Easter Sunday

 Didn't take a lot of pics but my daughter requested I take these.  Love them!!

Spring has truly arrived!

Went for our first hike of the season.  Sure felt good to feel the sun on my face and get some much needed exercise. (All taken w/my phone)

Ok, so spring isn't really all in yet.  

Texture

Lone Bird

Mommy/Daughter Night!

Well, that's what it turned out to be.  It started as a gift from my daughter for my niece's 20th birthday.  Tickets to Philip Philips!  And her mom and I got to be invited.  Yay!  It was really good and so much fun!  

(Most of these are phone pics.)

First we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory..  where we devoured the cheesecake in seconds flat. 

Then some jamming in the car on the way down.  

Then the concert!  The lead in group, Churchill Band, was really good, too! 

 Marley practicing her photobombing skills.  lol 

Philip Philips!! 

 

 And, unbelievably, she fell asleep!  At one point she was 'sleep clapping'  Soo funny!!  Then when her favorite song "Home" came on, we could NOT wake her up! 

It's Official!

Did my final checkout (out-processing) from work today.  I'm officially retired!  Yay!  

Shyness

So...  I really need to overcome my shyness.  I've actually been taking my camera with me every time I leave the house.  But rarely do I actually take it out and take a picture.  I have every intention of using it but I'm always hesitant to pull it out of my bag. 

So today I went shopping for jeans (didn't find any), visited my parents and finally went to the grocery store.  

Not one picture did I take.  Sigh...

New Beginning

I love having live plants in my house.  Love what it adds to the decor and knowing that it's helping the air I breath.  But I'm not always good with them.  In recent years I kind of gave up on having any in my house. 

When I woke up this morning, I noticed something new.  One of the succulents from the shower last week had some new growth!  Yay!  Maybe I will give it another try...

The Hive!

Look what I found at The Hive today! 

I just love, love, love Melissa's frames!  Got two more to add to my collection.  Yay!

Also, found this cute banner!  Can't wait to use it!

Sleepover Fun!

Had some sleepover time with these two.  So fun!  These days, she is into making funny faces when I pull out my camera and he...  Well, as is the case with most toddler boys, he's just too busy to be bothered.   ;)

Trying out the Wii.

 Lovin' those baby legs.  He's the last grandchild so soon they will be gone.  :(

IKEA

Made it out to IKEA today but forgot to take any pictures.  Dang it!  I even had my camera!  I love wandering through IKEA and seeing all the different solutions and ideas they have for small spaces.  While I didn't find exactly what I was looking for, I did find some things I'm excited to put to good use.  Don't you just love those cute little stapler, tape and sharpener sets?  Thought they would make a great addition to the crafting area in the bonus/grandkids' room. 

After the trip my youngest granddaughter overheard me complaining that I hadn't taken any pictures.  So she offered herself as my model.  So I'm going to include her pictures, too.  She's such a cutie.  But I'm not biased.... nope, not at all!  ;)

Gloomy Days & Books

I love that some days (like today which is rainy, cold and gloomy) this could be my toughest decision.  lol  I love to read and even tho' I hardly had the time in recent years I've continued to purchase both hard cover books and eBooks.  Now it's time to play catch up.  

Gloomy days and books go together, don't you think? 

So..., what to read? 

Off Camera Flash

Played around a little with my OCF today.  I'm thinking I still need to tweak it a little further - I don't care so much for all the shadows.   But I am glad I got it working.  I want to be ready for my next little newborn in May!

Hard at Work

Today I finally got started on my craft room.  It's quite the job so I have only gotten a portion of it done.  Well, about 3.5 shelves and the counter cleared.  You don't even want to see the table and floor.   lol  But it's a start!  Going to head down to IKEA on Thursday for some storage solutions.

Maybe now I'll be able to finish up the four scrapbook pages sitting on the counter. 

Editing!

Been so busy editing all day I almost forgot to take a photo.  By the time I remembered it was dark.  So ....  here it is..

It's a Baby Shower!!

What a fun day!  Everything came out so cute.  I think my daughter should go into catering.  lol

A Little Preview

Had fun helping my daughter put together her BFF's baby shower today.  Here's just a little preview of what we were up to.  Even MarBar helped out.  It's going to look great!

I haven't left the house all day.  I would love to go for a hike on this beautiful spring day but my lungs, or rather, my right lung won't let me.  This is going on the third week of being sick and I'm pretty tired of it.  I have been on antibiotics since Sunday but my breathing is still painful.  I sure hope they finally kick in because I have a very busy weekend ahead. 

Consequently, I had a little trouble coming up with a picture for today.  I had to go downstairs for something and glanced at my craft room on the way.  Ugh!  I really need to get it organized so I can actually use it.  Then I thought how can I take a picture of it without revealing just how bad it is?  lol 

These empty salsa jars have found their way onto my craft room table instead of in the closet, where they belong. And so goes my entire craft room.  It has become a catchall for anything and everything I haven't found a place for or am just too lazy to put in its proper place. 

Maybe next week I'll be able to start on the ever increasing list of things I want/need to do in this house. 

Spring!

Thought I'd bring a little spring into the house, since we still haven't finished landscaping.  One of my many after retirement 'projects.'

Craftiness!

Today, my daughter and I got our ‘craft’ on.  Working on some cute things for an upcoming baby shower she's hosting for her best friend.  I just love these cute, FREE printables she found here, here & here! 

And what a cute idea this is, thanks to Pinterest (can't remember which link) - beautiful succulents as shower favors.  I love it!

Off Camera Lighting

One of my many goals this first year of retirement is to learn about off camera flash.  I’ve been trying to avoid it because, at least for me, natural light seems so much easier.  Of course, if that were really true, all my natural light shots would be perfect, right?  Unfortunately, that is not always the case. 

Recently, I had the opportunity to do a little newborn shoot.  I learned a lot from that shoot, not the least of which is, I needed to control my lighting better.  I actually kept getting in my own way.  I had invested in a little off camera lighting equipment but didn’t know how to use it.  Fortunately for me there were lots of helpers around to hold my reflector but I know I could have done better. 

I have another newborn shoot coming up in May and I hope to be better prepared.  For the next couple of months, I’m going to experiment and figure out how to use it.  If anyone out there stumbles upon this post and has any tips for me, I welcome them.  :)

Family Time

Went to see the movie "Safe Haven" with some of my favorite people in the world, my daughter and my sisters.... Oh and Mindi, too. :)

Sad....

It's been a big day for me.  Today was my first full day after retirement.  What was very surprising, even to me, was the fact I had mixed emotions about the whole thing.  I have been anticipating this day for over a year.  It couldn't come soon enough!  Things at work were, well, let's just say it wasn't always fun anymore.  But I have a lot of friends out there.., after all, we spent more time together than we did at home.  We were like family and I am going to miss them all.

But now it's time to start a new chapter and I hope to make the most of it.  Now that I am retired I can actually carry my camera with me every day so I have decided to try and get back to my "365 Challenge."  I hope to take at least one picture a day and in doing so greatly improve my photography skills.  I feel like I have come a long way since I began this journey (obsession) but I know I have a lot more still to learn.

I'm also working on some projects to 'officially' launch my little photography business and see where that takes me.  So stay tuned. 

I know we tend to want to capture only the really special, fun moments in life but sometimes we should capture real life.  This picture sort of sums up how I was feeling all day.  lol  After his nap, our little bubba was pretty sad.  Of course, as toddlers will do, he cheered up shortly after this shot.  (I have to admit it took 3/4 tries to get this shot since I basically put my camera on the floor and hoped it focused on him and not the background.  lol)

Sunlight