My life...just not on the road I expected (but it's still dang good).

Saturday fishing.

Josh and his brother, Jamey took all the kids fishing on Saturday. 

I had planned to stay at home and work but the thought of everyone down at the river started to get the better of me.  So I hopped in my car and took a short break from work to hang out.

Tate and her Daddy (he's a big fan of camo).

Hot dogs by the river.

Coley taking pictures of all the girls.

Courtney Lee critiquing Coley's photos.

She's so lovely.

We went for a walk (but this was as far as Annie was willing to go).

The entire walk, Coley insisted that he was a drill sergeant trying to keep his troops in order.

And this is what a drill sergeant looks like when his mommy puts him in a headlock for being too bossy.

The evening.

Took some sandwiches and the girls to the park by the new, old house yesterday.

That's Courtney Lee's face after realizing that Annie had licked the bottle of the orange juice they were sharing.

There's something about this shot that I love.

And this one that Josh took too.

And then we headed over to Sears to look at a new stove (I love Sears because they  support military families) and then to the movies.

I've got a funny series of shots on the slide that I haven't had a chance to edit yet - will try to remember to post those next week.

Have a great weekend.

$22.75.

Coley had a bunch of cash a few months back and Josh and I both borrowed some of it.

Not because we were broke and had to resort to borrowing money from our 8 year old, but because we both needed cash for whatever reason and didn't have any on us.  (I think Josh borrowed $10 to buy milk and I borrowed $20 for the movies.)

And then (as all good parents do), we just kind of forgot about it.

Coley didn't though.

In fact, ever since Grandma Jo & Grandpa Tom got Coley a money bank that only takes coins (and actually counts/totals it), Cole has become a money-hungry miser, reminding us of the fact that we owed him money on a daily basis and that he would only accept the repayment in quarters.

So, minus the money that Josh and I owed Coley, he had saved $22.75 in coins (I know because he checked the total and recited it to me every single day).

And given Coley's personality (he's a bit of a bull-dog when he gets his mind set on something), I was quite sure that by age 18, he would have saved up his entire college tuition in quarters.

But one day last week before school, I saw him emptying all of his change into a plastic sack.  When I asked him what he was doing, he said he had decided to donate all his money to the 'Coins for Cancer' drive that was going on at his school but was saving $1.00 to enter a raffle to win a 'Beaver's Lunch' with his school's principal (who is a fellow OSU Beavers fan).

So Coley headed to school and when he got home off the bus, we headed right back to school for his parent/teacher conference which was scheduled that afternoon.  While we were standing in the office, I saw the raffle bucket for the Principal's 'Beaver Luncheon' and asked Coley if he thought he was going to win.

Turns out Coley had decided to forego his chance to win a Beaver's lunch date with his Principal and had donated ALL of his money to Coins for Cancer.

If this were Ross (who donated all of the money he had been saving for a bike to a September 11th fundraiser in the 4th grade) or Courtney Lee who is such a softy that she would gladly give up every penny she had for anyone who appeared to be in need, I wouldn't have been surprised.

But for Coley (the miser) to give it up...I was impressed.

So I'm matching his $22.75.

And I finally paid him back the $20 that I owed him (in quarters).

Josh on the other hand, heard on the radio that it costs $300,000 to raise a child to adulthood and is insisting that Coley actually still owes him $299,990.

To which Coley replied, "Do you think you can pay me back when the economy gets better?"

Entertaining.

Took these at the BBQ on Saturday.  Not the sharpest photos I've ever taken but sometimes as a Mom, I find myself so engaged in the moment that what technical skills I do have just fly out the window.

Annie (entertaining everyone).

And that's Coley, my Mom, Ross and Cali (being entertained).

And Josh Downs (who is pretty entertaining too).

Shot the whole day with the NikonD700 and the Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 (forgot to mention that yesterday).  Have to part with the Nikon today (my rental time is up and it has to be shipped/postmarked today).  Will post my thoughts on it soon but I'm swamped with one of my online class ending this week, a new one starting next week and a tax appointment tomorrow.  Josh and I stayed up til midnight working on taxes last night and we're nowhere near being done.  

Taxes are not very entertaining.

Her party.

Courtney turned seven yesterday (a perfect excuse to have a BBQ at the new, old house).

Totally lucked out with good weather (it was supposed to rain throughout the day but ended up raining early in the day and again later in the day but was beautiful for most of the BBQ). 

I know it looks like the weather is always beautiful around here, but a common saying amongst Oregonians is; "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes, it'll change."  In fact, today it rained, hailed, snowed and was sunny.

Still having a love/hate relationship with the neighbors buses.

That's Baby Brooke (who's really not a baby at all, she's five) and Tater Tot.

Courtney putting buttercups in between her toes.

A little bit of football (thanks Mom for taking over with the camera).

Me & Ross.

That's what he gets for being a ball-hog.

Annie blowing bubbles.

The neighbor with all the buses told us it's a plum tree.

Waiting for the birthday cake (it was getting chilly by this time).

It got so windy that we couldn't keep the candles lit.

Opening presents.

A badminton set.

Annie and Grandma Bev.

A new bike helmet.

Some new school stuff.

And a new bike.

And then the rain put an end to the party.

Happy Birthday Courtney Lee.

The day.

Courtney Lee and I hung out today to celebrate her birthday (it's on Saturday).

Went and got coffee in our jammies this morning and then hung out around the house for awhile before heading into town.

Hit a few shops.

Including the Toy Store (Cat & The Fiddle) - Courtney picked out a white poodle in a cheetah print purse.

And we took lots of pictures (she's in a stage where she likes having her picture taken - lucky me). 

And we of course ended up in that very same spot where I took pictures of Coley and Annie the other day (in fact, when I took this very same picture of Coley, all I could think about was how sweet Courtney Lee would look in the shot...and she does).

A professional photographer would probably avoid shooting in the same location too often in order to keep things looking fresh & new. 

I'm off the hook though since I'm not a professional photographer. 

And then we made our way to the Circle J for lunch where our first order of business was to write on the bathroom walls (with chalk).

And I just happened to sneak in a couple of donuts, a candle and a lighter without Courtney Lee even noticing.

And then we picked up Coley and Annie and headed to the 1:40 showing of Hotel for Dogs only to find out that the movie theater wasn't playing a 1:40 showing (the earliest showing was 6:30).

So I scrambled quickly for a Plan B:  popcorn from Blind George's and a rental movie at home, which sounded like a fabulous alternative to me, but apparently wasn't good enough to prevent the hissy fit from Annie that ensued.

And it all kind of went downhill from there with Annie running and screaming and grabbing candy and movies off of every shelf at the rental store...

Joy.

Oh, and these are all Nikon shots too (shot with the Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens that I rented - everything was shot at f2.8 with my ISO at 200 for everything but the indoor shots).

Blooming.

Ran over to the new, old house this afternoon to drop off a few chairs.

I was excited the whole drive over, wondering what was starting to bloom (I've never seen the house while things were blooming so all those bare trees and bushes around the yard are like a big surprise party in my honor).

There's two big Camellia bushes (and we just planted five more).

And I have no idea what kind of fruit tree this is but I can hardly wait to find out.

Taking pictures of Courtney Lee only to look over and find Annie piddling in the yard.  Lovely.

Not sure what this is but it's the best smelling stuff in the whole-wide-world (and the worlds worst photo of it).

And I'm not sure what these are either (maybe Salvia) but they're all over the back yard.

All Nikon shots (Nikon D700 and a Nikon 24-70mm f2.8).  The jury is still out.

Some stuff.

1. Coley refused to wear green today.  Said he would rather be pinched than look like a Duck (the UofO Ducks colors are yellow and green).

2. Janene, thanks for this comment yesterday (if I could afford a marketing team...I'd want you to be the president of it):

"For anyone reading this post - all the info Karen just gave on these shots is nothing compared to what she gives you when you take her online photography class. The woman is amazing and amazingly talented. If you get the opportunity to take her class - you are very lucky!!!! And trust me when I say - if I can get good photos, anyone can master it with Karen's guidance and input."

3.  I'm still compiling comments for kind of a 'testimonials page' for both my online classes and the One Day Photographers' Workshops I teach in stores.  If you've taken a class with me and don't mind me including your feedback, feel free to shoot me off an email along with your first name and the city, state you're from, where you took the class and of course, your thoughts on the course.

4. My family makes fun of me because my favorite thing to say to my kids when I'm tired of listening to them tattle or complain or run their mouths is "Oh, stuff a sock in it."  I said this to Ross yesterday and when I didn't hear him respond, I turned around to see that he had taken the sock off his foot and filled his mouth with it (so gross but so funny).

5. Courtney Lee is going to turn 7 on Saturday!

6. I rented a Nikon camera (I shoot with a Canon) and it's scheduled to arrive via Fed Ex sometime today.  I like to poke fun at Nikon girls but in reality, I wish my Canon focused as good as Nikons do.  So I'm going to shoot with it for a week and see what I think.  I'm kind of scared I'm going to like it (and then who will I have to poke fun at?) and I think my husband is scared I'm going to like it too.  That said, don't rush out and buy a Nikon...I have some complaints about them too.  Will post more info. about my camera recommendations sometime next week.

7. Got all the binders for the next Photographers' Online Workshop mailed out last week (the next class starts on March 30th).  I had been wanting to do something special with the binders before mailing them out but just haven't been able to in the past because my schedule is so crazy.  Now that I've kind of consolidated my job and am only teaching photography classes, it gave me a little extra time to pretty up the binders...

Hey Cindy...that's your binder!

The binders are 3 inch binders with a class syllabus and some really pretty dividers.  Then, as students complete each lesson, they can print them up and stick them in their binders.  By the time the class is over, all three inches of the binder is FULL (over 440 pages).

I sent these all out Priority Mail so you should be getting them soon!

8.  I've been putting a ton of thought into what direction I want to go with photography and what I want to do really isn't all that different than what I am currently doing (which is good, because I love what I'm currently doing).  The bulk of my time and energy is going to be spent on my online classes.  Now that my schedule is more manageable, it is allowing me to take more students in my online classes than I've ever taken before (I limit the number of students so that I can give lots of one on one time with critiques, questions and evaluations).  Here's what else I'm planning/not planning on doing:

- I know a lot of people have requested to purchase the binder/lessons separately because they haven't been able to get into one of the online classes.  I really thought hard on this one but decided against it because ultimately, I feel like a HUGE part of what helps students in this class is actually being a part of the class, having their photos critiqued, their assignments evaluated and their questions answered.  I just think that participating in the full class experience is the best quality experience I can offer to someone who is really wanting to become a better photographer (and I just don't want to offer anything that is a lesser quality experience).  Hope everyone understands my reasoning here and please know that I am going to continue to offer this class until everyone who wants to take it has had a chance to take it (so don't give up)!

- I am putting some thought into working on a photography book though (of course, it couldn't be 440+ pages like the online class so my challenge is figuring out how to condense all that information).

- I am still putting a lot of thought into an advanced class and/or an editing class but am not quite ready to commit to it.

- I currently teach a One Day Photographers' Workshop (usually in scrapbook stores) and had considered changing this to a long, weekend workshop.  For now, I've decided not to change the format of the One Day course into a weekend course though.  I think one of the huge benefits of the One Day Workshop is that it's much more affordable ($125) than  weekend workshop would be and I just think the added cost could push the course outside of price range a lot of people could afford.  So for now, I'm going to keep teaching the One Day Photographers' Workshop as a 9 hour workshop. 

I had purposely been holding off on scheduling anymore One Day Workshops until I had made this decision.  Now that I've made it though, I'm really excited to start scheduling more workshops.  I'll probably only plan going to teach this in 4-6 different states this year (I don't want to leave home anymore than that) so if you are a store owner and would like to have the workshop taught in your store, feel free to contact me (karen@snapshotsofagoodlife.com). 

9.  Just checked the weather forecast and it's supposed to rain for the entire week I rented the Nikon for.  Killing me.

As usual, I'll be checking back here in case anyone has any questions/comments/suggestions.

Have a great day.

Shooting with Annie.

I ended up taking pictures of Annie in that same spot I took pictures of Coley the other day.  It was a different time of day though so the light was completely different too.

She got in trouble for hollering "Hey knuckle-head" to a passerby.

She was counting for me (and her shoes are on backwards).

And not the sharpest photo but I love it just the same.

There's been some requests for shooting info. so I started to gather all of it for these photos but then quickly changed my mind because it's just so dang time-consuming (and it's still the weekend, so gathering technical info. just felt too much like work)  so I'll give you the basics:

- shot everything between f1.2-f2.8
- shot everything at 100 ISO
- shutter speeds varied depending upon the light
- used a 50mm lens for all these shots (but used both a 50mm lens and a 24-70mm lens when I shot Coley).

Also, the photo lab I use for printing and online storage is www.scrapbookpictures.com (have used them for about 8 years now).

And I've had a few requests for my current camera/lens recommendations.  Will post about that sometime here in the next week or so.

And I know that the categories section here on my blog is gone.  I didn't delete it so I'm not sure why it's gone.  Will try to figure it out so it's visible again though.

The cure.

When 4:30 pm rolls around after an unproductive day of work, it makes me a little blue.

When 4:30 pm rolls around after a week of unproductive work, it makes me crazy-blue.

Add in the fact that I've been kind of sappy and sentimental and wanting to be surrounded by my family but Josh has been out of town for most of the week and will be gone this weekend too (Josh's absence is a bit of a sore subject around here) and Courtney Lee left this morning for the beach with her Grandma Jo, Grandpa Tom and cousin Brooke.

And so I had decided that I would take Ross (who's grounded...math grades are another sore subject around here) and Coley and Annie somewhere for the weekend.  Had planned on driving up to Salem to go to the Enchanted Forest but it turns out the Enchanted Forest doesn't open up until next weekend.

So I figured maybe we'd drive over to Coos Bay where Josh is working and spend the weekend goofing off at the beach instead.  Checked the weather...heavy rains in Coos Bay all weekend.

And after checking the weather forecast for every other possible destination I could think of, it turns out that just about the entire state of Oregon has a 90% chance of rain this weekend.

So as I was sitting with my head laying on the kitchen table, feeling blue, watching Ross make a Van Halen sign on the girl's Light Bright, Ross suggested that we rent some movies tonight and just hang low for the rest of the weekend.

So I headed out to get movies and dinner.

Turns out that Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Safeway brand blue corn tortilla chips with flaxseed (my favorite chips), two kinds of salsa (just in case I didn't like one of them...and I didn't like one of them), organic blueberries, a little sweet pea playing peek-a-boo with organic blueberries, raspberries (couldn't find any organic ones) a double chocolate & fudge swirl cake and Tillamook Vanilla Bean ice cream is the perfect cure for the crazy-blues.

And now I'm off to watch movies and eat double chocolate & fudge swirl cake with my kiddos.

Hope your weekend is great.