tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-380180012024-03-13T09:35:17.159-07:00Eyes of WonderPhotography by April D. Bridges, capturing her world, one snapshot at a time.♥april_denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12028058341891397452noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-80355306720083568142022-05-14T19:41:00.005-07:002022-05-14T19:41:54.732-07:00Yosemite... Free For AllSo this was not my first trip visiting Yosemite National Park, but it was the first time I had visited this majestic place, free of charge. It was during a random weekend where all visits were free, back in April 2017. Jacques had never been (despite living in California pretty much his entire life!) so of course we took advantage of this. The last time I'd visited was in 2011, April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-56602508125026782162021-08-18T20:09:00.003-07:002021-08-18T20:09:33.157-07:00San Fran Through New Eyes So now we are on to the very last batch of the "wedding weekend" photos. After we were done wine tasting in the previous post, we headed south into San Francisco, and stopped for some breathtaking views along the way to San Bruno where we stayed the night, before heading into San Francisco the next day. This was my brother and sister-in-law's first trip into the city. April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-26482986989812273072021-06-29T21:55:00.002-07:002021-06-29T21:56:55.393-07:00Wine-Tasting Our Way South(west)This batch of photos, still from March 2017, is from the day after the wedding. The plan was to do some wine tasting on our way down to San Francisco from 'wine country.' My dad loves wine, so this part of the trip was pretty much for him. 😊 But that's okay because I was perfectly happy taking pictures of the scenery outside! The area is beautiful, so there was no April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-74618902443540722132021-04-16T16:36:00.000-07:002021-04-16T16:36:10.377-07:00Revisiting Churchill Manor I'm finally getting around to the pictures that I took of our wedding venue, Churchill Manor, (built in 1889) in beautiful wine country, or more specifically -- Napa, California. And yes, I realize that I got married a little over 4 years ago... that just shows how utterly behind I am in getting my photos posted! I really don't mean to be such a procrastinator. Honestly, April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-46464712985089252472020-10-08T22:16:00.004-07:002020-10-08T22:17:01.368-07:00A Visit to Bubbling Well Moving right along to January 2017... (I know, I know, I'm so behind on this) How do I even start out a post like this? -sigh- While we were on our vacation to Oklahoma for Christmas, we got a difficult phone call from my mother-in-law, who was back home dog-sitting for us. Our female Irish setter, Mari, had decided that December 28 was her last day. She had lived anApril Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-10325709587620686182018-04-19T09:02:00.000-07:002018-04-19T09:03:02.872-07:00A Return to a Tragic DaySo I usually visit my hometown of Oklahoma City, where I grew up, at least once a year since I moved out here to California. And every few years, I find myself drawn to visit the OKC National Memorial in downtown, which honors the victims, survivors & rescuers of a tragic day for all of Oklahoma. I will never forget the exact minute when a bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-69075145873690435212018-04-12T07:55:00.000-07:002018-04-12T23:27:02.166-07:00Visions from the HighwayMoving on to the beginning of 2017, to when we drove halfway across the country to Oklahoma City to be with my family for Christmas, which was the first time I'd actually been with them on Christmas Day in several years. Previously, I had flown out there sometime in January or February to have a late Christmas. But for 2016's Christmas, my dad stated that it was mandatory for meApril Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-86836247391692076802018-01-04T10:06:00.000-08:002018-01-04T10:06:27.741-08:00Scoping Out NapaStarting in September of 2016, we began making regular trips up to Napa, California. The reason for this was because we had decided to have our wedding at a beautiful bed & breakfast there, planning on taking everyone out for a late lunch/early dinner afterwards. Well, we didn't know the area well enough to choose a restaurant without having already eaten there. Hence, the April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-23762035805813878492017-12-24T10:19:00.000-08:002018-04-12T09:00:38.474-07:002017 Reading Challenge: Volume 3
Continuing with the third and final volume of reviews for my reading challenge this year:
( 21 )
The Writer's Idea Book by Jack Heffron
So, at the end of October, I spontaneously decided to participate in NaNoWriMo, which is the National Novel Writing Month that usually happens in November. Hence my decision to dive into this idea book that I just happened to already April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-5283028662519933262017-11-04T11:34:00.000-07:002018-04-12T09:01:00.514-07:002017 Reading Challenge: Volume 2
Continuing with the second volume of reviews for my reading challenge this year:
( 11 )
Promises in Death by J.D. Robb
📖 Reading prompt: a book by an author you love
I've always wanted to read a book by the pseudonym of one of my long-time favorite authors, Nora Roberts. And I figure now's as good a time as any! I picked this up randomly at Half-Price Books and I've had April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-62131757968618967902017-11-02T14:08:00.000-07:002017-11-02T14:08:52.374-07:00CopperopolisFirst off, this quaint little town square instantly reminded me of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls! It looks so similar and I felt like I was walking right along those same city streets, albeit slightly modernized (I think you had to be there in person to feel the full effect). It is called Copperopolis and is located on State Rte 4. We stopped here on the way up to Lake April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-13538799267380356192017-08-20T17:36:00.000-07:002017-08-20T17:36:20.187-07:00On Lake {Alpine} TimeSo, last year, for my birthday, we took a belated celebratory trip up to Lake Alpine to explore the beautiful scenery. It is near Bear Valley, which is a popular 'escape' town, up in the Central Sierra Mountains. I say belated, because we had planned to do this closer to the weekend of my actual birthday, but since we ended up getting rear-ended on the day before, we ran into April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-25891815783816276772017-07-13T08:41:00.000-07:002017-07-19T14:37:15.559-07:00Alcatraz, 53 years later...
The Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was a maximum high-security federal prison on Alcatraz Island, 1.25 miles off the coast of San Francisco, California, which operated from August 11, 1934 until March 21, 1963.
The main prison building was built in 1910-1912 during its time as a United States Army military prison; Alcatraz had been the site of a citadel since the 1860s. The United April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com2San Francisco, CA 94133, USA37.8269775 -122.422955537.801891499999996 -122.463296 37.8520635 -122.382615tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-66795599224166480312017-05-27T14:25:00.001-07:002018-04-12T09:01:13.151-07:002017 Reading Challenge: Volume 1
So at the beginning of this year, I committed myself to a reading challenge on Goodreads, promising to read at least 30 books over the course of the year. So, inspired by that, I'm going to post a compilation of these books and my personal reviews on them here.
{ I will be posting them in 3 separate 'volumes' with 10 books per post. Any bonus books that I get through will have April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-30077678264711236972017-05-22T22:41:00.000-07:002017-05-22T22:41:46.881-07:00'Sac-of-Tomatoes' in Spring
Back in April 2016, my mom traveled out here to California for one of her semi-annual visits. She had never been to the State Capitol building before, so we decided to use one of the days that she was here to take a drive up to Sacramento.
I love capturing the beauty of the surrounding area, so I didn't mind taking her up to the 'City of Trees' for a day trip, although I have to say that April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-25181438651764060432017-04-06T11:57:00.000-07:002017-04-06T15:57:18.833-07:00Finding Fascination in Small Spaces
Back to the last day of February 2016, we randomly decided to visit this small community park in Clayton, California. It was a nice little place to relax, have a family picnic, or enjoy a baseball/soccer game with your kids. And the views of the hills were so pretty! I tried to capture a small part of it in the following photos.
Starting out with this different April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-72010074319194565232017-03-23T23:14:00.000-07:002017-07-19T08:15:26.387-07:00♥ When Two Become One ♥
So... again, I'm going to have to briefly break the cycle of posting in order, because of a rather life-changing event that happened exactly a week ago. I'm sure you can guess from the title of this post where I'm going with this... Jacques and I finally tied the knot, after nearly 8 years together! And I couldn't resist not sharing the photos right now. So here goes!
April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0485 Brown St, Napa, CA 94559, USA38.2930442 -122.2844317000000312.771009699999997 -163.59302570000003 63.8150787 -80.975837700000028tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-29946054944695164102017-02-28T08:26:00.000-08:002017-03-30T16:21:33.808-07:00Bodega Bay: Blissful Closure
So here's the last of our weekend getaway. We started out the day in Bodega Bay once again, but this time we traveled further north up the PCH, to places that I had never been before, in all the years of living out here. The scenery is just as beautiful as it is in the rest of California's coasts, as you will see... right now!
The drive up the coast took awhile because there were soApril Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-29536250254804133832017-02-03T10:37:00.000-08:002017-02-03T10:37:02.842-08:00Bodega Bay: Peace in NatureSo finally on to the second day of our Bodega Bay weekend getaway last February. (how has it already been almost a YEAR since we were there?!)
We started our day off with a nice complimentary breakfast, provided by our cozy little hotel, Bodega Harbor Inn, where we ate outside at the picnic tables by the community area, overlooking a beautiful view of the harbor beyond the town.
Chairs April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-8736624746830633262016-10-27T09:56:00.000-07:002016-10-27T09:56:04.521-07:00Bodega Bay: Evening ExcursionStill back in February, Jacques and I spent one amazing weekend over in Bodega Bay (and the surrounding areas). It was a much-needed mini vacation, seeing as there was a lot of tension throughout our house at the time and we were able to truly enjoy ourselves before some of it played out entirely... but that's another story that I probably (no, definitely) won't share.
Anyway, I April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0Bodega Bay, CA 94923, USA38.33325 -123.048057138.28342 -123.12873809999999 38.38308 -122.9673761tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-37480406090814391142016-10-12T13:52:00.001-07:002016-10-12T13:52:32.743-07:00Valentine's in the SnowAh, so sorry that I keep making empty promises with this blog! I really did have good intentions though. Life seems to just get spontaneously busy for me these days, specifically weekends. But I'm forcing myself to use any and all extra time to put together some posts. =]
Starting with our day trip back in February, on Valentine's Day to be exact, when Jacques took me up to April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-61513749934132101372016-06-05T20:20:00.000-07:002016-06-05T20:20:32.420-07:00Christmas 2015, 6 months later...First off, sorry to sound like a broken record AGAIN... but I'm way too backed up on my photoblog posts! I am really going to try to keep up with them for the remainder of this year, by actually making myself set aside some time to write up my posts and scheduling them out (as a start, since I have about 5 posts I need to get done!). I know exactly what my problem is, regarding April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-84775684625758206302016-02-13T16:44:00.001-08:002016-02-13T16:44:46.139-08:00Alameda Beach So, on the last day of 2015, Jacques and I decided to travel out to Alameda Beach just south of Oakland for about an hour. We had an ulterior motive for being out that way, but I wanted to use the time to get used to my brand new Nikon DSLR camera that I'd gotten for Christmas. So that's where this little mini-trip came into play. I would have liked to stay and walk around April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0Alameda Beach, California, USA37.4920047 -122.2661865999999737.2904252 -122.58891009999996 37.693584200000004 -121.94346309999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-82150114828140422592015-12-06T12:09:00.000-08:002015-12-08T14:37:11.232-08:00Randoms of 2015So as 2015 rapidly comes to a close, I feel like I need to use this post to display all of the random photos that I've taken throughout the year. (Well, not ALL of them, at least the highlights!)
These are photos that for some reason or another, never made it to any social media platform, probably because they were just too random. But in an odd way I feel like I should give them a April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38018001.post-41863298845636024622015-10-15T11:14:00.002-07:002015-10-15T15:07:54.749-07:00PCH + Family + Road Trip = FunOkay, first off... sorry it's been almost an entire year since I posted here. And at the same time, I can't even believe it's already been a year since our San Diego trip! I always say that I'm going to try and keep up with the blog more and it always ends up being a false promise... though completely unintentional! The time seems to tick on by without me noticing these days. &April Magillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12617167071131010165noreply@blogger.com0