Day 193: Leaves III

The sky seems angry today as it threatens to dump up to 20 inches of snow on us tonight and tomorrow. Everything is frozen and very still. Please be careful, everyone!

Day 192: Craftivism

Today Megan and I did some crafting for a good cause. We made Valentine's Day cards for Etsy's Special Delivery project, which delivers the cards to elderly folks on Valentine's Day with Citymeals-on-Wheels. It was an easy and fun way to get some warm fuzzies. Generally I loathe Valentine's Day and anything associated with it, so it was nice to look at it a different way and try to brighten someone else's day.

Day 191: Leaves II

Tried something new today and shot these leaves with the sun directly behind them - and it actually turned out pretty.

Day 190: Chick-fil-A

*Cue angels singing*

Got to stop at Chick-fil-A for lunch on my quick trip to Springfield. When, oh when will we get one of these in Columbia (a real one, not a food court one)?

Day 189: Tree VII

I love the pretty shapes on this tree.

Day 188: Melt

I won't say how many tries it took me to get a shot of a drop falling off an icicle. Ok, 74.

Day 187: Bird

I've been cropping a lot of my photos into squares lately, not sure why. I think I like the vintage feel it creates. There was plenty of light for my zoom lens today, and I got this little bird hanging out in the garden.

Day 186: Trevor VII

Yet another portrait of Trevor. He's just too cute.

Day 185: Icicles

"It's very unusual for Michael not to show up for work. My guess, he's either deeply depressed or an icicle has snapped off his roof and impaled his brain. He has this terrible habit of standing directly underneath them and staring up at them. And I always say, 'Michael, take two steps back and stare at the icicle from the side.' And he's like, 'No, I like the way they look from standing directly underneath them.' It was only a matter of time."

Day 184: ARC

A quick photo of the ARC on my iphone after my workout today. I'm going to try and be less lazy next week.

Day 183: Soup

I made chickpea noodle soup again, one of my new favorite recipes. You can basically throw anything in it and it's always a little different. I realize looking at the photos now that it doesn't look as appetizing as I thought it would - but that's only because you can't smell the photo.

P.S. Day 183 x 2 = 366 = I'm officially halfway through my project!

Day 182: Tree VI

It's a sad day when my best shots are from my iPhone. Or maybe just a good day for the iPhone.

Day 181: Pippin III

Something about the snow gets Pippin all riled up. It's adorable.

Day 180: Shady

Among my favorite finds in our cleaning marathon yesterday were lots of sketches, doodles, and exercises from my high school art and graphic design classes. I've never considered myself good at art, but that didn't stop me from loving it. I remember the first time I learned how to shade something - I think I doodled shaded spheres on every single piece of note paper after that.

Day 179: Labyrinth

Spent the day cleaning out my old room and found this little treasure - my Labyrinth lunchbox. This is definitely going in the hope chest for Jenn Jr. one day.

Day 178: Gnome

Cleaning out the spare bedroom will lead to all kinds of strange finds. Like a happy garden gnome who looks like he's giving the thumbs up.

Day 177: Vision

My vision board, in progress. It's finished now and I love it and I'm going to hang it in my room.

Day 176: Stephanie II

This weekend Stephanie came up from Springfield and she, Megan, and I made vision boards. Friday night was spent eating pizza, drinking beer, and flipping through magazines searching for anything that reminded us of what we want for 2011.

Day 175: Journal

Tonight, inspired once again by the lovely Chookooloonks, I bought a journal. I haven't kept a journal since high school. I realized after reading this post that it's probably because I don't do creative things like that unless they will look pretty, and since I have crappy handwriting and can't draw, my journals were always a mess. But really, that's the point - "capturing your messy, imperfect life", just as it is, so you can look back on it later. Because a messy and imperfect record is better than no record at all, and it just might end up being "accidentally beautiful."

Day 174: Instagram

Didn't get around to shooting anything today, so here's a silly self-portrait I took on my iPhone. Look how hip I am, looking incredulously at something/someone off camera and smirking! (Taken with the instant-hipster app, Instagram)

Day 173: Snow II

Cripes. I'm not going anywhere today.

Day 172: Snow

Snow is so much more awesome when I don't have to be anywhere.

Day 171: Cheese

Had a fancy cheese plate as an appetizer to our fancy dinner last night. The smoked gouda was delicious!

Day 170: Coloring

Saturday night was spent on Megan's couch coloring and doing a puzzle. We know how to party.

Day 169: Tree V

Got this shot in the Walgreens parking lot, lit by a streetlight just as it was starting to snow.

Day 168: Nature

Sometimes you just have to pull the car over and take photos. Or maybe that's just me.

Day 167: Trevor VI

I can't quite get a handle on my flash yet. Good thing Trevor always takes a good photo anyway.

Day 166: Puppies III

Trevor and Opal, being adorable.

Day 165: Helo

This is my brother's cat, Helo, the most needy cat I've ever met. He sure is cute, though.

Day 164: Puppies II

We have three happy puppies back home today from the kennel!

Day 163: Epiphanie

When we finally got home late last night, after an entire day of traveling, I realized I hadn't taken any photos of my new Epiphanie bag (and that I still needed a photo for the day). This bag is incredible. It's my purse, camera bag, and the carry-on bag I've always dreamed of. You know in Deathly Hallows when Hermione had that purse that she had enchanted so it could fit anything in it? I think that was an Epiphanie bag.

Day 162: London

Today we had to say goodbye to Redditch and head back to London. Fortunately we found my brother and his girlfriend and got to spend the afternoon sightseeing. Happy New Year!

Day 161: Ted

Meet Uncle Ted, my Grandad's brother. We rarely get to see him, so when we do, the stories just pour out. We heard about the time he spent working for MI5, our family history of gun making, his adventures in the Air Force, his ghost sightings, and the time Prince Philip told him to call him Phil. "You never know what's 'round the corner," he says.

Day 160: Warwick

Spent the day at Warwick Castle with Tim, my Mom, and my Aunty Lynne. According to Tim, this is what a proper English castle should look like :) Had a great day wandering around. This is the Iron Maiden in the Gaol (jail). As macabre as it is, this was one of my favorite parts of the castle and one of the coolest photos of the day.