12.31.09

The Final Day

WOW! I can't believe another year...another decade has come and passed. This "end of the year" reflection has been a little different for me, thanks in part to this blog. I've had the opportunity to look back on the photos I have taken and remember events that I had completely forgotten about - and probably wouldn't have remembered without the photo and blog post. They were the smaller events, the thoughts I had on a certain day, or the something special that caught my eye. I will admit I didn't get a photo everyday, but I am proud of what I did accomplish - 240 posts/photos. (Now that competetive side in me will having something to shoot for in 2010.)

Today's photo - my front door handle. As I began to think about what I wanted to make for my last photo I had a number of ideas, but all of a sudden this popped into my head.

My front door has been the beginning to a number of memories for 2009. It's the first thing that greets my family and friends as they come over for a holiday, family dinner, or a well deserved drink. It's also the last thing I lock up when I leave, seeing me off on a number of adventures around the world, to work, or even just down the street.

So today, I close the door on 2009 with fond memories and open it to 2010 with great excitement. And I look forward to another year of "everyday in a photo."

12.30.09

Traditions

The December assignment for the 2009/365 flickr photo group was to take a photo of a family tradition. This photo is of my sisters' and my stockings. These were made by mother years ago and are only three in the family collection. The first stockings obviously belonged to my mom and dad - then the three girls - then their three husbands - and last year, their grandson.

As kids, my sisters and I were Santa for my parents. We would rummage through my mother's craft supplies or pick up odds and ends at the local Ben Franklin's store...planning some sort of great-crafted gift. There was a great deal of plastic, Popsicle sticks and glue involved. How times of changed...

On Christmas Eve we would attach them to the handle of wooden spoons that were stuck into the wood burning fire place. (Don't worry...the fire wasn't going.) As we begin to celebrate our Christmas morning in other locations, outside of my childhood home, they find new hanging spots.

No matter what gifts they contain or where they are hung, the red and white felt stockings are an important tradition to our family.

12.29.09

Footprints

Not sure who these prints belong to...there's been people, dogs and critters out on the course since the snow.

12.28.09

Clean!

We managed to purge, clean and organize our closet today. These are the bags we took to Goodwill...it felt great!

12.27.09

While the Kids Are Away...the Deer Will Play

This is just one of the photos I captured last night at our school. We were out driving in the new car and decided to stop by the school...there were five deer wandering, eating and playing. It was fun just watching them enjoy themselves. I think this is a herd that others have been seeing around the school. I also manged to get some video - digging in the snow for food and chasing each other around.

12.26.09

Waffles!

The Kenyons gave us a waffle maker for Christmas and we tried it out today. We made cinnamon-nut waffles and they were yummy! I'm looking forward to making more flavors. Thanks guys...maybe I can make you some waffles on New Year's morning!

12.24.09

Santa Strikes Again!

Well, after a number of hours in various dealerships and countless hours of Internet research...I have a new car!! We were looking at several different cars and had it narrowed down to the Audi Q5 and Cadillac SRX...as you can see the German engineering won. (It was fun taking home the car that had a big bow on it - we did leave the bow at the dealership.) So far I LOVE IT!! It handles great in the snow and I feel so much safer. It wasn't that I really felt unsafe in my Acura TSX, but I really enjoy the fact that I don't have to get a running start just to get up and in the driveway. I have to say it did feel a little weird purchasing a car on Christmas Eve.

12.21.09

Popcorn!

Fortunately Santa got the memo that we were celebrating early and he managed to make a stop at our house and left a popcorn machine in the basement! We used it right away last night, making popcorn while we watched the Survivor Finale with my parents. It makes yummy popcorn!!! Thanks Santa!

12.20.09

Family Christmas

Today we celebrated and hosted Christmas with my side of the family. This photo is a section of the AMAZING quilt my mom made for me...I LOVE IT!!! It was a great day with family. It was especially fun watching Matty unwrap his presents...he took great care in all his unwrapping. I'm going to guess that his unwrapping techniques will be much different next Christmas. :o) I am so thankful for my wonderful family!

12.17.09

SUGAR!

As I walked through the halls of school today, I noticed one constant...the smell of sugar. As I walked into a classroom I was greeted by a wall of the sweet smell. Not only were students consuming large amounts of sugar, but they were also creating gingerbread houses (or in the case of the 6th graders - gingerbread condos!)

12.16.09

Coffee Line

And you thought Starbucks was bad...this is what it looks like when teachers get a coffee cart in the lounge! Mugs lined up with orders attached. It was a wonderful treat and thanks to all of Santa's helpers who made classroom deliveries! It was a great treat...THANK YOU!!

12.13.09

Poinsettia

Just did a fun effect on the original picture. (It was actually a deep red.)

12.12.09

What Does He See?

I got to spend a few hours with Matthew today. Most of them were him sleeping...but we did have some time to play and run around. Along with wrestling and dancing, he loves just looking out the windows.

12.11.09

And the Winner is...

Here are the pumpkins that we, Chad, sisters, brother-in-laws, and myself carved for Halloween 2009. We had a fun Friday night of pizza, beer and sharp knives! I will have to make note here, so it's public, that I was NOT the one who shed blood that evening - it was Chad! Just a small little nick though...didn't even need a band aid.

It's taken us a little while to determine the winner, took votes from friends on Facebook, but we have our official winners...
1st Place - Renee's Scarecrow
2nd Place - Kelly's Tree
3rd Place - My Castle

12.10.09

Tea

I always enjoy a good cup of Green Tea in the evening.

12.09.09

Staying Warm

Well, we had a bit of a warm up today...I think the high was somewhere around 15 degrees! The house plants have it easy.

12.08.09

COLD!!

I took a photo of the Castle Rock weather conditions. We are on a one-hour delay for school tomorrow...it's supposed to be -10 to -20 degrees, without the wind chill.

12.07.09

Homemade Pasta

Tonight for dinner I made some whole wheat & spinach pasta. It was yummy!

12.06.06

Where did summer go?

With another round of light snow I figured it was time I feed the birds. While in the backyard I decided to take my camera with me. Found several fun shots of snow, but I liked this sunflower the most.

12.05.09

Front Range

Today we were up by Daniels Park taking some photos of my sister and her family. It was a little smoggy, but a great view.

12.04.09

Shadows

This photo is very similar to one that I took earlier this year. Once again the shadows of the houses on our block caught my eye. I didn't even realize until I was going to crop it that I managed to capture the moon in the upper left corner.

12.03.09

Cold & Snow

First off I want to wish Chad a HAPPY BIRTHDAY...I love you!!! It's currently a whopping 9 degrees outside this morning...brrrrr!! We got a light dusting of snow overnight. The woolly thyme and flagstone under the fresh snow made for a great pattern.

12.02.09

Water

I decided to take a short walk around the school looking for fun shapes, patterns, etc. Came across the water fountain sign.

12.01.09

Full Moon

I'm typically leaving work after the sun has gone, not today. The picture doesn't do this scene justice...the full moon was gorgeous and with the contrast of the green turf and the brown of the hills.

11.30.09

Word of the Year

Tonight I learned from a friend's Facebook post that "Twitter" was the 2009 Word of the Year. In it's honor I had to spend a few minutes updating my twitter background.

11.28.09

Snow Covered Peaks

No fancy sunrise or sunset...just liked the reflection of the snow.

11.27.09

Thanksgiving

I officially took this photo yesterday, but I wanted to share it today. It commemorates Kelly's first "official" family dinner. Now, her and Alex hosted an entire year of family dinners - she is the one that initiated our new monthly tradition. But, this was her first holiday event. Her and Alex did a great job!! We had a wonderful day with delicious food!!

11.26.09

5K Turkey Trot

Does a 5K count when you run it on your treadmill? We weren't able to make it to an outdoor 5K, so I decided to do the next best thing...start my own!

For those of you who know me, my theory regarding running outdoors is that something should be chasing you! I have never enjoyed running, even as a child. I have grown to tolerate it, but I have to stick to my treadmill because my knees can't handle the pavement.

I was impressed with my time - this was the longest distance I had gone (in a walk/run).

11.25.09

Fiji

Not taken today, but one of my favorites. We will miss you.

11.24.09

Winter is Near

A look to the west at sunrise - windy and snowy conditions in the mountains.

11.23.09

Clouds

I just liked the way the light from the sunset was caught on these clouds.

11.22.09

Nothing Runs Like a Deere

Well, this isn't Chad's new toy...but he did manage to get it away from Matty for a few minutes. (He was actually taking his turn while Matty was chasing me and my camera down.)

11.21.09

Family Outing

For the last several years our family has taken a trip to downtown Denver to have dinner and take in a show. Tonight we went to the Mannheim Steamroller concert.

11.19.09

Got Milk?

Parker, our older cat LOVES milk! We always leave a little in our glass or bowl. She had been using her paw most of the time, but she got down to the very bottom of the glass and had to go all in.

11.18.09

Blue Jays

A few weeks ago I was excited about just one blue jay at the feeder...today there were four of them out there. I guess I will have to keep them full of sunflowers and corn.

11.17.09

Photos

Students are currently working on a project at school that requires them to use photos. We often use a great web site called www.pics4learning.com

This site is populated by visitors submitting their photos. (This is one that I took and submitted...couldn't find any of video game consoles.) I encourage anyone who reads this to check out the site and contribute some photos. It's a wonderful resource for students and with everyone's help it will become even better.

11.16.09

Buried In

This morning while getting ready I noticed a lot of dirt and debris on top of the snow. I looked around and saw this Rufous Sided Towhee hiding out under the tree. I'm assuming he was trying to stay warm on this very cold morning.

11.15.09

Snow

We had another snow storm come through this weekend...probably ended up with about 8 inches. This evening I noticed some snow "hanging" off the fence. It made me wonder...why can't a get posters to hang on my walls/doors at school using the fun-tack, but several inches of snow can defy gravity on my back fence??

11.14.09

State Tourney

Congratulations to the Burlington Lady Cougars...you did a great job at the state volleyball tournament this weekend. You should be proud of your hard work!

11.11.09

Grades

Looking at this picture most people would just see a messy desk. The funny thing is, it's my desk at school while doing EPRs (elementary progress reports) for the first trimester at school. Keep in mind...I'm the computer resource teacher and the computer is surrounded by paper. You will also notice some scissors and glue. That's right, scissors and glue.

I used a resource from fellow tech teachers in the district. One of the teachers was unable to find the editable version of the original document, so I had to do some cutting and pasting to include information about what the students at my school had been working on during the first trimester. I just found it ironic that the tech teacher was using scissors and glue to complete her work. :o)

11.09.09

Me & My Shadow

I actually took this photo Saturday at the volleyball games, but I liked it and had to share it. My nephew needed to work off his hot dog from lunch. He had a great time running around and playing in the leaves.

11.08.09

Flicker

Yes...another feathered-friend! It's funny because there was a flicker this last spring that was jack hammering on the house. It sounded wild! Fortunately, he didn't do any damage. It did manage to drive Chad crazy though since he works from home.

11.07.09

Congratulations Burlington Lady Cougars!

Today I watched my cousin and her teammates compete in the regional volleyball tournament. They ended up coming out as the second seed and are headed to the state tournament next weekend. Kick some butt girls!!

11.06.09

Where's My Food?

This grey-breasted jay perched up on the deck pillar. He did a lot of squawking at me...assuming he was upset that there were not sunflowers or corn in the bird feeder. We haven't had one up this close so it was fun to see.

11.05.09

The Pumpkin's Last Stand!

Well, today was trash day and the pumpkins had to go.

11.04.09

Rays

We always draw the sun with rays, but you don't usually "see" them. I caught some great rays tonight when I came out of the school. Unfortunately, this photo didn't quite capture the affect.

11.03.09

Escaped!

This one managed to escape Friday and Saturday's carnage.

11.02.09

Full Moon
On my way home from work tonight I was so impressed by the beautiful full moon. I enjoyed my extra hour of sleep this weekend, but I don't enjoy the early darkness.

If you look real close, I even managed to capture two airplanes...didn't realize it until I was editing the photo.

11.01.09

First Day

A great ending to the first day of November. It's crazy to think that 2009 is almost over.

10.31.09

Trick-or-Treat!

Well, I had a great night...I LOVED seeing all the kids in their costumes. I have to say that of all the faces I could see tonight, I recognized 95% of them from school. It was fun waiting for the kids to recognize me. I heard a number of "Ohh...Mrs. Jensen!" or "Mom...that's my computer teacher!" as they ran toward the curb. I also had a great surprise of seeing a former student. I didn't even recognize her...she had changed so much from 4th to 9th grade.

Several weeks ago I found a cute wig with curlers, so I had to go with a different costume than my usual witch/scientist. I had a robe, Broncos shirt, sweat pants, and fuzzy slippers...there were a few "What are you for Halloween?" questions at the front door. If I would have been thinking sooner, I would have said, "I'm a teacher after three snow days...we just stay in our PJs!"

Happy Halloween everyone!!

P.S. - I can't post the official "after" to yesterday's post due to the current voting process that is taking place.