I Heart Faces Weekly Challenge - Love of Flare

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is all about the flare. Flare is created by shooting into the sun. A lot of photographers avoid the flare. I personally think it is quite fun to play around with. This site gives really beautiful examples.

Head over to I Heart Faces for more entries!

Anything But a Face - I Heart Faces Weekly Challenge

This week at I Heart Faces participants are showing off pictures not focused on faces. I love these kind of shots! It is fun to focus in on the details. This is one of my favorite maternity shot pictures.

Head on over to I Heart Faces to see some more great non face pictures!

Going Red with I Heart Faces

In support of the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women campaign I Heart Faces is using Red as the photo challenge for this week. As soon as I saw the Red theme I knew which picture I wanted to use. This beauty is my daughter Allie with her huge feathery bright red headband.

Be sure to head over to I Heart Faces for more entries.

I Heart Faces Challenge - Best Face Photo

I had a hard time picking just one face for the weekly challenge over at I Heart Faces. There are just so many that I love! Who could resist these freckles though? She is absolutely gorgeous!

It is People's Choice this week, so head over to I Heart Faces on Tuesday to cast your vote for the best face photo in January.

I Heart Faces - Innocent Wonder

Wow, two weeks in a row posting entries for the I Heart Faces weekly challenge. I'm feeling productive. :) Be sure to head over to the I Heart Faces site to see more entries and add your own!

I Heart Faces Challenge - Winter Wonderland

Wow, it has been awhile since I posted anything on my blog. When I saw the Winter Wonderland theme on I Heart Faces weekly challenge a picture immediately come to mind. This is a shot of my beautiful niece from a early December. I love how the coat frames her face and there are random blurry snowflakes falling around her. The snow seems more beautiful than normal this year... or maybe I have just learned to appreciate it more.

To see more Winter Wonderland shots head over to the most awesome I Heart Faces site and check them out!

A New Love

I'm not sure if a smoothie is really a dessert, but this one is so good I think it might just qualify. I posted this receipe last week and thought I'd add a new intro and enter it for the I Heart Faces dessert theme this week. You can check out more yummy entries over at their site!



A month or so ago I went to a little lunch place called Alladin's with my co-workers. I highly recommend the Hummus with added hot sauce and a Shish Kabob Rolled Pita. Yum!

Anyway, I had been there before and knew how wonderful the food was, so little did I expect to fall in love on this visit. The recipient of this new found love was a smooth, sweet and succulent smoothie made with bananas, honey and milk. I've been trying for weeks to make a replica of this goodness and almost got it perfect yesterday. I thought I would share the details so you could share in the sheer joy of a banana, milk and honey smoothie.


I first let my bananas reach the peak of ripeness. Once they were perfect, three of them were chunked up and placed into the freezer (freezing is key, so don't skip this step). I'm pretty sure chunked is not an actual technical cooking term, but it sounded better than sliced. The bananas remained in the freezer for about two hours. I should have left them longer, but I was a bit impatient about beginning my masterpiece.



Next, I dug through the pantry for a local honey that I recently picked up at the Harrison Home Bakery. This is some good stuff. I don't really measure when I cook so I'm not exactly sure how much went into this batch. I just keep adding until it tastes like I want it. It really depends on how sweetness you want in your smoothie.



Milk is the final ingredient. I prefer 1% from United Dairy Farmers or Kroger. My husband thinks it all tastes the same and I am a little strange, but these two brands really do taste the best. Again, no measuring here. If you like thick smoothies, use less; thin smoothies, use more. Make it your own.



Finally, it all came together for a quick blend.



And there you have it. A beautiful smooth treat for your tongue. I didn't have a glass quite special enough to display it, but it tasted wonderful regardless!

I Heart Faces - Dramatic Black & White

The photo challenge at I Heart Faces this week is 'Dramatic B&W'. This is one of my very favorite recent B&W shots. It is a picture of my daughter attending a princess party at our local library. Be sure to head over to I Heart Faces to see all the entries for this week.



Click here to see more of my B&W photos.

I Heart Faces - Completely Candid

Another post for the I ♥ Faces weekly photo challenge. I just love this site! It is really making me think about my pictures in new ways and teaching me great editing tips/tricks. Checking out all the submissions provides me with loads of inspiration each week.


The theme this week is completely candid. I thought this picture of my daughter Allie was perfect. It was taken during a Labor Day getaway to my brother and sister-in-law's house. We were getting ready for dinner and Allie seemed to be enjoying her task! I love the sun reflecting on her wild and crazy hair,which is down and wind blown in her favorite fashion and the happy, content smile captured on her face. Just one of the many blessings in my life!

Hello Blog World....

Just thought I would start a blog to post some of my favorite pics and have a holding place for participating in photo and scrapbooking contests. If you are viewing this page you found my blog somehow.... hope you enjoy what you see.

This first picture is of my neice and being posted for the I 'Heart' Faces weekly contest (couldn't figure out how to actually put the heart image in there). The subject matter was contemplative and this picture jumped out at me. I've always wondered what babies are thinking and reflecting upon when they get that far away gaze. I can see the reflection of 'big' people in her eyes and wonder what she thinks of the world from her unique view.