Progress

So after a long week of back aches, tonsilitis, a cold sore, all due to stress I am finally feeling better this week. I had been under a very big due date at work for several projects. Seems like my V.P. is grooming me to help me further my career which is great! I love the challenge but it certainly is trying at times.

Photography is going well, have my first pregnancy photo shoot coming up and a possible wedding coming up as well. I have ordered by first studio lighting set and background so should be pretty interesting! It's exciting and scary because I have never ever used this kind of equipment before!

Still in limbo with buying a house, the tax credit would work for us accept that we still need a down payment so as we slowly watch our minimal savings grow we're just kind of sitting here twiddling our thumbs until we get enough for a down. If we knew someone that would lend us money we could just pay them back once we get the credit but we don't know anyone that has that amount of money they can lend us so... Until we get enough money limbo it is for us!

Hezekiah is learning new words all the time. His favorite is holding his hands out and saying "What?" we are reading the book by James Dobson "The new strong willed child" because he sure is strong willed!!! I need help in this area because no amount of maternal instinct prepares you for an independent- strong willed child who doesn't want to listen. He is still a great child who make s me laugh and smile everyday, I love that he plays on his own a lot and pretends he is reading or that he is making sense with his jibber jabber.

And that's about all for now!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Maternity session

I had my very first pregnancy/ maternity photo session scheduled for next weekend. I am very excited, the client is helping me pay for the equipment needed like studio lighting and a backdrop setup. This will be the first "studio" type photos I will be doing so I am nervous, as soon as the eqipment comes in I am going to have to practice, practice because I have never worked with this kind of lighting before... Yikes! If you have any suggestions for some pregnancy photos let me know as I am gathering ideas from other photographers as well for posing. As soon as the session is done, and I have done some editing I will post some of the pictures up.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Valentine's Day...

Schmalentine's Day! Ha Ha, I say this because I really do think Valentine's Day is a little cliche. Andrew and I are always on the same page on this subject, that once in a while we celebrate Valentine's Day but this just was not one of those years. I am all for being romantic and being ooshy gooshy, but I hate the fact that Valentine's Day has become soooooo commercial. I think that some people feel like they "need" a day like this to be extra romantic. Andrew and I are just not that couple, I made him some heart shaped chocolate chip cookies annnnddd... that was about it for gifts.

Last time I blogged about Andrew's car it would not pass smog unless we did a whole engine swap or pay someone illegally to pass smog. We did not feel right paying someone illegally to pass it so we decided that Andrew's "mid-life" crisis HAD to go. It overall had cost us way to much money, and so we are putting it up for sale. Instead, we purchased last night a 2006 Dodge Ram (Hemi). Yes, we went back to having a truck. 1) We needed something a little more usable for having kids and for trips like Catalina. 2) We didn't want to buy anything new because it would have set us too far back from buying a house 3) Andrew REALLY missed having a truck.

We got an awesome deal on it, which will still allow us buffer room to save for a house. So we are really happy with the purchase. This is basically what it looks like, but in white... which is the same color we had before as well.

No Fun

Having a sick baby, once again! He's having bad congestion, cough, and running nose. However, he had these same symptoms when he was teething. I am going to wait it out and see if he acutally is sick, either way, I hate being woken up several times a night and Andrew is sleeping next to me and it doesn't even make him flinch. Men! 

Hard to believe

That this girl:


Is the same as this girl:



Wow from 2001 to 2008, she turned from a Pastor's child and Christian singer to a lesbian pop singer. Yikes!

Under Construction

You'll have to excuse the construction, my blog template needed to be updated and it was long over due. It's hard trying to put together images while you have a toddler that wants all your attention. Anyway, I should have it up and ready in just a few days!

Chickpeas

Also known as Garbanzo beans! A recipe for chocolate chip cookies called for these and I was actually surprised because I have NEVER used them for anything because the utter look of them disgusted me really. I have to say I am surprised at how healthy they actually are for you, they are an excellent source of fiber. They actually help to lower cholesterol and they actually prevent your blood sugar from rising which is great if you're Diabetic or like me Hypoglycemic. Not to mention that is is a great source of Iron, which I often have a problem with since I rarely eat red meat. Anyway just a tidbit of information, since this month is Go Red for Women, I thought I would mention a little something extra to encourage healthy eating habits.

For all you photographers

I keep pretty up to date with Popular Photography because I love the articles and they spotlight some really amazing photographers, but I spotted an article: Photography's Magic Bullet on a lens f/1.4. Now I bought a 50mm f/1.8, because 1. it was cheaper and 2. the difference between the 1.8 and 1.4 was so minimal it wasn't worth the extra $200. I love this lens for many reasons, I use it a lot to shoot the details of a wedding like the cake, bouquet, or guest book, etc. It is a great lens for depth of field, low light, has great sharpness considering the price, and I could go on and on. I have done a lot of natural light shots with this lens and adore it.

I am in the process of searching for some "models" so I can get some practice in on some new techniques I am learning. If anyone is interested, let me know.

The Happenings

Seems like I haven't blogged recently so I thought I would keep everyone up to date. Andrew returned form his 8 day mission trip and once again had an amazing trip once again. This trip was a lot different than previous years as he was responsible for all the video for the trip and now is under the stress of having to put together the video before Sunday to present before the whole congregation of Bridges church. So, crunch time it is. Nothing like only 7 days to put together an amazing video of their trip.

Work is going well for me, seems like I am given more and more responsibility at my work. It has given me lots of opportunities to shine. I know for sure that the field of Human Resources is my niche and I enjoy this line of work. My V.P. is an amazing mentor, she is just a wealth of knowledge for me. The complex projects I have worked on recently have gotten me notice from the President and other Senior Management. It has made me feel pretty confident about my work and that I am doing things right. With the economy and all the lay offs so far, our clinic is financially sound and has not even had to do 1 layoff which is great for us. However, since we are not doing lay offs, any new openings are being reviewed to decide whether or not that position "needs" to be re-filled. So we are cutting budget mainly through attrition.

Financially, we are doing pretty good. With our tax returns, due any day now, we are paying off what debt we have left and then... drum roll please... here come the major savings. Our lease is up at the end of July and so we are praying that the housing market continues to stay low by then so we can looking at houses to buy. Even with our previous debt, we were still able to put away a nice chunk but we would like a little bit more because Lord knows when we do buy a house (with the houses we will be able to buy) we will at the very least want new carpets and paint. Just keep that in prayer for us that we are able to make a wise decision about the house that we buy.

Hezekiah is a funny little kid- He dances anytime he hears music, laughs for no reason at all, and finds it funny when we say the word "Ewwww". He is almost a year and a half, and it seems like it has flown by so fast. You hear people say that all the time, but until you have children you really don't know the meaning of that phrase. I wish time would slow down just a bit because it seems like he is growing wayyyy too fast and learning so much every single day. Here are some recent videos of him:

Prayer answered- check!

A few weeks ago I asked for prayer for my step- dad who was having heart problems again. God is amazing, he had been in the hospital for a few days and he noticed (being a nurse himself) that everytime he was given medication his blood pressure was going up so he let his Cardiologist know. They switched his medication which helped, and the next day he was schedule for he angioplasty but because he was doing so well after the medication switched they cancelled the procedure. The next day they scheduled him for a stress test and his results came back better than last June so they discharged him from the hospital. Isn't it amazing what a little prayer and faith in our God can do? God is good... All the time!

Also, found out today I have yet another cousin pregnant. Baby boom, I think we can safely assume that something is in the water- I know now (count it) 9 girls I know having babies!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Our morning at the park

Since Hezekiah and I were up at 7am this morning, I decided since it was so nice out this weekend to take him to the park. I ended up taking some pictures of him and the scenery. I don't think Hezekiah likes the swing at all, I am so surprised, he ended starting to cry after a few minutes of me lightly swinging him. Anyway, this park has a great view of the city, and is extremely family friendly. I love it! Here are some pictures from our morning:














**Update, today is now day 4 into Andrew's trip in Mexico. Luckily, Andrew has been able to get DSL at the places he has been staying so Hezekiah & I were able to video chat with him the last couple of nights. It has been extremely helpful in me not missing him as much. They have built 2 houses and a classroom for a school so far and are having a very meaningful time out there. Pray for their continued ministry over the next 4 days and pray for his safety as he returns home next Wednesday.

Somewhere over the rainbow

So the next purchase I will be making (photography related) is the Nikon D300, we obviously are going to buy a house first but this will be next on my list unless Nikon comes out with something else. I really only need the camera body since I have most of the lenses I need for it and all the Nikon lenses are interchangeable. I still have some lenses I would like to purchase for fun, but overall my necessary lenses I have right now. This would be the camera I want to buy:

Nikon D300 SLR Digital Camera (Camera Body)

• 12.3 Megapixels
• DX Format CMOS Sensor
• 3.0" LCD Display
• Live View
• Self Cleaning Sensor
• Dust and Water Resistant
• 51-point AFs with 3D Focus Tracking
• 6 fps Burst
• Scene Recognition System

Now, if for some reason I won the lottery or something crazy like that, this would the camera of my dreams.... What is it? none other than the Hasselblad H3DII-39MS


Cost: $43k, Yep that's right you did read that right!

It is 39 megapixels and has an 80mm lens, ahhh one can dream I guess!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

More test pictures

Took some new pictures I took today, I did these ones in full manual mode, which is quite tedious. Definitely not something I would use for weddings, but a great way to be able to learn my settings better:

Gone

My hubby left this morning at 5:30am for his annual 8 day trip to Mexico with Power ministry and 40 other men to do some building and ministering. It's always an awesome trip for him, but Man I hate when he is gone for so long. This is really the only time of year that he is gone from us for that long. We try to do some video chatting a couple of the nights- I miss him already!

Last night was crazy and yet another reason we are anxious to get out of apartments... From 11:30pm to 5:00am our neighbors upstairs were "getting busy" pretty much the entire time with the bed squeaking and hitting the wall so I came to the conclusion that they were either on illegal drugs or Viagra. And then around 2am Hezekiah woke up screaming (can't blame the kid) and had to rock him back to sleep. All I have to say is, 1 more night of that and I am calling management. So ridiculous!

Anyway, pray tonight I actually get some sleep.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Prayer needed

Please pray for my step-dad,David, he was placed in ICU last night. He has had heart problems in the past but he was borderline heart attack. He will need another angioplasty, and in addition to this his Cardiologist died in a plane crash a few months back. So, he will have to get a new Cardiologist to hopefully treat him. He should be transferred today to either Kaiser Fontana or St. Bernadine's.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

allrecipes.com

I use this website a lot to find recipes, this site has gotten way cooler by creating an iPhone application called "Dinner Spinner". Need an idea for dinner? Just open the app and shake and it comes up with recipes for you. Cool huh?

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

My little model

I had some fun today taking some pictures of Hezekiah, I was trying out some new techniques. I really liked the way they came out, Hezekiah's face is hilarious in some of these pictures, he is a hand full but so much fun! Hope you like them!

Pray for Angie & Nolan

Through many others blogs, twitter, and facebook, I have been keeping up and praying for the Lamberth Family. Mark Lamberth was in a dirt biking accident on December 12th. A close friend and former neighbor to this family started a blog: www.prayforthelamberths.wordpress.com to get the message across so that the wife, Angie, would not have to make and receive as many phones call during this time. The blog was hit over 79,00 times with well over 1000 comments posted from friends and people that did not even know the family across the nation.

Mark had to have a portion of his skill removed to relieve pressure, and even through some improvement was made in his condition, the Dr's said he only had 1in 500 chance of making it. Today at around 5:30pm , Mark went home to be with the Lord. I don't know this family at all, and have never met them. I ask that you as well would pray for his wife Angie, and their 6-year old son Nolan. Pray that God would be with them during this most difficult time. That he would wrap his arms around this family, and hold them tight so that they do not turn their pain into anger at God.

We do not always know why God does the things He does, and we don't always see the purpose behind the pain that he puts us through. He works in ways that are beyond our sight, and beyond our comprehension. Both Mark and Angie were Christians, so we praise the Lord that Mark is present with the Lord right now and able to enjoy the presence of our Creator.

I really feel so much love towards this family even though I do not even know them, I cannot fathom the pain Angie must be going through right now. I sat here crying when I read the blog that he has passed because I could only imagine what she must be feeling right now.

Flash Fun

3 years ago for Christmas I got my SB-600 Speedflash, it has been an amazing flash... however it did not come with a diffusion cap with really frustrates me at times because I am constantly having to adjust my flash for portraits. So I have been playing with a couple of different things to try and get a different look out of my pictures. Here are some test shots, what I did with my flash was actually take an index card and rubber band it to my flash to hopefully diffuse some of the light. Our house was actually pretty dark as far as lighting in this picture, so the flash did most of the work. Also, because I took this picture originally in RAW and transferred it, the color didn't seem to carry over... wierd! Don't you love Hezekiah's face in the first picture?

Deliciously Deceptive

I bought this cookbook recently called "Deliciously Deceptive: Simple secrets to get you kids eating good food" by Jessica Seinfeld. She is the wife of Jerry Seinfeld, and she was concerned that her 3 children were not getting enough vegetables in their diet. She created this cookbook on how to sneak healthy food into your kids diet without them even knowing. It is amazing, and I have been able to get Hezekiah to eat all sorts of great food. Basically, it comes down to pureed vegetables that you freeze and keep some fresh when you know you are going to use them. This cookbook is easy to read, easy to follow, and the best part is everything tastes great that I have tried so far. Yesterday I was able to put butternut squash in his mac n cheese and he didn't even flinch. This morning, all 3 of us had Sweet Potato and Cinnamon pancakes... these taste even better than buttermilk pancakes!