Life In Focus

Courage

2012-01-20T07:37:00.000-08:00

Pin It

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T10:37:00.000-08:00

Beach Day Close Up

2011-10-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

A couple of shots from a September afternoon at the beach.

Family Fun Night

2011-10-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Fall Family Fun Night at Baby Girl's school last week.

A Day Trip

2011-10-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Pictures from our recent day trip to Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, Alabama.

My Baby

2011-09-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

At 8, she really isn't a baby anymore. But she'll always be my baby.

Clarinetist

2011-09-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

My oldest practicing her clarinet.

Cousins

2011-09-13T13:51:00.001-07:00

Labor Day Weekend-The girls and my nephew

Instagram Love Week 7 & 8

2011-07-29T07:35:00.000-07:00

Instagram Love Week 6

2011-07-19T06:36:00.000-07:00

Relaxation

2011-07-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

We spent a little time at the beach yesterday afternoon.

Smoky Mountains June '11

2011-07-10T20:49:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to catch up on processing all my photos. Here are some pictures from our trip to the Smoky Mountains in June.

Instagram Love Week 4 & 5

2011-07-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

Instagram Love Week 2 & 3

2011-06-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

We went to the mountains last week and I was too busy to get week 2's photos up before we left. This is both weeks combined.

One day I'll invest in a real rolling pin.

Instagram Love Week 1

2011-06-03T15:39:00.000-07:00

I recently won an iPad! Yea, I was a little bit excited about that. The camera on the iPad isn't super quality but it's decent and allows me to use the Instagram app which I love. I'll be sharing my week in Instagrams here now that I get to have fun playing with this app.

5/21/11

2011-05-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

So eventually I plan to get caught up with adding pictures here but for now here's a picture from last night. My kids rock!

365: Day 95

2011-04-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

365: Day 92

2011-04-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

Spent a gorgeous afternoon at the beach.

365: Day 91

2011-04-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

The hubby and I went down to the river walk for a picnic lunch today. It was so gorgeous! Great way to spend time with my man.

365: Day 88

2011-03-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

I spent this afternoon working on my front flower bed thanks to some free hostas from my parents.

365: Day 83

2011-03-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, often times, the pictures I go to take aren't the ones that turn out the best. This afternoon I was out taking pictures of wild flowers. I wasn't happy with any of those shots but loved this one I snapped of the girls before heading back inside.

365: Day 82

2011-03-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

Silly hat night at church.

365: Day 81

2011-03-22T19:40:00.000-07:00

Spring means.... falling leaves? It looks more like fall than spring in our front yard this week. The big tree that hung onto it's leaves all fall and winter is dropping them like crazy. My husband blew off the front walkway yesterday and it was littered with leaves again this morning.

365: Day 80

2011-03-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

Spring means yard work.

365: Day 79

2011-03-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

Water battles in the back yard today.

365: Day 78

2011-03-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

The weather was wonderful today. It was sunny and 87 at our house around 1:30 p.m. We headed down to the beach and it was 75 down there. The temperature difference always amazes me a little. The girls got to swim for the first time this year. I was not brave enough to get in. The water is still a bit chilly.

And I had to take a shot of the super moon tonight.

365: Day 77

2011-03-19T08:13:00.000-07:00

365: Day 72,73,74

2011-03-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to catch up here. We spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of this week in New Orleans. I didn't take near as many pictures as I'd planned to take. My baby girl was a bit overwhelmed and had an upset stomach while we were there so we were focused on helping her feel better a lot of the time. But a fun trip.

365: Day 71

2011-03-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

Pastels

365: Day 70

2011-03-11T20:15:00.000-08:00

Just a picture I took to go with a blog post on my other blog.

365: Day 68

2011-03-09T17:00:00.000-08:00

Spring showed itself in the form of tornado and flash flood warnings today. My oldest said they sat in the hallway at school for 2 hours today during the warnings. Damage all around us including homes struck by lightning and other structural damage in our town.

365: Day 65

2011-03-06T19:18:00.000-08:00

365: Days 62, 63 &64

2011-03-05T20:10:00.000-08:00

Day 64

Day 63

Day 62-Another tooth bites the dust.

365: Days 60 & 61

2011-03-02T19:19:00.000-08:00

61-In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday.....a well loved favorite.

60- My baby girl's backpack that I bought her at the beginning of the school year disintegrated. I've never seen one fall apart like that before. So after searching all the thrift stores & consignment sales with no success, I found her a new one at Target to get her through the rest of the year. Before she left for school Tuesday a.m., she asked if I was going to take a picture with her new backpack. Since I take a picture of her with her backpack on the first day of school she just assumed I'd want one with this new backpack. So we had a quick "first day of school with the new backpack" photo shoot before rushing off to school.

365: Day 57

2011-02-26T20:24:00.000-08:00

Working on some new blog banners.

365: Day 56

2011-02-25T11:47:00.000-08:00

After the rain........and now I totally have that Nelson song stuck in my head. Ugh!

365: Day 55

2011-02-24T11:51:00.000-08:00

Some people call these weeds. I call them SPRING!

365: Day 54

2011-02-23T17:55:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to uploading pictures from this past weekend.My family was in town and I took them to explore a nearby fort.

365: Day 48

2011-02-17T13:11:00.000-08:00

365: Day 47

2011-02-16T19:12:00.000-08:00

Our Valentine's Day recap.

365: Day 46

2011-02-15T19:38:00.000-08:00

My dream job: food photographer for Southern Living Magazine. Instead I do it for fun.

365: Day 45

2011-02-14T19:03:00.000-08:00

This year's Valentine's confections.

365: Day 44

2011-02-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

This weekend has been absolutely gorgeous. Today the girls headed down to the beach after church for the first time this year. The water was stunning and crystal clear.

365: Day 43

2011-02-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

A new friend.

365: Day 42

2011-02-11T20:19:00.000-08:00

My baby girl came home with a giant Valentine today. It was a large heart with messages from each child in the class. Her teacher always comes up with such fun ideas.

365: Day 41

2011-02-10T19:18:00.000-08:00

Hmmm, two hand pictures in a row. Not sure what that means. My girls got a head start on their Valentine's tonight. I had a little fun with this one.

365: Day 39

2011-02-08T19:56:00.000-08:00

A local grocery store hosted math night for kids from local schools tonight. The kids were asked to bring in a can of food to support a local food pantry. Then the kids and families went on scavenger hunts throughout the store to answer the math related questions on the worksheets. It was a lot of fun and worked out brilliantly for the grocery store as I noticed many of the parents there ended up making impulse purchases just like I did.

365: Day 38

2011-02-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

I love happy mail, especially care packages. Today we got a care package with a treat for me, a treat for the hubby and a few treats for the girls from my mom. So fun!

365: Day 37

2011-02-06T19:28:00.000-08:00

Sunday afternoon snapshots...

clipping coupons

relaxing

being silly

365: Day 36

2011-02-05T19:37:00.000-08:00

Freezer cooking day at my house. My table was covered with yummy food all day.

365: Day 35

2011-02-04T14:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I missed days 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34. It's hard to balance everything at times and this was what lost out this past week.Hopefully I'm back in the groove now.

365: Day 28

2011-01-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

Sad day for us. We're saying goodbye to our fish Sunny. He had gotten much, much bigger(and had nicer digs) since this photo was taken but this is the best picture I have of him. You'll be missed, Sunny.

365: Day 27

2011-01-27T19:31:00.000-08:00

Blue

I'm having way too much fun with this.

365: Day 26

2011-01-26T14:20:00.000-08:00

Pink

I tried lots of different things to get this to look somewhat how I wanted, different lenses, lighting, reflectors, etc. I ended up using my 90mm lens, SB600 flash bounced off the ceiling and a white reflector to fill in some of the shadow.

365: Day 24 & 25

2011-01-25T12:13:00.000-08:00

#25: Green

#24: Last night's dessert....chocolate pudding.

365: Day 23

2011-01-23T19:24:00.000-08:00

Admission time-I totally blanked this today. Did not think about picking up my camera all day. So this is a pic I took at the river walk the other day. Still have quite a few unprocessed pictures from that day. Tomorrow I'll be sure to actually take a picture.

365: Day 22

2011-01-22T15:29:00.000-08:00

What did my girls buy at Claire's? Well, my oldest chose a hat. I loved hats when I was younger too.

365: Day 21

2011-01-21T19:57:00.000-08:00

The girls were out of school for teacher planning day today. I took them to the mall so they could spend the Claire's gift cards the received for Christmas. Then I treated them to cupcakes at the fabulous little cupcake shop in town. Our choices today: Fo Funfetti, Dalmation and Lemon Drop. Mmmmm!

365: Day 20

2011-01-20T09:55:00.000-08:00

365: Day 19

2011-01-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

A warm fuzzy blanket and warm fuzzy slippers, no better way to spend a winter evening.

365: Day 18

2011-01-18T19:50:00.000-08:00

It was a wonderful, warm day here in Florida. Hubby and I spent most of the out rambling, visiting thrift stores, walking along the riverwalk, etc. Love days like today.

365: Day 17

2011-01-17T15:21:00.000-08:00

365: Day 16

2011-01-16T14:51:00.000-08:00

I've never been a big fan of Yoo-Hoo but my kids love it. My sister sent a bunch back with us Christmas and they've been enjoying having this special treat around....and so has my hubby.

365: Day 15

2011-01-15T19:56:00.000-08:00

We celebrated my man's 40th birthday today with breakfast in bed, bowling, dinner out(Cajun) and finished up with Key Lime Pie at home.

365: Day 14

2011-01-14T14:08:00.000-08:00

Been slacking lately. Trying to get back on track.

365: Day 13

2011-01-13T19:11:00.000-08:00

Best breakfast around. Be sure to get the French Toast.

365: Day 12

2011-01-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

My oldest is on day two at home. I thought she was all better when she went to bed last night but she woke up sick again around 1 a.m. Things finally started improving around 4:30 a.m. It was a long night. She's felt okay today, mostly just tired and weak. I made her my picture subject again and even managed to get a smile out of her. I don't normally take pictures of her without her glasses but I couldn't get around the glare no matter what I tried so we went without for a few shots.

365: Day 11

2011-01-11T11:05:00.000-08:00

Sick day.

365: Day 10

2011-01-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, my Christmas tree is still up. We left it up since we were celebrating with my in-laws this past weekend. I said I was going to take it down today but that never happened. So, since it's still up I offer this in honor of the BCS Championship...

365: Day 9

2011-01-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

My husband and I took a fascinating class tonight at church on discovering the right ministry fit. In preparation for the class, earlier this week we took a Birkman test. We were given a series of different papers with information based on that test. On the Areas of Interest sheet, the leader of the class said if you scored 90 or above in any area it meant that it wasn't just an interest but a need in your life. I scored 99 on Artistic, Literary and Musical. I will say at some level I already knew this but am fascinated at just how strong a need all three seem to be for me.

365: Day 8

2011-01-08T17:33:00.000-08:00

We took a tour of the 150 foot tall ship the Peacemaker today.

365: Day 7

2011-01-07T21:08:00.000-08:00

Today's picture at the request of my oldest.

365: Day 6

2011-01-06T19:27:00.000-08:00

On my mantle...shells collected one glorious Spring day before the oil arrived last year.

365: Day 5

2011-01-05T14:40:00.000-08:00

Homework time.

365: Day 4

2011-01-04T15:02:00.000-08:00

A fun little photo shoot with my baby girl this afternoon. She tends to ham it up for the camera but from time to time I can get a sweet shot of her.

365: Day 3

2011-01-03T18:05:00.000-08:00

Down time.

365: Day 2

2011-01-02T17:32:00.000-08:00

My oldest got a guitar for Christmas. We're looking for someone to give her lessons. Then she can teach me.

365: Day 1

2011-01-01T17:21:00.000-08:00

I first attempted a picture a day project in 2007. I've attempted it every year since although I've never actually completed all 365 days. I've learned a lot and captured a lot of life I wouldn't otherwise have captured because of it though. This year I've decided to blog my year in pictures. Maybe this will be what I need to complete it...maybe. I didn't want to create yet another blog for this but this blog seemed like a good fit for it so I'm resurrecting Life In Focus for my 365 picture project.

My first picture is rather uninspired. It was pouring rain and grey all day.

I Hope You'll Join Me

2010-03-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

I've been rather absent around here lately for a lot of reasons. My Money Jar blog has grown quite a bit and was requiring more and more of my time. I had hoped that once I got settled after the move I'd find more time to spend here but that didn't seem to happen. And I really missed posting here. So after a lot of prayer and consideration I decided to create a new blog that works better for me. For you, my Life In Focus readers, this means more consistent posts from me. I am keeping all the stuff that I shared here on the new blog. I will be adding frugal living posts, menu planning and recipe posts, and more reviews and giveaways. I will no longer be posting deals and freebies like I did over at The Money Jar. This new blog is about what I am passionate about in my life: my faith, my family, living a financially responsible life and photography. I already have this week's Through The Lens Thursday up on my new blog. I did not make this decision lightly. I love this blog and you, my readers, are very dear to me. I truly hope you will join me at Frugal & Focused. I have a Welcome post here that explains all that you will find there. Hope to see you there!

Through The Lens Thursday #31

2010-03-18T00:01:00.001-07:00

We are a house divided. If you grow up in Alabama you know all about college football. And from before you understand the rules of the game you know there is a choice. You are either an Auburn fan or an Alabama fan. A lot of the time it depends on your family. If your mom and dad are Alabama fans then chances are you are too. Same for Auburn fans. But there are always a few of us that break apart and rebel against the family ties. My dad is a Bama fan. My sister is a Bama fan. I, however, am an Auburn fan. I have a cousin that I absolutely worshipped as a child and he was an Auburn fan therefore I became an Auburn fan. So I grew up and somehow managed to marry an Alabama fan.

Naturally our kids would have to pick a team. Sister decided early on to be a Bama fan like her daddy. Baby Girl was uninterested in football for quite awhile but in the last couple of years has decided it was fun to cheer for a team. We were a little concerned when she declared her love for Kentucky. Gasp! Last football season she actually cheered for Alabama but finally seems to have become an Auburn fan like her mama. I am so pleased. Truthfully, I think the only reason she is an Auburn fan is because I am. That girl loves her mama. She knows who packs her PB&Js every morning. But I'll take it.

My mom sent them new Alabama/Auburn shirts to wear. We're all ready for the next season.

War Eagle! oh, and Roll Tide too.

The rivalry starts early.

Each Thursday I share a glimpse at life through the lens. If you'd like to participate leave a link to your blog post below. Please keep links family friendly.

Any Day Is A Good Day For Cake

2010-03-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

It was brought to my attention by The Man and the girls recently that we never have cake unless it's someone's birthday or a special holiday and this was unacceptable. Well, I have proof this isn't true here but I thought I'd bring a little more cake into their lives. Today I decided to surprise the girls with some green cupcakes for a special after-school snack. I was feeling all awesome for giving them cake at an unexpected time when I realized the whole reason I was giving them green cupcakes was because it was St. Patrick's Day which is sort of holiday-ish. So I will just have to pick some random day in the future to surprise them with cake. And really, any day is a good day for cake, right?

The really yummy green cupcakes. See even green inside!

My Irish Lass's

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T07:09:00.000-07:00

photo credit: Timo Balk

Are you wearing your green?

From St. Patrick's Breastplate:

Christ be with me, Christ before me
Christ behind me, Christ in me
Christ beneath me, Christ above me
Christ on my right, Christ on my left
Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit
Christ where I arise
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me
Christ in every eye that sees me
Christ in every ear that hears me
Salvation is of the Lord.

Quote

2010-03-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

I love a good quote. I stumbled across this one today.

"Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, but be gracious if it kills you." - Elsie de Wolfe.

Words for a Southern girl to live by.

Lessons In Frugality

2010-03-07T13:18:00.000-08:00

Have you heard about Grace Groner? She lived her life in a small, one bedroom home and died in January at the age of 100. She worked for Abbott Laboratories for 43 years as a secretary and lived a very unassuming life. Growing up in the Depression, she knew all about living frugally and saw no need to live any other way during her life. When she died she left $7 million to Lake Forest College, her alma mater. In 1935 she bought $180 worth of stock in Abbott, it split multiple times and she just keep reinvesting the dividends.

Grace's story inspired me to write a blog post on the Lessons in Frugality we can glean from her life. It is posted on my other blog and if you'd like you can read it here.

Precious Words

2010-03-07T12:06:00.000-08:00

1 John 3:1
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday! You are loved.

Through The Lens Thursday #30

2010-03-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

My family came down for a visit this past weekend. It was a weekend jam packed full of fun with my mom, dad, sister and nephew. We hit a consignment sale early Saturday before heading out to one of our favorite local seafood restaurants for lunch. After lunch we drove down to the beach even though it was chilly. I mean, they couldn't drive all this way and us not go there. I would not be a very good hostess if I didn't take them to the beach when we live this close. After spending some time at the beach we stopped by the local seafood market where my parents and sister loaded their cooler with fresh shrimp. Mom made us her yummy Shrimp Creole that night. It was so good! Does it make me a bad hostess because I let my mom cook dinner? She wanted to do it and I do love Shrimp Creole. How could I say no? Naturally I took pictures. I'm thinking you all are going to get sick of seeing pictures of the beach at some point. You will just have to suffer I'm afraid.

Each week I share a glimpse at life through the lens. If you'd like to join in, leave a link to your blog below. Please keep links family friendly.

Such Love: An Update

2010-03-03T16:11:00.000-08:00

I've been planning an update or rather non-update for about a week now. But as things turned out, I get to share a real update with you all. God answered another one of those questions for us this week. If you'll remember, I was rather stressed when I found out right before the move that we might have to move again this year. It all depended on where a General Manager position became available. About a week and a half ago one of the GMs in this area turned in his notice. Rumor spread quickly that the position would go to The Man. On Monday of this week he was offered the position. He started there today. We get to stay in Florida! Did you hear that sigh of relief? I know there are no guarantees that we'll always get to live here but it really does feel like we're finally to a place where we can settle. I have felt at home here since the day we arrived. I really do love living here and look forward to continuing to live here.

The girls are getting settled into their schools. There was a huge gap between what they were learning in Kentucky and what they are learning here. One issue we've had to deal with is that these schools were just ahead of the Kentucky schools in some areas. Another issue we've had is that these schools simply take a very different approach to teaching than the Kentucky schools did. This has required extra work on our part to catch up but the girls are making good progress.

Our house in Kentucky is still on the market. It's been over 6 months now. At this point we've started referring to it as our vacation home. It's certainly the only place we could afford to vacation at this point. ;) The weather in Kentucky has been rather dreadful this winter which has done nothing to encourage people to get out and look for a home. We're hoping the arrival of Spring will bring more traffic and an offer. God has been so faithful in providing extra income for us over the last couple of months. Paying for two households is quite taxing on our income and there have been a lot of extras that go along with moving like car tags(which are outrageous in Florida the first time you get them), drivers licenses, renters insurance, restocking the food supply as well as car repairs and school related fees. But the money has been there for every one of those things and has often come from unexpected sources. Every time I pay our bills I give thanks for His provision and am reminded of His promise to take care of us.

Matthew 6:25-34
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,
29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

It's so humbling to be given such love from the Father.

Yea, I'm Into It

2010-02-25T07:10:00.000-08:00

Today I'm joining in Hope Studios We're Into It Linky Party and sharing a few things I'm into.

My daily dose of yum. I love walnuts. They are loaded with heart healthy Omega-3s. I eat a handful of them each day. I usually throw in a few semi-sweet chocolate chips to make it a little more indulgent and also add more antioxidants to the mix...really, it's all about the antioxidants. Um, yea really! This completely satisfies my sweet tooth and keeps me from grabbing something not so good for me....most of the time.

I'm really into hanging out at the beach. And I'm still pinching myself to make sure it's not a dream that I now live so close to it.

We love our $1 rentals with Redbox. And with all the great codes we often get them free. Frugal entertainment for the family rocks.

Fabric Flowers Pins. I used this pattern to make some of these and give them as Christmas gifts last year. Love them.

These guys. They always make my day.

Through The Lens Thursday #29

2010-02-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was absolutely beautiful. Friday we found a local playground and let the girls run around for awhile. Then Saturday, I took the girls to the beach for the afternoon. The breeze was cool but the sun was warm and bright. Unfortunatley, this coming weekend isn't turning out to be the same. The average highs are normally in the mid to upper 60s this time of year. This week however, we're running 15-20 degrees below normal. At least I know I have more of the warm days ahead. We just need to get past this cold snap. Hopefully it doesn't overstay it's welcome!

Each week I share a glimpse at life through the lens. If you'd like to participate, leave a link to your blog post below.

Encouragement

2010-02-19T10:05:00.000-08:00

Sister left that bookmark on my pillow for me to find last night. It reads...

Words that describe my mom:
kind
loving
resourceful
watchful
playful
the best!
smart
clever
funny

I believe that one reason God gives us children is to allow us to see ourselves in ways we don't normally see ourselves. Sometimes that can be quite humbling but sometimes it can be a precious gift of encouragement.

Through The Lens Thursday #28

2010-02-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

My days just seem to be flying by lately. There never seems to be enough time to get everything done and I've neglected posting here all week because of it. I had intended to post the pictures Monday, then Tuesday, etc. Instead I'm sliding in here on Thursday. Oh, and for the record, we got snow for 5 whole minutes last Friday. I did not get any pictures as I was in the car driving at the time. Not really sure that 5 minute burst of flakes required a whole day out of school though.

And while I didn't get pictures of the snowflakes, I did take pictures of the treats I made for my Valentines this year. I ended up making Conversation Heart Fudge, Peanut Butter Heart Cups and Devil's Food Cake Balls. They were all a hit. The Man and the kids liked the Cake Balls best but I have to say I loved the Peanut Butter Heart Cups the most. I'm a sucker for the chocolate/peanut butter combo. I altered some of the recipes to fit with what I had on hand.

I added some craft paper and some cute little wooden accents I found at Michael's for .29 cents each to the plain craft boxes to hold their goodies.

Each week I share a glimpse at life through the lens. If you'd like to participate, leave a link to your blog post below.

They'll Always Be My Kids

2010-02-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

I can't help but get a bit teary when I look at my kids and see how fast they are growing and changing. Part of me would like to keep them little forever but I wouldn't miss the joy of watching them grow up either. But no matter how big they get, they'll always be my kids. This commercial captures that like none I've ever seen before. I love it!

Rain? Day

2010-02-12T08:32:00.000-08:00

So, we got a call around 5 p.m. yesterday letting us know that school was cancelled today due to a chance of snow and freezing rain. Seriously?!?! Now, to be fair it was sleeting a little bit when The Man picked up Baby Girl at the bus stop but it didn't last long. It has been raining pretty much non-stop since last night. There is snow north of us and the weather people keep saying the temps are going to drop and we'll get some snow. I am not yet convinced. So, for now we're having a rain day. If it actually snows I'll be sure to let you know.

Through The Lens Thursday #27

2010-02-11T13:33:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy week and I was beginning to think I wasn't going to have a Through The Lens Thursday this week. I've sure not had a chance to go looking for things to photograph. Sister came home with a Mardi Gras mask today and I knew I had it. So it's a little late but I made it.

Each week I share a glimpse at life through the lens. If you'd like to participate leave a link to your blog post below. Please keep links family friendly.

Hearts & Flowers: Simple & Beautiful Valentine's Day Decor

2010-02-08T09:25:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite days of the year. It's a day completely devoted to love. Last year I decided to start making Valentine's Day gifts instead of buying them. I'll share more on that after the treats have been given. This year I've also been quite inspired to decorate more than I usually do. The walls of this rental are all white, white, white. I look for ways to add color however I can. Simple, seasonal decor is a great way to do that. Some of my ideas this year came from here. Others were my own. All were easy and inexpensive. Here's a look at what I did.

The mantle:
1) I took my existing candles and added a 1 inch strip of craft paper, securing it with tape. I added red hearts cut from scraps of craft paper for an accent.
2) I took two old frames and spray painted them black. Then I took some sandpaper and distressed them. In the small frame, I put a Valentine picture card of the girls I sent to family a couple of years ago. In the other I placed the same paper as I used on the candles as a background. Then I printed 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 on a red background, cut it into a heart shape and placed it on the background.
3) I placed cinnamon hearts into two small glass jars.
4) I took 3 little vases I purchased at Target a few years back and placed red silk carnations in them.
5) In the center is the word LOVE. It is part of my regular mantle decor. It was bought on clearance at Kohl's last year.It was originally ivory colored but I spray painted it black when we painted our walls in Kentucky before the move.

The kitchen window:
The windows are just a continuation of the white. Inexpensive white mini blinds blend into the white walls. I made hearts out of strips of craft paper and stapled them closed. I took red ribbon and attached the hearts to mini dowels. I used thumb tacks to hold the dowels above the windows. It adds a little whimsy and fun.

Have you decorated for Valentine's Day? Please share your ideas.

Friday Faves

2010-02-05T20:15:00.000-08:00

Look, it's Friday and I'm posting my Friday Faves. Shocking, I know. I didn't even manage to post one last week. So here's some of my faves from this week.

Tired of winter? Try forcing Spring with these simple steps from The Sweet Life.

I love this suncatcher made from tangerines that I saw at Good, True and Beautiful.

And just because it will put a smile on your face, you must watch this video put together by my friend Kirsty and her family/friends .

Through The Lens Thursday #26

2010-02-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Sunday afternoon we hopped in the car for a drive. We ended up spending much of our afternoon at Fort Pickens. What a seriously interesting place. We all loved exploring it. It's definitely one of those places we'll visit again. I absolutely loved photographing it all...as you can see from the endless pictures I'm sharing.

What she was looking at.

I was attacked and impaled by this thing.

Each Thursday I share a glimpse at life through the lens. If you'd like to participate leave a link to your blog post below. Please keep links family friendly.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-02T20:38:00.000-08:00

The Man during our Sunday afternoon outing.

Stop by 5 Minutes for Mom for more Wordless Wednesday.

Join me tomorrow for Through The Lens Thursday.

Today's Breakfast

2010-01-29T09:03:00.000-08:00

This was breakfast this morning..........

a homemade baked chocolate side pie. Oh my! It was buttery. It was chocolatey. It was perfect!

So I made my very first pie crust from scratch a couple of nights ago. I know! I'm almost 40 and I've never done that before. I resoved earlier this year to cook more from scratch which brought me to making my own pie crust for the pot pie I was making. The recipe I used however made enough dough for two crusts. So this dough sat in my fridge a couple of days while I figured out what to do with it. I was not going to throw it away. No way! So I decided to use it to make a long time but seldom enjoyed favoirite of mine-the chocolate side pie.

Growing up in the South, side pies were often on the table at family gatherings. Most of the time they were fruit side pies but ever so often there would be chocolate side pies. Oh, the joy! It always felt like a special gift to get to enjoy one of those.

The thing is they are incredibly easy to make. I may start making them more often.

Want to make your own?
Cut circles out of your pie crust. ( I was able to get 4 out of the crust I had. You'll need to re-knead and roll in between.)
Fill with a mixture of cocoa powder and sugar.
Dot with butter.
Fold over and crimp edges with a fork.
Sprinkle sugar lightly over top.
Bake at 425 degrees until done-This was trial and error and I think they took about 12-14 minutes total to cook. I just kept checking on them.
Enjoy!

Fix It Friday

2010-01-29T07:23:00.000-08:00

This is my first time participating in Fix It Friday. It's a lot of fun. I have an ancient version of Photoshop(6.0) which I used to edit these. I have Paint Shop Pro X as well but I still use my old Photoshop for most of my editing because it's what I'm most comfortable with.

Original:

Fix #1

For this fix I cropped the photo first and made some minor adjustments in curves and brightness/contrast. I then applied a screen layer over that lowering the opacity. Over that I applied a soft light layer again lowering the opacity. I erased the coat back in so the lighting on it woudn't be so harsh. I then went in to hue/saturation and increased the saturation on the blue.

Fix #2

For this fix I simply took the photo fix above and decreased the saturation.

See more Fix It Friday here.