April Photo-a-Day

I finally sent out the link to my partners for the April Photo-a-Day swap. I'm happy with how most of them turned out, and the photo prompts were relatively well thought out (in my opinion). Visit this link for the photos.

Cherry Blossom Festival 2015

Well, I had a pretty fun day in Washington, D.C. with some girlfriends today. A month or so ago, Mel talked up the idea of going to see the cherry blossoms with a group of co-workers. She asked me to get some info, and from there, I earned the title "Cherry Blossom Watcher." I looked up transportation options, info on the Holocaust Museum, as well as trying to find the optimal time for us to go. Because of the more severe winter we had, it was hard to arrange, but eventually, we did it!

We took the MARC's Penn Line from Aberdeen to Washington D.C.'s Union Station, and then traveled by MetroRail to the Smithsonian Station, which exited at the National Mall. It was my first time travelling by train, and it was surprisingly easy. I was scared at first, but luckily, all of my preparation paid off.
We walked around the National Mall, then the Tidal Basin for cherry blossom pictures. Finally, we visited the Holocaust Museum. That was especially cool, because before you enter the exhibit, you get an identification card for a real person from the Holocaust. Each page corresponds to a different time frame/floor of the Holocaust/museum, and in the end you learn if they lived or died. It really personalizes the experience.
Here are some attempts at selfies from the trip:

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

All of us in the Lincoln Memorial

Cherry Blossoms at Tidal Basin

Jefferson Memorial

I tried to get more of the building in with the Jefferson Memorial, but Chy jumped in, so...

April Photo-a-Day

I've just finished sending out my items for the Sewing Swap, and I had the urge to check out Swap-Bot, and see what kind of ATC swaps they have available right now. Nohing jumped out at me, but after perusing the other categories of swaps that I might be interested in, I found this one:

I swap with Swap-bot!

One photo a day for thirty days, choose a different prompt for each photo. I think I'll be okay with this. Check out how this all turned out on my Photo Journal blog!

Inspired

Today's blog post is inspired by my sister. She really loves taking pictures of mushrooms in the wild, and Tom found some wild mushrooms in our neighbor's yard, right along our driveway. So, I stopped and clicked a few photos. Enjoy!!

Assateague Adventure

This morning was a busy one. We got up extra early to walk down the Boardwalk to the Inlet to get some sunrise pictures with the pier in the picture. I think some of them turned out well.

Afterwards, we took the Assateague Adventure cruise. It started with a ride to West Ocean City's harbor, where we saw many fishing vessels and heard about Ocean City's history. Next, we went to Assateague Island, where we disembarked in order to look at the wildlife.

We saw wild hermit crabs and little schools of fish. It was great! Then we traveled up the Inlet and saw the wild ponies on the ocean side of the island.

Then, back on the beach, I finally finished reading "The Templar Salvation" by Raymond Khoury!

I acquired it last year ago, after one of my knee surgeries, and didn't start reading it until July 5 of this year. It had a good story line, but it wasn't an easy read.

Philadelphia Flower Show

Tom and I joined Mom at the Philadelphia Flower Show today.

It was a nice day, despite the warnings of a SuperStorm rolling in. We arrived in Philadelphia about the same time Mom's bus rolled in, and we walked through the exhibits. The flowers were gorgeous, but my favorite parts were the landscaped exhibits which showed the flowers in more natural settings.

We enjoyed the displays, and it was really nice to spend time with Mom.

Back to Real Life

I'm back from vacation, and it went well. For the first two days, Mom and I walked around and saw things and people that I hadn't seen in a long time. Friday, we left for Las Vegas, and stopped at the Casablanca Casino in Mesquite to see an old family friend.

Flowers and water feature at Casablanca

We met up with Wanda and her kids in Las Vegas, and went to dinner at Main Street Station at their seafood buffet.

It was not as good as Maryland seafood, but still good. Saturday, the whole family went out thrift shopping.

Flowers in front of thrift store

Later, Mom and I took Bebe swimming at the hotel pool, and then Mom and I went gambling. The next day, we drove back to Utah, with a short stop in Mesquite - where I made back all of the money I lost in Las Vegas:-) Monday, I relaxed, finished reading a book, packed, and walked around town one last time.

Sunset from Colonel's Hill

The flight back was uneventful, but I did see the forest fire in Fort Collins, Colorado from the airplane, about 150 miles away.

Fort Collins forest fire

After Tom picked me up from the airport, we went to the Inner Harbor to avoid rush hour traffic on the interstate.

USS Constellation

The trip was nice, and a little bittersweet - I'm glad to have gone.

I Spy Photo Swap

I joined this swap late in May - I thought it might be fun to try. I finished it in record time (for me). This is what I created.

I found the items in my purse and desk at work, and I thought it was a nice variety of items, with an assortment of colors. The five clues for things to find were: 4 presidents, creatures of the air, sea and land, 2 websites, a Euro, how does it taste?

Cherry Blossom Festival 2012

Tom and I went to Washington, D.C. today to see the cherry blossoms. I decided a couple of months ago that I'd try to do it this year. After learning when the peak bloom was supposed to be and obsessing about what day to go, then learning that the peak bloom was probably going to happen a week early because of the unseasonably warm winter we've had, I was concerned about how the day would turn out. It turned out well. The weather was nice, even though it was cloudy for most of the day, and I got a lot of decent photographs. I got pictures of various monuments surrounded by cherry blossoms,

pictures of the cherry blossoms themselves,

and other pictures of what we saw.

The one of the reflection of the Washington Monument and wreaths at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial is my favorite (I got the idea from Donnie).
After we finished walking around, we met Donnie for dinner. We went to the Columbia Firehouse. It was nice. We started off with the cheese sampler, then I had Seared Diver Scallops, Donnie had the Cider Brined Pork Chop, and Tom had the Dry Aged New York Strip. I tried a little of everyone's food, and it was all good. It turned out to be a really pleasant day and it makes me wonder why I don't make the effort to get out and do things more often.

Happy New Year

For the new year, I think I'm going to attempt something that Tonya from the Tidewater is doing this year, a 365 Project. It's where you take a picture a day for a full year. It's meant to improve your photography skills, but also to chronicle your life. She's planning on getting the pictures made into a book on Snapfish, or some site like that. I've also seen where putting them together on a calender is a popular option. I've decided to start another blog, and post them there, with short descriptions. I don't think my actual photography will get much better, since I'll be either using my phone or my point-and-shoot, but hopefully my composition will improve.

A Third ATC

Before getting down to the business of my latest Birthday ATC, I would like to mention that I attempted a few more fall photos. Of the four I took, only one seemed worthy of sharing. It's the flowers that give me the fall feeling - they are so abundant in this season, and the colors are just right. Any opinions would be appreciated.

And without any further ado, here is the latest Birthday ATC. It is from Joy in Australia. It's fun because of all of the bright colors. Something else that was pretty cool were the stamps on the envelope. I don't get to see Australian stamps very often, and I'll enjoy sharing them with my father, who collects stamps.

Another Rehearsal Dinner

The other day, I noticed a swap on Swap-bot that involved taking five photographs that represent autumn, and putting them together in a mini-album. Ever since then, I've been on the lookout for fall-type photo ops. This morning I came across what I thought might work for one picture. Can I get your opinion?

So, anyway, work tonight was a rehearsal dinner. They brought in these lovely floral arrangements for centerpieces.

They even brought in an arrangement for the ladies room - along with a basket containing hairspray, lotion, and scented hand soap.

And then there was their groom's cake. This was a surprise for the groom, who is a police officer, along with some of the groomsmen. It was just too adorable!

Tidewater Flower Pictures