Book Recommendation

Hi everyone!  I'm in a weird mood...the kind you get into when you listen to Counting Crows, and Blind Melon.  But, mainly when you listen to Counting Crows.  It's sort of a quiet, contemplative mood.  This summer is slipping away.  Tomorrow will be September.  I love this time of year, when you're grasping at the last of the hot, hot weather but so ready for the cool respite of fall.  (I'm mainly awaiting respite for my electric bill.)  It has been a strange summer for us.  A time for transition into the new, but with that comes the inability to travel, and camp.  We actually made it to the lake this last weekend.  I'll post pics soon.  It was our first trip this summer.  Anyhow, I am rambling.  Let's get to the title of this post.  A book recommendation...

What a beautiful story this is.  I have about 60 pages left, so I'm writing this, hoping the last pages won't totally blow it.   I jest you, people.    I love the flow of this novel.  It's a piece of historical fiction set in the 1800s in Puerto Rico.  If you have ever read Bless Me, Ultima or Like Water For Chocolate, then you will like this book.  It is the story of Ana who travels to Puerto Rico to fulfill her dream of making it in the New World.  There are so many topics for discussion...slavery, women's rights, adultery,  child rearing.  If you belong to a book club, you might suggest this book for it.  There are so many subjects to discuss.  I will be reading the book, "When I was Puerto Rican," also by the same author.  I like her writing style.  I'll let you know how I like that one as well.  

It is time for homework, and clean up.  So I will be going.  I'm wishing you a good evening.

Almost September...

"Harvest"  September MWExpress Kit

Patterned Paper {1} 12x12 Countryside - Farmhouse (Crate Paper) {1} 12x12 Cross Stitch - Farmhouse (Crate Paper) {1} 12x12 Cupboard - Farmhouse (Crate Paper) {1} 12x12 Memories - Lost & Found 2 (My Minds Eye) {1} 12x12 Silly Stripe - Stella & Rose (My Minds Eye) {1} 12x12 Dusk - Forever Fall (Bo Bunny) Solid Cardstock {1} 12x12 Papaya Puree Dark (Bazzill) {1} 12x 12 Suede Brown Dark (Bazzill) {1} 12x12 Sugar Cream (Bazzill) {1} 12x12 Kraft (Bazzill) Embellishments {1} 6x12 Phrase Stickers - Farmhouse (Crate Paper) {1} 6x12 Border Stickers - Farmhouse (Crate Paper) {1} 6x12 Woodgrain Mini Alphas (Sassafras) {3} 5x8 Ribbon Edge Chipboard Banners (Fancy Pants) {2} Cream Notions Patterned Flowers (Studio Calico) {6} Pyrus Glazed Brads - Assorted Styles & Sizes (BasicGrey) {4} Memories Eclectic Buttons - Assorted Styles & Sizes (My Minds Eye) {1} ½ Yard Timber & Cream Gingham Ribbon (Creative Impressions) {1} ½ Yard Jumbo Mustard Rick Rack (Creative Impressions) {1} ½ Yard Antique Ruler Twill (Creative Impressions) {1} ½ Yard Natural Twine (Creative Impressions) Cards  {1} 5.5 x 8.5 Papaya Puree Dark (Bazzill) {1} 5.5 x 8.5 Suede Brown Dark (Bazzill) {1} 5.5 x 8.5 Sugar Cream (Bazzill) {1} 5.5 x 8.5 Spring Willow Medium (Bazzill) {1} 5.5 x 8.5 Kraft (Bazzill) {5} 5 3/4 X 4 3/8 Natural Envelopes To order, please visit my website.  There are tons of new products available.  Go check them out.

What Was I Thinking?

So, I've always been reluctant to try shooting in RAW.  In the words of my title, "What was I thinking?"  Seriously.  I have always looked at a few other photographers' work and thought, "Why don't my pictures have that crispness to them or that color?"  Well I figured that out the other day when I took the leap and decided to take a few pictures in RAW.  This required downloading a driver for Photoshop to enable my camera to "sync" or whatever you call it with Adobe Bridge.  I opened the images (after my 8 minute download and setup process) and almost fell out of my chair.  It was everything I always wanted my photos to be.  The color and crispness were AMAZING!  

Now, you might ask yourself why this is important if you are just taking photos of your family to scrapbook.  Then, there is always the issue of dealing with and managing the large file sizes of the images.  In answer to number one, I probably won't shoot in RAW everyday.  This goes with question 2.  The file sizes are huge.  I don't want to take up all of the memory on my computer.  I am recommending that you shoot in RAW when you are taking important pictures of special occasions, or photo shoots with your family, or your Christmas Card pictures, etc., etc.  

In my opinion there are several huge advantages of shooting in RAW.  One is being able to choose your White Balance Setting (basically the color of light) easily.  Have you ever noticed that sometimes your photos look yellow, or blue, or green, or red.  That's your white balance.  The next thing is the greater range of flexibility with your Exposure (brightness) of your photos.  Now, I must admit, I thought,  "hey what's the big deal with this?  I can fix it in PhotoShop."  And yes this is true for the most part.  It does take extra work but it's possible.  This is where I advocate for the third and most worthwhile reason to me...THE AMAZING COLOR AND CRISPNESS of the photos.   It has really changed so much for me...in one evening of snapshot shooting.  I mean I don't know how these pictures look on your monitors (due to calibration issues and such), but on mine the boys are basically jumping out at me.

Okay, so all in all, if you wish to shoot a few photos in RAW then there are few things to know.  Number 1:  Your camera must be capable of doing this.  Number 2:  You must have a way to process your photos from a RAW format to JPEG.  Adobe Camera Raw, iPhoto, and I'm sure there are tons of others.  Number 3:  The file size is really pretty large.  

I can't wait to share more photos with you.  I have to take some more first.  And if you would like anymore information on this topic, or you have any photography questions in general, feel free to ask in the comments or email me.  I will  be happy to help.

And P.S.  I made my husband look at these pictures about 50 times and he agrees with everything I'm saying about them :)

Birthday Layout

Supplies are from one of the Memory Works Express Kits

This was Wolfie's birthday last year.  I'm a year behind.  I did some scrapbooking this weekend.  The only problem is the layouts don't have pictures on them.  I was having problems with my internet connection so I couldn't print any pictures.  Plus, I've been too cheap to buy ink cartridges for my printer.    Maybe I'll go this week.  I think I have to return a flash I bought for my camera anyway.  Might as well kill two birds with one stone.  Okay, people that's all for today.  Except to say that I have the best neighbors.  My neighbor surprised us with a pork roast.  I don't have to cook dinner tonight!    

I Heart Faces/Beautiful Eyes

This Week's theme at I Heart Faces is beautiful eyes.  Look at those beautiful eyelashes!!!  This was taken during one of my favorite photo shoots ever.  This two year old cutie did such a great job.  If you want to enter a photo, just follow the link above.

August Memory Works Express/Best Day Ever

August 2011 MemoryWorks Express Kit Contains: Patterned Paper {1} 12x12 Celebrate - Happy Day (Simple Stories) {1} 12x12 It's Your Day - Happy Day (Simple Stories) {1} 12x12 Let's Party - Happy Day (Simple Stories) {1} 12x12 Toasted Marshmallows - Campfire (October Afternoon)   Solid Cardstock {1} 12x12 Tomato Stationary (Lily Bee Designs) {1} 12x 12 Butter Stationary (Lily Bee Designs) {1} 12x12 Tangerine Stationary (Lily Bee Designs) {1} 12x12 Office Blue Stationary (Lily Bee Designs) Embellishments {1} 12x12 Flash Cards - Happy Day (Simple Stories) {1} 12x12 6x4 Vertical Elements - Happy Day (Simple Stories) {1} 12x12 6x8 Photo Mats Elements - Happy Day (Simple Stories) {1} 12x12 Sheet Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers - Happy Day (Simple Stories) {1} 5x9 Red & Black Sticky Keys Alphabet Stickers (October Afternoon) {1} 3x3 B-Day Mini Clear Stamp (We R Memory Keepers) {12} Pyrus Buttons - Assorted Colors & Sizes (BasicGrey) {4} Brown Wooden Bingo Numbers (Maya Road) {1} Party Acrylic Key Chain (Maya Road) {4} Arrows & Stars Corrugated Shapes - Assorted Styles & Sizes (Jillibean Soup) {3} Red Calendar Journaling Sprouts - Assorted Styles & Sizes (Jillibean Soup) {1/2} Yard 1/2" Orange & White Dot Ribbon (Creative Impressions) {1/2} Yard 1/2 " Apple & Cream Dot Ribbon  (Creative Impressions) {1/2} Yard 1/2" Red & White Dot Ribbon  (Creative Impressions)   Cards  {1} 5.5 x 8.5 Pomegranate Splash (Bazzill) {1} 5.5 x 8.5 Tangelo Blast (Bazzill) {1} 5.5 x 8.5 Lemon Bliss (Bazzill) {1} 5.5 x 8.5 Hummingbird(Bazzill) {1} 5.5 x 8.5 Nougat (Bazzill) {5} 5 3/4 X 4 3/8 Natural Envelopes August Idea Express

**********

Also, don't forget to visit my website...new catalog items are being added.  There are tons of beautiful stamps from Unity Stamps.  Like this:

go to my website to check them out

I Heart Faces/ Friendship

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is friendship.  

Ridiculously Easy Layout

Supplies are from Memory Works Express

This layout is the easiest layout known to man.  Sassafras manufactures the patterned paper.  It looks like I stitched on this page, mini-misted this page, and added fun textures.  I didn't.  The paper came with everything on it, even the space for the photo.  All I did was add the picture, the journaling spot, the flower, and the letters.  It took me less than five minutes.

WIL-Day 6 and Day 7

Let me just preface this post by saying I have been soooo busy these last few days.  I've barely been able to catch my breath.

Day 6
Today was my first official day of work.  My mother in law (aka Grandma) was supposed to watch 1 boy.  The other two were supposed to go to Daycare.  But everyone wanted to go Grandma's house so she ended up taking all three.  She watched all of them while packing up her house as they have sold it and are moving.  I got off work...late.  Then I went to pick up the kids from Grandma's house where I stuffed my face on pretzels and homemade jalapeno dip.  When I got home I found trash all over my house.  Thanks, dogs.  Near bed time I realized that Wolfie left the iPad at Grandma's house so I had to go back over and get it.  I felt like I wasn't even home today.

First early morning wake up.

I already picked up the trash before realizing I should take a picture of this.  I had to sweep and mop...again.  In this photo you see coffee grounds, and hair and other stuff I am unable to identify.  Remember, from the haircuts?

Apparently making ice tea in your tea maker is extremely dangerous.  That is why Wolfie is wearing a helmet.

Yes, this was dinner.  I got home late due to face stuffing.

JoJo only eats the toppings.  This is extremely annoying when he wants another piece and you tell him to eat his first piece to which he replies, "I already did"  Ugh, but he so didn't.

Day 7

Backpacks ready to go to school

Look at this photo.  See the thrill of school in their faces.

Homework the first day of school

The paragraph Wolfie had to write for homework...he had to pick someone he looked up to.  I got a little teary-eyed.

WIL-Day 5

New Shoes for school

 Time for homework

A close up of Maddie's new school belt.  It's reversible and Wolfie got one too.

 Fresh brewed green tea.

My Shadow

Erik and the boys going around the block.

Tomatoes from the "dead" garden

 Corn on the cob

 Roast Chicken

This my friends is a damn joke.  It's the meteorologist's sick joke of making us think we're going to get rain.

Haircuts

 Nothing says Sunday like a gallon of gasoline, new shoes, clothes, and a skeleton belt on your outdoor table.  Not really, I just thought it was a weird combination.  Erik used the gas for the lawn mower and to shine his shoes.

Sunday...Sunday is my day to get ready for the week.  It's usually a busy day of cleaning, washing clothes, and tying up things that need to be finished before Monday rolls around.  But, I love Sunday.  It's my favorite day of the week.  I love to have everything ready and clean.  I love to turn on the TV Sunday night and watch my favorite HBO shows with Erik.