I Heart Faces: "Best Face Photo from May"

The Beauty of Western Nebraska

Nebraska has a bad rep for being flat & boring.  We are known for our open air and corn fields.  And those of us that live here often long for mountains, beaches, palm trees or deserts.  Driving across the state on Interstate 80 can be long & monotonous--it's true.  But the fact is that Nebraska really is beautiful if you're willing to notice.  And, as any true Nebraskan will tell you, there really is no place like it.

Many people new to the area marvel at the clarity & immensity of the night sky and the brilliance of the stars.  Here in the panhandle we have the geologically marvelous sandhills and the gorgeous buttes scattered throughout.  And there really is something wonderful about standing in front of a wheat field in the July wind and watching the "amber waves of grain."   It really is beautiful.

Beautiful Nebraska
words by Jim Fras and Guy Gage Miller and music by Jim Fras

Beautiful Nebraska, peaceful prairie land.
Laced with many rivers and the hills of sand:
Dark green valleys cradled in the earth,
Rain and sunshine bring abundant birth.

CHORUS:
Beautiful Nebraska, as you look around,
You will find a rainbow reaching to the ground:
All these wonders by the Master's hand:
Beautiful Nebraska land.

We are so proud of this state where we live.
There is no place that has so much to give.

CHORUS:
Beautiful Nebraska, as you look around,
You will find a rainbow reaching to the ground:
All these wonders by the Master's hand:
Beautiful Nebraska land.

Enjoy the beauty of western Nebraska as seen through my camera!

Eden's 6 Year Portraits

Yesterday I took Eden out and did some portraits to mark the 6 year mark...

I posted a sampling of them on my photography blog --HERE.  Please check them out!

Before & After: 05/26/11

Before (SOOC):

After (Edit):

Taken with Canon 5d Markii.  Edited in Paint Shop Pro 9.

What I did:

I first upped brightness/contrast and ran a slight unsharp mask.  Then I did a color adjust to yellow-up the skin tone a bit.  I cropped it.  Then I added a layer; sepia toned the background layer and then went to layer properties and used the 'hard light' setting.

A little birthday fun...

Yesterday was Eden's birthday.  Here's a rundown of the day...

She wanted a "Barbie" cake so I improvised.  ;)

She wanted to go to McDonald's and have a fruit & yogurt parfait for lunch and play in the Playplace so we did that.

Then she had dance class and after dance several of her friends met us at the zoo for an afternoon of play.  There was a peacock there that wanted in on all the action and kept following us around and freaking people out.

We were a bit worried about the weather but thankfully the rain held off until we left the zoo.

We came home & Eden opened the few gifts that we had for her. 

Then we went to supper.  Eden decided that she wanted sushi for her birthday dinner so we got  two orders of avacado rolls & one order of cucumber rolls and the girls & I polished them off.  (Yum!)

We came home had some of that cake.  Right before this next photo was taken Russ said to Eden, "Okay blow your candle out."  and she replied, "I have to think of a wish first."  This is her thinking up her wish.  :)

Then we played a game of Sequence, a game of Yahtzee, & watched   'Gnomeo & Juliet'.  

It was a good day.

 

(Eden in her new Hannah Montana jammies.) 

6 Years Ago...

...I was lying in hospital bed just waiting for the pain of childbirth to be over.  It was probably about this time that I was getting my epidural and was finally able to sleep a little.  At 1:40 pm on May 24, 2005, I became a mom to this precious 5 lb 14 oz baby. (You can read a short version of her birth story HERE.) We named her Eden which means "delight" and Elizabeth which means "consecrated to God".  We loved calling her "Our delight consecrated to God."  She was a wonderfully sweet little baby and was a great child to start with.


Today she is six and it is so crazy to look back and see how she has grown and to see how that sweet temperament has manifested itself in her personality.  She is such a girly girl.  She loves wearing dresses and has pretty much worn one everyday for the last month. She is a huge fan of anything sparkly.  She is into barbies, princesses & fashion.  She has a great imagination and it is so much fun hearing her tell her stories.  She has finished Kindergarten and can read but she lacks the confidence & ambition to try anything she hasn't done before.  Eden is an excellent hula hooper.  She has above average hula hooping skills for her age. She is in dance.  She loves books & drawing.  Her current favorite shows are High School Musical, Blue's Clues, & Tangled.  She is a daddy's girl and seems most at peace when she is curled up in his lap.  She has the tendency to be overly exuberant and gets super excited about life, but conversely gets excessively upset when things don't always go her way.  As a rule she is a people pleaser and kinda shy.  She can't do anything alone because she gets scared and therefore relies on her sisters a lot.  She loved pasta & alfredo. She wants sushi for her birthday dinner but won't eat olives even though she used to love them.  Eden has a tender heart, loves animals, people & God.  She often tells me that she is "talking to God in my heart about that."  Every time (all year) she prays for a meal she prays that God will "keep the storms & hail away."  since she had a major storm & tornado warning on her birthday last year.  She is the most specialist 6 year old ever and she truly is a delight!

Happy Birthday to my Eden!

I Heart Faces: "Yellow"

Before & After: 05/19/11

Before (SOOC):

After (Edit):

Taken with Canon 5D Markii.  Edited in Paint Shop Pro 9.

I Heart Faces: "May Flowers"

Before & After: Among the flowers

Before (SOOC):

After (Edit):

Photo taken with Canon 5d Mark ii.  Edited in Paint Shop Pro 9.

I Heart Faces: "Motherhood"

Before & After: Snacktime

Before (SOOC):

After (Edit):

Taken with Canon 5d Markii.  Edit done in Paint Shop Pro9.