I feel like this week has sort of been like a bad episode of a equally horrible game show... and I keep expecting an announcer to come out of the shadows and tell me what prize I have one...

will it be door number one ... or door number two... or the box that Carol is holding?

Not to say that there haven't been awesome moments... and generally... it has been fine. It's just every now and then... I feel like I am completely and utterly lost...

Like I have misplaced something really important and I can't remember where I've left it.

Realistically, I know that I have done things... but it feels as if there is so much to do yet...

and I can't help but feel occasionally like I am merely treading water.

That said... tonight I got to visit with a cousin that I really haven't known very well, but have the opportunity to get to know better now. It is amazing to me how alike we are in so many ways... having not had a whole lot of contact with each other over the years. One of those great mysteries I suppose...or perhaps there is more to genetics than most of us care to admit...

Today's ride was a brief one.... taken while my mom was busy with an appointment. I drove out Dingman Run Road... and made a couple odd turns onto other roads... just to go down some areas I had not seen before. Perhaps that is where we learn and experience the most... by taking side "roads" in life... just exploring... and being open to whatever lies ahead

... no matter if there is a "big prize" or not...

*photos by Elaine A. Russell

photo by Elaine A. Russell

Where has the time gone? Exactly one year ago today, I started this blog. I have posted every single day since. Wow. 365 posts. And pics on every one!!!

When I first started this blog, my goal was to get some of my photography out there in cyber space so that people could see it... and hopefully enjoy it.
The response has been fabulous. Beyond my expectations for this humble little site. At one point; I was getting over 800 hits a day....I have since stopped looking. I figured I would either get discouraged by the drop-off, or anxious as to how to keep hits up.

It has been a very interesting year. One full of enlightenment, fulfillment, joys and wonders.
I hope that you will stay with me over the course of this next year... who knows what will happen?
OR where this journey will take us.

In celebration of my blog anniversary... I am going to be giving away 9 gifts to 9 lucky winners. ( in honor of this year 2009). All you have to do... to be entered in the "running"... is to send me a note at moongipsies@msn.com.
Let me know what you like/ don't like about my blog... things I could do to make it better, etc
Oh! and let me know if you have a preference on any particular gift you may get :)
Prizes may include: a handmade scarf, an OOAK art piece, a fine art photograph, a handmade piece of jewelry, a stash of supplies for crafts.... who knows....

(winners will be notified on January 9th. Submissions for the give-aways...must be in by January 9th at 9am).

245:365

time, time, time...........