Brown is the New Black

This is my... get this... 300th post! Can you believe that? I'm having a hard time believing I've blogged this much of my One Year Project already. Fun right?

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Gratitude

My post yesterday did America absolutely no justice. I really appreciate this country for the many opportunities that are so unique to citizens of the United States. While the other 364 days of the year I have the chance to take these things for granted, the 4th of July is one time that I need to vocalize my gratitude. Here is a (very) condensed list of things that I am so lucky and blessed to have as a result of this great nation. Enjoy photos following the list that accompany my excellent morning with my family and also coincide with some things that I am thankful for.

• I value the chance I have to get an education. Not that an education is properly mandated by the US government, but America has a respectable education system that has created a reasonably intelligent populace. I love that I don't have to wonder if I could finish high school. It was always right there for me.
• This is going to sound weird, but as I have been reading Harry Potter, there is this wretched journalist that adheres to no journalistic values. I appreciate that I can say all the things that I want, but that the government understands that there are boundaries. The government tries (in general) to minimize overall restrictions on people but honestly has my best interests at heart. Always.
• The general freedoms this country affords me occasionally boggle my mind. I can go to whatever church I want. I can own a gun or two. I can not go to whatever church I want. While the remaining freedoms escape me at this point in time, the overarching message here is that I love America. I can't imagine living anywhere else and know that it is a true blessing to be a citizen of this nation.

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My cute, redneck family. :)

Filter Effects

I got a little shutter happy today. I was having a fun time trying out the sepia/black-and-white thing again. I'm particularly fond of the mouse trap one. Haha. In other news, that cactus from two days ago (Sunday the 14th)? Yeah, the wind blew a big chunk of it over. The insides are kind of neat though! And I found a little bird egg that had fallen onto our brick patio. I was sad for a minute or two. Then I got over it.

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Shades of... Brown

I don't really use sepia often, but the late-afternoon light complimented it so well that I really got into it. I think it adds some interest to the photographs. It definitely mixes up the color photos I've been taking ever since I got this camera. The reason I started taking color photos is because I think it's a greater challenge to get a really excellent photo in color. Whether that's true or not, these photos made me happy.

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