My Personal Favorites of 2017

I was listening to a photography podcast and a end of year challenge put out there was to look at all the photos you have taken over the past 12 months and post your own favorite top 10.  Not your family, friends or followers favorites but your own.  It was very difficult to narrow down but after much consideration, these are my personal 2017 favorite photos (in no particular order).

Best of 2017 Instagram Images

Finished the self-imposed 2017 365 day challenge yesterday and I must admit I am so glad it is over :)  It was much harder than it seemed it would be but I must say, while I won't do it again, I am so glad I did.These are the top 9 “liked” photos in my Instagram feed for 2017. A few are not a surprise, a few others are.  Can you figure out which are and aren’t? 

Chicken Apple Salad

• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
• 1 cup diced Granny Smith apple
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 2 Tablespoons chopped green onions
• 1/3 cup light mayonnaise
• 1 Tablespoon light sour cream
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine mayonnaise and remaining ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Add mayonnaise mixture to chicken mixture, tossing well to coat.

TIPS:

• This recipe is also good when sliced red grapes are substituted for the dried cranberries.
• If preparing this recipe as gluten free, just be sure to use a brand of mayonnaise that is known to be GF.

• Nutritional Information per serving: Serving size: 1 cup, Calories 328, Fat 10g, Saturated Fat 2g, Sugar 4g, Fiber 3.5g, Protein 22.27g, Cholesterol 67.60mg, Carbohydrates 37g
• WW POINTS per serving:  Smart Points 5, Points Plus 8,  Old Points Program: 8

My Christmas Surprise

I have the best husband in the world!!!I have literally drooled and dropped hint after hint for the past 2 years that it would be my dream to own the Panasonic  m100-400mm Leica lens for my birding and wildlife photography. Using a micro four thirds camera this provides me up to 800 mm in length when compared to a 35mm or dSLR  .  I literally sat in stunned silence when Guy told me to order it, that he really wanted me to have it.It arrived Friday and I took it out for a quick test drive right away.  Now the thing about this lens is it needs light, the more the better and of course it was cloudy and overcast, and it has a learning curve so I was struggling a bit but if this is bad light, can't wait to see what good light will be.  And who gets to shoot a bald eagle on their first test run of a new pro lens??

 

A few other shots..

Happy 2018!!!!!

Guy and I just want to wish all our family and friends the happiest 2018!!  This past year flew by and we were so blessed to spend the days with each other and all of you.  Thank you for your love, friendship, support, humor and just being you. We cherish each person in our lives!

Christmas Town 2018

We decided to start a new tradition by visiting Christmas Town at Williamsburg's Busch Gardens this past week with Avery (and her parents haha).Since she is just 2 1/2 the focus was on her enjoying, the lights, the views and the sounds of the holiday.  We didn't expect her to get so interested in the rides and it was so much fun to experience her first big girl ride (teacups) with her and her mommy and then watch her be brave and ride the swings and the airplane by herself.  She was a real trooper as it was cold and she was without a nap.  No melt downs at all, just lots of smiles and laughs.   Here is some fun photos from our evening there.[envira-gallery id="12716"]So looking forward to doing this next year already.