368 Love Thursday, Beach Style

Last Thursday we were in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I wasn't looking for hearts. I was enjoying time with the kiddos and my Mom. We went inside for lunch, leftover Subway sandwiches and chips. I looked over at my daughters plate and I saw this chip. I snapped a few pics, my Mom must have thought I was losing my mind (even more than usual), and I sat and stared at it. It took a while until I decided to eat it. My friend Kathleen talked some sense into me ... wel, she tweeted it, but it worked. A picture lasts forever, and chips are delicious. It was rather yummy :) After lunch we hit the beach for a little while. I had the kids to myself, so I didn't take too many pics. We s[ent most of our time picking up shells. I mostly sat in a small pool of water and dug my hand through the sand around me. One scoop contained this rock .... PERFECTION!

I was not looking for hearts, but they bombarded me at every turn. Love is everywhere. Find it, and let it find you. Happy Love Thursday! Head over to Chookooloonks to check out her Love Thursday and all the others.

329 Comfort Food

Sometimes the simplest things can show our love!

319 Love on the Kitchen Floor

And on my very dirty kitchen floor at that.

I turned around to find this image of love glowing on my floor.

Which only serves as yet more proof that love is everywhere.

In the most unlikely of places it will pop up.

Unexpected.

Brilliant.

Glowing.

Happy Love Thursday y'all!

Do me a favor...

keep your eyes open

keep your heart open

Sometimes you just have to let love find you.

Love Thursday is hosted over at Chookooloonks, please stop in, check out some links and leave a little comment love!!

(here is a hint: I love comments, too)

309 Macro Monday

I have been on a blog low lately. I just can't seem to get myself to the computer with enough time to say anything. I hadn't even looked for a pic for Love Thursday in weeks. I didn't even pull out a SOOC Saturday! How can I be too lazy to NOT edit a picture?? Well, I am feeling it again. I am feeling the need to take pictures, and to look for love. I snuck out onto the track behind my house on Friday after lunch with Katie. The fresh air must have done me a little bit of good, so I headed back out on Saturday. While I was stretching I looked at the track right in front of me, and the heart shapes were jumping out at me. I had my phone there for the tunes, but I clicked a pic off. I will share it on Thursday of course :) But, it is not Thursday yet, so I decided to give Macro Monday a shot. And not only because I had whipped out the macro yesterday. When we ran into Schnuck's we noticed that their long stem roses were a dollar each, and they had several varieties. I am a sucker for a certain little 7 year old, especially when she is asking for something so beautiful. Sure, it isn't even something truly for her ... even better! I was snapping a few shots of them when I got pulled into the whirl of their center. I was so drawn to the center of this rose. Maybe you can see why ... maybe not.
Check out the other Macro Mondays at Lisa's Chaos, she has some amazing pics of a caterpillar up right now!

299 SOOC: MOO

I am so in love with my Mini Moo cards! Aren't they adorable?? And they have all the pertinent information on the back. For right now they will be doubling as my "business cards" ... you know, if I ever need to give one out. This was my first batch, so I was picking and choosing around my Flickr account, but I think I will be creating a special MOO folder that will be ready for the next time. I bought a box of 100 and you can get every single one different if you like. Next time I might go for the full on business card though.

I am especially glad that they came in already. Next weekend I will be headed to Atlanta for a reception for the Picture Hope project. I was honored to have an image in their book, and I am looking forward to meeting many new people and internet friends. I will be the dork with my copy of the book trying to get signatures.

SOOC Saturday is hosted by Melody at Slurping Life. Head on over, share a SOOC (straight out of the camera) of your own, or just check out everyone elses!

edited to add:
Apparently I forgot to say that I made the little felt holder. You can buy them from MOO, but I have all kinds of felt lying around so I thought I would give it a shot. I may try to be more creative on the next one, or I may go back into "too lazy to craft" mode and stick to just the one. I am sure I will let you know :)

297 SOOC Easy Bakin'

For some reason Katie remembered her Easy Bake oven this week. Maybe it was the sheer boredom of being home sick for a week. She has rediscovered a lot of things in the house this week. Oh well, at least they are getting some use. These cookies were baked for a tea party ... the first one this weekend. We are up to two, and she wants another one tonight.
She is feeling better, and she did not have any fever this morning. You know what that means? SHE GETS TO GO TO SCHOOL TOMORROW! (not that I am excited or anything) I am chiming in a day late on Straight Out Of the Camera Saturday, but luckily Melody doesn't mind :) If you are getting a late start, or just want to check out some other SOOC posts, head over to Slurping Life!!

296 Making the Love

NO! Not that! Get your minds out of the gutter! Tsk Tsk Tsk!

I had a sudden urge to play with the paper clay that has been floating around on my desk for months. It has been inside, outside, and back inside. Connor has been dying to get his hands on it. So, I obliged. I pulled out a small chunk just to see if it was still workable. Luckily, I recently made chocolate pies so I had some tins to put the clay in. I might have to make a few more pies just in case I decide to get crafty again. Yeah, for the crafts! I was real technical with my creations. I rolled out the clay using a glue stick. I grabbed the first cookie cutter I could find. I snagged the stamps that have been sitting on my table waiting to be taken to their home in my "craft room". And this is what I came up with ... and then I remembered it was Love Thursday! Perfect! I had stamped Katie's initials in one and started painting it silver. I was thinking necklace, but she saw it and immediately wanted to put it on her pink Christmas tree. I am more than happy to share the love with her! So, how are you spreading the love today?

Head over to Chookooloonks and check out Love Thursday!

294 feeling blah

It has been incredibly overcast around here for the last few days. We have really needed some rain, so I won't complain (too much). But the lighting has been terrible, especially in the house where the grey has not been able to penetrate. I managed to snap a few pics when I wandered outside to change the filter on the pool. But there is very little to take photos of these days in my backyard, so I ended up at the althea again. Mid-morning on Monday we got a call from one of Katie's little friends. She had just tested positive for H1N1 and the girls had spent the night at our house on Friday night!! So, we headed to the school and checked Katie out. We sat at the doctor's office for three hours. Three hours of trying to entertain Connor. Three hours of trying to entertain Katie. Three hours of trying to keep them from touching ANYTHING! We did bring some of our own stuff for them to play with, so it was almost bearable. The toys left no room for my camera *sigh* so I had nothing to play with for three hours. But thank goodness, Flu swabs came back negative on both of them. Strep swabs however ... totally different story. Katie was at the docs last week, and had swabbed negative for strep, but this week she was definitely positive. And Connor also is experiencing his first round of strep. On the way home, we swung through the bank and Katie continued to doodle.

Connor fell fast asleep. Poor little guy was up past his nap time, and he had been poked and prodded. He needed a little shut eye.And Katie had missed her lunch at school, so Daddy let her pick what she wanted to eat. No surprise here.

Hope everyone is healthy out there. I know we are sick of sitting in doctor's waiting rooms!

292 In My Shoes

This picture is horrible! It is blurry and messy and badly composed ... AND IT MAKES ME LAUGH OUTLOUD! Because that is MY boy standing there in MY shoes, painting his little heart out. Connor tends to slip his feet into whatever shoes are handy, and it just happened to be mine at this instant. The fact that he is "walking in my shoes" and crafting is AWESOME! I am so glad I caught this moment.
To check out other Straight Out Of the Camera moments head over to see Melody at Slurping Life. She is laughing at her boys this week, too.

291 Rorschach Love

I don't think I captured any hearts this week, at least not on my camera. I thought about setting up a shot, but I couldn't find the heart shaped locket I was looking for. I decided I would create a heart. I pulled out my art journal that never gets used (I know ... *GASP*) and started looking for a blank page. I found one, and spread the pages wide... AND THERE IT WAS!

Love unexpectedproving, once again, that love is EVERYWHERE! Love can squeeze in from anywhere. Through the smallest of cracks it can enter our heart and grow. Love WILL find you, and it will find a way to survive and grow.

Happy Love Thursday!

Check out Chookooloonks for more Love Thursday!

...and of course, I turned this into a journal page.

287 Love Thursday

Squeaking this one in under the wire. This week might be pushing the bounds of your imagination. Seconds before I took this picture there was a perfect heart in the clouds, but you can still make out the basic shape. I truly do find reminders EVERYWHERE that love is all around us, if you know how to open your eyes. You can't walk through life with your eyes closed to love. Well, you can, but I wouldn't recommend it!

Love Thursday is hosted by Karen at Chookooloonks. Stop in and also scroll through her comments and click on through to other images and words of love. And PLEASE, if you feel moved, SHARE your own bits of love. It doesn't have to be a picture. It can be a poem, a story, or a haiku.

285 SOOC - Random

I have no idea what this post is going to be about, but I am going to open my recent pics and find a good SOOC shot for you and then I will know what I want to say. Sound good? I hope so, 'cuz here I go ...

Ahhhh yes, swimming ... always a crowd favorite. Well, for the kids at least. Katie has really taken to the water this year. I just wish we had a REAL pool! Connor is just now starting to trust his floaties. This week is the first time he has let us let go of him without screaming. He has even "swam" about 5 feet. And an even bigger leap of faith was swimming to Katie! He does NOT trust his Sissy to keep him safe, but several times this week he has allowed her to touch him in the pool (although he still usually screams bloody murder). So, instead of taking the time to edit these pics right now, I will share the joy that they have found in the pool. I will jump right in and let go!

SOOC Saturday (or Sunday) is hosted by Melody at Slurping Life. Head on over to check out a few more people taking a break from photo editing.

284 Half-hearted

Just a little reminder to LOVE with ALL OF YOUR HEART!

Happy Love Thursday!

Visit Chookooloonks for all the Love Thursday links :)

282 SOOC Saturday - Center

SOOC Saturday is a good reminder that sometimes the best thing is to just leave well enough alone.

Sit, and let the world move around you.

Find your center.

And just let yourself BE.

...visit Melody at Slurping Life for more SOOC Saturday.

281 Love Lessons

Sometimes love is a little rough around the edges.

Sometimes love turns us upside down.

Finding LOVE is always worth the search.

Remember to look for love daily, to appreciate what you love daily, and to TELL the people you love that you love them (even if it isn't in words).

Happy Love Thursday!

Visit Chookooloonks for her take on love and read through the comments for more links filled with love!

276 Love Thursday

Happy Love Thursday!

Check out other testaments to the power of love at Chookooloonks!

Hope you don't get "tricked with love" :) You will have to follow the link and watch the video to get Alex's take on love. Hope you always experience the "nice" love.

273 Love in the Street

I am not sure what this is, probably gum. I came across this little bit of street art while walking Katie to her friends house. Thank goodness for camera phones (and also, I apologize for the pic from my camera phone). My neighbors think I am weird enough without hauling my camera out to take pictures of a blob of gum in the street. Well, most of my neighbors. I do have one neighbor that would probably grab her camera and come out to see what I am taking pictures of ... and take pics of me taking pictures of the street and laugh her butt off at me for years. Did I say neighbor? What I meant to say is friend! Because who doesn't want to be friends with the girl who is just as weird as she is?! Seriously, how often do we come across people who share our passion? I am lucky enough to have one within a camera toss from my house. (my heart hurts a little thinking about throwing a camera)
So, Candy ... this blob of gum in our street is for you. A girl after my own heart.
No no ... the blob on the left!
The blob on the right confuses me. Sometimes I think, stork delivering a baby. Sometimes it looks like the illustrations of the Emperor in Mulan (or that type look) - beard blowing in the wind. Pelican diving for fish? Santa Claus?
But that blob on the left ... definitely a HEART!
Happy Love Thursday y'all! Visit Chookooloonks for more Love Thursday .... ummm, love.

270 Love Thursday - Hearts of Gold

I forgot to ask Mom what these flowers are called, but I found this week's Love Thursday shot on my Mom's carport. The buds are perfect little hearts, filled with gold (awwwww). My trip to Atlanta was filled with love, and with many images of love. I am well stocked for the next few weeks with more being added all the time. Remember to look around you daily, there are little reminders of love everywhere, and they don't even have to be heart-shaped (anything chocolate usually works). Do you have a picture to share, or a story, or a favorite song? I would love to hear about it, and so would Chookooloonks! Check out the other Love Thursday participants in the comments section.

edited to add : Mom says this is an Angel Wing Begonia :)

264 Love Thursday

I have missed a few weeks, but I have been taking my pics all along. At least now I have a backlog of love ... and how could that be a bad thing?
This heart shaped stone was in the driveway in front of The Little White House in Warm Springs, GA. There were several, but I am pretty sure that people were a little scared of the crazy lady taking pictures of the driveway, so I just took the one. I will share more about the Little White House later, but I had to share my found heart.

HAPPY LOVE THURSDAY! if you are feeling the urge to share the love check out Chookoolonks where all this Love Thursday stuff began!

259 Love Unexpected

Part of Love Thursday is the lesson that love is EVERYWHERE, and so this week I would like to share two pics of love found in unexpected places. (I missed last week, so you get a twofer)

The Memphis Zoo has bamboo planted at every turn. People have taken the time to scratch their love into the stalks. MANY MANY initials and hearts. I wonder if that will give our panda's indigestion and heart burn .... I can't help it!! I had to say it! I was trying to pick up my poor sad DIRTY living room when I found this speck of Play-Doh on the floor. Just a random piece that Connor had discarded in his attempt to destroy the world.

So remember to look for love ALL around you. And remember to tell people you love them, and SHOW them you love them, too! Life is short as we learned today especially. Farrah Fawcett lost her battle with cancer at the age of 62. Michael Jackson went into cardiac arrest and died at the age of 50. LIFE IS SO SHORT! Embrace it, live it, and don't be afraid to LOVE!

Love Thursday is hosted by Karen Walrond at Chookooloonks. Please stop in and share your Love Thursday moment, or just check out hers and the other links in the comments.