November 5: Oliver

Today I will be saying thanks for two of my favorite foods: tock it mook and wah-wee pops. Mom insists on calling these "chocolate milk" and "lollipops", but whatever. Basically, if I had my way, these are the only two foods I would consume. Yes, I will drink regular milk, but man oh man, can I ever make my parents laugh with my high pitched "OK!" and "YEA! TOCK-IT MOOK!"when I know I'm getting chocolate milk. Mom also thinks the way I say wah-wee pop is pretty cute (it's the right way to say it, what's so cute about it? Moms, sheesh). Photographic evidence of my love:

Please note my ingenious use of the car seat buckle as a handy dandy wah-wee pop holder. That way I don't get fuzz and dirt on it while I take a break. Mom also wanted to mention that you can't see it very well in the picture, but my face is all shiny with the layer upon layer of wah-wee pop slobber all around my mouth. Again, what IS it with moms?!?!?!?

November 4: Carrie

I'm thankful for the "blogosphere". I feel linked to fellow moms, fellow teachers, and fellow humans in a way that hasn't been possible before I discovered blogs. I feel like the last 6 months have really been a time of change for me; changing from a "what's going to happen next gotta get to the next thing rush rush rush" life view to one of "live IN the day-enjoy what you've got and make time for life TODAY".

My blogs. My favs. I have a kindred soul in Dana, AKA Mommybrain. From Ali I learn amazing scrapping techniques and soak in her life philosophy. Pioneer Woman continues to amaze me with her photography and her food makes my husband happy. Matt blows me away with the rawness of his grief for his wife and his love for their child. Kolby's Tage just continues to amaze us all with his tenacity for growth. And one of my first blog love's is Nate. Here are his words today that I am going to repeat.

A Life Of Thanksgiving
I'm stealing this idea from a friend because it's something I need in my life right now.

The Thanksgiving holiday is one of my favorites...food, football, family, friends and lots of fun. But, originally, it was meant to be a day to pause and give authentic thanks to God. Unfortunately, for many, including myself, thanksgiving is more of a one-day holiday that a way of life. I don't know about you, but I've been blessed beyond comprehension, and even in the unwelcome moments of life, I have so much to be thankful for.

What would it look like if I ONLY spoke words of gratitude the entire week of Thanksgiving? If I went so far as to look at a pile of laundered clothes that awaits my folding and putting up, a task I normally hate, and instead think and speak out loud, “God, thank you for these clothes, for providing covering.” When my daughter voicing her grumpiness, “God, thank you that she has a voice that works and you are shaping her own unique personality.” If every time next week I see a person, I tell them why I am thankful to God they are in my life.

So, starting this Monday morning and going through this Sunday evening, I'm challenging myself to live an entire week full of thanksgiving.

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. (Ephesians 5:4 ESV)

Anytime I'm tempted to think/say/do something negative (filthy, foolish, crude or otherwise unthankfull), I will instead choose, in that very moment, to give thanks to God for His blessing in my life.If you'd like to join me, please leave a comment saying so AND repost this (in our own words, if you'd like...no need to link me) on your blog, twitter, facebook, etc. and challenge your friends to do the same.

Even if you're not reading this until after Monday morning, it's never too late to take up a good challenge. And, keep in mind that nobody who takes this challenge is going to make it an entire week without missing the mark...so, when that happens to you, just pick yourself back up and start again!

So, to start, I thank God that I have the opportunity to tell our story on the web for all to share!

November 3: Shawn

My job. I'm so happy that I love my job! I enjoy the people I work with , and my schedule is GREAT!

OK-Carrie is going to interject here. Shawn REALLY loves his job. AND his co-worker Louie. Louie started right after Shawn, his wife was due with their first baby the Aug after Oliver was born. The two guys have totally bonded. Completely. For those of you who enjoyed Oliver's two year party at KidsQuest, you have Louie and his wife to thank, they held E's first birthday party there. I owe Louie a debt of gratitude for sharing with Shawn the journey of parenthood. Here's E and Oliver at Ollie's first birthday. He wouldn't quit running long enough during his 2nd birthday party for a picture...

November 2: Oliver

(I'm going to speak for Oliver here, and write as well about what he's thankful for this year.)

My Bi. Mom and Dad aren't sure why I call it my "bi", but my blanket is my favorite source of comfort. Mom made it for me from soft fuzzy fabric, and I reaallllly love snuggling under it (preferably nakie!). Even when it was 90 degrees in my room at night this summer, I STILL wouldn't go to bed without laying under my bi. It gets dragged around the house all day, I try to take it to school (Mom won't let me, party pooper!), and it gets pretty dirty. I don't care though, it's my bi, and I'm not going to be over it any time soon.

The 26 Days of Thanksgiving

Ok, I'm a bit late on the bandwagon here, but there is a Facebook thing going on where you post once a day something you are thankful for. I'm going to take it a bit further, and do something like Ali Edward's "December Daily" album. While I love the idea of recording our holiday season and traditions, I'm not sure the December Daily is the approach I want to take.

Recently, I got our family albums all organized and set up so that I don't feel the need to scrapbook chronologically (Stacy Julian's Photo Freedom system, AMAZING!!!!), and my photos are organized in the same way so that I can feel free to pick and choose what I want to do. This allows me to either create pages for our category albums (The Story of Us, People We Love, Things We Do, Places We Go) or mini-albums like my annual Halloween album (I'll post picts of last years and this years soon). I can now find any photo, any memory, pretty quickly. It will allow me to pull pictures for the following idea...

The idea for my "26 Days of Thanksgiving" is to make a simple mini-album with what Shawn, myself, and Oliver are thankful for every year; what an amazing legacy to give our son as he grows! Since I might not get to it ASAP, I'm going to use this lil ol' blog to post my picts with my "Thankful For" statements, and it allows me to do some blogging for all of you (ok, only like three people actually read this anymore...I've been bad at posting since school started!)

To get the ball rolling, here is my first "page"

November 1: Carrie

My Memory. I am so thankful to have a memory like a steel trap. One that helps me remember exactly what my son's voice sounds like when he's making gestures like this:

Which is pretty funny, since I didn't even go that day with Oliver and Dad to the fair! "No, no, mine tractor!" still rings in my head when I see this picture. Thank You God, for a memory that allows me to keep what is important right in my mind.

All About Meme: I'm scuured!

Ok, I love this one. Supahmommy and Mommybrain's prompt this week is an ode to the season. What am I most scared by? What is my scariest memory? ect...You get the idea.

Since having Oliver, the idea of anything happening to him can literally make me want to vomit and bring me to tears instantly. I used to read a lot of blogs written by families with sick kiddos, but I can't anymore. Hits to close to home. Oliver has this HUGE lump in his neck (OK, maybe only huge to me, but still...) and every time we go to the doctor I have to be reassured yet again that it is nothing, he's just a lumpy boy. Recently, we had an incident that I won't go into where Oliver could have been serioulsly hurt. I couldn't sleep for two days with the thoughts of what almost happened to him. That is what scares me most, that I can't be there every second to protect him, that accidents do happen, that life is a crapshoot. Okey dokie...On to something lighter...

This guy. Seriously, getting this image off the web is actually raising my blood pressure and adreneline right now. Have you seen the movie "Signs"? I love an alien flick as much as the next person, but the way M. Night Shamalyn put this one together (you never really see the freekin thing until the end...) just about put me into cardiac arrest. I saw it with my brother David, and I think I left fingerprint bruises on his arm where I kept grabbing him.

It's quite a good movie, about a man and his faith more than about aliens if you'd believe that one! But, boy oh boy, the part where it passes in front of the camera on the news, the hand under the pantry door, the basement scene...All of these images AND my crazy insane imagination worked me up to the point where I was SURE one of these bad boys was on the landing to our stairs. I seriously couldn't sleep, was frozen in bed, and was panicking in the middle of the night after I saw this one. Shawn thought I was a complete ninny, but he couldn't SEE the shimmer of it's cloaking device, he couldn't HEAR it's rattling breath, he couldn't FEEL the distubance in the air where it waited to spray poison in my face. COME ON PEOPLE!!! IT'S RIGHT THERE!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

I will not be proofreading this post. I can't bring myself to scroll up and see that damn alien again. Seriously.

On Saturday...

*I'll post about the 1/2 marathon that I totally kicked butt on...

*I'll post some Oliver goodness...You should see his "sad face"...OK, fine. Teaser shot:

*I'll get this lil ol' blog caught up and STAY caught up!!!

See ya Saturday!

Why I "run"...

I'm "running" a half marathon in 9 days. In 9 days I will be pushing my body to keep a steady 4 miles an hour despite blisters, burning calves, and low energy levels. Why?

I am doing this because I want my husband to believe that when I say I will do something, I WILL do it.

I am doing this to say I did something BIG that I HATE to do. I HATE running, I HATE pushing myself physically. I did 8 miles last Sunday, and the only way I got through it was because I was starving at mile 5 and powered through my last three miles so I could go get food. Sad.

I am doing this because I hoped it would get easier and I would become a "runner". Yeah, right. I still hate it on the days I'm not feeling it.

I am doing this because I want another baby, but I'll be damned if I get pregnant weighing what I did a month before I delivered Oliver.

I am doing this because, selfishly, I want some recognition. Recognition for sticking with something. Recognition for taking positive steps in my life.

I am doing this because my sister Megan rocks, and her positive outlook on life is one I'd like to emulate.

I am doing this to be a positive example for this lil man...

Joining Along with this MeMe craziness!

My friend Dana and her pal Supah Mommy have started a fun little blog hop called All about Meme Mondays. This week is.....

What are the 5 items I would die without on a daily basis?

Photo courtesy of PatrickQ on Flickr

1. VENTI AMERICANO WITH ROOM FOR CREAM BABY!

Photo courtesy of slowburn on Flickr
2. iPhone. Yes, I went to the dark side. Scarey thing is I have apps now just to entertain Oliver and he TOTALLY knows how to use my phone!




3. Keys. To the car. My classroom. My house. My mailbox. My cabinet at work where I hide the chocolate from my students (oh, and my purse, but the chocolate is more important...).


4. Ice Water. Not warm, not fizzy, not room temp. ICE water. I might be a "water snob" here, but I've discovered it's really the only way I like it.

5. Rubberband for my hair. While I love my long hair, it ALWAYS ends up off my face in a ponytail of some kind by the end of the day! My current obsession is braids. Yes, I know I am 35. Who cares if I still wear my hair like I did when I was a 24 year old camp counselor?!?!?

Wish to be better

I wish to be better at:
showing those that I care about how I feel
that I don't take their love for granted
that I see what they do for me

I wish to be better at:
showing my son what it means to live
to live, not to exist, but to LIVE
life is not about what is coming next;
it's about appreciating the moment you are in
and hoping the next will be as good or better

I wish to be better at:
showing my husband what I need
not just expecting him to know
not expecting him to feel the same way I do

I wish to be better at:
managing my money
it's not my childhood
food will come, needs will be met
it doesn't matter what you have

I wish to be better at:
not being so hard on myself
I'm a GOOD teacher! I'm a GREAT mom!
I'm a GOOD person, and striving to be more so

I wish to be better at:
Letting go
Letting God

I wish to be better at:
Me.

Lunch in a Muffin Tin

Thanks to my friend Dana and her fab Toddlerbrain blog, I tried something new the other day to maybe entice Oliver to try some veggies. Basically, you take a muffin tin and fill the spots with food choices. Lil man didn't quite know what to think, but he dove right into his favorites once he figured out what was going on. He DID try some veggies, so it was a success in my mind!







Oh, wait!!! IS HE EATING THE BROCCOLI TREES?!?!?!



Darn it! Little bugger just sucked the ranch off the broccoli and rejected the rest! Stinker!


The "before" shot, with all of his choices. Top: banana, hot dog, corn. Middle: goldfish, peas. Bottom: broccoli trees, chunks of cheese, cantaloupe, mixed veg in butter sauce



The "after" shot. Notice that the level of all things veggie is pretty much the same! Oh well, it was still fun to try, and I'm sure we'll be doing it again. Thanks again Dana!

Mouth Pee-pee's

Long time, no post, sorry! Back to school time is always nuts. I'm back in the groove of things though, so back to posting!

I've got a good one for you tonight. Oliver, as many two year olds are, is really interested in what bodies look like and do. Recently, it's been Dada's mouth that has been the source of interest.


As Oliver examined Shawn's uvula (hangie downie thingie at the back of your throat) the other night, he gasped in surprise. "DADA! MAMA! MOUTH PEE-PEE! DADA MOUTH PEE-PEE!!!" I think Shawn and I were going to die of laughter.

Then came the crowning glory. Having just watched the "Finding Nemo" whale scene, Oliver then grabbed the top and bottom of Shawn's jaws, wrenched them open, and proceeded to yell "NEEEEE-MOOOOO!! NEMO! NEMO!" down Shawn's throat. Smart boy putting that scene set in the whale's mouth together with Dad's anatomy!

Then of course he tried to take Shawn's tonsils out because he's going to be a doctor some day...

Love my boy!

6 Miles and the bigger race

Yesterday I ran (ahem...I use the phrase "ran" rather freely. I jogged about 1/2 of it, power walked the other half) 6 miles last night in 93 minutes. That translates to 15.5 minutes per mile. Not stellar, but steady for me. Because the Spokane Marathon states in it's rules that you cannot run with headphones on, I ran it without. It was the first time I ran without headphones, so I was stuck with just the noise in my head for an hour and a half. The voices went something like this:

Mile 1: Just walk, your calves need to warm up.

Mile 2: Ok, they're flippin warmed up now, they're @#$% BURNING! What have I committed myself to? Why am I doing this? What was I thinking? Oh, look at that nice house...

Mile 3: Running now, downhill, but still, running! It's nice out tonight, just cool enough.

"All I want is a proper cup of coffee made in a proper copper coffee pot,
I might be off my duck, but I want a proper cup of coffee from a proper copper pot.
Iron coffee pots and tin coffee pots don't do so much for me,
if I can't have a proper cup of coffee from a copper coffee pot then I'll have a cup of tea"

....Song running through my head courtesy of "Trout Fishing in America", Oliver's favorite band right now.

Mile 4: Dude, I'm BADASS! (still downhill at this point)...Then, I had to pay the piper. All that downhill meant I had to go UP at some point. A new route tonight meant a lot of uphill but a very good glute workout.

Mile 5: I only have 2 miles left, I only have 2 miles left, "All I want is a proper cup of ARRRRRGGG GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!"

Mile 6: As the sweet little Punjabi man shuffling along on the sidewalk across the street was gaining on me, I somehow found the energy to beat his 85 year old bones to the crosswalk. I am soooooo coool!

But, I did it. Every long run on a Sunday means I've gone further than I've ever run (or hiked for that matter, my longest backpacking adventure was 5 miles...I am such an outdoors woman!) so it's an accomplishment for me every time. October 11, here I come!

Speaking of marathons...My friend Dana, AKA Mommybrain and Toddlerbrain, (you may remember the sandwich pictures just for her pregnant tummy!) is having some issues with pre-term contractions that are being somewhat persistent. If you have time, please drop by her blog and leave a note of encouragement! She is a WONDERFUL mom, funny lady, and good friend. It breaks my heart that someone who is trying her best to be a great mom and wife still has to suffer through scary times like these. Pulling for ya girl!

Oliver's Dancin Feet

A few days ago when it was so stinkin hot (not having that problem now, are we?!?!), Shawn and I took the boy down to Crossroad's splash park. Oliver had a GREAT time in the water, but it's what he did OUT of the water that still has us scratching our heads...


At the beginning of the dance, you must grab your arms and hoot like an owl.



Then, you shake your tuckus like you have to hula for your life.



Rotate and gyrate as you bounce back and forth on your heels.



Then, for the grand finale, spin all around...



And around...



Hey baby, I'll see you tonight at the 6:00 show. Hey wait? Where are you going? Wait!


And just because I'm going to h-e-double hockey sticks for where my mind went when I saw these, I'm sharing the fun.

Hey! I even have my pants on and I'm still going! Cool!

Party at 4 am and a naughty word...

I must not have had Oliver's monitor up loud enough last night, because when I finally heard the seriously sad "Mama, morning? Mama, get up? Mama??!?!" sobs coming from his room he had already:

1. Locked the door (this happens when he's not quite awake enough to turn the handle, but it means he was working at it for a bit)
2. Turned on the light
3. Rocked for a bit, the rocker was still moving
4. Played trains, the evidence was all over the floor
By the time I got there, he had had enough. He was standing on his train table, sobbing, snot and tears everywhere. Mind you this hasn't happened in a looooong time, so maybe my "HURRY CRYING GET UP FAST" neurons are fading.

As we rocked together when his room had been put back to rights, (after several inquires of "Mama? Wach e show? Wach e moo-ee? Yeah, yeah!" and SEVERAL explanations about how 4 am wasn't time to watch Elmo...) we must have woken Shawn up, because Oliver told me all about how he could hear Dada in the bathroom. Walking back to bed, Dada tooted and Oliver heard. He then proceeded to tell me all about toots until I was able to get him to quiet down again. Just as I thought he was going to get sleepy, I hear his little voice, very soft, very tentative....

"Fart"

I busted up like you wouldn't believe. It was a combination of timing, his "I know this might be a naughty word, but I'm going to try it out on you anyway" voice, and then, the GIGGLES. I lost it, so of course he started chanting "Fart Mama, Fart!" and we were both laughing pretty hard.

I'm hoping that the fact he fell asleep pretty quick after our giggle fest at 4:30 am will allow his memory to forget that one. Still, I hope I never forget that soft, sweet little voice saying his first "naughty" word. Fart.

Awards, friends, and SANDWICH PORN

This whole blogging thing (when I'm not off on Oliver and Shawn related trips!) is great fun. I have been slacking a bit lately, but was planning on a few posts this week. My whole issue with this is, I don't really have all that much traffic. Sure, you, my loyal friends and family (Kolby, lovin Tager's sign language video!!!! Tina, we HAVE to get together again, Thanksgiving two years ago was much too long ago!! LOL).

That might not be an issue this week, so here I am, getting off my tuckus getting a post done. This was orginally going to be titled "For Dana: SANDWICH PORN". I'll explain that in a bit...Dana, the lady in the title, is a great friend and has a very, very, very great blog herself. Two as a matter of fact. And a toddler. And she's pregnant. Whew. Too busy for this girl! Anyway, she presented me this morning with an AWARD and bestowed it with some very sweet words that, truth be told, kinda made me weepy. Thank you, I actually really needed that this week!

So, just in case I get a bit more traffic this week, I'll get those photography posts up (days 12-14 of the Jessica Sprague class were really cool!), put up some posts about our adventures lately (Oliver now has his own "mo-er-cy-kle", and we hit Las Vegas for kids AKA Great Wolf Lodge), a bit more about my own exploits (can we just say that I've had waaaaayyyyy too much wine the last week?!?!? LOL). But, first, let's honor the dear lady known as Mommybrain...

Dana, you had to go and do it, didn't you? You had to extol the virtues of a crack-shop, errr, sandwich shop called...JIMMY JOHNS. It must have been fate that my very first visit to JJ's was punctuated by a huge hug, totally unexpected, from you! For everyone else, let me explain. Dana is expecting her second little one, and has been craving a Jimmy John's sandwich quite frequently. I finally found this place she has been waxing rapasodic about, and who's there? YEP. DANA!!! TOOO FUNNY. Since then, I have taken a JJ's to Shawn for lunch, and now HE'S craving them too...AND HE'S NOT PREGGERS!!! Seriously, since my first visit to JJ's on Thursday the 6th, we have been to JJ's THREE TIMES. Yes, THREE times in 6 days. So, without further ado, the sandwich porn. PS: Dana, there is a JJ's in Redmond too...Right by the new Whole Foods...5 freekin minutes from my house, 1 freekin minute from Shawn's office...

The anticipation...

Oh yeah baby, I love the way you stick that tomato out.

Ohhhh, are you letting your alfalfa sprouts hang out? Let them out!

I love the crinkle of your paper, it sounds so naughty.

Oh, oh, oh, munch, slurp, snarf...

Don't say I didn't warn you, it was titled SANDWICH PORN! LOL

Confession Time...

I'm going to say it out loud, here on the blog so you all hold me to it...I'm going to run the Spokane 1/2 Marathon in October.

Whew. I said it! I started my "training" today, building milage each week until I'm ready (ha! as if!) for the 13.1 on October 11. Four miles today and next Sunday with smaller runs and cross training during the week.

I must say, when I hit mile 3 today, the calves quit hurting and I hit my stride. Could have done 5 miles today, but I'm going to stick with the schedule so I don't burn myself out.

I'll be blogging about this as I go, not so much to report out to all of you, but to have a journal of sorts for me to look back on.

So, why am I doing this? A couple of reasons:
1. I hate running, and you should do at least one thing you hate and have to really push yourself for at least once in your life. That said, I'm kinda getting hooked on the "runner's high" that I'm starting to get...
2. I need to get in shape, and having a goal to aim for is pretty motivating.
3. My sister Megan is such a great inspiration; she ran the full Spokane last year! I love my sis with all of my heart, and truth be told, I wish I were more like her in several ways. So, I'm giving this running thing a shot. THANK YOU MEGS!
4. I want to say to Oliver that your physical health is important AND walk the talk.
5. Cool t-shirt at the end. (just kidding!)
6. Hey, it's something else to scrap about! HA!
7. It will be nice to have something to also "walk the talk" about when I'm teaching my students their Health units this year.
8. Running is good thinking time. Me time. Alone time. I plan to think deeply about the problems of the world, and I'll get back to you when I've solved world hunger and the problems with the Middle East.

Thanks for your support!

Day 11: Selective coloring

Day 11 was a refresher of sorts for me, I had taken another Photoshop class where I learned to add a black and white layer then erase the layer where you wanted the color to show. JS had us instead add a hue/saturation adjustment layer, drop the saturation to add a very subtle sepia tone, then use a black paint brush to mask out the areas you didn't want the adjustment layer to show. I like her technique much better as you can go back and use a white paint brush to touch up the areas you got a bit overzealous with. Overall, it's not a technique I use a lot, but there are some photos that just scream for this treatment.

This photo was shot by Shawn at the Pacific Science Center butterfly house. Nice bokeh babe! (bokeh is the term used to refer to the ultra blurred background behind a sharply focused subject. Don't I sound all smart and stuff! LOL!)

Day Ten: A mishmash

Yes, there is no day 9, it's a pretty subtle technique that I won't bore you with. However, today's photo incorporated Day 9: The photo edge burn. Day 10 was taking a photo through the use of: layering to adjust color, layering in texture, clipping to a mask, adding a transparency, adding type, and creating an edge burned effect (darkens the outer edges so that the eye moves inward). This was taken on the Fourth of July overlooking Lake Washington from my good friend Adrienne's condo. Thanks for the invite girl! See, I DID do something with all of those sunset photos! LOL!

SOOC shot:



The same shot, cropped and "funned" up:

I'm still not real happy with the placement of the text, I think I should have moved it down a smidge.

We now interrupt this phtotography/Oliver blog to...

FREAK OUT!!! You may all know I love Ree Drummond, AKA The Pioneer Woman. I love her cooking, her photography, her humor, and her sweet kids. Man oh man, can she cook. I think I'm trying these the next time we all have a family get together.

THE PIONEER WOMAN HAS JUST LAUNCHED A WEBSITE COMPLETELY DEVOTED TO FFFFFFOOOOOOOODDDDD! Diet, what diet? 1/2 marathon in Oct? What?!?!?! Healthy, low fat meals? NAH!!! I am officially addicted to yet another website. Check it out!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/

Day Eight: Using Type with texture

Yes, I know. There is no day 7 photo. Day 7 was a quiz to recap the week, and I must say I did pretty well.

Day Eight is using texture+text. I already used text on some photos (Xmas card this year!), so today was somewhat review. But, Jessica Sprague showed a few design tips and pointers with Photoshop Elements that I wasn't aware of. It's not even the "full" version of Photoshop (that's Creative Suite 4 or CS4, it's like $660 even with my educator discount...YIKES) but it is so full of functionality that it would take some serious doing to get me to "upgrade". Like winning a copy at http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/. But I digress.

I'm not including a SOOC pict, as I didn't change it very much. However, I love this picture of Shawn and Oliver (last year before he could walk), and I think it's only fitting that the text refers to one of our favorite Tom Petty songs.

I also used one of those cool old viewfinder frames for this. It put a subtle grunge on the photo, but I especially love the black edges. Draws your eye in.

Day Six: Through the viewfinder...

There is a photo technique where DSLR users (the newest form of camera) will take photos through the viewfinder of old (and I do mean OLD) cameras, creating a interesting grunged, framed effect. Since most of us don't have old Rawleys hanging around, there are jpgs of these frames around that you can apply to your photos. Again, IN LOVE with the look!

SOOC shot:

Now, with the frame added, the hue/saturation sepia toned, a digital brush and text added (click the photo to really see the texture):

Something is up with my link...

I've already contacted google about it, but the previously working link for www.thepioneerwoman.com is now directing you to a weird "pipes" website. Sorry about that. If you'd like to view Ree's blog, just click the link in this post. Strange stuff.

Day Five: TEXTURE MADNESS!

Where oh where has this technique been all my life? Seriously, I'm considering ditching the whole "teach the future of America" thing and going back to school for design and photography. I'm only kidding about 60%, I'm 40% serious here folks...

Without further blathering, here's the SOOC shot of Naranda Falls on Mt. Rainier:

Here it is all "grunged up" with layers of (get this!) images of a brown paper sack, an old daguerreotype, and a piece of leather. Oooooh. It totally has that old National Park bridge built ages ago feel!

Hey Papa, we need to seriously talk about getting you a digital SLR! PRONTO!!! This is SO much fun!!!

Day Four: Clipping Masks

I already knew how to use these from Jessica Sprague's books, but today's lesson included another free mask. Good times, good times! Basically, a clipping mask "clips" your photo to another shape to give it unique looks. You know when you upload photos to snapfish or Costco and they ask you if you'd like a "torn edge" look? That's what a clipping mask does. Cool thing with doing it yourself is that you can draw shapes in Photoshop and turn them into clipping masks, making your own page templates. Here's an UBER simple one. I literally just drew four "rounded rectangles" on a blank background, went through the clipping steps, and wa-la! A Photomontage of one of our stops this weekend on Mt. Rainier! No, I didn't feed the animal...

Techniques from all three days...

Day Three: Using layers to create a vintage tinted look

Ok, I'm crazy in LOVE with this technique. Here's the SOOC (straight out of camera) image:

Now, with some hue/saturation layers and blending modes. Oh boy, oh boy. Melt my heart!