A Few of My Favorite Things: Hi!

So I decided to be a good blogger and actually post something this week....haha!
Maybe someday I will be a good blogger, but I wouldn't hold your breath! :) Too many other things to do............
at least it seems like there are a lot of other things to do.
Do you ever have those days were you know you don't just sit around doing nothing all day, and yet at the end of the day it seems like you haven't accomplished anything? I've had a string of days like that lately. I love spending time reading books and playing games with the kiddos, but then sometimes at the end of the day when there is nothing obviously finished or improved I get frustrated and feel like I have been lazy. But then on the other hand, I really don't want to spend so much time cleaning, etc. that I miss the time with my kids and I KNOW that I am accomplishing things by spending time with them....in fact I am accomplishing the most important things. But still, sometimes it is hard at the end of the day when you don't see immediate results...and the laundry is still piled high!
My endless dilemma, it seems...probably the same dilemma most moms face! :)

Anyway, here is a layout that I created a while back. The pictures were taken by my father-in-law in 2009 for our Christmas card. I love these pictures!
For this layout I used the "For the Record" collection kit from Echo Park. I also attempted a little misting with the red ink....I think I need to practice that one some more!

I have also been venturing a bit further into the photography world lately....meaning I finally took took the D-90 off the automatic settings and learned to use it in manual mode!!! I know, it only took two years, right?! :) But I am loving the results and I feel like I am really creating good photos now, not just getting them by default because I have a good camera. My poor father-in-law had tried to explain it to me several times, but I wasn't getting how to use my camera to get the results I wanted. Then a couple weeks ago I found this digital book called "Say No To Auto!" by Kristen Duke. I bought it, downloaded it, printed it and within a half hour had the basics figured out - -amazing!

I wanted to learn how to use the manual settings because a girl in my ward, Jackie, had asked me to take some senior pictures for her. She has been very patient and endured nearly five hours total in front of my camera (I took nearly 1,000 pics), but we have got some photos that I am really pleased with....hopefully she is, too! :) She is a beautiful girl, so really, my job was easy!