Family History

I went exploring at my parents home in Groom today and found a lovely old truck hanging around. It belongs to my Uncle Kenny but originally was owned by Grandandy (my great grandfather Elbert DeLozier.)

Holiday Season

James and I met the crowds head on today as we finished up our Christmas shopping. It has not felt like the same ol' Christmas season to me this year. Normally I love going out dealing with all the people finding the great deals and doing all the other things associated with getting ready for Christmas. This year I find myself wanting to be around family so much. I don't get to see my family but 2 maybe 3 times a year and that does not include my brother. I only see my brother once a year. For my family we have gone to drawing names to give presents away instead of giving gifts to everyone. I think this has given my family more time to actually spend Christmas together doing what we should be doing on Christmas and during the holiday......spending time with each other. I remember Christmas used to be all about what I got for Christmas. Now all I want is some good time with my family being thankful for them.
This year it seems like more people are taking a look around and at least giving gifts that can give back. I saw a morning show that gave a listing (not a complete listing) of gift you could buy that would give back. I saw shoes (toms), reusable grocery bags (FEED), childrens laptops(one laptop per child), and a very cool website called goodshop.com. It seems as though we might be back on track with trying to help out those in need again instead of just giving to ourselves.
I am very grateful for the life and family that I was given. If we always acted this way I do think that we might could actually change the world we live in...giving to those who need, who we love, and spending as much time as we can loving those around us!

Being Creative

The past two weeks have been full of creativity. Way more than I am used to. I have loved it though. I have been doing alot more photography these days and I am grateful for a couple of families who have allowed me some time to take pictures. I have been able to capture of few pictures that I think are real good but I still have ALOT to learn. I also have tried coming up with a "business name" for my pictures to go under. I still don't know for sure if what I have come up with will be final or if anyone will even pronounce it right. I am hopeful though. I have also had a cake to make. My friend Donna is having a baby in January and I was given the task of making the cake. I have had since the middle of October to decide what to do. It was a hard task to do. I finally came up with an idea and my practice cake came out okay, but the final cake did not turn out the same way. I had to make a few adjustments but I think that the final cake came out better than my vision. I have loved all the opportunities I have had and hope to have more. It gives me hope that perhaps one of these days James and I can have kids and I won't have to go back to work full time at a desk job. Below are a few examples of my pictures and the cake that I made. I would love to have feedback from anyone who reads! You can also view these and other pictures from the shoots at http://gallery.me.com/law.michele . Feel free to check it out!

Camping

We tried camping on Friday but everything kinda fell through. We got up early and went out to the campground with some friends only to find out that there was a burn ban. Something that we should have looked into in the first place but no one thought of. It was going to be cold so we decided against freezing and ended up in the backyard in the middle of suburbia to cook out and make smores over the fire. There was no camping but the fellowship was great! A smores cooked over a camp fire can also make just about any night fun. I was hoping to get some more great nights shots since we would be out in the open without all the city lights. I have been trying to recreate or even get close to the first night shots that I did about 2 years ago and have not been able to. Hopefully over the Christmas holiday while I am back home I can get some more shots. Here are the ones I took 2 years ago.

Self Portrait

Newest self portrait. A cold front blew in and almost made it cool enough to feel like late fall.

Trying a new pose

Trying something new. Not exactly what I wanted but feel pretty good for a rough picture.
Here is another edit I made of the photo.

Seeing Color

I will being seeing some new color in my life soon! I just recently found out that I will be hired on as an Apple employee instead of being a contact worker! More pay, job security, benefits, discounts, free gym, and the fact that I know that I am capable to do my job. Fantastic! My time spent as a contract with Apple has been quite crazy. I was on the phones for just a few weeks when we were pulled into another group to help with backlogs and then we were put back on the phones. When we were put back on the phones my login and other important items were not working and not all of them working yet. I have not been getting important feedback because of those items not working. I had been assuming that I was doing my job well but not really knowing anything. This job offer has given my a boost in my confidence in my ability to do my job. With the new job (same job but with the good stuff attached) I will get new login information and such which will solve alot of these issues! Currently the Apple on my badge is gray and on November 10th it suddenly have color. I can't wait!