Scavenger Hunt

{ water. }
...raindrops on a rose in our front yard...

The past two days have been cold and rainy, which have made for great lighting and pretty flowers, as well as  great 'stay-inside-and-wear-pajamas-all-day' days!

{ light. }
...sunshine through the leaves of our lime tree..

Now that we're in a Zone 9 region, our lime tree has never looked...or produced...better.
Last year we got two limes from it...this year is looking like twenty!

{ chocolate. }
...the best dessert I've ever eaten...

Good thing all those fruits made it healthy. ;)

{ animal. }
...our new "pet"...

This little Texas Chameleon has commandeered our grill as her new home.

{ crowded. }
...an overflowing bowl of super delicious strawberries...

Strawberries were already on sale here last week. These bad boys were huge and super yummy!

Scavenger Hunt - Nature Edition

This was a great week for getting out and/or inspired to shoot!
I have so many shots that I love...if I had a thousand bucks laying around I could easily decorate our kitchen around the egg shot...mmmm!

{ crossed. }
...where water crossed the nature trail...

{ a glimpse. }
...a glimpse at said water...

{ handwritten. }

...asparagus with a handwritten texture...that counts, right?...

{ bliss. }
...ahhhhh, love that aqua blue...

{ gray. }
...the gray background was naturally occurring and a happy accident since I had no clue what I was going to do for my gray prompt...

Scavenger Hunt

While there are many wonderful photo challenges out there my favorite by far is Ashley's Scavenger Hunt Sundays!
It's so much fun/challenging to have multiple prompts and to see how everyone interpreted them.
...here are mine for this week...


{ love. }
...in chevron...



{ duplicated. }
...keys...
Click here to read the story behind this shot.



{ trending. }
...spring...



{ paper. }
...handmade rosette topiary...
Available here.



{ plastic. }
...hotel coffee...

Scavenger Hunt

Before and After

Glowing bubbles...so much fun!

Opposing Lines 

Lots and lots of lines...which I probably wouldn't have noticed if not for this prompt.

Custom Bokeh 

I have a wide variety of interests when it comes to crafts, so naturally I also have a wide variety of supplies.

{If you participate with me in Project Pinterest, you'll quickly find this out!}

For this custom bokeh I reused a black envelope and had a flower punch that was the perfect size for this project!

Which pair of shoes should I wear? 

In addition to crafting I love...as in L.O.V.E...the Salvation Army thrift stores.

I snagged these sassy silver maryjane heels for $4.00!

Little Features 

...can you guess where I may have picked up this printer's drawer??

Oh yeah...thrift store...for $5.00!!!

{and this is only 1/3 of the whole thing. it's seriously huge.}

Scavenger Hunt

Food
How super cute are these mini mustard and ketchup bottles?!

Purple
Being a big Kansas State fan, this one was an exciting prompt to see!







In Disguise
I didn't really get into Halloween this year, so I don't have any pictures of our kids in costumes.
Instead, I decided to alter a shot of a yellow butterfly into this:






Shapes
...is "swag" a shape?




Photographer's Choice 
On one of my free mornings I went to the arboretum. I hadn't been there for probably about a month!
This particular morning the sprinklers were going and mist was everywhere.
I love the effect it made...especially when out of focus.

Scavenger Hunt - Back at Last!

It has been a looong time since I've participated in Scavenger Hunt Sunday!
...it's nice to be back at it...




Macro/Close-Up
I wanted to get a kind of Casablanca feel with this shot
...but I've never seen the movie, so I'm really just guessing here...
{I also used this image as an example in my Hi, ISO post...just in case you missed it.}

Found Texture 

Home
My home consists not of brick and mortar or framing and drywall, but of these two plus my husband.
Wherever they are is my home!

Cover
Perhaps this is a stretch but peels are kind of a cover, right?!

The Tree
This is another image you may have already seen on the blog.
I used it earlier in the week for my Scripture & a Snapshot post but decided to use it for this as well because that bokeh is way too scrumptious to share only once!

I Forgot to Add a Title

Whoa.
Is it just me or did that holiday weekend here in the States go by super fast?! Did y'all have an awesome weekend?
We had a lot of people stop by to visit and hosted a fantasy football draft.
The kids loved every minute of it!

This week Rowan starts school!!!
...actually, today she starts school!!!!
{can you tell I'm mildly excited?}

I've got my camera battery charging and plan to head out to the arboretum immediately after dropping the kids off at school. I haven't been there for a very long time...this summer was brutally hot, as many of you know all too well. But this week, at least in the midwest, we've been blessed with Autumn style weather!
Whoop! I busted out my long sleeve tees and jeans, but it's still warm enough {as in there's no snow on the ground} to kick it with my flip flops.


Here are a few straggling shots from our trip to Vegas...

This escalator almost got me arrested.

I walked up to it to get a few shots and when I stepped closer to readjust my composition within the frame, an alarm went off! It took me a few extra seconds to figure out that I had triggered the alarm.
Apparently, this is a very special escalator.
And apparently, I was standing right next to a sign that read:

"Do not enter. Alarm will sound and police will be summoned."

After I read that, and given the level of ridiculousness that the TSA has reached recently, I was halfway waiting to be tackled. Thankfully that didn't happen!
I'm guessing the guy in the security room saw that I wasn't a real threat.
{or maybe the sign was bluffing}

This was an awesome thunderstorm, complete with rain and lightening, that we saw from the plane window.
The lightening looked so small! It was really cool to see.


Before I go I want to tell you about next week!
In celebration of my one year blogoversary I'm hosting a week of giveaways!!!
It starts next Monday and you'll definitely want to stop back each day!

Scavenger Hunt - Iowa Edition

My 1-year blogoversary is coming up next month and I am hoping to celebrate with a really fun and special week of goodies!
I'm looking for five sponsors during the week of September 12th.
If you are interested in sponsoring, please email me for details {katiellloyd@yahoo.com} and we'll get the ball rolling!


***

Ok, I think these are the last shots from Iowa...
maybe.

1. Geometry
This is the stairway to a doppler radar tower. This particular one was build a few thousand feet from my grandparents' home. During a recent storm the big ball of this radar tower flew off, over their grain bins and landed in their front yard, missing their new porch by mere feet. But that's not all...some other giant metal part also flew off and landed about 20 feet from their car!
Talk about a miracle! I think God was watching over them that night.



2. Brushstrokes
Just for kicks, who can guess what this is?



3. Hanging by a Thread
If living next to a doppler radar tower wasn't bad enough, my grandparents also live under two extremely large radio (?) towers, which are supported by a ton of large cables.
{if they ever sell their home, that realtor has their work cut out for them!!!}



4. Collage
These were all edited using Nelly Nero's Autumn Vintage.
{love this free action!}
And of course the collage template is by Alicia.
{love her massive amounts of inspirational talent!}



5. On the Dotted Line
Pretty self explanatory.

Scavenger Hunt - Last Trip to Deanna Rose

Thursday we finally had a break from the all too familiar heat advisory!!

At high of 85...it was glorious!
So on a whim the kids and I headed out to the farmstead.
With vacations and school coming up quick, it may very well be our last trip of the season.

1. Two
Two pretty white gladiolas. We had a light rain in the morning and some of the drops were still hanging around.

2. Whatever
In the same garden as the gladiolas were some veggies.
Here's a beautiful red cabbage:

3. Sweet
This kid was hilarious and full of spunk! He would run back and forth to whomever he thought had more food in hand. And then he'd stick his tiny cute head right through the fence.
...just look at that smile...

4. Space
This is where the sheep live.
They were huddled under a tree, obviously not utilizing their large amount of space.
{or maybe they had already used it....ahem.}

5. Bright
Here's another shot from the garden. There were tons of these Black Eyed Susans.
{and this shot is sooc!}

{PS - Want to win a $30 credit to my Etsy shop? Visit Nancy at A Rural Journal! Want another chance to win a $30 credit? Visit Jeska at Living Our Love Song!}