Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

There are some changes happening! I am moving to a new blogging home. I will be combining my daily photo blog with this blog as well, at least temporarily! My new blog url better corresponds to my title and my business. Thanks for understanding!

Please adjust your feeds, favorites, and your readers so we can still stay in touch!

You can find me here. Please leave me a comment over there to let me know you made the trip!

Love you all!

Fun Monday: Inspiration at Work

Today is Monday again and this week's hostess for Fun Monday is Sayre from Sayre Smiles! This is what Sayre wants to know:

Take your camera to work and take pictures of the things that inspire you as you work or that inspires your coworkers. Ask them (or yourself) what it is about that particular object or picture that makes the work day seem a little easier.

If you don't work outside the home, take a picture of the thing that helps you get through the day and inspires you to have the best day you can.

Since I work from my home and recently finished making my closet into an office, I have to reuse the same pics I had a while ago, SORRY!

When we bought this house, we loved that it was unique. One thing that was out of the ordinary was the closet in our bedroom. The people who built the house made the closet like a little room with a window and storage window seat! They even had a phone line, for internet service, run into the closet so they could use half the closet as an office! We followed suit and transformed half our closet into an office for my Nine Acres Photography business, which includes Simply Smooches.



Because my business is photography, I surround myself with things I find beautiful and inspiring. That includes postcards, photographs, and natural elements such as flowers.
Organization and tidiness are key for me. I can't think straight with a lot of clutter, so when I get a mess on my desk, I must straighten up so I can function!
I also am inspired by my view. While this scene is many more times green right now, every season my window in the office has wonderful vistas to show me.

This bulletin board, right above my computer is my "favorites" board. Here you can see a few of my favorite postcards and a leaf from Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest. You can also see a few of my own images.So, that is about it. Anything I find beautiful, a good view, and organization is my inspiration at work! Thanks for hosting, Sayre :0)

Mail Call Sunday TV Mom Contest!

*You have to read through the whole post to find the hidden GIVE AWAY challenge!

I can't believe it has been a week since Easter! I received a lot of postcards over the last 2 weeks, as I didn't post last Sunday in honor of Easter. So, sit back, relax and enjoy your tour...

This crazy-looking-coaster-that-I-would-never- in-my-life-get-on-even-if-you-gave-me-a-million card came from Florida, USA. According to this postcrosser, this coaster is actually two wooden coasters located in Tampa Bay at Busch Gardens. I love the card, but hate the coaster :0) I am wimpy that way!


This next card, which I love, is actually kinda creepy, don'tcha think? There is something very horror-movie about the way the kids (dolls?) are staring at me. I love it for its uniqueness, but I think I will be putting this one in my scrapbook because I am afraid if I don't, these kids will come alive and eat my brains while I am sleeping. This card was sent from a 19 year old postcrosser from Tennessee who would like to go to art school. She chose this one for me because she knew I liked vintage. So thoughtful! Thanks a ton!

Does this card from Russia scream joy and happiness? This card could not be any cuter. The sender says she has the same postcard for her son because she likes it so much. She translates the front to say "To praise and to feed." Well, that fits me just fine, as I praise the food I eat too! ;0)


This multi-view card is from a postcrosser in the Netherlands. She didn't tell me much about the card or herself, but she did say she is 27 and that it was raining when she wrote the card!


This huge panoramic card is from Jenni, a 25 year old female from Finland. Her sister's name is Mona- Liisa. How cool is that? Jenni is happiest when she is going to the beach, BBQ-ing, going to the sauna and then taking a dip in a cool lake. I am all about those things, except the cool lake. I prefer warm lakes myself! The card shows the aurora borealis at Pallastunturi. Simply breath-taking! Thanks Jenni for the beautiful card!


Next up is this interesting card from Brazil. The sender likes to cross stitch and to watch HBO. She says this card is a special collection from two designers and this one represents winter! I thought it looked like a fish and had nice summer colors, but obviously I am not an artist. Thanks so much!


This next card is very artistic also. It is from Germany. The sender's English was not that advanced, so I didn't get a whole lot of information about the card, but I still appreciate it. I don't have any info on the art work, but I can say that I think I scanned it upside down. I just realized it when I was checking the back of the card for info. So, just stand on your head and you will get the full effect of the picture!

*THIS JUST IN BY EMAIL: *edit

Hello Tracey
I'm Karine from France. You sent me a postcard (Aquaman !). I've just 
seen your blog site.
 
I just wanted to tell you that the postcard from Germany is certainly a 
painting from Wassily Kandinsky, a famous russian painter (1866-1945). 
He's the founder of "abstract art".
 
Have a nice day.
 
Karine

This card was sent from a postcrosser in a private swap. I have recently started pen pal-ing with a woman in New Jersey who has sent me several wonderful cards already. Lauren says that Lucy is quite the icon from where she lives (South Jersey) . Her friends actually got married in Lucy's belly! If you'd like to know more about Lucy, you can read about her here.

This next card arrived from Lithuania, but shows a Sweden location. The sender sent this card because she spent a year as an exchange student in Sweden while attending the University. Very pretty!

This unusual card came from Holland and is only the second card this postcrosser has sent! She wrote a ton about herself and her family, which was sweet. She works as a web designer and is going to Austria for holiday this summer. Thanks Lesslyn!

This card is simply hysterical and I ♥ it very much. It was sent from New Hampshire and will find a special place on my favorites board! If you click to enlarge, you can see several TV Moms from the past. So, here is the give-away deal....How many of these TV Moms can you correctly name? It has to be the actresses REAL name, not her stage name. Put your answer in the comment section and the person who names the most correctly will get a pack of my blogger postcards for free! In the case of a tie, I will use a tie breaker method like names in a bag or flip a coin. All entries must be in by noon on Tuesday. Winner will be announced on Wednesday!

This card comes from Japan and is so serene and beautiful. This is a painting by a famous Japanese artist, Kaii Higashyama. Thanks Yuko for the gorgeous landscape!

This pretty Christmas-y scene comes from a postcrosser in North Carolina. She has 2 fish and wants to travel the world to experience foreign men and beer! Wow, you go girl! Life is short is what I say! Best wishes to you!

Last, I received this gorgeous handmade Easter card from a dear high school friend who lives in England. She is getting ready to move back to the states, but plans to send me some postcards of her pre-departure travels around Europe! Thanks Ann! I ♥ you!

Many of you have written to tell me that you have joined Postcrossing after reading all about my many treasures. I want to say WOOT to all of you and invite you to grab the Mail Call Sunday button from above and join me on Sunday's by posting your treasures that arrive in the mail. I only ask that you sign Mr. Linky below and then link the button back here or put a text link back to me.




Don't forget to enter the TV Mom postcard challenge!

Ladybug is a Published Author!

Remember when I told you about Ladybug's project in school? She had to come up with a research project for Maryland Day? She decided to do a project about tourism in Maryland and she was going to write an A-Z book about tourist spots in our lovely state? I already posted about her letter C here and her letter E here. Well, she finished a portion of her project...the book!

Ladybug is a full blown author who has had her book published in a hardback book. Well, actually it was self-published by using Blurb, where anyone can make their own book, but who cares? She is thrilled about the results and I am thrilled for her.

She picked the Black-eyed Susan for the cover because it is the state flower. The front cover also has her name as the author, but I removed it in this photo for privacy.


(She is asked me to "clone out my hands" when I took this picture and I was like, "Oh, okay...I will.") Ooops.

I love that the spine has the title and her name (I cloned out her name for privacy).

She picked the Baltimore Oriole for the back of the book because...well, you can figure it out.


Each letter from A to Z is represented in the book. Want to visit Maryland and don't know what to do for fun? Contact Ladybug...she knows!



Now she is doing a slideshow to have going on the laptop during the fair. She also has to do a tri-fold. We will be finishing that this weekend hopefully! She has put a lot of time, energy, and hard work into this project.


Since helping her with the software from Blurb, I have become motivated to make my own books...stay tuned for that post soon!


All my love,

~I've packed all my things
They're heavy on my back~

BOOM, patter, patter, BOOM

As the spring season progresses and the summer season approaches, we will begin to have more and more thunderstorms here in Maryland. I usually love thunderstorms, as long as they aren't too scary.

I remember as a child being terrified of thunderstorms. I would cry and tremble. I would hide until the storm was over. One day my father had enough of my tears, told me there was nothing to be afraid of, and took me in his arms. He carried me to the opened doorway and made me watch the lightening and listen to the deep rolling of the thunder. He explained to me the science behind the flashes and booms, and I felt comforted there with the knowledge and my dad's arms as my shield against the raging storm.



I have grown to appreciate the grandeur and beauty of Mother Nature's chaos, but I have to admit it still frightens me if lightening hits too closely.

Ladybug was working on some poems the other day and this is her thoughts behind thunderstorms. I had explicit instructions on how to write her poem. I hope I did it justice.


Thunderstorm
by Ladybug

I have a rhythm of my own
It goes B O O M, patter, patter, B O O M!
I can stop whenever I want
So don't lighten me up.
Afterward, I make a beautiful R a i n b o w.


All my poetic love,

~I've packed all my things
They're heavy on my back~

Blogger Photo Shoot and Lunch! Your Personal Invite!

One of the cool things about blogging is meeting great people with similar interests. Recently, I met Tracey of Picture This, another blogger with the same EXACT name as me, who also lives near me. Tracey is also interested in photography, so we decided that we should get together for a photo expedition!

After talking about it, we wanted to open it up to all bloggers/photographers near us who would like to come. So, consider this your invitation!Our plan is to meet in the morning of May 16th in Ellicott City, Maryland. After a few hours of shooting, we will be grabbing some lunch. It might be a picnic, or it might be at a restaurant. We haven't ironed out all the details just yet. So, if you would like to shoot with us, or if you just want to meet us for a blogger's lunch, please contact me via the contact button above so I can get everyone on an email list for details!


I know many of you (M, Marlene, The Church Lady, Tracy, Jan, Allison...just to name a few) are within and hour to an hour and a half of Elicott City. Please think about taking a day trip to hang with us! I would love to meet all of you in person. (Some I already have and would like to see you again!)

On a photography note, the flower pics I have been posting recently are from a trip to Longwood Gardens not too long ago. I will be blogging about it and posting more pics soon! The first picture is a set of three of the same image, each processed a bit differently using the Channel Mixer in Photoshop. The last picture is the original in color. :0)

All my "Let's get together" love,

~I've packed all my things
They're heavy on my back~

Wordless Wednesday- Garden

(Click to enlarge)

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses. ~Hanna Rion

All my love,

~I've packed all my things
They're heavy on my back~