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_____I love capturing God's sense of humour. :)

Do you see the puppy shape in that cloud? Click on it to see larger!

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Most mornings, I wake up, say a quick prayer, eat a bit of breakfast, then take my seat at the computer... usually, I end up staring at it for the rest of the day. My addiction to the internet has stolen a lot from my life ... it hasn't only been tearing me away from my homework - it's created a big rift between me and those who love me: my family, and my God. I freely admit to being a 'Web addict,' and somehow I manage to make almost no effort to change it - after all, it's so much more convenient to think of it as something outside of my control.

Today, I did something different - I went to talk to my mom first. We spend 3 hours of just plain enjoying each other's company for once. We managed to laugh a bit, debate a bit, even cry a bit, and I think we were both surprised at how much we had in common. We talked about subjects over which we had had huge arguments in the past, and were - well, at least, I was - astonished to see that we agreed after all - we only needed to give each other a little bit more space without judging or jumping to conclusions.

Since practically all my time I have at home is spent with my mom, people often assume that we must have the best relatioship in the world ... we have a great one, but I simply cannot count how many times I pull away, spending my time at this computer or elsewhere away from her, unwilling to give her a chance to love me, unwilling to show her how much she means to me.

My mom is the most amazing, strongest person. She has been through a lot of tough times, but they're no match for her. She's a wonderful, caring, loving mother and I can't tell you how great it was to be 'back' with her. It had been a long time since I last felt like she was my best friend.

I didn't make any resolutions this year, and I still don't feel the need to. I know what I'm going to do, and I don't have to write it down on paper on the first of January. I figured out my 'resolution' three days late, and I couldn't have had more fun learning it.

This year, I want to bridge the divide and be mommy's little girl again, just the way I was meant to be!

Happy 2008 ~

Love, Oksana

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Thank you for inspiring me!

I joined Flickr about 3 years ago to look at and favourite photos... I sure didn't think I'd ever be uploading any! Then my parents got us our first digital camera -- it was actually a camcorder that took stills, an actual camera came a few months later. I immediately became a shutterbug, and started taking hundreds of photos. I shared them with my mom and dad, but there was still something missing -- I felt like I absolutely needed to share them with the world.

What is a photo unless you have shared it with someone? It's like getting a gift and not saying thank you. My way of saying thank you to God for giving me the gift of photography (and the moment I photographed) is by sharing the photo. Why should I be covering up the beauty he has created by keeping it somewhere deep in the mess of folders on my hard drive, when I could be showing it to the rest of the world?

Slowly and tentatively, I uploaded my first photo - then my second - my third quickly followed - and then my fourth. Still, my confidence was really low -- and I can only thank each and every person on Flickr and beyond who commented on, favourited, and viewed my photos. I first considered myself a "real Flickerite" when I finally uploaded a photo on the same day as taking it -- versus a few months later, after painstaking deliberations on whether it was 'good enough.' Again, I thank you guys for helping me grow into that!

And here's one more thing to thank you for: inspiring me! I can't say I'm self-taught -- I've got hundreds of teachers who don't even know it! So, today, in order to give them the acknowledgement they were due, I sat down and went through my favourites, all 45 pages of them -- twice -- to compile a list of 36 pictures that have inspired me most so far. These are the ones that have really shaped my own way of seeing things through the viewfinder, and touched me with their sheer beauty -- or, in the case #2 and #30 -- made me laugh harder than any other photos in the world!

Here they are... my all-time favourites:



1. watching the world go by, 2. Dandelion, 3. Eyeing... ♫ little egret from bali ♪ ♫, 4. burning skies, 5. me, 6. II, 7. Hattie, 8. Untitled, 9. the eye and the sky, 10. Waiting For Buddha, 11. this american life, 12. Girl near Ga Sai Gon, 13. Colours dancing with light, 14. a family, 15. Untitled, 16. Flower girls, 17. she's back, 18. freckle face, 19. unexpected.., 20. Untitled, 21. two, 22. caught in the net, 23. Sifting Sand, 24. Hmmm ? ..., 25. are you gentle too ? ..., 26. life goes on ..., 27. first taste of rain..............., 28. Swan who felt in love ♥, 29. remembering why, 30. bad breath?, 31. A Flower For Nanny, 32. Atendendo a um pedido especial de uma amiga especial !, 33. smiling at, 34. skeeter hawk, 35. animated speedy, 36. Sunday afternoon

Love, Oksana