A Dr. Who Christmas (aka Weekly Photo Challenge: Surprise)

Yesterday, my friend Katie, my brother and I all exchanged Christmas presents. There were lots of surprises on all sides which is why I thought it would be perfect for today’s photo challenge.

This first photo is of Katie’s present from my brother and me:

http://instagram.com/p/TbyeLCqiDt/

I won’t tell you what was in her present quite yet. It will be your Christmas tutorial surprise! I’ll post it later. Her gift bag, wrapping paper, and two of the gifts were made by me :) You’ll just have to wait and see!

This photo is her amazing present to me:

http://instagram.com/p/TfAxZPKiPX/

YES!!! That is an exclusive David Tennant bookmark from ElloKaitlin Creations, a sonic screwdriver that writes invisible messages and tickles, AND British chocolate. Oh the amazing surpriseness!! I had no idea what she was making and was completely surprised :D

The rest of our day was spent playing/dying in Spelunky, watching a 2/3 Lord of the Rings Marathon (we didn’t get to see Return of the King because of a funeral), and exploring the woods in the rain. It was a great day full of Christmas surprises and weather surprises. A good day indeed.

Here are some rain shots:

http://instagram.com/p/TesvTrKiLX/

http://instagram.com/p/TetMwVqiL0/

http://instagram.com/p/TetT5uKiL6/

http://instagram.com/p/TetfobqiMO/

UPDATE 12/25/2012:

These are the links to the Christmas Surprise Tutorials :)

1. Mustache Wrapping Paper
2. Ombre Bleach Tee
3. Mustache Mug
4. Merry Christmas Gift Bag

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Surroundings

Take the time to listen.
Watch the sunshine glisten.
Hear the beautiful breeze
As it flows through the trees.
Watch the flowers as they bloom
They tell you summer is coming soon.
Hear the frog as it croaks
Hello to its blokes.
Watch the sparrow as it soars
On its sunny day tour.
Hear the wind as it blows
Season scents to your nose.
Take a look around; see what’s going on
Because before you know it, it’ll all be gone.

[day 27] Thirty Day Photo Challenge: September 2012 Edition

Today’s post is of some woods behind my house. The reason I took this picture is because my friend Kyle sent me a text this morning: “I wanna go to the park.. go to the park for me and take pics and send me a pic every 5 mins… k thanks.” Sooo that’s what I did! Only, I replaced the park with my back yard since it was closer and met the qualifications of being park-like.

Day 27:

[day 22] Thirty Day Photo Challenge: September 2012 Edition

Andddddddd today’s post doesn’t include the Southern Women’s show either. Oh wells :) But today’s photo DOES include a corn picture. We spent the afternoon at a corn maze near my house. More of that post is in my photo challenge entry coming soon.

Day 22:

Swings of my Life (aka Weekly Writing Challenge: A Few of My Favorite Things)

This week’s writing challenge is about a few of your favorite things. I have a few favorite things… a book, a bear, a paintbrush, an amazing pair of shoes, a family quilt, but after some thought my choice has to be my swing.

I’ve swung on a front porch swing all my life. Actually, I’m a third generation front porch swinger. My papaw grew up in the house I live in and spent countless hours swinging or rocking on the porch. My dad and his siblings did the same thing. Now, my brothers and I have spent our lives thus far swinging on the front porch.

I can remember three swings total in my lifetime (23 years), but I have no idea how many have hung on this porch over the last 80 years. I wish I did and could tell you all about them, but I don’t so you’ll have to settle for the swings of my life.

The first swing was my Papaw’s. I was 4 or 5 years old from my earliest memory. It was winter time and the porch was huge then. I walked with Papaw through the long winding house and the room that always had the door closed to get to the porch. That room was icy feeling on my feet and usually gave the shivers. We would open the big white front door and walk out on the porch. It had screens all around it… a little room all of our own. The paint was peeling and there were lots of treasures my mom called junk, but my favorite was the swing. It smelled like pennies and old pillows. Papaw would sit down on the cushion first, holding the swing steady, then let me climb up next to him. Our cushion was really just an old blanket, but that didn’t matter to me. I would snuggle up next to his chest, resting partly on his left leg and partly on the scratchy orange pillow I loved, and we would watch a little black and white TV. The screen didn’t come in all the time, but it was ours. It always seemed to be showing Andy Griffith or the news. I liked Andy Griffith best.

In the summer time, we would get a bucket of vanilla ice cream off the back porch, fill our glasses with crushed ice and orange juice, grab two spoons and make our way to that swing. So many happy memories.

Urban Flowers (aka Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban)

This was a hard post to find a photo for. I don’t live in an urban area (Walmart and subdivisions are not urban to me), so I’ve pulled one of my pictures from a few years ago when I was living in Wales. My friends and I took a day trip to London on our day off. We did the ride the bus tour. We did the walk for forever tour. We did the take pictures everywhere thing too. The amazing thing about our one day in London was the weather. The temperature was a tad warm, but that’s to be expected in late July. The sky though was breathtaking. Blue, blue, and more blue with little white puffy clouds. GORGEOUS!! I couldn’t ask for a prettier (or more conducive to photography) day than the one we received.

The reason I picked the picture above for the challenge is because urban doesn’t mean concrete and metal to me. My favorite urban places are fully of color and vibrancy. All over London were walls of flowers. Walls of them!! So much green, pink, purple, white, blue and red everywhere. I suppose the people putting up these flowers were compensating for the gray rain that usually surrounds London. And if the flowers combined with the blue sky weren’t enough, we passed countless walls with bright graffiti on them, colorful banners hanging from the sky, and posters of bright adverts. All together, they made a very colorful urban area.

Here are some of my favorite London pictures: