Posts from the ‘Personal’ Category

Around Here

Below is an image of what a typical weekend morning looks like.  Victory loves to sleep above my head (or Doug’s head) with her back leaning against the headboard!  The weekends are nice because things are slower moving and we can sleep in!  Sometimes in the morning, Victory snuggles right up against my face with her snout!  This image captures our weekend mornings perfectly — serene and peaceful!

“Every morning is a chance at a new day.” ~Marjorie Hinckley

Blogging: Behind the Scenes

It may look like blogging is really easy, and that is my hope with the blog — that it appears ‘easy.’  However, a lot of work and time goes into making a blog behind the scenes.

1. Consistency:  People like to visit blogs where they know that new content will be posted on a regular basis.  This, I believe, is what keeps readers coming back to the blog!  (I know I only visit blogs where I know the content will be new.)  However, I believe that this is the most challenging part about maintaining a blog — you have to make the commitment to create content on a regular and consistent basis.  Depending upon the specific blog post, I usually spend one to three hours on an individual blog post.  Some people keep a “blogging calendar.”  However, I am not one of those people.  I usually have ideas for the blog that I work on and post when appropriate.  Sometimes ideas come to me at the gym, in the shower, on a walk outside, etc.  I try to stay a few blog posts ahead of schedule, but there are times that this is not always possible.  I do my best to blog four to five times a week to maintain consistency.

2. Developing New Content: Part of having a blog is to make it unique, personal, and have content that hopefully has readers subscribe and come back to check the blog regularly for new content!  Thankfully, there are so many more readers than when I first started blogging a little over two years ago!  Sometimes, I have a lot of ideas for the blog, and other times, it is more challenging to develop new content, especially if there is a lot going on in life.  However, I do my best to keep the content fresh and new.  I think that it is important to strike a balance between sharing your work and your life with your readers.  This is why I have developed several series on the blog to enable me to share more personal information with readers.  I think that this helps readers connect with the blog.

3. Preparing Images: After developing content, a lot of time goes into shooting, culling, editing, and archiving images for the blog.  I only use Photoshop to edit my images, one by one.  (I have even branched out and i have begun to make videos — stay tuned.)  I only put images on the blog that I am happy with and meet my standards.  I want to showcase my work and content in a particular way.  The blog has a nice clean and simple look that I want to continue and maintain.  BlogStomp has been a life saver that I began using last spring!  Thus, a lot of work occurs behind the scenes when shooting and editing images for the blog.

4. Formatting and Proofing: After I have written a blog post, I then format the text and upload and insert images, where appropriate, and proof read everything one last time before posting.  I try my best to be typo free!

5.  Authenticity: I believe being authentic is the real key to a blog.  It is important that I am true to myself and that my posts come from my heart.

6. Ad Free: The blog is ad free.  I have been approached to have ads on my blog; however, I feel that it is not appropriate and I want to keep the focus on the content.  I also believe that reader’s trust is vital.  When you sell an ad, what you are really selling is your readers’ attention and trust.  As a result, it does not feel right to advertise here on the blog.

For me, I enjoy blogging because I have this little tiny space, the blog, which documents my work and our life together forever — and I really  like how tangible this is!

In the image below, Biscuit was blogging with me from Nova Scotia!

Happy Tuesday!

A Few Things

Ok, this is a fun post!  Below are ten things you might not have known about us!

1. Doug and I met through mutual acquaintances shortly after I graduated from law school and took the bar exam.  Doug had already completed his graduate studies.  So, it was sort of like a blind date!  We exchanged a few e-mails before hand and spoke on the phone.  I still have our first e-mails that we wrote to each other safely tucked away!  I also have every card that Doug ever gave to me!  I am sentimental like that!  Then, we had our first date and the rest is history as they say!  This October marks our 10 year anniversary together!

2. Doug cooks 95% of all of our meals!  This is great for me — I just gather our food from the grocery store each week!  Doug is also a wonderful baker!  Each Sunday Doug makes us a nice breakfast.  Typically, he makes malted waffles; delicious crepes; or scones!  Occasionally, he makes cinnamon rolls and monkey bread!  We are huge fans of King Arthur Flour, and we took Biscuit there during our trip to Vermont last spring!

3. We usually go to bed pretty early during the week, around 9:30 p.m. — I know, we are like an old married couple!  After Victory’s final walk for the night, she usually races up the stairs and hops right into the bed (she only gets in bed on the right side of the bed) and waits for her drink of water — to help stave off the 1:00 – 2:00 a.m. request for water (which we are working on!)  We are early risers, but we do sleep in some on the weekends and little Victory is quite accommodating!

4. Each night Victory likes to lick Doug’s arm pits through his t-shirt — I know it is gross!  We think that she is attracted to Doug’s Gillette deodorant!

5. Doug and I have been getting hooked on TV series and we have been watching a fair amount of Netflix!  We just finished Season 1 of The Killing. This show is addictive!  We are also excited for new seasons of series to start on HBO and Showtime!

6. We have date night at least once a week, sometimes more!  It is nice to have some time together, and when the weather finally gets nicer, we can include little Victory as we will be able to eat outside at some restaurants!

7. Doug plans all of our vacations!  He does everything from coming up with ideas of where to go down to mapping everything out!  I just make a list and get us packed!

8. I love lists.  I always have a list going.  Doug is totally the opposite.  Somehow, he keeps everything in his head.

9. 99.99% of the time, Doug drives when we go somewhere together, which is great!  He is very good with direction, unlike me!  When Victory goes with us, she typically sits on my lap.  She gets super excited when we arrive back in the neighborhood and when the garage door opens, she is standing on all fours on my lap looking astute!

10.  We do not have iphones or smart phones.  I know, we are living in the dark ages, but we like not being connected all the time.  Each time we go out to dinner, we always see people on their phones instead of enjoying dinner.  Perhaps sometime this year we will get iphones out of necessity because they do not make our phones anymore!  But, we have been getting by just fine without having iphones!

Below is one of my favorite photos, to date, of our little Victory taken this past weekend — she is so beautiful and she is sprouting with her sheltie furs!  I told Doug that Victory is sprouting he fur coat like a Chia Pet!

Happy Thursday!

The Zone

Have you ever been in the “zone?”  That place where you are able to tune everything out and focus on the task at hand?  I hope to fully develop this skill and practice.  Sometimes, this can be difficult.  I have found, while working on a project, my photography in particular, it is best to let everything else go and be in the moment focusing on the one task.  This enables me to be immersed in this one task, letting go of the feeling that I need to quickly rush through it, moving on to the next task.  I find when I rush through something, my results are not what I had hoped for.  I also find that it is best to be in one task, making it my entire universe.  Using this mindset allows me to be much more productive.  When I am in the “zone” there is no longer any concept of time and I am not worrying about anything else other than the one project that I am working on.  This is one of the best feelings to be totally and completely immersed in work I love!

On another note, Pat Pope is the winner of the PetBox Giveaway!

Happy Wednesday!

Rejuvenation

Doug and I have been going and going for quite some time.  This year, we have vowed to schedule and make more down time to do nothing and to just be.  What I am learning is that since we have prioritized rejuvenation, the more effective we are when we are working.  The other thing that I have noticed is the more easily creative ideas come, which is a really good!

So, we have carved out down time, and it has been really helpful.  The deliberate pauses are so refreshing as we have more energy.  So, I am still working hard, but having and creating breaks has proved very helpful!  We also have more white space in the calendar, more unplanned days.  There are times when your nose needs to be right on that grindstone.  And there are times when you need to lean back!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday!

Happy Valentine’s Day/Generosity Day – Doug and Victory!

Happy Valentine’s Day/Generosity Day to my two sweethearts — you both make my life so much sweeter!

Doug and I are celebrating Valentine’s Day/Generosity Day with little Victory!  It is our first Valentine’s Day with little Victory, and for Doug and I it is our tenth Valentine’s Day together!  Unknown to each of us at the time, on our very first Valentine’s Day, Doug and I got each other the exact same Valentine’s card!  I still have this card tucked away along with all the other cards Doug has given me over the years!  I love cards!

I really like the idea of Valentine’s Day being Generosity Day, a movement started by Sasha Dichter!  Generosity leads to confidence and happiness, which then leads to good health and inner peace, which then leads to world peace.  Generosity is the ultimate gesture of love.

“Love recognizes no barrier.  It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” ~Maya Angelou

Happy Valentine’s Day/Generosity Day to all!

Happiness Jars!

I recently learned about something called a ‘happiness jar!’  Over the weekend, I made my own little happiness jar, shown below.  Can you tell that I love stickers!  Either daily or weekly you write down on a tiny piece of scrap paper the happiest moment of your day, which will stay preserved in the happiness jar for years to come!  I thought that this would be a neat practice that I wanted to incorporate.  It only takes a few seconds to write down and preserve the simplest and happiest moments.  I like how it is a tactile practice and non-electronic, something that is rare these days!  I  also think that it will be neat to refer to this jar in the future looking back on a younger version of myself!   I also believe that this is a good way to practice gratitude!  You can get inspired and check out a whole bunch of happiness jars here!

Happy Tuesday!