Orangey "Tree"

While waiting to get to our seat for Jerry Seinfeld.  Weird 'tree' in the lobby.

(Taken w/my phone)

From My Own Backyard

Just noticed more purple flowers all over the lot next door.  Thought I'd get a couple shots of them.

I love purple!

Flowers on my hike this morning. 

(very poor pic taken with my phone.  :/)

Kids Were Here

It's A Snake!!

Over Memorial Day weekend, the kiddies went for a hike and returned with a dead snake.  Turns out it was a blow snake.  Which help keep away the rattlers.  But still...  Ewww!

Crock Pot Lasagna

Starting to get into a groove with this retirement.  Starting to cook again.  I'm sure that makes my hubby happy.  lol  

On tap for tonight - crock pot lasagna. 

Light

At this time of year... well, most times of the year really, I like to bring flowers into the house.  Especially as we don't have any outside yet.  (My bad... I agreed to do the flower beds when we put in the lawn.  Just another thing on my endless 'to do' list.)  

Anywhooo, I don't like to spend much,  as they don't last very long.  So I usually go down to the local grocery and buy what they have on clearance.  

I got these roses today and decided to play around before they go bad. 

 I really like the light on these. 

Edited with Florabella's Bright XP and a texture from Nichole V.

T-Ball

Think I'm going to have to rent a mega zoom lens for these sports events.  lol 

Doesn't she look cute in her visor?

Lunch with Friends

Always a good time and good eats when Carolyn comes to town. 

Old Books

Wow... two posts in one day.  (Trying to make up for the lack of posts last week)

I love old books...

Got these at the Summer "Hive" this weekend.

Mini Photographer

Just before school Friday morning, I had to take a pic of Missy Lou..  She just looked so cute.  I wanted to take her outside, it was a beautiful morning.  She insisted on this location and this pose.  lol  

Such a cutie!

Afterwards, she wanted  to take a pic of me.  Ugh, I hate pictures of myself!  lol  Of course, instead of moaning I handed her my camera.  Keep in mind, it's my D700 with my 24-70mm zoom on it.  So it was very heavy.  She's just a wee little 5 yr old so I was a little concerned.  

I helped her hold it vertically, she took the shot and handed it back to me.  When I looked at the screen, I could tell she'd done a good job and told her so.  She said "I put the little black square on your eye before I took the picture."  So proud!  I don't think I've ever told her that though I'm sure she's heard me tell her mom.  She did pretty good, wouldn't you say?

(Not sure why but the pics look a tad bit grainy.  Oh well.)

Playing "Mommy"

While my daughter and her husband were away I got to play "mommy" for a few days.  Wow!  There's a reason we have kids when we're young!  I'm exhausted!  

I think any toddler age is super cute, but I also think they are the hardest.  My grandson is just starting to communicate with words but for the most part his favorite form of communication is to scream.  Especially when things aren't going his way.  lol  He also loves to be held.  I love cuddling him but I swear he feels heavier than his 5 1/2 yr old sister!   (who, by the way, also loves for me to carry her around.  Think Suri Cruise...)  I know, I know..  that's my fault.  But I can't help it.  I just love them so much, what can I say?

Anyway, here's a little of what we did this week.

Little miss crazy face!  lol  One of her favorite things to do these days.  Think she's trying to give me a hint that she doesn't want her picture taken?

 This little guy loves to be outside.  I was dreading the moment when we would have to go in and was pleasantly surprised when all I had to say was "you want to go take a bath?" 

He went right in.  No screaming fit or anything. A-mazing!!

So behind...

It's been a maddening, sad (don't want to talk about it), hectic week.  I am so behind on taking pictures and blogging.  

Spent the last 4 days at my grandkids' house while their parents went on a little trip to Lake Powell.  We had a lot of fun, but man! am I exhausted!!!  

The first afternoon I was there, while making dinner, I noticed this bowl of tomatoes.   I thought "those would make a great photo!"  All I did was move them to a better lighting situation and viola!  Some more artwork for my kitchen.  Yay! 

I LOVE how it came out!  

I think I could really get into this still life photography stuff.  

Gorgeous Morning

Perspective

More of my tulips.  Gotta get my money's worth.  lol

Besides the lighting being different, I also shot this in front of a white backdrop.

I shoot RAW so after I checked my WB and tweaked my RAW adjustments, I just did a couple of levels adjustments in PS and viola!

Macro

Had a nice conversation with both my brother and sister-in-law via FB chat today.  She really liked my tulip photo and we got talking about macro shots.  I have had a lot of difficultly shooting that close with my equipment.  I have a Nikon D700 with a 50mm, 85mm and 24-70mm zoom, none of which will focus when I get that close.  So I experimented with my phone.  Wish I could do this without purchasing a macro lens.  Grrr!  This is quite an expensive hobby.  lol

My own art

This post will be similar to yesterdays.  Wanted to add some negative space to my 'art'.  One noticeable difference, of course, is the fact that the tulips are no longer droopy.  I can't decide which I like best..  What do you think?

From today...

(Edited the same.  Lighting was a tad different from yesterday.)

From yesterday...

Maybe I'll print out both. :)

Color Blocking

Decided to try my hand at creating my own art for my bedroom.  And while I was at it do a little color blocking.  It was fun!

Edited with an action from Florabella (Blush), a pink gradient level I learned from Nowordz and the Timeworn texture from Paint the Moon.

Uh oh

I completely forgot to take a picture today.  So I'm going to post a favorite from yesterday.  

I love this little guy!  

I know it doesn't look like it but he just loves EGGS!

Crafting Project - Summer Wreath

My daughter and I decided to put one of our pins into action.  This is where I got my inspiration.

Got all my supplies from Hobby Lobby.  I love that place!  So much to choose from and we didn't have to look anywhere else.  

And here's what I came up with. Easy Peasy!

Race for the Cure!

My sister, daughter, granddaughter and I are going to the SLC Race for the cure on May 11th.  It's become a tradition, so we never miss it.

If you'd like to donate to the cause and help us reach our goal, please click here.

Apparently, I didn't take any pics last year. So here are a couple from 2011.  My daughter was pregnant with my now 20 mo old grandson!

Snowstorm = scary drive

When we woke up there was 4 inches of snow on my car!  Not good.  But we could see some sunshine so we got everything together and headed out.  

Last thing we saw as we exited Casper Wy, was a van that had apparently slid off the road and rolled down an embankment.  Did not give either of us a warm fuzzy.  But we had to get home no matter what so we kept on going.  

For the next two hours I white-knuckled it through icy/snowy roads, snow blowing straight across the road causing white outs on occasion and semis blinding me as they passed me on the two-lane highway we were on.  It was pretty scary.  But once we were headed south it wasn't long before we got out of the worst of it and it was pretty smooth sailing from there.

(phone pic taken by my sister)