be an immigrant

This is a pictureless post - sorry I've been so slack the past few days! It's been busy trying to get packed up to move, visiting with family and spending time at outpatients. Yesterday I officially immigrated to the US and it's gorgeous here in SC. Okay it was yesterday when we got here - today it's raining but still mid 40s so much better than the snow storm we left back in NS! Today is a busy day but hopefully I'll have time to get my camera software installed so I can upload some pics for everyone! Just wanted to check in and let everyone know I MADE IT!

My posts for the next - oh lets say week - might be sporatic at best - but I will have wedding pics when I get back so hopefully that will make it worth the wait!

be baroque

I had a great Christmas and I hope all my blog readers did too. I got a lot of very kind and generous gifts but today I'm just sharing a camera lover's dream gift that Alex got me - a shootsac with the baroque cover :) The first picture had a yellowish tinge to it that I tried to fix in PS but i don't know if i made it worse or better . Either way it was definitely an exciting gift!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is one of my favorite days of the year. It's always filled with so much Joy, Hope, Love and Peace. Every year we go to my Nana's house for a family supper/visit/present exchange and this year was especially wonderful because we had a new addition. Last year we were all anxiously awaiting his entrance to the world so it was great to have him here this year. He's so adorable and a total flirt!



Another reason I love Christmas Eve is the church service. We always do the candlelit Silent Night at our church and it is one of my favorite moments of the year. Its not the greatest shot - no tripod with me and we were in the middle of a row but it kind of captures the warm fuzzy feeling I get during the song so I'm sharing anyway.

Grasshopper Pie

Today we made Christmas dinner dessert - Grasshopper Pie. It is my absolute favorite all time dessert. How can you go wrong - Oreos, Marshmallow Fluff, Creme de Menthe and Whipped Cream?!

A Tree Trimming / Sleigh Bells Ring

Yesterday we finally got our tree decorated. Here's Alex sitting down to hang an ornament and a sleigh bell I picked up last year at Christmas in the Park.

Be Sassy

I promised Sassy to name the post when I saw her next "Be Sassy" so here it is :). It was so great for us to all to all be together again after 4 months apart. Unfortunately I think the next visit will be farther off in the future - likely August :(





Here she is - all the way from England! Doesn't she look great?


After lunch with my girls, it was off to the airport to pick up Alex. Unfortunately his flight from Laguardia was delayed. It was supposed to get in at 3:45 and didn't end up actually landing until 6pm so I had a long wait at the airport by myself. Here are some of the pics I snapped at the airport while I waited :)

Then finally - he arrived! Then we went to Chicken Burger for supper and then drove home. And thats why the posts are so late - we haven't seen each other since October! :P

be reunited

This is the first of several missing posts from the past few days. The reunions started Thursday and lasted through late Friday night. On Thursday, I drove to Halifax to visit with Team Sassy - Ashley's living in the city, Missy was flying in after a visit with her sister in Calgary and Christie(aka Sassy) was flying home from England where she's been teaching. Unfortunately due to the "bloody trains", Sassy missed her flight and didn't get in until late on Thursday night so we didn't get to see her until Friday. The three of us had a great visit with Bev on Thursday night though with lots of wine.

be rural

I grew up in rural NS. Most of my life has been spent in rural communities, but I only have 10 more days of that and then I'll be off to live in a city. It's going to be a huge adjustment. The community where I currently live with my parents does not have a mall, a movie theatre, a McDonalds, more than one grocery store or gas station, and one school. Here is a view of just how rural it is here. This was taken half an hour away from the front steps of the only mall in our area... Yep those are fields and farmers barns!

I can't believe I'm moving in 10 days! There is so much to see and do and people to visit. There are some people I know I won't see again before I go because of distance and circumstances beyond our control, and that makes me sad. You know who you are and I'm going to miss you so much - but I know we will stay in touch. There are other people that have made no effort to even try to see me at all in the past several months, despite knowing I'm leaving. Why? I'll likely never know or understand but those actions have spoken louder than words.

However, I do get the opportunity to see several of my close friends before I go. Some have made plans, changed travel itenaries and postponed visits with loved ones just for one last visit before I go. It means so much more to me than you'll ever know girls! I can't wait to see you all on Thursday! And I love you all so much!

deck the halls

Since we aren't actually ready for christmas (or moving... or the wedding) yet - when I was up visiting my friend Emilee tonight, I had to snap a few pics of her gorgeous tree :) Ours is technically up but it has zero decorations on it. I think we're waiting for Alex to get here on Friday :)

holiday lights

This is perhaps not one of my coolest or best shots but it turned out okay. My back is still sore today and its cold so I didn't want to venture outside to take a better pic. This is through my bedroom window at our star outside my window. :)

be illuminated

Saturday's pic - a neat lamp I found while christmas shopping

bright lights, big city

Friday and Saturday's photos are late, because I stayed in the city Friday night and Saturday I pulled a muscle in my back and didn't feel up to sitting on my computer when I got home.

Friday's Pic - The view from our hotel.... :)

I can see clearly now....

This morning I put in fresh contacts (I wear disposable ones). When I was standing there in the bathroom opening the package (blind as a bat), I couldn't help but thinking about how the lense we look through alters our perception on the world. Without any lenses on, everything is a blur unless it's really close to my face. Only my immediate surroundings are in focus. With my contacts in, I have a much wider, clearer view of the world.

It always fascinates me when I have the oppportunity to talk with other people and hear how they "see" the world. How different the lenses though which everyone views the world. There are people I know who always have their lense set to the bigger picture (Alex - yes I'm talking about you). There are other people I know, who can't look past today to see the bigger picture. One special girl I know looks at the world through rose colored glasses and has that special gift of being able to find the good in everyone and everything. God I'm going to miss you. Some people can only seem to see the world through a shattered, broken, unfocused lense and can't seem to find anything cheerful and happy. Still others seem to have the camera focused soley on themselves and they can't seem to find the zoom to include other people and things into their perspective.

What lense do you use to see the world?

be prepared

I'm moving in 17 days. The time had finally come to start packing up the majority of my clothing. I no longer need work clothes, bar clothes, spring/summer/fall clothes, or even all my casual clothes. I have determined though that I am both a clothes horse and a pack rat even of clothes. Tonight when I was sorting my clothes into piles (the keep out to wear pile, the to pack or keep out? pile, the pack pile, and the goodwill pile) I realized that I never want to throw away clothes. Even when they are old and out of style - who knows, i may want them again some day? I even found a pair of pants that I'd bought 5 years ago to take to the hospital with me for my thyroid surgery! Shakes head!

I did weed out a few things though, that I no longer need or have even worn in over a year.

AND I got my "Pack Pile" packed and the "keep out pile" neatly put back into a drawer! YES - that's 1 drawer (okay and there are clean clothes in the drier).... LOL

I'm so proud of myself. If you are reading this and you know me, you understand. I never pack until the last minute. I hate moving and I hate packing. Thus it's usually moving day - the movers are here and things are still getting shoved into boxes, suitcases, plastic bags and even laundry baskets. That kind of move isn't going to work this time though LOL.

be artistic

i loved misty's graffiti pics so when we parked beside some today in halifax, I had to get out and capture it :) i love the blue color

be a rockstar

so my dad's a rockstar!

lol ok not exactly - but he does have a CD :) The men's choir he sings with just released their first album...

you can listen to a few sound clips on their website here under recordings.
http://www.novavoce.com

be gorgeous

Today I had a chance to go shoot some portraits for my friend Bree, while she was home for the weekend. Here are a few of my favorites :) They came a great personal expense (the shoot wasn't really planned and I was wearing bare feet in heels and ended up in mid-calf deep snow to get the shots the way I wanted them). A huge thanks to Bree for an awesome shoot and for braving the snow with me!

be crisp

I had the opportunity to visit with another one of my longtime friends tonight, Bree. I've known her since she moved up the street from me when we were 7 and we have been through a lot together. She was home visiting for the weekend, so we were able to spend some time catching up tonight (okay a good 2 1/2 hours worth). She is looking great and I was so pleased that I was able to have some time with her before I move. She has such a great spirit and I love how she knows me. She gets that I am totally myself all the time. I don't change my personality depending on who I talk to or how sober I am. You always get the same from me. She knows that and loves it. One thing I treasure most in a person is that they can see who you are, and like who that person is.

You're probably wondering what my visit with Bree has to do with my photos for today. Tonight when I went to pick her up, she said "It sure is crisp out isn't it?' And that perfectly describes both how it felt out today and my photos for today. :)

be a beautiful disaster

morning has broken

Today I didn't continue with the Be _____ Title for my blog entry. When I took this photo on my way to work this morning, the song "Morning has Broken" came into my head. It was always one of my favorite songs as a child in church and today it fit. Morning finally broke through the storm. I kept trying to come up with a adjective that fit, but nothing seemed to fit as well as Morning has Broken. So thats what we've got. This picture perhaps better shows what I love about a winter storm from yesterday's Be Magical post.



I've been struggling all week with the topic for this week's challenge - not because I don't know what to shoot but rather that its been hard to decide what that perfect shot is. Each day I took at least one shot of something colorful in hopes that it would be the one. Each one didn't turn out quite as awesome as I'd hoped. I think the problem is that I love colorful, vibrant photos. I try to make them all colorful and vivid. The photo I'm going to use is one you've seen before, but I adored the color of the sky that night and it's fairly recent.

be magical

There's something magical about a blustery winter storm. The world slows down, people stay in with their families and friends, and everything gets covered in a sparkling, soft blanket. It looks like a fairytale even. Despite everything I say about hating the cold and wet winters of the Maritimes, I am going to miss days like this.

be a lady

- bug, that is. This wasn't my planned post for today. I had pictures taken earlier tonight that were going to be part of a post called be sticky. They'll have to wait for a different time though, cause these turned out way better. I was sitting in the livingroom on my mom's mac, talking to FH on msn about wedding plans when this little gal (or guy?) flew into the room and landed on an upside down glass bowl, just hanging out and posing for me. The funny thing? My camera was on the table beside the glass bowl. I think she wanted to pose. I can't believe I'm shooting lady bugs on Dec 3 during a huge snowstorm!

be vibrant

I'm a little disappointed with my pictures for today. They didn't quite turn out as well as I hoped - I knew I was heading to MAC today anyway to pick up a new Gleam after my last one broke (http://bememorable.blogspot.com/2007/11/shattered-gleam.html) and so I was hoping to do some vibrant eyeshadow shots while I was there for this week's contest. As I said - not quite as awesome as I'd hoped so I'm gonna have to try to get out shooting again or see if i have any old shots that are better.

be warm

okay so it wasn't anything that could possibly be considered warm outside today. It was freezing cold with a snow storm. My pictures today though are about warm light. Rich, warm, late afternoon sunlight. I have to say this is my favorite part of the day.