Aperture 1.4 {focused blur}

This weekend...

My sister Stephanie and my brother-in-law Larry and their new sweet baby Creed came to visit us one last time this weekend.  There was lot's to do because it's the weekend before the Derby so they had a lot of events going on.

  As soon as they got here we headed over to the Balloon Glow.  We made it just in time for them to start deflating for the night. Nice!  But I did get one photograph before they started to take them down.

Here is one of the family that Stephanie got.

 

The next morning we spent an hour driving Mark to work and back due to the fact that our street was blocked off at both ends for the marathon.  Ummm...hello I get that people are running around the city but some people still have to get to work.  They almost didn't let us back into our house but a very nice police man slipped us through the blockade.  On our way back we were surprised to find an art fair going on a few streets down so we spent the afternoon strolling around there.

I got a great shot of Cole.  Totally natural which is amazing with him these days.

Then last night we went over to the river front to explore the "festiville" get it?  Louisville, festiville? They really do call it that.  We had to go see the chow wagons.  Basically festival food wagons but people get really excited about it around here.  It was fun and the park was really pretty but we opted out and ate at Marks Feed Store which is a b.b.q. restaurant that we love here before heading home and calling it a night.  It was a great weekend but now I have to sit and make all my lists of things I need to do so I can get back down to serious work tomorrow. 

  It occurs to me that all of these pictures are of us walking around and not actually doing anything and I pointed that out to my sister as I am writing this.  She said, "that's because all we DID was walk around but we had fun doing it."

Which is true. 

Our friend came by again...

I don't know why but seeing him just brightens my day and I always feel like a morning visit from him is my own personal omen of a magical day.  One where all things are possible.  It's silly I know but who wouldn't want a beauty like this to visit their back door.

  He's been visiting more frequently recently.  I think it's because we feed him and he now associates our home with food.  Which is fine with me.  Cole absolutely adores him and he listens all morning for his call. Man, peacocks are loud.

Look at how excited Cole looks. That grin is just the cutest!

  I need to take a picture of his full body with the feathers up next time so everyone can see how big he really is.  It's amazing really.

  Well, now that he's made an appearance here maybe he'll pass on his good luck to all of you.  Have a good day!

Tagged twice

I was tagged twice for the whole list 7 random things about you game.  Elsie and Ana.  Does that mean I have to come up with 14?  I hope not but let's see how far I get...

1. I have never learned how to link people to things with the word you want them to go to.  I know, it's sad and pathetic.  I have mastered photoshop but I can't perform a simple link.  Please someone explain it to me!  Seriously, please do.

2. I was in a Jackie Chan movie before he was famous in the United States.  So yes, that means I was in a really bad marshal arts film.

3. I was a theater major for the first year of College and I even went to England on a study aboard program to study Shakespeare.  I LOVE Shakespeare plays.

4. I went to nationals in Speech and Debate in High school.  Artsy and Nerdy....yep, I was a really popular in high school.

5. I hate the taste of plain water but I try to drink a lot of it.  I do add crystal light to it a lot even though I know that is cheating.

6. I am so freaking excited for this book...I'd link you with the title but remember I don't know how. So here is the written out link... http://www.squeetus.com/stage/books_austen.html   Austenland?  A woman who relates all of her love life to Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice?  Could this book fit me any better?  Oh and Shannon Hale is so funny.  I love reading her blog.  I think we are long lost sisters.  Shannon if you read this....we should be friends.  Her next book is titled An Actor and a House Wife which basically is the next chapter in my life after the loving Colin Firth part.   

7.  I actually like Kentucky.  Who knew?

8.  I'm terrified of moving to New York City but I'm excited for the possibilities in the same breath.

9. At different times in my life I have been asked if I was Monica Lewinski and Katie Holmes.  Yeah, let's just say one was after gaining 50 pounds to have Grant and one was right after I was married and was in L. A. and 108 pounds.   You decide which goes with which.

10. Speaking of gaining 50 pounds, ice cream sounds really good right now. 

11. I still heart Twilight!  Read it!  Please!  You really need to if you haven't.

12. I have a small, okay large obsession with stars.  I collect them everywhere I go.  I can't pass one up!

13.  Yeah, you know what?  I think 12 is good.

Have a nice night!

 

CKu-Detroit

So here we are!  Of course like any good scrapbooker would we HAD to stop and get a picture on the way to dinner.  It was such a fun night getting to hear everyone's stories and learning more about everyone.

  I don't know what it was, or why it was, but like so many other instructors have stated, there was something special about CKU Detroit. I will admit getting ready to go and teach was stressful and I was so burned out the last few weeks.  Wondering how I was going to be able to keep up with the pace I have set for myself over the next month. I put a lot of pressure on myself to make these classes good because I don't want someone to feel like I wasted their time. I really hope they feel like it was worth coming to and that they leave empowered.  But then I arrived and my worries began to lift.  I realized that there is power in working in a field I have passion for.  There is a creative power when you walk into a room of 600 other people who love what you love. People who also sacrificed to be at that event and want to learn what you have to offer. 

  There is something inside of me that just bursts with happiness when I see that someone get's what an aperture is. Or when someone tells me that they finally feel they are ready to let go of automatic and move to new photography frontiers based on something I said. Or when the next day they tell you they tried what you had taught them and it actually really worked! Such great students! That is exciting my friends.

  Aside from all of the amazing students I had in my classes I was able to meet and make new friends with some of the instructors. I met Jessica Sprague who I had known a little online but never really knew very well.  She is a great girl! So nice and so great at teaching Digi. She had guts to try something new and the printed layout's from her class were amazing.

  I also met my new friend and soon to be neighbor Ana Cabrera.  First off, I have to say that I spent the majority of High school living in Hawaii and so as soon as I met her I felt like she was a little piece of home and I knew we would be fast friends.  She is so funny and kind and great to be around. She has such an excitement for life and I can't wait to shake up Provo with her this summer!

  I spent the majority of my time photographing the event for the slide show and promo's later on.  It was so much fun getting to see all of the different teaching styles.  You could literally feel the different dynamics as you walked into each room.  I must say the teachers at CKU work so hard to make and create great classes. And the students were attentive, giving and great!

It was so rejuvenating to see everyone's passion and excitement and I'm happy to be home and put all the inspiration I gained to work!

Here is another teacher photo. I'm not sure what look we were going for but it is funny.

Lastly, I wanted to post a picture of the CKU staff.  I LOVE these guy's, they are so great. They work so hard and are rarely spoken of, but really they run the show and they are good at it!

 

Life moves on at such a crazy pace.  It was spring break last week and we had a good time for the most part.  We went to all the fun places around town, the science center, the zoo, the park but I'd have to say the big hit was "Meet the Robinsons"  in 3d!  The boys loved the movie and I loved watching them in their 3d glasses they looked like little Buddy Holly's.  So cute.

  Alas the weekend was filled with a sick Cole.  But he is doing much better and I am glad. I would hate to leave him to go teach at CKU if he was still sick. He was so cuddly the whole time!

  I spent the last few days getting ready to go and getting everything finished up for my class.  I also made a project for a silent auction for Autism speaks in honor of Ali and Simon.  I thought I'd post it here because it was so fun to make.  I used the lacing cards and papers from Cosmo Cricket and then added some of my own details. ( and no I don't know anyone at Cosmo Cricket I just thought the paper was cute:).

Well, I have to go pack!   

 

So, excited...

I have to share this!

That beautiful lady on the cover is my amazing Grandmother.   Yay!  When my Dad told her she said," I've never been on a cover before!"  She is such a great woman.  I love her so much and it makes me happy to see her each time I pick up the issue.  I saw it for the first time yesterday.  Oh and the photo is mine but not the layout.  Can't take credit for that.  However I am super excited about this issue because it's all about women and their strength and their beauty inside and out.

I was able to write an article on photographing the women in your life. It was so fun to work on.  I think that often as women we shy away from the camera but it's so important to leave that legacy for our children, family and friends.  I KNOW that I am guilty of staying behind the camera and feeling completely silly in front of a lens but I am working on it.  This article made me realize that someday my kids are going to be like,  where is Mom? when they look at our albums so I am making an effort to be in the photo's more and to make sure I have photographs of all the women I love, you know all those women who back away from me when my camera is out.

I also have to mention that I was able to choose some contributors for the article and I was able to work with two of my very favorite portrait photographers and one very talented scrapbooker.  Audrey Woulard, Rebecca Mudrick, and Maria Grace. It was such a great experience. 

Here is a link to it online  http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/mag/article.ihtml?index_field=1912

Yikes! It's been a while

Believe me when I say the busy life we have lead lately has not just affected my blog posting time.  My house, my laundry pile and my appearance have all been greatly neglected.  The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity.  Mark has been a part of Humana, the largest New American Playwright Festival in the United States.   He was working well over 120 hours a week because the theater had up to 6 shows running a day. He was in two shows and everything went very well for him.  I was able to see the plays and I was so proud of him and all his hard work, but I am so glad that it is over and things can settle down again.  Well, settle down as much as we ever do.  His New York showcase will be in May and we are hoping for really good results so there is a lot of work to go into getting ready for that.

  Meanwhile I have been trying to prepare for my CKU classes in two weeks!  I can't believe it is so soon.  I have to say I haven't shot this much in a very long time. I really try hard to make my classes the best they can be.  And I do hope that everyone will like them and learn a lot from them.

  So today I've been trying to clean some and get caught up on everything that is not scrapbooking or Theatre related.  I started going through some homework of Grants.  I love reading all his writing assignments. Grant is very smart.  I know, I know every parent says that but he really is.  His Kindergarten teacher has been talking to us about having him skip the first grade.  Which we do not want to do.  Or have him sent to the school districts gifted and talented school. Which we would do but we are moving.  So she is writing us a letter to take whereever we go. I'm not quite sure why we were blessed with him.  I mean, let's be honest he does not get his school smarts from me.  I was always into the arts and I did very well in English and history but math and science seem to elude me.  I am grateful for it though as Mark and I have always joked that we'd have to live close to my parents when the kids are in high school so that my engineer Father and business Mother could help our children with their homework. Maybe Grant will be able to make it on his own though.  Anyway, I found this note to the teacher that Grant wrote during math at school.  She told me she laughed and laughed about this...

 

She also said that she is amazed by how descriptive he is when he writes.  Here is an intro to one of his stories.

And I quote "The warm sunny, good, pretty, nice day."  I saw it and I thought wow that's really great.  Until I realized that, that is how he begins every story. Only sometimes he switches out the words to be things like. "The sunny, warm, pretty, nice, good day."  Apparently very day of his begins positively.  Well, either that or he found a formula that works for him and he is working it!  Either ways it's pretty funny.  I love that boy!

Well, back to the cleaning!  Hope you are having a "sunny, warm, pretty, nice, good day"!