iPhone fun and Mermaid life

Things over in Flying Mermaid land have been busy and hectic, and January was a not-so-great month health-wise (I will update you on that in my next post). But through it all, I’ve been shooting, a lot with my iPhone. I ❤ my iPhone. I love having so many different cameras on hand at all times with all the different apps that I have. I love how the simplest things can make for cool photos. With the iPhone, it’s so much more about play, and not worrying about taking a “great” photo. And because it is all about fun and play, I love the photos even more.

Here’s a glimpse into the little details of a Mermaid life.

Pretty frost and morning sun

I love how even the shadow looks curved

I thought these looked like little fairy lights

I thought this looked like nature’s valentine’s day

Husband playing pool

I love how the simplest things can take on a cool look in an iPhone photo – this is ShakeitPhoto, one of my very favorite apps.

Two cool pups at Dos Perros

One of my very favorite iPhone photos. Snow at our pool, with a guard owl

I look like I have little doll feet!

A neat car that I’ve often seen near my office. I finally got a picture of it

The cherry blossom trees are starting to bloom, this photo makes me very happy 🙂

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Walk the misty, morning path

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Finding happiness

“It’s gonna be alright, no matter what they say, gonna be a good day, just wait and see”

Things I am loving, things that are making me happy, things that I am looking forward to, in no particular order

SEATTLE! Next Monday morning, we get on a few planes (3 to be exact) to spend Thanksgiving week with big brother Aaron. I’ve never been to Seattle, can’t wait to explore a gorgeous city I’ve always wanted to see, get to spend five days with Husband and Brother Aaron. We are going to go to the Seattle Aquarium, and my camera will be working overtime next week, I’m sure!

ShutterCal – I am LOVING playing with my camera every day, and making shooting a habit. This morning, the fog was thick, the world was quiet and I got some great mysterious fog shots (to be posted later today or tomorrow).

For Your Entertainment, the new Adam Lambert single, ohhhmydoggg so incredibly fun to listen to, especially if you crank it in the car.

Bright colored polymer clay beads

Pinups, especially redhead pinups

Swoony color beads

Ferocious monsters (note, not really ferocious)

Too cute for words accessories

Brave, dear souls who set off onto bold new adventures of their creation

Pumpkin smoothies, yerba mate chocolatte lattes with almond milk,  raw vegan chocolate pudding, plain, with pomegranates, or mixed in a smoothie

 

What are some things that are making you happy, things you are looking forward to?

 

 

 

 

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Ready? Aim…and shoot!

Meet ShutterCal – a really awesome day-in-the-life social photo calendar site. The goal is for people to shoot every day, post it on the site, and see what your year looks like. There is no general theme, just to keep shooting, and share what you find.

I’ve wanted to get in the habit of shooting every day, and always having a camera on me. The iPhone, and the built-in camera, definitely help, but I want to just get in the habit of playing with my camera daily. It will help me grow as a photographer, and I really love photography, why not make it part of my daily life?

So, I joined ShutterCal and will be posting daily photos there.

Now, this week (when I started), I cheated slightly because not all these pictures were taken this week. But all of them were photo-edited this week in some way. The pumpkins, cranberries and light fixture were all taken this week, and the San Pedro and mermaid pictures were modified using iPhone apps this week.

I’m excited for this, and to see what I find when I make photography a daily habit 🙂

My ShutterCal page is here:

http://shuttercal.com/calendar/FlyingMermaid/

 

Happy clicking 🙂

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I would like a little whine with my (non-dairy) cheese

Have you ever heard of, or read, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day?

From the moment he wakes up with gum in his hair, things just do not go Alexander’s way. At breakfast, Alexander’s brothers Nick and Anthony reach into their cereal boxes and pull out amazing prizes, while all Alexander ends up with is . . . cereal. The situation does not get any better at school, in fact it gets worse. No wonder Alexander wants to move to Australia! In Australia, everything is upside down, so maybe a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day can become a wonderful, terrific, really good day

I would like to go to Australia, please, for a chance at turning yesterday and today upside down!

Nothing really major is going on, so no need to worry, just varying annoyances that have left me feeling slightly disgruntled with life today.

Anyone up for joining me in Australia?

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Still here…and just days away

Much of my life recently has been consumed by: thoughts about the house, stress about the house, getting sick from said stress about the house, thoughts about decorating the house, stress about making sure all the financing came through for the house, stress about making sure the appraisal came in where it was supposed to, and oh yeah, did I mention getting sick from the stress?

Well, everything came back fine, and we will be closing on the house at 9 a.m. on Friday and then move in! I am really excited, excited to make the space ours, excited to buy furniture, to stock up the pantry, to paint, to hang pictures everywhere, just generally excited.

I’m over the sickness that I had (I think it was a stomach bug, only made worse because I was anxious), I dropped 10 pounds in one week (a LOT on me) and pretty much ate nothing but brown rice for a week. My stomach is back to letting me other foods, which is fortunate, as I was growing rather tired of brown rice. My skin is still a total mess (I think I got cross-contaminated somewhere recently, and oh yeah, stress eats my skin just as much as it eats the insides of my stomach). Once we are in the house, I am going to be making everything from scratch for a while, no eating out until my body has a chance to calm down. But I love my new kitchen, so this actually is going to be really fun.

Other than that, B’s friend Tommy just came down from NH to visit us for a few days. I did a lot of cooking, we went to see Rent (amazing musical, so much talent). We went rock climbing and I was very happy to discover that my time away from rock climbing actually improved my climbing, I felt like my body knew how to move better. I also got a trail run in over the weekend and forgot what good medicine running is for me.

Sorry it’s been quiet here for a while, but one of the best parts of the house (for me, anyway) is that I will have my own art space and I am looking forward to painting and drawing and writing more. Fun stuff will be coming I’m sure, as will pictures of us moving into our house and starting to decorate 🙂

I am also now less than 4 months away from my wedding. Fortunately, I don’t have much to plan, because I haven’t done anything. I need to get a dress, wedding bands, make up a wedding playlist, get our honeymoon squared away…but once my brain space is no longer preoccupied with buying a house, I can start to focus on the next big life event!

Wheeee!

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The feeling inside

Do you have days where you feel like this? Really simple days where you are just walking around, doing things that bring you joy, being silly, going wherever your feet take you? Days where you find an empty swing set just calling to you, days in early February when the sun is shining and the day is warm and filled with fun breezes, days so different from the wintery blustery dreary February days you were used to in New England that it just makes you love where you live? Days where your life feels exactly as it should?

I hope so. And I hope when you have these days, you stop and appreciate them. And I hope you make the time to swing just because it is there and you can feel like  you are flying if you tilt your head all the way back.

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Weather confusion

All around me, there are Christmas decorations, christmas songs, trees, wreaths, lights. My calendar insists it is mid-December.

But yet my inner New England girl is confused.

All around me, people are wearing shorts and flipflops. The AC is back on at work. Jackets, sweaters and scarves have been tossed aside to unearth the summer/fall clothes recently put away.

It has been in the 80s here this week, my first North Carolina December. Wearing summer clothes doesn’t make me feel Christmassy. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not a cold-weather girl, usually. But this just feels so unseasonal, that as a result I don’t have any holiday spirit, or motivation to go Christmas shopping.

Fa la la la la, la la la la 🙂

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Life in a painting

Yesterday

 Morning fog lifting

Sun streaming through

Everywhere, crimson, orange, yellow, glowing in the sun

Perfect happiness  

 

Today

Crimson leaves whipping down the street 

Yellow leaves fluttering on trees

Grey and white smears in the sky, dark rain clouds

Rain pelting sideways

Thrillingly dramatic

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There are days…

 when I wish I could stop NOT eating wheat/gluten. There are days it frustrates me more than others, when it would be nice to not have to think about what and where I can eat.

Breakfasts and dinners, I’m fine with. It’s lunches that make me want to just say, Feck it all, I just want a sandwich.

In case you didn’t guess, today is one of those days. I brought lunch from home like I usually do. Problem is, I don’t like it. It’s an Amy’s soup with rice, and I think I officially don’t like any of Amy’s soups. So what’s a girl to do, when I can only get a salad at the coffee shop downstairs, and the lunch place down the street only has one salad I can get, and I had salad yesterday? You guessed it, get a salad.

Sigh….

Edited to add: This is why I can’t eat gluten. WARNING — this is someone’s back extremely broken out from Dermatitis Herpetformis. It is not me, but my back has been almost this bad before. You don’t have to click it, it is not pretty, but I put it up here as a reminder of why I follow a gluten-free diet, because it does this to me.

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