May 22 2013

The Proud Moment!!!

The day had finally arrived and I was heading to the airport at 4:00 am to catch my flight to Baltimore.  After the flight swap in Atlanta,Georgia .I arrived at 12:00 pm in Baltimore. Right on schedule. Headed to the hotel , checked -in and then off to see my dearest brother..

Well , The big news is he is graduating from Johns Hopkins today. He is the first in our family , to get his Masters degree. We are so proud of him.

The ceremony started at 5:00 pm and went on till 11:00 pm. The sun was setting and hot yet worth the wait.

Watched my brother walk and get his degree... Thank you lord !!!

Delta Fair ,Memphis !!!

Sept 6 2013 :

This is my first fair in Memphis . I was very excited thinking about the photo-opp in the fair. I got the tickets on sept 5th from Kroger. I had rented a canon 28 to 135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. 

My Dear husband came home by 6:00 pm . Though tired he drove me to the fair. It was crowded and we had to wait about 15 mins to park the car. Once inside my husband became very enthusiastic and started playing the games like shooting ballons, playing with monkeys etc. 

I started doing what i wanted to do. Stopped in front of every ride and started taking long exposure shots. I had my tripod. Though people were looking at me , I was not at all bothered. As my love for photography took over and was enjoying every bit of my time.

We spent two hours in the fair and had a lovely time together.

Two flowers !!!

JULY 3 2013:

I am a growing artist , My interest in oil painting started in my second year of undergrad. What started as a hobby has grown in me . Since then i have pursued my interest and i love to paint.

I captured these flowers on our trip to Niagara falls in 2012. It really caught my eye and a place in my heart.

Since then I have been meaning to paint these "two flowers" and bring them to life on my canvas. Finally the time came and i started on "this project" in the April of 2013. It went on till July and finally I completed it.

Another painting to hang on my wall !!!....

Weekend Getaway - Louisiana!!!

May 24 - 27 2013

This is our first getaway for the year. We decided to got to New Orleans and Grand Isle, LA.

May 24 2013:

We started our road trip by 6:00 pm . Though my husband came early, he had to fix our caravan as it was in an accident few weeks back. With all things packed and checked, we started our journey.  We reached Senatobia,MS around 9:00 pm and had our dinner at waffle house. After a delightful dinner, I took over the wheels and reached our hotel [La Quinta Inn & Suites]at 12:00 am.

May 25 2013

We got up at 6:00 am and checked out by 7:00 am. We headed towards Slidell,LA as we had made reservations for the swamp tour at 12:00 pm. It was a 3 hr drive and we reached by 11:00 am. The swamp tour was 2 hrs and we enjoyed every bit of it. We saw around 5-6 alligators, turtles, birds and the swamps were beautiful. We also saw the fishing village and fishing boats. It was a very informative tour and learnt a lot about the swamps. Our Captain Mike was very entertaining.

The Swamps

After a much ecstatic tour , we headed towards New Orleans City. We took the Hop on Hop off bus for city sightseeing. We saw the cemetry / canal street and a lot more. It holds a lot of history and nice architectures. We hoped-off at the World war II museam . Inside there was a restaurant [The American sector] a beautiful place to dine in. The food was awesome and we loved it. We had to wait for over an hour for the next ride and it stole most of our time. Finally the tour ended and we started towards Grand Isle,LA at 6:00 pm.

On the way Arasu [my husband] got a speeding ticket right after our dinner at subway. We reached Grand isle state park at 10:00 pm. Though tired seeing the ocean right in front of us [ yes, we were camping on the beach] brought back our energy. The wind was blowing but we managed to pitch the tent and relax for a while before snuggling into our tent.

Grand Isle is a small town on the coast of "Gulf of Mexico". Nice scenic view and lot of history.

Tents on the beach

MAY 26 2013

Morning i woke up early to capture the sunrise and it was beautiful. Later we headed out to town -beachside marina and bought pizza for breakfast. We returned to the beach and had our pizza. Then after a while we decided  to go for a swim in the beach.  My husband went into the ocean while i was enjoying on the shore. We spent around an hour in the water. 

Morning dawn

Gulf of Mexico

We had our lunch in the only subway on the island . We are vegetarians , but there are plenty of seafood restaurants with fresh fish and crabs. In the evening we had booked the "sunset tour" . So we headed out into the Gulf of Mexico on the "Calmwater tour boat". Our captain was very informative and we learnt a lot about Grand Isle, about the pirates,the seagulls, the fishing business. 

We saw plenty of dolphins. And a whole island full of seagulls.Shrimp boats. Fort livingston ruins. valuable 2 hrs. 

Seagulls

To wrap up our well spent and enjoyed weekend with the sun setting....

MAY 27 2013

Got up to a hidden sunset behind the clouds. We had a 9 hr journey infront of us. So we had to start moving early by 7:00 am. We did have a wonderful time in Grand Isle. Was sad to leave but thatz the way it is !. We  drove straight for 9 hrs and reached home by 6:00 pm.

Making of our first Homemade Pizza !!!

On July 28 2013:

The day kicked off buzy. With a flat tire on my way to the camera store. Had to wait for an hour for my road side assistance in the hot sun. Now that summer is almost been a month ,im sure complaining about the heat. :P

Then finally back home.Did the laundry . Cleaned . Cooked and finally had my lunch at 3:00 pm. Again i was off to pick up my camera from the store. Then headed to the grocery store to pick up fresh produce. Finally made my way through the traffic to reach home.  

When i reached home it was 5:30 pm and my husband had already clocked in. As i entered our home and dinner topic raised. He said " Lets make PIZZA" . I am like wat? We have never made pizza before. He is like " No,No... We will try it ." Finally agreed and watched several videos on youtube - How to make homemade pizza. I should stop here and mention that we usually have pizza on a friday/saturday night every week. Thatz how it all started :D

We made the list and off to the grocery store again. We found all the items after searching and running around the store. Came home and started to make the dough and finally the pizza. I am writing the recipe below though i know the web is already splattered with recipes. This is for me to look back. :)

Recipe source :  sanzytube , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImOHS3zb0xM 

New Hobby !!!!

I am amazed to see how many wonders can be made out of PAPER. We see it / use it everyday that i have forgotten how much important it is. 

Recently i came across paper crafts and the tiny houses made from them. I couldn't resist myself. Being into scrapbooking for a while , I had all the materials needed to make them :D.

One saturday June 8 2013 I sat down and started making the tiny houses. They were so beautiful , that i started to make more. 

Well the house template is not mine and all credits go to CRAFTER-HOLIC. 

The templates were taken from http://crafterholic.blogspot.com/2013/01/light-up-house-mobile.html

I am happy to have discovered this new hobby and cant wait to try the new techniques in it.

Mom's love is GREAT....Grandma's is GREATER!!!!.....

 We all  like our grandma more than our mom...She is the one who took care of us from the back-stage... No matter what she would always give her love silently to us...

My grandma's life has not been so colorful...From the stories she has told us...She has never had her moment...She started to do her chores from her small age, early marriage ,kids, Grandkids.

From when i can remember i have never seen her rest or even sleep. She gets up before dawn and she is the last to sleep. Whenever we need anything she is always there to get it. She is the hands for everyone.She is the only person who expects nothing from us not even our attention. When i was near her i didnot realise her value..

Now when my sister is a mother and me married we realise how dedicated she was with nothing in return. We are hardly able to do 20% of her labour. Till now she is the one who does most of the work not even my mom nor us..

 It is never too late to express our love to her and am glad to have realised what a gem she is and none of us can equal her.

Silently she has taught us that LOVE is the greatest of all and it can be expressed even in the little of things in our day-to-day lives...