Today.

Today, I enjoyed going outside to find that spring had brought more flowers. They had bloomed, and their soft, white colors glittered beautifully under the evening sunlight. 

♥

Today, I had a slice of white bread, along with some creamy Nutella spread on top.

It is one of my favorites for breakfast... lunch... or dinner. If I could only eat it more often... But it is almost impossible to resist to such a perfect treat. I can never get over how delicious it is. 
Don't you love it?

Today, I listened to my oldest brother play the piano. I love listening to it. I love it when he plays songs I know, and when he makes them up.

Today, I had a lot of school to do. Mainly geometry... All those squares, triangles, and circles? Sometimes they make my head spin a little. I can't wait till school is over. Summer is just around the corner.

Today, I miss my little sister. She is gone this week for a short vacation with my parents. Can't wait to hug her when she gets back!

Today, I took a picture of a box filled with some colorful straws.  

Today, I had a late evening snack: Peanuts and M&M's. I've just come to a point and realized: I can't stay away from chocolate. I eat it everyday... And it makes me happy. :)

Today, I found this picture of my younger brother. It's overexposed, but either way, I like it. 

Today was a good day.
What did you do today? ♥
-Annie

At the park.

I've always loved nature photography. It has its own, entire world of beauty, all which is seen through the camera lens. It is mysterious and enchanting. And the best part about it, is that one never runs out of things to photograph. 
Because nature is all around us. 

♥

Last week, during the first days of spring break, we went to the park. I love it when we go there. It's the kind of place where I like going for long walks through the surrounding trees. There is a special rock road for people to walk on, but I always step away from it. I go in all different directions, and walk on top of the fresh, green grass and crackling leaves. I wait to see what kind of things cross my way. And getting my shoes dirty is always part of the adventure.

And I not always keep my eyes on the ground. I look up too. What do I find? Light filtering through the trees, like millions of magic stars. It's Bokeh heaven. 

Along with hints of purple and orange, spring brought green back. Everything is colorful again.

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous."-Aristotle

-Annie 

drops of grace.

I'm breathing. I'm alive. I'm living my life which was given by the Creator of heaven and earth. Thinking about how He brought me into this world makes the light inside me turn on, and realize: "I'm thankful." How many times do we stop for a minute, and think about how thankful we are? Sometimes days go by, days which are filled with gifts and treasures, so many which seem to be endless. And while we are lying on our beds at night, we close our eyes and sleep without spending a single moment to thank God for all those gifts. Sometimes we don't remember the importance of being grateful. And we should.

His gifts are endless. Like little drops of grace. 

Today, I'm thankful. I'm thankful for spring, for the new birth of flowers and chirping birds. 

I'm thankful for the sunny mornings, the green grass, and the soft, calm whispers of the wind. 

 I'm thankful for my sister, who whether it's spring, summer or winter, always makes me smile.

I'm thankful for the sweet and fresh taste of grapefruit, which makes each breakfast special. 

I'm thankful for books. Those books which teach us things, and those with magical stories. 

[photo credits: my sis]

I'm thankful for my good friends, who make spring days fun and memorable. Sit for a minute. 

What are you thankful for? ♥ 
Sit for a minute and thank God, whose gifts are endless everyday. 

-Annie

Dear spring

Dear Spring, 
Sunshine, rain, and blowing wind. Those first signs of the season. Spring, you have slipped from under the dryness of the ground. You have slowly come back to life, slowly blossomed back. My heart flutters every time I spot little blossoms, blossoms that will soon spread around everywhere; blossoms emerging from those branches which were weak and dry once upon a time. 

After a long wintertime, after long nights and short days, can I say how happy I am? Those days are gone. It is now your turn to play your part this year. Dear spring, I've missed you.

Please stay for a while.

-Annie

Here comes spring

You know spring is coming when everything slowly starts to bloom. Trees, grass, flowers, and plants go from weak and yellow, to green and strong. Everything slowly comes back to life.

I was taking a walk outside yesterday, and these pink little flowers caught my attention as I looked at our apple tree. I took pictures, and had a chance to take all my time, and experiment a while with my camera settings. 

♥

All of these were shot in manual mode, so I had a bigger opportunity to play around with the settings. Specifically with aperture. The daylight was wonderful too, and very, very helpful. 

As you can probably see, these photographs are overexposed.....

 But on purpose. 

And I think I love the way they turned out. Specially these two following.

This next one is also another favorite; I overexposed it a lot. A lot more than the rest.

As then I walked back to the house, I came across this strand of thorns. Oh my. Loved them. 

Overexposed photographs are great. I think I should work with that a bit more often :)

What is your favorite season? ♥

-Annie

Time to Live, and Time to Die

I love spring. I love to see the flowers blooming all the time. But they just not bloom and stay alive. They die. But every time a flower dies, a new one comes to life.

It's amazing. Life dies, and life lives again. The Bible says that if we want to live, we need to die to ourselves first.

-Annie