  Today I'm going to share with y'all a few things I was thankful for in the month of February.


A spur of the moment photo shoot.(Kristen took the pictures. Thanks Kris!!)

Driving my Nana to the supermarket



Getting to meet Napoleon. He is the cutest! :)

Having Napoleon fall asleep in my arms after giving him a bath



Memorizing a piece of music on the piano. FINALLY!!!

Getting a phone call from my bestie, Abigail!!!


Jason teaching me some new things on the camera

Katy and I going to an Antique Mall for a scavenger hunt! We didn't win, but we still had a lot of fun!



Watching the airplanes fly over our house

Being able to go barefoot because of the beautiful weather!!



Ice cream

Feeling a lot better after being sick



The sky

Getting 11 blog followers!!



Playing memoir 44 with my brother, Ben

My grandparents bringing Ben and I back Burger King for lunch



My brother-in-law, Jason, giving me one of his lenses! He's so sweet!

 


In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

What are you are thankful for?