Author: Lisa
-
Daily Prompt: Everyday
Is being “normal” — whatever that means to you — a good thing, or a bad thing? Neither? Photographers, artists, poets: show us EVERYDAY. The Daily Prompt – Michelle W. After seven years our “Everyday” is about to change. This playground at Edmonds Elementary is where my son’s school day has…
-
Travel Theme: Peaceful
A quiet moment at Lake Wilderness on the 4th of July. We enjoyed a few peaceful hours swimming and kayaking before the fantastic, celebratory firework show started at dusk. For more images of Peace please visit Alisa at Where’s My Backpack and the new Travel Theme: Peaceful
-
A thank you note to three very special bloggers.
I want to dedicate this post to three unique and talented bloggers who have kindly nominated me for awards during the past several weeks. This is a wonderful community here at WordPress and I feel very lucky to be a part of the group. Learning that people not only like to read…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: Fleeting
I’ve been thinking a lot about the fleeting moments in our days, and in our lives. The quiet, precious moments between the ones we love. Cheri – The Daily Post In a new post created specifically for this challenge, share a moment that means Fleeting to you. May in the…
-
A Word A Week: Metallic
“Sinusoidal” Ted Jonsson, Sculptor City of Lynnwood Public Art Collection When I saw the new word of the week was Metallic I thought it would be fun to return to Lynnwood, WA and photograph more of their unique public art pieces. This sculpture is located in front of the Library and across the…
-
(i)Phoneography Monday: Nature
Every Monday I look forward to being a part of Lens and Pen by Sally’s weekly phoneography challenge. The first Monday of each month is reserved for Nature and while I planned to have a post ready to publish first thing this morning, life and work got in the way. Here…
-
Travel Theme: Costume
Halloween is a huge holiday in our family. It’s my husbands favorite time of year and he really enjoys planning new, spooky decorations for the house and costumes for Ryan. I don’t usually take photos of people in costume but looking through my photos reminded me we have plenty of…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: The Sign Says…Family Fun
Signs. Funny, poignant, symbolic, incorrect, informative, foreshadowing…there are so many signs in the world. Sara Rosso – The Daily Post I am unpacking and trying to catch up with my reader after a work trip to Phoenix but couldn’t resist taking a break to answer the latest Weekly Photo Challenge: The Sign…
-
The Edmonds Spring Garden Market
One of my favorite ways to spend a few hours is walking through a Farmer’s Market. Lucky for me Edmonds has a wonderful space in the Downtown area that hosts both a spring and summer market. The Spring Garden Market opened Saturday, May 4th and continues every Saturday until the Summer Market opens,…
-
A Word A Week: Angle
Untitled – Artist: Bruce West. Stainless Steel Sculpture This week Sue’s dictionary has opened to the word “Angle”. I spent a day wondering if I had any photos in my files with interesting angles before reluctantly deciding I might have to skip this challenge. I left the house to return a stack…
-
iPhoneography Monday: Architecture
Architecture: Orderly arrangement of parts; structure. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language iPhone 5 native camera, edited in Snapseed and PhotoToaster. For more examples of iPhoneography and Architecture please visit the latest iPhoneography challenge at Lens and Pen by Sally.
-
Journey
Photographers, show us JOURNEY – The Daily Post Spring Break 2012: Four beach front Island cabins filled with 9 adults, 7 kids and 4 dogs. Boat access only, no grocery stores , plenty of warm clothes, hiking, exploring and great memories.
-
Travel Theme: Pathways
This week Alisa asked us to share photos of pathways we have travelled. These are a few of my favorites from our adventures through Washington State from the water to the mountains. To see more paths from around the world take a look at Where’s My Backpack and the Travel Theme:…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: In the Background
In the Background: The places that we pass through day after day, or even once in a lifetime, leave in their small way, echoes and traces of themselves upon us. But so often when taking self portraits or pictures of friends, the places themselves become a soft blurred mush of…
-
Daily Prompt: Green
Today in the Daily Post the photography prompt is Green. I almost posted this iPod picture a few weeks ago but in the end decided the finished image was too green to fit with my other photos. Today it gets a second chance for a moment in the sun. This is a small view of my…
-
A Word A Week: Face
This week Sue’s dictionary has opened to the word FACE and I have two faces to post from a memorable trip to Santa Fe, NM. This first “face” was a spooky surprise in the rocks during a visit to Bandelier National Monument. We were the only people on the trail at dusk as a…
-
iPhoneography Monday: Black and White
This old Maple tree was a beautiful focal point in our front yard until it suddenly (to us) died last year. Yesterday my husband and I spent the afternoon trimming branches and finally cutting down the trunk to clear the space for our new garden plan. I am sorry to…
-
Thank You
I want to share a big, belated, public thank you to several wonderful bloggers who have kindly nominated me for the following awards here at WordPress. My blog is only a few months old but I have experienced nothing but encouragement and support from this great community as I work to…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape
This was a long day spent trying to escape from our escape… They call it Shallow Bay for a reason! For more great tales of escape and adventure please visit the Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape.
-
A Word A Week: Mountain
This week the dictionary at A Word in Your Ear has opened to the word Mountain. We have spent some wonderful days hiking in the mountains around the Pacific Northwest and today I want to share a gallery of images from a trip to Mount Baker, WA. For more amazing…
-
Wordless Wednesday: 5-15-13
I’m sorting though Mountain pictures for my next Word a Week post and came across an old favorite. Lunch and a rest on Mt. Rainier. For more fun Wordless Wednesday photos see what’s new at The Jenny Evolution.
-
iPhoneography Monday: Macro
The second Monday of the month means it is time for Macro images. If I was thinking ahead I would have saved my pattern photo from last week to post today but instead you got to see it Friday afternoon and I spent the weekend thinking about new macro subjects.…
-
Travel Theme: Beaches
This week Alisa over at Where’s My Backpack says “let’s have a beach party!” If you have visited my blog more than once you know I love spending time by the water so this theme should be a breeze. Well, looking through all of my Northwest beach pictures is a…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: Pattern
“Pattern. Patterns are everywhere. Patterns are sometimes intentional and sometimes accidental. They can be decorative or merely a result of repetition, and often patterns can be in the eye of the beholder to discover them.” – Weekly Photo Challenge: Pattern Today I made an effort to slow down and look…
-
A Word A Week: Orange
This week Sue’s dictionary at A Word in Your Ear has opened to the word “Orange”. I love listening to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons so for this challenge I thought it would be fun to show you how orange changes through Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter in the Pacific Northwest.
-
iPhoneography Monday: Nature
For this week’s iPhoneography Monday theme of Nature I have a picture of freshly cut Rhubarb from our local farmer’s market. Photo from my iPhone 5 and edited in Snapseed and PhotoToaster. If you would like to join the iPhoneography Monday photo fun please visit Lens and Pen by Sally for the schedule and details.
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: From Above
From The Weekly Photo Challenge: Above. Change your perspective on something. Find a subject and instead of taking a picture from in front of, at an angle, to the side, or from behind, take it directly from above! With Sara’s directions in mind I went outside looking for something that I don’t usually see from…
-
A Word A Week: Sleep
Each week Sue at A Word in Your Ear opens her dictionary to a new word, then challenges her readers to post a photo or write a short paragraph showing our take on the current choice – this week we have “sleep”. Well, I have lots of photos of sleeping kids, pets and…
-
iPhoneography Monday: More portraits of Mother Earth
Sally of the beautiful Lens and Pen by Sally is continuing her April theme of Mother Earth for this week’s iPhone photo challenge . I am just starting to experiment with the camera on my iPhone and hope to try a new technique or approach every Monday. I know some images will be more successful…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture
Aaron Joel Santos, the guest host for this week’s challenge writes: Culture is a bit of a loaded word. In a photograph, it can embody everything and nothing. So where do we draw the line? Shopping culture, hippy culture, Asian culture, Thai culture, ancient culture, and on and on. These…
-
Travel Theme: Light
An hour before these pictures I had to break the news to my son that his Grandpa Joe was moved into hospice care and would be leaving us soon. While my husband quietly spent the day with his father and sisters I took Ryan to the beach for a walk and a chance to…
-
Skagit Valley Tulip Festival 2013
Each April hundreds of thousands of visitors attend the month-long Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in the NW corner of Washington State. While words on a page can’t fully describe the feeling of being surrounded by millions of blooming flower bulbs I hope my pictures below share some of the unforgettable views found…
-
iPhoneography Monday: Earth Day
Did you know that close to 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water? In response to Lens and Pen by Sally’s challenge to share portraits of Nature in celebration of Earth Day I want to post four new iPhone pictures featuring views of the water in Washington State. These first two images…
-
Travel Theme: Contrast
Alisa at Where’s My Backpack has challenged us to share photos that celebrate contrast. A few days ago I posted my first black and white iPhone photo here and the always curious Photography Journal Blog promptly asked if I was going to show the original color version too. Thanks for the great…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: Up
If you look up in Seattle there is a pretty good chance you will see The Space Needle. At the time of its completion in 1962 it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. The Pacific Science Center is also on the site of the 1962 World’s Fair,…
-
Dawn
Dawn usually finds me curled up on the couch with my first cup of coffee. I like to get up early but rarely step outside until after the sun is up so it took me a few days to find a picture to meet A Word in Your Ear’s latest challenge – Dawn. New Year’s Day…
-
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Looking through our bookshelves in search of old favorites with great first lines has been a fun trip through my reading history. I have a large stack of books waiting for future posts but today I want to feature the opening sentences of The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Does such a thing as “the fatal flaw,” that…
-
iPhoneography Monday: Black and White
I always love to see great black and white photography but haven’t stretched outside of my comfort zone to try it for myself. We spent Saturday afternoon in the Skagit Valley Tulip Fields and I took a lot of pictures with my camera for a future Pacific Northwest travel post but I also snapped…
-
Weekly Travel Theme: Benches
Alisa’s weekly travel theme is all about benches and the unique stories each location has to share. I knew immediately which bench I wanted to show you but had to wait a day to make the trip to Bellingham, WA to capture the image. The weather switched between snow and…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: Change
Today the Weekly Photo Challenge asks us to select an image that represents change. Looking through my pictures this morning I realized that while my life has been filled with twists, turns, evolutions and surprises I have very few photos capturing these occasions. I thought about the big family moments of birthdays, graduations, weddings and funerals…
-
Travel Theme: Pale
Alisa of the wonderful Where’s my backpack has asked us to search our archives for pictures that embrace the word “pale”. I usually lean toward bright and bold colors but there are days when softer hues capture my attention. If you would like to join in this week’s travel theme please follow Alisa’s directions below: Create…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: Color
I love bright, beautiful colors and many of my pictures are filled with images of vivid flowers and sunny waterfront days. For me the hardest part of this Weekly Photo Challenge: Color was sorting through these pictures to choose just a few photos and finally I decided to share some of the Rhododendrons that grow freely in Washington and fill…
-
My Favorite Places in Washington (State) Part Two – The Coast and Olympic Peninsula
Washington State’s Coastal region is home to some amazing views of the Pacific Ocean, Olympic National Park and The Hoh Rainforest. If you love to drive, a trip north along the Pacific Coast Highway is a great way to spend a few days. This 2,500 mile long stretch of highway begins at…
-
Phoneography Favorites
What a great surprise to hear Cheri Lucas and The Daily Post featured my “A Day in my Life” post below as one of their Phoneography Favorites for the month of March!
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: A Day in my Life
The new Weekly Photo Challenge is all about documenting a day in your life. I hope you enjoy this quick view of my Friday!
-
Travel Theme: Smoke and Mirrors
Today Alisa has selected Smoke and Mirrors as her fun weekly travel theme challenge. I had no idea that March 29th was Smoke and Mirrors day but what a great way to showcase some spooky photos that wouldn’t have a home in a more traditional post. Some of you may remember this photo of…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: Future Tense
March is phoneography month at WordPress and the Weekly Photo Challenge: Future Tense asks for images showing the both the present and a hint of the future in one frame. I thought about going outside to take a new picture of the early signs of spring but when I saw freezing temperatures and falling snow I…
-
Travel Theme: Time
This week Alisa at Where’s my backpack has chosen Time as her weekly Travel Theme. I am always watching the time trying to coordinate multiple projects and schedules for both my work and my family so I thought this would be an easy post to illustrate with a great image. A quick…
-
The Paramount Theater
In the late 1920’s the first “talking pictures” were produced in Hollywood and as part of their efforts to distribute their movies to as many viewers as possible Paramount Pictures began an ambitious program to build movie palaces in almost every major city in America. Seattle was included in this early expansion project and…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: Lunchtime
My Travel Theme post about the color green mentions our first crab caught from the Edmonds Fishing Pier. We had a great day figuring out how what kind of bait to use (chicken), how to throw the pot, visiting with the other fishers and crabbers around us and discovering what kinds…
-
Travel Theme: Green
To celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day and the arrival of spring Alisa’s weekly Travel Theme is all about the color green. I love green and living in the Pacific Northwest gives me plenty of opportunities to photograph this beautiful color. Today I chose three pictures that I think highlight the themes I like to talk about…
-
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Today my choice for a great first line comes from The Magicians by Lev Grossman. Mr. Grossman begins his Magician series with a simple little sentence that leads into an increasingly complex story. Quentin did a magic trick. Nobody noticed. You may be familiar with Mr. Grossman’s work as a book and technology writer for Time Magazine. If you are a newspaper fan The…
-
Phoneography Challenge: Neighborhood
Today the Weekly Photo Challenge is all about capturing your neighborhood through phone pictures. We love our small town and I’m always taking pictures on my iPhone so after school my son and I had a little fun on Main Street. All pictures were taken with my iPhone 5 and…
-
Travel Theme: International Women’s Day
This week my mind is filled with memories of my two beautiful Grandmothers. I quietly observed the 18th anniversary of my maternal Grandmothers death a few days ago and had the great fortune to attend my paternal Grandmother’s 95th Birthday party in February. In celebration of International Women’s Day and Alisa’s…
-
Saying goodbye to March 1, 2011
I was really looking forward to March 1st, 2011. My parents were coming to visit, my mom and I had tickets to attend a favorite author’s book signing and it was the final dress rehearsal for my son’s school musical. I felt like we were turning the corner on winter and getting ready for spring with happy…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: Lost in the Details
Today’s photo challenge is about getting lost in the details. Late winter in my backyard can be dark, muddy and sometimes a little depressing. I love to garden but this time of year is tough for me to appreciate as the ground is covered with debris from winter storms and too wet and cold for most spring flowers. After spending…
-
Travel theme: Roads
I have a lot of fun following Alisa’s travels around the world through her blog Where’s my backpack. This weeks theme is Roads and I want to share a few of my pictures from a beautiful day on San Juan Island in Washington State. The original road is almost overgrown now but this is…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: Forward
In response to today’s Weekly Photo Challenge I have two pictures of a great friendship moving forward through 11 years. When my son was one he found a new friend at daycare. It didn’t matter to them that they were boy and girl and happily, 11 years later, this still isn’t a factor in their…
-
My Favorite places in Washington (State) Part One – The Puget Sound
If your view of Washington State begins with Sleepless in Seattle and ends with Grey’s Anatomy you’ve seen some beautiful scenery but happily my home state has a lot more to offer. As the population center, Seattle receives most of the publicity but did you know there are six distinct geographic regions within the state…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: Kiss
When I saw today’s prompt for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Kiss I immediately thought of this picture of my son and his cousin at the Oregon Coast. I love the contrasts between her sweet heart hoodie, his rough “end of the summer” knees and their tender little hands. The sweetness soon turned to flying sand and salt…
-
The Iron Hunt by Marjorie M. Liu
This week my choice for a great first line is from The Iron Hunt by Marjorie M. Liu. When I was eight, my mother lost me to zombies in a one card draw. The Iron Hunt is the first book in Marjorie’s Hunter Kiss series and introduces us to Maxine Kiss and her…
-
Weekly Photo Challenge: Home
When my son heard we were selling our house and moving to a new neighborhood he insisted he wouldn’t leave without his “thinking” rock. Turns out his idea of home was a quiet place to sit in the backyard and I suspect he thought if we couldn’t lift the rock he wouldn’t have…
-
What if soccer isn’t your sport?
As parents of an active 11-year-old boy we have spent a lot of time and money trying different sports and exercise programs. Ryan’s happiest days have always been spent outside and when he started school I thought Soccer would be a natural first sport. We found a local league and a place on…
-
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
This week my choice for a great first line is from The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. “The man billed as Prospero the Enchanter receives a fair amount of correspondence via the theater office, but this is the first envelope addressed to him that contains a suicide note, and it is also…
-
Why I love Glassybaby
There is isn’t a lot to love about standing outside at 7am on a cold, wet January morning but I’ll set my alarm if it gets me a place in line at the semi-annual Glassybaby sale. The hours long wait is challenging under the best conditions and it pays to get up early. For those of…
-
What keeps me moving
A semi-structured routine of exercise and fitness has always been important to me. When my initial ideas for this post began to surface I saw how my appreciation for fitness has evolved during three stages of my life; childhood, young adult and working parent. Taking into account the good, bad, stressful and amazing aspects of my days as a wife, mother and working woman I am discovering my ability to handle…
-
I may not judge a book by its cover but I love a great first line
I like to think I am not the kind of person who judges books by their covers but I have to say I am a sucker for a great first line. If the opening sentence is quirky, engaging or thought-provoking I am ready to read. A great first line can move a book with cringe worthy cover art to a place…
Northwest Frame of Mind 