Day 156

I'm not going to worry about taking photos today - I edited enough to feel  like I accomplished something. Here are some highlights from our Seattle trip.

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(There are none of the seminar because she specifically requests that none be taken.)

Day 155

We're home! We picked my brother up at SeaTac airport this morning and then made the 10 hour trip home. I didn't even take my camera out of the bag today, so you get another phone shot of Ken in our living room. Now I'm ready for bed!

Day 154

I didn't get a chance to post my blog yesterday! The seminar was great and I'm excited about putting my new knowledge into action! Here's a shot of Sandy Puc's bus taken from my hotel room. (Oh - for all those saying "how do you pronounce that last name?" it's said like "butch".)

Day 153

This is a really awful photo, but it was really raining. What you're seeing here is a semi in its side, facing the wrong direction, and on both sides of the freeway guardrail. Not good. I sure hope there were no injuries.

I had the most wonderful day with my honey and my high school friend! Ken and I went to the Seattle Aquarium and then Pike Place Market. Then we spent all afternoon and evening with my friend Priscilla. She took us on the best tour of Seattle! What a fantastic city! I will have pictures to share when I get home. I will also try to catch up on all the blogs then. 'Night!

Day 152

We made it to Everett! The trip was fine, and we made good time. We even stopped for a pictures a time or two. Those will have to wait until we're home though...we don't have a regular computer with us...just my phone.

Here is a shot I took at Snoqualmie Pass with my phone. Not the best quality, but it's a post!

Day 151

Well, at least someone thinks it's spring around here!!

Day 150

ARGH! My internet has been more down than up this afternoon/evening. I'm very quickly going to try to post my 365. This photo is so totally cheating!! I took a photo of my monitor with the home page for the Tots-to-Teens seminar...but I did it for a reason. I realized that I hadn't really mentioned that here, so some people (Eric!) may not have a clue what I'm talking about!

Ken and I are leaving Friday to drive just north of Seattle (about an 8.5 hour drive) for the Tots-to-Teens seminar in Everett, Washington. The seminar is actually on Sunday afternoon, so we will take time on Saturday to visit and goof off with one of my fabulous friends from high school. I can't wait to see her again! We will be headed home again on Monday, but not until after we pick up my brother at the Seattle airport. He will be staying with my mom for 3 or 4 weeks. It's going to be such a great weekend! This is the first time Ken and I have gone away together in 7 years!

(By the way, I took this soooo totally cheating photo with my 20d! It's home! Yay!)

(And yay again! My internet stayed up long enough to get my post done!)

Day 149

Just family stuff today...it was a busy Tuesday, and my body seems to think I've developing bronchitis. I know that I'm not, because I wouldn't do such a thing right before my 4-day trip with my sweetie. So in an effort to conserve my energy, I just took a some snapshots of the family doing their thing this evening. Here are two of my men...

(for those who want to know such things, I bounced the flash off the ceiling at full power for both of these.) 

Bonus post!

Heeheehee...I think I'm so funny. :-)

I have joined a couple friends in a new challenge (because I'm not busy enough already). We are going through the Strobist Bootcamp series. So here is my Week 1 assignment - a headshot.

Day 148

This has nothing to do with my 365, but I have to brag on Verizon Wireless for a minute. I've been a Verizon customer for over 10 years, and I've always been satisfied with them. But now I'm all the way up to "very pleased" with them. I bought my awesome new phone through the Verizon website last week, and I paid the website price for it. Yesterday I discovered a piece of mail from Verizon that I hadn't looked at, and it showed a different price for my phone - 50% less than I paid! So I called them today, and they credited the difference to my account! Yay Verizon!! That means that I got a great deal on an amazing phone, and my bill for April will be considerably less. Whoohoo!!

Okay...on to the regularly scheduled program...

I was working on off-camera flash again today. I'm not really happy with what I got, but I'm gonna keep working on it. I think part of my dissatisfaction has to do with using the Rebel XT instead of the 20d. I hope so, anyway.

Day 147

I only took a few photos again today. GAK! I must get back into the groove! But on a happy note, I had to take pictures of my Monkey Bread because it looked so yummy (and it was!). Eric, I know you hate it when we post delicious food items on our blogs because you can't even smell it...sorry. If it helps any, imagine fresh-baked bread mixed with the sweet scent of vanilla, the carmelly smell of brown sugar, and just a hint of cinnamon. I'm sure that will make it all better.

Day 146

I almost forgot to post today!! I didn't take many pictures today...I was quite busy enough with kids and housework that I barely picked up my camera. But I did snap a few quick shots of these birds. There were 15 or 20 of them in our neighbor's trees.

Day 145

My neighbor was up welding at 6 am!! He was leaving for California today, and I guess he thought his trailer should all be in one piece when he left.

This afternoon and evening Austin washed dishes. And washed dishes. And washed dishes. He didn't do them when they were his chore (Monday), so he was given the opportunity to practice all week. Two more times he did not do them...so he got to start on them when he got home from school today. He finally finished about half an hour after bedtime. (By the way, I DID do the dishes between - I have to or we don't get to use dishes! I just left all of today's for him to do.)

 
I entered this one in the bi-weekly challenge on OPS. The challenge (that ends tomorrow, OPSers!) is "hands at work".

Day 144

Whew! Cutting it really close tonight! (Well, for me. I still have almost an hour.) I got my new phone today, and I've been too busy playing with it to get my 365 done! Guess what my photo for today is...?

Day 143

I have proof that Spring is trying to make its way here...

Mom has daffodils, crocuses, and tulips all thinking about spring in her flower beds! Yay!! I am sooooo ready for spring.

Oh, on another note...my new phone should be here tomorrow! I'm so excited! It almost makes the wait for my 20d bearable. (That should be home next week.)

Day 142

Okay, I cheated. I didn't take this picture. I just took a screenshot of the phone that I really, really want. I need a new cell phone because there's something a little strange about my personal electromagnetics. I kill cell phones, watches, and any other electronic devices that stay close to my body for any period of time (mp3 players, cordless phones, remotes). I have had my current BlackBerry for about 9 months, but it's the second one - I had to replace the first one after 9 months too. So I've been looking, reading, drooling... I was going to get a BlackBerry Storm, but then I saw the Samsung Omnia. This phone has a 5mp camera! Plus a lot of other great features that only a geek like me would use (OneNote Mobile). So now I'm going to save all the pennies I can find to get myself one of these.

Oh, and notice in the details it says this phone will help me keep my life in balance! I definitely need THAT! Man! I gotta get this phone!

Day 141

I only had opportunity to snap a quick shot of the SNOW on March 16. GRRRRR! Spring is almost within reach...can we be done with snow now? This was taken with a low shutter speed (1/8?) to get streaks of snow instead of the no-longer-magical flakes.

Day 140

I found a great blanket last week. It is so so so so so so soft. I just can't wait to get a baby on it! But since I don't have any babies (when Caleb saw me with it he told me we need a baby! LOL!) I put my kidlets on it. Kristi needed a photo of herself for her "About Me" poster for school, and Caleb needed to lay on the blanket. So here's my new blanket and two of my kidlets appreciating it.

(Kristi posed herself)

(Caleb copied Kristi's pose - mostly)

Day 139

You know how you feel after a really emotional day? That dragged out, worn down, limp rag feeling? That's kinda how I feel today. I helped to train a new crop of foster parents. I love the opportunity to be a part of the solution, but this particular day in the training is so exhausting! We spend most of the day talking about and doing activities regarding loss. There's a lot of emotion, and lot of sadness, a lot of stress... It's more tiring than a workout! So I didn't take my photo today. Ken took this one of me relaxing on the couch in my comfies.

Day 138

Rushed post today...the hamster wheel just keeps turning!

I got my new business cards! Yay! I love my new logo, and these cards come out so nice. I'm excited!

Edited to add:

For those who may not know, my logo was created by Jenn at DesignbyJenn.com, and I ordered my cards from Moo.com. So happy with all of it!

Day 137

We had a visit from Fancy and Dale's birth mother today. It's the first time they've seen each other in over 2 years, so we made sure to get some photos. I've only had time to edit one of the three of them...

Day 136

I got my Willow Tree Angel out of her corner tonight to practice some snooting. I only have one snoot (it's a flash modifier that directs the light in a narrower path), and I got some interesting effect with just one light, but I wanted light on both sides, so I had to improvise...

I actually like the dark line through the front of the angel - I think it gives her some dimension. I wonder if I had worn a white shirt would it have softened that line a bit? 

Day 135

Mom and I went and got haircuts today. She just basically had hers trimmed, but I had mine cut in a whole new style. I like it! When got home Caleb said, "How did you get that little hair?"

By the way (Eric), I did do these last two shots in the studio with Ken's help. I set it all up and he took the photos of me. (I think Eric's been missing my studio shots.)

Day 134

I've said for years that being cute is exhausting. Here's proof...

Day 133

I have not even picked up my camera today. Shame upon me. But I don't feel too bad - I took over 300 photos at the birthday party yesterday. I think that's enough to cover today too. So here are some photos from the party.

This poor dog, Dasher, wanted to be a part of the fun. He was thwarted at every turn. He went to door after door trying to get some sympathy, and ultimately found someone to take pity on him. But every time he came running into the party his human "Mom" would usher him right out the nearest door. Poor dog. He was so funny.

Day 132

Kristi was invited to a birthday party that was held today. She had a great time, and I took the opportunity to practice some party photography! I don't have parents' permission to share the kidlet photos (except mine and the twins) but here are a couple shots of the fun and frivolity...

Day 131

Just a quick snap today. Nathan was telling me that his friend Connor is moving to Alaska and this was to be his last day at school. Nathan is sad because he really likes Connor.

Can you tell that Nathan bundled himself up? We had that winter stormy thing last night and this morning, and it was icky outside. We told the kids to get bundled against the wind, and Nathan took us seriously!

Day 130

My mother (aka The Goblet Fairy) slipped another little treasure into my purse recently. I didn't find it for several days because I've been something of a homebody, and haven't needed my purse. But today I pulled it out and set it on display in my kitchen window. It really needs sunlight to make the prisms show up, but I had fun placing in on an LED flashlight this evening (we're kinda short on sunlight right now - as I type this we are having a winter storm complete with wind and snow).

Thank you, Mom, for this lovely apple!

Day 129

Once again I was out practicing with my flash and umbrella in my front yard. Yes, people stare as they drive by. Some smile indulgently. Some even laugh. One older woman craned her neck around to keep her eyes on what was going on in our front yard. I don't mind being gawked at. Maybe they'll come to me when they need a photo done.

Day 128

Caleb found this old photo of Nathan (taken when Nathan was 2 years old, so close to 4 years ago)...

...and Caleb wanted one like it. He wanted to pose just like Nathan was. Here's Caleb's pose...

Yep. Looks just like Nathan's. He even argued with me about how his hands should be placed on his face. The little stinkpot.

But at least the lighting is better. 

Day 127

I worked on getting my lighting a little less flat (flat light offers little contrast and few shadows - gives less definition to the subject). I attempted to decrease the power of my secondary flash for this shot by bouncing the flash into the white umbrella and moving it further away from my subject.

I had to take some Nyquil to combat this sinus thing, and I'm completely wiped out.

(Thanks for Felice for being my spur-of-the-moment model again.)

Day 126

More studio fun today!