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Some autumnal/winter shots I took 'last year' on my Nikon D3100, kit lens

November Anew

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The November sun has been hugging the south wall of the world here in Minnesota, shining brightly as if to encourage dreams and the little hopes of pleasures associated with this beautiful season. I can almost smell the pumpkin pie from here in the future; that spiced delight wafting around the house, fresh from the oven; turkey drizzled with gravy, mashed red or sweet potatoes, green beans, and a dish overflowing with steaming corn... And it isn't just the food --- it's everything. November reminds me to be thankful for everything.

    Last year I wrote about 25 or so posts on things I was thankful for. I don't want to be so formatted this time; I want to just write about the beautiful gifts God sends one at a time without planning it all out.

    Right now, one of the things I'm most thankful for is health. Last week, my whole family was exposed to a pretty bad case of the stomach flu. My niece, brother and sister-in-law caught it first, and I from them since I've been babysitting for my niece routinely for the past several months. The night after they were sick, I was sick; and the night after that, my sisters were sick; and the night after that, my mom took her turn. And then two nights later, my dad started to feel ill --- even my grandparents have caught the bug! I know it's a bad one because my dad almost NEVER gets sick, and the flu we catch almost NEVER spreads like this --- it's been like wildfire!

    I'm grateful to have my food stay in my stomach!

There's no better way to start off one of the best months of the whole year with a midnight showing of a movie, especially one that has been looked forward to for seemingly countless weeks! Lilly and I went with a few friends to see Wreck-it-Ralph last night. (I posted about my excitement for this Disney-Pixar animation last month, going on and on about how cool it looked and how happy I was that Owl City wrote a song for it.) I walked into the theater already knowing from trailers, photos, suchlike and so on that it was going to be spectacular! And well, to put it plainly, it more than exceeded my expectations!
As far as animations go, I can almost always tell how much I'm going to enjoy them. Wreck-it-Ralph was no exception. Lilly obliged my wishes by taking photos of me on her phone, standing next to all the posters I liked in the theater (this was during the last 45 minutes before the movie started). Beside the large Wreck-it-Ralph poster, I squatted down right next to Fix-it-Felix Jr. --- I had begun to have an inkling that I was going to really, really like him a lot, and he turned out (not at all to my surprise) to be my favorite character! With his gentlemanly "ma'am", his "oh my lands!", the sound it makes when he bounces around, his willingness to risk his life to do what is right, and by-gosh, that cute little smile! I just love him.
    It's really so hard for me to not share spoilers with all of you about the storyline; I was glued to my chair the whole time. I guess I can at least share that I practically laughed my head off, and even started to cry at one point. And honestly, I should have seen the ending coming, but it completely took me by surprise, in the pleasantest way. I just love it when movies do that! Now, I just have to wait until it's officially released so that I can buy it, smuggle it into the DVD player, and wow the rest of my family unfortunate enough to have been sleeping by midnight last night and have $7.50 still tucked into their wallets.
    Someone please say I'm not the only one who is ridiculously excited about this movie!

And now, I'm sitting here at the computer, Bible before me (turned to John 8; great chapter from Christ's ministry), Owl City's 'When Can I See You Again' from Wreck-it-Ralph playing on YouTube (multiple times; I've seriously listened to it at least 15-20 or more times since I woke up this morning), and Merlin cued-up on Netflix. (Oh boy, Merlin is a whole story of its own! I'll be writing about that sometime soon, too, I'm sure.)

 

Well, November... you and I are off to a great start. ♥

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I have only posted on my blog one or two times since I got my new camera, and that was exactly one month ago. Weird... I can hardly believe that anything could crowd-out writing in my life, but I guess the novelty of a DSLR of my very own takes more time to wear off than I thought! To help balance this out, I have been taking a long break from editing photos the past several nights to finish writing letters to some friends, keep "plugging away" at my grad party thank-you notes, and baby-step my way to the end of my novel.

Even though I've graduated from High School, responsibilities and various forms of learning do not end. I'm taking piano lessons again (just started up for the season on Tuesday), and dappling in a few other subjects which interest me. I'm also starting to pick up my driver's manual so that I can hopefully earn my permit soon. I know it would be convenient for my mom to have another licensed driver in the family who can help run errands and suchlike.

I'm never quite sure just how to answer when people ask me about college or my plans for the future. The truth is, I don't really have any big plans yet --- I'm living life as it comes, continuing to stay at home unless and until God presents me to my own prince charming. I'm waiting for God to show me His own plans for my life. In the meantime, I may very well end up schooling myself in the areas of photography, writing, and useful homemaking skills --- all outside of college. Life seems filled to the rim even without college classes and a full-time job, and I'm content to wait on God's will for my life.

Having read a couple Medieval fantasies in a row, now, I plan to dig back into the Hunger Games trilogy. 'Catching Fire' is waiting for me on my desk, and I'm itching to open it! I have only a chapter or two of 'Dragon's Breath' by E.D. Baker to finish; so much reading, so little time!

My writing, as I have alluded to, has been mostly put on the back-burner of late, but I hope to put an end to this pattern. I'll try to return here often, now that summer chaos is beginning to subside.
    Along those lines, I also want to work on this one tough area in my novel; this sticky place that I've written and re-written more than once. I want that enormous section of the story fixed and behind me so that I can once again pour my heart into the more exciting parts of my work-in-progress.

Although my camera has crowded-out a lot of other activities in my life recently, it hasn't exactly been all in vain.

It may not seem very interesting, but I have to tell you... I took this photo out the dirty window of my moving car from the back seat. The fact that there is no blur, no sign of dirt, no anything bad is the reason why I love my new camera to death! ;)

I guess I have a 'thing' for leaf and sunshine photos. I can't help myself, though. The first photo is of a leaf I found in the public library parking lot. Nothing special, just your regular green. But the sunlight was perfect. My other leaf photo (directly above) is of a crunchy brown leaf, and the place at which I found it now escapes me. But the texture of it reminded me of a dragon's wing --- naturally I found the very idea irresistible.

This darling young lady is my younger sister, Emily. She was sweet enough to let me force her up into a tree and smile down at me. You professionals can tell I don't have much experience with portraits as yet, but don't worry; I'm learning. Em's just naturally a beautiful girl, so pictures of her, however poor the quality, are always lovely. ♥

As I have said, I shall try to be more faithful in writing on Thirst For Purity. After such a long an eventful summer, there is now much to be said! Ta ta for now!

Bumble

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I had my open house a week ago, Saturday. What a great party! so many beloved friends and family came to celebrate with me! It was a blessed time.

After everyone had gone (expect for my dad's parents, who were helping us with the take-down and cleaning), I was opening the cards I had received, sitting down at our dining room table. while I was paying attention to something else, my mom set down a cardboard box in front of me, and when I turned back, it took me a moment to register exactly what it was.

My parents gave me a new Nikon D3100, the camera I've been dreaming of for the longest time, now! Victor, my little point-and-shoot, has sadly been kind of left in the dust since Bumble came along. why Bumble? My Nikon has a strap that is black with yellow lettering --- like a bumble bee! --- and he/it also takes fabulous photos of bugs of all kinds, at least in comparison to poor old Victor.

I've brought Bumble with me almost everywhere since that moment. I can hardly wait to take some shots of St. Paul and begin practicing with my sisters for portraits!

This is my ham of a niece, Olivia. She doesn't really pose, but she's super photogenic. She loves attention, so she likes to entertain us with her silly faces and nonsense-gabbing. I love her so much!

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I'm linking up with Sophia at My Happy Place.

More Inspiration... Garden Dragonflies

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As promised, here are more inspirational photos!

You can barely see his wings, but he was kind enough to hold still long enough for me to take this photo. The photos you will see below are all of the dragonflies who modeled generously for me this summer.

To Inspire...

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All of these pictures below were taken this year by myself. They are wholly unedited, and now presented to you for inspiration, pleasure, or anything of the like. Please do me a favor and share them with your friends. (But don't save them to use as your own because they took a great deal of time and effort to get them they way they are.)
    I'm planning on posting more soon!