The Only One Who Should Care, Doesn't. :)

I had just hopped in my car this morning to head to work, when I glanced over at one of the other cars in the driveway and happened to notice quite a cool bug...a lime green creature that looked something like a really long legged grasshopper. So, of course, I pull the care back in, park it, grab my camera from the back seat, and take a couple pictures.

A couple things went through my mind while I was doing that - one was, 'I wonder if my housemates are wondering why I am hunched over their car taking pictures through the window' (which is what it would have looked like to them), the second was, 'I wonder if the neighbor across the street is wondering what I'm doing' (one of our neighbors was outside working in his garage, and makes it his business to know what's going on even if it doesn't look like something out of the ordinary).

I did a quick, nonchalant glance around and got back in my car, and as I was driving away from the house, my mind, for whatever reason, went to, 'Logan wouldn't care - sure, he might smile at me and be amused by the fact that I'm taking pictures of bugs, but he's used to it - and knows that's just how I am.'

Which is where the title finally makes and appearance. Logan loves me for who I am, goofiness and all. I can act like a total idiot around him and he might laugh, but he'll love me all the same. The funny thing is, he's the only one whose reaction and acceptance I really care about on a deeper level - and he's the one who will meet me where I'm at and love me no matter what. It's a beautiful thing.

Then I paralleled that with the way God looks at us. When it comes right down to it, His acceptance is the only one that matters at all. It matters even more than my boyfriend's acceptance (gasp!), and God is even better at meeting us where we are. Sure, he wants us to make good choices, but we all goof up sometimes, and He's the only one that can pick us up when we fall and assure us that we're still worthwhile. The other cool thing is, when we start to realize that, when we begin to grasp how great and all encompassing His love is - we don't want to screw up anymore. We don't want to do things that we know he wouldn't like. Doesn't mean we won't still do them sometimes, but it does mean that we'll try to do them less.

It's pretty excellent, really. :)

Open your eyes...

I was out kayaking the other day for the first time in a while. As I was putting my kayak in the water, I looked down and noticed this little lady sitting on some duckweed right along shore.

Awed by the beauty of the red against the green, I pulled out my camera and snapped some photos before taking off.

The thing is, while the photos turned out okay, none of them were quite the quality I was hoping for...they were either too bright or too dark, or not quite in focus. What I had hoped would be a new favorite shot of mine ended up being mediocre at best. And yeah, maybe some would say I am being to critical...but when you take photos under the mindset of blowing them up and putting them on a wall for others to see...I do have a higher standard for myself.

The other thing this made me think of was how often I reach immediately for my camera when I see certain things. It is my other set of eyes...and some would argue that I rely too much upon it. Enjoy things for what they are - after all, rarely does a photo do what we are seeing justice.

Hey, I like that game!

I'm sitting in my room, when the six year old I live with comes in, takes a glance at the tabletop chess game I have in the corner, and asks 'why do you have that game set up?'

I said, 'it's my chess table, and I have played it a couple times lately, so I have it out.'

'Oh! I like chest!' she retorts. 'Chest is one of my favorite games!'

'It's chess,' I corrected her, 'not chest. There's no 't.' ' Holding back laughter, and the urge to ask her how to play the game.

I used special colors...

Alright, I'm trying this...again...again...again. I have failed miserably thus far at keeping up my blog, which is sad, because there is so much potential. Everyday I encounter things living with another family that make me laugh, sigh, groan, or just plain roll my eyes. This particular one was a laugh. A rather big laugh.

The picture you see is one that the six year old girl I live with drew. We were finishing up lunch the other day when her mom came in, held up the picture, and asked if we'd looked at it. Laughing, she explained to us that her little girl, upon showing it to her, explained that she had "picked special colors for the hole." We all joined her in laughing as we looked at the picture, chuckling not only at the carefully drawn anatomical details, but also at the bird footed claws. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the yellow highlighter line all over the page is pee. The kitty happened to be peeing in the picture as well. :) After all, it's just another part of life, right?

GET OUT OF MY FACE!

I already goofed. It has been five days - and I haven't posted a single picture since the first one. But, rather than give up, I am going to resolve to do better.

This is my baby Cornelius. He is a roughly one year old bearded dragon. Despite the normally pleasant disposition of these creatures, Cornelius is a force to be reckoned with. He doesn't like to be held, and often tries to run away when he is being held.

He's funny though, and has a very distinct personality.

Here's to working on being more consistent...

The Beginning...

I was looking through some photography blogs yesterday, and it refueled my photography drive - and I am starting out on a journey in pictures today - hopefully for a full year. Each day, I will take a photo...and post it on this blog. It was a journey I intended to start a year ago, but failed. This year, a new chance, and hopefully more success.

The first photo - a new bit of green coming up out of the ground during what has been a whirlwind spring so far. Over the past few weeks, what was several inches and feet of snow has disappeared, and suddenly, the yards are turning green again. It happens this way every year - even though it appears to be a gradual change back to life after the cover of snow, the green seems to appear out of nowhere.

Wish me luck on this journey - - the goal is that barring some emergency or lack of internet, I will be posting a photo each day, taken that day. Should be fun to see what comes of it.

Taps

I can hear the sound of tapping coming from the downstairs bathroom. The girls must be downstairs practicing again - and the linoleum floor in the bathroom (which is also the laundry room and the location of the big chest freezer) provides a good surface for it...not to mention a door to block out some of the noise. But, even with the door shut, they can still be heard.

It's all part of living with another family, and a family with three girls under the age of 13, no less. It's fun...and there is always something going on. Sometimes it's drums, violin, dancing, singing, music...the only sound that really seems to stick out is the occasional silence, which often seems louder than any of the other noises.

It's a lesson in living - becoming a part of another family - and learning to compromise, interact, react, and function when you're no longer on your own. But I love it.