So Groundhog’s day has passed and once again Phil is not my friend..  Snow the day after groundhog’s day really didn’t help my mood either.  However, since I don’t care to celebrate the other February holiday I give groundhog’s day gifts.  (yes groundhog’s day gifts)  Apparently I need to work on my delivery skills of said gifts though.  Not all went smoothly.  I had a myriad of reactions. Here are a few examples of the less than perfect ones for instance, I made one person cry, had the child of another recipient run screaming from the door when she came to see who knocked,  and scared another person half to death as she was pulling out of her garage, and yet everyone is still speaking to me so not a total bust….

I was asked though if I were to celebrate the holiday on February 14th what would be a good gift for me.  It was from someone trying to figure out what to get for his girlfriend.  I said I was the wrong person to ask.  I am not the diamonds and roses kinda girl.  I am more of the Zwahlen’s apples and camera equipment kinda girl.  Don’t get me wrong I LOVE getting flowers, because they give me something to photograph in the winter months when nothing outside is blooming,  but why pay a premium for flowers for the holiday.  Never fear though I did help this person come up with some good gift ideas for his GF.

Be sure to share what you are hoping your sweetheart gives you this year…

And since posts are useless without pictures here are a few I snapped recently while out trying to get some shots for another website I was working on.   I can’t wait for spring.  I keep coming up with these great ideas but I need to borrow some kids, bribe some friends to let me take pictures of them and wait for warmer weather to make it all happen.

I have been so busy this month with a variety of things that it has just flown by.  I have not been picking up the camera much lately though.  I am looking forward to warmer weather in the coming months so I can get out more and use my camera. I tend to be uninspired in the winter months.  I am pretty excited for spring for another reason too,  I just found out one of my friends was gifted a Canon 5D MarkII by her DH.  She is excited to really get the chance to use it and we plan to g out shooting together.  Longwood Gardens here we come…  February is shaping up to be a pretty busy Photography month so hopefully the Blog will have some more interesting items grace its pages..

And since posts are always more fun with a picture here is one I took the other night on my way to a Friend’s Surprise 40th Birthday Party.  I took it with my P&S which happens to be the Canon G11  Sometimes it is nice to not have to have the big camera with me.. I know it is not the smallest of P&S cameras but I have a hard time taking pictures with those tiny pocket sized ones…  The moon was had this mysterious feel to is with the clouds surrounding it.  I just loved the feel of it shining through the trees..

Well I am off to figure out where I put my heating pad…  those bookshelves I was moving around were heavier than I thought….

I wonder if I need a 12 step program to kick my chapstick habit.   Below is just my “Backup stash”. It doesn’t include what I have at work, in my various purses, jacket pockets, work bag, on my night stand, in the bathroom, or on top of the dryer where they end up after they accidentally get washed.  Yep I think it is a little out of control, it doesn’t help I got about 10 just at Christmas, so I have others feeding the obsession!!

But this is one hot Mama and she is keeping her little boy for a few more weeks.    It was down right freezing, and the wind made it even worse, but we made the best of it so we could get pictures of her before her little man makes his entrance in a couple weeks.

We actually work at the same company but had not met till yesterday. It was great getting to know her and her Husband today. They are so excited for the arrival of their little man.

I am so excited to meet their son in a few weeks to do his newborn pictures..

This location is a favorite of my maternity clients. It was nice to shoot here today since it helped block some of the wind.

I am a member of a few photography boards.  One of the things I love on the 2 peas board is the Photo of the day(POTD) challenges.  Rarely do I post on theme but it does give me ideas of things to take pictures of when I need some inspiration.  In general it also gets me using my camera more during times when I feel unmotivated due to cold weather and shorter daylight hours.  SO with a new year has come new themes.  For the first week it is New Beginnings.    So as the new work week starts I am going to be working on my eating habits.  Time to get back on the healthy train.  Those things include no more  fast food (I made it 8 months last year with none),  drink more water, and cut way back on the sweets.  More changes will come but I need to start slowly or my brain is not going to be able to handle all the changes.  SO I can blame my brain on being fat according to this article.

So farewell for now sweets like these little sugar wafers…  **sigh**

So I have noticed that fortune cookies really should be called wisdom cookies or something like that.  At least the ones I have had really have not had fortunes in them.  But I guess wisdom cookie just doesn’t have the same ring to it as fortune cookie.  This morning  I picked up the fortune I discarded last night without reading and was about to toss but happened to read it before I did.  I have to admit it really struck a cord with me, yea i am odd like that.

I have been off my normal routine/ schedule for a while now.  Now I am not one of those that needs or even likes having every minute of every day scheduled out.  I do, however, like to have some sort of a daily/weekly routine.  It helps keep my anxiety attacks at a minimum when there is a bit more of a routine.

This morning was an example of things off schedule.   Today starts a new time for church.  We swap out with the other congregation that we share the building with.  Now you would think with meeting at 11:30 I would make it on time.  Nope my schedule was all off, then apparently I wasn’t the only one having an off day, cause the first traffic light I encountered was just flashing and all the rest I hit were red, something that is not normal for that route.   The bad thing is I have been feeling anxious all day, and I hate that so hopefully in the next few days I can really start to work on my schedule and start to feel a little less out of sorts

And had to laugh when I looked at the back to see what my “learn Chinese” word was.  Very fitting since all this thinking about getting a schedule and back into some sort of routine has given me one of these.

Poor Penny was all dolled up and had no place to go on New Year’s Eve.  But isn’t she cute and she sure does love her wigs….

I had no plans either, actually I rarely do anything on New Years Eve, it just is not a holiday I care too much about.  I decided to come up with a few goals for 2010.  Now of course there is always the get healthier, eat better, lose weight etc…  But I wanted to come up with a few things I might actually accomplish. Since I will most likely be moving some time this year but not sure when it is a little hard to set a few of the goals I really want to.  So here are my 10 goals for 2010.

1.  Release at least 2 things a month for the online store I have set up.

2. Print out and hang up some more of my work.  (This depends on when we move since I will only do this after that.)

3. Take more pictures just for fun, for me and not just for others.  Take some time out for just me and my camera.

4. Get my computers more organized, and make sure everything is backed up at least 2 places.

5. Work on my scrapbooks…  (Again after we move since all my stuff is in storage right now.)

6. Take at least one real vacation.  For me this means going some place new and not tied to a family event.  So in other words my week in Utah for my sister’s wedding, Going to Indy when Ellie get baptized and has her first birthday, and Trips to Maine for my sister’s reception then again for Christmas do not count as a real vacation…  Was hoping for a trip to the Grand canyon but that is not going to work out.

7. Spend some time getting a mini studio space at home set up and spend time getting more comfortable with off camera flash, yep this is yet another one for after we move.

8. Continue going through things and donating items no longer needed.  Did a lot of this in 2009 but there is more that can be done.

9. Blog at least 6 times a month, preferably at least  10.

10. Find a better way to organize receipts, track mileage, and other business expenses…  I got better this year but it is still not great.

Most of all I want to wish my friends and family a happy and healthy 2010.  I hope the new year brings many wonderful things to everyone.

Well actually she has gotten 2 from her sweet friend Daisy Mae  http://heatherbauersphotography.com/blog/?p=659

Here she is the day she got her first hat.  She insisted she put it on right away despite her hair not being combed , but was too busy reading her card that she would not even look up at me…

So when her 2nd hat arrived I made her comb her hair before we did pictures, even though you can hardly tell we did.  She loves this new hat as do I.

Nope not the start of a lame joke, just a few of the people that got on the plan we boarded to head home from a great Christmas in Wisconsin.   A plane that was roughly running 6 hours late.  I need to remember I am not traveling anymore with my mom.  Every time she goes on a trip at least one direction of the trip is greatly delayed or even canceled.  It was worth it though because it was a great Christmas.   Well she did get a nice little nap in with her Daddy while watching cartoons.

Little Ellie turned 9 months old while we were out there and it was her first Christmas so it was lots of fun.  Poor little peanut was sick though, was getting over an ear infection and was all stuffed up, plus it turns out she was finally getting some teeth, the first two broke through a few days later.  This meant she was not sleeping too well.  Despite not feeling well she was still a pretty happy little girl, unless you try to wipe her nose or change her diaper then she screams like she is being beaten.  That Rice Temper and her mama’s lungs make for quite the combo…  As you can see she sure likes to chew on my things…

Not sure where the tradition started but gag gifts are a genuine part of the day.  Christmas would not be complete without them.  This year was no exception. Since I had to UPS most of my gifts home I don’t have picture of everything but will post them later especially the snuggies for my mom and I AND the dogs, and the pleather jacket that Ryan and Jeff spent so much time painstakingly personalizing for me…  We also got back the 16×20 photo of Ryan and Grover.  Jeff for some reason didn’t find the humor in the picture that Ryan gave him where I inserted the *80’s laser look into the background of but he did get a good laugh out of the picture of Jamie as a cheerleader from High school.  When we all get together there is always some goofiness and lots of love!!  My Aunt got a gift that totally surprised her, she is going  to the grand Canyon in May for her 60th B-Day.  She is going to have a great time with her kids, and her grand daughter..

So happy I got to be there for sweet little Ellie’s first Christmas, and teach her some new tricks, like how to climb the stairs (yea I Jamie loves me for that one I am sure)…

We had our 2nd annual holiday potluck luncheon today.  It was a great success and a whole lot of fun.  We ended up with more than enough food which is much better than not enough food.

Here is what one of the areas of food looked like after we had eaten..

Today was also the last day for the Mitten tree.  Everything we gathered will be donated to the local cradles to crayons charity.  We collected quite a bit for them..

There was a Poker tournament, some Wii competitions, and of course the guys on my team held their annual Yankee Swap that is done with six packs.  Every year there is at least one 6 Pack that nobody really wants.  This year it was this little Gem.

All in all it was a good day and I am tired..  Looks like I will be snowed in tomorrow so I plan to do a little quality napping..  I should really be finishing up my shopping though..