2011

Usually, when New Year's Eve rolls around, I have two, maybe three 'resolutions' that I attempt to work on for the new year. But, of course, those resolutions are forgotten by February or March.

By the time December comes, I can hardly remember what those resolutions were in the first place, let alone have them implemented in my life.

So this New Year's, while I have many more 'resolutions' than on average, I'm determined to try my best to keep them.

First and foremost, I want to stop blogging so much. 

Blogger - and indeed, graphic design as well - is nothing more than pixels on a screen, yet I spend hours each day online and on the computer. And at the end of each day, I look up and think, what has spending so much time on the laptop given me? What have I accomplished today? The answer - usually - amounts to absolutely nothing. Blogging only takes away from my real life and my relationship with my friends, my family, and, most importantly, God.

I want to become stronger in my faith as a Catholic. 

I want to read my Bible every day and listen to the sermon in church without having my thoughts wander to other subjects. I want this blog to glorify God, even if I lose a few followers along the way, because blogging is about being myself and expressing who I am without caring that somebody out there on a computer doesn't want to read this.

I want to try out a new recipe each month.

I love to bake, but I'm usually too lazy to do so. When I'm not, I stick to the same-old, same-old recipes that I always use. This year, I want to make at least one new dessert each month that I've never made before, and try recipes from different cultures.

I want to write more often.

Maybe I won't be able to do that every day, but I want to keep working on poems and short stories and have a final draft of my NaNoWriMo novel finished by the end of 2011 (and, of course, do NaNo '11 as well).

I need to be content with myself and who I am.

Rather than wishing and praying I could be different, I want to be able to embrace myself as the person I am - even if I'm too skinny, even if I look too young for my age, even if I'm not that pretty. For the last few years, I've been praying that I won't be as skinny and look so young and be so (I'll be blunt here) flat. Now, I've begun to pray instead that I can love myself as who I am, as that skinny little kid who's really almost 14.

I want to find time just enjoying the simple things life has to offer.

 I want to be with my family and with my friends more often.  

Read more often and take more photos (maybe even start a business to sell my photos).

Keep knitting, drawing, and papier-mache-ing (but do it more often).

I want to keep training Kusy and teach him to reliably obey the basic commands. 

Study harder for school and keep up my good grades.

Give gifts generously, be grateful for even the smallest things, and love.

Break

Today, as I was on the bus home, I saw the sky darken into that lovely shade that represents only snow.

I couldn't wait to be out there with my camera to snap a few pictures of the flurries that were getting ready to drift down steadily.

The whole time, though, I was thinking about how I should post these pictures on my blog, write about this on my blog.

And I hate that. I don't want to spend my holidays thinking about blogging. I really don't. So I'm taking a break. If I don't, I'll end up checking Blogger every day, spending hours procrastinating.

I have a high school entrance exam Saturday, and I need to study. I have a project due Monday, and I need to work on it. And if I don't take a break, I'll be procrastinating on Blogger.

So goodbye, friends, for some time. Maybe I'll come back in January. Maybe I'll come back later. Who knows?

I've Been Dreaming of a White Christmas...

Goodness! Where has this time gone! It's been nearly a week since I last posted.

Well, life's been... busy. Since I last blogged....

It snowed! Yes, we got around 3 inches down on the ground, and sticking, last Saturday. I got up early on Saturday, just after six, and went outside to take a few photos. It was still dark, so most of them didn't turn up well. This one did. Before the snow, it didn't seem like December, like Christmas was only a few weeks away. Now, I'm listening to Christmas carols on the radio :)

Kusy had a lot (and I mean a lot) of fun in the snow.

That orange ball is the remains of a Good Cuz. It is missing its legs and no longer squeaks, so we bought him an early Christmas gift of a new, green one. He loves it already :)

I love how crisp and sharp this photo turned out.

Ah, going on a long, trans-Siberian trek with his faithful orange ball...

... and then running insanely throughout the snow-covered yard and the piles of poop that the flurries hide. Oh, joy.

Of course, what snowy day would be complete without hot chocolate and marshmallows?

Note: I just released a digital scrapbooking kit, called Let it Snow, on my design blog, Tabby Cat Designs. It's my first one, so it's not too good. If you'd like to download it, free, go here.

And a special thanks to all of my followers and readers - your comments mean so much to me, they make me smile. Thanks a ton to everyone! If I could, I would give you a free pie or a cookie or a cake, or something :)

Let it Snow!

I could hardly believe my eyes when, on Tuesday afternoon, beautiful white flurries began to drift, ever so slowly, down from the sky like tiny Christmas angels. It was not even December, and I hardly live in an extremely snowy place.

But, there they were: little snowflakes falling like the leaves did a few months back. The flakes were tiny as they drifted across my line of vision, slight. They refused to stick together, to gather into snow that I could shovel.

The sky was that lovely shade of blue perfect for snapping a few photos. Cold bit at my gloveless fingers, but my ears were could not have been warmer.

*Note: this is NOT a fur hat! Zero animals were killed to make it. I checked, specifically. I mean, you couldn't pay me a million dollars to wear something made of real fur, no matter how cozy it seemed.*

It was odd luck that allowed me to capture such a decent-looking self portrait (usually, I look horrible).

Somebody was a little too obsessed with my hat, and wanted to murder it at all costs.

That somebody was also a little freaked out by the slippery, icy deck, and insisted on climbing on top of (and sitting on) the little stool on our porch.

Yesterday, too, it snowed, even harder then it had on Tuesday. It wasn't shovelable, either, but several inches are predicted for this weekend...*cheers*

It is SO hard to believe that not even a week ago, I was able to take these sunny-looking, vibrant colored (and totally unedited except for the watermark) photos:

 These dandelions littered a neighboring lawn, still fully intact even as the weather began to turn into bitter, but refreshing, cold.

I love the bokeh on this stop sign. This photo is so vibrant it is hard for me to believe I took it at the end of November.

Even though no one will see the leaf that left this imprint, ever again, it has left a legacy that will last for years.

I found a flower bush, still in bloom, and could not resist picking one of the lovely flowers and holding it up to the setting sun.

Sorry for the length of this post - I had way too many photos to post, as I've hardly posted a single picture through all of November. Also, please vote in the poll at right. And thanks to all of my followers - we're up to 75!

Happy holidays everyone, and I hope that you stay warm and cozy this winter.