January 14th, 2012- 365 Photo Project

I just got my film back from last week.  So I can now catch up on my posts for my photo project.  Working with film again was extremely enjoyable.  I forgot how inspiring film is and how different it is to digital.  For the next two days I will update my photo project with lots of posts.  Enjoy!

"I can chance the world!"  Yes, you can, my son!  Yes, you can!

These film pictures were shot with a Pentax K1000 using Ilford Delta Pro 400, Black & White, 35mm film.

Menus & Always Remembering

Today we remember an inspirational peacemaker, Martin Luther King Jr.  Really everyday we should remember him and all the other peacemakers that have changed the course of our history.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for what he believed and for that we should all be grateful.  But this is bigger than being grateful, it is bigger than remembering..it is about bringing peace into our homes, our neighborhoods, our countries, and our entire beautiful world.  Everyday we should be taking steps, big or small, towards a compassionate and peaceful life and world.  This is not for us..this is for our children and our grandchildren.  The biggest and best thing we can do for them is to show our children about compassion, acceptance,  and love.  This is the first step towards a more peaceful and more accepting world.  Martin Luther King Jr. proved to us that this can happen...that this dream can come true.  Thank you Martin Luther King for standing up for peace!  

I'm going to end this post with our menu for the week.  I hope everyone is still doing what they can to know where their food is coming from and eating whole delicious foods!  

MONDAY:  Homemade whole wheat pizza, kale chips, and a green salad

TUESDAY:  Double Broccoli Quinoa Bowl

WEDNESDAY:  Out to dinner

THURSDAY:  Vegetarian Taco Salad

FRIDAY:  Ginger & Cilantro Baked Tilapia over brown rice

SATURDAY:  Attending a friend's wedding

SUNDAY:  Vegan Tofu Pot Pie 

Peacefully,

Alyson

"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend."-Martin Luther King Jr.

January 13th, 2012- 365 Photo Project

More brother love!  It is just to wonderful not to capture!

For the next five days I am going to be shooting film.  So I won't be posting the pictures till after they are developed.  So in about 6 days I will be catching up on my photo project posts.  But in between that time I will be writing some regular posts.  Stay tuned!  Thank you all for reading my blog!

January 12th, 2011- 365 Photo Project

My love for homemade goes beyond just love....it could be considered an obsession.  I want to make everything....EVERTHING!!!  With this includes learning a lot of different skills.  One would be crocheting and knitting.  I hear knitting is hard...so we are starting with crochet.  My aunt who is amazing with crochet is teaching me.   So far I am a pro at the first chain!  Which isn't hard at all!  With time I am hoping to be making lots of different things and of course will be sharing it on here.

January 11, 2012- 365 Photo Project

One of my favorite things in the world is to sit and watch my boys play together.  Their relationship grows every day and I feel blessed that I get to sit and watch this happen.  Their sweet love will last forever and it is sure to be as real and true as any love can be.  In an instant, their laughs together will light up our home and our hearts. To me it sounds like music!  

"A brother is a friend given by Nature." -Jean Baptiste Legouve

January 10th, 2012- 365 Photo Project

My apple monster!  In choosing treats, my son will choose an apple, orange, or grapes over cookies, candy, or chocolate.  True story!  It baffles me sometimes but we love apples in the house!  Well we love all fruit!  

January 9th, 2012- 365 Photo Project

Early morning....matching pajamas....brothers....books.....love.....

January 8th, 2012- 365 Photo Project

I opened this book today in preparation of the gardening and growing season that will be soon approaching.  It may still be winter but before we know it little seeds will need some dirt and water.  We are starting our little seedlings at the end of February, beginning of March so we can grow everything we want because just like every year I have plans of eating, preserving, freezing, cooking, and just enjoying our fruits of labor (pun intended)!  Cheers to gardening and living sustainably!  

January 7th, 2012- 365 Photo Project

Seven years ago, when my hubby and I made the decision to move three hours away from home together as a fresh new couple we met a lot of pretty amazing lifelong friends.  Out of these new friends, we met a great family who we have remained close with after all these years.  When we moved back to my hometown, they moved here shortly after wards.  They are a great family with similar beliefs and a similar outlook on life.  You know when you have those friends that just fit right with who you are as a person and as a family....these are those people for us.  We love them and we love that they live close to us!  We had a great evening with them Saturday night. Brian (the amazing chef) made a great dinner and we followed it with a fun game of Shuffleboard.  Thanks guys for the wonderful evening!

We might have a crawler soon!

These two pictures of their little boy in his pretty awesome hat and stache are taken by my husdand!  But I took at all the rest, so they count in my photo project!  And here is another picture of my oldest son, protesting against leaving.  He was having too much fun for it to end.

I took some pictures that night of my dear friend's amazing tattoo!  It is one of my favorite tattoos I have ever seen.  I think it has a lot to do with what it says and how it applies to my life.  Another reason why we get along so well!

"Pause, breathe, simplify, reflect, connect, meditate, inspire, evolve"

January 6th, 2012- 365 Photo Project

Today's photos are very random!  We went on a drive to visit a dear friend for her birthday.  So I have lots of random shots from our day.  I will let the photos tell the story of today with a few shorts words.

Birthday Fun!

I spend a lot of time in my car nursing in a variety of parking lots especially on long car rides!  I really wanted to document this since it is a pretty big part of my life as a mama.  It was tricky....self-timer, on the dash board, low light, slow shutter speed!  I had to do about 15 pictures to get one I liked.  It isn't perfect but it perfectly captures my life as a mama!  

At home for some cuddle time with dada!

January 5th, 2012- 365 Photo Project

Today was a full day, but I was able to sneak in a quick photo!  Aunt Katie + story time = the best part of the day.  My boys love there Auntie and it is always so fun when she comes to spend time with them. The minute she walks into our home she brings lots of joy and laughter.  Her energy is perfect!   

This weekend I am working on some regular posts including my menus, sewing posts, and our New Years Intentions.  So stay tuned!

January 4th, 2012- 365 Photo Project

Mellow day with naps and lots of love.  While my oldest napped (very rare), I got to play with Asher and the camera!  We even got some doggie kisses!  

January 3rd, 2012- 365 Photo Project

We love being outside!  Love it!  Enjoying everything our earth has to offer us is one of our priorities as a family!  In the winter it is so hard to get outside but we try to just bundle up and enjoy the elements no matter what they are!  I was so bad this last month of getting outside!  So I'm getting back into the groove of being outside.  Maybe we will get some snow soon because walks in the snow are by far the prettiest!  Here is our first walk of the new year and MANY MANY more to come!  

January 2nd, 2012- 365 Photo Project

Sometimes when you are really trying to get a cute photo of your son and his very best friend since birth....this is all you can get!  It may not be the picture I was wanting but it sure shows how life can be sometimes.  You just got to roll with it!

GO DUCKS!

365 Photo Project- A year in photos- January 1st, 2012

One of my New Year intentions is to expand my knowledge of the camera and my love for the art of photography.  I want to challenge myself to be better and faster with the camera.  Luckily I have a very good teacher here at home who is an amazing artist with the camera (and the professional)!  So I decided to challenge myself by taking a photo a day and posting it here on my blog.  When I first thought about this I thought I had gone crazy!  "How the heck will I be able to keep up with a photo a day on top of my already busy schedule!"  Well, then I realized how easy this will be...all I have to do is take my camera EVERYWHERE with me. This is not just about me getting more comfortable with the camera it is also about saving memories of my children and family.  How can I NOT do this??!!  So I may not get the perfect picture but I will get a memory frozen forever no matter what!

I hope at the end to put this all in a book.  My youngest is only 6 months old so we still have a lot of firsts happening and this will be a fun way to document it all.  Then maybe if I just love doing this...I will do it a second year.  Let's see how far I can do this.  I have faith in myself!  It may just be one photo a day or it may be 10...whatever the case I will always tell a little story with the photo.  And my regular blog posts will get squeezed in between these photo posts as well.  I also plan to throw in some film photos done with our old film cameras as well!  Believe it or not film is NOT dead!  So I hope that you have fun looking at my photos as I do taking them!

I was out of town for the holiday weekend so I am a little behind posting BUT I did take photos everyday. Which might happen throughout the year.  I give you my word that I will take a photo a day but sometimes I might not get to posting it on my blog on that exact day.  So some days I might have several posts to catch up!  What can I say....I am a mama and a mama first before anything else!

January 1st, 2012

My guys in the "hot pool", as my son calls it. We were out of town for the New Years weekend visiting friends and relaxing at a cabin in one of our favorite places on the planet!