A little update...

I
know that you're probably wanting far more that I can really give you right now, but I ask that you please bear with me. I finally broke down and purchased a new computer. I have been working off of a 3 year old laptop and it has been wearing me down daily. I now have a brand spankin new machine and I'm excited to take her out for a spin. I'm excited to finally have the capability to work with my photos in a way that doesn't take an eon to complete. For a little bread to go with that water I'm including some photos from 2 recent shoots. There seems to be an epidemic of babies this year and I had the fabulous opportunity to photograph them and their sweet parents! Happy First year of life Emma Riley and Jeremiah Joel!
Enjoy and I'll hopefully be back very soon and with more fun goodies to show you! Thanks for hanging in there.

Ray :)

My Roommates Blog...

Well, I just got my camera from the repair center and it's back to being it's jolly self. I decided to test it out on my roommates new fall decorations around the house. My roommate, Sara Jane, has an eye for some seriously great style (you should see our apt. it's fabulous!) and to top it all off she writes an amazingly witty blog about home interiors ( and other fun stuff ). I wanted you to see her genius and my, well...we'll call it, craft. I was so excited to help her out and so glad she loved the shots and posted them. All I can say is I'm trying to get myself out there in the photography world and I'm looking into some cool things to help create a brand. I am hoping to get a logo made and possibly an update to this very website/blog...we'll see in the weeks to come what happens, I'll definitely keep you posted with more info. I'm so excited to see what God has planned. In the mean time enjoy Sara Jane's post and my pictures!

Back on Top

So you might be wondering what happened to me...well I'm still alive and I'm still taking pictures, but I haven't been as on top of things since I started my new/now not so new job a couple of months ago. I also had been experiencing some camera issues and was unable to shoot any pictures while my dear camera did a little r&r at the Canon repair facility. I've gotten her back and I'm ready to go...this is just a little something to tide you all over until I can start a more "manageable" project...365 is discontinued for the time being. I'll hopefully take it up when I can manage to juggle all the different things in my life at the moment. As winter approaches and the colors outside change here's just a little remnant of the spring...enjoy.
Ray

Kaleidoscope of colors

Here are just a couple pictures of the quilt. Thought you might like to view the awesomeness that it is! The pics of the stripes and the floral are absolutely my favorite...its a marriage of opposites. Stripes and Florals...I think they are spectacular!

Color me Happy!
Ray

365 - 8

There's a quilt on my head...I know...the reason for it is due to the fact that I've been trying to find this very quilt since it first came out in stores. I've waited for it to go on sale and when it finally did there were never any left...well my friends I finally found one, and on sale too. So I snatched that thing up like the whole store was going to catch on fire and ran quilt in tow to the closest register and bought it! Let me tell you, it's going to be a phenomenal quilt. First, it's beautiful...oh yes it is, it's all the colors of the pastel rainbow, yummy! Second, it tickles the senses by the vastness of it's color pallet. Third, it's "homey"...that's right I said it, homey. It brings back memories of warm winter nights and rainy days. It gives the illusion of familial comfort and rest you can't help but love!!! I know what you're thinking..."but it's just a quilt!", yes my friends it is just a quilt...but a quilt can become a lot of things when you use your imagination...and that's what this quilt represents...imagination, the varied colors of life and love and all that comes between the two (I'm thinking Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, anyone, anyone???).

Here's to dreaming all the colors of the technicolor rainbow.
(And a tribute to all the crazy fun dreams I keep having lately)
Ray

365 - 7

All Made up and no where to go. I decided to play around with a little makeup and see what would happen...I had fun! I still have the makeup on right now and I need to go wash it off and head to bed. Enjoy these photos...It's goofy glamour!!!! ;)

Ray

365 - 6

Today was cleaning day. I'm a modern day Cinderella...enough said! I'm pooped and will just leave you with this fun image! I'm smiling *wink wink*, hehehehe!

Ray

365 - 5

365 on Flickr

If you want to follow this 365 on flickr than go check out my flickr page at:

http://www.flickr.com/
Search for me: hazelaida
I have a set labeled 365 (that's the one you're looking for)

My flickr will have WAY less personal info (if you don't want to have anything to do with me...heheh). So enjoy the project and PLEASE leave me comments on this blog or on flickr if you choose to follow me there. I LOVE to get comments!

Amore Mucho,
Ray

365 - 4

It took me a while to decide on today's submission, such a complicated process! Here is the final photo and I chose it because it represents determination, you can see it in the eyes. The reason I say determination is due to the fact that loosing weight is going to take determination and lots of it. I think of this verse when I think about determination - Phil 3:14

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

This verse is calling me to look on the goal, to be determined to finish, and that's what I must do. I must put aside all the lies that easily creep into my head and tell me that I can't do this, because it CAN be done! I will finish! This project coincides with a book that I'm currently reading called "Long Obedience in the Same Direction" by Eugene H. Peterson. The book has talked about the desire for quick results that our generation has come to experience, and expect in everything. As children of God we take that "have it now" outlook and place it on our walk with God. Peterson is calling all believers to realize that results take time. The book takes the Psalms of Ascents (120-134) and walks through each of the songs that the Israelites would have sung as they ascended the hill to Jerusalem. The first Psalm deals with Repentance. I didn't see it at first, but as I read and re-read the Psalm I started to pick up on the imagery. Go check it out and see if you can see it for yourself. It talks about being in the world, it's lies and deceit, and living in it too long...the idea of Repentance is brought up in the book and is explained as a decision and not a feeling (even a feeling of being sorry), but that it is the decision to stop believing the lies of the world and believing the truth of Jesus Christ. Putting off the old and putting on the new. I know I'm kinda going on and on (you should check out this book because I'm not doing it justice), but I really see my project and the work that it will take as something that will help me begin to look at my heart and the lies I've been believing, to then really put on Christ. I pray that you are encourage to do the same...it will never be easy, but our Lord encourages us to be DETERMINED! Nothing worth having is gained quickly!

(and back to our regularly scheduled programing...hahaha)....so

Today was my second day of walking. I started walking on Monday night and then twice today. I'm determined to walk twice a day excluding Wed and Sun. I've enjoyed it so far (except the heat!) I don't have any funny stories to share about walking yet, but if you have one share it and post it in the comments for all of us to read! Tomorrow is Bible Study, our last meeting, so we're having a dinner, I'm bringing the Bread. I'll post a pic (if I get something good) from that time and possibly some others! We shall see?!

Happy Birthday to my Best Friend Kristen! She is the most super awesome friend anyone could ever ask for! I should have taken a picture of me with a birthday cake...sadly I didn't make one :( Happy Birthday none the less Kristen! You are AWESOME!!!!!

Happy Trails & Birthday,
Ray

365 - 3

So today started off a little, how shall I say, quickly. This morning as I was dreaming about the end of the world and God coming to take me and my family away in this crazy make-shift space ship making sure we left notes for Dodge and Chrysler that our cars were paid for...I was jolted awake by my mom telling me that I had to get up immediately to take her to my brother who was traped on the side of the road with a flat tire and a deadline to make it to his doctors appointment. So I jumped out of bed and obediently put on cloths and tried to wipe the sleep out of my eyes. I drove at top speeds (speeds shall remain un-named for legal purposes, hehe!) and found him waiting for us. We than made a swap and he and I headed for the doctor, making it to his appointment only 15 min late. These pictures I took while waiting in the car in the parking garage after dropping him off in front of the hospital. The great thing was that I had the frame of mind to grab a book and my mp3 player as I was leaving the house. I ended up sitting in the car for about an hour and all I got were these lousy photos! Hahahah They make me laugh! Hope they do the same for you! *wink wink*

Ray

365 - 2

Day 2 and I've somehow remembered to post this second photo. I've been thinking more about this project and how it is going to be so much fun! I hope that this project inspires others to do one themselves, or to do one of something else...There are so many things out there that facinate and inspire me and I could think of a million things that would be photo worthy for a year...a baby, a tree, a pet, your family, oh I don't know the list could go on and on. If you have an idea let me know and comment on this blog to share the idea.

If this photo says anything about today it would be "thinking". I have been thinking about life and the future and where that winding road is headed. I have also been thinking frankly about my walk with God. I don't know about you all but sometimes I get the feeling that God just isn't too happy with me. That he's overly disappointed. I think you know what I'm talking about. Well that got me thinking about my position before God as a follower and believer in his Son, someone who has given my whole life to the Lord, who loves Him. You know what came to mind first? This quote from a book I've been reading, it says...

"The Bible says that two fundamental things characterize those who are in Christ. First, there has been a radical change in the core of our being. The bible says that our hearts of stone have been replaced by hearts of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26 says, 'I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.' Paul is referring to the same thing when he says we are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). This Wonderful reality does not mean that we have become perfect, but that our hearts are malleable, sensitive, and alive to God."
- Relationships: A mess worth making

That's what I realized, that I forget that I will NEVER be perfect. I see that sin, and the dirt in my heart and I think it will never be changed, but God has said that I have become a new creation. That my heart is malleable and sensitive and alive to God my father and that is what is most important! I must never stop coming before Him presenting my weaknesses, never forgetting that I NEED Him everyday, in everything, every situation, and every decision. No matter where this road is headed I know that I must focus on Him and know that I am not perfect. My heart belongs to the only one that can change it and He is God! Sometimes it's good to think about these things so that we can be reminded about the truth of our identity.

Ray

365 - 1

Today is day one of my 365 project. I thought about this for about a week when a friend of mine suggested that I do one. I've contemplated doing a project like this and set August 1st as my start date. Below is my first entry and it says alot about me, particularly the piano. I went to college for Music Education and have played the piano since I was about 11 years old. I have loved the piano, the sounds the timbres and the sheer melodic qualities of it's notes. In some ways the piano holds a bit of a spell over me, it kind of calls me. I'm not a good pianist, but I love it none the less and it will always be a part of me. So this is my first of many photos that are a peek into my life and heart and loves. 365 days of me. I also have another motive behind this 365. I have set a goal of losing weight along with the project (about 100 lbs). These photos I leave behind are a sheading of the past and a looking forward to the future, a symbolic gesture to the future me. One day I will look back at this project as a way to describe the transformation that has taken place in my life. Here it goes...

Ray

Kaleidoscope of Kittens

These are two very precious kittens that showed up at my house last week. I couldn't help but capture some of the sweeter moments. We named them and almost kept them, but in the end they didn't end up staying with us...hopefully they'll have a new home soon enough. There names were Morris and Hershel, this is just a little tribute to the short, but sweet time they were ours! I love the posture of the two of them in the B&W photograph, they are moving toward one another and yet moving away.

Then they were scampering off to Mamma beneath the trees, I simply LOVE their tails!d

Brotherly love...fighting yet embracing!
The two of them make me laugh and I will miss their sweet faces!
Ray

Kaleidoscope of Bokeh

Now this is some serious bokeh and I LOVE it and had to share it with you all. These lights are hanging in my parents backyard and compliment that old peacan tree. Love Love Love it!
Ray

Kaleidoscope of Feet

Kaleidoscope of Feet

I have a thing for feet...I'm fascinated by them! These are just a sampling of the MILLIONS of shots I've taken of feet. Sorry if you don't like feet, you may want to skip this post!

"put your right foot in. put your right foot out. put your left foot in, and shake it all about...do the hokie pokie, and turn it all around. That's what it's all about!"
Ray

Caleb & Clarissa Cont...

Here are some more photos from our session. I love the big Texas sky and that cowboy hat!