It’s not as bad as it used to be, nor does it happen as often, but I still have my freak-out days. The days when the fact I’ve had to deal with cancer weighs heavy on my mind. The days I don’t feel so hot and think, “It’s coming back!”

But I try to find ways to work through it. Sometimes finding peace and remembering not what cancer took from me, but what it gave, comes in unique forms.

Like my end of the year photo montage project. I’d found One True Media earlier in the year. I have Windows Movie Maker and could have used it to do the same thing OTM offers on their site, but they had neater graphics, transitions and effects. Plus music.

I had a blast picking my favorite images from this past year and putting them together in what I think turned out to be a really neat montage. One that showcases all the love I was surrounded with, all the fun I had, and why I always, but in particular this year, have a lot to smile about.

I play volleyball on a women’s 4s team on Sunday afternoons in Franklin. The past couple of Sundays when I’ve driven home I’ve seen a sight that never fails to make me smile: hot air balloons.

I don’t know what there is about them. The colors? Something about them being one of the first flying inventions? I don’t know.

All I know is when I see one (or, as has been the case the past few Sundays, several) dotted against a bright blue, late afternoon, fall sky…wonderful.

I stopped to snap a few pics of one coming down very near Cool Springs Mall.

hot air balloon 1

The photo of the hot air balloon above was not the one coming down. I took this from my car while waiting for a red light.

The photos below are pics I snapped really quick while standing in the parking lot at Academy Sports.

hot air balloon 2

hot air balloon 3

hot air balloon 4

Ever since Wayne gave me my first digital camera a couple Christmases back, I’ve gotten more and more interested in photography. I was interested even when I was using film, but I wasn’t very good at it. Heck, even with a digital camera I’m still not very good. I’m still learning how to work the darn camera!

But I am experimenting more with lighting, subjects, composition…probably all the basics most amateur photographers start out fiddling with. My favorite subjects are definitely my pets. Then nature. I’m not too good at photographing people (yet, maybe this will change), but I always have my camera ready –if for nothing else to try and capture the spirit of the moment.

You’ll probably be seeing a lot of my experimentations here…