Weekly Header Challenge -- Fun Fun Fun

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Fishing Guy 

Kathy 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Fun Fun Fun

Chosen by Tom.

This week's theme gave me an excuse to go back through all my photos from the year and reminisce about the fun times.  I admit there weren't too many, since this was--and continues to be--a rough year for us.  There were, however, wonderful moments of levity which I share with you today.

For my header, even though it was hard to crop, I chose this photo of me having fun for my 50th birthday.

I'm totally claiming credit for this image, because even though Fernando snapped the shutter, I set everything up for him!

Here are some other "fun, fun, fun" times from my year...

Fun with a can of whipped topping.

Ice cream at the lake is always fun!

Below was my first experience with a handgun (a revolver).  I loved it, and loved that I was actually good at it.  Look at that grouping!  And, I did it in a summer dress!  It was so much fun that we shoot fairly regularly now.

After helping a friend move, Fernando and Thomas had fun with the dolly at the storage facility (taken with my phone).

When we get together with Allie's family (Jake's girlfriend), we always have fun.  This is another one taken with my phone.  It seems that fun is generally spontaneous and my phone is more readily available than my camera.  :)

Fun is when a friend's adult daughter invites you over to teach you how to make bubble tea (a Taiwanese beverage).  It was interesting!

 Bubble tea.

Finally, it is fun--and heart-melting--to watch your adult son charm two little girls into hanging out with him while at a friend's house for a sing-along event.

 Coloring time together!

Aren't they simply adorable?


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

Visit my website
Stop by my family blog
Follow me on Facebook

Weekly Header Challenge -- Selfies

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Fishing Guy 

Kathy 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Selfies

Chosen by Mac.

I'm hopping on the internet quickly today to post this, so I don't miss a third week!  I was away for a little over a week in the Adirondack Mountains, and I took lots of pictures.  Fortunately, I took a few selfies which I'm sharing here now.

Selfie -- a picture taken of me, by me.

Below is my header image, uncropped.  The fact that I'm in this photo makes it a selfie; no one said anything about other people being in the picture!  Anyway, this was my second selfie with my wireless remote shutter release.  In case you don't know, I'm the girl on the right in the front; you can see my left hand with the remote.

Family and friends piled into the back of my cousin Al's pickup truck

to make the drive up the road to my cousins Tom and Mare's house (under construction).

Below is my first selfie (via the wireless remote) with my family and friends at Lake Bonaparte.  After our traditional Sunday afternoon boat ride (Columbus Day weekend), we gather together for a group picture to show everyone we were there.  Most of us are family, and the friends are practically family, too.

Up at Tom and Mare's new house, we posed outside for another group picture, with the house and some beautiful autumn trees in the background.

Then we went inside to pose under the rafters.  Tom and Mare have great dreams for this house, and I'm sure it's going to be beautiful.  Since there was little light inside, except one bulb and whatever light came through the window, I told everyone as soon as the camera started taking pictures we'd all have to freeze.  Camera settings:  ISO 8000, f9, 1/20 second.

Tom and Mare (on the left) with family and friends in their new home!

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

Visit my website
Stop by my family blog
Follow me on Facebook

Weekly Header Challenge -- Aah! Time to Relax!

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Fishing Guy 

Kathy 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Aah!  Time to Relax!

Chosen by me.

Well, as you may be able to guess, I chose this theme to coincide with our mini vacation to the Adirondack Mountains and Lake Bonaparte, because I knew we'd be relaxing there quite a bit throughout the week!

Here is the uncropped image that I used for my header.

Jake was able to get a week off work, and he is dating a sweet young lady, Allie, who was also able to come with us and experience what a typical family vacation is for us.  The two cuties had plenty of time to sit, relax, do things together, chat, and just get to know each other better.

Here are some more relaxing images from Lake Bonaparte...

Fishing near the High Rocks.

Relaxing on Jackson Rock.

Beautiful sunset from our dock.

My morning mug of tea, a chair, a dock, and a beautiful view.

Swishing feet in the water!

Exploring the tree house.  (Allie's New York cousins came to visit.)

Playing cards on the front porch.

Since I'm a huge fan of sunsets, and sunsets at the Lake, I leave you with one final relaxing image, with a kayaker paddling by.

I hope you've had time to relax this summer!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

Visit my website
Stop by my family blog
Follow me on Facebook

Weekly Header Challenge -- Silhouette

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Fishing Guy 

Kathy 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Silhouette

Chosen by Kathy.

Silhouette, different from shadow:  The dark shape and outline of someone or something visible against a lighter background.  Here is the image I chose for my header:

I took this shot purposefully; I was compiling a photo book for my parents' 50th anniversary, to be presented to them at Christmas, and I wanted an image that would decorate the back cover, and also be featured in the book.  While up at Lake Bonaparte on vacation, and while shooting the sunset (as I typically do every night up there!), I asked them to pose for me, just for fun.  There's a little bit of chromatic aberration (the purple haze around my mom's head) due to shooting into the light source, but otherwise it's a beautiful image and looks amazing in their photo book.

Below are a few more images for this week's theme of silhouette.

At my friend's son's Wisconsin farmhouse.

Palm trees in Vero Beach, Florida.

I took this last one for a photography class in which we were assigned to shoot in front light, side light, and back light.  Jacob and Thomas trekked along with me to shoot in back light, and while they goofed off in front of the setting sun, I snapped this image.  They were laughing and having a good time, and this image is a great portrayal their camaraderie and brotherhood.

That's it for this week!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

Visit my website
Stop by my family blog
Like me on Facebook

Weekly Header Challenge - Christmas Is Coming

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Christmas is Coming

Chosen by Lew.

Christmas is coming...  And it's coming up quick!  Here is the full image from my header, of carolers at our door.  These carolers started at our house (in our house--we hosted!) and sang all through our neighborhood, sharing the love of Christ through Christmas song with everyone who opened their door.  They even had a neighbor pull her car over to the curb, and ask them to sing!

We know Christmas is coming when...

...our home starts to look a little more festive:

...gifts for needy children are wrapped:

...homemade gifts for family are assembled:

...peppermint candy appears in abundance!

...the kitchen starts to smell like cookies:

...greetings from friends appear on our walls:

Most importantly, our hearts and minds turn to the most precious gift of all, God become Man, our Savior!

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

Visit my website
Stop by my family blog
Like me on Facebook

Weekly Header Challenge - E Pluribus Unum

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ E Pluribus Unum

Chosen by me.  :)

First, I apologize for my late posts!  Things have been busy since Danny started back to UIC, with car schedules, train schedules, school schedules, and a host of other issues that have recently cropped up.  I wish I could take more time to work on these posts, but my creative mind is rather shot right now--and it's my own theme, too!  I just sigh and tell myself to everything there is a season...

My header image is the second one below, of a one-mile run held before the Labor Day parade a few days ago in Naperville.  Out of many runners, one race.  I wanted to stay recent with the images I chose, and since I literally just uploaded these, I chose them.  Enjoy the race!
 

The pace car--er, motorcycle.  :)

My header image.

Friends race--I love that the young girls are running!

Another friend's daughter.

That's it for this week!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

Visit my website
Stop by my family blog
Like me on Facebook

Project 2012 -- Week 52

Project 2012 -- Week 52

December 23-31

Welcome to my Project 2012 weekly post!  This is my time to look back over the past week, 
choose seven favorite images I've taken, and share them here with you.  
If you have a project you're working on, please leave a comment 
so I can visit your blog and see what you're up to!

Well, this is it.  My last Project 2012 post.  This post contains a little more than a week's worth of images, since there are two extra days dangling at the end of the year, what with 366 divided by 7 not being a whole number and all.  :)

This last week of 2012 images kicks off with a gift from my brother-in-law and his wife:  A honey-baked gift.  Jacob had the privilege of opening the package when it arrived.

[358] The gift of food

Christmas Day was filled with lots of fun, laughter, and memories.

[359] Christmas place setting

[360] White elephant gifts

We set aside a small part of the day to present a 50th Anniversary memory book to my parents.  They had reached this milestone back in June, but due to various circumstances we weren't able to pull things together until Christmas.  (Read about it here.)

[361] Family memories

[362] Thoughts from family

I caught the flu/a cold Christmas evening, of all times, and spent the next 24 hours in bed with chills and fever.  Yuck.  It then developed into cold-like symptoms, and I'm just finally getting around to feeling better.  During those days after Christmas, our guys had their guy buddies over a few times to play games, sing music, and just hang out together.  Their buddies brought food so I wouldn't have to cook.  That was nice.  :)

[363] Guys hanging out

[364] The final outcome

I ventured outside into the cold with my macro lens to capture a few images that contained snow.  We ended up with just a dusting, while we keep hearing about everyone else's snowy adventures.

[365] Winter grill

[366] Winter leaf

That's pretty much it for snow!  This new week promises lots of sun, so I guess that's a good alternative for winter weather.  We'll be off at the end of this week on a family adventure--off to warmer climes and wedding times!  Then it'll be back home and back to school.  With many changes staring us in the face this new year, our family adventure will definitely be a time of relaxation, renewal of hearts and minds and bodies, and strengthening for the journey of 2013.

Happy New Year!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

Visit my website
Stop by my family blog
Like me on Facebook