Five Weeks to Better Shooting: Week Three

My 2012 5-week challenge;

"...for five weeks, I’m only allowing myself one shot each day. Not one photo – no, one shot. One click of the shutter.* And whatever it is, whatever comes of it, I have to show it to you. Blurry, overexposed, misaligned, and all.

But I know myself – I know that because I have to show it, I’ll be more careful with the shot in the first place. Which is the whole point. To be more careful. To be more intentional. To look..."

Here's what came of week 3;

Five Weeks: Week One

Five Weeks: Week Two

Five Weeks to Better Shooting: Week Two

I started a little challenge for myself last week. Here's a re-cap incase you missed it;

"...for five weeks, I’m only allowing myself one shot each day. Not one photo – no, one shot. One click of the shutter. And whatever it is, whatever comes of it, I have to show it to you. Blurry, overexposed, misaligned, and all. But I know myself – I know that because I have to show it, I’ll be more careful with the shot in the first place.

Which is the whole point. To be more careful. To be more intentional. To look...."

Here's what we've got for week number two;

If your heart desires, you can catch week one here.

Hate is a Strong Word for Cook

Some time around Thanksgiving, I published a tweet that said something like this;

"I.Hate.Cooking."

I'm pretty sure that when she read this, my genius-in-the-kitchen sister-in-law rolled her eyes. And judging by the many follow-up questions/comments I received from my mom, I KNOW this gave her a little heart-burn.

But it's true. I hate it.

There are a lot of things I'm good at and a lot of things I want to be good at. However, when it comes to cooking, I'm just plain not interested.

And when I do try, it usually seems to turn into a big-fat-waste-of-time.

First of all, there's the time that I carefully and enthusiastically selected and shopped for FIVE different Christmas cookie recipes that I found in a magazine that claimed they were easy. Six-hours and seventy-five dollars later, I ended up with exactly seven appealing and/or edible cookies. Dozens of others had been burned, smashed, cracked, or otherwise obliterated.

Then there was the time that I decided to make potato-cauliflower soup for a little dinner party we were having. It seemed simple enough. Boil the ingredients. Blend the ingredients. Put the soup in a bowl. However, just minutes after getting a truck load of vegetables into the boiling water, I remembered that I didn't own a blender. I spent the next 45 minutes "blending" two gallons of soup - one cup at a time - in my little food processor.

Then there's yesterday.

I decided I would make soup and bread for my family for dinner. Not fancy soup. No, the kind that comes in a bag and you just add water and boil.

But the bread, that is where I intended to get fancy. I planned ahead, got out the ingredients for homemade bread, and got my bread machine all set-up.

(Here's where Mark nicely reminded me that using a bread machine isn't really cooking. I said, "Honey, if I even so much as have to pre-heat the oven or get out a measuring cup, you had better tell me I did a good job cooking. Putting flour into the bread machine certainly falls within those parameters.")

Fast forward one hour to a slight hint of my-nose-smells-something-hot. I had completely forgotten about the bread at this point and ignored the smell for a good 20 minutes before I decided to investigate.

It turns out the bread had risen too high and spilled over onto the heating unit - creating a marble-sized chunk of charcoal and a truck-sized cloud of smoke.

"It's okay," you say, "This could have happened to anyone."

Yes. True. I agree.

But here's the real problem.

Because my bread-machine has an awful, squawking, beeper that goes off every-time the darn thing is changing gears or starting up or finishing or generally feeling neglected, I decided that the bread needed to bake in.my.bedroom. (A meager loaf of bread is no reason to chance waking the napping toddler whose room is right off of the kitchen.)

I baked the bread in the bedroom with all of the doors closed. CLOSED TIGHT.

So what I actually discovered was a bedroom that smelled like two-weeks of camping and a smoke detector that was seconds away from alerting the neighborhood that an idiot chef was living on the block.

I dumped the rock-hard lump of should-be bread and spent the rest of the evening washing my bedding and rewashing the clean clothes that were on my bed and assuring my husband that the clothes in the closet will be all right, you know, after he wears them once and they get washed.

So today we have half of a loaf of french bread from Safeway and a whole closet full of clothes that smell like fire. And I am more certain in my conviction that, for me, cooking is just not gonna get me anywhere.

As for dinner last night, the bread that Mark picked up from Safeway was delicious and we all LOVED the soup that came out of the bag.

I see no reason to change things.

Five Weeks to Better Shooting

I’m trying something new. A little challenge for myself you might say.

And you, whether you like it or not, get to see what I’m doing. In fact, I need you to see what I’m doing or else this challenge won’t work at all.

You see, I have a habit of using my camera like a machine gun. I set up the shot, clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick, and then just hope I nailed the shot right in the bull’s-eye.

And the whole problem is that I’ve stopped really seeing things through my camera. Stopped really looking at what I’m photographing.

It’s no surprise at all that I’m often disappointed with my photos.

I’ve got to break that habit.

So, here’s my challenge; for five weeks, I’m only allowing myself one shot each day. Not one photo – no, one shot. One click of the shutter.* And whatever it is, whatever comes of it, I have to show it to you. Blurry, overexposed, misaligned, and all.

But I know myself – I know that because I have to show it, I’ll be more careful with the shot in the first place.

Which is the whole point.

To be more careful.

To be more intentional.

To look.

Here’s what came of week number one. Honestly, I love some of these photos and others make me cringe.

And if you don’t mind, visit me for the next four Wednesdays and I’ll let you see more.

Maybe, just maybe, some of you have also become machine-gunners. Would you like to take this challenge with me? I would LOVE to see how it’s going. Link-up in the comments section!

If you don’t mind, I would love for you to visit me for the next four Wednesdays so that I can show your more.

And maybe, just maybe, some of you have also become machine-gunners. Would you like to take this challenge with me? I would LOVE to see how it’s going. Link-up in the comments section!

*Obviously, if I’ve been hired for a job, I’m not going to take just one photo. I’m talkin’ personal photography here.

Save, Support, and Swim in Tulle

Do you remember the Carew family from a couple of weeks ago? If you didn't remember their faces, I'm pretty sure you remembered their tutus.

Did you love their tutus? Or find yourself wishing you had one for your little ballerina?

Well, you're in luck. Shannon is making and selling those tutus to raise some of the money they need to bring their new little one home from Uganda sometime in the next 18 months.

And I tell you what, these are high quality tutus. Since we are currently lacking in little girls in our household, we bought one of Shannon's tutus for our niece for Christmas. She was an instant princes and so, so happy surrounded by what seemed like miles of tulle.
Here's the thing; I really, really want Shannon to sell a lot of tutus. So I'm going to sweeten the deal.

Anyone who buys a tutu from Shannon between now and June 15th - and then also books a photo shoot with me by June 15th - will receive $20 off of the price of a photo shoot. (Wearing your tutu for the photos is optional.) Additionally, a portion of my profits will be donated to the Carew's adoption fund, so you'll essentially be supporting them twice!
Shannon will happily let you know what colors and sizes she has in stock or she'll work on a custom order too! Go here to read their blog, here to connect with her on Facebook, or email her directly at streick (at) hotmail (dot) com.
Happy shopping!

The Year in Review

It's a new year. Brand spankin' new.

And that means it's time for a little reflection.

As I think back to this time last year, the very first day of 2011, it's really hard to remember what my life was like. I can honestly say I've never before ended a year SO FAR from where I began it.

2011 was most certainly marked by one thing - Briggs.

Meeting Briggs. Waiting for Briggs. Praying for Briggs. Becoming Briggs's mommy.

And while there's no doubt that he was the main event of the past 12 months, there were lots of other great moments and memories too.

I combed through my photos in an attempt to highlight just a few of my favorite moments from this year. I found 15 to feature - but for every one I chose as a "favorite" there were three more that I thought "well, shoot, those are favorites too."

And then there are all the memories and moments from this year that just weren't captured by a camera. Running Jack Quinn's with my dad. A weekend get-a-way to scrapbook with my sister-in-law. A friend brining me a beer and a prayer the night before we flew to Ethiopia for the first time. Seeing friends - on the brink of divorce - renew their marriage. Waiting on the doorstep for the FedEx man to deliver my new camera. Feeding Briggs in the middle of the night. The giggles that only my sister can pull out of Briggs. Briggs's tight neck hugs. The relationship between Briggs and his grandparents.

Friends, this was a hard, good, life-changing year.

And in a feeble attempt to honor the passing of such a momentous year, here are 15 of the moments/memories/events that top the list;

1. In March, we met Briggs for the first time. I swooped his little 9-month-old self out of his crib and we all cried. Three days later, I put him back in his crib and didn't see him again for 5.5 months.

2. We in all we could of Ethiopia. We spent a total of 15 days in Ethiopia this year - 15 days of sights, sounds, smells, faces and experiences we will never forget.
3. We attended "sex parties" for two of our dear friends. In April, we learned that the Osburns were having a boy and in November, we discovered that the Patrick's will be welcoming a baby girl in April 2012. Apparently, our friends are working hard to ensure that children outnumber adults at our get-togethers in the very near future.
4. I ran the Bolder Boulder 10k in May - by far my most memorable race to date. The race was on Briggs's 1st birthday and a GREAT way to distract myself from the heartache I felt that day.
5. We camped with our friends and family at Taylor Reservoir - and with most experiences, the trip was GREATLY enhanced by some quality time with our nieces and nephew.
6. In August, we celebrated my baby sister's 21st birthday with a night out in Ft. Collins. I've been waiting for little sis to be 21 since I turned 21 8 years ago and I started planning her party months in advance. The night started (as any respectable 21st birthday party should) with a tour of the New Belgium Brewery.
7. We ran (or - in my case - slow crawled) the warrior dash in August with my family. Seriously, this race was hard and it included fire and mud and ridiculously high obstacles. But we made it and we loved it and we drove away from headed straight to the airport to catch the red-eye flight back to Ethiopia to get our boy.
8. On August 23 they placed Mr. Briggs - forehead sticker, soggy diaper and all - in my arms forever. For me, it was a wonderful, wonderful moment. For Briggs, well, not so much. I do pray that one day he'll look back on this moment as one of the most significant moments of his life.
9. Four days later we landed in Denver and were greeted by a lobby FULL of people just waiting to love on Briggs. I'll never be able to fully express the joy, pride, and honor that I felt in that moment. May Mark and I never forget what a miraculous, anticipated child we are raising.
10. Witnessing the birth of Phinehas Jude. Seriously, is there any sight more revealing of the power, grace, and sovereignty of God than watching a baby take his very first breath?
11. Like all new parents, we have loved experiencing Briggs's firsts. He enjoyed his "first snow" experience in October for about 25 seconds. After that, he was all tears.
12. A fall afternoon with my boy "hunting leaves" was just the thing that this mommy and son needed as we continued to learn about each other. It may not seem that significant, but in this hour I learned much about what he enjoys, what makes him tick, and what makes him mad, sad, and anxious.
13. For the very first time in my life, Halloween-ing was fun, fun, fun. Again, it probably had something to do with an adorable toddling turtle and that aforementioned first-time-parent love of all things "first."
14. Watching Briggs throw leaves with his grandpa and great-grandpa in November was most certainly an unexpected joyful moment, and not one I will soon forget. He adores these two men and it makes me all weepy and proud to think that they adore him too.
15. And finally, we closed out 2011 with a December night-out in Denver to celebrate our friend John's 30th birthday. It was a good, good time. Obviously.

Happy, Happy New Year to you all!