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Look at the Stars – Photostory Friday/GMYBS

Lolli — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:41:36 +0000

This has been a rough week. First, Susan Niebur, my friend and fellow DC-area blogger died on Monday. Her passing was not a surprise. She has been valiantly fighting cancer for the last 5 years and had not been doing well of late.

I’ve found that funerals are emotionally taxing, but they are cleansing as well. There’s nothing quite like sharing a good cry with family and friends, and friends who feel like family, because that’s what this group of Maryland-DC-Virginia bloggers is for me. I am so grateful to have them – and to have known Susan, who was and still is such a shining spirit.

I saw this sweet memorial at the school across from the church where Susan’s services were held on Wednesday. All week there has been a beautifully clear, bright, full moon in the night sky, surrounded by stars more vivid than normal for our metro area. I thought of Susan, our resident planetary scientist, every time I saw that moon and the stars this week, and I think I will always think of her when I see a full moon.

My friend, Amie (@mammaloves) took this beautiful photo of the moon – Susan’s moon.

Thank you, Amie. It’s gorgeous.

In other news, my health has taken a turn for the worse this week. I’ve had a cough now for nearly 5 weeks, I think (really, after 2 weeks it just seems like forever. I may have lost count). Now, I’ve got chest congestion and a fever and a racing heart to go with the cough. Oh, the joys of a warm winter?! Pray for me?

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

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Miracle – Photostory Friday/Give Me Your Best Shot

Lolli — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:39:08 +0000

Note: These pictures are just cool shots I took at the park this week. AJ grabbed my hand and pulled me over to a branch that had some pretty cool “carvings” on it. I told him they weren’t carvings, but we did have fun contemplating what they could be (like alien markings!).

But that is not the story I want to tell.

On Wednesday afternoon, I started a load of laundry in the dryer (sound familiar, much?). A little later that night, I sent KitKat down to do some of her laundry.

Before I headed to bed, I checked the laundry and noticed that the dryer was running. I figured that it was one of Kitkat’s loads and went to bed.

The next morning, I was trying to rest for a few more minutes before the 6:30 kid wake-up time, and I had an odd prompting to do another load of laundry. Really, I was motivated by a desire to avoid a tantrum later on by a certain someone who needed clean pants…). As I walked down the stairs, I heard a horrifying noise.

My dryer.

It was still running.

My quick estimate (as I rushed to turn it off) was that the dryer had been running for approximately 14 hours. I opened the door and almost burned my hands.

The clothes inside were too hot to handle with my bare hands, but I got everything out and left the door open to cool it off.

The lint container was overloaded.

I walked away, shaking, realizing how easy it would have been for a fire to start in my basement while we were sleeping. The fire would have gotten quite large before it woke any of us up, sleeping two floors above.

It’s a miracle that it didn’t start a fire. It’s a miracle that we’re all safe, and that my house is still standing.

God was watching over us. He always is.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Oh, It’s Winter? {Photostory Friday/Give Me Your Best Shot}

Lolli — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:59:18 +0000

This winter has been odd, to say the least. We’ve had snow three times so far, and none has lasted longer than a day and a half. So I didn’t complain about this week’s snow quite as much as I normally would in January. This week, our snow storm brought out one of my favorite birds – one I rarely see in this area…

Sadly, another, less pretty creature has been lurking around a little more lately as well. And, this pest is inside my house, crawling over everything.

I was curious to learn on twitter the other day that stink bugs have not invaded the entire United States. Are they in your area?

PS – I am still sick and SO tired of coughing!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Fish Eyes – Photostory Friday/Give Me Your Best Shot

Lolli — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:19:37 +0000

Believe it or not, I really did take pictures with my real camera this week (quite a few of them, in fact). I believe that most of those pictures were of food, because suddenly my oldest daughter and I have become Pinterest fanatics and can’t wait to recreate some new Pinterest recipe or creation each day.

Yes, it’s taking over my life…in a good way. My stomach and my husband are both happy.

However, now that Thursday evening has rolled around, I find myself bogged down with the virus that’s been going around and all I want to do is curl up in a ball under my big, comfy Christmas blanket and read a book.

Except that I have too much going on. Like sitting for an hour and a half at dive practice….

Luckily for me, I had my new PHONE fish eye and macro lenses to play around with while I waited. And, even more lucky…the pool center was warm and the seats were cushioned. No one to ask me to help with homework and no laundry to fold. I just sat in the warm comfort of the swim center and read. And took pictures with my phone. What could be better?

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Don’t Get Mad. Just Blog About It

Lolli — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:36:26 +0000

Alternately titled…

“How to make homemade notebook paper”

Today was an odd day. I decided to force myself to take a nap (I was significantly sleep-deprived after a really late night. Long story). So I slept til after lunch, ate a late meal, and then took a shower. I basically had time to get ready and answer a few emails before having to drive my oldest daughter to dive practice at a different pool, 25 minutes away.

I figured I’d stay out in the parking lot and get a little work done (I wrote an entire novel on my iPad that will be a post in the near future…) since my husband would be home when the other kids got home from school. On the way home, an hour and a half later, we stopped by the library to drop 3 books off, and then by the gas station to fill up the tank.

I was 5:45 by the time we came home. As we approached our neighborhood, I casually remarked, “I hope Dad decided to make something for dinner, since we’re getting home so late.”

She laughed. “Mom, you know better than that…”

(In his defense, Candyman is a very good cook. It’s one of the reasons I liked him at first.)

We got home. Dad was in front of the computer. Kids were in front of the TV. Laundry was untouched. Dishes were untouched. And the only smell coming from the kitchen was the garbage that needed to be unloaded.

I asked the kids and husband downstairs where AJ, my youngest, was. He’s six. “Down here somewhere” was the response. I looked around, called his name, and said, “No, guys, I’m pretty sure he’s not in this room.”

“Oh, I think he went upstairs a few minutes ago,” Reese remarked, not taking her eyes off the movie.

I walked upstairs, calling AJ’s name, wondering if he had wandered upstairs and fallen asleep (he’s been known to do that).

And that’s when the doorbell rang.

AJ, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, was on the other side of the door, having decided that it would be fun to go play outside by himself on a January night. I asked him how long he’d been outside, and he replied, “About 40 minutes.”

What could I do? Promise him coal in his stocking? I reminded him of the importance of NOT playing outside alone and definitely not playing outside IN THE DARK. Yada yada…. So I set to work making a gourmet meal of spaghetti, meatballs, and salad (the old throw-something-together-in-10-minutes meal).

It was slight torture to pull the kids and the husband away from Lord of the Rings and upstairs for dinner, but they finally came. Dinner was consumed, a few dishes were loaded, and the room was suddenly vacant. Cleaning up sounded more enjoyable than pulling everyone back upstairs, so I put the food away, did all the dishes, and made myself a little dessert.

I walked upstairs to get started on my Photostory Friday post only to find AJ, that little stinker, at my computer. He had done a Google search for “notebook paper” and, having not found exactly what he wanted, decided that it would be best to make his own….by photo copying the notebook that was on my desk.

THIRTY ONE pages later, I found him.

Tonight, my motto is “Don’t get mad. Just blog about it.”

I feel so much better already.

Kind of.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Beginning a Project 365 – Photostory Friday & Give Me Your Best Shot

Lolli — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:30:28 +0000

It’s a new year, I just got a new Android Smartphone with a cool camera and fun photo apps, and I have been hearing a ton of buzz about Project 365.

I tried completing a Project 365 a few years ago and only made it a couple months.

But that was before smart phones.

My blogging friend Julie actually just wrote a post about How To Organize Project 365 and Stay Sane and I was inspired enough to commit that day.

The first time I started a Project 365, my goal was to improve my photography (a worthy goal) but I got burnt out quickly trying to find new things to photograph. See, when I pull out my big camera, I feel like the subject needs to be worthy. The problem is, the sheer size of my camera and the fact that I don’t have it with me all the time (shocking, I know) meant that I missed plenty of memorable, photo-worthy moments.

So, it is with renewed excitement, energy, and dedication that I start my Project 365, version 2012. These pictures may not be my most artistically beautiful shots, but they show life as it really is – in my home and in my town.

I’m actually looking forward to capturing LIFE each day for a year.

Here’s what the first 5 days looked like:

PS – my plan is to showcase my pictures from the week each Saturday in a single post. Today was special ‘cuz I’m just getting started.

Have you done a Project 365? Do you have any tips for me?

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Christmas in Florida – Photostory Friday

Lolli — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:49:25 +0000

We just rolled in to Maryland earlier today, and BOY is the temperature difference between here and Florida drastic. In fact, less than an hour after arriving back home, snow started falling. I think we were all ready to turn back around to enjoy a few more days of Florida temperatures and sun.

I’ve hardly had a chance to even look at the pictures I took during our trip to Florida, so I’ll just share a few shots from Christmas day that stood out to me as I uploaded pictures from my camera’s memory card. The weather on Christmas day was unbelievable. Warm, sunny, and ending with a gorgeous sunset.

I hope each of you have had a wonderful holiday. Happy New Year!!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Photostory Friday From the Beach

Lolli — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:27:07 +0000

Merry Christmas from the warm beaches of Florida!

We survived our 16 hour drive (which normally takes us 17 hours…) and have already enjoyed the 80 degree weather and the white sand in our toes.

I can already feel myself decompressing.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Georgetown Cupcakes with a Friend – PSF

Lolli — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:05:37 +0000

What do two blogging friends do when they meet for the first time?

Photo by Kristi (from her iPhone!)

They find a place to eat, of course!

And what do those two bloggers do when they order a dozen famously gourmet cupcakes?

Well, if they are photographers, they take pictures of those cupcakes for 20 minutes before digging in.

Oh yes. When Kristi from Live and Love Out Loud and I met up in DC last week, after the hug and the 30 minute drive to go 7 miles away….we ordered a delectable box of the best looking cupcakes around (from the home of DC Cupcakes).

And then we spent the next 20 minutes taking pictures of them. And each other taking pictures of them. And the Georgetown Cupcake people making them…

We did eventually dig in to the cupcakes. If you can imagine, they taste even better than they look. I tried two of their Christmas flavors – Christmas Caramel and Gingerbread, both of which were incredible.

PS – If you’re wondering, Kristi was even sweeter than the cupcakes. We’re already planning out the next time we can get together.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Central Park on Sunday Morning – Photostory Friday

Lolli — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:55:09 +0000

I had about an hour to myself on Sunday morning in New York City last weekend. The weather was uncommonly clear and mild for December, and I took full advantage. The hour that I spent in Central Park was in extreme contrast to the hustle and bustle and excitement of the rest of the weekend. Maybe that’s why I look at these pictures and feel completely serene.

I even managed to get a self portrait (can you find me in one of the shots?).

(This is our hotel – The Essex House – as seen from Central Park)

Disclosure: Disney/Dreamworks sent me to New York City to see the World Premiere of War Horse, as well as a handful of other exciting treats to fill up our time there. I am so grateful for the chance I had to go, and although this post is not “about” War Horse, I still wanted to mention about the free trip.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli