My Crazy Life

We've moved!

2009-02-26T07:10:00.001-06:00

In case you haven't heard, I have a new blog for Homegrown Memories Photography & Design. So if you haven't checked it out...what are you waiting for? Visit us at www.homegrown-photo.blogspot.com

This blog will not receive anymore updates.

...Hello...is this thing on?...

2009-01-08T06:57:00.003-06:00

I think I hear crickets. Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2009 has been good to you so far. I just wanted to stop in to say STAY TUNED....things are brewing behind the scenes! Get ready for a new look and new website by the end of the month. Take care!

...New Year's Eve...Eve?...

2008-12-30T12:08:00.005-06:00

Hey everyone! Was Santa good to all of you? I hope no one ended up with a lump of coal in their stockings this year. Me and my family had a nice Christmas together and this was certainly a fun year with Addyson. She really enjoyed everything about the holiday. From the lights, to Santa, to opening presents, she was in awe of it all!

This was a very crafty Christmas for me. Since getting Photoshop earlier this year, I have really been trying to learn all the different things I can do with it besides just editing pictures. Thanks to the help of all the awesome members of Two Peas In a Bucket scrapbooking forum I was able to make some really personalized gifts this year. Here's a look at them:

My husband's family really loved them and my most favorite comment was from Brad's niece...."This is my favorite present this year!"

I did one for my mom too...

And this is a non-picture one, but I think it looked great once it was framed.

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!

...Santa is coming to town!

2008-12-24T09:16:00.007-06:00

I hope you've all been good boys and girls this year! Are you ready for the jolly fat man to come down the chimney tonight? My daughter is super excited...although we don't have a chimney for Santa to come down...I guess he'll just have to use the back door! LOL

I can't believe Christmas is almost here. It just seems like yesterday I was talking about all these things I was going to do to be "prepared" for Christmas this year. You know, so I wouldn't be running around at the last minute like a crazy person....well, I'm the crazy person AGAIN this year...that's how I roll LOL

Anyway, I wanted to post some pictures from my last portfolio building session for 2008. I was excited to do this pictures for a dear friend and her family. I decided to go to Kleb Woods Nature Preserve. They have a section that has an old farmhouse and shed with old tractors and stuff. Her boys are into tractors, so I figured if nothing else, it would amuse them while we tried to get some pictures.

This is an example of one of the neat tractors in the shed out there

My friend's sister and her new family came out too, here's a peek at their new bundle of joy

This picture was going to be a gift to their parents...I think it's pretty good for the amount of kiddos in the mix ...LOL

I want to wish everyone out there a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!

....Party of Five....

2008-12-22T08:55:00.006-06:00

In the early part of this month, I had a photo shoot with a really cute family of 5. Little did I know, the smallest family member would be such a challenge. This little girl did not like to smile...for the camera. She would smile in between shoots when the camera was out of sight, but as soon as the camera started to creep up to my eye, the smile was gone in a flash. Either way, this little girl is a doll - see for yourself!

More pictures to come of my last photo shoot for 2008... For now though...if you aren't done with Christmas shopping, you better get out there...we're only 3 days away!

.....Newlyweds......

2008-12-18T07:06:00.007-06:00

I had the pleasure of taking some photos for my cousin and her new hubby a few weeks ago. They were so much fun and made me laugh hysterically! Thanks T&R for the opportunity!

The session was at Rock Creek, what a pretty place. Thanks Jenn for letting me know about it!

This was a new angle for me ...literally...

...I need to play catch up...

2008-12-17T15:54:00.007-06:00

It's been so hectic since the holidays have rolled around that I've been slacking off on posting the portfolio building sessions that I had over the last few weeks. I took photos of this next family the weekend after Thanksgiving...and bless their hearts the weather was so cold and the wind was horrific....but thankfully, the results were still beautiful...

Stay tuned for more postings later....

....Cookies for Santa........

2008-12-15T22:46:00.006-06:00

Christmas and baking cookies seem to go hand in hand with me and my family during the holidays. This past weekend, I got to share the fun of baking cookies with Addyson. We went to my mom's house since she has a lot more elbow room in her kitchen than mine. We ended up having a cookie baking marathon and I'm still trying to recover. The bulk of the cookies were baked on Saturday, but Addyson fell asleep before we were ready to decorate the cut-out cookies. So, I saved some dough so that we could bake cookies on Sunday. She had a blast...and she was a really good helper. She had the important job of sprinkling the cookies after they had icing on them. She also like licking the sprinkle shaker.... Please be advised, these cookies were not distributed to others outside of our home LOL

If you've never looked at the Pioneer Woman website/blog...run, don't walk to the nearest computer and check her out...these next couple of shots are Pioneer Woman-esque cooking shots... (I love her!)

Addyson is getting excited about the first batch of cookies coming out of the oven...

Addyson loves her some M&M's...so she was super excited to decorate with them...

My sprinkle assistant trys out her first cut-out cookie

Please feel sorry for me...I have to clean up this mess!

This is what happens when you've taste-tested WAY too many sprinkles!

...Go ELF Yourself...it's Fun!

2008-12-10T16:04:00.003-06:00

This is the second year I have Elf'd my family and I love it so much...it's the only time I can actually see myself skinny!! Check it out: http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/GkR53zQtyMy0qe94z0V0
FYI - I just saw a snowflake outside my office window in the Galleria... so it's making it's way from Cypress!

...a family...a turkey...and chaos

2008-12-04T12:36:00.005-06:00

That about summed up my Thanksgiving. Well, let me explain. Trying to be a good citizen, I thought it would be neat to have a big family picture of my husband's family and since we would all be together on Thanksgiving..what better opportunity..right? Well...I never knew what an ordeal it would be to get everyone to participate. I won't go into all the particulars, but the end result was great and I'm happy that I was able to get everyone together for this and I'm glad that we got everyone to smile...well most everyone :)

This shot was fun for all the cousins. I thought I would give the hay bales a whirl..after all, they were just sitting there doing nothing...the hay bales, that is, not the cousins. LOL

Shhh..don't tell anyone, but I want to be like Martha Stewart or Paula Deen I baked this apple pie and it was good - no one got sick! LOL...I love to cook/bake and I'm a closet Food TV addict :)

...trying to get caught up

2008-12-04T12:29:00.006-06:00

Hey everyone,

It's been a while since my last post...so I'll try to get back up to speed. I wanted to post the pictures from session a couple of weeks ago with a cute couple and their sweet baby girl. These were taken at Meyer Park in the Champions/Spring area:

....dogs and couples and kids...oh my! (Part 2)

2008-11-26T07:43:00.003-06:00

Sunday was just as action packed as Saturday and the weather was almost exactly the same...sunny and beautiful in the morning and cloudy (drizzly) in the afternoon...

If you haven't checked out Vintage Park Houston yet, run - don't walk ...it's FABULOUS! LOL I had the great pleasure to take photos for dear friends Kakes and Parrot....they were good sports and we had a blast!

Vintage Park was SO neat...on every corner, it has charming landscape with beautiful flowers and gorgeous water features...

My last session from Sunday was a couple with their 5 month old daughter...I will post pictures later today...I'm almost done processing....phew...what a weekend! Thanks everyone for all your help!

....dogs and kids and couples...oh my! (Part 1)

2008-11-26T07:27:00.004-06:00

This past weekend my portfolio building sessions were jam packed. I had 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. Both had subjects that I wasn't used to shooting. The first was Saturday morning with a couple and their 2 dogs. The dogs were adorable, but they had the attention span of a gnat!

But with much coaxing, we were finally able to get everyone looking in the same direction - well, sort of ....

With a bunch of howling from the car, we got to sneak a couple pics without the hounds...these subject were much more focused :)

Later that day, I had a session with a mom and her daughter...who was too cute! She was almost 3 and already sassy!

Both sessions were done in Fairfield and if you can tell...the morning session was really bright, but about 3pm, the clouds started rolling in. Regardless, I was still able to get some great pics of these little ladies..

...down on the farm

2008-11-21T08:45:00.004-06:00

This past Sunday, I had a wonderful opportunity to take pictures of a really cute couple. They wanted pictures at their family's pasture...and WOW, what a great backdrop. Thanks K & M for a really fun day!

This is a pose I'd seen before, and figured I'd give it a shot!

...Going to the chapel - Part 2

2008-11-19T07:35:00.004-06:00

Processing these wedding photos is taking longer than I had intended. Addyson's birthday party was this past weekend and consumed most of my time last week. But never fear - I'm working diligently to finish all editing so the happy couple can enjoy all their pictures!

The happy couple:

The bride's flowers were gorgeous!

The flower girl

The Groom

What a lucky guy - surrounded by pretty girls!

...to be continued....next up - booty shaking!

....Going to the chapel

2008-11-12T07:30:00.004-06:00

This past Saturday I had the great honor of taking pictures to document the wedding day of dear friends. This post will be part one of many. I am in the processing stage and I have a couple hundred to sort through. After shooting this wedding, I've come to the realization that wedding shoots make me WAY too nervous. Here are a couple of shots of the gorgeous bride as she was preparing to walk down the aisle...

I wish I would have thought to wear these at my wedding!

Family...

2008-11-07T14:29:00.005-06:00

I recently added a new lens to my arsenal and couldn't be happier. It's a 50mm f/1.8 and I love it. This past Sunday I had a family shoot and I was so pleased with the way the pictures turned out. It also helps to have that awesome late afternoon sun...

Trick or Treat.....Meow!

2008-11-05T21:14:00.007-06:00

This year Addyson really got to enjoy Halloween and actually kept her costume on for longer than 5 minutes. I actually had to pry it off of her...she enjoyed being a Pretty Kitty. I haven't had time to process this shots and therefore they're pretty snap-shotty... LOL

She loved the hot pink boa trim...

She had fun on the big girl swing at a friend's house...she couldn't keep her kitty ears on though:

She had so much fun swinging like this - but I was freaking out because I thought she would fall backwards...poor girl is a little clutz...she gets that from her daddy! :)

Got Jeep....Will Crawl....

2008-11-04T07:13:00.015-06:00

Wow, it's been a while since my last post and so many things have happened...so I'm going to try feverishly to get back up to date. Rewind back to the weekend of October 26th, Brad and I took a trip with the Cypress Offroad (COR) jeep club to do a little rock climbing at Katemcy Rocks in Katemcy, TX.

We've been members of COR for 4 years now and the outings are always fun, but they include primitive camping. Now, I don't mind the camping so much, but I hate cooking and cleaning in a primitive manner....and the lack of indoor plumbing doesn't really blow my skirt up either. But, I was a good wife and allowed this trip to happen (on our ANNIVERSARY, I might add) and we had a great time. The part of Texas that we traveled through was something I'd never seen before and it was absolutely gorgeous. Being stuck in Cypress all my life, I never would have known that other parts of the state had hills, cactus and what....low humidity? What's that? Katemcy Rocks was by far the most awesome place we'd been to for wheeling...just take a look:

On the way to the first trail

This is why I like to take pictures from the OUTSIDE of the jeep!

Brad's brother Brian has been working on his rock crawling buggy for a year now and finally got to take it out to play...

Look at the buggy flex

Our own little Texas Stonehenge

This trip allowed me a great backdrop to try out different things with my camera...check out my sunflare!

It's not the Aggie bonfire, but it sure looks neat...

Oh yeah, and I wonder if Brian is still there holding up that rock??!?!

...more infant session....

2008-10-22T07:45:00.005-05:00

I just finished editing all the pictures from the infant session. I'm getting better with Photoshop, but still feel like I have so much to learn. I was pretty pleased at the post processing result on these photos. Hopefully the proud parents are even more pleased :)

This was using a black/white layer and the eraser feature to expose the color layer beneath

This is the vignette feature that I just found earlier this week....

This is straight out of the camera, it could have been post processed, but I liked it the way it was

This is one of my favorites - I used the vignette and the black/white layer

My first infant session

2008-10-20T22:52:00.007-05:00

This Sunday I was fortunate enough to have the chance to take some pictures of a friend's new baby who is only 3 weeks old. He was cute as a button sporting his very 1st Halloween costume...

Diva....In Training

2008-10-20T22:47:00.003-05:00

Addyson has always had an obsession for shoes. I'm not quite sure when it started, but I fear that I will have a serious problem on my hands when she hits junior high. When I say obsession, I mean it to the full extent. She will do whatever it takes to try on a shoe, no matter if it's mine, her dad's or a child in daycare. If the shoe is not on your foot...she's trying to put it on. Recently I bought her some cheap dress up shoes from the dollar store. She now clops around the house AND outside like a little diva...

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown....

2008-10-20T22:31:00.005-05:00

This past weekend I took Addyson to check out the neat pumpkin patch that is setup every year at a local church. All the kids have a great time sorting through all the different types of pumpkins. This year Addyson loves the pumpkins, but is still in love with corn...

...Country Way of Life

2008-10-13T10:33:00.011-05:00

My husband's parents live out in the country and everytime we go to visit I want to take pictures of the pastures and cows. This time I finally quit talking about it and just did it. This is one of the many old and worn barns that you see scattered along the highways, each with their own character and story to tell. I played around with the pictures and tried different filters in photoshop. I was pretty happy with the results:

This is a small little church located on a gravel road down the road from my inlaws. The post processing I did reminds me of a photo that would have belonged to my grandma...

And this was my favorite picture of all...this longhorn must be used to the site of camera's because he posed for me like a pro. This is straight out of the camera:

...Antique Weekend

2008-10-13T10:17:00.004-05:00

Beginning the first weekend of October, vendors from across the country converge on pastures along country roads in Warrenton, Round Top and Fayetteville to offer up their best crafts, collectibles, junk and more! We usually try to make it out to see what kind "treasures" we can stumble across. I made sure to take my camera this time and found a pretty disturbing sight....I'll call this Valley of the Dolls...

You definitely see some odd things out there and this was by far, the weirdest. It was a see of doll heads...I'm sure someone appreciated them...I appreciated the odd picture.

Getting my feet wet with Photoshop Elements 6.0

2008-09-30T09:18:00.006-05:00

I love all the projects that can be created with Photoshop Elements, however, I don't get the opportunity to work wtih it as much as I would like to. Here's my first try at a baby announcement. I know the blue color doesn't really go with a "girl" announcement, but I was just screwing around with it. If I could really get the hang of this I would never have to buy a card or invitation again! lol

Little Miss Sassafrass...

2008-09-19T15:16:00.012-05:00

I haven't posted any updated pictures of lil tooty lately and I figured now is as good a time as any....I am pleased with these pictures and I figure I'm finally figuring out how to work my camera! LOL

Good riddance Ike!

2008-09-19T15:16:00.004-05:00

Ike sure did take me by surprise, and I'm sure the majority of the Gulf Coast area. Luckily, we were not impacted too heavily by Ike's destruction. We lost a tree and had lots of limbs in the yard, and we were only out of power for about 16 hrs. My mom and step dad just got power back on Wednesday evening, so we were their refuge of choice for showers, A/C, TV and meals up until then. Of course, we were glad to help and very thankful that we did not have to suffer like so many of the others out there still without power and who have lost so much.

I'm so upset that I didn't get more pictures, but I did get camera happy Friday before the storm, taking pictures of our house in the event that we did get damange. Can y'all believe the sky ...it was so freaky looking....

Ike.....is that you?

2008-09-11T07:40:00.002-05:00

So - are you ready for the hurricane? I'm probably not the only one, but I kind of like the excitement of an impending storm. Is that sick? Maybe it's because I know its a cause for schools to close and companies to shut down. Because I like not having to come to work...I secretly wish for it; it makes me happy. So I just finished watching the live press conference of Mayor White and Judge Emmett and they just let everyone know that unless you are in a field of work that is required for storm conditions, i.e. police, fire, or transportation, you should not be at work...you should be preparing for this huge storm that looks bigger than Texas! But...I'm at work and I'm none of those. I don't really consider my job as a paper pusher necessary to help with a storm. Granted, if the storm hit my building, my papers would be all over Houston. So, why the hell is my company open? I'm keeping my fingers crossed and watching for the email that says we're closing. Until then, I will watch the news. Stay safe everyone, tie down your patio furniture and bring in the toys....oh yeah, and go clean out the shelves at your local grocery store and wait in line for an hour for gas...it's good for you and good for the economy! :)

New banner....finally

2008-09-03T07:08:00.002-05:00

A couple of weeks ago Jenn gave me the link on how to do these banners with "polaroid" looking prints. I finally had a chance to sit in front of the computer and do this. I didn't follow the instructions exactly, but I still got the same effect and I'm really pleased with it. So thank you Jenn for sharing and thank you Jordan Krogman for making the tutorial!

...are we that distracted these days?

2008-08-15T08:35:00.002-05:00

I'm overwhelmed with emotions right now....anger, confusion and sadness. If you haven't already heard on the news, another 3 year old in the past 24 hours has died from being locked in a hot car. The most recent tragedy happened just minutes from my house at the North Cypress Medical Center. Here's the link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5944506.html
The mothers in both cases claimed they forgot to take their children to daycare and they were left in the parent's vehicle all day long. With the latest incident, the child was able to free himself from the carseat and tried to put the key in the ignition - but it wasn't soon enough. I'm so mad at these parents, what can be so distracting that you don't remember that your child is in the car!! When I heard about it this morning, I hugged Tooty and vowed to her that I would NEVER forget about her being in my car. I don't know about any of you with kids, but I have conversations with my kid when we're on the road and I'm constantly keeping an eye on her in the rearview mirror...I just don't understand. But maybe these kids are better off being safe in heaven, where they aren't being neglected because of ...distractions.....

...here comes the bride

2008-08-13T07:14:00.015-05:00

This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to take wedding pictures for a cute couple that was a friend of a friend. This couple had no great expectations, they weren't even going to have a photographer, but since I needed practice, I offered to do it for free. The ceremony was on the beach in Galveston and it was so freaking hot. At the last minute the hubs and Tooty decided they wanted to come along. At first I was pissed because I didn't want any distractions, but in the end I'm glad I had a driver...I was exhausted to say the least after this was all said and done. The ceremony was supposed to start at 10:30 and I don't think the bride showed up until a little while after that...so it was steaming, but I was doing good, but my anxiety was creeping up. Earlier on the drive up there, Brad of course, had to freak me out. "I think you need to just take the pictures on dummy mode, what if you have the wrong settings and mess up their wedding pictures, you can't re-do this"....thanks dude, I'm glad you have so much faith in my photo ninja skills! So with that rattling around in the back of my mind, I started taking more and more pictures in "dummy mode". As the ceremony started I was all setup with my tripod and my 75-300mm lens so that I could take pictures without being up close and personal with them. I really really regret this! I should have just left my 18-55mm lens on and got "up close and personal with them". I have so many shots where their backs were cut out of the picture or I was having to walk backwards and hope I wasn't tripping over something so that I could fit everything in the picture because I was so close up. So I'm in this dilemma and of course can't change lenses mid-ceremony, so I had to just stick it out until it was over.
So I continued to take pictures and I was drenched with sweat...my eyes were burning because my sweat was getting in my eyes - it was not pretty. The bride and groom were both hot as heck and they really just wanted to get the pictures over with.

So by the end of the day, I was feeling queasy and thought I was going to barf...and I had a wonderful black mark on my eyelid...it looked like a makeup session gone wrong...all that squinting from having my eye on the viewfinder really did a number on me. Note to self: wear waterproof mascara next time, or don't wear any eye makeup at all - not cute! I finished up and threw all my gear in the truck and told Brad - "I don't think I want to do weddings after all....I can't stand the pressure!" It was lots of pressure and I was on the verge of an anxiety attack, however, after I cooled off, and wiped the makeup disaster from my face (baby wipes are a lifesaver!) I realized that IF had I been more experienced as a photographer and had more opportunities working with the couple, things wouldn't have been so bad. I also realized that if I do decide to pursue this many years from now :) I will definitely have to have a partner - there's just no way to catch everything, the little things, the things that are special with just one person.

...love is in the air

2008-08-01T07:59:00.005-05:00

This past Sunday I had the privilege to take some engagement pictures for some friends of Brad and I. When I was talking to the bride to be about taking their pictures, she said "I don't need 50 pictures, just a couple good ones" and my response was, "I may have to take 50 pictures to get just a couple good ones!" and I was right! I know it was the bright sun that screwed me all up, but it seems like I forgot everything I was supposed to do with my settings. At the time, there were several things I could have done to make the exposure come out better, but it didn't click for me until later that night - after the fact. Oh well, if I can at least come away from each experience learning my lesson, I will be able to take better pictures each time. I feel self-conscious when people have to wait on me to get my setting right. I guess I need to just get over it and just take my time.

Here are some examples:

Summer Fun

2008-07-31T07:59:00.006-05:00

A couple weeks ago Addyson went to her first "pool" party. Now, the water entertainment at the party wasn't a "pool", but an inflatable water slide. Addyson and some other kids were too little so they had fun with sprinklers and the kiddie pool. Addyson enjoyed watching the other kids going down the slide and getting splashed...and so did Mommy - it was hot as Haitis that day!

Initially, she was afraid we were going to dunk her in...

Then we couldn't pry her away

This was a little more her speed

Funny girl!

....A sigh of relief

2008-07-22T19:07:00.006-05:00

Monday after work I was determined to try my new camera ninja skills, so me and the fam loaded up and ventured to the new community in Cypress, Bridgeland. This place is awesome for pictures! They have lakes, trails, a waterfall, a park with old oak trees and lots of bridges and benches and gourgeous flowers. We got there as the sun was starting to set so I was able to try out some of the silhouette tricks we had learned the other day...here's my shot at it:

Here's one trying to use the rule of thirds....or something like that :)

Here's one of Addyson:

Hello....anyone there?

2008-07-20T21:47:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know it's been 3 months since my last post here...I've been super busy and can hardly find the time to update this thing. I'm happy to announce that I finally took my first photography class this past Saturday. It was offered by Leisure Learning and I totally recommend it to anyone who thinks they're reading Japanese when people talk about aperture and depth of field. The teacher is Kathy Adams Clark and she was a wonderful teacher. I already have a couple more of classes in mind that I want to take. So...I was all excited Saturday and thought - I'm a pro now, I know how to make my way around the Manual Mode...yeah right! Today, me, Brad and Tooty set out to take some pictures. To my horror, my pictures SUCKED! I was so upset..I even went out and bought a tripod. Just a few minutes ago though, I noticed that I had my camera's white balance on Tungsten the entire time...I'm hoping that was why all my pictures were way overexposed....if not, I have a lot more learning to do. Well, I know I have a lot more learning, but you know what I mean. Anyway, I hope to stay active with this blog as I want to post my pictures as I progress with my photography. Hopefully as time passes all these settings will come a lot easier to me - and I can learn to be happy with my pictures.

Proud Mommy

2008-05-06T15:26:00.000-05:00

This weekend was beautiful and we spent most of our days outside. I had a little bit of time to play with my camera and of course took some shots of my favorite subject!

Texas Pickin' Park

2008-04-22T22:02:00.000-05:00

This past weekend me, Brad and Addyson went to the 1st Annual Bluegrass Festival in Fayetteville, TX. Brad has picked up playing the guitar the past few months and has been waiting on pins and needles for this festival to come around. Basically it's a weekend full of live bands as well as folks with their stringed instrument of choice coming together for a "jam session". I thought to myself at first that this was going to be pretty lame and I was just going to support my hubby's new addiction. However, I actually found it to be pretty fun and I might try my hand at an instrument before next year's festival comes around. Brad suggested the washboard...I'm not sold on that idea just yet. Anyway, we always go to Fayetteville for dinner when we're in town visiting Brad's parents. But this time I was able to walk around town and get some cool pictures.

This is a picture of the clock on top of the original court house on the square in Fayetteville.

This is outside of what used to be an old movie theater...Brad's parents actually went there when they were dating - now it is someone's residence

Brad enjoying his first "jammin" session

More pickin and grinnin

I need a hobby

2008-04-16T07:56:00.000-05:00

Well, Brad decided that I needed to get a hobby (so I would quit bitchin about him always buying things for his 50 hobbies) and suggested that I go buy a camera that I've been talking about for the past 2 years. Since Addyson has been born I've been totally disgusted with my regular cameras for the simple fact that by the time I click the button to take the picture, she has already moved! Plus I've been talking about taking some photography classes...so here I am. Best Buy had a deal the other weekend for a Canon Rebel XT that came with the 75-300mm zoom lens. I'm still trying to figure out how it works, but I'm definitely loving the fast shutter speed!

Here's a couple of samples:

I'm back!

2008-03-26T15:45:00.000-05:00

I know, it's been a month since my last post...but life is always so hectic - especially now with my new job. Before I had a pretty brainless job and had time to waste - but not anymore!

Here's a recent picture of Addyson - my cute little alien taking a bath. It's amazing how a child who can't even speak a full sentence can already roll her eyes and have an attitude. If this is a glimpse at what's to come, I should be afraid - very afraid!

Thoughts of another baby have been trickling through my mind this week...I'm thinking it's a good time to start trying again. The only thing that has me scared is daycare. It's a fortune and I'm not sure if we could swing 2. I guess if things are meant to be, they will work themselves out.

Back to work!

Isn't she sweet??

2008-02-22T06:49:00.000-06:00

This past weekend was not very pleasant for me and Brad OR Addyson. She was cutting her first molars...poor baby. Towards the end of the weekend she was feeling better and I was able to catch this picture.

Finally got my promotion!

2008-02-18T07:47:00.001-06:00

I've been at Apache Corp for almost 8 years and I finally got the job I've been working so hard for. As of Friday afternoon I am officially a Division Order Analyst I. Yeah, what the hell is that, you're probably thinking. Basically when new wells are drilled I figure what percentage of royalties each owner gets and I setup the information so that expenses on the well are paid. I'm also responsible for ownership maintenance such as deceased owners, mergers, acquisition/divestiture, etc. It's kind of a paper pushing job, but the industry is a good place to be right now. Hopefully I'll like it :)

Last day of school!!

2008-02-11T08:06:00.001-06:00

I didn't think this day would ever come. As of today, I a officially hold a Bachelors of Science degree in Business Management. I guess it goes to show, you can teach an old dog new tricks! At the beginning of this journey I always said I just wanted to finish my bachelors...but now, I'm starting to consider getting my masters. We'll see what this year brings

Blogging Virgin

2008-02-01T12:02:00.001-06:00

I never thought I would have a blog - for a long time I didn't know what the heck a blog was, so here it goes. I'm here to document the events in my life since the years are flying by even faster these days raising a little one. Hopefully the events won't be too boring for you, and I will promise to post as often as possible. So sit down, buckle up and hold on for the ride!