One of the digital classes I took a couple of weeks ago was on working with a Wacom Tablet and since I've had my Wacom Intuos for almost a year, I thought it might be a good idea to finally try to start using it for more than handwriting... which stinks by the way. I hate using it for writing... it's like when you have to sign the credit card screen at Target or another store... you know how nice your signature always looks... same thing!
Anyway, there is so much more you can do with the tablet... design pattern paper with your own handwritten designs, add pretty edging to papers, etc.
Here are a few layouts I did using the tablet. You can click on the layouts to see them better.
I love learning new things and it seems and though Photoshop is like owning a horse... you'll never know it all! :)
This was a great game night we had with Lisa and Rick like two years ago!!! We should do that more often!!!
This was our Florida road trip. I couldn't really dot the line all the way from Knoxville because we flew to Ft. Lauderdale...
Here is an example of why I hate the handwriting aspect of the tablet. I think I'll just stick with the cool design aspects.
Isn't that cool how I was able to superimpose Brinkley's photo in the bottom of the layout? Photoshop is just too cool!!
As I said in my "catch up" blog, I think I'm hooked on digi scrappin' but I wont know for sure until I get some pages back from the printer and put them in a book. My scrapbooks sure will be a lot thinner. Here are some of the pages I've done in the past couple of weeks. At least it's been something to do to take my mind of the horrible weather we've been having.
Here are some of the first ones I did...
I'm having a lot of fun so I hope I like the final pages when I get them.
It's snowing again! Katie's watching Scooby Doo and Don's working so I'm gonna do another page!! :)
Well, not really but blogging just hasn't been a priority to me for the past several months. My last posting was back in September 2009 and at the beginning of October, we had to pull Katie out of school for almost 3 weeks. We had experienced nothing but problems after she transferred schools last March and it ranged from her not getting her medicine or not getting the correct dosage on at least 15 different occasions to her getting slapped repeatedly by an aggressive student... and finally the last straw was her coming home with a black eye. We hired an attorney, not to sue the school system, but to help us know what Katie's rights are because of her multiple special needs and complex situation. It took 3 weeks to have her placed at a new school and she's now at Rocky Hill Elementary and things are back to normal. It was difficult because Katie has been in the Knox County School system since she was 3. She went to Ft. Sanders for 2 1/2 years before going to Kindergarten (through mid-year 3rd grade) at Cedar Bluff Elementary. For all that time... preschool through half-way through the 3rd grade we NEVER had one complaint. She had the BEST teachers, the best staff working with her and her school experiences were wonderful. And seemingly, that is how it is again. We still miss Cedar Bluff but Rocky Hill is a good fit. Now we have 1 1/2 year to dread middle school.
Also in October, we had to move Gran into Reflections, which is the Alzheimer's unit at Victorian Square. That was very hard to do. She made the move very well but until the past couple of visits, it was hard on us. We have to enter and exit the unit strategically because there are residents who try to escape. It just makes visits harder sometimes because the other residents are much more "involved" than they were when she was upstairs. There have been visits in the past months where she didn't recognize me at first and she doesn't know my name anymore... or Katie's or Don's. She remembers Dad's usually... but her memory from the 30's - 50's is usually pretty sharp. She's been in and out of the hospital numerous times for pneumonia, pancreatitis, hallucinations, etc. I guess that is just how it will be for the rest of her life now. Thank goodness she gets such good care at Victorian Square and thank goodness for VA Benefits that help us to afford her living there.
Don has been very busy!! I think after 2 years, I've finally learned to share the office. That was an adjustment. I couldn't imagine having been through the past several months without him. He's such a rock!!! It is nice to see him so happy and LOVE what he does. He's made a lot of great friends and he loves working from home except when he's filming an event. He's gotten so good at it. He continues to donate time for STAR and he's also going to donate some time this Spring to The Wellness Community... which is a cancer survivor organization. He's also started doing legal video depositions. He stays really busy and I've been helping him with editing some.
My dad has been here numerous times with Marilyn. Mainly because of Gran. He has now had 3 PET scans that have come back clear. He's had numerous growths and suspicious places removed that have come back benign. He has truly been given a gift of time. The odds that he would have survived 1 year when he got his diagnosis of Stage IV Metastatic Melanoma in March 2008 were less than 5%. Even his oncologist tells him every visit that he needs to never take one day for granted!!
We really hit a rough spell in December with Katie. She had a huge growth spurt and her meds got completely out of whack. She is now 4'6" and weighs 104 pounds. She wears a ladies size 7 1/2-8 shoe (we can share now) and she wears a juniors size 7. I had to take her shopping last weekend for a training bra! SHE'S 10 YEARS OLD, y'all!! Crazy! But, we took her off the Adderall ADHD medicine because of the stimulant in it... she had been on it for several years and it finally got to the point where it was causing her to have violent, long lasting rage episodes. She's now on a new ADHD medication, Intuniv and she's been on it since December 17 and I feel like we have Katie back!! The change over was hard... her sleep, or lack there of, became worse than ever... but in the past week, she has finally been sleeping almost through the night. Fingers crossed... mood is stable and sleep is better so hopefully we are almost there.
I continue to love spending time with my precious Lakota. The horrible weather the past couple of months has limited that time. I went to go see him this past Saturday. The sun came out, it was 37 degrees and I thought I'd at least get to spend more than an hour with him. What I didn't check before heading out to the farm was the wind chill... I didn't get to stay very long. He's so smart and such a good horse. He's fully grown now and about 16.3. That's big!! I never would have gotten him had I known he was going to get that big... so I'm glad I didn't know. Belle was only 14.2... so it's a huge difference.
Last week was the year anniversary of me loosing Belle. I don't think I really realized how much of an impact loosing her had on me until last week. I love Lakota and he's been great... and is great! But, he's not Belle. Lakota is a "mud lover"... he's a gelding and he's strong and self-assured. He rolls in the mud and gets filthy. Belle was a "foofy horse"... I think because she was skittish and always low horse on the totem pole... she never rolled or laid on the ground so she never was filthy. I guess I will always miss her. I had such a connection with her. But, I have also developed quite a connection with Lakota. I can do ground work with him and he totally responds to my body language and energy. It's an amazing feeling to control a 1200 pound animal... or at least direct him and him respond. He's a horse... I never have complete control over him.
That's about it I guess. At least, it's enough for this catch up. Oh, except I've really gotten into Digital Scrapbooking. I've take a few online classes at Little Light Studio and Jessica Sprague and that coupled with the Photoshop CS classes I've taken at UT, I really have gotten into it. The cool thing about it is, I can do it anywhere. I can sit and watch a movie with Katie and do two pages. I had resisted it for so long because of the fact that I'm always on my computer for work and scrapbooking with "real" supplies got me off my computer... but it had gotten to where I wasn't scrapbooking hardly ever. I'm going to upload some pages that I'm fixing to send to a printer. We will see when I get the pages back and they are all flat and not three dimensional with embellishments if I like it as much!
More later... and hopefully it wont be 4 months. Oh, and in my next posting, I'll talk about Boomer!
We were suppose to go to NC this past weekend and we were all looking forward to it so much! My cousin is home for good from Kuwait and I was looking forward to some time with her and Katie couldn't wait to see Sarah!
Well, of course, Katie got sick on Wednesday night! We were suppose to go on Friday. So, we've postponed until the end of the month... only we will have to go mid-week because Don's got weddings and I've got horse shows.
So, since we stayed home, we had a very low key 4th. Katie felt yucky most of the weekend so Don and I just used this weekend to try and get caught up. Don had five weddings, a recital and a training video and I had to finish up my last horse show and Mary's wedding.
I truly don't know how Don does what he does and enjoys it. I have so much more respect for the hard work he puts into a wedding after photographing Mary's. I care greatly for Mary and I very much enjoyed being a part of her special day... but a wedding photographer I'm not!! It's a lot of stress and you can't get a shot a second time. I should have had someone help me... most "wedding photographers" do have several photographers. I did the best I could.
I've gotten several more bookings for photographing more horse shows. I booked four on Friday and another today. I'm loving it so much!!
It's my favorite holiday!! There is usually no "pressure" with gifts and cooking huge meals! There is sun, swimming, fireworks, usually relaxed time with family and friends... Maybe Christmas and Thanksgiving WOULD be better in Florida by the ocean or pool....
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their CREATOR, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. (July 4th, 1776)
I'm heading back to Friendsville this morning to the beautiful farm Westwind Etc to shoot jumpers! Hopefully today isn't going to be as hot as yesterday!! It was BLAZIN hot yesterday but still so much fun!! Don is heading out to do a wedding this afternoon. It's just the ceremony so it wont be a long day for him. Katie had an absolute blast at Lucy's 9th birthday party yesterday, which happened to a pool party!!
We had a great evening out last night with our best friends!! We had some much needed laughter and such fun!! We went out to dinner, then headed to a comedy club and then back to their house and played cards!!
Just a little note: to whoever is in Kingsport, TN with charter cable that doesn't enjoy reading my blog.... please don't bother and stop reading it! It's simple... you don't have to try and post nasty comments!
I have had so much fun with my photography lately!!! I enjoyed every minute of shooting the Coytee Farm ETHJA show back on June 6th and I am so excited about the Westwind Farm ETHJA show this Saturday and Sunday.... not thrilled about the heat forecast but excited about the show, nevertheless!! I also enjoyed shooting my good friend Mary's wedding this past Saturday, even though it made me realize that weddings are probably never going to be my thing. I love Mary and shooting her wedding was fun, I loved hanging out with the girls that afternoon while she was getting ready but once the ceremony started, it was stressful and one person CAN NOT shoot a wedding successfully... you just can't cover it all!! So I should have had a second shooter. But, hopefully she will be happy with the photos I provide. I was disappointed that I didn't get to do more artistic things but there again... it was just me and there just wasn't time.
I had done so much research the past few months on shooting horse shows and the common theme I was finding was that in order to get really good shots, you had to have a love of horses and a love of the sport. Well, everyone knows how horse crazy I am so that definitely was/is in my favor.
But I've gotten some really nice feedback from the riders who ordered prints from the Coytee show earlier this month and tonight I got the sweetest email telling me how much she loved her prints and how much fun I was to have around that day shooting pictures. She is recommending me for a whole new branch of horse shows and I am walking on air!!
Also, I've just been contacted to do my first Equine Portrait session!! YAY!!
Today was a very stressfull day so it was nice for it to have such a nice ending. Nothing really in particular other than encountering other people ALL DAY LONG that were having bad days and it was very difficult not to let it rub off on me.
I even got a brand new Canon 50D that shoots 6.3 frames per second and getting that camera was a fiasco at a local camera shop... wont name names but it's named after an animal!! It was a nightmare trying to buy that camera from that store and I was dealing with the 40ish year old manager!! So finally, I said FORGET IT and went to Best Buy, which I normally don't like going to... and I had the nicest 18-20 year old kid help me. Go figure! There were many other stressers, things beyond my control... but one thing that was odd...
Took Katie to STAR and maybe it was the heat but several encounters there with grumpy people and normally STAR is one of the happiest highlights of our week!! So that was like the straw that broke the camels back... ALMOST!
But, instead, as a family, we tried to end the day on a happy note. Even before I got my emails that got me so happy....
Katie and I stopped at Outback on the way home and got Katie's and Don's favorite dinner and came home and surprised him with a belated Father's Day dinner. We were all so tired and I didn't feel good on Father's Day... we didn't really do anything special. So, we ate dinner outside with the tiki torches lit and then jumped in the pool and swam and played and ended it all by chilling in the hot tub.
Katie was asleep before her head hit the pillow!!
Keep your fingers crossed for me that this weekend's show proves to go as well as the one earlier this month because I love, love, love doing it!!!
OH, OH, OH... and I almost forgot!!! Such great, happy, wonderful news!!! My cousin Kim and her daughter Sarah and son Jacob are HOME!!! Home to stay!! They've been in Kuwait City, Kuwait (well, right outside of the city) for almost THREE LONG years and Katie and I are ecstatic to see them next week!! Katie and Sarah already have their multi-evening slumber party planned!! So happy they are home!!! I've missed them so much!!
What stressful day? What grumpy people!!? Too many things to be happy about!!!
The past several days have been hectic but wonderful!! On Saturday, I shot my first horse show in Greenback, TN at a beautiful farm and I loved every minute of it!! It was hot and my scalp got scorched but other than that - it was great!! Considering that it was my first show, I think I got some pretty good shots. I've done a low resolution you tube video but if you want to see higher resolution better quality photos, you can at my website... Dragonfly Photography.
Don had a crazy busy weekend too. He had a wedding rehearsal on Thursday night in Greenback, a wedding Friday in Greenback, a recital on Saturday in Lafollette, a rehearsal Saturday night and then another wedding Sunday in Maryville.
My dad got here Saturday night and it was so good to see him. He had his PET scan last Friday and gets his results tomorrow. Prayers please!! He is in good spirits and his attitude is wonderful!! Sunday, Dad, Katie and I headed to Rockwood and Kingston and we spent with Gran and Jack & Sue. Minus a heated political discussion with my second cousin - it was a great day!!
Politics, religion and family just don't mix!! :)
Monday my dad just needed to take it easy and I had 3,800 photos to weed through to get that number down to >600. So my dad hung out with me while I worked on photos.
Yesterday, I packed up my laptop so I could still work and went to Chattanooga with him because he had eight business calls to make. We had such a great day together... but several times, we'd be laughing and having a great time and it'd get quiet and I'd get a lump in my throat and my stomach would flip and I'd think "Gosh, I'm so blessed he's still here but each day is a gift... he's already exceeded the odds".
I'm always aware that there are many things that I take for granted in this life. I try not to... but I get so wrapped up in things that I know I do. Yesterday was just another reminder to slow down and enjoy the things that really matter in life!!
Please pray for my dad that his PET scan comes back clear tomorrow!!
I hope that I can really build on the horse show photography!! Don has truly found his passion and loves every minute of what he does - whether it's wedding, commercials or corporate training videos. He LOVES editing!
What's that old saying...."find something you love doing and figure out a way to earn a living doing it..."
Well, I haven't figured out a way to get paid riding horses or scrapbooking... so photographing horses and people who love horses is pretty darn fun for me!!
My next schedule show is June 27th & 28th in Friendsville. I can't wait!!
I also have Mary's wedding on June 20th. That will be fun too... I hope! My first wedding with more than 25 guests...
My Uncle Ronnie had to have his prostrate removed on Monday due to trace cancer findings. He wasn't looking forward to it at all BUT he has a high pain tolerance and therefore... I don't think the hospital staff still understands what happened...
He had EVERYONE who even came close to him laughing.
I've always loved Uncle Ronnie but growing up, I always remembered him being so serious. I'm sure he's always had a sense of humor but now... LOOKOUT!!
When they were wheeling him up from recovery, my mom heard the elevator bing and thought "Oh, maybe this is Ron".... then she heard all the laughter and sure enough... it was!!
When he called MomMom that night from the hospital... he had her laughing!!
I said "That's IT! No more anesthesthia for Uncle Ronnie... I'm cutting him off"!!
I'm glad I made the trip over. I stayed with MomMom while he was having the surgery. She's 86 and was so worried. I kept her busy all day talking about stories from back when her and Grandad were first married!! There was a lot of laughter and happiness so I'm sure she enjoyed it too!!
I had some nice time with Mom in the evenings when everyone was sleeping!! We caught up on stuff and laughed and it was just very nice!! Who would have ever thought mom and I would both love The Gilmore Girls? It's fun to share simple stuff in common.
But, it's nice to be home!! And it's wonderful he came through the surgery so well.
Future blog post will cover Ronnie's (my cousin) very scary encounter with the bull he USE to own.
For a few days over the Memorial Day holiday, I tried to step away from my normal daily life a little. No blog posting or reading, no emails, very little Twitter and Facebook... and cleared my mind a little!!
I some great quality time with Katie and Don. We were lazy when it was cloudy and raining watching movies and LOST repeats on Apple TV and we spent some time with Lakota and did some summer shopping, read some books... it was a simple but wonderful long weekend.
And I came to a conclusion through some reading... to be a happy cowgirl, a true cowgirl, we all need balance. Balance in the saddle, balance in parenting, balance in relationships, balance in business and work and basically all the amazing aspects that make our lives what they are including nutrition and health.
Through balance, we can find ourselves content. We also find ourselves inspired.
So whether you find peace in long rides through a pasture, going on an adventurous trail ride, playing with your kiddos and animals or even by shopping, remember to sprinkle in some home cooked dinners, some Twitter and texting with friends... or pick up the phone and give a loved one a call, paint your nails, get down on the floor and play a board game with your family or watch an old movie and imagine what it was like to live in that time...
Cowgirls are the perfect combo of glamor and hard workers. We work along side the boys on the farm, bond with our fellow cowgirls and friends, and have an appreciation for something not seen to often in today’s society, SIMPLICITY... or at least for me - an extreme desire for it!!
The past few days has made me more focused than ever to honor the life I love and be inspired by all of you who support my many projects and endeavors... ie: my upcoming ETJHA Show Photo Shoots... WAAHOOO!! Can't wait... nervous but excited!
My first shoot is this Saturday and I've been working hard to get ready for it! I'm excited and can't wait! I also have my first wedding on June 20th. It's a friends wedding... but it's on a farm and there will be horses, boots and glamor and love... what a perfect combination!!
Yesterday started off with Katie heading to school for a very short last day!! I of course headed to the farm!! I had planned to ride but we started having pretty heavy intermittent showers and I also don't want Lakota to think every time he sees me... that I'm gettting on his back. So, I just groomed him and actually played with him in the field. He has such a personality... we were actually playing games. Spending time with him always lifts my spirits in the BEST way!!
Headed home and got cleaned up and Don and I picked Katie up at 11:15. Katie was sad to say goodbye to her friend Anna (who she will hopefully get together with during the summer) and her teacher Mrs. Fox. She will have Mrs. Fox for 4th grade more than likely so Katie is happy about that. She is wonderful and she really got attached to Katie pretty quick this year when Katie made the move to West Hills.So, after getting Katie, we headed to Dollywood.
We got season passes to Dollywood because we are hoping to make several trips up there this summer. We are going to try and make Friday's our fun family day unless Don has early rehearsals. By the time we got through the line to get our season passes, it was already 1pm so we grabbed some lunch and headed to the County Fair section of the park. That's where we spent the afternoon. It wasn't terribly crowded there and some of our favorite rides are there. We did the dizzy disc, the scrambler, bumper cars, the swings, the ferris wheel, etc.
Katie always has to stop and look at all the merchandise that is setting out in front of the stores! She is such a shopper!! I hope when she is grown and has what ever career she's going to have with animals... it's something that is lucrative because the girl can SHOP!!! I enjoy shopping but I'm more of a hunter!! I go looking for specific things. She can take all day just browsing and looking!!
Don will be 45 this October and something is happening to his spunk and sense of adventure! He wouldn't ride the farris wheel with us and when he did finally ride the swings on our 3rd go round... I was kicking his swing before the ride started and he was flippin' out on me...LOL! Something about him hanging from a chain and it only being secured with a bolt...
It really got warm yesterday and Katie was getting pretty hot in the long lines so we cut it short since we plan on going back several times and headed to diner at Logans. We miss there being a Logans in Knoxville!!! Don loves their chicken salad and I love the grilled chicken and Katie loves the atmosphere and as long as she can get fish or chicken... she's good!!
After diner, we decided to do a little shopping!!
Katie was wired and talking up a storm!!! She talked more yesterday than I think she did all week. So we went to the Circle E Western Store. When we walked in, there was this odd, 40ish blonde lady working there that just kept staring at us... I mean really staring! Not in a very friendly way either!! They were having a BIG sale on boots so I wasn't about to let her sway me from shopping... neither was Katie. Although, Katie was oblivious to her staring!
Anyway, Katie got a cute, cute pair of Tony Lama pink cowboy boots for $19.99. I didn't know that Tony Lama allowed sales of his products so low... I got a fun pair of Dingo boots with harness charms!! Can't wait to wear them!! Then this really nice teenage sales clerk helped Katie pick out a cute western looking ring and I got a ring with horse shoes. Katie and I both wear a size 5 1/2. How funny... I never would have thought our fingers were the same size. Don got into a very long discussion with the store manager about the Florida Keys! Not sure where that really came from but the whole time... odd blonde sales lady was still staring at us. Argghh!!
So, we finished up there and headed across the street to Stages West! Now, I had never been in there... but for a girl who has learned that she can spend and hour browsing in the clothing section at Tractor Supply... this was shopping heaven!! They had a HUGE Brighton section of handbags, glasses, jewelry and EVERYTHING Brighton! I found a handbag that I loved that was like FIVE times the sane amount to pay for a handbag so it is still at Stages West! They had awesome clothes... western has really come back into style so it would have been fun even if we weren't into a horse themed lifestyle! Don got a cool John Wayne TShirt that is actually made by a company called "Cool Old Guys".
They were having a big boot sale too!! I guess boots have taken a hit with the economy. So, Katie got a pair of Dingo's kinda of like the pair I had just gotten... only one size bigger than she's wearing now so she could grow into them in the fall and winter. Don got a great pair of Ariats and the nice, nice man working there stretched the ankle areas so they fit perfect and I got a pink pair of Road Wolf boots.
We all got two shirts, Don got two belts and Katie got a cowgirl hat. Everything was on sale so it wasn't too bad but we left there with several bags. I so wanted to go back to Circle E and walk in with the bags and go up to strange staring lady and have a Cowgirl Pretty Woman shopping moment.... "Big Mistake"... lol!!
Anyway, we headed home and the entire way home, Katie chatted and sang... the whole way home!! Best day.... one of the best days in a long time!!!
Today will be a dedicated work day! Lots to do to our backyard and have to get the pool ready to go for the summer. It is Memorial Day weekend after all! Hopefully we can run out to the farm late today and give Lakota a bath!! He is one dirty horse and it's gotten to the point where grooming him doesn't do anything!!
And sometimes change can be hard! I've been unhappy with my old blog for a while... in part because the blogger address didn't fit me anymore. It was ebaygaltn.blogspot.com... I no longer do anything on eBay becuase of the miserable changes that took place and the passions in my life are my family, time with our horses, time with friends and family, travel and photography!
I wanted a new blog that would reflect that and my personality so I'm going to play with wordpress and see if it's a better fit. So this might be a work in progress but my life is a work in progress... isn't it for all of us!? :)
For a few days over the Memorial Day holiday, I tried to step away from my normal daily life a little. No blog posting or reading, no emails, very little Twitter and Facebook... and cleared my mind a little!!
So, after getting Katie, we headed to Dollywood.
That's where we spent the afternoon. It wasn't terribly crowded there and some of our favorite rides are there. We did the dizzy disc, the scrambler, bumper cars, the swings, the ferris wheel, etc.
Katie always has to stop and look at all the merchandise that is setting out in front of the stores! She is such a shopper!! I hope when she is grown and has what ever career she's going to have with animals... it's something that is lucrative because the girl can SHOP!!! I enjoy shopping but I'm more of a hunter!! I go looking for specific things. She can take all day just browsing and looking!!
