The Perfect Birthday Gift

As much as I loved blogging, I had to give it a rest. Quite frankly, it was mentally exhausting. At any given moment I have a million thoughts, feelings, opinions and concerns running through my head and the task of fishing out just ONE topic and sticking to it long enough to be able to express it the way I'd like is just ddaunting. Most of the time, I'm struggling to shut my brain up long enough to be able to function through the day without tossing my keys into the freezer, or forgetting to take my sleeping toddler out of her car seat. (For the record, this hasn't happened to me yet. No, seriously...I swear.)

Blogging takes hours of undivided attention and time. There's the whole writing, editing, and writing and editing some more. Then of course finding the perfect jif and pics to drive home your message. My blog sits ignored partly out of a lack of discipline & possibly time management. Mostly, I just can't get my brain to cooperate with my demand for focus. I compare it to dealing with a stubborn toddler... no matter how much you beg, bribe & threaten to burn their toys they just refuse to cooperate. That's when you give up and let them wear your party heels out of the house. (This HAS happened.) In my case, I just give up and make it a Netflix night in hopes of finding something good enough to keep my mind quiet for a couple hours.

The b!*%$ just doesn't. Stop. Talking.

All the while, I really do miss my blog. I miss feeling connected to the world somehow. I want to be able to express what's going on in my day except I don't always want to use my words. Alot of what I see and feel inspired to share comes to me when I'm still and very quiet. And somehow the thought of trying to put words to what I'm seeing would only take away from it. I just wish I had a way to capture it the way I see it and not some distorted, pixalized, blurry version of it.

So for my 31st birthday, my better half surprised me with my very first "big girl" camera. The Canon Rebel T3 to be exact. Now, I've always had a love/hate relationship with every piece of electronic gadget I've owned so the hubs figured this camera would be the perfect place for me to start. It's not too overwhelming to look at, it's easy to use, and it's just what I needed to capture the images way I see them like nothing I've ever owned before.

For someone who spends 90% of their day living in their own head- this gift was much more than what was handed to me. I was given another outlet in which to channel some of my pent up creative energy.

Sketching has always sorta been my "thing". Very time consuming yet therapeutic. It's something that's also been put on the back burner far too many times when it shouldn't have. Mostly out of frustration of not having the ability to translate what I want onto that piece of paper. The times that I have been able to are pure bliss.

Photographs are different. Pictures are the closest we'll ever get to having the ability to freeze time. It's instant. (Well, depending on your shutter speed.) You just have to be able to "catch it" whatever "it" is. I can't express how many times I've wanted to throw my phone or camera through the window (emphasis on "THROUGH" the glass and not out an open window) because my gadget refused to pick up the IT I was seeing on the tomato I'm trying to photograph! Turning what was once an inspired moment into a big, fat, FURIOUS, spiraling roller coaster ride into the pits of HELL!

*inhale in... hold it... and exhale out*

But that's all in the past now. [Thanks, babe.] I'm looking forward to capturing and sharing these quiet (and not so quiet) moments with all of you. After all, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

One of my first practice shots! =>