Friday, September 4, 2009

accepting the beauty that IS there...

I've been working on the pictures for this post since last week. I loaded them on Sept. 4th and decided to save the writing (I had writer's block I guess) for the following day. However, the following day, Sept. 5th, 2009, my Granddaddy, Coy McNeal Rowe, passed away and of course, this post was forgotten for a few days. I plan to write a post dedicated to my Granddaddy but, I'm waiting on a few pictures before I do. In the mean time, I wanted to share these pictures with you. Most of the pictures posted are new but, a few are not. Sometimes, I'll download a picture and look at it and think, "Oh, that didn't come out as nice as I had hoped" and I will move on to another and forget about it. Then, a few weeks or months or whatever later, I will scroll over the picture while looking at others and think "Wow, this one actually did turn out pretty good. What didn't I like about it?" The picture above is one of those pictures. I took it back in July and at first, I didn't really like it. But just last week, I rediscovered it and fell in love! Weird how that happens. I think when I take a picture, I have this idea of what I am looking for and when it doesn't turn out, I'm disappointed and have a hard time clearing my mind of what I had invisioned and accept what is there, which might still be beautiful, if I give it a chance. Anyway, this one is worth sharing I think. This is another picture I took some time ago. This is a bloom on one of our Okra plants. We usually have new blooms every morning and they are all so pretty to me but, getting the right picture has proven to be suprisingly difficult. I'm not sure why but, of several dozen pictures of these flowers, I have only liked a few. The one above and this one.....

This is a new picture. Just taken last week of some sort of weed. Really, a weed. If you ever see me walking around outside, you might notice that I look down a lot. Well, it's not low self-esteme (memories of my Dad trying to instill self confidence in me by telling me, "PICK YOUR HEAD UP OLIVIA!" just came to mind) it's just that I find beauty in a lot of things that we just walk on or by without even noticing. If you pay close attention to what's at your feet, you will find something new every time. Jack is fond of this picture, though I am not. I post it for him. I think the Crystal set is beautiful but, I don't think I got the picture right. Who knows, maybe I'll look at it in a few weeks, months or whatever and love it!

This one was taken a few months ago at my Mom & Dad's house. I really love it, I just haven't shared it here on the blog until now. I'm glad to finally share it.

This one was taken in April - on Easter day. This was a super-yummy cake that my sister, Virginia, made. I thought it was pretty enough for a picture, as well. I'm kind of into the foodie pictures right now (and why not, I love all things food!)so, expect more in the future!

I've shared a picture of our Meyer Lemon Tree blooms before but, thought I would share another that I like. I Just wish these blooms would actually produce some lemons!

This is another picture I just haven't shared before but, that I really like. I took this picture at the Oklahoma City Zoo when we went to visit Jack back in July.

This is a fairly resent picture taken in Mom & Dad Johnston's garden. I didn't touch up the picture by softening it. This is one of those pictures that turns out exactly like you had hoped and you love it from the first moment you see it.

I love yellow! It's my favorite color and I rarely pass up the opportunity to take a picture of yellow on display in nature, whenever I find it. This is a Hibicus, which I'm sure you know. My mom has it beautifully potted outside her house so, I had lots of time to get the shots I was looking for. I like this one but,

I love this one.....

Jack is gearing up for the Notre Dame football game tomorrow against the hated Michigan Wolverines (or, as he calls them, the Skunkbears). At this very moment, he is watching the ENTIRE Notre Dame vs. Nevada game from last weekend in slowmo! Yes, really!! He says that is called breaking down game film. Neither of us are sure why exactly he might need to break down this game film. He informed me earlier today that he will write a post tomorrow about the game this past weekend against Nevada and the game coming up tomorrow. All of you who know him know not to hold your breath! We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Monday, August 31, 2009

mahjong, kittens & baby goggles...

It's always nice to spend time with family and this weekend Jack, Madi and I were able to spend time with both his family and mine. So, of course we had a wonderful weekend and we wanted to share some of it with you. On Saturday we spent the afternoon and evening with Mom and Dad Johnston. Camille introduced us to Mahjong, a really fun board game, which we played all evening when we weren't eating (do you see a trend here???) or, rescuing animals. Yes, there's a story about rescuing animals involved here! However, the story is quite long and complicated so I'll just condense it to - stray black kitten (maybe 6 weeks old) spotted wandering Mom and Dad's neighborhood by the lady next door who doesn't really like cats, she asks Mom to help, we (Jack, Madi & I) go along for the adventure, find the kitten, Madison falls in LOVE......

BUT, the kitten DID NOT come home with us (no matter how in love she was or how many time she said "Please Mommy, Please" or "It's sooooo cute mommy, loooook at it!!") because as you know, we already have two little monsters of our own to deal with...

See...

...and Jack's parents weren't interested in another pet either. Miraculously though, we were able to find a foster home for the kitten that night and we are hopeful that "Midnight"will be adopted out to a "forever" home soon. Sunday. We spent our Sunday with my Mom, Dad, Sister and Nephew. It was Dad's last day home with the family for the next six months. He officially left to return to Iraq yesterday (Monday) morning. It was very difficult to say goodbye but, we did, and we did it in Lewis family style - with lots of food! cookin' & talkin' - the usual Jack ~just in case you forgot who he was since you haven't heard from him in a while...this is me trying to make him feel bad about not writing much lately.

Bella & my parents dog, Leo. Mom and I thought this was a cute picture of our babies. Mom ~ servin' up the goods. The group at dinner. and of course, we never end a meal without coffee and dessert! Dessert was a Paula Dean(HEY Y'ALL) Apple Pie! So, Sunday ended with full bellies and tearful goodbyes. We are already looking forward to Dad's next visit but, Jack and I are thinking we might need to fast for thirty days or so before he does! We can't keep the weight off when he's around! A small thing happened to me over the weekend that I wanted to share. First, let me tell you that for weeks now I have been a little sentimental and have been missing Madi as a baby....crazy I know but, yes I'm serous. I guess it's because she's in Middle School now and it seems like she has matured so much in the past few months and hardly needs me anymore. Anyway, while at my Mom and Dad's on Sunday, my nephew, Jason, handed me something had found and that I hadn't seen in years...
these.....

Madison's first pair of swim goggles! Seeing these small yellow and pink goggles with a cute little fish on one side and a star on the other brought back memories of my little swimmer and summers gone by. Cute goggles, huh?