Focusing on Life - 25 of 52

This week, Sally asked us to focus on what makes us special.  Fill in the blank, she said:  "You are ________"

There are so many things that make each of us special. One of the best things about this challenge is the window it has provided into the lives of the participants.

From raising goats to painted shoes and from bread baking to clothes lines, gorgeous windows, cornerless walls, puppy eyes and amazing sketches, I've been able to see many things that make the participants so special.

When it came to myself, though, I wasn't quite sure what to photograph.  While I was debating, it occurred to me that how we see ourselves is sometimes dependent on how others see us.

Our best traits (and sometimes our worst ones) are magnified by the company we keep.  The best people in our lives are the ones who make us a bit better every day.

With that in mind, I can say that I never feel more special than when the kiddo looks at me with her eyes filled with love.

She is kind and smart and funny and she makes every day a joy.  She brings out the best in me.

So, Sally, I am a loving mother to an amazing kiddo!

Please check Sally's blog to see what makes the other participants special.

Focusing on Life - 21 of 52

For week 21, Sally asked us to reminisce.

During the past few months, the kiddo has become adept at playing cards.  She's been playing Uno since she was four, but lately, she's graduated to Phase 10 and a multi player gin-type game called Five Crowns.

The kiddo's new found love makes me remember playing cards as a child.

When I was about the kiddo's age, my dad, tired of playing Crazy 8s and Slap Jack, taught me poker.  After that, I learned Gin and Rummy.

As I grew older, I watched the adults in my family play Euchre.  My dad explained the rules and, eventually, I was allowed to play.  Oh, that was an exciting day!

I don't know how many of you play Euchre, but it's a quick little game that only uses 9s through aces.  Each hand consists of five tricks.  One team calls trump and tries to win three of the tricks.

Playing Euchre with my grandfather was a favorite way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  He loved nothing better than playing cards and shooting the breeze with the other players.

Grandpa was notorious for calling trump on next to nothing and getting the three requisite tricks.  I can still remember the way he would smile when he pulled off an almost impossible point.

Playing cards with Grandpa was always fun.  He would tease me about going set.  I would pass the bid hoping to set him.  Sometimes it worked, though most of the time, it didn't.

It's been quite a while since Grandpa has been able to play cards.  He still teases me, though.  :)

Sally, thank you for the trip down memory lane.

Please check Sally's blog to see what the other participants are reminiscing about.

Focusing on Life - 19 of 52

This week, Sally asked us to focus on hope.

Emotions, I think, are hard to capture in words, much less in a photo.  As in the last few weeks, I spent most of the week deciding what to photograph.

I settled on an idea and asked the kiddo for help. Luckily she agreed on the spot.

The kiddo loves dandelions and she will always grab one and make a wish as we walk to school or to the park.

Wishing and hoping are so similar that I thought a child's wish might work well for this week.

I tried to capture the little white puffs floating away, but all I got was this:

A few wishes stayed with us.  :)

Please visit Sally's blog for more hopeful posts.

Focusing on Life - 17 of 52

It's been four months since Sally Russick began her "Focusing on Life" series.  Each week, I've enjoyed focusing a bit on my life:  the kiddo, my husband, our family and our day to day activities.  This photo series is shaping up to be a wonderful digital scrapbook, of sorts.

Even more, though, I've enjoyed getting to know everyone who is participating.  Reading through your blog posts has been the highlight of my weekends.  I've been lax on commenting, though, and I apologize to everyone for that.

This week, Sally prompted us to think about color.  I couldn't think of anything that really "spoke" to me.  Then I saw this:

My husband's aunt made up a little Easter gift basket for the kiddos.  In it was, among other things, this colorful pinwheel.

The kiddo loves watching this pinwheel on windy days.

Even though it was a bit rainy today, the kiddo and I had fun making the pinwheel spin so I could take a few pictures.

I love the rainbow effect.

Please check out Sally's blog to see the colorful entries of the other participants.

Focusing on Life - 15 of 52

This week, Sally asked us to see the beauty in age.

I know Sally meant for us to look at objects:  buildings, cars, watches, etc., but my first thought was my grandmother.  She is a beautiful lady and I love her dearly.

I've made it a point to take a new picture or pictures for each week's prompt, but I don't live close enough to my grandparents to pop over for a quick visit.

Instead, I'll cheat (just this once) and show you a photo I took several years ago.

This is my grandmother -- definitely an ageless beauty.  At 87 years old, she still has a twinkle in her eye.

Please visit Sally's blog to see other ageless beauties.

Focusing on Life - 13 of 52

For my entry to the Resin Slider Bauble Challenge, please click here.

I think this week's prompt from Sally was the most challenging yet.  Sally asked us to find "faith," that thing that keeps us believing, and snap a photo.

Lately, though, my thoughts on faith have been leaning toward having faith in myself.

I keep thinking about a quote from Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back:   "Do or do not.  There is no try."

Sometimes it is not enough to "try."  You must "do."  I think, in order to "do," we need the faith that we can.

This week, the kiddo was trying to climb a tree in our yard.  Until that moment, she had been scared of climbing ... and falling.

She slid down a few times and scratched her knee a bit.  I was so proud when she turned back to the tree and tried again.

I heard her say, "I know I can do it."  She had faith in herself.

After a few more tries, she made it into the tree all on her own and even jumped down without help.  (Can you say, "proud mama"?)

Now, if I can take a lesson from the kiddo and break this brick that's been sitting around.  Breaking a brick is part of my upcoming black belt test.

 I've been trying for some time.  Trying is not enough.  I need to find the faith in myself.

Please visit Sally's blog to see where the other participants found faith.

Focusing on Life - 12 of 52

This week, Sally asked us to notice the curves around us.

There are so many curves in the house:  bowls, toys, beads, the kiddo's rocks and blocks and even games.

I decided to focus on one thing in particular, however, and chose the kiddo's new bicycle.  She couldn't be happier with the bike.  It's black and red and totally her style.

So far, it's only been warm enough on a few days for her to ride it; and, let me say, she had a blast on those days.

We are still working on balancing and are slowly raising the training wheels.  Whoever coined the expression "it's as easy as riding a bike" probably forgot what it was like to be six years old.

The kiddo enjoyed watching me take pictures of her bike and even posed for me.

The bicycle makes me remember that, while the kiddo is growing up, she is still a kid.  She still needs my patience and understanding.  She still needs my guidance and encouragement, my love and support.  (Hopefully, she won't outgrow too many of those too soon.)  :)

Sally, thank you once again for a wonderful challenge this week.

Please take time to visit Sally's blog and see what curves the other participants found.

Focusing on Life - 11 of 52

This week, Sally asked us to look for possibilities.

Most of us are jewelry makers or designers and have the ability to see great things from a bag of tiny beads.

On Monday, though, I found a folder full of possibilities -- the kiddo's homework folder.

As I may have mentioned, the kiddo started kindergarten this year.  She has loved every minute of it and I have loved watching her learn more than I thought possible.

In kindergarten, the children are not just learning their letters, they are learning to sound words out, read and write.

Kindergarteners also learn math.  The kiddo can listen to a word problem, form an equation and determine the answer.

The kiddo tells me that math is easy.  I cannot tell you how much that makes me smile.  I am constantly amazed at how much the kiddo is growing and learning  -- for her, the possibilities are endless.

Sally, thank you so much for starting this challenge.  I look forward to it every week.

Please take a few minutes to visit Sally's blog to find the possibilities of the other participants.

Focusing on Life - 6 of 52

For my entry to the Inspired By Winter Blog Hop, scroll down or click here.

This week, Sally challenged us to "feel the love."

Growing up, I learned that love presents itself in many forms.  My dad may not have been the first to say "I love you," but he was always there to play a game with me.

My mom would always, without fail, let me have the last cookie or brownie or slice of pizza.  Giving up chocolate?  That has to be love!

Now married with a kiddo of my own, I am learning about that kind of love:

the "spending hours looking for her blanket so she can sleep" love.

I couldn't resist sharing the "I'll sit here if you want (but I'd rather be chasing my tail)" love.

My absolute favorite, though, is the "get ready for the biggest hug in the world" love.

Sally, thank you again for a wonderful week.  

Please take some time to visit Sally's blog to see where the other participants found love.

My word for 2013

Last January, I noticed a trend among bloggers to choose a word to capture the coming year.  I jumped on the bandwagon and chose a few words for  2012.

While I think these words still apply in 2013, I think a new word will (hopefully) guide me through the year.

My black belt test is a mere 97 days away.  I WILL practice and I WILL take the 97 days to get myself into better shape.  I have the WILL to make these things happen.

I WILL kick actual and figurative butt while sparring.

There are other goals I have for 2013 and I WILL do my best to make those happen.

My blogging review of 2012

I began blogging late in 2011.  2012, then, was my first full year blogging.

Throughout the year, I've tried to develop both my beading skills and my photography skills.

I spent a good part of 2012 participating in Lori Plyler's i heart macro series.  I was usually able to take pictures while playing/walking/running with the kiddo.  (Okay, she was doing the running.)  This post is a good example of me making use of my time while the kiddo was busy climbing, swinging, sliding and running around the playground.

My beading skills were put to the test by Karyn, from Releases by Rufydoof.  Karyn started Beading Babes group in 2011 and the group created some wonderful pieces in 2012.  It's hard to pick a favorite, but I love that I was able to use some African bronze beads to compliment Nancy Dale's Trellis necklace in project 4.  (If you want to try Nancy's pattern, it's available in her etsy shop.)

I received my 1st brown belt in karate and in kobujutsu in 2012.  (My black belt is looming around the corner -- 99 days, but who's counting?)

Around the time of our anniversary, my husband and I saw The Avengers, the *best* superhero movie to date.  (All hail Joss Whedon.)

I was able to convince my husband to take a few vacation days in 2012.  We traveled to Colorado for our first family vacation.

2012 was also the year the kiddo started kindergarten.  I can't believe how quickly she is growing up.

Throughout 2012, I participated in several beading challenges, my favorite of which was the 3rd annual Challenge of Color, hosted by Erin Prais-Hintz of Treasures Found and Brandi Hussey of Brandi Girl Blog.  (Erin's entry and permalinks to all the participants are here.)

I also spent the year following other bloggers.  I feel like I know Therese, Kim, Amy and Marla, to name a few, through their words and through their work.  I also found Sharyl's blog.  Sharyl and I were able to take advantage of our close proximity and spend a few afternoons watching the kiddo play.

I'm sure there are events I am forgetting, but these stand out to me.

My blog also had a good year.  According to google analytics, from January 1 - December 31, 2012, a whopping 7,007 people visited my blog a total of 10,695 times.  Of those visits, 3,688 (or 34.48%) were from returning guests.

Those 7,007 people viewed a total of 20,398 pages.

In 2012, I wrote 91 posts and received 793 comments (thank you all!).

While most of my blog traffic originated from google searches, a few referring sites stood out:

• many people found my blog thanks to Lori's i heart macro series on her blog, Studio Waterstone
• my love for challenges helped generate visits from Lorelei Eurto's blog and from Erin Prais-Hintz's blog, Treasures Found
• several people visited after seeing this post from Beading Daily 
• this post from Sharyl's Jewelry has brought many new visitors to my blog throughout the year (thank you, Sharyl)

This was my most popular post in 2012, though it was written in 2011. (Wow .. my photography has improved since then.)

I would like to thank everyone who has visited, commented on and followed my blog in 2012.  Every page hit and every comment means the world to me.

I hope everyone has a wonderful 2013.

i heart macro - Snow!

The weather has been erratic, to say the least, this year.  The daily high temperature has alternated between 60-70 degrees and 20-30 degrees.

A few days ago, we were playing outside without coats.  This morning, we woke up to this.

Snow!

The kiddo enjoyed making snow angels.

She sat in the snow and even rolled in it (I think).  There wasn't an inch of her not covered.

Her pants are supposed to be gray with a pink lining.

We got less than an inch of snow, but the kiddo didn't let that stop her.  She created her own snowfalls.

I think a warm bath and hot chocolate are in order.  :)

i heart macro Sunday

For my entry in the Toast of the Town necklace blog hop, click here.

The kiddo loves to keep me company while I take jewelry photos.  She chases the dogs in the yard, gathers flowers and is always willing to stand in "just the right spot" to cast an even shadow over my subject.

While I photographed my version of Erin Prais-Hintz's Toast of the Town necklace, the kiddo roamed the yard and collected stray leaves and flowers.

The kiddo is amazingly resourceful.  As I was busy snapping pictures, she entered the house and came out with a shot glass.

Carefully, she arranged her treasures.

She made sure each and every branch was in the exact right spot.

She is extremely proud of her bouquet.  She checks the water every day and, so far, it is still doing well.

For more macro goodness, check out Studio Waterstone

i heart macro Sunday - Back to School

This was the kiddo's first full week of school.  We've slowly been settling into a new routine which includes walking to and from school.

The kiddo is psyched to walk to school.

On the way, we pass her favorite tree, a neighbor's blue spruce, and  talk about what we think the day will bring.

We say "good morning" to the crossing guard, a sweet woman who greets us with a big smile every morning.  She makes a point to address everyone, adults and children, by name.

We cross the small bridge that the kiddo has loved to run over since she was old enough to, well, run.

Shading the bridge is the largest willow tree I have ever seen.

I walk her to the classroom, make sure to get my hug, and am usually half way home when I hear the school bell.

The kiddo is in half day kindergarten, so I pick her up around lunchtime.  The classroom opens to a small patio on the front of the school.  All of us moms and dads wait by a nearby flagpole for the teacher to lead the children out to the patio for dismissal.

The walk home is my favorite part of the day.  The kiddo chatters about all the things she did in class.  She tells me how many stars the class earned (10 stars = a special treat) and about extra curricular of the day (music, art, gym, etc.).  I love to see her so excited and hear about her day!

I apologize that the majority of these were not macro shots.  If you would like to see some awesome macro goodness, check out Studio Waterstone