Beautiful, Beautiful

I was cleaning off my camera memory card and just had to share this picture of the Christmas lights downtown this holiday season. I love how this picture turned out. I'm very impressed with my new little camera and with iPhoto's "enhance" button. :) 

I took this picture a few weeks ago after work when a couple friends and I took time to walk around the boardwalk to admire the lights. It was a lovely holiday season and I am sad to see it be over so quickly, and sad to see all the beautiful Christmas lights that adorn our downtown area come down until next Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Brother!

This is the first time since I was 2 years old where it is just going to be me and my parents for the holidays, and I just gotta say, I'm sure missing my brother right about now!!!

Christmas Kick-Off

All photos taken on my new Canon PowerShot 310 HS point-and-shoot camera. Not too bad for a point-and-shoot! And not too bad for a Black Friday purchase, either!

Journey to the North Pole

Last week I had the opportunity to go on a "Journey to the North Pole" cruise. And believe it or not, it only took about 20 minutes to get to the North Pole. Now that must be some pretty special boat we were on. I took my camera and got some pictures of the Christmas lights on the lake from a perspective I don't normally get to enjoy. I'm still learning how to take good pictures in the dark, but I'm actually pretty excited with how well these turned out.

At the "North Pole" is the world's tallest living Christmas tree. Apparently they lit it at the very end, and I missed it. I'm a little bummed about that. But it was still a very fun time spent with my amazing co-workers and some of their kids....

Charise Wilson Designs

My cousin and her husband are in the process of adopting, and in an effort to raise a little money for the adoption, Charise started making absolutely adorable cards.
 

My mom recently purchased a few of these cards, and I can tell you that they really are great! Not only are they good quality, but the designs are absolutely adorable. I'm seeing a few new designs on Charise's site since the last time I visited, and boy are they cute!

With Christmas coming up, maybe some notecards would make the perfect little gift.

Charise is now also making Christmas cards! If you are planning to send out Christmas cards this year, check out some of Charise's designs on her facebook page.

For more information, visit Charise's website!

Straight No Chaser & The Sing Off - Acapella Amazingness

Here's some fun Christmas music for you. If you aren't familiar with Straight No Chaser, allow me to introduce you to this amazing acapella group. They have grown in popularity a lot recently and even had a concert in my area about a month ago, but I, unfortunately, could not spend $35 on a ticket. Anyway, they first became famous with their arrangement of the 12 Days of Christmas, and have since released several albums. Here's a few of their Christmas arrangements.

12 Days of Christmas



Christmas Can-Can



And while we're on the topic of acapella, let me recommend you all watch The Sing-Off on NBC. I am a huge American Idol fan, but I have to say that I think the Sing Off is now my favorite musical competition. It is an acapella show and the show is just phenomenal. The season is almost over (it is a short season), but you can find the episodes on Hulu. I recommend it. :)

Christmastime Has Come & Gone. . .

Greetings, Blog Visitors!

Did you forget about me?

I certainly did not forget about you, although it has been Christmastime, which means that it has been a busy time of year! But I am back, and I am going to *try* to be more consistent in my blog postings.
I had a greatly fun, but of course, busy, Christmastime this year. Thanksgiving came and went faster than I can say. On the day after Thanksgiving I went to the annual Coeur d'Alene Holiday Light Show, Parade & Fireworks. It was warmer this year than it has been during the past few years, so my toes and nose did not quite freeze off. I went with a group of friends this year and we had a blast watching the parade and then running to find the best spot for the fireworks. We ended up standing right behind the speakers so the amazing blend of Mannheim Steamroller and Trans-Siberian Orchestra that plays during the fireworks sounded (and felt!) particularly awesome.
This year some friends and I had a gingerbread house party and I hope this is something we can continue as an annual tradition. We decided to hot glue our houses together so we didn't have to wait so long before decorating them, and then we spent a few hours decorating them. Each house was unique and definitely fit the personality of the person making it.

I didn't have a lot of Christmas parties to go to this year, but I had other things to keep me busy. . .baking, decorating my room, wrapping presents, and all of the other activities that accompany this time of year. It was a fun, successful month. I made Springerles with my mom and learned how to make Stollen. On Thanksgiving I helped with the majority of our cooking and now that Christmas is over I can now say that I have made/majorly assisted with every aspect of a Turkey dinner.

Christmas day was yesterday. Only 364 days to go before it is Christmastime again. We had a nice relaxing Christmas day. Today I was feeling really exhausted so I relaxed and watched Sound of Music (one of my Christmas gifts) with my mom, including a lot of the special features. That was a nice way to spend the day.

Like I said, I will try to be more consistent with blog postings, and have a few more ideas for posts in my head that I will try to get up soon.

Have a great New Years!

-Me

P.S. The picture at the top of this post was taken at the bakery. I went to their Christmas party this year. We turned off all the lights and played hide & seek in the dark and decided at one point to see if I could actually fit to hide in a mixing bowl. Needless to say, I can. :) (Yes, we washed the bowl out afterwards!!!!)

More Photography Fun

Here are some more pictures I took using that string of Christmas lights. I think these turned out pretty cool. Comments?

Photography Fun 1

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my room! I set-up and decorated my small Christmas tree the other day and I set up my snowman collection. In my box of Christmas stuff I found a string of colored lights and I had some fun taking some pictures using those. I was trying to be creative, but I'm not sure if I succeeded. Any feedback? Thoughts? Suggestions? Comments?My little tree is decorated with small blue and white balls, and an ever-growing collection of snowman ornaments.

This is the whole collection of ornaments. The heart ornament is hanging somewhere else.

Now for some creative pictures: