My budding environmentalist

My lil’ guy loves to be outdoors. He is always asking me to go on walks with him to help him find “treasures.” His collection mostly consists of rocks of various sizes and sticks. He takes great pride in his finds. While camping at White Star campground near Twin Lakes at the foot of Mt. Elbert, we took one of these walks. Amongst the many tiny pine trees that were stretching their little heads up to the sky, he found one that he declared “the cutest little tree.” So, he proceeded to collect rocks to gently and strategically place around the tree so as to protect it. We took this walk for 3 days straight to check on the lil’ tree. When we left the campground to head on to our next adventure, he asked me to take a photo, so he could remember it forever.

Jun 23

Life reflected in nature

Some prefer to take center stage and stretch their heads up high so as to be recognized or noticed. Some prefer to hover in the background and simply observe. Some just stretch their heads straight up content with where they are headed. Some stretch their heads left or right to see what else the world has to offer. Some are still full of life and some are not.

Jun 21

Recharging the soul

Life can catch you up in its vicious cycle called “routine.” Routine keeps you sane, keeps you grounded, gives you the sense of “being in control”, but can dull your senses, keep you from noticing the small things in life that can make you smile. When routine causes the latter symptoms, my family always escapes by grabbing our souls and heading to the mountains for a lil’ camping adventure.

Our latest soul recharging camping trip was to Michigan Creek campground which provided us with biking, hiking, fishing, wildflowers, wildlife, and tons of new memories to replay in a loop when routine clouds us.

What do you do when your soul needs to be recharged? Have you been on a soul recharging adventure lately? Sometimes, we need these adventures to make us stop, remind us to pay attention to the little things, and smile.

Jun 19

WordLess Wednesday // kenosha pass

May 29

Stolen Childhoods

I just bought my lil’ guy balloons to celebrate his last day of 2nd grade. It saddens me that these children will never know such gestures. It saddens me that these children’s parents will never see the pure joy in their child’s eyes of receiving a gesture so small.

May 12

Mother’s Day ’13

I had an amazing Mother’s Day. My lil’ guy presented me with some artwork he created for this very special day.

After spending the whole day working in my yard planting herbs, flowers, adding enriched soil and mulch, my lil’ family grilled the food we selected from the Farmer’s Market earlier in the day.

I am such a lucky mama because I have this lil’ guy as my son.

Happy Mother’s Day!

May 2

It’s an honor…

I do not know the extent of what all of these various blogs’ awards mean, but I do know that when I receive a nomination, I feel so honored. Recently, I was nominated for the Best Moment Award by 22 Flowers. Mona has some amazing photographs of the flowers she encounters in nature.

As part of this award, I am to tell you 7 things about myself, and nominate other blogs. So…

1. I enjoy the outdoors. My garage houses bikes, mountain boards, skate boards, scooters, sleds, hiking gear, skis, snow shoes, fly fishing gear, rock climbing pad, slack line, etc.

2. I enjoy coffee in the mornings and looking at the world through my camera the rest of the day. I especially enjoy that my 8 year old has recently declared himself a photographer.

3. I love making my house feel more like a home for my family. I enjoy adding new elements to our home to have it represent who we are.

4. I have always wanted to learn how to play the guitar. Or I should say I have always wanted to play the guitar. I cannot seem to get myself motivated enough to do the actual learning part.

5. I adore my chocolate lab.

6. I listen to music all day long when I am at home by myself. I especially enjoy the Brett Dennen channel on Pandora.

7. I always strive to take just one more photo.

Now, to nominate some of the blogs I admire…

These photographers inspire me on a daily basis.

Photographybycalliec

ThePalladianTraveler

BadsPhotoBlog

Naveed Dadan Photography

maviedesign

Stefano Scheda

Adrian Pym Photography

BunnyandPorkBelly

Ron Scubadiver’s Wild Life

Mar 30

My Lil’ Old Blog Nominated

I started my blog to give myself an outlet for my never ending thoughts, my photos, my design in making my house a home. I started my blog to keep my family informed of the happenings around here. What I have discovered is that there are so many talented people in the blogging world who have inspired me through their words, their photos, their art, etc. One of these bloggers has an amazing blog called sincerely, Whitney. She nominated me for two blogger awards, and I am so incredibly honored.

Her words have been playing on a loop in my brain for the past couple of days.

“i nominated you for the very inspiring award and versatile blogger award. im not entirely sure of the depth of these awards but i wanted to pass the love that someone blessed me with on to you because your pictures speak volumes. they are full of love, creativity, passion and your posts are full of depth. you inspire me all of the time keeping it versatile!”

For the awards, I am asked to share 7 things about myself, so here you go…

1..I love looking at the world through my camera lens and capturing the every day. My dream is to take a picture that describes it as I saw it.

2..I think I have an addiction to sugar because I must consume some type of dessert every day!

3..I love to explore new places with my two favorite guys, my hubs and my sweet little boy N, but I do love HOME.

4..I have a few girl crushes, not sure I should admit, but oh well! You may have seen these when I was nominated for the Liebster Award.

Whitney Cummings or at least the Whitney on her tv sitcom because of her quick wit and humor.
Olivia Wilde because she is gorgeous.
Anne Hathoway because she always seems so sophisticated and is uber talented.
Hoda Kotb because I would just love to sit with her and talk over a cup of coffee.
Katharine McPhee because if you watch the show SMASH, you don’t even have to ask.

5..I love Mumford and Sons. They always put me in the right place.

6..I like to purge. I do not tolerate clutter because it places cobwebs in my brain.

7..I love searching for new inspiration from other photographers, mothers, women, etc.

Now to share the love and pay it forward to those bloggers who inspire me:

Baby Mama Juice

Please Keep Me Safe

My Meandering Trail

Travel Photography by Dmitrii Lezine

Happily Skipping Thru Life

Photography by CallieC

LeanneCole Photography

Mar 26

You are InViTeD

I enjoy getting different people’s points of view, whether through a photo, sketch, words, or through any other art form. Therefore, I wanted to invite each of my followers to like my Facebook page titled Simply Life Stuff where from time to time I will post “A Thought to Ponder” and kindly welcome your insight.

I also enjoy and get inspired by looking at other photographer’s photos. So I will post a request to photo share from time to time, as well. Little challenges for myself and you that don’t warrant an entire post. I hope you will join me because sometimes it is the little things.

Speaking of little things that make me smile, check out the facebook page today to kick off my first “You Are Invited” post. Please share your talents with us.

Mar 20

HaPpY SpRiNg

So, today is the first day of SpRiNg!! That, along with cleaning out my flower beds yesterday, has my nerve endings pinging for warmer days. I thought today I would share some images with you that speak “spring.” Spring makes me anxious for blooming flowers, scurrying animals, hiking and camping, growing vegetables and herbs, fly fishing, watching nature, grilling out, living outdoors, etc. I hope you enjoy!

Releasing ladybugs

Hiking to new destinations

Planting sunflowers and watching wildlife

Just enjoying the outdoors

Spending time on the beach

Finding baby bunnies

Blooming flowers

Nature

Lush, green garden

Herbs to use when grilling out

Being outdoors and fly fishing

Hiking with the family

Outdoors

Sipping a glass of wine while enjoying a beautiful campsite

Have you started cleaning out your flower beds and making plans to bring them alive again? Do you plant a garden or grow herbs? Please share. All of these things just make me smile because sometimes, it is the little things.