Making The Cut

As you have heard me mention a few times I have my first gallery show coming up soon (I'm a little bit excited)! This celebrates the end of my second (intermediate) photography class! I've learned a lot and at the same time realized how much I have to learn. It has been an interesting process trying to choose 5 photographs for the show (I am, you might say, not the best decision maker). So here are a few of my photographs that came close, but just didn't quite make the final cut (I'll show you all of those soon)!

And The Winner Is...

Thank you to all of you who voted and gave comments and helped me sort through in my mind which portrait of Eli I wanted to use for my upcoming gallery show! I loved hearing from all of you! Clearly picture #1 (the black and white of Eli smiling in the tub) was by far the favorite. I loved that one too- as purely a portrait it was the best one of him and I will be printing and framing that one for our living room in the very near future! However... I decided in the end to go with #3 (show above- all ready to be printed for the show). The focus of my photography class this time around was composition and creativity- and in the end this one was better composed than the others. Well, okay, actually #5 was well composed too (many of you choose that one and my photography class chose that one as well)- but in the end I just thought that his expression in this one made it a more interesting picture (rather than the standard adorable smiling baby- which we love too)! Really picture #2 had the best expression of him (and I still laugh when I see that picture- which will probably be printed for one of our bathrooms)- but unfortunately I messed up the composition a tad on that one and cut off the right side of the tub just a bit too much. So in the end this one (#3) is the winner! Thanks for your help! It's never a bad thing when you have too many pictures that you like to choose from!:)

8 Years Ago...

Eight years ago this summer I finished my new staff training with Campus Crusade in Florida. I left Florida and drove up to Maine to visit my boyfriend of a year, Joe. When I got there he surprised me with this incredible, beautiful candle holder that he MADE for me (based off of one that I liked that I had shown him once). That amazing man with the beautiful candle holder asked me to marry him just a few weeks later.

I'm happy that I said yes.

Tree Fairy

Lily loves playing dress up and pretend and really anything make believe. I just adore this age when everyday is filled with tutus and fairy wings and magical stories.

Diver Ed

Grammy and Lily enjoying the brisk, windy day on the ocean

Diver Ed

Starfish!

Eli and the sea cucumbers

One of my favorite things that we did while my parents were here was taking the Diver Ed boat cruise in Bar Harbor. If you have children and are spending a little time in Bar Harbor I would highly recommend Diver Ed! The cruise is about two hours long, and while it totally caters to the young crowd, it is incredibly clever and fun even for adults! The cruise itself (and a little seal watching) was fun, but the best part of it was taking part in Diver Ed's underwater adventures. Ed and his wife (Captain Evil) run the cruise and the whole program and they do a fantastic job. Once we cruised out to their diving location Diver Ed got all geared up, let the kids push him overboard, and then dove down under the boat for a while collecting all sorts of treasures while he went. He was hooked up to a microphone the whole time so that we could hear about all the things he was finding (lobsters, starfish, etc...)! After diving for a bit and coming up to deliver all of his sea treasures he then dove back down again, but this time with a special under water camera and his diving companion Mini Ed (a little Lego diving guy). We watched from a big screen on the boat and could hear and see everything going on under the water. Not only was this educational, but also rather comical (Mini Ed getting stung by a sea creature and receiving CPR, etc...)! Once all the diving was over Ed came back up to the boat and went through a great, educational, and fun explanation of all the live creatures he brought back with him. And of course all of the children (and adults) were able to touch, handle, and get up close with all of the sea creatures too! Lily was a little squeamish of some of them (like the crabs and lobsters), but absolutely loved the star fish. And Eli was totally fascinated with the squishy, slimy sea cucumbers (he could have played with them all day)! I would say that all of us had a great time and are already planning to go back when the kids get a little older. And just about every night Lily now plays "Diver Ed" in the bathtub!:)

New Post Below!

I finally got around to finishing a post I started a week or two ago (about my parent's visit to Maine)! I just published it, but my blog published it according to the date I started it (a while ago)- so if you want to check it out just scroll down a bit and you'll find it (entitled: Visit With Grammy and G-Pa)!

Help me choose...

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

I had a very fun little photo shoot with Eli the other day and I got some sweet pictures of him (if I do say so myself)! There are so many in fact that this is just a sample of the ones I loved! And the reason that I am sharing these five with you now is that I need your help. Currently I am taking my second, intermediate, photography class. As part of the class we have a gallery show in September were we will each feature 5 of our pictures. I want to do one of these of Eli, but I just can't quite decide which one. My class has their favorite, but I'm just not quite sure I agree yet. So...would you help me choose? Which one is your favorite? Vote on the sidebar and/or leave a comment and let me know your opinion. I promise I'll share with you which one I use in the end- and in a few weeks when I get caught up I'll share all of the adorable pictures I got of our little man in the tub!:)

P.S. If you want to see the images larger just double click on them.

I know, I know...

I know, I know.... it's been a long time since you have heard from us. I'm starting to hear complaints. What can I say- it's been sort of a non-routine kind of busy around here lately. Meaning that we are busy, but with different sorts of things each day/week/etc... we've been on vacation, we've been spending time with friends, we've been working some, planning some, I've been taking a photography class, and Joe even had jury duty for a week. Random. And as much as I love new things I am also a routine girl. So I'm off my routine a bit- and thus I'm not really doing my usual everyday things (like updating this blog). But don't worry- I have plenty of pictures and stories to share- and I will do just that, but you may have to wait a few more days (or more- we'll see)!:) In the meantime enjoy this sneak peak of this picture I took of Lily- it's one of my recent favorites!

Visit with Grammy and G-Pa

About a month ago now my parents visited us and despite the fact that they had to sleep in our living room (we tried to give them our bedroom) we had a wonderful visit!

Here are a few pictures from our two day trip to Bar Harbor (these are from Sand Beach)!

The fog along the sand dunes at the back of the beach was incredible!

Eli relaxing on the beach with Grammy and G-Pa

Checking out the waves

A lift from Dad

My self portrait: driving through Bar Harbor

While in Bar Harbor we stayed overnight at the same place we lived in for a month during our summer project! Here's Lily out on the lawn she got to know so well- this time enjoying the tutu that I made her on our drive to Bar Harbor!

My little fairy princess

Pretending to fly off of the picnic table!:)

Flutter

Fairy princess down by the cove

A couple of days later we enjoyed the little splash pad down at the playground!

G-Pa enjoying the splash pad too!

The fantastic bubble gun from Grammy and G-Pa

A couple of days later Grammy, G-Pa, and Lily enjoyed the little water park in Bangor.

And on their last full day with us we visited a blueberry barren (owned by our friend's parents) and picked a few bowls full of incredibly delicious wild Maine blueberries. Thanks to Mom for these pictures (since, yes, I do leave my camera at home on occasion)!:)

Thanks Grammy and G-Pa for another great visit (and hopefully next time I'll get you in more of the pictures)!:)