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I'm going to take a bit of time off from blogging again.
I know, my blog has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride this last year with lots of ups & downs in regards to how frequently I post. And I wish I could be more consistent (like I used to be) but alas...my heart is just not in it right now.
Nothing is wrong.
In fact, things are quite good (so don't worry.)
And I love you guys for riding this ride with me.
(Just one of Yannie that makes me really happy.)
Will be back.
This week didn't turn out exactly as planned. Lots of unexpected things; some good and some bad so blogging took a backseat (and therefore, so did posting those photos that never made it to blogland.)
And I'm feeling kind of random today, so I've got random stuff for you (mostly answers to questions that people have asked.)...
- Josh ran the Cascade Lakes relay a couple of weeks back. This is his third year running it. Basically, he sleeps in a van and runs a total of three legs. This year he ran an 8.7 mile leg, a 7.4 mile leg and a 2.4 mile leg.
- The white paint I use in my house is Betsey's Linen from Valspar.
- The white sweater I wore while I was teaching the other day is from INC. and I got it from Macy's.
- That flower shaped shell necklace I wear (all the time) is from some shop in New Orleans and I can't believe how many random comments I get on it even out in public.
- I'm not teaching a Fall online Photographers' Workshop so my next class won't be until Jan. 2011. (Registration for that class is on Nov. 1st at 6pm Pacific time.)
- Josh was holding a jellyfish in that shot at the beach.
- Josh was on a flight home from somewhere and was talking to some guys that looked a bit different than the kind of guys Josh would normally strike up a conversation with. But they were nice, so he just kept talking to them for awhile. A bit later, people started coming up and asking for their autographs and then they left. After they left, Josh and the old lady sitting next to him asked someone who they were. Turns out it was the band Everclear. Then the old lady next to Josh said, I can't wait to tell my son that I was sitting in a bar next to ZZ Top.
- Annie has no problem with getting her jumpsuits off in time to use the restroom. No accidents (knock on wood.)
- Josh's headlamp is from Big 5 Sports.
- The book Josh has been reading is called A Patriot's History of the United States.
- I feel burned out on blogging and I hope that feeling goes away soon.
- Seems like anytime our dog shows up in pictures, I get lots of questions about her. Her name is Shelby and Josh got her as a pup few months before we met. So she's almost six. (And if you look back through the archives of my blog, she's in the background of lots of shots.)
- I took the girls to see Ramona & Beezus the other day and they loved it.
- Someday I'll write a full post about it since there's always lots of questions but, Josh and I have a blended family. When we met, I already had Ross & Coley and he already had Courtney Lee. Then together, we have Annie. I've always had full custody of the boys but we share custody of Courtney with her Mom (two weeks with us and two weeks with her mom) which is why Courtney Lee is sometimes absent from photos.
- Almost all of the clothes I buy for the kids, I get from Target, Old Navy and Crazy 8. Occasionally I'll get stuff from Gymboree, Janie & Jack and Boden but in general, they're too expensive for me. (Actually, they're too expensive for my frugal husband.)
- Some unfortunate circumstances have made it so one of the gals who planned to attend the Cocoa Daisy trip to Greece can't make it and she's hoping to sell her spot to someone at a discounted rate. If you're interested, email her (Louis) at LAllen341@triad.rr.com. (I'll be teaching the The Photographers' Workshop in Greece and Ali Edwards and Jenni Bowlin will be teaching classes as well.)
- I'm sure I've missed some questions so feel free to post them in the comments section and I'll update this post with my additional answers in red.
And one of Courtney Lee from a few months back.
One of my goals this year is to create a photo book with all of my blog posts for 2010.
I think I'm going to use Blurb, only because the photo book is likely to be 400+ pages and Blurb is able to do that. (Anyone have any other recommendations for places that can print a high quality book that big?)
Because of that though, I'm trying harder to make sure I blog all of my favorite photos from the year.
So I'm going to spend the next few days posting some older photos that never made it to blogland.
First up is the rest of our 4th of July photos...
The boys were out fishing so Annie and I got to sleep in and hang out in bed all morning.
Annie pretending to be a puppy.
Breakfast (and neck pinching.)
Hanging out.
Picking leaves.
Presenting me with a leaf salad.
Josh Downs on the camera (and I love it.)
Out on the boat before fireworks started.
Josh trying to fix the front light on the boat after the lake police told us we had to get off the lake because our front light wasn't working.
Sitting on the boat (tied to the dock because we couldn't get the light fixed) watching fireworks.
I'm no good at photographing fireworks.
And then we spent the next morning out on the lake before heading home.
Singing along with Johnny Cash.
And then we headed home.
Feels good to get the rest of those posted.
I'm home from teaching at Raffia Sisters in Billings, Montana.
It was wonderful.
Flew in Friday afternoon, set up for class and then had dinner with one of the store owners and a few friends/customers/employees/wonderful people from the store.
I'm embarrassed to admit this but because I'm socially awkward, I ordered a cranberry/vodka (with Sprite & lime please) as soon as we got there because alcohol is like a Band-Aid for my awkwardness.
No judging please.
Next thing you know...I'm like a social-genius, telling stories about the time my mom was trying to save the life of a baby lamb that was living in our house and as she swung him around by his feet (because apparently, that is a life-saving technique that clears the mucous out of a baby lamb's lungs) she accidentally hit his head on the ceiling, killing him instantly.
And I shared this only after explaining that I don't eat meat (which apparently, is a sin in Montana) because in the first grade, I woke up to the sound of my pet pig (Porky) screaming, only to find him hanging upside down, about to be turned into bacon.
And because when I was five, I thought I was eating chicken for dinner one night, only to find out that I had eaten my pet rabbit.
T.R.A.U.M.A.T.I.Z.I.N.G.
But now after writing this, I'm wondering if perhaps I did not sound like a social-genius after all, but rather, someone who had just sucked down a cranberry/vodka (with Sprite & lime please) and decided to unload all their childhood baggage.
Either way, dinner was fun. (And the girls were lovely...including one of them who's mother actually named her Lovely.)
In fact, it was Lovely who took this funny little picture...
Which made me think that I might purposely park my car in the wrong spot just so that I could get towed and call John McCain.
That's me in the background.
Social-genius in action.
The next day, Lovely showed up at the store before class started with this cake (for me!) just because she's so lovely.
That's Lovely (taking a picture of me while I was taking a picture of her.)
Told you she was lovely.
And then class got underway.
And Lovely took some pictures of me teaching.
(Thanks Lovely.)
There was a pair of reading glasses laying on the table and she shot through them to get this shot.
Who thinks to shoot something like that?
Lovely.
And these guys were pretty lovely too for volunteering to be blinded by my Powerpoint projector during a depth of field exercise. (Actually, no one volunteered so I made these six come up front.)
And all these die-hards sat through a record-breaking, 12 hour class with me.
I'm not even joking.
Give me a mic and an excuse to talk about photography and I won't shut up for 12 hours.
You gals (and Barry, our token male who I accidentally referred to as 'Barney') worked so hard to keep your thinking-caps on high and were so motivated to learn this stuff.
Thanks for keeping me going even after my 10th hour of talking when I started to get rummy.
I hope it's paying off in your photography already.
And the sisters/owners of Raffia. (That's us after 12 hours.)
Thanks for taking such good care of me and for making it such a success.
If you're ever in Billings (or anywhere nearby) you have to stop at this store.
You'll can't find cuter jewelry (Bought some.), miscellaneous home decor (Bought some.) and a better selection of scrapbooking supplies (Bought tons.) anywhere.
Thanks everyone for making it perfect. (And thanks for the little, surprise 'thank-you' book that all of you signed - found it in my bag last night while I was at the airport.)
And Monica - I wish you could have made it but I was super-excited to find ladybug cookies waiting at the front desk for me. (Thanks.)
And I'm getting ready to start working on my 2011 teaching schedule so if you know of any scrapbook stores that would be a good fit for my photography class, have the store email me at karen@snapshotsofagoodlife.com.
Heading out of town bright & early.
I'm teaching the One Day Photographers' Workshop in Billings, Montana at Raffia Sisters on Saturday (406 256 0812) and am bringing extra folders in case anyone decides to sign up at the last minute!
And the new Little Skye catalog arrived in my mailbox the other day with Annie on the cover. (Kind of exciting.)
Here's a few of the shots I took for them...
Have a great weekend.
I'm not done with their room yet (Every project in this house is unfinished.) but wanted to share a few shots of the progress.
The piggies and frames are from Target and the lockers are from a swap meet.
I drilled holes through the lockers to attach hooks for hanging up a whole bunch of stuff I found at Class E Professor (a teachers/home schooling shop here in town.)
I got tons of these laminated learning mats there.
And I found gobs of workbooks at the Dollar Spot in Target.
Got those from the Dollar Spot too.
The school desk is from an antique shop and so is the chalkboard. The banner is from Annie's last birthday.
I put up a coat rack for their pajamas (so they can wear them a few nights in a row.)
Got that bin at Target a long time ago.
Found that globe at an old junk shop.
More junk shop finds and an apple-shaped timer from Class E Professor.
And I painted that old frame a long time ago and had a piece of sheet metal cut for it so it could be used as a magnetic board.
And I attached some eyelet fabric to the bottom of their mattresses with safety pins just to make them look prettier.
Courtney's bedding (top) is from Target and Annie's (bottom) is from Pottery Barn.
Tate & Brooke (cousins) came over last Friday and they spent the whole night playing in the new room/schoolhouse.
Brooke.
Tater-Tot.
Tate took that one of me.
And I took that one of her.
And then these two covered their hands in chalk.
And wiped it all over my face.
My little cousin Roshelle is graduating with her Masters in education from the University of Oregon this month (Yes, that makes her a Duck and the arch nemesis of OSU Beavers) so I shot some graduation photos for her the other day.
The weather was lousy (but the weather is always lousy in Eugene, Oregon) so we killed some time over a couple of chai lattes in the hopes that the clouds would lift.
The clouds did not lift though so we just had to make the best of it.
That one (above) is my favorite.
My husband might never speak to me again for setting foot on the UofO campus.
And though green & yellow are blasphemous colors in our home, I kind of had fun making that photo card for her.
Love you Shell - you're beautiful!
Josh was out of town (running the Cascade Lakes Relay) but I'd been promising the kids that I would take them to the Enchanted Forest sometime this summer...and last Saturday, I made good on that promise.
My Uncle Donnie used to take my sister and I to the Enchanted Forest when we were kids and I thought it was magical.
In fact, I remember daydreaming about living inside that exact cottage (where Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs reside.)
And I wanted to be Peter Pumpkin Eater's wife.
And I got scared every time I went inside that gingerbread house where the nasty old hag kept Hansel & Gretel.
As wonderful as the Enchanted Forest is - it's a hard place to shoot (because the light is always horrific regardless of the weather.)
But I have to practice what I preach in class and sometimes, that means settling for an 'emotionally perfect' photo.
Ross took that one.
Ok...maybe several 'emotional perfect' photos.
Annie didn't enjoy that particular ride.
Honest Abe was there.
And that's Coley's haunted house face. (Ross and Cali & Coley went inside the haunted house while I waited outside with the fraidy-cats.)
Quite enchanting (until I got home last night with a car-full of tired, cranky kids.)
