My 12 Favorite Instagram Pics of 2012

You're reading this, so I assume you either know me personally or follow me on pinterest, the book of the faces, or the twitter. So you probably also know that I enjoy using Instagram.

My Instagram Use
For those of you out of the loop, Instagram is a smart phone app that allows you to easily take, edit, and share pics. I've been using Instagram for a few years now and enjoy it. I do my best to try to use it (and all social media really) to educate, entertain, or enlighten. That sounded awful fancy, didnt' it? Really, I just try to post stuff that I find interesting or funny. If you're wondering what you should or shouldn't post, I suggest you chase this rabbit.

Daily Instagram Photo Challenges
I have even gone through some spells of taking pics everyday as part of different photo challenges that some bloggers put together. While that is fun, I have found that it often loses it's entertainment value if the theme of the day is boring.

For a while, I considered starting my own daily challenge, but that idea ended when The Lovely Kristi and I started listing things to put on a daily photo list.We started with some good ideas...

Day 1) Favorite person
Day 2) My Collection
Day 3) Stink Eye

But sadly, as the list got longer, instead of progressing into a great list of photo ideas, it regressed into a list of things no one wants to see.....

Day 23) Is this a rash?
Day 24) My scar
Day 25) Inside my used kleenex

I gotta admit, we laughed a lot while making the list of things no one wants to see.
But, anyway, to be clear. I am not starting a daily photo challenge.
 
I am however going to share with you some of my favorite pics from this year, in case you missed them when they originally posted.

My 12 favorite pics...
with the captions that originally appeared on Instagram.

The Lovely Kristi. Celebrating Christmas with the Allreds.

Day 10: Self Portrait. Running my first 5k tomorrow. This is what they call a 2X shirt. I guess they're not used to bigun's running in these races. Tightest shirt I've ever worn. On the bright side, I do have a great rack. #febphotoaday

Day 5: Smile. A great summer day with Dad in 2010 when kids playing in the hose turned into the adults playing. #marchphotoaday

Ethan was super excited until he learned this was a giant box of regular size pop tarts and not a box of head sized pop tarts.

He's not always as sweet as he seems.

Ethan & Uncle Joel doing some early morning fishing.

Another pic from a great weekend. Wrestlemania broke out last night with my boys, Natalie, @aimeekaitlyn, and @stephen_g_d

Sept. 29th - Underneath - Baptizing my oldest son, Ethan a couple weeks ago was one of the greatest moments of my life. I'll never forget watching his face as he came back up from underneath the water. So thankful He's given his life to Jesus Christ. (Photo credit to The Lovely Kristi) #fmsphotoaday

 

Side note about this pic... This day would have been perfect I had remember to zip my pants after baptizing Ethan. Instead I led 250 people in worship with my fly down. Oops.

Sept 20th - Man-Made - That little man made our night pitching for the first time. (See what I did there =) #fmsphotoaday

Sept 22nd - Up - Ethan and Gavin knew Alabama would win today. So they found other ways to entertain themselves at the game. Alabama was up by 33 pts at the end. Looks like they were right. #fmsphotoaday #rolltide

New blog entry. My Encounter With Baywatch bit.ly/QvWFlb

Sometimes when shopping, kids come in handy.

Those were my  favorites.
As you can see, most involve my family and our adventures.
Just for curiosity's sake though, I checked with Statigram, and apparently my most liked photo on Instagram was this one.....

Happy Halloween from Charlie Brown & The Great Pumpkin. Photo credit to @mistyshantay .

Happy New Year Everybody!

Shaken To The Core

I've been sitting here making final preparations for tomorrow night's Christmas music service at church.
I happened to look over at facebook and saw that the names of the victims of the CT school shooting have been announced. My wife is a kindergarten teacher. My sons are in kindergarten and 3rd grade. This hits home for me. Honestly, I'm shaken to the core.

I've been thinking about Christmas songs of hope and joy and peace.
In Connecticut there are parents asking "why".
I'm looking over my shoulder at my sons and wife watching a Christmas show on TV.
In Connecticut there are parents looking at wrapped gifts under the tree that will never be opened by the person they were purchased for.
I'm wondering how I'm going to survive the hectic holiday schedule that is upon us.
In Connecticut, there are parents wondering how they are going to survive without their missing loved ones.

I can't help but pause from my music preparation to focus on the victims, on the grieving families, and on the churches in that area that have an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus to them.
My heart is with the loved ones of these victims............
The below list and information is based on a list of victim's names and dates of birth I found on Foxnews.com

Charlotte Bacon was 6 years old.

Daniel Barden was 7 years old.

Rachel Davino was 29 years old.

Olivia Engel was 6 years old.

Josephine Gay turned 7 years old 4 days ago.

Ana Marquez-Greene was 6 years old.

Dylan Hockley was 6 years old.

Dawn Hockstrung was 47 years old.

Madeleine F. Hsu was 6 years old.

Catherine V. Hubbard was 6  years old.

Chase Kowalski was 7 years old.

Jesse Lewis was 6 years old.

James Mattioli was 6 years old.

Grace McDonnell was 7 years old.

Anne Marie Murphy was 52 years old.

Emilie Parker was 6 years old.

Jack Pinto was 6 years old.

Noah Pozner was 6 years old.

Caroline Previdi was 6 years old.

Jessica Rekos was 6 years old.

Avielle Richman was 6 years old.

Lauren Russeau was 40 years old.

Mary Sherlach was 56 years old.

Victoria Soto was 27 years old.

Benjamin Wheeler was 6 years old.

Allison N. Wyatt was 6 years old.

Everyday

Everyday,

I tell myself the same thing:

“Self, you’re going to be productive today.

You’re going to

• knock one project off your long term to do list.
• read 2 chapters of one of those many books you’ve bought and never read.
• pick a room in the house and clean it like you’re selling it.
• go to bed feeling accomplished because you were so productive.”

Then,

around 9:30

when everyone else in the house is in bed,

I tell myself the same thing:

“Self, those episodes of Duck Dynasty on the DVR aren’t going to watch themselves, ya know.”

I’m not saying that will change.

Just making an observation.