Monday, November 21, 2011

Photography Challenge Day #9 - Someone You Love

 
 
I love the little person that belongs to the hands in this picture.  But that little person REALLY loves this doll we made together.  And because we had fun doing it together, I love this little doll too.  Claire's homework was to make a clothespin doll representing her cultural heritage as a way to honor all "pilgrims."  We chose to represent Norway, where my maternal grandmother's family was from.  Claire named her little doll Anna.
 
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I want to force myself to practice taking photos a little more, so I'll be posting for this 30 Day Photography Challenge even though the "official" challenge is over.  Posts may or may not be daily.

My rules for my self are:
1 - Take everything in manual mode
2 - No post-processing, only SOOC

Friday, November 18, 2011

Photography Challenge Day #8 - A Bad Habit

 
There's two layers to the meaning on this one.  First of all, spending too much time on the computer is a bad habit of mine.  (And it's ironic that I'm admitting that WHILE spending time on the computer.  Huh.)
 
Second of all, as you can see from this photo I took of one of my old keyboards, I have a nasty habit of ruining keyboards.  I tend to wear off the letters.  Weird, I know.  Looking back at this old keyboard, I can barely believe it.  Look at how there are actual grooves and indentations on some of those keys.  I swear I didn't take sandpaper to them!
 
But I have good news for those who have been following my plight with bated breath.  We found a keyboard we've been using for awhile now that I LOVE and I've had no problems so far. This illuminated keyboard seems to do the trick because the letters are actually translucent to allow the light through, instead of just being printed on.  Plus it's really nice to use and very cool looking to boot.  YAY!
 
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I want to force myself to practice taking photos a little more, so I'll be posting for this 30 Day Photography Challenge even though the "official" challenge is over.  Posts may or may not be daily.

My rules for my self are:
1 - Take everything in manual mode
2 - No post-processing, only SOOC

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Photography Challenge Day #7 - Fruit

It may be so hot in the Texas summer that you can't keep a garden alive past June, but at least in the 
winter the grocery store is full of these babies:


(Also?  I really want a macro lens.)

Texas grapefruit have become part of our Christmas morning breakfast tradition.  YUM!


Before I went to the store and saw that grapefruit had come in season, I was thinking that a photo of my new jacket might work for this prompt too:


It is kinda fruity, isn't it?  But I love it!  It's a hand me down from my aunt.  I'd been craving a coat that was kinda... irresponsible.  I love my gray wool pea coat, but sometimes it's fun to spice things up.  On the other hand, I am loathe to spend a lot of money on a coat that will only get worn a couple weeks every year here in Texas unless it's pretty classic.  So when I saw this in the box of stuff she sent, it made my day.  And since my sister and I were splitting the items in the box, I was extra thrilled when my sister said she didn't want it because it didn't work for her.  What do you think?  Was my sister wiser than me, or did I luck out?


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I want to force myself to practice taking photos a little more, so I'll be posting for this 30 Day Photography Challenge even though the "official" challenge is over.  Posts may or may not be daily.

My rules for my self are:
1 - Take everything in manual mode
2 - No post-processing, only SOOC

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Photography Challenge Day #6 - From a Low Angle

 


I learned something about shooting in manual mode.  When it's a very dark cloudy day and you're chasing your toddler around your kitchen trying to get photos of her shoes, the lighting changes A LOT.  It's really hard to keep your photos properly exposed and your white balanced.  Especially when adjusting your settings will take 0.5 seconds and she will only stay in one place for about 0.3 seconds.  Maybe toddlers do occasionally call for not shooting in manual mode?  SIGH...

 

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I want to force myself to practice taking photos a little more, so I'll be posting for this 30 Day Photography Challenge even though the "official" challenge is over.  Posts may or may not be daily.

My rules for my self are:
1 - Take everything in manual mode
2 - No post-processing, only SOOC

Friday, November 4, 2011

Progress!

I've lost a total of 10 pounds now in approximately the last 2 months.  YAY!  I am now back to what I weighed before I got pregnant with Claire.  Unfortunately, that's not as awesome as it may sound.  I'm weird.  I weighed less each time I got pregnant.  5 pounds less than this when I got pregnant with Scott and almost 10 pounds less than this when I got pregnant with Kate.


But here is another sewing project that's been helping distract me:



This sweater used to be a V-neck pullover, but I almost never wore it because a) I live in Texas and I hardly ever need a sweater,  b) it fit a bit short for my taste, and c) the few times I do want a sweater, I rarely want one I have to pull on and off over my head.

So, inspired by some pins I saw on Pinterest, I turned it into a cardigan, and now I LOVE it!  I have the exact same sweater in a dark charcoal gray, so stay tuned because it's definitely getting chopped too!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Photography Challenge Day #5 - From a High Angle

 
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I want to force myself to practice taking photos a little more, so I'll be posting for this 30 Day Photography Challenge even though the "official" challenge is over.  Posts may or may not be daily.

My rules for my self are:
1 - Take everything in manual mode
2 - No post-processing, only SOOC

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Halloween Costumes 2011

Claire wanted to be a butterfly this year, so I went the lazy route and bought her wings.  But we still bought glitter and customized them because Claire was not satisfied with plain pink:

 


Scott is obsessed with all things Wild Kratts right now, so OF COURSE he was going to pick an animal that had been featured on the show.  He picked a black rhino and I tried to oblige.  It was far too warm to make some full-body outfit, so I figured a head covering and a tail with black pants and t-shirt would suffice.  This one required the most thinking for me on how to make it, but I think it turned out pretty recognizable as a rhino (asking anyone to know he was a black rhino might be a bit much to ask):
  



Kate wanted to be Hello Kitty, of course:



And even Hello Kitty has a little tail:



And I indulged her and bought this exorbitantly expensive trick-or-treat bucket ($8!!!! Really???) just to tip people off that she was more than just a "cat":




Even with yellow paint on her nose and whiskers, I don't think it was that obvious that she was something beyond a cat, but who cares.  She loved it and, really, a toddler costume of any kind with ears, a tail, and a dress is pretty cute:



M and I dressed up too, but I forgot to take bloggable photos:

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 Just call me Rosie...