Scavenger Hunt Linky #3: Dinosaurs Roam the Coast!

It's time for the end of August linkie for the 2013 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt!!! Please join the fun by adding a link to one of your Scavenger Hunt posts at the bottom of today's post. It can be a new post or one from earlier this month. Feel free to share anything related to the Hunt.  I'll host one more linky at the end of the Hunt (on Sept. 21). Today, I'm posting my latest awesome find: Dinosaurs!

When I put "a dinosaur" on the list, it was because I pass this yard full of dinosaurs several times a week:

But I have never stopped to look at them up close and personal:

Or to take any photograph:

These large rusty metal dinosaurs are outside a fountain store and group of shops called Spanishtown, and I'm really glad I stopped by for a visit!  Have you ever seen anything like this?  You can see the rest of my scavenger hunt photos by clicking here. 
Please link up your post below and try to stop by at least three other posters to see what they're up to!

PPF: My Life Long Journey (Passport to Art altered book)

This weekend is a long weekend here in the United States, and I'm committing to grabbing some creative time. First up: finish the Passport to Art altered book I've been working on. The spread up top commemorates a kayak/camping trip to Baja California.   The entire trip was fantastic, but the highlight was the night we got up and discovered bioluminescence in the water. We splashed and kicked and watched the water come to life with twinkling lights. To recreate the feeling, I painted black gesso onto a seascape page and then flicked gold and silver metallic paint on top. I added a piece of map from the region and a little sea nymph.

The other spread that I have completed talks about my life-long journey. The journaling reads "During my lifetime, I have traveled all over the world, but for "home," I traveled only 400 miles from Southern to Northern California. I lived in the same house in La Habra for 16 years and have been in our current home for almost 23 years." I was lucky to find a page in my book which actually had the small town where I grew up (La Habra) on one page and the San Francisco bay area on the facing page. I gesso'd and painted out the other areas, added some art dolls and other embellishments. I'm really happy to include this aspect of "travel" in my Passport to Art book. I think it's interesting that, although I am a world traveler, my tendency has been to find a Home and stay put.  It makes me wonder how far you have traveled geographically on your life-long journey? And do you move house often or tend to stay in one house for the majority of your life?
This weekend, besides finishing up my Passport to Art book, I will prepare a Faces Art Journal to use for Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday class in September. 
Here on the blog, I'll  be hosting a linky for the 2013 Summertime Scavenger Hunt, so please stop by if you are participating.
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Linking up with Paint Party Friday! Click on this link to see other painterly goodness.

Cutting and Sticking: Snippets of Words

The amazing Julie Kirk of Notes on Paper has been running a series of cards she makes called "snippets of words."  The idea is to find a random phrase from pages of text and use them on a card. I think she suggests starting by building a card and then searching for a phrase which will make your creation complete. That works for me! Here's two cards I've created recently.  The one on the right says "parties and late nights should be left until the week-end." I think I'll send it to Henry once he's away at University with a bit of cash tucked inside.  The other reads "'I don't quite understand you,' she said, as politely as she could." I'm not sure to whom or for what occasion to send that card (but I like it anyway)! Do you have any ideas?

Look Up//Look Down #34: A Summer Weekend

For this week's pair of photographs looking up and looking down (following along with a meme created by Helena), I decided to share some highly saturated colors of a summer weekend. Looking up at the new sign for the new nanobrewery in town and down at the counter with dinner preparations (a spinach salad with strawberries, marinating tomatoes and olives to go into pasta, and a glass of wine). 
I'm not ready to let go of summer yet I guess. Are you?

Let's chat over coffee . . .

Every month, Abi of Creating Paper Dreams, hosts a link-up where people can sit and chat over a cup of tea.  Now that Clara has made it out the front door to her first day of school, I could invite you in for a cup of coffee (or tea, if you prefer).  Clara's taking an extra-early schedule this year, starting "zero period" at 6:30 a.m.! Although the predawn light made for a slightly blurry first day of school photo, she's happy to be starting her day with physical education because working out first thing in the morning gets her metabolism going and helps her concentrate in school.
After filling your mug, I'd tell you that I've been thinking a lot about how much time I spend being a parent. These thoughts have come into the forefront of my brain because many of Henry's friends have left for college in the last few weeks. (As an aside, I'd tell you that Henry is still asleep downstairs but not to worry about waking him; he won't crawl out of his boy-cave until around 11:00). He's not due to leave for University until September 21, but several of my friends have already taken their youngest off to college and are now describing themselves as "empty nesters." We still have Clara at home for another three years, but I can envision the time when both the kids are off at college, and I wonder at all the time which will be freed up.  Truthfully, I spend a huge portion of my day being a parent.  I know I won't stop parenting my children after they move out, but it will be a much less active part of my day-to-day life. 
I wonder at how much I have come to define myself as a parent during the last eighteen years. Although I am still a law professor, a blogger, an artist, and a wife, I spend more hours on being a parent than on anything else! And the sheer number of hours has affected how I see myself, the friends I've developed and the activities I enjoy. I'd ask you if you ever think about how you define yourself - is it by a role which you fulfill? Or something else?
After that philosophical discussion, maybe I'd offer you another cup and conversation would drift to other topics. I'd tell you that I got a bit "stuck" in my storytelling class I was taking. Mainly because I got caught up in the idea of writing a memoir and then realized there was no way I was ready to take on the project. Now that I have made peace with that idea, I do want to go back and finish up the last two lessons because I really have gotten a lot out of the class.  I'd tell you that I also want to get back to finishing up my "Passport to Art" altered book because I only have a few pages left to do. 
Maybe the dogs would wander into the living room, and I could show you some of the good behavior they've been learning at obedience class. I'd tell you that the trek over to class is always tough because poor Aria hates riding in the car, but that the class is worth it because the dogs really are becoming better household members, and it is so fun to watch Clara train Aria (while I work with Gypsy). 
Before you had to leave, perhaps we could exchange book and television suggestions. I could tell you I really enjoyed The Son by Philipp Meyer, and I want to finish up The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach before my book group meets next week. I think we plan to read Transatlantic by Colum McCann next. I've also heard good things about Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, and We are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. Plus I'm interested in Freedom by Jonathan Franzen and Home by Toni Morrison.  Have you read any of these or heard anything about them?   I'd tell you how much I enjoyed the first two seasons of Luther and how Paul and I are currently watching Broadchurch (both on BBC America).  House of Cards on Netflix has also been highly recommended, so I think I'll start in on that show next. Do you have any other suggestions? 
Finally, I'd ask you if you've ever participated in Shimelle's September class "Learn Something New Everyday" and whether you plan to do it this year.  I've done it several times and have always enjoyed it. I'm seriously considering doing it this year, in conjunction with a face drawing/art journaling class being offered by Dina Wakley.  I can see a journal full of messy, sketchy faces and lessons jotted down next to each one. Isn't that a cool idea?
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If you would like to link up at this month's tea party or see what others are chatting about, click on this link. 

Messy Little Musings: Nuts and Bolts

My blog friend Carolyn runs a weekly photo meme she calls "messy little details." It's a place to showcase those photographs we take simply because they catch our eye.  I have mainly used MLD to pair photos with quotes via picmonkey (like in this post). Today, though, I'm posting this photograph I took "straight out of the camera."  Because I really love it. It's a photograph of a wooden bleacher (bench seat) at the soccer stadium. I love the texture and subtle color palette. I also like how it represents the nuts and bolts of the stands.
The photograph gets me thinking about some of the nuts and bolts of my blog. Color, for instance. Carolyn has also started a series of posts where she creates color palettes from her photographs. She credits Brandi Girl blog for the idea, and Brandi offers this freebie color palette, as well as this more advanced tutorial. Unfortunately, these are both a bit beyond me, but I love the idea.
I've also been thinking about the nuts and bolts of what I post.  I participate in several memes which give a structure to my week.  I often do "Hello Monday," Glue it Tuesday, Look Up//Look Down on Wednesday,  and Paint Party Friday. In addition, once a month, I do Photo Heart Connection, Storytelling Sunday, Tea with Abi, and Month in Numbers.  That only leaves a couple spots each week to catch my breath, blog about the scavenger hunt or participate in some other memes.  On the whole, I like having this structure, and since I don't worry if I miss a week, it doesn't feel too constricting. Now, I'm wondering what you, my readers, think about this. Do you notice these features? Are there ones that appeal to you more than others? Are there any you skip over when they come up in your reader? Is there anything more or less you'd like to see in my blog?

Scavenger Hunt Musings

Scavenger Hunt Item #18 : My Local

It's been a while since I posted anything about the 2013 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt, but with just about a month left, I thought it was a good opportunity to post a few finds and assess my progress.  The photograph up top is of my new "local" pub.  Hop Dogma is so small that it's considered a nanobrewery (smaller than a microbrewery) and is right next to the post office in my little town. They have a nice selection of beers brewed on site and a few guest brews. Sometimes there's a food truck called "Shark Bite" which comes by to provide something to much on. All-in-all, it's a pretty nice little place and great addition to our neighborhood. In the photo above, you can see the sign with limited hours (closed Monday and Tuesday because they're brewing) and the reflection of the tree-lined streets.

Item #2: A Theatre for the Performing Arts

This is the little theatre in our town.  It's called the Coastal Repertory Theatre, and it seats about 150 people. It used to be called "This Side of the Hill Players" and has been providing community theatre for over 25 years. Recently, Clara and I went to see their production of Hair, and I snapped this photograph. We both thought the musical was, uh, interesting . . .

With these two posts, here's where I am on the list:

1.   Open air market
2.   Theater for performing arts (not a movie theater)
3.   City Hall, Capitol or other similar civic building
4.   Airplane
5.   A sunset
6.   Someone or something taking a nap
7.   A sign that is intentionally or unintentionally funny
8.   A tower
9.   A photo with someone or something that is clearly out of place or doesn't belong
10.  A bench that is outside
11.  An animal in a zoo, aquarium, nature preserve, etc.
12.  A cloud in the shape of something (please specify what you see)
13.  A fence
14.  A stained glass object or a mosaic
15.  A fire truck or police car
16.  A windmill 
17.  Candle(s)
18.  Your local pub/bar, coffee house or tea shop
19.  A fisherman
20. A dinosaur
21.  A photograph of you with an artistic tool or craft supply (you cannot substitute for this item)
Bonus/substitute items:
A person wearing an outfit (or item of clothing) that symbolizes your country
A sundial

I only have four left!  Three of them require a bit of a special trip, though. And I'm looking forward to getting them done.

I'll be hosting another link up at the end of the month and a final link up on September 21 (the end of summer and the end of the hunt). I know that many of you are done with the hunt so won't have anything new to link up and that's okay, but I do hope you'll be back to link up at the end.  In the meantime, here's a few thoughts on the Hunt:

Marsha of Cool Quilting created these really cool, on-line flip books with her photos. Looking through them makes me realize how this may be one of those projects where the whole is more than the sum of the parts. If you have completed the hunt, do you have some way that you're compiling the photos? Maybe you want to share it on the end of the month linky.
Windmills are just so awesome. I have really enjoyed seeing the variety out there.  Check out Julia's Greek windmills, Bernice's futuristic German wind turbine, and Starnitesky's beautifully photographed English windmill.
Towers are cool, too.  I might do a post on this later, but here's one extremely unusual take from Kerry.
I love the stories generated by the Hunt. Ladykis shared this wonderful tale (and very nice photograph) of her old local.
Finally, check out this awesome post from Sandie. It's got a terrific windmill, a fun story and, to my amazement, the same, really unusual something that doesn't belong as I had! I can't believe we both found a piano on a beach! Gotta love the scavenger hunt!
What's been your favorite part so far?

PPF: Faces in the World

I just finished participating in a really terrific art round robin, hosted by Martha of Ayala Art called "Faces in the World." She arranged those of us who signed up into groups of three. We each started a face on a 4x6 piece of paper and then sent it to another member of the group, who added to the face and then sent it to the third member, who completed the face and sent it home!  The face above is the one I completed and which started out looking like this:

And which arrived to me looking like this:

As for my face, I sent this water color blob face out:

And she transformed:

Finally, the third face in the group started with this:

I added this:

And she eventually became this:

By the way, this face had a sister, who started out as a mirror image of the pencil sketch, and she ended up looking like this:

Thanks Martha for hosting this really fun swap. And thanks to Beth and Joy, my very talented team mates!
I'm sharing all this loveliness with Paint Party Friday! Go check out more painterly goodness at this link.

Cute Kids, Cute Puppies (A Bid for Attention)

Awwww . . . aren't these guys cute? Did they get your attention? 
I hope so because I have something important I want to share with you. It's a blog event being held by Shot @ Life, an organization working to get life-saving vaccinations to children in developing countries. Every day this month, on their blog, guest commentators are sharing fabulous stories and moments from their life. For each comment on any of the blog posts during August, Walgreens will donate a needed dose of vaccine. So far, the posts have been about parenting or about special life moments tied to being a certain age (for example, today, on the 21st, there was a wonderful article about parenting an emerging adult who just turned 21; on the 15th, there was this beautiful post titled "15 brings changes.")  But I think all my blog readers, parents or not, will enjoy these posts. And, I hope you all will embrace the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children around the globe by visiting at least a few of the blogs posts and leaving a comment. Just click here to get started.
P.S. Thanks to my blogfriend Missus Wookie for bringing this to my attention.

Look Up//Look Down #33: Spectating

Early Sunday morning, I drove Henry up to San Francisco to watch him play soccer. I seized the opportunity to capture my weekly photographs for Helena's meme Look Up//Look Down.  I took them with my phone and converted them to black and white in instagram. Looking up at the at the venue's sign and down at the bleachers. I love this pair from a photographic stand point. I found myself wishing that I had brought along my big camera, but I'm not sure I could have done better with the DSLR.

I love watching soccer. I love the beauty of the warm-ups as the players dance across the field. I love the way they kneel before the kick off, grabbing a tuft of grass, kissing it and making a quick sign of the cross when the whistle blows. I love the fluidity of the ball as it moves down the field; the ebb and flow of "the beautiful game."

Today Henry is playing with Cometa, the local men's team.  As they play, I think about this team. There's our neighbor Bob - he's over 50 but still plays every minute of the game and holds up the defense. There's Migue (nicknamed "Caballo" because he is as fast and strong as a horse) and his brother Andres, both of whom Henry played with in high school. There's Oscar and Ricky, in their early 30's. At one point in time, every one on the team was related to their father, Oscar, Sr. The club was the town's Mexican team, and Oscar's brothers, sons, nephews, uncles and cousins would all come to play. The other local team was sponsored by the Portuguese Culture Center and made up of  Portuguese players. Now the team has expanded, and I am grateful. This is the team that Henry joined when he first returned to club soccer several years ago - Bob encouraged him to try out for Juventus, the age appropriate club team he made and played with for the last few years. This is the team that welcomes Henry back whenever he is between teams or needs a place to train. This the the team that, in fact, looks after all the local soccer players, giving them a place to play and a continuing sense of community. Cometa  translates to Comet, which the dictionary defines as a "celestial body moving about the sun, usually in a highly eccentric orbit, consisting of a central mass surrounded by an envelope of dust."  That sounds about right. 

Hello Monday

Hello Monday . . . a meme started by Lisa Leonard.
Hello Late Summer Produce . . . we're still getting a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box each week and enjoying sampling a variety of colorful produce (including lemon cucumbers, purple peppers, yellow beans and red onions).
Hello Law School . . . my new semester starts tomorrow! Luckily I'm on sabbatical (teaching a reduced course load) this year. 
Hello limp . . . my leg is much better, but I'm still hobbling around.
Hello fond farewells . . . many of Henry's friends are starting to leave for University this week. He's not leaving until the end of September but saying good-bye to so many of his friends makes it seem so much more real.
Hello last week of summer break for Clara . . . tomorrow we'll meet with the registrar to plan her school schedule; official cross country practices start this week; and she'll start her school year in one short week
Hello "sit," "down," "stay," and "leave it" . . . Clara and I are taking the dogs to obedience training; results so far are mixed. . . .

Hello Cranberry Beans . . . and pasta e fagioli. Plus ratatouille and all kinds of other fun summer recipes.
Hello netflix and on demand series . . . I'm really enjoying Luther, Broadchurch and Under a Cold Winter Sun. Thanks to those of you who recommended these. I want to start House of Cards soon, and I'm looking forward to any other suggestions people might have.
Hello New Blogs . . . there are two new-to-me blogs that I am really enjoying these days. Marilyn Lamoreux features fabulous photography, inspiring quotes and meaningful reflection that have really been speaking to me.  This post titled "Go toward love, not away from fear" is typical of what she offers up everyday. 
Michael 5000 has a fantastically fun blog called the "Infinite Art Tournament." Described as "an interactive, democratic, long-term exercise in art appreciation," he invites blog readers to look at a few works of art created by two different artists and then choose a favorite (winner) between the two. (He also blogs about an element from the periodic table every month, and I "met" him when he contacted me about using some ATC art I made about the periodic table - you can see my contribution on his blog this week).
Hello Wise Old Friends . . . A few of my long-time blog friends have also published some posts recently which are worth reading.  Inspired by current events, Carola posted this recollection about a visit to Egypt. And Melissa discussed creative wrapping paper and wedding gifts here. 
What are you saying hello to this week? And do you have any new blogs to recommend? 

Lost in a Good Book: Simply a Moment (August)

I close the book and sigh. Sad it's over. Even after 561 pages, I wish it could have gone on. But, of course, the author ended it exactly where he should have. Because he's a gifted writer and knew what he was doing. It's been a long time since I've found myself lost in a good book . . . transported to another world by compelling characters and a robust plot, all wrapped up in interesting themes which I will ponder for some time to come.  It's been a long time since I've sat for hours and read.
Truthfully, it's been a long time since I've sat for hours and done anything (or nothing).  I stretch my left leg out, pushing the heel forward until my calf muscle catches and starts to scream just a little bit. I think back to that moment earlier this week in the gym when I was feeling so good. The sweat was pouring off my face as I strapped myself to the bungee cord attached to the wall. I've been hitting the gym hard the last week, and it's been paying off. I was able to really push myself, and I've been feeling great. 
The trainer yells "Go!" I start running in place with high knees, fighting the bungee cord which is trying to pull me back to the wall. I smile broadly, having fun. And then I feel it. . . . an ominous pop in my left calf. I get sweatier and a little light headed. The trainer helps me outside where there's more air, gets me some ice and encourages me to put my head between my knees until I no longer feel like I might pass out (or throw up).
I come home, shower and begin my convalescence. Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevation. "RICE." Also known as "BOREDOM."  Somehow I don't feel like getting on the computer. I can't really move around my art table to finish up my art projects either.  I get tired of watching television.
So I pick up my half-finished summer book and plunge back into Meyer's story of Texas and the American Southwest. It carries me through a few days of bed rest. And now the story's over. The leg is healing, too. I still shuffle more than walk, but at least I can move around a bit. And I'm finally comfortable sitting at the computer. I run my hand over the smooth surface of the book's cover, feeling the embossed letters of the title and the author's name. I wonder if I can find another book . . . 
and convince the family that I need to stay off my feet for a few more days. 
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Simply a Moment is a meme hosted by Alexa at Trimming the Sails. You can find more moments and link up here.

Look Up//Look Down #32

It's been a busy week and I've missed a few days of blogging, but I did want to pop in today with my weekly installment of look up//look down, the insightful photography meme started by Helena.  I took these photographs on Sunday in the Stern Grove at Golden Gate Park, where we went to see a wonderful concert by Pink Martini and La Santa Cecilia.  I looked up to see beautiful eucalyptus trees and down to see some of their colorful leaves. I'm really glad we went to the concert as it was on my summer fun to-do list. I only have one more week before I start school; two more weeks before Clara is back to school; and about a month before Henry is off to University. So, I guess I better get moving on the rest of my to-do list! How about you? Are you getting everything you want out of summer (or at least close)?

Messy Little Details: A Summer Trio

My blog friend Carolyn has a weekly photography meme she calls "Messy Little Details." I enjoy this meme, although I only participate sporadically, and I have turned it into a way to share some of my photography edited in picmonkey.  I've had a few photos on my phone that I've been wanting to play with for a while.
The first one is of my cat, J.J., with a quote from Mary Bly.

 The second one is a photograph I took while walking the dog, with a quote from Anatole France:

And the last one is from the open space near my house:

So, can you pick a favorite from these three?
If you want to link up, check out this week's post at this link. 

5 in 5: At the Beach

My blog friend Sandie has started a new photography meme where you take as many pictures in one location as you can in five minutes and then choose your favorite five to post on the fifth of the month (or sometime close). She calls it "5 in 5," and you can join in this month's linky by clicking here.
I decided to join in this month with five photographs from one of my favorite beaches (all taken on my iphone):

I think these photos give you a sense of place.  Do you have a favorite? You can click on any of them to enlarge them and see more detail. Thanks for the challenge Sandi.  Anyone else want to join in?

PPF: More Travel Pages

Today, for Paint Party Friday sponsored by Kristin and and Eva, I'm sharing a few more pages in my Passport to Art altered book.  This first one is about traveling by myself as an adult and the journaling conveys my belief that the advantages (quiet time to reflect, read and make art) are outweighed by my desire to share the experience with others. It's based loosely on prompt #25 which asks "who are you/ what makes you  who you are?" I painted the background pink and added a stamped ballerina who I painted with watercolors. In my book, the facing page discusses our philosophy of travel:

It was inspired by prompt #24  in the Passport to Art class about your beliefs. I gesso'd and painted over half the page for the journaling and put a post card and twinchie from my stash on the graphics on the other half.  Our philosophy of travel is basically to stay in one city for a longer time (rather than try to see lots of different cities),  rent an apartment (rather than a hotel room), to shop for food and cook at "home," visit lots of museums and try to get to know some local people. We will occasionally splurge on a special hotel or meal, but we prefer to spend our money traveling more often. We would rather really experience and get to know one city, rather than check off a lot of different sights.  The two pages together look like this:

My final recent page answered prompt #30: "Where to next?"

This one came together fairly easily.  The next place that I really want to visit is Australia. The jouranling reads "I want to see her natural wonders, cosmopolitan cities, ethnic heritage and my friend Amy." We don't have any plans to visit anytime soon, but a girl can dream, can't she? The design was determined by my desire to have it match the facing page about a trip I took to El Salvador.  The two together look like this:

You can see that my book  is really starting to come together with some repeating elements: art dolls; maps; and photographs from my collage sheets. I think I have about nine pages left to do in my book (currently in various stages of completion); I have 22 pages completed, so my total page count will end up at about 30 (just as Bernice envisioned!).
What are your thougts about travel? Do you have a philosophy? Do you like to travel alone? Where would you most like to travel next?

Passport to Art: High School Travel

I have two more double-page spreads in my altered book, Passport to Art, to share today. The book, created via Bernice's online class, has allowed me to reflect on all the different types of travels and the various trips I have taken in my life.  This page, based on Prompt 23 about becoming an adult, covers the various trips I took in high school. I used black gesso to cover most everything on the page (except for the map and the legend), journaled in white sharpie and added lots of cut-out images from my stash.  The journaling reads "I had a lot of freedom to travel when I was in high school, and it helped me develop into an adult. I traveled with the debate team to tournaments all over the state and to several other states.  I became friends with Sara, who lived in Berkeley, and I often flew up to visit her. It's hard to imagine my parents allowed to to do this so often on my own but I'm glad they did." 
Reflecting back on this period in my life, I now realize how mature I must have been as a high school kid. I earned money babysitting and whenever I saved up $48 (the roundtrip cost for the one hour trip from southern California to northern California), I would book a flight to spend the weekend 350 miles from home! 

These pages are based on prompt 19 which asked "What things had to come to an end so that something new could begin?" After some thought, I wrote about the trips we took within in the U.S. when Henry was playing all-star baseball. I covered over the entire page with cream colored acrylic paint, added maps of the relevant areas, three photos from my collage sheets, some lettering and a little doodling to complete the page.
 The journaling reads "Good-bye Europe . . . Hello Cooperstown!"  The family agreed to give up European travel for a few summers when Henry was aged 10-12, so the he could play All Star baseball. When he was 12, the team also traveled to Cooperstown, N.Y. The whole family went along, and we added visits to New York City, Boston, and Washington, D.C.  A few summers later, Henry and I traveled to Sacramento, California when the All-Stars made the state tournament." 
One of the interesting parallels between these two spreads is that the latter spread is a bit about Henry's high school travel experiences, but these were trips he took with the family in tow.  As I think about it, he has taken a few trips on his own in high school without us (to soccer and baseball tournaments in the greater Bay Area with his team; to Dallas, Texas with his soccer team; and, recently, to Costa Rica with some fellow students and a couple of teachers). It makes me wonder how much travel people did on their own as high school students and how much you let (or would let) your kids travel at this age without you?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!
I've got a few more completed pages to share tomorrow and some new photography challenge posts for the weekend, so come on back to check those out.

Look Up/Look Down #31: Lazy Morning, Bedside

I love those mornings when I get to hang out in bed, lounging in my jammies, legs tucked under the covers, reading blogs and drinking coffee.  Usually the dogs join me, but, today they're upstairs with Clara and Paul. So, J.J. seized the opportunity to join me for a snuggle (I suspect she's actually here to snuggle up to the warmth generated by the computer). The tableau caught my eye, and I decided to use it as the starting point for this week's look up//look down photography post (an idea started by Helena).  Looking down at the work space which is my bed and looking up at my bed stand (just to my right as I type this). I've only taken a few look up//look down pairings inside the house, but I'm thinking that I want to do more of them.