After a Dark and Snowy Week…

On March 6, 2015 By AngeliaIn Beautiful Life28 Comments

The sun comes out ~~to blind me~~ to brighten our days. But the snow, and ice (which is still snow to Texans) was a fun and dramatic change from our sunny 60’s (sometimes 80’s!) winter.

The Dallas metroplex is one of those areas when the weatherman says, “Snow.”

We say, “Yeah, right!”

And when he still says, “SNOW!”

We say, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Well, we believed! We believed last week and we believed this week. The magical ice and snow and allllll the blustery cold things happened. We broke out the gloves and scarves. We made chili (well, my sweet hubby made super, yummy, delicious chili). And most of the household had many wonderful snow days away from the office and school.

Except for me…because…I work for a travel agency. Even better, I supervise the EMERGENCY SERVICE Department of said travel agency. And what do you know? Snow storms and flight cancellations seem to top the #1 EMERGENCY of travelers. Huh.

But you know, with the skidding and sliding of planes off runways and such. Yeah, that. It’s kind of important that they CANCEL these precarious flights, lest you end up crashing into a ditch, screaming as you plunge down a blow-up slide while highly flammable jet fuel LEAKS nearby. So not the winter vacation you were hoping for. This is why I am happy to work snow days and keep you extra safe. You’re welcome.

But fingers crossed, someone has snuffed out that darn ground-hog and it WILL FORtheloveofGODplease be Spring real, real soon.

In the meantime, enjoy my lovely (and rare) SNOW photos. It happened. It really did.

This. This thing called snow.It is magical. I bet I’ll be eating snow balls later.

Maya kitty sees her first snow. She batted at the window like. WHAT? What is that??

I don’t understand this thing called snow. I need a nap.

It’s snow Maya. I tried to take her out to see it in person, but she FREAKED and clawed my shoulder. I think that meant – HELL NO into the snow I won’t GO!

My Anna dog runs through the snow/ice.

Anna dog and my old gal Salem have a snack of crunchy, tasty snow.

My Black Lab Salem. She is 12yrs old going on 13 this year. And she *still* loves the snow. Sweet girl.

This was the first wimpy snow. I didn’t get a pic of the bigger snow on my car.

FUN!

The girls play on the trampoline. Snowballs and jumping – what could be better?

Snowball fight!

The girls chunked ice/snow balls at Anna. I am really surprised it didn’t knock her out. She loves catching snowballs more than anything.

Anna the Snow ball catcher. Who needs a Frisbee?

This snow is swinging. Heh.

Hello Kitty in the snow.

The girls and the snow (ice).

Bridget in the snow.

Molly in the snow.

The snow melted. Some ice was left. The girls wished for more snow (they got it a week later).

But that didn’t stop them from trying to use the leftover ice/snow from the trampoline to build a ICE SLIDE.

This is what I call glorious busy work. LOVE.

Our gorgeous trees in the back.

Our nearby park as the snow was melting.

The ducks at the park. They don’t seem to mind the snow.

All the ducks in the pond took off flying as if their life depended on it. We looked up and saw this scene. Apparently, the ducks spotted this guy and knew it was feeding time. It was too funny!

Clover covered in snow. I call it my lucky heart clover.

Another Year Comes to an End – So long 2014

On December 31, 2014 By AngeliaIn Beautiful Life24 Comments

Well, here it is.

Another year (year!) has passed by. This one as lightning fast as the last few years.

But I am not going to stress about it. I think I will just climb on up and take off into 2015. No use waiting around, let’s fly!

Ah, but first, we must recap the year. And you know how I like to do it? In photos, of course!

Last year, I posted one photo for every month of the year. I just read back through it and questioned several months. Did that really happen in 2013? Seems so long ago! But, no. It did and this year, I have no doubt will seem just as surreal. I think having a baby and young girls around has something to do with it. It makes me question my sanity, my memory, and my timelines.

Good thing I have this blog to keep it all straight. Heh!

I didn’t stick to my one photo rule this year. But I am making galleries of each month.

Just click on the photo to scroll through all the photos and captions.

January
I had the honor and privilege of photographing the birth of my cousin Tasha’s twin babies. I can’t even describe what it meant to me to see these two precious babes as they are born into this world. To see the faces of all the family as they meet them for the first time. To see these first time parents cherish and count little hands and feet. It was just too beautiful for words. So, I took photos and I really do hope they always remember them.

Ready for the delivery room.

Twins are born to Tasha and Jason.

Baby Jaxon.

Baby Tori.

Mama and twins.

Daddy and twins.

Two little miracles.

February
I tried to photograph a snowflake. I was part of a hunter’s wedding (as photographer). I did not partake in the odd groom’s cake that “bled” when cut open, but I did eat a piece of hog meat. It was pretty good! Also? My grand baby turned six months old!

Our first snow!

A Hunter’s wedding!

Her favorite boots.

The camo ring.

The beautiful couple.

A perfect wedding cake.

A hunter’s groom cake. Um, interesting to say the least, and no, I could not eat it. LOL.

This little gal turned SIX months old.

March
Jason and I visited Mayfield park in Austin. They have beautiful paths and gorgeous peacocks! A photographer’s heaven. This is the first place I saw spring start to come alive.

April
G-Baby visits the zoo for the first time. We took her to the Dallas Zoo. We loved it, but she mostly slept. Jason had surgery on his shoulder (not pictured). Molly turned ten years old. And Brandon turned the big 21!

Baby’s first trip to the zoo.

Brandon and Baby ride the carousel.

A tiger!

Feeding the goats.

Albino alligator.

Molly turns 10!

Brandon turns 21!

May
My daughter’s first Mother’s Day. G-baby is 9 months old! And I got to visit with Norie Sato at the opening of the Chisholm Trail Parkway. A parkway that has the image I took of a Texas Toad made into a mosaic designed by Norie on a pillar next to the road. It is part of the public art program in Fort Worth, Texas. I keep meaning to post about it. It is the coolest thing I could ever be part of. Part of my “work” on the side of major freeway…forever? Wow…

Her first Mother’s Day.

Averey is 9 months old.

A famous artist and I meet over the making of public art. She used my toad photo as inspiration.This was opening day of the parkway and it was HOT.

This is the mock up we are holding.

This is the actual pillar off the Chisolm Trail Parkway.

A close-up of the mosaic.

June
We took a road trip to Oklahoma. Enjoyed a few food truck Fridays at the park. And met a baby kitty who eventually came to live with us. We call her Maya. She is probably the gutsiest cat I have ever met. I guess she has to be to live with us and four dogs. She was one of Bridget’s presents for her 8th birthday.

We took Averey to Oklahoma see her Great Grandma (my mom).

We met this little angel at four weeks old (so she looks!).

Baby Maya kitty gets acquainted with FOUR DOGS.

Anna pup and Maya kitty.

Maya kitty wonders what Fred (the dog) is.

Maya lounging in a blankie.

Bridget turned 8 years old.

The last food truck Friday of the summer.

The girls love food truck Friday!

Food truck Friday with Averery.

July
As if four dogs, and a new kitty weren’t enough. We decided to renovate our house. Top to bottom. New floors, and paint. We took down wallpaper and we took down chair rails. We textured walls. We even painted all the brass a nice oil-rubbed bronze. This was exhausting!

Wood tile starts to go down.

New floor.

This is in the office, entryway, living, and hall.

Grouted.

Me taking down wallpaper. I am pretty sure wallpaper is evil. Very, very evil.

Our kitchen remodel.

Remodel of the fireplace.

I painted it.

The finished product.

Kitchen remodel before and after.

I was the art teacher at vacation bible school. This is my helper.

We took the girls to a baseball game.

Because I can.

August
Honestly, the remodel was still in full force. My cameras were put away from all the dust and debris. But I did get it out for baby’s ONE YEAR PHOTOS and party. G-Baby is a whole year old! I didn’t post the party pics (since there is a post on that). These are few outtakes from our photo sessions (never seen before images!).

She wasn’t too smiley on our picture days.

This would be a great Ford ad. Lol.

Her 1st Birthday!

September
My baby Salem turns twelve-years old. Oh my heart. She is still my baby even though she is 80+ in dog years. Also, I took photos of the 9/11 rainbow. This was seen all over the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex on the morning of 9/11. Pretty cool.

Salem turns 12!

Rainbow on 9/11.

October
I took a five-day trip with my sister. We went to Oklahoma to hang out with my mom and take her on day trips to where she grew up. It was a lot of fun to see “our history” and spend time with my big sister and mom. This is also the month my (now famous) Texas Toad print got displayed at the Art7 Gallery in downtown Fort Worth. They did a Fort Worth Public Art exhibit.

Colgate, Oklahoma where my mom grew up.

This is my great-grandparents homestead located on Dead Horse Prairie. You can still see the original stone chimney behind us.

This is the picnic pavillion donated in honor of my Papa Eclair.

My mom and sis at the pavillion.

My Texas Toad framed and ready for Art7 Gallery.

Me at Art7 with my toad.

Halloween 2014 with the girls.

November
I got real sick. I had surgery to remove my gall bladder. And I got much better. On my last recovery day, after sitting around ALL DAY. I thought to myself. WHY? Why am I sitting here? This is my last recovery day and I should go to the gardens and take photos of fall color. So, I did. I got there 45 mins before closing. Phew. Thanksgiving I was well enough to travel and got to spend it with my sister and her family in Houston, Texas. Of course, we took G-Baby to the beach on the last day. She does not love the water, but she dug the sand (heh, get it?).

Flowers and balloon after my surgery.

My last day of recovery, I went to the Japanese gardens.

Gorgeous fall color.

Love this season.

Spent Thanksgiving at my sisters.

The whole family.

The last day of the trip, we took baby to the Galveston Beach.

December
Lots of fun in December. One of my candlelight photos from a past service got shared (with permission of course) on the UMC (United Methodist Church) main page Christmas Eve. It received over 7,000 likes. This floored me. Such a nice way to end the year. These are photos from this year’s service and a few Christmas thrown in as well. My husband’s ex-wife makes me cookies and fudge every year. This year, she really outdid herself. And this time, instead of to the family, it gets labeled as mine. Ohhhhh yeahhhhh…. She knows! She knows!

My image from my 1st candlelight service at United Methodist Church used in a post on their Facebook fan page.

Candlelight service this year – 2014.

My candle in 2014 – Christmas tree in background.

Christmas cookies and fudge from the mom of my step-girls. YUM.

Our Merry Christmas banner.

Happy NEW YEAR to you all! I treasure every one of you! I wish for you a most blessed year, full of love and kindness.

And… Happy Birthday to my husband – the New Year’s Eve baby. He is the big 4-0! Finally, he is in the 40’s! Wow.

DSC_5292cvrtCMAS2014 copy

Muir Woods: The Enduring Forest

On September 19, 2014 By AngeliaIn Beautiful Life40 Comments

Once upon a time, a land gave birth to a tree, a tree gave birth to a forest. A forest gave birth to a park. And the park became a National Monument that welcomes many visitors near and far for over 100 years.

I got to visit this amazing place. I touched these majestic giants. I breathed the same air as these century old woods. I tried to imagine living on this land one hundred and fifty million years ago amongst more than two million acres of coastal redwood and sequoia trees. Can you imagine?

Now, not so many are left. But you can be sure, they are doing all the can to preserve these living reminders of what endurance is all about.

They endured the invasion of people. They endured the threat of earthquakes and fires. They endured the booming logging industry and the many that cut their ancestors down.

And now, they endure to bring splendor to those small enough to look upon their greatness.

Muir Woods.

Click on any photo to take a walk through space and time.

My husband and I saw something in these tree. Do you see anything?

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.
John Muir

I hope you enjoyed this lovely, enduring place. Check out other entries of endurance at the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Endurance.

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.