new season, new banner

well, it's officially winter. i was so glad when the 21st of december came, for it meant that from that day on, the days would once again get longer. my dad always looked forward to winter solstice, because it meant long winter nights would start to fade and make way for more sun in a day, and with it, more and more warmth. i'm the same way. you all know me by now. i hate winter {hate is a strong word, but you get the idea} and i LOVE the sun and being warm.

anyway, winter is officially here, and with the new season, i am posting a new blog banner. this will be the first blog banner using a photo that i did not technically take. that is to say, i did not push the button on the camera or hold it and set it up. but i did direct how i wanted the photo to be taken, and then when i got the photo, i manipulated/enhanced it. so i will still take some credit and still call it a self-portrait in that sense. {thank you to my friend mary for taking it... i could not have done it myself, as i only have one of those little, short tripods that you can wrap around tree branches and such... not a normal-sized tripod.}

the only other selfie image i used for a blog banner was last march {seen below}... incidentally, also taken in front of the same orange chair in which i am sitting in the current banner, but this time taken by me {with a timer, i think}.

if i recall correctly, i set the camera on the window sill to get the shot. it works when no one is around... have you ever tried?

well, enough about how i got the photos. fact is, i have posted so infrequently here lately, i have almost as many blog banner updates as i do posts for these past five or six months. {that's only a slight exaggeration.}

okay... so goodbye, last two banners {one of which i never bid farewell to}.

{fall, 2010}

{summer, 2010}

make room for a new vision of "how i see things"... baby bump style. that is how i will be viewing everything in life from now on... well, at least for the next six months... through the eyes of pregnancy.

some of you may wonder why i would write a post bidding farewell to old blog banners. well, it is for one simple reason. it's just my silly way of keeping a record of all the blog banners i have made since the time i started this blog. not only do i like photography, but i love graphic design {it was my college major}, and i like to see how my banner design and photography has progressed over the years. so i started posting about them and tagging them "my blog banners", which i also have a gallery link/button for in the right-hand column of this blog. this way, you can see them {all in one place}, too.

a while back, i had written about how i wanted to start offering a service where i would design blog banners for anyone who wanted me too. i never got around to setting up a tab on my blog to advertise that service. maybe i will get around to that in 2011. but even though i don't advertise it, it is still available. i really enjoy making them, and i have made a few for friends already.

okay, enough about blog banners! it's almost christmas, for crying out loud. yikes! just over a day away. are you all running around getting last minute gifts and making holiday fixin's? i've got much to do, myself. so i'll be back to say hello on christmas day, and then maybe soon after to write about my holiday adventures.

just a quick thank you for all the cool comments on my last post. i'm so glad you took the time to read and leave your thoughts and let me know i am in your thoughts and prayers. it really means a lot! i enjoyed sharing with you all, and i really enjoyed hearing back from you. i especially loved the idea from a couple of you to make that post my first entry for a journal i keep for the baby. i think i will do that!... whether i print it out and start an actual book, or just make an online sort of journal for baby-b.

thank you to everyone!