what i learned - 7/30/11

Here are a few things I learned today...

1 - Money does not grow on trees.  Who knew?!

2 - When stashing a private note, list, emotional dump, etc. in your journal, make sure it DOES NOT fall out while you are babysitting.  Ever.  Better yet, don't be stupid and take your journal to your babysitting job in the first place.

3 - Just because your mom can make beautiful things on the spur of the moment, or draw a face that actually looks like a face, doesn't mean that you can't be crafty.  Post about this tomorrow!

4 - Try not to stay up writing blog posts at eleven at night when you have to wake up at six in the morning for church...

5 - Or maybe you didn't have to drink all of that Mountain Dew slushie at four p.m.  But...but...but it was only 89 cents!  I couldn't pass up such a great deal!

6 - It's much easier to do a flip on the trampoline when you're three feet tall and only weigh 40 pounds.

7 - Spider webs make for some good bohek bokeh.  Yes, I do know how to spell.  Why do you ask?

8 - Sometimes, you just gotta say goodnight.

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goodnight!  :)

just smile.

There's just three weeks.  Three weeks - for me - until school begins. I'm going to be a sophomore.  I can't believe it.  I used to think highschoolers were so old, but now that I'm one of them my sisters have started calling me old.  Sigh.  That is depressing.  

Thus, I am learning to enjoy these last few weeks of "freedom". 

Before my life is filled with math and History, and, unfortunately, Latin, I want to do something with this summer, do the things I planned to do.

entering the one above ^^

If that means just playing with my siblings in the backyard, that's what I'm going to do.  If that means taking photographs and selling some of them for a good cause, I will sell as many as possible.

But even if I don't get to do all the things I planned to do, or go all the places I want to go, I'm going to smile.

Because, to me, summer is full of smiles and laughs.  It's full of learning and experiencing.  Summer is the time to do things spontaneously and unexpected.  It's a time to relax and enjoy.

What's summer to you?

i heart faces | water

I haven't entered an I Heart Faces photo challenge in a while, so here you go.  :)

collaboration | innocence

"When we are children, we seldom think about the future."

Top photo:  Kiley's

Bottom photo:  mine

*Let me know if you cannot see Kiley's picture.  We were having trouble earlier!*

this is summer.

Due to the large dome that insists on covering the United States, things are a bit hot.  And when I say a bit, I actually mean a lot.  Too much to be exact.  When the thermometer reads 101 degrees, and we start sweating the second we step out of the house, we are having to get creative outside.  We go outside for our sanity.  Seriously, I think I'm drowning in the green beans that are being canned and the applesauce being frozen. :)

Enter the hose ... and the baby pool, which has somehow survived thus far.  It's times like this that make me glad we have well water.  We can use as much of it as we want for as long as we want.

Not only do we sweat when we step outside, but my camera lens looks like this:

It's difficult to take pictures with your lens looking like that...

We grow a garden.  A big one.  And just like the baby pool, it has somehow survived so far.

I love when friends come up to me and say they had some veggies from our garden.  It's even more funny when I know we didn't give it to them, but someone else did.  I love that.  It makes the sweat and the dirt and  the labor all worth it.  Maybe.

Yes, we may be really hot.  Yes, we might complain that it needs to snow "right now or I might die."

But, this is summer.  Get over it.

can you hear me now?

Hello bloggy friends.  Things here at Rise and Fly have gotten a little messed up.  I'm writing this really quickly for you.  If this post shows up on your dashboard, can you please leave a comment.  My URL is going to remain www.astorytoldinpictures.blogspot.com, but my blog name is still Rise and Fly.  Please let me know if this post shows on on your Dashboard!  Thanks!  :)

at the orchard.

Even though the apples we wanted were gone,

the trip 

to the orchard 

was still worth it 

just for this. 

you might notice something different

Welcome to Rise and Fly.  You might have noticed that I changed my blog name!  While the poll I had a few days ago was about even, I still decided to change my name.  My reasons...

-  I was not inspired by my old blog name anymore.

-  I believe that there comes a time when we need to rise and fly in our lives.  We rise from our lives a children and fly as we learn to become mature adults.  So, to me, Rise and Fly is a symbol of my growth and learning.  I hope it will be for you as well.

I have so many posts planned in my head that are coming up soon!  :)

Please, please, please comment and let me know what you think.  Was I completely stupid?  Do you like the new change.  I promise I will never change the name again!  ;)  

collaboration | eculent

ES·CU·LENT

 

[es-kyuh-luhnt]–adjectivesuitable for use as food; edible.
Is this not the best word ever?  Kiley - I love it!  :)

top photo:  Kiley's

bottom photo:  mine

it's cleaning day.

A little "blog-cleaning"...

1.  I'm seriously considering changing the name of my blog.  When I read it's title, I feel uninspired and confined. I want a blog title that will allow me to feel creative, and right now, A Story Told in Pictures, does not make me feel creative.  Would it be a stupid idea?  Do you like the idea?  I've picked out a name:  Rise and Fly.  You can vote on my sidebar.  Please vote.  I want to know your opinion! 

2.  I'm having at giveaway at Sealed for Redemption.  Go check it out!  There are only a few more days to enter!

3.  If and when I decide to change my blog name, a new design will be coming!  :)

4.  Finally, I am so thankful for each and every one of you.  I've loved getting to know a few of you even more.  Thank you for being wonderful followers!  :)

Collaboration | Beauty

The lovely Kiley and I are starting a photo collaboration, and today's word is beauty.

I find people to be beautiful - no matter their shape, color, actions, etc.  I have moments where I could sit and watch people all day long.  They fascinate me.  I love to watch people and the way they interact with others.  So, I think people are beautiful.  And why not?  We are created in God's image.  What could be more beautiful than that?

Go read what Kiley has to say on her blog!

Top:  mine

Bottom:  Kiley's

a year's journey

I've started a 365 project.  

This project was started out of my need to grow; my need to improve. And that's the goal: to improve my photography skills. I hope to see my style change and grow. Not only do I want to take a picture each day, but I want to take a photo that touches something in your heart and makes it ache or smile or laugh or cry. I want to touch a person - any person - one photo at a time.

one.

two.

three.

four.

five.

six.

seven.

eight.

nine.

To see the rest of the project, you can click here to see my Flickr page!

july is...

 July came, for me, too quickly.  That little number one nudged it's way into the happy summer days and reminded me that the summer is halfway over.  July, even though you bring many good things, you are the last full month of summer before school, and that does not make me happy.

To me, July is so many things.  It's that month where you do those last activities you planned for summer and never got around to.  It's that month that always - always - goes too fast.

It's the month of fresh and juicy fruit.

It's the month of new life and growth, even when it's ninety degrees out.

It's the month of rolled-down windows and shoes on the dashboard.

It's the month of fresh-cut flowers and Mason jars.  Lots and lots of Mason jars that are filled with green beans and pickles.

It's the month of jumping upon hay bales.

It's the month of memories and happiness, the month of celebration and laziness.  Folks, it's July.  That's all I have to say.  :)

every detail.

"For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him."

Colossians 1:16

the fourth. on the sixth.

Most of the summer holidays are spent at our little lake cottage.  It's red shutters bring a cheery welcome every time we pull into the driveway.  The little yellow house is 800 square feet of memories, happiness, and lake smell.  And somehow, my family of nine fits into it perfectly.  

The lake is a place where hair is never dry for long, and bathing suits are worn all day.  It's a place of no internet and siblings for entertainment.  It's a place where stories are told, things are remembered and laughed at, and many Popsicles are eaten!

It is the place where serious discussion about tube falls and knee-boarding techniques are discussed.  New things are learned, and little ones find the courage to face the dreaded mass of water.  Somehow, over these past five or six years, we haven't tired of it.  And now, a red sign looms in the front yard with the words For Sale on it, and secretly, each one of us wants to rip it from the ground and hide it forever.

We celebrated this Fourth of July like it was our last.  Because, really, we don't know when our last weekend  at the lake will be.  The sky was a brilliant red and blue - just for us - that night.

The cousins set off a lantern, and we wished for beautiful things, for silly things, for important things.

Oh, there were the fireworks, and sparklers, and firecrackers.  Just like there always are.  The guys' inner pyro came out.  Of course. 

It was a day that I wanted to last forever.  I wanted to sit in my chair in the yard with my family and stay there forever.  And ever.  And ever.

As we celebrated the freedom of our country, there was a smile on every face, even the sleepy babies.  And that night, as I walked home in the dark with a little one on my back and the rest of my family having quiet conversations with each other, I never wanted to forget these July Fourth weekends - or any weekend for that matter.

How was your Fourth of July weekend?