Z is for Zen

Last one! And I have to say, I'm relieved. Taking a halfway decent picture every single day is NO JOKE. I started off strong and about halfway through I felt like I had lost all my steam and my photos were getting worse instead of better. Some days I definitely put in more effort than others, and it showed.

But I'm so glad I took on the challenge and glad I stuck it out. I definitely learned a few things and got lots of both encouraging and helpful feedback from the class. I knew at the end of it if I had at least gotten one shot that I loved then it would be a win, and I definitely think I did that. If you're curious, here are my favorites:

S is for Sugar
L is for Lucky Strike
C is for Cookies and Milk
T is for Torture
H is for Humiliation
R is for Rain
Q is for Quiet
And of course, B is for Baby

Q is for Quiet

It was so weird this morning to look outside and see so much fog with the sun shining. I decided it would make a nice Q picture for a quiet morning in the cul-de-sac.

One more picture left tomorrow (Z). Then we get to move on to the really fun stuff -- baby talk!

K is for Keyboard

A long day/evening at work, combined with me being down to letters Q, Z, and K had me stressed. Then I realized I had been sitting in front of a K all day! This was an iPhone + Instagram product.

O is for Orchid

These are the orchids Lee gave me for Valentine's Day. I love how the first one almost seems to pop off the picture.

B is for Baby!

That's right, we're expecting! Due date is September 4th. More details to come :)

E is for Eerie

We're having some rough weather today, but the clouds rolling in was kind of a cool sight.

J is for Jell-O

I really struggled with this one. Who knew jell-o was so hard to photograph? This was actually taken in the refrigerator (the light in there isn't half bad!). I tried again this morning in the daylight but the pictures were even worse! Oh well, moving on...

M is for Main Street

I took my camera out of my bag to find a dead battery, so I had to rely on my iPhone instead. And this isn't really Main Street, it's the back of Main Street, but we're getting down to the short rows people, so I'm having to get creative.

A is for Afternoon Snack

Making fruit salad is one of my favorite things about summer. I never think to do it in the winter, even though it's definitely still possible (albeit with a smaller selection of fruits). I used a piece of foam core as my backdrop, so I feel all fancy now.

X is for (Railroad) X-ing

On our last visit to Fuquay, I had seen a train car stopped on these tracks and thought it would be a nice photo. But alas, when I went back the train was gone and only the empty tracks were left (how dumb of me to think it would still be there?). It's a bit of a stretch for the letter X, but at least I got it out of the way (Q and Z are still plaguing me).

R is for Rain

Sunday was such a washout, I knew it would be hard to get a pic. But I was fairly happy with how this turned out. By the time we got back to Raleigh the rain had turned to sleet and finally snow. Pretty for looking at, but not so fun for driving in. But we finally made it home safely!

G is for Green

We were in La Grange this weekend, so of course I had to get a farm shot. I was surprised that there was so much green already in February.

I is for "It's Bo Time!"

That melty cheese. That crunchy bacon. That buttery biscuit. A heavenly Friday-morning treat.

U is for Up

A different perspective of the Lucky Strike tower.

V is for Valentine's Dessert

Lee and I decided to keep Valentine's low key and do dinner at home. I came home to homemade spinach & artichoke dip and shrimp & grits, plus a sweet card and beautiful orchid plant. It was perfect.

My contribution? This teeny cheesecake from a local cafe. I was too full to eat it after dinner, but Lee said it was delish. I can't wait to eat my portion tonight.

This photo? It could definitely be better. I took it at my desk at work because I knew it would be dark by the time I got home. The windows provide some awesome light (not to mention the view), but I could probably have spent some more time getting it just so -- but I was in a hurry to get home to my Valentine!

H is for Humiliation

She loves going on walks, but hates her muzzle lead (it looks bad but it's the only thing we've tried that keeps her from pulling so badly, which makes for a happier walk for us and her).

I think the real issue though is when we see other dogs on our walk, and she looks up at me like "Really with the muzzle? This is so embarrassing. I have zero street cred now."

P is for Personal Pizzas

Lunch on Saturday. Yum.

W is for Willy Wonka

Catching up from my SFS pics over the weekend.

This was taken at 9:00 on Friday night, as I scrambled to try and get a picture in before the deadline. Pictures in the dark = no bueno. Trying to be more mindful from now on about planning my pictures out ahead of time.

Y is for Yellow

I had to take this in the morning before work (on the side of the road, no less) so I didn't spend the time to get it right. I'm not happy with this one, but at least I got it done. On to the next letter...

F is for Fungus

So, it's obvious that I've completely abandoned my theme of "love." Instead the theme is "whatever semi-interesting thing I can find to take a picture of every day before the sun goes down."

But still, this tree fungus is somewhat pretty, don't you think? I could probably grow to love it if I had to.