Monday Morning Round Up

Scavenger Hunt Item #5: A Sunset

I've been very busy taking all kinds of classes this month! I hope you've enjoyed what I've been posting.  Today, I wanted to stop and catch my breath a bit and reflect on a few things as summer goes rushing by.  

First, the 2013 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt is in full-swing! I love seeing so many wonderful finds pop up in blog land.  The linky at the end of June (here) was a big success! I'll do another one at the end of July (and August, as well as on September 21 or so). I promised a prize to someone who commented or linked-up, and I have been terribly neglectful.  The winner is: Susan of Honeysuckle Cottage and Wisteria Studio.

Also, here's a few shout-outs to some interesting finds that I have seen posted:
Nicky's very colorful fence.
Jane's tiny theatre.
Miriam's sandy dinosaur.
Karen's beautiful candles, mighty fisherman and unique thing taking a nap.
Cool Quilting's surreal airplanes
So far, I've found 12 of the 21. I know where to find most of the rest of them (I just need to take some trips), although finding something that doesn't belong or is clearly out of place will depend a bit on serendipity.

Next, I wanted to check-in on how I've been doing on my summer plans. My purpose in making this check-list was to make sure that I had some summertime fun and accomplished a few projects as well. The balance is working so far!

Some of the things I've accomplished are: picked sea glass and blackberries; took Clara and her friends to have summer fun at Great America, Fisherman's Wharf and the Boardwalk; planned a trip to a Stern Grove concert; signed up for dog obedience classes starting in August; done lots of exercise and on-line art classes; called the computer guy; scheduled doctor and dentist appointments for the kids; and an eye doctor appointment for me.
Our biggest accomplishment has been the garage. It is almost completely cleaned out! We are working on getting a TV set up for the Wii and also some sort of game table (ping-ping, pool, air hockey, etc.). Now I'm hoping the kids will bring their friends over to hang out.

Some of the things I still need to do are: schedule my own doctor and dentist appointments; go to the zoo, the Filoli Estate and the museum; hang out and relax in the backyard with friends. All-in-all, the summer is going along pretty well!

Third, I wanted to reflect on some of the things I've learned about myself in taking the Find Your Voice Storytelling Workshop. I've learned a lot about myself as a story teller - I realized that I want to tell stories about me (from various time periods in my life - past and present) and am still considering telling "the big story" (our life during the last year). I'm enjoying recording a variety of travel related stories for the Passport to Art class, and I find these to be good practice. It's definitely challenging for me to tell longer stories. My forte in the past has really been stories of about a paragraph in length only! I have realized this is because I tend to tell stories mainly in my blog (WORDS plus photos or PHOTOS plus words). I also tell stories in my scrapbook, in my art journals and through photography; but again, these tend to have few words attached to them.   I also really like my answer to the question posed: "why do you create?" You can see my pie chart above, but the biggest reason I create is that it is an outlet for my thoughts, feelings and emotions. I also create to make connections with others and to get feedback; to create a record of activities, relationships, thoughts and things; and to make things that I enjoy looking at or re-reading. It took a while to figure out the answer to why, but I think (for me) I managed to capture it. Have you ever pondered the question why you create? If so, I'd love to hear you anser.