Why are 95% of my photos never seen by anyone else besides myself? Here are my favorites which represent things in my life, my home and my heart this holiday season.
The bottom of our tree is lacking ornaments because our dog has happy tail! His tail can launch an ornament several feet across the room at dangerous speeds. Here is that dog below:
The special effects are necessary because this was shot in black & white and it had bad shadows. I just love the angle though. My dog is my favorite subject to shoot photos of!
My best friend sent me the most interesting present (among other great items). I have never experienced a pomegrante before now. They are delicious! I already love POM Brand juice...now these are top on my list, minus a few 'points' for the mess factor. Looks like blood, yuck.
Same effect on a photo of my daughter. The original photo had terrible shadows, so badly that I could not see her face. Now, I can at least see her facial features. I love the way the lights from the tree appear to twinkle.
Said dog and said daughter on Christmas morning. This very chilly morning, the dog was 'thrown' out in the cold so he would not be sitting on top of us with our presents on the floor during festivies. He was shivering and very cold. Here he is with the saddest eyes ever. Zeus' eyes say more than any words could have said, even if he was able to talk. This is the first, and so far, the last time I have seen such sorrow from my lil' boy. Priceless!
Christmas morning, I had big tears in MY eyes. Tears of joy, that is once I saw the turquoise Tiffany box I unwrapped from my husband. The photo is not very clear, but it is the first one taken of my wonderful gift. This is the gift I wanted to buy for my matron-of-honor (but could not afford in June for my wedding thank you present. I was also wishing for it myself yet my hubby did not know which one I wanted). Gerry did well this year!!! Thanks, Baby!
This is the view I had of my sleepy loved ones on Christmas morning once most of the gifts were unwrapped. I am truly blessed. I count my blessings daily. Some days, I count more than others but only because I sometimes do not realize just how fortunate I really am. Count your blessings, count your abilities, and don't count your money!
Speaking of blessings and abilities, I cannot wait until I can apply my digital scrapbooking skills to my holiday photos. Beginning January 4th, the Faith Sisters 'My Lifetime Story' Challenge Project begins.
To let you in on a secret, I have five (5) weeks of projects completed since I am on the Creative Team. This challenge requires us to look within and collect facts about ourselves primarily and our family heritage.
Please visit FaithSisters.com and look for the My Life Time Story information if you are interested in logging your past, your ancestors information and leave a legacy for future generations of your family.
I am surprisingly happy with the way mine is turning out. I wish that I could show you my favorite page now, but I have to keep it under wraps, only releasing the layouts (LO) the week of the project/ topics. My mom has provided me with some family information. She also typed up her memories of the day I was born. How can I explain how precious reading these words were.
They are now a part of a layout about me and the day I was born! I will be posting it here towards the end of January. Please check back to watch for it. AND check Faith Sisters if you do not decide to join me. (Not advertising, just proud and would love for you to see what I have been doing!)
Wait til you see the LO I made about my sister Lisa!! (One assignment of the project is a LO about siblings).
Anyhow, what else have I been up to? This is my other daughter, Anika and I eating at Sonic after our visit to the snow a few weeks ago. We had a great time sledding and throwing snow balls! Gerald and Jasmine had a blast as well. The hot chocolate we took in the old thermos was still hot and heated up our cold bodies at the end of the freeze fest. (Plus the simple watercolor effect from good ol' Photoshop Elements.)
This post originally ended here. However, my husband's birthday took place within the last month and is considered part of our holiday season. I decided to share more photos with you. Now, just 90% of my photo collect will go forever unseen!
I am loving two details in this picture, the smoke from the candles and the curly ribbon in Jasmine's hair.
(Notice how this pic is not very clear compared to some of the others? This 5 mega pixel camera broke two weeks ago. We had to purchase a new one which is 12 mega pixels....just another blessing. I would be so bored without a camera. This is our first Christmas as a married couple too. Having photos are especially important to us. This is also only my second Christmas as an adult with my sister!)
Speaking of marriage, here are my in-laws partying it up for Gerry's 36th (okay, truth is, we were not real crazy since it was a school and work night.)
Wait until my new Mom and Dad find out they may be making their WWW debut via my blog. Or maybe, unknown to Gerry and myself, they are already on the internet?!
Are you on the internet someplace? Do you have a blog? Post a link to your photo galleries, blogs, or other kid friendly internet articles in the comments section so I can see what you are up to.
Last but not least, can we agree that the holidays do hold a little bit of magic? We fully believe in Santa and the magic of Christmas around here. How about you?
Here are the top photos of my little believers which were taken in 2009. They are both wearing the magic scarf too....we share this scarf I bought at the Gap years before I knew of their existence. Everytime one of us wears it, we get so many compliments. What do you think of it?
(photo with old camera just before I broke it...5 mega pixels just wasn't cutting it anymore anyways)
I am wishing you a safe, healthy and happy new year for 2010. Let's hope we have energy all year long, including energy to un-decorate our homes and pack up the ornaments!
Question: Do you take time to review your holiday photos BEFORE you take down your decorations?
*Tip: I view my photos case of damage, bad lighting, etc. If I HAVE to, I am not ashamed to admit that I occasionally re-enact special times/ holidays/ events so they are documented in a photo. Photos help us recall memories years and years down the road, as strange and "fake" as it may sound now. Many people practice this 'cheating'..mainly all of us crazy about scrapbooking!
Take care and see you in 2010!
Betty Holland
