Collections

Some of you may know that I have a rather excessive sense of sentimentality.  I don't really know where it comes from, but I'm working on it...  At any rate, I have some collections to share with ya'll today.

The last couple weekends have been busy, but I finally got around to a little project that I had planned to do after our Nimbus trip in June of this year.  3 or 4 months after the fact, I've completed this project and put our sand from Jacksonville, FL (Sawgrass) and Gulf Shores, AL into our sand collection.

This all started with a little jar of sand from our honeymoon and I never really intend to make a whole collection out of it.  Still, the collection developed over time and I now have sand from all over the world in these tiny jars!   In a very small way, it's a quick reminder of all the adventures that we've had on our vacations!

Top: This is the entire collection (so far).  I think it's interesting how some sands are white and others are more of a brown.  Some sands even look gray in color.

Bottom: These are the newest sands added to the collection.  The Gulf Shore sand (left jar) is a beautiful white!  That beach was gorgeous and I highly recommend the Gulf Shore for a beach vacation if you want to stay in the states.  As long as you're getting out of the deep Gulf of Mexico, the sand will start to look pretty.  The Sawgrass sand is in stark contrast but was still a fun place to visit.

Next up is our camera accessory collection.  "Hi, my name is Kathy and I have a camera gadge problem..."  I'm trying to keep it under control, but there are so many cool gadgets that you can get once you start to get into the photography hobby.  

One of our family friends, Steve, recommended that I get a monopod to use as a convenient alternative to a tripod.  Steve is a much more advanced photographer than I so his recommendation was very helpful!

I take a lot of pictures at the lake (as you've all seen on this blog) but there are some pictures that require more stability than human hands can offer (ex: fireworks).  The monopod only has one "leg" (hence the "mono") so it is more convenient than carrying around a big 'ole tripod.  In addition to the monopod, I've started to get into trouble with lenses, filters, bags, etc.  The photography accessories are endless but that's neither here nor there....

A few weeks ago I ordered the following monopod from Staples.  While the features of the monopod were great, the monopod itself just wasn't tall enough.  It was barely tall enough for me and way too short for Jordan.

The original monpod came shipped in a giant box as pictured above.  Ridiculous packaging, huh?

This Espod AM-203 looked cool (pictured on the right), but it was just too short.  We had to return it to Staples and order something different.

This week the NEW monopod arrived on our door step and I'm super excited to try it out!  First of all, it's 72 inches tall when extended.  That's plenty tall enough for me and fits Jordan too (even if he rarely uses it).  The monopod also comes with a feature to quickly remove the camera from the monopod to take free hand pictures and then snap it right back.  It should make the set up step much easier and allow more flexibility to react to life.  

I'm reading this post and I realize it sounds like boring topics to most people, but I was kind of giddy to learn about my new monopod!

Pictured above is the new monopod!  Fancy-shamncy!  It even comes with a little carrying case which might come in "handy" to keep hands free.  

Well, that's all I have for you guys today!  Hope all are doing well!