Get your blog on . . .

. . . cause it's a party!

Last year Vicki from (2 Bags Full) had a wonderful Grow Your Blog Party hop, and I definitely wanted to do again as I met some great bloggers and I'm always up for meeting new friends. A big huge thank you goes out to Vicki for putting together this epic event, double last year's party.

This is me, Kim, a 51 year old mom of two (half an empty nest) with one in college and one still in high school, and a wife of 21 years.

A learner of life, a seeker of light, and a finder of all things beautiful . . . and I document it here in my little space. I've been blogging here for a little over 3 years now.

I love nature, I tend to be a deep thinker, and share my thoughts and my view of the world through my pen and my camera.

I have a love affair with the beach, and shells, and the ocean . . . 

And sunrises . . . definitely one of my favorite things. I am fortunate enough to live on the gulf coast of Texas near Galveston Bay, and 25 miles north of the island. You'll see a lot of sunrises here because I live 30 minutes away from an hour vacation . . . gosh I love that!

And, last March a friend gave me some cuttings of milkweed that ended up having 2 monarch caterpillars which turned into a nursery in my dining room and the nickname of 'The Monarch Farmer' from my son. Since March I've raised and released over 400 Monarch butterflies. I am still working on getting through all my photos from last summer and putting together my journey in a series from egg to butterfly. They are amazing creatures!!

I also raised queen butterflies, black swallowtail butterflies, a few pipevine butterflies, and tersa sphinx moths (aka hummingbird moths).

I love flowers, and photographing them especially in my garden, when I have visitors.

And I love sharing the beauty in the ordinary I find through my lens. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. I look forward to making the rounds today, although truthfully it will probably take a week with this many blogs!

You can follow along with me here: Flickr (I'm attempting a 365 day project), instagram (kimatpickingpoppies), and you can like me on my Picking Poppies facebook page. I am also part of a collaborative blog, Focusing on Life (my recent post), with 9 other women of all ages building a community for people passionate about photography and life. You'll find me musing there every other Tuesday.

Until next time,

Love, Kim

And the winner is . . .

Drum roll please . . . the winner of this necklace (from the grow your blog hop post ) giveaway is,

. . . comment #28 - Beth at E.Lizard Breath Speaks - congrats to you Beth!

I'll be sending you an e-mail for your address. 

Another huge thank you to Vicki at 2 Bags Full for all her work putting it together. And another warm welcome to all my new "friends" (I really don't like the word followers), and to my current friends who have decided to join me on this little space. I really adore each one of you and appreciate your support and encouragement and love when you share your thoughts with me! Truly.....I love y'all!!

Love, Kim

XO

P.S. - I'm feeling another giveaway in the future . . .  :)

Grow your blog party . . . and a giveaway!

I want to start out by saying a big huge thank you to Vicki for hosting this blog party.

She is one of the sweetest people I know that I have never met in person.

Welcome to my little place in the blogosphere, I wasn't really sure where to start,
so I thought I would just start from the beginning.

Once upon a time . . .

I started a blog
in hopes of sharing and documenting a project
a photo a week for 52 weeks
the beginning of my photography journey
that turned into so much more
making friends, connecting with like minds
who also have a need to create
finding beauty and simplicity in nature
and in my everyday
photographs that help me express
how I feel about life
that sometimes words cannot
  what I didn't expect
  what I've discovered along the way
is my voice
in the written word through photographs
. . . they really are worth a thousand words

And this is me, Kim, 

a 50 year old learner of life

  photographer, and jewelry maker

who likes to garden

a wife, and mother of  2

my favorite place to be is at the beach

exploring, discovering

my favorite color is pink

(yes, that is pink in my hair)

I have also been having fun with digital art and adding textures to my photos. One of my favorite weekly link ups is on Fridays for Photo Art Friday.

And in the party spirit, I have a gift for you that I will give away on Feb. 1.  I thought it would only be fitting to make a beach themed necklace. It's hand crocheted, with a non-tarnish craft wire and different types of coral, shell, and pearls and  a toggle clasp in the back for easy on and off.

You can always check out the "You might also like this" posts at the end of this post or on the sidebar under Popular Posts for a better idea of what my blogging style is. A comment below that you were here is all you need to be entered into the giveaway of the necklace pictured above, that's all.  You don't even have to be a follower. But if you have a no-reply email I will have no way to contact you if you win. I appreciate very much that you stopped by and look forward to visiting you too!

You can also find me on instagram at KIMATPICKINGPOPPIES and on my collaborative blog at Focusing on Life (you can find the link button on the sidebar at the top).

Another big thanks to Vicki at 2 Bags Full for putting together and hosting the party!
Make sure you check out all the other blogs too.

Love, Kim
XO