random thoughts...

photoshop play.

2008-10-14T21:03:00.004-04:00

I have a new favorite photoshop action. It's called lomo medium. It mimics lomography and I think I'm in LOVE! I used it on both images of Ella. I think its super fun and love the color saturation. I didn't use it on the image of Kaleb, but did use a bunch of other oldies but goodies!

Anyway~ as you can see I'm still working on getting a post up more regularly. I've decided there's just not enough hours in the day... but I haven't given up hope just yet!

i'll keep this brief...

2008-09-23T15:28:00.004-04:00

i totally want them to win!
go team misty & maks!

it never gets old...

2008-09-16T21:49:00.004-04:00

taking pictures of this little girl, never gets old.

she still loves to let me take her picture. she still always wants to see herself on the screen when I'm done. and to me... that never gets old.

I still try to catch those not so "posed" moments... this is what you get when Andrew & Kaleb go riding down the street on their bikes... without her.

as for him... it's rare that he lets me take his picture these days. i guess today (well yesterday) was my lucky day.

On another note, I've been a terrible "blogger" lately... and I'm hoping to work on that. I'm hoping to take & make more time to take pictures. I'm missing it terribly and NEED to get back to making the time... then if all goes well, I'll have more to share.

2

2008-08-10T21:45:00.003-04:00

This huge place in my heart is turning 2!

I can't imagine life without her.
She's one of my blessings that I count twice!
I love her more than words can express.
Happy Birthday "Lala Grace!"

oops...

2008-08-05T08:55:00.003-04:00

man, i have no idea whether i'm coming or going these days. i've been one horrible blogger that's for sure.

since i really don't even like to post without pictures i'm going to keep this one short.... here's what i've been up to...

i'm currently in house construction hell. basically i'm trying to get a whole bunch of stuff done in not enough time! i guess we are making some progress, it just doesn't seem to be happening quick enough for me... imagine that.

i'm taking a super-cool class at school this quarter. we're doing some alternative processing & printing. it's been really neat, hopefully i'll share some of that stuff once i actually get time to take some pictures, etc.

that's basically all that's been going on around here. work, house & not enough sleep.

oh... and princess lala (as I call her) is turning a great big 2 on monday. I'm sure i'll have pictures to share soon. :)

a weekend at the beach...

2008-07-21T21:21:00.003-04:00

Just some quick snapshots from the weekend in LBI. The weather was beautiful & we had a great time.

Kaleb spent a lot of his time searching for shells, but I did manage to get him to give me one quick smile. lucky me!

Today was back to reality... now I MUST focus on the house & getting some things done around there. I'm still hoping to be moved in before Andrew goes back to school.
Sorry it's a quick post... I still have lots of Spain pictures to edit and hopefully post, but I've been super busy & super exhausted all at the same time.

Cordoba

2008-07-06T07:01:00.004-04:00

Here are a few pictures from Cordoba. We went to what was originally The Masque and eventually became the Cathedral of Cordoba. This Cathedral was particularly interesting because many of the original features from the masque still were present in the Cathedral.

I was also trying to post some pictures from Salamanca, but my internet connection was not cooperating :(
This morning we are heading to Toledo for the afternoon. It's only about an hour from Madrid. We're touring another Cathedral & checking out the city as well.
Only 3 more days until I'll be heading home! I'm counting down the days until I see Andrew, Kaleb, Ella and the rest of my family! I miss them like crazy!
Not sure if I'll get to post again before I come home, but maybe on Wednesday. Once I get home I'll post a bunch of pictures, I haven't had much time to edit but I have tons more pictures :)

quick post

2008-07-02T02:44:00.005-04:00

Sorry this has to be a quick post, but I'm short on time this morning. Monday we were in Granada and saw the Alhambra. Tuesday we were in Seville & toured the city as well as the Cathedral in Seville. Both were amazing sites. The details in these places are just unbelievable.

These pictures below are from Granada. We took a tour of the Alhambra. The gardens in this place were beautiful & the history behind the building was pretty interesting too. The weather while we were here was pretty overcast so the images are a little grey.

We're heading out this morning to another city, then back to Madrid tonight... but only to sleep. We're off to Salamanca in the morning.
I still miss everyone...

Random in Spain

2008-06-28T17:04:00.005-04:00

Here are a few random pictures from my trip so far. It's basically my roommates and some funny stuff.

These are 3 of my roommates. Diane, Catie & Yolanda. The picture was taken at Guell Park in Barcelona.

This was at the airport departing for our trip to Barcelona. I've quickly come to realize that PDA's are so totally the thing to do around here... and I couldn't pass up taking a picture of the two airport janitors sharing a PDA moment! (sorry the picture is a little dark but I was trying to not be too obvious)

Found this lovely lady on the way to the Prado in Madrid. Isn't she pretty?

One of the best street statue people we've seen. The guy on the right is right is the real person & the one on the left is fake. This guy was the best one we've seen so far. We were actually convinced it was the other way around.

how funny is this?

And lastly, a quick self portrait of Diane & me.

That's it for now.
Leaving Valencia tomorrow morning, heading back to Madrid. First thing Monday morning we're heading back out on the road. (Sevilla, Granada & Salamanca are on the schedule.)

hope to share more pics again soon.

Sangrada Familia

2008-06-25T10:50:00.006-04:00

yesterday we went to Gaudi's Sangrada Familia. What a beautiful place. The story behind the church is pretty neat too. Anyway, it's still under construction, they hope to have it finished by it's 100th anniversary. Most of the pictures are of the outside as the inside is really under construction.

this is from the back of the church (this is Gaudi's work)

also the back of the church.

back too. when construction began, Gaudi started with the back of the church. so most of this intricate work is Gaudi's. The front is completely different.

again the back of the church.

this is from the inside looking toward the ceilings. again the detail is amazing.

this picture is of the front of the church. quite obviously a different sculptor

this one was from the back of the church as well, actually from across the street & I still didn't get the entire building in the frame.

lastly, this was a detail shot of the front. It's so interesting to me how different the two pieces are... yet on the same building.

Anyway~ It's a little after 5:00pm here. We hit the stores today and just walked around the city. Tonight we fly back to Madrid. Hopefully I'll post again maybe sometime on Friday. I'll be heading to Valencia on Friday (staying at a hotel, so there should be internet access.)

2008-06-24T14:55:00.004-04:00

Here are some quick pictures from the first couple days in Madrid & Barcelona. The places are beautiful, but I'm pretty homesick. I'm still very much adjusting to being away from home, hopefully each day it will become easier.

This is the Palacio Real. The picture doesn't really do justice to the building's size & beauty.

This picture is of the Plaza de Oriente. This is the square right in front basically of the Palacio Real.

A house in Barcelona, I couldn't get the whole house with the lens I had on the camera. But regardless it was beautiful.

This was the ceiling inside the Palacio Real. We weren't allowed to take photos once we were inside the Palace, but we managed to fire off a few random shots. Basically I just held my camera facing up and shot. (that's why there's not any real "framing" done on the picture, either way I still liked the picture.)

This is in Gaudi's Park Guell. This park was amazing. I have tons of pictures from here, I'll have to post more hopefully tomorrow.

Another one from Guell's Park.

This was in Plaza de Oriente as well. The weather this day was gorgeous.

One more from the Plaza.

Today we toured Casa Batlo, Casa Mila & The Sagrada Familia. All were beautiful. The "houses" have these amazing rooftops. And the church is still a work in progress... but amazing none the less. I hope to edit some of those pictures tomorrow & post.

Tonight Melinda & I went to the Hard Rock Barcelona. We both just really needed a meal that felt like home! Pasta & mashed potatoes never tasted so good! And yes I ate both pasta AND mashed potatoes... i didn't feel so bad she had mashed potatoes AND onion rings!

Tomorrow is a free day in Barcelona. We fly back to Madrid in the evening. I'll try to post more pictures tomorrow.

i love and miss all you guys!

leavin today...

2008-06-19T10:10:00.002-04:00

So my Spain trip is here... I had no idea it would show up this quickly. I had no idea I would get so emotional. I had no idea it would be so hard to leave them... so I'm gonna keep this post short. I don't have much to say except...

I'm gonna miss these guys like crazy!

more random stuff...

2008-06-09T17:22:00.004-04:00

First... I tried to post these two pics a while ago and for some reason it was taking forever and I gave up. But... here they are now!

Kaleb was a monkey in the Friends School Play. (and a cute little monkey he was!) note: he's wearing his art institute tshirt! love it.

This was a quick shot of Ella riding in the Jeep. She is quite the little rockstar when she's in the Jeep. She dances in her car seat and her hair blows all over the place... it's a sight for sure! (note she's wearing her I love my auntie tank top! love that one too.)

So this weekend was full of randomness. I went to First Friday in Doylestown. I went because I had to shoot the event for a project at school, but ended up hanging out for a bit once I had taken care of business. There are all kinds of artist's work on display throughout the town and shops. It was pretty neat.

Saturday I did a "planning" run to Ikea. I got some pretty cool ideas as far as furniture and picked up some misc stuff for the kitchen, etc. Also caught the Sex in the City movie with my mom... I liked it!

Sunday we had company for dinner which was really nice. I took some quick snapshots of Ada & Ella. Also Kaleb did some posing for me outside by the Jeep.

This week is SUPER busy. One final down (this morning) and another on Wed. And the one week countdown to Spain starts on Thursday! YIKES! I can't believe it's here already! I hope to post lots while I'm away! (key word is hope)

Happy Birthday Kaleb... xoxo

2008-06-02T19:50:00.006-04:00

June 3rd is FOREVER a special day in my life. Kaleb's Birthday! As most of you that read this blog know, Kaleb means the world to me and has a super-special place in my heart always. Well, my buddy is turning six... I can hardly believe it. He's turning into quite the young man, it's really a bitter sweet feeling. He's a total blast to have around these days, he's funny, he gets our jokes, and he doesn't mind just being with us, we don't always have to be up to something or going somewhere special, we can just hang out and he's happy about it, but at the same time he's not a baby anymore. I just want to put him on pause. Only for a little bit, not forever, just for uhm... well a little bit. I know I'm not being realistic but, sometimes it's comforting to pretend that he'll always be my baby. (ok, I know he's my sister's baby but I tease him that he's my baby!) Moving right along... I did manage to take some pictures of the Birthday Boy on Sunday. (I have to take advantage of these times since he's still going through that "but you have like a hundred million pictures of me, Aunt Stess!)

OK, now I should probably warn you that Kaleb and his cousins decided to get all yucked up in the water behind the house, including a triple dog dare to ride his bike through the creek back in the woods. So, I should note that my sister does NOT usually allow her son to become this messy in his GOOD clothes. But it is HIS day, so.... this is what it looked like.

After all of the water activities... he had some cake!

Happy Birthday to the bestest godson in the world! i love you more then you'll ever know!

Since it's been ages since I've posted... I'll update on a few other bits of news. I finally signed an agreement last night for the purchase of my FIRST home! It's still not really sunk in yet, but I'm getting there. I didn't really want to post about it until it was official. But as of last night I signed the papers and so did the home owners... so I suppose it's official now.

Also, I have a few pictures of Ella to share from Kaleb's birthday too!

The prettiest girl at the party, of course!

I suppose that's it for now. Hope to post more frequently. Oh and holy cow I leave for Spain in 17 days! And I'll be in heaven both Tuesday & Wednesday night as I'll be at the Dave Matthew's Band Concert both nights! Life is good!

odds & ends

2008-05-14T22:30:00.005-04:00

So... My sister, Erik and the kids are away in Florida... which is wonderful for them, but totally weird for me! I'm so used to always having them here... always being able to see Kaleb & Ella whenever I want. So, not having that luxury this week has sort of been an "eye opener" for me. I'm coming to the realization that I'm going to be away from them for 3 whole weeks & I have no idea how I'm going to make it through. I miss them SO much now and it's not even been a full week yet! Right now I just keep telling myself that I have a month to figure out how I'm gonna deal. But no matter how hard I try I still can't convince myself that it's going to be OK. I know this is going to be an amazing trip & I know that I'm going to survive, but I'm still so afraid of the time I'm going to miss with them. (now, that being said, I'm not even gonna start to type about the meltdown I'm having inside about leaving Andrew for 3 weeks...)

Now that I got that out of the way... I'm hoping to participate in some online "challenges" that have been posted. My friend Beth has a challenge posted over here. I'm going to try really really hard to complete this challenge this week! And one more, I'm going to try to complete a layout based on this challenge.

My first step to completing these challenges was to take a few pictures... so I shot a couple self portraits. It's been a while since I've taken any pictures of myself and I thought the "today" challenge would be the perfect reason to take a couple. They aren't perfect, but self portraits never really are (at least for me). Here's a look at a few that I played with in photoshop...

these three were the "best" ones... if you can call them that. I'm not a big fan of myself in pictures, but they'll do!

I hope to post the we spy challenge soon!

2008-05-07T21:13:00.004-04:00

As I mentioned in the earlier post, Monday was Kaleb's first ever soccer game! He was super excited and so was I! Andrew played soccer when he was this age and I always enjoyed going to watch his games...now I get to go watch Kaleb and I think that's pretty cool! So... i share with you some pictures from the game.

getting some tips from Daddy on the sideline!

i couldn't resist sharing these too! Ella was content watching the game as long as she had her lolly pop!

busybusybusy

2008-05-07T08:05:00.002-04:00

Sorry... I've been a "bad blogger" these days! I've been meaning to post since sometime last week and it just didn't happen. (besides the fact that I really don't like posting without at least one picture to share, but we won't go there right now!)

School has been crazy busy, turns out that 2 of the classes I thought would be no-brainer's... actually require my brain a whole bunch! Work has actually been busier then normal... so basically life has just been busy!

Kaleb had his first official soccer game on Monday night (of course I couldn't miss that) so I'm going to try to share some pictures from that maybe later tonight. Watching Kaleb play brought back LOTS of memories... Andrew played soccer for years when he was younger and it was a pretty big part of our lives so now it's pretty cool to see Kaleb experiencing being part of a team and learning about the sport too!

That's about it for now! I'm gonna try real hard to post some pictures tonight!

Weekend Recap...

2008-04-20T22:07:00.005-04:00

Just wanted to post a few pictures I captured this weekend. I had a weekend FULL of camera time between school stuff and personal stuff there wasn't much time this weekend without my camera in hand. :)

First I started working on a project for school at Ivy Hill Horse Farm. I'm not posting any of the pictures that are specifically for the project because they include disabled children that are involved in the therapeutic horseback riding program, and even though the parents are graciously allowing me to take the pictures for my project I don't want to infringe on their privacy otherwise... does that make sense? I sure hope so. I did capture a few of this guy...

Then on Saturday night I hung out with Kaleb & Ella so Gwen & Erik could have "date night." Of course I snapped a few shots there as well...

total rockstar with her barbie sunglasses, right?

ella bringing me her croc that fell off during her travels

finally got a couple of Kaleb! (he's been going through this "thing" where he pretty much runs from me when he sees my camera. he says i've taken "a hundred million" pictures of him... sad thing is... he's probably right.)

Lastly I snapped a few of Andrew practicing up on his soccer skills, these also served as part of an exercise for school.

That about sums up my weekend in pictures. I worked on school stuff all day today, that's what I get for putting it off until Sunday. Oh my goodness... I almost forgot... I also watched the SIXERS pull off one heck of a win in their first playoff game against the PISTONS in Detroit no less! That was some good stuff! GO SIXERS!

Inspired

2008-04-14T08:44:00.002-04:00

Just got back from Donna Downey's Inspired Event yesterday... and what an event it was. There were a bunch of really talented ladies teaching at this event. I was looking forward to Kal's class the most and she did not disappoint one bit! What a super cool chick!

I met two great, really talented girls Beth & Chrissy while at the event. I'm looking forward to keeping in touch with them!
I also learned some great new techniques that I can't wait to try out again. Kim and I had PLENTY of laughs as usual... always good to get away with her!

Sorry for the short post, but I'm short on time this morning.

my baby @ 15.... and Easter

2008-03-23T21:17:00.007-04:00

Earlier this week Andrew turned 15 and I had great intentions of posting some new pictures but unfortunately his social life got in the way of my big plans... instead of having his mother take his picture he decided he wanted to hang out with his friends instead... go figure. :) Anyway... this weekend I got the chance to take some new shots of him... here are a few that I really liked. I know I'm a little partial but I really think the camera represents him well.

It's still hard to believe that he's 15. I was blessed with Andrew at a very young age... and I say blessed because I really believe I was blessed with him and meant to have him in my life, regardless of the fact that I was 16 when he came into my life. I completely understand that a teenage pregnancy is not an ideal situation for anyone, but I simply believe that I am who I am because of him, I'm happy with the person that I am today and without him I wouldn't be that person. Even though it wasn't always easy... I wouldn't change one step. I'm proud to call him my son, even if we aren't perfect, we're doing just fine.

here's one of me & my baby too (okay I guess I can't call him baby anymore, but I'm okay with that)

Here are some Easter pictures from today....

my sister & her beautiful family!

we did a little egg hunt at the house

just one more of Ella that I loved! she was saying "cheeeeeese!"

weekend review...

2008-03-17T20:05:00.005-04:00

this weekend turned out to be a super-sweet surprise... i got some scrapbooking done on Saturday which is always a good thing in my book :) then on sunday i went to the camden aquarium with my sister & the family. it was a spur of the moment plan, and made for a really nice day. Here's some pictures from our day...

kaleb, andrew & erik petting the sand sharks.

kaleb as the shark... hehehe

miss ella sporting her pigtails out watching the penguins.

kaleb got his face painted like a snake... how cool is that nose paint? I thought it was cool!

Ella got a little flower on her face.

then about 5 minutes into the ride home... (i couldn't manage to get a sharp on of kaleb without using the flash)

well that about sums it up! this week is my final week of the quarter... woohoo!
oh... any andrew turns 15 on wed~ can you believe it?

Random Update...

2008-03-10T21:42:00.003-04:00

Not too much going on to report... just caught up in finishing final projects for this quarter at school. I've actually really enjoyed this quarter but I'm totally looking forward to it being over and completing these projects.

I have a few random pictures to share from this weekend. They aren't perfect (i forgot to change my film speed for indoor shots) but I still like them anyway. (nothing a little photoshop can't fix... or at least help.)

man... this girl is so darn cute. and she loves when i take out my camera. she laughs so hard when she sees herself on the little screen... it's really one of the funniest things. needless to say she's getting lots of camera time these days cause Kaleb is totally OVER me taking his picture all the time. Andrew's rather busy with being a teenager and I would probably be cramping his style if I was constantly chasing him around with my camera. (although he is a total sport when I have to shoot stuff for school, so I guess that makes up for him not wanting me to chase him & his friends around.)

well, i guess that's it for now. :)

Photoshop Fun...

2008-02-28T07:39:00.003-05:00

Just thought I would share one of the projects I am working on for my Digital Illustration class. It's been a lot of fun to see all the cool stuff you can do in photoshop...

Not sure how well you can see at this size... but all of the "people" in the image are Andrew. Basically I masked him into one photo several times, I altered the sky, changed images (minus the sky and his jeans) to black & white. It's still not perfect but I liked it and it was a lot of fun to create!

In other news... there isn't much going on around here. Just busy with school, working on final projects. Looking forward to a rather low-key weekend! :)

Happy Birthday to my sister!

2008-02-25T20:51:00.005-05:00

Today is my sister's birthday... my bestest friend in the world... my consistent influence to be a better me... she's my strength when i am weak, a shoulder when i need to cry, she's an unbelievable Aunt to my son, basically she's EVERYTHING to me! There's not one thing about her that i would change... i love everything about who she is and what she means to me. Sorry, I'm trying to keep this short and not too sappy... sooo lastly i am forever indebted to her for sharing Kaleb & Ella with me.

Happy Birthday Sis! I love you!

quick update...

2008-02-19T10:51:00.003-05:00

man, i didn't realize it had been so long since my last post... the time really got away from me.

first i want to wish my mom a happy birthday! "happy birthday mom! hope you have a wonderful day!"

this past weekend i went to Virginia... stopped in Georgetown on Friday and did a little bit of shopping... Kim introduced me to the great, i mean GREAT little store called LUSH! This place has some really good stuff. I picked up some hand lotions and scrubs and a facial cleanser... so yummy!

We took a class with Stacey Julian... it was pretty cool and she was pretty cool too! I love the little album that i made... it's a 6x6 celebration of the sweetest little girl i know! I'll try to post some pictures later. :)

Andrew's basketball team has their first playoff game tomorrow night! Go LV!

Uhm... that's all i got for now.

Spain...

2008-02-01T09:54:00.000-05:00

Last night I received my official letter of acceptance to Study Abroad in Madrid, Spain this summer. It hasn't really "sunk" in just yet, but I'm still pretty excited at the thought of being in another country for almost a month! Overall it's kinda bittersweet... I'm totally excited but at the same time I've NEVER been away from Andrew for this long; it's always just been a few days here & there. So that being said I'm a little sad at the thought of being away from him for this length of time but I also feel this is really a once in a lifetime opportunity for me... like i said "bittersweet." Not only am I worried about missing Andrew, but Kaleb & Ella too! I've never been away from them for this long either :)

I can't take credit for the picture above, I found it online today... but this is one of the places we'll be visiting... The Cathedral in Toledo

a little wrap up post...

2008-01-14T21:08:00.000-05:00

Again more then a week has gone by... geez where does the time go? Last week happened to be a rather eventful week in my parts. Andrew came down with one NASTY virus starting on Tuesday, he landed in the hospital on Thursday. At that point he wasn't keeping any food or fluids down and desperately needed to be hydrated. Thankfully after the visit to the ER he was doing much better and from that point on he's been doing well.

I also went back to school last week... I was really looking forward to getting back to my classes this quarter and returning to my usual routine... but most of all I was looking forward to getting back to shooting and being challenged by my assignments. I'm pretty excited about the classes I'm taking this quarter and can't wait to see what I come up with!

I'm still keeping up on my daily photo challenge. It's still going well at this point... although sometimes I let the day get away from me and the next thing I know I'm shooting some random stuff... but i think that's what makes this so fun.

I think cause she's so darn cute she gets a lot of camera time when i'm around!

went to loop on saturday with kimmy chang and picked up some fun yarn to play with!

love her... enough said.

the challenge...

2008-01-07T20:31:00.000-05:00

So, I'm going to try to take "a picture a day." I'm really hoping this will challenge me to pick up my camera EVERYDAY! A few of the blogs I read had this as an idea or challenge for the New Year and I'm giving it a whirl. So far so good... I understand it's only January 7th... but I'm optimistic. Here are a few shots I'd like to share...

Ella can't get enough of the phone!

Ella again... she was a sad girl in this one :(

and last... just me.

I'm not expecting fabulous pictures EVERYDAY... just some snapshots of everyday life... you know the GOOD STUFF!

Christmas Stuff

2007-12-27T17:35:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to share some pictures from Christmas. This is not one of my favorite holidays to photograph. I can never really get pictures that I LOVE and not much has changed as far as that goes this year. They are "ok" but nothing "great" Anyway~ I share with you... guess who? yup... Andrew, Kaleb and Ella. Oh and one picture of Emma.

Andrew & Ella checking out her new Baby Einstein book.

Kaleb got a new camo jacket from Cablea's just like Daddy and Poppy!

Ella got a new kitchen... she loved playing with all her new utensils.

just wanted to share this one because it makes me smile!

played with this one a little... and i like it!

Finally~ I leave you with my girl... miss Emma. when no one else will listen to me... she does! love her!

Today......... I'm 31

2007-12-17T11:30:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe but yet another year has passed and now I'm looking @ my 31st Birthday! So today I've been thinking about my life and where I am at this point... to my surprise I'm totally in a GOOD place. I don't really have any complaints and I have TONS to be greatful for... actually I'm feeling pretty darn lucky at this point.

First, I have this great boy that I get to call MINE, ALL MINE! I don't have to share him with anyone... well okay maybe with my mom & dad... and not to mention Kaleb might have something to say about me not sharing Andrew since Kaleb seriously idolizes that kid. Regardless~ I think he's a pretty cool kid and I'm pretty proud that I get to take credit for him.

Second, I have an amazing family... I know everyone has amazing families too, but for me I'm not exactly the easiest person to deal with and my family is just fine with that. They love me for me and theres no in between! I'm not sure what I would do without my sister, my brother-in-law (whom I prefer to call my brother, but I guess that would be weird since he's married to my sister!) and my Mom & Dad~ I'm sure I make them crazy but they are always there for me... and Andrew.

I could totally go on and on...so one last thing... okay maybe two more things. First, those godchildren of mine... boy have they changed who I am. I can't imagine life without them~ It's actually hard to remember life before them. They've changed me in so many ways and i wouldn't change one thing about them! Lastly, my buddy Kimmy Chang! She's the best~ she's the one person (that's not family) that I never get tired of. I can simply be myself with her... she's my person! (ok, so Bill is my person too but who's counting. can you really have too many people?)

So, Happy Birthday to me... and thanks for reading all my mushy blabber!

Some Thanksgiving Pictures...

2007-11-24T07:44:00.000-05:00

to share with you. For the most part Thanksgivng is not a big picture holiday for my family. But I did manage to shoot a couple this year that I was particularly happy with.

I had a great holiday... it was very relaxing... a much needed "recharge!"

this is...

2007-11-21T22:12:00.000-05:00

what Ella looks like when she hears the word "no!" Oh my God, it totally cracked me up when I took these pictures. Of course it was NOT Aunt Stess that was telling her "no" cause we all know that that word is simply not in my vocabulary when it comes to Ella and Kaleb (at least most of the time)... this time it was Mommy that was telling her no, I was simply documenting it... then I was quick to snatch her up into my lap... cause she does no wrong in my book!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you have lots to be thankful for!

Misc Stuff...

2007-11-14T20:43:00.000-05:00

So, once again it's been quite a while since I've had the chance to update... so here goes.
This weekend I went to the Temple vs. Penn State Football game with this bunch of nuts...

Kimmy Chang was there too... just not in the picture of course. We had a really fun time... the funniest part of the story is that NONE of them went to Temple... and collectively NONE of us went to Penn State either. You might be asking yourself why we where there... the answer my friend is because we wanted to be there. Basically we were freezing most of the day, but had a great time regardless.

In other news... as always i'll share some of my Ella pics. I could totally take pictures of this girl ALL DAY. The best part is that she loves when I take her picture... once i take it she immediately runs over to me to check out the screen with her picture on it... and then proceeds to laugh hysterically. It's one of the funniest things (one of the many funny things she does). I think everytime she does it I laugh harder.

This is just one that i loved... she looks so innocent... love it.

And in case you were wondering... Yes, Andrew is still alive. Here's some proof. (don't mind the fact that a bunch of this picture is totally out of focus I was playing around with some of my settings... but still liked the picture.)

I think that about catches me up. Looking forward to the weekend, as usual.

Tinkerbell...and a very sick Buzz Lightyear

2007-11-03T10:46:00.000-04:00

This year's Halloween didn't go exactly as planned... the night before, Kaleb started to not feel so good... in the morning he was feeling a bit better and decided to go to school for all of the Halloween festivities...well by the time he got home he was again exhausted and not feeling very good at all. He actually went to sleep in his bed and asked my sister to wake him up when it was time to trick or treat... because he didn't want to miss it, even though he didn't feel good. That being said... Kaleb looks less then thrilled in ALL of the pictures I took, but I can't blame him. Meanwhile... Ella was running around like a nut with her glittery green shoes on (how freakin cute are those shoes?).

oh and please excuse the hideous flash bouncing off of the fireplace glass. I just couldn't get enough light for the indoor pictures without using the flash :(

Holy Crap...this makes me laugh!

2007-10-29T22:18:00.001-04:00

Ella has the funny smile that she does and i sometimes say she looks chinese when she does it... but everytime I see her do it I laugh harder and harder. i just love it!

On another note... we did some pumpkin carving this weekend. Kaleb had a lot of fun with this and did a great job all around. Every once in a while he had to take a break cause he said his arms were tired! :)

Also took some classes with Karen Russell this weekend... had a great time and was totally inspired to get out and shoot some new stuff again. Now I just have to find the time to do that... this week i have midterms at school so it may have to wait until this weekend or sometime next week :(

One more thing from this weekend... I met with a spiritual reader this weekend... and holy cow was that interesting. I've always been on the fence with that sort of stuff, but boy did she have some interesting things to say.
i think that's it for now...

A self portrait... sorta

2007-10-21T21:23:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I went to the Pumpkin Patch with my sister, Kaleb and Ella. (andrew was busy working... yup he has a job!!!) So anyway, I NEVER get in the pictures but today decided to turn the camera onto Ella and I... and this is what we got! It's not perfect but it's us... together... and that's all that matters... right?
The weather was beautiful and we had a great time picking pumpkins. Kaleb was our official picker... he always does a great job with this. He even pulls the wagon around with all the pumpkins in it!

Then the nice guy that worked at the patch offered to take a picture of the four of us... which also is a rare occurrece. We never get to ALL be in the picture!!!

Still here...

2007-10-16T09:57:00.000-04:00

just not really blogging these days. School has been extremely time consuming. I'm taking a lighting class right now and WOW is it way more challenging then I ever expected it to be. Maybe as the class goes on and I get a little more confident with the pictures I'll post some shots on here.

right now I seem to be consumed by fall tv in the evenings and one of my guilty pleasures is Dancing with the Stars. My main obsession with the show is Maksim. Holy Cow... is he beautiful. I seriously could care less what happens on this show as long as he is on it. I totally think he should be nominated as the next Bachelor. (which is another show that I have been sucked into as usual.) Anyway... here's some Maksim eye candy for you to enjoy.... i think i heart him!

So... the boys won!

2007-09-28T10:12:00.000-04:00

The game was great last night~ it's really pretty cool to be down at the park with all of the playoff excitment going on. Now we can only hope that they can hold on for these last few games and get some help from some other teams as well!

In other news... I've been addicted to Etsy for a few weeks now and find myself making purchases on a regular basis. Here's a little something I picked up from Elsie's site...

She arrived in the mail a few days ago and I can not wait to get a frame to put her in and hang or place in my room!

Well~ TGIF! and can't wait to get some scrap time this weekend.

Going to the Phillies Game!

2007-09-27T08:55:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I'm not exactly the biggest baseball fan and to be honest I have no desire to watch the sport on tv at all! I finally made it to a game for the first time this year and must admit I really liked it a lot! That being said, I'm heading to my third game of the season tonight... and I think I have a little baseball crush on Chase Utley. He's my baseball hero!

Let's hope Chase and the boys can win again tonight and help secure a spot in the playoffs. GO TEAM GO!!!

Okay... So it's been a while~

2007-09-24T21:41:00.000-04:00

since my last post... i really don't have any excuse for not posting, but for those of you that actually read this little blog of mine I apologize! I'm currently on fall break from school, but getting ready to go back on Monday. As usual I only like to post when I have pictures... so I share with you some pictures from my final week of classes last quarter. (as usual, andrew was one of my models)

These were two of my favorites, I'm so lucky that he still lets me take these pictures. I sometimes feel like I have to make up for all of the pictures I missed when he was younger and it never occured to me to pick up a camera. (at least not as much as i pick it up these days)

This weekend I'm looking forward to getting some crop time in. It's been a while and I'm really looking forward to it. So, basically that's all i got. I'm sorry I don't have any other exciting news. :)

Kim's boy has a beard...

2007-09-09T20:16:00.000-04:00

On Friday night Kim and I saw Rocco Deluca again...no silly not in Philly again, in Baltimore of course. The show was great (as usual) but this time Rocco was sportin' a full-blown lumber-jack beard!

Other then the concert this weekend has been consumed by getting ready for finals this week. Oh, and I babysat for my sister last night, they had a wedding to go to. This was supposed to be a rather challenging night for me... it would be the first time I was putting Ella to bed~ all by MYSELF! That said... she was an ANGEL...PERFECT! She didn't cry at all and simply went to sleep like the perfect princess she always is for Aunt Stess!

On another note... THANK GOD football season is back! LOVE IT!

Pictures from the weekend...

2007-08-28T20:54:00.001-04:00

I've been meaning to post for a few days... but of course life happens! So, that being said, I'm coming up on the last few weeks of this quarter at school, so I've been busy with assignments, Andrew's getting ready to go back to school too. Things have just been busy... nothing life changing, just the usual. So since I don't have much to report... I share with you some recent pictures.

Of course Andrew was out and about all weekend with his buddies as usual... so no new pictures of him!

this makes me so happy...

2007-08-20T11:23:00.000-04:00

This might be the most beautiful GAP ad I've ever seen in my life! Words cannot express how beautiful Johnny boy looks in this picture! The picture was taken by the ridiculously talented Annie Leibovitz... she is amazing and that's an understatement to say the least! as far as a post for today... whelp, this is all i got! Enjoy the view!

Birthday Girl!

2007-08-14T18:14:00.000-04:00

Saturday was officially Ella's first birthday... so birthday cake was obviously a no-brainer! Once the cake was put before her (the WHOLE cake that is) it didn't take long for her to have the icing everywhere! She was so content just sitting there making a complete mess and even taking a few tastes here and there. Happy Birthday Princess!

It's hard to believe...

2007-08-10T12:03:00.001-04:00

my sister's baby girl is turning ONE tomorrow! The time has just gone by WAY to fast. I feel like I want to put her on "pause" for a little while so I can keep her just the way she is... at least for a little while longer!

It's funny when I look back and remember how convinced I was that she "should" be a boy, just because I thought boys were easier, more convenient, but mostly because we already have Andrew & Kaleb in the family, so I guess I just thought it would be too hard to break that mold, that "mold" in my own little head that is!

So, one year ago Miss Ella Grace came crashing into my world of "boys" and I couldn't be happier to admit that "I was wrong." I totally needed this little girl in my life. So, here I am, the Aunt/Godmother who was convinced that I could only be good at boys...funny how so much can change in one year...thanks to one little girl!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Dave Matthews Band!

2007-08-08T08:15:00.001-04:00

Went to the Dave Matthews Band concert last night with my sister and as usual it was AMAZING! These guys or i should say "gods" can do no wrong for me. Thanks to Marie we were lucky enough to be sitting in the 8th row. Needless to say, I'm paying for it today, i'm so exhausted.

I'm off to the farm this afternoon to shoot an assignment for school, if there are any worthy of sharing I'll do so tomorrow.

Kimmie Chang + bottle of wine= Ricky Bobby

2007-08-05T21:24:00.000-04:00

This weekend I was at Rollie's SAVE event, where I was supposed to be getting some scrapbooking done... needless to say, not much scrapbooking got done, but plenty of laughs were had.

here are some pictures from the weekend.

Kim getting creative... at the golf course in a sand trap!

Kim cooling off at the mini-golf course... in her defense it was pretty hot out and she also wanted to wash off some of the sand off. (sorry, I can't figure out how to turn that picture around the right way.)

Finally, I leave you with Kimmie Chang and the infamous Ricky Bobby!

getting ready...

2007-07-31T19:11:00.000-04:00

Tonight I'm getting ready to go away once again. This weekend I'm heading off to SAVE for some scrapping and hanging out with my girlfriends. I'm really looking forward to this event, it's been a while since I had some serious creative time.

Tomorrow heading out to catch Kim's "boyfriend" Rocco DeLuca @ the TLA. I'm pretty excited for the show myself, these guys are great live and they're finally headlining the show!

I guess that's it for now, not much to report just busy, busy, busy! Must finish packing!

my boys of summer...

2007-07-25T18:19:00.000-04:00

Well, our annual trip to LBI has come and gone... and needless to say it never goes down without a catch. This year I was lucky enough to be taking Kaleb to the beach with me and this was his first time away from home without his Mom & Dad! (at least longer then just an overnight.) This was a milestone in itself.

does this look like a child that is homesick?.... nope, I didn't think so. He was so excited to be at the beach, and I was just as excited to have him there with me!

Andrew has been coming here since he was a baby. Now at age 14, he still looks forward to the week with his cousins just hanging out on the beach. And the bonus is he still lets me take his picture, no matter what!

Anyway~ on to the "catch." Sunday night we headed to the basketball courts which also is a nightly event when we're at the shore only this time I managed to score myself a trip to the Emergency Room. I thought I was going to be fine, but the next morning my knee thought otherwise, so Kim and Erik took me to the ER... basically they did some xrays, found nothing broken which I kinda figured. Their assessment was that I had a sprain of some sort in my knee with possibly some ligament issues going on but they would need to do an MRI to come to any conclusion. Long story short... my regular doctor did his exam and concluded that I did not need the MRI, but simply needed some rest and possibly some physical therapy. So I guess this is my first sign of getting older, huh?

Now, I'm going back to that happy place....

not much going on...

2007-07-17T19:09:00.000-04:00

So, sometimes or I should say most of the time Andrew is subjected to me and my camera. I have several weekly assignments and in most cases he is the "chosen one!" My very own, in house model... does it get any better? He's actually a pretty good model, mostly does what I tell him to do even if it is against his better judgement. Well anyway, this week one of my assignments was to shoot "skin." Yup, that's right skin. So I told him to put on his model face and take off his shirt!

I really love the first picture... just because that is SO him right now! That one probably won't make the cut for the project but the second one has potential.

Other then work and school there's not a whole lot going on. I'm getting ready for LBI this weekend with the family. I'm sooo lucky this year I get to take Kaleb to the beach with us! Can not wait, he's going to have a blast, and Gwen & Erik will get a little breather! Oh and I almost forgot... John Mayer Concert on Friday.... so cannot wait for that!

a weekend in the Hamptons...

2007-07-09T20:49:00.000-04:00

My first visit to The Hamptons... Sam invited Kim & I up to her family's beach house in the Hamptons this past weekend and I had a really nice time... for the most part we just hung out, relaxed, laughed and did a whole bunch of nothing. Spent the day at the beach and hit some of the shops (found a really nice yarn shop, Kim and I were pretty excited about that. I don't think it will be long before Sam has jumped into the world or should I say cult of knitting!) Loved the time away from reality and the time well spent with girlfriends. Thanks Kimmy B. and Sammy J!

does it really get any better then your feet in the sand and the ocean??? Even though the water was rather chilly for my taste, I enjoyed getting my feet wet a little bit. Kim and Sam both got in... i'm talking WAY in... not me.

Don't you love these signs... like who really wants to be on those dunes anyway. {not me that's for sure.}

Anyway~ back to school tomorrow which is a little bitter sweet. While I was enjoying the break from studying I'm now ready for a break from being at work 5 days a week. :)

...looking forward to LBI in two weeks.

4th of July Recap...

2007-07-05T10:05:00.000-04:00

What's usually a pretty uneventful holiday for me, turned out to be a really nice day. I spent the morning at my sister's, Kaleb & Ella's brand spankin new swing set was delivered and installed yesterday! All's I can say is Kaleb's face was priceless when he got on the swings! (pictures to follow later, I didn't have a chance to upload them from my camera just yet.)

In the afternoon I went to Kim's parents for a BBQ. I had a really nice time, her family is great! Very much like my own family, in that they are very relaxed and fun to be around. Lots of laughing going on and kids running around!

Andrew got to go see the much anticipated Transformers movie with Gam. Lucky for him she will basically go see any movie in the theater... cause I personally had no desire to see that. (maybe I don't know what I'm missing, but I'm okay with that.)

And that's it in a nutshell. I'm off to the beach tonight! Be back on Sunday.

an uneventful weekend...

2007-07-01T18:57:00.000-04:00

What a breath of fresh air it was this weekend! The weather was beautiful and I didn't have any commitments so I took the opportunity to RELAX!!! Checked out a new yarn store with Kimmy B. on Friday. Andrew had a basketball game on Friday night too... unfortunately they lost but in their defense the team was WAY bigger then them and our boys were short handed as this was a make up game scheduled at the last minute. Did some window shopping with my mom on Saturday and spent some time at my sister's on Sunday with Kaleb and Ella. Sorry no pictures... we really didn't do anything real eventful, just hung out and chatted a bit.

This week is busy once again... Looking forward to a quiet 4th of July... then off to the shore on Thursday! This will be my first trip to the shore this year. I'm looking forward to a nice girls weekend away. :) I'm hoping to have some new pictures to post next time! :)

Happy Pictures

2007-06-26T08:24:00.000-04:00

Just some fun pictures from this weekend. Kaleb and Ella had a really good time swimming in Nanny & Pop's pool! Just loving the summer and the time outside!

Joanna & Marty's Wedding

2007-06-25T21:04:00.001-04:00

Saturday was such a gorgeous day which was a bonus to the beautiful wedding! I was really pretty nervous about the day's events and taking on the photography portion of Marty & Joanna's special day. I actually had dreams about it leading up to the actual day. I spent alot of time worrying about what would happen and if I would be able to get the job done for them. Overall, I'm really pleased with the results, there's some things i would have done differently for sure, but i've excused myself since this was my first time. Thankfully Joanna & Marty were so understanding of my inexperience and gave me a great opportunity to learn from this and grow from it as well.

A total bonus was getting to play with my lensbabies lens. Joanna was all for letting me play with this great little toy. (see above)

Hopefully this was just the first of many weddings to come... I think I really liked it (shhhh!)

Not much going on here...

2007-06-21T14:22:00.000-04:00

Not much to report these days. And no new pictures to post... :( Hopefully that will change after this weekend. I'm photographing my friends JoAnna & Marty's wedding on Saturday. I'm a mix between nervous and excited at this point. I've gotten up several times the past two nights dreaming/thinking about the wedding. This is such a BIG deal... well for me at least, oh and I guess for Marty & JoAnna too!

Andrew is officially on summer vacation... which is good and bad. Good because we don't have to worry about homework and all that stuff that goes along with school, but now his social life is in full summer swing. He's hardly home at this point and it worries me a bit, but I suppose I can't lock him up in the house all summer. (not to mention i miss him, he really is barely home... really just to sleep.)

So... for now... Life is good!

Me and my buddy...

2007-06-12T13:41:00.000-04:00

Lucky me... on Sunday I got to spend the day with Kaleb at the Sanner Dairy Farm. Denise Sanner from the scrapbook store was nice enough to invite everyone up for a visit. This picture was taken by Rollie and I was really excited when I saw it as I rarely get any pictures of myself and Kaleb together. I think this one's a keeper! LOVE IT! (thanks rollie)

When we first got there Kaleb seemed to have some reservations about staying, and then on top of that there was a rather large dog walking around greeting everyone as well as a few cats here and there. He kept asking me... "Can we just go back to the car?" I felt terrible, but then he warmed up in no time and eventually forgot about the dog and the cats! (which is totally huge for Kaleb since he still doesn't go near Emma, Babe & Belle at our house.)

While we were there Kaleb made some new friends... Josh, Declan, Jackson, Tater & Ethan. They had a great time on the slip & slide, shooting water guns and going on the hayride. It really meant a lot to get this time with Kaleb. He's getting so big and I'm sure it won't be long before he doesn't want to do these things anymore. (kinda like Andrew... he's way beyond doing these things and more interested in hanging out with his buddies. Which is totally understandable at his age!)

jumping in...

2007-06-11T12:59:00.000-04:00

So I'm officially "jumping in..." to the world of Blogging. I'm obviously new to this and really have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm going to pretend for now that I have a clue! I've been reading tons of blogs these days and have come to the conclusion that it's my turn. Even if no one reads it at least I'll have it for myself.

I'm hoping to maintain some sort of "diary" through this blog, as well as posting new pictures and random thoughts... hence the name of the blog! Sorry I couldn't come up with something more catchy then that... but it will do for now!

bye for now...