sweet

I got the chance to shoot a friend's son and his girlfriend. They are expecting their baby girl in 3 weeks and the photo shoot was a Christmas present to them from his mom. It's a 2 parter, we'll get together after the baby is born too.

These are probably my favourite. I love K's face in both of them. These were taken outside on the far side of the garage where the lighting is awesome because it reflects off both houses.We did the indoor shoot in my living room, which isn't the best for lighting, today would have been better with all the snow outside reflecting the light into my living room, oh, well, we can't always have what we want.

K wanted the black and white with the bow in pink. This is a test of my photoshopping skills but Grandma says she loves them.

I hope everyone has a great New Year's! Stay safe!

Validation

I saw this on Cathy Z's site and thought it was great. It's just over 16 min. of your life that you won't get back, but I'm sure you won't mind. It's a great feel good clip.
You...You are AWESOME, thanks for letting me share the last year with you!

Shut UP!

I can't believe it! I just got an email confirming that I won a prize in the Yokohama Spirit of Performance photo contest. I won a fleece jacket. Here's the link to the picture, http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirit_of_performance/4029843773/
I didn't have my zoom lens at the time, I could have taken much better photos if I did, and then I would have won a set of Yokohama tires. Oh, well, next year!

2 more sleeps

He's had it, he's done with shopping, done with the housecleaning, the wrapping, the baking and the picture taking.

As I do every year, I try to get a couple of perfect shots of the kids in front of the tree. These two took longer than usual this year, Linus didn't want to sit next to Sally, he's scared to, he looks proud, and maybe a bit aloof but really he's scared poopless to be there.

These two complained about how long it took to get their picture taken, but then Kerry pointed out that if they just sat still and didn't touch each other, I'd be able to get that one good shot faster. I also had to compromise. Note the t-shirts. Karen Russell said something on her blog the other day that summed up my Christmas and pretty much every other event where I try to photograph the kids...'expectations reduce joy'. It's true.

I expect them to enjoy being photographed.

I expect them to dress in co-ordinating outfits, regardless of their age.

I expect them to make sure there are not feathers in their hair, food on their faces, or dog hair on their clothes.

I expect them to do what I say.

Give me dogs any day! At least they listen to me even if it is only when I have a carrot in my hand.

It's cold today, but sunny. I want snow. But I guess if I can't have snow, cold and sunny are better than dark and rainy.

Gifted

I was browsing the newsletter we get from the ES, Exceptional Students Program. Emily asked what it was, I told her it's the letter we get because she's gifted. She says no one told her that and I told her she was gifted, but it's not our fault she never opened that gift and used it. Good thing she has a sense of humour. We know she's exceptionally smart, she always has been, she could read when she was about 3 yrs. old. She can spell just about anything. But she's also a tad lazy.

It doesn't look like we will have a white Christmas this year. It never feels quite right when there isn't any snow on Christmas. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the forecast will change.

I've got a few last minute things to pick up, bake and wrap and then I'm done.

A week before Christmas

Kerry's Christmas party was last night. I have always had a problem with motion sickness. Nothing has helped, short of being doped up with Gravol. So when Kerry's boss told us that a limo would be picking us up to take us to and from the Christmas party, we were pretty excited, neither one of us thought about motion sickness. Turns out the 'limo' was a 32 foot long Ford Excursion that seats 14 people. I originally sat where Kim sat, she's the one with the champagne. Sorry about the crappy pictures but limos are not well lit. I had to get out at each stop we made and have a breather. After we picked up Ivan and Bev, they are the blurry people at the front, I was told I couldn't sit in front with the driver because there isn't a passenger seat up there. So I had to sit where the door was, which was one of only 4 seats facing forward, problem with that is that it's at least 20 feet from the front of the vehicle and I need to see where we are going in order to not regurgitate my meals.All in all, we had a good time, awesome meal at Summerhill Winery, here's a couple of pictures I borrowed off the internet of the winery.My dad was given a Snuggie for Christmas but he has his favourite blanket that he always uses so he gave the Snuggie to me. I would have given it to Emily but I think she might be getting one for Christmas. The tree was decorated by Kerry and the kids while I was at a photoshoot, getting paid to do something I like! I tried to pare down the ornaments but it's hard to decide which ones get to stay and which ones go.

Emily, Kerry and I played with sparklers earlier this week, which means I had to learn how to use my flash. It took a few tries, the hardest part was getting the timing right on the lighting of the sparklers and the pushing of the shutter button, and making a heart wasn't exactly easy either. It looks more like an apple.

Long time no blog!

Kerry's been on holidays all week, hence the minimal computer time. We've been shopping. Every.
Single.
Day.
I hate it. I'm okay if it's in and out and it's to buy me something, like a lens, a book, or a treat. But when I don't have a decent list, or idea of what I am getting, I get a bit grumpy, although I have to admit, I haven't been that grumpy. But I did get a big zit on my chin for the Christmas party tonight. Which by the way, we are going to in style, in a limo.
I've taken pictures mostly for my slow, and sad, Daily December album, but I'm too tire to get my camera and upload the pictures. I have an engagement shoot next week, and a maternity shoot the week after, with some new born shoots to follow. Very exciting!

The house is clean, won't be for long, decorated, all the shopping is done, I hope, the baking is pretty much done, if we don't eat it all between now and Christmas. Now I just need to stock up on my rest!

It's a small world.

I never really thought much about who Linus's dad was. We met his mom, and some of his siblings. We know that his mom died from food poisoning about a year ago. We know that one of his brothers lays exactly like he does when he does the frog or the Superman. But today, Emily says one of her classmates owns Linus's dad. It's not hard to figure out he really is Linus's dad, seeing as how no other Golden Retrievers have been born tailless, ever it seems according to the internet, and he was named Rowan at birth, which isn't something we had told Emily, but this classmate knew this. So like an episode of Find My Family, we have located them, but doubt we will be meeting under the Family Tree for a reunion.

Linus turns 3 in January. This is a magic number, everyone says Goldens get better with age. Apparently you start to notice around 3. I have noticed in the last month that he isn't tormenting me as much. Although he has developed a liking for the bathroom garbage can. I think Sally might agree with me, Linus doesn't seem to bug her as much either.

Brrrr....It's Cold!

It has warmed up a bit, it's only -11. But it's so bright and sunny that a person could be deceived into not dressing appropriately and then heading outside and then freezing her butt off. But not me! I don't plan on leaving the house.

I had my first maternity photo shoot on Sunday. The couple was super nice and their dog was such a sweetie. I think it went alright consider it was my first indoor shoot. I've got to get the hang of using my flash though. I have other people lined up for indoor shoots and am going to need to use it.

This is one of my favourites.

The house is decorated, the tree is up, and I'm not any closer to being finished my shopping.

Dec. 4

Panic has set it. I realized the second Emily said "Where's my advent calendar?" that I had forgotten to get/make the kids their calendars. I had grand plans, not to be mistaken with grand illusions. I was going to make the calendars using the little watch maker tins my aunt gave me for Christmas last year and I was going to fill them with different things, chocolate, knick knacks, candy, and money, when I ran out of ideas. And then December came rushing in!

So a trip to the Superstore netted me 2 Kindersurprise calendars and 1 Marvel Superheroes calendar. Kerry doesn't need the Kinder toys, but does need daily chocolate, even if it is made mostly of wax.

We were discussing where to put the tree this year. Kerry said 'over there', meaning anywhere not infront of the tree. I said "Let's move the tv and put the tree in the corner."

To which Kerry replied very seriously "No body puts TREE in the CORNER!"

Which is one of the very few lines any of us can remember from any movie. Why does it have to be Dirty Dancing? No body puts Baby in the corner!

As I try to do every year, I will try again this year to get that perfect family photo by the tree. I have given up on my dream photo of the kids and dogs sitting in front of the glowing tree, wearing co-ordinating clothing, and smiling at me. Instead I will settle for the tree standing up right, kids in clothes and not pjs, and no dogs eating ornaments. I mean really, can anything top this...

Dec.1

Holy smokes! It's coming faster than I thought!
I just remembered my Daily December album. What to do? It's only the first day and already I'm stressing about it. I've got an idea, the sun is shining and I'm taking a break from prepping tonight's class.
I may not take pictures and blog the album every day to show you, I might do every once in awhile and then the whole shebang at the end. Or maybe not, we'll see how it goes.

Weekend happenings

We went to my first hockey game on Saturday night with Jeanette and Cal. We had a very yummy dinner and sat at the rails and watched a very uneventful game. But we had a good time! Thank you, J and C!
I went to a craft sale with Terrell, and then on to Michaels and hold your hats, I didn't buy anything. I didn't find anything I wanted or needed. And no, I'm not sick.
We had dinner at my parents last night and got all caught up with the F family from Thursday's shoot.
We've, and I use that term lightly, gotten a bunch of Christmas shopping under our belts.
My can-dented foot is causing me pain. I wish I didn't have to work today, I'd like to sit around, get caught up on Y&R and put my foot up.
I mailed my Christmas cards on Thursday, some people got them on Friday, I mailed them TOO early, what was I thinking?

I never said I was perfect

I am learning that I should always go with my gut, you know, those little niggling feelings that this person isn't right, this isn't what you were looking for, first impressions are usually the right ones, and as Maya Angelou says "The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them." Why, oh why didn't I do that? I need this tattooed on my arm! I give second chances, which seems human, nice, the right thing to do, but when it happens over and over again and I get burned, I should learn from that. I should listen when other people give warnings. Shame on me. I apologize to those people that I did not listen too.

I also believe communication is a big thing, you have a problem with me, tell me. Deal with me.

If you don't agree with this, or you think it's aimed at you, remove me from your blog list, don't come here any more. Maybe while you're at it, remove MY pictures from your blog.

Little D

I met with the F family for a little photo shoot. I'm trying to build up my portfolio, and get some practice too. It was great to see them again, it's been a year or two since I saw mom and little D. I grew up with little D's mom, we've known each other since she was probably little D's age. Our moms are BFs.

Little D is such a handsome guy. He does the same sideways eyes that Shaun does, always checking out what is going on around him. Here's a few of my favourites. I'm really loving the Pioneer Woman's 70's action.

And how cute is Button? She is such a good dog, not like my monsters.

Would it be too weird to put this kid on my Christmas cards? If I hadn't already mailed them out, I might think about it! Heck, I'm thinking about making more just to send one out with this cute face on it!

American Thanksgiving

I am dedicating this post to some of our American friends. We've never met. I think I found her blog through some scrapbooking site, maybe SISTV, I don't remember. She 'lives' at Disneyland. I love Disneyland. Her guy likes Subarus, Kerry likes Subarus. We started emailing, facebooking, and sending goodies back and forth.
Today, on U.S. Thanksgiving, I got a little heavy box full of goodies, Subaru, scrapbooking, dog themed and chocolate. Hershey's kisses, the kinds we Canadians can't get. Specifically Candy Corn, which I thought was pretty darn good, and Candy Cane, which is good too, but the best darn things are the Pumpkin Spice kisses. 3 bags of them. Which is darn good because I could eat one of them myself and no one would be the wiser, I'd have a stomach ache but what else is new?

Anyway, I want to wish my American friends a very safe and happy Thanksgiving. And to Amy, David and Trevor-Two-Thumbs-Up a very big "I'm so thankful I have the Internet and it led me to friends like you!"
This is totally mushy, must be the endorphins brought on by the wicked box of chocolate!
Thank you!!!

How a few little words can brighten your day!

Kerry has never been a get-the-point-across kind of guy. He needs a shirt that says "Riddle me this!"
Last night he told me that the guy on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon had changed his name to Ochocinco and that the guy, Chad, was number 85. And I said "What does his jersey number have to do with anything?" and he's like "Don't you get it? Isn't it stupid?" and I still didn't get it. So I said "Tell me again what it is you are trying to say?" And that's when he said "Ochocinco is like Spanish for 85!"
Today, he sends me a cryptic email one that says he'll be shopping for bike parts on Dec. 15th instead of in the Spring. To which my usual sunny self replied "Says WHO?" and then I hit the send button, that's when the mental link we married people seem to acquire at "I now pronounce you man and wife" kicked in and I got it, maybe bike parts go on sale!
Ya, they don't and let's just say he can get his bike parts and I'll pay off my camera and lens.

My friend, Nancy, gave me a make-your-own-photo-coaster kit a few years ago and I was always too afraid to try it, but then Marg said she was making some stamped coasters and it prompted me to get my kit out. I headed off to Office Depot to get the images colour copied. And it worked! The kit came with 4 tiles, and more than enough of the other supplies to do at least 4 more tiles. I see many photo coasters in my future.

My December Daily

Good points brought up in the conversation between me and myself yesterday, as I tried to decide if I was going to make a December Daily album :

Do I have time to commit to documenting our daily life in December?

~No, I probably don't.

Will I remember to jot something down everyday?

~No, probably not.

Will I take a picture a day to put in the album?

~Yes, I might.

Will I get the family to contribute to the album?

~I will try, I will yell, I will bribe, and then they will.

If the pictures get taken, if the words get written down, will I put them in the album right away?

~ I think so.

Will we cherish the album forever if I do commit to it?

~Yes, we will.

I will add embellishments and days of the month as I add photos. I will also add the year to the cover. I have to tell you, this was much easier than I thought it would be. I started yesterday mid-day, worked on it a few hours and then a few more this morning. I pulled everything from my stash that I wanted to add to it, trying to keep with the colour scheme of the Fa La La Making Memories paper I bought in the summer. By the time it is full, I will have to replace the binder rings with larger ones.

Longer weekends, please.

I think that I might have to start taking Monday and Tuesday off. This time of year gets so busy with classes, I'm not complaining, but by the time Monday rolls around I'm tired already.
I had my Christmas Cocoa Card Tote class and it went great. I love this littel tote with it's cute cards. Good thing I made two.

Next Sunday is the Christmas Jingle Trifold album class. It's easier than it looks and makes a great gift. It's also easy to duplicate so you can make more. I will be making a few of them. I'm offering a choice of Christmas or Baby theme. I can't decide if I want to even start a Daily December album. The idea is that you make your album out of pretty much anything, it's very eclectic. I have so much stuff that it really shouldn't cost me anything because I could pull stuff out of my stash. And then you are supposed to photograph and journal your month of December. This is from shopevalicious.com. This is Ali Edwards' album. I love the hodge podge feel of the albums, I love the documenting. I don't know if I will love the work. I can take pictures every day, I know I can do that, but of what? 30 days of Linus and Sally will get pretty boring. Maybe I should make mine a Weekly December album or Every Other Day in December.

I also want to make an advent calendar. So many things, so little time! By the way, where did the year go?

A good reason

Last night was UFC 106. What's that to you? Probably not much. And a year or so ago, it wasn't anything to me either. My dad has a group of friends that get together at his place to watch Ultimate Fighting. Kerry is a regular, unless Brock Lesner is fighting, then Kerry doesn't really care to go, or so he says. Anyway, I don't like blood, so I didn't care to join in. But then my friend Misty-Rae and her husband Dave were regulars too, and I was hearing all about how much fun it was. So I went to my first fight, it was between George St. Pierre and some other lowly fighter. I liked it! And George, GSP, was something else. He's smooth, he's calculating, he's fast, he's yummy, he's Canadian.

It's always a full house at dad's, about a dozen or more. You have to get there early to get the good seats. Mom hides out in her sewing room or goes to Grandpa's. When I first started going, there were never any snacks. I like snacks. We did a pot luck once and it was awesome and ever since then, there's been snacks, nothing fancy, bags of chips, pretzels, Doritos. And it's mostly guys, only 3 girls, but I think us 3 girls know more about fighting then half the boys. Any of us girls could take on most of the guys.

I learned a few things last night, like...

1. GSP will be trying out for the Olympic wrestling team. If he makes it, he will be the only reason I watch 2012 Olympics. They interfere with regularly scheduled television programs.

2. Lightweight guys are scrappy, I want to be scrappy and lightweight.

3. Crazy Eyes, if a fighter has them, he'll probably win.

4. You should never ever poke a guy in they eye or pretend to get poked in the eye, the cameras tell the truth and Crazy Eyes probably poked himself in the eye.

5. UFC fighters have no idea what a good hair style is, when it doubt, shave it off! Take GSP for example. Ladies like him, this guy for instance, Josh Koscheck, sure he won, but he's got crazy hair and crazy eyes.

Or this guy, Dan Hardy. He's scheduled to fight George St. Pierre for the title. Icky hair, even ickier tattoo.6. Jumping on Kerry's back and trying to put him into a triangle hold with my arms while squeezing the life out of him with my legs and yelling "I'm scrappy!" at the same time will excite the dogs to no end and it will take a few minutes to get everyone calmed down and I may have peed myself from laughing so hard.

Blogworthy?

Not much happened this week.

Here are my highlights...

- did some scrapbooking for my dad

- got my hair cut and coloured

- made and ate cinamon buns

- am crazy busy with classes

- started Christmas shopping

- got new Soft Moc slippers

- have decided that there are only 2 things that I NEED/WANT in my arsenal, a fish eye lense, and a larger memory card, I'm a simple girl

- I'm not a simple girl, I'm a spoiled girl and I have everything else I would ever need and that's why I only need those 2 things

- ordered some stuff of Amazon, like the Glee soundtrack so that Kerry can put it in my stocking, just making sure I get what I want

- insured my camera and all my fixings, only to have my dad ask 'how much?', I made a face and then when I told him, he and Kerry discussed how a decent bike would be just over that amount. Why does it always come back to bikes? Who knows, who cares, it took their minds off the amount. The nice thing is that I didn't pay that much, the bulk of it being purchased used from a photographer that is switching to Nikon from Canon. Sad but true.

- having lunch with MR today, then a scrapbooking class and then fight night

So there it is, nothing too exciting.

Here's my picture of the day for you!

"I've already sat here for 4 pictures, just hurry up and take one more."

GLEEFUL!

It's Wednesday! It's Glee day!
I've started watching Glee, it's ingenious. I love it. I love the singing and dancing! I can't sing, but I know most of the songs they use and I will sing them, much to my family's dismay, and I have most of them on my ipod, okay, not the Thong Song. And on Christmas I will have the soundtrack, I bought it from Amazon.ca and told Kerry he can put it in my stocking. And I can't dance, and you can't really count the months of Latin American ballroom lessons we took after Emily was born, because Kerry has conveniently forgotten every single thing we were taught and ballroom dancing just isn't the same when only one person can remember only half of the steps. And I didn't love high school, maybe if we had Glee Club it would have been different.
So as you can see from the day's blog posts, I have been watching Glee clips on youtube.com. Not exactly productive, but it makes me feel good.
The actress that plays Sue Sylvester was on Conan last night, she's hilarious. She might be my favourite.
I've got a list today and on the top is Kerry's "We need 12-18 more red bulbs" so I guess it's a trip to Canadian Tire to get them. He loves his Christmas lights.

GLEE - bust your windows

This one was one of my favourites, I like Mercedes too, the girl, not the car, well, I'd like the cars but they are way out of my price range.

GLEE - "THONG SONG" from 10/21!

This is hilarious.

GLEE - Teaser: Single Ladies

I think Kurt is my favourite! This is probably my new favourite show!

Sometimes the hardest part about blogging is coming up with a title

I re-made my little Top Note album because someone asked for a special class. Now to find time between now and Christmas to teach it.

Stamper's group cards, the theme is black and white. The following cards are from last weekend's Stamp-A-Stack class. My favourite one is the penguin one!

Exhausted

The craft sale was awesome, even better than normal because I didn't have to plan it!

Took the dogs hiking and got some awesome action shots.

That good Sally, always waiting for me!

smugmug

In my effort to become more professional, I'll be using Smugmug . All my photos will be uploaded there and you can view them. It's got a cute name. But it takes forever to upload. Could be the size of my photos, could be that I'm just using the 2 week trial. I'm pretty sure I'll sign on, but I wanted to see how easy it was to use.
Keep checking back to Smugmug, I will be slooooowly uploading photos.

Friday the 13th

Emily was in the Memorial Parade on Rememberance day. It was the shortest 'parade' I've ever seen. They walked from this corner, around that corner and into the park.

I love love love a man in uniform. Not a certain man, but just any man.


This is where it gets sad, annoying, disrespectful. Dozens of Girl and Boy Scouts are in the parade. Sure they aren't all in formal uniform like the RCMP, Cadets, etc. Their uniforms are fairly casual now. But they are there in the parade paying their respects. But the people watching the parade don't have a clue and figured that after the Cadets parade was over and they started walking right behind them, infront of the Scouts. I just don't get it!
The park was packed with people. We couldn't see anything but these kids could. I don't know how many ended up in that tree, but it was a perfect tree for holding them all. Not one kid fell out.

Saw this on Veronica's blog and thought it'd be fun! A great way to take my mind off the white stuff falling from the sky.
One word answers only.

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2.Your hair? coloured
3. Your mother? Short
4. Your father? funny
5. Your favorite food? potato
6.Your dream last night? none
7. Your favorite drink? water
8. Your dream/goal? debt-free
9. What room are you in? basement
10. Your hobby? Scrapbooking
11. Your fear? spiders
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Alive
13. Where were you last night? asleep
14. Something that you aren't? tall
15. Muffins? Warm
16. Wish list item? Money
17. Where did you grow up? Kelowna
18. Last thing you did? typed
19. What are you wearing? pj's
20. Your TV? off
21. Your Pets? dogs
22. Friends? Yes
23. Your life? Full
24. Your mood? tired
25. Missing Someone? Grandma
26. vehicle? large
27. Something your not wearing? Spanx
28. Your favorite store? camera
29. Your favorite color? none
30. When was the last time you laughed? morning
31. Last time you cried? forget
32. Your best friend? Kerry
33. One place that I go to over and over? bathroom
34. Facebook? yes
35. Favorite place to eat? Couch