A Different side of me....

Some of you may have figured this out by now. Some of you may still be unaware....
Either way, it's no problem!!!

I have some news.....

I am a photographer!!!!!

You may be asking yourself, "Why is this news?!?"

It's a valid question....

It's news because for a long time I have been a point and shoot kind of person! You might say, a mommy that makes absolutely sure to take photos on ALL of the family trips and any time there was a memory to preserve!!
That has changed a bit in the last year or so.... not the frantic need to take memory photos!! That is still completely in tact (and probably a little more so now!!).
But what I want to do with photography has morphed into a passion about sharing what is all around us in a way that makes you stop, think, and maybe, just maybe, smell the roses!!!

Here is some examples of the work I enjoy doing....

Found this Blackberry on our property...it shows ALL the stages of their very short life....

 This is a honey bee emerging  from a frame of brood....

 Just a beautiful sky....caught by stopping my truck on the side of the road and taking a shot!!!

(my kids think I'm crazy sometime!!!) 

A rose.....

You may say to yourself,,, wow, those are lovely!! 

And they are!! 

But my point in sharing is before I would snap a shot and be done with it. There was no thought about the why, or what will I do with it, or what was I thinking??

As a photographer I have started to focus on these questions and being much more selective in what I shoot and what I share....

I am (at the time of writing this) a Level 12 Apprentice in the Arcanum!!  

(Known there as "Bretta the Flowerscaper)

What is the Arcanum???

SO glad you asked.... here is a link...

The Arcanum

GO!! Check it out!!!! Tell them I sent you!!!!

I have learned much in my time there and will continue to learn!!!! 

I am having a blast with all the work that is required of me and I think that is a true statement of my reality. 

Here are the photos from my Level 9 Critique....

 Honeycomb (that has been spun out) from one of our hives.... 

I LOVE being able to show the beauty of the bees' work!!! 

Bees are truly amazing and seeing inside of their home is amazingly wonderful!!! 

Showing it to others is (double) icing on the cake!!!

 Another rose..... anyone see a pattern here?  

Hahaha!!

One more rose.... I love the water drop on this flower.... 

My Honeycomb photo was actually critiqued in a thing called the Creation Wars!!!! Squeeeeee!!!!

Go watch that here>>>>The Creation Wars 31

my photo is toward the end... =) 

And Here is he link to the Critique with my own Master>>>>Level 9 Critique!!

The rest are photos I have worked on or am working on, or am finished with!!!!

 Oh yes.....the Nitty Gritty of a flower!!! My favorite!!!! 

 A field of peanuts.....

 Hazy Morning Hay Field

 Jiminy Cricket!!! 

 One of hundreds!!!!

 Another rose....processed a bit differently.....

 Hay Fields.....yep! It's summer time around here!!!!

Almost a B&W....

So there you go!!!!   Some of my latest work as an "actual" PHOTOGRAPHER!!!!!!

Hope you enjoyed this little peek into a different part of my life!!! =)

See?? It's not ALL bugs, snakes and crazy dogs (and kids!!)!!!! 

(I would like to put in a side note that I giggle when I type out the word "photography" because when my Army Man says the word in reference to me he says it with a short sounding "a".....

Photo--graph--ee

It's hilarious!!!!

Blessings!!!

Clean Britches

There are just some times when you feel like you need clean britches.

After this story you may need them from laughing so hard.

We all needed them because of the terrifying experience that is loading a dishwasher with a 65 pound dog assisting....

Aries....

Yes, Aries.

Somehow you may have guessed this story would involve this fun loving, crazy, happy, bright eyed, bushy tailed dog...

Sweet mercy the things this dog can get himself in to!!!
He is a story ALL. BY. HIMSELF.

On to the "clean britches" part of our night.....

True story.

We've just had an epic (terrifying!) Aries episode.....

I was loading the dishwasher after supper, rinsing off the dishes and such, Aries always comes over to "assist" and check out the dishes just in case I missed something delicious.

Tonight, while he is checking my proficiency at cleaning off the dishes his chain collar attached itself (somehow!) to the bottom tray of the dishwasher already partially loaded with dishes!!!!

Things got a little crazy there for what seemed like forever, but in retrospect was probably only 10 seconds or so....

 Aries, (after realizing he was attached to the dishwasher tray) started backing up, jerking, and jumping sideways and essentially freaking me out.

Picture this now...
the dishwasher tray is attached to my dog's collar..... it is swinging back and forth with his every move, bouncing up and down in ways no dishwasher tray should EVER be doing!!!!

Dishes were jumping out of the dishwasher, silverware was flying everywhere, a whole (large cup) of good ol' southern sweet tea spills onto the counter and the floor, I screamed like a girl (my throat is still hurting...)(really, Army Man could not figure out what was going on!)(all he could see was the dishwasher spitting out dishes!!)(he may have been freaking out a little himself!), glass was breaking, the boys walk in the back door seeing the chaos and start yelling, my youngest (10yo)  starts crying because I am screaming.

Epic...

It. Was. Terrifying.

FINALLY, Aries managed to disengage himself from the dishwasher tray, looks at me with a look of (what I can only guess) "Did I do that?" or "This is all your fault", turns  and goes and lays down in the living room. Apparently, it is exhausting "fighting" with the dishwasher tray.....
Meanwhile , the boys have to go back outside and come in a different door because of the glass everywhere.
Craziness!!!!!

The dish tray ended up in my son's room and the silverware holder ends up by our pantry door (these places are pretty close together).....
At some point we start laughing while we are cleaning up this incredible mess made from 10 seconds of chaos....
We needed the release.....

Someone Army Man said, "I may need clean britches"... then we all started laughing again!!!
It turned out really funny, but boy was I scared while it was happening!!! My throat STILL hurts from that blood curling scream that came out of my mouth!!!
I NEED ice cream!!! And chocolate!!!!!
;-)

Here are some pics I took earlier today of our little rascal..... way before his antics tonight!!!
He really is a good boy, but I think the dishwasher won tonight!!!!

Please, pretty please, no more pictures!!!! 

But you're SO cute!!! 

Aries is watching the boy with the ball. 

He likes the boy with a ball. 

He hopes the boy with the ball will throw it soon.

Bella is really cute too, but very wiggly.

It is hard to take a close photo of her. 

She just wants to be petted and loved.

...And she wants to wiggle.

=)

OK...just one more picture!!!! 

=)

Aries finally got his ball......

He loves his ball!!!! 

  

So after ALL the excitement of our evening, the kids are camping outside and having a blast!! 

Army Man and I are enjoying some much needed quietness.....

All is quiet....the dogs are resting peacefully, and we are still having a giggle about our mis-adventure!!!  

Sweet Dreams everyone!!! 

Try to not have nightmares about dishes jumping out of the dishwasher!!!!  

;-)

I Thessalonians 5:18

{{{In everything (everything?? Even flying dishes and terror??) give thanks: for this is the will of God (giving thanks....not so much the terror!!) in Christ Jesus concerning you.}}}}

Ok.....so I am thankful that no one (especially Aries) was injured in the making of this memory!!! 

=)

Blessings!!!

{Edit}{Next Morning}

PS.....I must confess, after this very "exciting" night I was glad that the kids were out camping across the creek.  It gave Army Man and I some much needed quiet time. However, about 1:30AM as I woke up from a very bizarre dream that I can only imagine came from my overworked senses, it dawned on me that my 12yo daughter was camping outside. Under a tarp of her making (not in a tent). With NO way to block out the snakes with a zipped up tent closure!!!!!! 

She is an adventurer/hunter/fisher....

Here are some of her adventures... >>>>~~Fishing~~<<<>>>~~Hunting~~<<<

Campsite....

the boys had already taken down their very safely zipped tent!!

Anyway...I digress, as usual.... I woke up terrified (hmmmm) that there would be snakes (moccasins to be more specific!!) crawling all over her through the night!!!! Talk about some serious prayer time!!!! I begged God to keep her safe, to put His angels in charge over her and protect her from the dangers of not having a zipped tent!!! 

I practically ran down to their campsite the next morning to check on her. She was very calmly walking up to the house. 

I asked her if she slept OK, was she worried about snakes with no zipper enclosure....she looked at me kind of funny.... I told her about my dream.... 

She immediately dismissed my fears and told me she slept in her boots so a raccoon wouldn't take off with them!!!

=/

All that worrying and possible grey hair infusion to be totally and completely be blown away by her casualness of sleeping under a tarp.....

I have underestimated her adventure-ness.....again.

It would not surprise me at all to find her all grown up and married to some one like Bear Grylls or being a missionary in remote African countries..... 

She can handle it.
She is wired completely different than I am!!!!