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Sunset Sunday-Partial eclipse

July 23, 2012
inphotography, Sunset Sunday
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First I want to apologize if I haven’t responded to anyone’s comments recently. As you can see I redid my blog last weekend and I did not notice that my comment system had been turned off and put into moderation mode. And since I don’t use the typical blogger comments I can’t publish them. They are there, and I saw them I just can’t publish them or respond. I wasn’t ignoring you I promise!

Now onto the Sunsets. I didn’t get out and take photos last night like I had planned so I am digging through the archives once again. It’s always fun going back and finding treasures you might not have known about or may have forgotten about.

These were taken bake when we had the eclipse. I drove all around town trying to get a decent shot, one without some type of obstruction and it was nearly impossible due to the direction the sun sets. But despite the obstructions I kind of like how they came out.

Last week I challenged you all to take a drive and enjoy the sunset. I hope you all remembered your cameras because I can’t wait to see what everyone captured!

Do you love sunsets? Have tons and tons of photos of them or maybe even just a few? I would love for you to join us in Sunset Sundays and share a few of your favorites.
 
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Wordless Wednesday: Chi-Town

July 18, 2012
inphotography, Wordless Wednesday
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My husband told me over the weekend he wanted to do something this week on his days off of work. I had no arguments on this because I love getting out and doing things so I said okay fine by me. But um what should we do? His response “let’s go to Chicago”. After my brain processed that he really meant it I can’t lie. I got excited. I had only been to Chicago once before while my husband worked out there for a few days. I brought my oldest with us because back then it was just the three of us and had planned on seeing a few local attractions. Well he got sick and plans changed into spending the entire three days in the hotel. So when my husband brought up going back I immediately responded with YES!

Up at 3:30 am, in the car by 4:20am and on the plane before 6:00. It was non stop walking/site seeing/water drinking/freaking hot/all around fun kind of day. I haven’t finished looking at all of the photos but I had to share just a few from our one day trip to Chicago.

This shot reminds me of something you’d see while in Florida doesn’t it?
My handsome boy while on the boat tour
 Baby boy and I on the 94th story of the Hancock building
Baby girl and I taking a break

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Sunset Sunday-Lets take a drive

July 15, 2012
inphotography, Sunset Sunday
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One thing I like to do every so often is grab the kids and go driving with no destination in mind. I love driving around like that. It’s a great way to discover new areas and if you remember to grab your camera you can also capture so great local beauty. So seeing as I was bored last night and the kids were all in a mood I knew it was a perfect time for us to go out and explore. 

I did somehow end up near an area we had been to a few weeks ago so the kids and I sat in the trunk and watched as a train rolled by, then we headed off to find a new spot. And what we found was gorgeous. And added bonus was there were horses, even little baby one’s. The kids loved seeing them and I loved seeing the smiles of their faces. 
This week I challenge you to go out and explore. Just get in your car (with your camera) and drive with no destination in mind. And next week I’d love to see where you discovered.

Do you love sunsets? Have tons and tons of photos of them or maybe even just a few? I would love for you to join us in Sunset Sundays and share a few of your favorites.
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Wordless Wednesday-4th of July

July 11, 2012
inWordless Wednesday
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Last week Lolli from Better in Bulk shared some amazing photos of fireworks that she took. And not just regular shots but what she called “painting” with lights. I had always wanted to attempt shots like that but never did it so I made up my mind that that night I would do it. I have been waiting a week to share what I captured.

The first two were taken before I went into “artsy” mode.

And these next two are, well I think they’re pretty awesome. This first one reminds me of Christmas tree lights.

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Sunset Sunday-Driving home

July 8, 2012
inSunset Sunday
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I don’t remember why exactly I had my camera with me on the drive home last week but I am glad I did. This was on our drive home. Every time we get stopped for the coming trains the kids laugh and scream as if it were Christmas morning. I love hearing their excitement and even though I can’t remember what possessed me to bring my camera with me I am thrilled that it was sitting next to me in the car because every time I look at this photo I think of my kids smiling faces and how much joy seeing a train cross in front of us brings them.

Do you love sunsets? Have tons and tons of photos of them or maybe even just a few? I would love for you to join us in Sunset Sundays and share a few of your favorites.

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Wordless Wednesday-Splash Pad

July 4, 2012
inWordless Wednesday
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We went to one of the kids friends birthdays parties this weekend. The original plan was to go to the local pool afterwards for some swimming but the pool ended up having some type of malfunction and was closed. Me being the “newbie” to this area had no idea where to go instead. My friend suggested the splashpad that way the kids could still cool off. At the mention of the splashpad I was lost. Um what is a splash pad?
Turns out the splashpad is this awesome little place that the kids can get wet, cool off and have tons of fun. And hello, it’s FREE! I felt so silly seeing as we’ve lived here for a year now and it’s located literally right behind the library that I visit about every other week. How had I not seen it before? I have no clue but now that I know about it I totally plan on bringing the kids back for some water fun.

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Getting my family organized with AboutOne

July 4, 2012
inAboutOne, Sponsored Post
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I will be the first to admit that I am not the most organized person. My filing system is lackluster and I tend to loose things almost daily. But one thing I always bring with me every where is my phone. And the most important item on my phone would be my calendar. With three kids that will all be starting school in the fall as well as my husband attending the local University, keeping up with schedules is very high on my priority list.

One site that I have been using to help keep me organized with the coming fall is AboutOne. Setting up your account is very easy and not very time consuming. In my book that is a huge plus because there’s nothing more frustrating then spending hours upon hours setting something up only to let it fall through the cracks over time.

This great online organizer offers many different ways for you to keep your family organized. Here are some of the selections offered:

  • Health Records
  • Education Records
  • Home Inventory List
  • Home Maintenance and Improvement Log
  • Vehicle Records
  • Family Address Book
  • Family Memories and Scrapbook
    Learning how to how to get organized is new to me but something I am really enjoying with AboutOne. Adding contacts is super simple. You can add them individually or you can import them from Google, Facebook or from a file. And it’s not just names and phones numbers, you can add birthdays, anniversaries, addresses, a link to a facebook profile and even to a twitter profile. You can also tag a contact as an emergency contact and you can separate your contacts into different groups such as family, friends, work, etc. If you’re a visual person there is an option to add a persons photo to their contact information. It’s genius I tell you!

    Another great feature is that you can share certain things with people of your choosing. For example, you have a child with allergies and you have a new babysitter coming over to watch the kids. Instead of having to continually write out instructions in case of an emergency or what foods and/or activities to avoid you can quickly print out your babysitters instructions from the information you have saved in your profile.

    Calendar and documents is currently being developed so not only will you be able to import important documents into your account but you will be able to sync your calendar as well. AboutOne has an app for Windows phones which can be downloaded for free here. And for those not using a Windows phone they are developing an app for both iPhone’s and Android based phones which is scheduled to release later this year.

    One of the many things I love about AboutOne is the security of the site. They have security that is higher then that of a bank security. What exactly does that mean? It means that not only do they use encryption but they also have auditing, logging, back-ups, and safe-guarding of data. Everything is monitored by three (YES three!) different companies. So you have literally no need to worry about your information getting into someone elses hands. I don’t know about you but that is a big win in my book.

    Here is a quick video about AboutOne in case you still have some questions.



    “I was compensated by AboutOne to review their online organizer. All opinions and text are my own.”

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    Sunset Sunday-A peaceful spot

    July 1, 2012
    inSunset Sunday
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    I have been so bad about keeping up with my Sunset Sunday posts lately. Between traveling to California, coming back home, attempting to get back into my routine oh and keeping my three little one’s entertained and busy during summer break. While looking through my photos last night it struck me that my camera time has been nearly cut out. I don’t have many photos from May until now. As in less then a hundred. For me that’s a dry patch. One that I will have to rectify soon.

    In the mean time I found a few photos to share with you all today. The sun was about halfway set and even though it was cloudy the sun was able to peek out from behind the clouds for the briefest of moments which provided this beautiful lighting.

    Do you love sunsets? Have tons and tons of photos of them or maybe even just a few? I would love for you to join us in Sunset Sundays and share a few of your favorites.

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    Top picks for free Android photography apps

    June 28, 2012
    inUncategorized
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    I have been using the Droid Razr for four months now and I have to say I love this phone. Seriously LOVE it. In one of my previous posts I mentioned how it felt like the top of the phone was top heavy to I always felt like it was going to drop. Since purchasing a phone case for the phone it helped even out the balance issues I was having while holding the phone and I haven’t had any issues since.

    One of the things I use my phones for a lot is taking photos. It is my go to thing to grab if I don’t have my Nikon with me. And of course half of the fun is sharing those photos online so an app with social sharing is a must. I wanted to share a few of my favorite free Android Apps for photography.

    This app is a given. Instagram has a lot of followers/users and since it’s release on the Android market those numbers have probably only doubled.

    This app is a new one to me but I very quickly became addicted to it. The fun thing about it is the many choices of cameras it offers. Along with the different camera options you can also choose different lenses with the cameras. It also offers three different resolutions (Small:472px, Medium:700px, Large:1280px).

     

    This app currently has over 70 free effects and tools to edit your photos. Little photo also offers more ways to edit your photos such as adjusting the brightness, contrast, exposure, saturation and smoothing the skin. The plugin is not free but with all of the options available on the free version I would definitely suggest checking the free version out first.

    Another app that is more about the camera then the editing afterwards. One of my favorite camera options is the fisheye. Yes I said fisheye. It’s very fun to take photos with. They also offer the Instant camera which adds toy camera effects to your photos. It also offer Posters images, Symetric and of course Normal camera.

    Another app that has quickly become a favorite of mine. With features such as Tilt shift, Panorama, Collage, and of course sharing through social networks. And even better this app is not only available for free on Android but you can also get it free for your iPhone and iPad.

    This app offers a wide variety of filters for you to choose from as well as borders and lighting that you can add to your photo. And they don’t have just your typical borders and textures that a lot of the other apps offer. I have been using this app for well over a year and I still love it.

    There you have it, my pick of top free Android photography apps. Do you have a favorite that I didn’t mention? I would to know what your go to photography app is.

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    Wordless Wednesday-Pool time

    June 27, 2012
    inWordless Wednesday
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    A trip to California just wouldn’t be complete without letting the kids get in some pool time. My oldest loves the water yet is very weary/fearful of it. So even though he had on diving fins (giggle) and a life vest I didn’t care one bit because he went in the pool. And not only did he just waddle around but he JUMPED in! Huge step for him and I am so proud.

    Baby girl started going under water. To say she was proud of herself would be an understatement. It was so much fun seeing her face when she would come back up.

    And of course little man. I don’t know what I would do without this little character in my life. He had the time of his life. When he wasn’t jumping in, squirting his brother and sister with the water gun or “diving” he was completely content floating the length of the pool.

    I will leave you with one final photo. I dare you not to laugh at his goofiness.


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