The other day at work, a friend and I were discussing how there just aren't enough days in a week or hours in a day to do all the things we want. This is not news to anyone, I'm sure - where do the hours go?? But the interesting part was discussing our differing hobbies and how everyone is passionate about something, varied as these interests may be.
Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that baking is one of my great passions. Obviously french toast doesn't count as baking, but I do love breakfast as much as I like baking. And apparently you aren't supposed to feed your family non-stop baked goods, so I have decided to love cooking as well as baking (if I must!)
And for those with amazing recall skills, you might just recognize that raspberry jam as the one mom and I made last year from Brittney's surplus of raspberries!
But back to the point of hobbies - what hobbies are enjoyed by the other people sharing this house?
Ah, Biraffee... Henry is still obsessed with his stuffed giraffe. As I am typing, he is trying to cram a giraffe foot in his mouth. Sure, he has other toys he likes, but Biraffee is by far his favorite!
And Thomas? Fittingly obsessed with Thomas! More like any train honestly, but these shoes - he loves! You can see they are starting to show some wear and they are honestly getting too small, but he would rather wear his "choo-choo" shoes than the ones that fit. So, like any reasonable parent, I went and bought him another pair of the same shoes in a bigger size. Thank goodness they still had the choo-choo shoes!
If the front of the shoes wear out as fast as the soles, does that mean he falls that often? Poor guy is apparently blessed with my coordination... "/
Matt's current hobby? His DR-650! It's been his hobby of choice for a while honestly - ever since his 3 week, off-road, cross-country adventure with Tom a few years back. But he's been working on it quite a bit lately and taking it on a few Alaskan road trips (I owe you guys a blog on his behalf, he got some pretty awesome photos on the last one!). His motorcycle didn't really fit into the theme of photos, but I figured the key was a good substitute!
Which brings me to my other hobby:
My camera! I have really gotten back into photography recently. Obviously mostly with the kiddos, but I just love playing with it. My grand-dad gave me his camera back when I was in high-school after I borrowed it for an art class project. He wasn't using it anymore and I loved that Canon! It's packed away in the house somewhere, I should really find it and take some photos of it.
But I distinctly remember years ago when digital cameras first got popular, I swore I would never leave my film camera behind...! Past me obviously never imagined how amazing these digital cameras would get. Then Matt got me the Nikon for my 30th birthday and I really liked it. Then I joined the photography club at work and rekindled that long ago love for photography. Now with the internet there are so many websites that give you camera tips, photo ideas and photography projects you could spends years working through! I am already behind on the yearly photography books I do at the end of the year (2013, I am soooo sorry!), but what's another delay for a cool DIY project?
Which brings us to this! The photos in this post all look similar because I was playing with a DIY light-box. I managed to find the one moving box left in the house that was an appropriate size (though it really needed to be wider) and modify it to make a light-box for close up object photography. The whole thing took less than an hour to finish and I had a ton of fun playing with it. My upper and side lights (off for this photo) weren't quite the same shade of white, so it wasn't perfect - but I think the photos turned out great anyhow!
There is a slightly different version specifically for food photography, that might have to be my next project! I'll try not to get carried away, but the whole thing cost about $2 since I had the box already. Pretty hard to beat for what will probably be hours of fun! :)