Just Livin' blog

Depression

2011-12-10T14:48:00.001-06:00

depression is a soul eating, life corroding, confusing disease for anyone to have to live with.

and unfair when I have the three most amazing people in my life that have to live with the consequences.

the journey continues.....

2011-02-27T10:04:00.004-06:00

a month ago this was impossible to write because of the anger I still felt, but now that I am letting myself remember and realize that everything really does happen for a reason, my anger is fading. The job and opportunity of a lifetime we were so sure God planned just for us did not pan out.
We were there at the ranch for less that 2 months when S was let go and we had to vacate the premises within a week. I knew the look on S's face as soon as I drove up to the house...it was over. I could type for hours about what happened, but it is not worth it. All I know now is that is was absolutely the best thing in the world that it happened so early. It was extremely emotional that first night...anger, sadness, downright hatred at the way that man treated my family, at the realization that we had to move, find a new place and job so soon. But the next morning it was like a weight was lifted and we saw that the stress of the job and working for someone that was next to impossible to please was already taking its toll on our marriage and us as a family. Those two things are the most important things in the world and not worth losing for a job and a cute farm house.
Now we are back on our feet, doing way better than we were before the ranch job and things are looking great. We are in town, where I wanted to be in the first place, in a nice(modern)house in a desirable neighborhood with lots of great neighbors and lots of kids for the boys to ride bikes with! S and I have already made friends with a wonderful couple that has a daughter K's age. On nice days we can forget about getting anything done inside because we are outside watching all the kids play.
We are also in the neighborhood that goes to what people say is the best elementary in the district, so that is good with K starting Kindergarten next fall.
I am not sure if this is the path that God had intended, I am not really sure what the point of moving to the ranch was and having to deal with such a treacherous man, but I guess it was what we were suppose to do. I really wish we never would have meet the person that turned our lives upside down, but because of that move we are where we are and the boys are so happy with friends to play with.
We will see what god has in store for us next...I really hope it's not another move for a while!
and since no post is good without a pic...just an old random shot....

wildlife.....

2010-12-11T17:07:00.002-06:00

this is just an example of what we see everyday on the ranch.....

life's unknowing journey.....

2010-12-06T21:56:00.002-06:00

other than the particular place we were living, S and I could not have been happier with the path we have been journeying down this past year. We have had wonderful adventures with the kids while we explored this new part of Texas and we both really liked where we were working. So therefore was really not a big surprise to me or to S when several months ago I found myself itching to get the heck out of the temporary rental we were in and get closer into town. The twelve acres was ok, the deer in the back yard was awesome, But the house and the drive...not ok.

Now I know that God has a path for everyone, but what if you don't listen or are stubborn? I really feel like a lot of our problems have had to do with just that, we don't listen to our better judgment(god) and do what our selfish inner child wants to do. Well, I really believe that god had such good plans for us this time that when we started to look for other rent houses in town nothing paned out. I was getting pretty bummed out but we decided to just stay in the yucky place until after Christmas and start looking again in the new year.

It was about mid October when S's moms husband, Joey, was on the way to his boss's ranch about an hour from us to fire the current ranch foreman that stuff began to change. S's brother just happen to mention to Joey what a great job that would be for S and it all snowballed fairly quickly from there. With all the highs and lows, butterflies and panics of a new job all rolled in one short week, S got the job as a Ranch foreman on a several thousand acre, high fence game ranch. He will be taking care of all the animals, maintaining the road systems, guiding hunts, processing any animals harvested, along with so much more on such a busy ranch.

The conversations and emotions felt in the week this was all happening were all over the place. The thought of S changing jobs is scary enough, but to do something and be responsible for so much that he has never done before was just down right frightening. Not to mention that this was about 15 more minutes further for me to drive to work....I had originally wanted to be closer, remember? But God truly knows what he is doing and I believe whole heartily his plan was for us to take this opportunity. The crazy circumstances, the easy in which it all happened and the fact that He didn't let us talk ourselves out of it proves it to me.

So we have actually been living here and S working for a few weeks now, and I am absolutely in love. I love the little farm house we get to live in, the horses, cattle, the twelve or so different species of exotic animals we see every day and my porch swing. The boys no longer watch TV, and there is no more fighting them at bedtime because they pass out in seconds from playing so hard outside. S couldn't be happier with all that he does here because no matter what he is doing, he is outside and gets to see wildlife all day!

There are more opportunities than I can imagine for me to use my camera, I have a swing on the front porch to read books and a pretty large yard to play tag with the boys!

I never in a millions years or even two months ago imagined we would be on this journey, but it sure is an amazing one.

our house

the view of our house/barns from one of two lookout points.

view from my kitchen sink...i may actually learn to like doing dishes....

dirt road to our house

the medina river, where we cross going to the ranch

the boys either want on this all the time or the tractor!

more to come later......

the boys.....

2010-10-30T21:46:00.003-05:00

lately they have actually been cooperative with me and my camera!!!

hemisfair park

2010-10-22T17:36:00.002-05:00

the sky was blue, the sun bright, not a cloud or parking spot in sight. Have you ever tried to park in downtown San Antonio? With such a beautiful day calling us outside we ventured to hemisfair park to let the boys rid themselves of all that boy energy. We circled the park, oh, about five times before we found somewhere to park that we didn't need full hiking gear, and a GPS to find our way back. Luckily it only cost five bucks, that was pretty cheap around there! As it was Sunday and the only attraction open was the needle, we just walked the grounds looking at the sculptures, old building and let the boys play on the playground.
When the sun started to slip down and the boys started to slow down we found our way down to the river walk. We had no intentions on going to the river walk, but the day was so nice and dang we had a parking spot, so we decided to find a place to eat. By request of the boys, we needed to eat outside.
I do believe this is the first time I have ever seen the boys so wore out that they actually just sat at the table....quiet.
Dinner was great and walking on the river walk was not near bad as we thought it would be with a four year old and a three year old.

half moon.....

2010-10-10T12:38:00.003-05:00

on our recent stroll down the river walk mister socialite decided to show a little more than his charming smile! he was so worn out by the time we headed back to the car he hitched a ride on daddy's back and this was the picture I was so lucky to catch! he was just a wavin' and flirtin' to the passing tour boats when I realized half his little hiney was flashing!! unfortunately earlier we had to toss his under-roos because he forgot to aim right so he was going comando, causing his pants to slip a little. I think everyone passing thought it was hilarious before I fixed it!

nineteen miles.....

2010-09-07T19:32:00.004-05:00

One River. three guides. ten women. eight hours. nineteen miles.

This past Sunday me, along with a group of strong and amazing women, went on an all day Kayak trip on the Guadalupe river between Comfort and Sisterdale, Texas. We stared out with a chill in the air and fog so thick we cut it with our kayaks. It wasn't long until the sun came out, burnt off the fog to reveal the beautiful banks of the Guadalupe and warm up the water that was chillin our bums. It didn't take long to start breaking a sweat and for the muscles to start burning!

The water was quite low, which created tons of fun rapids and obstacles to bypass giving us the opportunity to really learn how to maneuver our boats and learn how to 'read' the water. I think looking for random, large rocks in the middle of the river was most important, because even with a boat between you and the rock, it still hurts when you hit one without expecting it...unfortunately there were a few I hit pretty hard.

I learned two very valuable lessons while on this trip. One, is that yes, you can very nicely request with your paddle the direction you would like your boat to go through an approaching rapid. You can paddle your little heart out, beg and plead with the river, but in the end, it is only a request and that in no way guarantees you will get your way. That happened to me about twenty minutes before take out. I was kickin it and getting the hang of navigating through the rapids. I was sore, hot and looking for the get out. I was getting a little cocky with the water and right when I wasn't expecting it, she spoke up and said, "sister, you are not in control of this." And over I went. Luckily Kayaks are easy to get back into and I was able to track down my drenched back of snacks.

The second lesson was a lot easier. When on the water for any length of time, you can never have to much sunblock or water. I put on tons of sunblock through out the day, but still ended up with a little bit of sunburn. And I think I could have guzzled about five gallons of water and still been dehydrated.

At the end of the paddle, when we finally saw site of the ever evasive bridge in Sisterdale with the truck parked under waiting to bring us exhausted women back to Comfort, it was one of the most rewarding things I have put myself through. I was sore for about 3 days, but waiting for the next opportunity to get back on the river...hopefully next time to share the experience with Scott.

of course I couldn't bring my big camera as much as I wanted to, so I settled for disposable cameras....they work better than nothing!

Hill Country landscape.....

2010-09-01T18:10:00.003-05:00

I've never been much interested in landscape, I've never really thought I had the eye for it. Living in the Hill Country has given me the inspiration to see landscape more artistically, so I have been practicing as we take our infamous rode trips. I never use to get Scott to stop or turn around so I could snap a picture of something nice along side of the rode, for no other reason than not wanting to speak up. Now that I am in such a beautiful place I can't help but stop to take pictures. So poor Scott never knows when I will request a u-turn for cool cloud formations, an unusual deer stand or neat sign, but he takes it all in stride. I am lucky he understands my obsession with photography!
These two are in between Van Der Poole and Leakey

This one is close to Garner State park

these two were on a ranch in Campwood

Enchanted Rock

Soccer Mom.....

2010-08-29T16:34:00.004-05:00

I am officially in the club...the soccer mom club! I use to always joke about 'being a soccer mom', not ever against it, but not really thinking I would be doing it.
We have wanted to get kyle involved in something for a while now and at the last minute were able to get him signed up with the local soccer club. This boy was so stinking excited to go to the store to pick out his very own soccer shoes, shin guards(although he though the 'cups' were shin guards) and soccer ball I though he was going to explode! he was a little disappointed when he could get a helmet, I guess we haven't done a good job teaching our sons the difference between sports. Needless to say he tried on his black and blue shoes and insisted on wearing them out of the store!
He is number 2 for the cowboys and had his first game this past Saturday! They play 3v3 at this age, for 2-15 minute quarters. Each group of 3 plays for five minutes and we had the hardest time keeping kyle on the field for his amount of time. Every time he did something or play stopped, he would run to me or Scott for a rest or to give us a hug!!! Otherwise I do think he has perfect personality for this game, he is aggressive and with no real understanding of the game, scored the first goal of his first game!
I went into this very nervous, never having done anything like this before, not knowing what would be involved for me as a parent in a strictly voluntary organization. But found myself volunteering before I know it! I haven't looked forward to anything like this in a long time and am SO excited to be a team mom, to work in the concession stand and help organize weekly parties! I know Scott and I are both looking forward to sitting out in the sweltering sun, the freezing cold and the wind to watch our little budding soccer star have a blast!

~unfortunately photographing sports is not something I have ever done, don't know much about and certainly don't have the equipment for. I gave it my best shot, but with the super bright sun didn't get anything technically great, but personally they are the best photos I have!

the part of the team that was paying attention, walking the line during practice.

K was the first to kick off...

and went straight down the field...

to score his first goal and the first of the game!

running to me for a hug.

him being aggressive...

tree house.....

2010-08-18T21:26:00.003-05:00

I have come to the conclusion that facebook is about the biggest time suck there is on the internet. I refused to make a profile for months and months not wanting to get caught up in all that childish stuff....well I got caught up in it and have almost 200 'friends' to show for it. Some of these people I talk to on a regular basis, some every now and then, others I haven't seen or talked to since high school. Now just because I haven't seen or talked to these people doesn't mean they are not close to my heart, but keeping up with what they are eating for lunch or their mafia wars is not worth taking that time away from my family and my hobby that gets me on the computer anyway and I, by choice, let it take away to much time.
SO I am calling up that little thing called self control and I am stepping away from facebook. I am not going to delete my profile because I do still want to keep in contact, but I will not get on everyday.
The only reason I use to get on the computer when the boys went to bed was to research and study photography. Now when I sit down to the computer after work, when the boys are begging for attention, I let myself get sucked right into facebook, and for what? I rarely do anything with my photography anymore even though that is truly what I love besides my family.
With all this extra time I will have on my hands, I will do art projects with my kiddos after school, play ball with them outside and probably take a few pictures of them! And after bedtime, I will pursue my photography more.

Ok, now off my soapbox of my facebook shortcomings, on with the tree house!

Now anyone that knows Scott and me knows that we do not finish projects! With all the good intentions we just get side tracked with other things. Well scott got a wild hair a few months ago and started the kids a tree house out back. I was a little nervous when he first said something about it- thinking that we would end up with a few hundred bucks of wasted plywood stuck up in a tree somewhere. But he scouted out the perfect spot for this thing, four small trees in a perfect square not to far from the back porch and only a few yards from the deer feeder. Only a few months later believe it or not, with a lot of planning, re-planning, help from the kids and scotts dad it is finished. The thing is even painted. We let the kids pick out the paint for the inside- neon yellow and lime green, I broke out the sewing machine to make them spongebob curtains and it has an enormous red stag antler for the handle that probably weighs more than the kids.
Now if we could just get them to go play in it! I am sure with the weather changing...hopefully soon it will get some use. I imagine it might turn into a deer stand come deer season.

and now for the photogrpahy part:)

B Bar retreat.....

2010-04-02T09:41:00.002-05:00

a girls weekend...just girls...out in the middle of nowhere...NO BOYS...

i was recently invited to tag along to a girls weekend and nearly turned it down because of my anxiety of being around people i don't know, and being away from my family. I have gotten way to dependent on S and the kids and decided that a weekend away would be really good for me and besides i needed to get my camera out without a kid hangin on my leg.

we ate and ate and ate a little more. i made new friends. we ate some more, watched a chick flick that was suppose to be just that a chick flick....i cried like a big fat baby in a room full of practical strangers. me and me friend M walked around the property, a 200 acre sheep ranch taking pictures. we had to keep awayng from a very curiously aggressive sheep. we stayed up late talking girl talk, slept late, played all kinds of fun games. i love games. i love to play games with people i know. the thought of playing games with people i don't know, the chance that i could make a total and complete fool of myself makes me almost go into a panic attack, but i had a blast being a fool. i had fun, relaxed and made new friends.

i missed my boys, I missed Scott and i was exhausted......all in a good weekend!

beautiful snow.....

2010-04-01T22:01:00.003-05:00

i still can't believe we have witnessed snow 3 times in 1 season...in TEXAS! the first 2 times did not stick to anything, but it was still beautiful. this last time we had a nice blanket of snow over everything for a whole day and in some spots for 2 days! the boys were not as excited about it as i was, they were to cold! crazy kids! i took the camera out for a bit and got a few pictures that came out...it is hard to shoot snow out in the cold when you are not used to it:)

bullseye.....

2010-03-28T20:33:00.002-05:00

if it was up to me K would not have anything to do with any guns at this age, but he now has his cousins old bb gun. i was not happy, but he and S really enjoy going out to find cactus and such to shoot at. at first S held it and K just pulled the trigger, but now he holds it himself. And he is actually pretty dang good. he can barely hold the thing up but he can hit what he aims at almost every time! maybe we should get him into one of those redneck shooting contests.....:)

by the river.....

2010-03-28T13:54:00.002-05:00

last month my MIL, SIL, BIL, niece and nephew came to visit, on their way out of town we brought them to the river in town to see how pretty the park is.

for this group shot i climbed up a huge rock, contorted myself in the most uncomfortable position to balance my camera on yet another rock to use the timer...should have brought the tripod! i think there should have also been a video camera to catch me getting off said rock to make it into the picture!

this is T with daddy right after he fell

mean man costume, sharks and seahorses.....

2010-03-28T12:36:00.002-05:00

in the car yesterday on the way to town this is the convo i had with K.....

K: mommy I want a mean man costume.
M: why, K its like 7 months to Halloween and why do you want a mean man costume?
K: Moooommm, i want a mean man costume so i can scare away the sharks and catch a sea horse with my fishing net in the ocean.
M: oh, that makes since.....

seriously, where did that come from?

silly boys.....

2010-03-28T12:06:00.002-05:00

this is what i have to be happy with when i get my camera out...at least they didn't run like they normally do!

enchanted rock.....

2010-03-28T08:56:00.004-05:00

with a picnic packed and walking shoes on we took out on our 45 minute drive to enchanted rock with my sil, bil, niece and nephew. the weather was as near perfect as it could be in mid January to go on an outside adventure. when we left out the sky was clear with a few puffy white clouds, a slight breeze and warm enough for a light long sleeve shirt. it sure never crossed my mind that we should bring along umbrellas, heavy jackets and possibly an anchor!

by the time we paid our entrance to the park and found a place to eat we could see the ominous cloud rolling in. lunch was fun as we had to hold everything down because the wind picked up so much, the rain stared and it turned COLD all in about 20 minutes! we decided to sit the rain out in the car, but finally figured we would not melt, so we scrounged up enough jackets for everyone to wear and headed out to hike!

to make a long story short, it was so windy K and T had a hard time walking by themselves once we got up to the top of the rock and it was SO cold we were all miserable! the way down was better once the rain stopped and the sun came out! it did turn out to be a fun trip, but we are all looking forward to going back when the weather is nicer so we can actually take our time and enjoy the beauty!
these were all taken on the way down....

there are very defined paths that are easy to follow, but we decided to go down the hard way.....:)

sorry stef...just couldn't resist!

Strike.....

2010-03-27T18:07:00.002-05:00

i am just gonna pretend i have not neglected this poor blog because if i do then i will have more of those kind of entries than regular ones, so on to the bowling party we had for K's 4th b-day!

K was gonna be four and i didn't think it would be a real big deal. i certainly wasn't gonna go out of my way to make a big celebration because the other 3 birthdays he could not have cared less. well right before Christmas i made the mistake of mentioning his birthday and the first thing out of his mouth was when his party was and what we were doing! and by mistake i mean that is the only thing i heard about EVERYDAY for nearly 2 months(well besides him reminding me he wanted everything on TV from Santa).
being so far from houston i didn't know what we would do to make it fun for him, i thought about the jumping party but that just didn't seem fun with only 2 other kids that he knows. At the last minute we decided to load up and have a bowling party in Houston with grandparents and cousins. I don't think i have seen him so excited about anything so far and he has never even been to a bowling alley. he and the other kids had such a blast bowling! I thought it might be a disaster with the babies, but they had just as much fun and every one of them did wonderful!

this is a succession of photos to show how excited K got EVERY TIME it was his turn..

T found the air vents on the ball return machine and just hung out there!

project.....

2009-12-13T21:16:00.003-06:00

Scott had the brainy idea the other day to build the boys bunk beds out of ceder from the property. he has no plans to go by, so i guess he is just gonna wing it. so far we have one tree cut down and half way stripped. we will see how long it takes for this project to be complete........if it gets finished it sure is gonna be neat!

more nature.....

2009-12-12T14:00:00.004-06:00

even in such a beautiful place and with a renewed spark for photography when i went on the field trip to lost maples, i just can't get into it. some kind of rut, or un-inspiration, i am not sure, but it makes my stomach hurt to think about not taking pictures. i have been going through a big pity party because i don't like my equipment even though it is fine(just a little dirty) and of course my wish list is a mile long for photography equipment but at the end of the day there are many, many more important things that must and will come before more equipment. well in the wake of my pity party i have posted a few of the nature/landscape picture that i took a while back.....

field trip.....

2009-11-11T21:05:00.003-06:00

i doubt anyone is even attempting to keep up with this sad little blog anymore, i don't blame them, whoever they may be. I love my blog, it is therapeutic to me, but time slips away here in my new life and i haven't found the time to devote to something just for me. so for the sake of me, i will continue to update when time allows.

I had the most awesome opportunity to tag along on a field trip of sorts with a photography club to lost maple state park over the past weekend. this is a club from houston where i attended a total of one meeting last year, despite this and not being a paying member, they happily let me go on the trip since i live so close to the park now. this club is made up of hobbyist and professionals with spouses that gladly go along and share this passion. every one of the amazing people i meet this weekend had a story and a passion, they were so willing to share any knowledge they possessed about the ever learning art of photography. i have never experienced this with photographers before. my past experience with other photographers had, unfortunately, left me very skeptical of spending 2 days with a whole group of them, but they made me see the light that all photogs are not egotistical jerks!!!

i took nearly 500 pictures, which surprised me since i cannot 'see' landscape. landscape photography has never peaked my interest further than admiring someone elses ability to translate it in picture. i treat it as a point and shot opportunity when i see something beautiful, never taking the time to study and interpret . It is hard to interpret something so beautiful in a picture that is in landscape. but this weekend i started to 'see' and be able to tell what i saw in this beauty, i found a zone and really enjoyed my time and possibly a new found passion in my pursuit of learning the art of photography.....

the next picture was on the way back to one of the club members weekend house....the boot fence...with hundreds of worn and tattered boots lining the fence...

park.....

2009-11-01T20:52:00.002-06:00

i tried my hardest to get a few good pictures of the boy this weekend...it did not go as planned. we went to the local park along the Guadalupe river, i let the boys play for quite a long time so they would get it out of their system and to not tease them with the playground, but it still did not work. I was only able to get K to sit still for about 3 picture, only by threatening him with no TorTing!! T wouldn't even come close! here is K.....

county fair.....

2009-10-27T19:48:00.002-05:00

this past weekend we brought the boys to their first county fair. Going to the county fair and carnival is one of my favorite things to do(is there anything better than people watching at the carnival?), unfortunately i haven't been in several years. the boys are at the perfect age to start going and enjoying all that goes on at the fair and what a great way to start getting familiar with the activities in a new town. we watched the lamb show for a while and the pigs, they seemed to enjoy it for the few minutes they sat still. of course they loved the petting zoo, we went in it 4 times! I hope one day they love going and the atmosphere as much as i do. i will have to admit though...the carnival is stinking expensive! on Saturday i charged my batteries, packed a big purse my 2 fav lenses and camera, got to the fair and did not have my camera card. on Sunday, i made sure before we left to go back, that i put the card in my camera. well before we left i took a few pictures of the boys in the bath tib, loaded them in the computer and left it. so of course we get 17 miles away from the house and had to stop at walmart to get yet another card. i have 5 cards, 3 of them have been bought for the same reason, i have got to stop doing that.....

gazzillion.....

2009-10-24T16:49:00.002-05:00

i think that is how many stars we can see now that we are out of the city. when it is clear out, it is just the most amazing thing i have ever seen. being from the city(well close to it), we were lucky to see maybe 5 on any given night. now it is just surreal when you look up into the sky and there are more stars than sky...

this is my very first attempt at photographing the stars....i have a lot practice ahead of me, but it wasn't a total bust for my first time. first thing i need to do different is make sure there are not power lines above me:)!!!
this one was 30 sec exposure....

this one is almost a 5 min exposure.....

now keep in mind that i did not take an extreme measures for composition(hence the power lines) or focus, i just wanted see if i could actually get stars to show up..i was very surprised.

scenery.....

2009-10-22T19:04:00.002-05:00

just two of the scenery pictures i have take....

these are not even a good example of what make this area so beautiful. There are what amounts to me as mountains, but are actually huge hills everywhere. Tons of rocks, i am actaully not sure if there is much top soil here...everything is rocks. we found out it is impossible to dig a hole more that 2 inches! i just can't even begin to describe...i willhave to start taking pictures.....

Zion.....

2009-10-22T18:52:00.002-05:00

one of the hardest decision we had to make with the move was putting the kids in the care of someone other than my sister. the thought of putting them in school(daycare, but saying school makes me feel so much better) just made me sick and i almost decided to stay in Houston, But i finally realized it would be really good for them. Zion children's center, part of the Zion Lutheran Church, came with really good recommendations from several people. My friend here has two of her children there and knows all of the staff so i felt comfortable. the first several weeks were hard on me, but i kept reminding myself they will benefit so i got over it. K LOVED it from the first day, but T on the other hand is JUST NOW getting use to it. last week he finally started to participated and be more social.. I am really so proud of them and look forward to their smiling faces and excited hugs when i pick them up! T has actually not been at school all this week because he woke up with the flu monday morning...poor baby! I am sure monday morning is not going to be fun.....

a picture of the boys on the first day of school

hooked up.....

2009-10-22T16:11:00.003-05:00

finally after a month and a half of no Internet service, i got hooked up this morning and couldn't wait to blog!!! I doubt anyone is even attempting to keep up with this blog, but if anyone is, we moved to the hill country(near Kerrville) on labor day weekend. We moved a lot sooner than we thought, but the boys and i could not handle living apart from scott any longer, so we made the decision to let the house sell on its own and get on with our new lives here. We are currently renting a place on 10+ wooded acres, the kids have started school for the first time and are adjusting well, I am getting the hang of being in a new lab after 12 years being in the same one in houston, and scott...well scott gets to see deer EVERDAY so we all know he is in his own kind of heaven. We go hiking in the woods often and the boys love it, T has had to come to terms with all the stickers(cactus) and K begs to go scorpion hunting. We are always driving around because it is just so damn beautiful around here and i just can't get enough(it is sometimes hard to believe we have been blessed with the chance to be somewhere so beautiful) I have not gotten use to driving on the hills nor have i gotten un-car sick...bummer! I have also, as unbelievable as it is, not had my camera out much. I do have a few pictures to share and hopefully soon I will make more of an effort to get some landscape shots of a place i find so great.
the view out of our backdoor

also out of our backdoor

thing we are having to get use to

the boys playing in the dry creek that runs through our place, it rained for about 3 days straight, so water ran through it for a few hours

T meeting the neighbor goat on one of our walks

one of our neighbors...thats a whole other blog post(if you look closely you can see his pistol and quick re-loads on his belt. one of my fav pictures of all time....

the boys feeding the deer, a daily ritual now

sad day.....

2009-09-03T08:46:00.003-05:00

today is officially my last day at Champions Crown and Bridge. I started working for Chris in May of 1997, answering phones. I was never an 'answer the phone' sort of gal so that only lasted a few weeks before I had my nose in other things learning the ropes to be a dental lab technician. I knew I loved the dental field and had it all planned out to be a dental hygienist. I did not take long before I realized my career was in the lab. I love to be creative and work with my hands....I had just lucked upon my dream job with a dream boss. This job and my co-workers have seen me through lab tech school, marriage, 2 children and just basically growing up. So I not just leaving a job, i really feel like I am leaving a family. I will miss my co-workers tremendously and my boss more than I can imagine. But, it is time to move on to other dreams, which I think will be just as great.

beach.....

2009-08-20T08:09:00.002-05:00

We brought the boys to the beach again a few weeks ago, they love it so much! I can't imagine what they would think if they actually got to see a pretty beach and not a nasty mud hole, but that is besides the point! We really enjoy getting to the beach later in the evening so we can enjoy it without dying of heat stroke and not getting the sunburn to go along with it, and there is the plus of watching the sunset on the beach!!!!

this time we pushed our luck and because of bad traffic, got there RIGHT before dark, i had push my camera its limits to get the few shots i got so they are very grainy and on the dark side. The sunset picture is exactly what it looked like, i used my tripod, along with a long exposure so the colors would be true. Now you see how orange it is, well it made all my other picture wonky orange colored even with a custom white balance, hence the B&W!!!

time flies.....

2009-08-14T16:34:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I woke up this morning and my baby was TWO. I am sad. I know he is my last and it is just flying by way to fast, it seems as though I just brought him home from the hospital. well, it hasn't flown by as quickly as it did with k, but I know with T, he is my baby and I will never see this age or another 2 year old party again, so it makes it worse. here are a few pictures I was able to catch last Sunday. I took about 50 pictures of him and because he moves so dang fast these are the only ones with decent focus. With him, composition is not even worth fretting about, so I just click and get what I get. I have realized looking at old photo's of me, it isn't the focus or composition that makes a good photo, it's everything in the background I can recognize and the fact that someone took the time to take a picture and keep it that makes everyone of them special. So I am keeping that in mind when I am snapping away at the kids, not to erase anything unless it is unrecognizably bad! enough rambling and on with the pictures.....
can you give me a smile, t???

where is your mouth, T?

can you show me you nose??

I thought that would be a good one in a few years.....

help me pick.....

2009-08-04T10:14:00.002-05:00

I will be the first to admit I can't take a good landscape/architectural shot to same my life, I just don't have the eye for it, but what is worst is that I never know how to edit them.
My mom requested I take a photo of this old barn, it is neat, but I just can't seem to do it justice. So here are a few of my attempts at editing it, help me pick and if you have any suggestions please let me know!

SOOC-it's a little dark, all I did was resize/sharpen for the web

color pop

wash

warm

B&W

snapshot randomness.....

2009-08-03T08:55:00.004-05:00

I am finally getting to some of the random shots I have taken of the boys over the last few months....where has the time gone?

yes, we are teaching him good manners!

He was so excited when he learned how to do back flips off the trapeze bar he called me at work to tell me!!!

you think this sucker is big enough???????

T wanted to play with the worms so bad, but he was just to scared of them, he is so funny!!

****disclaimer**** these are quick resize/sharpen for the web and uploaded small for time, sorry they look so funky.......

baby bump.....

2009-07-26T08:44:00.002-05:00

check out my sneak peeks blog.....
http://justlivinsneakpeeks.blogspot.com/

down on the farm.....

2009-07-10T15:06:00.002-05:00

I am so far behind on editing or even uploading my photos it seems like I will never get through them.
We went to the farm with my BIL & SIL several weeks ago and I am just now getting around to the pictures. this was the best trip we have had in a long time because T is getting bigger and not so dependent. I think he actually had the most fun having so much room to just run around. He got to ride on his 4-wheeler and the big 4-wheeler, not sure which he liked better!
K was in heaven because he could be outside all day, throwing the football, eating watermelon, playing in the sprinkler and of course riding on the 4-wheeler! he gets to drive the big 4-wheeler with daddy on it, he thinks he is just to big for his britches! we did have to start taking precaution when turning off the 4-wheelers, leaving them in gear because he was caught starting it and putting it in gear with no one on it with him. his Aunt S caught him driving off, it scared her and I am pretty sure she scared the poo out of him:)!!!! That was definitely an eye opener to NEVER take your eyes off the kiddos!
K and T got to pick fresh veggies out of the garden, they thought it was pretty cool to be able to eat the corn right there! I don't think I have ever tasted corn so good, and it wasn't even cooked yet. That was the best meal that night, fresh picked corn, fresh picked black-eyed peas and chickens BBQ by my SIL's dad. YUMMY! The boys were sad to leave the wide open-ness of the farm, but hopefully we will have something close one day in Kerrville......

vacation.....

2009-07-09T22:53:00.002-05:00

i am on vacation this week. a much needed vacation. Me and the boys just got back form Kerrville after 4 days. other than it being SO.FREAKING.HOT. we had a wonderful time, but we are glad to be back in the comforts of our own home and not a stuffy motel room. two little boys can get pretty wild when couped up for to long in an unfamiliar place!
Unfortunately we left S there, he started his job on Monday, I think other than missing us(and being uncomfortable staying with near strangers) he likes the job. I did not want to leave my friends I have there, we had such a nice time visiting, I just can't wait to move up there so we can all spend more time hanging out in such a beautiful place.

our house had been on the market now for a little over a week and had shown a handful of times, I just keep praying any time I get a chance that we will be blessed with a fast sell. I want to get up there with S so bad, I know if the house doesn't sell quick, he won't last long at that job and that makes me very nervous. he is willing to sacrifice a little, but not for months on end, besides I don't think we will be able to afford the gas for him to come home every weekend! I do already miss him!!! I guess absents really does make the heart grow fonder.....

it is still so wierd to see the sign in the front yard and the lock box on the door.....
">

isn't this the best substitute for curtains you have ever seen? this is our bathroom, that is in front of the fence, so we had to have something until S had a chance to hang the new blinds! at least it was on the side of the house the old, nosey hag lives:)(did I just say that????)

slip n slidin'.....

2009-07-05T11:11:00.002-05:00

we got this modified slip n slide for the boys so T could swim at the bottom and K could slide. It is funny that it worked out that exact way, T hates to slide down it and K LOVES it!! The unfortunate thing is, is that it takes FOREVER to blow up!!!

the poor kids look white as ghosts because they were freezing cold!! this was about 2 months ago when it was just warm enough to even think about playing in the water!!

a new adventure.....

2009-06-10T10:19:00.004-05:00

anyone that knows Scott and I, knows how much we have always wanted to live in the hill country, preferably Kerrville. The country side there is SOOO beautiful, there is so much to do outside and of course there is the perk of great hunting for Scott. I have a few really good friends that live in Kerrville that I meet in college and they have been begging us for years to move. It really has never been an option because of the work Scott is in, so we never gave it more that 'I wish' response. I do, however have a standing place of employment at anytime just waiting for me. About a year ago Scott had a job lead he never followed up on because, unfortunately I was to scared to make the decision to leave.

A few weeks ago one of my friends there gave birth to her 4 child, so we loaded up on a Sunday morning and drove 4 hours to see her and the baby. The baby is so beautiful, btw! During a conversation with one of my other Friends there, Scott mentioned the possible job from a year ago, so Shelby got on the phone and Scott had an impromptu job interview the very next morning. The guy basically told Scott he could have the job as soon as we could sell our house. I was reeling.....just a quick trip to see a baby has possibly changed our lives!!!

So, now we are in the process of fixing up our poorly taken care of house to get it on the market in the next week....WOW. We have broken the news to our parents and my boss, which, both were very hard to do. The decision was not easy, we will be leaving basically the only place we have known and ALL of our family, not to mention my awesome job. I think the trade off will be such a wonderful change that we need, something fresh and completely different to give our lives the little added juice to get out of a rut, which has caused us a pretty rough year. All of the decision making and excitement of moving to our dream place does not compare to the excitement that I feel because I am doing this with Scott(and of course the kids). I love him so much and can't imagine taking this adventure with anyone else, we will be in our dream place together......

I have the boys signed up for school, which was also a hard choice to make seeing they have never been with anyone other than my sister, but again, I think it will be so good for them. WOW!! like I said before, anyone that knows us, knows what an awesome opportunity this is! I am praying everything works out and it is in the plans for us to be in our dream place now, if anyone wants to send positive thoughts and/or prayers that it all works we would greatly appreciate it!!!!

This is a few photos of the boys at the local park in Kerrville....we were suppose to stop quickly, let them dip their toes in the water, leave and go eat. well that did not happen......

out to the ball game.....

2009-05-28T12:02:00.002-05:00

this past Sunday S brought K to his very first Astro's game. K was super excited when we told him daddy was bringing just him to the game, he made sure he could bring his baseball glove. it is a cheesy cloth glove, but his non-the-less and it was all his idea to bring it, that kinda shocked me! I think S was a little embarrassed to have his son carrying a play glove, so he bought him a real leather glove at the stadium, along with a small souvenir bat for K and T. K hung in there longer than I thought, all the way to the 7th inning. He had reason, all the ladies around him were giving him candy and peanuts....I guess that is not a smart lesson to teach him......i will just chalk it up to him already being a flirt...ugh

these were taken with a very old P&S.

hand-me-downs.....

2009-05-24T20:19:00.004-05:00

**************taken******************************************************************

I have 9 bags of boys clothes, ranging from preemie to 18 months. If anyone that lives close needs them or knows someone that needs them, come and get 'em! I will keep them for a week, then after that they are going to the woman's shelter drop off box. Please e-mail if you know it or leave me a comment.

Galveston.....

2009-05-22T08:53:00.005-05:00

partly out of curiosity, but mostly because i love to go to the coast, we went on a very last minute trip to Galveston on mothers day. I was pleasantly surprised at the progress the residents have made since hurricane Ike. from what I could tell over half of the shops were open on the strand, tons of houses were already done or in the process of remodel and lots of shops and restaurants were open on the seawall.
I think if you had never heard of the hurricane, you would probably not notice anything out of the ordinary at first glance. the beaches off the seawall needed quite a bit of work, but we did not see real signs of destruction until we went across the ferry to Bolivar. It was encouraging to see that as much damage we saw, there were signs of that much rebuilding.
We had a great time on the beach, the boys had a much better time than I had anticipated, and now K begs us practically everyday to go back to the beach. hopefully we can get back soon!

as soon as we passed over the bridge to the island we started to look for signs of how high the water got, this was marked on a building on the strand.

when i saw this, I knew I had to pull over a get a picture, probably one of my favorites. it was in a field with piles and piles of debris from the storm on Bolivar

this totally made me grin!

snakes on a .....bike

2009-05-22T08:36:00.002-05:00

okay, so that was lame and it was only only one snake but K had a snake stuck in the chain guard of his bike the other day. We were all getting ready to go for a bike ride when I heard Scott tell K to get off of his bike, I wondered why, but did not get concerned until I heard S tell him again in a pretty stern voice to get off again. That got my attention so I looked over at K as he was riding his bike down the sidewalk and saw a snake dangling from the chain guard.
I was totally freaked out, but not freaked out enough to miss the photo op!! Of course K wanted to play with it, but as you can imagine it was darn pissed off because the chain caused some pretty bad damage to the poor thing. S pulled it out with K's robot hand and we continued on our bike ride...we check everything in the garage extra careful now.....

bike riding.....

2009-04-26T21:25:00.002-05:00

finally, after months of (almost) begging and wondering if K would ever ride a bike, he decided to give it a serious try. We are not sure why it took so long, we even brought him to toys r us twice to pick out his own, the first time he came home with a trash truck, the second time he came home with a $10 robot hand. He just had NO interest. I don't know what did it, but whatever it was, it turned him into a bike ridin' fool! The best part is he LOVES his helmet. I think he actually likes his helmet more than his bike! And, of course, he is just thrilled to death when he can talk us into letting him ride his bike in the street, which he knows is a VERY big treat!

the coast continued.....

2009-04-01T10:23:00.002-05:00

scott and i LOVE to take road trips, so this kind of trip is perfect for us. just a couple hours away, and we get to spend a fun weekend together. of course with the boys, our spontaneous road trips pretty much came to a halt, until now. they are both getting to the point that we can do anything with them now, and we love to! scott and i were both really looking forward to this trip this year because K is interested in fishing now and can really participate in the guy stuff, and T is getting big enough to really understand and have fun also. K could not have had more fun, he loves his cousin G so much and G is SO good with him. they just hang out and play all day! T got a lot of mommy time which i think he really needed! Scott got to do a little fishing, even though nothing was biting and i got to get my camera out for the first time in a while. we had a great time with Kim and Clint, the kids and Kim's grandmother. That is one feisty lady, she is hilarious!! can't wait until next year......

this is the fish with the teeth

kim's grandmother was the only one brave enought to get this close to measure the crab while the guys were off fishing!

K helping check the crab traps
these are a few from the beach.....

down at the coast.....

2009-04-01T10:07:00.003-05:00

for the last three years we have joined Scott's cousin, with his family along with Scott's brother, and his family on a weekend trip to the coast to fish. this year my BIL and SIL, niece and nephew couldn't make it, but it was still a wonderful weekend getaway. this is the first time we have gone and the weather was nice, so the boys got a lot of outside and beach time!! i have only gone through a few of the hundreds of pictures i took, these are a few of the detail pictures.......

K had a blast helping G & H check the crab traps!!

this is a sheep head fish. first of all, i had no idea there was a fish called a sheep head, so when the guys were talking about a sheep head....i thought they were really talking about a SHEEP HEAD and could not figure out why you would use a sheep head as bait.....yes its embarrassing.....
second, i was completely fascinated by the fact that this fish had teeth just like a human, who knew??? you can bet i won't be swimmin' around in that water!!!!!!

pitter patter.....

2009-03-30T10:02:00.003-05:00

Sorry I have been gone so long, my heart has not really been into keeping up. this picture is from several weeks ago when we went fishing in Sargent,Tx. I uploaded the pictures to the computer last night and figured i would share this one, because OMGosh, can you believe this boy????? I was tempted to clean up his face in photoshop, but figured, it's him, so i left the mess.

I will share more later this week.

glass of water.....

2009-03-26T13:31:00.002-05:00

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, 'How heavy is this glass of water ? ' Answers called out ranged from 8oz. To 20oz. The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.

'If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.' 'In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes. '

He continued, 'And that's the way it is with stress management. 'If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. ' 'As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. '

So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work/life down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow.' 'Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy! '

And then he shared some ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
1 * Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
2 * Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
3* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
4 * Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker.
5* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
6 * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
7 * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
8 * Never buy a car you can't push.
9* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
10* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
11* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
12 * The second mouse gets the cheese.
13 * When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
14* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
15* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
16 * Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once
17 * We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box. 18* A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour. Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today .

its official.....

2009-02-20T17:56:00.004-06:00

http://www.justlivinphotography.com/ is here!!! This is the main reason I have not been blogging much, it took all of my computer time to get the site just the way I wanted it. So, please take a look and let me know what you think!

You will also notice on the splash page, a new blog. It is a blog I set up special for clients to have a sneak peeks at their pictures before I finish editing all of them.

title change.....

2009-02-14T15:15:00.001-06:00

so i went ahead and named my little photo business just livin' photography. i almost have my website complete, so i figured i needed to change the name of my blog. i will put a link to the website soon.......

what am i?.....update

2009-02-14T15:09:00.003-06:00

okay, this big ol' dude has taken up residence in our backyard. i would really like to know what is making such an equally big mess out of everything under the tree! please let me know if you know what kind if bird this is!!

*Scott contacted a very nice lady on the internet that let us know it is a black-crowned night-heron, common to this area.*

Engagement.....

2009-02-14T15:05:00.005-06:00

sorry i have been away so long, hopefully i still have a few people check out the blog.

two weeks ago i had my first session of the year, it was a very nice couple getting married in may. they definitely made the day great, i wish i could go to Kentucky to photograph the wedding. good luck and have fun guys!

Sick day.....

2009-01-28T17:01:00.003-06:00

unfortunately my sister, who keeps the boys during the week is sick, so i get to stay home today. It was such a good day, usually these unexpected days don't go very smooth, but today was great!!!

we painted, which lead to a bubble bath, then K wanted a race track! please excuse my poor drawing, but that's what you get spare of the moment!

Sorry for the small pictures, i did not feel like going thru the rigmarole of hosting them in photobucket then putting them here! lazy and i have kids under feet!

bye, bye curls.....

2009-01-25T20:42:00.002-06:00

Saturday was rough. we finally made the decision to cut T's curls off. he was headed towards the dreaded mullet stage and as much as i DID.NOT. want to cut his hair, i WILL.NOT. let my beautiful child walk around with a mullet.
i tried to get a cute picture of his hair beforehand, but he has gotten as bad as K with my camera. i did snip off a curl before we left the house, so i have that.
this is the same place we got K's first hair cut, and he sat in the same little car, but this time i cried, you would have thought i would have been more emotional with K, but there is just something about curls on a little boy. and i also know that they will probably NEVER grow back.

choosing a name....

2009-01-14T13:13:00.004-06:00

i have been so wishy-washy about choosing a name for my photography business, so i need your help! i have narrowed it down to two, so please vote on the above poll. if you have any comments or suggestions, please leave them here....

if just livin' wins, i will use 'life through the lens' for marketing as well.

Thanks anyone that votes!

p.s. do you or anyone you know design logo's???? i need one!

a tribute.....update at bottom

2008-12-31T15:14:00.004-06:00

i always look forward to setting up and trimming the Christmas tree every year around thanksgiving. of course, this year was especially exciting because the boys helped. believe it or not we only had a few casualties(the good ornaments were on the top half of the tree!) although by the first of the year i am read to have all the Christmas decorations put away, but i am always sad to put up the ornaments and the tree. so here is one last tribute to our fading memory of the 2008 tree.....

*i had several e-mails and a comment asking how i took this image. thanks to a girl, Bobbi, over at 2peas, i was able to get this image quite easily!

-put lens on manual focus
-ISO around 800
-all lights off except Christmas tree lights
-settings, f/2.8, 1/30th
first i messed around with the focus until the lights were as 'blurred' as i wanted. then i metered the light and took the picture. i know i had a very slow shutter speed, but believe it or not, i hand held my camera for this shot!
my post processing was very simple, i did not do any contrast or color adjustments. i only added a texture(with a border), set on a very low opacity.

lessons....

2008-12-26T15:27:00.005-06:00

this being the first year that K really knew what was going on, we really went all out to make Christmas morning magical. oh, boy did we learn some good lessons!

never, under any circumstances, will i by dollar spot wrapping paper, EVER AGAIN.
buy batteries BEFORE Christmas morning,DUH???(yes, we where the idiots at walgreens on thursday morning buying a gazillion dollars worth of batteries)
manufactures packaging, well....SUCKS.
one child will only like what the other child is opening at the moment, and fighting will ensue.
'indestructible' toys will break.
the gifts you think they will love the most, won't be.
relax, nothing will work out like you had in your mind, it will be better:)

we had such a great day! Santa left behind a huge mess, foot prints all over the house and crumbs from the cookies everywhere. he stuffed the stockings and left great gifts for the kids. i made lunch for my parents, then visited with Scott's family. it was a tad overwhelming for the kids and they got grumpy by nights end, but all in all it was amazing! i hope everyone's Christmas was the same. Now, for new years........

top five(or so) of '08.....

2008-12-24T14:43:00.002-06:00

the photoboard community i participate in, 2peas, has a year end tradition of picking your favorite 5 pictures of the year. there is now way i could narrow it down to 5, so you are going to get 7, and even this is not all i wanted to include!

these are just a few personal ones i thought i would throw in....

a name.....

2008-12-17T21:21:00.002-06:00

okay, so i am getting everything in order to have a real business. i am trying to get a website built and paperwork done to make this photography thing official. but, i am missing one important piece of the puzzle..... A NAME!

so, if anyone has anything good, let me know! if i use the name you come up with, and you live in my area, i will give you your choice of a free photo session or a $15.00 Starbucks gift card. if you live out of the area, you will get the Starbucks gift card.

my full name is Jennifer Anne Marcus. i was thinking of using J. Marcus photography, but i am not sure. i am not opposed to using my name in anyway, but thought i would try and find something different/unique.

hopefully someone can come up with something good!!!!

the 'T' boys.....

2008-12-17T21:03:00.003-06:00

this was definitely a learning experience, trying to get 3 very active boys to be in the same vicinity of each other and the camera at the same time, whoo! they are so sweet and very photogenic! the boy in blue DID.NOT. want his picture taken at first, but by the time we finished he was begging me for one more shot and giving me some good poses! can't wait to shoot them again, maybe with mom and dad next!

gettin' the christmas spirit.....

2008-12-15T20:01:00.004-06:00

last week i was suffering from the major humbug's. I was trying really hard to get in the spirit for the sake of the boys, so i had a few things planned. we had already trimmed the tree and put up lights outside, and that helped, but i needed more interactive things to do with K & T. about the middle last week we came home and got dinner cooked right away, ate and got started building a ginger bread choo choo. the perfect thing for K! the poor boy could not eat the icing fast enough. T was a little jealous, but he got to spend time With daddy while me and K built the train. it took all of 5 minutes for K to lose interest and just want to eat the candy, that was okay, i still had fun. when we finished with that we bundled the kids up to go drive around looking at lights. we walked out to the best snow storm Houston has seen in a long time!!!! it was a completely magical night! we where able to get a few snow balls, T loved eating the snow and K got to catch snowflakes on his tongue! they liked it, but i think i was more excited than anyone, that helped so much to see the snow and it be the first time the kids got to experience it!

early '09 resolution.....

2008-12-14T21:44:00.002-06:00

tonight i had to finally put my foot down and made a decision. we are a family that no longer eats fast food. i hate it. it is disgusting, unhealthy, expensive, overrated, and a sorry excuse for food that is suppose to fuel our bodies, not make it fat and unhealthy, right?
now, i know this is not logical, but on the way to the grocery store tonight, we stopped to grab something convenient at sonic. first of all i was taken aback when i realized how greasy little T's grilled cheese was, but i feed it to him anyway, because i did get him a string cheese instead of french fries, which cancels out the grease....right?
Then i was about half way through my burger, when i got the same weird headache i always get when i eat fried or greasy food, i thought i was going to vomit if i took another bite, so i through it away and announced to the people in the car that this would be the last trip this carwould be making to fast food. no more, i just can stomach the thought of eating another fast food burger or taco again.
before i had K, i always thought to myself that i was not going to feed my kids this way. so unhealthily, in the car, and in a rush. S and i have had a long love affair with the drive through and you can tell by the sizes of clothes that hang in our closet. i do not want our kids to take after us, so we stop now.
i actually enjoy cooking, its the grocery shopping that gets me in trouble(well and the cleaning up afterwards, but that is whole different subject). i need to get on a schedule, get my hind end to the grocery store regularly and cook for my family. now, i just have to find some good recipes.........anyone got some they want to share?
Stef, you better pick it up a little on your food blog.

on a side note, i really don't like to post without pictures, but i have so many i am overwhelmed and so is my poor, poor computer. over the Christmas holidays i plan on cleaning up, organizing and backing up all my files so my system runs a little faster. until then i may only be posting old stuff.

the 'B' family.....

2008-12-12T11:41:00.003-06:00

this was the first time shoot complete stranges. cynthia saw the pictures i took for kim and the kids, and liked them enough to contact me. i was so nervous, as always, but it went so good! i had a blast with them, and can you even believe how beautiful they are? she was born to be in front of the camera!!!!

HOLY COW.....

2008-12-10T15:04:00.007-06:00

it's freaking snowing outside....in HOUSTON ,TX!!!! i am not kidding, yesterday at this exact same time i was outside in Capri's and a short sleeve shirt, such is the weather in Texas!!!!

it was sleeting a few minutes ago and now it really is snowing. the ground is not cold enough for it to stick, but hey, i will take what i can get!!!

sorry, no pictures*gasp*, but i am at work....shhhhh!

up in smoke.....

2008-12-10T13:28:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago, what seemed to be the opportunity of a lifetime came my way. The owner of the Houston Oaks Country club and golf course saw the engagement and wedding pictures I took of Mellissa and Roger Bonanno at the country club. They were interested in using my pictures for advertisement and then asked if I was interested in being the photographer for their all inclusive wedding package.

You can only imagine how flattered I was to hear they liked my work that much! I thought LONG and HARD about that kind of commitment with the boys being so young and decided to decline the offer of being the only photographer for this package. However, we did talk about setting up an appointment after the first of the year to talk about me being on a list of preferred photographers that they recommend if a bride asks and to talk about them using my images of M&R for their advertisement.

I got a very unfortunate phone call last night telling me that the facility burned down over this weekend(http://www.houstonoaks.com/golf/proto/houstonoaks/documents/firememo.pdf) luckily no one was injured in the fire, I am very saddened for the owners, employees of HOCC and the future wedding parties that were scheduled. I am also bummed about the loss of the possibility of photographing weddings at that location. Hopefully when they get rebuilt, up and running my opportunity will not be lost. Until then, I will keep trudging along, learning and getting better, so when another opportunity comes my way, I will be even more experienced!

the promised update and some snapshots.....

2008-12-05T15:04:00.004-06:00

wow- i can't believe we have been so busy, but haven't really done much, KWIM? just a little of what has been going on. we had a wonderful, relaxing thanksgiving at my parents house with my sister and her family. the kids really got into and enjoyed the new tradition of decoration nonnie and pops Christmas tree after thanksgiving dinner. we started doing it 2 years ago, but they have been to young still to really get it. my dad also bought a nice Lionel train that runs around the tree, k thinks that is the best thing in the world, next to his.

T FINALLY decided to walk last week, i still can't believe it took so long. he is already a champ and thinks he can run! He is also getting mean or i guess i should say, defensive. he is the smallest, but is not going to let ANYONE walk over him, i have to say i am proud of him! T and K already fight, i have had to start breaking them up. for as small as T is, he DOES NOT give into k!

I have been keeping busy with photography. I am enjoying it so much and learning more than i thought i could. i am getting the stuff rolling on becoming legal and getting a website. it is scary, but i love it so much, it just feels right. i know i am going to have to grow some thick skin, i always worry SO much that my clients are not going to like my work, it drives me crazy. i guess because it doesn't matter how much i improve, i can ALWAYS go back and find something i could have done different, i know we are our own worst critic!

s is keeping busy, getting more and more work for his business. hopefully it will pay off this year!

he is certainly enjoying this hunting season, he harvested a nice whitetail and a Sika buck. It is just to bad that hunting season is right in the middle of the best part of the year and he is gone for so many weekends. although i don't mind that he hunts, it is just hard to plan fun holiday things around all the hunting weekends.

here are a few snapshots from recently.....

Yes, the first picture is T in the toilet, he was sitting all the way down, but by the time i could get my camera, he stood up.

the others are at the Dewberry farm, it was cold and windy, but the kids had a blast. i relinquished my photographic duties that day and let s take all the pictures with the P&S, it was nice!

an update....soon

2008-12-04T20:41:00.002-06:00

sorry it has been awhile, an update is coming soon! hope anyone is still reading!

gorgeous.....

2008-11-25T23:33:00.003-06:00

i had the pleasure of shooting a long time friend of S's and his gorgous family on their property. just look at those eyes, they are amazing!!!

i can tell such an improvement each and every time i go on a shoot, with my confidence and technically. i got practically perfect SOOC exposure on these, i was so happy because i need almost NO post-processing! now i need to work on getting creative and thinking outside the box with posing, any suggestions?

an apology.....

2008-11-22T15:57:00.004-06:00

i know this won't mean as much as the actually thank you card that i owe so many, but i will write this regardless.
i think writing thank you cards(and teaching my children to write them) are very important, especially in this day and age of technological disconnect, but i have failed miserable. My MIL so graciously through T his first birthday party back in August(ages ago, as far as i am concerned) and i have not sent out one single thank you card. i have written about half of them, but now i am embarrassed to send them out because it has taken so long.
i know it is such an inconvenience to take out the time to shop for a gift and then spend part of a hard earned weekend at a child's birthday, and i appreciate it so much that my family and friends do that for us.
so to all those that read this and i owe you a thank you....... thank you.

choo, choo.....

2008-11-21T23:22:00.003-06:00

Debra, my mil, brought the boys to garden ridge the other day to pick out an ornament for the Christmas tree. well, we were only there for 5 minutes when the Santa express train caught K's eye, needless to say that is what he got, and he lets EVERYONE know about it! we have already had to get it out several time so he can play with it, he is going to drive me crazy with the thing until i give in a put up the Christmas tree way early.

i took these pictures very late the night he got it, so with it very dark outside and inside, the light was a challenge. i decided though, as i was processing them, not to change them. i could have lightened them, changed the color cast, cropped and sharpened, but these are sooc, i figured they where not that bad and a true representation of him playing with it the first time.

beautiful family.....

2008-11-19T23:15:00.005-06:00

i had the pleasure of shooting this beautiful family last weekend, can you get any more precious? We took these pictures in front of a local neighborhood, Rock Creek.
probably my fave....

now i know i am not the first, nor will i be the last to take an image like this, but it is one of my favorites and i find myself going there all the time! it just works so well.

red, please.....

2008-11-16T16:45:00.003-06:00

i loved kool-aid when i was growing up and i loved cherry. to be more specific i loved black cherry flavored kool-aid. i have never made K kool-aid before, but i had some in the pantry, so when he was begging for juice today, kool-aid saved the day. cherry flavored non-the-less!! he loved helping me spoon a whole cup full of sugar in that tiny pitcher that would be filled up with water and more colored sugar, just what a little boy that refuses to take a nap needs, right? so, today, i got to see my little man with his first red stained, kool-aid mustache!

full moon.....

2008-11-13T20:50:00.007-06:00

after much research i was able to go out and get a decent picture of the latest full moon. i would much prefer a picture of a half moon or smaller, but when i saw this big, beautiful thing hanging there in the sky, i had to give it a try. hopefully the next time there is a tiny sliver of moon, the sky will be nice.

*ETA* i was asked to explain how i took this shot....here goes!
i had my camera mounted on a tripod,it is hard for me to hand hold when this lens is zoomed all the way.
i had my zoom lens set to infinity(300mm for this lens).
ISO @ 100 & 200
Aperture @ 5.6
tested the shutter speed between 1/125 and 1/500. i think this picture is ss 1/500.(i will go back and check later)

i think it is a common mis-conception that you need a long shutter speed to get a picture of the moon because it is dark out. but remember the sun is reflecting off of it and it really is brighter than you think. if you use a long shutter speed it will just be a big ball of white, trust me it happened last time i tried, hence the research! good luck, i hope to see some of yours soon.

don't fence me in.....

2008-11-11T21:55:00.003-06:00

my boys don't like to be couped up in the house for more that an hour, ever. so i am sure you can imagine how the last two yucky days have been. they beg and scream at the door to go outside and play, really if you were my neighbor, you would think i was torturing them.
my mom finally opened up the blinds on Monday afternoon so t could at least see daylight. he had more fun playing in that dirty, nasty windowsill. i guess as long as they can see that outside is still there and hasn't gone anywhere, they are fine! when i saw t's eyes pop up behind the couch i couldn't resist getting this shot, bad or not! excuse the wonky colors and dirty windows.....

true love.....

2008-11-07T22:48:00.001-06:00

i am not sure i will ever have it in me to bill myself as a wedding photographer, but this day was A LOT of fun! thanks M & R for this opportunity.

<
<
<
<

2008-11-04T22:23:00.001-06:00

i just want to cry.

fall back.....

2008-11-04T08:46:00.001-06:00

there are just no nice words to describe how much i dislike daylight savings time.

just sayin'

momma's helper.....

2008-11-02T22:27:00.004-06:00

these are from way back on july and i have just gotten around to looking at them! i do remember having a lot of fun and a lot of mess with K that day! he loves to help me cook!

yummy.....

clean up.....

taste test.....

i sure wish i had some, nice warm cookies and cold glass of milk right about now!!

siblings.....

2008-11-02T08:18:00.003-06:00

i shot these pictures for Kim, as a trade off for swim lessons(awesome, thank you!). i know i had fun, but garrett was a little less than thrilled to be in front of the camera! Hailey was a good sport and we got quite a few good shots! and the red hair, can you ask for anything better?

biker dude.....

2008-10-30T14:01:00.003-05:00

after 4 stores and no luck, S went into Walgreen's to get milk and found the biker costume for K. it is not exactly what i had in mind, but doesn't he look SO cute? this is also the only costume he would let get close enough to him for us to try it on. he liked looking at the costumes, but DID.NOT. want them on him! silly goof! hopefully Friday night i can get some better pictures and a good one of our little stinker, T!

hey strangers.....

2008-10-29T16:57:00.003-05:00

oh my, it feels like it has been forever since i updated. i don't have many photo's to share, but we have been a little busy!

t is still crab crawling, although he has been standing on his own and last Wednesday took three steps, but that was the end of that! we have been trying to get him off his last bottle of the evening and it has proven to be A LOT harder than i thought! with K it was one night and that was all. T is having NO part in parting ways with his night, night bottle!

K...well he is K! he is so funny, serious, emotional and dramatic all rolled into one! he is quite fun to be around that's for sure!

S is about to explode waiting for Friday to be over so he can head to the deer lease for opening weekend! i am happy he has some place to go hunt and is excited about it!

i survived the wedding and had a blast. i am not sure if i will bill myself as a wedding photographer, but i would love to find a pro to second shoot with at weddings. i think it would be fun and i could learn a lot! i am also scouting out a mentor for photography, so if anyone that reads this can point me in the right direction here in Houston, i would appreciate it! i am also going forward with portfolio building and taking the steps to being 'legal' and setting up a business. it is a lot of work and organization, but i think i will like it!

here are a few shots i took as sort-of a therapy. in my quest to perfect my photography i forget to capture the fun snapshots of life, and when i did, i deleted them because they where not 'perfect'. i have started to realize i need to get all the playing and mess. so the other night while we all played tractors, i got out the camera, flash and all and just started clicking and kept everything, no matter the exposure, focus, composition or the flashy-ness! so here they are for the world to see my 'snapshots'.....

what it's all about.....

2008-10-19T00:07:00.002-05:00

this is why i bring my camera everywhere....

it not really meant to be torturous to my kids or a bother to my husband, it is to catch these beautiful moments of my children that will be gone in a flash.

Jay Leno worthy?.....

2008-10-17T09:42:00.002-05:00

while in Kerrville, i stopped to get a picture of this.....

....turned around and saw this.....

I think Shelby thought i was insane for getting a picture of this sign until she realized what was beneath!! there was NO-WAY i was leaving with out getting a picture of that! sometimes you just have to ponder what people where thinking. this was on a long stretch of beautiful rode, with nothing around, and someone picked there to drop off an ironing board and mop....strange or ironic?

offically fall for us.....

2008-10-15T07:45:00.003-05:00

the king of the pumpkin patch!

we finally made it to the pumpkin patch this weekend, i am always so excited to do this, because it really means that fall is here! i had to compose myself a few time while we were at the pumpkin patch because i get so caught up in the "look at me" moment. i really have to remind myself that i need to put the camera down and let them enjoy what they are doing, and not have a camera shuved in their face the whole time. K has been on to me for a while, but T is finally giving me hack about looking at the camera. i don't know what i am gonna do with these two! i don't even try with K anymore, but this a little how it goes to get a picture of him.....t....t....T..T....Tcome on t.t.t.

like i said, i have to watch that i don't get to carried away!!!!

Engagement.....

2008-10-09T23:35:00.002-05:00

here is a sneak peek at a few from my very first engagement shoot. i can not even begin to tell you how much fun i had. i thought i was going to hyperventilate on the way there, i was shaking because i was so nervous. i calmed myself, and had a great time. it helped a lot that the couple and their kiddos loved the camera and the camera just loved them right back. if all my future clients are this much fun, i am in for a great future!
Thanks Melissa and Roger!

kayak superstar.....

2008-10-09T22:34:00.003-05:00

Please keep several things in mind when viewing these pictures.....
*disposable camera
*old disposable camera(meaning film:) and dust on the box)
*800 speed old film
*high winds+inexperienced kayak superstar=not so good landscape photography
*quite a bit of photoshop was involved
besides that, this was so cool because is was completely spontaneous, and living in Houston things like this must be planned, including travel time. i am so glad Shelby thought of it, wanted to do it and that we did it and we didn't just take about it.
Thanks Shelby.

girls weekend.....

2008-10-08T12:23:00.003-05:00

WOW! i don't even know where to start. i do know that i had an amazing time this weekend catching up with my friends. Getting uninterrupted girl talk, meeting and hearing about their families and taking pictures was just icing on the top of being in such a beautiful place. For anyone that doesn't know, i(and S) would LOVE to live in Kerrville. this weekend made it really hard not to come home, pack up my family and just leave Houston behind. if only it were that easy.
The ride there was great, i rolled down the windows, cranked up the radio without kid music and just enjoyed the ride. It is amazing to me how fast the landscape changes as soon as passing San Antonio, i had a hard time keeping on the road because i wanted to take EVERYTHING in.
The closer i got to Monica and Allan's house the more nervous i got, it had been 3 years since i had seen them and that was only for a few hours. As soon as i walked in the house, it all melted away(except for my own insecurities) and it felt like we had hung out last week. i got to meet the newest edition to her family and re-meet the ones that have grown so much i barely recognized them. We got to just talk and talk, it was so nice. Her and Allan brought me to see their lab which backs up to the Guadalupe river. We all hung out at their house that night, laughing and playing with the kids.
Saturday Monica and I meet our other friend Shelby for lunch at a cafe on the river(it was wonderful) and decided to go Kayaking. Unfortunately, for several reason Monica could not join us on our adventure, hopefully next time because i missed her company.
Going Kayaking was a blast, i just can't wrap my head around the fact that people live places where you can just do that kind of stuff without planning and traveling. i brought a disposable camera on the Kayak with me and got a few good pictures. i was a little nervous about being able to hold my camera the next day because of shocking my body and muscles with exercise!
Saturday night Shelby and I sat outside her house on a swing, up on a hill, overlooking the Kerrville city lights. it was breathtaking.
I was sad when it came time to leave Sunday morning, but SO ready to see S and the boys. I can't wait to visit again, maybe on day in the near future we won't have to leave on Sunday morning.

get away.....

2008-10-01T21:09:00.003-05:00

for the last (almost) 3 years, i have had two nights away from K, and that was the night before and the night after i had T. i have never been away from T for more than what it takes to go to work. We very rarely have a babysitter to go do things by ourselves. it's not because we don't have plenty of people more than willing to watch the boys, we just prefer to have them with us and do things with them.

with that said, hunting season is here, almost in full swing and S was feeling a little guilty about going hunting last weekend without us. i use to go, but it is easier to stay home with the boys. in a year or two we will be back to spending deer season all together. when he left he offered to spend this entire weekend just him and the boys so i could go to Kerville( my dream place to live). 3 very special friends of mine, that i have not seen in a long time live there and i have been dying to make this trip.
i just never dreamed it would be just me and my camera.

i may need a small therapy session after i get home from leaving T, but i will survive....i think. i have already had to hold back tears just thinking about leaving them. and of course he picks this week to start getting clingy and crying when i drop him off with my sister in the morning. maybe he knows.

well, i have my plans pretty much made and my batteries are charging. i plan on taking a slow ride that way and stopping on a whim to get a picture if i want. i hope i can unleash the artist that i know is inside me this weekend and get the creative juices flowing. i have been kind of in a rut with photography and i hope i can get past it this weekend. i hope to get caught up with my friends, laugh cry or what ever. i am so excited i can't stand it.

this picture was taken in '01. i am in the red shirt, Shelby and Monica are next to me and monica's husband in behind her in the grey shirt. these are the wonderful people i will be visiting this weekend.

shopping.....

2008-09-28T10:21:00.004-05:00

these are just a few i got inside an antique store, i am surprised they came out because i was hand holding at a very low shutter speed. they are kind of yellow because i did not set a CWB, but i think the yellow kind of lends itself to the mood of the picture.

a

the farm....again:)

2008-09-27T15:02:00.003-05:00

i posted the first shot of T because i was so surprised i got such a great exposure in the conditions. it was midday with harsh sunlight, you can see the shadow from the tree i was sitting under. i tried VERY hard to study the scene and get a good exposure and i paid off to be patient. all i did when editing was sponge the sky SLIGHTLY to make it more blue. if i can start to get my exposures like this the fist time more consistently, i will be SO happy!

the others are of the side of the neatest, deer camp/shack/completely useless, critter collecting, house on the farm. it sits under a huge oak tree and makes for a great background for pictures. every time my adoptive mother(my SIL mom) talks about it i beg her to never tear it down because it is SO cool and the BEST color! i wish i could move it to my back yard!

the first window shot is SOOC and i went crazy with the next two.

downtown Bastrop.....

2008-09-27T14:50:00.003-05:00

i am normally to nervous with my camera to get it out in public like this to take these kinds of pictures, but last weekend i through caution to the wind and had a good time taking these.

i did edit these a lot, it was fun. but for the record, they did start out as good exposures and i did a little cropping. i upped contrast to exaggerate the colors, i dodged and burned(again to exaggerate the colors) and i clones out some unsightly stickers/signs on the doors. now that i look at it on here i should have straightened the red door. unfortunately when i uploaded them her, blogger sucked all the color from them(okay, so maybe i over sharpened which can do that also!).

i try really hard to keep an image as real and honest as possible when they are of people, but with fun landscape/urban shots it was fun to edit like this!

i could stay in that little town for hours taking pictures, these are just a handful of opportunities i saw, but with two kids in tow and shopping with other people, me taking pictures was not that important.

K-man

2008-09-25T22:34:00.004-05:00

i haven't really talked much about K lately, (well, blogged at all) so hear goes.

He is so serious, like an old man or something that can't control his emotions. if he gets over emotional, in trouble or mad he hides his face in his hands or runs and hides in his room. i try to get him to talk to me, but already he is like any other typical man and clams up silent. Sorry to his future wife, i am trying:)

on the other hand, he is so amusing right now. he will get out his little piano or guitar and ask mommy to sing while he beats one of them into submission.

he is getting famous for his dramatic, "WAIT, WAIT just a minute." his hand up in the air like it is SO important! and his "one more minute, momma!"

the other day he was actually letting me take pictures of him outside and right in the middle he stops and says, "wait, wait momma"(with his hand up in the air), goes in the house and promptly returns with my camera flash and lens cover. how cute is that!

and the sweetest thing in the whole world, which makes every terrible two incident a wash is what he said this weekend. god really knew what he was doing when he made two year old's, they are horrible one minute, then SO absolutely lovable the next. it was time for him to go to sleep at my S/B-I-L's house, but was not cooperating. i told S NOT to go in there and put him to sleep, just tell K to go to sleep. S comes back to me and says, "you have to go in there." i said "um, no. Why?"

S says "because K said he wanted you and i asked him why and K says, my love her."

how do i say no to that? my heart melted away everything right then.

( i know that may have been a little confusing to read, and something may have been lost in translation, but it made me almost cry.)

then next morning K leaned over to me when he woke up and gave me a kiss on the check to wake me up. who knew a 2.5 year old could be so sweet, lovable and kindhearted? i just can't say enough how much i love that kid.

i don't really think i need to explain the first picture, but the second one is when he brought me my lens cap and flash. the tree above his head is the one we lost the same night i was taking these pictures.

monster boy.....

2008-09-18T14:44:00.002-05:00

my little monster is getting so big and really starting to come into his personality. he is the silliest thing, i really thought K was, but T is gonna give him a run for his money. he has the funniest facial expressions and makes the strangest noises when he is talking. he just babbles and babbles all day to us, his toys, at nothing!
but he is also still our monster, he is mean. he pinches, bites and forget about leaving your hair down. he will be so sweet(halo and all) then sneak in a hair tug, for the most part it is no bother, but the biting is going to be a problem. i hope it is not MY kid kicked out of school one day for being the one that bites, how embarrassing!
its not going to be long before he is walking and tormenting K, i just can't wait!

enjoying this post Ike weather.....

2008-09-17T14:35:00.003-05:00

we had to finally get out in the beautiful weather yesterday, i think the boys were ready to explode being couped up for so long. we brought them up to the neighborhood park to let them work out some of their energy.

this picture of the boys is from a few weeks ago, T is right o K's heels and wants to run and play with him bad!

a little during and after Ike.....

2008-09-15T10:58:00.003-05:00

the first few pictures are out our front door early Saturday morning.
the 3 & 4th pictures are a few around town, i did not have my camera for some of the bad stuff we saw driving around, i felt to guilty taking pictures of peoples bad fortune(i guess i can call it that).
the last picture is the fruitless pear tree we lost in our back yard. i am not sure how we got so lucky that if fell perfectly between the fence and the house. we did have some small fence damage in other spots, but were very fortunate that was all.
i hope that anyone that reads this and was in the path of Ike was also fortunate enough to have made it out safely and without much destruction.

anticipating Ike.....

2008-09-15T10:41:00.002-05:00

i have to admit two things, i was secretly looking forward to the storm, minus any destruction and death of course, and i really didn't think it was gonna be that bad around our area. i like the adrenaline that comes along with the fear of something i am to small to have any control over. and scary it was, i went to bed Friday night thinking we might get a little rain and that would be all. boy was i wrong, that had to be the scariest thing in the world, and we were on the clean 'calm' side of the Storm. i can't imagine what it would have been like if it would have gotten as big as the meteorologists had originally predicted and if we would have been in the path or on the dirty side.
there is horrible destruction and SO many people are with out so many things my heart breaks. we were very, very blessed to be safe, have electricity, food and water, i hope and pray that soon everyone that was in the wake of Ike will be safe and back to normal as soon as possible.

the first picture is of all the kiddos on the street, Friday before the storm.
S, at the last minute boarding up our window so we would feel secure while sleep, the best preparation we did!
the sunset before the storm.

sleep tight.....

2008-09-09T22:12:00.003-05:00

from day one K has fought his sleep, now 2.5 years later it is no different. he fights nap time, but not a bad as at night. part of his bed time problem is that his dad is a softy and still puts him to sleep.
we spent most of the weekend at my parents house while S and my dad could finish up deer stands, yes deer season is around the corner, whoo-hoo!
i was desperate for K to go to sleep on Saturday afternoon, he was being such a butt and really need a nap bad, so i went with him to take a nap. all he wanted to do was jump, flip, turn, talk, touch and everything else besides be still. i was getting beyond irritated so i left him telling him NOT to get out of the bed, he did not have to go to sleep, but he had to lay there for a little while.
this is how i found him about ten minutes later, passed out.

when i got him out of bed about 2 hours later, he did not exactly listen to me and got in the toys my parents has for the grand kids and fell asleep with their marbles all in the bed, he must have been VERY tired!

saturday morning special.....

2008-09-06T08:51:00.001-05:00

i guess this doesn't need a whole lot of explanation! the boy loves dog food!

Cars momma, please.....

2008-09-05T21:26:00.004-05:00

Several months back, when it was time to buy K new shoes, we all went to famous footwear to look for some cool tennis shoes. You know, some chuck taylors or vans. i personally prefer shoes (and clothes for that matter) without characters, screen printing and such.
as you can tell by the well worn cars shoes in the picture i lost that battle the day we went to the shoes store with Meme.
when we got back to K sizes, he saw those shoes and made a bee line for them. i nicely and quietly told Meme, absolutely not!!! i figure i would just humor him and let him play with them , he was for goodness sakes barley 2, how could he really know what he wants???? well, he put those puppies on, and that was where they were gonna stay. he ran around that store looking for every mirror he could find. When he found one, he would stop, very dramatically raise his foot up in the air and admire his new shoes.
They are finally worn out and retired, although he still asked to wear his car shoes. i seriously dread the day he sees the spiderman light up shoes, i might have to hurl a little.

LLU.....

2008-09-04T23:14:00.002-05:00

i attended a class tonight through Leisure Learning about my external flash. it was great to get out, to be in a room of learning photographers, but the class itself was a tad bit disappointing. the teacher was great, well spoken and thorough, overall a good teacher. the class itself was just to basic and i need more. i was really hoping to learn how to creatively use my flash so it doesn't look like i am using it and to learn fun ways to us it in low light.
there is, however an intermediate class that will cover low light situations next week. i am hoping to have a chance to take that also. i am not disappointed that i took the class, because i am sure after i get some sleep tonight, i will wake up and realize i did lean more that i think i did!

a fleeting moment of relief.....

2008-09-04T22:42:00.002-05:00

i'm sure most of you know the A/C went out in my car last week, major bummer, because it is freaking HOT!
And i'm sure that most of you who read this know that it is not a strange occurrence for it to be in the high 80's before 8 0'clock in the morning with enormously high humidity in Houston. Now, i am no meteorologist, but even i know that no A/C+high heat/ humidity=butt crack sweat, not nice first thing in the morning!
So much to my surprise, when i walked out my door this morning, prepared to be hot and wind blown when i got to work, it was AMAZING outside! Such a beautiful number showed up on my thermometer, 74 degrees! it was so refreshing to ride to work with my windows down out of pleasure, so i could feel it, and believe it. perfect, clear blue sky and it even smelled good, i know that is weird, but i love the way fall smells.
I am not getting my hopes up by any means that it will still be nice when i get up in the morning, but it does give me a fleeting moment of relief and hope that fall is in fact just around the corner. So, i will take what i can get for now, but it makes my heart happy when i know fall is getting near. i love everything this time of year means, good weather, family and tradition!

Just Livin' *blog*

Depression

the journey continues.....

wildlife.....

life's unknowing journey.....

the boys.....

hemisfair park

half moon.....

nineteen miles.....

Hill Country landscape.....

Soccer Mom.....

tree house.....

B Bar retreat.....

beautiful snow.....

bullseye.....

by the river.....

mean man costume, sharks and seahorses.....

silly boys.....

enchanted rock.....

Strike.....

project.....

more nature.....

field trip.....

park.....

county fair.....

gazzillion.....

scenery.....

Zion.....

hooked up.....

sad day.....

beach.....

time flies.....

help me pick.....

snapshot randomness.....

baby bump.....

down on the farm.....

vacation.....

slip n slidin'.....

a new adventure.....

out to the ball game.....

hand-me-downs.....

Galveston.....

snakes on a .....bike

bike riding.....

the coast continued.....

down at the coast.....

pitter patter.....

glass of water.....

its official.....

title change.....

what am i?.....*update*

Engagement.....

Sick day.....

bye, bye curls.....

choosing a name....

a tribute.....*update at bottom*

lessons....

top five(or so) of '08.....

a name.....

the 'T' boys.....

gettin' the christmas spirit.....

early '09 resolution.....

the 'B' family.....

HOLY COW.....

up in smoke.....

the promised update and some snapshots.....

an update....soon

gorgeous.....

an apology.....

choo, choo.....

beautiful family.....

red, please.....

full moon.....

don't fence me in.....

true love.....

fall back.....

momma's helper.....

siblings.....

biker dude.....

hey strangers.....

Just Livin' blog

what am i?.....update

a tribute.....update at bottom