Re: Photog Challenge

Hello my friends,

This blog has, once again, reached a stand-still in the photography challenge.
This may be attributed to the fact that I'm currently feeling tired/xP, and that mostly every day has been a busy one.  Business and creativity don't seem to get along well.
I hope to return to posting pictures very soon.
Until then,

Buenas tardes!

y Vaya con Dios!

Tuyo fielmente,

~~
ISA

Happy Re-union

Today was a special day.

We welcomed family members back home after a long trip!

As a warm welcome home, my sister wanted to bake pie.

We settled on pumkin bread :)

 



 

 

Shortly after arrival, they shared the food they had brought home.

Among this food was:

 

Cider!
Fresh/sweet cider.
This jug 'o juice traveled hundreds of miles to get here! :)

It's good to be back together.
Praise the Lord for safe travels and protection.

Good evening, all!

Buenas noches.

Y ahora, el fin de semana ha empezado!!

~~
ISA

Shadows

It's time again for: Photography Challenge of The Day!!

Today's picture is symbolic.
The challenge for today was "Silhouette".
My subject was a fast food drink cup.
After drinking mountain dew AND dr. pepper (in addition to my morning coffee), I would call myself one very-caffinated girl.
Believe me, if you saw me/heard me yacking my head off earlier, you would agree.
Anyways, my thought process behind today's picture is this:
The silhouette of the drink cup is like the shadow of a person we may become if we go buzzerk on our intake of fast food/junk food.
Or maybe... (this is an epiphany just coming to me now)... in the same way, the silhouette is like the shallow shadow of a person we might become if we let God's word become the minor part of what we feed our minds/souls with, and all the other meaningless junk of this world be our meat/bread/substance. 
Something to think about!
__________________________________

Day 15: << Silhouette >>

 

 

~~

ISA

*Blink*

Today's challenge was "eyes".
Aren't you so thankful for eyes??
Think of all the stuff we wouldn't be able to see if we didn't have eyes!
And think of how different our faces would look without eyes!
Scary!!
Of course... if we didn't have eyes... we wouldn't be able to see our faces anyways!
Alrighty, moving right along.
After much begging, I finally convinced a friendly shark from a local aquatic habitat to pose for today's challenge. (see picture below)
Isn't he great?!
Shout out to my sharkey friend: Thanks dude!!!
__________________________________

Day 14: << Eyes >>

 

 

~~

ISA 

Simple Foods

We've been making lots of basic food of late.
Basic meaning: no dairy products (including cream sauces, butter, cheese, etc), no corn products (including corn syrup, corn starch, etc), no gluten (including wheat, etc.)...

Anyways,
Tonight was Zucchini and Chicken!!

It's really easy!
 

Zucchini:

Slice zucchini.

Fry it with salt, pepper, and oil. 

 

 

  Chicken:

Defrost.

Fry it with garlic, ginger, salt, and oil.

 

That's all there is too it!
Pretty simple, huh?

Buenas noches, seguidores fieles!

~~
ISA

Un Amigo

This weekend, I found myself a new friend!

 

 

Adrian is a tough little cookie, a fiesty fellow!

You'd have to be to survive that sloshy drive home... ;) jk.

And now, my little friend is all settled in.

YAY!

                                             

- - - - - - - - - - ><>

 

Bienvenidos a la familia, Adrian!

 

~~

ISA

 

Myself & 13 Things

Hello folks!
Happy Monday!
Another week has begun!

The weather seems much colder!
Especially early in the morning... it's frigid!
Brr!

Today's challenge was interesting.
The word "thing" is so broad, there was a lot to choose from.
I settled on fine-point sharpie markers.
It was difficult to fit/balance them all in one hand, but it worked out in the end.
See below:
____________________________________

Day 13: << Yourself with 13 things >>

 

 

~~

ISA

Thurz-deigh ---> Suhn-deigh

Last week certainly was a busy one for me!
Here is a sum-up of Thursday through Sunday.


Thursday
What a special day!
After a busy morning, my aunt picked me up and took me to their place.  Then we went back out to pick up my cousin, and headed over for a playdate(/hang out time) with some dear friends.
These particular friends I hadn't seen for a while. 
It was so good to take a walk, chat over coffee, catch up, and hang out.
...And get my nails clipped/filed/painted, only from THE best ;)

After hanging out, my aunt picked us so we could all meet up with my uncle for dinner at the cafe.
When we left, it was raining preeetty good!! Umbrellas YAY!
My aunt (and cuz) drove me to band practice, and then picked me up and took me home. 
I am so thankful for my aunt/uncle and family: for their love and willingness to serve/help me -and others!


Friday
It was rather non-eventful as I recall it. Which brings us to:


Saturday
We enjoyed a quiet morning on Saturday, which was really refreshing after a week of early mornings!
Close to lunch time, our friend came over to go out to coffee with us. 
After that, we ran some errands.  It was a blessing to be able to go buy stuff because, for one thing, we go through produce so quickly! And it was good to "re-stock" everything a bit.
Chinese fast food for lunch :)
We picked up a few other things/did some other stuff as well.

When we got home, we burned some calories by jumping around, and probably damaged our voices xP
And as if damaging our voices wasn't enough, we decided to damage our hair too! ;)

Don't worry.. it's only temporary!
Then we made a quick dinner (yep, my specialty, that skillet dinner stuff), ate dinner, and called it a day.


Sunday
I straightened my hair. Not something that I normally do, but woo-hoo!
Some kind friends drove me to and from church- I am grateful for their willingness to drive me!
And after that, my sis and I enjoyed a nice mostly quiet evening at home.



Well, that's a wrap!

Adios, amigos!

~~
ISA

Sunset

I hope you guys like this picture... because, I went outside (without shoes or socks) to take it, and the temperature is something like 47 degrees right now!  Of course, you could say that me going outside without shoes or socks is just a matter of my own laziness.  And I would say that you're probably right ;)

Anywho, today's picture is of a sunset:
____________________________________

Day 12: << Sunset >>

~~

ISA

 

Mee-air-coh-lace!

Miercoles.

That's spanish for "Wednesday".

 

It's been a busy week!

Hard to believe another week is about to begin!

 

Wednesday was one of my busiest days this week.

A full morning, with volunteering in the afternoon and a fancy dinner with friends in the evening!

 

The plan was to have an Indian dinner, including indian attire. :)

 

I got home later than I had planned, but the girls did some prep before I got home and when I finally got there, we all set to work.

Shredding, juicing, saute-ing- you name it!

 

After bunch of prep, dinner was finally ready.

 

Travel with me to not-so-very-far-away india.

 

Hot curry chicken- mmm!

 The table, spread with a full feast! 

 

  

 

My plate:

12:05 - buttery rice

12:10 - pan (bread)

12:25 - curry chicken

12:45 - pita chips

12:50 - avacado hummus

 

 

We also had a super zesty indian style lemonaid

 

 

 

and "Mango Lassi"

(a smoothie) for dessert.

 

We had fun with our head coverings/saris/whatever you call 'em! ;)

 

 

It was a great night.

 

Did you know that indian food is VERY filling?

Yes, it's true.

I learned that on Wednesday.

Soooo, keep that in mind when you next have indian food.

 

 

Well, that's all for now.

 

Que ustedes tengan una buena fin de semana!

 

~~

ISA



Blue

Isn't blue a pretty color?

The Sky
Robins Eggs
The Ocean
Blueberries
Sapphire

Blue, blue BLUE!

Light shades, dark shades.
Cold and gentle shades, bright and harsh shades.

And it's not only a color, it's also a description of a feeling!

I'm so thankful God gave us the ability to see color so we can enjoy things like the "blue".

Here's today's picture:
_____________________________________

Day 11: << Something Blue >>

 

 

~~

ISA 

Photog Challenge -IS BACK!

For much (or possibly all) of my childhood/growing up, we have had sporadic fires in the fireplace.
We have kept a decent sized wood pile out behind our house for years and years.
Occasinally, when the weather gets cold, in the fall or winter, Dad puts some logs in the fireplace, turns on the gas and gets a sizzling fire started.

My family all enjoy a nice tosty fire.
The only trouble is, while the room the fireplace is in is nice and warm, the rest of the rooms are cold when we go to bed because the fire seems to suck all the air from the rest of the house...
So ultimately, the fire doesn't really heat the house up.
It just heats those who are sitting directly in front of it.
And sometimes, memories of time spent around the fireplace warm the heart.

Not all of the memories,  however, are heartwarming! 
I remember one time when a log fell out of the fireplace. Just my sister and I were in the house because my parents were in the yard doing something. One or both of us started screaming "FIRE!!"  My dad discounted it at first, thinking we were yelling "Spider!!":P  But he did come in and take care of it. 
We ended up having to sand a little spot off the floor from where the wood had fallen out, and I think my sister got a small burn on her leg from the firey-chunk of wood.  But in the end, it was all ok. (Praise the Lord!)
We now have a "fireproof" rug in front of the fireplace, just in case a log did happen to roll out again.

Though I have both good memories, and bad memories of the fireplace, I would say the good outweigh the bad.
I am grateful that we've had a fireplace to enjoy in our house.

So that brings us to the picture for "day 10" (in truth, taken this evening).
The fireplace.
No, there was not a fire going when I took the photo.
But maybe if you use your imagination, you can almost see embers dying down behind the screen and glass... smell the smokiness... feel the dying warmth...
_____________________________________

Day 10: << A Childhood Memory>>

 

 

~~

ISA 

PA

It's just that time of year.

The damp/wet days.
The colors changing on the trees.
Nearly perfect weather for bike riding.
Allergies.

When the days are like this, something inside me calls: "Pennsylvania!!!"



Cookout(s).
Cold nights.
Distant -or nearby- noises in the woods.
The long driveway with that bothersome rope at the end.
The railing on the deck thats perfect for balancing/walking on.

The black&yellow striped bike path gates:














The view from the window:

(this wasn't something that happened every day btw;)

So many memories.
So many things that remind me of PA.
It's almost like a second home to me.


Oh Pennsylvania.
What a beautiful state.
So different from here that it seems almost like another country.

~~
ISA

Lo De Ultimamente

Volunteering.
Ringing phones, hot cocoa, happy/deep/crazy conversations, and discharges.
At the end of the evening, when it's time to go home, volunteering equates to pocket(s) full of 2 digit numbers scribbled on little scraps of paper.



The bike path looks like a big, long black tounge.... like I'm going to ride through a tunnel and find myself in some nasty creature's mouth.



And have you ever noticed that (from a distance) bats look an awful lot like butterflies?
They flap in a similar manner.
Bats almost look like plump, dull-colored butterflies.
OR you could say that butterflies are like skinny, painted bats.
Somebody needs to get a bat and a butterfly side by side and compare their flight patterns.
I think the most noticible difference would probably be that the bat flys in a more half-hazard fashon while the butterfly gently drifts on the breezes.



Yesterday, I tried a new smoothie recipe.
Supposedly, it's an indian recipe.

"Mango Lassi"

• Fresh Mango
• Plain yogurt (I used greek)
• Sugar
• Ice Cubes

Phenomenal.
Sweet, simple, refreshing.
Here's a link to the recipe if you'd like to try it: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mango-Lassi-II/Detail.aspx
Highly reccomend.



Well, I'd love to say more, pero tengo que irme ahora.

Ya es demasiada tarde!!

Ay de mi... siempre ocupada.

Guay.
Buenos Dias, mis amigos!

~~
ISA

Mind Games, Melon, and a Meal

Have you ever read or repeated the same thing over and over again?
Do you know the feeling when something that has always seemed simple and familiar suddenly seems forign and complicated?
This morning, I was stuffing envelopes.
As I stuffed, I was checking the numer of pages.
Occasionally there would be 2 pages, though most of them were just one page.
At the bottom of each 1-page paper, it would read: "Page 1 of 1".
Simple enough, right?
But after stuffing what seemed like a gazillion envelopes, my brain went into overlooooaaad!
Page 1 of 1.
My thoughts went something like: "Wait, did it really say Page 1 of 1? Is that what I read? What did I just read?"
I eagerly looked forward to sealing each stuffed stack of envelopes as a break from stuffing.
Focusing got tough.
It was quiet, I'd been sitting for a long time, and I was losing my focus.
So I began to play mind games.
Page 1 of 1.
I thought of the words as a title. A "paige" named "Wun", from a place called "Won", introducing himself to a king.
As the peasent introduced himself, he would bow and say "Paige Wun of Won".
Page 1 of 1.  I'd read the words, and stuff it in an envelope.
Pretty soon, "Paige Wun of Won" was meaningless as well.
I stared at the words: "Page 1 of 1". 
Those 1's looked like L's.
Almost like the familiar online acranym "lol".
1 of 1.
What about lofl?
Laughing on floor laughing.
It didn't make sense, but for that matter, what did?
Page lofl.
Page lofl.
It worked for a while.
Eventually, "Laughing on floor laughing" wasn't helping either.
Back to the drawing board.
Page 1 of 1.
Ugh.
I tried to reason through it with myself.
My thoughts were something to the effect of: "What does that mean?  Well... it means that this page is the 1st page out of 1 pages. What?? Does that even make sense?  One out of one pages total."
Yikes.
Those last few envelopes were grueling.
But, by God's grace, I finished them.
And I am very thankful to be done!





Yesterday Em called me into the dining room to see an exploading watermelon.
I asked her if it was in the process of exploading.
She said it was.

Wow.
Doesn't it almost look like soap suds?
Believe me- it didn't smell like soap.
P.U.!!!!
Rather than exploading, oozed/bubbled would probably be a more accurate description of the mess.
The watermelon's spew got all over the tablecloth and mom's nice placemat!!
Yep. Disgusing mess.
So the moral of the story is: just eat the watermelon before it has a chance to rot.
A sitting melon, is a rotting melon. 
The end.






Last night we had an acutal dinner.

 

It's pretty sad.
We haven't been having many real dinners lately.
The biggest reason for this would probably be my own laziness with the second biggest reason being lack of time.
Anyways, this dinner was a spin-off on a skillet dinner recipe we got from a friend.
We've been making the original recipe for years, but that recipe doesn't work now because we're avoiding corn.  Mom said our friends had mentioned replacing the corn with green beans...
So last night, we switched it up!!

• cooked ground hamburger (it was cooked ahead)
• chili powder
• onion powder
• garlic salt
• fresh cut up tomatoes
• no-salt-added kidney beans
• frozen green beans

...and I think that was everything.
Just throw it all together in a pan and heat it for however long it takes for the green beans to cook.
Then it's done!
You can enjoy it plain or with tortilla chips. 
If you're not avoiding dairy, you could also add some shredded cheese.
Bon appetit!


Well folks, this has been your blog post for the day!

Sorry for the lack of "Photography Challenge" posts.
Hopefully I will be taking more pics/posting more posts soon!
Until then...

Buenas tardes a todos!

~~
ISA