I'm so lucky

I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband. Last night I came in the door and there were a dozen pink roses sitting on the table in a vase for me! No reason, just because. Isn't he so sweet? I've never dreamed I'd have such a wonderful husband. I am so blessed.

January 9, 2007 Picture

Last night (January 9) I took a class at the LSS for beginning digital photography and learned quite a bit! Granted, some if it was very basic, but it was well worth the $13.50 I spent. :) Here are some of what I learned.

• Hold the shutter half down to focus on what you want to take the picture of, then when you take the picture, EXHALE. When you exhale, it steadies the picture and the picture turns out better.


• Don't use Zoom as often as you think you should. Use your feet first. Move closer to your subjet rather than use the zoom, if possible. You also become more involved in your pictures that way. The more you zoom in, 75% less light gets through the lens, and the flash is less effective. The pictures turn out darker. The more you zoom, the higher chance you have of pictures being blurry beause you must hold the camera steadier while shooting.


• Make sure that your settings are on the highest Megapixle on your camera and on superfine. Yes, your memory card holds fewer pictures, but the quality is MUCH better.


• Use your flash on EVERY picture you take with people smiling. Even if it's outside and sunny, the pictures turn out better.


• If you have your camera on Auto, it makes all the decisions for you. Jeff (our instructor) had us turn our camera to "P" beause we have more options for flash and exposure and to leave it there for 2-3 months. Notice the difference in your pictures.


• Warn people what the camera is going to do when using the flash. That way they can be prepared for it. The flash works only between 10-12 feet. Anything over that use your feet and move closer to your subject.


• Make sure you focus between the eyes of the subject. If the eyes are in focus, the picture will look in focus. If the eyes are not in focus, the picture will not look in focus.


• Other reasons for using the flash, is to illuminate the subject, even out the shadow and make sure the flash on your camera goes toward where the shadow is. It elimiates the shadow. The flash also balances the color out in artifical lighting. The flash also makes the background darker, and focuses on the subject.


• Don't use the flash on reflected surfaces that you can't avoid, of if the subject is out of range. (Use your feet, move closer to the subject and use the flash)


• ALWAYS use the strap on your camera.


• Say that you are going to shoot on 3, but really shoot on 2. Much better pictures that way. If your subject realizes what you are doing, start shooting on 3 then.


• Shoot loose! Don't zoom in to get a close picture. You have megapixles to spare, so shoot loose and don't zoom as much. You can always crop more, but you can't un-zoom after the picture is taken!


• Use the rule of thirds when taking pictures. Think tic-tac-toe. The pictures are much more visually pleasing, and if you watch TV, or look at ads or anything, the majority of the pictures are taken using the rule of thirds.


• He suggested not using places like Target, Sam's, and Wal-Mart to print your pictures. The quality is not consitent and his sister has pictures that are 5-10 years old that she had printed at Sam's or Wal-Mart and he has pictures that he printed at Ritz and Proex and his pictures are not faded and hers are. He showed examples of this, and after seeing the examples, I will only get my pictures printed at quality photo places even though it is more expensive. At Ritz he said you can pre-pay for 300-500 prints at 19 cents a print for 4x6's and you can pre-pay for 50 5x7's at 79 cents a print. Not that much more and you can ensure that the quality is consistent and they will not fade.


• He also said that the point & shoot cameras last only about 5 years, the Canon SLR calendars 10 years, and the Nikon SLR cameras about 15 years. I thought that was interesting.


• He also suggested in investing in a quality 1 GB or higher memory card. He said that some brands would be Lexar, Panisonic, San Disk Ultra 2 or 3. Any card that is made in Japan is decent, but if you have any cards made in China re-invest. Your memories are worth it.


• He also said that if you accidentally reformat or delete pictures off your card that you want. DO NOT take any more pictures using the card. For every 1 picture that you take, an additional 20 are lost. You can bring your card into a high quality photo shop and they should be able to recover the information for you. Jeff said that he can recover generally 95% of all the pictures.


• We also went over some settings. Macro (generally the flower icon) is used for close up pictures. For Night settings, the shutter stays open longer, so make a 4x4 inch beanbag to use as a "tri-pod" to stabalize the camera. The mountain setting is the setting that you use to take a picture on what's outside rather than inside, generally through class. Also, when taking a picture through glass, angle the camera, and that will help the picture turn out better.

I hope that some of these tips that I learned at my class help you. I know they did me! Especially since I'm doing the photo a day. Oh, speaking of photo a day, I was playing around with my camera a bit in class, and took that picture. I thought it turned out neat. :)

January 8, 2007 Photo

Who needs coffee in the morning when you got Halo2? ;) I got all ready for work today and played a couple games before work. Jason thought that I looked cute and snapped a pic. :)

January 7, 2006

Here is my photo a day from January 7. Nothing like a bubble bath and a good book to end a day. :)

January 6, 2007 Pictures

Here are my photo a day pics from January 6! Playing Halo2! :)

Photo a day

Yes, I'm a day late in posting it, but oh well, LOL.

Scrappy Chic is back up!

Scrappy Chic appears to be back up. According to the hosting company our server crashed, and they moved it to another server, but the database wasn't synched properly, and then they had to implement other fixes as well. They said that they currently only notify customers of scheduled maintenance and down time, but hope to find a way to implement a way to let the owners know if something unexpected happens. Anyway, it appears we are back up and running again!!

Yet another Scrappy Chic update

SC is having problems again. Sometimes you are able to access it, but right now I'm forbidden from it. The hosting company has been contacted. Both Jason and I are very frustrated by all of the problems, and apologize for the inconvenience.

Scrappy Chic

Is back up again! YAY! Hope you all didn't go through too many withdrawals. ;)

Update on Scrappy Chic

Just got this email from the hosting company. :)

Hello.We are experiencing a problem with the server where your account is located. Sowe decided to install a new box and now all accounts are being restored on it.Please wait and your website will be accessible soon. I am sorry for the inconveniences.-- Thank you

I hope it will be back up soon! :)

Not a good start to the day & Scrappy Chic

Yup, that is my photo for the day. Let me explain.

This morning I went through my normal routine. Up at 5:30, make a stop in the bathroom, grab a water, and my laptop, sit down in front of the TV to watch the news and check my boards/emails. Realized Scrappy Chic was still down, and tried to find the login information to contact the hosting company. Couldn't find it, so I got up and went to shower.

Showered, did my make up, and started making breakfast. Next thing I know I was in the dark. All that was left on was the stove and phone. I tried to call Jason, and finally got a hold of him and he came to my rescue and realized that a fuse was blown and fixed it for me. What a great start to the day, I'm not feeling that good to begin with and then I'm in the dark, LOL.

Anyway, Jason contacted the hosting company for Scrappy Chic and hopefully it will be up again soon.

Pizza!

This was supper tonight. :) Nothing too exciting.

















I think I'm going to go scrap again now! I'm determined to scrap more this year and so far I've scrapped or made cards each day this year, except for the first. That is good for me. :)

Digi Scrappin'

Here is day 2! Who said you can't make a mess Digi Scrappin'? LOL, ok I admit some of the mess is left over from making cards last night. :)

Plus a bonus. My first ever digi LO! :)

Baking & Decorating Pics

So in my quest to be a better wife, here are some things I made last Friday & Saturday. :)

Bread :)

Digging right in, of course. ;) The bread was good, not crumbly or anything, but it got a little too crispy for Jason's liking. After this loaf is gone I'm going to try another recipe to see if that turns out better. :) The recipe was one of Maggies. :)


I also made homemade biscuits and gravy for supper. I used the recipe that Chele posted for biscuits. DELISH!!! I have never made homemade biscuits before, only the ones out of a can. We will never be buying biscuits again!






And finally, the cake. Turned out MUCH better than my first attempt. Jason was impressed. I will be making more and getting better. Still plently of room for improvement though. :)

Photo a Day

On a couple of the other blogs I follow, they do a photo a day. I'm going to try to do that for January. :)

Today's picture:
For Christmas Jason gave me a *huge* set of Lincoln logs. I remember playing with these when I was a kid, at Toby and Katie's house. This morning I just had to play with them. I had a blast. :) Nothing like going back to your childhood. :)

Projects

Sometime in December I made a pet sympathy card for a co-worker who had to put her cat down. Now me, I'm not a big pet person, but I do know that a loss is a loss, it doesn't matter if it's a pet or person. A couple of people were kind of ribbing on her about how upset she was and I felt so bad. So I made her this very simple pet card to show her that I care. I was kinda at a loss, but I think it turned out cute. :)

Speaking of at work, I have a corner desk, that basically looks into a corner, but I have a door right there too. But when I'm looking at my computer, behind the monitor there is a bulletin board. It was a plain ugly board and we typically don't put anything up there except for a calendar and the birthday list. But that's it. I thought I would make it bright and cheery. I cut up 12, 6" squares and put them on the board. I like it. Every time I look up I smile and it makes me happy. I thought it turned out pretty good even though I messed up the pattern, LOL. :) Everyone that has noticed it seems to like it as well, except for one person who said it was a waste of time.....first, off it's absolutely dead in the office and if it makes you happy, nothing is a waste of time! At least that is my thinking on it. :) Anyway, here is a picture of the board. Yes, it is lacking a calendar right now, I'm bringing in my "Office" calendar on Tuesday. That will make me ever more happy. :D Here is picture of the board. Sorry for the crappy quality, I took it with my camera phone. :)

Looking forward to 2007

During the latter part of a year, it starts to feel a bit claustrophobic. Everything caving in on you, coming to an end. So many projects and things to do, and not enough time to do them. It seems to me that after Christmas passes, things slow down, calm down. A whole new fresh start. I love it. A year coming to an end, a new year with a clean slate.

I'm typically not one to make New Year's resolutions, but this year I am. I am determined to make a change for the better. Here are the resolutions that I posted on Scrappy Chic.

-Decultter.
-Work towards being completely debt free.
-Keep the money that we put in savings in there.
-Start a retirement plan.
-Aim towards working part time.
-Be more thankful for what I have rather than looking at what I don't have. (Essentially be more positive)
-Be more creative and scrapbook more.
-Continue my weight loss journey.
-Make more from scratch. Or should I say attempt to make foods from scratch? LOL. Bread is number one on my list. :)


Now, Denise and Laurie have talked about Mrs. Catherine, and her challenge that she posted. Here is a link to the Mrs. Catherine's Blog. http://www.xanga.com/MrsCatherine/558980602/new-year-new-set-of-challenges--learning-something-new.html

So here are three things that I want to learn how to do in my home that I haven't done yet.

1. Declutter, simplify, organize.
At work people tell me that I am so organized. And there I am. At home, I am to a certain extent, but I know I can do much better. This year I am going to do that. :)

2. Cook from scratch.
Now, Jason and I have been doing this, and I have certain foods that I can make from scratch, and since starting my weight loss journey we have done this more, but I need to learn how to cook healthy meals. I think my first task will be to make bread and rolls. There have been some wonderful recipes posted on Scrappy Chic, so I'm going to try those. I am going to make good use out of that bread machine that Jason and I got for a wedding gift. :)

3. Work towards being debt free.
Jason and I started on this, and did great, but now we need to continue to do it and stick with it. That means limiting eating out (more expensive now since we don't do fast food) and meal planning.

Now I'm going to to a fourth one as well :P

4. Be a more Godly woman.
Let's just say that I have never really followed the His word, and have realized that I need Him in my life. I want to be a wife that Jason will be proud of, increase my homemaking skills and I know that I can't do it on my own, I need Him in my life and to follow His word. Doing so will only make me a better person. :)

Cake Decorating

Growing up, I remember Ma decorating cakes and me "helping" her. Or should I say begging to make a mess out of frosting. ;) I remember helping Ma mix up and color frostings and begging her to let me "practice" my writing on a sheet of wax paper. Flipping through the Wilton books she had. Ma was an amazing cake decorator. I'm sure if she pulled out her cake decorating stuff, she could still whip up a beaultiful cake.

Beginning of December I seen a cake in the Kraft Food & Family magazine, that was looked like a Christmas Ornament. I decided to attempt to make it, and had a ton of fun while doing it. The cake didn't turn out the best, but I had a blast. That's what it's all about, isn't it?

Here's a picture of the cake. :)

At work, I got a gift card for $110 to use wherever I want, but I have to spend it on me. My first thought was to put it towards a wide format printer or to spend it on scrapping supplies. Now, I know that scrapping supplies don't have an expiration date, but I have so many, it is starting to get overwhelming. I need to stop buying and start using them up. So I decided to spend some of the money on cake decoarting supplies. Sure enough Hobby Lobby had a coupon for 40% off all Wilton Products. So off Jason and I went. I ended up getting quite a bit of stuff for about $80. I do need to go back and pick up some other things that I now want after reading my Wilton course books!! So I think I am going back to pick up some more stuff. :) I guess you can say that I now have a new hobby...Cake Decorating. Now let's see how good I can become. :)

Christmas Box

This looks like a simple box. To me this cream and gold colored box means Christmas. For as long as I can remember that box contained *my* Christmas ornaments. Each year Ma buys us or we pick out a new ornament for the year. This box contains so many ornaments...everything from my first Christmas Ornament to one that Grandma Nelson made me that has my picture in it, to various homemade ones. You can see a peek of a dixie cup bell ornament that I made in school. I love my box of ornaments and it just means happiness to me. :)

Now in other news, this is my new Nativity Set that I picked up at Hobby Lobby. I love it!

You can click on either image to see the pictures larger. :)

ABC Tag :)

ABC Tag
A - Available or single: Married!
B - Best friend: Jason :)
C - Cake or pie: Chocolate cake or pumpkin pie. Or pumpkin cake muffins. Best of both worlds. :)
D - Drink of choice: Water or Tazo Awake Tea
E - Essential item you use everyday: Glasses! I can't see *anything* without them. Yes, that is true, just ask Jason if he has ever moved them while I'm in the shower. ;)
F - Favorite color: Pink and black!
G - Gummy bears or worms: Bears.
H - Hometown: Kerick, MN or Finlayson, MN
I - Indulgence: Dove Dark Chocolate.
J - January or February: January, my birthday month and a wind down after Christmas. :)
K - Kids & names: Don't have any kids yet.
L - Life is incomplete without? My family and laughter!
M - Marriage date: 08.02.03
N - Number of siblings: 2 sisters.
O - Oranges or apples: Apples, granny smith. Although I do like oranges too. :)
P - Phobias or fears: Someone I know dieing and our house being broke into when Jason is at work.
Q - Fave quote: "Scrapbooking supplies have no expiration dates." or something to that effect...Stacy Julian. ;)
R - Reasons to smile: I have the most wonderful husband and Christmas is coming!
S - Season: Fall and Spring. Mild temperatures and beautiful sunshiney days. (Yes, sunshiney is a word in my book. :P)
T - Tag 3 or 4 people: Whoever wants to! Someone better. ;)
U - Unknown fact about me: Hmmm....I think I'm pretty open, I don't know if I have one. If I think of one, I will edit my post. :)
V- Vegetable you don't like: Asparagus
W - Worst habit: Not exercising.
X - Xrays: Never had any.
Y - Your fave food: Jason's grilled buffalo burgers. YUMMY!
Z - Zodiac sign: Aquarious