hello again

read. listen. remember. make.

This feels good. To be typing a blog post out again. It's been a while & I have missed it. But the truth is, I needed this impromptu break. I did not want to admit it to myself for the longest time, but I really did. As much as I love blogging, it had become way more of a duty than a pastime. I needed to step back & refocus a bit. And I have. I have taken more photos this past month than the last couple combined. I'd forgotten the joy of shooting! It feels so good to be shooting photos for the sake of moments & memories and not for that half-written blog post. I want my blog to revolve around my life, not my life to revolve around my blog. I'd forgotten all that. This month-long break helped me remember. And now it is so great to be back! :)

I have an abundance of photos + exciting things to share with you all in the next couple of weeks!  Ahhh, I can't wait!!!

hugs,
e

my (awkward) first vlog

Please ignore...

...the awkward repetition of 'so', 'yeah', & 'umm'.
...the 'I think' after 'I'm so sorry about the bad quality'. I meant to say that I think the quality will turn out bad... it came out different. :P
...the fact that I only smiled about three times in this video. I'm not usually that serious. ;)
...the awkward and quite embarrassing thumbnail (which I tried to change, but apparently, it needs 36 hours to update).  

If you can ignore these four things, you're awesome, and if you can't, you're still awesome. ;)

Keep a look out for those photos next week! :)

flowers, showers & and an April update

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curves and colour balance adjustment

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sooc shot // sooc shot

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And this? This is the new roller coaster at Canada's Wonderland. The Leviathan - 306 feet tall, 80% drop, 148 km/h fast, and 5486 feet long. Basically, it's something I wouldn't want to find myself on.

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black & white // my mom <3

These are from last week, before April decided to turn into March. It snowed this afternoon... but at least it didn't stick. Crazy weather! :P
I've only posted five times this month, six with this post. *sigh* I'm desperately trying to get myself organized to finish school by the end of May. So that's one reason I haven't posted as often as I normally would, and what's more, I've taken up babysitting (saving up for a camera upgrade!). I think I'll make myself a posting schedule for May - something I should've thought of earlier. But anyways, I'm so sorry for not stopping by your blogs and commenting, guys!
Also, I'm going to be changing the content of my posts a bit. I want my blog to become a clearer reflection of me. I'm not the kind of person who likes to share personal thoughts, moments, and life experiences much; I like to keep them to myself. But I've come to realize just how much I've been encouraged by those kinds of posts on other blogs, and I want my blog to be a source of encouragement too. These past couple of months, I've mostly been posting just for the sake of posting, but with not that much content. I want my blog to be a diary, MY diary. And currently, it's only about 1/4 of what I'm striving for. I'm taking blogging to the next level & I hope you'll bear with me. :)

New Design + New Name

I am so sorry for trashing your dashboard with imported posts! I had a bit of an issue while moving things around, and in the end, Blogger recognized all the imported posts as having been posted today! Now I'm required to do a word verification every time this draft saves itself - just to prove I'm not a robot. Crazy!
Anyways, I've updated the design (only a few touch-ups left to do). What do you think? I love it! I worked on it quite a bit yesterday, but the results were totally worth it! And yes, I will be posting an actual non-update post soon. I just need to get a few photos watermarked. ;)
Have fun exploring everything! I updated all my pages, as well as the 'about me' dropdown (need to add a new photo), and I also added in a music playlist to my sidebar, with all the songs I love to listen to on my iPod (you really need to check out Something Heavenly). Oh, and be sure to grab my new button! :)

Update

Sorry for dropping off the face of the earth... again! I've decided (and trust me, I went back and forth between 'yes' and 'no' several times) to go ahead with the combining of my blogs! Many thanks to everyone who voted on the poll! :)
Just to clarify, THIS blog will be turning into my main blog. I'm KEEPING:

http://essenceofevephotography.blogspot.com

...as my blog address. I don't want to change it and confuse everyone, besides - I like it. I'll still mainly be posting photos anyway, so it's really not going to be that big a change.

Also, I'm still having my blogoversary in March! I have tons on fun things planned for you guys! ;) I was wondering if anyone would be interested in getting interviewed/guest posting (photography related) on my blog during that time? I'm planning on e-mailing and asking a few bloggers, but if you're interested, please let me know!
I'll be coming up with a new design for this blog (mainly because of the name change) and plan to have everything in order by the end of February. Since I have a few projects and things I want to finish before my blogoversary comes around though, I may not be posting as often as I normally would. Rest assured, I'll definitely be making up for it during March! ;)

Oh, and I also wanted to let you guys know... I got an iPod Touch last Saturday! It's amazing!

My music library :)

And here's a really awkward picture of me taken with my iPod.

So, look out! A flood of Instagram edited photos may very well be coming your way soon! ;)

Have a lovely weekend (and please excuse this rather random update post)!

I Moved!

Just before you get any ideas, I'm going to say that this post has nothing, whatsoever, to do with my domain name!

Last Saturday was an adventure! Why? Because I moved from this room...

{Please pardon the photos, but you know how indoor lighting is. I had to adjust the brightness/contrast in this one, and I even adjusted the saturation in an attempt to eliminate some noise. Looks like the computer screen got the worst of it! Lol! :D}

...to this room...

At least that's what it looked like before I moved in. Here's what it looks like now:

Saturday night was the first night in one, two... about four years, which I actually spent in a room all by myself. Well you can go back farther than that, if you count those three years I had my beta fish. :P Anyway, having your own room is awesome! I no longer have to constantly pick up toys from the ground, and most importantly, I have all my favourite books in the room with me!
There is one little problem though, my bed is kind of uncomfortable. But I'll be getting a new (normal) bed soon, this one is actually a fold-out-bed-sofa thing, not sure what they're called. Also, we'll be putting two wall shelves on the wall above the bed, so I'll have plenty of space for more books! Yay!

So, what do you think of my new room? :)

What I've Been Doing...

A few minutes ago I was sitting in front of my computer thinking "Whatever should I post about?!" I went through tons of possibilities in my head, but none of then seemed right. And then suddenly I realized something: The posts I've enjoyed reading the most on other blogs were not necessarily long nor did they have a specific subject. The ones I remembered tended to ramble, and in the process, gave me a little peek at the daily life of the author. And that's what I'm going to do today, give you a glimpse of my life this past week... :)

On Monday evening I went on a walk along with my Canon, to try capturing the beauty of autumn. I like autumn better than fall. Autumn is more poetic, more worthy of being the word to describe this season full of numerous beautiful shades of yellow, orange, and red, while fall is... too normal and ordinary a word.

Anyway, as I was saying, I took a walk on Monday and got a few beautiful shots, here's one:

Slight Brightness/Contrast Adjustment

I haven't edited and/or added my watermark to any of the other ones yet, but be sure to keep an eye out for an autumn post over at my photography blog in the next few days! :)

On Tuesday I listened to Blackmore's Night's Beyond the Sunset album, which I LOVE, especially All Because of You, Spirit of the Sea, and Castles and Dreams, while I was doing math. You can listen to those below if you want:

All Because of You by Blackmore's Night

Spirit of the Sea by Blackmore's Night

Castles and Dreams by Blackmore's Night

Wednesday was pretty much normal, except for my change of music, I listened to Now We Are Free from Gladiator's Soundtrack over and over again, and I went to swimming lessons. I'm an incredibly slow swimmer. :P

On Thursday I delivered my papers, and finished reading A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine. You can read my thoughts on it here.

Yesterday I started reading Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee. I'm currently on page 129, and I like it! :)

So, what did you do this week? :)

Just an Update...

Hello dear patient readers!

Sorry for not posting in so long! I've been working on a new design for this blog, and that is mainly why I haven't really been updating it.

As you can see I've changed my blog name (yet again!), so it's no longer Preparing for Battle but The Chronicles of His Swordmaiden. What do you think of the new name?

I know everything looks pretty disorganized at the moment, but I hope to have everything in proper order soon.

In the mean time, you can check out my photography blog:

In Christ,