Day 31: What a day!

Guess what...I'm not on Reception anymore! Yahoo! Yipee! Woop Woop! Hooray! Fantabbydooo! It's amazing :D So today, a Monday, not only did I manage to get the 7:40am bus to work, but when I arrived I got to walk past the reception desk with a big smile on my face, and head up to MY desk (after making a cup of tea of course).

That was a wonderful start to my day. There were some minor mishaps which dampened my cheeriness in the afternoon, but the fact that I was going to the cinema in the Evening and then getting Chinese kept me in high spirits! And then when the end of the working day grew nearer, and the sun got lower...the clouds became Amazing! So I got up from my desk to take a photo out the window, to which my boss, who was in the room to discuss something at the time, said "If you're gonna take a photo then you should be up high to make the most of it! Go out to the patio upstairs!" So, I did. Haha. And a quick few minutes getting chilly out on the roof top of the Rotech offices produced this photo to round up the first month of my 365 project (I did it! I did it!)

I'm definitely starting office BBQ's on the patio at lunchtimes this summer! Haha. And I'm looking forward to the sun setting later on in the day, when I'm home from work, and can chase it to a pretty location for some better prepared photos :)

Now then, on to The King's Speech. AMAZING. I loved it. I want the set of the speech therapists office. What an excellent place to take photos! If that was my studio I'd be a very happy lady...maybe one day. And whoever chose the compositions for camera was a genius. And whoever came up with the script was also a genius. It was just such a good film! Colin Firth is an incredible actor, but his talent is shown 100% in this film. If that makes sense...ha. I'm sure there are people who wouldn't enjoy it, may find it boring...but we just won't talk to them! I was almost in tears towards the end. Ahmazing.

Ok, so...that's one month down...11 to go! Thank you very much to the people who are die hard fans (of the blog, not Bruce Willis...but good for you if you are!), and have been reading every day. Please keep commenting and complimenting it so that I will continue throughout the year :D Haha.

Happy Monday!

Day 30: James's 1st Birthday!

I'd like to start today's blog with some wise words from Fin...
knjm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmjv                                  o ,kmnc vvvbvv bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn                         rccxvd                          mbvvv   ce....

What an absolute genius.

And now, the not so wise words from Me! I popped round to Andrew and Susie's today to celebrate James's 1st Birthday with them, along with Sarah, Dave and Fin, Rob, Anne and Hannah, and Auntie Ruthie! Unfortunately the party was put on hold while the Birthday Boy had his afternoon nap...but the adults entertained themselves with the balloons until he got up. Ha.

It's quite funny seeing a baby on their first birthday, not having a clue what's going on, and sometimes being more fascinated with the wrapping paper than the present itself. Haha. But James got the hang of it soon enough, and was loving his presents! I'll post more photos up on Facebook tomorrow night hopefully. But for now I'll leave you with these two...

Happy Birthday James!

Day 29: Happy Birthday Sarah, and Half Birthday Fin!

My sister is now 26...married, and has a beautiful baby boy, who she shares half birthdays with :) That's right. My nephew is now 6 months old. CreyC. (Anyone who doesn't understand where my amazing new spelling of 'crazy' comes from, look up the Final 12 in last years X Factor...Lolsies. I'm considering changing the spelling of my name to Catreeowna, cause it's cool innit) So as a birthday treat I met Sarah, Dave and Fin at Duthie Park to takes some photos :) 

But before that, I had a mini shoot at Johnston Gardens with the MacLelland family. Such a cute wee park, the girls had some fun feeding the ducks, and then poor wee Kate got a bit fed up of the photographer lady and her camera. But even though Kate's hiding from me, I love the photo below! Looking forward to editing a few more photos for this wonderful family next week. And maybe I'll see you guys next Saturday...Haha.

Then, after nipping home to fill up the washer in the car, and charge my phone, and pick up Mum to drive her in to town, I headed to Duthie Park to meet the Morrison family :) And we had lots of giggles, as I worked on my communicating/demanding photographer skills, which led to this beautiful photo of Sarah! And her boys looking suspicious...and fascinated with a wall...

I photographed Sarah and Dave at the Winter Gardens at Duthie Park after Sarah Graduated, so it was really nice to be photographing them there again, with Fin! I love it. That boy is such a wonderful addition to the Morrison (and Stewart!) family, and I'll never get bored of photographing them all together. Fin on the other hand is going to be Seriously fed up of me by his 1st Birthday...maybe he'll be a model when he's older...Ha.

Sarah's not too shabby at the whole photography thing either...maybe I'll let her be my assistant...and when we're rich I'll get an operation on my big nose. Just kidding, I know it's in proportion with the rest of my face...

Hope you're all having a good weekend!

Day 28: A day of trying new things

My overnight trip to Glasgow was pretty excellent all together :) The concert last night was fantabulous (I need to work on my descriptive words...), and I'm listening to Band of Horses while I type this. I absolutely loved it! And was super chuffed to get to bed before midnight...hehe. It was a perfect evening. Apart from the minor fail of not actually getting to spend time with Anna and friends due to them having tickets for standing downstairs, and us having tickets for the balcony. Woops. I spotted them in an instant when I looked down...very funny. And apologies to Ali Walker for maybe weirding him out about the fact that it was his beard that I spotted first! Haha. Good times.

When Ali and I arrived at our aunt Ruth's house, and got to our rooms (without waking the household!), we were greeted with hotel-like treatment...

A towel, a bottle of water, Colin the Caterpillar sweets for me (Yum!), and a bag of healthy mixed nuts for Ali...woop. Haha. It was amazing! And the en suite with the power shower just tipped it over the edge. I LOVE power showers!

As the title of this blog states, I tried a few new things today! Driving around Glasgow for the first time ever was one of them, it was rather successful all in all. Motorways with 4/5 lanes are slightly scary when you're not sure when the road's gonna split off and where it's gonna take you...yes, ok, I know there are signs telling you these things. But still.Another new thing I tried was Wagamamas. Amazing! Ali and I went there for lunch with my aunts Anne and Ruth, and cousins Rhona and not so little Abigail :) It was lovely!

Granny & Grampa had met us for dinner before the concert last night, so I'm really glad we managed to see all the Glasgow Berry clan on our short visit! And that brings me to my final two 'New Things'...one Berry who has only just recently joined the Glasgow posse is my cousin Rhona, who decided to hurt my feelings and go study there instead of Aberdeen! *sob* But it's fine...and today we went shopping together, for the first time ever...which is madness! I dunno about her but I LOVED it. It was so good to spend some time with her, find out how she's getting on in Glasgow, and get her permission to buy yummy clothes!! :D Like my 'Try New Things' denim dress...unlike anything in my cupboard, it was an exciting purchase (And I maybe also bought a new snood...but that's nothing different from the norm...HA). So today's official photo of the day is for her, because she's a wonderful shopping buddy and I enjoyed our giggles :)

We had a great time in New Look posing in the mirrors, trying to figure out who the blonde guy who snuck in to our photos was...turned out to be a mannequin...Lolsies, and trying on hilariously high shoes...

So it was a darn good trip to Glasgow! And I am now going to go to sleep :) Good night Berry's, lovely to see you, as always!

Day 27: Aaaaaghh!

Say hello to my room/bomb site. I've been rushing around for the last couple hours trying to get myself organised, and I've popped to Tesco to for petrol, and scrumptious goodies for me to munch in the car down. I have to confess they're incredibly healthy goodies (apart from the Tangfastic Haribos, good suggestion Anna Green), as I'm trying to be all good 'n healthy since my stupid migraines at the start of this week.

So...I have no idea what I'm wanting to say here...I'm hoping to hit the road in about 20 minutes...and since Ali's a man, the fact that he's only just gone for his shower shouldn't be an issue! For those of you who don't know. We're going to see Band of Horses tonight in the O2 Academy in Glasgow. Eeeeek! I love love love these guys. I listened to their album 'Everything All the Time' for the whole week that I was in Lewis doing my first year Graded Unit in college. And I love that every time I listen to it it reminds me of that pretty fantastic week of Mum and I driving aaaaall over, through rain and sunshine, and me snapping away at all the things I love about that place! So I'm excited to be going to see them tonight. With Anna Green, Kirsten Graham and Ali Walker. Thanks for letting us join you guys!

And I'm also getting to squeeze in some banter with Rhona :) And my Aunts, and baby cousin Abigail. SO, all round it's gonna be a pretty wonderful trip south! As long as no one breaks in to my car while we're at the concert...not that I expect these things in Glasgow...

Ok, I better go. I'm not actually ready yet! Must get my camera packed up ready for photographing tomorrow's blog photo at some point throughout the day :D

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Day 26 : Mum's driving lesson...

I know what you're all thinking...today's photo quality is pretty poor. I'm sorry. It's dark outside, it's raining, and I'm no car photographer, so this is as good as it gets...

HA. Ok, so what you're all probably REALLY thinking is "Mumsy drove in THAT?!" Oooooh yes. My Mum's cool.

Because Ali doesn't want to drive his car down to Glasgow, Mum is taking his car for two days so that I can drive us down in the Astra. Super Lolsies! Mother will be rockin up to Kemnay Primary school tomorrow morning in her red Toyota MR2...or as I like to call it, Brum. It's incredibly kind of her to give me her car...but secretly I think she's well excited about getting to drive Ali's car!! Haha. It'll be pretty weird for her...being a lot lower down...and a lot faster...but it's a pretty nice car! I've not driven it myself, and I'm not expert, but it sticks to the road very nicely on corners and you feel nice n snug in it. Getting out of it while wearing a knee length pencil skirt is no easy task though...

After Neighbourhood Fellowship Ali showed Mum all the controls etc. in the car, and they then went out for a wee spin. Mum apparently had difficulty getting in to 3rd gear...good be worse! Just skip 3rd I say. When they got back Ali asked if I wanted to drive it...Heck yeah I do! But I also want to do my blog post and go to sleep. Maybe I'll have a wee shot on Friday night when we get back...although I don't think I'm actually legally allowed to drive it due to that pesky insurance nonsense. So it'll maybe be a wee spin around Mains Court...or an illegal trip to Tesco...but I never said that.

Ok, I hope this post has sufficiently entertained you, I've enjoyed it! And now I must go to sleep as I have to get up in the morning and put my washing away, pack some stuff for Glasgow, put petrol in the car, buy batteries for that thingy that's gonna let us listen to Ali's ipod in the car, make sure I actually have our concert tickets, and tie Alistair up in the backseat with sellotape over his mouth so that he can't complain about my driving. Woawee, try say that whole sentence without taking a breath. I was never any good at English. OH! And I have to do my blogpost before we go as I won't be able to do it in Glasgow. So tomorrow you'll be getting a fascinating photo of my breakfast...or my cup of tea :) Mmmmm. Good night!

Day 25: I just like being cosy, no biggy...

...well, ok, maybe it is a biggy...No not my nose(that's just cause it's a wide angle lens...yeah...), my hood!

I went for a wee walk in the rain to get my lunch today. Good story you say, well, it's not over yet! As I arrived back at work, wearing my beautiful new coat with the hood up, I was greeted by laughter and "It's the grim reaper!...is that what's fashionable now?..."

...I guess so. And I'm super thankful for it. I love big hoods. It keeps me so cosy!! The End.

I decided to go for a self portrait today, to show off my beautiful hood, and because I'm thinking of doing a self portrait every couple weeks...although that'll probably not happen. I'm pretty rubbish at them. Usually they get deleted straight after they've been taken...or I make a silly face. But at least then you guys would have something to laugh at every couple weeks :)

I have no idea whether people are getting bored of this 365 project yet...I'm wondering whether I should try doing a random theme every few weeks? Ideas are welcome...Or if you're happy with my random nonsense each day, that's fine too...

Day 24: Typically lovely Scottish day

I've tried my bestest to not have my laptop on today, but I had bits n bobs to do, including my blogpost obviously, so I think in total it's been on for almost an hour. Impressive! Today's post is gonna be a short one, so I can quickly switch the laptop off again, and get back to watcing Braveheart (Lolsies).I took this photo while sitting at the back door, getting some fresh air and listening to the rain. It felt good!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Day 23: I'm getting Botox

I woke up with another migraine this morning. Good times. So I wasn't out at church at all today, and am in fact still in my pj's. Over the last couple days Mum has mentioned a few times an article from one of her healthy bla bla magazines about the causes of migraines...so today she gave it to me to read. It gives a list of common 'triggers'...and there's a large possibility that I maaaay be able to tick off everything from that list...Stress, sleep disturbance (due to late night blogging!), hormones, dehydration and meal skipping, flashing or flickering lights (or laptop screens...), food (chocolate and cheese are bad...sad times).

So...the good thing is, now I have an excuse to go to bed early, eat lots, and not do any work! Heh heh heh. And that's exactly what I'm gonna do tonight. There's some Scottish Pride bread in the kitchen calling my name, and then I'm off up to bed to read for a bit and get a good night's sleep in preparation for another busy week!

I hope you've all had a lovely Sunday :)

Day 21: "Wedding Photographer"

I absolutely cannot wait to be classed as a Wedding Photographer. I'm gonna Love Love Love it! And yes, I am photographing two weddings this year, so technically I already am a Wedding Photographer...but I'm not broadcasting that to the world just yet. A wedding is kind of a big deal...just a little bit...Being the person who's capturing the special moments from that incredible day for the couple to treasure for ever more...is slightly terrifying.

But SO exciting!!!

And so I am really looking forward to when my business has progressed, and my confidence increased, so that I can take on a lot more than two weddings in one year. Being part of such a wonderful time in a couples life will be a massive privilege.

Cheese, cheese, and more cheese. I love being cheesy.

So anyway, what brought this topic up?? Well, today I went to Ardoe House to meet Liz and Andrew, who's wedding I'm photographing in April (...just over 2 months away. Aaagh!!), and have a walk around to see where would be good for their Wedding Portraits. I loved it! Liz and Andrew are so lovely, and I got very excited as we went through the ideas for the day, and discovered they'd like both traditional, and quirky photos! It's going to be Amazing. I brought my camera along and took a few photos just to get a feel for the place, so of course I'm going to use one for my photo of the day!

There are so many great locations for photos outside, and inside. Let's hope it's a lovely day with perfect light on April 9th to make Liz and Andrew's photos extra wonderful :)

Day 21: The Little Red Wellies...

Yes folks, they're back! I wanted to get them out the cupboard for my photo today, because I'm pretty excited...This week my friend Katherine and I set a date in June for a trip up to Lewis! I've not been up since...July 2009, and although some may disagree, I think that's far too long between visits. But what makes it even more exciting is the fact that Katherine's NEVER BEEN. So, even though I'm by no means an expert on the island, I am super looking forward to taking her to all my favourite spots :)

We'll hopefully have a car for the week, so the tunes will be flowing as we cruise from one part of the island to the other each day, and the picnic basket will be filled with goodies, including a flask of water and some teabags of course! And we'll have our wellies and waterproofs in the boot...just in case...But to be honest I'm gonna Love It whether it's blazing sunshine or torrential rain! And not forgetting all the fantabulous photos we'll be taking all week...I'll need to get internet access from somewhere every day for my blog post of course, the house in Vatisker isn't set up for internet...but I'll figure something out. Maybe I'll just break in to the Martin residence and steal theirs :)

Oh dear...it's another late one! Time for bed I think. Toodles :)

Day 20 : I've never voted...

...and I have to be honest and say that I know absolutely nothing about politics. I'd much rather visit the Hummingbird Bakery than the Houses of Parliament if I was in London. But none the less, photographing the deputy Prime Minister at my uncle's company was rather exciting! And no, I didn't give him a business card...maybe I'll post him one...he's bound to remember shaking hands with ME out of the hundred odd people he met today, surely. You don't think so? Ok.

So yes...for those of you who don't know, Nick Clegg was in Aberdeen today, and his first port of call was Rotech Engineering, my uncle Ken's company. Ooooh yeah. He was interested in all the Renewable Energy work that Rotech are doing at the moment. Fascinating stuff, in all seriousness, just don't ask me for the details. Read tomorrow's paper. And my uncle Ken asked if I'd walk around with them snapping away with my beautiful camera...so I like to think I have now photographed a celebrity...woop! Getting closer to meeting Brucey every step.

I wanted to think of something super smart to say about the experience...but sadly I cannot...I keep thinking about my rather mismatched outfit, and wondering if the cardigan I was wearing was really a good idea. If I'd been caught by the BBC Scotland camera crew in my photographers squat with that big cardi on...and shown on telly to hundreds of people (of course they'd be looking at me, and not Nick Clegg), it wouldn't have been a pretty sight...in fact, this is what it would've looked like...

I am so lanky...and with that cardi on I look like a big lanky pink bat. Good times. Okay okay, enough about my outfit and let's just get to what you're all really interested in...

There he is folks, in the Rotech workshop! I'm quite pleased with this photo, it's nice and crisp, the lighting's not too harsh, and apart from Ken's ever so slightly vacant look, no one's blinking or making some utterly bizarre facial expression that I just happend to push the button in time for!

So, tomorrow's gonna be a busy busy day of catch up photo editing, and I actually cannot wait :D Hope you're all having a good week!

Day 19: Sneaky wee photo at lunchtime

I came home for lunch today, because I could, because I've been lent a car for the day. A car that's more like a bus...with a handbrake that's not far off an airplane take off lever thingy...and I'd know that because I've driven a 747 too...Yeah.

Anyhoo in the last 5 minutes before heading back to work I decided to take advantage of the daylight again for my Photo of the Day. I wouldn't say this photo was anywhere near as amazing as my teacup photo from last week, but it's a pretty picture at least. Thrown together in about 30 seconds using the following...
*One random plant pot found on top of fridge.
*One head of fake flowers from vase in my room
*One of my beautiful scarves
*One Glass and small bowl inside plant pot to stop flower and scarf sinking in
*One breakfast bar counter top.
Throw a few textures on top in Photoshop...and Voila!

I'm at Rotech again tomorrow...that's 4 days in one week I'll have worked...CreyC. I'll hopefully get round to blogging Emma's birthday and the Lipp residence tomorrow night, or Friday :)

Day 18: Gettin down to business...

...great title, I know. My new business cards and advertising postcards arrived today. Aaaaagh!! I designed them myself...so they're by no means Graphic Design Perfection. But I think they suit ME. When I took them out the box I wasn't 100% happy with them. I knew the edges were gonna end up being an issue, because I had to be silly and put a funny border on them...and Vistaprint aren't very exact about where they're going to trim the business cards...so I tried to leave a plain white border round the outside of my actual design. And surprise surprise, a couple edges on one side have white borders and on the other side my border has been almost completely hacked off. HA. But after a second look a couple hours later...I like them. It's rather exciting. And terrifying at the same time.

As many of you know, I think too much. I over think almost everything. And starting up my business is far from an exception to that issue. I've held myself back for months because I feel like I have to have everything perfect before I can actually start...but I can't perfect things...until I start...I go round in circles. And things are in fact never going to be perfect anyway!

Pricing things is my biggest issue...I'd love to just photograph people, and not charge them...Ha. But sadly, that's not realistic. I'd need to be married to a very rich man...and Bruce Willis isn't available. So I need to just be brutal, set myself the deadline of having my various portrait package prices laid out by the end of January, and if I don't do it then tell Mum to take away my teabags.

Ok so...*drum roll*...here are my new business cards and ad postcards...

Please don't point out any typos, or tell me they're rubbish...I'm quite sensitive now that there's the fear of being deprived of tea...

Day 17 : I wonder when...

...Mum's gonna realise I'm not actually going to sleep yet, because I've not done my blog! Eeek. I was out for a few hours this evening, and when I came home Mum was already in bed and shouted through to me "Have you switched off your laptop?"...um "Yes..." I switched it off before I went out...and now it's going back on again so I can do my blogpost... Love you Mum...if you ever get round to reading this...

Ok, anyway, it's late. So today's post is gonna be a short one. I've had a rather good day, it's been pretty busy! Slightly non-stop. And I'll admit my photo for today was taken about...half an hour ago(with a late night artistic flare attempt, to add a lil somethin' somethin'). But I think it fits in nicely with a conversation I had earlier tonight...and is a fact of my life in general really...

I'd soooooo rather be on the beach. ALL the time. But especially when life gets a little hectic, and you'd just love a breather. We all have moments like this! Maybe you're location of choice wouldn't be the beach...that's fine. More for me!

But, we can't always run away to our dream location, we have to just get on with things...so instead, it's a great thing to remember that God never gives you more than you can handle. And when I think that I usually think "Really??...You think I can handle ALL of this?!...wowee!" And granted, it's really nothing compared to what other people have to handle. But everyone has their own situation.

This kind of ties in with what I spoke about last Wednesday...I guess you need to believe in Yourself a little too...


(Blogpost successfully completed without Mum realising...ooooh yeah. Good night!)

Day 16: Eat.Play.Sleep...

...he lives a good life.

This boy is going to feature quite a lot in my 365 Project, you could probably guess that. I just can't get enough of him! Even when I'm feeling super super tired, his squidgy little face, obsession with wanting to stand up all the time, and hilarious giggles, put a smile on my face. I love it! And I struggle to remember times when he wasn't here...I'm pretty sure we were all incredibly bored.

On another note, who wants an update on the jigsaw? Well, it's now a pile of ashes in the back garden...those toasted marshmallows were Amazing. Hohoho. Just kidding. Sarah and Dave are currently attempting to place the final 30 pieces...of the sky...they're basically all identical.HA.

I'm wondering how early is too early to go to sleep...7:45pm? Ok that's fine, cause it's now 7:47pm! Hooray!

Day 15 : Party time!

I had the privilege of photographing Emma MacLelland's 8th Birthday this afternoon :) I absolutely loved how creative and special it was! They had gone to so much effort and created a fantastic party atmosphere for Emma and her friends.

They started off decorating masquerade masks (AMAZING!), then played a few party games...7 screaming girls and chocolate...things got a little crazy! Ha. Then it was time for the incredible array of party food, cake and CANDY FLOSS. Love love love.

I'll post a few more photos from this amazing party next week, but for now I'll leave you with a photo of the party girl herself, in her alien mask...

Hope you're all having a good weekend, mine's been excellent so far...just a little tired! Ha.

Day 14: Today has been a Good day.

I hope you have all had as good a day as I've had! Mine was filled with wonderful girlies. I am so privilidged to have these wonderful girlies in my life! I'm incredibly tired, due to excessive talking all afternoon, and evening, and eating a hefty amount of food at the Handmade Burger Co. (YUM.) with Katherine. And I only hope that I can give these girlies a post at least half as good as they deserve! Typing this at 00:38am is probably not a good idea. But it HAS to be done. This should be humorous for you all, as you know how well I function with lack of sleep...HA.

It was extremely difficult choosing just one photo for today, as I took quite a few at Emma's...I heart Lifestyle photography. And I was almost preparing myself to sort 16 photos to put on this post, but I decided that really wasn't going to happen. SO, I've cut it down to 3, and tomorrow I'll post the other photos from my lovely visit to the Lipp residence :)

I'm really not going to manage as long a post as I'd like...I seriously suck at late nights, but all that really needs to be said is that today has been SO good. I got to catch up with two pretty fantastic girlies, and take photos of two other pretty adorable girlies. Coming away from a trip to the Lipp residence, I'm always always always filled with such encouragement. I give Emma a list of compliments to say about me and I just sit and enjoy a cup of tea while she recites them. Haha. Just kidding...sort of. Emma is a very wise woman, and I am so lucky to have times when I can pop round, sit and enjoy her company. Sadly we don't have the time to do that so often these days.

And then there's Katherine...a girl I fell in love with within weeks of her coming to Aberdeen(nothing to do with the fact that she was tall, and I felt like less of a lanky person standing next to her). We've had some very good times over the last 4 years, and I'm very sad that this is her final year...and she'll be leaving me rather soon. But I know that the friendship will most certainly not stop there. She's a keeper! And I want to go on and on and on and on about how fantastic both of these girlies are. But my laptop has just warned me that I have 8% battery life left, and my charger is downstairs...that aint happening. So I am going to finish up this incredibly rushed and babble filled blog, by saying thank you very much to you two for giving me a fabby day :)

And to all my other wonderful girlies...you'll each get a blog post in the next 351 days :) Good night!!

Day 13: Die Hard's Better.

I was very excited about watching The Expendables tonight for the first time. As you can see, I had my popcorn ready, and a mug of tea (with soya milk in it because my milk had gone off. But don't worry, I've just driven to Tesco to buy more so I don't have to WALK to the shops in the morning :) The epitome of laziness now that I can drive, I know), and I was going to do my daily blog post about it. But, when the film was over, I wasn't very enthused. I don't think I can say it was completely rubbish. It was alright. But let's be honest, any film that only allows Bruce Willis 2 minutes screen time, has some major flaws!

When a guy got the upper half of his body blown off I was a little worried it was gonna be one of those silly films with people exploding and lots of fake computer generated blood flying everywhere, but thankfully there wasn't too much of that. There was however A LOT of Sylvester Stalone looking incredibly awful. He's far too muscley, and tanned, and bulgey, and vainy, and old, and tanned, and old.

And then Brucey's wonderful face came on screen :) Aah, good times. My DVD player broke at that point...paused the movie for like a minute...weiurd...yeup. And then everything was ruined again by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger walking on the scene like an old age pensioner who, might I say, has had far too much botox. Come on guys! Give it up, let Brucey take your place.

Och, I'm sorry. It was an OK movie. Lots of obviously fake looking bits, and some seriously cheesy lines going on...you could say the same about Die Hard, but it was made in 1989!! It's allowed to be cheesy. And Brucey's in it. Mmmm. Ha, ok, rant over. I wasn't going to do my blog post about this movie, but after thinking for ages of what I could photograph, and even photographin the bottle of milk I'd bought in Tesco!! I thought, no, go have a moan.

So after all that, my apologies to the very kind person who lent me the DVD tonight, thank you, but you'll be getting it back very soon! :) Good night everyone. Tomorrow's post should be MUCH better as I'm hoping to pay a visit to the Lipp residence. Yay!

Day 12: Neighbourhood Fellowship

Now...I'm no great theological writer...or any sort of great or theological writer...in fact, I feel I often make little sense when I write or say something smart or wise...or try to describe something...kind of like now! But anyway, where's the going you ask? Well, we had neighbourhood fellowship tonight, we were looking at Mark 4 v 35 - 5 vs 43, and right at the very beginning we were asked this question...

"What makes you afraid?"

One person in the group told us one of their fears from when they were younger, and it was my fear too...It's not easy when one of your fears come true, and in some instances "not easy" is an understatement. I'm going to admit that from that point on tonight, I was...struggling. Trying my best to focus, and trying to hide that I was a bit emotional so as not to cause a disruption during our fellowship time.

My photo today is one of the verses we were focusing on...

Bear with me as I try to make some sense in what I'm trying to express here...I don't want to be all "Easier said that done Jesus." (I was gonna add the word 'mate' in there too, but thought that was really a step too far in my sarcasm). But having no fear, and 100% belief and trust in God isn't always easy for us. We're human. We fail, at many things. And then...many people look at a Christian and think "How on earth can you believe in God when *insert major incident* has happened?!"

Well, my answer is...when I DO remember that I can have no fear, and just believe, and trust, and hope in God. It's a wonderful feeling. Yes sure, bad things have happened to me. Being a Christian certainly does not mean I have an easy life. But the times that I'm struggling, are the times that I come closer to God. That I am Thankful for his great unmeasureable love for each of us. That no matter what I do wrong, how silly I am, how much nonsense I speak, he will always forgive me if I ask and love me eternally.

Ok... I hope I've made some sense. I feel I've inadequately put across what I wanted to say...but I need some sleep so I'm going to leave it there...we can reflect on it another time perhaps?

Day 11: Mushy Head

I realised an old friend had come to visit this morning when I got up. I tried to ignore him while I got ready for work, but his presence definitely slowed me down, and eventually I realised that he wasn't leaving before I went to work. So, the only thing I could do was tell work I wouldn't be in for a couple more hours, and try get some more sleep. That's the only way I can get rid of migraines you see.

I did attempt to get a bus in to work a few hours later when I woke up and thought my head was better, but my luck with buses wasn't good today, and after 45 minutes in the cold, and realising my head was still pretty mushy, I went home again.


I decided that I would attempt a pretty, creative photo for my blog post today, and it was great to have some daylight for it! I can't wait for the long summer nights to come again. The teacup set was a 21st birthday present from Ken and Rachel and the "kiddies" (one of whom is taller than me by a good few inches, and the other shows me up with her beautiful face and dress sense). I love it!! It's so so pretty, and it's about time I photographed it. Hope you like it!

This is the first edit I did, but I did a couple others afterwards so I'll post them on the Facebook page.

I plan on going to bed at 9, and hope to be asleep by 10...mmm, can't wait!!

Day 10: My nose is tickly...

Don't worry, today's photo is not of my nose...that's definitely not gonna attract blog followers.

Whereas a photo of my desk at work is bound to roll in the masses...HA.

Yes folks, this is THEE Reception desk. Where dreams come true, and when I say that I mean the lucky visitors who come in and are welcomed by my wonderful smile...because I've secretly had the phone unplugged for 2 hours...HA. Just kidding Ken, I promise.

It's quite weird to think I've worked at Rotech for almost 4 and a half years (haha, yes make your jokes about whether I've actually done "work", and whether one day a week for 2 years out of the 4 really counts)...I've been very lucky. And I've always said that starting work there, rather than staying on for 6th year at school, was far more beneficial to me. It's built up my confidence, and although my phone skills haven't really advanced, I've learnt a lot, and met people who've had a very positive effect on my life. They've been SO supportive over the years. What with my trip to Uganda, trying to decide whether to apply for the HND Photography course at college, and then during my time at college. And that support hasn't stopped yet, as I take on the biggest challenge yet! I'll say it again, I've been very lucky.

But I'm gonna stop now, cause if George ever reads this he'll rip me to shreds for my cheesyness.

Oh, guess what I spent the majority of my evening doing...the jigsaw.

Day Nine: You'd think I was an old lady...

...I am SO tempted to just curl up and go to sleep right now. But, NO. I can't not do my daily blog post. I hoped to go to bed early tonight, and I know you're all thinking "...em...it's still only 10:30??", but that's NOT early to me. (I'm noticing my blog posts often have running themes in the way I type things out...the other day I used a lot of bracketty things...and today I appear to be loving the capitals!...and the bracketty things). And it's all John Spilsbury's fault that I am yet to shut my eyes for the night.

You see, John Spilsbury invented the jigsaw puzzle (yes, I wasted time 'googling' that), and on New Year's Eve, Sarah brought out a 1000 piece jigsaw of Padstow Harbour. I know what you're thinking right now too...us Stewart's sure know how to party, and bring in the new year with a bang! Well, I wasn't having any of it at first. I sat playing Super Mario Kart Wii with Ali (way more exciting, I know!), but then Sarah guilt tripped me in to helping. Now...whoever said jigsaw's a therapeutic, needs a good smack over the head. They're frustrating! And the painter of the image was obviously having a laugh, just blobbing in the wrong colour in random places to throw you off. It's safe to say that I didn't touch the jigsaw once between New Years Eve, and Sarah and Dave coming over this weekend. Sarah has put the majority of the pieces together, with a little help from me and Ali. I tried my best to get loads more done once she'd left tonight...but I have a feeling she took a handful of pieces home in her pocket...and eventually I gave up. Woawee, you guys must be loving todays blog! Haha. Ok, I'll just get to today's image...which is of course, THEE jigsaw. Which will NOT go up on the wall when we're done. It's going in our Chimenea.

Now...bed time!! Yaaaaaay :D

Day Eight : So, I've successfully completed a week!

I'm rather impressed that I've managed to keep up my daily blog post for the whole week! I know, I know, it really is only a WEEK. I shouldn't get too carried away. I've enjoyed it, and I hope you have too! Incredibly fascinating stuff this. Ha!

Ok so...what have I done today? Well...I went in to town at half 10, went to O2 and finally sorted the problems they've been having with my bills for the last 6 months(hopefully!), went to the bank to put in some monies, and asked them for some details on business accounts! Then I bought a lovely new coat in Zara with some of my monies, it has an amazing jedi master hood on it. I LOVE IT! Then I decided to put in to Topshop...a rare occassion, I know! And I tried on a very pretty Peter Pan collar dress...shown below...Isn't it pretty? Unfortunately they only had size 14s left, and it's a tad too expensive. Sob. I also went to the CLC to get my new daily reading notes, and finally went back to get my exhibition work from The Coffee House. So, if any of you would like some pretty pictures of Lewis (who wouldn't?!), that are on capa board, and have velcro pads on the back of them, then give me a shout!

I headed home after that, Sarah and Dave and my gorgeous little nephew...you know I have a gorgeous nephew yes? HA. Of course you do. Well, they were round for the afternoon. Lovely! Fin is getting verrrry close to being able to sit up on his own. He was working his magic on the sofa today, very cute and highly amusing when he'd start swaying back on to the cushion. Like this...

And in the evening we headed to the lovely home of Donald and Anne Smith, for our neighbourhood fellowship group meal. It was an evening filled with delicious food and great company. The men in the corner looking serious, the women at the other end of the room laughing every few minutes, and the children with their eyes glued to the telly...or causing noisey havoc upstairs. When pudding appeared, I couldn't resist taking a photo of Judy's very yummy looking cheesecake, it was decorated oh so beautifully! And it is my official 'Photo of the Day' for today...

Wowee, that was a long blog post! I hope you're all enjoying your weekend so far. I'm looking forward to seeing students back at Church tomorrow, and we're having communion, but I'm on creche so I'll miss it. Good thing babies are cute!

A short visit to Crathes Castle

I've been wanting to photograph the pond area at the entrance to Crathes Castle for quite a while now, and I managed to pop in for 10 minutes on the way out to Banchory last Friday. The light wasn't what I'd hoped for, it was too late in the day, but I decided to get a few defrosting winter photos. I didn't take any proper snow pictures over Christmas!  

Ok so, enough chit chatter. Here are the photies! 

I took this photo without a tripod, because I no longer own one! I wanted to use a longer shutter speed for some pretty water movement, but this was as good as my wobbly crouch stance could manage.

I used my 50mm 1.8 lens for the next 3 photos. The first one is with my 28-135mm 3.5/5.6 lens.

I quite like this next one, the light on the leaves is niiice, and it's all yummy and crisp lookin'. At least, I think so anyway.

Mmmm, look at that cute little leaf! Don't you just love the detail in it? God creates wonderful things!

Have a good weekend!

Day Seven: Mmmm...Chinese

I'm happy to say that the new year has not brought about a change in what I order from the Chinese. I don't get sweet and sour chicken ALL the time, just...99.5% of the time. It's soooo gooooooood. I love it!

I've had a pretty productive 2 days I'd say. Designed and ordered new business cards, and advertising postcards. Yippee! Looked on Business Gateways website for workshops I can go to that'll help me know what on earth I should be doing with regards to starting my business. And a few other things. It's been fun!

I think I most definitely deserve a wee trip to Topshop tomorrow... :D

Day Six: Step in to my office...

...mind the jigsaw.

I know I've got three pictures today, but I felt it was needed. Or, I was just procrastinating! Today is the day I get my butt in to gear with my portraiture business. I've got my 'office' set up again, I've got my specs on, and I've written my To Do list (in my amazing new cupcake diary from Sarah, with my fabulous 'Lovliest Auntie Ever' pen, from Fin, of course, he picked it himself...)

So, I better hurry up and finish off this post so that I can get on with all the things I need to do! And maybe I should request that you all send me messages to make sure I've not gone off track, and started looking up when the next season of 24 will be available On Demand on my telly....mmm Jack Bauer.

OK OK, I'm going.

Day Five : Welcome back Worthingtons :)

I'm pleased to say the Worthington family are once again in the country(via Paris)! Hooraaaaay! I went over to Aberdeen Airport (first time I'd ever been inside it. Very exciting.) after work to help transport them, and their large quantity of luggage, back to their flat with Rob Grant. It's lovely to have them back! I'm pretty sure Anya grew an inch or two.

They don't know anything about my blog yet...so, SURPRISE GUYS! You got your own post. I hope you get a super duper amazing sleep tonight. Wrap up warm, it's a tad cold here.  I should probably change all that to past tense, because let's be realistic...what're the chances of them being on Facebook right now? Ha.

On a random note, just finished watching Iron Man 2. I love that film! Toodles x

Day Four : I Love My Family...

 Yes folks...this is half of my family. 'The Stewarts'. My first day back at work wasn't too bad, when I had dinner with these guys to look forward to in the evening. The crazy man on the right at the front, and the beautiful blonde squidging my baby nephew, were down from the Black Isle for the day with their four pyscho kids. It was great to see them, as I hadn't seen them since my 21st birthday in June. A weekend that will never be forgotten...I was spoilt rotten! My family are pretty fantastic, and I'm very lucky that they put up with me! I'm looking forward to looking back at this hilarious photo in a years time.

A few of us had a game of scrabble. I was totally winning for ages at the start, but my luck with the tiles ran out. Here's a snap from the game. The word 'Feast' is highly associated with a visit to Ken and Rachel's house, we had 3 flipping delicious dishes to choose from. Well...one of the chicken ones could have been disgusting, I didn't try it cause it was spicy. It looked amazing though!

I must start posting these earlier in the evening...I'm sure they'd be highly more interesting if I did!

Hope you're all having an excellent first week of the year so far!

Day Three: Candy Queen

I'm going to try and keep this post short and sweet...ok, no pun was intended in that phrase. I'm back at work tomorrow, and considering I've been up past 1am for the last 5 nights(those of you who know me well, will appreciate the craziness of this), I'm not looking forward to getting up at 6:45am.

I had a completely lazy day today, watching movies in my joggers, and then venturing out to the cinema with Mum and Ali in the evening. And from that, what better thing to have as my 'Photo of the Day'...

I love Pick n Mix! And Cineworld cinema always has the best pick n mix. So I have to say it was an excellent way to end my holiday, and what's excellent is I never manage to eat aaaaall my pick n mix in the one night so the next few days of work won't be too bad really.

Day Two: The calm before the storm...

Today I had lunch at Andrew and Susie's, along with Sarah and Dave. For those of you who don't know the connections, let me lay it out for you: Sarah is my rather fantastic older sister, she's married to Dave, who is Susie's brother, and Susie is married to Andrew, who is the brother of one of my oh so bestest friends. So basically, they're all part of family. And in 2010 that family began to grow, with the arrival of the two beautiful boys you see sleeping above. I thought the title of this blog was appropriate for these two photographs, as although the 6 month age gap between these boys is quite big at the moment...it'll be no time at all before these two cousins are running around together causing havoc! There were many times I wondered what would be my 'Photo of the Day', with many giggles, and cute faces, I thought it would be difficult to choose. But it seemed only right to post these precious moments of peace and quiet...to look back on when we're hiding from mischievous little boys.

I hope you all had a good day, I sure did!

Day One: I have a blog!

Welcome to my blog...bare with me, I've never done one before! I'm considering doing a 365 project. For those of you who don't know what that is, it involves uploading a new photo every day...for a year. A whole year...crazy. We'll see how that goes!

Here is the start of my 365 Project...nothing grand!

So, the 1st of January 2011 is now over, already!...It makes me wonder what exciting things God has planned for me this year! I'm not expecting them all to be easy, and I hope that I can ask for the strength to rise to the challenges each day. This could be such a successful year for me if I simply put my mind to it, and work for it! I have amazing opportunities infront of me, and I am so thankful for everything I have in life.

Here's to not knowing where on earth life is going to lead in this year ahead, and just taking everything as it comes with a big smile, and a cuppa!

Thanks for reading...maybe see you again tomorrow?