July 2013 | Photo a Day | Week 1

In March of 2012 I started participating in Fat Mum Slim's Photo a Day Project. Essentially, she comes up with a word prompt every day and you take a picture that represents that prompt. I loved this project as it made me look at my surroundings in a whole new way. Plus, it was a fun way to document what was happening in my life. 

But when October rolled around I realized it was about to get harder and harder to take pictures that I liked.  During most of the winter months it's dark when I go to work and dark when I come home so I decided to take a break and hoped to pick this project back up in the spring. But spring came around and the thought of this seemed like another chore to add to the list. Eventually, though, a friend posted a few photo a day pictures on Instagram and it sparked my interest to pick it up again.

Here's the thing, I probably could do this project without having to commit to every single day, but I'm not like that. If I commit, I want to commit fully. Yes, it killed me a little that I didn't participate in this from October through June, but it would have killed me more if I participated just some of the time. So taking that time off kept me saner than not giving it my full.

Of course, taking and posting a photo a day would be easier if I had a smartphone. You see, in the past I would just take my pictures with one of my cameras and then posted them weekly on this blog, but most people post them daily on Instagram. I have to admit, I kinda wanted to be part of that gang. There was something about us all being in this together - all across the world. I figure it's pretty silly to just buy a smart phone for this project and Instagram so instead I decided I would try to take all my pictures with my iPad. I know, dumb - but I like a challenge so here we go. Although, part of the challenge of this is not only taking pictures as prompted, but learning to take better pictures so we'll see how long the iPad thing lasts.

The iPad, of course, takes fairly crappy pictures (as my Instagram followers are quite aware), but it's my main way to use Instagram and I enjoy Instagram so I'll stick with it for now. At any rate, I still wanted to compile all the pictures here... maybe even give the story behind them as I still think they are a good way to document my weeks.

Without further ado...

7/1/13

Happiness is...

I finally got around to making Iowa Girl Eats' Greek Dip and it was Fantastic (I subbed basil for parsley). I even used non-fat yogurt and it was super flavorful and fresh tasting. This moment captured several things that made me happy: my kid, being outside, being done with work for the day, and eating this delicious dip (I even made a second batch today). 

7/2/13

Shoes

My friend supplies Riley with many of her clothes since she has three girls of her own. These shoes used to belong to my friend's youngest daughter, Libby, but since she outgrew them they are now Riley's. Almost every time Riley wears them she asks about the girl who gave them to her.

7/3/13

Cold

I would classify this past week as a good one, but when I look back at all that went wrong it seems that I should be much more unhappy than I am. Glad that I am not. Let see... I got a slight case of heatstroke from walking too fast over lunch out in the hot sun without water. Our water heater broke (now fixed). The car broke down while I was going down a ramp and then at the ramp exit and then at the light, but I finally got it started and drove right to the mechanic who I was going to see the next day anyway. At least I got a nice walk in after dropping it off. We chased down a mouse in our house (released alive - hope he doesn't come back). Our nice car got rear ended - it was more of a hard tap and I don't think any damage was done. Honorable mentions: one of the cats puked all over the house, and I found animal guts on my back step one morning. Yeah, I think that's enough for one week.

7/4/13

Red, white or blue

Again, thanks to my friend, Riley is set with her choice of 4th of July attire (credit to grandma for these shorts, though). Independence day is pretty much like any other day for us except we don't have to work. We don't even attempt to try to keep Riley up for fireworks especially since she doesn't like loud noises. Although, if you read my last post about her sleeping issues you'd know that she was likely up late anyway. She fell asleep shortly before the fireworks went off, thankfully.

7/5/13

Love

So many pictures I could have taken - actually there were a lot of other pictures I did take and decided not to submit for this prompt (not every picture needs to be of Riley, I suppose). I took this while waiting for my bus for work. It was super peaceful and the temperature was perfect. And, it turns out, I got to hang out at the bus stop for 20 minutes or so. Apparently, since it was the day after a holiday my bus was on a limited run schedule. I may have been a little late to work, but I got a few more moments to enjoy the outdoors. 

7/6/13

Fave smell

Not much to say here. I've mentioned before that I am super sensitive to smells since I get migraines. I've come to hate smells like perfume and bonfires as they can also make me feel nauseous. There are a few scents I can tolerate, but clean, fresh air is the best. 

7/7/13

Where you are

After a week of crappy kid sleep (which means crappy adult sleep) and feeling body achy I was proud that I got up and went to the gym. Then I even decided to pick some weeds in my yard. It was actually a highlight of my day to be able to get a few minutes all by myself outside. PS. That brown thing is a cool turtle a friend gave us when we moved here. We love it.

Previous Photo a Day Posts