Hanging with my gal pals

From a "DailyOm" that I can relate to at present:

"Releasing our attachment to specific outcomes gives the universe the opportunity to create more blessings in our lives. By opening to the flow of abundance and goodness the universe has to offer us, we open the door to allow this abundance to enter our lives. Rather than feeling fearful that we are not in control, we learn to see the goodness in every situation and put forth positive energy that will attract even more beneficial circumstances into our lives. We then realize that our attempts to control events only blocked us from the blessings the universe already had in store for us. If you surrender to the natural flow of abundance and joy the universe has to offer today, you may end up with better circumstances than you could have created on your own..."


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Hanging with my gal pals:

I was invited to hang with my gal pals, at Tammy’s place. Here are shots of us taken on Tammy's porch :)







The trip did us good and reminded me of a timely article that said "Our best friends are a warm refuge in which we feel free to be fully ourselves, to share our deepest secrets, to rest when we are tired, to celebrate when we are happy—a place in which we feel utterly welcome to give and receive that most precious of all gifts, love ... We allow each other to be exactly as we are at a given moment, even as we allow each other to change over time. In this way, best friends sometimes feel like family. We know we will stick together regardless of where our individual paths lead.."

Tammy made a simple dinner that both Em and I took notes on making and it comprised of hormone free hens, sweet potatoes and green beans. She also had cookies in the oven when we arrived, which was supplemented by the sweets Em and I brought.







Being the photo geek that I am, I of course had to capture memories.

Here's a fun shot of Tammy as we prepared to go out:



Unfortunately, Em couldn’t stay long, so the pics taken at the pool hall only comprised of Tammy and I. I didn’t realize just how much I liked pool until I played again, and I hadn’t played in a very long time – perhaps a decade or so ago. The operative word being play. And I so love to play and frolic, as each are qualities I favor in myself and appreciate and relate to in others.

On our way to the pool hall, we came across a very talented belly dancer:

Blogging with more consistency

I recently perused my blog archives and was tickled to see how far I’ve progressed in photography. The image of me posted above was shot by my Flickr contact, Scott.

My interest in photography bloomed New Year’s day, 2008. I remember happily strolling along a local park with my new DSLR camera in hand and vividly recall how excited and proud I was to get a fairly decent shot of an anhinga sharing a branch with an iguana in the middle of a lake, while they basked in the sun. However, intimidated by the intricacy of my camera, I worked in automatic settings.

Determined to work with more proficiency, I attended a workshop at the place that sold me the camera, and on 1/13/08, I was taught the significance of shutter speed, aperture and white balance. I remember how Greek it sounded to me at the time.

I had decided to connect with others of like mind and to surround myself with those more knowledgeable, so I joined a local wildlife photography group, and found it so fun to read what I wrote about my experience at the first meetup that was held in Sanibel Island on 2/10/08.

Now, almost 2 years later, I’m in a phase where I rarely take photos. Perhaps it’s because I’ve recently been engrossed in experimenting with photo manipulation and digital art. But getting back into photography is on my to do list.

I used to blog a lot about my goals and aspirations but because they lacked consistency, it became hard to keep up. I’ve noticed a pattern in my interests and pursuits. My level of interest in something is in proportion my level of learning, novelty/diversity of subjects. Unfortunately, my Gemini tendency of becoming easily bored is a big factor and impediment.

I could resist my nature, but it would be pointless. Once my heart is no longer into an endeavor, it unfortunately loses it’s authenticity.

My newest love is Crossfit! Joined up early September and although I haven’t been as consistent as I’d like, I’ve loved how it empowers me. My journey toward fitness will also become a regular journal entry.

Anyway, my new year’s resolution is to keep up with my blog and post accompanying pictures. I look forward to the challenge.