I’m Back To Stay…Hopefully?

I haven’t been the best blogger – I know. Very sorry. I haven’t had a good long photo post in…well, too long. Life has been crazy (and continues to be. ) and I just haven’t had the time to sit down and write a good long post. I’m back again to make up for all that. =)

Want to start with some photos? Okay, good. In the fall I did our family’s school/family photos at Laurel Hill – the birthplace of Jeb Stuart. (Southern General of the Cavalry – amazing, funny, brilliant guy who did wonders for the CSA) Laurel Hill is absolutely gorgeous and we had a blast.















Notice the photo in the bottom right-hand corner just above? Well folks, that is my sister in the civil war dress I made – in a “Gone With the Wind – Literally” pose. =D I’m going to try to sell the dress, and I needed her to model it. Needless to say, we had some fun. =)


Ready for more words? Okay.
This week I’ve been doing double my normal work load – mostly in terms of homework. Because I’m taking my college classes online I have the ability to complete and turn in homework on my own schedule – and this week I did twice as much as required. Why? Well, next week has been designated sewing week. I’m entering the JoAnn Prom Dress contest again, and all of next week will be dedicated to planning, cutting, and sewing the dress! I am very excited because I will be designing a very special dress.

Hint: it’s a pretty girly color; has lots of flounces, beads, and tulle; and is celebrity inspired!
 (Hint #2: the celebrity may just be Carrie Underwood. ;)  )

Try to figure it out if you like. =D I don’t want to post a photo of my “inspiration” because I’m afraid my idea might be stolen. ;) But I will most surely post photos of the dress once it’s finished!
In other news – my reading stack is frighteningly tall. It’s actually taller than it is here in the photo.

Notice any common theme? Yep, you got it – the Civil War. *sheepish grin* I’ve been delving back into my novel, which means much reading and researching. And seriously – the biography I just finished about Jeb Stuart? Amazing. From start to finish. The author did the most amazing job portraying who Jeb was through his letters, battle reports, and other first hand accounts. (Bit of trivia: he called himself “The Knight of the Golden Spurs.” Research that one and tell me why that was. ;) )
In connection with my book – I’ve been going back and actually getting to know my characters. You can read my blog posts here about the subject. It’s been amazing, but I’m finding that much of my book will have to be re-written. I mean, come on – if you start writing a whole book before you really know your characters, of course you’ll have to re-write most of it! Not very cheerful. But I will be able to keep the structure of my scenes – it’s just the interaction that’s all wrong.
We spent our Valentine’s Day eating heart-shaped doughnuts and drinking coffee at Starbucks. ;)


So…has this post made up for my long absence? =D

Day 11 {photo of yourself}

These are my senior photos. ;)

And I had to slip the next one in - we are major Vikings fans!!! ;)

Fair Photos

I'll do a big, long post later, but here are some photos to tide you over. =)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14033&id=100001529275090&l=9bf747bc18

Oh, and let me know what you all think of my logo/watermark...do you like it? Any suggestions?

Picture 'em Photography Contest

I'm entering Emily's photo contest, and the theme is children! Click on the link below to check it out! The deadline for entries is September 28th.              

http://photos-by-em.blogspot.com/2010/09/picture-em-photography-contest.html

Happy Monday - the simple things

Check out Ashley Jean's blog to read about Happy Monday. =) Here's my entry!

                             

I took this at Starbucks...our favorite hangout. =)

Photo Entries for the Fair!

Today I sorted through my hundreds of photos and came up with what are (in my mind!) my eight best. It was extremely hard to narrow it down to eight, but I finally made my selections. =) Here they are.

 

Color Photo – People

 

 

Color Photo – Animals

 

 

Color Photo – Other

 

Color Photo – Sports

 

 

Black and White Photo – People

 

 

Black and White Photo – Animals

 

 

Black and White Photo – Other

 

 

 

Digital Manipulation – Any Subject

 

Which one is your favorite?

Portfolios are Finally Up!

I just finished adding my photos to my three portfolios! I've kinda been putting it off because it isn't much fun to sit and transfer picture files from your hard drive to your website...but it's finally done and I can relax. =) If you'd like to see my work, click here. You can also access my portfolios from my blog header...look for "the portfolios."

        (screenshot of my portfolios page)

Don't forget to take my survey on the right sidebar...and follow me if you'd like!                             

Are 984 Photos Enough?

Well, I ended up taking almost 2,000 photos during our vacation and ended up deleting half of them. (Part of photography…snap twenty photos for the one perfect photo!) So here are 74 of my final 984 photos. ;)

In the car…

We had just arrived on Wednesday afternoon. The campsite provides wheelbarrows to cart our things down the long trail to our campsite.

I love the photo on the left…so silly. (Of course Jo had to help by carrying his little camp chair!)

Setting up camp! (And Micaiah acts cool)

Our two tents. The one on the right is an 8-man…pretty big! =) The photo on the right was taken at a place called Shately Springs…;)

We have a favorite Mexican restaurant that we go to…that’s where we were in the photo on the right. (It seems a little weird…two Mexican restaurants, three Japanese restaurants, and a Latin Cafe up in a little mountain town where there are only Southern people…)  =)

Another place we always go to is the Cheese Factory…that’s Jo with the giant mouse. =) On the right is the view you get upon leaving the parking lot…this is the path we trudge down to get to our camp site! =)

After the rain, who can resist getting photos of water droplets?

We spent one afternoon playing out in the field – Dad hit the balls, we caught them. =)

Ruth, Micaiah, and I ready to catch the ball! (photo courtesy of Maria!)

Dad showed Jo how to hold the bat.

Maria looking on as we played, and us going into town. =)

At our favorite coffee shop!

The coffee shop – and Lydia on her bike. We all got to ride around a nice little park. ;)

Micaiah with his bike and tire.

Jo, of course, got sleepy on another trip to Wal-Mart. =) The rather dramatic photo on the right is Micaiah and Dad trying the catch the ball I was pitching to them. (he he he)

Micaiah ready to catch the ball, and I guess I was pitching?

Another Beasley tradition (that’s also a general camping tradition!) is, of course, S’mores. Jo couldn’t get enough!

Maria learned how to string a fishing pole from Dad… =)

In the tent!

Dad tried some McDonald’s coffee…which is pretty amazing because my Dad roasts his own beans and we are kind of “coffee snobs.” =D

Maria fishing!

Micaiah cast aaaaaand….

…caught a bush! =D Maria took this photo of me on the right. =)

Micaiah had to rescue one of Maria’s flip flops…

I, of course, had to get into the water with my camera to get these shots. (Don’t ask me what Micaiah’s doing in the second one…I have no idea!)

My flip flops had to be rescued, too…and Micaiah fell down in the process! =D

I think the bug was a locust…we’d never seen one before!

And Micaiah catches a canoe. (No, just kidding…it just looks like that!)

I demonstrate to Ruth and Lydia how to cast.

Jo’s first fishing experience!

Splashing in the river.

And, finally, packing up to go home.

Hope you all enjoyed the photos! Don’t forget to take my survey on the right sidebar…I’m trying to collect people’s opinion of my blog…and I’d love to collect some followers, too! =)

Here’s a quick video of us fishing to end it all…