Family Is My Heart

  There is nothing in this world that means more to me than the ones I love. I am a very empathetic person who needs compassion and consistent emotional growth in life. To me, life is meaningless unless you have people to share those experiences and important moments with.

  Today's photo challenge was "thing you love most."
  My family and friends are what I love most and am most grateful for. My husband avoids the camera like it's the plague, so for now a photo of the little men whole came into my world and stole my heart will have to do.

  I love these boys with all that I am, and I'll never stop saying how blessed I am to have them in my life.

Cabin Fever...

 So, I forgot to blog yesterday for my day 7 challenge. The day was long and I ended up going to bed uber early with a little bit of a headache. I completely forgot about it. 

So today, I'm going to toss day 7 and day 8 together, because right now they are somewhat linked due being home bound by the weather. If it isn't pretty out soon, I think we'll all start having bouts of cabin fever. 

Day 7- photo of the day challenge was "this adventure" 

  We had planned (my kids and I), to take a short trip to the park and walk around the boardwalk yesterday. We love the park and it's a nice relaxing view. The park is an option that allows my boys to explore while I can monitor them and feel safe. 

  At Glen Hilton Jr. Memorial Park in Hickory, NC, there are a few different play areas, picnic zones, and the boardwalk is centered around a view of the lake where a lot of ducks come and wait for feed. We didn't get to visit though... nature had a different plan for us, and we got rained out. 

  That's where today's photo challenge "these four walls" comes in. We got stuck at home due to foul weather. So we played with paints, crayons, and made it a arts and crafts kind of day. 

  We are grateful for our home. Having a shelter over our heads and a warm place to be when the weather is not favorable is a blessing. 
  
Today is still kind of yucky, so we're playing indoors again. Today is movies, music and games. 

Have you ever tried to teach a 2 year old how to play musical chairs? lol 

My Place of Peace

 Earlier this year, my husband and I finally took the plunge and purchased our first home together. For me, it was a scary but thrilling experience and I'm glad we took the risk. 
  For the first time ever, we have something we can say is our own. There are no rules about pets or pet deposits. We don't have to worry about upstairs or downstairs neighbors anymore.
  It's actually been 8 months this month, and it feels amazing to have achieved something this great with the man I love. 

Today's photo-a-day challenge was "Grateful for this place". Our new home is something I am grateful for. I wanted something that is ours to raise our kids in, and we worked our bums off to get it. I am very grateful to have this place.

  
  It's an amazing feeling when you get that first key that is for your own place isn't it? Having such a blessing come to us will be something I will never take lightly. 

What place are you grateful for? 

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Gloomy Weather

 Lately, where I live, the weather can't seem to make up its' mind. Friday, it was a lovely day with a higher temperature into the high 70's. The days following, it's been wet and cloudy. So, that made getting today's photo challenge of "this beautiful morning" a bit difficult. 

Nonetheless, I believe that every morning I wake up is a beautiful day and an opportunity for a fresh new start. So, here is today's challenge. 

Day #5: This beautiful Morning

Cutest Little Monsters

There is nothing in this world like having children. The thing is, there aren't enough warnings in the world about the phase your child goes through called: toddler. 

It's like a foreshadowing of what I can only imagine the early teenage years will be like. Screaming, seemingly drunken wobbling, hiding food in strange places, and running around with flailing arms like a drunk person. It's... Adorable.

No, really... I love every second of it. My kids crack me up with their crazy. They make me wanna pull my hair out sometimes, but I can only hope that's a normal mom feeling when you've got 2 year olds. 

I love watching my boys grow and learn how to do more and more on their own. I guess that is one of the great rewards of being a parent. 

What's the big drawback? 

Bedtime...

I absolutely hate the fight to get them in their bed for good. It's a game to them, and exercise for me. It's also a war I have yet to win... Because they know how to use those adorable little faces to get just one more story or one more hug. 

That leads me to today's photo challenge: This adorable face. In my case- their are two of those adorable faces, and though they can stress me out and exhaust me... I am blessed beyond measure that they are here.

Day 4: Grateful & blessed for these adorable faces.

Comfort I Can Count On

  Today's photo-a-day challenge is being thankful for "this familiar thing". I chose to make my familiar thing, my pets. 

  My pets are like children to me, but they hold a different piece of my heart. They offer a different type of comfort and peace that nothing else can. Those sweet eyes and the soft nudges of a wet cold nose are a priceless gift. 

  When my husband and I were still renting homes, we refused to move into a place that didn't allow pets. We understood their reasoning, but to us, we just cannot part from them. They are what is familiar to us. They make us feel like we are home. 

Day #3- Grateful for this familiar thing (in my case these familiar furry things lol)

Do you have furry familiars/companions? Tell me all about them in the comments!
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Thankful for Creative Outlets

   Okay, so I put a little bit of a twist on today's photo-a-day challenge. The challenge was "Grateful for this piece of creativity." I decided to kind of put my own spin on this and showcase how grateful I am for even the simplest of creative outlets... such as coloring. 

  Coloring is the first creative outlet most of us get to establish a connection with as a child. For the better part of my childhood, there was nothing in the world like sitting down with my favorite coloring book and a big box of Crayola crayons. I still love to color... only now, most of my coloring is done via the click of a mouse via the color palette on Photoshop... but I do believe my love of coloring opened the door to my passion for art.

 Day #2: Grateful for creativity and color

  Now that I have children, they get to explore art and put their creative energies into coloring. So, I am grateful for creative outlets that allow us to find ourselves and bring out the passions that dwell within. 

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For All Things Be Grateful

  This is a really late post but I really wanna get it going. For anyone who follows my page on Facebook, you know I have been doing a 7 day challenge for black and white photography. It's been awhile since I had done anything like that, and well... it's sparked a little bit of inspiration within me. 

I want to continue the challenge. I wanna push myself to find something new that captures my attention every single day. Life is too short and often we let it pass us by as we take it all for granted. This month, I wanna take it all in. 

I scoured the internet to find another challenge that I felt suited the overall theme of this month, and what I was looking to do. 

 Photo-A-Day 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge!

  Today is November 1st (for about 15 more minutes anyways... oops lol) and I wanted to share my 1st photo of the monthly challenge. I hope that you'll join in with me and share what you are grateful for each day in the comments or on my Facebook page. Share photos and/or stories. The more the merrier. There is always something to be grateful for.

Day #1- Grateful for this moment

  The image above is the 1st photo of my now 2 year old twin boys. My husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for nearly 9 years, and we thought we just weren't capable. Finally, it happened and we were having a baby.

  Early in my pregnancy, I had an ER visit because I thought I was having a miscarriage. I thought my body was trying to take away the blessing my husband and I had wished for, but it turns out, I wasn't miscarrying at all and wasn't carrying only one! My husband and I were in complete shock, but I wouldn't take it back for anything in this world. I can't imagine life without them both. 

 Having 2 infants within 25 minutes is definitely a challenge, but it's sooo worth it. I will always be grateful for the day they were born, for the 1st time I got to see their precious faces, and to hold them in my arms. 

My Shutterbuggerz Photo Contest Entry #2- PLEASE VOTE!

Last month I began taking a chance on myself as I pursued a few different media contests online. One of them was the Shutterbuggerz Photo Contest. I didn't win but I had a lot of fun entering and taking a chance on myself. You can see the photos I entered for last month's contest here.

I have decided to try my luck and talents again this month. I have entered 5 new photographs for the November contest. If you like them, please take a moment and click the little green thumbs up for me and leave a kind comment. I would truly appreciate your support. 

Click on the images to be taken to Shutterbuggerz where the photo can be made larger &to vote. To vote on an image(once you are at the shutterbuggerz site), click the image once then hover your mouse over the image and click the green thumb in the top right corner. Thanks!

What's the Prize? 

The top selected photographs (chosen by smugmug) are placed into Sophie magazine and two winners are chosen... one amateur photographer and one professional photographer. 

The amateur photographer winner will receive $25

The professional photographer winner will receive a free ad with an estimated value of $350 in Sophie magazine for the following month.

You could enter your photographs too, next month before the 10th. Anyone can enter and you can enter up to 5 of your own photographs.

Art Challenge- Local/Hot

It has been some time since I was able to do a 2 Things Challenge, for that I must apologize. I have been wanting to get back in on the action for awhile now. It was always such a pleasure to join and such a challenge to see what I can come up with each week. I have felt kind of reminiscent without it. 

Hopefully I will be able to keep entering from now on... if life will allow it that is. I am also thankful that the host of the 2 Things Blog as well as the other contestants are so kind as to have me back. 

My entry for this week:

Fiery Autumn Sunset- Copyright Kristina Conatser (CapturedbyKC)

This photograph was taken in the front yard of the home where I grew up. To me, this will always be the greatest sunset photograph I have ever taken because it was my first. 

I love the warm colors. I cannot fathom how hot it would be on that brilliant glowing ball of light we call the Sun.

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Did you enjoy this post? If so, please leave me a comment to let me know you've stopped by. 

Art Challenge- Wooden/Words

This challenge post is just a bit late due to the fact that I was out most of the weekend with my Husband celebrating our 6 year anniversary. We had so much fun. We took a trip to the Mountains and went on various walking/hiking trails. I took my camera along. 

We love the scenery of the Mountains. The serene and peaceful waters, the elevation and even the air we breathe somehow seems uplifting. We definitely prefer Mountains over Beaches. 

On a related but more interesting note, I didn't realize that while we were out walking the trails of the NC & TN Mountains at Blue Ridge Parkway- that I would stumble onto a few great captures for this very art challenge. I want to thank 2 Things Blog for allowing my late entry. 

Here are my entries for Wooden/Words

This photo was taken on the walking/ Disc Golf trail in NC

Wooden Sign with overlook info at Blue Ridge Parkway
Moses Cone Overlook elevation 3888ft

While traveling along a walking trail, my Husband spotted this broken tree branch
 with  an arrow pointing down and text which reads:
"This End Up"

Hope you have enjoyed this week's photo challenge. I will try my best to get the next one in on time. Many thanks for viewing. Have a great week and please feel free to leave comments. :)

Photo Friday- Yard Critters

Yard Critters

I love watching the little birds and squirrels play out back in the yard.  Their playfulness and chipper songs lift my spirits. Today I wanna share some fun photos I took at random intervals. These may not be top notch 100% pro photos, but they are my faves. I hope you'll enjoy.

Beautiful Blue Jay Bird Photo
Copyright © 2012 Kristina Conatser

Adorable Squirrel Photo Copyright © 2012 Kristina Conatser

Squirrel in field with bird flying overhead Photo Copyright © 2012 Kristina Conatser

Vibrant Red Cardinal Photo Copyright © 2012 Kristina Conatser

Art Challenge- Road/Shadow

It has been awhile since I have been able to enter into the 2 Things Challenge via 2 Things Blog, but I had a bit of free time this week so I decided to enter. I miss the challenges and really had fun doing this one because the 'shadow' portion gave me a chance to share one of my favorite poems penned by Poet, ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. 

Shadow Man Photo courtesy of Jiri Hodan via Public Domain Pictures

The poem is titled: My Shadow

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,

And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.

He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;

And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—

Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;

For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,

And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,

And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.

He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;

I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,

I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;

But my lazy little shadow, like an errant sleepy-head,

Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

My contribution for 'Road' is simply a photograph I took while walking about. The trees have cast their shadows on the road below.

Art Challenge- Hidden/Control

Sorry this week's art challenge post was a bit late. I have had a busy weekend. I have been making up for it with a lack of energy and lots of rest from so much running around. Anyways, back to business... the challenge for this past Sunday from 2 Things blog was Hidden/Control. I have two interpretations to share. 

Please forgive me that these photographs have been taken by the camera on my phone. 

Remote Control for TV lodged between cushions of sofa

In the photo above, my TV remote control is partially hidden and lodged between the cushions of my sofa. Thus it is literally a Hidden/Control :)

Sandbox  Apple shaped toy partially hidden in the sand 

In the above photo, there is what appears to be a green outline of an apple breaching from the sand. This apple is shaping and controlling the sand within it while the sand is hiding the rest of the toy. Thanks to my wonderful 2 year old niece for helping with this one. 

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I hope you enjoyed my interpretations. Do you have any Hidden/Control interpretations of your own? If so, share them in the comments. Thanks for reading and visiting.

Wordless Wednesdays- Squirrels!

I dunno what it is about these little critters but I just love them. I love the way they forage for goodies they've stashed away in the ground, I love the way their tails twitch and the way they play so carefree like all day. I captured some images of Squirrels playing around in my less than attractive backyard. I hope they will bring a smile to your face like they do to mine. 

I hope you enjoyed the critter photos. This has been my 1st entry for weekly Wordless Wednesdays. I hope I have followed all of the rules. I had tons of fun. Many thanks for the opportunity to play along.