Excuse Me While I Hack Up a Lung

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Lately every time I try to have a conversation that is more than 30 seconds in length, my throat dries up and triggers a relentless cough, which begins to then break up the sludge in my lungs, which then gets caught in the back of my throat and triggers my gag reflex…. Gross! Fortunately I have a little red bottle of prescription cough medicine to help me ride out my annual upper-respiratory infection. Why do I get sick every December? Last year it was worse because I got the flu, too. Is it because I have just finished one of the toughest, busiest seasons of the year in terms of work and my body is fed up? Did I over do it? Did cheating sleep finally catch up with  me?

Today I was supposed to be singing in our Christmas concert at church, but instead I slept in until noon, finally got something to eat around 4… it’s been a week since I came down with bronchitis and I haven’t kicked it yet. These things have a tendency to linger for a while. My ear started pounding the other night so I started the round of antibiotics my doctor had prescribed just in case I didn’t start to feel better after a few days.

The worse part of being sick is not the symptoms for me. I have a pretty high pain tolerance and I can distract myself with Facebook, editing & movies… The worse part for me is feeling like everyone is listening to the phlegmy sound of my cough and getting majorly grossed out. I feel like they are reaching for their Purell as soon as I turn around. Or that they are annoyed by me when I fall into a coughing fit, and my eyes are watering and they can’t understand why I won’t JUST TAKE SOMETHING (even though I have been, duh). And I hate the way my pale complexion manages to grow ever paler when I’m sick. I look worse than death. I am certain I look as worse as I sound… and feel. Blehch!!

Well anyway, the upside to today’s quarantine means that I actually had time to redesign and update my blog, and since my little family is at the in-laws watching football, I also have time to finish just about the rest of my work for the week. It feels good to catch up…. and my iMac does not silently judge me for coughing all over my keyboard.

Busy

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I am so blessed to be up to my ears in work right now. I never, NEVER, anticipated my business taking off so soon. Granted, I’m still in the red, but it doesn’t look like that will be the case for too long… as long as I can be disciplined and resist the urge to keep buying gear. That is the hard part!

There are some things that I could not live without right now when it comes to photography. Here is a list of things that I will never regret investing in:

  1. 50mm 1.4G – awesome, awesome lens!
  2. SB-700, shoot-through umbrella and triggers – soooo many things I can do with these!
  3. Lightroom – I can edit and export so quickly, it frees up time to do other things!
  4. The $50 worth of extra RAM I bought for my iMac. What a difference!!
  5. My D90. It’s not a full frame… but that’s the only downside. This camera has been good to me – and it takes pretty much any Nikon lens. Love it!!

hmmm….

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I realize this blog has sort of died. I’m sorry to those who look forward to updates. Lately I have been so busy that whenever I sit down at the computer, all I can think of are updates too brief for a blog post, or things that will take too long to write out. I have been focusing on my photography business so much lately and that is because Fall is the busy season for family pictures! It will trail off soon, when the Holidays are near and it gets cold, and then I will have time to sit down and collect my thoughts.

Things that are new:

  1. I bought a new computer, an iMac. It depleted my savings and that is stressing me out, but at the same time I love using it and it has made my editing life much less stressful – everything is a little faster… a lot faster actually.
  2. Micah is talking in complete sentences now.
  3. Eric has been promoted to Engineering Manager and will be traveling a little more in the near future. I’m hoping this also equals a raise? :)
  4. MOPS bible study is starting back up next week – I’m excited for that!
  5. I rejoined choir this year as a second soprano – but often I’ll just sing first soprano because it’s easier to follow the notes.

Taking a Break

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Well three months of “the fertility tri-fecta” had no apparent affect. I’m sorry to report that we are not going to be expecting another baby any time soon. We are going to wait until later this winter to try again, for a number of reasons. And when the time comes, I will not be taking fertility medications. It was just too much to handle. The emotional highs and lows, which are a side effect of the hormones, were making me miserable (to be around) at times.

I have no idea what God’s plans our for our family in terms of children. I don’t know why it was so easy to get pregnant with Micah and this time around, not even 3 months of Clomid could get me knocked up. What I do know, however, is that I love being the mother of a toddler, and so many other things in our life right now are changing and progressing. Eric is being promoted to Engineering Manager, which is really exciting for us both. My photography business really seems to be taking off as well, which is great because I really love what I do! I recently accepted a small position at church that is very part time, but will provide an opportunity for me to serve and I am looking forward to that.

So I guess the moral of the story is that sometimes things don’t go according to plan, but sometimes the alternative isn’t so bad after all. :)

Whoa, buddy!

 

Did You Know Your Flash Is Backwards?

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One time I was taking pictures at a rehearsal and someone laughed and asked me, “did you know your flash is backwards?” My flash was in fact pointed behind me, but it was on purpose, not by accident.  Bouncing your flash is a way to turn a large surface into your main light source, rather than your tiny flash head.  I usually swivel my flash and point it at a 45 degree angle and slightly up, depending on what is behind me.

This photo was taken in Micah’s light-challenged bedroom, and it’s nearly completely lit with my flash:

My flash was pointed behind me and to the right. It doesn’t look “flashy” and that is why I love using this technique.

Usually what I will do is meter for the ambient light, then underexpose by 2 clicks (which on my camera is 1/3-2/3 stop) – then I’ll fire the flash in TTL mode. This adds directional light without being too contrasty.

It takes practice to get used to moving your flash head around and knowing where to point it, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll never go back.

My Camera Stinks!

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I wanted to share something out of my “bag of tricks” that has been working really well with 2-year-olds and getting nice big, natural smiles: my stinky camera!

I first tested this on my son, but when I found that it worked on 2 other toddlers, I knew it was a winner! Now my camera doesn’t actually stink, but these cuties don’t know that. After I set up the shot, I bring the camera to my nose, do an exaggerated sniff and exclaim, “oh! my camera is so stinky!” while scrunching up my nose. I love the results! At my last session, I tried not to overuse it, but to my surprise, it never got old!

Blinded by the Light No More (And Other Happenings)

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Eric and I have lived in our house for 4 years this month. And we are FINALLY putting blinds up in our living room. I cannot tell you how excited I am for this major development in my life. Right now, as I type this, Eric is installing the blinds while angrily “cursing” the weak screws that came with the kit and keep breaking in the wood of the window frame. It’s ridiculous that they put the same screws in a $37 set of blinds as they do in a $3 set of blinds, but then again maybe “they” just want to make sure you never try to reuse your blinds.

This window has been seriously blinding us every afternoon/evening for the past four years. The sheer curtains we put up when we moved in have nothing on the blazing, setting sun that renders this room unbearable during the very time we want to use it: when Eric gets home and we all want to spend time together. Yesterday, while editing some photos on my laptop in the living room, all of a sudden there was so much sun in my eyes that I couldn’t see my screen. I couldn’t take it anymore!! I bit the bullet and this afternoon we finally bought the blinds. I cannot wait to enjoy the shade… Eric is almost done installing them. In the meantime, I have propped up a large couch pillow behind my laptop, blocking most of the sun from hitting my face and shirt and reflecting back onto my screen.

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Last week we had our annual family reunion! It was seriously the hottest day, ever. The humidity made it feel even worse. But it was still nice to see some family that I don’t get to see very often.

Micah had fun spending time with my dad. They went swimming down on the beach together after lunch.

My grandma is now the last of her siblings – her sister, my great aunt – passed away just days before our reunion. It was sad, but she seemed to be doing really well all things considered.

My cousin’s baby is the cutest in the world!!

It’s nice to see my sister still likes her husband. Haha!! Just kidding – they are cute!

After lunch we release balloons in memorial of all the family members who have passed – we do this every year. This year there was a second blue balloon for my great aunt.

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Last Sunday was also a pretty cool day because my picture was in the business section of our city’s Sunday paper!!!

I had gone to a special event for a local women’s business networking group that I am a member of, called Ladies in Professional Power. I’d say that’s some great exposure for my business! I hope some people look me up and like what they see! :)

Oh Where to Begin?

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If I updated this blog more often, I think it would be easier to update. But instead I go way to long and then when I do feel like updating, I have way too much to talk about and I freeze. So instead of trying to “catch you up” – I think I’ll just talk about today!

When I woke up this morning, I felt seriously disoriented. I don’t even know what was wrong… but I could not function until I had cleaned the house. It was like the clutter was cluttering my brain and giving me brain fog. The other issue was how insanely tired I felt. Despite the fact that I went to bed about two hours earlier than I usually do, and slept in, I was still exhausted. I forgot to eat breakfast.

All day I have been laughing at my poor dog. I really need to take a picture of Chloe right now. She is wearing a silly cone around her neck to keep her from licking her stitches. She got spayed yesterday – and micro-chipped. We are calling her the old lady. I hope she is not transmitting all our secrets via satellite now that she has this mysterious chip under her skin.

I have had the worst diet this week. I can’t stop eating junk. I want to eat fifty pounds of brownie covered in whipped cream and hot fudge. Luckily I’m not following my urges to that degree.

Today I had the opportunity to meet with another photographer and teach her a few things. I hope that she was able to benefit. I am always looking for ways that I can share what I have learned and also be generous with what I have, even if it’s just a few hours of my time and a few tips I’ve picked up along the way.

Tonight we had dinner with friends – and all of our children – well my single child and their three – played in the sandbox and got seriously dirty. It was fun to throw them all in the tub and watch the bathwater turn brown. Silly kids — I had to do a lot of scrubbing to get the sand out of Micah’s hair. But he loves playing with people his size so much. I love to watch. And I love to spend time with friends and enjoy good food together.

And now I am designing a mini accordion album for a recent senior session. What a relaxing way to end the evening (yes, Photoshop is relaxing for me, lol).

Moving On

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Eric and I are trying one more month on the fertility hormones and then I’m taking 3 months completely off. It is emotionally draining…

In the meantime, and I suppose this is a symbol of me moving on, I finished cleaning out the spare room. It had intentions of becoming Micah’s new cowboy room and his nursery would continue to be a nursery, hopefully for someone new. But at this point, I’ve realized, it could be years before that becomes a reality and why waste a room for so long? I gutted it out and turned it back into an office, and this time, added a small studio for my mini sessions.

I looooooove my new space! It feels so good to give this room purpose – especially in something that is a reality right now. I will get a lot of use out of this room, rather than have it be a symbol of what I don’t have.

Here is the result:

A Letter to My Little Guy

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Dear Micah,

I’m pretty sure you’re more temperamental than a teenage girl. One minute, you’re smiling from ear to ear, and the next we’re having this major misunderstanding (no, I did not leave your snack in the car) and you’re having a major meltdown. But your occasional outbursts can hardly compare to your measure of cuteness. In fact, if we could quantify how adorable you are with a number, it would be a least three billion on a scale of one to ten. You have no idea how hard it is to not smile when you’re being naughty sometimes.

My phone is full of video and snaps of you doing various funny and cute things. I saved a recording of you saying hi to your Aunt Kelly last night and I confess I played it back a few times today. You sound like a munchkin when you talk – like a cute little elf. And when you start cracking jokes like, “puppy cat!” I laugh right along with you, but for different reasons.

I love how you enjoy going out on little day trips with me now. I love that you will read about two dozen books with me at the library. I love that you make fast friends with the older kids at the park. I’m so glad you still like to ride in the Ergo when you’re sleepy; I like feeling your sweaty head under my chin, even though you lick my neck and laugh.

You are two but you tell everyone you’re four. I’m about to start potty training you, and I’m absolutely terrified of the process. Please don’t poop on my floor. I’m going to take you to Walmart and let you pick out your new underoos. We’re totally going to call them underoos, yes we are. I’m really hoping this will go well, but I’ve heard stories from other moms.

Thanks for making my life so fun right now, Mr. Micah.

Love,

Mom