Shoot for the Moon

I've had a couple of busy then bad days. I was feeling better and think i kind of overdid, I still have a problem with learning to pace myself, but when I feel good I want to accomplish all those things that I haven't gotten around to due to my health so I overdo. Friday was a particularly good day and I got a lot accomplished, dog to the vet, physical therapy, shopping, photo taking more than usual but didn't take extra steroids to compensate for the extra stress. Mistake, mistake. When that happens I tend to sleep all the next day, which is pretty much happened.

On top of that Jeremy came home from scout camp where he was one of the leaders, while this was real nice, he also brought home a bug of some kind and we were both sick today. So sleep is what I accomplished today.

I did wake up long enough to eat and then was awake enough to watch the movie 'Secretariat'. A movie that really moved me.  Here was an ordinary women with a dream to help her family and through all her trials including thinking that instead of helping her family she was losing them due to her absence, but in the end she teaches them so much more.  She taught them about following your own  dreams, perseverance and other great character traits.  Sometimes I feel so bad about my health problems and how they have taken me away from my family, both in down time and the time I have to spend to take care of myself, but my family has learned many character traits from my trails that they would not have learned otherwise.
I've seen this movie once before but this time it struck me that she would not have made her dreams come true if it wasn't for the support system of friends and co-workers who turned into friends with which she picked and surrounded herself with.  I too have had and still have a support system for which I am extremely thankful for.  Without them I would not have been as successful as I have been.  This time the movie moved me to tears at her and her support system and their triumph.  Even though I was a junior and senior in high school (which really dates me) I was still right there with them at the triumphs and disappointments along the way even though I knew how it all turned out, because this time I understood the feelings that was happening in the film.  What a difference it made.
Anyway it reminded me of the moon picture and the quote as she shot for the moon and made it then went even further to reach the stars.  Not just in the triumph of her horse but the triumph of her spirit and the difference she made in so many people's lives.
Enjoy
☺☺☺Johnina ☺☺☺ 

Coming in for a landing

“The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.”

Norman Cousins quotes (American Essayist and Editor, long associated with the Saturday Review. 1912-1990 Sometimes I feel like this little bird, homing in on it's destination with hope, determination and action as I strive to improve my health. Enjoy the journey ☺☺☺Johnina☺☺☺

Fantasy, dream or goal

Since I have been making progress on my knees and being able to walk with greater ease; it is now time to work on my arm and hand damage.  I have neuropathy in my right arm and hand and have had two surgeries to keep my arm and hand working.  At one point I had to teach myself to write again much less paint or draw, but after many months I was able to do that.  I discovered that some of the skills the artistic skills never really left; I just had to learn to control the pencil or brush again; the artist eye was never lost which is why I took to photography so fast.  Photography became another way to artistically express myself.  At first it seemed easier just to look for the composition and than push the shutter.  I have since learned that there is more to it than that to be able to fully express myself to my fullest artistic ability and I'm still learning that and enjoying the learning process.  However the best rehabilitation for my arm and hand is drawing and painting.  When I fell and hurt my knee; I grabbed a handrail and re-injured my arm and hand and untill now I really did not take the time to work on rehab for it.

I enjoy fantasy novels and drawing fantasy figures and creatures.  I find I enjoy making the differences and the freedom of composition creating such drawings provide.  Many fairy tales are  great metaphors for life.   For many years now I have wanted to write a fantasy novel as a metaphor for my life and maybe a way to do some healing.  I have actually started this project.  It is in a pink notebook with some pictures, character descriptions, a few scenes and dialogues.  Like the title describes is this just fantasy for me, a way to take me out of this world for awhile or is it a dream to work on occasionally to make me feel like I'm making progress or a goal to be set and worked and reworked until progress is made and the novel completed?  I've been thinking about this since I was offered a blog award but one of the requirements was to tell several things about yourself that others don't know and this is on of my secret fantasies, dreams, goals that most people do not know about.  This is a biggie for me.  Do any of you out there have secret goals or dreams that seem at times impossible (cuz if you thought it was possible or easy you would tell others and do it)?  Tell someone or put it in the comments and maybe serendipity will find a way to make your dreams come true. 

March goal- follow my bliss

Last months goals did not get done like I would have liked I didn't look up near enough of my friends blogs and websites.  I have not been posting in my blog like I would like; I keep getting distracted.  I decided that maybe I had to much structure in my goals for a while and my creative mind was rebelling so I decided to do more of following my bliss.  At first I thought that I was not getting near as much done but I came to realize I was actually getting as much done and more (in part because my health is improving).  I just was not getting the same things done.  Even though this is past the middle of the month for setting goals, they were in fact set at the beginning of the month just not blogged about, I have decided to put some structure back, more priorities.  I have missed doing my blog terribly and reading my friends blogs.  I need enough structure to make sure that there is enough structure so that the things that I have found recently and really love have a place in my life.

Let me tell you about some of the bliss that I have followed.  A couple of posts ago I was complaining about the Georgia winters and then discovering the wonderful intriquing shapes of the bare trees.  I started taking pictures of them and in looking at them I was reminded of Bonsai trees and started researching them.  Of course I need to be thrifty in going about this new hobby so i found out how to start my own trees from seeds and cuttings.  Of course this has to be done in the spring so I have been putting time into that so I wouldn't have to wait till next spring or struggle and not succeed because I was trying to do it in the wrong season.  See the photo above of cutting that is being rooted.

I've also been trying to capture some of trees and landscapes with lots of character because the trees are bare.  I put together this college of this old restored plantation house with it's trees with large pieces of bark missing from where the peacocks used to roast.

Of course being spring I've been working hard to get my gardens going.  This year almost everything I plant I will have started from seed (except the roses and azaelas) Most are already started and are ready to be planted or are planted or will be ready to be planted when they are supposed to be planted.  This is a first for me, both in growing from seed and having them ready on time, ironically this is due to my structured goals the last couple of months.  I have been frequenting the local garden centers, not to buy but to enjoy the flowers.

I was also asked to take picture at the birthday party for our women's society at church.  I took lots of pictures and edited 28 to make the collage.  I took the pictures on a Thursday and had the collage done the next Sunday.  Pretty impressive,huh?  

All in all this has bee a pretty enjoyable month so far, but I'm already starting to plan more goals but that is for another blog.

February goals

Last night I was reading through some of my favorite blogs and came upon a post that struck home for me. I was reading mysteries (if you want to read it go to my blog list and click on mysteries) and Jeannette was talking about her apprehension on her daughters first trip across Holland on a train even though she had been riding the trains since she was 11 and her daughter was 17. I have the same apprehension with my youngest daughter as she flies cross-country. The first time I flew with her, but after that she was on her own. At first we did park the car and go in with her and since she was still a minor we could go through securitywith her. But she got independent and now we drop her off out front. Of course we couldn't help her with lay-overs and she always has lay-overs. We also couldn't help when she got to Salt Lake so she has gotten to know several airports well; Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Salt Lake and when she visits her sister, Pittsburgh. You will notice she goes through some of the busiest airport in the U.S if not the world. I know she is a very capable person and am very proud of her but still some apprehension remains. I guess it's a mom thing. I liked Jeannette's post because it reminds me that I am not alone in my feelings.
I enjoy many other blogs for many other reasons; the beautiful pictures, a different point of view, beautiful artwork, friendship and sharing in other people's lives- how they live and cope-viewing life in different parts of the world, lots of different reasons just like I have many different eclectic reasons for writing my blog.
This month I have set the goal of visiting the blogs and websites of my friends on MyShutterSpace (MSS) and putting in my blog what I like about them. I have found that if I make comments like I do on the photos on MSS that I pay more attention and learn more and enjoy it more. I decided to make my goal of visiting my friends on MSS for several reasons; to get to know them better, we already have an interest in common, and I was surprised at how many had a blog or website and it peeked my curiosity. I am still going to work on my edits but once again the emphasis changes slightly. I'm going to work on improving my blog and my friendships by learning from other peoples blogs with the emphasis on what I like on their blogs.

Sites from my friends at MSS:
http://kulanthapitha.blogspot.com/
http://lovenotionpixels.blogspot.com/
These are both by my friend Kuluth. His blogs are always fresh and interesting. His photography skills are delightful and he tells of his country (India), culture and life. He has a great love for his country and family and it shows through his pictures and words.

January Goals

To start out the new year most people make these grandiose goals for the next year. I personally like to make monthly goal, smaller more manageable goal. I have found that if I have a general idea of what I want to accomplish for the year, for example improving my artistic talents; then the monthly goals become more specific such as I have been doing the last several months on my blog. Keeping it on a monthly basis also allows me to revise and redo without feeling guilty about messing up my goals for the year.

My two basic goals this year are to continue to develop my artistic talents and to develop healthier habits. With my artistic talents I am going back to my Dec. goals and revising them somewhat. With being sick and the hospital stay and visiting family; I did work on my goals somewhat but not enough. My priorities changed; with little energy from being sick I decided that I needed to make my family my first priority while they were here. I'm glad I did I love them all dearly and they certainly should be my first priority. However my energy level was way down so basically that's all I got done. I did do enough editing that when asked how I edited a picture I couldn't remember how I did it; so now I'm adding writing down as I go so I will remember. I've already learned from the sunrise picture above that even with knowing exactly how I edited a picture; each picture still needs to be edited in it's own way. I wanted the sunrise to look more like the waterway picture, but in following the same steps the sunrise looked horrible so I went back and revised and really like the new version so much better .My health goals for this month is to add lots more veggies to my diet. Last month I changed what I ate when I got up at night. I often get up and get the munchies and sometimes I get up in pain and have to eat with the pain killer pills and I was eating the wrong things and gaining weight. With a few simple changes at night and cutting back on the sodas and ice cream I've lost 10 pounds in the last 3 weeks and that was over the holidays. Pat on the back for me.


Photo edits:
Sunrise-Picasa 3- Crop, color temp set toward the red slightly, glow, signature
Photoscape- film effects, cross process, gradient border
Waterway- Picasa 3- Crop, Signature
Photoscape- Catoonize, cellophane, gradient border

Surgery and simple edits

Today I had surgery, so this is going to be short a sweet. It is also the reason why I didn't do a post yesterday; I decided that going to bed early was better for me than putting up a post. A friend of mine Nicu Liuta said this about being on the website MyShutterSpace "I can't live without this...it's my phototherapy!..." I agree with him whole-heartedly and couldn't have put it better. I just have to add photo taking,photo editing and my blog. I am trying to integrate my goals as I add them and taking care of myself is #1 goal. I must admit that going to bed early and putting up a new post was something of a toss-up; they both do me good. Anyway the surgery was to replace a mal-functioning port. The surgeon took out the bad port from my left side just below my collar bone and put a brand new power port on my right side just below my collar bone. Now both my arms are not working so well and I have to be careful of what I do till it heals. It hurts, too.
I decided instead of doing a complicated edit I would spend more time with a simple edit but spend more time looking at it so I could really finesse it. The results are shown here. The top picture was redone several times before I got a picture I really liked; I didn't settle on the first edit. The bottom picture was also redo several times as I learned how to change the color of the sky. They don't fit in the wow category, but I'm also learning that editing a pretty picture is alright , too.

December Goals

I have been blessed with the ability to learn fairly quickly, however I also have a short attention span. Consequently I have a real problem getting really good at things. This December I am going to work on this problem of mine. I've learned a lot about editing pictures in the last couple of months and am getting better, but I find myself just doing quick edits and not stretching to really learn more like I was. So for this month I am going to concentrate on taking my photos further in my editing and maybe not do as many. The photos on today's blog are ones that I spent a lot of time on. They may not be perfect, but I really like them. We'll see how this goal goes. I think I have have done better on my goals since I have put them in my blog. I've always heard that to get the best results from one's goals is to make them specific, write them down and let others know so one feels accountable for one's goals. This blog takes care of all those suggestions quite nicely, even the last one is taken care of because I know my husband, most of the rest of my family and plenty of friends, both long time and brand new, read my blog. I hope you enjoy the photos.
Please notice on the bottom of the page a request for your quotes, jokes or inspirational thoughts, things that help you though the day. Join me on my blog. :^D

November goals

It has been raining here again and that means more mushrooms and it seems that every time it rains for a few days than stops for a few days we get a different kind of mushroom. I've never seen such a variety of mushrooms in all my life. I've said that before and still more and different kinds of mushrooms keep popping up. The newest ones are bright red and seem to match the bright red of the leaves right now. Since my goal and priority for October was to get this blog up and tweeked I have several groups of mushrooms from different rain times that have been sitting around waiting to be edited and organized. I have learned that the blog will always need some tweeking to keep it fresh and interesting but it won't be the drain on me that the start has been. I now know lots more tricks and tips and where to go. I really think I did well in accomplishing my goals for October; I posted 27 posts, and my blog sure looks a lot more professional. I'm also learning to toot my own horn and let people know about my blog. My niece JoAnn used to say " You've got to toot your own horn, or someone else will use it as a spittoon." Pretty smart considering she was in her teens when that was her favorite saying. That attitude got her a job as a disc jockey at a local radio station instead of flipping burgers as a teen. Pretty nice. Thus far I have received favorable comments from those who have visited my blog and this has done wonders for me personally. I have learned many things and not just how to take pictures and use a computer. I have grown in courage to try new things, not long ago I would not have had the courage to do this blog. I've overcome a lot of my shyness, I talk to complete strangers (in safe situations of course) and take pictures of them. I pull over to the side of the road to take picture and have even had the police stop and talk to me without getting flustered. The setting of my goals for the past couple of months has seen much in my personal growth, especially with sitting down and thinking through my thoughts and putting them into words for the world to read.

November has another set of priorities, I want to keep up this personal growth, but I need once again to bring back more balance in my life. I need to balance this blog, MyShutterSpace, and Facebook. They each play a different part in my life on the computer. I need to get out in the world more, as much as my health will allow. I've been asked to do a powerpoint presentation on the 14th with my photography for a special women's night out at church, considering I've never done a powerpoint presentation I've got more learning to do. I also need to do more to increase my health so I've decided since I've been doing so many deep knee bends taking pics of mushrooms I'm probably strong enough to go back to swimming at the gym. Something I love to do but have put off. Lots of things have gotten a little off balance and since I have so little strength and energy it doesn't take much to get off-balance. This month's priority is balance; something everyone must apply then reapply again as we go though our lives.