Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you had a great week. Mine’s been a little crazy with holiday parties, getting ready for Christmas, and my daughter coming down with pneumonia, poor thing.

I’m joining Jennifer in 7 Quick Takes today… it seems like I’ve been saving up a list of things I want to share with you:

1. First, the photoverse giveaway winner: Congratulations to Melissa at FrugalCreativity, commenter #27! (Melissa, I know you’ll love what Robin makes you. Her photography is beautiful.)

2. Speaking of photography, I’ve been playing with my camera lately and have taken a couple of shots that I thought came out sort of interesting (though they don’t compare to Robin’s):

It has taken a year–or at least it seems like it!–for this one orange to grow. The kids planted the orange tree with my father-in-law several years ago and while it’s beautiful, for some reason it’s only produced a total of three oranges. So of course I had to get a picture of this one! I took the photo on a rainy day and I like the way the water shows on the orange.

A close up of a leaf in our pool. I like how the pebble tech in the background is blurred.

Buds on our pear tree on a wet day. I was trying to capture the contrast of the branches and the gray sky. I’m learning…

Even though I got my camera a year ago, I have yet to figure out all the (millions of) settings and I’ve mostly been using it on Auto. I’m determined to get better at photography this year (maybe that will be my first 2011 resolution…).

3. For you bloggers, some great posts: one about creating quality content by Jennifer James Online, and another about creating a following by Nathan Bransford. Good reads!

4. An article that will move you: A Life Beyond Reason written by Professor Chris Gabbard, in which he shares how his disabled son August has impacted him and his views on the value of human life. A very powerful piece (hat tip to Jennifer for sharing it in one of her posts).

5. I’m excited about all that we have going on over at 5MinutesforFaith. From a new look (that I can’t take credit for) to adding a few new writers to the team, things are hopping. Holley Gerth wrote a guest post at our site this week about moms that was wonderful (Little Things, Big Love – Why You’re Making a Difference More Than You Know). If you haven’t stopped by lately, be sure you do. And be sure to subscribe to updates while you’re there so you don’t miss anything!

6. Speaking of the 5Minutes team… one of our sister sites, 5MinutesforGoingGreen, had a great post not too long ago about the dangers of Polyvinyl Chloride Plastic (known as PVC). Click on over and check it out. It’s important information.

7. And, last, another green note: There’s a company called Green Light Apparel  that is doing some pretty cool things to positively impact people and the planet. (I’m not getting compensated to mention them; I just  heard about them and I like what they’re doing, so I wanted to share.) The company makes clothes for events like fun-runs, walk-a-thons, or corporate groups and donates 10% of each sale to one of their humanitarian Partners For Change charities to help underprivileged children. They use natural, renewable fibers produced in a sustainable way and they donate a percentage of their sales to environmental causes. Sounds like a win/win/win to me. If you ever need t-shirts for an event or if you work for a company that orders shirts for large groups or anything like that, visit Green Light’s website and check them out.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Do you have any fun plans?

I’ll see you back here on Mom-Monday.  :)