Good Friends, Sunshine & Summertime ♥

So, about a week and half ago, right after I finished up that 8am math final, summer officially started for me. Boy was I ready, this year was great, but it was pretty rough and I was certainly ready for summer.

And so far it has proven to be a great one. The weather has been wonderfully warm just as it should be in the summer months. I have kept busy mostly with fun things to do which is a must have for summer. The only problem I have had is the whole job situation- I just found out that the job I was planning to have isn't going to really exist anymore because of economic decline..ohhh great. So, I need to find another one but for now I'll enjoy the freedom and keep working on finding one.

Like I said, a lot has been going on so far. Less than two weeks in and I'm thinking picture highlights are in order: how bout it? =]
The start of my summer was on fire.. well with a van fire anyway, it went up in flames right down the road. It was the biggest event my county has had in awhile! lol. The guy was talking on his cell phone and didn't realize the back end was on fire. My neighbors saw him driving by and yelled at him to stop and they also called it in. He stopped and got a gas can he had in there out and then we all settled in to watch. No one got hurt, luckily. Unfortunately though, my Nikon was in for cleaning! That's when the good picture opportunities come of course, when your good camera is gone. But I did have my trusty rusty Kodak and I think it did pretty well.

Next was my cookout/bonfire. I had it for my college friends and the best friends to celebrate the wrapping up of school. It wasn't as big as expected and only a few college buddies showed up but it was still a good time. Kelley and Whittney came and stayed well into the night and we had good conversations. Best friends and a bonfire is all I need.

After two weeks, I finally got my Nikon back- nice and clean! I was so excited, I had missed it so very much! It stayed with me and I took so many pictures! Including one of this little guy who decided to chill on our back patio thing.

Remember these little ladies? It has been a long time since they have been on my blog- maybe because its been so long since I have seen them myself. I got to spend a little bit of time visiting with each one of them during the other ones softball games. I am hoping I'll be seeing them much for often over the summer, I have missed them so very much.

Whittney and I have pretty much been attached at the hip so far this summer. We have gone and done so much and it's been a complete and utter blast. I think we can make almost anything fun and even the boring stuff is so much better when you got your best friend by your side.

Okay, we can make almost everything fun. Except sunburn (which we are showing off in this picture although you can not really see it lol). That's not fun. Even if we were the stupid idiots who decided to lay out for like an hour an a half..twice..in oh, almost ninety degree weather because when we looked it did not look like it did any good the first time. But we were wrong and three days later we can still feel how stupid we are with every movement. But its okay, at least we weren't stupid alone I guess. lol.

Well that's all I have for now but I'm sure I will get more to post up here really soon. In the meantime- How is your summer going?

I know mine has been great- after all - all I need to be happy is Good Friends, Sunshine, & Summertime =]

Love,

PS:

I'm going- are you? ;)

I Can’t Stop Time But I Can Capture It

My Opinion Essay for my writing class. I hope you like it- The professor did ;)
I love photography; it’s one of my greatest passions and my most favorite things to do. I love the way the strap grazes my neck, the way the grip fits perfectly in my hand like it was made just for me, the way the autofocus whirrs as it gets ready to take the picture, and then the soft but audible click as the camera captures a moment that would otherwise be lost and quickly forgotten. I love how photography can capture an instant, a moment in time that individuals will want to remember but could never recapture. How it freezes that moment so that it can be looked upon for years to come.

Photography also allows me to change something ordinary into something extraordinary. With a camera in hand the possibilities are endless. With the right view and level of creativity I can turn an everyday scene into something phenomenal and breathtaking. It’s almost magical which makes it so much more enjoyable for me. Another thing I love is how a simple photograph can tell the viewer so much. It can portray almost any emotion; from devastation to extreme joy. It can entrance the viewer allowing them to feel as if they were there in the millisecond of time reliving all the emotions and activities that were captured. In this world I can’t stop time or go back to a time and relive it but with photography I can capture it and that’s good enough for me.

I've been experimenting more with different editing actions. The last two are examples of a couple new actions I like, what do you think? Do they work?

Love,

Happy birthday i♥faces!

i♥faces is turning one and they have some special stuff going on to celebrate! The first is a special contest where the theme is..drum roll please.... i♥faces of course! You are allowed to enter five photos but they have to have the logo somewhere in them! You can put it there naturally or by editing but it must look somewhat natural.

To be completely honest with you I was very hesitant to enter this weeks challenge. I had no idea what to do. The only thoughts I had were mediocre and already used. I planned to be original and try to put the logo on there without editing it in because unless you count picnik premium I do not really have any sort of mega photo editing program. But that didn't work because I couldn't think of anything to do that didn't require nice weather..and nice weather we do not have here.

So I then decided I will pass on this weeks challenge. But then I got bored and decided to try editing in the logo some how...and then I saved some photos..then I decided that I might as well try- just for fun and maybe the judges will like my effort =]

Place or not at least I can say I tried! So here they are....

How bout an i♥faces band aid? Better than a finding Nemo or Barbie one I'd think ;) Or an i♥faces inter tube- makes for a wonderful flotation device in the summer (and you could use it for sledding in the winter) Or if your tball team was endorsed by i♥faces? How cool would that be? Talk about good luck and with that brings wins!
Or you can just leave it to the crazy kids that write on park benches..at least they picked something cool to write on it! The cuss words will have to come off but i♥faces can certainly stay!
I have no witty caption for this next one but FYI: not having good editing software did not make this one fun to create...it took forever to do the heart like that!

“I am submitting this photo into the I Heart Faces logo photo contest. By entering, I am granting I Heart Faces LLC permission to consider my photo for use in the marketing and promotion of their website.”

Well, I tried and thats all that counts right! lol. Make sure you check out the other entries by clicking on the i♥faces logo at the top of this post!


Love,

Christmas Part Three: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Christmas Eve day started out pretty normal, we all just kinda hung around- baked, cleaned and just enjoyed the spirit of Christmas.

Christmas activities started by Jodi coming over. I gave her the rest of her gifts which I hope she loved! I didn't get any pictures of her opening them that night nor one of us together (although she promised me one at a later date, because she said she didn't like her hair that night lol) but I can show you what one the gifts looked like, it was a picture frame with three openings and the pictures in it were these:

How cool is that!! I am pretty certain she loved it, or at least I hope she did! I was so proud of myself for pulling it off without her knowledge ;)

After that, Jodi curled my hair for church then we said our goodbyes. My family and I then went to church and enjoyed a really cool candle lit service. It was really pretty, except for when the hot wax went through the wax catcher and burnt my hand, that wasn't so cool, lol.

After church we returned home and exchanged gifts from each other. We do that every Christmas eve and its so hard to wait until after church because we are just ready to open something!

My brother and I picked some cool things out for Dana, but she really loved the bracelet we got her!

I tricked my brother: he wrote no clothes on his Christmas list so I taped the gift card to the box lid and put clothes in the box. He was appalled- Are you kidding me??? He said.

But then he got a good laugh when he finally found the gift card, after putting the lid back on, mind you ;)

Then it was time to go to bed so "Santa" could come....

Our tree Christmas morning.

Us in front of the tree Christmas morning, even the dog got in on it.

Dana got very excited about her new chair!!!

Denae loves to open gifts, even more so when they are treats for her!

Tony got what he wanted!

My mom opening one of her gifts!

haha, look at her face. Got to love an excited kid on Christmas!

My dad very excited about his new...jeans? lol.

My mom got a beautiful ring from my dad, and I zoomed up on it with my new camera lens!!! ;)

This Christmas was certainly filled to the brim with wonderful activities, happiness and love..and the gifts were a plus to. I really had a great holiday and I hope you did as well!

Love,

Christmas Part One: With the girls.

I have so many pictures to share with you all from all the Christmas festivities I decided to break the posts up some and spread the love, joy, and pictures out so that they last longer... instead of cramming them all into one post so that the excitement is only temporary. lol. Cheesy, I know, but hey it leaves each festivity to its own special post instead of being lost in the whirlwind of everything together.


The first group of pictures I will share is the Christmas I had with the girls. They came over on the 23rd, which is also Taylors birthday. This is where I will let the pictures tell the story....
The tree was ready, gifts underneath for family and friends. (Santa gifts don't show up until Christmas of course) the stockings were hung...
...including the one that Mikayla decided to hang up for herself ;)

The first gift to be opened was Taylors birthday gift. She was so excited!! I got her one of those cupcake makers that she wanted!

and now comes the Christmas gifts. As you can see, Mikayla was so excited! She opened her gifts so quickly because she just couldn't wait to see what was inside

Taylor, on the other hand, took her time and savored the moment.

I love how excited she got when she was opening this one, what was it?

A tie blanket I made her! They both had asked for one. Mikaylas had ponies on the other side

and Taylors looked like this.

They quickly became surrounded with gifts, with no more left to open. Now it was time to enjoy what they got!

Mikayla immediately went to put on her new pajamas and loved them! They look so adorable on her!

I love her pajamas to, its unfortunate they didn't come in my size! Lol.

Somehow, I did not manage to get a picture of the both of them in their new pajamas, but I noticed this in another picture so I cropped it and Wha-la! There they both are in the pajamas!

Before Taylor put on her pajamas, she decided to get right to work on the crafty thing I got for them. They were cute little magnets you could paint.

While Jodi was here, I let her open one of her presents early (she was coming back the next day so I was saving the others for then) and I am pretty sure she liked it!

Then of course I had to get a picture with the birthday girl.....

and then one with the both of them- which I completely adore this picture! They both look so happy...I love them so much!!!

And that ends this post...but watch for the next one that I plan to post as soon as I get the pictures ready!!!

Love,