photo scavenger hunt #96

from krissy:  This week's subject is art.  Interpret this any way you would like.  It can be something inside or out of your house.  It can be a painting, a statue, architecture, or anything you would like. 

i've actually created a few things over the years, but i'm not real creative.  i consider a lot of my photography art...even have some of it framed and hanging in my home....but after much thought, i am displaying some true art from the best Artist i know...

          

                                              

                                   these were taken at the georgia aquarium in atlanta friday. 

john's monday photo shoot

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Floaty Things: Snap a photo of something that floats. If it's buoyant, it's in!

after going through my files to find things that float, i came back to link my entry only to discover what john's really after is something around the house that is nearly unsinkable....hmmm....well...guess i'll go with my first thoughts and pics to match.  :)

    

have you ever watched jellyfish??  they are buoyancy in motion!!!  this was taken at the chattanooga aquarium.  i love watching them!

how about a butterfly using a lily pad for a raft??  :)

              

                a turtle and goldfish among the water lilies....ok...the fish is not really floating

                    

      

weekend assignment - nature

sis, meg, sent this site to me....thought it would be wonderful to participate in.  be sure to check out the other wonderful entries of:  Weekend Assignment:  Nature entry at AOL Photo Talk: All Things Photographic.     

   

     

             

                               

more of the smokies

thought i'd write a little more about my trip....man it sure seems like a long time ago!  as you know, the trip happened due to business, and i talked hubby into meeting me up there for a long weekend get-away.  team building exercises are one of the all time favorites of the company...many of them i am glancing at the side door hoping for a chance to escape.  this trip's activity was really fun, though.  laser tag!!!  yep...this middle aged, overweight, nana donned vest and manned a laser gun and snuck around a dark room, hiding behind walls, jumping out and firing at the 'enemy'.  my roommate was on the opposite team, and we had made this deal....we wouldn't shoot one another.  lol  yeah...right!  i'm not sure who shot the other first....but once we had that gear on and weapon in hand, we became very competitive.  i'm not really sure that anything is actually accomplished by these activities....i mean at this point in our lives and careers..... you are either a team player or  not, right??  anyway....my team won....and i was actually awarded the title 'cosmic sergeant'.   that was 3rd ranking from the bottom.  lol 

so here are a few more pics....

the colors were so amazing!!! 

 

an old grist mill...pretty interesting.  you can actually enter and go up to 2nd floor...3rd floor closed.

    

there were many beautiful chapels.  2 years ago, i looked at getting married in a chapel like this in the smokies....but we chose the cruise instead.

a visitor's center

coming in for a landing on little pigeon river....

       

can you believe these colors???  it was so beautiful. this was sunrise at clingman's dome...definitely the highlight of the trip!

stem cell research

this is in response to:   This may push readers away, but... by Nancyluvspix regarding fetal stem cell research....

I think that one reason fetal stem cell research is opposed by so many is that the very idea and act of abortion is so oppositional.  It's a bridge we would have to cross to say, "well if the baby is going to be discarded anyway"....it's just too hard to do this.  Not that I will ever sit in judgement of a woman who has had an abortion.  Only God knows her heart, her circumstance...and while He would never condone the act, He does love that woman very much.  I also want to be clear that while I oppose abortion, I would never, ever condone the actions of many anti abortionists who have harmed others in their protests.  And in the case of in vitro fertilization,  I believe that life begins at conception, and to deliberately bring a life into being to destroy it in the name of research....I just can't condone.

I think the better alternative is using umbilical cord blood, placentas and adult stem cells.  This has been proven to be effective and has already been used to treat many diseases.  Embryonic stem cells have yet been used to treat the first disease....yes....it might be said that its because of the opposition to the research...but there has been research for both, and it is documented that its the adult stem cells where there has been success.  I know that depending on the prevailing beliefs of the one doing the research, data can be found to support either side.

 

I am a nurse and have experience in Labor and Delivery.  That's where I worked during both of my pregnancies. I worked the night shift...one night we had no patients...I was 12 weeks pregnant, and we got the bright idea to hook me up on the sonogram machine we had just gotten in the department.  I was amazed.  At 12 weeks we were looking at a little baby....she was moving all around, and at one point, she startled...throwing out all limbs....you could actually see all fingers and toes!  Never again did we see all of her, but I think at that particular time, she was small enough that we got her whole image on the screen.  I'm telling you this because it's at 12 weeks that a lot of abortions are performed.  I believe that if mom's could see what that little fetus really looked like at that stage, there would be fewer abortions.

 

photo scavenger hunt #94

Photo Scavenger Hunt #94 subject...  This week go into your files and select a photo to post of sentimental value or special meaning.  Don't forget to tell us why it holds value for you. 

 

well....if you've learned anything about me by now....it's generally that i can't just post one photo...and this time is no different.  :)  so let me tell you about these few pics i've selected. 

just over 2 years ago, we got married in new orleans.  the motel was pet friendly, and if you didn't have a pet with you...they loaned you a pet goldfish!  we named him oscar.  lol  and yes....he takes a guitar everywhere we go.

                                            

this was a first trip to new orleans for both of us, so we had fun exploring jackson square and the french quarter for 3 fun filled days......

      

 

                             

and then we took a 5 day western caribbean cruise....leaving new orleans port....

docked at cozumel....the holiday is carnival's smallest liner....i thought it was huge!!

                

we had a wonderful time....and many wonderful memories.

i'm back......

ok....i was gone a week, and it has taken me nearly a week just to get caught up at home, with email, and at work!!  i'm telling ya...i wasn't gone long enough to pay like this!!  the first 3 days were a business meeting...but they provided us with a wonderful cabin in the beautiful smokies.

            

and as part of a commitment exercise, we got to hike to the top of clingmans dome at sunrise!!  i'll hafta say, that was the highlight of the business trip.  :)

and then hubby came up after the meeting had adjounred and we spent two wonderful days soaking in the beauty. 

          

         

our lil cabin in the woods wasn't as fancy as the one the company had put my teammates and i in, but i wasn't complaining!!

        

it was a wonderful trip....the scenery was gorgeous!!  more pics to come!  :)