TaKe ThE TiMe To GeT tHe ShOt... tHeN tAkE SoMe MoRe TiMe To StAy WiTh iT... PeNnY De LoS sAnToS

Presence...

How do you know where you are supposed to be at any given time?

For me this choice has been simplified to a great degree.  My life has gone through a major transformation.  You'll know this if you've been following me.

But really, given all of the choices I once had I am not sure I would be able to be present enough in this moment to really appreciate all of the things that I am able to witness.  The slower pace at which I am able to experience it and the appreciation for the things that others take for granted. 

I am far from a scholar.  I am by no means an academic.  I'd like to say I am a learner.  I have always been a learner.  I love to glean information.  I also like to disseminate it.

I enjoy having a purpose, I am full of passion, and these things have stayed with me throughout my experiences.

The last few days I have been fortunate to participate in a FREE online course.  I take in everything I can that is free as I really have no income source that can be spent on such things in an easy manner.  The course was a photography class on cooking photography.

During my limited movement days when everyday was spent in bed on major pain medication I would watch PBS and the cooking shows.  I learned to cook.  I'd of course been given a rudimentary start in cooking with my mother, who tried as she might, finally gave up any hope of turning me into a domestic creature.

I was the kid who used salt instead of sugar.  I was distractable and would always be trying to squirm my way out of the house.  But now I can cook if I've got the energy.  Lord knows I can eat, and I thoroughly enjoy amazing food.

Back to what I experienced over these last days.  It started out like any other class.  I wasn't able to watch the entire beginning but I caught what I could.  I liked the teacher, Penny De Los Santos.  She seemed real to me, grounded and open and willing to share.  Like so many of the CreativeLIVE teachers.

Her rhythm was different.  Unobtrusive calm, formidable, but easy going I found what she said to be deliberate, but with a casual intensity.  She knows who she is, and when someone knows who they are they don't have to pretend, they are authentic, vulnerable and yet the words they say have more depth.

I think that most of the teachers that I have experienced in this forum have brought that.  I really like that.  They are right there with you getting into it, experiencing it, and feeling it while they teach it.  These classes are not necessarily pen and paper classes.  Parts are.  But for the most part they bring you into the experience.

Even from where I sit in bed, in my bedroom with my service dog Luka by my side watching the birds outside my window, my environment fades away and I am in Seattle.

Watching a food photography class really did make me hungry.  I was right there getting a steam bath as they took off the burlap which covered the oysters before they were shucked.

I don't know that I will ever go into kitchens to shoot food.  I think that may be something dangerous for me to do.  But I have come away with the continuing thought of bringing people to experience moments.  Opening people up to new experiences and really making them feel as if they are a part of a moment when they see one of my pictures. 

I am going to continue to work on this continue to grow and develop my eye and my skills.

I am grateful for the continued opportunity to learn from the best for free.  I am amazed by their courage, their skills, and their willingness to put it all out there.

Will I ever be the greatest photographer?  Take the greatest photos?  I don't know..
What I do hope to do is... I hope to share the message of where I am at, who I am with and what I have gone through.   To invite people into places they would never receive an invitation to and to allow them to witness another type of experience from a picture that I have taken.  Even if it is one of themselves, I would hope that through what I am learning to do that I would allow someone to see themselves in a brighter light.

There is hope there is a place for us all and we each matter.

Thank you Penny De Los Santos, the entire CreativeLIVE team, and my husband Jason who I annoy with the amount of learning that I continue to involve him with.  =)

Support CreativeLIVE so folks like me can continue to watch it for free!  

Blessings,
Pink Doberman

Penny's Blog,  CreativeLIVE's Site,  The Class.

NoT tOo BaD!

Happy April 1st!  No Jokes here... I am not good at those, they always seem to back fire or really irritate someone..  So just the normal happy it is SpRiNG thing!!

So excited about Spring!  Have I mentioned that yet?  Really excited!  I mean REALLY!  I am watching 4 rabbits running through the alley of the block next to ours.  They are out having fun, playing hopscotch, the birds are eating out of our bird feeder that just yesterday I placed outside my window!  We ave red birds, blue birds, black birds, brown birds.. so many birds.  I have the windows open and am listening to them all chatter!  It is so wonderful!  Not to mention the beautiful sunshine that we have been having and the warm lovely weather!  Oh MY!  This girl is so much happier! 

I slept all morning, another migraine.. with a whole pile of medication to get rid of it.. by two I was able to be up and around a bit, so I continued to work on getting the house in shape a bit! After yet another night of not sleeping I've had a really good day!  I've even gone out and gotten the mail!  Woo Hoo! 

The eggs I thought were going to be delivered to day never came.. UGGG... because I also have managed to get the potatoes baked, and the squash baked as well..   So this will mean no eggs for Luka this batch..  as the eggs need to go in with the hot potatoes.  What do they say about the best laid plans??  Just gotta smile..

I didn't get any gardening stuff done today, my neck is still pretty sore from being up so much yesterday.  So after being up for a while I am back to resting..  I suppose that will do.. The interesting things outside are keeping me company and driving Luka nuts..

Luka is laying here frustrated because all of the other dogs in the neighborhood start barking at things every once in a while..  He'd love to get outside and join them.  Sadly for him that is not what I am up for today.  I had planned to sit outside.. I kind of did, by opening up the windows I could get the best of it with out getting more tired!  I had a good day!  I am glad! 

I just love this picture!  Jason does such a nice job!  He took Luka out to play and got some great pictures of him too! 

While I am thrilled the snow is gone!  I do love some of the pictures that Jason took this past winter.  I truly think it was the thing that made the winter survivable for me! 

Well, for now Tchau! 
Pink Doberman

AdVeNtUrEs oF jAsOn..

Jason has been busy taking some more pictures!  Of which I am so glad.  I have not been feeling up to scooting around with him.

But I am sure enjoying what he is bringing home!!

I really like cows, I used to have one as a pet.  She was a Hereford Cow (Red and White) I named her Cracker.  ( I was young and didn't understand the negative connotations..) My father preferred I change the name but I was stubborn and he wouldn't explain why.. so she kept her lovely name.  I think I had a hand full of saltines at the time! =) 

Jason was out late last year. He found this deer!  He was so excited!  I think it is a great shot!
He had to be very quiet... but the deer saw him anyway and ran away!!

This picture I actually had a part in taking!  This squirrel and another frequent the tree's outside our home.  One of these tree's is just outside our bedroom window!  Jason was so good to come quickly when I called grabbing the camera that he is learning to keep handy and ready to shoot.

I am often sitting in bed, especially these days.. I still have yet to go to the Specialist Dr.  to see what he thinks.  So when I am up and about more and with my head/neck unsupported.. the pain increases.  I just had a bout of several days of that.  I was taking lots of pain medication.  But for me that was better than laying down away from everyone else..  So while I was in bed most of the day and all night, I was up in the late afternoon and evening after being in bed medicated all day.  I was medicated in the evenings of course too.. grr.

But I did have a good time.  I even managed to make corn beef and cabbage for St. Patties Day, and a meal of Chinese Style food, Chow Mein, Beef and Vegies, and Fried Rice.  That was fun!  Won't go in to more detail but a good time was had by all.

Luka has been sticking to my side very well.  He has been helping me on the stairs these days.  Mostly he is laying by my side as I am pretty boring, even though the weather is finally nice.  It is so nice to look out the window and see blue sunny skies!  I am glad he is here with me.  

This squirrel is a joy to watch as it leaps from tree to tree.  I am glad Jason got this shot!   He/She is hard to catch.. so fast!  The birds have been fun to watch too, there is a cardinal and a dove outside my window at times as well!  Not to mention the Robin's!!

My grandmother used to paint pictures of the birds outside her window.  Now I understand why she did.  It sure brought her joy.  Maybe I will try and paint in here too...  (that is sure to drive Jason batty.. I should ask his permission first I suppose.. =)! )

He got some others I will share with you later!   Thanks Jason for taking these great pictures!  Be sure to let him know what you think of his shots! 

Blessings!

Pink Doberman

a LiTtLe rElaXaTiOn

Certainly winter is beautiful.  I will give it that!


Playing in the snow also has its benefits.  Snow Angels, tunnels, sled ramps, and Snow Men~

I don't do those things any more.  I did do a Snow Angel most recently I must say I am not coordinated enough to really do them right any more.. I mostly muck them up before I can get out of them.  But the joy is in the doing of it. 

On our drives to where Jason teaches.. he will stop and take some pictures.  Even while he is at home he will take off in the mornings or whenever really to see if he can't find some shots. 

These two were taken of the Loup River.  It is a beautiful area!

Driving down the road I get the feeling .....

I loved to drive.  It was my time to be on my own and to gather my thoughts.  I am learning to do this in different ways these days. 

What are the ways that you destress and self gather?

Service dogs need down time too.  Time to run and time to play.  Time to be a dog.  Just like people need time away from their jobs, their kids, etc..

Luka is no different.  Mostly at home he is a dog.  I have pretty well arranged my life to do things on my own here at home.  Of course there is the occasional need for him to be present near me.  Like when I get stuck in the middle of the living room floor.. I could drag myself to the couch.. but that is not the best for me either. 

So I can just give him a holler and he'll come over to help.  It is pretty slick!  He sticks close by me for the most part anyway.  Especially if I am not feeling well.  He is constantly sticking his nose up at me.  I've started blowing his direction as well.  He's checking for something that tells him that I am going to get a migraine. 

When he lets me know I am going to get sick he has a pattern that he performs to tell me that I need to take my medication.  He gets rewarded with a treat!  At least sometimes.  It is good for him to do it just for praise.  The treats occasionally really help keep him motivated as well!

So this is one of the things that Luka does to have fun!  He loves to chase balls!

Aren't his shoes the best!!  I think so!  Here's the link.. I don't get anything but the satisfaction that more dogs have happy feet for sharing this with you.. Just like most things on my site! 

Blessings,
Pink Doberman

By the way, I've been doing better.  I have my pain medication and I am up and around more!  Which is good because the house really needed some help! 

HoMe hEaRt iS

Home is where the heart is. 

Jason is home again.  Which is so nice.  He is sleeping now and since I've been a night owl, I am typing.  I think when I go to sleep he will soon wake up.  Which works out fine anyway.  He's got plans to go out and snap some more pictures! 

I am happy for that.  I know he didn't take many shots on his teaching trip.  So this will give me more to look at tomorrow.  I have really been craving something new to look at.  We have bunches of pictures, lots of decent ones and many good ones.  We also have lots of bad ones.. so I think I am going to work on deleting those!  Get them out of our files. 

I also need to get some pictures printed.  I have to get those chosen as well.  I am really hoping that tomorrow will be a nice day and I can get outside for a bit and sit in my chair.  My medication should be available as well.  So that might solve a few of my issues.  Fingers crossed! 

While my life has come to a slow down, others I know have had their lives put on the fast track.  They are busy multi-tasking and doing this interesting thing and that.  I am glad that they are.  My head lately has been slow.  Slow at even imagining.  I don't know if the depression is getting worse or what. 

Yeah, I realize I am depressed.  I have been down this road.  You could say I am an expert.  I will beat it.  I sure could use some warm weather and sunshine to make it easier.  Come on Spring!  Lets turn this country GREEN! 

I need to get our taxes sorted for our CPA also.  Yikes.  That is going to take a clear head.  I have hopes of doing that.  I have gathered everything, I did that in Feb... I am going to start running out of time. 

I also would like to do some baking.  A friend posted a gluten free recipe on her blog. 

Another friend would be fun to have over to eat the gluten free recipe with!  She could probably use it too.  She's going through a rough transition.  Brain Surgery.  Can you even imagine what that must be like.  Anyhoo.. she had a seizure this week her first week out from surgery.  We are worried for her as you can imagine. 

At the same time we are also quite frustrated.  I am not in any condition to go off galavanting to see her.  Hopefully I will get something worked out with that.  It would be perfect to go hang out with her.  I am not sure if she is buzzing around her house or sitting quietly.. but either would be fun.  Her hubby could probably use someone to talk with also. 

Since Jason is practically an expert in dealing with lifestyle change..  Both guys are so similar it is frightening!  It would be something that they may both enjoy as well.  Who knows, we will just have to see what happens.

I did look outside today.  Last week or sometime anyway, I had taken a picture of a robin.  A big big fat robin.  Full of eggs.  Today I glanced out the window to see skinny robin's out and about.  So I wonder if the eggs are all laid?  

I am quite proud of this picture!  Jason was even surprised!  I must say that I am even more proud because I changed the camera's settings to get the lighting right.  Jason had shown me how one day.. Well, I hadn't paid that good of attention to how he got to the screen..  So I just started pushing buttons.. 

I am sure he would have been mortified and terrified that I was going to wreck something.. But hey, the camera is virtually a computer right??  The main thing is not to drop it!  And I had that puppy hooked on so it was not going anywhere! 

I shot my first bird!  (BIG GRIN)

I really can't wait to see more birds.  My grandmother used to paint them all of the time.  Maybe that is what I will try to do as well.  She liked using acrillic paint.  But I think I am more of a watercolor girl.  I have been wanting to try out the oil thing... so who knows. 

I also want to make a braided rug.  I am guessing I will need help with this stitching the whole thing up because it will get quite heavy.  But we really need a rug for our living room and I think I could make a pretty great one!  I have it all in my mind.

I thankfully have not had a migraine the past day or so!  I am super thrilled about that!  The last one I had was a doozy with all of the other issues I was having.  Luka caught it, so while it did get worse than they have been we did get it caught soon enough for the meds here at home to take care of it.  Thankfully!  I really hate going to the ER. 

I might give the urgent care thing a try sometime.  But I need to find out more about that.  I have a feeling they'd just throw their hands up in the air with me.  Placate me and I still would have no relief. 

Hopefully that issue is mute anyway.  I plan on only going to the hospital as a visitor, not as a patient. 

Since I have not been moving around much, my neck is doing better!  No moving no causing unhappy nerves!  But my rear end and the back of my head are going to need a vacation.  They are so unhappy!  Way to much sitting in similar positions! 

I am looking forward to dying some Easter Eggs.  I can't wait to share pictures!  They are going to be glorious!  I even have friends coming to dye them with me!  I don't know what I will do with them, but I just thought they would be fun to make.  It is a workshop with a teacher and everything!  I am so excited! 

The last one of these I could not attend.  So I am better prepared this time.  Jason is going to be home and can run Luka and I out to the class!  Even if I feel crummy I will go and watch!  That way I can do it later on my own! 

I think the way we will be doing the eggs will be similar to using water color as well.  Not the same but similar.  It looks interesting to me anyway.  I can't wait to share pictures! 

Life is a gift, be sure to open yours!
Blessings,

Pink Doberman

OuTiNg PaRt tWo

Luka and I showing off one of the new dobie puppies at the Doberman Showing.  See his new boots!!  Muttluks!!  They worked perfect!

I don’t think I will be wearing this outfit again.  Not having a long mirror to see how I look I really made some interesting choices with this outfit!  I did stay warm!!  That is really all that mattered! 

Two pairs of tights, long socks Fuggs skirt 2 shirts and a red blazer = nice and toasty girl!  Just a little funny looking. 

It ended up being a good day yesterday.  I sure felt my outing this morning.  I was pretty achy, but other than that I felt good. 

Unfortunately by afternoon my neck started acting up so my day has been uneventful. 

I was going to write more.  I did have more to say, but I can’t remember at all.  Lately I have been drawing some blanks.  I miss my Physical Therapy and Massage Therapy!  I am going backward instead of forward again. 

Bad thing is that it is a new year.  You have to pay a whole new batch of deductibles in the new year.  We don’t have the money.  Ozzie’s bills and my dental bills as well as my fading lifeline to the world, my computer (the screen is going bad). 

I will get a massage on Monday!  I am grateful for that.  It doesn’t go through insurance.  Oh boy oh boy! 

One thing at a time.  Since most day’s since I have stopped going to therapy I have gotten worse and worse and worse.  Well I will be finding a way to make it all up so I can get back on track getting more strength back. 

Sorry Jason, I guess that means you get to start being a regular chauffer again soon.  Welcome to boredom and getting nothing else done…..

 

The latest mortifying thing for Jason was having a friend A.K.  come in and use the bathroom while picking something up.  Our house is horrible.  The worst it has ever been, probably not, but the worst it has ever been when someone else saw it.   While I wasn’t mortified, I wasn’t thrilled, of course I am  happy to have people in no matter what our house looks like. 

We are not where we live, how clean our house is, how wealthy or poor, or what we drive or don’t.  We are people who are just doing the best we can do in this thing called life! 

And of course A.K. didn’t care, she wouldn’t ever care about that.  We have really good friends! 

I keep thinking I will get to clean it.  I get something done, but then get to tired, and the next thing you know it looks as if I haven’t done a thing. 

Jason does some things too but he has also got a lot on his plate.  So I guess if you plan on stopping by, bring your cleaning clothes!  Ha Ha!  Just kidding!  

 

Here are some more pictures that Jason has taken! 

What a beautiful boy!  So distinguished!  I really like these pictures!  He’ll take pictures of your family and pets too!

You can’t beat his prices!!

Well good night for now!  Tomorrow is always a better day!

Keeping Haiti in my mind!  BTW Just found where we will be donating!  Lutheran World Relief.  Thrivent will give matching donations!  I think for every one dollar we give they donate two!  You can even text your donations in! 

Blessings,

Pink Doberman

HaRd DaY & HiS cLaSs…

Depressing… so skip the top part if you don’t want to read.. It gets better below….

Today, I must have struggled.  Some days are harder than others.  I guess things cycle.  I get tired and my plans seem to go down the drain.  I wish that wasn’t the case. 

Procrastination can really kick in on those days too.  By the time I am actually having some energy or the pain has dissipated… I am so mentally miserable having thought of all I haven’t accomplished that I must force myself to follow through and do what is needed.  I hate this part. 

I know that everything in life does not revolve around fun.  I am not delusional.  I just wish that some things weren’t so hard.  Staying happy being one of them.  Staying focused on what needs done in the order that it needs done.  Many times I am thinking clearly enough to do the worst first.  Other times, like today the fog set in and life seems to go in a hodge podge of orders. 

Clearly not the type of day anyone wants to have.  I wish these days would go away.  When will it stop?  I wonder. 

I some days it seems impossible to push through, but I do.  I do not know how I do.  I always have really worked hard to do things my best. 

Days like this.  It seems a miracle that what ever I did got done.  It might be only the basics. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~ So in writing this last night I must have been getting the beginning of my weather induced pain issues..

I ended up sleeping most of the day.  The medication is finally helping.  It is now getting dark grrr.  I’ve had lots to do that I didn’t get done.  I still can’t really function which is why I chose to write again. 

I did manage to get the packages I needed to send out.  All but two of them anyway.  Jason will take the rest of them tomorrow. 

I am glad Jason just kept busy doing his thing today, he got some new long johns!  He received a recommendation to go to here to get them!  He loves that place anyway.  I was awake when he got home with them.  He had a smile on his face.  We had looked for them at the store where I got my socks.  The store was very picked over, and they were completely out of Insulating Pants.  Bummer!. ..  He’s been getting pretty cold at work these days.

He has one pair of them from before, I think he’s had these the entire time we’ve been married.  I’d had mine that long too.  They last forever!  Yea! 

The one’s that he ended up getting he put on right away!  I never knew but the one’s he’s had our entire marriage, ended at his calves.  These slid on effortlessly, and were soft and feel like a second skin like my Cuddle Duds. 

He was excited!!!  The best part from his perspective besides the feel of them was the fact they were actually long enough to cover his legs!  Woot!  Thank goodness for friends!  We’ve been hooked up again! 

That is one of the reason’s I have decided to start sharing about my favorite things!  We are benefiting from others sharing things that really work for them. 

Now the down side of the purchase they were more than double the price at the other store.  Upside. They should last a long time and he will be really happy with them.  He may need to get another pair eventually, but we’ve got some other things he needs as well on our list so laundry will have to be done regularly.  Nothing wrong with that! 

Tonight he is attending a class to learn to better utilize his camera!  It is an investment for him.  He is learning the basics.  He’s read the book or parts of it at least.  I enrolled him in a class to learn the first steps to using his camera.  I have a feeling the class may bore him a bit. 

Life experience being what it is, sometimes if you don’t start at the very beginning thinking you could skip that part, then when you move forward to greater experiences, they sometimes do not translate as well.  You feel behind, or you do not get to take advantage of the knowledge being offered as you have missed something very basic along the way.

Besides hands on learning does provide another method for delivering information.  Books may not answer all of your questions or provide you with actual real world learning experiences.  I think it will be helpful for him to ask questions and get answers from experts in the photo industry who are willing to share their skills and knowledge. 

It is good that Jason does have other friends with the same camera or similar ones!  I think this line of camera’s is the most popular with those we know.  We only know one other person who has a different brand.  She of course loves that brand.  Differences are good.  So are similarities.  Both can be learned from and both are respected. 

So maybe he will also be able to help out friends if they have a question after this simple class.  At the very least he will know what someone is talking about when they talk about something that can be done. 

I hope he comes home from this class happy that I registered him for it and happy that he went.  He really didn’t want to go.  I don’t know that it was so much that he wasn’t interested.  I think it was more of the fact he hasn’t really been home in days.  Then that we are expecting more snow, and I haven’t been well and it is colder than our freezers are set for outside.  Well, hopefully it will all be worth it. 

It would be great to have him get back home all charged up about what he learned!  He will have more things to try out, more things he will be wanting to do, and more things that he will be better at. 

He listens well and he will also benefit from the questions that others are asking.  Since the class is being taught at a camera shop well, I am sure he will come away with a list of things that would help him get the pictures he is aching to take.  The question will be whether or not we can afford it.  Ahhh the joys! 

It is good to have dreams!

Right now it makes me happy thinking of him being happy! 

It is now several hours past when I woke up.  It is supper time and I am able to sit up on my own, phew!  I made some food for Luka and will finish writing this before I move on to write some explanations for some art that I have done for a project. 

I had planned to have them mailed out today, but they will have to go out tomorrow.  After I get results back I will share my ideas.  At least the one’s that didn’t get chosen.  That may be all that I did… but I did have fun doing it, so either way it will have been worth it.  I am happy with what I have done.  I hadn’t drawn for about 20 years.  So it was good for me to sit down and do. 

It was fun and I enjoyed coming up with a variety of ideas.  Personally I am impressed with the diversity of styles that I have come up with.  I can’t wait to share them.  I will probably turn some of them or variations of them into digital art if they don’t get used. 

So Jason just called!  He is excited, he shared wow, have I got allot to learn!  He did know some of what was taught but is excited for sure!  He is glad that he went!..  He will be home soon!  That is awesome!  I am so excited for him.  Now I will have to get him enrolled for the intermediate class!  Or the lighting class… Or ..?? there are so many to choose from!  He’s going to be having some fun! 

This series of the same thing is fun!  He’s sure been surprising me when he loads the pictures for me to see. 

He usually goes out while I am still asleep or when I am not feeling well and am out of it.  Sometimes we go together but most of the time it gives him something fun to do on his own.  That is so nice, knowing that he is doing something that he is enjoying, and he is learning and developing his skills!!

 

He has been having some fun experimenting.  Note there is no snow in these pictures… So they were taken a while ago, but he is learning!  I love seeing what he comes up with!  Even if his ideas didn’t work! 

I have even been inspired to try some simple things.  The big blotches of snow were a neat surprise!  He worked so hard that day scooping snow.  I love this picture, it won’t win any awards for sure, but I do love it!  It made me giggle with glee when I saw the little snow dots appear!  How fun, natures confetti! 

TwEnTy TeN!!!

Keeping busy.  The start of Twenty Ten brings hope for me.  I have been working on being more steady.  More regular at what I can do. 

Examining what I am capable of and when.  In my life I have done many things.  More I suppose than almost everyone my age.  The diversity of my background, skills, talents and experience is quite broad.  Having been in 4-H as a child, having grown up on a farm, enrolling in agriculture classes, music classes, and art classes… I definitely have broader interests than most.

At the same time running three businesses of my own, one of them being an international business brought a whole new gamete of possibilities for my future.  I enjoy all that I know, and all that I have done. 

Many things I will never do again, and would aspire to never do them again, such as working cattle, or taking care of livestock in the winter.  Other things I enjoyed for sure.

These days have been spent thinking of where I can go from here.  I am not reliable health wise.  But working around that, there are plenty of things I can do.  But what…

Even when medicated I am able to write, and edit photos or create digital art on the computer.  I haven’t ever been taught any of these things, I have just been making it up as I go.  I guess the more you do of these things, trial and error wise, the more you learn and can eventually do.

Now in my other areas, I can not do math dependably medicated.  I can not drive medicated, or in pain for that matter.  So anything that involves those two things needs to be forgotten about for now. 

So, with Jason taking more and more pictures.  Most of them still of me, although we are getting more and more willing photo victims lined up! 

Jason has already photographed a family of 4 children, and another family of all grown boys.  I think the 4 little children may have been easier than capturing the grumpy grown boys…  MEN.. geesh! 

He also is making a list of others who have mentioned that they want him to do their pictures too!  FANTASTIC!

I can help with the pictures, that is fun for me.  I  used to help with wedding photo’s all of the time with my business.  After the accident I wasn’t reliable enough to do it any longer.  Brides are kind of picky about people not following through..

So this is giving me another avenue of doing what I used to do, but in a different way.  More fulfilling actually, since I get to do it with Jason, and it is developing his skills as a photographer as well as doing something special for others.

Right now he isn’t doing this for a business.  We have quite the interesting set up, it is working but the real stuff would work simpler and better.  He is taking pictures of everyone for FREE!  Yea!  For practice, and hopefully some of these folks will even let their pictures be shown in his portfolio.  It is always good to ask permission, some people are funny about their picture being shown off… and we want them to be happy of course.

Eventually Jason would like to turn this hobby into a business.  How this will work, we aren’t exactly sure, but since I can do most of the things related to this even while medicated it should work well.  And all of our photo victims know what is going on with me health wise and are very understanding which is also wonderful.

So if you’d like to get your picture taken, let us know!  He will take pictures, then I will do some photo art to the pictures, and we will give you a CD that you can take and get pictures printed from to share with your family and friends. 

Yea!  Good experience for us, and hopefully fun for you!

 

So that has been one of the projects we’ve been working on lately.  It is something that I found a long time ago that I was good at.  It is something for Jason and I to actually work together.  I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut and letting him do his thing..  He has a hard time letting me do my thing sometimes too… but he is so much more patient than I am.   Thank goodness!

I will start posting more pictures soon I promise.  I am just not quite ready to yet. 

He has been practicing taking pictures of me.  Most of the time when I am feeling well and ready to “perform” for the camera, sit still and look cute…  I do manage to get quite a few sour expressions as well…   I am getting better at posing too, which I hope will help me set other people up for their poses. 

I will probably share a few of me at lesser moments too, it is only fair to share the whole realistic experience.  I need my Mary Kay, let’s just be clear about that!  With out it and with out my feeling my best I don’t look very fun to take pictures of.  Thank goodness for all of my makeup experience!  It is really coming in handy.

Oh, that is something fun too!  We can do your makeup before you get shot too!  I have yet to do that, or tell anyone about that option.  I have just been wanting to make it through the shoots with Jason.  As he improves setting people up for their pictures, I will do more of the pre stuff.  I get pretty tired doing these things so I definitely have to pace myself so I do not end up in bed for weeks…

Well, that’s what I am excited about these days, well, that and a whole lot more.  I can’t stand being bored.  If I must be “locked” inside our house for the winter, I will at least be doing what I can to stay occupied. 

This is my best winter so far since the accident!  YEA!  I am learning how to live with my new problems.  Hopefully I will keep improving!  Gotta keep working at it that is for sure!

Happy Twenty Ten!  I have some hope again! 

Blessings,

Tonja