.

Bringin' it back

I thought it was time for me to bring this link http://www.openphotocontest.com/ back.  Remember to go with your gut, don't think about it, and just pick the photo you like best....I could do this for hours!

Radiate!!!!

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Now playing: The White Stripes - My Doorbell
via FoxyTunes    Hey Girls!
How many of you would love some beautiful portraits of yourself?
Would you like your make-up done just the way you want it?  You all radiate, let us capture that for you. Here is your opportunity!
My friend and Make-up artist expert Katy and I realize that most moms do not have any beautiful portraits of themselves. We want to extend an offer of discounted make-up and
photography to other women just in time for Mother's Day.
Here is what you get if you sign up for Saturday, April 26, 2008:

-1 hour of specialized make-up
-1 hour of indoor and outdoor photography (bring magazine pages to
show us if you want a specific look)
-Appetizers
-drinks
-a few hours of kid-free girl time

Remember, these are not family portraits...they are especially for you.

If you want, forward this email to your husband and he can purchase it
as a Mother's Day Gift for you. You can also purchase one for your
mom or sister as a gift. This is also a great way to get those beautiful belly shots done!

The cost of this is $150. This is a $100 savings.
Spots are very limited and filling up fast, so sign up soon.

Did I mention that you get the entire CD?????

You can contact me at 210-394-2320 or
info@...

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Now playing: The White Stripes - My Doorbell
via FoxyTunes   

Ahhhh..young love

This week my parents came to visit while the kids had spring break. Later in the week my brother and his girlfriend surprised me with their arrival. My brother lives in Michigan, so even though we talk often, I have not physically seen him in about 2 years!!!! As a surprise, my father bought them tickets and did not tell me. My parents arrived here on Friday afternoon, and my dad told me that on Saturday night he had to go to meet an old Air Force buddy at the airport who had a  long layover here. They were going to meet up and talk about old times. My dad left for the airport around 9:30 pm and I was tired so I went to bed.  At about 10:30, my mom woke me from a dead sleep and told me that there was someone to meet me at the door.  I was totally confused...who was here for me at 10:30 at night?????? My dad's friend, my neighbor...whoooo???
I walked out to the living room and saw my brother's girlfriend Lexie sitting at the table.  My mind knew it was Lexie, but I was still half asleep and very very confused.  I just stared at her for abut 3 minutes with what they said was a perplexed look on my face.  I was thinking 'Lexie is at my kitchen table...that is not possible, Lexie lives in Michigan...why is she here without my brother....huh? ' I never even saw my brother and he was standing right next to me!!!! Then I stared at him. Speechless.....still.  I am never speechless, so you know I was really shocked.
It was so great to spend time with them again. We did the whole San Antonio tour, had lots of dinners out, and nights filled with Wii.
I couldn't resist and had to do a huge photo session with them, so I have to share their pictures for Love Thursday at Shutter Sisters. They have plans of getting married when she is done with school...can't wait until they have some beautiful babies.

And just because I 'm still his 'big' sister, here is one showing the faces he usually makes in his photos.

Hiatus

I am not posting any photos today.  My parents, my brother, and his girlfriend  my future sister are here visiting , so I am taking a blog hiatus for a few days. I just finished a 10 mile trail run this morning.  The 10 miles wasn't the tough part, but running on a trail is a challenge. It was full of rocks, tree roots, hills uuuuuuuupppppp and dooooown, some cliff type area, narrow passages, and a steep hill I had to pretty much slide down on my bottom to get to the bottom of.  Would I do it again?????? Hell Yeah!

Howdy Monday!

Hope everyone remembered to change their clocks this weekend.  I don't know about you, but I think this time-change thing is a pain in the butt! It's like we all walk around with jet lag for a few days, but we didn't even get to go anywhere...then there's the sleep issue with my littlest one.  He is tired tired tired by 7:15 ( he is an early riser), but does not want to go to bed because the sun is still up....note to self "purchase black-out curtains". Anyway, I realized I have not blogged in almost a week.  I have been really domestic this week.  For some reason I had the urge to clean like crazy, bake muffins, and make 2 different lasagnas. Oh...and I ran a total of 16 miles (8, 5, and 3), so I guess I cooking so much because I was hungry from running.  I guess I was taking a little break from the laptop and getting back in touch with my domestic side.  It was a nice break, but now my little fingers are itching to get my hands on a camera and a keyboard.
So this weekend I was getting more practice with my WACOM Intuos Pen Tablet.  It is a learning curve for me.  I am trying really hard to master it and am pretty good with small jobs, but this weekend I tried to use it with my lasso tool and colorize some fruit....WHEW!!!!!  Maybe it's too late at night when I try it after the kids go to bed, but I was having a hard time with it. The area I was colorizing was large, so I was having a hard time.  Maybe someday I will get this one where I can actually 'draw' on the display...I better book a lot more sessions before I can afford that.
The reason I was trying to colorize fruit is because I am making some art to hang in my kitchen.  I took pictures of each of my kids holding a piece of fruit. Well, the baby couldn't resist and ate his, but I shot the picture anyway.  I changed each picture to b&w and colorized only the fruit.  I am thinking that I want to make each one into a canvas or perhaps a 10x10 print to frame and hang in my kitchen.  I am still going back between canvas or print, but I will let you know and post pictures when I have them hung in my kitchen. I am really trying to think of ways to incorporate photos in my decor besides just the typical family photos.
So...whaddaya think for these?????? Framed prints or canvas?  Anyone have any helpful hints on using my pen tablet?

I love how you can tell the difference between rough little boy hands, dainty pretty girl hands, and chubby baby hands in these photos.  I love hands...hmmmm...maybe I will do a study of hands and take pictures of a gazillion hands...sounds fun to me!

Squishy Love Obsession

Yesterday was my girls day out with some friends and my opportunity to visit with my new squishy love obsession. When you read what we did you will probably think to yourself "What kind of girl's day out is that??????" , but as Kellie says "We'd be happy to go out and just silently stare at a wall"!  I am sure all you other mamas out there can relate.  Kellie, Lexi, and I started out with a 7 mile trail run at Mcallister Park.  I had never run a trail run before, but Kellie and I are training for the 10 Mile Prickly Pear run, so we thought we'd better get experience on a trail. It was AWESOME!  I love trail running and think I may have just found a new hobby.
Afterwards we took our reeking sweaty selves to the new smoothie shop in The Legacy shopping center (near Sharkey"s) called Smoothies 2.  It is a terrific place to refuel after a workout.  Lots of fresh fruits and lots of supplements to chose from like immunity boost, protein, and fiber. I even take the kids there and they love it too.

We cleaned ourselves up and sought out a place to have dinner....but before that I saw the  beckoning glow of  Petland . As always, like with any pet store, shelter, or guy on the side of the road with a box full of puppies; it was calling my name!  "Stephanie....you MUST come play with the new animals!"  It is sort of a hobby for me to just sit and cuddle the new puppies. It doesn't stop at puppies.  When I was teaching in a small town in Arizona, I allowed one of my students to bring in a Pygmy Goat for a day, another child brought her horse for show and tell, and then we raised baby chickens in for about a week.
Anyway...now that I have gotten waaaay off track...here is a picture a dog I have been obsessing over for the last few years.  We played with his squishy cutie softeness  and took this picture with my camera phone.  For the short time he was visiting with us, we named him Winston.  I didn't buy him, but next year my friend Shelle is breeding hers and I will have my little chubby bundle of love.

It was soooo hard for me to give him back, but I have to wait a couple of years...plus I can't see paying $4000 for a puppy...I could get a horse or two for that price!

Our girls day out wasn't all nerdy running and puppy fun.  We ended with a yummy dinner with sangria and wine at Carino's. Yummy!

This image also reflects my Best Shot  (taken by my friend Kellie with my phone)...it is supposed to be a self-portrait or reflection of something about you.  This shot reminds me that now matter how many hobbies, interests, loves that I find in my life, inside of me still lives a little girl who loves to bring home furry little critters.

What?

Wow....I just realized that today is March 1st.  A few days ago February 26th passed by our family without notice.  All month I dreaded February 26th because it was the 3 year anniversary of Caleb's cancer diagnosis...but it passed and we didn't give it a thought!!!!!  That is a huge milestone!  Each day the clouds continue to part and the sun continues to shine brighter on us.  There was a time when it felt like we could never think about anything but "the cancer", but now there are whole days when it doesn't cross my mind at all!  It doesn't hurt any less, but it just hurts less often.
Here is analogy from my brave friend Jessica's blog.  Jessica is wise and strong and sweet.

"The circle analogy"
Draw a circle. This circle is your life.
Draw a slightly smaller circle inside of the first circle.
It's okay if the edges touch in some places. This circle is your grief.

Now you can see that your grief almost totally fills your life.
There isn't room for anything else. Your life and your grief are one.

Now draw another circle the same size as your grief circle.
This circle is still your grief.
Draw a larger circle around it. This is your life in the future.
Your grief is still there, still the same size, but now there is space around it for other aspects of your life. As time goes on, the circle of your life grows and includes many other things, but your grief remains. It doesn't
go away. It doesn't get smaller. But now there is room for other things and you are not always focused on the grief. You can laugh at a joke, go to a party, get a new job, maybe have living children, but your circle of grief is still there.
I think we are now in that future circle...the grief is still there, but has been surrounded by so many many WONDERFUL things.  It is a terrific feeling to wake up one day and realize that you went an entire day without thinking about that grief.