Love Day

 This month has been going by incredibly fast! I think all the new hobbies are partly to blame. There is no excuse to be bored around this house anymore.

The mantle in the family room has become my creative outlet. This is what I created for this month. I whipped out the sewing machine to make us a LOVE insert for the frame and if you look really closely, I also sewed some cute little love birds to put in the birdcage. 

I just simply cruise around Pinterest being inspired by others' superior creativity and then figure out how to make it work in our home.

 Our photography class is still in session. We are both really enjoying it and I find it enjoyable to have a live in mentor that picks up all the technical stuff MUCH faster than I do. 

Anyhow, here are more of our homework submissions.

Christine's HW 4

Play with white balance on your camera

Christine's HW 5

Take a photo at 18mm and 36mm and see how much you have to move in order to frame the same picture in both shots.

Steve's HW 4

Steve's HW 5

 Next up, Happy Love Day!

The idea of fighting of hundreds of others at a restaurant on Valentines Day has never appealed to me. 

Instead, we whipped out the china (why have it if you never eat off it?) and indulged in some salmon for dinner. YUM.

 

 Then, I baked. What?

Pineapple upside down cake. I did a very good job, it turned out fabulous.

 I was just expecting a card, so I was surprised to come home to find flowers with a perfectly sappy and wonderful card. There were instructions in the card to find the rest of my gift in the freezer. Intrigued, I followed the directions to find this gem. 

Be still this lactose intolerant girl's heart!

I miss ice cream. 

I've been going through the stages of grief for a while about realizing I am lactose intolerant. 

I think I was in denial for 3 years. 

Anger for about 4 months.

Bargaining for about 1 year.

Depression probably during the same year as bargaining.

Now I am reaching acceptance and exploring all the non dairy substitutes that are out there.

I've been very good at avoiding dairy lately, but man. Who wants to live a life without ice cream?

Now I don't have to!

Seriously, don't knock this until you try it. 

The man knows the way to my heart.

Steve got a card and a little bit of chocolate treat. I just failed to take a picture of it.

Hope you felt the love today from all those in your life!

Learning New Things

Well, Steve sure has expensive hobbies he gets me into.

Photography first.

 We are turning in our third homework assignment in class tonight. We were told to play with aperture. 

Christine's HW 3

I took a bazillion pictures this week because nothing was striking my fancy as creative enough. 

So I took inspiration from a guy I saw on youtube explaing aperature. He used a mug and a string of lights. 

I used candles sitting on glasses of varied heights which were all on a chair and close up was a tea cup sitting on a pile of books on top of another chair. 

Steve's HW 3

I wanted Steve to take a picture of a pile of snotty tissues with a blurred box of kleenex in the background so it could represent how he spent his whole weekend. It would also explain a less than interesting/impressive picture. 

He ignored my suggestion. 

Instead he took this picture, rearranging my froggy and turtle from the back patio in the yard.

On another note, we picked up another hobby. I'm kind of thinking we should sell the TV. It really only gets watched for the news (depressing), Gold Mining in Alaska (drives me crazy) and DOWNTON ABBEY (I LOVE THIS SHOW!)

ok side note on Downton Abbey. I was behind by two seasons before I got into it. Then I couldn't stop watching the episodes on Netflix and FLEW through both seasons. Sunday night's episode left me in a puddle of my own tears. I think of these people as my friends. And for that reason alone we will keep the TV because I will not abandon my friends on Sunday nights. 

If you aren't a Downton fan, become one. 

Then they can be your friends too. 

Ok, back to your regularly scheduled blog post. 

We bought a piano. 

I have wanted to learn for a long time. 

Steve tells me he's always wanted to learn some musical instrument.
I am not quite sure HOW it happened, but one minute we weren't even thinking of having a piano, 

and the next, it's getting delivered. 

I think Steve probably got A's on persuasive speaking/writing assignments in school.

 

Anyhow, there she sits. 

Grandma Faye and Mom came over to rearrange furniture so it would work in our tiny home. 

 If fills the space more than I thought it would, but it isn't too bad. 

I think I will enjoy it. I sat and "played" for 3 hours right after it was delivered. I purchased what I refer to as my "goal piece" this past weekend to play. I was able to pick out the first 2 lines of it so far. I have a LOOOOOONG way to go, but it's at least the beginning of something pretty to play. 

This is what it should sound like 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p_ebSseEq8 

In my considering if we should really take the plunge on the piano, Steve told me

"If you aren't learning something new, you might as well be dead."

So between learning photography and piano, I guess we are very much alive!

 Lots of new skills being acquired around here.

Just don't expect us to be good at either of them yet. 

:)

Future Photographers

Back in November Steve and I invested in a new camera. I had purely wanted to make the quality of my everyday images better and he had been interested in SLR photography for a while. So we made the plunge! Our interest in photography was shared, but that is where our similarities with photography seem to end.

Steve's Approach: Analytical, Technical, Research, Reading Manuals, Study the technique to get a that certain affect

Christine's Approach: The exact opposite of Steve. Creative, go with the flow, forget the manual just start pressing buttons and taking pictures and see what you get, BrEaK the "rules" of composition just take pictures of what you love, get frustrated because I didn't understand the technical enough to get the effect I wanted (but Lord knows I would NEVER consider reading the manual to help myself out).

So together, we make one amazing photographer I suppose.

Well in an effort to get away from "auto" mode on the camera and use our new camera to its FULL extent, we signed up for photography classes. They have been such fun! We've had 3 classes so far and submitted 2 "homework" assignments.

Steve is a star student. I like to kid him about it because his style of photography lines up with the style of photography our teacher tends to be. Both are very analytical minds and nerd out over the technical nature of Steve's photos.

My pictures are FAR from technically perfect as I tend to be a frustrated photographer.  I have heart and creativity in my pictures, but struggle to slow down to bother with all that technical stuff (which logically I KNOW will help produce better pictures, but it just gets in the way of my free spirit approach).

Anyhow I thought I would share what we've produced so far.

HOMEWORK 1:
Take pictures using the "rules of composition"

Christine's 1st Homework

Grandma Faye playing the piano

Steve's 1st Homework

Berries on a bamboo bush in the backyard

HOMEWORK 2: 

Experiment with Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO

Christine's Photo

Mt. Hood from Pittock Mansion

(too dark. creative, but technically lacking)

Steve's Photo

Daffodils

(he used some technique to make the background black. this picture was taken in the middle of the day in front of a wood burning fireplace.)

So, January has been full of photography so far. We'll just have to wait and see what adventures photography takes us on in 2013!

So Long 2012. Hello 2013.

Happy New Year!

I am very glad I have this blog. Looking back on 2012, I was AMAZED at how much happened this year. I seem to always lack an answer for the question "What have you guys been up to lately?"

Well here is the answer for the whole year. 

In no particular order, here is the list of accomplishments for 2012.

 New creative work station. 

It looks different now that I have moved into it, I just haven't updated the photo.

 Our new niece Hannah born on Easter! 

She sometimes still cries when I walk in the room, but as soon as mama Lisa leaves, we get along just great :) 

Don't we Hannah banana?

A new workbench.

Another example of Steve's crafty hand. Using our garage has been a much happier experience since this installation. 

New patio.

 I totally forgot about these next 2 projects as being 2012 projects. We installed these pavers to expand the back patio. They add a bit of character and just enough space to make things more comfortable. 

New paint.

 As soon as that green paint went on the wall I knew it was too much. It took me 4 years but I finally decided to change it to grey (as well as the master bathroom too). I LOVE the color and it just matches the rest of the house better. 

Oh and I did it all by myself! 

 New traditions.

We almost missed the Strawberries this year. But you pick is THE WAY to go. I have never had Strawberry jam taste as good as ours this year. I am convinced it was the quality of berry you get from "you pick."

 New hair do.

I sent a foot of hair off to be made into a wig for someone who needs it. I am loving the short hair actually but I am considering growing it out again. My hair grows like a weed so it wouldn't take long to grow enough to donate again. We'll see. 

 New hardwood floors.

Well, Bailey has "worn in" the new floors. Thankful for an amazing finish on them that masks her marks. I think this is our best "new" addition in 2012. Fewer allergies, much easier to clean and just plain pretty.

 New memories.

This was from a fun trip to the zoo but there were LOTS of birthdays and holidays where fun times were had with family and friends. 

 New camera. 

This is one of my favorite shots even though it reveals many opportunities for improvements. 

 New puppy dog. 

Bailey actually joined our family back in February. But she just turned 1 on Dec 23rd. 

She celebrated with peanut butter and indulging her human mama for one photo. 

Well, one photo of about 20 that turn out. She squirms with antlers on her head.

 Looking forward to 2013...

... To practice photography skills.

Some pictures still turn out blurry. But you can still see the "snow falling on the forest" effect, right?

(I really want snow this year.)

 ...to stay motivated  on our debt snowball. We're 32% of the way there on our last "snowball"!

... to explore more of yoga. I think I may actually stick with it. I love the stretch and getting a workout before realizing I'm sweating.

 ... to focus on my blessings

... to explore creative outlets !

Hope you had a super 2012! Here's to a super-DUPER 2013

Christmas Preparations and Decorations

 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

  The evolution of Christmas on Bonnie Brae. The yellow house below with the white Christmas lights. 

Above is our current reality. Grey house with LED multi-colored lights which are much more friendly to the bank account.

The Christmas tree hunt.

We drove out to the place I went growing up in Sherwood. 

 Here we have Steve humoring me for a photo.

 We found it! 

I think I have a picture like this next to a tree for 3 years in a row with the same jacket on.

Hmm.

 We were spoiled. All the saws were in use when we arrived so we didn't have our own to chop down our tree. Well as soon as we found our tree, one of the Sleighbell's guys just happened along and chopped it down for us!

Thanks Mr. Helper dude.

 Steve still had to do some of the work though.

Well each year I try to mix things up with decorations. I like making new things out of what I already have. Though, if I just could stick with the same old stuff every year, I could get the decorations up faster. 

But it's fun. 

So here they are. A couple of photos of what the place looks like this year.
I think the theme is berries and bells.
The lights were a last minute addition and I think I really enjoy them.

 I bought this bird cage thing in Sisters this summer and I keep moving it around and using it different ways. It was full of pumpkins in Oct. 

Now it is all topsy-turvy with giant jingle-bells pouring out. 

Weird or cute? Or both?

I'm keeping it anyhow.

 The tree. Looking pretty much like it does every year.

 So I have jumped on the band wagon of being in love with chalk boards. 

In October/November, it had a pumpkin.

Now it's bringing Christmas cheer. It's fun to have another creative outlet. 

(Some of the pictures seem weird. Still learning how to use the camera. But hopefully I'll be getting better soon. We signed up for photography classes together for Christmas!)

 Kind of an attempt at an arty-fartsy shot

 This is a result of Christine needing a CHEAP mindless activity one Saturday afternoon. 

I still LOVE the moment of truth unfolding snow-flakes to see what you've created.

 Playing with the camera.

 Playing more with the camera and playing peek-a-boo with the nativity in the background.

 And last but not least a shot of our little helper elf around here. 

Helping wrap the presents.

We hope your Christmas season has started out Merry and Bright!

Ok a little edit here to the post. More Christmas stuff has happened. So I thought I'd share.

 Here is a cute one of Hahhah from the day :)

My favorite of Brayden.

Cute of them in Santa's sleigh.

 

My Sunday craft projects. 

I thought these were going to be new stockings for Steve and I but they turned out a little small. 

And now I think I want matching ones. 

So I'll just keep these ones around to be cute.

And a Santa cookie I made for a Secret Santa exchange at work. 

This was a group effort. We all know I don't bake so I called Steve in to help. 

He made me the giant cookie, I decorated Santa.