Just Boating Around

As usual, I have been busy working my camera to the max and hanging with friends and family. It is crazy how much time this can take up. This week I have taken on the adventure of FINALLY getting my wedding photos sorted and picked before they expire. I have had enough people asking to see them already. You would think I would have had them way over a year but other things keep getting in the way.

Ian got into his cereal and dumped it

Yesterday, we went took my parents boat out on the lake. It needed to be tested out for the season since my sister has friends coming over for the 4th of July weekend who are happily awaiting a boat ride. It started up perfect and Ian enjoyed his first ride. He wasn’t too interested in the enjoying the ride aspect of it but more the driving.

"How do I turn this thing off?"

"Grandpa, I want to drive!"

Is he the next Captain Red Dog Jr.? Wondering who that is? Well, it is a thing in our family. My dad had sunglasses back years ago with Red Dog on them and he always drove the boat so we call him Captain Red Dog. Silly, I know but cute!

How is my photog class and 365 going? Just grand but I just have one more picture to take for the squares assignment. I need to get it done but it is hard to find the perfect thing to capture. I have been trying, I promise! My camera has been going every where I go..even to the store. Obsession!

Assignment: Deserted..the sign says "Caution Congested Area'" but no boats out

Assignment: Twilight..in my backyard

My 365

Day 5: Rain on the way home

Day 4: Testing out my Dad's new mower

Day 3: Craving Chips but I shouldn't

And the Photography Continues with a 365

Wow, have I really not posted in 4 days? Time is really passing by a little to fast for me lately. Maybe it has been from all the picture taking. I was invited to join another Flickr group to participate in 365 picture taking. What is that? Well, you take a picture everyday for a year of something that has to do with your day. I just got started two days ago and it is really a lot of fun. It is like doing a photo journal. I hope that I can keep it up.

Day 1: Parent Vs. Child..sometimes you do what you have to do in order to get the dishes done

Day 2: Mother & Son "Workout"... We went to the YMCA last night so I could get in a workout but while I did that he was workingON his crying for mommy skills in the daycare.

I finished with my last weeks assignments for my photog class and have been given 3 new assignments for this week. We were given some really neat ones to do but it is going to be a bit tough for me… here they are:

Twilight. The sun is down but it isn't dark yet. I love these images because they can have sucha wonderful quality. The sky is still blue, but light from lamposts or windows is now visible. Our old nighttime rule: f8 8 seconds ISO 100, will very likely be too much light. yoyr camera may be smart enough to figure out the proper exposure, using a tripod, give it a shot. Other wise, start at f8 4 seconds ISO 100. Tag with CU amd cuweek11/1

2. Squares. We've framed with squares, had a square foot, and square crops, but here your subject should be squares. I'm blatantly borrowing this from wired.com. They run a contest each week, and this is a good one for us. I hope you'll post there as well. From the wired assignment:http://www.wired.com/culture/art/news/2008/06/submissions_squaresA square isn't just four right angles, it's a frame of mind (pun intended). We want you to run with this subject and show us the most interesting squares in your world.Tag with CU and CUweek11/23.

Assignment #3. Deserted. Take photo of an area that we typically associate with crowds when it’s empty. Tag with CU and CUweek11/3Assignments were copy/pasted from "Take a Class with Dave and Dave", with the 3rd one randomly selected from an older week, ;-)

What will I come up with..you will just have to wait and see. I got to thinking the other night, if any of you are interested in joining the class I am willing to give out a few invites since I know some of you are interested in photography. Just let me know :)

HDR attempt 1

HDR attempt 2

Some of you probably are wondering how my little man, Ian, is doing. He is well, but still not walking. We are slowly getting there. He will walk holding my hand sometimes but he still gets the jelly legs. Maybe because he feels that crawling fulfills his needs. Whatever it is, he needs to get with the program so he can be with the kids his age in church. Haha.

Have a great Thursday.

6 Things About Me

I have been tagged so here are 6 Things About Me


1. Link to the person that tagged you - Fiona: Phoebe and Wyatt Diaries

2. Post the rules on your blog.- No real rules.. Just be nice and try to comment if you read a post because it lets me know that you all are reading and gives me insentive to write more.

3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.- 1. I have a bad habit of picking my toenails (Gross right?), 2. I have become addicted to taking the "perfect picture", 3. I crack my fingers a lot, 4.Sometimes my own chewing can annoy me so I have to stop eating, 5. I am secretly(or maybe not so secretly) addicted to candy, 6. Sometimes I dance around really silly to make Ian laugh when no one else is home. (did I just tell on myself?)
4. Tag someone. 6 things about me ... Tagging: Another Online Mom (even if she is on Vacation)

Momhood Moments Tag-a-thon

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Instructions:1. Copy and paste this tag from "Start Here" to "End Here". (don't forget the image)2. Place your blog's name with your URL at the end of the tag. If you have more that one blog, please add them too! Just make sure that you post this tag in all of your blogs.3. Tag 5 blogs that is not yet in this post (just to avoid duplications ^_^ )4. This is the twist... Go to the 5 blogs that you tagged and comment on any of their posts. Why? So that search engines can crawl to your site. ^_^5. Return to the Momhood Moments blog and leave a comment saying that you joined the tag together with the URL of the tag. I'll be checking on it and add you in the master list.Momhood Moments Tags You List: (updated June 13, 2008 10:14pm GMT+8)

1. Momhood Moments 2. Business Mars 3. Concealed Mind 4. http://www.ritzie.info/ 5. Personal Development Blog For Money 6. Vhiel's Corner 7. Anything and Everything in Between 8. Can of Thoughts 9. moms..... check nyo 10. Pinay dot US 11. My Blog Entry 12. Byaheng Pinay 13. The Sweet Life 14. A Mother's Journal 15. Welcome to my World 16. Thoughts of Mine 17. Pheandy's blog 18. stolen shots 19.veniz-great things come in small packages 20. Motherly Instinct 21. A Mother of Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow 22. Filipino love stories 23. A mom's note 24. Tasteful voyage 25.Pinaymama's Diary 26. My So Called Life 27. Straight from the Heart 28. Deranged Insanity 29. Aeirin Collections 30. FunFierceFabulous 31. Teacher's Corner 32. Hailey's Beats and Bits 33. Twerlermz Blog 34. Our Family Adventure! 35. Complex Life 36. .Bisdak's Footprints 37. Mummy Diaries 38. It Is Nap Time 39.Motherhood and All Its Adventures 40.YOUR TURN! =)
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Tags: Autumn's Mom, Confessions of a Three Time Mommy, My Masala, Phoebe N Wyatt Diaries, Filtering Life

Time To Up My Photography Skills

A few weeks ago a joined a photography group on flickr to help me learn more about the world of my Cannon Rebel XTI and photo editing. I am really enjoying it because it makes me pull out my creative side. I think I will start to post each weeks assignments on here to get all of your opinions. I want to be the very best I can be (and maybe fish for comments..hehee). So here are the past assignments and the one for this week:

My High Key shot: My sister at the beach.

We had to take a picture of anything to do with pills. I wasn't very proud of this picture. I took another one but never submitted it.

Anything to do with M, So M is for music. I was trying to work on my lighting and direction of focus on this one.

For this week:

For anything to do with The Beatles. I used my sisters Beatles figurines and recreated the "Let it Be" album cover. I am actually pretty proud of myself on this one.

This is for Diptych which basically is: two related photos presented side-by-side as a single entity.

I have one more due this week ut have not found the right thing to photograph for it. It is to do "HDR stands for "High Dynamic Range". HDR images can be pretty wild to look at. The basic idea of an HDR image is to take multiple images of the same scene using different exposures. For example, take one with correct exposure, one over-exposed, and one under-exposed. The images must otherwise be exactly the same (i.e. you need a tripod or some other strategy to keep the camera from moving). You then merge the photos together using a tool such as Photomatix (you can download a free trial from this site). www.hdrsoft.com/" -Taken from my photgraphy group assignments site.

The Goodbyes and the Hellos

My Husband left to go back home today and Ian seems to be taking it okay. I was proud of him, waving bye bye to his Dad. Ian and I have about 1 month and ½ left of a stay here then we go back (not looking forward to the trip alone with Ian). It is nice to be able to spend this much time with my family and friends because you do really start to miss them when you live that far away.

I do have some GREAT news! While walking around in DC, I saw a sign posted on a bus stop advertising “George Michael in Concert”. I did my little freak out and was exclaiming how I had to go. I have probably been waiting to see this man in concert since I was about 6 years old. The other day I popped online and practically begged by Dad to make the trip to DC with me to see him. He doesn’t seem to be excited at all and was trying to get me to ask my mom or sister to go but I told him it would be a great Daddy and Daughter bonding time. So, I purchased the two tickets for $75 a piece (ouch) in the uppermost level in hopes that someone will say Yes to go with me. Why they had to make the ticket prices topping over $1,000, who knows? But I am going! I never thought the day would come. Let me do a happy dance.

picture from: noinvite.com

Not much else going on, but I did start going back to the YMCA to workout on the machines with my sister and friend. Fingers crossed that I can keep it up, you think? I certainly need to get fit and lose my thunder thighs. I wonder if just hopping on the elliptical will work.
Time to see if I can get a little nap in!

DC By Foot but NEVER by Car

Flags around the Washington Monument

If you have ever been to Washington, DC you would understand what I mean when I say that you should never take a car into town. I have never in my life seen such crazy streets in the US. It was my first time driving in a crowded city and I had to be driving around at least 30 minutes just to look for a spot on the street in front of my hotel to check in. I never did find a spot and after turning on a construction one way street and having my car stall in the only lane available I was ready for the nightmare to be over. So to pass all the other driving horrors: Never take a car into DC. Enjoy the Metro system.

I enjoyed seeing all the basic DC things while there like the National Air and Space Museum, The White House, Capitol Building, and the Holocaust Museum.

Bird looking at Capitol Hill

Of course, the White House

The two nights we were there we tried two of the best Restaurants in the area. One was called Lauriol Plaza which serves Mexican food and Jaleo which is a Spanish Tapas Bar. Lauriol Plaza was packed to the max 3 floors high but interestingly it was back in the area of DC which was nested with cozy quite homes so this restaurant looked out of place, but it was hopping with people!

My cup at lunch

Flags at the back of the White House

One night after dinner we were looking for something to do to so we went to China Town and saw Kung Fu Panda. It was such a cute and funny movie! I loved hearing all the kiddies in the theatre laughing.

Plane Engine at the Air and Space Museum

A White House Squirrel

Overall I really enjoyed my time there and all the walking was really good for me even if my feet felt all the pain.

My super sore feet

I recommend that you all visit DC at least once in your life.

I am back to the rest of my visit with my family and having my Husband here for his last week of vacation. I have to bring my cat over to have her stitches removed (she had surgery on her leg to remove cancer) then tonight I am going to try out a new restaurant that came in town called Dickeys BBQ Pit. Sounds delish!

My Cat after Surgery

I Am Still on Earth

Just letting you all know that I have not fallen off the face of the planet. My Husband and I decided pretty last minute that we would pop in to see D.C. this weekend. We just made it here and I already have driving horor stories. But anyways, like I said I am just letting you know where I am. I will be coming back home late Monday so I hope to post again sometime next week. Enjoy your weekend and don't miss me too much :-P

Summer Days Happen So Fast

Sunset infront of our street in Duck, NC

I know I have been slow in posting lately but the Summer days are keeping this lady pretty busy. We all made it back from the beach okay, but I do miss it. Hopefully I will be back next year. My Husband and I are going to try and plan a short visit to DC for next week. I live so close to there and sadly I have never even been there.

Ian and Me at the Ocean

Ian watching the waves

On to other things, I went out to the movies last night with my good friend Hallie and her Boyfriend. It was so nice to get out and actually watch a movie in a theatre. Thanks Mom for watching Ian! We saw the movie Stop Loss and let me tell you..Depressing! It is about a man who enlisted in the army and had to serve in Iraq then came back and was told he was done but then was Stop Lossed (hence the movie title :P) which means he was told he had to go back and serve in Iraq. This movie really put a whole different perspective on the war.

Hanging out with Daddy at the Beach

On to a more happy note, notice those pictures above? Yes those are the long awaited beach pictures. I had so many to go through that it took me all morning yesterday to fix them up. Why do I have to be photography obsessed? Anyways, here are the promised Currituck Beach Lighthouse pictures.

Andy and I with the Lighthouse in the background (not my finest photo moment)

The view of the Sound from the top of the Lighthouse

View from the top to the bottom

I am going to have to show you all my beach pictures in installments since I have so many. So keep checking back for my next post. Happy Wednesday!

Walking around in the Lighthouse Park

Beach Addicted

Have I mentioned yet how much I enjoy the beach? Well if not, now you know! Yesterday I watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen in awhile (and forgot the camera) while enjoying it with my dear husband. Today we ventured out to see the Currituck Beach Light House. I was so proud that I climbed to the top even though I started to get scared that the stairs would fall off the wall (stupid fear). The view at the top was spectacular, ocean on one side and sound on the other. I will post beach pictures at a later time, no time to get them off the camera right now.

I am going to have to cut this one short. I have on fussy boy that does not want to sleep tonight. Happy National Donut Day!

Lazy Sandy Shell Eating Beach Days

My feet almost in the water

Already mid-week at the beach and I just can’t believe how fast time here goes. Ian has taken to the sand like a kid to candy. Of course he took a taste at first but learned quickly that it is NASTY! He does like to take ocean crud and eat it. Lets see he has tried, seaweed, crab skin, and his favorite seashells. Almost as crazy as my husband who chases crabs down the beach... that is a sight let me tell you!!!

Ian's first time in the sand

Us all in the sand

I dipped his feet in the sea yesterday and he didn’t mind that it was ice cold. Maybe I have myself a water baby.

Chilling in the bike cart

We have not been doing much, just going to the Tanger Outlets and I finally got my Husband to buy something other than a t-shirt and a polo. A sexy beachy button up top!! Yay to the power of the wife and sister-in-law.

Time for me to get off my breakfast butt and figure out what we are going to do today.

The sunset from our deck

Oh How I Adore Traveling

Did you miss me? Well if not, that is okay. I am just back for a quick check in. We made it here safely. Ian did really well on the planes, thank heaven for Gerber Puffs and the Cares Safety Belt.

Ian in his Cares Saftey Belt

It was really worth it to pay the , $1,200 to have that extra seat for Ian because he needed that space to sleep and play. Now how I am going to do this going back alone with him is going to be a whole different story but I will worry about that when the time comes.

Chillin on the plane

Sleeping on the plane

The nice thing now is…this beach house R-O-C-K-S! It is 3 and ½ floors and each bedroom comes with its own bathroom. I will try to get more pictures of this place when I have the time. I am off to enjoy the beach and my family… for now enjoy some pictures of us with the point and shoot camera (sorry)…

Sleeping in the car with his new Kushies Critter Blanket

The livingroom and kitchen of the beach house