Showing posts with label Photography Challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Photography Challenge. Show all posts

Focus on Life: Week 13 - Have Faith

*If you're looking for my
Birthday Post / Give-A-Way - It's HERE

And Now,...

It's Week 13 for the Focus on Life series over at
 
 

This week's prompt: Have Faith

And here's what Sally told us:

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe. ~Augustine~

"There are many of us who are religious and there are many of us who are not, but most of us, religious or not, have faith in someone or something.  A faith that gets us through our day, a sickness or even a death. Faith is held by each of us; it is what keeps us believing that there will always be a positive outcome even if we can't see it at the time."
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
November 27th, 2007
 
 

He was only 10 years old when he walked down the hallway of the hospital with his mother. As they rounded the corner she bent down and spoke quietly into his ear , "I'm not sure you're old enough to be in this section so if anyone asks, you're 12. Okay?"
 
"Okay, Mom."
 
Standing on the other side of the door was an orderly,
looking out as if waiting just for them.
He opened the door and pointed to the second door on the right. The woman looked at the nurse behind the ICU desk. The nurse, nodding the 'okay', gave them an almost apologetic smile as the young boy and his mother entered the room.

With tubes sticking out everywhere and his skin a light ash color, this wasn't the man the boy had seen that morning as he left for school.
 
"Dad?"
"Hi, son," the man whispered; his eyes barely opening.
"How ya doing, Dad?"
"I'm doing okay, son."
"Are you hurting?"
"Not really anymore. They've got me on some pretty heavy stuff."
"You gonna be okay?"
"Oh yes, I'm going to be fine son. It might be a while, but I'm going to be just fine, don't you worry."

When visiting hours were over and it was time to leave, the boy kissed his dad, told him he loved him and that he'd see him tomorrow.

As the mother and son said goodbye and walked out of the room, the nurse behind the desk looked at them with tears in her eyes and with another, even more apologetic smile, told them, "Good night."

The next day, the young boy went sadly to school and the woman returned to the hospital.
 
As she walked into the ICU ward she noticed the mood of the people behind the desk was different than the night before. There were smiles on their faces that morning. 
 
"Oh, you're still here?", the woman asked the nurse.
"Yes. I'm here for about 30 more minutes," replied the nurse. 
 
Entering her husband's room, the woman saw him sitting instead of laying. His color was returning and there was a 
slight smile on his face.
 
"Hi Honey! Got my computer like I asked you?"
"Yep."
"Good." 
I'm not really sure you're allowed to have it here with you."
"It'll be fine. I gotta get back to work and let my guys know what's going on and that things might be a bit slower coming out to them this week.  Can you tell the nurse that I need some more bottled water?"
 
The woman walked out into the hallway and asked for more bottled water.
 
"Oh my. He's already gone through all those bottles? We don't have anymore on the floor. I'll have to send someone to get more."
"Thank you."
"Last night was rather touchy," the nurse said. "I'm glad he's doing much better today. It's like a total turn around."
"I know, right?!"
"I got rather choked up as you were leaving with your son last night."
"I thought you looked really sad."
"We all thought that was the last time he was going to see his Dad." 
"Really?"
"Yes."
"That thought crossed my mind too, for a minute anyway.  But then I realized that that just wouldn't be Mike," the woman said as she turned to walk back into the room where her husband was typing away on his computer.
 
Two days later the man was released from ICU.
 
 
Mike and Logan goofing around, like normal, at the 'look out' - June 2008
And yes, he hiked up the mountain from just above that valley you see below
 with a defib in his chest only 7 months after his heart attack.
We call him 'Iron Man' - LOL!! :-)
 
A few months after recovering at home the doctors put a defibrilator in my hubby's chest (on Valentine's Day of all days!!) and to look at him now, well,....you'd never know he had a massive heart attack 5 years ago or that the staff at the hospital had little to no FAITH that he'd even make it through the first night. 
 
 
The "Masked Rider" and Mike,...a.k.a. - Iron Man!!
 
 

Faith is believing in something when common sense tells you not to.  ~from the movie, "Miracle On 34th Street"
The Buettner's - December 2012
 


I "Have Faith" and am grateful that there will be many more family photos just like this one!


Focus On Life: 52 Photos - Week 11

This week's prompt from Sally over at
 
The Possibilities Are Endless!
 
 
 
 
"There are many things around us that hold so many possibilities; a child's face, a seed of a flower, the tools pictured above. (trust me, she had a picture of her tools!!) This week pay attention to your surroundings and your daily activities and show us what holds endless possibilities for you."
 
And she included this quote:
 
In this moment, there is plenty of time. In this moment, you are precisely as you should be. In this moment, there is infinite possibility." ~Victoria Moran
 
 
And so I thought, and I thought,.....what to photograph?
 
There's Endless Possibilities in so many things! 
 
My tools, beads and supplies have possibilities that are endless indeed - deliciously so.
 
What about my books?
Books contain knowledge and with knowledge the possibilities are unimaginably endless.
 
Colors?
With colors the possibilities are delightfully endless.
 
Nature?  Flowers - endlessly, beautiful flowers?
 
More Door Porn?
I mean seriously, the possibilities really ARE endless
as far as doors go (just sayin').
 
I thought of so many things.
 
But, what to photograph?
 
 
Yep,...it's just a point-n-click!
 
And then, looking through my lens,...
the possibilities truly are endless. Infinitely so!
 
I know what you're thinking:
"She only posted ONE photo this week?!"
Yep, it only took 11 weeks!
Didn't see that one comin', did ya?!
LOL!!  
 
Hop on over to The Studio Sublime today
and see the Endless Possibilities
everyone else has captured!
 
Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Endless Possibilities to Photograph!
Cheers,
~Shel~

Focusing on Life: 52 Photos - Week 4 - Create ART

It's Saturday again (woo hoo) and time for Week 4 of the Photography challenge that Sally over at the Studio Sublime started for 2013:  Focusing on Life: 52 Photos.
 
 
 
This week's prompt was "Create Art".  Art is one of those words that means something different to each person. 
 
When I think of Art, I think of my sister. She's the most wonderful artist I know and the Art she creates, no matter what it is, is always amazing! Me, well, I just laugh and say I can't draw a straight line with out a ruler and she says back to me, "Good. That's what they're for!" 
 
Seriously, I suck a drawing/painting, etc. and haven't tried much in regards to other art mediums as an adult either, but I loved creating things as a child.

I would sit at my neighbor Donna's house for hours and she'd have these little pillow cases she'd make me and I'd use some sort of paints on them, or she'd let me sit and glue cool photo collages together or paint (paint by numbers!) and she always encouraged me to try something different. I was constantly wanting to go over to her house because I was so excited to 'make' something!
 
Itching to create.
 
That feeling still resides in me today. Wanting to create. Create something. Anything. I even see cooking as creating something. Anyway, when I can't create I get kinda cranky.  Like those people who get grumpy when they're hungry (my hubby comes to mind here).  Yeah, I'm one of those, only instead of food I gotta sit down and create every once in a while or I turn into a bit of a "B".
 
My medium of choice (it chose me, by the way) is creating jewelry. Jewelry is my "Art". But instead of creating a piece of my art and showing you here on my blog (cause I never do that!) I wanted to show you something that feels just as good as a finished piece of jewelry to me.

 My sketchbook.  It's a rather sad little sketchbook. Not a fancy artist's sketchbook. In fact, I've got a couple of them that date back a few years,...or so.  
 
 
My original sketchbook
 
 
See, nothing fancy,....just paper to capture what's up in my head (wish it came out on paper as beautiful as it appears in my head,...).  It's rather private - I don't share it much with anyone.  I see my 'jewelry life' as it transitions and I love looking back to see how 'spot on' I was years earlier with things happening now or how I was just 'out there' with certain designs. Growing. It's my growth chart, if you will.

 
My markers, my sketchbook and my new Art Poem! ;-)
 
My most recent (and largest) sketchbook was with me a couple of summer's ago at my sis's cabin when we were evacuated during the Wallow Fire here in Arizona.   It was in my book bag along with some of my new and/or favorite beading/jewelry books. As we tossed things into the Subaru to evacuate, the book bag was tossed in the back along with a few gallon jugs of water and other things.

 The water ended up tipping and leaking out all over.  The next morning when I opened the back of the Subaru I found the spilled water jugs. I was a bit upset, but then I reached for my book bag and it was soaked - the bottom was just drenched! My heart sank and tears welled up before anything could even really click in my brain,...my heart knew what was going on.
The heart always knows first!


The pages are dry, but not as neat as they once were!
 
 
I have one of those liners for the back of my subaru, so that wasn't the issue. The issue wasn't even our suitcases, those didn't get too saturated. The issue was my book bag. That did not have a lining,...that was cloth and paper. And inside the book bag was something that was practically priceless to me - my jewelry sketchbook. My inspiration. My ideas. My art before it becomes art in my hands. My inner me!
 
 All my books, including my precious sketchbook, were completely water logged. Soaked through and through.  I just stood there holding it, looking at it like it was something foreign to me. I was in disbelief. "No, not my sketchbook?!"  My brain said to me.  "Oh, and look at all my poor bead books - some I haven't even gotten to look through yet! Oh man!"

The hubby came to my rescue and assured me all would be okay and that it was going to dry out and we'd take care of the pages, etc.  Even though it took more than a week to carefully seperate the pages as they were drying, it did turn out fine. Some of my bead books didn't recover so nicely, but I can always get more of those,.....my sketchbook however, is definitely One-Of-A-Kind ART!

Upper Left: the beginnings of my wire wrapped "Freya" Pendant in 2010
 Upper Right: Earring Designs from 2006
Lower Left: Design from Metalsmith class in 2005 - still have not made that!
Lower Right: Amber pendant drawn out and created back in 2009.
 
So this week, I played around with some photos and more editing programs for the photo challenge. I have not however, been able to create jewelry due to smacking metal around for tons of earwire orders, so this little girl's getting a bit cranky,.....and now it's time to go CREATE ART!

 
My Poem for Week 4: Create Art
 
 
My sketchbook and I are outta here - see ya later!
 
Please hop on over to the Studio Sublime and see what all the other participants have done this week to Create Art for Week 4 of Focusing on Life!
 
Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Creating Art!
Cheers,
~Shel~