Memories, Dreams, & Reflections 2012

I participated in the Memories, Dreams, and Reflections bloggy linkup for 2 years in a row, but it completely slipped my mind this year. I didn't blog much during the fall (first trimester, yuck), so I wasn't seeing the usual reminders from Ashley Sisk!

However, when another blogger/photographer's post about it popped in my newsfeed, I was compelled to do it last minute. So, I spent some time the past few days looking through photos from earlier this year. It felt good to see the progress I've made, and how hard I was working to master new techniques. I would love for my friends and fans to comment on their favorite photos!

1. Me...
and my pretty kitty.
Hubby took this photo in December.



2. I love you
My baby boy.
Hubby took this photo in December.



3. Still laughing
My cat, attacking the snow.
December



4. Winter wonderland
December



5. Birthday
November - my 27th birthday, and my last one wearing my childhood Birthday Star crown.
Starting in 2013, my son will be wearing it!
I can't remember who snapped this one for me, probably hubby.



6. Friends
My twin nieces.
Best friends.
February.



7. I was inspired...
By everyone's pretty holiday bokeh photos!
December.



8. Spring fever
April



9. Travel or Vacation
I couldn't pick just ONE photo from our amazing trip to Dublin, Ireland.
So I made a storyboard.
August



10. Summer days
My cat loves to sit outside on warm summer evenings.
August



11. A day in my life
Watching hubs and Katniss love on each other.
May



12. All smiles
My dad snapped this photo of me and hubs after our gender reveal party in December.
We had just found out that our baby is a BOY!



13. Autumn harvest
October



14. Family or home
December



15. Celebrate
This is the cake from our gender reveal party in December.



16. Let's do it again
Hubs snapped this shot of me with 3 nieces when we went down to TN to visit them.
That aquarium is amazing!
February



17. I miss you
My beautiful goddaughter!
Haven't seen her since July and I don't know when I will get down to TN to see her again.



18. Beautiful
I LOVE purple flowers! Such a beautiful color for a flower.
July



19. Dress up
No better occasion to dress up than a wedding!
My MIL snapped this shot of me with my hubs and one of my besties.
May



20. Macro
May



21. Holidays
December



22. My favorite
My baby girl, my favorite kitty!
December



23. Don't ever change
Hubby... Oh, I love him!
My MIL snapped this for us in September.



24. Just because
The world could use a little more peace.
July



25. Hopes and dreams
“If you could have one wish, what would it be? We all have hopes and dreams that we do almost anything to make real. And if we get lucky, and our wish is granted, maybe that's what we call happiness.” ― Sakura
September

i heart faces Challenge - People's Choice Summer 2011

Click on the button to see more entries!

Texture Tuesday - Summer Sunset

Today's theme for KK's texture challenge is orange. My husband's favorite color. (Side note - It's weird referring to Jon as my husband.) However, rather than photograph one of the 3,498,657 orange objects in our condo, I went for something else. A sunset.

Because that's really unique. [/sarcasm]

Actually, I chose this sunset photo because I had been using it to practice adjusting sliders in ACR, and I liked the glow of the clouds. I used the Hue/Saturation adjustment in pse8 to make the orange tones more vibrant. Click here to see my photo before I added texture.

Here is my end result:

Here are my layers in pse8:

I ended up moving the Hue/Saturation layer up to the top to ensure that the tones of the textures weren't overpowering. I also added a Gaussian Blur to both layers of the warm sun texture.



PS - I am on my cruise right now! This post was scheduled, and I have NO internet access. Will somebody pretty please take a moment to check the list over at Kim Klassen's blog and add my link in? Thank you!

Menu Plan Monday - 7.4.11

Happy 235th birthday to America!


Here is this week's plan:

Monday - BBQ
At my parents' house. I made a big 7-layer salad to bring with us. I also made a smaller one on the side so Jon and I would have it for the week.

Tuesday - hot dogs
I love grilling things in the summer (even though we can't use a REAL grill)!

Wednesday - Chicken quesadillas
Using the leftover grilled chicken from last week.

Thursday - Steak and a veggie
On the fake GF grill.

Friday - leftovers
As usual.




If you want to join in with the weekly menu planning, head over to Org Junkie every Monday!

My little brother is turning 21 soon...

Turning 21, to most people, means they can legally drink, buy scratch-offs, and go gamble at a casino. However, to my family, it's completely different. The last and most precious child is turning 21 in just a few short weeks, and we've been preparing for it for several months now.

One of the steps my parents took is to enroll Matt in the Challenge Division. Since we enrolled him before his birthday and then filled out an age exception form, he can continue to participate for several more years.

Here are some of my favorite photos from Matt's first year on our town's Challenger league:



This has been such amazing opportunity for him. He has made new friends, learned new things, and gained so much independence. I am so glad that he was able to participate this year, and can now stay in the program for several more years, especially because he is aging out of his high school program and will not receive any more services in that aspect.

It's for me to accept that he will not be receiving any more academic support or services, or speech/OT/PT. I am worried that the little academic ability and muscular development he has gained over the past few years, will be lost in just a few short weeks without school to keep him active.

Luckily, my mom heard of a new program in our area that is for people with disabilities and provides services though Medicaid. The program that Matt will participate in is considered "supplemental day habilitation." They do academic workshops, develop their social skills, and also go on "field trips" to practice life skills and independence in society. They go to different malls, restaurants, and shops, the zoo and the aquarium, bowling, and for nature walks. Matt will be able to start over the summer as a transition from his high school program.

Health-wise, Matt is doing fine. Nothing alarming in any of his blood work. Besides this school transition, he is transitioning to a new nephrologist, since his kidney doctor right now is a pediatric nephrologist. (Side note - Blogger thinks nephrologist should be neurologist. I think they need to take an anatomy course.) We are not sure how this will work out in the long run, but we already a doctor lined up, one my mom knows personally. Otherwise, the rest of his doctors will continue to see him.

All of this aside, we continue to thank God each day that Matt is still with us. A 21st birthday is a reason to celebrate, for more than just alcohol or scratch-offs.

The reason is life.



Also... I love making collages using photoscape.

i heart faces Challenge - Smiles

The theme this week for i heart faces is Smiles. I think the best smiles come from little boys. Smiles from little girls are sweet and giggly, but smiles from little boys are fun and playful, and they always seem to brighten up a room.

Last week, I posted a photo of one of my little cousins, one who will be taking part in my wedding. Now I am posting a photo of his little brother, who is also going to be in my wedding.



Look at that mop of golden hair. If you could see this boy's eyes, you would smile yourself, because he looks like a real cherub. And he is just as playful as he looks; he never stops running or jumping or laughing.

Vacation wrap-up

Sadly, our vacation did come to an end. It was 4 weeks ago yesterday that we flew home from Orlando, but it feels like it was 4 months ago. I miss the carefree attitude, the excitement, the consistent weather...

Our flight was mid-afternoon, so we were able to take one last trip along I-drive that morning.



Again, yes, I love JetBlue. No, I didn't get compensated. They don't know me. But I love them anyway.



The first half of our flight was quiet and steady, no bumps or ruts.



However, once we got closer to the Northeast, we hit LOTS of turbulence. Basically, the last hour of the flight was nerve-wracking. You can really see the variance in the clouds in this photo because I desaturated it. That storm there under the wing? It was bad.



Our pilot took us off to the right of the storm to avoid it, but that meant I could see the whole thing out my window. Thanks, Mr. Pilot, as if I wasn't freaking out already from the entire plane shaking and jumping 25,000 feet above the ground.



As much as I wish we could have stayed in Florida, I was VERY glad to be safe on the ground. And my newest stuffed baby, Domo, was also pretty glad he was off the plane.



He's a cutie, right?! I can't wait to insert him into random photo shoots. I got the inspiration from Bec over at the iheart blog. So, be prepared to see his smiling face every so often. ;)

PSF - Universal

Some inner monologue... vacation style! And more photo overload.

On our sixth day in Orlando, Jon and I went to Epcot, his favorite Disney park. Unfortunately, I have ZERO photos from that day. I had my camera plugged in all night to charge, but apparently half of the outlets in our villa/condo didn't work because my battery didn't gain one ounce of power, and neither did his cell phone. We walked through the gates, he went to buy tix, I almost got attacked by a bee, I ran away, I pulled out my camera to get a picture of the entrance, the battery blinked red angry pulses, I cursed at it... It really almost ruined my day. Jon offered to buy me a disposable camera, but I couldn't justify the $15 to take some grainy, out-of-focus shots that I would have to later get developed for another $15. Oh, the horror!

[End of pity party.]

It was a great day, though. When Jon bought the tix, he mentioned that we were celebrating our engagement. They gave us these bright pink buttons that say JUST ENGAGED, which meant that every single Disney cast member congratulated us and asked when the wedding will be and how long have we known each other and when did we meet and I'm so happy for you. Yes. Every. Single. Cast member.

That, and we didn't do drinking around the world, because, well, it was just us. Not exactly the same experience without his family. Besides, they raised the prices of all the drinks. My favorite is the Italian Bellini, which is peach puree and prosecco. $10 for one drink! Ugh. Next time, we are forking over the extra cash ahead of time to get the dining plan. I'm thinking it will really be cheaper in the long run.

On our seventh and last full day in Orlando, we went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We bought the 2-park ticket so we could go back and forth, which is usually a great deal except that A, it was 107 degrees out, and B, some of the rides we wanted to go on were closed, or the wait was just unreasonable. An hour and a half for Jaws?!? SO not worth it, especially when it's 107 degrees out. The crowds everywhere were kinda unexpected, considering that school had already started in FL and, if I haven't mentioned, it was 107 flippin' degrees out.

As we were driving there, we got free admission to a cool show - a sky writer! He just kept writing God=Love and Love=God, but it was still pretty cool.



So, the main reason we went to Islands of Adventure was The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Yes, I am a Potthead, and I am not afraid to admit it.



Once you enter Hogsmeade, you are immediately transported to the movies. Everything looked so real.







Because this part of the park just opened a few weeks ago, it was packed. As in, the lines for the rides were over an hour and the lines to get into the stores were even longer. Yes, there were lines to get in the stores. Jon and I went into Honeydukes and Zonko's because that line was the shortest, but the other lines were just too long. So we skipped everything else - Ollivander's, Dervish & Bangs, and even The 3 Broomsticks.



The castle houses the new ride, which is a combination of a sideways roller coaster and 3d movies. Jon wasn't too thrilled, but I loved it.



The best part? Butterbeer. Easily. The lines for the carts were loooong, since it was so hot out, but it was totally worth it.





Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

*Today is my fiance's birthday! He's 25, time for a quarter-life crisis! Just kidding... He's much more patient than I am. We share the same dreams, but he is a lot more willing to wait and work for them. He is the practical voice to my foolish thoughts. I know I'd be lost without him. ♥