Photos Archives - Page 3 of 6 -

Self-portraits

August 12, 2012 by Farewell Stranger ·

When I think about self-portraits I always picture holding my phone at arm’s length trying to get anything other than a totally horrific shot. But of course that’s not really a self-portrait, at least not if you’re doing it right.

There are some really cool self-portraits and self-portrait projects and I’m always in awe of (a) people who are comfortable taking pictures of themselves and (b) the incredible shots and unique perspectives they manage to get.

I’m not quite ready to start shattering my self-esteem by taking a self-portrait a week, but we did think it would be cool to do something with it on Just.Be.Enough. for our first anniversary. (A whole year! I can hardly believe it.)

So today the JBE contributors are sharing self-portraits – whatever way each of us has chosen to represent ourselves. For me the actual shot was easy enough, but deciding what I wanted to express about myself in that format was much tougher.

So c’mon over and see if you can tell which one is mine. (Hint: I opted not to use a shot of my face.) And if you’re a blogger, please join in and link up with us! I’d love to see how you’d choose to portray who you are.

Comments here closed.

Filed Under: Be enough me, Photos · Tagged With: perspective, photos

Happy Hearts

June 21, 2012 by Farewell Stranger ·

Today was a good day. Summer party at work. End of year preschool picnic (which I missed, but that’s another story about my complete lack of navigational skills). Play at the water park.

We noticed that the water park in our community was up and running the other day, and of course Connor wanted to go. So we agreed that we’d go after his picnic. I actually thought he’d last all of three minutes since it’s not blistering hot here, but he loved it.

He played and I sat and watched.

He made footprints on the pavement and I smiled.

He borrowed another boy’s truck and I realized this could be a perfect activity for us to do together. He gets to play and be active and I can jump in there if I want (when I’m not wearing jeans) but otherwise I can just sit in the shade and appreciate my boy being four and enjoying summer.

I sense we’ll be making many memories there in the next couple of months.

Linked up with Memories Captured.

Filed Under: Happy things, Motherhood, Photos · Tagged With: favourite activities, gratitude, memories captured, moments

Away

May 1, 2012 by Farewell Stranger ·

We (the collective we) do this all the time, don’t we? We say, “We should go away for the weekend.” Or, “I need a vacation.” We look wistfully at pictures of serene (or exciting) places and reminisce about the last time we had a proper vacation. And then we sigh and carry on.

I’m horrible about doing this. I work for an airline and the only time I used my flight benefits in the last four months was to go to Blissdom (which was handy, to be sure). People I work with go to Vegas for the weekend or to the next province for the afternoon. Or to Amsterdam for 3 days.

I’m not quite that ambitious, but we have talked about going to San Diego for a weekend. I’d like to go back home and see friends and family. I’d really like to book myself a tropical vacation but it might be a while before that happens. (Although… baby-moon? Maybe.)

As we were coming up to Easter I started to muse aloud about going away for the weekend. Just an hour from here, into the mountains. We needed a change of scenery.

So we went.

Frozen, but not for long.

As is typical, it was a last-minute decision. My mom had come to visit and my brother had gone to Australia (for two days – on flight benefits. See what I mean?) and my pregnant-with-twins sister-in-law was here on her own. So we decided to take them with us.

Somewhere in there, they're fly fishing under the coal bridge.

It took me a while to find a place that (a) had a vacancy and (b) would be able to sleep our odd assortment of family. But I found one, we shipped the dog to my mother-in-law’s and went.

We didn’t even do a lot – none of the adventurous things I had been pondering. We went for dinner. We went for lunch. We hid Easter eggs. And we walked.

A ha! O ho! Tracks in the snow. Whose are these tracks and where do they go?*

Out there in the silence, with occasional sounds of crunching snow, it’s easy to feel like a mere speck in the universe. Other things fade away and life’s most basic things are what feel important. Like sunshine and flowing water. Like tracks of animals who came before and who worry less about work-life balance and more about the balance of existence.

Every kid has to rattle a stick on a bridge once in his life.

And like the first time a small boy rattles a stick on a metal bridge.

Who was Daisy? And did she find peace in the mountains?

This environment suggests quiet and observation. It makes me stop and think. And it leaves me with a feeling I can’t describe.

No words necessary.

Which is fine, because sometimes no words are necessary.

*For bonus points, name that (very good) children’s book.

Filed Under: Happy things, Photos · Tagged With: family, favourite activities, living life, perspective, photos, weekends

Motherhood and Toothpaste

April 17, 2012 by Farewell Stranger ·

Motherhood.

What some people would have you believe:

The reality:

Linked up with Memories Captured.

***

Next Monday, April 23rd, Be Enough Me is taking on the topic of labels with a special prompt inspired by Ashely Judd, called Change the Conversation.

It’s time to look past the obvious.

We’re inviting posts from voices everywhere to share your labels and who you are beyond that. The focus is whatever you need it to be – from our lives as moms, dads, parents, spouses, professionals, survivors, athletes and more. We invite you to join us, to celebrate our strengths, to celebrate our diversity, to celebrate our voices and change the conversation.

Join us on Just.Be.Enough next Monday for the very special link-up. We can’t wait to take the conversation by storm with our voices.

Filed Under: Happy things, Motherhood, Photos · Tagged With: family, favourite activities, moments, photos, toddlers are weird

In the SIM

April 4, 2012 by Farewell Stranger ·

In my job I get to do some cool things. Like pilot a flight simulator.

That is not an actual runway – it’s a computer screen. But all the details of the airport and the surrounding landscape are bang on. The SIM is set up to exactly replicate the flight deck of a jet and the whole thing moves, so all the motion feels really real. Which is especially fun when you’re taxiing down the runway at a good clip (and are pregnant and already nauseated).

Did you know you can do a barrel roll in a 737? Apparently you can. Who knew?

Well…you can if you don’t over-correct and clip the wings off.

Whoops. I guess we’re done here.

(Yes, the tech is laughing at me.)

But he gave me another chance. The magic of a flight simulator is that you can bing yourself back up into the air and position yourself wherever you want to be. Groovy.

That’s me getting ready to land in Vancouver. (Or YVR in airport lingo.) We buzzed downtown, scared a few office workers and then landed nicely right in the middle of the runway. Or slightly to the left. Or whatever. (Hey, at least I didn’t end up on the grass, and I didn’t take out any landing gear.)

Our lovely tech decided to give my colleague a challenge – landing in “weather.”

Can you see the runway? Yeah, me neither. (It’s not visible until about 100 feet, or, you know, right before you’re about to hit the ground. Fun times.)

Conclusion: totally fun but I am never going to be a pilot.