Gehring Road

welcome June, I love you!

    365 Project 

So this was May! Birthdays (four of them), Mother's Day (two of them) and oh so many wonderful moments...we love you May, but this lady waits nearly all year for June. Welcome, June. You could not have come soon enough. This has been a difficult year work wise for so many reasons, and I am so looking forward to some time off to recouperate, reassess and adventure into some wide open spaces. Welcome indeed June! Happy weekend everyone, thanks for stopping by! 

so this was april

This was April, welcome May! Project 365 still going well... so far! 

so this was march

(Still!) Journaling... follow my Project 365 here.

Welcome April... we've been so looking forward to your longer and (hopefully soon!) warmer days. March was filled with car rides and adventures, many laughs, treats, plans, sewing and much love. The journaling portion of my photo journaling project often took a back seat. I even took a picture of my computer and the skylight at 10 pm one night, hazy with sleep and ready for bed but just sneaking in that photo each day. And yet, this project of mine continues... one photo each day this year. So far, so good. As for right now, I'm looking forward to April with its vacations, its storminess (today it hailed and it made me remember how much I love storms), its flowers and the coming green. Many more adventures and hopefully more sewing on the horizon. Happy April everyone! 

welcome march

 February 365 Project (still going!) 

March is here... I'm beside myself with happy! It's just around those long days of February (oh my, remember this?) that I begin to long for and attempt to find some bits of Spring wherever I can. Tulips are purchased, I attempt to leave the house with just two layers instead of four, I convince myself that the days are oh so much longer. Yes, it's time. Happy March everyone, I hope it finds you as ready for it as we are!  

lately.

Lately, it suddenly became February. The days are getting longer, the light in the evening is lingering and I'm feeling ready for Spring. So are the daffodils. Last week we had an intense wind and rain storm which ripped our screen door off its hinges, the washing machine flooded our basement and some mechanism inside the toilet snapped. They say things happen in threes. I've been spending much time with Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, I bought this sweater, and am looking forward to the arrival of some more Liberty Love. Welcome February.  

the first thirty

 My Project 365 is here. 

Thirty days in, and still going with this year's Project 365. I'm loving the photo-journaling aspect of this year's photo a day challenge, and it is a lovely little way of taking stock at the end of the day, or a few days later as it turns out most often, ahem, of the intricacies that made up my day. Sometimes things seem a little sunnier with some introspection and distance, and certainly that has been true of my journaling. So far, so good... though I typically lose steam in February and March. This year has been pretty easy, so far. I haven't suddenly remembered to take a picture at midnight or forgotten one entirely yet... yet. This has really just become routine. I'd like to remember to bring my camera with me more often than I do... I think that's just another habit and routine I'll have to develop. In the meantime, watch my project unfold on Flickr, and if you're playing along, I'd love to follow along! Happy Wednesday to you and yours. We're expecting wild weather here tonight, we're hunkered down and ready for what comes. Here's hoping you are also safe and warm. 

to Boston

We spent the most wonderful Saturday in Boston. We're always so surprised at how close the city really is, just about an hour from home. It was so, so much fun. Rob's mom and her husband Chip gifted us with Blue Man Group tickets for Christmas. We sat front row center and if you've seen the Blue Man Group, you know what that means! We were peppered with banana, paint and Cap'n'Crunch, and we loved it! I was given a flower from a Blue Man during the performance. Rob ducked during the worst of the onslaught and the man behind him was hit full in the face with banana. It was very funny and both rows laughed and laughed. Before we went to the show, we had time to stop by one of my very favorite fabric and yarn stores, Gather Here in Cambridge. I bought plenty of Lizzy House's Constellations to make some new pajamas for myself (they are badly needed) and Rob who will wear them because I made them... I think ;) The store was extremely busy with Saturday knitter's brunch. It was a little difficult to move around in the store, but fun all the same! The fog never lifted and it was a little cold, but we loved walking around Boston, grabbing lunch at Quincy Market and Boston Common.

Sunday was relaxing though I had a lot of work to do. I took a break to buy and play with Adobe Lightroom. Indulge me with these crazy photo edits friends, I'm just beginning to learn how to edit my photos! Any feedback and tips about your photo taking adventures are incredibly welcome! For now, it is really trial and error with mostly error as it turns out! This Spring I have plans to take a few photography classes at our local community college. I know that will help. All of this is really in anticipation of buying a new camera before the summer. I have my eye on a beauty. Very exciting. This weekend was so lovely and full, just what we needed it seems. 

today, two ways

A glimpse into Rob's day...

..and mine.

Getting into the spirit (and trying to be supportive of my 365 endeavor), Rob has been sending me pictures of his (and often times our sweet Kylie's) day. I love this more than I can tell you. Today we snapped two photos, as it turns out, a scene from each of our work lives... many miles apart on this particular day. This photo exchange reminded me of this beautiful blog, have you seen it? Maria and Stephanie post photos of their celebrations and lives choosing one photo that captures their day, 3191 miles apart. Maybe I can convince Rob to take part in a photo series. It's been lovely to see what he is up to, and certainly a way for us to take part in and share things we really wouldn't be able to... like that lovely sunset over Dulles Airport just before take off... sort of exactly where I wish I could be. Happy Wednesday to you all and to my traveler, hurry home!  

one week

My Project 365, one week in or "still hanging in there" if you will! All joking aside, one picture that captures the day each day sounds completely do-able until schedules, work, fading light (4:00 pm has never been so annoyingly dark in this neck of the woods!) and everything else gets in the way. My Flickr sets are littered with 365 projects that lost steam, usually around February or March. I'm determined not to let that happen this year. The process of watching and documenting with this project, this little thing I do each day, is a commitment I'm just really loving. It's important. I'm learning to have my camera with me at all times, which is a little strange but also important. On Thursday, Rob and I passed the most beautiful ice fall out of the side of a rock face while traveling home from work on a route we rarely take. I gasped at how beautiful it was, he grabbed for his phone. The shot was missed... but those falls are still there and I'm going to snap them very soon. Those unexpected moments are so lovely, but what is most unexpected is the way I go about finding shots in a day... I'm watching everything more closely, trying to appreciate and observe.  I find myself looking at things a little differently. Unexpected, indeed. I love the photo journaling part of this project, and am learning that the day looks a bit different with some reflection and most certainly is clearer the day after. Unexpected goodness from this little project of mine, the perfect start to this new year, I think. Happy Tuesday, all! 

a few resolutions

Looking back and looking ahead today. I don't usually make (or keep!) resolutions, yet something about this year we've had has me looking forward with the desire to live more purposefully and certainly in a more balanced way. So it is with the idea and promise of a fresh start that comes with this day, but more importantly comes with the opportunity of each day, that I begin this new year with some wishes...

* photographing - I want to get back into the swing of a picture a day. I've been so inspired this year by Erin's and Beth's photo journaling. Follow their amazing images on Flickr, I just love what they capture each day and am going to make it past March this year with my own :) Along with that, this will be the year we buy a DSLR. I need to investigate which will work best for our needs. 

* cleaning - kind of a bummer, but our routine here is incredibly disorganized. A schedule is really needed! I found the one we will use on Pinterest, but this one is similar. I love the idea of focusing on each day and having one major task that gets done each day. It feels manageable for me (I'm typically mentally exhausted after my day and the thought of cleaning when I get home makes me want to weep) and allows us to know when one or the other has done something in the house. Rob works from home and sometimes cleans while he's thinking something through for work... I know, I'm totally spoiled. 

* sewing - I need to be better about finishing works in progress. It's bad. My sewing time is so limited that I sometimes lose steam with a project I can't finish in a few sittings. My goal this year is to finish the works I've had in progress for a while... wish me luck!

* travel - I used to travel quite a bit, but for the last few years that really hasn't been something I've made a priority. It needs to be. I am a girl who wanders and it needs to be more a part of what I do.

* hikes - Rob and I used to spend more time outside, and I want to do more of that this year. Working on the house, graduate programs, and our individual projects sometimes makes time really fleeting and our hikes/adventuring has suffered. I'm looking forward to finding some new places to explore.

* cooking and baking - Rob is really the foodie here in our home, and I love that he is able to be so creative with food, spoiled, spoiled we are... I'd like to try more recipes and cook more than I do. It is certainly on my radar this year. 

* blogging - I love the time that I am able to spend in this space, and allowing that time for myself needs to be more of a priority in this coming year. 

These are just a few of the wishes I have for this year... are you making any? Before I sign off for the last time this year, I just want to thank each and every one of you for stopping by this space. I truly appreciate you being a part of this. Happy New Year everyone, see you in 2013!