Monday, December 27, 2010

Sisters

Amanda Dickerson, Rebeka Barclay, Kayla O'Hern

Sisters.  We fight hard, but we love harder.  I think the only people that can really understand the relationship that sisters have is...well, sisters.  There are three of us.  Amanda is the oldest, and Rebeka is the youngest.  That leaves me smack dab in the middle.  With only a three year span in our ages from oldest to youngest, we've always been very involved in each others' lives.  We went to the same dances and knew the same people.  The issue you have with siblings is that sometimes people forget that you are not the same person.  For three girls born of the same two parents, although we have similar moral and religious beliefs as well as academic achievements, we are very different in our personalities.  Amanda is the dependable, responsible one.  I am the smart-alec, comic relief of the family.  Rebeka is the performer, with more vocal and dance talent in her pinky finger than Amanda and I have in our entire bodies.  We all have our flaws, just like everyone, and we're to the age now that instead of trying to deny them, we find the humor in them and embrace the traits that set us apart from each other.  Amanda exaggerates.  I have a short fuse.  Rebeka laughs at inappropriate times.  There are more things, but, after all, these are my sisters and I will not betray all of their faults, or mine for that matter.  It's interesting to see how, as we grow older, there are things we all three have in common; like the fact that we are all teachers.  And there are things that are different among the three of us or that two of us have in common while the other is of a different style.  Amanda and I love reading historical romances and watching romantic comedies.  Rebeka loves more true-to-life reading and watching psychological thrillers.  I love to shoot guns.  Neither of them do.  Amanda and Rebeka both teach English and literature.  I am a science teacher.  The list goes on and on.  There is one thing, however, that all three of us feel pretty passionately about...our family.  It is perfectly acceptable for us to argue with each other and say things about each other that we shouldn't, but that is a privilege that we have, as sisters.  We'll get over it, and within a day or two will make up, and it will be as if the argument never occurred.  If anyone else decides to make such comments about one of us, the defenses go up and the protective nature in all of us comes out.  Don't mess with my sisters.  They are my best friends - the ones I turn to when no one else can possibly understand.  They know just what to say or not to say.  They know how to listen when I just need to vent.  They also know they can tell me something I don't want to hear, and, although I may lash out for a few minutes, that I'll get over it and realize they only said it for my benefit.  They know how to make me laugh until I cry and cry until I laugh.  I love them.  They are, after all, my sisters.


(photos were taken with Kayla's Canon Rebel with the use of the timer)

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Baby, It's Cold Outside


70 degrees in the days before Christmas and 30 degrees the day after...just another crazy winter in Mississippi!  My daughter didn't mind the cold, though.  She'll run and play in any weather!



Monday, December 20, 2010

"It's Santa"


That's it.  That's the look of awe and wonder at my daughter's first sight of Santa Claus riding on the fire truck at the Gillsburg Christmas parade a few weeks ago.  All she could talk about...all she can still talk about is Santa Claus coming to town and bringing his "goodies." It breaks my heart to think of how quickly these years of innocence will go by.  She's definitely ready for Santa's arrival, and she's been telling Baby Jesus all about it while she rearranges my nativity into a more Callie-approved style.  Merry Christmas everyone!


Friday, December 17, 2010

Fix It Friday

This is my first time to participate in Fix-It Friday.  This is the original image (not my own, and a beautiful one at that):


(Photoshop CS4) I added a slight vignette and a diffuse glow filter


Then I selected just the couple and did a black/white conversion then inverted it, then adjusted the vibrance...the end





Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Gentle Giant - I Heart Faces: Week 50



When I saw that this week's contest on I Heart Faces was for Pets, I was so excited!  I looked through the photos I've taken over the years of our puppies (our normal pet of choice...besides that one creepy tarantula) and had narrowed it down to two choices.  Then I came across this picture.  I double-checked to make sure I could use it since, obviously, I don't have a giraffe as a pet in rural Mississippi.  This picture was taken at Global Wildlife Refuge in Folsom, Louisiana in 2009.  Giraffes are quite possibly my favorite land mammal outside of puppies.  They are such beautiful and graceful animals, and it was an amazing experience to have this gentle giant eat food right out of my hand!!  My daughter, who was one at the time, was actually able to pet this magnificent creature...something I much preferred to her almost getting eaten by an over-zealous camel earlier in the trek.  
 

 
Head on over to I Heart Faces today to enter your own Pet Pic!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

O Christmas Tree


Traditions.  They are such an important part of the holidays, at least in my family.  New PJs on Christmas Eve every year for the little ones, cheese toast for breakfast Christmas morning, decorating the tree, watching the old school Rudolph movie, and listening to the same exact tape of Christmas music I've listened to during every one of my 26 Christmases!  It's just not the same without it!

Now that I'm a Mama, traditions are even more important, and so is starting some new ones for my family.  And so, this year we went to the Christmas Memories Tree Farm in Fernwood the weekend after Thanksgiving to pick out the perfect tree.  I'm hoping it will be a long-lasting tradition.  I love live Christmas trees, and, now that we've found a species that doesn't cause me to double-over in coughing fits, I look forward to sharing that tradition with my family.  Callie picked out the tree with me, her daddy, and her Uncle Cott in tow to help.  "Cut it down, Daddy. Cut...it....down," she said as she pointed to her favorite tree.  It was a beautiful day full of beautiful memories.  I snapped the picture below at my Mama's house, where we went to help decorate her tree (another tradition).  Their artificial tree is a towering 9 feet or so, compared to our 6 foot tree, and Callie was mesmerized at the enormity of it all. 



 P.S.  See the post from Sunday, Dec. 5th to find out about my FREE PHOTO SESSION GIVEAWAY!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Tis the Season....for a Giveaway!!







Nothing gets me into the spirit of giving quite like Christmas.  Christmas is all about one very special "gift" after all...the gift of Jesus!  My gift to you, well one of you anyway, is a FREE PHOTO SESSION for you, your family, your grandchild, your pet, your...whatever.  The giveaway is for a free one-hour photo session at your home or other location, with a free proof sheet of all images, and free editing on the images you choose.  All you have to pay for is the travel cost (35 cents per mile roundtrip) and any prints you want. 

To enter comment on this post and tell me your favorite thing about the Christmas Season!  You can also gain more entries by:

1) following this blog
2) signing my guestbook
3) liking my facebook page and commenting on the post about this giveaway!

It all ends on December 31st, and I'll announce the winner after the first of the year!  Spread the word to all of your friends and have a very Merry Christmas!