It’s time for another Exposaroonie challenge! This week’s challenge is the Rule of Thirds. Have you heard of the Rule of Thirds? If not, check out this helpful article. Even if you know the rule already, there are still some helpful photography tips.

Let’s move on to the pictures. These were all taken last weekend when LauReality came to visit. Enjoy the sneak peak today, I promise I am going to post a whole slew of Oklahoma pictures soon.

Here is my official submission,

Pretty cool, huh? Everyone laughed at me when I got out of the car to take pictures of the passing train. Who’s laughing now!

The runner up,

Not bad, not bad. This was taken at the Oklahoma City National Memorial. I took some great shots there. Promise, they are coming! One day.

And finally, my new favorite,

I really liked this picture, but the color was goofy so I went with the train. After playing around with photoshop, I decided I loved this picture! I was just goofing around while waiting for the bathroom. That is my brother-in-law, M.  Hi M!

Head on over to Exposaroonie and check out the other submissions. There are some fantastic ones this week. And, if you are tired of missing out of all the fun, join in!

Have you checked out the new photography website created by the amazing Ashley and hilarious Emily?  Exposaroonie is the brain-child of these two talented photographers.  If you have any interest in photography or even if you just like oogling other people’s pictures, I highly recommend you check out this site.

Remember when I used to post a weekly PhotoPie challenge?  Then I got all uninspired and intimidated by the awesome pictures being posted so I chickened out on posting for like three weeks.  During those chicken weeks, Exposaroonie was born and it is so awesome I just had to buck up and keep trying.  Plus, I don’t want to be a quitter.

So I present to you, my bad habit, or this week’s Exposaroonie challenge.

Shampoo!  It’s not that I have a problem shampooing my hair, I have a problem buying shampoo.  Too much shampoo.  Pictured are 8 bottles of shampoo that have all been opened and used.  Four of those regularly sit in my shower as part of my weekly rotation.

Above is the picture I submitted for the challenge.  But, since I am a doofus and I was quickly trying to upload my challenge submission at 11 p.m. before the midnight deadline, I goofed.  I actually meant to upload this picture,

The light was weird in the bathroom, so I photoshopped the picture to be grainy and almost black and white.  Oh well, you get the point.  I have a shampoo problem!

Small confession: After this picture was taken around 6 p.m. yesterday, I went to Walmart and bought another bottle of shampoo.  I think I need help!

Head on over to Exposaroonie and check out this week’s awesomely bad habits!  You can also vote on the picture you like the best.

It is time once again for this week’s Photo Pie Challenge.  The topic is where you work/blog/surf, whatever.  Since where I work WORK (like for money) is a dull, leaky cubical (that story is coming!), I decided to share my home office bed workplace.

At home I have a shiny Mac laptop.  Mmmm, sexy.  I lurve my Macbook!  Just don’t tell Justin Long that I am actually running Windows on it.  Oh the huge manatee!

The kids, Zoey and Servo, also lurve the Macbook.  To them it means more time in bed with mommy.  Their favorite place to be.  Some days, when I am not giving them enough attention(which is usually every day), they insist on inserting themselves in the middle of whatever I am doing.  For this challenge, I simply set the camera on my night stand and waited for the dogs to get impatient.  It didn’t take long before this happened,

Those Betty Davis eyes will get you every time.  I have built up a tolerance so they don’t have as strong of an effect on me anymore.

That sweet impatient puppy, quickly turned to this,

The Littlest Blogger.  She was checking out her pictures from yesterday, making sure I got her good side.

So there you have it, my work space.  What the picture doesn’t show is Servo sitting right there as well.  That blurry thing in the bottom corner of the last picture is his nose.  Unfortunately my stubby arms aren’t long enough to capture the full effect. 

If you want to participate in the PhotoPie Challenge…. here are the rules:

• The picture has to be a new one, posted to your site.
• Make sure the picture is YOURS.
• When you post your pictures, remember to link to the EmilyPie site.
• Leave EmilyPie a comment here, with a link to your post.

Ah, the Nectar of the Gods.  A term I coined years ago to describe my feelings about Dr. Pepper.  Sweet, caffeinated Dr. Pepper.  When B and I first started dating, he did not understand my undying love for DP.  My willingness to put DP before everything.  He quickly learned do not stand between Megan and a Dr. Pepper.  It is really a sick and unhealthy love don’t you think?

This week’s PhotoPie Challenge is favorite beverage.  It gives me a perfect excuse to go on and on about obsession with Dr. Pepper, the Nectar of the Gods.

I have always had a love for DP.  It was my soft drink of choice.  (Normally, I would call it my coke of choice, but I don’t want to confuse any Yankees.)  A few years back, I decided I could really reduce my calorie intake if I stopped drinking so much DP.  Not being able to completely abandon my addiction, I switched to Diet Dr. Pepper.  Sure, it gave me my caffeine fix, but it will never be “just like regular.”  Trust me there is something diet about it.

Every once in awhile, in a moment of weakness or a deal to good to pass up, I indulge myself with the real thing.  Recently, I discovered the real, real thing was available right under my nose!  This is getting complicated so let me back up.

Dr. Pepper was originally bottled in 1885 in Waco, TX.  Back in the day, all soft drinks were sweetened with pure cane sugar, but in the 1980s sugar prices sky-rocketed and most U.S. soft drinks started using high fructose corn syrup.  The Dr. Pepper bottling plant in Dublin, TX refused to make the switch and still to this day produces pure cane sugar Dr. Pepper.

A little history lesson, don’t you feel enlightened now?  Now back to my point, I recently discovered the real, REAL thing was available right under my nose.  Right here,

Again, sorry to the Yankees, I don’t think they have Jason’s Deli up north.  For all the Texans and Oklahomans, you must go here now!  Jason’s Deli is on this kick to eliminate MSG, trans fat and high fructose corn syrup from all their products.  That last one is going to be tricky, but they started with serving Dublin Dr. Pepper!  I immediately died when I found this out, died and went to heaven that is.

Oh sweet Jesus, they don’t just serve it, they have it on tap.  When I win the lottery, I am going to install this in every room of my new mansion.  Don’t think I am kidding!

On the EmilyPie photo challenge though.  We were suppose to photograph our favorite beverage, preferably without the drool I demonstrated above, but I can’t help myself.

I submit to you sweet, icy Nectar of the Gods.

It was so good, I had to go get a second glass.

I also took home a to go cup, but I think I have done enough damage here.

So what is your favorite beverage?  And don’t forget to head over to EmilyPie and check out the other favorites, or submit your own!

(And don’t worry Yankees, if you want to purchase this wonderful beverage you can do so here.)

Spring is here,
Theeeee sky is blue.
Whoa, whoa-oooo!
Birds all sing,
As if they knew…

This week’s challenge is something I am sure most of us are very excited about… SPRING! (Sorry to those who are stuck in the arctic.) I haven’t actually started my spring planting and our yard is still pretty brown, so I had to borrow some flowers. Unfortunately, the university hasn’t planted the big to-do in the ovals yet. I will have to revisit this when they do. I love it when the flowers come out! Last year they did a special planting for Oklahoma’s Centennial.

How cool is that!

I did find a few lone flowers outside my office.

I wasn’t kidding when I said lone.

We do have a fabulous Bradford Pear tree in the front yard. I love Bradford Pears. Our neighborhood has tons and they all bloom at the same time! When I win the lottery I want to line my driveway with these.

I love the bright blue sky peaking through. It really makes you feel like spring really has arrived!

I wonder if the weather is going to be nice this weekend… I have a $100 Lowe’s giftcard burning a hole in my pocket. I love spring!

Be sure to check out all the other great spring pictures over at EmilyPie!

I was lazy last week and skipped the EmilyPie Photo challenge.  The challenge was landscapes.  I am going to blame weather for my laziness.  I guess laziness is a reason, but hush.  It was cold, rainy and windy.  Wah.

This week the challenge is action shots.  Tomorrow a new challenge will be posted, so I am waiting until the last minute to get this posted.  At least I am doing it this week!

I choose Zoey and Servo as my subjects and my ugly backyard as the backdrop.  I didn’t quit realize how the backyard was until I saw these pictures.  I guess I will be spending some quality time out there if I want this house to sell.

Zoey makes a great action subject.  Especially when she has her ball!

Oops, I spoke to soon.  The hyper freak was running to fast for me.  I thought it was still a fun shot though.

Sometimes the ball doesn’t always cooperate.

Oh happy day!

Servo does not make a good action subject.  He has two speeds, slow and slower.  Sometimes he will break into a trot, but it’s rare and hard to catch on camera.

Head over to EmilyPie and check out all the action shots this week.  There are some great ones!

It’s time for another EmilyPie Photo Challenge.  This week’s challenge is candid portraits.  I was really excited about this challenge until I realized I didn’t have a subject!  I am not as brave as some people who were confident enough to go photo stalking at the food court! 

Luckily, we had some friends over Saturday night.  I snapped this picture after the wine started flowing and the jokes got funnier.

I wanted to clean up the color some, but I don’t have Photoshop on my work computer.  Plus, I have decided the yellow hue gives the photo an intimate setting.

Feel free to leave me some tips in the comments!

Over at EmilyPie, there is a weekly photo challenge going on.  This week’s challenge is Macro, or a shot of something up close.  I don’t have a true macro lens, but I do have a brand spanking new nifty fifty to play with!

Since there aren’t any pretty flowers or interesting foliage around my house right now, I chose to take a picture of the green-est (and only living) plant I have.  My aloe plant.  (I actually have almost killed this plant a few times, but every time my mom comes to visit she manages to save its life.)

Oooo, ahhh.  Pretty.  For any pros out there, don’t laugh at my skills, or lack there of.  I am learning.  Slowly, but surely, I am learning.  (Feel free to give me tips or techniques!)

Go check out EmilyPie’s blog for more macro shots!