Photography Workshop

So these are all the things I am supposed to know now:

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:
Equipment.......What you need and what you don’t. See how to make what you have work for you. See what’s in my camera bag and why.
Proper camera technique.....
Exposure settings.....What the A, P, S, and the M mean, and how to use them.
Basic lighting techniques......Flash and natural lighting techniques.
Basic Posing techniques.......Poses that the pros use every day.
Composition.......How to frame that perfect shot.
From the camera to the computer......You captured the perfect shot. Now what?
See how the pros process their work....

DIGITAL QUESTIONS ANSWERED:
Camera Settings
RAW vs. JPEG
Digital Work Flow
Proper file storage
Final image output

Pretty cool huh?! The workshop that I took on Saturday up in Oak Harbor from Eric Vail was really fantastic! And while I still have tons and TONS to learn, I definitely came away from it feeling better equiped to take pictures. A step in the right direction...

We paired up each with another person from the workshop and practiced on each other. Here's my partner Mandy:

When Thursday = Friday...

I am a happy girl.

Tomorrow is this such Thursday. My sweet mama is coming over, and I get a whole weekend of her love, her laughs, her support and her amazing-ness. And tomorrow is my "Friday".

A whole day to just play. Like I said, I am a happy girl.

Today's email

Subject: Happy 30th Birthday to US!!

Please take a half day on Friday October 2, 2009. You won't want to miss this!

-Nick

Although it is still a few months away, for some strange reason I'm really excited about turning 30 right now! Maybe it's because Nick has a fun thing planned...and more than likely, I may not feel this way as I actually turn 30...but right now, I'm looking forward to it. I think it's going to be a good year.

Well, thank you kind sir

Favorite quote from a man a Greenlake tonight while watching the Lovik and Juhl softball game:

Nice, yet ever-so-slightly-crazy man: "Your dog is just BEAUTIFUL, just beautiful...I mean, wow that is a beautiful dog!! Oh...and you're beautiful too..."

Ha! Even if he was a crazy, I still love little random acts of compliments and kindness.

An amazing discovery...

Saturday at a little Sodo Mojo game with the Juhl kids, we made an incredible discovery. Hans and Nicholas have twin hands!! I'm not sure how they have never realized this before, but we were quite pleased with our new knowledge.


I love these kind of things between brothers and sisters, so connected.

"There's only us...there's only this
Forget regret....or life is yours to miss
No other road, no other way
No Day But Today!"

I am so excited for tonight: my ALLTIME favorite musical (I know, I say this every time I go to a show, but really, this one takes the cake!) with girlfriends tonight! There is just something about this play that gets me every time. It holds a very special place in my heart...afterall, it is the namesake of this little blog o' mine, "Season's of Love" was the last song played at our reception and a moment I will never forget, and it is quite possibly the most fun musical to sing and act out with your two favorite guys, Nick and AJ, (oh wait, not everyone does that?!)

And to top it off, the original Mark and Roger will be performing tonight! I will be in my own little heaven starting at 7 p.m. this evening.

How to choose...

We just got back from Whispering Winds, the breeder where we got Max, trying to help Auntie and Peter decide on a puppy. My oh my...quite the tough decision. I think they've narrowed it down to these two little cuties:

Which one would you choose?

I thought maybe we needed just one more to bring home?!!!?

But no, other priorities currently. But you can see how hard it is to resist!


Can't wait for Maxie Moo to have a little half brother in the family!

What a strawberry is SUPPOSED to look like

No white anywhere on this baby. 100% fresh and local. YUM!

Cabe's Shower

Diggy put together a fantastic mexi-themed shower on Saturday for our dear bride-to-be, Cabester. It was a perfect afternoon, the weather couldn't have been better!

And per usual, we were all quite enamored with Miss Addy Mae's latest tricks.

Apparently money really can buy happiness..

At least when it comes to weeds that is.

On Saturday we hired a worker from a non-profit organization, Casa Latina, to come pull the insane amount of weeds and grass that had taken over the north sidewalk of our house. Since it's the side of the house, and a sidewalk, and a fence, or maybe simply because it is backbraking labor...we have chosen to ignore this area of our home. And it was out of control. These after pictures don't create quite the effect without seeing the before pictures, but they showed up about an hour early so I wasn't able to snap some before they begun. T

Now that we are back to ground zero, Nick and I have made it our goal to keep the cracks WEED FREE. To do this, we have been doing a little internet researching and I have got to share with you a fabulous tip that is also earth friendly!
Apparently you just pour boiling hot water in the cracks every couple of weeks and it kills any growth that may be starting. How great is that? No weeds, AND no chemicals. Win, win.

This week I've been loving...

-Watching Max and Adelaide (Dave and Amy's little girl) play in our backyard. Is there anything cuter than puppies and babies?! I've decided most certainly there isn't. Maxie Moo is just so good with the little ones...

-Delicious new crockpot recipes

-Bootcamp workouts

-Nick's enthusiasm and passion for his work. I love watching him get get excited about applying the research he has done towards his strategy in court. He is awesome.

{Another} favorite day of the year...

Going to Pike Place Market and getting my peony bouquets.

Today was this day and my heart is happy.

Jamie and I headed down to the market today, had a delicious sandy for lunch and bought fresh flowers, fruit and veggies. I wish I could always buy fresh produce straight from the market, local is just always better!

And a home with fresh flowers is always better too...

Baby Shower!

Saturday afternoon we all enjoyed a gorgeous shower for cute mama-to-be, Delane, at Miss Rothie's lovely home. It was such fun watching D open all the too cute for words baby girl stuff and just catching up with everyone. Can't wait to meet sweet little Parker Lilly!

Seattle-ites: I don't get you.

Let me first preface this with the disclaimer that this is certainly not directed at ALL Seattle-ites. Only those of you who complain about this absolutely GORGEOUS weather we have been having.

I mean COME ON!! We live in this city of ours 12 months out of the year, with about 9 of them scattered, er, filled with rain showers. And now that we are finally getting our pay back for all those months and remembering all the amazing reasons why we live here, it seems everywhere I go people can't wait for the weather to cool off.

Seriously?! I mean, seriously?!

On the radio... "Don't worry folks, cooler temperatures coming up..."
In the elevator... "Whew....too hot out there for me!"
Co-workers... "We're just not used to this in the Northwest, this is too hot for here..."

Well, to all you apparent-warm-weather-haters, I say bite your tongue. We are truly blessed to live in this incredible part of the country (even when it is raining!) and we should enjoy EVERY SECOND of this weather.

So there. I'll get off my soap box now and go enjoy the patio.

Photo image courtesy of Google images, Armit Seth