August 2012 - Repetition, Sports, your country

The themes for August are mostly related to the Olympics, which I thoroughly enjoyed during the two weeks they were on tv. Of the four themes for the month, the photo below from my latest trip to a Texas Rangers game fits three. It is very obviously related to sports, and it represents my country as well, because there's not much more American than the game of baseball. And it's an example of repetition - from the lights on top to the myriads of people in the stands to the movement of the lines. The only theme from the month that this photo doesn't fit in some way is "gold."

July 2012 - Independence and Patriotic

Appropriately, two of the themes for July are "Independence" and "Patriotic." And since the 4th of July is perhaps my second favorite holiday (in terms of celebration, not necessarily significance), I have lots of pics to represent those themes. But I'll just choose a few.

Independence, won for us by all the American soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom. So it's only right that the Peachtree City 4th of July Parade was led by a military Color Guard.

"And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, 

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave 

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?"

 

Cheering on the parade, waving the Stars and Stripes

And on a more humorous note, check out my adorable patriotic pup, enjoying his first parade!

June 2012 - Refresh and Night

I found I could relate to two of June's themes, so I'm combining them here. One of the themes was "Night". I often find it difficult to take quality night photos - either the flash washes out the skin tones and detracts from the scenery, or the lack of flash causes blurriness at the slightest movement. So I was quite pleased with this photo of fans celebrating a home run by the Texas Rangers in a win over the Colorado Rockies. 

The other theme for June was "Refresh." What could be more refreshing in the midst of a 100+ degree heat wave then diving into nice cool swimming pool?! Brodie sure enjoyed it - he learned how to climb the ladder so he jumped in repeatedly. It was so fun to watch. 

Of course, a good night's sleep is always refreshing - and sometimes you have to take extra measures to make sure you get that rest. :)

May 2012 - Neighborhood

May's theme is "Neighborhood." Probably the reason I love Valley Ranch (where I live) the most is its cool system of canals. You could walk for miles along the canals as they wind under main roads, through neighborhoods, and into a "lagoon" and lake-style area. During the spring and fall (and even mild winter days), Brodie and I love taking walks along the canals - he has a blast chasing ducks and squirrels, scaring turtles, exploring the bushes, and walking on the walls. He even fell in once! I'm not sure how deep the water is, and it's actually kind of nasty so I don't plan to find out. But apart from that, there's no better place to be on a crisp fall day or warm spring afternoon than by the water in the Valley Ranch canals.

April 2012 - Blooming

The theme for April is "Blooming," which is appropriate, since EVERYWHERE in Texas the bluebonnets were blooming like crazy. They were amazing! I loved seeing them along the sides of the interstate, forming fields of blue. I LOVE April in Texas!

And to make things even better, I have about 10 beautiful tomatoes blooming on my balcony - blooming? growing? I don't care! I have tomatoes! Can't wait til they ripen. I'm sure they'll taste delicious.

Yes, spring is blooming in Texas. And it's fabulous!

March 2012 - Transition

The theme for March 2012 was "transition." I had several thoughts of how I wanted to represent this theme. Unfortunately, none of them came to fruition, since I really didn't take many pictures during March. However, I do have one shot that I think represents transition. There were some amazing sunsets throughout the month, and I have a pretty good vantage spot to view them from my front door, if only those trees weren't in the way! I think this one is my favorite - I love the rays shooting up, and actually the trees add some extra character in this case. Sunset might be one of my favorite times of the day - the transition from the brilliant daylight to the dark midnight blue of the sky. And I love how God has a tendency to show off his creative character during sunsets. They're like snowflakes - no two are alike. Thank you, Lord, for displaying your glory through this beautiful transition.

February 2012 - Love

February - a month all about love. Here in TX, it was all about writing. I finished chapter 3 of my dissertation, really focusing hard on making progress. That also means I took very few pictures. And it's hard to take pics that go along with a "love" theme when you live alone and rarely see people outside of work. I thought about taking pics of some of my favorite things that I love, but ended up running out of time. So here are two rare pics from February 2012. The top one is me snuggling with my sweet Brodie boy - I absolutely love moments like this, because he doesn't often want to snuggle. The second one is just a cute pic of Brodie looking out the window at Genny's while she and I scrapbooked - so it's a pic of my much-loved puppy and represents beloved friends and favorite activities. That works, right?!

Not sure what March's theme is, 

but hopefully it will involve more photos.