Friday Night Lights: Food Truck Style

On June 27, 2014June 27, 2014 By AngeliaIn Life is what you make it.46 Comments

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Our local parks and recreation created a sensational show of food and entertainment when it invited food truck vendors to set up shop in our neighborhood.

Food, fun, and family. The three F’s of summer.

Luckily the park they selected to feature this row of delicious fanfare ended up only a few miles from our house. So of course….OF COURSE….we had to be there. Yes, it is a little pricey (for dishes made in a moving vehicle). But truly you are paying for the atmosphere. The people-watching. The adorable pet-watching (my favorite). The unique food vendors. And just mingling with your neighborhood.

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The sights and sounds are just as delicious as what you are tasting.

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As the sun sets and the shadows change, the entire view changes.

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What do you order? Where do you go?

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How do you choose your favorite flavor?
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Splitting the family up is always a good idea. More trucks = more tastes.

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And maybe you hit the same truck more than once. There is no shame in that. I know we did.
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Lights.
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Camera.
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Eating!

Favorite food truck? A Taste of Cuba. They have the best funnel cake fries.

Favorite dessert? Definitely, What’s da Scoop? But the snow cone truck was a close second.

These are not all the photos from our Friday Night delights, but they are ones that I see the most contrast…which happens to be the weekly photo challenge theme this week on The Daily Post at WordPress. Do you love images of light and dark? Be sure to check out the other entries. And? Look up your local parks. Maybe you have a Food Truck network nearby.

Eat mobile. It’s delicious.

When Photography is a Gift

On April 3, 2014April 3, 2014 By AngeliaIn Angelia's Photography, Life is what you make it.20 Comments

It did not even cross my mind the first time I picked up my new Nikon D3000 what gifts it might bring to me, and not to just me, but to others as well.

At first the gift of sharing seemed good enough. Share the digital image, record the moment, and bundle those up in albums to display across Google and Facebook.

And that has been fantastic! Maybe they weren’t always the best images or the most technical, but I was learning and sharing and photographing (I still am!).

So I gifted what I could, as much as I could. Gifts I love to give.

But as the years have gone by and my camera has upgraded to the next model and my lenses have upgraded to sharper glass. Well, it got to be something more…

More from the heart. More concrete. More right now.

Maybe it was my first canvas that sparked a new world of photography within. I wrapped it myself at a canvas wrapping class hosted by the Chics Who Click at Arlington Camera.

I made a terrible error while wrapping, but I saved it by re-ordering the way the picture shows. It is only noticeable on the side. I gave the canvas to my mother to put on her wall at the apartment in her Assisted Living Community.

She LOVES it.

This is the only photo I have of it from my iPhone.

See, my mom really enjoys gardening more than anyone. She had a tremendous garden filled with a variety of flowers when she lived in her house. Her thumb is fantastically green. She has a small patio container garden where she is now. I think the image helped bring a little more of her gardening love indoors. Plus, she gets to brag to all her friends that the canvas was done by her daughter.

I was disappointed I had messed it up. She beamed with pride.

And so, I stopped being so critical and I accepted the gift for what it is. It’s a choice. A choice to give and a choice to receive. My photography is not a gift of talent, but a gift to gift others with.

So, that is exactly what I did.

And when the critic in my head cringes over a hand cut-off, or a color not quite right. When it shakes its ugly mug at the print that didn’t come out exactly as it had envisioned. Or when a big frown emerges over a portion of the photo being slightly blown out.

I tell that critic to get out of here. I don’t need their comments.

The only validation I need is right here in these faces. No matter what I think about these photographs, they think something totally different.

And that…

…makes my heart soar.

I think I will continue to gift my photography.

In every way that I can. As much as I can.

What can you gift of yourself? I promise it will be received and it will be amazing.

No Fools in Our House

On April 1, 2014April 1, 2014 By AngeliaIn La La La La La!, Life is what you make it.8 Comments

April Fool’s Day.

Doesn’t it just slip right in and surprise you?

Or maybe you plan for this day and all the tricks you will pull. Like you are twelve…

This day comes with notice at our house.

That’s right.

And with a seven-year-old and almost ten-year-old, there are lots and lots of fooling.

All the F’s & N’s in class today. I choked on my STARR test. I got sent to the principles office. Oh look! I broke my foot! Yep. Right this second. My foot…..it just broke.

Ahhh, the joys of older (but still little foolers).

I decided to pay them back this year!

I planned.

The salt and pepper shakers magically changed colors.

The milk spoiled blue.

The trick is not to notice anything different. The milk is white. The salt is white and pepper is black.

You crazy kids! You don’t know what you are talking about.

Of course, the littlest one ate it up. She really believed we couldn’t see the colors and she was just dumbfounded. Showing us the milk and the shakers. Asking us what color they are.

It was AWESOME!

Then, big sis said, “It’s just food coloring, Bridget.”

Just food coloring…

Huh.

Well, it’s FUN food coloring if you ask me. And maybe they weren’t the biggest pranks of the year. But honestly, it was all I could manage on my lunch hour.

Hope your April Fools was just as fun (and pink and blue sparkly).

A Photo For Every Month of My Year 2013

On December 30, 2013December 31, 2013 By AngeliaIn Life is what you make it., Life..Camera...Action!22 Comments

I can’t believe it. I can’t believe I am posting about my entire YEAR.

Really? So soon?

Well played year, well-played.

I decided to pick ONE photo to represent each month of 2013, and trust me – very hard! In fact, it is pure torture for me. But I told myself ONE, and so, I picked ONE (or two). Heh.

January 2013

Oh, what this photo holds deep inside. Things we did not know as we traipsed through the park, children and dogs, on a gorgeous North Texas day. I look at this photo and I see my daughter for the last time as my young girl. In this year, she will grow and change in more ways than I thought possible. Although she will always my little girl, she will never be the youth of this photo, because becoming a mother does that.

February 2013

I went to quite a bit of trouble to get these floating bokeh hearts. And even though I have tons of other photos for February, I am choosing this one as it represents my journey into trying a Project 52. Sadly, I did not complete every week, but I tried. And I failed. Then, I finished.

And you know what? That is good enough for me. I’m going for it this year too. Maybe, I will complete it? Maybe, I won’t. I’ll put my best effort into it, but I won’t stress over it. I am learning/unlearning perfectionism in the most beautiful way. If you would like to join the same Project 52 I do, there is still time, just click the link and ask to join Daphne Ellenburg’s Project 52 on Flickr.

March 2013

Here is my cheat month. There are two photos, but it is ONE mosaic and ONE photo is not mine. My husband went to Seattle (and all he brought me back was this picture he took – heh), but yes, he took one of my cameras. He didn’t have much time to get out since he was working, but I do love this shot. I want to go to Seattle something fierce.

It will happen…. I just know it. One day.

The other photo is Easter at Grandma’s house. Easter just isn’t Easter unless it is celebrated at Grandma’s, and Grandma’s yard has lots of pretty spring flowers. Pretty girls in frilly dresses. And pretty, pretty Easter eggs to hunt. So pretty is as pretty does and I give you this lovely lily.

April 2013

Another cheat (sorry, not sorry!) – my baby girl’s Gender Reveal Party with her boyfriend Brandon. Listen, no one knew what the sex of that baby was going to be. Not a soul standing there – including Mom & Dad – not until those balloons floated out of the box. And let me tell ya, it was a SHOCK to see Pink. Almost everyone, all the old wives tales, Chinese calendars, and then some, said it was a BOY. Most everyone there was SURE it was a BOY, including myself, but I wanted a girl. I don’t know why. We have a plenty of girls. I just couldn’t give up my hope to have another. Maybe, because I had a girl first and I wanted her to have that incredible experience too. I wanted my baby girl to have a baby girl. And that dream came true when I watched those pink spheres float up into the sky. Wow. A very precious moment shared with family and friends; one I will never forget.

May 2013

I don’t like photos of myself. I don’t like others taking photos of myself. I am just uncomfortable this side of the camera. But I took a photo with my little girl on Mother’s Day. To record her pregnancy and a special event. This is a candid shot of us together (unposed). My sticker says World’s Greatest Mom. My step-girls gave me a Mother’s Day card they picked out and that sticker was inside. You bet I wore it all day. Loud and Proud. Oh, how I love allllllll my girls!

June 2013

I had space at the Arlington Museum of Art for the Chics Who Click art exhibit. I showed for three months April, May, and June. This is the month I displayed “people”. My family, friends, friends of family, and more that I had done photo sessions of. I gave it back to them by printing and framing their shots. It is the month I am most proud of.

July 2013

Maternity photos of Sydney in the stockyards, plus one of her and Brandon at Penn Farm. Maternity photos in July – talk about a scorcher. I have to say Sydney is quite the trooper having to endure a Texas Summer in her pregnancy. She did really well with it all; very impressive for a nineteen-year old.

August 2013

A little child is born who fills the hearts of so many. A little girl loved by her parents, grandparents, great grandparents and many other relatives. She is the most loved baby I know.

I photographed the birth of her one day after I turned 42 years old. I took her newborn photos. I breathed in the sweet, new baby smell and I fell, so completely, in love with this new little girl – every finger, and every toe. I still fall to pieces when I see her. This Grandma thing is pretty darn amazing.

September 2013

Surprise, Cousin Tasha is pregnant with twins. TWINS! Little playmates for Averey. The family and I head to Iowa Park, Texas to photograph her shower. These are my outlaws and I love that they welcome Jason and the girls as family too. This is definitely the cutest theme I have ever seen, and so much SUGAR. The cake with babies on it is my favorite. A very precious and detailed piece. I can’t wait to meet these two new little people.

October 2013

My step-daughters on Halloween. This is quite the pair. The cat pounces on the prey and the Vampire Princess comes in for the kill. Genius! I missed seeing them trick or treat as I had to work, but I am glad Jason took pictures for me, and that he took Fred the Cat trick or treating, too.

November 2013

Finally they meet, the Great Grandma and the Great Granddaughter. I think they thought it a moment greater than both of them. We call it The Grand PooPaw of all time. Oh yes. A pretty big deal for sure. And I loved every bit of it.

December 2013

Christmas 2013 – Full of gifts big and small, inside and outside.

December is a big month for me. I am promoted at work to supervisor. I traded in my car with my husband’s car to share ONE car. Years past, that would have freaked me out to put so much trust into being that dependent, but you know what, it didn’t bother me in the least. Working from home, I can do without wheels.

I am completely off antidepressants and I feel amazing. My husband will turn the big 3-9 tomorrow. He mentioned to me it was our 6th Christmas together. That blew my mind. SIX? So many? Which means this is our 6th Birthday celebration for him. When I met him, he was only 33.

I am ready for the New Year. And yes, I do love resolutions! I plan to get strong and fit. To ACCEPT imperfection as my new reality and be just fine with that. I want the critics out of my head. Ain’t nobody got time for that! My resolution is to exercise one hour a day. I did pretty good with a resolution in 2006 to stop smoking. I am hoping this one will stick for eight years as well.

That’s right, my anniversary of no more smoking is January 1st! I haven’t missed it. Not in eight years. So happy I made that resolution.

And of course, I have this eleven and half pound bundle of joy to watch grow and change.