Tag: Photography

German or American?

My parents spent six years of the first 21 years of my life in Germany.  Of that, I lived in Germany with them for about four of those years.  (My father served in the U.S. Army and for the civil service.)  I remember being ecstatic as a college freshman when I found out my parents would be returning to Germany after nearly 10 years away.  I love Germany… the language, the culture, the climate, the scenery, the food!  (I don’t love their WW II history.)  German was part of my college major.  I used to have a shirt that I bought at the PX (post exchange) in Stuttgart, Germany.  It had a picture of a surf-boarding Snoopy on the front with the words, “Show me the ‘wave’ to go home.  Germany — USA.”  I think I wore it out!  Here’s a picture of me wearing it.  (ignore the late ’80s/early ’90s hair style :P)

Well, I found several giveaways that are “specifically” German-related and several that are truly American.  Check them out to see what I mean…  (Note: There are also a few that aren’t ‘nationality-specific’.)  🙂

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Two sites have giveaways that end TOMORROW, and they’re both giving away clothing.  Also, I’ve included another blog that’s giving away clothing…

  • The Bragging Mommy – a St. Eve Kids Beach Wrap, a Giraffe Girls’ Toddler Sleepwear Set, and a Heartbreaker Boys’ Toddler Sleepwear Set  – ends 7/19 at 10 a.m.
  • The Mom Reviews – Jockey Supersoft Panties – ends 7/19 (no time is indicated)
  • Happily Domestic – a Mountain Hardwear Men’s Ravine shirt ($75 Value) – ends 7/29

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The next ‘group’ of giveaways is sponsored by Nestlé which in a German dialect means “little nest”1.  The Experimental Mommy (aka The Not-So-Blog) is hosting these giveaways as part of the Nestlé Family Summer Block Party which was held last week.  These giveaways end on 7/21.

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For more “sweet tooth” goodness, check out these giveaways…

  • The Mommy-Files – a variety pack including Hershey’s Extra Dark and Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Treats – ends 7/22
  • The Mom Reviews – free Popsicles and a National Geographic Kids Big Book of Fun (5 winners!) – ends 7/23
  • Savvy Housewife – eight (8) Cookie Jar Entertainment kids’ DVDs – ends 7/24

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Summer SizzleSummer Sizzle giveaways (including a German-related one)…

* Piece of Me – a Personalized Mouse Bag from Little Liebling (2 winners!) – ends 7/26 (Liebling is German for ‘sweetheart’.)

* Minnesota Mama’s Must Haves – a Personalized Lunch Tote – ends 7/26

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More kids’ item giveaways (including a German-related one)…
  • My Organized Chaos – a copy of Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days on DVD – ends 7/27
  • And Twins make 5! – a set of Schleich Toy Figures (six different dogs) – ends 7/28 (Schleich’s headquarters are in Germany.)
  • Happily Domestic – a wooden Doll Bunk bed – ends 7/30

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The AmericanGirl Shine On Now campaign is about celebrating girls who are making a difference in their families, communities and schools.  The following blogs are among those who are Official Parent Partners with
The Shine on Now campaign.  Each of these are giving away an AmericanGirl doll.  To enter most of the giveaways, you must nominate a deserving girl who you think has made a difference.  (All of them end on July 31st {when the campaign ends} unless otherwise noted.)

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(back to post)
1according to Nestlé’s History (Note: Henri Nestlé was apparently Swiss, not German. But, of course, German is one of the languages spoken in Switzerland.)

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Animated flag images by 3DFlags.com

Wordless Wednesday

pic taken by my 10 yo of a girl enjoying the rain

Participating in Wordless Wednesday on the following sites…

(I wanted to get this posted earlier, but a thunderstorm knocked out our cable internet connection for awhile.)

Chirping Cardinals, Part I

I’m posting these photos specifically for Angie and Marilyn who indicated in the comments of my Wordful Wednesday post that they had never seen a cardinal in real life.  These photos show a male cardinal.  (You can click on them to view a larger version of them.)

Also, I mentioned that cardinals chirp very regularly.  It seems that they frequently will chirp while they are feeding at the bird feeder (and/or at the dog’s dish).  After listening to several videos of cardinals “singing,” I’m determined to try and capture the tweets/chirps that we hear from these cardinals.  As they approach the deck area (right outside our back door), they chirp.  Then, while they are eating, they continue to chirp.  I don’t know if they’re saying, “I’m here eating now.  See me?” — or what.  🙂  I need to do some more research on them, I guess.

What is your experience with cardinals?  Do they often chirp when eating at bird feeders near your home?  If so, what type of chirp is it?

Wordful Wednesday

female cardinal

I know this is by far NOT the best picture of a female cardinal.  However, I was sitting here watching her eat from our bird feeder for the umpteenth time; and I got to pondering/wondering/thinking… “Why can’t I look at life like she does?”   Her life as a female bird is not that complex.  She lacks nothing; she has all she needs.  She is content.  (The cardinals chirp very regularly.  I’ll have to write more about that in another blog entry.)

Side note… as I was typing this, I noticed movement in my peripheral vision.  I turned my head to look, and a beautiful woodpecker was making its way up the tree just beyond our deck.  I’m guessing it was a least 9″ from beak to tail.  Wow!  God’s creation is so amazing!  Wish I had a clearer way to take pictures of all the wildlife just outside my home window.

(A side note to the side note:  I was going to delete the word “home” altogether, but then I realized I’d like to some day blog about why I felt the need to change that word.)

Back to the female cardinal and the not-so-great picture.  If you click on the pic, it’ll open in a new window where you can see a bit more detail.  The numbers in the lower left-hand corner of the photo are from a “clingy” calendar that we have on our sliding glass door.  I suppose I could/should lower it… to afford a better view of the feeder.  Alas, that will be for another time.

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I’m participating in Wordful Wednesday at Seven Cloud Circus and Wednesday of Few Words at A Lot of Loves.

You can also see my Wordless Wednesday post for this week here.

Wordful Wednesday

If I stop to think about the tremendous need in the world, I get overwhelmed in about five seconds (or less).  And, as a person with depression, that is NOT a good thing.  I start thinking (and that in and of itself is a scary thought), “Wow!  I wonder how I could help?”

The natural disaster that’s currently on my mind is the flooding in and near Nashville, Tennessee.  I haven’t been there since the flooding, so I don’t have any personal pictures.  However, there are plenty of them around the Internet.

The not-so-natural disaster that’s on my mind is the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  Again, I have no personal pictures, but you can find many if you look.

Since I have no personal pictures of these two recent disasters, I wanted to share the pictures that I do have.  (I took all three of the following pictures.)  The second is hardly worth mentioning, but it’s a disaster nonetheless.

In the midst of natural disasters…

New Orleans area - May 2006 - Hurricane Katrina

and not-so-natural disasters…

Chattanooga, TN area - January 2005 - semi truck knocks over telephone pole

…life goes on.

Chattanooga, TN area - July 2006 - pumpkin growing
I’m participating in Wordful Wednesday at Seven Clown Circus.

House Finch bird nest?

We think we may have a house finch birds’ nest on our front porch.  Actually, it was built between the porch light and the house…  (click each picture to see a larger version)

I climbed up on a chair and still had to hold the camera higher than my head to take this closeup of the eggs…

Here’s a close up of the nest when I was actually trying to take a picture of the eggs…

These birds are very skittish; and therefore, it’s hard to get a good picture of them.  I think this is the female house finch…

Our 10-year old was able to get this picture of the male…

Comparing it to the male house finch shown on this site, I am fairly certain that these birds are house finches.  What do you think?