I have a love for photography.  I am not a professional, but love to take pictures of family and friends.  At my favorite forum ClickinMoms they have several contests, one of my favorite is the Best of the year photos.  We have to choose our favorite of the year – here is my entry:

I am not a professional photographer – but I try to take pictures to record the memories of my family. This particular photo is the result of a memorable day – My cousin Linsey was married to her mate Shannon. The detail in Shannon’s face says it all. I had not attended a same sex marriage before this one and I have to say it was lovely and left me feeling at peace!

Over at ClickinMoms, there is the annual holiday contest – here is my submission for 2011:  Here is my attempt at a storyboard – We had family here this year for Christmas – grandparents meeting their new grandchild for the first time – cousins seeing each other and loving every minute of it, no matter their age difference! We’ve had a tough year as a family (mostly because Sidney, the adorable child 3rd in the picture of 4) has seizures and wasn’t able to travel here last Christmas). We did spend one day in the hospital this year at Christmas, but all of our Holiday Spirit remained. I took time off of work and did crafts, made gifts and played games. Family is my main description of holiday spirit!

 Clickin Moms is an awesome forum for photographers!  They are offering a discount of 20% off of their monthly or yearly membership – use the code FRIEND to get the discount!  Try it out for a month – you won’t be dissappointed!

This is truly my favorite picture I’ve taken with my camera – I got my camera in June and this was one of my first pictures.  This is so special because the love between my daughter and her horse is totally captured.  She had a horrible accident on this horse in February of last year, she was bucked off and required surgery on her face, very scary for everyone, but she recovered and got right back on.

Anyone that is interested in joining ClickinMoms – now’s the time – 20% off with coupon code TREAT – click on picture to check it out! Please follow my link then you can post to win the camera and other great prizes!

and, they are giving away a Canon 5D Mark II camera – after you join you can post a comment on their blog to win the camera – ends on Halloween!

I have a FAVORITE camera bag, and they are turning ONE!  Check out their fabulous bags, they look like purses!  You can visit the store HERE or click on the picture!

Here is a picture of me that my daughter took with my beloved camera and me living life the way I picture it

Here’s my part of the Sunshine blog train – don’t forget to stop at the last few stops!

Here is your list for loads of freebies!
May 16: Sun Blog
May 17: My Blog (Laura Carlson)
May 18: Fishbowl Designs
May 19: Project B Designs
May 20: Teri
May 21: craft-tastrophic Designs
May 22: Ellie Lash
May 23: Dani’s Delusions
May 24: Cari Cruse
May 25: Flutter Expressions
May 26: Scrapidea-timkova
May 27: Amanda Kay
May 28: Designz by Kristi
May 29: Madame Wing
May 30: Jaye
May 31: Sun Blog

Who doesn’t love some awesome giveaways. There is another one going on over at Vanillabees.com.Head over and enter for your chance to win a GC to Paint The Moon Boutique.

 Before I get to the Freebie for the blog train, I have a couple of announcements.  First, I have some new Commercial Use items in the store and another coming soon

- take note (brushes will be released soon):

AND, the SUNNY collab grab bag for April is released today:

and now, my part of the freebie blog train:

If you get lost along the way, you can always go to the Sunshine Studio Scraps Blog and find your way!

New in the shop today – Commercial Use/Personal Use – 30% off – NO credit required!  ONLY $2.10!

COMING April 1st!