The Character Project

I dont remember where I got this link. But I think its so cool. This is what they had on aperture.org

Character Project is an ongoing artistic initiative
committed to celebrating America's characters—the interesting, dazzling, and
distinctive people, from all walks of life, who make this country extraordinary.
Inspired by USA Network's iconic "Characters Welcome" brand, and with the
support of Aperture Foundation, USA assembled a team of eleven world-class
photographers to capture the character of America. Each artist's vision was as
unique as the people and places they photographed. From Alaska to New York, the
subjects they encountered are a stunning example of our country's diversity. The
musicians and mothers, fishermen and farmers, athletes and artists, at home, at
work, and at play, are a true representation of what it means to live in America
today. Reminding us, once again, that we are all characters. And we're all
welcome.

You can find the video clip and more info and the video here.

Young Marine Recruit Cooper

Just thought I would post a picture of Cameron last week in his "Recruit gear". He doesnt get to wear cami's till he graduates in April. But he is well on his way!! I am so proud of him.

Time....what is time...I never have any!!!

I have been a bit of "Crazy Busy", lol. Startin the internship with the Naval Hospital, Bio-Med Dept. has been such an awesome expierience so far. At the same time, it has be busy and I think I am finally adjusting. I have learned so much in just two weeks. I got to shoot my first function it was for some navy guys getting ready to pcs (permenent change of station). It was the first duty station for both. We scoped out places for a group picture and even got pictures of the dogwoods that are in full bloom.

Then Friday, was gorgeous outside. It was partly cloudy but the sky was blue and the clouds look like marshmellow, lol. I got to learn more about adjusting my settings and how to deal with the different places the sun is during the day. The Photographer, walk me thru a retirement, shwing me where everyone stood and the flow of things. Also shared with me where he usually stood and stuff like that. He is so awesome at explaining stuff, but he is deploying and his last day is Friday. Then I have a week off and his counterpart come back from taking a class, I have heard he is a hoot, I feel like I already know him cause I have heard so much about him. I am confident I will learn alot from him too, I have seen some of his photography and its so good.

Anyway, Friday right before we went back in I got some pictures of the flags infront of the hospital. I love how the first one turn out. The angle and perspective was exactly what I was hoping to capture and love that you can see movement in the picture without and bluring. I was pretty proud. Nothing that is award winning, but I feel like I am learning and getting where i want to be a step at a time.

On the family front, Cameron is loving the Yound Marines. This weekend was his first overnight function and he seem to really enjoy it. He is studying his material non-stop, and practicing his drill movements. I Love the pride he feels, and the excitement of it all. He is doing awesome.

The girls had a field trip to the park to fly kites friday but it got reschedule for this friday. Its going to be lots of fun for them.

Ben is just being him. He is enjoying having Dad home during the day and has been a good sport.

Nick is adjusting to Night crew, which is always hard on him but he is being a good sport about it and being very supportive.

I think that about covers it pretty much, I promis to try to update a little more often then every 10 days or something.

Been a bit busy....as always...lol

Well, its been a bit nutty here. I found out about the possibility of an internship, and I work at getting it and making it work for my family. With God's help it happened, I started Monday. Its with the Naval hospital's Bio-Med Photography Dept. I have already learn alot and I can see how much i will be learning in the next few months. I am so excited and thankful.

My husband, knowing how much it meant to me to get hands-on expierience with photography was able to switch to nights, so that he could stay with our youngest and I could do the internship. I ended up not having to go in today, so I told him to go get a well deserve nap, poor guy this adjustment is always hard on him.

I already rotated laundry, folded a load, changed and dressed Ben. I also picked up the form for Ben's to go to Pre-school, and filled it out and started to get all the paperwork done.

Just playing catch up while i have the chance.

On Saturday, I decided to try to shoot in Aperture Mode, so I recruited Sydney and the picture above is what I got. That is SOOC.

Well, that is about it from here for now. I hope to scrap this weekend and get some pics of the scraproom. I think I am finally getting where I want to be. I hope everyone has a great Tuesday .

Melanie

Do you know what 2 things in common this pics have in common?

The show two of my most favorite things. Photography and scrapbooking!!! This was a couple of days ago when I was going with The Big Picture approach. Sorting and putting my pictures into my picture files. I ended up going from the pioneer spiral albums to 2 inch binders with 3-4x6 picture page protectors. That way i have the options of adding more pictures without have to rearrange it all. I had to do that more then once with the on in the picture. NOT FUN!! And in PhotoFreedom, Stacy's main message is that its not suppose be hard, it suppose to be stressfree once you have your system set up. Then you can concentrate to scrapbooking your most favorite and meaningful memories and enjoy the creative process. And once I am at it, let me tell you, LOVE that book. The system makes TOTAL sense to me and its packed with AWESOME Ideas. Its one of those books that keeps inspiring you. lol!! (these statement is made volutarily and free will with no recompensation of any kind. )

Anyway, then there is my 1st passion of photography. I have am taking Karen Russell's The Photographer's Workshop. Not only can this woman and mom of 4 take some awesome, kick butt, fabulous pictures, but she can teach. I have been trying to get the principles of photography for a while. I have read books, taken a class here and there. But this is the first time I got !! Nothing went over my head. She explains things in different ways to make sure you understand the concept. And her voice has a calming effect on me, I have thought about putting it on for my kids and see if it stops them from acting like zoo animals. Or maybe I will just keep it so when the kids are driving me nuts, I dont fall off the deep end, lol. She is positive and ecouraging. I have learned so much, and my class is awesome too, we learn alot from each other. I am a bit behind because my parents came the second week I was in class. But I should be caught up by the end of this weekend, cause that is my first priority. Well, besides the usual, children, husband and all that stuff, lol.

Anyway, back to the pictures. As you see how dark they started they got lighter. I raised my ISO and kept adjusting my aperture. Its far from perfect, but I got the concept and I wasn't shooting in auto either, big deal for me.

Well, this has turn into a novel, I hope everyone has a great weekend. I hope to be blogging with pictures of my scraproom and my scrapbook page of my newly wed meal I preparred for my husband. There is a funny story that goes with that. Ok, really I am done now.

Things make me happy!!!

Hello everyone!!

Just wanted to share one of the new things in my scraproom. I got this at a thrift kinda of store, for 5 bucks. It was an ugly brown. So, I got some trusty white spray paint and made it pretty. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!

THe top tier had my foam squirlly stamps, the second has my stamp pads and the bottom has my Creative Memories templates. I seem to use them more then I did in the past. And I also know I will use them even more if I can see them. IF you look closely you can also see my new "box" shelves. I use those for the few wooden stamps i have. I will share more of that and the rest of the room in the coming days.

Cute organization makes me HAPPY. (Yes, I know, I AM A Dork but a VERY HAPPY ONE, LOL)

Catching up....getting back to a routine that works

Well, I never came back and blogged. Its just been so busy. And honestly, I never got back to my routine once Nick came home. Life has just been hectic and irratic. But, I told my self starting today I was going to work really hard to get back to the routine I had loved so much. I got so much done and felt productive. I have a feeling that I couldnt get back there because I was beyond exhuasted.

That is because, Friday I got very yucky sick. It felt like the Flu or something. By the time it was almost lunch time, I had thrown up, kept feeling nauseous and every bone, even the ones I wasn't aware I had, had me laying on the couch with agonizing pain. So much so, I had to call Nick to atleast pick up the girls for me. I NEVER EVER really call Nick, when I am sick. Its the U.S. Marine Corp, unless I am giving birth or on my death bed, they are not keen on letting their marines come home and nurse their family. And well, let's be honest, I pride myself in independence and having to call for help and depend on someone, no matter who, is not something I enjoy. Well Nick came home got the girls and stayed so I could get some rest. I wasn't allowed out of bed the rest of the day and was on a very "restful" weekend.

Thanks to that, I got up today ready to get back to my routine. I got up, got the kids up, jump in the shower, got dressed and even blew dried my hair. Even Ben was fully dressed to take the older kids to the bus stop. Came home, had breakfast, threw in a load of laundry, uploaded an assignment for my photography class(The Photographer's Workshop which is taught by the AWESOME Karen Russell...will tell you about it more later.) and am already on my second load of laundry. Oh, and I took pictures of the dogs and Ben too. WHOHOOO!!!

Though Ben keeps trying to break into the Fridge, somethings don't change. Well, I am off to see if I can create some now that my scrap room is finally organized. I totally overhauled it. I started New Years Day and a couple of weeks later, it was workable but I wasn't happy so I kept at it and now I am really excited. I know I will keep changing little things to fine tune it butI think I got the major of it to be productive. I will share my scraproom in the next few days. And all my craziness, hope everyone is well and dont be shy drop me a comment or a email.

HAPPY MONDAY!!!

But all is better now.

I am back and a catch up on the happenings!!

*Sydney showing me her ice skates, lol*

Happy New Year!!

I know I have been so bad about blogging. I have missed it ever so much. So my goal now is to try to blog at least 3 times a week. I think that is doable. Before I pressured myself to do it everyday so when I missed one day it tend to throw myself off and then I didn't even know where to pick it up at.

Well, lets play catch up here for a minute. Nick came home safe and sound just a few days before Halloween. I can't tell you how glad we all are to be back together. We had a few adjustment pains but nothing like what I had prepared for. The kids all ran to him when he got off the bus. He was off most of November. And most of the time after having your husband home for a couple of weeks, you are ready for him to go back to work, get in a routine. But honestly, I was a bit a sad to have him go back to work. It gave us time to catch up and for him to get reacquainted with the kids.
I am till now really trying to find my groove again and getting in a real routine with Nick back home. I am in the mix of reorganizing my scrap room. I started this on New Years Day and then we decided to go on a overnight trip to Wilmington,NC. We only live a little over an hour from there. But we just wanted to get away, we had intended to take a weekend trip or something sometime while Nick was on leave and it just didn't work out. Well, we had a great time. We went to the Aquarium at Carolina Beach. We all enjoyed the aquarium. We got a good look at everything, and everyone was on the best behavior. It was such a treat. We then check into the hotel and decided to take the kids ice skating. My husbands family are HUGE Hockey fans and players. So, its almost a rite of passage to learn how to ice skate. Cameron had been a couple times and wasn't fond of it till lately. It was the first time for Natalie, Sydney and Ben. Well, its in their genes, the girls took to it easily. By the end of the night, the girls were pretty much on the own with ice sleds. Ben ankles aren't quite strong enough, but like his dad he LOVES the ice. They all took turns going out with dad except Cameron who with an ice sled does really well by himself. Ben hated having to wait, but he learned quickly he got to go after Natalie. So he would hurry Natalie to go his turn would come faster, lol. After that we stayed and watch Nick play Pick-up hockey for a little bit and then we went back to the hotel. We got in pj's and relax. Nick got a ride back to the hotel after the game. It was a great time.

Well, Nick is back to work and Cameron, Natalie and Sydney are back to school. We are getting back into our normal schedule. Syd, went back to dance yesterday and Natalie has gymnastics tonight. So, I am finally trying to set myself up to keep my new changes, I hope that sticks better then New Years Resolution, lol.

OK, well I will be back in a bit to expand on that. I think this is long enough!!

hmmm....seeing the light at the end of the tunnel

Its been a very long time since i have blogged. I never have time. I have been going strong. Nick has been gone almost 11 months. We are now on the count down, whoohoo!!. Has hard as this deployment has been, I have turned a new leaf.

I am done with taking care of people. I am done of always being there, and when I need a friend or some support, people are too busy. Or better yet make out to be like I am demanding too much.

We spent a month and half with my inlaws. That was the best decision I made. The kids really got to bond with family. They got to expierience, Cooper Campout and Grandma's famous 4th of July parties, this year was a County Western theme. We got to see lots of Hannah and Abby. Baby cousin Brooklynn decided to come to the world a day after we left. I knew it, so knew it, but we can't wait to meet her.

Well the kids have started School. Cameron is a Big 2nd grader. The girls got into Headstart, they go to school a full day. They even get to ride the bus like their big brother. They LOVE LOVE it. They have blossomed so much. They love to paint and the sandbox, lol. The program is the best i have ever seen, it puts the private school programs to SHAME. Other preschool programs dont come even close to this. From brushing their teeth, to eating breakfast and lunch in a family style setting including the teacher. They learn to set the table, to serve themselves and are taught thru creative play curriculum. This is just the tip of the iceberg. When riding in the bus they are seat belted in, they are signed into the classroom, meaning the bus driver turns off the bus and walks them with the assistant to the classroom and sign them in. Its what they call a hand to hand policy. At the bus stop, if someone differrent is at the bus stop, they will make you show your id and if you arent on the list, they are not getting your kid. And that whole call in buisness doesnt fly. LOVE IT. They are very careful and caring. Same when picking them up in the morning, if you arent on the list, you can't put the child on the bus and they will follow up. You dont call and let them know the kids arent attending school. THey will call you and make sure everything is ok. Go a few days and you dont answer the phone or call, they will come to your house. Not only are they interested in the childs education, but the well being of them and their families. DOnt know if i can say it enough, BUT I LOVE IT!!!

Now to me, I must say I am refreshed. I am finding that in the last few years I change for the acceptance of people. Because, who i was, was too harsh, too happy, too loud or whatever. Well, i have refound my true self. And wont loose it again. I am happier, stronger, smarter, and a better person. I started going to the gym...... I am going to get fit. I will loose wieght no doubt, but the right way. I will be healthier, and stronger. Anyone can loose weight....but not the right way. I was to be toned and healthy lungs. Plus its helped my energy level so much, and I need it, i have the 2 oldest in gymnastics and Sydney is in her 2nd year of dance. We are over there 3 times a week, lol, I am beginning to be known, lol.

I am scrapping again, and ENJOYING IT!!!! No competition, no critisism or right or wrong. I dont feel like I am being judged or that its a chore. LOVING IT. And I am reembracing my photography. LIttle by Little..... seem to be finding my groove on my own. I hadnt realize that there were a huge weight holding me back, that I have since had lifted and its done me a world of a difference. And I promise you, it will stay that way. I only have a few friends, that i can count on one hand and I like it that way. I have everything I need.

Well, i have some picking up to do and then some creating before Ben and I go get his sisters...

Happy Thursday

iMac and I are not understanding eachother!!!

I am having some MAJOR issue right now with my lovely iMac. I have heard how wonderful Apple computers are for graphics and photography. So, since hubby needed a lap to go overseas, I thought this would be the the greatest opportunity to learn the "Apple way" Well, let me tell you I can for the life of me figure out how to edit my pictures. One of the many reason why I haven't posted.

I was using Paint Shop Pro XI, from what I have gathered, there isn't a compatible version of this for the iMac. I have Photoshop elements 3.0. for the iMac. Which blew my mind when we first got the computer.

So, is there ANYONE that CAN PLEASE help me out???? I am in need to get into my creativity, its one of the best ways to relieve stress. And with Nick overseas, and four kids, its the best way to get in some me time. Plus I am getting impatient since I really want to work on my photography!!!!

Thankyou in advance for taking the time to read my PLEA for HELP!!!

Sorry I have been MIA!!

Howdy everyone!!!

SOrry I have been gone for so long. Nick left last week and its been beyond crazy. Its been a week and a day. It started to hit me today. But I am still doing ok. Was just a bit blah there for a bit.

I am hoping to get some ideas for Christmas gifts. I also set up a little studio in what use to be Ben's room. Cameron had been begging for Ben to room with him since he was born. It took a little be of getting use to but they seem to enjoy each other's company.

Well, Nick took the laptop which means I am on the iMac full time and its making me insane. SO ANYONE OUT there, who knows the iMac please HELP ME!! Editing my pictures has been a pain in the you know where. I have Adobe Lightroom and PSE 3 I believe. And I got Adobe CS3 and I have tried the best to learn and experiment but its not working too well. I do have a book for PSE 3 so going to try that. I have heard that the iMac are awesome for graphics and photography. So if anyone can at least point me in the right direction.

Also, I have pictures uploaded from when Nick was on leave(vacation), we went on a few family outings. There are also pictures of Nick leaving and Halloween. Feel free to take a look and leave some feedback, love, suggestions or critiques.
Pictures

Busy, Busy, Busy.........and the countdown is starting =(

What do you get when siblings get together and mom says, time for no TV. They put their heads together, and turn a play kitchen into a play BOAT!! LOL!!! They loved playing pretend boat, they played this game for days to come. Sydney sitting the middle what the "driver", I have no idea what the rest of the kiddos were, LOL.

Well, we have been busy bees here. Cameron is doing soccer and he is getting to play goalie and getting quite good. Sydney is still dancing and LOVING every min. of it. We had observation day last week and she is doing so well. She had no hesitation performing in from of all the parents. She has come a long way from dance camp last summer. I am so VERY VERY proud.

Natalie being goofy as always, and Sydney is trying her very best to potty train her and Natalie is not having it, LOL. Natalie is a tad of hard headed to say the least. She is quite the entertainer along with Ben. There never is a dull moment here.

Ben is Mr. Talker. He is talking so much. Loves to repeat and mimic. He is already helping out in the house responsibility. He LOVES to let the dogs in and out. He also can go get a diaper when asked and throws away his dirty diaper. Yes, ladies and Gentlemen, my almost 2 year old is chipping in. He just wants to be a big kid just like his siblings. He still gets in trouble, digging in mom's scrapping space. Along with terrorizing the dogs, but they still worry and keep an eye on him.

Along with all these happy moments and growing, we have hit the time when we start counting down to Nick departure to land of sun and sand. He is now on leave, and we are trying our best to make the best of our time together. Today we sat and have a tentative plan for his time off. He will be off for about 3 weeks. Then he will deploy shortly after that. Along with that have I have projects to finish for him. Included in them are a pillow case with our pictures on it and a small scrapbook of family pics. I also want to take pics of the him with the kiddos, so the kids have recent pictures with daddy!!! A year is a long time, but we believe in the mission he is going to be part of and we are preparing the best we can. The rest, we have faith that God will watch over us and guide us and help us get through it.

Will try to update soon. Hoping to set up my studio in my spare room, now that Ben is rooming with his older brother and both are quite content with the arrangement. Anyone wanting to be practice models for this dream, determine pro-photographer wanna-be, would be great. Send me a message and I will be sure to get back to you as soon as possible. And just in case, I am in the market for a good deal on a Nikon D40. I am open to D40x or ect. I definitely want a Nikon though. Along with any good site or insight. Love you all and Hasta Pasta for now!!

P.S- Sorry the picture above was not edited because the hubby is taking my laptop and he wiped it clean and restore it, so my editing software isnt loaded. And I am too lazy to go mess with PSE 4 on the MAC. =)

WOw, me been bad!!!

Well, never did I inted to let my blog go this long. Life just been busy I guess. Nick did 2 weeks of training, just got back sunday. I haven't had much time to do much of anything besides the motherly duties.

Just trying to get things organized and settle for when Nick leaves. Though I still get curve balls thrown at me. So far so good, besides my photography thing. I definitly want the D80. I got to hold it yesterday and LOVE IT. And I tried out the D40 and OH MY!!! THe pictures it takes, can't even imagine with the D80(Nikon). I was planning to take a photography class but dont see how I can swing that. Besided the time I need to take the class, I will have assignments and stuff. Along with Daycare, I have to get the SLR and pay for the classes. And since I am not going full time, help with tuition and daycare isnt there, not that I have been able to find. I thought about going full time, but that is just not possible.

So, I dont know what else I cam really do till I am able to get the DSLR. I can read on lighting and stuff, and try some different stuff with what I have. I just feel kinda stuck. It can get fustrating but just trying to stay positive.

The Picture is of about a month ago when Nick took the kids to the movies. I just snapped a picture of them together, but was unexpectly surprised with the result, LOL.

Well hope you all have a great day, hopefully I will be back more often.

First Day School

Happy Monday!!!

Today was The First Day of School for Cameron. First day of First grade. He was so excited. He feels like such a Big Kid. He also now gets to walk to the bus stop. Last year I drove him, but he really wanted to ride the bus. We walked together and got there just in time. He walked home too. We are also instituted a routine for school days, I made him a clipboard with a check list, so he can look at it to know what he needs to do next. I will post a picture of it in another post. Anyway, it was a successful First Day of School. And well, no activity or post is really complete without a picture, LOL. So here Camerons first day of school. I photoshop one with the black and white picture and leaving Cameron in color. Been wanting to do that for a while and I finally did it. LOVE IT, LOVE IT.

ATC's

This is the first time I tried my hand at Artist Trading Cards (ATC)!!! And they turned out alot better then I thought they would. Also, the best part is that I finish ahead of schedule, unheard of from me. I am a very last who seems to be able to do things ahead of time, but seems I am finally getting the hang of it. Well, just wanted to show a samp of it. Hope you like them too!!!

yummy yummy and gearing up for the ABC's

Hello my Peeps,

Dont ask me where I got that from, cause I really dont know. Anyway, I have been really bad about blogging this week. Been a busy and somewhat stressful week. Anyway, we went out to Cici's Pizza for dinner this last week as a family, along with a trip to Target for school supplies. Well, I have never seen a 19 month eat this much. LOL. 1 BIG SLICE PIZZA and 3 cheese bread. He truly enjoy his pizza.

And Cameron wanted a messenger bag pack. He found it at Target and he was so very excited!!!

He is pretty much set for school. Well, I am exhausted....hopefully I will blog tomorrow with more interesting stories to tell, LOL.

Photo, I hope to be able to capture more like this on a regular basis

Picture of Cameron and Sydney. I loved how this picture, I hadn't posted it because I took this before I started this blog. But my fabulous friend Allie saw this and told me I should post it on my blog. So, Here it is. Hope you guys like it as much as Allie and I like it.

Things that make me happY!!!

Love, how everything is finding a place. I saw this idea with foam stamps on a blog. I have been organizing for a while, and I really think its going to make a difference. Now, I think I will reward my self with some creating tonight. I am itching to do something but just dont know what, LOL!!!

What to do on a HOT DAY!!!

It has been VERY VERY hot in our Neck of the woods. My kids have been a bit on the bored and rebuncious side. So, everyday, I try t change things up. I also have consituted NO electical entertainment time, well except listening to the music on my laptop. So, I guess interactive entertainment.

Anyway, I thought yesterday was a good day to make a club house. So, Cameron built it and they had tons of fun.

Today, have a crazy morning, its been a surpisely calm day. I got some more organizing done in my area, foam stamps are stored. Ok, well Ben is yelling for me, so I am off.

I am a Big Boy now!!!

Happy Hump day!!! Trying to stick to my picture a day!!!! Well Ben was more then willing to help his momma out, LOL!!! He felt the need to eat at the table like his brother and sisters. He thinks he is such the big boy.

And I must say he thinks that spagetti is mighty tasty, even if its just noodles and no sauce.

I am going to go see if I can track down some velcro and see if I can get my foam stamps organized.

Hope everyone has a great night!!!!

Hasta Pasta!!!LOL