New blog dedicated solo to art, photos and design

Hope to see you there...

http://allthingsdtcgraphix.blogspot.com/

My Ham

Taking photos at my stepson Rick's wedding and this is what I got every time Autumn saw me. She was like, Hi Grandma- see me? Take my picture like you ALWAYS do. I think she's gotten used to being photographed!

Mini Vaca

Autumn talking to her new friend

Such a happy girl

My girls

Just got back from a mini vacation to Gatlinburg with my girls. I haven't been there in 30 years. God, when did I get so old? Last time I was there was on a senior trip with Lori, Sharon and Sharon's sister- whose name I can't remember for the life of me. Good times then, good times now. I truly treasured the time I spent with Steph and Autumn. My daughter is such a great mom. It's neat seeing how much her daughter loves her, and she loves her daughter. Autumn is such a good baby- what a blessing to everyone. She said momma for the first time while we were there. I wish I could have gotten it on video. It was so cool.
I was surprised at what a tourist trap Gatlinburg was. I guess I shouldn't have been. There's not a whole lot to do there except shop. I should rephrase that- there's not a whole lot to do there when you have a 7 month old along except shop. I'm not a shopper- in fact, I'm one of those rare women that hate to shop. But overall it was an awesome trip, just spending the time with my girls.
Until next time...

Letters to God, day 1

2 Peter 1:8
For if these things are yours and abound, you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our lord Jesus Christ.
- Faith
- Virtue
- Knowledge
- Self control
- Perserverance
- Godliness
- Kindness
- Love

This is about re-finding my faith. relearning to believe. Learning how to get back into a real relationship with God, and with myself. Finding myself and relearning to dream. Not letting darkness rule me and my life. Finding hope. Believing once again in the power of prayer and how it can and does change lives. Learning that I matter to God and that I should matter to myself. Learning to not be afraid.
Lord, I know you're there. I just need help remembering that.

Today's affirmation- I matter. To God, to my family and to me.

and to my girly! Love this face.

Winter...

Yuck. I need spring. I need the renewal- in so many things. The tree in my neighbor's yard after the ice storm. Loved being forced to stay inside and relax. Not easy for me, but I was too afraid to get out on the road with my new Soul. Rocking the Soul, lol. It has a totally useless feature that I love- the speakers light up to the music. Useless, and probably cost more than I want to know, but hey- it's all good. Love my new car. One little highlight in this dreary gray winter.
Til next time- whenever that is...

Seek Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly With My God

This was my motto for yesterday. It might just well be my motto for today also. My place of employment has been challenging lately- well, for quite a while now- to say the least. The negativity in that place is overwhelming. It sucks the life out of you/me. I have a hard time dealing with it. I'm trying not to get sucked into it. I just don't understand how people can be so negative. It's just not worth it. White Castle's (Premium Cincy food, lol)  used to put a saying on their packages, something about how many muscles it takes to frown verses smile. I don't remember the number, but it was a whole lot more to frown than smile. I would imagine that the same principle applies to negativity- that it's easier on a person to be positive than negative.

So, I'm just trying to get thru it. I'm praying the job market loosens up and something breaks. Until then...

The only way we'll ever stand
Is on our knees with lifted hands
Make us courageous
Lord, make us courageous

Seek justice
Love mercy
Walk humbly with your God

In the war of the mind
I will make my stand
In the battle of the heart
And the battle of the hand

More Lights-a happy thing!

Until next time...

2012

It seems so strange to be writing 2012. Guess I never thought I'd see this...for a long time I had some strange idea I would die in 30's. Not sure why. Probably some strange half wish of mine. I've spent lots of time in my life contemplating or at least giving some thought to suicide. I'm kinda glad I never made it that far along that path...at least today anyway. Perhaps that thought will come my way again, who knows. Sometimes life just gets to be too painful. But today's good- and tomorrow holds promise. And God loves me even when I don't love myself. And I'm a coward- I really don't like pain, so I guess I would never really hurt myself. Besides, my kids still need me even though they are grown, and Autumn deserves a chance to know and love her grandma as much as her grandma loves her.

Yeap, I said grandma- another thing I never really thought would be or wanted to be a grandma. Boy, was I wrong. That little girl has me wrapped around both her little fingers. And I'm ok with that. It amazes me- the depth of love I feel for her. She's just perfect. Steph and Mike have really been blessed- she's such a good baby. Only cries when she's hungry or wet, and has slept through the night since she was a month old. They better stop while they are ahead, lol. The next one will be a terror. Here is she- my girly. That's the look she tends to give me any time I break out my camera. Which, I will admit is alot- like every time I see her. I can't help it- they grow up so fast, and I feel like I've forgotten so much of my own kids lives, I don't want to forget a minute of hers. Besides, she's so darn pretty.

My Girly

Speaking of photos- I signed up for a advanced class thru MSJ. One good thing about graduating from there- you can audit classes for 50.00- UC wants full the amount to audit. So, I'm looking forward to that. So, hopefully I will learn lots of new techniques to use in shooting her, and other things. I really want to get a new lens- first a AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm, then perhaps something a little more specialized. Not sure what that looks like right now but I can dream...

So, the grandbaby, photo classes and hopefully lots of photo taking, and other things to look forward to, I plan on trying to reconnect with this, to journal, share and post photos. Hopefully it will work.

I tried taking some photos of Christmas lights- I didn't realize how hard it was to do. A learning experience for sure...
Until next time...Happy 2012.