CLICK HERE FOR THOUSANDS OF FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES »

Monday, January 14, 2008

Goal of the Week

I am starting something new. On Monday of each week (I am going to try and always post on Monday but we all know how I occasionally get behind), I will post a goal of mine for the week. I will have from Monday to Sunday to complete my goal, if everything goes according to plan. This week my goal is to read Eat, Pray, Love. I keep hearing wonderful things about this book, so I got it today. I actually don't read much, but have a million books I want to read.

I am going to start posting to my Flickr account again. I have a Flickr link on my sidebar, so check it for pictures. I am really going to work on my photography skills this year. I have several weekly goals with Photography, but for now, I will stick with my book goal of the week. We will get to the others later in the year. Here are some of my favorite adoption blogs that also have amazing pictures. I get inspired when I see other people's photographs and hope that some day I can be as good as these - K at 3 Continent Family, Emily and Leslie at With Arms Wide Open. I love the style that these three have with their pictures. I was recommended to Picnik by K and now I am obsessed with it. It is free online photo editing and you can import your Flickr pics directly to it. I am going to do the upgrade so that you can do even more editing. I have played with a few of my pictures from Flickr on Picnik. I love to make the colors brighter and increase the sharpness. Any photography books or advice is welcome. I love black and white, but I have recently really enjoyed bright, sharp, color pictures even more.

Here are some older pictures that I edited. This is my first ever photo editing, so I am pleased, but still need a lot of work.








And here is one that hasn't been edited, but is just funny. Lucy is a terrible eater, but she LOVES pancakes or waffles with a little syrup to dip it in. Today she got the syrup out of the cabinet and acted like she was drinking it. The cap was clicked down, so she wasn't actually drinking any, but she really enjoyed pretending. Funny girl.

17 comments:

LaLa said...

Love all the pics!!! Awesome that you are doing a weekly goal : ) I am not that brave

Susan said...

Good luck with your photography. I really think you're going to do very well. You've got such a good eye, and a super subject close at hand. :o)

Amanda said...

You're so ambitious with your goals! I loved Eat, Pray, Love, but there was a mix-up at my library and I ended up getting the audio version, which is read by the author. If you find that this book is too much to get through in a week, I would definitely suggest getting it from audible.com and listen to it (I love to listen to books now when I am cleaning or doing housework). Anyways - good luck with the photography - so far so good!

Stacy said...

I just started that book too! I have also heard such great things about it, and decided the other night that since I've had a few hours to kill here with the waiting I'd give it a shot. So far I like it.

And the pics are of course beautiful, but I especially love the last two. She's such a doll!

Cyndi said...

Good work on the pictures. I just got Eat, Pray, Love to we are doing it for my book club and going to have Italian to eat on the night we get together. I have two weeks to read it so lets see if I get it done. Have a great week.

Leslie & Shaune said...

i love your edits. your dd is so sweet. i wish i could pop over to your house and take photos of her :) but alas, i'm in chilly canada.

most of my 'photos' are posted often on our family blog. if you are ever interested in seeing them, you can go through the archives, etc - the link is:

http://www.leslielightfoot.typepad.com/

i'm honoured you'd mention me in your post. i think you are well on your way to being a great photographer. editing is addictive. let me know when you get photoshop and i'll tutor you ;) on some easy edits to really make your photos shine.

leslie

Kate said...

I've been following your blog for a while now and have enjoyed watching your daughter grow through pictures. We have a Luci, too! Good luck with your photography..that is a goal of mine as well.

Grab a highlighter, pencil and notebook. Eat, Pray, Love is MORE THAN a book. You may need more than a week to read it. There's so much that you can pull from this book to apply to your every day life. It made a large impact on my life following this woman's quest for inner peace. Enjoy.

Shawna said...

That pic is hilarious Kel...makes me a bit scared for her later years. And good job editing--all those pictures really do look awesome! You're really going to love Eat, Pray, Love. I loved it, and it was a really quick read, so it's a good first book-of-the-week to choose.

Carissa said...

I love your idea of the weekly goal, I hope that it is ok with you but I am pretty sure I am going to "borrow" it, but I promise to give the original credit to you! Also, those pictures look amazing! Oh yeah, I am probably the only person who does not think Eat, Pray, Love was a great book. I had to force myself to finish the book which was hard because it is only one of 150+ books on my book reader and I would have rather been reading any of them after I lost interest in Eat, Pray, Love. I hope that you like the book though and are able to finish it this week!

Stepping On Legos said...

That's a great idea! I have heard great things about Eat, Pray Love but have a heard time getting into memoirs so I've avoided it. Let me know if you like it! What are your photography goals? I need some! Will you share yours with me? I have not taken my camera out in way too long. I am just totally uninspired!

Kerry said...

Thanks for the props!
That first picture of your little sweetie is so beautiful! She looks like a little faery :)
Great goals- inspiring. Good luck!

mam said...

Thanks for the tip; I'm going to check out that editing tool. As always, Lucy is such a doll.

Jen said...

I hope that you enjoy reading eat, pray, love--it took a while to spark my interest, but I really enjoyed it!

Good luck with the photos!

Emily said...

thanks kell:)
i think you are an awesome photographer. you have a natural eye..i can tell.
i think half of taking great pics is just always having your camera. we all see great moments throughout the day...it is just a matter of having your camera there when you see it.
you know?!
***
ok, it is tuesday...day 56...can you believe it?! argh...
not sure i am gonna make it:(

Rachel said...

I love all the pictures...they look great. I have wanted to read "Eat, Pray, Love" for a long time but have never gotten around to it. But you've now inspired me to get my butt in gear and go pick it up. :)

missy said...

A weekly goal is a great idea. I think I will borrow it if you don't mind : )

I use Picasa to edit my photos and absolutely love it. You have done a great job with your pictures. They are very sharp.
: )

Kristin said...

I love the idea of a weekly goal! It's so much better than the dreaded NY resolutions...I wish I had thought of that! :-)

I started Eat Pray Love on New Years Eve on our way back to Austin. I've just now started the India chapters, and I've been loving it! I wish I had more time to devote to it...sounds like you are breezing right through it! Can't wait to discuss!