Day 4 of 30 Days of Creativity - Tennessee

Back in September 2009, my hubby and I took a road trip down to Tennessee.  We visited the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Gatlinburg, Dollywood and some small towns I can't remember the names of.  I don't think I ever posted any pictures from that trip on here.  I know the trip was two years ago, but I wanted to do a photography post for the 30 Days of Creativity. 
I am definitely not the most talented photographer.  I have a Nikon Coolpix S550 point-and-shoot camera, but I admit I don't really know how to use the camera (so if any of you have pointers on how to really use it, I would love to hear them!).  But this is the camera I use for everything.  It's small, portable and easy to use.

Anyway, I took a lot of pictures when we went to Tennessee.  It's so beautiful down there and I wanted to capture everything!  So for Day 4 of 30 Days of Creativity (I know...way behind), I wanted to share some the pictures I took while on this vacation.

This is a barn in Cataloochee Valley, which is actually in the North Carolina section of the park.

These two pictures are from our drive up to Clingmans Dome, which is the highest point in the Park (6,643 feet).  It was foggy the day we went, I don't have any clear pictures from the observation desk at the top. 

I actually used one of the many functions on my camera for this one!



And of course I had to add one picture from Dollywood.  Jeremy took this one for me.  I have to say, this amusement park was one of the best I have ever been to.  Dolly Parton designed the park around the history of the Smoky Mountains.  Walking around the park was like stepping back in time.  I loved it!

And that's my Day 4 entry.  I have another five days to catch up on.  We'll see how that goes...

Ocean Beach 2010!

This past week, Jeremy and I spent a few days at the beach with family.  My mom rented a house in Ocean Beach, NJ and it was just a short walk to the ocean.  The weather was perfect and the ocean was warm!  I'm not a huge fan of swimming in the ocean, but it was too hot not to go in.  

I woke up early Thursday and Friday to take a walk on the beach and collect some shells and sea glass.  I didn't find too many things, but my cousin and I did find a baby hermit crab!

Most of our time there was spent relaxing, oh, and eating!  We had happy hour, went to the boardwalk, got ice cream.  It was a great little break from everything!  Below are a few more pictures from our trip.

I cannot believe we are in the last week of July.  Where has the summer gone?  But I have to say, this summer has been quite relaxing and doesn't seem to be nearly as busy as last year.  I have actually been able to enjoy the pool!  But the end of the summer also means time to start working on all those Christmas presents I want to make this year.  Anyone have any ideas on what to make my nieces?  They are between the ages of 4 and 6.  I think I have everything else figured out for the rest of my family members.  

Oh, and one last thing.  I sold my very first item on Etsy two weeks ago!  Woo hoo!!