Today...

Have seen this on several blogs lately and thought I would document my "TODAY". I may do this again another day as the answers are subject to change.

TODAY
June 29th, 2009

Outside my window... The wind is gently moving through the leaves of the trees as the setting sun creates a beautiful display of shadows and light .

I am thinking... about how I feel behind in every area of my life...blogging...scrapping...catching up with friends...and so on.

I am thankful for... second chances.

From the kitchen... nothing. I had Subway for dinner.

I am wearing... casual work clothes...trouser jeans, a sleeveless top, cool funky necklace...and the piece de resistance...my favorite hooded sweatshirt. What can I say, I'm always cold!

I am creating... layouts for a DT call.

I am going... to take time to relax tonight and watch some mindless TV.

I am reading... Harper's Bazaar Great Style: Best Ways to Update Your Look. I'm a sucker for fashion books! :)

I am hoping... to spend more time with my daughter before she goes back to school...in 6 short weeks! :(

I am hearing... Seinfeld re-runs in the background. And I'm not even a fan. ???

Around the house... it is eerily quiet, despite Seinfeld.

One of my favorite things... TiVo.

A few plans for the rest of the week... work 2 more days then head to the Howard Hilton in Tennessee for a wonderful 4th of July celebration. Taking my recent photography class lessons and assignments to work on and will probably try to {cough, cough}read my camera manual on my mini vacation.

So what does your "today" hold?

A Challenge Layout & A Few Awards

Wow! How is it that another week is flying by? Can you believe June is almost over? More than that, can you believe 2009 is half over??? It is so very true...time really does move at a much faster pace the older you get. I feel like I can hardly keep up. No complaints...life is too full of good times and good "stuff" to ever complain. I just want to be sure I'm taking the time to enjoy all the good stuff! KWIM?

In the past few months, I have been wanting to participate in several of the online challenges that you all have suggested. But the time-moving-faster-than-the-speed-of light thing has kept me from making it happen. I decided to find a challenge partner to provide some accountability. I just knew that would do the trick. My new challenge pal is none other than the awesome Kim Strother! This girl is holding my feet to the fire and I LOVE IT! I asked her to participate in the Forward Progress challenge this month and I suggested one other challenge. Thought we might take it easy the first month and only try our hand at two challenges. At the snap of a finger, she had them BOTH done! So I had to get my rear in gear and try to keep up.

This time I got to choose our challenge. Another dear friend, Jocelyn, made her debut this month as a DT member at Butterfly Crafts. I was so excited for her and I had promised to play along in support of her new position on the team. What would be more appropriate than to let that be our first challenge together.

The current challenge is to scrap a childhood fear. I didn't have to think too hard to come up with the subject of my page, but finding a supporting photo would be tough. I didn't have the time to find and then dig through all my childhood photos. So I decided to create my very first photo-less layout.

(As always, you can click on the photos to make them bigger.)



My biggest fear as a child was a fear of strangers. And I took it to an extreme. Anytime I was spoken to by a stranger, I would burst into tears. Even sweet elderly people at church would speak to me and I would begin weeping. Seems very silly now, but I was totally gripped by fear at the thought of having to speak to someone I didn't know. One would think that sounds like severe shyness, but I wasn't really shy. And knowing me now...you all have to be sending up an "Amen Sista'" cause there ain't no way someone as outspoken as I am could have EVER been shy! LOL! Fortunately, I eventually outgrew it.

I thought I would share a little "behind-the-scenes" info about this layout. The inspiration for it came from a shirt I wore to work yesterday. It had embroidered designs along the hem leading me to want to add stitching to my layout. I also wanted to use a color scheme that mimicked the colors in my blouse. Sticking to a textile-theme, I remembered a rediscovered piece of fabric from my scraproom re-do that I thought would be perfect. The salmon colored fabric has a suede type texture. I thought it went well with some papers from a past Studio Calico kit.




I chose to stitch my little birdie in the lower left hand corner and I stitched an arrow design on the right hand side. After adding a little zig-zag design to the corner of fabric, I decided I had accomplished my goal.



One point to note: The green leaf pattern is actually a piece of shelf/contact paper. It has a spongy texture to it and I thought it was way cool...until...I had to stitch through it! That little birdie was a bugger to stitch when I couldn't tell where my pre-punched holes were. LOL! They kept closing up on me!

Now I just have to share Kim's layout with you.



I LOVE the photo and the title she chose. With her journaling, she discusses her family's avoidance of Halloween and how she was frightened as a young girl by someone wearing a mask on Halloween night and how she still fights that fear today. I am touched by the honesty and openness of her words. There are also embossed spiders under the spider web but they aren't really showing in this photo. Kim did a great job of using them to support her Halloween theme.

If anyone wants to play along with this challenge and give Jocelyn a show of support, I believe this one will be up until the first. Then a new challenge will be posted.

Before I go, I want to mention a few awards I received. Jen, Lynette and Shazza passed this lovely award to me.



Thank you girls for the sweet honor of this award. As I've been known to do of late, I want to share it with anyone who leaves a comment today. Post it on your blog and know that you are appreciated beyond words.

That's it for today! I have been battling Blogger through this entire post and quite frankly, I'm worn out! LOL! Off to bed!

Nite-nite!
L.

Scraproom Re-Do

WARNING: EXTREMELY pic heavy!!!

Thought I would share the fruits of my labor over the past few days. Before we dive in, I want to issue a disclaimer. Lighting in this room is great in some areas, not so much in others. Forgive the picture quality please. Also, I am awaiting a new paint job from my super-painter boy, Keith! LOL! New color...soft robin's egg blue. That was the color I was going for here, but when I originally purchased the paint either I, or the guy behind the paint counter at Home Depot, was smokin' somethin'. This color isn't even close to the one I thought I selected. But it was late, I was determined to get the walls painted and I just went with it. I've lived with the color for over 3 years and it bugs the poo-poo out of me. Mostly because it isn't the one I originally wanted. Funny how the little things can get under your skin. OK, I think that is enough about all that, wanna see my new room?

My room was originally our guest room. Of course, all our family lived near by when I was married and we never needed the extra bedroom. Ironically, we divorced and given that the guest room furniture was antiques from my ex-hubby's grandmother, he took it with him. I converted the room to my space and now all my family lives out of town. Haha! Fortunately, I still have enough room to house them should they want to visit so it isn't really a problem. I just evict one of the kiddos from their room and send them to the basement sofa! LOL!

This is the view from the doorway. As you can see, I have my desk in the middle of the floor and a computer work station/embellishment drawers along the wall behind. I have my man to thank for putting this unit together for me. He was so willing to help me and he put these together on the Sunday we returned from the beach. Had he not been so generous, I would still be in construction mode.

This is the wall across from my desk. The book case holds all my idea books and inspiration journals. You can see the paper rack between the windows. What you can't see is the door to the right of the bookcase. It leads to Keri's bathroom, which proves to be convenient. LOL!



This wall is directly across from the wall of windows. The binders on the top left shelf hold rub-ons, stickers, alpha and thickers, as well as articles I'm collecting on photography, etc. The others shelves hold albums and craft boxes with various kit club goodies. I love the paper shelves for all my cardstock. The top portion is all Bazzill while the bottom holds cardstock from other manufacturers. The drawers hold chipboard, flowers and miscellaneous bulky embellishments. The top of my storage unit holds Making Memories jars with my button collection and the larger jars will hold my ribbon. I'm still debating throwing all my ribbon in these jars. As of now, they are in photo boxes, sorted by color. Maybe you guys could give me your suggestions on this subject.



A closer look at my bookcase by my comfy chair.



The following pictures show the smaller drawers that are part of the computer station behind my desk. It is a perfect solution for my smaller embellishments. What I LOVE about these drawers is that they are easily removable and I can take them to my desk to sort through all the goodies inside. This is my favorite drawer...the BLING drawer.



A drawer with journaling cards and labels:



Clips, pins and hardware are in another drawer. The smaller Making Memories embellishment jars fit perfectly in these drawers.



For obvious reasons, I decided not to show the contents of all the drawers. But I would be happy to share a list if anyone is interested. You may remember my "Master Plan" for my re-do. It involved mapping out what each drawer would hold. I even sketched it all out. Yeah, I'm a little over the top when it comes to planning. But it works for me. :)

This is the door to the walk-in closet. I felt it was the perfect place to "store" my punches. I think this is going to be one of my most favorite things about this make-over. I used to have them in a drawer and it was always such a pain to dig through to find the one I wanted. Now, it's easy pickin's. I have a feeling I will be using my punches so much more.



One wall in the closet has 3 shelves. The bottom shelf holds various tools (Bind-It-All, Cuttlebug, sewing machine, Xyron, etc.). Boxes on the middle shelf hold additional albums both large and mini just waiting to be used. The top shelf is rather high and I store supplies that are rarely needed along with totes that I use when I attend crops. Below these shelves are remnants of the wire unit that was previously used in my room to hold boxes of embellishments. Now it holds my ribbon boxes (may change) and mini storage drawer units. There really isn't alot in these little drawers right now, but that probably won't last! LOL!



The wall across from this one is what I call my stamping wall. I am certain I have exceeded the legal limit for number of stamps allowed by any one person! LOL! All of these drawers hold my wood-mounted rubber stamps along with foam stamp sets and acrylic blocks for my unmounted sets. I have another nifty little system for my un-mounted acrylic stamps. I didn't photograph the third set of drawers to the left of these two. These drawers hold additional adhesives, rarely used small tools, and other miscellaneous items.



These two shelves are above the stamp drawers. Here I have all other stamping necessities...inks, markers, embossing powders, etc. See the three binders on the right? They hold my acrylic stamps. Anyone interested in the super cool way I get tons of stamps in these binders, just let me know. I'll be happy to share.



Before moving on, I have to share one embarrassing point. I am not really a stamper. I KNOW! What is wrong with me? I'm a wanna be stamper, but I don't even know how to make use of all these "things"! LOL! This is what happens when you are a craftoholic (Maggi) and want to try everything! LOL!

Finally, I wanted to share a few of my favorite little "spots". I love my mini album basket. All the little albums I've created (that I haven't given away) are in this basket between my desk and my paper rack. I love sorting through them from time to time.



I absolutely love this chair. I have owned this chair since 1986. My mom gave it to me for Christmas the first year I had my own home. I had a slipcover made for it and I can often be found all curled up in this chair flipping through magazines & idea books.



And the very last pic for today, is of my "treasures" on my desk...a yummy smell-good candle, a pic of my honey and of course, a stash of chocolate!



Hope you have enjoyed visiting my humble little space. And if you ever find yourself in Asheville, NC, be sure to look me up. I would love to have you spend a day with me crafting away in my little hide-away!

xoxo
L.

Did You Know I'm A Craftoholic?

Yep! It's official...I am a craftoholic!



The marvelous Maggi has been doing interviews of some of us bloggers who share a passion for crafting. Today, I am the lucky interviewee! (Is that a word?) If you do not know Maggi, I cannot stress enough how much you need to pay her a visit. She is one cool chick with a super sense of humor and a love for all things crafty!

I have so much to share this week. Father's Day pics. Pics of my re-vamped scrap space. A layout I've completed. Pics from the beach. Man am I behind in posting my lastest happenings! AND my photography class starts TODAY! I am going to be a busy little bee. Stay tuned if you are interested in any of the above. Just my crazy little world, but there usually seems to be some comedy woven in along the way. What can I say, I'm a nut case! LOL!

Looking forward to reading about everyone's weekend! In the mean time, try to have yourself a fantastic Monday! OK? OK!

{hugs}
L.

Finally!!!

I thought Friday would NEVER get here. Coming back from vacation was not so bad. The week started well. Things were caught up at work...I slaved before leaving to have things covered and was rewarded with a light work week. No Mr. Bossman here on Monday...always a good thing. Tuesday, he returned, in a very crabby mood I might add. But I still managed to weather the day nicely. I kept thinking vacation had been just what I needed to tap back into my love for my job. Then came Wednesday. And the hours crept by. Thursday, I felt the minute hand was glued down and time stood still. Long, insufferable 8 hour work day! But it is now Friday and I am counting down the minutes until the glorious weekend begins! How about you guys? Looking forward to a couple days of down time?

My weekend plans include alot of home projects. I started a complete re-do of my scraproom on Sunday. To say a tornado hit that room is an understatement. But I'm a fast worker and I've done my prep work. I had mapped out a plan for where I wanted everything to go so I'm almost finished. In fact, all that is left is the random things I forgot about when creating my master plan. But everything should be in its new home soon. All I will lack is my new paint job that Keith has promised. Next time he's here I'm sure he will take care of that for me. Isn't he just the sweetest? Also hoping to get in some scrapping time. I have missed it so badly!

I was blessed with a few awards over the last few days. First of all, Stacy passed along this lovely award.

Take some time to stop by and tell her hi. She is a super talented scrapper who I feel sure would love to hear from you.

Next, Jocelyn passed on 2 awards. Of course, most of you know my dear friend, Jocelyn. I think we run in the same "blog" circle! LOL! If you don't know Ms. J., be sure to drop in on her. She has a cool, happenin' blog with some fun scrapping eye candy thrown in for your viewing pleasure. The first award happens to be the same one Stacy shared and here is the second one.



You guys know the drill as well as I do. I'm suppose to pass these on to a few other lucky ladies. I cannot ever seem to narrow it down. Will you think I'm a total flake if I say one more time that I want to offer it up to all of my awesome readers? You are the reason I do this blog "thing". I started by wanting to create a personal diary but it has exploded into this wonderful new group of friends. You are all THE most amazing, supportive people I have ever "met"! I just love you all!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend full of sunshine and smiles!

P.S. Thanks for all the compliments on my new blog design! I'm so in {heart} with it!

P.P.S. The concert was a blast! Not my first Keith Urban concert, but it was the first one for my Keith. I knew we were in for a good time and he seemed to have a blast.

Got to share one little funny: Being that most of us have probably made this mistake I feel I have to share. Ever left your clothes in the washer too long and realized, a little too late, that they've soured? I walked into our hotel room and was immediately hit with that totally recognizable odor. I thought it was something in the room. It was so overpowering, I feared we would have to change rooms. But it was something to worry about after the concert because we didn't have time to deal with it before. Once at the arena, I realized the "smell" had followed us. Thinking it was Keith's shirt, he went against his...ahem..."tight wad" ways and bought a T-shirt because he was embarrassed that it might be him. Uh, didn't do the trick. Long story short, we sat through the entire concert wondering what in the world it could be. I even went so far as to wonder if he had "picked it up" in the room. Yeah, I was reaching. As the concert came to an end, I bent over to pick up my water bottle and I was assaulted by the obnoxious fumes. It was his jeans! Needless to say, he learned a thing or two about laundry that night! LOL!

Guess What?

Tonight I will be listening to:



... the amazing Keith Urban and Sugarland! Keith (my Keith, not lucky enough to be meeting THE Keith...lol) and I are meeting somewhere in the middle, a 2 hour drive for him/1 hour drive for me, to hear some awesome music! Can't WAIT!

Bet You Thought I Forgot...

but I didn't! The winner of my stash give away is....(drum roll please)...Amy Muffoletto! Now, Ms. Amy, please send me your address cause I got a whole lot of goodies comin' your way!

It's Forward Progress Time

I'm back from vacation all rested and relaxed. Things didn't go exactly as planned but it was a wonderful vacation. I wasn't looking forward to going back to work, but it is certainly easier after having time to rejuvenate! I have a few photos and a story to share but I have had an exhausting weekend. I will be sure to update you later in the week.

I wanted to let you know this month's prompt is up at Forward Progress. This one was easy for me. It is about reaching a goal or making steps toward reaching a goal. A few posts back I mentioned my dream of being a better photographer. I felt it only fitting to do a layout about one step I'm taking toward realizing that dream. Here is my layout:





The journaling reads:

"On My Way...to realizing a dream. It starts with one step...one.. single..step...and then...and only then...can you take flight! Karen Russell Photography Class June 2009"

Most often the first step toward realizing a goal is the hardest. For me, I kept using my lack of knowledge as an excuse to just stall out. Because I am trying so hard to make 2009 the year I get in touch with my inner wants and wishes, I felt it time to take that first step...taking a photography class. My first attempt left me on the VERY long waiting list. But I persevered and finally got in. Class starts next Monday...and I am beyond excited!!!!!

I hope everyone will take the time to visit Forward Progress and see what the rest of the team has done with this prompt. And if you have the time, please play along with us! I would love to see what you create. More importantly, I would love to know what goals you are working toward achieving.

Much love,
L.

P.S. How 'bout my new blog look? I think it is sooooo happenin'. The wonderful Shaina took charge and VOILA! I have a new look!!!!! If you've been toying with the idea of updating your blog design, I HIGHLY recommend Shaina!

ABC's of Me

A few weeks ago, Carla posted this A-B-C's of Me on her blog. I thought it was a cute way to find out a few random things about her. I decided to post my random answers while I'm away on vacation. You know, lying on the beach, soaking up the sun, reading trashy novels and drooling over my stud-muffin of a man. Jealous? LOL! Hope everyone is having a good week!

(Don't forget to leave a comment on my previous post if you want to participate in the "Give Away My Stash" game.)

A - Age: 44
B - Bed size: Queen
C - Chore you hate: vacuuming
D - Dog's name: Princess (and oh how she thinks she is one!) Then there is Kojak, Mya & Tilly...all my son's dogs!
E - Essential start your day item: Breakfast
F - Favorite color: Lime Green
G - Gold or Silver: Silver girl...always!
H - Height: 5'6"
I - Instruments you play(ed): Piano, keyboard
J - Job title: Accounting Manager...but who am I kidding...glorified bookkeeper
K - Kid(s): Taylor (21) and Keri (19); Future step-girls Ashley (21) and Morgan (10)
L - Living arrangements: Engaged, living 3 states apart
M - Mom's name: Mary
N - Nicknames: Dingle Dorf, Nim Wit, Dufus, Dork...what? That's what I ALWAYS call myself!
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Never
P - Pet Peeve: People breaking line! Gets me sooooo riled up!
Q - Quote from a movie: "You had me at Hello" - Jerry Macguire (sorry Carla...stole that one from you)
R - Right or left handed: Right
S - Siblings: Younger brother, Chris and even younger sister, Carmen. Only 3-1/3 yrs between me and Carmen. I always liked being the big sister, but now that we are all in our 40's, I wouldn't mind if someone else took over.
T - Time you wake up: 5:30 - Workout wake up call!
U- Underwear: shhhhhh...not always, but when I do it's gotta be a thong!
V - Vegetable you dislike: collard greens...if you live in the south, you will disown me!
W - Ways you drink your coffee: Splenda and cream.
X-rays you've had: Does MRI count? Had to check my brain...see if it was all still there. Just kidding. Had to scan for possible causes of severe migraines.
Y - Yummy food you make: Can't remember. I used to be a great cook. I've been living alone so I guess my most recent masterpiece would be Lean Cuisine!
Z - Zoo favorite : Giraffe. Absolutely NO idea why!

It's A Give-Away Game & A Sneak Peek

Hi Guys! Coming to you from the sunny shores of South Carolina! Who ever invented vacation is a genius!!! Now, if someone will create a way for me to laze around more than once a year, life would be ever so good! LOL!

Recently a fun little game has been making the blog rounds. I played along on Jacque's blog and I WON! Woohoo! The way the game works is Jacque forwarded me some things from her personal scrap stash and I in turn will send some goodies from my stash to one of you. The lucky winner will then be responsible for gathering a few things and passing them on to a winner from their blog. Get it?

Here is a peek at the fun things I received from Jacque:



If you want to play along, be sure to leave me a comment expressing your desire to do so. I promise to include some fun things in your little prize package. I will keep this going until I return from vacation and will post the winner the following week (around June 17th).

Before I go, I thought I would give you a little sneak peek of what I created for my first Forward Progress submission. Hope everyone will visit on the 15th for this month's prompt!

Sun, Sand & Something New!

That's right, baby! Sun and sand are in my immediate future! I'm off to the beach for six glorious days! Woohoo! Of course, I have to go through hell and half of Georgia (literally) to get there. LOL! Tomorrow I will make my usual 3 hour commute to Atlanta. Once there, I will help Keith get Morgan ready for her 2 weeks of Camp Windshape. Then the marathon driving begins. On Sunday, we will drive over an hour to drop Morgan at camp and then we head to Myrtle Beach, SC...a short little hop, skip and a jump away. NOT! According to Mapquest, we will be on the road another 7 hours.

Despite all the driving, I'm really looking forward to this trip. If my memory hasn't totally failed me, this will be the first trip I've taken for this many consecutive days without an agenda in many years. No kiddos. No business meetings to attend. No schedule. Ahhhhhhhhh! Six days of doing exactly what I want to do. Well, I guess I will have to consult Keith occasionally, but I can pretty much call the shots if I want to. I have a few nifty little tricks up my sleeve for convincing him he wants to cater to my every whim. I think I've even mastered the art of making him think it's all his idea. LOL! A one word clue as to what my secret is...doughnuts! Ha!

After some fun in the sun, we will make our way back to Atlanta on the following Saturday and I will head back to home sweet home on Sunday. See, I wasn't kidding when I said I was going through hell and half of Georgia! During my zoned-out, sun-baked absence, I plan to keep up with my blog visits and study my camera manual in hopes of being prepared for my class that starts in a couple of weeks. Also on the agenda are daily workouts and I am stoked! Keith and I have a blast working out together, so it should be easy to squeeze in some sweat session in the gym.

Now for some exciting news! I am now an official member of the Forward Progress blog team! Yep, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I got the email from Ellen asking if I would like to join the team. I've followed this blog for a while now and I am totally intrigued with its mission. The point, as I see it, is to use our crafting talents to explore ourselves...who we are...where we are...where we want to be. Because I have been spending this year searching for direction in this new empty-nest phase, I welcome the chance to dig even deeper with the challenges presented here. Of course, the biggest challenge for me will be expressing my feelings in an artistic manner. But I'm giving myself a preliminary challenge to take a deep breath and just enjoy the process. No worrying about creating perfect layouts...just working toward creating a better me. I encourage you to visit this site and participate in the monthly challenges. A new prompt is posted on the 15th of every month. Knowing the other ladies on the team, you will not lack for scrapping inspiration and I believe any opportunity to explore yourself is always good for the soul.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, sun-filled weekend. Until next time...L.

P.S. I can't sign off without expressing my gratitude for the wonderful words of support for my dream of becoming a photographer. And for all the dreams you dream, my wish is that they all come true! xoxo

I Dreamed A Dream

***sigh*** I so wish I had the gift. I have always considered myself pretty good at most things, but never great at anything. The older I've gotten, the more I've learned to appreciate this. Being a jack-of-all-trades isn't all that bad. Gone are the grandiose ideas of being a piano playing genius. I'm content with my modest skills. I no longer hope to have my sketches and paintings hanging in an art gallery. Having them tucked away in my private studio (a special little cabinet in my game room) is more than fine. I know I will never don a gourmet chef's hat, but I can certainly hang with the domestic goddesses of the world. Writing a best-selling novel will never happen. Yet I have my sweet blog friends on which I can dump my blather. And the list goes on.

Of course there are those things I had once aspired to be that I've let go of out of necessity. The dreams of being a country music recording artist, a leading lady on the big screen or a dancing diva on Broadway have been laid to rest. Mostly because I cannot carry a tune in a bucket, my memory sucks, which would hinder my ability to remember all those lines, and I have two left feet! But there is one dream, one gift, I wish like everything I possessed. I wish...want...no, I yearn to be a great photographer. Not one that peddles their photographs. Not one that is publicly recognized. I want to be a photographer that captures life for myself and for those I know and love. I want the skill required to stop time with my photos and document emotions...relationships...feelings. I desire to create photographs with meaning. Does anyone out there know what I mean? I guess it is better put by saying I want to snap photos that have people saying, "awwwww". Even if it is only those directly connected to the subject.

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to photograph a wedding. To give you a little background information, I do not possess the skills I just mentioned. I don't shoot in manual mode. And I've never even taken a photography class. I am enrolled in a class that begins this month, but that wasn't doing me much good on Friday night. To say I was nervous is a MAJOR understatement. But it was for a dear friend. Her son was getting married and they were working within a tight budget so I was asked to help out. And of course I could not dream of saying no. A nervous Nelly I was. But I was excited at the same time. I tried to anticipate every possible problem. Extra camera...check. Additional charged battery...check. Valium...check (just kidding). Back up photographer...check. I convinced my daughter to tag along and snag some shots from different angles. I figured it best to increase my odds of getting a few good shots. I knew this would be an exhausting night and I was right. I began at 4:00 photographing the wedding party as they were getting dressed. And the festivities didn't end until almost 11:00. I. Had. A. BLAST!

I want to share a small sampling of what my little camera captured. And I do mean a small sampling. I took over 1000 photos...1028 to be exact. And that was just with my camera! See, I told you I wanted to increase my odds of snagging some good shots. LOL! Ironically, I think I only deleted 10-15 on my first run through. The others will require more scrutiny to see which ones make the cut. I was pretty pleased with the results. Most importantly, my friend, Pam, had tears in her eyes when she viewed them for the first time. I guess you could say it was a success.

One point to note, the actual ceremony was a bear to photograph. It took place on a deck overlooking a splendid mountain view. But I was required to snap directly into the sun...ughhh! Of course, the lighting was also less than stellar in the rooms where everyone was getting ready, but several of these shots are my favorite for the composition alone. And I'm still researching editing techniques. So please view these with a kind and forgiving eye and try to see the joy in these lovely faces. I honestly can say I've never seen a less stressed and happier couple on their wedding day. (You can click on the photos to enlarge them.)

Pre-ceremony photos:






After the ceremony:








The reception:





So I've bared my soul and shared my dream. And I've even shown you my first attempt at realizing this dream. How about it? What is one of your dreams...one you have already lived or one yet to be realized? I really want to know.

Love, L.

Huh????

When you work with people for a reasonable length of time you become privy to their quirks and idiosyncrasies. Of course I would be referring to my boss.

Have you ever been around someone who has to always correct you, even when you don't need correcting? You might say, "Boy, the grass sure has gotten high." To which you receive the response, "Nooo, it just hasn't been cut lately." 


??????????

Or you might state on MONDAY that you will supply a document TOMORROW only to be scolded because the report is needed TUESDAY.


DOUBLE ???????????

At first it threw me off each and every time. I seemed to always be muttering something like, "Isn't that what I just said?" Occasionally, I even muttered a few ...ahem...obscenities under my breath. Now....I just have myself a chuckle.

Why am I telling you this? My dear employer just spent several minutes bemoaning a one hour phone conversation with a long winded potential customer. Given the possible client supposedly "has more money than god" (per Mr. Boss Man) he felt obligated to hear him out. Especially since we are a luxury service company that bills at an ungodly hourly rate. But this phone call came with a price.

A price to me.

Ranting and raving over losing an hour of his day ensued, with a few "F" bombs thrown in for good measure. Being the dutiful employee that I always try to be, I did what I am paid to do...nodded sympathetically and told him how hard it must have been to be glued to his chair listening to the ramblings of an eccentric millionaire. Then I did the unthinkable. I made a what-I-hoped-was-an-understanding comment.

Me: "I'm so sorry you spent all that time on the phone for what could have been a 15 minute conversation."

Mr. Boss Man: "Nooooo! (Insert eye roll) A TWELVE minute conversation."

Duh! What was I thinking?