I GOT A FINALIST!

I'm such a bad, bad blogger. I've been so busy since we got back from vacation.... I'm behind on my proofing, trying to keep up with Wendy's class, trying to get this house in decent order, CHASING three kids.... wow! I've not had a lot of sleep the past week, but I can't really blame that on anyone but myself ;) Well, I guess I could, but I won't. HA!

I did get the absolutely, positively fantastic news that I got a finalist at Better Photo! I was SOOOOOOOO proud of this - it was the first time that I had ever entered a contest. And considering the FREAKING AWESOME competition, I felt really really honored to have the judges pick this photo as a finalist. It's Madison - isn't she a knockout?! This was taken waaaay back in October, when I got my first decent lens, but it's still one of my favorites.

Here's the link. My finalist! Look, a little silver badge. How cool is THAT? I feel like such a bragger. HA! I SOOOOOOOOOO am. And I don't care. ;)

Here's a couple more from vacation.
Cozumel, Mexico - via porthole.


Pirate in Costa Maya - LOVED this guy - he was a hoot - such a poser!

I'm Baaaaaaaaaack!

Finally!

Got off the boat this morning & headed out of New Orleans around 8am. I'M SO GLAD TO BE HOME! I missed the kiddos. Everything was beautiful, but I got really, really seasick - so all didn't go as planned, (naturally!)

I was pretty lucky in the casino on the boat - I sat down at a quarter slot machine & put in 75 cents (the max bet) - spun it ONCE - and BAM! $500 bucks. HOW COOL IS THAT!



Here's one from Costa Maya - trust me you'll be seeing a lot more, I'm unpacking & sorting through things right now. Can't play on the computer until that's all done (WELL..... I did sneak in just ONE.) <<*grin*>>

Vacation time!

Yippeeeee! I'm headed to New Orleans in about, ohhhhh, 4 hours (yes, it's 2:30 AM!) and then we're off to Costa Maya & Cozumel! Can't wait - kids are staying with my mother-in-law, so I think this will be a REAL vacation.

I've started a photography class - I'm thinking it's gonna be good, but tough - HOWEVER, from what I have seen from previous students, I think it's gonna be worth it. For a "pre"-class assignment, we had to come up with a picture of 3 words she gave us. It was much harder than I thought (mostly because I procrastinated as usual & had to shoot them all in a couple of hours). Here's 2 of mine for ya.




I couldn't decide between the color or BW on this one - I'm not loving the BW conversion, I'm thinking I'll re-do that.




I promise to post more client photos on the blog when I get back - I know, I know - I'M A SLACKER. It's just been so busy with work and photos and the class and packing and.... *sigh* I'm tired. I'll do it when I get back.

Ta ta for now! See you next Friday!

A Message

Disclaimer: This picture has NOTHING to do with the post. It's probably my all-time favorite & I haven't posted it on my blog before. I didn't want to post a novel length blog entry without a picture to go with it ;)



Last week, one of my favorite patients of all time died. He wasn't old. I can't tell you his name due to federal laws, but he had suffered several strokes and had come to us for rehabilitation. He was a success story. By the time he was set to go home, he was walking & talking - AMAZING, considering he was mumbling unintelligibly upon his admission. He would sit by the nurses' station pretty much ALL the time & kept us laughing non-stop! I'll never forget the day that they yelled for me down the hall - he was choking. I was scared to death. I tried to perform the heimlich, but couldn't fit my arms around him. He went limp. I began doing abdominal thrusts like crazy. He turned gray.... by this time the room was full of people.... I kept yelling... ARE YOU SURE HE CHOKED??!!! Because to me, he looked like he was having a massive heart attack & was dying. I was devastated - I was trying desperately to help, but I felt so helpless. I remember thinking, "Lord, please help me, he can't die!" I got almost in the bed with him and mustered up every bit of strength in me for another abdominal thrust - and OMGosh! It came up enough for another nurse to get it out. A WHOLE freaking WHEAT ROLL. I cracked a rib in the process but he survived it. When he came back I told him the LPN did it. (HA!) He never knew any different.

Time came for him to go home. We seriously didn't want him to go; but he was a young fella (as far as nursing home patients go) and wanted to go home. He would tear up when he talked about leaving, because he really did become part of our extended family. I didn't have to say goodbye, because he went home on a Saturday.

A month or so later, someone at work tells me... his obituary is in the paper. I couldn't believe it - he DIED?!? NO WAY! But there it was... in black and white....

I got really frustrated. I am always nice to patients, I always try to make a difference - sometimes they yell at me, sometimes they curse me. Sometimes they'll hit me, or kick me, or spit on me. Sometimes they don't do anything. Then every once in a while - maybe, just maybe, I feel like I helped. Then THIS! I started thinking, "Why bother? Why should I even try? It's useless!" On the way home, I heard this song on the radio. It made me cry. I really think God sends us messages in the weirdest ways sometimes. And I got the message.

One hand
reaches out
and pulls a lost soul from harm,
While a thousand more
go unspoken for.
They say what good have you done
by saving just this one?
It's like whispering a prayer
in the fury of a storm.

And I hear them saying
you'll never change things!
And no matter what you do
it's still the same thing.
But it's not the world that I am changing-
I do this so
this world will know
That it will not change me.

2 Little Piggies

I'm sorry, I know she's mine, but I CAN'T HELP IT! She's taking cute to a whole new level with these pigtails...

Jackson, distorted

If my blog is Stephanie, Overloaded, my son can be Jackson, distorted, right? Goes with the theme, eh?

I tend to zoom in on EVERYTHING - I did buy a 24-70L for a REASON, right???!!! I need to work with the wider end of this lens - it makes for some fun, funky pics.

Of course, if I had the 5D, I could get even funkier...

Yes, he's nasty & yes, that's a burnt stick. Don't ask.



Okay, okay. He thinks he's from Lord of the Rings. I think the stick holds special powers.

Princess Party

I've been terrible about posting client pics on my blog. I apologize! I'm being a blog hog.

Here's a few from a recent birthday party - the girls were treated to a full blown princess makeover! Aren't they precious? They were so much fun! I'm still proofing, so I'm not going to list each princess here, but each & every one was absolutely beautiful.







And last but not least... the birthday girl! I thought this looked so dreamy in BW.

First Grade Round Up

I can't believe Tucker is done with first grade! My baby just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

His last day of school was Thursday. Me & Eric sent Jackson & Cassidy to MIL's & went to watch the "1st Grade Round Up". Tucker was so stinking CUTE! The cowboy hats they are wearing were made out of newspaper. Fun, huh?! These aren't the greatest pics, but I was standing up in the back of the room - and lots of parents heads were in the way. (What were they thinking, blocking my photo op? HA!)



After lots of singing and quite a bit of dancing, I'm starting to think I've got the next American Idol right here in my house.

Here's Tucker & his best buddy, Austin. I have a feeling these 2 are gonna be friends for a long, long time. Silly boys!

Backlighting

I love this picture. Lord knows I struggle with backlighting - partially because it's tough to meter properly, partially because I'm stubborn & hate reflectors almost as bad as gray cards & tripods! But I feel like I pulled this off. Maybe it's my mommy goggles. I thought the tilt was too much at first, but now I'm really, really liking it.



Confession - I have NO pictures that I have taken hanging in my home. I'm thinking I might actually print a few. This one tops the list for me.

AND YES, I'm going to print the blue one :) Thanks for all the comments & emails on that, you guys are so funny! Definitely real life! (around here anyway!)

Outtake? Not necessarily!

I can't believe I have totally forgotten to post this.

A little background info: I was bound & determined to get "the perfect shot" of my 3 children for my mom & my MIL for mother's day. Enter blue seamless paper, Bluberi Boulevard for Cassidy, and Blue/White Button-Downs for the boys... it all sounds like a recipe for Blue Perfection. Right? Wrong.

Cassidy refuses to sit anywhere remotely near her brothers - she'd rather sit on the battery operated John Deere tractor. (which, in case you forgot, SOOOO does not go with my blue theme, people) I'm literally about in tears. Tucker's mumbling "when are we gonna be done?" Jackson wants to sit "right here" (visualize him pointing to the exact OPPOSITE spot Mommy indicates to sit) and Cassidy is a runaway Bluberi Boulevard Bandit. Ugh. Sheer, unadulterated madness.

I'm so upset by this point... near tears.... I'm wanting this perfect shot of my children that has eluded me for, well, FOREVER. "I take 100,000 pictures a year, and all I want is ONE of all 3 of my kids, TOGETHER". Boo hoo.

Enter hubby to save the day. He grabs Cass, stands behind the backdrop, and hangs her from her ankles.... "you want a pic of the kids together, SNAP IT!"



HA! Our version of Blue Perfection.

Jason

Meet Jason.... What a cutie pie & oh my goodness, so FULL of energy. I'm loving crazy color on these.



And is it totally wrong that I love this one of him??? I'm sick, I know.

I got the message...

...I think she'd had enough. But it's anybody's guess.

More feeble baseball attempts...

I hope I don't run off my 2 blog readers with all these bad sports pictures. I get points for trying something new, right? :o)

I love watching Tucker get up to bat... he gets up to the plate, so determined & focused. This is the first year he is hitting off a pitching machine, but he's doing pretty good! He hits this stance just as soon as he gets to the plate. It doesn't matter if the coach is ready to pitch to him or not, he's PREPARED! :o) Daddy must have drilled that in his head.


Sometimes that focus pays off with a hit....


And sometimes it doesn't. My heart just drops when he strikes out. You see, Tucker is so much like me - I've always been a perfectionist and tend to beat myself up over the silliest things. I always worry that after he strikes out, he's going to be disappointed - as soon as he's within my sight, I'm studying his face as he pulls the helmet off. He will just shrug his shoulders & smile. I just love that kid to pieces. He's so stinking smart - I hope he never sweats the small stuff. :o)

I've decided that some people just make sports photography look easy. (Ahem, EMu.) It's so not.

I'm determined to keep trying new & different things, no matter how bad it looks in the beginning. So here's a couple that I liked... I will post some action shots later if I find any I like. :)

Meet Cade. He likes to rattle the dugout cage. So mischevious, that one. :)


These were all piled up in the back of Eric's truck. He thinks I've lost my mind when I start shooting a pile of baseballs. That's okay - some people just don't understand my love for photography. :P

The Hot New Party Accessories

Who knew my loot bags at Jackson's birthday party would be such a hit? :o) The kids loved the Bubba teeth & holographic glasses. I've been so partial to black & white lately - but I couldn't help myself, this calls for lots of color!

Okay, okay.... I can post both, right? Right.


Funny thing happened on the way to the party - Tucker & Jackson decided to raid the loot bags a bit early. The little robbers were chewing their looted gum & decided it would look nice in their hair.

Daddy: "Now we're gonna have to go home & shave your head after the party. You're gonna be bald!"
Tucker: "NOOOOO! I don't wanna be bald!"
Daddy: "Well, too bad. That's what happens when you get gum in your hair."
Tucker (looking terrified): "Daddy..... is that what happened to Nick?"

Hee hee. Uncle Nick shaves his head. :o) We got such a kick out of that. Probably not funny to the general public but I wanted to blog it so I'd remember. :o)

Growing Up

Here's a few favorites of Miss Ashley that I took this weekend - seems like a couple days ago I was doing her newborn shoot! These babies just grow up too fast.

Apparently, she likes to give the finger.

I liked that one super bright at first, but I think I'm going to do another edit too. I just love the overexposed look sometimes. :)

And this one, I think is just too funny:

Update

I wanted to give you an update on Hayden. He has been discharged from the hospital and is recovering nicely, although he still has a long road ahead. Kids never cease to amaze me....

Here's a picture of him before he was discharged, courtesy of my Dad's cell phone.



Mamaw is doing well too, she's got another 2 weeks before she goes back for the next heart cath. The man that killed my coworker was formally charged with capital murder a couple days after they arrested him. So maybe things can get back to normal.

Wellllllll, maybe normal is asking a bit much.

Need your prayers!

This week has been rough for everyone, to say the least. First, the killings at Virginia Tech. Didn't involve me personally, but very disturbing to say the least. Then, a co-worker murdered by his fiance's ex-boyfriend. Next, my Mamaw gets news that she has failed her stress test and needs a heart cath. Friday, while I'm waiting to hear about how her cath went, I get a phone call telling me that my nephew, Hayden, has been in a car accident & is in ICU. Bless his heart, he's only 3 & I'm sure he's terrified. He's doing much better now & has been transferred out of ICU. He has a broken neck, which required placement of a halo; two broken legs, one which required surgery (2 rods & several screws to keep everything in place), and casts on both legs up to his hips. He is not paralyzed, thank God.

Mamaw had 2 stents placed & has to go back for another heart cath in 3 weeks - her kidneys couldn't take the additional dye required to visualize the other areas of concern. She did great, and is coming home today. :)

Here's a pic of little Hayden - I posted this back in December when he came up for Christmas. Please keep him in your prayers, as I'm sure his road to recovery is going to be a rather long one.

Beautiful Brianna

I love finding old pictures that I passed over, for whatever reason. It's like finding a $20 in your jacket pocket that you hid from yourself.

This is Brianna, I shot this back in October. Isn't she lovely?

WARNING!

Extreme cuteness overload! Oh, and NUDITY!

Took a few pics yesterday before the bad weather came rolling in... Old Man Winter finally decided to take a hike but now April Showers are here. :( Ah, the joys of Mother Nature!




And this just cracks me up... that big belly! Not the most flattering angle for her boudoire shoot debut, you think?

JulieM likes her bedhead here :)


You know those beautiful shots with the shallow dof where you have your child hold something out & the focus is on the "something"... anyway, I thought I'd try that with Tucker's lollipop - naturally he bit off a big chunk right before I shot. It just doesn't work out when a little brother is around. HAHA!