the case of the missing coffee filter and other random thoughts

I've always loved black and white photographs. Always. Even before I really got into photography myself. They are timeless, honest and full of soul. I love that when an image is in black and white, you really focus on the subject and everything else just seems to fade away. In this whole "try to find my style" game that I'm playing right now, I realize that, more often than not, I convert my images from color to black and white as soon as I open them to edit. I don't always leave them in black and white obviously, but it hit me this morning that I always choose that option first, just to see what it looks like. Huh. Maybe I'm on to something here.

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We have a bit of a problem in our house right now. We have a baby...and babies are kleptomaniacs. Here one minute, gone the next. As I was unloading the d/w several days ago, Jack grabbed the plastic coffee filter basket thing that goes in our Keurig. Matt likes to make his own Caribou rather than use the K-cups so you have to have this other little fancy pants basket thing. Jack grabbed the basket and made off like a bandit with it. We haven't seen it since. We have searched high and low...and we are getting crabby without our caffeine. So, Matt put a bounty on that little basket. He told the girls that whoever finds the basket gets a quarter. Make that TWO quarters. Still, no basket. Rather than continue the futile search, Caroline - being the logical Type A first-born that she is - decided that she would make a list and a map of all the possible places in the house that Jack could have stashed the loot. She set up her "detective office" by our front door. She. is. awesome.









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One of our favorite things to do while we wait for Caroline's bus in the afternoon is to have a little dance party. Today it was cleaned-up Katy Perry (my choice). Often, it's Taylor Swift (their choice). It is quite clear that, like most of the male population, Jack really digs Katy Perry. He's a little tired of Taylor. You and me both, kid.












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"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." ~Anais Nin

I read this quote today and it was like a call to arms for me. I need this reminder every day. I am comfortable where I am. I am safe where I am. I like where I am. But I know He has big plans for me. My job is to be open to His plan, to embrace His plan, and to live His plan for my life out loud. The more I blog, the more I share, the more I live, the easier and the more beautiful the blossoming becomes.