Gratitude

Gratitude is often felt upon hearing of a tragedy that has not befallen you. 

Today I am feeling grateful that my daughter has never been taken from me. 

That right at this moment she is safe and sound, sleeping in her crib. 

In memory of Jessica Lunsford.

Sunset at Lagoon

 

 

 

 

Sometimes I feel bad that we live near so much natural beauty and don’t take advantage of it. Not this week. I’m not  usually one to plan hikes, but I enjoyed this evening so much that I think I may need to start.

If you are like me and have been convinced at some point in time that you actually hate hiking then I have some news for you. You are probably doing it wrong. 

Hiking can be fun. If you do it right.

I’ve composed a list of tips that I personally guarantee will make your hikes more enjoyable. Here they are:

1) Go when the weather is cool, preferably morning or evening. If you go when its hot, you will be much more inclined to curse hiking and whoever came up with the idea.

2)Location. Location. Location. If you’re going to go out and wander around, you better have some nice things to look at. And I’m not talking dirt and bushes here. Find a place that has some sort of a water feature like a waterfall, lagoon, river, creek, etc. A drinking fountain next to a porta potty does not count.

3) Dress your children or animals in your favorite outdoorsy outfits. If you don’t have any cute outdoorsy outfits then go buy some. This may seem like an unimportant step, but its not. Cute clothes = cute photos.

4) Bring your camera. Spend the entire time taking pictures.

and last but not least,

5) Never walk at a pace that might cause you to lose your breath. Remember, you are trying to enjoy hiking. Not train for a triathalon.

Happy Trails!

You're Golfing Today? Its The Second Time This Week!!

Hahaha!

Never Thought I’d Be Buying Lenses

Well people. I have finally done it. After countless photographers made the recommendation, I have finally gone out and bought a 50 mm 1.8 lens. Let me just say – I love it. For those of you who are new to the photography scene, this specific lens is super duper cool. It allows you to get real close to your subject, and if you adjust the aperture you can blur most of the picture around what you want to focus on. You can always adjust the aperture when using a kit lens too, but those lenses are usually capable of very little aperture-wise, which means you wont have great results if you are trying to blur your background.  With the 50mm 1.8 you can easily blur both foreground and background!! This is a random shot I took last night while playing with the settings. I have done absolutely no editing to this picture. This is straight up raw dreaminess. Notice the lens flare in her skirt.

Anyway here are some other photos I took of our lovely pets yesterday.

A little cuteness never hurt anyone!

This little puppy’s name is Kostos. He is the size of a pony.

And this is Koshka (Russian for kitty) but we call him Koshi.

And this is Rajah Bear.

If you’re interested in learning to take better photos check out  this site. 

So helpful.

Practicing Backlighting

So I've subscribed to some photography tutorial videos. The first thing I really wanted to learn was how to take one of those awesome backlit photos, like the one above. So last night I watched some instructional videos about it and planned a photo shoot for this morning. Heidi and I got up at 7 and drove to a golf course nearby. The whole course was covered in dew so the grass reflected a ton of light which made for a very glowy picture. I kind of love it. I'm having so much fun practicing my photography. I'm so happy we decided to get a DSLR. It is so worth the money for memories like these!

The shot above was pretty much the only usable image I got. Trying a new technique on a living, breathing, toddler is not easy work. She really didn't want to sit in her fancy new chairs that I just bought. Instead, she preferred carrying them around. When I sat her down in them anyway, she just screamed. Hard work indeed. I still kinda like these photos anyway, even if aren't optimal portraits.

I Survived The Power Outage

Well we survived the power outage, but let me tell you - we were so bored. I feel kinda pathetic for admitting to this, but we honestly didn't know what to do with ourselves. We spent a great deal of time just wandering around the house aimlessly. And when we got tired of that, I ended up in the car, driving around in circles in our cul de sac, because it was less boring than sitting still while waiting for my phone to charge. At least Heidi enjoyed it.

After I charged my phone Austin and I entertained ourselves with the Piano. We decided that he would play Piano while I would make up words to his melodies. This worked out to be highly entertaining until he played all of the songs he knew and I realized I was unable to sing about anything other than the electronics I was missing.

My mother in law suggested that we conceive our next child so that we could be a part of the baby boom likely to follow in 9 months. I was thrilled at the idea. Austin not so much, but it didn't matter anyway because I wasn't ovulating.

When we got word that the power outage was expected to last all night and possibly into the next day we broke out our disaster kits. In the disaster kit came the greatest form of entertainment we would have all night - Flashlights. 10 of them. More than 2 for every person, including the toddler! Now normally, flashlights would not  hold any of our interests, but in these extreme circumstances they provided hours of entertainment. We created a faux disco in our backyard complete with acapella "Everybody Dance Now". We had fun signalling faux SOSes across the valley. We even played the classic campfire game of shine the flashlight into your eyes and see how long it takes you to be able to see normally again. And flashlight in the eyes tag (Where instead of tagging one another, you flash the light directly into another person's eyes when they are least expecting it).

Eventually we exhausted ourselves with the flashlights and came inside where my mother in law announced we were going to eat Tuna Salad and play dominoes. At first I was really excited to play dominoes because I had seen some cool things on youtube like this:



But this, sadly, was not what she had in mind. Her version of dominoes was much boringer. It involved matching up numbers of dots to other piece's numbers of dots. Zzzz.

But the Tuna Salad was pretty good.

We were so relieved when the power went back on that night around 10 pm. Austin and I both got straight on our computers. Him to his homicidal zombies and me to my Blogger.

Bradley and the fuzzy hat

It is so hard not to post nothing but bradley pictures. 

So i wont resist any longer. 

Just kidding. This is my last one. 

Until next time.

Your Ovaries Are Broken or Nonexistant...

...If this picture doesn't make you want to have another baby. 

This little guy will melt your heart. 

The Most Amazing Thing I Have Ever Made Besides My Daughter

Have you ever made quiche before? If you haven't, do yourself a favor and make this one. 

It is probably the most delicious thing you will ever eat in your entire life.

Recipe Here - Easy Cheesy Bacon and Onion Quiche

4 Reasons Why You Should Be Happy That Its September

Reason No. 1 - Remember how all your favorite shows suddenly stopped making new episodes a few months ago? Well guess what, September is the month that all those shows will start reappearing on TV! (unless they have been cancelled). Personally, I can't wait to see brand new episodes of The Office (Sept 22) and Modern Family (Sept 21).

There are also a couple of new shows that I can't wait to see. I'm all about funny TV and these look hilarious.

Whitney - A new sitcom starring Whitney Cummings - you know, that really hot funny chick who sometimes appears on Comedy Central Presents...



and

Up All Night - From the creators of SNL and 30 Rock, Christina Applegate, Will Arnett, and Maya Rudolph star in a new series about juggling parenthood and a life.

"My baby is gonna be up in 2 hours!" hahahaa, totally know that feeling!!

Reason No. 2 - Pumpkin Stuff.  Pumpkin Spice Lattes! (Starbucks) Pumpkin Muffins! Pumpkin Pancakes! Pumpkin Scented Hand Sanitizer! etc, etc. (totally made that last one up, but I bet you a million dollars it exists) Let the Pumpkiny Goodness begin!

mmmm!

Reason No. 3 -  Boots. Your favorite boots. You know you've missed them. Break them out and get them ready for the first real day of Fall Weather.

Reason No. 4 -  Pretty Trees. Keep an eye on em. They wont let you down.

Yay for September! Yay for Autumn!