Gorgeous!

I was totally nervous about this weekend's wedding. Worried about the weather, my abilities, my equipment, everything. But it was all for nothing, the bride and groom were so relaxed and the the whole bridal party was so photogenic, made my job easier. The weather was perfect.
These are a few of my favourites. I'm finding the sorting part difficult, I like so many of them.

Congrats to Kellyn and Rich!

Saturday to Tuesday in Photos

Firstly, spiders and their webs are a work of art. Spiders eat their weight in bugs there by helping humans....blah blah blah. This creepy crawly was at the top corner of our deck right above where the hose hangs and the bbq. If it landed on me, I would have died ofshock. The golf club is for reference. It's so far away from the spider because even big strong men were afraid of it.I get the heebie jeebies just looking at it.
Awww... how beautiful. NOT.

Measured the golf club for reference, got all creeped out. I should point out, we don't golf, and we don't know where the club came from, and it's odd that it's just the bottom part, not even the handle. I vaguely remember someone having it under their seat of their car 'just in case'.
When Kerry knocked the giant man eating spider out of it's web, he said including the legs, it was the size of a toonie. He also said it had the biggest spider butt ever. It met with a 2x4.

We took the big dog for a walk downtown. He is not impressed with the very expensive water dish at Stuart park. We have a feeling dogs use it as a toilet. We don't know anyone whose dog will drink out of it, they spend more time sniffing it. Here is where Linus will drink from, the lake and muddy puddles. Some teenaged kids were laughing at Kerry and his furry alligator. We get a kick out of how he lays down in the water and crawls on his belly well Kerry walks him.

Oh, double rainbow goodness! It was a double rainbow across the sky, almost a triple rainbow.
Kerry made this face at the last minute. With the rainbow and the tree, and the fill flash, it reminds me of a Sears portrait studio photo.
I made them pose in the tunnel, the lighting was horrid so I over processed with actions and now I like it.

I thought my dad was joking when he said he was getting a Harley. He was not.

I slapped together a little album of our Anime Adventure for Illy. I'm making one for my kids too.

Planning

I'm blogging from the laptop, so no pictures today.

We hauled out our ancient Washington/Oregon map and the new supersized California map that Amy sent us and our Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives cookbooks. We made lists of what we wanted to see on the drive to Disneyland. The sights we agreed on...
1. food
2. dunes along Oregon's coast
3. Redwoods
4. food
5. good deals
6. a cheap clean hotel

And the ones we weren't sure about...
Hearst Castle (sounds creepy to me)
Karen Russell's house (sounds stalkerish to both of us)

We've picked a couple restaurants, and good thing they have websites, and good thing we checked them out because not all restaurants are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Nor are they all open all week. It would have been a trip similar to our trip to Calgary via Kimberly. We had to eat Chinese food in the German capital of B.C. Big let down and the lighting was so bad, we kept taking the same icky curry dish from the smorg.

We went downtown to Roy's shoe store and picked up 4 pairs of Keen shoes for 5o% off. Can't beat that! Kerry got the mountain biking Keen's he was waiting to buy in the States. I got some cute flip flops {gasp} and some suede walking shoes, with all this walking Karla and I have been doing, I needed new shoes. They are also going to be great in Disneyland, I'll have them broken in by then.

1/2 off, why not?

On the way to the convention, we stopped a the scrapbook store because they had a 40% off coupon and 50% off a line of paper. So I bought it all. Well, not all, but I did clear out some of the shelves. Birthday, Travel, and Beach!
I love the critters!
And then this came when I got home...New SU stuff. I love love love the pack of Designer Series papers!
Sparkly goodies!
I had made a few cards before I left for classes. Love this paper! Newsprint!
I think I will make more of these, using different papers.
I love this set!
And the new in colours are great!
This is a layout from a previous class. I used the photos from the car show.

I'm feeling very creative today. Shaun says I have glitter all over my face.

Quilting!

Last week I went to Tyjo's and picked up too much fabric with my aunt. I wanted a prop for kids photos which would also double as a lap quilt for the living room. I found these great retro fabrics and had to have them all. And I found an easy quilt pattern.And this afternoon, from about noon to 2:30, I ironed, cut, and sewed my quilt top. I will wait for my mom and aunt to get back from Ontario so that one or both can help me do the batting and backing.

I'm very excited to get it totally finished, it will be my first finished quilt.

Anime Convention Part 2

I've posted all my pictures from the con on my smugmug site. I had a headache after lunch today and by the time Kerry got home I was goosebumps and vomiting foam. Sorry if that's too much info. I had a nap and am feeling groggy but much better.

Highlights in point form of the weekend...

- on the way home I got teary eyed because all three kids know

and sang the words to...

1) Billy Joel's For the Longest Time,

2) Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and Fat Bottom Girls

3) Journey's Don't Stop Believing

- Emily ate and seemed to enjoy lamb (ick) and lasagna with spinach in it.

- I appreciate my air conditioner 100% more.

- Emily got a 'drafting' table with a light table built in from Ikea, S

h

aun and Illiana used their Tetris skills to get it in the van.

- I thought a guy wanted to take my picture at the con, he was actuall

y asking Shaun.

- I found a rainbow umbrella at the Richmond Night Market, I d

on't think we will go back there, it's too crowded and we just go for the food.

- I found rainbow socks at the con, so I can have double rainbow le

gs. Emily does not appreciate this.

- My RS-W1 was awesome, double rainbow awesome, for my ne

ck.

- I found Bib and spent some time enjoying con activities with

her and realized I need to sit in on more panels so that I can become a pro con mom.

- I realized that the best way to get shots is to do what everyone else was doing and run up to people and just ask "Can I take your picture?" and then they pose! Crazy posers! But makes for better pictures. As you can see below...

DUCK

I interrupt the Anime Convention to bring you DUCK. She won the Kelowna Worldwide Photowalk contest. So far so good, 2 contests entered with my photos, and 2 contests where I placed, maybe not big placement, but still, not to shabby.

Anime Convention Part 1

I have hundreds of shots from the weekend. I'll probably post all of them to my smugmug gallery by the end of the week. Here are a few SOOC. All were taken with my 28-75mm f/2.8 lens. So thankful for this lens, there's not much room to back up in some of these situations.

And sooooo thankful for the Black Rapid RS-W1 strap, it was amazing!
We stayed at my aunt's and drove in to UBC each day. 1/2 of driving, doesn't seem that long but when you are in a van of geeks excited to be with their kinds, it takes forever.The girls quickly found some of their kind. They are from Touhou, I'm not sure but I think it's a video game. I could not stay for the panel on Touhou as 97% of these kids don't use deodorant and sitting in a small un-aircondinitioned room with them for 90 min. was not my idea of fun. ( I made sure my 3 were showed, and deodorized.)They found their friend from home. Got lots of picture taken. If you like a character or costume, you run up and say "Can I take your picture?" and then the subject poses for you and you thank them and run away. Oddly enough, I did not get asked once. Nor did I get hugged.Capt'n Jack is not an anime character but he's been at the convention every year we've been.
Professor Whovianart! What a neat guy. He had the most amazing things. And cheap!

Got these to babies from the professor!

Love this, I'm all about the cute characters, but found out that sometimes the cute ones aren't the 'good' ones.

Thought Kerry might like this one. It was licensed and ran.

Always a few Star Wars fans, and some Trekkies were there too.

We had to hit Old Navy, Sakura Media, and Chapters and then a big stop at Ikea where we shopped, ate and shopped some more before heading home.

I have more pics and these are just a few of the highlights.

I think we are all very tired, our legs and feet hate us and we were so happy to see our own beds and sleep in air conditioned splendor last night.

Today?

So far I have not packed a thing. I've made my lists, see previous post. I've bought snacks for the trip down and while we are there. I've done all the laundry. I've decided we are probably leaving today, providing the van's check up is positive. I've made a list, printed maps, and decided where I need to go and where I don't need to go. I've discovered I may not need to stay at the convention for 3 straight days because Shaun is an 'adult' now and the girls can legally follow him around without me right behind them. I'm not sure how I feel about this.

I am excited to use my new bag and strap on my camera. I've been doing a lot of "Kerry, check this out!" "How neat is this strap?" and he genuinely seems impressed by the thought that went into the RS-W1 and my Crumpler. Shaun was very impressed with the velcro silencer.

I will have a full review on both after this weekend.

Better go and start packing!

Night time list making

Before big events, I like to lay in bed and not go to sleep. I like to think about what I might forget to take with me. Okay, I don't really like it, but I was trying to embrace it.

I'm taking my new Crumpler bag to the Anime Convention. Not because it will be filled with all my camera stuff, but because it's big enough to carry other thing too, like...

- 1 or 2 lenses

- camera, which will be on me most of the time thanks to my new strap (LOVING IT)

- water bottle

- money

- id

- extra batteries

- snacks

- phone

- ipod

- gum, floss, lip gloss

- all the things the kids buy and can't fit in their bag

- and whatever else I'm forgetting, if you can think of something, let me know.

And then there's the other stuff, what to pack in the van...

- snacks

- drinks

- pillows

- cots

- camera bag

- but leave room for what we might buy at Ikea

There's the list of places we must go, which has changed since last year...

- a scrapbook store, not 3 or more

- Metrotown, and M&M Asian Market, we love it there

- the Anime Convention

- somewhere to eat out at least once

- maybe a camera store, but I don't need anything

- Ikea

- shoe store, gotta check the new Keen selection out

- Old Navy

And then there's the 'should we leave early Friday or late Thursday?' question.

Shaun says Thursday but he can be up early, 3:30 am to leave on Friday. I can be up at 7 am.

If we leave Thursday, we can go bright and early to the convention. This is a pro and a con.

We may be able to register Thursday.

OH, and let's not forget that the van is going for servicing on Thursday. What if someone forgets to put a lug nut back on or a cap on my oil?

And don't even get me started on the wedding shoot!

It's no wonder I've been up later and later but why do I still wake up at 7?

RS-W1, I think I love you!

I think it was very fitting that I got my RS-W1 camera strap today from LaRae Lobdell's contest. I had told Kerry that if I didn't win the strap in the contest, he could buy it for me for my birthday. Black Rapid decided to give everyone that entered LaRae's contest a strap and my free strap came today on my birthday. I will try to take a picture of me with the strap all set up. It's so awesome, it will be great at the Anime Convention this weekend. I could write a sappy blog post about how on this day just a few years ago, my parents welcomed me into the world. But instead I'll tell you about my selfless cake day. Normally, I get an ice cream cake, I don't even like them. But everyone else does. This year, with picky kid in Vancouver for my birthday I decided to think of my cake needs. And so I got a big ol' Costco carrot cake for my birthday. And as it is when ever a Costco cake is at a party, there is about 1/2 of it left. I'll try to pawn some off to the girls tonight.I don't drink alcoholic beverages. But Palm Bay seems to make it to our fridge almost every week. I open a can, drink a few sips and declare alcohol putrid. Yesterday was a different story. I drank 3/4 of a can, and when asked how old I was by Dave (aka Mad Dog) I said 28. He laughed and said he didn't believe me. I said what the heck? What's not to believe? My dad was laughing and Dave kept saying nope, I wasn't 28. I was offended and then said "What? Did you ask me if I was 28, because I'm not! I'm 38!" Which made them both laugh harder. I was cut off.

Birthday weekend begins!

I'm hard to shop for. I don't NEED anything, I already have the best husband, the greatest kids, and most well behaved dogs, so finding something for my birthday is always hard.

And I have the best sense of humour.

I do need a bigger camera bag. I've got my most beloved Shootsac, but nothing to hold all my goodies when travelling down the Oregon Coast. Or just to store my camera in when not in use, which is hardly ever, but you get the idea.
So I got this for my birthday! I love Crumpler stuff and after much debate, this is the bag I got, a 7 million dollar home.
It has snazzy Velcro Silencers, Crumpler thinks of everything.
And I can fit everything I own that is camera related in this bag. And Kerry said there's room for more lenses, what could he mean by that? I don't NEED any more. Only problem is I can hardly lift the bag.
And to make it sweeter/bittersweet, I don't know. It had a very noticeable(to my critical eyes) pen mark on the flap. I asked about another bag, there wasn't one and I got a 10% discount. It bothers me, but I could always put a big button or something on it.

Woofs and Meows

Everyone knows I have a million pictures of Sally and Linus. I'm sure you've seen a few. They are some of the most photographed dogs in history. They are the most willing and co-operative photo subjects I know so I practice all my skills on them.
So don't fall over with surprise at the following photos. All are SOOC, taken with my Tamron 28-70mm lens. Such a good, sweet girl!

He's talking to me, he wants me to throw his stick. Woo woo Woo.

This little girl was posing all over the place for photos.

And not to be too baised but this guy is my favourite cat. I'm not a cat lover, but I'm a cat liker. This is sweet baby Tucker. My maiden name is Tucker. This cat is a lover! Just look at that face! Kiss kiss!

Oh, what? No kisses?