more about the 365 project...

i use photoshop elements for editing my photos. i fix my pictures (if i can), add journaling (at least the date), borders and whatever else i feel my picture needs. i actually started off last year trying to be kind of fancy and have ended the year on a much simpler note. i think i prefer the simpler way. it ends up being more about the picture and less about what i've done to it (plus i am lazy). i also have PLENTY of not so great pictures which i completely embrace because for me it's about the story and not about perfection.

borders...a simple way to dress up your photos.
if you want to purchase borders to use in elements i recommend designer digitals. two peas in a bucket and polka dot potato (who's website is having issues right now) also have some great borders.

actions...a fun & easy way to perk up your photos.
polka dot potato and ez actions have really fun and easy to install actions. i think the actions on both sites are actually made by the same guy and that he owns the ez actions site.

you don't need to have elements to do this project. you can chose to do nothing to your pictures and just let your photos tell your story. you could also use the resources on the fabulous website picnik to write on your photos and do basic editing. one great advantage of picnik is that it connects right up with flickr.

i also wanted to make sure you know that becky higgins has a 365 kit that's for sale starting january 1st on the ck site. it won't be added to the ck site until 1/1, but becky has a lot of information about it on her blog. i am choosing not to do the kit but i am sure it's really nice.

just for fun you should check out big huge labs. i love using that site to make mosaics. they also have lots of other fun things to try.
let me know if you have any questions i have failed to answer. also feel free to make any suggestions.

christmas came late this year...

at least part of it.
we were supposed to drive down to portland on christmas day to see jason's brother and his family, but the snow forced us to reschedule. so we went yesterday.

we always have a great time seeing the "portland mcgaws". maud made delicious food, we opened gifts and played with them, tromped around their new property and got an idea of where their future home will be. we also played the game set and just hung out. we all had a terrific time.

snow & christmas morning...

i am getting pretty tired of the snow. but i must say it's beautiful as long as i am inside a warm place such as my home or even the car with jas driving. snow coming down christmas day felt magical and lovely. who hasn't dreamt of a white christmas right? i enjoyed it being around for a short while, but now i am ready for it to be gone.
christmas morning at our house was small (well smaller) this year. the girls had chosen to give their money from my parents to homeless children and i think that helped them to appreciate all they have even more.i hope your christmas was as wonderful and filled with family and love as ours was.

365 anyone?

so i am ALMOST done with my 365+1 project and have decided to do it again for 2009. kial and my friend ally are going to join me. is anyone else interested?

i have to say this has been a GREAT project for me. i can look back at all my pictures from this year and see how it has progressed. yes, there were times it got trying and YES i should have avoided taking starbucks pictures weekly. but i love looking back on it and i am excited to do it again.

this past month i have had a theme to work with. i made sure every picture i took represented something i was thankful for. for me, the theme made it more personal and more fun. after talking with ally we thought that might be something to incorporate in the group...but not required, it's only if you wanted to do it. we would change the theme monthly and allow everyone to make suggestions.

for 2008 i formatted and printed all my pictures in 4x6 size and used the american crafts modern album to hold it all together. since i still haven't decided how to embellish the outside i am going with something more basic for 2009...the we r memory keepers 12x12 black classic leather album.
i am going to stick with the same we r memory keepers page protectors the next time around. they have worked well.
i have created a private family friendly flickr group room where we can post our photos and view others from the group. if you haven't used flickr before let me assure you that it's super easy AND will allow you to keep your photos as private as you'd like. for the group i chose to make it private, invite only so that just members or invited friends can view our photos.

so now all you need to do is let me know if you are interested. i will send you a link that will "invite" you to join and we can start sharing in 2009.

it took some doing...

but i am now officially done with christmas photos!
now i just need to figure out how to get these picked up from costco without getting stuck in the snow!

say yes...

to yes man!
jas, ceb, kial & i went to see this last night and LOVED it. there is one extremely inappropriate part near the beginning that made me worried about the whole movie, but that turned out to be the exception. we all laughed out loud many times and had fun talking about it afterwards. i just can't get over how cute zooey deschanel is. i loved her in elf and now even more in this movie.

stock up on joy...

i know this is a commercial and if you've seen twilight then chances are you have already seen it but i still LOVE it.
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you can download it for free here!
Enjoy!

did you know...

they don't cancel soccer games for snow? well we found that out today. ceb's soccer team, the bluejays, is playing in the regional playoffs and today's game was played on a snow & ice covered field. and they totally rocked the field and WON! the next game is tuesday night! if they win tuesday there's just one game left to determine the regional champs...we are keeping our fingers crossed, these girls deserve a victory.some great parents cleared off the field lines and the goal boxes. there were also hot drinks and blankets aplenty to keep the girls from freezing. i think the parents on the sideline were in much worse shape than the girls at the end of the game. not only was it freezing it was also a little windy. it took me about 3 hours to warm up (with an electric blanket)after standing on the field for 2 hours watching them play.
i can't even begin to tell you what a great team this is. not just as players, but as people. the girls are so supportive of each other and just seem to be out there having fun. i feel so happy that ceb lucked out and got on this team 3 years ago and has been able to stay with them. (by the way i did not take the above photos. one of the team parents braved cold fingers to get the photos of the day.)

on a different topic...
i thought you may be interested in seeing an updated photo of kial's arm. it's all healed and just a big scar now. it looks smooth but when you feel it it's surprising deep under the skin. she still likes it and the attention it has garnered her at school.

well, i am off to find WARM socks for tuesday's game!

i love PETE WENTZ...

not really, but i do think he's awesome! thanks to my good friend rob we scored tickets to the sold out kiss 106.1 jingle bell bash featuring fall out boy. i took cebastian, kial and kial's friend ella.
the girls LOVED every minute of it. like being able to hang out in the "paramont club" eatting cheese and drinking jones soda. having great seats in the front row of the 1st balconey so no one was blocking their perfect view. having only 3 acts so each band played a long set. seeing pete wentz blown up bigger than life on the screen. (plus, kial and ella were the envy of their friends at school...you know they enjoyed that.)
i loved watching all the teeange girls (not just the 3 with me) screaming and dancing and just having fun. it kind of made me feel young, but also happy to no longer be young...weird i know.

i enjoyed the 1st 2 acts but once FOB hit the stage it was obvious who the stars were. ok star. pete wentz kind of steals all the spotlight. he's insanely charismatic and engaging. one of my favorite things with any live act is when they strike up some banter with each other and with the crowd; pete was great at that. and i have to say patrick's voice is great. i was impressed that he sounded as good live as he does on my ipod.

it will be fun to hear their new album next tuesday!

maui was...

really beautiful! kial and i had a really great time.
the camp was a little ghetto (not so clean, dead mice in the kitchen, one working shower for the girls), but by the end of the day the only things i cared about were getting a shower and into my bed to sleep. we arrived in maui at night just as a storm did. we had pouring rain and gusting winds on and off for our first day. but in between the rain bursts we saw so many rainbows. the air was warm so we were still able to enjoy ourselves while it rained.

the less than perfect weather didn't stop the kids from wanting to jump into the water. unfortunately the 1st time kial got in she was promptly (literally moments after she sat down) stung by a jellyfish on the inside of her upper arm. luckily we had carolyn (one of teachers) who was all prepared for this possibility. she doused kial with vinegar and dosed her with benedryl. it still really hurt but kial was thankfully able to participate in the days activities.sweet girl that kial is, she felt bad for the jellyfish because it lost some tentacles since they were stuck to her arm. we found out later that when it's windy jellyfish are more likely to get blown in near the shore.

thankfully this did not stop kial from jumping back into the water later that day and having the time of her life.

kial's arm looks much better now than it does in the last picture above, but she will most likely have scars on her arms for a few years...though kial's hoping they never go away (yeah, she's only 13).

we had fun at the beaches and kial had fun in the water. she loved snorkeling and swimming and just hanging out in the waves with her friends. i liked the beach. i did try snorkeling for about 2 seconds and that was enough for me.
we had a lot of fun out of the water as well. the maui ocean center was fun, especially the shark tank. we went to the top of haleakala to see the sunrise, but a cloud settled on us right before it was time. we still had fun listening to nanette in the visitor center tell us about the hawaiian culture. later that day we visited paia, a beautiful little hawaiian town, where the girls had shaved ice and i had gelatto (sourcream...don't crinkle your nose it was amazing). we shopped, ate great food (gail did a wonderful job with the menus), had a few squabbles and worked them out, swam for hours EVERYDAY, laid in the sun, talked, laughed, saw sea turtles, octopus and many fish in their natural habitat and in general had a FABULOUS time.

i would LOVE to go again with jas and the girls! there was just so much more i would have enjoyed exploring! but next time i want a hotel room!

christmas pictures anyone...

not really, i am done for the year (except for my sister's family). I actually really enjoyed taking pictures for the lees, the shuldas (my brother), the minughs, the embreys and kiki's posse. it is NOT something i would like to do full time though. it's just TOO STRESSFUL worrying if i actually got some shots they would like.

we went to the park with eric, delaney & grant. the kids had fun running around and shimmying up the climbing wall. kelly & rob picked the downtown seattle library for their location. it was VERY cool and loaded with fun spots. thankfully rob & kelly both had some great ideas of what they wanted. afterwards they took jas & i to juno for lunch...the turkey sandwich i had was too die for, i can't imagine anything being better. for amy, clark, baylie, rylie & baker we visited their gorgeous new house, which is still in the process of being built. can i just say I AM SO JEALOUS...except that they are living in BFE! we had a blast exploring with them and getting an idea of what the finished house will look like. they took jas, kial & i to changs for lunch...so good! until 2009!

a family of actors...

cebastian, kial, adam and my dad were all in the ward play this year. my dad's been in the plays for years but it was a real priviledge for the kids to be able to participate, and they all had a blast doing it. though it did get a little stressful at times when practices made finding time for homework hard!