my new love...my camera!!

My Camera!!

i have totally fallen in love with my camera again! i have been taking photos for lots of families down here in blue earth lately...little kiddos & family shots mostly. These photos were taken just before i went out to take the murphy family photo shoot...just had to make sure the camera was working the way i wanted it to, you know!!

...and i have been loving the computer program on this iMac. just iPhoto, but i like the options that come with it. although brandon has been doing some more research and found a couple new photo programs that we are going to buy. something to do with the new iLibrary and of course Adobe Elements 4...i can't wait!!

busy...busy...busy...

well, i guess i lied!! i haven't gotten any new photos up here this week! so, i'm staying late at work tonight (brandon's at band practice...so it's too quiet at home!) and i'm going to post a few photos!
this is the project i've been working on...
re-doing the spare bedroom!! we had just a bed and computer desk with a computer and a couple of huge-ass speakers (brandon's toys!) in there...and we were so totally not using the space! so we decided to use the bedroom as an exercise room and guitar room!!
we recently bought an exercise bike and i still love to do pilates (which i don't think i have done now for a good two months!!) so hopefully this "new" room will inspire me to get motivated...especially with winter coming on! and poor brandon...he has no where to keep all his precious guitars!! we had them stored in their cases in the closet...and a few on the living room walls. we've decided that the ones on the wall are going to come down (a huge clock and prints are going up in their place!) and will be transfered to the spare bedroom!!

so lots of work was done to this bedroom...the bed removed, the built-in cabinets sanded, primed, and painted, the walls painted, the trim painted...oh, and all the doors painted as well!! i think i put about 20 hours in this room!!! a few late nights and a couple days of going home early from work! when i start a project i work like mad to finish it (probably because if i drag a job out...it just won't get done!!)

so here is the completed room...well, almost...it still needs plenty of decorating!




i just totally love this window seat!! i have plans of making a fluffy pad to go there...for now a few blankets and pillows! i borrowed a book from liz the other day, so i really should go try out the new seat!! (guess, it's not "new"...just seems that way since we spruced it up with paint!!)

finally!!

okay...i am finally blogging!!
oofdah! the last time i blogged was back in august!
you all must think i have abandoned my blog! well, actually i have just extremely busy!
here are a few things i have done since august...
* prepared for our wedding
* married brandon!!
* went on a honeymoon (i have photos to share soon!)
* busy getting the house in order from moving in
* really busy with the scrapbook store
* did another photo shoot for a friend
* have an offer to take photos for the city
* have another photo shoot lined up for this afternoon (unless the weather turns rainy!)
* trying to spend time with my wonderful new husband!
* playing scrabble in the evening and over lunch break and pretty much anytime we can sneak a game in with brandon
* a trip up north to visit family and friends
__________________________________________
so those are a few things i have been busy with...i'm sure i have missed some!!

but, just to let you know...i have not forgotten about blogging!
photos coming soon...and i also have photos on flickr...i'll add the link in the next few days as soon as i update it!!

**a

...ceara...

miss ceara rose...
she's getting so old!! already 16!!
i love these shots!
with the new camera lens...of course!

chatting on the phone...what 16 year old doesn't like to do that!!

my family...

my family from my weekend up north...

colter...yep with the fisheye lens!

mom and emma

miss laura...growing into such a young lady!

the younger kiddos wanted to take photos with my camera...marissa took this one of emma and me!

and emma took this one of marissa and me!

missa...such a funny little girl!

i think this one was taken by emma...just a little low!

and emma took this one too...she sees dad on the lcd screen and then when she goes to push the shutter button...she moves the camera down... i thought this one was adorable...she was trying so hard!!

up north...

Last weekend i was up north visiting everyone...my fam had a bridal shower for me! Well, it was just with our little family so not really a shower i guess...more a fun weekend! Saturday we went to tons of garage sales all around neighboring towns...we found some really good finds!!

Here is a photo of all our treasures!
(did i mention i like my new lens!!)

Another shot of the dining room where everyone was congregated...

This is a platter i found with a beautiful design on it...and it was free!!

Some fancy bowls, trays, books, two orange throw pillows...yep, brandon thought me crazy!! well, not crazy...but definitely unique with my style!! (and not photographed yet...a set of really old bright red suitcases!! i love those!)

An adorable fabric sign for our entryway!!

my new hair...again!!

here i go again...
i like change...i became a little bored with my hair again so this time i decided i would make it curly! i wanted it curly for our wedding, so i talked it over with my hair stylist and we decided that a perm would be great!!
i love it!!
we kept the length (with just a little trim here and there!) and made it really curly!
the first day i had the perm...wow!! i thought..."what in the world did i do??" but i was re-assured by several friends and the stylist that it would relax to how i wanted it...they were right!! after about 3 washings it was much more relaxed and after one week...i was loving it!!

Emma and me...when i was up north last weekend!

**love** my new fisheye lens! kind of a funny photo of me...but in a way i like it!

me...at the Red Lipstick Band's concert at the Roof Gardens in Iowa
(brandon took the photo!)

Look At This...

Look At This!!
Scrapfest at the Mall of America....
(only 2 hours from us)
at Archivers....
Lots of Creative Experts...
and i might add my ultimate favourite scrapboooker is going to be there...

***ELSIE FLANNIGAN***

i think we should go!!

(check out the website for Scrapfest...www.archiversonline.com)

~~alice~~

*alice*
brandon's pacer car!
his baby...he loves this car...puts her in storage every winter and takes her out just for the summer months to drive her around. well, really it's a love-hate relationship they have...he loves her (his first car) and driving the car around town he smiles the entire time...and then there are times when alice doesn't cooperate very nicely and leaks gas into the oil and then looses the back brakes! so for the time being...she's parked in our garage! when brandon finds time to fix her up, he'll be back in the garage putting her back in driving condition!

okay...he's not smiling for this photo...but he really does smile all the time while driving the pacer!

such a beauty!

and yes, we drove this car out to the car show...
i'll admit i was a bit embarrassed...especially when brandon thought he had to drive the circle where all the really nice fixed up cars were!!

cars...vintage cars

cars!! at the county fair there was a car show! one afternoon brandon and i took off from work for awhile and walked around all the really neat vintage cars and pickups.
dad would have so loved this!
here are a few photos that are my fav...

nothing beats a **CHEVY**

this one was screaming... **speed**!!

i really don't know anything under the hood...but this just looked so neat!
everything was just sooo incredible clean and shiny!

old trucks are my fav by far!

{rained out}

the red lipsticks were supposed to play at the county fair a couple weeks ago...but they got rained out!
they had everything set up and ready go...and suddenly the rains came! at first there were just a few drops...and since we were under the tent, thought everything would be okay...but then the winds came!! the rain was blowing in the side of the tent!! everyone was wet, the band equipment was wet...brandon just pulled the power cords and they started packing up the guitars before more rain could get to them!
a huge bummer...because they had worked for a couple hours to get everything ready and the crowd was large!
(guess it was a good practice run for setting up!)

patty and shelly standing on the stage trying to keep things from blowing around...i like the umbrellas...inside the tent!!

this shows how much rain we got!! it was just pouring off the roof of the tent!

the water was starting to flood the ground since it was coming down so fast...soon everyone's toes were plenty wet from the soggy ground! (and the speakers too...so we quickly moved them to the half-dry stage!

well, since they didn't perform...everyone changed from their nice clothes to help load everything up into the van! and then set out to find food at the fair!

we were having a grand time...telling jokes and stories...laughing away the evening!
**debbie** (i love this photo!)

**jay and kathy**

**sandra and lenard**

**rahn and shelly**

okay this was only supposed to be
**debbie and scott**
but patty stuck her head in the photo too!! silly!

so here is a nicer photo of
**patty**

**we had a fun time that night**

...bruce...

Bruce...
he loves the fair!!
(especially the food at the fair!!)

okay...these are a little dramatized for the photo!
(and i helped him eat the onion rings...yum!)

...and now onto the corndog!
(with the previous being a burger of some sort, onion rings, pop, ice-cream dots...yep...i bet he was sick that night!!)

{new creation}

here is where most of my time at work goes...
scrapbooking!!
whenever it's slow i go to our scrapbooking table and try out new products!!
here is a little scrapbook i created the other day...for a class this month.

bold colours...uneven cutting of the cardboard...all the pages inside are different sizes too!

no particular theme to the photos...just my favourite ones!

love this photo...shows just how uneven everything is!