Facebook Page!

Hello Little Maple Leaf readers!
I'd just like to take a moment to thank all of you who come here and support my photography.
It's a serious passion of mine and as much as I love taking the photos, I also love sharing them!

I finally felt confident enough to create a facebook page for my photography. I feel I have a strong portfolio and even though I didn't put up every picture I've ever taken, I put up my favorites on the new facebook page.

If you have a minute, I'd really appreciate if you'd head on over to the page and hit "like" to show your support!
Love love love!

https://www.facebook.com/LittleMapleLeafPhotography

Fresh Vegetables :)

What an insane week this has been.
I've had a lot of time off for some reason at work but lately I feel like the stresses of life are really interfering with everyday happiness. I need a vacation so I think John & I are heading over to the states for May Long Weekend! Phew!

On another very exciting note... tonight as I was reading blogs while watching some TV, I pulled up one of my faves Sometimes Sweet- and saw my link on her Weekend Link post!!!! I got so excited to see that my photography is being noticed! It really inspires me to continue to take photographs and practice each and everyday. Thanks Danielle for the shout out. You have no idea how much I appreciate it!!

More pics to come!

Around the New Neighborhood

I told you I was going to snap photos soon!
Today I decided to take a walk throughout the new neighborhood and snap some photos. I know, I know.. way overdue.
It was SUCH a beautiful day today so I felt super inspired by all of my surroundings. Even that little dude in the last photo ;). I even saw a butterfly today! But.. it flew away before I could photograph it. Damn!

I joined the "Tone It Up" community recently and started their Bikini Challenge in order to add more structure to my workouts. I really enjoy it but I almost feel frustrated being told when I have to workout and what I have to do.. I usually just really enjoy going for a run or heading to the gym on my own terms.. But I still need that structure? I'm so torn! Does anyone have any recommendations for ways that I can work out when I want (3-4 times a week) but provide me with specific exercises I can do in order to slim down in target areas such as thighs and tummy?

I will say though with Tone it Up, I love their recipe ideas! I'm not a part of the nutrition guide but I tried the salsa chicken the other day and it was so good. I'm definitely interested in cooking only lean foods with lots of protein and vegetables. I've actually been doing super well with that. I used to have a piece of toast every morning when I woke up and usually white or red potatoes with dinner. I've cut out the toast and opt for cereal, a smoothie, or some greek yogurt instead and when I crave potatoes I make sweet potatoes or brown rice!

Hope you all have a great day. Hopefully I'll continue to go and snap photos. I actually have more to show you from this shoot later!

Friday Chaos Blog Hop!!

Friday Chaos Blog Hop!!!

Yay!! I'm so happy to be co-hosting with the Friday Chaos Blog Hop ladies :)!! This has seriously been the most successful blog hop for me so I strongly encourage you all to participate if you're looking for more readership! Have fun!

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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kristine -&nbsp;<a href="http://www.heartshapedsweat.com/">Heart Shaped Sweat</a></span></center>

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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Hi I'm Kristine, Enjoying_Life with 2 crazy boys, a soldier, lots of gym time and open road running. Raising my family fit &amp; beautiful, no matter where we call home!"</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />"Honey's mummy follows my journey through mummy hood to a beautiful little girl and baby boy. I am a qualified beauty therapist, ex air hostess and one time city EA. So glad to have found my ultimate calling - bringing up beautiful babies. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We moved to Surrey from London, with Honey's daddy - a professional rugby player and sausage maker."&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br />Don't forget to come by next week and link up to see if you're featured as <b>Blog Of The Week!</b> <br /><br /><b>Featured Co-host</b></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">

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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stephanie @ <a href="http://geekinglasses.typepad.com/a-geek-in-glasses/">A Geek In Glasses</a><br /><br />"</span>Hi everyone! I love all things Vintage and our house shows it. I believe Glasses are like shoes, you can never have too many pairs!!! Momma to an Irish Dancer and Wife of a Medieval Swordsman, follow our adventures in Thrifting, Crafting, Photography and Life.."&nbsp;</center>

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Unedited: Day to Day

After some back & forth decision making, I finally decided to incorporate a little personality into my blog. I'm going to do my best to take my good camera with me almost any time I leave the house capturing moments I would normally snap from my I-phone (which is often). I want to show my readers a small tidbit into my life while also practicing my photography. :) I like this idea because normally I only post photos when I schedule a set time to go out and take photos but I'm only sticking to one theme usually (nature). There's so many other things to take photos of!!! Which means, more practice :)

Unfortunately, I just came up with this idea yesterday and while I have snapped a few photos from my professional camera, here are a few tidbits from the past week courtesy of my I-phone (if you follow on instagram, sorry if you've already seen these):

The most beautiful sunrise that I see when the sky is clear on my morning drive to work! I always say I'm gonna take a photo through my window and this time, I finally did! Yay!

I'm serious when I say I'm obsessed with our kitten, Minni. John and I often talk about bringing a puppy into our family, but I just don't know if I can. How would Minni feel? Ugh! Serious problem, guys.

I ran my first 5k on St. Patty's Day! I've just recently taken up running and I'm so proud to say I ran the whole 5k race in 33 minutes and only walked about 3 minutes of it! This is a major accomplishment for someone who always shyed away from running because I found it waaaay too difficult.

Following the last photo, I'm now training for a 10k! I'm addicted to races now (after 1, haha). My ultimate goal is to be able to run the 1/2 marathon come September! Wish me luck!

I read on one of my fave health websites (Women's Health) about a challenge where you have to cook for 31 days! I loved this challenge because I have a bad habit of always wanting take out or restaurant food on Friday nights. Ugh. So John & I accepted the challenge.......

....until Friday rolled around and we decided to get Thai. Challenge=Fail! But we started over and now we are on day 4 of cooking! Yay us! P.S. Just discovered Pad Thai (amazing!)

Me hangin' in John's hat cuddling with Minni. This happens on a nightly basis. I was also watching the Spring Finale of Pretty Little Liars. Anyone else watch? So amazing. What do you guys think of Red Coat?

Me taking a random outfit post today at work. I kinda liked my outfit today, I felt super preppy! Ha.

Hope you enjoyed taking a peep into the life of Little Maple Leaf :)

Blog Lovin'

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5050737/?claim=62yt8hcf74q">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

So I guess Google Reader is closing??
News to me.
If you want to continue following my photography adventures after July, it'd be an absolute honor to have you.
Thanks for the support!

New Layout

I designed a new layout for my blog. A nice simple design.
I want my photos to be the main focus of Little Maple Leaf and I don't want a busy layout & banner to distract from the pictures.

As I learn more about design & photoshop, you may see some more changes. But for now, I'm really happy with the clean look.

In other news, we had a big snow {storm?!} and now it looks like a Winter Wonderland outside. I mean, yeah, it's pretty and all... but I really want to see some flowers & green grass. I debated taking a walk down a trail and snapping some photos... but I'm feeling particularly grumpy today and to be honest, don't really feel like it. It would be beautiful though.

Until next time...

Night Shots & Other Bantering

New Lesson Learned: Night shots are HARD to take! I had something totally different in mind when I went out to take these photos... and when I googled how to properly take pictures in the dark, I realized it's no easy task! I also learned that in order to take a nice crisp image with good lighting in your photo when it's dark out, you need a tripod... which I don't have.

Christmas present??

I've also decided I love adding text to my photos.. especially when I'm not a huge fan of the image itself. Adding a nice quote that I randomly think of at the time or remember from a TV show or book makes the photo look that much better!

Anyway, I have the night to myself because John's out doing some volunteer project so I have a long night of Vampire Diaries, Greys Anatomy & Glee ahead of me. Maybe I'll even catch up on some Friday Night Lights? Yay!