Fun in the Mud

Its been really nice up here lately....like 55-65 degrees. And it has been happening on the weekends! Which is an even better bonus. Though I probably shouldn't even talk about it because it did snow over night, but it was just a dusting and was melted by noon.

I am totally craving Spring this year. I just started noticing the buds on the trees were a little bigger and a little brighter. And I cant wait to see the flowers start to peek through the ground and bloom on the trees. Needless to say, we have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather. :o)





We live at the bottom of a slight hill in our neighborhood, so when the snow melts it flows right past our driveway. It is now Ella's River. Ella found mud in our yard (which is actually dirt and seed we layed down last summer but is gone now.....) and shoveled it up to go plop it in the river. She was like a little worker bee. Back and forth, back and forth.....Talking the whole time! I honestly don't even remember what she was saying. She lost me so many times. But I gotta say that she stayed so clean! Just a few swipes of dirt on the shirt.




These shots were processed using PW's Seventies Action. I have been into actions like crazy lately. Bear with me. I am sure it is just a phase. :o)
I cant remember if I answered you or not Christina, but my last shot for BSM WAS with PW's sunshine action. I just LOVE that action and have probably over used it a few times....but....I cant help it. I just love it!

Best Shot Monday - Compassion

I have a friend named Stacy who is a writer (and whom I also work with). I don't know how long ago it was (it feels like its been a couple of years) that she told me she was writing a story about compassion. Stacy usually writes fiction mysteries, so I was surprised that she was going to write a nonfiction story about compassion.....but I was intrigued. Well, things happen in life, time goes by, people get side tracked and pregnant and it has been put on the back burner. Every once in a while I will say to her, "Hey, have you written any more on that compassion story you were working on?"

I have started working in the office more because Stacy will be going on maternity leave and she is training me to do some of her work while she is out. At lunch the other day, I bought this little figurine. When we got back to the office, we were all showing each other what we had bought. When I pulled out this figurine I told Stacy that I wasn't sure in what way, but that it was going to be an inspiration to the both of us somehow.

I started taking pictures of it later that night and I ended up processing it with Pioneer Woman's seventies action. The next day I was in work, I gave her the picture in a frame. I do realize now that she will be leaving to be at home for midnight feedings with her newborn, but I thought if she put it in her office at home and sees it once in a while, that it would inspire her to continue writing about it. (Side note for Stacy...maybe at 2am when she is finally asleep and you are wide awake watching infomercials!)

As far as this little lady inspiring me?....I think its a pretty picture and I get to look at the figurine every day as it sits on a knick knack shelf to the side of my kitchen sink. I get a warm little tingle in my heart every time I see her and read the word compassion.



For more Best Shot Monday images, head over to Tracey's.

Sunkissed Morning

Our dog Lulu is getting old. She is only 6 years old, but arthritis has set in and her joints are way crackety. Seeing that puppy behind those eyes is kind of deceiving. We used to let her up on our bed alot before Ella was born. But after Ella was born, we didn't want her jumping on the bed anymore in fear that she would smoother Ella one day. She is still quite a spunky dog, but pays for it usually later in the day.

Recently, she has started jumping up on our bed and napping again. When I go to look for her and peek in my room to see if she is under the bed or in her kennel and find her on my bed, I cant help but feel bad for her. I just know that her little arthritic legs had to have hurt jumping up there and she must have really wanted to get comfy on our bed to feel the pain. (To hear more about what she did with those arthritic legs click here). So I usually walk in there, pet her for a minute, give her a kiss on the bridge of her nose (my favorite place to kiss her) and tell her what a good dog she is.



I've probably mentioned before, Ella LOVES Lulu. She is ultimately her playmate at home. Available to her at all times. Completely submissive enough to play hide and seek under a sleeping bag with her. Calm enough to let Ella hang like a monkey around her neck. And humble enough to let Ella treat her jowls like rubber.

Sometimes you can look at a moment and know if it is going to look good through a camera lens or not. On this morning, I could not resist taking pictures of Ella and Lulu. Up crawls Ella with her blanket (tag in hand) and gently cuddles with her. Lulu didn't move. I also knew that I had just downloaded Pioneer Woman's new set of PS actions, which included a sunshine action.





I could have shown every single one of these shots by using the sunshine action. This series was just too perfect not to take advantage of that. But I thought it might have been a tad much to make a whole post using the one action....So I mixed it up with a few b&w shots too (which by the way, I have been feeling very b&w lately with my processing over Christmas for some odd reason).




This last shot has to be one of my favorites of all time of Ella. The sunshine effect and the milky, hazy, sleepy feel it has just melts my heart.