Sooo….I spaced, and didn’t finish my 31 Day Blog Challenge, so here’s Days 28-31 :-)

I haven’t been feeling very well for the last week or so, and blogging was the very last thing on my mind. I’ll catch up real quick 😉

Day 28 – My guilty pleasures – I have a few, but I’d say the biggest one that I have is dipping my Oreos into my iced coffee, instead of milk. Coffee flavored Oreos? Hell yes!

Day 29 – What’s your favorite time of the year, and why? It’s hard for me to decide between Spring and Fall. I like summer an awful lot, too, because I like hanging at the beach with Mandy, but spring and summer I think are my favorites. Spring, because I love the fresh clean air, the rain storms, and watching new life grow and bloom. Fall, because I love the changing of the leaves, and just the all around atmosphere. The warm days, and the cool, crisp nights. The apple orchards and hot cocoa. 🙂

Day 30 – What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?  Is “all of them” an acceptable answer? No? Well … damn. Mint is pretty high on the list, but I think the top spot goes to White Chocolate Raspberry Fudge, by Stroh’s. Love love love it.

Day 31 – Self Portrait and explain what you liked most about the challenge – I liked the challenge because (with the exception of the last week) it got me blogging regularly. I need to write for work, and this has helped a little with that. It keeps my brain going on the whole writing thing. I also like that I have a place to get some of my thoughts out. And you’re probably gonna laugh…I happen to be wearing the exact same outfit today, that I was on the first day of the challenge. What can I say, it’s a favorite. 😉

Day 27 of the 31 Day Blog Challenge – A quote I try and live by

Welp, I missed yesterday’s post, so I’m making up for it today. I’ll post yesterdays now, and today’s a little later tonight. I was waaaay too tired to even think about blogging by the time I got home last night. I was spent the day with my brother and sister-in-law. We attempted to go fishing, but of course the minute we pulled into the park, the bright sunshiny day turned to gloom and rain, lol. But we stayed for a couple hours, my brother got some decent casts in, and I ventured out on my rollerblades. We’ll talk more about that later, lol.

All of that ties into the quote that I try and live by every day. It’s nothing grand, nothing wordy. It’s quite simple, actually.

 

“The trouble is, you think you have time” ~ Buddha

 

It’s true. You always think you have time. How many times have you said “Eh, that can wait til tomorrow” or “In a few minutes”, and put off going somewhere, or relaxing with family because work, or housework seemed more pressing? I had a pretty harsh reminder a few years ago that you can’t count on tomorrow, that some things really shouldn’t be put off. So, don’t put off til tomorrow what you can do today. (Unless it’s laundry. That can always wait.) That leads into one of my favorite quotes, which is:

 

“Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the one’s who don’t. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.” ~Unknown

 

So…yeah. Get out there and go fishing with your family today. The housework can wait til tomorrow. 🙂

 

 

 

Day 26 of the 31 Day Blog Challenge – My favorite food

My favorite food? All of it. Seriously, though, I don’t think I can pick a favorite. There’s not a whole lot that I don’t like, and that makes it super hard to narrow down what I like the best. These days, I suppose my favorite food is whatever doesn’t upset my stomach, lol.

I loooove Mexican food, but it doesn’t love me at the moment. Most Italian food is high on the list, since I have an obsession with pasta. Comfort food is a favorite, too…meatloaf, homemade soup, chicken casserole….YUM.

What’s your favorite???

Day 25 of the 31 Day Blog Challenge – Describe my location

LOL…as I sit here chatting with a friend about where I’m located, this topic pops up on my phone. Perfect!

Right now, specifically, my location is…COLD. Earlier this week, it was in the high 80s, quite possibly 90. I was wearing shorts and a tank top on Monday, and still sweating. Yesterday? It snowed. For real. In May. Today it’s starting to warm up, I think it’s in the 50’s.

But in general…. I’m in Southeastern Michigan, in a town that’s almost literally a stones throw from Canada. I’m a pretty big fan of Michigan in general. We’re not only surrounded by water, but there are hundreds, if not thousands, of inland lakes and rivers throughout the whole state. There’s so much to do, all within a couple hours drive. It’s not uncommon for me to jump in the car, drive for a few hours, fill a few memory cards, and drive home. It’s kind of a photographer’s dream 🙂

Day 24 of the 31 Day Blog Challenge – My Most Embarassing Moment

Well. I honestly don’t know. I can’t think of anything bad enough that I can classify it as my MOST embarrassing moment. I’m sure there were some doozys from my middle school/high school years, since I was pretty awkward and PAINFULLY shy. However, I seem to have repressed those memories ….and for good reason, I’m betting. I’m sure if we asked my brother, he could come up with some pretty interesting stories.

So … in lieu of an embarrassing story, I’m just gonna post a photo of myself that I find relatively embarrassing. Not real sure how old I was, mid-teens, I’m guessing. And I’m DEFINITELY not sure what in the hell I was doing. Or thinking, lol.

*long drawn out sigh*

*deep breath*

Here ya go:

Day 23 of the 31 Day Blog Challenge – Do I have a hobby?

Heck yeah, I have a hobby!!

Wait…is it still a hobby? I like to think it is. It’s how I spend a LOT of my spare time. Whether I’m actually doing it, or thinking about it, or reading about it, photography is a HUGE part of my life. I love it to the point that I’ve partnered with a good friend of mine, and we’re going to make a career out of it soon. 🙂

Most recently, I spent the day on the west side of Michigan, with two cameras(three, if you count my iPhone, lol). It was an amazing day, and I netted several good images. But most importantly, I had FUN. It had been a long time since I went out shooting for an entire day, and it brought me a great sense of peace. It also exercised my photographer’s eye a little, too.

Here’s a link to my Flickr page, where you can find more images from Saturday’s trip. I’m working on getting some of my past work uploaded, but ….I have a LOT of images to go through 🙂

In the meantime, here’s a preview of some of the coolness from Saturday:

Day 22 of the 31 Day Blog Challenge – What I Do When I’m Home Alone ;-)

Well, to be perfectly honest, it’s not all that interesting. I don’t run around naked, there are no reenactments of the scene out of Risky Business where Tom Cruise slides across the floor in his socks…nothing that cool.

If I’m at home, in the house, chances are, I’ve got the laptop in front of me. I do a lot on the computer. I read everything from blogs to my Nook books, watch TV on it, I’m an avid gamer, and I spend a ton of time going through photos and studying ways to build an awesome photo business.

Or…you could walk in and find me painting my toenails, singing along to Celine Dion. You just never know 😉

Day 21 of the 31 Day Blog Challenge – My Biggest Fear

At first I’d been planning on writing a tongue-in-cheek post about my biggest fear being something silly like spiders landing in my hair or something. (Which, actually IS a pretty major fear of mine, and one I dealt with today. But it’s not a soul-shaking fear).

 

But, given the events yesterday, I thought I would go ahead and write about one of my two major fears, and that would be tornadoes. Ever since I was a small child, I have been extremely afraid of them. Which I find odd, since I LOVE thunderstorms. Sitting on the porch during a good thunderstorm is one of my favorite things to do, but as soon as you mention tornado, I’m glued to the news, making sure that nothing horrid is headed my way. I can only assume that tornadoes bother me because of the total annihilation they can cause in a matter of minutes. The thought of losing everything in an instant has always been a deep down fear of mine.

With that in mind, I ask that everyone stop what they’re doing and send positive energy (or say a small prayer) to the people of Moore, Oklahoma and their families. The devestati0n and loss is something that is nearly incomprehensible, something that few really understand. It’s also important to remember the first responders, the police, the fire, the EMS, the search and rescue crews, and anyone else involved in the recovery process. They’re more than a uniform sifting through rubble. They’re husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, brothers, and sisters. They are every bit as human as the rest of us, and deserve as many prayers and positive thoughts as the victims. They see things that no one should ever have to.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved. The lives that were lost, the lives waiting to be rescued. The people awaiting news of their loved ones, and the ones delivering the news. My heart goes out to each and every one of them.

 

 

Day 20 of the 31 Day Blog Challenge – Things I Collect :)

Well, when I first read the challenge for today, I’d planned on writing about my extensive collection of eye makeup. Or my obsession with shoes. Or the insane amount of hair product I have. (Which is just plain weird, since I only use one kind of gel, but whatever. I don’t argue with myself)

HOWEVER….

After just having been in my garage with my brother, I’m going to have to say that I collect…*sigh*…everything. There’s a certain level of packratism that’s been taking place over the last few years. Is it because I’ve lost everything in the past, and now feel the need to hang on to every scrap of everything? Who the heck knows. But in the next few weeks, I’m working on getting rid of it. All of it. Well…almost all of it. 😉

 

PS. We found some WICKEDLY cool photos while we were out there. I’m talking stuff we’ve never even seen before, and some stuff I’d assumed was lost forever. I’ll be posting some of those jewels in the coming weeks.

Day 19 of the 31 Day Blog Challenge – 5 Blogs that I read regularly and why :)

 

Veronica, MD – The top blog that I read every day is my good friend Veronica’s. She is an amazing writer, and keeps me giggling on a regular basis. Check her out, and I’m sure she’ll make you giggle, too.

http://veronicamarcettidimick.blogspot.com/

 

The Modern Tog – I would say that this my next most-read blog. I find a lot of useful info over here for the photography business. (Actually, the rest of the links are probably photography related, lol. I’ve been doing a lot of reading in these early stages)

http://www.themoderntog.com/

 

Photo Mint – Again, LOTS of useful tips here. A lot of her stuff could be applied to anyone starting out a sales-based business, so take a look 🙂

http://www.photomint.com/blog/

 

Skip Cohen  – More useful business tips 🙂

http://www.skipcohenuniversity.com/scu-blog.html

 

I guess there’s not really a fifth blog that I read on a regular basis. I’ve started following several blogs since creating my own, and I’m trying to get in the habit of reading them more regularly than I do now. 🙂