Arizona Vacation - Day Three

Not far from where we stayed was an old west town called Goldfield Ghost Town. We decided to pack a picnic lunch and spend the day there. 

This Cactus was HUGE!

I love these clay ornaments hanging up on the porch of one of the shop.  I loved the rustic colors in this picture. 

This neat sign was posted on the church. 

This is one of my favorite shots of the day. I love how the cactus adds so much to this picture.

Had to take a picture of this Victorian style house. I love the winding staircase.

My sister dragged me into the reptile exhibit with her.  We saw over ten different species of Rattlesnakes, a Cobra, and many other creepy crawlies that gave me the shivers.  

The Gold field Jail.    

I thought these glass cactuses in in the gift shop were pretty.

Arizona Vacation - Day Two

Our second day in Arizona we headed off to spend the day in town. I'm getting pretty good at taking pictures while the car is driving. I snapped the picture above while in the car.

We visited a huge flea market.  It was called the Mesa Market. We each found some treasures, but we mostly just enjoyed browsing all the merchandise. This table of rocks caught my attention.

My sister found brownies!  She didn't buy them but she wanted to.

Later in the evening my Grandpa introduced us to his favorite sport - Pickle Ball.

My brother is being silly, as always.

Apparently in the picture above my sister is booing someone.

My sister is so photogenic.  I'm always taking pictures of her.

The sunset was so pretty at our campground. 

Arizona Vacation - Day One

Vacations don't always have to be in the summer.  During spring break we left on a week long vacation to visit our relatives in Arizona.

I never know what to bring when it comes to packing so I always pack extra just in case :)

Driving through Southern California is not the prettiest drive.  I thought this sign was funny since it hardly ever rains in the desert

We drove through Joshua Tree National Park on our way to Arizona.  These Joshua Trees are definitely unique. 

My sister learned the hard way that it's best not to touch the Joshua Trees.  

I found this blooming Prickly Pear Cactus and couldn't resist taking a picture of this unique plant.

Joshua Tree National Park was unique and interesting in its own way, but it is not on my list of favorite National Parks.  

I will be posting more pictures from my family's vacation to Arizona over the next week.

Snow Day!

We have been in a drought for so long but this winter we have finally had 'a winter'. Today I woke up to five inches of fresh snow. I bundled up in my warm winter jacket and took my camera outside to take some pictures of the winter wonderland.

These poor blossoms were starting to get droopy underneath the weight of all the snow. I love the pretty shade of pink agianst of these blossoms.

We aren't to far away from St. Patrick's day and my backyard is full of clovers.  I could not find a four leaf clover, but I have found a flour leaf clover before.

I found this lovely flower that had just recently bloomed. The snow is all melting now but I'm thanking God for the rain and snow He keeps sending.  

Let's Try This Again

So, I have all but forgotten about this blog. But I cannot not bring myself to delete this blog, even though I never post anything. I have been busy with my other blog Uniquely His, but I am going to try (I'm really going to try hard this time) to get this blog going again.  

I just recently changed the background for this blog hoping that it will help encourage me to post more.

Anyway, spring is here, my favorite time of year. I love spring so much because of all the flowers. My favorite will always be the pink cherry tree(or plum tree, I'm not sure exactly what kind of tree they are) blossoms.  

Since spring has finally sprung and flowers are finally starting to bloom you can look forward many upcoming post's filled with beautiful pictures of flowers.  

I have also started doing a monthly photography challenge. Each day I am given a word or phrase and I have to capture it's essence in my photography.  I plan on posting some of these challenges as well on this bog.

I'm determined this time to keep posting to this blog.  I can't wait to share with you all my adventures in photography!    

My Favorite Place - The Ocean

My favorite place has always been and will always be the ocean. Okay, maybe not always. I love other places just as much but there is something about the ocean that makes me happy. The feel of your feet in warm sand, the sound of waves crashing onto the shore, and the vibrant colors as the sun sets.

We just got home from spending two nights at the coast with some friends and I've been busy editing all the pictures I took.

Your can't go to the ocean without watching the sun set and for once there was no fog ruining this experience.

I got these sunglasses at walmart for $5.  They are so cute and I love how reflective the lens are.  Been wanting to take a picture like this for a while.  

My sister found this neat shell like thing and I couldn't help but take a picture of it.

The sunset wasn't as stunning as I wanted but what can you do.  You get what you get.  I boosted the saturation and it looks better.  I love the bluffs fading in the background.

This was in the other direction away from the sunset. I love how the longer shutter speed blurred the water.

I am extremely proud of this shot.  I did photoshop the volley ball in.  I've always wanted to capture an amazing silhouette and well, here it is.  beach volleyball at sunset.

Facing Fears and Having Fun

For as long as I can remember I've had a fear of rollercaosters.  I enjoy small ones that don't go high and have no loops on them.  Yesterday me and my brother went to Six Flags with some friends and well, knowing that I'm going to be 20 (yeah, I'm old) soon and haven't faced my fear of rollercoasters didn't sit to well with me.  

My brother was so encouraging and he was probably the only reason I was able to usher enough courage to jump in line and go on two of the big roller coasters at Six Flags.  In the picture below the green rollercoaster, which is called Medusa, is one of the two I went on.  I'm just gonna come right out and say it,  I screamed my head off.  Not just screaming cause it was fun, my screams were screams of terror.  But Overall I think I liked it and I'm so proud of myself conquering one of my fears.

I also went on the high swings in this picture and that is also pushing my limits cause I don't like heights.    

My brother who like me has always had a fear of roller coasters conquered his fears too.  The first ride he went on was called the Daredevil and it went in one continuous loop.  It was one huge loop and it would linger at the top. I guess you can say my brother is a Daredevil to go on this ride.  My brother has the blue shirt on and I just love this shot I captured of his first big thrill ride so much.

I'm entering this shot in a contest and I had to crop it for a 8 x 10 print.  The theme for the contest is "In the Moment".  I think this shot captures the essence of that very well, what do you think?