Cafe de Valentine

It only took us 2 months but our home office is finally done! When I say done, I mean functional and put together... I still have some plans for the wall decor. I also am not sure why some of these pictures look really pixelated on the blog, because the hard copies don't look that way. This photo shows the new hardwood floors. The desk & the book shelves. You can also see the drawers behind the desk chair if you look close. The book shelves were a cheap WalMart find. The back piece was white like the sides and shelves and we painted them dark brown to add some contrast to the tan walls and white shelves. The baskets on the shelves are from IKEA. I had actually bought 3 of them from there probably 6 years ago {maybe longer} and wanted some on both shelves, so my sister went and got us 3 more of the same kind. They hold random things like my camera software/manuals & cords, CD's & some random computer software, and extra picture frames. Each of the two side walls has ...

We served in the nursery at church yesterday morning and then hit the road for Hanford for Easter lunch and to play with this sweet little guy. We had a mini photo shoot before lunch while he was in his cute Easter outfit. Of course, he changed into something more comfortable after this shoot, but boy was he cute. I probably took 100 photos and these were the only clear, decent ones. Photographing kids is hard work! I love that he looks irritated in this last photo. Like he was done with the photo shoot. :) He was a bit too young to hunt for eggs this year, but next year will be perfect, we can't wait! We headed out from there around 4pm and went and had dessert with my family. They had already done the egg hunt, which was funny since the youngest cousin is 13. They put money in them instead of candy now! I'm sorry we missed out! All in all it was a good day. I have MUCH blogging to catch up on this week, so hang tight. I have two memory cards of pictures from the last month t...

Beth host a weekly photo carnival and this is my first time (or maybe second) to participate. I just loved this weeks challenge: Hopeful Photos capture emotion to me so when the thing to photograph isn't a shape or a "thing" but rather a feeling, I get all giddy inside. Wanna hear the fun part? I took these photos last night and didn't know the weeks challenge until this morning. When I saw the word HOPEFUL my mind went right to these photos. It's been raining a bit more than usual here and this glimpse of sun stirred a HOPE in me that Spring is in fact on it's way. Or at least a small break in the rain. Either one will do! Join in on the fun

Last Monday was a holiday around here. Hubs and I were both off for President's Day. It also happened to be the day after Valentine's Day and Hubs sister and her husband had asked if we'd watch the little man for a few hours while they had a fun date. I joyfully agreed, and I actually suggested activities that would take a bit longer than just a a "few" hours. It was our first time to have him by ourselves, and the first time I've ever really been around him without Mom or Nana around. Not that I care if they're there because I can hog him regardless... but I always know that they love him too, so I try and share. Not this time! He was all mine! It was great to see hubs with him too. Without a million women telling him how to hold him and what to do. Hubs changed his first diaper EVER, and it was a doozy, let me tell you! You can't tell me that little face doesn't just light up your life!? He is really into the ABC song right now, the more animated...

I'm taking my very first photography class right now online. I am loving it! I can't wait until the weather gets a bit better and I can head out and spend a day taking photos. The photo of the flower above was my submission the first week for our assignment. I was giddy as a school girl when our instructor (Angie Seaman Photography) gave me a great review on it. Then I convinced hubs to spend an afternoon driving me around town to take some more photos. I'm glad we live out in the country a bit and have some great scenery out here. Then we headed downtown to catch some of the great architecture down there. I don't head downtown very often. While is nice and pretty, there are one way streets, there are parking meters, there are some interesting people wearing shirts with pot leaves on them who start yelling at you when you're taking photos wondering why you're taking photos of them (trust me, I wasn't taking ANY photos of him!) it's just not my favorite a...

so, i enjoy blogging and i promise to get better at it. we've now had this blog for over a year and i still have no clue what i'm doing. up until yesterday i had no clue how to add blog buttons on my side bar. hooray for me, i figured it out all by myself! now, how do i make my own button? that is the question of the day. also, i'm determined to figure out how to post a link within a blog as just one word. like blah blah blah i like the boots found "here" and the word "here" is the link to the boots i like. etc. get it? i just discovered how to put a picture up on my header. that's cool. i like it. i've vowed to get way more involved in photography. i'm now going to be the crazy lady walking around with her camera 24/7. hubs already makes fun of me when i take pictures of old trucks, or random flowers, or the same thing over and over again. i also now need to be diligent with figuring out photoshop elements 7. i need a class or something...

being new home owners there are always "projects" to be done. the past few weekends as the weather has been getting nicer those projects have been outdoors. ryan usually digging, planting, pulling, weeding, mowing or sweeping and me... well, i photograph it all. it's the part i enjoy. and this last weekend as i felt i should get dirty and dig a little he consistently asked me " you want me to do that?" so i'm guessing i either looked way out of my element or i wasn't doing it "right". i'll stick to the photographs or maybe i'll sleep in next time. :) i enjoy my role. our herbs are begining to sprout this week. we're still debating on the garden. we were all go this weekend and then stopped to figure out how to get rid of the grass that is where we want the garden. when we couldn't come up with a "simple solution" we opted out of the garden and bought flowers for the front yard. now i think we have a solution so we migh...

i am completely captivated by photography. i love group photos, couples photos, family photos, abstract photos, scenery photos, rustic photos, wedding photos, maternity photos, etc etc etc. i love to look at photos and the lighting, the background, the color, the subjects, the focus etc. however i can't take fabulous pictures to save my life. i try, desperately to no avail. i have so many close friends that are so good at it that it's frustrating. i have found MANY photography blogs that i love to keep up with. i'll add them to my list of blogs i follow for any others of you who enjoy photography. in the meantime, i try. even while in a moving vehicle.