learning... working... living

Learning...

I have been working very hard to LEARN the technical aspects of photography. Sure, I can see something that would make a pretty picture and point my camera at it and shoot... but I want to understand the HOW and the WHY behind all the settings I can use, and I want to master them. I have read my users manual several times, and while it all makes sense while I am reading it somehow I was getting all screwed up when it came time to implement what it said, so I would switch back to Auto and let it be.

I have been reading dozens of photography blogs, looking through flickr to see what it is people are doing in their photo's. I want my photo's to look as good as possible right out of the camera, so that any editing I do will mostly be to enhance the photo, and not to fix what I didn't get right in the camera.

My husbands friend is a photographer, and he has started to teach me. Its amazing, for some reason, all the times I read everything about how to do this or that to achieve this or that in a photo it all just didn't make sense to me when it came time to apply it. And then, after one time working with him and him sitting with me showing me, it suddenly clicks in my brain. HOW did it not make sense before??? I have already gotten a little better, I hope I can continue to do so. In general my only subjects to practice on are my children, since I spend all day with them :) Here is one of the photo's I took of Kayden this week.



Working...

I have been creating lots of new jewelry for my shop these last couple weeks. Most of it Twilight stuff, just because that seems to be what is selling the most. Which is fine with me, I have all the money I need for Squam now, and I am working on the money for my plane ticket now :) I will also likely have a vendor's spot at TwiCon this year selling the Twilight jewelry and my Twilight prints. That should be a fun weekend!

Another thing I am working on is getting into better shape. Now... this is not coming along very well LOL! I honestly think I have a thyroid problem and I will be setting an appointment with a Doctor soon to get it checked out. I hold no illusions that I will EVER be a size 4 again. But if someone cuts back their calories to roughly 12 to 15 hundred a day you might expect they would shed a few pounds... even just ONE! but I have actually gained weight. AMAZING! I have magical powers of expandability! so yeah... Trying to find the motivation to continue with this whole getting in shape thing that so obviously works for me *sarcasm*. I think I mentioned a while back that I stopped eating meat, and for the most part I am still going strong with this. I have had an occasional nibble of chicken, and I made chili last week (I ate around the meat, but it was still in there LOL). This has made it so i very rarely eat out. Fast food doesn't offer many non-meaty options. I have been eating a lot of Tofu and brown rice with veggies... Again... you would think at least a FEW pounds would have decided to go away and leave me along. Wouldn't you???

*sigh*

Living...

Life is good :) We are still here in Arizona, and it looks likely we will remain. At least for a while. Which makes me sad because I want to be with all my friends and family in Utah, but happy because I get to stay near all my friends and family here for a while. We are going to Utah for spring break though... maybe we will change our minds for the umpteenth time LOL! That was especially funny to anyone who has known us for the last oh... 3 years or so. EVERY time we have visited Utah we have come home making pronouncements of moving there within a few months time... we even sold a business once... and then ended up staying here. *sigh* I guess when the timing is right we will be there... right?

I am super happy that American Idol is back on! I LURVE this show... although the way they are getting to the top 12 this year is not my favorite. So far, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Adam Lambert ( I saw him perform in Wicked when I was in LA last year, and he was simply amazing. Like Uh.Maze.EENG!!!) And Danny Gokey, and the girl with the pink streaks in her hair... But mostly Adam, There is something about a guy who can REALLY sing... his range is ENORMOUS, and I admit that I dig his eyeliner, and nail polish... and did I mention his voice? YOWZA!

Observe his awesomeness as Fiyerro.





I *heart* boys who sing.


Overall though things are good. I hope things are well with everyone in blogland. Drop me a comment to let me know you are out there :) I have become so bad at blogging I feel out of touch with all my bloggie friends.

xoxoxo
Georgia

The Forks Fork... and other news :)

My shop was featured over the weekend in the blogs of a lovely lady whom I have been messaging back and forth with on Etsy.

Stop by and give her some bloggy love :)

HERE

and

HERE

Thank you Ana Cristina!

Also, I wanted to share something fun I created over the weekend and will be adding to my shop soon. I have made several of these with the word Forks, and several with the word Cullen on them... They are my Forks Forks ;)



I made this one from a silver seafood fork. Its real silver baby :) The rest of them that I will be listing are all stainless steel, I only had the one that was actual silver... I will have to be watching the ebay auctions to try and get more silver ones. Random fact: Real silver is expensive! The stainless ones are equally as cool as the silver one though.

In other news, I sent off my registration to Squam yesterday, I sent it Priority :) I am so excited for September to come so I can go! I am taking a song writing workshop from Jonatha Brooke, who as many of my friends know, is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE musicians. I have been a fan since I was about 15... that is a long time! I emailed her because I was nervous about taking it as I don't actually play any instruments, unless you count my voice, and she put me right at ease :) She is so cool. I am also taking 2 other writing workshops and a painting, mixed media type class. I just know that these classes (especially the writing ones) are exactly what I need this year. I have been talking about writing a book for about 10 years, I am excited to take these classes and hope they give me some tools I need to get started writing :)

Bella and Tara

I LOVE this!

Busy busy busy :)

I have been very busy lately, spending time with my family, trying to put together a cookbook (HUGE cookbook... I am making it for the TwilightMOMS website and there are HUNDREDS of recipes that were emailed in...) and making jewelry to list in my shop. I have made several of my butterfly wing necklaces, and of course I have still been making Twilight inspired jewelry. The Twilight stuff is a big hit, and I have been working hard to make money so I can attend Squam later this year.

The image above is my latest design, I just listed in my shop tonight. I am loving my new supplies! I bought a couple sets of alphabet metal stamps a few years ago, and never used them... And as I was packing to move I found them again and thought they would be fun to use. so I purchased the rest of the items I would need to make jewelry with them and went to town! The necklace says "Plus que ma propre vie" which means "More than my own life" in french. This is the saying that Bella had inscribed on the inside of the locket she gave Renesmee.

44

Three times, I reached down to lift a slippery crying infant from the water.
Each time, overwhelmed by love, joy... the perfection of the tiny new face.
Three faces I watch each day, and see in those eyes the promise of a better tomorrow.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several blogs I follow are participating in a fun little thing today, I thought I would share it here.

Basically the gist of it is, to honor the changes being made in our country today, post a picture on your blog that speaks to you of hope, optimism, etc. It doesn't to have anything to do with the inauguration itself, just something that speaks to you on a personal level. Then post the photo along with 44 words about it or about today itself. Obama is our 44th President.

You can do this regardless of your political views, you did not have to vote for Obama in order to be able to participate.

This idea originated here: http://practicalbrownbob.blogspot.com/2009/01/44-calling-all-bloggers.html and I first learned of it on Shuttersisters.com

I *heart* my sister.

When I was in Utah over Thanksgiving my sister asked me to take some photo's for her for head shots. I am still learning how to do everything, but here are a few of the shots we got. I noticed that most of them were a little underexposed, and so I have been playing with the settings on my camera, and learning a bit about how to fix problem. I can't edit RAW files in my version of photoshop (I have an old version of CS, and it won't open the RAW files from my camera), and I have heard that that makes it easier to fix something like this that was underexposed... I will have to save up for a new version of photoshop soon... AFTER I pay for Squam :) I am going in September and hope to be able to meet some new and old friends there :)

These first 2 are some of my favorites from the photo shoot with my sister. She is so beautiful!





This last one is one my sister likes a lot, I think its okay, but it was so underexposed I had to do a lot of editing to make it work. I also think the focus is a little soft on her eyes, you can tell in the larger version.



I am really enjoying my camera, I have not had a lot of time lately to use it, but I pick it up every chance I get.

Pictures of the Twilight Live podcast in LA part one...

When I went to LA last month, I went straight from the airport to the book store where I helped out with (read: wandered around and did things occasionally when asked to, and then took pictures...) the Twilight Live podcast. It was a blast. I got to meet some really fun people, listen to some talented musicians, and briefly meet some of the actors from the Twilight movie. It really was a good time and I am so happy I was there.

The Twilight Music Girls performed some songs during the podcast and they really were very good. For the most part I don't actually listen to any of the Twilight inspired bands, they just are not really my thing... But I have to say these girls had real talent. The songs were not too obviously Twilighty... and I liked the sound of the music. I liked the song Breathless best I think, sung by Lyndzie Taylor. She's my favorite :)





More pictures coming tomorrow :)

Jekyll and Hyde sped up...

Last night, or more correctly very early this morning... My sister, cousin, and I were entertaining ourselves watching video's on YouTube and we came across these 2 gems.

I seriously can't stop laughing when I watch them. Jekyll and Hyde is one of the best shows I have EVER seen, I was lucky enough to see it with the Original Broadway Cast, Linda Eder and Robert Cucciolli were phenomenal. The Hoff did not do the part justice at all, his voice and acting irritate me. But these video's of The Hoff singing bring me great joy ;)

Is it sad that I think he does better in this part as a chipmunk?





Seriously... that first part of the first one makes me cry I am laughing so hard :)

SO many things...

There are so many things I have not had time to blog the last few months... I don't know how to even TRY to catch up.

First thing, I went to LA and photographed the Twilight Premier on the red carpet for TwilightMOMS.com and it went smashingly ;) I came home with about 1300 pictures for 2 days... I took pictures of the Twilight Live podcast (which was so much fun, and very well organized) I still have to finish editing and resizing those... but they will be done eventually, and then I will post them :)

I got some really great shots on the carpet, and was able to meet most of the people in the movie. I got hugs from Steph when she saw me, and she got lipstick all over my face LOL! I got hugs from Ashley and Rachelle when they recognized me as the girl who gave them their necklaces. Both of them told me they wear them all the time, and Peter told me the day before that Jennie loves hers and wears it as well. Nikki was sad because she never got hers, so I am sending another. Everyone from the cast was so wonderfully nice, and I had the best time. After the red carpet Kirsten, Britten and I went to an after party hosted by the lovely people doing TwiCon, then we went to the REAL after party where my friend Mary and I got to go in for a while... more on that soon.

I can't wait to show you all the pictures from LA, but in the mean time here are a couple...











I have a TON more, but those should do for now :)

2 days after coming home from LA I went to Utah and we were there through Thanksgiving. We had a nice time relaxing there.

I will update again soon and hopefully have more pictures of everything we have been up to.

xoxo

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow I leave for LA again... I will spend a good portion of the day once I arrive helping out with a podcast where several of the actors from the Twilight Movie will be participating, as well as people from a good number of the top Twilight fan sites. My friend Britten will be on there representing TwilightMOMS. Then we will meet up with some other friends that night and just hang out.

On Monday, I will be at the red carpet for the Twilight Premier :) I will be interviewing people as they come down the carpet and taking photo's for TwilightMOMS.com!!!! I am really excited... and also really really nervous. I am still learning how to use this new camera of mine. And there is SOOOO much to learn and to know.

So... wish me luck, and keep your fingers crossed that I will get some good shots :) Also, maybe send some healthy mojo out into the universe for me as I seem to have lost my voice, YET AGAIN! I kinda need my voice on Monday so I can interview people LOL!

That kiss... *dies*

Holy Shazam BATMAN!


<Twilight


Things that require special attention... or at least watching multiple times:

"Say it. Out loud. Say it."

"I just want to try one thing..." *gasp* *squeel* *faint*

"You ARE my life now."



Aaaand... Georgia dies. LOOK at what you have DONE to me Stephenie Meyer!

Thank you!!! :)

But I followed ALL the steps?!?!?

Arg. I checked the mail yesterday ( I only check it every few days) and I found a letter from the State Voter registration people... It seems that when I registered, somehow I missed some vital step in proving who I am... Not sure which step that was, as I followed each of them very closely, but whatever. According to the letter I needed to re-register and provide some more information, the part that is very Grrrr inducing is that in order to be allowed to vote I would have needed to have this done and into their office TODAY... And that was not able to happen.

I am very frustrated.

Very VERY frustrated.

At least I can watch this and get some giggles... I think I am in love with Tina Fey, she is hilarious :)

Lets Play "Wall Street Bail Out"!

I also recommend this site... I have TONS of shit I can add!!!


This excerpt is taken from their site...

With our economy in crisis, the US Government is scrambling to rescue our banks by purchasing their "distressed assets", i.e., assets that no one else wants to buy from them. We figured that instead of protesting this plan, we'd give regular Americans the same opportunity to sell their bad assets to the government. We need your help and you need the Government's help!

Use the form below to submit bad assets you'd like the government to take off your hands. And remember, when estimating the value of your 1997 limited edition Hanson single CD "MMMbop", it's not what you can sell these items for that matters, it's what you think they are worth. The fact that you think they are worth more than anyone will buy them for is what makes them bad assets.


Perhaps I can add my overgrown weeds in my backyard... I imagine they are worth a lot... Oh and the dog poop I have not picked up yet today!

First Beach

Hoh Rainforest

Last friday (9-12-08) we visited the Hoh Rainforest. My pictures could never do justice to the beauty and magic of that place...

Port Angeles

Some of my photo's from Port Angeles. Many more to come!

Home again

I am not sure I have the words yet... I don't know if there are words. For now I will let some pictures do it for me. I have about 800 pictures to sift through so I hope to be adding more over the next several days. I am still learning to use my camera... I don't have a clue how to do so many things. But I did get a few pictures that turned out beautifully :)

Forks... HERE I COME!

In about 32 hours I will be leaving my house. My hubby will drive me to the airport, where I will meet my loverly friend Kendra.



Kendra and I will then board a plane destined for Seattle. Upon arriving in Seattle we will meet up with the ever fabulous duo Kirsten and Britten.



The four of us will kick it at the airport for a while as we all wait for everyone to arrive... there will be lots of us!

These ladies will be all be there:



As will a few others I have not met yet. 27 of us in all... in the group I am in! There will be other groups, and there are people in those groups that I am looking forward to meeting as well :)

There will be a dinner at Bella Italias, there will be a Bon Fire at First Beach... there will be hiking in the Hoh Rainforest, and letter boxing at First Beach. We will have our own Ya-Ya campfire at our cabin complete with headdresses we have each made ourselves. There will be breakfast at the Forks Coffee shop :) There will be fun, and magic, and friends... and I can't WAIT!



I sure hope Forks is ready for us!!!!!