Photography

I've always liked taking pictures, it's been somewhat a passion of mine. When the kids were younger, I took quite a few photos, but not so many now.

My first camera was a Canon AE Program. It was a good camera. I finally got into the 21st century about a year ago by buying a digital camera. Another Canon, 31S. It's been a good camera too. It has taken me a little while to adapt to "its" way of taking photos though. There are times I cannot figure the thing out, but I wouldn't trade it in on any other camera, unless.....it was a Canon XTI. (I've already started saving.)

I thought that others would benefit from subscribing to their newsletter I receive. I believe it has good information that anyone can use to take better photos. Sign-up for it today!

Hope you enjoy this website and benefit from it too. (Look under Favorite Sites for their website.)

Happy Picture Taking!




UPDATE.........................I went to my newsletter again to make sure I have the correct site to visit. Not sure the first site I posted is the correct one, but that information is still in my newsletter. So, I posted another website. I believe this one is the one I want you to go to. If you come across the name of "Darren Rowse" that's the one. He's from Australia

THE Foreign Language

I should be getting ready for bed, but I wanted to check some things online before doing so. And what else better to do than to write in the blog.

For a long time I've wanted to learn how to speak Spanish. I've worked with a few people who speak the language. I've not been disciplined enough to stick with it to learn more than a word or two.

C-Tec offered a basic class on the subject. The first couple of weeks were somewhat easy, now I think, will my brain understand? Repeating helps retain anything if you do it long enough.

In two weeks my Spanish classes will be over. Since starting the classes I have learned a little more than I knew before. Will I ever be able to speak it to a "real" Mexican? We shall see. I work at a restaurant with Mexicans. When I try to speak their language they just laugh. They think I'm "muy loco".

I would like to take the second session, but I haven't made up my mind. I still have two weeks to decide. It will surely get harder. I have to remember that some things don't come easy.

Quiero hablar Espanol.

Adios Amigo/Amiga!

Painting is so much FUN!

I love how other people can paint their walls and it looks fantastic. Me...well lets just say, I have no color coordination. Sometimes I can hit the nail on the head and then their are those other times...........

I purchased the house approximately 3 1/2 years ago. At that time all the walls were painted white. White walls now just ain't cutting it! I need color.

I love the colors my friend has in her house, she said she purchased her paint from Lowes. I visited that store a few times trying to make up my mind what I wanted to do. The colors she gave me apparently are no longer available. I looked at every color swatch remotely resembling her colors. Tam-e had painted the boys bathroom a Baked Clay. In the store, I decided I liked the Faded Clay better. It almost looks like the Baked Clay. The difference Tam-e tells me is the Baked Clay has more or a red tint to it and the Faded Clay has more of an orange tint. (That's what she gathered from viewing the photos I had taken.)

I started behind the refrigerator and under the kitchen cabinets. (This did not look like my friends color nor Tam-e's color.) Leaving it on one or two nights wouldn't hurt, maybe I'll get use to it. (It has started to grow on me.) But now what do I do with the other wall, it looks so dull and lifeless.

And then the brainy idea came to me. I'll texture paint it! The top will be the texture with the bottom to be the Faded Clay with a white chair railing to divide the two sections. Sounds great! It sounded great, but looked bad. So off to Home Depot to purchase their paint. This time I chose a color in a picture I had hanging on the wall. It's still not what I really would like, but it sure looks a whole lot better than before.

The above is right after I finished painting with the Faded Clay paint. Depending upon the light determines the color you see.

Here the wall is primed, waiting on the second coat of paint. It's almost back to the original color. Just a little darker than before.

Um???? What's my next paint project?

Maybe I should correct the family room paint job before I move on to something else.

A Letter from the Lichtenstein Family

I recently received an email from my sister Ruth, who forwarded a photo of our nephew, Mark, and his family. Below you can read that email to catch you up on their lives.



Hi Family and Godfamilies,
This is the photo we intended to send out with Christmas cards, but our computer wasn't cooperating. So, Happy Valentine's Day instead!

The photo was taken at the Russian Orthodox church across the street from where we live. For those who don't know the story, when the immigrants came from Russia, Greece, and other Orthodox countries, they didn't speak each other's languages. So, they didn't realize they all were from the same church.

What this means today is that, even though we attend a Greek Orthodox parish regularly, we can attend other "insert-ethnic-name-here" Orthodox parishes as well. On the day the photo was taken, there was too much snow to drive to our regular parish.

Also, I attached a flyer that shows the individual kids playing piano. I made the flyer to advertise my new piano studio, which opened in January. So far I have four paying students (plus my own four children), with some interested nibbles. Not bad for the first month.

With love,
Mark & Suzanne, Anna, John, Paul, and Gregory

Sorry, the blog does not accept the flyer that Suzanne made.
It's been a few years since we've seen these kids. The nieces and nephews grow up so quickly and then they start having babies. That's when you start to feel old and wonder where time has gone.

I remember the first time it really sank in I was a "great aunt". Marsha had Mathew, Ruth's grandson. Ruth called; Mathew had arrived......Great Aunt Martha. Wow! I gained 40 years with that "great" in front of my name!

I could look at it this way.....I should be the best aunt they have because I'm so "great". Ha!

I've been telling myself for the past number of years that I need to organize a family get-together. (Cousins don't know cousins.) Maybe because I like being with my family, whether it's with my own children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and/or the great nieces and nephews.

Once a year we should plan a weekend where cabins could be rented. We would all have our own facility (called a bed to sleep in). The aunts, uncles, and cousins could reminisce, sit by the camp fire and just have fun. Last year, Marsha said she would get it organized. I wonder if she remembers saying that.

Maybe I should ask.

Do we have enough time to get it planned for this year?
Or maybe we'll need to start planning now for next summer?

Family is important!

The relationships you build with them will last you for a life time.
Family is there when you need help, to encourage you, they'll encourage you to go after your dreams, they love you when you aren't lovable, they are by your side when you hurt.

Family....a place to be yourself and feel you are loved.

What does family mean to you? What creates that "close knit" family?
What will you do to build that relationship with your family?

Baby Shower for Anjie

Taylor was a big help. She would hand Anjie the gifts and even tried to drag the big ones to her too. Of course, she wanted to stand directly in front of Anjie to help unwrap them too.

Here is the front of the Sudoku quilt (far right) I made for Anjie. (The back shows the squares I used in numerical order, starting with the upper left hand corner as the first square, to the bottom right hand corner as # nine.)

The back of the quilt could always be as interesting as the front. Bunny's Sew Fine Fabrics machine quilted it for me in less than two days time. The picture does not show how nice the quilting looks.

The cake was made by Jane Sinon.

Even though Tam-e & I purchased mixed match things for the shower. It sure seemed like our theme was rubber ducky.

Here's my story.........

My stress level was at its all-time high peak at the shower. Tam-e & I arrived at the church around 1:10, we had 1/2 hour to decorate tables and arrange everything. We could do this!

It was quickly apparent that we needed more tables! The tables are stored in this one particular closet. That door was to be unlocked......it wasn't. I had no idea what Eric's phone # was. Now what? My mind immediately went through names from the church that would know Eric's home #. What better person to call first, Jenara, our church secretary. She was just a few streets from us. She came to the rescue. The door was unlocked and tables were retrieved.

Oh no! It's 1:50 and people are arriving! I had to leave! A mad dash to the car so I could head home to bake the bread sticks. (Did your mother ever tell you "A watched pot never boils?") My bread sticks weren't cooking fast enough for me. I burnt a few in the process. Loaded up the lasagna and bread sticks and off I took. We unloaded the food, by this time, my stress got to me. I felt like everything was coming unglued. I tell "Tam-e this was not a way to do this, it was totally unorganized." (Thankgoodness Tam-e has broad shoulders and assured me that everything was fine. It took another 1/2 hour for me to calm down. What previously played in my mind as a smooth sailing for this shower, had not played out that way in real life.)

After eating, Anjie was directed towards the big table of gifts. Only a few things were duplicates. Not too much to take back to the store. Finally the last gift was opened, & everyone went their separate directions.

Clean up seemed to go quickly. Thanks to Laura Enright for helping before, during and after the shower.

Tam-e, Taylor and myself changed clothes, ordered pizza and off we took to spend the evening with BJ & Anjie. (& Steve, too) They all tried to come up with a name to call their child while I slept.

(Drannik Scott Kinnard) Will Anjie agree to this name for a boy?

It grows on you after a while.............But what if it's a girl?

Picturing a Dream

I don't remember what magazine nor year this photo was published. My mother found it. She thought it to look like me.

I had given it to my daughter, Tam-e, and as the saying goes, "Indian Giver", I wanted it back.

I had purchased a frame, I was going to take this page from the magazine and do something with it. Yea, right! It never happened. So I gave it to Tam-e and asked her to create something for the matting. She said she would try.

Approximately, one year later as a birthday present to me, she completed the task at hand. It turned out wonderful!

I love it.

It may seem very "vain" to some. but I like this likeness of myself. Being a model was a dream that I had had when I was in my teens. This photo will be the closest I will get to that dream. You know what, that's ok. I can live with that. I have no desire to be a model now.

Thank you Tam-e for putting thought, hard work, and love into completing this picture. You did an awesome job!!! I love you!

Another Birthday

Here I am one year older. Where does time go?

I decided I didn't want to take a day off from work, so it ended up being a normal Tuesday. With the exception, IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY!

My work provided me with an ice cream cake. Love ice cream cake. I had previously decided to make myself a German Chocolate cake. My favorite! (My mother use to make me this cake every year for my birthday. I remember eating the whole thing one year.) I just finished making my cake.

I don't want to eat the whole thing so I'll take it to work and share. I know I can freeze it, but that's just too much temptation when you like something that much.

Happy Birthday to myself!!!

Some things never change

Did you ever notice some things just never change?

When my daughters were in high school, I made their homecoming and prom dresses. I usually finished them the night before or the day of the occasion. I wouldn't so much say I'm a procastinator (but that may have something to do with it) but I guess I like the last minute crunch time of it all.

(Now that I'm getting older, (the birthday is on Tuesday, 5th) can't say I like waiting until the last minute to do things any more. It still happens, so I adjust.)

My goal was to finish the baby quilt for Anjie earilier than I have, it's 4 a.m. now. I've somewhat met that goal. The fabric shop opens at 10. I wanted to be able to drop the quilt top & bottom off so they could have it quilted by Thursday. That would give me enough time to finish binding it before Sunday. (At this point, I will probably have my sister Ruth do the binding.)

I started today around 4 p.m. finishing the quilt top. After completing the top, I kept thinking "what am I going to do for the back"? So I started by sewing the suduko squares together as there were in chronological order. So.......Now what do I do? Another strip was sewn on, and then another and so on. Until finally I have to quit because I ran out of material.

At least I've met my goal (somewhat) I just have to make an extra trip to the fabric shop tomorrow (today) to pick up more fabric. The story of a quilters life. "More fabric!"

"Dumb" Brain Cells

Ever wonder why you do stupid things? I believe it's because our "dumb" brain cells over power the smart ones.

I left the garage door up intending to leave after retrieving something from the house. I wasn't in the house for very long when Stacy came home and of course, shut the garage door. As I proceeded out into the garage I didn't push the button to raise the door. Instead I had had the thought I would do it from inside my vehicle. I did just that. The only thing is, I didn't wait long enough. The door caught the last six inches of my 4 runner. (What I get for being in a hurry.)

God watches out for us even when our "dumb" brain cells take over. I praise Him because all it did was pop the bottom pin from the garage door (and that was easily fixed), and my 4 runner sustained only minor injuries (scratches & it popped off my windshield wash dispenser).

Thank you Lord for showing me grace and mercy yesterday.

A family visit

My daughter-in-law, Anjie, is soon to have a baby, her first. She is due March 23rd.

Thought I had best get on the ball to make a quilt for her. So I decided to take a trip to Mt. Vernon to the quilt shop. While in Mt. Vernon, I stopped to see Aunt Martha & Uncle Jim. They fed me lunch, and we visited for a little while. It was getting about time for me to head back to Newark, so Aunt Martha & I went to Aunt Bee's Quilt Shop. I picked up some flannel material to finish my Sudoku quilt for Anjie. I hope she likes it. Now to get it finished in time for the baby shower on February 10th.

I got back in town long enough to get home and eat something and then off to a mentoring meeting with Jill. She said it would last for 1 - 1 1/2 hours. It was three hours later when we departed. It was a good meeting. She will be a great mentor. The goal is to help me come closer to God, listen to what He says, and use that to help others come closer to God for themselves.

Thought I would check out the internet to find a finished Sudoku puzzle. I made one for Courtney & Jamie for Madilyn, born Dec. 17 (my mom's birthday). I thought it turned out pretty neat. The picture is of the quilt I made Courtney. I will change Anjies a little.

We don't know the sex of the baby. It's exciting; what will they have? BJ wants a girl. I believe Anjie doesn't have a preference.