I'm so excited!  Many of you know my old camera died.  I didn't have money to replace it, but I was missing so many momets that I decided to go sell some stuff until I could earn one.  I had lots to choose from:  Mary Kay, patterns, ebooks.  I went after all of it!  I emptied my paypal account so the balance was zero and I could easily watch my progress.  I promised myself when I had $100 over what I thought the camera would cost in that account I could buy it.

My "new" camera came in the mail yesterday.  It is a digital SLR that I have been dreaming about for a long time.  It is a Nikon D40–very low end for an SLR, but it does way more than I understand and takes beautiful pictures.  I bought it off ebay after watching cameras for awhile to see the average price they were selling for. Eventually one was listed with a buy it now at my target price! The seller had 100% positive feedback and was selling the camera used but with the original box and all the manuals. I was able to help out someone who was needing money for debts and it helped me out too. 

I love pictures where the main subject is in crisp focus and the background is all blurred.  I tried lots of different ways, but never accomplished it with my point and shoot.  It was super easy to do it with the SLR–even in automatic mode.  Here are some of my practice photos.  I don't have a clue what I'm doing, and I can't wait to learn more.