Stressful times...

As I sit here writing this post, my husband has now officially been out of work for a month.  Being unemployed was not something I ever expected to happen to us.  It was so completely and totally unexpected.  God obviously had a plan for all of this because unlike some times in our life together, we actually had extra money when it happened.  There have been times over the past 10 years since I quit working to be a stay at home mom, that we had barely enough money to scrape by until pay day.  Thankfully, this wasn't one of those times. 

When I first found out, I'll be honest, I freaked out.  There were major tears and lots of "what are we going to do?"  But, once I calmed down, I did the only thing I could.  I put my faith in God and took comfort from the fact that this wasn't a surprise to Him.  We're getting through this stressful time believing that God has a plan for us.  Until he reveals that plan to us, do me a favor and pray for my family.  Pray that He continues to bless us with what we need to get by each day.  

Photo editing...

I am currently helping the girls in my American Heritage Girls troop earn their photography badge.  This badge has helped me remember my love of photography and get back to doing something that I love.  I got my first SLR camera when I was about 24 or 25 and instantly fell in love with it.  This led to the purchase of my own black and white darkroom equipment and so much more.  I also took a college level photography course.  However, aside from using my camera, I've tucked all of my equipment away for about 20 years.  During that time, my SLR was replaced by a digital SLR.  My husband was kind enough to purchase it for me for Christmas, and then follow it up with an awesome zoom lens which I love.

I've always loved taking pictures, but recently I've been honing my skills and learning not just how to take great pictures using only manual settings on my camera, but also how to edit them.  I have owned and used Photoshop for years because of my business.  However, I am always amazed at just what this program can do.  I stumbled upon the website of a wonderful photographer located in Texas.  Her site has taught me more about taking pictures and also editing them than I ever hoped to know.  If you have any interest in taking better pictures, I highly recommend taking a look at Kristen Duke's blog.  Aside from the fact that she is so gracious about sharing tips on how to take better photos, she also has tons of awesome decorating ideas and so much more.

Based on one of her lessons on editing pictures, I messed around with a recent picture of my twin boys.  Here's a before and after of the photo.  Do you see what I mean?

Before editing...

and after.

Here's another one of my daughter that I edited.  Mainly I'm just enhancing the pictures, and sometimes cropping them a bit.  Fixing any blemishes, etc...

Before...

and after.

I am using the layers in Photoshop to add a soft light layer.  You can play around with the levels and get just the right amount.  The difference is amazing!  It makes the colors so much richer.  Another tip I've learned is to play with the eyes.  That's a bit more difficult, but really makes a difference too.  Here's one I did of my son.

Before...

and after.

This doesn't just work on people pictures.  You can enhance any photo using the soft light layer in Photoshop.  This is a picture of my daughter's pink dogwood tree in our back yard.

Before...

after.

Pretty cool stuff!  This could totally become addictive.  Now if I could just my kids to be enthusiastic about helping mom improve her photo taking skills.  Lately, if they see the camera in my hand, they run.

Spring is finally here!

Aside from the pollen aspect, I love Spring!  It comes as a close second to my all time favorite season, Fall.  Each year I enjoy watching the abundance of tulips, daffodils and crocus bulbs sprout up in my garden.  Here's a photo trip through some of the gorgeous Spring flowers and trees in my area.  Enjoy!

Where is Spring?.

I read in the paper over the weekend that Punxsatawney Phil has been criminally indicted based on his erroneous early spring prediction on Ground Hog Day.  Still more shocking was the fact that they were seeking the death penalty!  However, it is believed that Phil is less than 18 years of age, and therefore considered a juvenile.  His attorneys have filed a "cease and desist" notice and rumor has it that all charges are to be dropped against Phil.  

Seriously though...what is up with the weather?  My trees are budding, daffodils are blooming, and the birds are busy building nests.  All signs of spring, right?  Then what's up with the snow flurries and bone chilling wind temps we've had for the past two days?  I live in the South!  I demand an explanation!!  My daughter's American Heritage Girls troop has a mother/daughter campout scheduled the first weekend of April.  Please, please, please let it be warmer!  Who's with me?

Yeah for Election Day!

Can I say how glad I am that all the election hoopla will soon be a thing of the past? It seems that every time I turn on the television there's yet another political ad accusing someone or another of doing less than savory things. Here locally, my least favorite is one that talks about subjects such as abortions and mistresses. Not something I want to explain to my young children! I'm just glad it will soon be behind us.

My husband and I were lucky enough to have an afternoon off on October 31st. We took advantage of it to head downtown and do the early voting. We were able to walk right in and vote. No waiting required. How awesome is that? Because I live in such a small town and the fact that they weren't busy at all, I kept my kids with me. They were able to actually come into the booth with me and read the screens, follow the instructions, etc. We discussed how it all works and they even took turns touching the screen to vote for the various candidates. I really think that allowing my kids to see the process first hand, and teaching them the importance of voting is very important. I'm hoping that even though I really dislike politics in general, I've made it more approachable for my kids.

Tonight as the votes are tallied, we'll color the states either red or blue and follow along until our new president is announced. During our school day we'll be talking about elections and the presidency. Earlier this week we were able to watch a really interesting program called "Flipping the White House". It showed what goes on behind the scenes at the White House when a new first family is on the way. It was amazing! It was also filled with history and photos of presidents from the past. We all learned so much! Lastly, I purchased a unit study from CurrClick called All About the Presidential Election to help them understand the process.

Do you do anything special with your kids during an election year?

Birthday Fun!

Yep, its that time again, I'm another year older. Each year for my birthday, I like to do something fun with the family. It's rather convenient when the weather cooperates with me. This year, the weather was perfect and the leaves are beautiful. On Sunday, the day before my birthday officially, we took a trip to Elligay, Georgia to get apples and a pumpkin. As an added bonus, we went up and over Fort Mountain, which is where my hubby and I met. The views from the lookout never fail to amaze.

Next, we drove into downtown Ellijay and smack into the apple festival. Imagine tons of people, and lots of traffic. I'm sure the festival is fun, but we didn't stop to find out. We pushed on through and finally arrived at Hillcrest Orchards to buy apples. We visited last year with our homeschool group and have been dreaming about their apple cider, apple pies, apple donuts, and pink lady apples ever since. It too was a madhouse, but we got our apples and headed up the road to Burt's Farm to pick out our pumpkin. Now I know you can buy a pumpkin at any grocery store or Walmart, and they are a bit cheaper. Why drive all the way to Ellijay, you ask? Its kinda like going to a Christmas tree farm and picking your tree rather than putting up a fake tree or buying one at Home Depot. Its the experience! I have never, ever, seen such big pumpkins in my life. This year they were more picked over and not quite as large as last year, but still rather impressive.

The one Ryan (in white) is leaning on is $46. Can you imagine paying that much for a pumpkin? Not me! The farm is a wonderful place to get some great fall pictures. They even have hay rides for the kids.

Let me just say that picking a pumpkin from such a wide assortment of colors, shapes and sizes is no easy task! Nobody could agree on one. Here was Adam's choice.

In the end we got a larger pumpkin that didn't cost that much. We'll be carving it into a masterpiece this weekend. The kids also each got a tiny little pumpkin each. Here they are with the super cool white pumpkins at the farm.

Here's daddy wheeling our pumpkin to the front. Such a fun day!

Biking Fun!

Saturday my family, along with my fellow American Heritage Girls leaders went on a long distance bike ride. The plan was to ride for a few miles and then have a picnic. We'd be done right after lunch. But when it turned out that it was just us leaders and our kids, we got a little crazy. We rode and rode, and rode some more. We started out at the Chickamauga Dam and ended up having lunch in the Bluff View art district down town about 7+ miles later. Then, we decided we needed to visit Julie Darling Donuts on the North Shore, so we proceeded to bike across the Walnut Street walking bridge. Of course, we had to bike all the way back to the Dam afterwards. We braved some (like 300 or so) seriously scary looking zombies on the way back across the river who just happened to be out and about having Zombie Walk 2012 or some such thing. Who knew? Then had to zig zag our way back down hill and out of the Bluff View area back another 7+ miles. All in all we figure we biked about 15 miles round trip. What a day! We did see some interesting sights along the way though...other than the zombies that is. There was this guy...

He was sitting right in the middle of the path just begging to get run over. When I first rode by I thought it might be something off a tree. It was HUGE! I'm talking as big around as a carrot and about 3 inches long. I have never, ever seen a caterpillar that big. He was also brilliant lime green. No way was I actually touching him, but I did find a small stick and move him off the path. I guessed at the time that anything that big and awesome looking had to turn into something cool. My guess was a Luna Moth. I was right. I just wish my boys had been there to see him. Ryan loves caterpillars of all kinds, and this one was a doozy! So, I'm sore, but had such a wonderful day with friends and family, that I'd happily do it again! If you've never walked or biked the Riverwalk, I highly recommend it. Its such a great trip with gorgeous views of the river, wetlands, cool factories, surrounding mountains and so much more.