I love Christmas time and I love Sea World, so I love visiting Sea World during Christmas Time.

Thankfully, when this year’s Winter has been pretty mild, allowing me to enjoy temperatures among the 60s and 70s, so visitting Sea World this year was not as cold as last year. With my mom’s relatives in town, we enjoyed a day at the theme park on Christmas Eve, wanting to go on Christmas Day, but finding out it was closed. With light layers, it was a very enjoyable day with light crowds and beautiful scenery. I the festive arrangements Sea World places around the park including giant candy canes, garland, ornaments, Christmas trees, presents, gingerbread houses, and of course, lights. This year, there were a variety of different decorations including a Christmas Market, a Candy Cane forest, and a Snowmen Village. I go to Sea World so often that it’s nice to see new attractions.

And thanks to the wonderful weather, the animals were out allowing me to capture the beauty of the flamingos and ducks around the waterfall area near Shamu’s Stadium. I have a fascination and admiration with birds and greatly enjoy taking their pictures.

After catching a few shows, riding the roller coasters, parousing through stores, and even walking through the transformed wintery park, complete with fake snow falling from a few rooftops, I was quite happy.

I’d never heard of Sights & Sounds of Christmas before, but apparently it’s a big deal here in San Marcos while it’s up for 4 days. It’s set up in the City Park in the center of San Marcos, really close to Texas State University.

Basically, it’s like a winter faire with carnival rides, carnival food, a nativity set with real animals, all covered in thousands and thousands of lights.

I went with the rest of the Terry Girls and we had a wonderful time gazing at the lights, listening to live caroling and gospel music, shopping around, petting the animals, and playing in the fake snow. It was so much fun!

With about 5 square miles of area, Newton, Texas is quite small, but it delivers a charming feel, especially around Christmas time! I love gazing upon collections of colorful, gleaming lights during the winter season and it makes Christmas even more magical, enjoyable, and warming. It’s pretty much the only thing I like about Winter.

Each year starting around Thanksgiving, the whole town of Newton begins to cover the town in lights. The town square, the bell tower, the gazebo, the local stores, and especially the city park receive coats of lights. Come nightfall, the lights spring to life pleasing residents and tourists, like myself.

Visiting my grandparents for Thanksgiving, we took an evening walk through the park in order to take in the beautiful collection of Christmas lights. With animatronics, 2D picture displays, lit fountains, trails of lights, and even overhangings covered in twinkling bulbs, the park was magically transformed into a place of wonderment. And of course, amongst the center of the park, near the large lake with the giant gyser rising from the middle of the water, a nativity scene is set up, allowing everyone to take in the sights and worship the birth of Jesus Christ.

With a rare free Saturday, I decided to attend the Homecoming game for Texas State University against Northwestern State University with my friends, Laura, Taylor, Ellen, Monica, and Jena.

There were a lot of people there all dressed out for Homecoming, and there was a lot of pride and spirit, but it quickly faded as people began leaving early and losing hope. Unfortunately, the Northwestern Demons were destroying the Bobcats, and by Half Time, it looked pretty grim. We stayed until just before the game ended, and our team had lost.

Another reason I had wanted to attend was to enter the Day in a Life at Texas State – Homecoming Edition photography contest. I entered 3 of my photos and was very optomistic about winning. I even got a forutne cookie that said I would win something soon. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed with the results, once again.

I thought some of my pictures came out pretty well, though…

On Thursday, September 30, 2010, I attended the opening gallery reception for the Sustainability Must be Beautiful show located in The Gallery of the Common Experience.

The gallery provided a quaint, yet roomy feel for the show to reside within. With low lights, all 60 pieces appeared shrouded in a beautiful, rich, golden glow.

There from about 2:00PM to the end of the gallery reception at 4:00PM, I happily took pictures as I viewed each unique piece. Capturing interesting shots of each treasure, I was overcome with the sense of sustainability and conservation. The theme of sustainability was apparent within each piece, yet each had it’s own unique take creating interest and intrigue.

All tied together with the theme of sustainability, each piece either reflected ideas of the environment, itself, raised awareness for protection of the environment, educated the public about the Earth, or was simply made from recycled materials in order to conserve resources and encourage recycling. “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world,” reads the wall, quoting naturalist, John Muir, and aptly describing the common idea that the show was based on.

Treating its guests to 60 different pieces of stunning artwork, The Gallery of the Common Experience presented a successful and powerful show, Sustainability Must be Beautiful. All speaking out for sustainability and support of the environment, the artists used a wide array of materials and mediums to create a diverse arrangement of artwork. With so many unique and creative pieces, there was something for everyone to enjoy.

Of course, there was food, too, but I was so enthralled with the art that I forgot to grab some!

Yesterday, I went to my first football game here at Texas State University.

Although this was Texas State’s 4th football game this year, and 3rd at home, it was my first one. xD Texas State was to play Southern Utah University. The Terry Scholars had a canopy set up at the tailgate for this game, too, so I also went to my first college football tailgate.

I went over to San Jacinto Hall with Ellen, Taylor, and Laura to catch a Touchdown Bus to Bobcat Stadium. We got there around 3:30PM. We took pictures and all stood around and talked while we waited for the game.

Around 4:30PM, we swiped into the Stadium. We found some good seats up near the top where there was a bit of shade. By then, it was just Laura, Ellen, Wade, Taylor, her friends, Amber and Laura, and me. Monica and her friend were going to meet up with us a little closer to Game Time.

I took a bunch of pictures of the sky and the stadium until the game started. I love taking pictures.

I saw a bunch of people that had body paint. There was a whole group that had spelled out something like “Go TX ST Bobcats!” with a pawprint. Even girls had body paint on. xD

When the game started, the band ran out onto the field, led by the twirler girls, and played the Fight Song and Alma Mater. The Colorguard followed behind with maroon flags with gold pawprints on them. Everyone had stood up when the band appeared and remained standing for the National Anthem as the Air Force ROTC walked the colors across the field. Of course, I had expected that, but I wasn’t expecting for everyone to remain standing for the rest of the game… :O I also wasn’t expecting both of my camera batteries to die as soon as the game started. Oh well. I got some good shots before then.

Bobcats won 42 to 28.

I love birds.

Birds are beautiful, birds are colorful, and birds are interesting.

I cannot describe how I feel about birds, exactly. I love watching them, photographing them, and even drawing them. Their colors are inspiring and their bodies are amazingly crisp with wonderful lines and curves. They’re so interesting to watch and observe. They have such unique personalities, quirks, and habits, and interact with humans in a different way than other animals.

I also love to collect bird feathers for many of the same reasons I love birds. I find it amusing to research what feathers I have found and keeping them groomed in good condition. I also enjoy creating quills from feathers.

Because I harbor such an interest in birds, they become one of my main focuses when I have my camera, especially at the San Antonio Zoo. The San Antonio Zoo has more birds than any other animal and display them in various areas of the zoo. There’s birds wherever you look, so I’ve got a lot of photos of them!

Although I’ve lived in San Antonio most of my life, I’ve hardly ever been downtown. San Antonio is known for its tourist attractions and “Big City” feel, yet I’ve never really experienced it. Someday, I really want to walk down the RiverWalk, see the Alamo, and all that…

On my way to Lake Jackson, Texas, I travelled through downtown and passed by many well-known sites. Stuck in the back of a pick-up in the middle of traffic, I happily snapped pictures of my hometown.

I love you, San Antonio.

Texas is known for its bluebonnets, but they’re actually not around much. Throughout winter, flowers die and grass fades, waiting until the come of Spring. The temperature slowly begins to rise and the ground starts to awaken with life again, when suddenly the fields burst with blue. For a few, short days, bluebonnets reign, devouring every space they can.

I love taking walks through the small forest near my house. There’s always something different, new, and exciting when I go, yet there’s always the same, familiar landmarks, rocks, and stumps. I love watching the forest as it changes with each new month, each new season, and each new time.

This time I took a nature walk with my boyfriend and my golden german shepherd, Sandy. Sandy was excited and happily prancing through the fields of blue. She enjoyed running all throughout the woods as I photographed the flowers. My boyfriend was kind enough to wait and allow me time to discover.

People are the meaning of life…

Others make your life better. Friends make your life better. Family makes your life better. Without people, life would be nothing.

Nature’s special, too.

Bringing the two together, just makes life that much better.

One of my best friends flew across the country to attend my high school graduation, which was just about the best birthday present she could have given me. My father’s side of the family drove in as well, for my graduation, including my one and only cousin. Loving to trek through the small forest by my house, I was eager to show them one of my favorite places.

The forest was wonderfully relaxing and soothing with its soft patches of green and gentle splashes of color. My cousin especially enjoyed the quiet, shaded solitude of the trees as we walked. Everything was pleasant until the mosquitos started biting.

Unfortunately, my friend and my cousin were bitten up, itching and scratching furiously at their arms and legs. I was bitten as well, but as usual, I didn’t feel anything. I continued to take pictures, and we continued to enjoy our walk until the bugs became unbearable. At that point we began to return home and left the forest. Just coming out of the trees, we spotted a stray dog, just standing there. We both stood, staring at each other for a few, short moments, until he trotted off and we continued on our way. In contrast from the quiet, passive dog, a yippy pomeranian emerged from his backyard and nervously barked at us from afar, threatening us until we reached home with a bark much bigger than his bite.