Week 2 - What Makes You Smile

This week I didn't actually get around to finding "what makes you smile" and taking a picture of it but I took a bunch of pictures that make me smile. =)  All these pictures are from my quick trip to Anchorage.

Things that make me smile.

Flying over clouds...

Beautiful mountains...

Foggy sunsets...

Anchorage at night...

Flying with Glen in the 99...

Here are the pictures that make Anna smile. =)

Aren't they pretty.

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We did.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  You get to cook a ton of wonderful food then have a bunch of people over to help eat it, watch football and of course be thankful for it all.

(speaking of football, here's how I wish the Patriots vs. Jets game would have gone)

We had a ton of food this year.  Mom made the turkey and stuffing, Deborah made pumpkin pull bread, mashed potatoes, fried rice and rolls, all new recipes she found on Pinterest, I made a ton of pies, Anna made dozens of cookies and Quentin made snicker doodle apple pie (he is famous in Nondalton for his snicker doodles☺). Sound like much sugar?
We tried to get most of our baking done the day before since the turkey would be in the oven all morning.  I'm pretty sure every single mixing bowl, pot and pan in the house was dirty.  Poor Joshua, he was washing dishes.  And after all that we were still using three ovens the next morning.
Josh A was laughing at me while we were cooking.  I was getting frustrated helping Caleb make pies.  He said "you sound so nice and calm on your blog".  It's the truth.  Sadly I have no patience when it comes to working with Caleb, especially in the kitchen.  That night we read the first chapter of James.

But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be 

perfect and complete, lacking nothing.  James 1:4

Yeah, I'm not sure if Dad read that chapter on purpose or not.

But, despite all the craziness it was still a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We are going to be eating leftovers for a week.
Now I have to work off all those pies with 40 minutes of Pure Cardio.  Yeah, I'm going to die.  #itsinsanity

Week 1 - Self Portrait

Well I'm glad the self portrait is first.  It gets the one I like the least out of the way.  Haha.

Yeah, I know, you're probably not supposed to be able to see the remote but, oh well.

Anna decided to join me on the challenge so here's her self portrait.

Anna was smart and took her's inside, I almost froze my fingers off taking mine outside, because, let me tell you...

Zero, to be exact.

Photo Challenge

Back in April, Anna got a Canon Rebel (a pretty fancy camera) for her birthday.  I had always been happy with my little Canon point and shoot and just the thought of trying to figure out what all those crazy things like f-stops, apertures, and shutter speeds meant kept me away from her Rebel.
Then in August I went to work in Port Alsworth at The Farm Lodge.  The first week I was there I got to go bear viewing with my boss and a ranger from the park service who was observing how the bears act around people.  This was a once in a life opportunity and my little point and shoot just wouldn't do.  So one of the guys who works at the lodge too let me borrow his Rebel to take with me.  I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.
My boss tried to explain the basics and showed me a few things but I had no idea what he was talking about.  All I got out of it was there's this little dial you turn to adjust something?  I just turned it till I got the picture looking how I wanted.
I know now that I was just changing the shutter speed till the exposure was were I wanted it but having no idea at the time and not even understanding what anyone was talking about when they tried to explain it drove me crazy.  But I was amazed with how good the photos looked compared to what my point and shoot could have done.  So as soon as I got back I went and found a absolutely beginners guide to understanding the basics and I've been hooked ever since (as anyone following me on Pinterest knows☺).

I basically high jacked Anna's Rebel for the rest of the summer and had a lot of fun learning how to use it and taking a ton of pictures.  But now that it's winter and cold out I've still been reading different things on how to take better pictures but haven't actually been taking very many.  So, in an effort to take more pictures I've decided to give myself a photo challenge.

This just a random challenge I found floating around.  It's going on over here but I'm just doing it myself and not linking up.  I like this one because you only post one picture a week so maybe it'll actually get finished.  But then and again you never know because this is me and at present moment I'm utterly obsessed but you never know when that will change.  =)

                                   

First Post!!

Yay, my first post!  Haha, so... I made my own blog so I can post random stuff that people who read our family blog probable don't really care about and so that when I'm away from home, like when I'm working in Port Alsworth, I can post stuff about what I'm doing.  This is probably one of those things that I start and then get tired of in a few months (or weeks) but we'll see. =)