December Photo-A-Day Challenge (Week 5)

Well, I'm wrapping up December and 2013 with the last week of the photo-a-day challenge.  Happy New Year everyone!

27.  Fun

28.  Scarf

29.  Smiles With A Friend

30.  Night

31.  New Year's Eve

May God find you happily through the new year!

Go Fish!

My Grandma, sister, and I played Go Fish last week.  My Mom bought some Duck Dynasty cards at Walmart not too long ago, and we played about five games of Go Fish with them!

December Photo-A-Day Challenge (Week 4)

December is almost over (and so is 2013), so this is the second from last week for the December photo-a-day challenge. Have a merry last-of-December!

20.  Merry and Bright  (one of our Christmas decorations)

21.  Your View Right Now  (I was standing in the middle of the road while my Dad brushed off our mailbox)

22.  Red  (I love drinking coffee...unless it's black. Black coffee tastes weird.)

23.  Presents Under The Tree  (lots and lots of gifts)

24.  Favorite Holiday Tradition  (our family does the Jesse Tree every year)

25.  Morning  (the aftermath of unwrapping gifts...it's a good thing you can't see all the trash!)

26.  Bundled Up  (Baby's first time in the snow)

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

December 25th.  The day when Dad reads the Christmas story, the kids open gifts, we laugh and have a good time.  I hope you all are having a wonderful birthday celebration for Jesus!

Merry Christmas!

Joy To The World

I love those words.  Joy to the world.  It adds so much to (and not just) December, thinking about Jesus.

My Mom and I were watching the K-LOVE Music City Christmas videos on YouTube yesterday, and I enjoyed hearing Mandisa talk about her Christmas memory of when she was all by herself.  She said that she read the account of Jesus' birth, and for the whole day it was just her and God.  Just listening to her talk about that Christmas, I felt like I should do more than anticipate getting gifts.

But it seems like so many people celebrate Christmas just because of the gifts, the family togetherness, and fun.  It's like we're forgetting the most important part of Christmas.  Jesus, Who brought the most joy to the world that we're ever going to get.

To tell the truth, my Christmas Wish List was anything but small!  "A ukulele, Gabby Douglas' book, a new guitar, Mandisa's new album, a $15 itunes gift card..."

I love to give.  But I also like to get.  But this year, I think I know exactly what I can get for my Mom (I just can't state it at this moment because she subscribes to The Godly Photographer and she proofreads every post before I publish it. :) ).  It's not a material gift, not something I could go buy at Walmart.  But it's something she told me she wanted. Can you guess what it is?

This Christmas, I'm thinking about what I can do for others.  I want other people to know all about the Joy that came to this world 2,000 years ago.  And He is the best gift I can ever give and still keep for myself.

What will you do for someone special this Christmas?

December Photo-A-Day Challenge (Week 3)

Happy first day of Winter everyone! Here are my third week's photos for the Capturing December challenge.  Happy Holidays!

13.  Ornaments  (An ornament I got at a swap.)

14.  Joy  (little brother all bundled up outside...He is adorable)

15.  Favorite Holiday Movie  (It's A Wonderful Life makes me think)

16.  Wreath (It has a big red ribbon, it's strung with lights and we have it right next to our door.  I love seeing our wreath when we come home at night)

17.  A Beautiful Sight  (our old, old Christmas tree)

18.  Holiday Outfit  (black boots, a flower hair band, earrings, my Mom's scarf, my favorite cowl-neck sweater, and a gray skirt. I've worn this outfit a lot!)

19.  Tree Topper  (this star, just like our tree, is old, but it's so amazing seeing it on top of our Christmas tree every Christmas)

Bokeh Christmas Lights

I love the Christmas lights and the bokeh effect with any lights in the background. It's so pretty. :)

Testing The Lights

Something we have to do every year is test our Christmas tree lights. Occasionally, every light is burned out. Last year, our tree topper, a big yellow star, was burnt out!

Gingerbread House

Gingerbread houses are way more tasty when they don't come from a kit, but it was just as fun. :)

December Photo-A-Day Challenge (Week 2)

Happy Holidays, everyone!  Here are my second week's photos for the Capturing December challenge.  I hope you enjoy!

6.  Your Favorite Meal Of The Day.  (My favorite way of using up spaghetti is melting cheese on top and calling it a casserole)

7.  Baking Cookies.  (Gingerbread men!)

8.  Stockings.  (There's so many stockings, we're running out of room on the stocking rack!)

9.  Cozy.  (My little sis and her empty cup of coffee)

10.  Wrapping Gifts / Gift Wrap.  (It's so much fun wrapping gifts and thinking about Christmas)

11.  Christmas Music.  (My favorite out of all of the CDs is Wow Christmas. )

12.  Cup Of Hot Cocoa Or Cider.  (This is a cranberry cider that my Mom tried out...she doesn't like it)

A Hedgehog On Our Tree

I made this photo black-and-white, but left a little coloring in it. How does it look? What could I have done better?

Necklace on a Coffee Cup

While taking photos of my sister 'relaxing', I borrowed her necklace and got a coffee cup, thinking it might make for a good photo. What do you think?
A little 'by the way', my hard drive broke down and I was so afraid it wouldn't work again so that I could pull them over to a new hard drive! It did, however, so that's a praise to God! :)

White Rose

Snow is coming, so this is probably the last flower photo of the year! We're welcoming the holidays here!

December Photo-A-Day Challenge (Week 1)

Happy December to everyone! I found a great photo-a-day challenge called "Capturing December" from Lianne and I want to share it with you memory-makers.

A photo-a-day challenge is simply a list of items you are supposed to take a photo of every day of that month. Then, you can upload the photos every week to your blog, Facebook, Instagram, or a social media website of your choice. So whether you wield an iPhone or take a gazillion photos on a dSLR, I think you're in for a fun holiday season of photography!

Here are my week's worth of photos:

1. Something You're Reading. (I'm going through old journals...I actually have ten)

2. Your Idea Of "Cheer." (watching my happy little brother eating a gingerbread house)

3. Candle. (candles are wonderful at making an inviting environment)

4. Today's Temperature. (so cold it snowed a little!)

5. Green. (well, my nutcracker does have a little green)

Have a great weekend and a happy holiday!