Day 28/365

Yay! A pretty photo! Which has nothing to do with the cold, and was taken outside! Finally. My photos have been a bit boring this past few days, and I'm very sorry about that.

It was very exciting to be out and about this afternoon, with Matthew, buying some crafty bits n bobs. The street along from Matthew's, where we often have to go to find parking spaces, is lined with beautiful, slim, blossom trees which are all in bloom right now, and I love it! So Matthew waited patiently in the car, while I circled round this lovely tree, trying to get the perfect blossom shot, looking like a total creeper to one passer by, who I'm pretty sure thought I was actually taking photos of their house through the tree branches. Oops.

Don't you just love it!? I sure do.

Day 27/365

Matthew was here...

Day 26/365

This has been my replacement for tea this week...it's really not the same. Definitely has more of a kick than decaf though.

Day 25/365

Woooooaw, actually updating the blog the day I took the photo, retro! Haha. I just want to say thank you to whoever invented the hot water bottle. That is all. Goodnight.

Day 24/365

I awoke this morning feeling incredibly drained, once again, but this time it was the result of leading, with the help of 5 fantastic committee members, an incredible weekend. When I went downstairs I was looking for some fruit juice, and delicious food to munch on, to enjoy on my self granted day off, but the fridge and cupboard were rather bare. I made due with what was there, but by 2pm decided I was going to have to venture to Tesco for further supplies, and was thankful I did when I enjoyed some smoked salmon on crackers for my lunch. Mmmm. But, now, feeling even more drained than I did this morning, I'm off to bed, for another wonderful full night's sleep.

Day 23/365

So, another Youth Conference has been and gone, and this time, after 5 years, I'm no longer on the committee! My time came to an end with a bang, as I took on the role of Convenor for the year, something I never imagined would happen when I joined the committee at 19 years old. However, it wasn't as terrifying as I'd spent the year thinking it would be, once I got the opening night out of the way, and it was actually quite a privilege! It was a wonderful weekend, and I wish I had the energy to tell you just how wonderful it was, but I am absolutely exhausted now so will just have to stop there.

Day 22/365

We booked the inflatables again this year, which made for quite a lot of absolutely hilarious photos. The rest of which will appear on my personal Facebook page at a later date.

Day 21/365

First night at the 2014 Free Church Youth Conference, and the obligatory football match was underway. I went to bed shortly after this, around 11pm, which is a huge rarity! But then, due to inability to sleep, ended up getting up again at 1am, when banter was still taking place downstairs, and stayed up till 3am...quite ridiculous really.

Day 20/365

Sarah and Dave had a date night tonight, and I spent the evening looking after Fin and Elsie, with a brief visit from Matthew too :) This is Fin at the park, before dinner, when he plonked himself down in the bark after coming off the swings. Such an adorable, happy, wee face!

Day 19/365

I had another day of just going back and forth from the sofa to the kitchen, so decided to document that journey for the blog...looks more exciting than it really was! Isn't light a beautiful thing?

Day 18/365

I still felt yucky today, but fresh bed sheet's always makes you feel better, and even more so when the pug of love is snuggled in beside you.

Day 17/365

I spent the day on the sofa, drained from the cold, doing final preparations, replying to emails and text messages, for the 2014 Youth Conference that was coming up at the weekend, and decided to photograph this baseball glove, which Dad bought in Chicago...a ridiculous number of year's ago, with this happy little stress ball, in the sunshine. I feel it symbolises grasping happiness during even the most mundane of moments in life...and also it was the first thing I saw lying around that was remotely interesting. But, we should grasp happiness, because there's always something to be thankful for!

Day 16/365

Bad times for Matthew...Aberdeen beat Inverness 1-0, from penalties, at the Cup Final...he handled it very well, knowing I wouldn't give him any sympathy if he went in a huff.

Day 15/365

FCYA Pancake Night at Katie and Caroline's humble abode...These are my fellow committee members; Matthew, posing...and Anna, accomplishing a fantastic pancake flip. Thanks for all your hard work guys :)

Day 14/365

Sarah, Dave, Fin, Elsie, and Matthew came over for dinner tonight, and Fin wanted to play to drive on the Wii, so all the boys sat themselves down and proceeded to race. Very cute to watch. Fin doesn't quite know exactly how to control it yet, so a lot of the time we pretend he's driving when actually one of us are driving...it's not lying, really...

Day 13/365

I posted out Tom and Eileen Budgen's wedding album to them on day 13. It was such a pleasure going through their wedding images again a few weeks back, to put together their album. It was an incredibly emotional day, with God firmly placed at the centre, and it was so lovely being with them from beginning to end, from the hairdresser's, right through to the end of the night! There was hardly a moment that Eileen didn't have her gorgeous smile on show, and I absolutely loved capturing that :)

I really must nip down to Edinburgh to visit them, I know for a fact, the source being her sister, that Eileen wants to be my friend, and I just loved hearing that!

Day 12/365

Today has been a crazy day of stuffed up sinuses, Youth Conference final touches, newborn editing, and nail painting :)

Yes, those are my toes, not my fingers, and I know some of my friends are going to hate me for posting a picture of my feet, but I just like the new colour!

Day 11/365

Yesterday morning I went round to the Meekins' house (our Youth Worker from Church, and his family), got my hair cut outside in the sunshine by lovely Catherine, enjoyed a delicious lunch, and had my hair put in rollers. It was a fun morning!

I loved how pretty my hair was when Catherine took the rollers out, and it felt like a waste to just go home and spend the evening on the sofa...sadly Matthew had a night out with course mates lined up so we couldn't get dressed up and go out for dinner, but not to let this beautiful hair style go to waste, I decided to take a selfie and show all of you!

I attempted to put makeup on again...I think someone needs to sign me up for a StephM.Artistry masterclass, cause I just looked like a little girl who's got hold of her Mum's make up and turned herself in to a clown.

Day 10/365

Matthew doesn't exactly have a big appetite...so when a plate arrived with this ginormous hotdog and chips, when we were out bowling with the students from Church on Monday night, I was shocked to see him go on to completely demolish it.

Day 9/365

On Sunday night I finally made use of this bath I've been eyeing up every time I stay with his parents, Maggie and Calum. Turns out the bubble bath is very bubbley...I may have put in a bit too much.

If you're ever up visiting the Highlands I highly recommend staying at their beautiful B&B, you can find it here on Air B&B. They LOVE having visitors. There were four girls from London staying while we were up, and as we all stood at the front door and waved them off on Sunday afternoon one of them said "I feel like I'm saying goodybe to family!". Very true! Everyone gets welcomed in to their home like family.

Day 8/365

My cousin Matthew cruising in the go-kart he made along with my uncle and other cousins over the Christmas holidays. Pretty darn cool! My Matthew and I went over for dinner on Saturday night while we were up in Inverness and each got a shot spinning (quite literally) round the garden. So much fun!

Day 7/365

Yay! One of my favourite places! I nipped over to Crathes this morning, to continue my hunt for a stranger, and had a lovely time walking through the walled garden. Due to the ridiculously high winds, and probably time of day, the place wasn't exactly heaving with people, and, once again, those who were there had their BIG waterproof coats/hats/hoods/gloves/boots on...so I decided to make my way to the Winter Gardens at Duthie Park, as it's inside, away from the chilling wind, and filled to the brim with beautiful, colourful, flowers!

I found, not one stranger, but two stranger families! Haha. I'm not going to post them on here though, as I didn't ask their permission to post them on my public sites.

Day 6/365

So I mentioned the other day that I'm doing a fun photography course and we'd been given to shooting challenges. The first was to capture a portfolio worthy portrait in a supermarket, so I got a beautiful snap of Elsie walking with Sarah, with a ginormous 'Cakes' sign in the background. You can see that here.

Part two of the homework was not to photograph a pile of leaves...but to capture a portfolio worthy portrait of a complete stranger! Eek. Not just a stalker photograph of someone walking through the park, but an actual portrait of them, taken with their permission. So yesterday I headed to Duthie Park to find the perfect stranger, but unfortunately, because I had a lot of work to get done (which really isn't a bad thing), I didn't get there till quite late in the day, and it was such a dull afternoon, so there weren't many people around, and those who were there, were all wrapped up in their waterproofs with their hoods up, quickly walking their dogs! So not exactly portfolio worthy conditions. I wanted something bright and colourful!

So I didn't manage to get my homework done yesterday, but I did enjoy a walk around Duthie Park, checking out the restoration! The new boating pond looks beautiful, and I'm really excited for some beautiful family portraits there later in the year. You're maybe wondering how I managed to find such a beautiful pile of leaves at this time of year...well...they're in the bottom of the boating pond! It's a beautiful sight. I had to darken up the colour tones to make the leaves stand out a bit more through the water, and I kinda love it! I didn't want to put my logo on it and ruin how lovely it is. Haha.

So my trip to Duthie Park wasn't a total failure :)

Day 5/365

I'm doing a Photography Night with our Teens from Church tomorrow night, and we're going to try 'Painting with Light', so last night, day 5, I tried out drawing my living room with an LED...need's some practice, but definitely think we're gonna have fun!

Day 4/365

I'm doing a fun Photography Course online this month, with ladies from Australia and America, and each week we get 'homework' to do. This week was the challenge of capturing a portfolio worthy portrait of a friend or family member in a supermarket...yeup. So off I went to Tesco with Sarah, my sister, and the kiddies on Pancake Day, and got this adorable photo of Elsie walking with Mummy...and I don't think this photo could be more perfect, as it symbolises Sarah and I perfectly...can you guess why? Yeup, the ginormous "Cakes" sign in the background! I love this photo! And Tesco is amazingly bright and colourful, I might do photoshoots there more often! haha.

What do you guys think, is this shot portfolio worthy??

Part 2 of the homework is hopefully coming up later today or tomorrow...it requires a bit more bravery! 

Day 3/365

My number one fan! I met this lovely lady for coffee on Monday night, and had the idea of holding my camera, telling her I was starting my blog again, and photographing her reaction...but the words came out my mouth before I'd taken my camera out the bag, and I was gutted I didn't have my camera ready because she reacted just the way I thought she would! There were jazz hands and everything! Instead we settled for a beautiful photo of her happy grin, pretty sure I made her day. Haha.

Spot the beautiful ring on the finger...Miss Megan's leaving us this summer, once she graduates, and getting married to her best friend over in America! I'm full of mixed emotions, obviously! I'm going to miss her greatly, but I'm very happy she's going to be starting her new life with Benjamin, after 4 years of living in separate countries, only seeing each other on holidays, when she goes back to her Parents' home in the States.

I'll need to keep the blog going so she can keep up to date with life in Aberdeen! I'll get emails of harassment if I don't...

Day 2/365

Sunday was spent praising God, and socialising with wonderful people...which you think would be the perfect photo opportunity...but really I was more focused on eating Wilma's delicious chocolate pudding (more pudding chat...perhaps I should make this the theme of the year...), and my camera got neglected. So, of course, my trusty go to still life subject, the teacup, is never too far away, when I got back from YF I did a quick set up with this beautiful teacup I got at my last wedding of 2013. I love the perks of the job!

Day 1/365 (Fingers crossed)

 

Well well well...hello 'der! Can't quite believe this is actually happening...hopefully it will continue for...the next 365 days! Well, 360 now.

Okay, I'm rambling, let me start again. Hi everyone! I've been feeling a little uninspired on the personal photos side of things the last few months, and missing my blog ginormously, so the other day I thought "Why not just start the 365 again NOW?!" So, I have! It's really nice to have my camera out and about with me every day again, and I feel happier already!

Last year, summer got a bit crazy; I was away A LOT and updating the blog got pushed to the side, to the point where I just wasn't to be able to spend the time catching up on it all, and eventually stopped taking my 365 photos. It was very sad, and I know there are people out there who are going to be VERY happy to not have to see that purple peg anymore...haha.

Day 1, the 1st of March, we had a Latino Fundraiser Night at church, and I took a few photos of our lovely group of Latino chaps perfoming a few songs for us. Loved it! The ladies prepared an absolute feast for everyone, of delicious Peruvian and Columbian food! And the night was finished off with some Scottish pudding...we love pudding! 

It's so nice typing the blog again...but I have a lot of work to be getting on with, so I shall quickly move on to the next 4 days so I can get on to Duncan's adorable baby photos! 

Thank you to all my old followers for coming back, and 'Welcome!' to any new blog readers out there! It's going to be an exciting year :)