June 12 of 12

I had a late start to this month's 12 of 12, because I forgot it was 12 of 12 day until almost 4 pm. Luckily, I had my camera in my purse. Better late than never!



3:45-ish I had a caffeine craving and got an iced caramel macchiato from Starbucks.





4:00 pm: I must have had caramel on the brain. Recipes like David Lebovitz's make me want to get an ice cream maker.





7:30 pm: Walking to my car after a 1 hour zumba class. I've been going to classes at least 3x per week, I'm addicted!





7:35 pm: My dinky softball glove from almost 14 years ago. I recently joined a social softball team. I think I need to get a bigger glove--this on is a little small.





7:45 pm: A bird in my yard.





7:45 pm: Citronella lamps on the back porch. It gets very buggy in my neighborhood due to a semi-wetland at the bottom of the hill behind our house.





8:00 pm: My avocado treelings have grown quite a bit since I started them from seeds in January. I'm quite proud of them, even though I'm pretty minimal when it comes to gardening. My thumb has a hint of green.





8:05 pm: I became certified as a zumba instructor almost a month ago. It was mostly for my own benefit--to understand a bit more of the choreography and movement involved. I became part of the zumba instructors network (ZIN) and my new choreography dvd & accompanying music came in the mail today. I'm so excited, I can't wait to try it out!





8:10 pm: The crazy out of control rose bush in front of the house.





8:15 pm: One of my cucumber plants. Soon I'll have cucumbers instead of flowers.





8:20 pm: Silly puppies ready to go inside.





8:40 pm: Andy shamelessly begging for table food.

March 12 of 12

It's March 12, time for another 12 of 12. 12 of 12 is Chad Darnell's baby. You can check out what other 12 of 12ers have photographed here. I had a busy day, workwise, but I managed to take 12 photos.


7:55 am: Letting my dogs out in the backyard before I leave for work.




7:55 am: Our patio. On the left you can see remnants of the 10 inches of snow we got last Friday and Saturday.




8:00 am: My avocado seeds, previously suspended in mason jars full of water.




8:45 am: I was running late for work this morning, so I ate breakfast at my desk. I had Yoplait Blackberry Pomegranate yogurt with Cracklin' Oat Bran mixed in and my ever-present Diet Pepsi.



11:30 am: One other downfall of running late this morning was that I did not get a chance to make my lunch. I had Chik-Fil-A instead.




11:45 am: I also made a Target run on my lunch hour. I was so happy to see a new (to me, at least!) Method cleaning product. I like this brand because it is environmentally-friendly and biodegradable. I also picked up some cards for friends, as there have been two births and there is a bridal shower on Sunday afternoon.



5:50 pm: Changing my shoes before heading off to zumba. My sneakers are much more comfortable than my work shoes!





6:20 pm: The entrance to Studio Zumba. I've become a zumba addict! I attend anywhere between 3-6 classes per week.



7:45 pm: Dinner of stir fried veggies and brown rice, followed by a pita with spicy hummus. Yum!




8:00 pm: My younger brother and I took the dogs for a walk before his Spring break is up and he returns to the University of Kentucky. It was nice to spend some one-on-one time with him.




8:40 pm: Unloading my trunk. In it you can see salt to weigh down the back for better traction in winter weather, a fan that is too big for my desk at work, a donated mobile phone with no charger, and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.



8:45 pm: My brother demonstrating a new kata he is learning in order to progress in the Genwakai style of karate. He is a 1st level black belt and hopes to continue to move up .


That's it for me! Hope you had a great March 12th!

January 12 of 12

It's time again for 12 of 12 started by Chad Darnell. You take 12 pictures of your day on the 12th day of the month, post them to your blog, and share the permalink with Chad.

Here goes:


11:30 am: The wetland behind my house. I got a late start today, sleeping in rather than going to zumba. This time of year, the wetland is usually frozen over, but we've had unseasonably warm temperatures, so it's all wet.

11:30-ish am: Our composters. We've had the black compost bin "cooking" for a couple of years.


11:45 am: I bought a couple of avocados last week to make guacamole, and have kept the seeds to try to grow avocado trees.

12:00 pm: An old warped piano bench my dad threw on our fire pit in the backyard.

12:15 pm: Toby playing with a squeaky toy.

12:15 pm: Andy checking out the neighborhood.

2:00 pm: We've started participating in 5 Rivers Metroparks "Hike for the Health of It" program. Today's hike was at Carriage Hill Metropark. This is the boardwalk on the pond, the beginning of our 3-mile hike today.

2:00-ish pm: The pond at Carriage Hill Metropark.

2:00-ish pm: The pond at Carriage Hill.

2:30 pm: Carriage Hill Metropark.

2:30 pm: Andy wearing his doggie pack during the Hike for the Health of It at Carriage Hill.

4:00 pm: My cousin Anna, Toby, and Andy post-hike.

December 12 of 12

12 of 12 is Chad Darnell's baby. You take 12 pictures on the 12th day of the month, and post them to your blog, then give him the link! This is the 3rd month (not consecutive) that I've participated.

1. 6:30 am: My morning coffee on my way to work this morning. I had to go in early at 7 to support a meeting that ran from 7:30 to 8:30. It's been a while since I've had to get up at 5:30 in the am, so I definitely needed some coffee!




2. 7:00 am: Just parked at work. It's way too early to be working!




3. 7:00 am: The parking lot and housing development/mall across the way from my office. It's so dark out!




4. 9:00-ish am: On my back from a Starbucks run for my coworkers and myself. Caught this at a red light.




5. 1:15 pm: It's Wendy's for lunch today. I didn't have the time to pack this morning, so I had a chicken sandwich.




6. 1:30 pm: The Christmas van at work. It's even crazier and more festive from the back.




7. 2:00 pm: I'm wearing my fun leopard print shoes from Target today.




8. 3:00 pm: Trapped by paper in my cube. Aaaah!




9. 5:00 pm: The parking lot view in the evening. I usually work until 5:30, but since I came in early, I figured I was allowed to leave a bit early.




10. 5:08 (?) pm: Listening to a podcast from www.duckydoestv.com on my way home from work. This one was all about one of my new fave shows, Pushing Daisies.




11. 5:45 pm: Two of my dogs out front. Andy (black) and Toby (golden brown) being inquisitive. (Or just looking for a place to pee.)




12. 8:30 pm: What's left of my Smart Water after an hour of zumba. That class is so fun, you don't even notice that an hour has passed.




Bonus picture: "Believe" Our advent wreath. I believe in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is one way my family marks our belief. Unfortunately for us, we couldn't find the traditional purple and pink taper candles (or at least 3 of the same color purple!), so we went with red this year.

October 12 of 12

It's been a few months since I've participated in 12 of 12, and my location has changed from Prague to Ohio, but I thought I'd give it a go:

This was around 7 this morning, as I had to throw the frisbee for Toby. He's a little OCD about it. Whenever anyone comes in the outside door, he frantically searches for the frisbee so that you can throw it for him.


7:15 am While outside with Toby, I really liked the picture the stained glass in the upstairs bathroom made in the dawn.


7:30 am My mom feeding the dogs pieces of her peanut butter toast breakfast. It's a ritual with them.


8:30-ish Driving to work. Photographing whilst driving was not my best idea.


6:15 pm Outside the Cheescake Factory at the Greene shopping center. I met up with some friends to celebrate a birthday. Girls Dinner Out :)


7:00 pm A shot of an empty bread plate at the table.


7:15 pm Part of the ceiling at the Cheesecake Factory. It's blurry, but when I used my flash, you weren't able to see the beautiful color of the glass.


7:45 My friend with her colorful drink. I think it's called a Georgia Peach.


8:00 pm Apparently we weren't the only ones there celebrating a birthday. I think that at least two other tables were serenaded by the servers, and I saw multiple parties with gifts.


8:30 pm The birthday girl. Her birthday cheesecake is of the Snickers variety.


8:30 pm My cheesecake was the Brownie one. It was very rich--I had to take most of it home in a box!


10:00 pm Home and off of my feet after a long day. There's Toby again, sitting on the couch with me.