Scavenger Hunt Sunday | April 29, 2012

Since we had 2 weeks before we linked up, I used some photos from the first week and some during the second...Mainly because I've been participating in Week in the Life and have gotten some great photos.

Yellow

I love this photo.  Every.little.thing.about.it.

Something that Makes you Smile

I love when she lets me cuddle with her.  She loves it when I give her belly rubs.  It's a win-win!

Ancient or Antique

My parents got my grandparents this round vase as a gift years ago.  We have been slowing cleaning out their house so we brought this back to our home.  It was, after all, originally ours.  In a round-a-bout way.

Splash

This is archived.  But it is great for this prompt.

In the Sun

Oh, you know, we had more fun with bubbles this week.  Life of a dog...

Week in the Life 2012 | Saturday Photos and Words

Stats/Thoughts about today:
-Today was busy!
-Photos taken: 81
-I can't believe this week/project is almost done.  I have gotten some really great photos out of this project, but I kind of wish I worked a little more to get more and different photos.  Maybe next year!

Photos and Words:

She was hanging out with me when I was getting ready bright and early at 6am.

 Coffee to get moving.  Cereal to make sure my tummy doesn't growl.

 Sunrise.  I rarely see these.  (Wish I had my big camera with me when we were leaving.)

Testing day.  Mom and I have been added to the list of people who can administer tests such as the ACT, Praxsis, etc. Mom started 2 weeks ago, and this was my first one.
(Note: no one was actually taking the test when I took this.  We just got in the room and were setting up.)

After the test mom and I went to the grocery store and then we had to head over to see my grandma.  Every spring her living center puts on a girls tea and they have little girls put on a fashion show.

This is what happens to mom when I am looking for a new nail polish color.....

...And now I'm testing out the new color!

Week in the Life 2012 | Friday Photos and Words

Friday was a really rough day.  {You can read about it here.}

Stats/Thoughts about the day:
-I took 84 photos, but only about 18 are good.
-The morning started out ok.  I was happy to get some different photos.  Abby was actually awake and waiting for me to get up, which was a nice change.
-The day turned sour for most of the morning.  It wasn't until the afternoon when we went to the doctors appointment that I was reassured everything was going to be ok.
-When you spend a good portion of your day crying it sure does take a lot out of you...physically and emotionally.  I'm glad the day got a little bit better.

Photos and Words:

 My sweet girl anxiously waiting for me to get up.  We don't let her go back to the bedrooms because she will scratch the heck out of our doors trying to get in.

 Tears.  Or recuperating from them.

She makes the cutest faces when she sleeps.

Sitting at a stop light in the rain.  The teacher my mom works with is getting married in June and some of the teachers put on a little party for him.  When we left we found out it was pouring out.  

 Writing.

Reading.  The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand.

Today was hard.

Today was hard. 

Really hard. 

To be honest, I kind of forgot cancer was a part of our family.  Last semester I was in school 4 days a week and I wasn’t able to go to any of the regular doctors appointments.  Things were going well so my mind let me forget. 

Even for a little bit. 

But it all came crashing back. 

Externally I was fine, but internally I was tearing apart.  Cancer was lurking in the deep corners of my mind.  And I couldn’t make it stop.  It consumed so much of my mind that I would wake up in the middle of the night with a racing heart and with a feeling that I had been crying. 

I probably was. 

{This isn’t the first time this has happened.  A month after my dad was diagnosed I woke up with red eyes and running around the house making sure everyone was still alive.  And when everything was in fact ok, I was flooded with tears for about an hour.  The next night was similar, except that I was able to distinguish what was real and what was not, so there were no tears.  The third night I didn't sleep.}

I try so hard to not think of cancer or the what ifs during the day, and yet my mind has been betraying me at night.  I am being haunted by my reality and there is nothing I can do to stop it. 

So,

today was hard.

The tears rolled

until there was nothing left.

________________________________________________________________________

The thing with cancer is that you are so consumed with numbers.  Did this number go down?  What does it mean if that number goes up? 

There was little bit of movement in dad’s counts earlier this month.  We weren’t sure what it meant.  Mom and I hadn’t been to a doctors appointment recently so we weren’t able to hear what this meant from a doctors perspective. 

And we need to hear things from the doctor.

Dad focuses more on the negative while mom and I focus more on the positive.  Dad saw movement in his blood counts and was basically saying that the cancer might be coming back.  But today mom and I went to the doctors appointment and we talked to the doctor.  Everything is fine.  There is nothing to worry about.  The numbers are supposed to fluctuate and that is normal.  Last week they went up, this week they came down a little.  The blood work results did not show that the cancer was back.

There is nothing to worry about.

I might actually get some sleep tonight, without tears.

Week in the Life 2012 | Thursday Photos and Words

Stats/Thoughts about today:
-I took 131 photos.
-This is the most I've taken in a single day all week.  I don't know how.  Probably because I took approximately 12 photos of each event.  I really don't have that many to choose from.
-Speaking of photos... I don't know why most of them turned out blurry.  The ones I used this my remote turned out blurry today.  And I had it on automatic focus.  Not too happy about this.  Hopefully I will figure out what is going on tomorrow.  That way I get nice, clear photos.  :)
-I think I am hitting a bump in this project.  I feel like I'm running out of ideas of photos to take.  And I feel like the quality of the photo is decreasing...big time.
-Before I began this project I made a rule for myself.  Make sure I get a photo of each person (and Abby).  And today I didn't get a photo of dad.  But I did get 2 photos of his handwriting.  At least he is accounted for by that.  {Note to self: Get a photo of dad.}

Photos and Words:

 Woke up to find this note in the kitchen.  Mom is referring to the swallows that like to build nests on our front porch.  She always looks forward to them around her birthday.

 Our front door.

 Pretty sky.

I brought Abby outside to play with bubbles.  She LOVES them.  You should have heard all the crying she was doing because I couldn't pour the bubble soap out fast enough.  She even licked it as I was pouring.  Sill dog.  (Really upset we are out of focus.)

 Jumping for bubbles!

iPad time.  I caught the last 10 minutes of Grey's Anatomy.  Guess I'll have to catch it tomorrow.

Week in the Life 2012 | Wednesday Photos and Words

Mom was home from work again.  This morning we found out the doctors wanted to put my grandma in the hospital.  So much for real life, right?  I feel like that is all we do.  Go to the hospital....

Stats/Thoughts about today:
-I took 72 photos today.
-Only 16 of those I could use.
-The morning was really slow.  Nothing to do so there aren't many photos.
-I don't know if I'm slowing down on this project or if today was just a slow day.  Maybe a little bit of both?!
-I'm so thankful for my family.

Photos and Words:

Someone wants my breakfast.  (Basically anything we eat, she wants.)  But she does drink the leftover milk every morning.

Getting ready for the day.

 Driving the black car back home.  We had to get 2 of our cars checked for maintenance.  Lots of driving around.

 Computer time, which actually was about 5 minutes.  Just long enough to take the photo.  But this is my desk...  The corner in my room where all my crafting happens.

 My family :) We went for a car ride and went to King Hill which over looks the city.

After a little crusin around we ended up at Dairy Queen.  Mmmm love me some blizzards.

Week in the Life 2012 | Tuesday Photos and Words

Today mom was home from work with a cold.  I'm suffering a little bit from it, but not as bad as her.  I'm constantly going around the house with lysol wipes cleaning everything.  We don't want dad to get it too.  (It's really important he doesn't get sick.)

Here are some stats/thoughts from today:

-I took 109 photos.  Once again, I took more than I thought I would.  There are only so many photos you can take while taking an easy day and watching a lot of tv.  But most of these were duplicates so I would have a lot to choose from to get 'the' shot.

-It was super hot today.  

-I am really liking this project!  Mom got a little confused and thought I was going to be doing this process for the rest of the year....Ha!  Yeah, right. 

-I got most of my pages done for Monday.  Having a few hiccups when putting my photoshop photo into blurb.  Might have to go a different route if that doesn't work out.  

Photos and Words:

I was half sleeping half awake here.  I woke up from a really strange dream and tried to go back to bed, but it didn't quite work.  Getting up to go to the bathroom and mess with the camera probably didn't help.

Breakfast.  Guess who thinks she gets pancakes... Of course she got a little bite.

Took Abby out for a potty break.  She got real excited to see mom looking at her through the window.

Washing dishes.

Working on Mondays pages.

Trash night.  

Ending the night with some cuddles.

Week in the Life 2012 | Monday Photos and Words

Today was my first day doing Week in the Life.  And boy, was it fun.  It reminds me a lot of my 12of12 project, just more intense..But in a good way.

Here are some stats/thoughts about today and the process:
-Photos taken: 116.  I was really surprised by this number, but a I took a lot of duplicates of photos so I'd have a variety to choose from.
-This took a lot more thought than I thought it would.  With my 12of12 project I just take 12 photos that sums up the day.  But with this project I don't have a limit of photos and I know the more I have the better the outcome of this project will be.  Normally I do something without really thinking about it.  But instead of just jumping into it, I have to think to set up my camera, etc before I do it.
-Documenting what I do by the minute and making sure I pick up on things said around the house are things that I know I'm really going to like in the long run.  Years from now, or even a few months from now I'm not going to remember that I woke up early with a stuffy nose or that Abby was wiggling her tail while watching a bird in the birdbath.
-Doing a 52 week portrait project really helps when trying to get into the picture for week in the life.  I've had a lot of practice which helps a lot.

I'm only going to share a few photos in this post.  You will be able to see all the photos when I finish the pages for my book.  (Probably next week!..I hope.)

Photos and Words:

I woke up at 6:24 with a stuffy nose. It took me a little while to get back to sleep, but thankfully I did.  It wasn't until a little after 9 that I finally got out of bed and had breakfast.   

Dad and I went to WalMart to get a few things which of course always turns into getting a lot of things.

 When we got home I checked the mail and found out I have jury duty next month.  (Greattttt.)  Filling out paper work

Dad and I ran a few more errands after mom got home from work.  We borrowed my grandpa's car this past weekend so we had to gas it up again and took it to the car wash.

 When we got home I started cooking dinner.  Here I was measuring the ingredients for the baked beans.  Yum!

After dinner Abby was checking out the backyard and something made her start barking, which often turns into howling.  So glad I got this photo, even if it is a little blurry and has some stuff in the background.  Thank goodness for photoshop!

And then of course ending the night watching Dancing with the Stars with mom.  Wonder who is going to get kicked off tomorrow?!