June photo challenge (1)

So in May I took over 500 pictures.  Maybe over 1,000 if we include all the deleted ones, too.  I learned a lot more about appropriate shutter speeds and adjustment of lighting.  I studied a lot about long exposure and am excited to put some of that new stuff to use.

And now I've survived the first week of June and the start of a new challenge!

1. Shadows: I wish I knew how to do more cool shadow animals and signs.

2. Skin: this was a few days after I learned that my hand is not an invincible cutting board like I sometimes wish.  I guess it's worth sacrificing an extra dish next time I have to cut lettuce.

3. Before and after: I'm frequently laughed at for the way I do math homework.  If I'm going to waste a piece of paper on math, I'm going to use it thoroughly.  So I use a paper until there isn't a place to write anything more...and then I write over the parts that aren't too dark.  After getting some colored pens, it's been so much easier to keep my place when I'm working an equation.

4. Moonlight

5. Love: I kinda cheated on this one.  I didn't actually take this picture.  But I figured I should be able to get away with it if I adjusted the manual settings.
This amazing friend of mine called us up and asked if she could stop by and hang out for a day.  There was no way I was going to turn that offer down!  And then that afternoon turned into 2 days...I think this was the first time she'd been over without another family member, too.  There are just so many reasons why I love having her in my life.

6. Buttons: we have a ridiculous stash of buttons.  Like one to match everything...except the one you might actually need.

 7. Numbers

8. Parallel

 9. Color explosion: I don't know if this qualifies as an "explosion."  But the white and yellow brightness dotting the fields is a happy summer feeling.

 10. Must have: so I'm not actually exactly obsessed with my car....well, ok.  We all pretend about something.  But one year ago today, this became the first car in history to have my name on the title.  I've always dreamed of being old enough to have my own car--a cool one.  And I'd always planned to have a Toyota Corolla S, but I never thought I'd actually own one.  Then, on June 10th, 2016, I drove this thing home with a significantly emptier bank account.  And I still can't believe I actually own a Toyota Corolla S.
It's not perfect; we've put an insane amount of miles on it, and those summer drives without air conditioning are nothing to brag about.  It's not the manual I searched for.  I get asked about the "I love Dutch Brothers" sticker in the window, and I've never even had Dutch Brothers coffee.  Pine needles stick in the carpet like nobody's business.  Oh, and then there's that blue melted crayon in the back seat because #auntlife.  But this Flaming Flamingo (or Flameingo for short) is still an amazing piece of the family.  :)
In celebration of it's first birthday, I cleaned and vacuumed it out for the first time in weeks.  Then Tirzah and I gave it a bath and wax.  Believe me, it desperately needed the attention.  The last wash was literally months ago.  I still can't believe how shiny Flameingo is now.  I even got asked by my boss if we'd gotten a new car!  It is seriously a different color.
So maybe this is something I "must have"...