Menu Planning Monday

• Chicken enchilada casserole
• Chicken tortilla soup
• Grilled steak with salad
• Baked egg cups with toast or biscuits (I ended up making quiche last week instead)

Thankful Thursday

I have a friend who always writes the most beautiful thankful Thursday posts, and it has inspired me to do the same. I think it really is a great time of reflection for the blessings in my life!

 

I am thankful for  the reminder of how much my husband helps me and my family, even if it is because Ella is throwing up when he isn’t here.

I am thankful for a friend who has devoted his life to missionary work in a foreign country.

I am thankful for Troy’s new signing skills, and how much I really love communicating with him.

I am thankful for Ella and her constant reminder for me (and everyone else around her) to “be careful.” I must be really concerned that she is careful, because she loves to mimic me.

And, I am thankful for cheesy grins.

Menu Planning Monday

• Chicken Enchilada Soup
• Grilled pork chops with veggies
• Baked Egg Cups with toast or biscuits. Maybe Mexican style with salsa.
• Taco Salad
• Hurry Up Chicken Pot Pie

I Heart Faces: Let Them Be Little

Troy’s Cake Smash

Menu Planning Monday

I’m not sure what this week has in store yet, but here’s what is tentatively on the menu.

• Taco Soup
• Ground beef and rice casserole
• Sesame chicken and Asian cole slaw salad (I’m addicted to this salad!)
• Brisket with probably some sort of potatoes, beans, and a green veggie

I’m not loving the photo above – I just don’t have the perspective and lighting right, but nonetheless, the meal was yummy. Baked bell peppers stuffed with a mixture of cooked ground beef and ground turkey, topped with cheese, and served with tomatoes, avocados, and rice.

Attitude Check

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the type of attitude and general “vibe” I give off to those around me. I know that I often portray a more negative attitude, even though I don’t necessarily consider myself a negative person. I’m very happy, and yet I know that I have a tendency to get bogged down in little things that might make me seem otherwise. I think that sometimes the reason I come across negative is because I have this silly feeling that if something isn’t going exactly right with me that I need everyone around me to know about it, and perhaps feel sorry for me, or something along those lines.

I started thinking about these things because I was noticing a pattern on Facebook (as well as on blogs and Twitter) of individuals whose statuses or updates or comments are mostly negative or depressing or, on the flip side, mostly positive or uplifting. I started noticing that I would quickly click “next” in Google reader when coming across certain blogs because I knew the post would likely be a downer, or that I could already predict that someone’s status was going to be a complaint before I even read it. Conversely, I found myself looking forward to reading updates or notes from others because I knew their words would be encouraging in some way or another, whether that be a sweet compliment to someone, a comment of thanks to God for rain, or something great or funny their children said or did.

With all of that said, this post isn’t about the idea that I think that someone should only post happy or uplifting things. Life is life, and sometimes we’ll be down, and expressing those things to others whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, a blog, a text, or over a Sonic drink (I’d say coffee, but I don’t drink it!) is part of the human experience. However, I want to be careful about the attitude that I’m giving off to others.  In addition to being careful about the attitude I’m giving off to others, I need to be careful about what is really in my heart. After all, outward expressions (whether written or verbal or otherwise), are likely a reflection of the heart. I don’t want to be the blogger or the poster that turns readers away with negativity; after all, I’m a Christian, and my joy should be never shaken because it is founded in Jesus Christ.

(On a total side note, this is the photo from my good to wow entry last week. I never got around to showing the edit, but there it is!)

I Heart Faces: Raise Your Hands

 

10 on 10

I’m excited that I finally remembered to participate in the 10 on 10 challenge. If you aren’t familiar with the 10 on 10 challenge, the idea is to take ten photos on the tenth day of the month over the course of ten hours – one photo on the hour for ten consecutive hours – to document your day.

 

 

More Star Trails

About a month and half ago, I attempted to take some photos of star trails (the movement of the stars in the sky). At the time, I didn’t have a remote shutter release for my camera, which meant that my star trails were not smooth, but instead shaky.  I now have a remote shutter release, so I was able to take one long exposure shot (using the bulb mode on my camera) instead of making a composite shot, so the trails are much smoother this time around. I have a feeling I’ll be taking many more star trails photos – hopefully with some more interesting foregrounds as well.

These photos all have somewhat different settings. The first two are more traditional star trails photos while the last one has more of a "twinkling" star effect (much shorter exposure than the first two).

 

28mm, focused at infinity, f/4.5, ISO 400, SS 805 seconds (exposed using bulb mode)

 

28mm, focused at infinity, f/18, ISO 400, SS 1002 seconds (exposed using bulb mode)

Notice how much darker this one is because of the aperture difference even though this one was exposed for a longer length of time.

 

28mm, focused at infinity, f/4.5, ISO 400, SS 90 seconds

Photo Challenges

What makes you smile?

Favorite Photo from September:

 

Good to Wow:

Not exactly orange . . . but close enough for this busy mama! :)