true love

I am not exactly an advocate for Valentine's Day. Apparently a ton of other bloggers feel the same way (in which you have just scored bonus points from me). Don't get me wrong, I love receiving cute little cards + chocolate (oh yes.), but the whole mush-gushy, kissy-kissy, find that special someone idea...eh, forget that.

My Valentine?

...is simple and does whatever I want it to. If you guessed my D3000, then you are correct.

Go consume some chocolate and sugary goodness.

Happy Valentine's day!

november.

November. It is the month which welcomes wintry weather and a chilly breeze to nip away at your nose. It is the month which you are permitted to pull out your bulky, insulated coat and sweater boots. It is the month which is perfect for bonfires, hay rides, and a mug full of steaming hot cocoa.

This past weekend, I was privileged to simply relax at our church's annual bonfire. Our pastor and his family always host it and to say that we have a "good time" would be a vast understatement.

There is just something about nestling up in your bulk of a coat and settling by the bonfire that is quite relaxing. Starting off with a splitting headache was not oh-so-fun, but after some water, protein, and a lot of praying it slipped out of my head {Thank you, God!}.

hello there kiley.

my mom is in the funky, hardcore red hat.

a couple of side notes:
- I ordered Lightroom 3 and it is on the way. swoon.
- I am currently borrowing Kiley's mom's Nikon f/1.8 lens. can we say in love?
- I  did a couple's engagement photos!
- I am sorry I have not been commenting on your blogs lately, I have just been extremely busy. To everyone who I follow: I have not forgotten about you all! Promise.
- Can you count how many times I said "I"?


Do you have any special plans for November?

a few of my favorite things

  Now that it is the weekend and school has died down a bit, I have decided to link up with Friday Favorite Things.

finishing school at 2:30

doing my work the correct way

having grandparents to stay for the weekend

watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with your insanely, amazingly, hilarious friend

fresh peaches



cool, quiet mornings

enjoying the weekend

having a clean and organized room

chocolate chip pancakes

taking random photos

exercising at the YMCA

your legs killing you afterward {so maybe that's not a favorite}

gazing at your D3000 and being so grateful for having it



friends who are totally, utterly, completely unafraid to be fabulously ridiculous

want to list some musings or favorite things from the week?

check out Rachel's blog!

a "sweet" sixteen, indeed.

One of my best friends, Beth, recently had her sixteenth birthday party. She and her family asked me (eep!) if I would be interested in being the designated photographer for the party. Hmmm, let me think here...

Heck yes!

And I therefore photographed the entire party. Even the people who refused to let me take their picture, got their picture (secretly) taken.

 Everybody had a wonderful time and the day was made of {lots of} sugar, water, laughing, games, and chit-chatting.

I forgot to mention, I downloaded the thirty day free trial of Photoshop CS5. Can we say in love? This here picture, I made have a bit of a vintage look.



They purchased a $200 cake complete with zebra striped fondant  just for the festivity.

Kidding. About it being $200. Acutally, Beth's fourteen year old sister made it.

I know. Wow, right?!  I believe to my soul I could never make such a masterpiece. Swoon.



And of course, our lovely birthday girl! 

 

 

For those who have already turned sixteen, what do you remember about your party? Or just turning sixteen?

For those of you who haven't yet turned sixteen, what is your dream sweet sixteenth party?

Yep - I'm Back!

  Wait a second, back from...where? The beach, baby! My family, aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandparents all traveled to the beautiful Holden Beach to vacation for a week. The weather couldn't have been any more perfect and we all had an absolutely wonderful time!  Since I took well over 100 photos (No worries - I didn't post them all) I decided to create some collages of our trip.

These are in no certain order, but I hope you like them!

Yes sirrey-bob, I am now officially fifteen years old! For my birthday I just got a couple cards and a bag of dark chocolates because my whole entire family chipped in to pay the rest of the $150 for my camera (I honestly could have cared less if I didn't get any cards for my birthday. I am just grateful I got the rest of the money!). They all sent me the money early so I could purchase my camera before the beach!

We stayed in an adorable little oceanfront beach house. 10 people + house = :D We mainly just relaxed on the beach and porch, did a bit of shopping, and went out to eat a couple times.

I hope you dear lovely readers enjoyed these photos!

Also, a huge thank you to Maggie, Amanda, and Abigail for your beautiful posts! They did a *fabulous* job and I was so happy and grateful that these awesome, Christian gals were able to guest post.

My Lovely Camera

  I am so ecstatic because yesterday my dad took me to Wal-Mart so I could purchase my Nikon D3000! Guys, I have been saving up for it since December and now I *finally* have it! Eeep! I have been very, very, very pleased with the photos too. They are clear, the colors are a-m-a-z-i-n-g, it is extremely easy to work with, the list goes on. I would highly recommend this camera if you are contemplating purchasing your first SLR.

Whatcha think? I named her (yes, her) Sasha. It feels so weird not using a point-and-shoot; but I love using this camera!

These are a couple photos I took today of my friends/icees from Sheetz..oh and a dandelion too :))...

^She had no idea I was taking her picture!

 ^Beth took this one of me!

 

The next few things I would like to buy are a telephoto lens, super macro lens, camera bag, camera strap, and Lightroom (which will come first). Be prepared to see LOTS of photos! I hope you all having a wonderful day!

P.S. Tomorrow is the last day to enter my giveaway if you still would like to enter! ^_^

Some Recent Lovelies

Listening to: The Edge of Glory


To start things off, there have been a couple of changes to my blog! The lovely Megan designed the beautiful new header and blog button! I think she did a very lovely job too. What do you think?

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Also, Miss Hannah is having a giveaway for a blog design that's a $100 value! Go and check it out; you will not want to miss it!
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And last but not least.....




I am now a seller on Etsy! Yep - you heard me right. I am selling a few of my photos. I am currently only selling three prints and if anybody purchases a print (or two, or three, or four...) I am going to put that money towards purchasing Lightroom. I am going to be getting my Nikon D3000 in {hopefully} two weeks or less! Is that exciting or what?

Click here to check out my Etsy store!



What has been going on your way?

Confessions

Confession: I was inspired by the lovely Carlotta to do a confessions post!

Confession: I am seriously thinking about purchasing a venom extractor (go ahead, call me a nerd, laugh, it's ok).

Confession: I NEED to stop biting my nails...once and for all. Ick.

Confession: I hate Algebra.

Credit

Confession: The word Epic is beginning to be a normal use of my vocabulary (somebody help!).

Confession: I had to ask my dad what the word Swoon meant.

Confession: Ok, so this isn't exactly a 'confession' but....
I am about one hundred dollars away from being able to purchase my beautiful camera! {Swoon...*wink*} Next is buying Lightroom and a lens and I'm all set!
Confession: I still hate Algebra.

Confession: In my spare time I do THIS:

^Yes, I randomly put on colored lipsticks and kissed notebook paper. Therapy for Anna Gray? Neh...

Do you any confessions or musings?

Of Cameras and Lightroom

I am very proud to say that I have half of the money saved up for the Nikon D3000! Yep -  that's right, the halfway mark. I have been taking chunks of my pay from babysitting it and placing it in the little baggy with the title '$$$ for Nikon D3000' on it. Who knows, I may have it in March and then again, it may be a bit later than that. But either way, I am definitely going to have it before the summer!

And I thought that was exciting just WAIT until you hear this!

I found a website. Where you can buy. Photoshop Lighroom. For only. $100

Wait...what? Really? Seriously? YES! You can purchase one for about $90 or buy the upgraded version for around $100. Is that awesome or what? What's also great is that is is not a scam! Nope. Not at all. Still don't believe me? Then click here.

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Also, thank you all very much for your prayers for me. You don't know how much I appreciated them and I feel so much better now. Apparently I had a touch of the flu (ya know - weary, weak feeling, headaches, blah). So thank you all for the prayers! :)

Definite Decisions

You know how I have rambled several times on this little blog about how I am wanting craving the Nikon D3000? Well, I am really, really, really, REALLY hoping to have it by March. That is my plan. Yes, to have it by March. At first, I thought about trying to have it by February, but I decided that was too close to call. It will take a lot of saving up and hard work, but will be well worth it. I have heard nothing but great reviews on this camera, and I am 99% positive that it will be perfect for me. People who use it say that is wonderful for the aspiring and amateur photographers.

After I purchase Miss D3000, I plan to save up for Lightroom. Several people I know use this program and say it is a-m-a-z-i-n-g.

A friend of mine uses the D3000/Lightroom and she suggested having a baby shower for the camera once I get it. Ha! I suppose I could do a little something like a baby shower for it.....perhaps a giveaway of some sort on my blog? I am thinking so...