share the...

so... i decided that a few days to celebrate love and acts of kindness in february is just not enough time for celebrating such a grand idea and concept. thus, i am deeming february "a month of love" here on this blog. {in fact, a month of love posts will get their own tags and gallery button in my side bar... including past february love-themed posts.} although valentine's day is past, i'm not one to be bound to what tradition says we should do when it comes to celebrating. {EHEM... christmas tree coming down two days after valentine's day... case in point}. after all, shouldn't love really be celebrated EVERY day of the year?

i thought of this idea after a few things that happened to me yesterday... i can not help but spread the love {in the form of writing about it} when these things occur. and plain and simple... i just did not get in enough heart-themed photos surrounding valentine's day! and hearts are EVERYWHERE lately. they are becoming the most popular symbol, it seems. see ya, peace sign! {*wink*}... oh, wait, that was "out" a long time ago, wasn't it?

anyway, for starters, i had to take some shots of the last two of four cookies my friend julie gave me when she stopped by for lunch last week {before they get consumed by a very hungry mama/baby duo}. aren't they cute? they make me wish i had made some sweets for v. day.

secondly, i had to write about an act of shared love i just experienced... when i woke up yesterday, i made my hot cocoa and sat down at the computer and logged in to find out there was a very special e-mail waiting for me.

it said this:

mae has sent you a $36.00 gift certificate that you can use for any class or workshop at big picture classes. you can find us online at http://www.bigpictureclasses.com...

mae also sent this message: would love to see you in picture inspiration. you will surely have much to do on your hands with the baby but at least the prompts are weekly, not daily! all the best!

enjoy your gift - we look forward to having you in class soon!

oh, my! how surprised and delighted i was! i had actually been wanting to blog about picture inspiration ever since i saw it announced on shutter sisters. i wanted to encourage all my readers to join, because if it is anything like my experience of the picture winter workshop that i was a part of, it will be awesome as well as inspiring and fun!

and now, not only am i writing to say you should join, but also to say "I'VE JOINED TOO!"... thanks to sweet mae. {i met mae through the picture winter workshop. and not to say that i had favorites there, but mae was one of the ladies i connected with the most.} how generous of her was that? how giving and how thoughtful and how sweet! i would probably not have joined, as funds are low and any extra money i have right now is going toward the baby room. but now i can still be a part of it! and she is right... the pace of a weekly prompt {instead of a daily prompt} will be so much better for me!

first i won a picture winter membership from tracey. then i was gifted picture inspiration from mae. this makes me so glad and makes me feel so LOVED! i'm truly grateful for the opportunity to continue to be a part of such a wonderful photography community.

speaking of photography communities, how great is the announcement of camp shutter sisters? i can not even tell you how badly i want to go to that! but i will have a less-than-six-month-old when it takes place, and i just don't know how realistic that would be. maybe next year? {*fingers crossed*}

anyway, please please please go sign up for picture inspiration if you have not already. you WILL NOT be sorry. tracey's inspiration is nothing short of her inspiration on shutter sisters or her blog. and it's a smaller, more intimate community. i highly recommend it... for what you will learn, how you will be inspired, the friends you will make!

it's funny, because when i first blogged about joining picture winter {or about winning a membership}, someone who i did not yet know {who i was not aware was reading my blog}, read my post and thought it sounded like a fun endeavor. so she signed up for the class. about a week into the class, she wrote and said, "hey, i just realized after seeing your photos in the workshop, that you are the one who got me to sign up for the class... because of what i read about it on your blog."

i'm so glad i could inspire and connect her in that way! i hope i do the same for you. if i am not mistaken, the price of the class has been drastically slashed. so i strongly encourage you to join!

okay... i'll be back tomorrow with more about love shared and love spread. i've got four more days to celebrate such things on this blog... well, with a heart-themed photo, that is. i'm certain that even long after february 28th, i'll still celebrate love... right on up through and past february of 2012.

have a LOVE-ly day!