I apologize for not posting yesterday...we went on a little day trip, as my dad had to preach at another congregation - and I needed a little break from blogging. I hope you understand :)

Yesterday it rained while it was sunny outside. I'm not talking about a little shower, I'm talking about a real thunderstorm. Okay, so there wasn't any lightning, but there was thunder and it was raining hard.

When the thunderstorm passed, it felt like a rain forest outside. It was hot, humid, sunny, and everything was wet. But it also made for some wonderful photos.

The water droplets that still clung to objects sparkled and shimmered like tiny prisms in the sunlight. It was breathtaking. 

Even though I didn't see a rainbow in the sky, I found one in the last photo (bottom right hand corner). See it? It made my day.

It's times like these that make me love photography even more. Some are content just to see beauty with their eyes, but that's not enough for me. No, when I see something that's beautiful to me, I have to capture it in a photo. When I press the shutter release button, and here that familiar "click", I'm satisfied the beauty will last forever. Only then do I truly appreciate something beautiful. I will never, ever tire of it. 

-carlotta

1. home. You've probably already noticed, but I'm back from our whirlwind impromptu trip down to Texas - we got back yesterday afternoon. The funeral was hard. Very hard. I have a big bump on the inside of my lip - the flesh that I kept on biting trying to hold back tears. At first it worked, but in between the funeral and the reception I lost it and started sobbing. Thankfully only for about 30 seconds...I feel sorry for our old neighbor, who was talking to me at the time.

The photo above is of our friend's land, which was one of the most important things in his life. I snapped it at the reception, which was at his neighbor's house. It may not look like much, but this picture is precious to me.

2. i hate picasa web albums. I really do. Assuming you use Blogger, every single picture you upload gets automatically transfered to Picasa Web Albums. The catch is, you only have a certain amount of storage. And when you exceed that limit, you can no longer upload photos on your blog, unless you delete some. That's what happened to me today. I had to delete some pictures (which were also deleted from my blog) so I could upload more. Sigh.

3. rosie. Rosie is my friend's yellow lab. When I went to her house a few days ago, this is how Rosie was lying at one point. When Andi grabbed my camera to take a picture, Rosie started wagging her tail - but remained in the exact same position. Cracked me up. 

4. sweet boy. Today I had to babysit for a family whose kids I regularly watch. When one of the little boys saw me come in the door, he yelled, "Carlotta!" and jumped on me with a huge hug. I mean jumped. I ended up hold him. Sweetest. thing. ever.

5. piano. I'm starting my first teaching job on Monday...I will be teaching a little girl from our church piano. She's already taken one year of piano, so I hope she'll learn as much from me as from her previous teacher...wish me luck! ;)

6. ice cream sandwiches. A few years ago, we got some ice cream sandwich makers, similar to these (we got them from Williams-Sonoma, but I don't think they're sold anymore). Tonight we decided to make some of these delicious treats - mine was a pig. Is it not the cutest thing?! I can't get over the little snout.

7. lilly. She just cracks me up. She found a picture of Justin Bieber in the newspaper (Note: I'm definitely not a fan, but she adores him. For whatever reason.), cut it out, and kissed it. Twice. Then she said she wished he was her dad. Umm...

She also said that she had a dream about Jeremiah, and in the dream, he was her husband. But they weren't married, Lilly insisted. He was just her husband. Snort.

-carlotta

Today I woke up at the unsightly hour of 5:56 am to leave for our drive back to Oklahoma.

Today I gazed upon misty fog hovering over grassy green meadows.

Today I ate way too many cookies. 

Today I looked at a wasp up close.

Today I got sunburned on one shoulder (nope, I have no idea how that happened either!).



Today I laughed at Lilly's head covering - the comics page from the newspaper.

Today I laughed again at MeMe's and Lilly's song. "The pancake man, the pancake man, he tripped and fell in a frying pan." Oh sweet girls.

Today I admired vibrant blooming flowers.

Today swooned over these beautiful photos.

And today...I blogged ;)

What did you do today?

-carlotta

Yesterday I had the privilege of seeing my best friend Andi. (Is she not beautiful?! I have a gorgeous best friend.) 

I hate that she lives here in Texas and I live in Oklahoma, eight hours apart. Sigh. But we manage through Facebook, Skype, and emails...

I digress.

I took my "fancy pancy" camera (her words, not mine) with me to her house...and she pounced on the opportunity to use it, as she, too, is interested in photography. All I have to say is that she's very talented - when she's not taking awkward pictures of me, that is ;)

*Credit for all photos except the above, which was taken by me, goes to Andi* 

                             

She found this camera at an antique shop in Vermont for twenty five dollars. It retails for five hundred. A good buy, no? Love these photos. 

One of her dogs, Rosie. She's a yellow lab and I love her to pieces. 

Andi's favorite shoes. She's very sad that they have a hole in them (but she wears them anyway).

So, what do you think? She's my new favorite photographer :) 

-carlotta