30 Day Shred: Part 2

Well, I made it to Day 20 albeit a little late. I missed a couple of days in the middle and had to make up for them pushing back my days. I did walk those two days, so it wasn't like I didn't exercise, but it still wasn't the same.

After measuring, the results were pretty disappointing to say the least. Everything stayed the same except for my hips. I lost another half inch there bringing my totals to a loss of two pounds and five inches overall.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still glad I lost what I did, but after the first 10 days went so well, I was really disappointed that my body remained unchanged in terms of measurements.

BUT... I do notice that my arms, legs, and abs are more toned. Perhaps I should have been measuring my biceps and thighs as well... *shrug* I feel stronger, and that's important because after my first day of Level 3, I know I still have a ways to go.

Jillian increases the plyometrics (jumps) in Level 3, and they are intense. We'll see if I make it these last 10 days, lol.

Here's crossing fingers that I lose some more inches and pounds :)

Week 16: How do you get from point A to B?

This week's theme centered around transportation and, although I have not looked through everyone's submissions, there was a lot of variety among the group. Living in rural Ohio, my mode of transportation is my car.

Meet Vapor, a 2010 Toyota Corolla S. I love my car, especially its vibrant colors, which is what I chose to showcase this week. That and my hibiscus flower I picked up on a vacation to Florida.

I did not put a lot of creative thinking into this week's theme, so I'll have to make up for it next week which could be difficult since the theme is "Coffee." I literally have no ideas at this point...
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For those of you curious about my workout: I skipped a couple of days in the last 10, so I have to make those up. Look for a post on Wednesday(ish) about my progress!

Week 15: Paper Airplane

When I initially read the topic for this week, I wasn't very excited. I'm finding I dislike the topics that are a specific theme because the photos tend to look the same. But then I guess that's the point of the project, right? So, after I stepped back and thought of more conceptual ideas, I got excited.

I had a few different ideas. The first was to recreate a scene from my childhood. At the babysitter's house, us kids would make what seemed like hundreds of paper airplanes. Then we would rearrange the furniture into two "camps," and then we would "bomb" each other with our planes. We got detailed, too. Each camp had a symbol and the planes where decorated as such.

But I knew that would be too labor-intensive, and I had a lot of extra work this week, so it just wasn't going to work out.

Then I thought instead of making the paper airplane the focus of my photo, I would do the opposite; I would hide it. Thus came about the I Spy influence. I loved those books as a kid. So, I gathered nearly every white thing I could find in my house and set it up. I made four paper cranes to throw off the viewers of the picture, and one small paper airplane.

I think the photo turned out well. It was a challenge arranging everything to be in the photo, and I realized after I had published that you can't really see the eggs in the bowl. Oh well.

Can you spot the paper airplane?

30 Day Shred: Part 1

Ok, so I'm a few days behind on this post as I'm now four days into the second level. I have excellent news to report - I am seeing results!

If you missed my first post, I started Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD. I took measurements and photos prior to starting, after days 5 and 10, and I will take them after days 20 and 30.

Since I was unsure how hard the DVD was going to be, I chose to not use weights for the first five days. I have wimpy arms... always have... so I thought that would be best. I still managed to get a major workout on my arms as level one includes push-ups. Starting on Day Six, I started using 5-pound weights. Too heavy. So now I'm using 3-pound weights. They are perfect for me. I still feel the burn but my arms don't feel like they're going to fall off.

Now for the moment you've been waiting for - the results:

Week 14: Think Small

I'll be honest: This was the first week that I really did not care about this photography project.

I think there are a couple of reasons why. The first is that I didn't think I had the proper equipment to really get a stellar photo for this theme. "Think Small" told me I would do best with a macro lens, which I don't have... a side-effect of not having much money, I suppose.

I also could not come up with any ideas on what I wanted to photograph. I had taken photos of plants and butterflies, but I thought those would be boring and that everyone would submit something along those lines. Maybe I would have been better off submitting it anyways.

Plus, this week I was pretty distracted. I actually got to see my husband for most of the days this week, and I had started my workouts (see below). On top of that, I was busy baking cupcakes and cookies for Easter.

So, in a hurry, I snapped a photo of some jelly beans that were lying on the counter in my kitchen and submitted it. Meh.

This week is "Paper Airplane" and our photos must include a paper airplane in it. I have some ideas already that I'm pretty excited about. Hopefully I can execute :)

Getting Fit for Vacation

So, here's my first non-photography-related post. To make a long story short, I'm starting a new workout video - Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred. This came about for several reasons, actually.

First, I got it at a super-cheap price, something like $3 shipped through a website online that was running a special. Most of the reviews were favorable and I was looking for something... anything... to get me motivated to run again. (Ironically, photography has kind of been a de-motivator.) So, I figured "What the heck?"

Second, Husband and I booked our vacation. Since the IRS is mean, Rome isn't going to happen this year *sad face*, so we decided we would switch our 5-year anniversary vacation (back to Grand Cayman) with Rome. It kind of worked out because we got an amazing deal on everything - flight, room, and car. BUT since it is the Caribbean, I need to tone up.

Last, doctors have come out with new study results that show that the current way to measure BMI is flawed, and actually a much larger percentage of people should be considered "obese" instead of "overweight." You can read it here.

Now, I'm not "overweight" by any standards. I'm more looking to tone than drop pounds, although 10 pounds would be nice. I'm the same size that I was when I was married three years ago, which is probably more than most people can say. However, according to these new calculations, the definition of "obese" would drop from a BMI of 30 to a BMI of 24. That makes me closer than what I'm comfortable with.

I started the workout on Tuesday, so I have three days in. The first day (as always) was hard. Really hard. That's mostly because of the push-ups, which is something I've always struggled with. I wasn't blessed with upper body strength, haha. The past couple of days have seemed easier, though.

I'm not going to get into details, but I did a pre-workout weigh-in on the first day and took measurements and snapped some photos. I plan on doing weigh-ins on days 5, 10, 20, and 30. I'll share my progress and reviews as I go along. :)

Week 13: New Beginnings

With the recent warm weather, all of the plants have exploded. It's beautiful walking along the canal again.

The theme this week was "New Beginnings" and we were encouraged to Think Spring!

I didn't actually take this photograph this past week; I took it the week before, but I still had the theme in mind when I did.

The neighbor girl strung these plastic Easter eggs from the tree, and with the blooming buds and sunshine, the eggs popped with color. This picture makes me happy just looking at it. :)

This week, we are supposed to "Think Small." I really wish I had a macro lens for this theme, so I will have to test my creativity. I've already snapped photos of small flowers and butterflies. We'll see what else I notice this week.

In other news, Husband and I booked our summer vacation! Grand Cayman, here we come!

Here are some other Spring-related photos I took this week:

Week 12: On A Shelf

This was another one of those "straight-forward" weeks where you take a photo of something specific, in this case, on a shelf. I tried to think outside of the box on this one, shying away from a bookshelf, and wound up with several ideas - Cambell's Soup Cans on a shelf (Ok, so it wouldn't have been outside of the box, but it would have been artistic commentary), from a shelf looking out, or finding shelves in other places.

I ended up with the latter. With the warmer weather, the birds have come back. They spent the weekend draining my bird feeder, haha.

I had two photos that I liked and asked my husband for his opinion on which one to submit. He chose the one above. The other is below.

This week's theme is "New Beginnings" and we are supposed to think Spring. I already took some photos last week of the trees in bloom, so I'll probably just use on of those.

Week 11: My Lucky Something

So here I am a couple of days behind... oops. This week's challenge was My Lucky Something. 

Truth is, I don't have a "lucky something." I kind of wish I did. I guess I consider my life in general pretty lucky, so in a slight panic near the Sunday deadline, I snapped a photo on my way to work:

Certainly not the best photo in the world. I only had my iPhone with me. I got this medallion from a church function several years ago. The priest told us keep it someplace where we "might need it," so I placed it around the rearview mirror in my car. So far, I have not been in an accident, and it helps me keep me calm in stressful driving situations.

I guess it works. This week is "On a Shelf." I'm not sure what I'm going to do this week, either... 

Weekend Getaway

This past week-and-a-half at work was extra busy and stressful. Couple that with the warmer weather we've been having, and I was ready to get out of the house. Husband is also in-between sports seasons, and he had the weekend free. So, on Thursday night, I take a short break at work so that we can talk on the phone, and he mentions going away for the weekend. Of course I say yes!

Last fall, we had a similar getaway where we went to Cleveland. Saturday was spent at the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame. Then we went downtown to eat and walked around. That Sunday, we stopped by the zoo on our way home.

This time, we threw out a few different ideas: Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Columbus. We agreed on Cincy, so I booked our hotel room at the Hyatt Regency downtown.

On Saturday morning, we dropped Dog off at my mom's house and took the trip down I75. Since our check-in wasn't until 4 p.m., we first went to the Newport Aquarium just over the river in Kentucky. I had been there several years ago, but I had pretty much forgotten most of it. Husband had never been there. Here are some photos:

After the aquarium, it was only 3:30 p.m., so since we still had some time, we decided to take a walk along (and across!) the river. I am scared of heights, so for me, walking across the bridges was a scary experience. We walked from Newport across the river back to Cincy.

Great American Ballpark

Then, we went along the road by the Reds' stadium and Bengals' stadium. Next, we crossed the original bridge that was completed in 1865 back over the river.

After that, we walked through the streets of Covington and Newport, pretty much following the Queen City Tour. Neither of us realized how much history is in the area. The houses and other buildings are still as they were in the early-mid 1800s, so that was really neat to see.

After we made it back to our car, we checked into the Hyatt Regency, and pretty much left immediately for Spring Grove Cemetery. I know, I know - a cemetery doesn't sound very romantic, haha. We attended a presentation about owls in southwest Ohio, which was actually very interesting.

Peregrine Falcon

Great Horned Owl

Barn Owl

Barred Owl

Following the presentation, you could caravan to the back of the cemetery (which is, like, 700 acres) to hopefully see owls in their natural habitat. However, Husband and I were extremely hungry by this point, so we decided to just drive back to the hotel, get ready and walk downtown.

Husband chose the restaurant when we went to Cleveland, so he said it was my choice this time. I decided to try a place called Via Vite, an Italian eatery right on Fountain Square. The food, my friends, was absolutely amazing, and we highly recommend trying it out.

After dinner, we took a horse-drawn carriage ride through the city, which was my favorite part of the whole trip. While I don't have any photos of that, I did get one of the Fountain Square statue:

Steve, the driver of the carriage, was awesome and dropped us off right at our hotel so we didn't have to walk back. On Sunday, we spent the day at the Cincinnati Museum of Art, which was fun... probably more so for me than Husband, but that's OK.

All-in-all, it was a fantastic mini-vacation, and we're actually thinking about going back to Cincinnati. We did not realize just how much there is to do in that area. :)

Week 10: Looking Up

 This past weekend was pretty special. Husband and I decided to take a spontaneous vacation to Cincinnati for a couple of days. But I'll write about the vacation in the next post.

The theme this week for the photo contest was Looking Up. I knew going to the city for the weekend would give me plenty of opportunities to shoot. At the same time, I was hoping to find something different as I expected there to be a lot of photos of buildings, flags, and clouds that would be entered.

A visit to the Newport Aquarium gave me that moment. The aquarium has tunnels that you can walk through in which the animals will swim right over your head. I quickly snapped this photo of this young baby, full of wonder and awe, as she watched the fish floating past.

So, not only was I looking up, but the subject of the photo is as well.

I think the Looking Up theme made people look at things in the world that they don't normally see. Despite the fact that humans can see a wide range of area around them, it seems we focus on what is right in front of us and fail to take in the beauty everywhere.

Anyways, this is my favorite photograph that I've taken so far for this contest. I also got some cool shots from the rest of the trip, so look for a post about the trip later!

Week 9: Abstract

Abstract.

I had never tried to photograph anything in an abstract way, so when I saw the theme, I panicked a little bit. I surfed the web and looked through what people submitted for ideas. I still wasn't sure what I was doing, haha.

I had seen a video of how to marble fingernails about a month ago online, and I remember thinking how cool the process looked, so that's what I decided to photograph. I had never tried the nail thing, either, but the results were pretty neat. I'm hoping to one day expand my equipment to include a macro lens, and then I think I'll go back and rephotograph this project. Here's what I submitted:

This was chosen as one of the best of the week, which is now twice in a row and three times overall. This project has really challenged me get out and photograph, and I love that.

Here's another photograph from the session:

This week's theme is "Looking Up." I should have plenty of options, now I just have to find the time to get out and shoot! It's going to be a super-busy week.

Week 8: Laughter

This was another theme that I loved. The photos everyone submitted were fantastic and made me smile. Adam and I went to visit my brother and sister. My brother got a puppy around Christmas, and goodness has she grown! Anyways, my brother was playing ball with her and I managed to get some really funny photos. I submitted a composite for the theme:

The photo was chosen as one of the best of the week. That makes twice, now, and it really makes me want to keep taking interesting pictures.

Here are some other photos from the day:

Would have been great for last week's Light assignment.

Week 7: Light

Week 7 was tough because it was cloudy... every. day. Looking back, I should have done a long-exposure shot inside, but I didn't think about that until I looked through everyone else's photographs. Oh well, lesson learned.

Since the sun was shining in an out through the clouds on Sunday, we took a trip around the lake. Here's the image I submitted:

The sun did make the lake look like it was "sparkling." This was the image that best captured that, I feel. I also got some cool photos of seagulls and the goose catching a fish, so the day wasn't a complete waste.

Week 6: Movie/Song Title

I LOVED this week's theme. The possibilities were endless, and everyone had such creative photographs by the end of the week!

For me, it snowed this weekend, and when I think snow, I think beach, haha. So, I went with Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville for my song title. Thankfully, Adam was such a super husband and willing to help me out.

I was initially going to only shoot from the thigh up, but after he came out in flip flops, I knew I had to shoot his whole body.

Here's an outtake with a nice, fat snowflake on his chin:

This was the first week that my picture was chosen as one of the best. I was ecstatic that it was :)

Week 5: I Left My Heart In...

Week 5 was easy for me. In fact, it seemed it was pretty easy for most people. For this theme, I chose to use a photograph from me and Adam's honeymoon in Grand Cayman.

This picture holds a lot of "firsts" for us. It was our first dinner together, our first full day together, our first vacation together, our first time to the Caribbean, as a married couple. I set the self-timer on my little point-and-shoot and put it on the table next to us to get this photo. It turned out much better than I expected it would, and I love it. It's one of my favorite photos.

Here's some other images from the trip:

Mimi's Dock Bar & Grill

Crab

This sign made me laugh

Fish!

Hello.

Adam feeding a stingray

Swimming Stingray

I think you can definitely see why I left my heart there, haha. We plan to go back for our 5-year anniversary ^_^