Irvine Park

About a year and a half ago I was invited to join our church's playgroup. At that time in my life I didn't have any close mommy friends. I had plenty of support from family and childless friends, but I needed to be around other moms who were going through similar experiences.  I feel so blessed to have found such a great group of Moms. I'm not the type of person who easily makes new friends. Honestly, if I hadn't been directly invited I probably never would have worked up the courage to join the group. Even through our times together can be crazy, chasing around little ones I still come away feeling refreshed by the presence of the other moms. There is something truly invaluable about having a good group of mommy friends. In addition, I'm happy that my son has a safe place to make friends and learn how to be a friend. Motherhood comes with its ups and downs, and its nice to know that on Monday mornings I'm able to get together with friends and enjoy the day. 

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

After blazing through Words of Radiance, I'm left with wanting more. Unfortunately, the next book - Stones Unhallowed - won't be finished until Spring 2016. This book was hard to review.  There's so much in it, and so much I could talk about. Kaladin is now the captain of the royal guards. Jasnah's death leaves Shallan to make her own way to the Shattered Plains and Dalinar is desperately trying to hold the kingdom together. And on top of everything else the Assassin in White is back!

Each book in the Stormlight Archive focuses on one particular character. In Words of Radiance the narrative is focused around Shallan's story. I liked Shallan's character. I was impressed with her ability to take what little she knew about Lightweaving and Pattern, and be able to use both to her advantage. Shallan's back story was fascinating and yet painful to read. It explained a lot about her character, and how her life's experiences in the end helped shaped her lightweaving ability.

A special thanks goes to Andrew Harrison for introducing The Stormlight Archive to me.

a photo shoot

This evening I had the pleasure of doing a quick photo shoot for my brother-in-law. A few weeks ago he mentioned doing this shoot for his website. I of course jumped at the opportunity to practice using my camera. My goal for this shoot was to try and capture at least ten good images. I knew if I had at least ten decent pictures my brother-in-law would have something to work with. I'm always afraid to walk away from a photo shoot with nothing to show for all the work I put into it. And believe me...its happened. Thankfully, this evening's shoot was a success and I had a blast doing it.  

Happy 4th of July!