March instagrams (photography).

April is here, and it's time for another Instagram round-up. I think I say this every month, but I can't believe how fast time is flying by! March was another great month, and I'm excited that Spring is officially here; longer days, warmer temps, and more sunshine make me a happy lady. We had a great time with Matt's brother & sister-in-law, Matt enjoyed his spring break (he worked most of the time, but we enjoyed having a full weekend off together - a true rarity), and we ended the month with a wonderful Easter party yesterday hosted by our friends Adriane and Rhys. As always, you can follow along on Instagram @MdoubleMcrafts.

Spring is here in full bloom; there are fresh flowers and tender new green leaves everywhere. I'm loving the extra sunshine, and I can't wait until it's warm enough to swim again.

February instagrams (photography).

February was a busy month for us. My mom and step-dad were out to visit, we had our baby shower, we found out the gender of the baby (on Valentine's day!), and we both had birthdays. Whew! That's a lot to pack into a short month. Next month Matt's brother and sister-in-law will be in SoCal, and we are looking forward to seeing them! You can follow me on Instagram at MdoubleMcrafts

Even though the weather was a little grey and cool (compared to what we're used to), it was much warmer and sunnier than upstate NY at this time of year, so my mom and step-dad wanted to spend as much time as possible outside. We took a wonderful afternoon hike at Torey Pines through the trails, and then down to the beach.

On Saturday, our friends Adriane and Rhys threw a small baby shower for us (it was early for a shower, but we wanted to do it while my parents were out here). One of the activities involved tying all of our wrists together with a long piece of string; then we cut the string between our wrists, so that everyone has a small string bracelet that they keep on. Whenever anyone notices the bracelet, they send positive thoughts to the baby.

Matt's mom stayed in San Diego after the baby shower, and the next day we all went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The cool weather meant the animals were all quite active. It did start raining at the very end of our visit, but we were all ready to head home at that point anyways. There was a sweet little baby elephant who kept nuzzling in underneath his mom.

On Valentine's Day we finally got to see our baby on the ultrasound. I can't think of a better way to spend Valentine's! We are expecting a precious little baby boy on July 19th. That evening we went out for a delicious dinner, and I talked Matt into ordering the lobster so that I could sneak a few bites of it. I got him to wear the bib too, so that he could be sure to get the full experience.

Later in the month we had some beautiful warm (almost hot) weather and blue skies. I have to get at least one picture of the beach in every month. These stunning white flowers are blooming on trees all over the city. After a quick google search, I believe it is an evergreen pear.

Matt brought me these beautiful tulips to surprise me one day. Tulips are such cheerful harbingers of spring.

This sweet puppy belongs to the family I nanny for; he is an 18 month old weimaraner who thinks he's another one of the kids. The seagulls were staring us down while we had a little picnic by the ocean. I love the way the sun halos the adult one.

  I link up to these parties.

January instagrams (photography).

Overall, January was a beautiful month here. We had some rain, but we also had many gorgeous warm sunny days. Despite getting sick (twice! ugh) I still made it out a few times to get some pics of our fantastic city.

We had lots of blue skies. My friend from back home jokes that in San Diego "partly cloudy" means there's one or two small fluffy clouds floating around in the distance; today the weather on my phone said it was "partly sunny," and I didn't see a single cloud all day. We're spoiled here (you should see the fuss - and traffic - that a few drops of rain creates!).

June photo-a-day challenge (week four).

June is over, and so is the photo-a-day challenge. I had a lot of fun doing this, but I have to admit I fell pretty far behind at the end. In fact, there are a few pictures that I just never got around to doing. I might do another one of these challenges sometime soonish, but I definitely need at least a few months before I do it.

Of course, I'm still hooked on Instagram, and I'll still be sharing lots of pictures there. You can see my pics @mdoublemcrafts, and if you follow me, I will follow back :)

24. On your mind (I can't get enough of this beautiful fence)

25. Something cute

26. Where you shop

27. Bathroom

28. On the shelf

30. A friend

June photo-a-day challenge (week three).

June is flying by! Here's week three of my pictures for the June photo-a-day Instagram challenge. I decided to say a little something about each individual picture this week. No real reason, except that I felt like it, and I can ;)

Don't forget, you can also follow along on Instagram @mdoublemcrafts.

15. Yellow

Snapped on the way home from the park by my Grandma's house. I had a lot of fun playing with various filters and photo apps with this photo.

16. Out and about

At the Denver airport, waiting to get on that plane and head back to home, sweet home.

17. In your bag

This is my "purse" when I fly. I'm prepared with books, computer, kindle, candy, and my dSLR!

18. Something we don't know about you

We eat pizza for dinner at least once a week when I don't feel like cooking. Lucky for me, the hubby would be happy to eat pizza every night!

19. Imperfect

Chipped paint on an old pipe. I love the contrast of the green with touches of red.

20. Fave photo you've ever taken

Well, "ever" is such a strong word, but this is my favorite photo that I've taken with my new phone that I haven't shared yet. I love the red tones of the dessert against the bright blue sky.

21. Where you slept

In my bed; the same place I sleep almost every night. The hubby is obviously still very soundly asleep (shhh... don't tell him I posted a pic of him sleeping).

June photo-a-day challenge (week two).

Here are my photos from week two of the June photo-a-day challenge. You can see in some of these photos that I am playing around more with some of the other picture editing apps. It's amazing what you can do so easily on a cell phone now!

Don't forget, you can also follow along on Instagram @mdoublemcrafts.

8. Six o'clock

9. Your view today

10. Best bit of your weekend

11. Door

12. From a low angle

13. Art 

14. Time

June photo-a-day challenge (week one).

It's official, I'm addicted to Instagram. This came as no surprise, I knew I would be addicted to it as soon as I heard about it. I actually thought about getting an iPhone just so that I could have Instagram, but my old phone still worked perfectly well, and I couldn't justify the splurge. You can imagine my excitement when I first heard that it was going to be available on Android phones too. Then I tried to download it, and learned that my phone was too old to support Instagram!

My old phone finally started acting up, so a few weeks ago I treated myself to a new phone. The first app I downloaded? You guessed it, Instagram. I've been having so much fun playing with it, and exploring the other free photo editing apps.

When I saw this photo-a-day challenge for June, I knew I just had to do it. I'll share weekly updates of my photos for the month. You can follow along and see my other photos on Instagram @mdoublemcrafts.

1. Morning

2. Empty

3. On your plate

4. Close-up

5. Sign

6. Hat

7. Drink