December 2, 2020 - Wednesday (58/365)


Day 58 of my 365 Photo Journal

Tree decorating is one of those annual traditions that I look back on with such fondness. The ambiance, the anticipation of Christmas, the cheesy Christmas music, the eggnog, the fun, the joy! But if you asked my parents, they might remember it differently: the whining, the lazy kids, the just wishing is was over already so everyone could go sulk alone somewhere. The truth is, that our memories are biased. And Lord, I hope that my memories become biased over time when I look back on my own family's Christmas tree decorating evenings! 😅 The kids love every second of it, but I tend to be stressed, uptight, and desperately wanting it to be over. There's no relaxation in it at all. Not one second. I can only pray that I'm hiding my irritation enough for my kids to enjoy the evening and look back on our decorating nights with as much fondness as I look back on my own. 

As far as the photography aspect of it goes, I was disappointed with what I ended up with. On social media and in photography blogs, you see these beautiful, serene scenes with the blurred Christmas lights in the background and gorgeous lighting. I end up with a messy background, harsh lighting, and what is clearly chaos. 😂 Some of this is just expectations, I think. If I could let go of what I wanted to see and appreciate what I DO see, I would be happier with my outcomes. My house IS messy. It is chaotic. It is NOT serene! haha So...we'll see what we end up with in future years and maybe even later this season as I practice capturing what we have differently. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

May 3, 2025 - Saturday

Image
What a day! It literally rained from start to finish, but we packed as much into it as we possibly could! We had a great time visiting and hanging out. We had a fire and lots of great meals *brushes shoulder off*. The kids played well together and, as far as I know, there wasn't any drama! It was a bit exhausting, but I'm so glad that this retreat went well. Last year's was a bit of a bomb, with all the childcare drama happening behind the scenes. I feel like last year's retreat was a pre-cursor to our deciding to move away. Not that they actually had anything to do with one another, but they happened in such close succession that they seem related in retrospect. I drank a bit too much tonight and had a really fun time singing songs, while Tony played the guitar. Man, I wish I had talent with instruments!
Read more

November 9, 2025 - Sunday

Image
This is my favorite picture from the whole shoot!! I love it.  We went to CT this morning and I actually got to sit in on the teaching! Woo! It feels like that doesn't happen very often. We hung out in the cafe with friends for a little bit, then went to Chipotle for lunch on the way home.  We spent most of the day just relaxing! I started a photo book for our Maine vaca in September, and tried to get caught up with some other stuff, but it was mostly just a chill day. Jonas and Clem went to group and we stayed home, chillin'. Ben and I got in the hot tub with Ruby and Ollie for a little while, which was fun. It was snowing while we were in there!  
Read more

November 24, 2025 - Monday

Image
Today was a very rough day for me. It's not like everything went wrong, I just really struggled to manage my emotions. I had to run out, first thing, to get my pick-up order because there were things in it that we needed for breakfast. Then, somehow, we didn't get school started until almost 9:30. I started with Ruby and Ollie, as usual, and decided to check in with Ollie while I was reading. Okay, related side note, Ruby can't stand it when I ask Ollie questions and not her. But the thing is, Ruby remembers EVERYTHING she hears. She learns super well by just plain old listening. If I ask her questions, she answers them correctly and I never get to gauge whether or not Ollie is learning. She also always blurts out answers because she's so afraid I won't give her an opportunity to show us all how much she is learning. And I get it! She wants praise and to show me that she's a good student and she's learning. I understand. But, because of her constant eagernes...
Read more