Santa Run 2015

Deneb, a friend of mine from work and I have challenged each other to be more active. I work out on my glider, averaging about 5 miles a night, and she goes to the gym and works out and takes some classes, like Zumba. We are going to try to do at least one 5k or similar activity a month for the next year. So, we kicked off our new challenge by doing the Santa Run 5K in Glendale this weekend. It is a fairly new race, this was only the 3rd year, but it was a lot of fun. We walked it but that is how we plan to do our 5k's to keep the stress off of my knees. Here are some pictures from the day, hope you like them.

Until next time, Happy Photography :-)

The Shed

If you know anything about me, it's that I don't sit still very often. My husband jokes that if we don't go away for vacations, I am likely to build on an addition to the house. So I have just finished a lovely staycation at home with the family. As usual I did not get everything on my "To Do" list finished, but I am pleased to say I did make some progress.

We had the house painted earlier this year, and ever since it has been painted, I have be trying to come up with an idea for the front of the shed that faces the street. I have been trying my hand at some Zentangle inspired art for a while, and hope to someday become a "CZT" Certified Zentangle Teacher. The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com. It is very meditative and an amazing art form, I would encourage everyone to check out the website.

In any case, I decided that this would be the idea for the shed, so here it is

I thinks it's fun and whimsical, just what I was hoping for.

Hope you like it too!

Until next time, HAPPY PHOTOGRAPHY :-)

Beautiful Drive to Mt. Lemmon in Tucson AZ

If you want to get out of the valley and head to cooler weather, Mt. Lemmon in Tucson is a great option. We went today, and it is a beautiful drive. You go from 1000 feet above sea level to over 8000 feet above sea level, going through 3 different ecosystems. Supposedly there are mountain lions and bear, but we didn't see any.

The drive is amazing, with all sorts of places to pull off the road to take pictures, hike, picnic, or just enjoy the views. The rock formations are AMAZING, and the views are SPECTACULAR!! Here is a taste of what you can see.

Also the ski lift is open all year round so you can ride that to the top if you like. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Until next time, Happy Photography! :-)

Butterfly photos for possible tattoo

Alvin and I have been talking about getting tattoos for quite some time. We wanted it to mean something to us, we wanted to play a role in the design, and had to find an artist we thought would do a good job. We landed on an idea of incorporating our cameras, and some of our flower photographs. My brother bought me my first SLR camera, my Pentax K-1000 so that is what I chose to use, and made my tattoo a memorial tattoo with RIP SMH x 3 since my parents and brother all shared the same initials. Alvin used the same idea, only using his Nikon D-80 digital SLR instead of his original SLR. Several friends at work had tattoos and shared who their artists were, and we chose Keith Pulver from Alta Mesa Tattoo to do the work. It was a great experience and he did a fantastic job on both of us, mine in color and Alvin's in black and grey.

I have decided that I want to put something around the tattoo to incorporate more of my shoulder, so I have decided to have some 3-D butterflies added. Keith has since closed his shop, so I was in search of another artist and was told to check out Skin Deep Studios in Apache Junction. So last Saturday Alvin and I paid them a visit and were very impressed with the shop and the artists, so I am going in tomorrow and want to have some butterfly options to show him. Hence this post.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed the pictures, and keep snapping, shooting and capturing all the memories and beauty around us!! :-)