2022 365 Picture Today Post

273/365 | Friday, September 30, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Lively

Picture Color | White

Ripley is a pretty lively cat, especially if you dangle one of her favorite toys in front of her.

 

 

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

272/365 | Thursday, September 29, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Amazing

Picture Color | White 

The beautiful sky just before work this afternoon.  It's amazing that there is just a hint of gray in some of the clouds, foretelling the rain that will soon arrive.

 

 

And a beautiful purple car also in the parking lot!

 

 

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

271/365 | Wednesday, September 28, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Willing

Picture Color | White 

Since I wore white pants to bowling today, I decided to be a willing model for my POTD.  I should have asked the other gal who was wearing white pants to join me, but I had the idea too late, and almost everyone else had left.

 

 

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

270/365 | Tuesday, September 27, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Kind

Picture Color | White 

I found this walking stick (or stick bug) on my car today.

 

 

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

269/365 | Monday, September 26, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Prompt Free

Picture Color | White

Today I realized that the sign for the shopping center where I work is mostly white.

 

 

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

268/365 | Sunday, September 25, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Harmonious

Picture Color | White

Today was Homecoming Sunday at church.  Our former pastor who retired in 2018 came back to preach and play his banjo for us.  Today's singing and his preaching was harmonious.  "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." ~Romans 12:1 NIV

 

 

I also found this other piece of Church of the Brethren history.
 

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

266/365 | Friday, September 23, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Rule

Picture Style | Abstract

Today I went to the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley with my best friend to see the Origami in the Garden exhibit.  All of the pieces in the exhibit are large scale paper origami creations cast in metal (bronze, aluminum, or stainless steel).  Inside the drawing room of the Glen Burnie House is an exhibit titled Inside/Out that shows the unfolded paper "crease patterns" of some of the sculptures.  This is Crane Unfolded, Phoenix Rising, Opus #563 by Kevin Box and Robert J. Lang.   I don't have a picture of the folded piece titled Flying Crane, Opus #563, but below is the crane on display in the garden.

 

This is called Flying Folds by Kevin Box and Robert J. Lang.  It was created in 2015 out of powder coated cast aluminum and set on stone.

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

265/365 | Thursday, September 22, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Gorgeous

Picture Style | Abstract 

I finished reading a book called Red: A History of the Redhead by Jacky Colliss Harvey.  I like the cover art and had an idea to try to overlay it with a picture of my own cascading strawberry blonde hair.

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

264/365 | Wednesday, September 21, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Favorable

Picture Style | Abstract 

I didn't find anything, favorable or otherwise, in nature today, but I did try to take a different kind of picture at bowling today.

 

 

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

263/365 | Tuesday, September 20, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Productive

Picture Style | Abstract 

My tablet keeps me productive every day.  It has my calendar, my Fitbit app, my scheduling app for work, my e-mail and social media apps, a podcast app, and even apps for things like the grocery store and restaurants.  I might be lost without it.  I used ON1 to blur the picture that I took of my homescreen and then I overlaid a brocade pattern.

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

262/365 | Monday, September 19, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Unreal

Picture Style | Abstract | Macro Monday 

Today we were supposed to take a close up photo of something real and make it unreal.  I took a picture of a snake plant and made it look like cracked and peeling paint.

 

 

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

261/365 | Sunday, September 18, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Bravery

Picture Style | Abstract

I bought some purple flowers at the grocery store on Friday hoping that they might come in handy for a prompt.  Here they are with some intentional camera blur.  Camera settings: f/20, 2 seconds, ISO 1600.  "No servant can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Money," ~Luke 16:13 NIV

 

 

I showed my husband the information about the Adamsky Effect and asked him if the photo processing software that we use (ON1) was able to do that since I only just started using it.  Instead he used a program called GIMP to do this to a different photo of the flowers.  First he reversed the colors.  Then he used a glass block filter.

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

260/365 | Saturday, September 17, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Courage

Picture You | Skill 

I don't know that using my elliptical requires courage, but it was the most exciting thing I did today.

 

 

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

259/365 | Friday, September 16, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Adventure

Picture You | Skill | Picture My Hands 

In May a member of our church suddenly passed away.  He was very involved in the life of the church, not too much older than I am, and at the beginning of the year had been reappointed to head up our outreach missions.  He had implemented a major project with assistance from some neighboring churches this spring.  Our outreach programs have been limping along without his guidance.  In August, I was asked fill the role through the end of the year so tonight I held a organizational meeting with a few others to ensure that we are all on the same page and can finish the year strong.  I've never served in this role previously so it will definitely be an adventure, but I'm sure that my organizational skills will help me.

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

258/365 | Thursday, September 15, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Natural

Guest Prompt | Skill 

I ended up picking up dinner from Chick-fil-A tonight.  My husband usually gets the Spicy Southwest Salad. Tonight I decided to get a side salad to go with my meal instead of one of the other carb-loaded sides.  Here it is in all of its natural glory, before I slathered it with dressing.

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

257/365 | Wednesday, September 14, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Bliss

Picture You | Skill 

My winter bowling league started last Wednesday, but I was out of town so today was my first day back.  Personally, I had a really good day, and our team won all of the points.  That's both blissful and skillful, I think.

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

256/365 | Tuesday, September 13, 2022 | #365PictureToday

S T

Picture You | Skill | Picture the Alphabet 

Since I love chocolate, and we just bought some miniature chocolate bars from Kilwin's on our anniversary trip, I used them to make the letters this month.

 

 

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

255/365 | Monday, September 12, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Vivacious

Picture You | Skill 

I was at the gym today, and I'm usually lively and animated there.  Here I am using one of the pieces of equipment.

 

 

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

254/365 | Sunday, September 11, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Commend

Picture You | Skill | Sunday Selfie 

Today we were recording short videos for a presentation at our Homecoming service in a few weeks so I took a selfie at church as a nod to that.  " 'I have seen these people,' the Lord said to Moses, 'and they are a stiff-necked people.  Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them.  Then I will make you into a great nation.'  But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God.  Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened." ~Exodus 32:9-11a,14 NIV

 

 

 

Virginia Beach Trip Recap

I wanted to do a recap or review of my recent trip to Virginia Beach.  First of all, the hotel was amazing!  We stayed right on the ocean on the top floor of the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront with a partial ocean view.  The hotel has valet parking in a garage across the street, and except for one day when we drove to a lighthouse and the Eastern Shore, we left our car in the garage and walked everywhere.  So the hotel is convenient to everything you might need.  There's a rooftop pool and bar, and for those staying on the 18th - 20th floors there is a lounge that offers breakfast, snacks, evening dessert, and water, coffee, and soda all day, in addition to a sunset view across the city skyline.  The hotel also has a fitness center and conference center.  There were two conferences while we were there: a firefighters convention and a Shriner's convention.  The only issue with this was the day we checked in.  There was a long line for check in, and we ended up checking in using the Hilton Honors app and accessing our room with a digital key.  The only issue with the digital key is that there is no wifi in the elevator so you have to have the key already up before you enter the elevator.  Later in the day when there was no line, we returned to the registration desk and got two regular keycards.

Having been to other beach destinations, the Virginia Beach boardwalk wasn't what I was expecting.  The boardwalk is primarily bordered by high rise hotels.  There are a number of restaurants on the bottom floors of the hotels and a smattering of ice cream shops.  Otherwise, all of the shopping is block off the boardwalk on Atlantic Avenue and some of the perpendicular streets.  Unfortunately, both the boardwalk and Atlantic Avenue are havens for apparently homeless people.  Many of them appear to sleep on the boardwalk benches overnight.

Speaking of the boardwalk, the boardwalk itself is intended for pedestrians only, with a parallel bike path.  There are signs denoting this at every intersection, and the boardwalk rules specifically state that bikes, skateboards, and scooters are prohibited.  However, it doesn't seem as if these rules are enforced.  We never saw a single police officer patrolling the boardwalk area, and only once did I see any of the "Ambassadors."

The beach itself is nice.  It is kept very clean, and there are a lot of lifeguards.  There are many trash cans so no reason at all for trash to collect on the beach.  There are also many beach amenities such as playgrounds for children, exercise equipment for adults, and accessible paths onto the beach.

One last issue is the helicopters and planes from Oceana Naval Base that fly over several times a day.  The first few times it's interesting, but unless you're interested in trying to photograph them, it can become a nuisance.  By the same token, there is a constant stream of container ships on the horizon with an occasional Navy vessel interspersed among them.  Lastly, two 600-foot tall wind turbines are visible 27 miles offshore.  These are the trials for up to 176 turbines that will be 800 feet tall that are scheduled to be installed by Dominion Energy.

2022 365 Picture Today Post

253/365 | Saturday, September 10, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Effervescent

Picture More | Fill the Frame | Picture Re-Create 

I attempted to re-create Claude Monet's Camille on the Beach at Trouville with a Lego minifig and a beach still life set that I bought last night on our last night in Virginia Beach.

 

 

 

2022 365 Picture Today Post

252/365 | Friday, September 9, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Spirited

Picture More | Fill the Frame 

We went out to dinner to celebrate our 27th anniversary.  I had a chocolate martini.  I'd say that's spirited.  I've never had one before, but it was really good.

 

 

 

Anniversary Trip - Day 4 - Happy Anniversary

For my husband the day began very early with sunrise photos from the balcony.

 For lunch we walked a few blocks (5 to be exact) to the Maple Tree Pancake House.

After lunch we walked 11 more blocks to the 15th Street Pier.

This sign brought to mind the Dr. Seuss book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

 Views from the pier.

These young ladies either didn't seem to be able to read the posted sign or maybe they just didn't care.

And someone caught a fish as we were getting ready to leave.

I was intrigued by this cottage that seemed like a step back in time amongst all of the high rise hotels and took a picture so that I could find out more about it.  It turns out that it is the Historic deWitt Cottage and Atlantic Waterfowl Museum.  According to their website, it was built in 1895 and is the oldest private structure still standing on the Virginia Beach boardwalk.

Next we walked the 16 blocks back to our hotel.  We saw this Navy ship off the coast, and then a lifeguard had to call someone in from the water because he was swimming too far out in dangerous water conditions.

Later in the afternoon I went for a swim in the rooftop infinity pool.

Then it was time to get cleaned up for our anniversary dinner.  The restaurant in our hotel, Catch 31, was highly rated on several websites I had visited in preparation for the trip.  We hadn't eaten there all week because we were saving it for our anniversary dinner.  We checked into reservations, but their website said that they don't take reservations.  Just before 6:00 we went downstairs only to be told that the wait was an hour and a half!  After exiting the restaurant to regroup, I suggested to my husband that he ask the hotel concierge, whose desk was just outside Catch 31, for a recommendation.  Not only did she make a suggestion, but she immediately booked a reservation for 6:30 at Chops, which was just two blocks away on Laskin Road.  By the time we walked there, we were just in time for our reservation and were seated immediately.  If you have a special event to celebrate while you are staying oceanside at Virginia Beach, I highly recommend Chops.

My chocolate martini and David's Safety Dance Pilsner from Smartmouth Brewing Company.

We both had the Surf 'N' Turf: a 6 ounce filet, broiled scallops, lightly fried shrimp, and mashed potatoes.  David got the standard asparagus, but I substituted steamed broccoli.  Great portion size and done to perfection!

After cheesecake for dessert (sorry no pictures), we wandered into Kitty Hawk Kites and then back to the hotel.  All in all a fun anniversary.

2022 365 Picture Today Post

251/365 | Thursday, September 8, 2022 | #365PictureToday

Prepared

Picture More | Fill the Frame

I'm prepared to pick out ice cream flavors for my banana split tonight.  We went to a new place for us called Dream the La Cream.  They have some majorly over-the-top ice cream desserts.  For the record, I chose strawberry, peanut butter, and chocolate.