Optimistic Ramblings for the New Year

Christmas has come and went and it's almost a little sad. It was so nice to revel in the lights and the nice company and it's a shame it's over for the year - but I am so ridiculously excited to move on to 2011.

Among other lovely gifts, I received the most unexpected of all - a Canon Digital Rebel XS.

It's so beautiful! I've been playing with it non-stop, and learning so much. I recently learned that one can use some vintage lenses with modern D-SLR camera bodies with the right adapter (sacrificing the auto-focus functionality) thereby saving tons of money! I have a Pentax Super Takumar 55mm f/1.8 lens on its way to me, along with the adapter, and I only paid in the range of $40 on ebay! It'll be a nice addition to the lens that came with the body (Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5) and I should be able to create some really pretty bokeh and blurs with it!

Oh boyy, yet another hobby to become obsessed with!

Speaking of hobbies, I finished knitting the first soaker, and I think it turned out really well. I'm debating now on adding leg cuffs, as I worry about it fitting the baby's legs as it is. I even got to use my new camera to take the photo for my project page.

Here are a few other pictures I've taken so far. My goal right now is to be able to use all the manual settings without pausing to adjust for all conditions, and really have control and get the photos that I want.

I'm 16 weeks pregnant now, and feeling the baby move much more often now. I'm so excited for the big ultrasound next month, I can't wait to find out if we're having a son or a daughter. I'm really enjoying the process of making and collecting baby things. 

Every year since I was a little girl, I've had such a wonderful, optimistic feeling about New Year's. I'd always sneak out of bed in the middle of the night the few days before New Year's Eve, to sit by a small lamp with my book, making my own lists, planning and writing out all my dreams for the coming year. By the time I was 19, getting married and moving to Alberta, I had 13 journals full of my scribblings.. I've always been writing, but I never wrote as fervently as around New Year's. Those books are all gone, but the urge still hits me, to write and make known to myself all the things I want for myself in the coming year.

This year I think I'm going to re-write my previous 101 in 1001 list, with all kinds of new goals. I can't wait. 

Happy New Year, everyone!