What A Tease

Comparatively speaking, today was an absolutely GORGEOUS day!!!  It didn't quite hit 60 degrees, but I don't give a crap!  The sun was SHINING and the sky was BLUE!!!  Can I get a HALLELUJAH?!?!?!!!!  Looky what we got to do today!  I just LOOOOOVE the sound of lawn mowers on the weekends!  I also happen to love the smell of fresh cut grass, despite the fact that I'm very allergic to it.  WHY, then was I lying in it to take this picture?  I don't know, but I had to be quick because the mower was running, and he was coming straight for me!!   Just look at the look on his face.  The little turd didn't even slow down.   He thought he was pretty funny.  =)

I also got to play in the dirt!  I fluffed my flower beds and pulled the first of the weeds this season.  Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love to work in my flower gardens.  I could sit my butt in the dirt and weed all day long and be completely content.  Truth be told, gardening is a spiritual thing for me.  I feel closest to my maker when I'm outside soaking in the beauty that surrounds me.

Although we're slated to get lots of rain in the next week, I'm THRILLED that the temps will hover around 60!  I can deal with the rain if the temps are a smidge warmer than they have been.  And the sun promises to peek through the clouds a day or two.  Can you hear me singing?  HERE COMES THE SUN!!!!  YAAAAY!!!!

What's Your Perspective?

My blog posts have been far and few between lately.  I've been so busy working on 5 things at once that nothings getting finished.  BUT, that is a bout to change, I promise!!

Until then, I wanted to link up to another one of Tracy's parties!  This time, it's all about angle.

So, much like I've done in the past, I'm using pictures that I've taken in the last little while.  I wish that mother nature would take her Prozac in these parts and allow spring to come already.  I'm SO OVER winter!!  Incidentally, this is what my poor tulips are enduring for the time being.  And since I wasn't about to lay down in the snow, because I wasn't appropriately dressed, I just pointed and shot this picture, so it's not the best, but you can see a much better picture right below.  This picture and the one below are taken at ground level, looking up, as it is on a slight hill. 

THIS is what my flower garden will look like in a couple of weeks.  I'm so anxious for the blue sky, warm temps and for these beauties to bloom again!

Since I'm still balking about it feeling like winter, I thought I'd throw in a couple of my favorite pictures from about a month ago.  We have a place in the mountains we love to go tubing/sledding at.  The kids have a ball, as you can see in these fun pictures. 

This one is my youngest son.  I laid down on my stomach so that I would be below him as he came off the jump.  I wanted to catch his air time!  Rather than centering this picture, I composed it so he'd be in the upper corner, not just capturing his launch, but also his landing strip.  I think this definitely adds interest to the picture.

My 11 year old daughter had a heck of a time convincing her younger cousin to go down the steep hill with her.  Although you can't see how big the hill really is, I think their faces tell it all.  If you haven't already, you've got to click on this one and enlarge it to see Kailey's face! She's having fun, yet looks terrified at the same time!

 

My son was busy with his Lego's not too long ago, and was so proud to show my his creation.  I just had to take a picture.  I took this one at ground level.  I offset him a little, making sure to get the bucket of Lego's in the picture as well. 

Here is one of my daughter (in the bottom, right hand corner) and 4 of her neighborhood friends at their dance recital.  I thought with all 5 of them in the same dance class, it would be fun to do a little photo shoot with all of them dressed alike.  I stood above them for this one.

These next two pictures were taken in Moab.  We took our kids from Florida to hike one of the beautiful National Parks in Southern Utah.  We had a great time and can't wait to go back again.  This picture is of  our oldest, who appears to be hanging on for dear life over the edge of a wall.  Obviously, this one is all about illusion.

Although there were some death defying cliffs that had my stomach churning, Chris is really just crouching down on this ledge that Chelsea is sitting on in the picture below.  Isn't the view breathtaking??!?!?!!! 

Oh how I long for summer!  This picture was taken last summer at the pool that my handsome nephew worked at as a life guard.  I really wanted to take his picture, but he wasn't so willing to let me do so, so I had to be sneaky.  I simply held my camera at waist height, so he didn't realize I was taking it, pointed and shot.  Every time I held the camera up to my eye, he'd turn away or cover his face.  I got SO LUCKY with this one and actually got a centered picture!  I also love the sun flare.  It's seems so appropriate for the time of year!

I hope you enjoyed my angled pictures!  I was really wanting to go somewhere and shoot new pictures, but the weather outside is FRIGHTFUL!!!!!  It's just too darn cold.  And with that, I leave you with one last picture of the blossoms on my tree getting ready to pop!  Hopefully I'll be singing in the sun in the next week or so.

Oh!  WAIT!  Just because I can......I want to include this video of Chris.  Not only does he do a great cover of Jack Johnson, I kinda liked his ANGLES in it, too.  =)  Hope you enjoy it!  He played/sang each part seperately and then mixed it together on his laptop.  (Please never mind my messy, soon-to-be-finished basement.)

The Boy Has Talent!

Our oldest son (yes, I do realize he's my stepson, but I don't do labels, they're cheap!), Chris, posted this video on YouTube and I just had to share our button popping pride with everyone!  This kid is so musically talented.  He started playing the cello at 9 and taught himself how to play the piano, guitar, bass, drums, aaand knows how to sing!

We are SO PROUD of you, Cecil.  Keep up the great work.

If you're interested in hearing more of his original music, click here.

OH!  Did I mention that he's single and available?!??!  ;)

Slower Than Molasses In January

The progress of MY bedroom makeover has been SLOWER THAN MOLASSES IN JANUARY!!!  I was going to have it done before our trip to Florida last October, but that didn't happen.  Then the holidays were upon us and it was totally out of the question.  Not to mention the fact that I couldn't sand and paint outside in the snow.  So, I put it on the back burner until now. And wouldn't ya know it, just when I get my mojo back, I'm plagued with a 12 day (NO LIE) migraine.  It's been varying degrees of pain in those 12 days, but nonetheless, has incapacitated me.  I've only functioned as much as I absolutely had to, and spent the rest of the time in bed wishing I could decapitate myself.  The headache FINALLY broke 2 days ago, so I went to town on my headboard.

It took a lot more work than it should have because I failed to prime it.  This is the first time I've painted with white, so I was naive to the fact that the stain would bleed through the paint.  I've never had to prime furniture because everything I've painted thus far has been black or red.  Perhaps I should ALWAYS prime?  I have to give a big shout out to Melanie, at The Frosted Gardener, for helping me solve my problem with the bleed through.  I never would have thought to use primer - DUH!!!!  (In my defense though, the paint already had primer in it). She is such a sweetheart for taking time out of her busy schedule to respond to my dilemma!  

After two coats of white paint, 2 coats of primer to cover the bleeding, and two more coats of white paint, here she is!  I still need to spray with polyurethane, but I'm going to wait until I can take it outside to do that. 

BEFORE

AFTER

I'm going with a vintage feel in my room.  I am so excited about how this turned out!!!!  I LOVE to distress furniture and make it look old.  I chose not to glaze it though.  I didn't like it on the white like I do black and red.  I'm so excited to get the nightstands done!!  Here's to hoping the migraine stays at bay.

To Color Or Not To Color

I'm so glad that January and February are behind us!  I haven't blogged much because frankly, there's not much going on.  I am working on some furniture makeovers, but I'm not going to blog about them until my whole room is done.  So, to stay on the band wagon, I've been linking up to Tracy's blog parties.  This week she's featuring black and white photos.

While I'm not a huge photo editor, and generally like full color pictures, there are just certain pictures that look really great in black and white.  When I do edit black and white, I almost always add a vignette.  I don't know why, I just love the effect it has on the picture.  Sometimes I adjust the highlights and shadows, but my favorite thing to do is add a red filter.  That doesn't work on every picture, but as always, it's fun to just play and experiment to see what looks best.  Occasionally, I like to add some grain, too. 

Here are a few of my favorites from the last year:

I wasn't crazy about this picture in full color, but when I turned it B&W, I totally fell in love with it!

This one looks great in color, but it's also very dramatic in B&W, too. 

I LOVE back lit pictures.  The sun shining on her hair and their sparkly eyes slay me.  Because this picture was so zoomed in, I didn't feel like the color version was as dramatic.  I love how the B&W brought out and softened their features. 

This picture has a lot of sun flare, which is a cool effect all alone, but with this picture, I loved how the sun flare, coupled with the B&W, made this picture look. 

This was my niece's Prom last year.  I went along on this just-for-fun-photo-shoot with my sister-in-law so that we could capture the night from two different perspectives. 

I love how this picture showcases the back of their dresses.  I added a little grain to this one, just for fun.  =) 

THIS picture is a perfect example (to me, anyway) how some pictures just HAVE to be in color!!!  It just didn't look great in B&W.  I just had to throw this one in because I LOVE how it shows that it's OK to be different.  There is SO MUCH personality in this picture! 

This is one of my SWEET, DARLING (former) daycare kids.  I LOVE this baby girl so much!  I asked her parents to allow me to practice with her when I first started learning how to shoot in manual mode.  I think I captured her so perfectly in this particular picture.  She really is this sweet and innocent! 



It's A Party And You're Invited

You know how it goes...you read one blog and then you learn about another, and another, then another.  It goes on forever!  Well, that's how I found Tracy's blog.  I thought I'd link up to her bokeh party today.

I must admit, I haven't always loved bokeh like I do now.  Photography styles have changed  since I first started in high school, so maybe that's why, I really don't know.  Nonetheless, I could not live without my 50mm lens!  I love to make my suject(s) pop against that blurry background.

Here are a few of my faves from the last several months:

                      Oh, how time flies.  I taught this young lady in sunday school when she was 12.

             This glowing mommy-to-be grew up in my neighborhood and was expecting her first baby.

                       My son on his 14th birthday, being shy and not wanting to look at the camera.

My daughter, being shy, like her brother.  It's a family thing.

                   Had to be quick with the shutter release to get her actually looking at me.  GOOD GRIEF, she looks JUST like me!!!

I didn't blur this one too much, just enough. 

                                              

Seashells my kids left on the deck of our condo

This UGLY crawdad had a tiny, little Nemo claw  



Happy Valentine's Day!

Simply put, these five people are

 MY LIFE, MY LOVE!

Need I say more?