taking a class...now to find it!

well, i'm taking the leap!

i want to learn all i can regarding photography.  i mean, i got my first DSLR so why not take advantage of what she has to offer, right?  right.

so, i want to take a class.  it doesn't have to be in school, as in at a college at night where it will take me away from my sweet family.  i can easily do this while gunnar is running around playing ben 10, or army men.  i can do this in my free time.  yes, i have free time -- i mean, hello, how am i blogging?  we MAKE time when we WANT to do something!  

we all know i love amy from the idea room, it's no secret on my blog!  i talk about the idea room all the time....well, it's also no secret that amy is one wonderful photographer and we love her because she shares her secrets [gasp!] yes...yes she does!  

well, as i was on my other love pinterest, i was looking up photography and came across a little link that spiked my interest. it said "say no to auto" it peeked my interest because i really want to learn about manual mode and all about my camera....so, i click on it and, where does it take me? to amy's blog!  of course!  lol, but, more importantly to the most amazing page that i have no idea how i've never seen it before!  it's the page where i decided i'm totally taking a class!  and, now i have a new favorite blogger...meet kristen!  oh she is F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!  she used to write on amy's blog [i proly would have cried had i known this....cuz when i read her farewell post i found myself getting a little emotional...i blame it on my period getting ready to start] and tells all her little secret's...i have now found a new best friend, and she has no clue who i am!  lol if you have a love for photography, this is a must read ... and yes, i'm going to purchase her e-book because well, after reading the tips she gave i mean, i have to!  you proly should too...click here to access site and get it!

so friends, i am now looking for an online class to take.  perhaps i will get her book first and just start there.  i am also totally going to invest in photoshop.  yes, i do have picnik and i have been able to make some amazing shots look unbelievable. but, after looking at kristen's pictures after photoshop...i'm really blown away!

so, i'm totally excited because i have tried a few of her tips and have done really well with changing the iso and ss and i'm excited because wow.  just wow!  what a difference!  no more auto for me! now, tonight i'm taking pics at the kids "back to school" dance...i cringe thinking about the flash that will be used.  urg!  i may be e-mailing kristen today!  crossing fingers she can help me!

how about you?  do you know what i can do??  i HATE flash photography...but...i'll be indoors at a dance = DARK...help!!

xoxoxo

erika

[a not so] wordless wednesday

it's wednesday which brings...[dun dun dun]

[a not so] wordless wednesday!

is it just me, or has wednesday became your favorite day too??  i find myself thinking...oooh ooooh that picture is sooooo going up on wednesday's post!!!  oh the joy's of my blog...my precious!  

so, what's my WORDY wednesday post bringing today?  um, how about a birthday party??  yes, i think so...we went to alyssa's friend from kindergarten brianna's pool party.  i of course brought my lovely and snapped over 100 photo's.  even of the cat.  yes, the cat.  got some really cool up close and personal shots of a scary banana spider too.  eeek! 

it was a great birthday party.  we really had a fun time relaxing and of course spending time with brianna's family.  

happy birthday sweetie!

this cat adopted them...he was fabulous!

and this would be the banana spider.  eeeeek!  i have a fabulous zoom lense.  i was by no stretch of the imagination close to this thing.  although, afterward i felt him all over me!!!

and then i got the prettiest sunset shot eva...oh yes, i know i have A LOT to learn about photography.  like, literally i don't even know what an aperture is.  i mean i know what it means, but don't know what it means, ya know?  i hate [with every fiber of my being] flash photography.  my favorite mode on my camera is literally the CA mode.  creative auto. i take the flash off and blur the background.  that's me.  so, i should totally take a class. but, here's my little landscape with brianna's brother on his motor cross bike.  i'd love to a shoot with him...but i really need to learn and get good, but i love this shot...for now.  watch, i'll look back and laugh cuz i'll be like...wow, i had soo much to learn!  lol

that screams FALL to me...the sky was sooooo pretty...it just wasn't cold like it looks.  whine....whine....whine....it will be though and SOON!!  yay!  

xoxoxo thanks for stopping by!

i'd love feedback on the picture taking skills...i really need tips! ooh, and don't forget to link up!

the abc's of moi

the abc's of moi

i was invited to join a little fun event as a better way to getting to know me from my friends at voiceBoks   i hope you have fun reading them.  i have had fun reading the abc's of my friend's so this will be fun to fill out.  here goes...and oh by the way, don't be surprised, there is no way that i can use 1 word.  

age i am 32 and loving my 30's! although, when i turned 29 i think i had a mini break down  argile love the print it's fabulous seriously, it just is, especially on tights.

butterfly they follow me everywhere.  they even land on me.  when my daughter was diagnosed w/the brain tumor, my uncle who is chief of the shawnee nation in california named her butterfly dancing because everytime he would pray for her he'd have a butterfly dancing around her.  even before she was born, her baby bedding was butterfly themed.  then, when my niece passed away, i noticed them even more...so, they are always around and they comfort me and my daughter notices them too.  brain tumor that word will be a part of me for the rest of my life.

coffee i big puffy heart love it but it needs to have sugar free vanilla creamer and agave or splenda in it!  converse any color, anytime, anywhere. 

do it yourself because i'm cool like that! i honestly just learned how to read how to build furniture plans.  i have made a few pieces and even turned my drab dining room table into a fab one.  now i love it.  donughts i love them but they don't love me.  it's a sad relationship really

extra weight i'm on a mission to lose it this year!  i can help you too if you are interested let me know and follow my posts in "good bye granny - hello nanny!" lol [and no, it's actually not because i eat too many donughts] eureka the word bugs me eclectic a word i use to describe my style

family they are the reason i get up everyday. fart a common word used in our house lol fabulous is a word i probably use way too much

god who is the center of our household.

hawai'i i grew up there and never knew just how lucky i was until i left.  isn't it always that way? geez, i was spoiled.

ireland because i cherish my irish background and would love to visit ireland one day same goes for italy but i'm not italian, my husband is

jesus because he died on the cross for you and me and the least i can do is share his free gift to as many that will listen - before it's too late

kindergarten which is where i will be spending most of my free time next year because my 3rd child will be starting school and i want to be the room mom

laughing loudly - it's the best sound. ever!  laundry is something i despise doing.  thankfully, my husband hates the dishes, so i do those and he does the laundry.  

mamaka the name my husband calls me when he's not calling me babe morning my favorite time of day midnight sun the book i can't wait to come out by stephanie meyer because i am a twilight fan and let's face it, edward and bella's lovestory is that good mochi a delight i can't get enough of but i only get it back home

norby my maiden name which i hated growing up and respect it now that i'm older

ohhh eemmm geee because i love that word!

pinterest need i say more? polycystic ovarian syndrome i have it and was misdiagnosed for many years

quaint the kind of town i'd like to live in someday quirky a great word to describe me

retro i love retro style in fact, i think i was probably born in the wrong era.  i can pretty much guarantee it

stylish atleast i like to think so short i can't really help that smiles a lot in fact, in school, my nick name was "smiley" ya.  i was a cheerleader. what? don't judge.

thinks outside the box i def do that.  i made a coat/back pack rack out of my sons toddler bed head board.  yup.  could't get rid of it.  so, now i can look at it and think of him as a wee one....

unbelievably easy to talk to and people tell me their life stories all the time.  which is fine because i would love to be a counselor some day to teens.  i think that from the age of 8/9 and on girls especially need guidance and really should be payed extra attention to and should have the opportunity to feel safe and be able to talk to someone they trust even if it's outside their home.  so, i'd love to be a counselor at a school.  someone that young girls can relate to and feel comfortable talking to.  i had the opportunity to counsel a young girl and later she shared that the night i listened to her she was going to take her life, but i showed her love and that i cared.  she had her entire death planned [and told me in detail] she thanked me for taking the time to talk to her that night.  ever since then, i have had a passion to counsel. 

very passionate about suicide awareness, especially in teens ViSalus is going to change my world!

will do anything for a family member or friend in need, i understand what it's like to be in hard times and if i can help in any way i will 

xanax is an over used anti depressant.  while i was in the process of being diagnosed with pcos, this is one that i wasn't prescribed. 

yo-yo'ing i never could quite get the hang of it

zoologist in the 5th grade, it's the job i wanted to do "when i grew up" and, now that i am still "growing up" i love to take my children to the zoo and see their faces and faces as they watch the elephants, gorillas and giraffes in their habitats.  it's like being a kid again myself.

i'm a bloggy mom, are you?

if you are not a member,
you need to be!


it all started on tuesday night.  does this ever happen to you?  you find a blog by chance?  well, of course it does, but, do you ever forget how you found it?  because, to tell you the truth,  i have no clue how i ended stumbling across this site!  i will tell you, i am very grateful i found her though!  so, this is where the story begins.

i linked up to my  new fabulous friend's blog  and have entered this whole new world!  i know, that may sound a bit drastic.  but seriously. i went from basically talking to myself to now having 12 followers!  [that was at last check] and i couldn't be more excited!  i know 12 followers is not very much and compaired to some of the other "big baller" blogs [har har har] it's nothing, but to me, it's everything.  to me, it means that what i'm writing is ___________ good/funny/interesting/catching/pulling/  [you can put any word in that little blank] for you to first take the time to follow me on google friend connect [GFC], and second, leave me a comment to encourage me.

i know you have been here, where i am, before you got to your first 20 followers.  it's not that i feel unimportant.  because, i do know that if you truly have a passion for something, and you put forth the effort in that passion, you will succeed.  but, you have to keep your focus.  so, i do appreciate the comments.  i do appreciate you following me and giving me that little boost i needed to know that the hard work i have put into this blog has not been for just "another on line journal".

i was introduced to a  blog hop and let me say i have had so much fun this week, it's quite ridiculous really.

first, you link up to a party.  check.  i found one.  by accident.  but, hey, there aren't rules.  you don't make an appointment.  you do this to make friends!  to get your blog exposure!  i linked up, and literally started clicking blog after blog.  the linking party i joined was called "wordless wednesday" which, i will continue to be a part of...for a long time.  i don't quite get the whole wordless thing.  at first i didn't post any words.  but, as i read other blogs i saw that they did.  so of course, i am a girl of many many words, so i just can't not write.  i went back and typed up a little story to go with my inspirational pictures.  

well, after visiting blog after blog, linking to this one and that one.   following the ones that completely sparked my interest, liked them on facebook, followed them on twitter [yes, i totally cyber stalk -- but i know everyone is totally ok with that, as am i] i started noticing the same button.

ok, so not the exact same one as above, that's just the one i chose to use for this post [you can see the other buttons on my side bar]  but regardless, they are all advertising for bloggy moms; a little slice of internet heaven.  =)

if you are a mom + a blogger this will be the perfect match for you. i got nosey after seeing it on so many of the blogs i liked, and man i am so happy i did.  

there are groups you can join

you can blog 

find friends, add friends, invite friends,

 find other mom's who are blogging in your area

 blog hop through bloggy moms

and much, much more!

take a little time and check out bloggy moms, believe me, you will be happy you did!!


and oh by the way, did i forget to mention, it's free? ya, that.  totally free!

oh me oh my

ok, let me just be honest.  i have been working on my blog for 2 weeks.  yes.  2 weeks.  every day while the kids are at school.   gunnar has been playing with my iphone reading the books [better yet, they are reading to him but it's still learning, right?] that i downloaded for him so i can get this set up.  this is not as easy as everyone makes it sound.  i love blogs such as tater tots & jello, the house of smiths and my all time favorite is by far 

the idea room.  these websites are put together so well.  i love them to pieces!  they make me want to come back for more!  of course we all know that good blogging has tons to do with first and foremost - a good camera.  i will be investing in one of those soon.  very soon.  secondly - you need to have a clean, crisp, background.  well, thanks to the girls at the cutest blog on the block i not only got a great background, i snagged a few buttons and read up on their "secrets" and learned a few tips from them!  they will also create a custom web page for you if you contact them!  they also write a blog which you can check out 2 moms talk these ladies are awesome in my book!   third - you need to have a site that is easy to navigate through...and then finally have content that is worth reading.  well, i think i have all my ducks in a row. it's a learning process and unless you pay someone [as i'm sure some do] i will be learning all the tricks as i blog along....ahem....i welcome any tips you may have!  like, how do you post in additional pages? for example, i have the when the fruit come out to play page.  i'd love to post little stories about the kids in there.  or make a page for tutorials...and have all the tutorials in there.  does anyone know how to do this?

i have to give a big thank you to my friend huma who is the sweetest blogging buddy i have.  seriously, she reached out to me after i posted a comment on the little hen house [a blog that we both openly & admittedly stalk & i might add morgan, the blog owner totally encourages stalking so it's ok] stating a problem i was having with a html she had written.  she asked me to e-mail her and she'd fix the code.  from that point on we became friends.  we have exchanged e-mails back and forth, usually me telling her what i have accomplished thanks to her.  she has explained so much and has given me the confidence to actually do the research and that's how i found all the information above.  SCORE!  i am so happy to have found her!  she is quite hilarious too which is a bonus.  i mean, come on, we can't read a blog if the writer has dry humor can we? i think not.  and , i mean, how often can we say that we write a blog owner and get a response?  ok, so i didn't actually write huma personally, but i have written other blog owners that i absolutely adore [to whom will remain nameless] that say they love to get e-mail, and asked for advice, but did not get a response.  huma wrote me without me even asking her for advice.  to me, that's super cool.  and, that shows that she's a team player.  so, in honor of how awesome my bloggy world friend huma is, i encourage you to go stop by huma's page and show her some love.  grab her button, share her page, like her on facebook.  and tell her erika sent you --- she'll get a giggle outta that!

toodles!