My Brain on Hyperdrive

The boy got his new glasses! For reference, here's his old pair . Here's the pair he didn't choose . Here's the pair he did choose! Don't they look great?! If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

I'm taking a class over the next few weeks through the Milwaukee Rec Department. It's Mixed Media Painting. I've never really done any painting other than what we had to do in school, so I thought this would be fun. I was right! Tonight we covered acrylics and mixed in some pastel and colored pencils. This is my finished painting. I kept it simple for the first class. We'll see what happens next week! If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

The boy tries to exercise a minimum of 4 days a week, more in the summer. His preferred method of exercise is walking outside. This can present a few challenges in the winter, like snow and ice. One thing he's not letting stop him too much, though, is the cold. He's bundled up in long underwear, a hat, mittens, two scarves, and a jacket with the hood up. Hopefully that's enough to keep him warm. If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

The wind kept blowing the bubbles away too quickly for me to catch them. But it was so cold that the solution froze right on the wand when I didn't blow the bubbles fast enough. If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

Super yummy dinner tonight, but no time to include the recipe. You'll have to wait until the next time I make it, I guess. If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

This should be the last of my Christmas Craft posts, but I saved the best for last! The boy loves some mittens that I have, and we could never find anything like them. My mittens are super warm, and also rather large, so the boy calls them pancake mittens. Anyway, I decided to make him some mittens instead. Other than being as warm and large as mine, they don't have much else in common. In fact, I think these are better. For starters, they have a flap over the fingers so you don't have to keep taking them on and off all the time. I used this tutorial to make the mittens. I used a heavier yarn (the same yarn I used to make my dad's hat ) because I wanted them to be really warm.  I know with crocheted type things, it's really common for the wind to go right through them, but we have experience with this yarn being really warm. Last year, I made the boy this hat using the 5 and 6 oz yarn. So I knew when I made the mittens I wanted them to match in add

Looking for the positive in more snow? At least it's pretty! If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

The boy is getting new glasses. These did NOT make the cut, but you'll have to wait about 10 days or so to see which ones he did pick. Doesn't his goatee look awesome?

Can you guess what it is? If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

I've decided I totally need to do more of this, so expect to see more variations on the splash theme throughout this year! It's a good project for indoors when it's too cold to go outside. I do need to find some more big glass dishes to use for holding the water. This seems to be my only option at the moment. It's working for now, though. Check out these awesome pics! If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

I saw an example of something like this somewhere and I thought it would be kinda cool to do as a gift for someone using my photographs. In this case, my parents were the lucky recipients! It wasn't too hard to do, but I thought I'd throw together a little tutorial in case someone was curious about the steps I used. The first thing I did was find a piece of plywood at Lowe's that was 24" x 24" and ask them to cut it into 4 equal 12" x 12" squares. I used one of those squares for subway art .  The remaining three pieces I painted white. Using Photoshop Elements, I changed the pictures into the shapes I wanted on a 10" x 10" canvas, and had them printed at Office Max. Then I cut out the shapes. Note, for this part I was careful to keep the unwanted part of the page intact for the most part so I could use it as a template as I placed the shapes on the boards. After using some double-sided scrapbooking pictur

If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

One of the other gifts for my mom was some pot holders. These were kinda fun to make, and simple, so I made my self a pair as well.  I used this tutorial for these, though not their fabric.

If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

This was so much fun to do! I can't wait to try different things! If you're interested, I used this tutorial . If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

This was a last minute addition to my pile of homemade gifts. I saw this on a blog I read and knew I HAD to make them. I built a fire pit for our condo association this summer and my parents have a lot on a 5-star campground, so a made a set for each of us! Here's a direct link to the post where she talks about making the ornaments. Note, I deviated slightly, though they're pretty close to what she did.

This is our church. The church we got married in. The church my husband grew up in when he moved to Wisconsin. Community United Methodist Church. If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

I'm sure I had a picture just like this 4 years ago when I did my last 365 project, but I can't help what I like. If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

This gift was for my man. He had been using one of my lunch bags, but a dish shattered inside and we weren't sure we got all the glass shards out. So he resorted to grocery bags. Ugh. Not a good look. So I decided I needed to make him a lunch bag. This one is just to show how tall it is. Fits A LOT! And this one came from this tutorial . If I didn't like the lunch bag I already have, I'd have to make one of these for myself, too!

If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

This was another gift for my mom. She picked out the fabric, but didn't know what I was going to make.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but it's actually a smaller tote bag, maybe 8 or 10 inches tall. It also has 6 pockets around the outside. A handy little thing; I might have to make one for myself. I used this tutorial .

While we were doing our Brown Thursday shopping (gasp! It was later at night, not dinner time), we ended up at Michael's. They had a pretty good sale on beads, so I had my mom pick some out. She picked out some flat round beads with black and white on them. I used them to create this for her for Christmas. I think it turned out pretty good. What do you think?

If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

Well, I shared a picture of Berkeley , it only seemed fair that Zoey get her time in the spotlight, too. If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

Since my husband gave me his cold, soup seemed in order for dinner tonight. I think this might be the best beef and barley soup I've ever had. So yummy and super easy to make. Not a lot of extra seasonings so you can taste the flavors of all the ingredients. And you're in luck because I'm including the recipe down below! Beef and Barley Soup Makes 4 Servings Ingredients 1 lb boneless round steak, cut into 1-inch cubes 1/2 cup pearl barley 5 cups water 2 beef bullion cubes 3 carrots, chopped 1 onion, chopped 2 celery stalks, chopped 1 tsp salt 1/8 tsp black ground pepper In a large saucepan, combine the meat, barley, water, and bullion; bring to a boil. Skim off any foam, then add the carrots, onion, celery, salt, and pepper; bring back to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for approx. 45 minutes. Optional: stir in 1 cup sliced mushrooms at the end, then cook, covered, an additional 10 minutes. Approximately 260 calories per serving If you l

My husband likes to share. I just wish he'd keep some things to himself. If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

Temps are above freezing, but since there is still a lot of snow and the ground is so cold, what that equates to is a lot of ice. If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

Since it's cold and dreary outside, I have to get creative inside. If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

Sox is crocheting something. I wonder what it will be!  If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!

Meet Berkeley!  Berkeley is almost 10 years old! She had a vet checkup today. Other than some tarter and gingivitis, she's in great health! If you like my photography (and many of you tell me you do), PLEASE leave comments on my pictures throughout this year. I don't know if I'll be able to continue without that encouragement. Also needed will be suggestions for photography subjects or locations. I'm always looking for ideas!