For the first time since we found out Matt’s Dad was in the ER back in January, I went a whole week without blogging.
I think that’s kind of how it is, though—
I post the initial post about what’s going on (see exhibit A about Matt’s Dad and exhibit B about my miscarriage), then a follow-up post about how we’re still surviving (exhibit A and exhibit B), and then…
I just kind of drop off for a little while. Recuperate. Think. Regroup.
I had meant to blog on Monday about Matt’s grandma’s funeral last Saturday—a beautiful service that left me inspired to be better, to be kinder, to be a little more patient with myself and others. When I was younger, I used to dread going to funerals (and even feared them), but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown to appreciate the special kind of spirit that’s only present at the celebration of a life well-lived, and the renewal of faith and testimony that always seems to accompany such a memorial.
But I just didn’t have the heart to, even though we came off of last weekend feeling full of love and peace and the strength of family ties.
I’m hoping that this week-long break will be what I needed to get back to myself, so I plan to be back here bright and early next week on my normal posting schedule.
But for today, what I really wanted to do was introduce you to Herb‘s successor:
Our new camera!
Back in 2013, we bought our first DSLR camera, an entry-level Nikon D3100 that I was seriously giddy over. (No, but really—I couldn’t even sleep that first night that we got it, I was so excited.)
And, over the past 4 years, I have diligently worked and worked and worked at improving my photography and learning more about composition and post-processing and creative effects, which led to me opening a (very small) photography business as a little side job.
I had been planning on upgrading my camera this year anyway, but thanks to a veeeeeery generous tip from my last photography gig, we were able to get it much sooner than planned.
It’s funny, because I just figured that since I’d grown so adept at using our other Nikon, this new Nikon (their D7100 model) would be a cinch to figure out.
Well…that hasn’t exactly been the case.
While the learning curve hasn’t been nearly as steep as it was with our very first DSLR, I was humbled hard and fast upon first turning on the new camera and realizing that there’s still an embarrassing amount of stuff I don’t know/understand about cameras.
So that’s what I’m looking forward to this weekend—trying to get a better feel for the new model and convince myself that I am, in fact, capable of operating a camera this nice.
Wish me luck. (And expect me to come back on Monday with an embarrassingly huge amount of photos on my SD card.)