2010 Holiday Card

I just finished putting together the final draft of this year's holiday card... I LOVE shutterfly! It made it soooo easy! I can't wait to get the cards in the mail... It will be fun to send these to friends and family! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Starlight Joy Christmas 5x7 folded card

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It's been awhile...

I've missed this little space... This space to journal and record projects, events, ideas... I know the space has always been here... it's me who's gone missing! Well... here I am! :)

What's going on? ... I've been enrolled in a digital SLR photography class for the last three weeks. I am LOVING it! It's called "Oh Shoot!" and the instructor is Candice Stringham.  It's been terrific! I am taking that leap from only using my fancy camera in Automatic mode to the BIG "M!" I just completed Week 3... This is the week we made the jump to full manual. I've taken lots of photos... Practicing! Here are my favorite three from the week!

I LOVE my orchids! This one just opened a couple days ago... (These are the settings I used when taking this photo: Shutter Speed: 1/80 Aperture: f/2.0 ISO: 200 Focal Length: 50mm

White Balance: Tungsten light)

We got a PUPPPPPYYYYYY!!!! His name is Clark! I've been taking lots of pictures of the newest member of our family! (Settings: Shutter Speed: 1/125 Aperture: f/2.0 ISO: 100 Focal Length: 50mm White Balance: Shade)

My babies!!! I am sooo happy to be taking this class! I've loved learning about depth of field, apertures, shutter speeds, etc. (Settings: Shutter Speed: 1/100 Aperture: f/3.5 ISO: 200 Focal Length: 50mm White Balance: Shade)


It's nice to be back...

What could be better...

...than a delicious meal of hearty soup and crusty bread...

It's just sooo satisfying!

Harmony turned me on to this recipe! I substituted fat free half and half for the heavy cream the recipe called for. It was wonderful! I did have to serve an "appetizer" of lactaid pills for Norm because of the dairy addition, but I think he thought it was well worth it! (Thanks again Harmony!) 

Cameron loved dipping the wonderfully fragrant rolls into the soup. I think I may have to try that dough as a pizza crust one day... I think it would be scrumptious!

I again made this little photo collage with the photos I took on my iPhone along with the app. As you can see I had a shadow on the soup and not quite enough lighting for the rolls... but I think it still looks yummy!

I have a break from cooking tomorrow... Norm's talking about picking up Versailles (cuban food) or maybe ordering some Wood Ranch (BBQ). It's going to be a hard choice!

Mmmmm.....

Today I did a little baking...

They are so very yummy! The Maple Lemon Butter I made to go with these delicious little muffins is wonderful too... It's been kind of gloomy outside today, it's been nice to warm up the kitchen with the wonderful smell of lemon and fresh blueberries. 

A couple of days ago I discovered a new "app" for my iPhone. It's called "Lifecards." It's like having a small Photoshop program in my phone! I took the photos of the muffins with my phone and then made this postcard... all while sitting at the table sipping my tea and enjoying one of these fabulous delights! The app has lots of templates and it's fun to pick and choose which one to use. I think I'll use it often. 

There is another app I've been having lots of fun with... It's "Words with Friends." Leila turned me on to it. She and I have been having fun playing Scrabble with each other on it... I get a little note from the app when it's my turn... I can see if she's looking at the game at the same time (cute little eyeballs show up!) and we can "chat" from within the game. It has been VERY fun to do this with her... although she is totally kicking my butt.... (that's not very nice, Leila...) Although it is very fun, the app has been having some crashing issues. I've had to delete and reinstall the program a couple of times. Hopefully the company we'll have it all sorted out soon so I don't have to do that anymore!

Well... look at the time... I'm off to my chauffeuring job now...