Public Footpath to Sille Bliss

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We should of ended the year back in Houston with my familia, but things do not always go as planned (story of my life) and we ended up spending Christmas and New Year's Eve here in England again. I can't complain, it's England! But I really would of loved us all to be together.

I miss my family like crazy, especially my baby boys - Abel, David, Pickle and my Smokey. Just thinking about them makes me a little emotional. It's so weird because when I think back of the smallest things when I was back in Houston - watching reality TV with my Mama, cartoons with my pickle, acting a fool with David, chilling with Abel, and picking on my Dad.... you really just take all that for granted. It's just daily bullshit that doesn't mean much of anything. Until you leave and are away from them, those smallest things are what you end up thinking about most and end up being what you miss. But that is OK, that is life sometimes. *pep talking myself* The new year is ahead with new plans to see my family very soon! :-)

So Steve was on vacation the last two weeks of December. Yay! It feels like we have been on vacation all month, it has been kinda slow just because of the holidays approaching. I'm kinda missing our little outings now. I'm ready to get back on the road and go back to work next year! :P We've done a lot of nothing. Literally! We've been very idle, pealing ourselves from the bed only to go somewhere if we have to but still making time to celebrate the holidays one way or another.

Christmas Eve we did our traditional visit to the German Market in Bournemouth Square. We did this last year and it's just so festive and a nice way to get into the Christmas spirit.

Bournemouth Square

Bournemouth Balloon

Bournemouth Lower Gardens

We did some walking around, eating and enjoying the vibe. So many different types of people, even a few elderly people I saw alone - either walking with their little walkers or in their mobile scooters. One little old man was in the park (with people everywhere of course) off to the side on his scooter, checking something on his 'smart phone'. :P I found that pretty cute, I wondered if he had any family.

Merry Christmas Eve 2014!

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We were eating delicious German Bratwurst sausages and hot fresh donuts with cream! Mmm!

Christmas Market Stalls

Bournemouth Square

My family and I have always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve together with food, music, fun. Which is why it was so weird for me to see so many people out. Usually Christmas day is the day we would just open gifts and lay around doing nothing. If we did leave to be with friends or went out, that was usually the day we did that. Oh well, everyone is different.

So Christmas Day was spent at home. I planned to make a traditional English Christmas dinner for Steve and Papa Ellis. I was a mad woman in the kitchen, cooking all day! I cooked like I was cooking for 10 people! Haha! Hey, it's Christmas! I was just so tired and so glad that I choose not to bake desserts on my own at the last minute. We ended up buying already made tiramisu and trifle from the store (thank god) and we didn't even eat any of it cause we were so full. Needless to say we had leftovers for the next three nights. But the food was amazing! I gave myself a few pats on the back for it and my husband LOVED it all! :)





Between New Year's Eve and Christmas it felt like we went back to laying around and doing nothing but we were actually out every day. Even if it was for a quick trip to the shop, we were out. We decided to get our Christmas gifts to each other on Boxing Day. This is a day in England (after Christmas) when they have all their after Christmas sales.

I have been wanting a cell phone since I've moved here (a year and a half now!) and this was the perfect time to get it as my gift. So we headed out to Curry's to get my awesome new Note. I was excited to get something with a huge screen cause I am not a fan of the small iphone screen. Also very excited for the pen that comes with the note. Even more excited to try out the camera on this thing! Woot! Merry Christmas to meee! Now to figure out how to use it and give my number out.



Books are the perfect gift for him. He reads them every night and can read one book in 3 days usually. He reads them so fast! So even though he already has a million books, he has read them all once and even twice, so now he has a whole new batch of books to read.

So the Monday before new year's eve we decided to go out and test out this bad boy (camera phone). I was well impressed and very satisfied with the results with no filters!

White Mill - Sturminster Marshall, Wimborne Dorset England

The River Stour and sunset. Sturminster Marshall, Wimborne Dorset England.

White Mill Bridge - Sturminster Marshall, Wimborne Dorset England. The Oldest bridge in Dorset.

River Stour. The view downstream towards Corfe Mullen and Wimborne.

This year for New Year's Eve I didn't make the mistake of drowning myself in wine. I actually didn't drink much at all but a glass at midnight. I was not going to go through the 3 day hangover like I did last year - no way! It was still fun and we just chilled like any other night together and watched the London fireworks on the tele. Thankful to have had another year together with wonderful family and friends in England and the USA. Looking forward to what 2015 has to offer!



 More photos here <Sturminster Marshall. Wimborne, Dorset England>

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I was just thinking... I am constantly, have been constantly taking photos since I was a teenager in high school. Taking pictures of my friends and I, special occasions with my family, I still have them now. I have always had a love for it, but I started to gain more love and respect for it when I started traveling in 2004. Being able to take a snap shot of what I thought was beautiful, and keep my memory of it in a photograph was amazing. I just had the eye for things and wanted each photo to be the best they could be. I'd like to think I've learned a lot since then, and I love it and enjoy it more than ever now.

One thing I have done since the years have gone by is cut myself short of how good my photography really is. I've never considered myself a photographer, I would not have dared say it. I haven't taken any photography classes and I definitely do not have a professional camera that I use. But photography is art and I realized you don't need those things to be good at something that comes natural. 

I do not think my photos are perfect and I know there are still many things I can learn and do better. But with all that I've already done, with all the positive feedback from people on my work and for as long as it has been, I think I am really good. Much better than others I've seen who claim themselves to be "photographers" and actually make money off of it, surprisingly.

I've also realized that just because a person owns an expensive camera and have taken a couple of photography courses in school, definitely doesn't make them a photographer.

So my point is, from this day onward I am going to proudly let people know that I AM a photographer. I have earned and deserve that title. Doesn't matter whether it's professional or amateur; it's all photography and I've done a lot of it. :-)

To see some of my photography CLICK HERE to visit my Pinterest board.

And first on the list (when I get a chance) I need to chance this board name from My Amateur Photography to just MY Photography! Yeah! ;-)