First day back

Today was our first full day with the family. It's Mom's birthday today, so we were pretty busy, but I did manage to find time to sneak a few photos in. Our piano is still here, dusty because I'm the only one who plays it anymore, but still beautiful. I took a few photos with the late morning light streaming through the window, and I really like the way some of them turned out. Here they are...

We revealed the family Christmas present, which was the Wii we bought them. That was the surprise for my brothers I mentioned a few posts back, and boy were they thrilled! :) After playing for a few hours, my mom busted out this stuff.

You know you all remember this stuff from your childhood. :P My brother, C, and I all had about an hour's worth of entertainment tonight lol. It was wonderful! More to come tomorrow...

J

Home sweet home

C and I are on vacation! We're visiting my family in snowy South Dakota. I know, I know, it's not a warm and sunny locale that we chose for our January getaway, but I love family more. :)

It probably goes without saying that I didn't get much photography time today. We were traveling for most of the day, and by the time we made it here, the sun was going down. The one upside was that I got one awesome shot of one of Mom's snowmen. She puts them out every winter, and it was really comforting to see them after being away for so long. And hey, one shot is all I need, right? :P

I'm pretty exhausted, so I'm gonna hit the hay. Hopefully I'll have more photos tomorrow. Enjoy!

J

Imagine...

I took the kids to Imagination Avenue this morning for their weekly play session. Imagination Avenue, for those of you who aren't familiar with it, is this indoor child-sized town. It's got all kinds of little buildings with tons of toys for kids. There's a bakery, a schoolhouse, a hospital, and a fire station, and that's not even the half of it! They have those buildings plus a few more, a baby area for the little guys who aren't quite steady on their feet yet, and a jungle gym. F and A absolutely love it, and a few months ago, I met another nanny who takes her charges there every week too. We've become pretty good friends, and meet up a few times a week so the kids can play together and we can have some "grown-up time."

My photos today are all from Imagination Avenue, and I spent more time chatting than I did photographing (oops...). I did get a couple good ones though. :) Enjoy!

J

Kiddos!

I remembered my camera today. :) The problem I had this time around was that I have too many favorites from today. I'm really going to have to limit myself when I'm posting. For those of you who don't know about the kids I take care of, F is a 3-year-old boy and A is a 1-year-old girl. They're a handful most of the time, but I have a lot of fun with them and they make hysterical faces. There will be captions with these photos so you can understand what's going on. Enjoy!

J

 A looking out the toy room window

 F making his "cheese" face

 A figuring out how to operate a sippy

 Leila, the adorable boxer :)

 F's TV watching face :P

 A, looking pensive

Running!

Mundane Monday

I forgot my camera this morning! I had every intention of taking it to work with me, but I totally spaced and left it at home. I was rather annoyed with myself. The photos I took after work are really not that interesting (in my opinion), but I'm still getting used to the fact that not every day will be as photogenic as New Year's Day was.

I have two different subjects for today. These first two images are of the dice from Zombie Dice. I bought the game for C as a Christmas present, and we've both been a bit addicted to it in the last few weeks. It takes about five minutes to play, and the main goal is to eat 13 brains and not get blown up by shotguns. Awesome, right? We both think so. :) Here are those images.

Braaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnsssss..... :P

And....shotguns!

Also, I've found that I've become rather obsessed with light fixtures. I've always loved Christmas lights, but I'm finding that I love the contrast of lights with black background. We've been out at night a lot, so I've been taking lots of photos of different light sources, and I'm loving it! I was walking to our room, and the night light in the hall called out to me, so....I photographed it. :)

It's like a jellyfish...only less squishy.

On a random side note, C and I saw Tangled tonight. We both laughed hysterically through it, and snuggled a little closer together during the mushy parts. I'll definitely be waiting anxiously for that one to come out on DVD. :)

I hope your Monday was as laidback as mine!

J

Busy as a bee

I wish I'd had more time for photographing today. I'm not totally sold on the photo I have, just because it's not very interesting, but I wanted it to be representative of what I did for most of today. After seeing the new Tron movie this morning (amazing, by the way), I met up with a NaNo buddy to discuss books and writing. Hi, S! :) It was our first meet-up, so we spent the whole time talking to get to know each other a little better. We found that we like a lot of the same books, and that we're both equally picky when it comes to reading material. :P

I had to help C clean the apartment for a few hours after our meeting, but once we finished there I headed home and jumped into writing. I'm excited about 2011 largely because I'm feeling uber-creative, and I can't wait to see what I'll produce over the course of the year. Here's a little glimpse at what I'll be carrying around for the year. ;)

Not the most interesting subject matter, I know, but I love it. Writing is something I know I'm good at, but also something that challenges me and pushes me to do better.

I'm feeling pretty good about all the things I'm accomplishing in 2011. I'm confident that I can keep my motivation all year, and finish all these wonderful things I've started. Best wishes for your creativity in this bright and shiny new year!

J

Everyday photos

We have reached the part of our program that involves daily updates. Happy dance, everyone! :P With 2011 just beginning, I decided that now is as good a time as any to tackle #25 on my list: Complete a 365 photo project. For those of you who don't know, the 365 project challenges photographers to take at least one photo every day. Some people give themselves limitations to make it more challenging, such as a self portrait every day. I've tried doing more specific 365 projects, and failed repeatedly, so for this one I'm just challenging myself to take one amazing photograph every day. It may require a considerable amount of shooting every day, but it'll be worth it to have an extensive portfolio of work by the end of the year. :)

C and I went mini golfing this evening and I took my camera along for the fun. We were a little crazy, as it's been in the low 30s all day and it was 7:30 and already dark when we left, but it was totally awesome. C wore his new long johns so he could break them in before we visit my parents in a few days, and we were both in our winter coats with hats and gloves. Luckily, we weren't the only people who'd temporarily gone insane. :P We played two games in the frigid winter air, noses running like faucets the entire time, and I've never enjoyed mini golfing more. C won the first game, and I won the second, so I get to cross off #83. Nothing like crossing an item off my list to ring in the new year. :)

I had a hard time choosing my best photo from today, so I'm posting more than one. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know which one you like the most!

J