Stretching Myself

Something I've learned about myself is that I'm at my best in life when I'm learning new things. So I've decided to press myself to learn two things I've been wanting to do for a long time.

The first is photography. Ever since I was asked to photograph the wedding of a friend, with the crappy camera I had at the time, I was struck with the bug to seriously study photography. I've even had a nice camera for nearly a year, but never really did much with it (other than take picture of church and youth events). Over the past month I've done a lot of research and study. I'm committed to no longer use point and shoot features on my camera, but to actually learn how to properly use aperture, exposure, positioning, lighting, depth, distance, ISO, shutter speed, etc. . .to be smart with my choices to create awesome photos. I've gotten a lot of really cool tips from Brian and Rachel Henderson and Nathan Lawrenson. I'm loving it!

The second is Spanish. In January I purchased Rosetta Stone's Spanish (Latin America). For about 3 weeks I've been plugging away at it. It's tough and I still feel like I'm pretty stupid, even though my lowest grade has been a 91. I just find learning a new language to be tough. Learning Spanish is something I've wanted for a long time as well. Right now I'm really bad at it so don't even bother trying to speak to me in Spanish. Wait a few months. Right now one of the most difficult things for me to do is the double "r" sound in Spanish. Sarah laughs every time she hears me try to roll my tongue; how bad I am at it does sound funny.

Both of these, I believe, will stretch me in a good way. Anyone who knows me knows that deep within me something cries out to always be creative. Also anyone who knows me know I love to learn new things, try new things, and do new things. Both of these bring me a lot of excitement in everyday life.