Day 31-One month down/Eleven to go!

Jeanine - One month down - yippee!  Only eleven more to go.

Today was the last day of my online photography class called Picture Winter.  I hope to do other courses this year.  The final prompt was to photograph a word - or take a photo that captures the essence of a word - that we intend to focus on this year.  My word is CONNECT.  I am going to use this year to connect with family and friends, to connect professionally by mentoring and teaching, and to connect with my creative side.  I hope to make new connections this year too.  I have created a scrapbook/journal to document the different ways I am able to connect throughout the year.  This is a photo of page one.






Emily - Wow I can't believe that we've done a whole month of this blog. It seems a lot longer than that. Anyways, this photo is of the chandelier in my new room (I know it doesn't look like it). I really like this photo because it takes a second to see what it is

Day 30

Emily - I've been pretty bored around my house lately, with no school and no kindle because I forgot it my moms house, the only thing that I seem to be doing is playing mario kart with my dad on the Wii. I kick his butt a lot (and by that I mean almost every time)









Jeanine - Metropolitan United Church, London, Ontario.  Taken this morning from my pew listening to the organ postlude.  It is a beautiful church.  OK - yes, I played with photoshop a bit afterward.  Love the days I have time to play with my photos.  For my class, I posted a photo of my cross pendant that I wore today.  I reduced it in photoshop to a line drawing - pretty cool what you can do with photoshop!

Day 29

Emily - Doesn't it look delicious? This is my way of celebrating the end of exams. My friend Krista and I are both done exams (unlike most of our friends who have exams on Monday). So we decided to make this giant cookie pizza. I love the colours of the M&Ms in this photo.








Jeanine - Coincidentally, the photo class prompt this morning was about focussing on your name.  Only two more days in the class.  It has been an amazing experience with more than 200 inspirational and encouraging women.  We are going to try and stay in touch and share our photos on Flickr.  I hope to take other courses in the future.  Emily will be glad I stop "cheating" by using the prompts.  I will miss them.

Day 28

Jeanine - Every once and a while I have the privilege of going into the booth with Tucker and Taz - the hosts of the morning show on FM96 (you can see Tucker in the background of this shot).  I love putting the headphones on, pulling the microphone closer and  being their "legal expert".  They always make me laugh!








Emily - Finished exams today!!!!! And to celebrate... i missed my bus :( But I wasn't as mad as I usually was because I took a new route home and ended up getting this great photo :) Btw I have a 5 day weekend now :)

Day 27

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Emily - I'm part of this theatre club at The Grand Theatre (a local theatre in London). It's for high school students and we get to see all 6 main stage shows for only $60, it's a pretty sweet deal. We also get these before and after workshop type things. Tonight we saw a canadian play called Kingfisher Days. It was pretty good, I don't think it was quite directed at my age group but still I liked it.







Jeanine - my fingers used to fly over the keys of this alto saxophone when I played in high school - decades ago!  Ian surprised me on a recent birthday and had it refurbished for me.  I need to make the time to relearn this instrument.  Practice, practice, practice...

Day 26

Theses are my favourite earrings. I think i like them so much because of how different they are compared to other gold, silver and plastic earrings. They're made of some sort of nylon-ish material and look a lot like roses. They're also super cute :)

















Jeanine - Ian has been busy of late organizing his basement workshop.  This is just a corner of the mess that remains to be tackled.  I really liked how soft the fluorescent light looked in sepia mode against the old motor.  I love how much pleasure he finds in puttering, and fixing and building.

Day 25

Emily - PJ DAY!! yup, everybody at school dressed up in their pajamas today. It was so nice and comfortable. A nice way to end the semester. My exams start Thursday and i've been studying quite a bit. Anyways, my photo today is of my slippers. I love the penguins on them. I have pants and a shirt to match as well :)

Jeanine - Today's prompt was called "The Magic Machine" and asked us to photograph our computer or other device that keeps us connected.  While I admit to being obsessed with my new iMac and blogging, and while I also admit to spending way too much time on the computer these days, it is this magical machine that helps me stay connected to my creative side when I scrapbook.  

Day 24

Jeanine - totally not feeling any inspiration or motivation today to take a photo.  Bad attitude toward snow today - and the obscuring aspect of snow was the prompt today - this is a photo of my car windshield - am I looking in or out?  Who cares?  That's how I felt today.  Oh well, tomorrow is another day...










Emily - Because it was the second last day in english it was a pretty slack class. One of my friends had these magnetic balls that we were obsessed with. We played with those while we should have been reading the article that's in this photo. Oh well, it was a fun class

Day 23

Emily - mmmm yum! With exams starting this week I've been studying and working all weekend. So it's nice to have some yummy comfort food. I made hot chocolate last night and had some whip cream too. MMMMM! It's soooo good.










Jeanine - Rise and Shine!  The soft morning light caught my attention while still laying in bed.  Had to use it.  Found the sun hitting the wind chimes on the back deck.  Everyone still asleep as I write this.  Love this time of morning.  Love this light.

Day 22

Emily - My mom blogged earlier about how our computer broke and so now we had to get a new one. She was so desperate she went out the next day and bought a mac. I already had a mac at my dads house but my mom is totally going insane over it. I think she loves it a little too much. She can't exactly figure it all out yet cause she's actually over thinking it. It's so much easier to use than a windows computer. I love the mac





Jeanine - today's prompt was to photograph the centrepiece of the dining room table.  Ours centrepiece is 3 clear glass vases filled with disco balls, frosted pine cones and ornaments.  I love the bling too much to put it away yet.  Had to clear the dining room table from a week's worth of living to photograph it though!!

Day 21

Emily - Tonight, after rehearsal, I went to the knights game with my youth group. The knights are our hockey team in London and are ok. They were super good a few years ago and we totally won overall in our league!! Booyah! now we're just ok. Although we did win tonight 4-2. This is the mascot. You can't see in this photo but his hockey stick looks like a sword. I like this photo because it looks like he's going to mcdonalds








Jeanine - I took shots of this bush (magnolia tree maybe?) while waiting to pick up Em after school.   I'm sure I looked like a stalker with my camera sticking out from the window of my car.  I wanted to get out for a close up shot, but I didn't want to embarrass Em.  So I went back later after everyone had gone home for the day.  I like this shot because it looks like the "shadow" that is cast doesn't match the image.

Day 20

Emily - I went skiing today (when I really should have been studying). Our hill in London is called boler mountain which should really be called boler bump considering it's size. In this photo you can actually see the bottom of the hill, and i'm standing at the top. lol :)

Jeanine - My class assignment was to interpret the word "FROSTY".   The first thing I thought of was
was the frosty goodbye between me and Emily before she left for school one morning this week. I should have said this then.

This photo is SOOC (straight out of camera) cuz my computer died today.   : (

Day 19

Emily - Today was super boring and i didn't really have anything to take a picture of so i though i'd look ahead. tomorrow i'm going skiing so i took a picture of my ski

Jeanine - The robes I wear defending alleged criminals have allowed me the opportunity to see into the lives of others.  I've seen it all...good and evil.  When I take them off at the end of the day, however, I remind myself that as passionate as I am about practicing law -- practicing law is not my life.  I am a partner, mother, daughter, sister, friend, aunt, mentor, teacher, volunteer, scrapbooker, hiker, kayaker, snowshoer, camper, (blogger and photographer - ha!) among other things!!!  I have a blessed life.  I am grateful for it all.

Day 18

Emily - In case you can't tell this is my bright hot pink acoustic guitar. I got it 2 years ago for Christmas and barely played it. Probably because I had the slightest idea how to. Since September I've been taking lessons and it's going really well and I'm having lots of fun with it.  Who knows maybe i'll be in a band  (haha ya right)

Btw moms obsessed with this blog


Jeanine - Introducing my new best friend!  This simple point and shoot camera - and what I'm going to see and create with it - invades my thoughts and my time...all day, every day.  Just ask my family!
I took this shot with another Lumix point and shoot with more bells and whistles.  I love the convenience of a point and shoot - and would probably try a Canon if I was going to buy another one - but I'm holding out for a digital DSLR in 6 months (either a Canon or Nikon).  You just can't beat the great photos you can take with great lenses.  I'm so excited to try.

Day 17

Emily - Today was an o.k. day. I was really tired and didn't feel very good at dinner today so I had a nap. Which is good for me but I feel like I waste my night when I do. Which means more work tomorrow.











Jeanine - I played with processing today.  I thought this photo I took today of the old courthouse in our city turned out like a castle in either a fairy tale or an alien invasion movie!  :  )   There is a neat old jail behind this courthouse.  The "new courthouse" (now dated and ugly), where I hang out, is diagonally across the street.

Spent way too much time tonight fiddling around with my photos.  But I'm loving it!!!

Day 16

Jeanine - caught this blue jay at the bird feeder this morning.  Trying out another point and shoot camera today - better zoom (among other things).  We went snow shoeing again.  The snow was falling...it was gorgeous!

Emily - So after going to ikea the big challenge is building everything you bought. And of course, we bought things that have over 30 steps. So today I finished the stool and dressing table we bought. I'm pretty proud of myself that I put it together almost completely by myself.

Day 15

Jeanine - today's prompt was to play around with processing in order to make a photograph feel chilly.  Not sure I accomplished that here, but I liked how the sky turned out like a painting.

I took a photography workshop this morning covering the basics of point and shoot cameras.  It was good to figure out what all the buttons are for (ha!), but what it really taught me is I need a Digital SLR camera.  So - gotta keep up the blog daily for six months so I can reward myself with that.  Can't wait!  And not even one month down yet - ugh!

Oh well, now that I know how to use my point and shoot - pressure's on!

Emily - Today, my dad and I went to Ikea to buy the furniture for my new room. We've decided (after living here for 3 years) to finally re-do the guest room. It's now going to be my second room/guest room. We bought a pax wardrobe (sooo cool) and a make-up table.
This photo is the not-so-nice side of Ikea, the warehouse. It took us an hour just to find everything and one of the items was out of stock and they said they'd be getting more tomorrow. Just our luck.

Day 14

Emily - Today is national BFFLAAT day! Today me and my BFFLAAT (Best Friends For Life And After That) Heather, spent the entire day together. She even got me a kleenex box with elmo on it (my favourite character besides winnie the pooh) It's been a wonderful day and I'm so glad I get to celebrate my best friend! I realize it's cheezy but it's only once a year :)





Jeanine - We spent the day at the Toronto Boat Show.

Lots of gorgeous boats...sail and power.

Someday...

Day 13

Jeanine - Today's assignment was to take a photo that depicted Contained Chaos!  I thought all day about what I might capture on my camera.

This drawer of cooking utensils in our kitchen drives me crazy!  Well...no longer!  I came home, took the photo and de-cluttered (probably not a word) the drawer.

One less thing on my To Do List!!

Emily - For Christmas, my dad told me we were going to disney for march break. It will be my third time going and I'm sooooo excited! So today, we got a dvd in the mail about disney. I watched it for over an hour and it got me pumped for my trip. I can't wait for the trip and I can't wait to take pictures :)

Day 12

Emily -  I came home today to find the room (that me and my dad have been planning for MONTHS) to have finally gone underway. We got the beautiful wall paper I picked out on the walls and the chandelier I got for christmas is up too. I'm soooo excited about this new room and will definitely be posting a picture of the final project :)






Jeanine - It was difficult finding "signs of life" on this cold, blustery morning, but I was pleasantly surprised to see these hearty Canadian geese on my drive home this afternoon.  I like this shot because it has a slightly "vintage" feel to it, and because I took it through the passenger side window (after pulling over of course!).

Day 11

Emily - To go with my moms theme of love and hearts, I took a picture of my heart shaped earrings. I love this photo and theses earrings. I only got my ears pierced in November, I was allowed to well before that but I just never wanted to. Then in October I had this sudden urge to get them pierced. I've only been wearing earrings for a few weeks and I already have over 20 pairs. Can you say addicted?

Jeanine - I LOVE COFFEE!  Today's Picture Winter class prompt was to take a photograph that warms my heart.  I was thrilled this morning to discover that a lovely barista at a wonderful cafe in Stratford created a heart in my latte.  What an uplifting way to start my day.  The feeling of that moment stayed with me throughout the day and served to remind me that daily we need to show love in little ways to everyone who crosses our path.

Day 10

Jeanine - My photo assignment was to focus on finding balance.   This is a photo of my very messy desk at the office.  I call it Balance Needed!  Today is National Clean off your Desk Day - so I did just that.

Emily - I love my ripped jeans. My mom however, does not. She calls them my holey jeans. Apparently she doesn't understand how these are very in style.

Day 9

Emily - I find the number one thing I love about winter is how beautiful snow is on trees. We went snowshoeing today and I thought it would be nice to take a picture of something other then my snow shoes (which I got for christmas) so I tried different shots of the snow on trees and voila. I really like this photo and how the centre is more focused then the background. My mom, who is obsessed with cropping, thinks I should crop off the fuzzy part but i like. It reminds me of the part in lion king when they show the ants in the tree and the zebras on the ground. Anybody remember that?

Jeanine - my partner and daughter (seen in the photo) have been complaining that my photos on the blog don't show enough about my everyday life (because I'm using the photos I've taken for the on line class)...so today I have posted a photograph showing exactly what we did this afternoon - we went snowshoeing (is that a word?) in a nearby wood.  Today's prompt for the class was to showcase something from my winter wardrobe and distill what it is that warms not only the body but the soul.  Does the fact that Emily is wearing my hat and my ski pants count?  ha!

Day 8

Emily - I love nail polish, well actually I love the colours the nail polish comes in. I love rainbows and things with lots of colour. Some would say I, myself, am very colourful. My mom always makes a scrapbook page and asks me if I like it and I say "it could use a bit more colour". My room is full of colour, from the bedding all the way to the many things I place on my walls.



Jeanine - This morning I was thinking about how concerned I was that I would miss the feel or texture of a book when I was given my Kindle (I don't).  Then I noticed the "texture" of my hand (read "age") against the soft blanket and the pattern of my comfy chair.  Emily doesn't like this photograph cuz she says my hand looks old.  She's right, but that's ok.

Day 7

Emily - This is my (I mean my teams) AWESOME cake! Every Friday I go to youth group at my church and this weeks theme was Cake Boss. If you've seen the show, and I hope you have, you should know that  every episode they make extravagant cakes. This is OBVIOUSLY an extravagant cake. I mean look at the wonderful detail with the sand and the water and the ship. Unfortunately, we didn't win. Oh well this is stilll an awesome cake :)

Jeanine - I love how this online photography class has changed how I look at things I see (but don't always really see) everyday - and I've only been at it for seven days!  Today it is cold, dreary, and overcast.  As I was driving along a grey, dirty-snow lined highway to work this morning, I saw tall grasses waving at me.  I love grasses!  So, on the way home, I pulled over and stooped to say thank you.  (Today's assignment was to find signs of winter's quiet beauty.)