mural art

On a building in the lyn-lake area.

WOW

I saw this guy the other day and pulled over and took a photo for you guys. He was doing a good job I thought anyway.

pop

So I thought I had my life sorta figured out. However before the i's were dotted and t's crossed I let it slip out to the wrong people. It is now squashed or popped. With hurts like heck considering it too me years to take the leap to do it and now I'm back to square one. I was so looking to the new year with a fresh start, now I'm just frustrated, angry, hurt and have walls back up. Not to mention the blow to my confidence.

It is times like this I really miss Joe, he was always my #1 supporter no matter what it was.

The good news is that I'm back to myself if I can feel things not being numb anymore.

peace

May today there be peace within.

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

Let this presence settle into your bones and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

Not sure who this is by but it was a favorite of Maria Shriver. I found it when I was cleaning my desk along with some other nice words.

quote for the day

"Run away from toxic people. Instead, surround yourself with others who are positive, who support you and want you to succeed."

This is something I really believe in - however lately I have been struggling with it...someone in my life makes me feel like crap with I'm with them and 2 times now has said really bad things to me. No matter what I do or say I'm not good enough for them. Sometimes I actually believe they wish it was me who died instead of Joe. I know they would totally treat him different them they treat me. I'm trying to weigh the pros with the cons to see if I should still put up with there crap. That is all for now just need to vent.

rocks

This is another one from hawaii - I changed it to black/white with a heavy grain effect. I'm thinking I should make copies of these and put it on my fence to keep my neighbors from putting up lights on it.

surfer girl

here is my attempt to work with my NIK software. If you can believe it I did a dynamic skin tone smother on her and did a contrast only filter with a darker and lighten center and edges. I forgot I also did a detail extractor on her to bring out more detail in the reflection of the sunglasses.

I don't think you can see all of that on this little photo, on my screen you can tell.

Her skin was a major improvement - one reason not to live in hawaii - nobody that lived there had nice skin it was all gross and leather like.

it is ok for my first try I guess

software

Today I just did my first web - go to meeting. I have bought some new software for my computer to work on my photos and need to learn about it now. I am a big fan of the nik software, just what I have seen anyway. Don't get me wrong I'm still a HUGE purist photographer and don't believe in make adjustments to the photos. To me that is not photography.

I have another one scheduled tomorrow so maybe this weekend I will work on some of my photos and share them with you.

love thy neighbor??

I need suggestions. My neighbors have copied my fence - asked to put there the front of there fence on my property, painted the other side of my fence cause I wasn't going to and now want to put up lights on the the other side of my fence cause they like mine.

What i gave in last night because this is the 3rd time they asked but I'm leaving a note to say no i need more time. I even gave them suggestions as to what to do with there lights.

help me!!!!!! I like my fence and light cause they are different. Miss Jilaine this is not the same as your neighbor copying you....continuing your landscape into there yard looks nice and if they did something different it would look weird. Like the neighbors on the other side.

I could always take it down...oh I forgot I own 12 inches on the other side of my fence and the guy plays soccer and bang the ball into my fence or over the fence.

Belgium

My heart has been with my little crazy country Belgium lately...3 years ago we left there for LA with the thought that we would be in LA for 3 years.

Yesterday a friend of mine that lived in brussels sent me a photo of my house that they took before leaving this year. It was a blue sky day with no car parked on the street...but it was half of my house and half of the neighbors. Oh well what can I do but go back some day and take my own.

this morning I was watching the new and heard this terrible news.

A gun and grenade attack in the centre of the Belgian city of Liege has killed at least two people and wounded 47 including a toddler, media say.

Witnesses say a man in his 40s threw grenades at a bus stop in Place Saint Lambert, a busy square. At least two other men are thought to be involved.

Reports say one of the attackers is among the dead. Local media say another has been detained, while a third is involved in a stand-off with police.

It is not clear who the attackers are.

There are reports of a fourth man escaping the scene.

TV images showed blood splattered across the cobblestones.

Medical staff are said to be attending to some of the injured in the courthouse.

Seven of them are in a serious condition, and doctors at a city hospital are trying to save the life of an 18-month-old boy injured in the attack.

Roads into the centre of the city have been sealed off. Police helicopters are hovering overhead and explosives experts are on their way to the square.

A TV report said many shops in the city centre had closed their doors, with customers trapped inside.

Place Saint Lambert is a busy intersection, served by hundreds of buses daily. It hosts an annual Christmas market which attracts some 1.5 million visitors a year.

Summer time

Anyone free to join me for fun...In june I have 5 twins games and in july I have 2 concerts and 3 games (which I might sell) with a concert and 3 games in august.

cactus

My cactus is flowering. Which is amazing considering I have been neglecting it for the last 12 months. It was outside from may till mid november (dog sitter brought it in cause she was worried about it) I never water it (thank god it is a cactus). So with doing nothing with it this is what happens. You can see there are other buds coming too, I will keep you posted.

winter

I'm not sure where the past year went. I don't even know where the spring or summer went. Now winter is here and I'm not ready. I believe the past two winter I was still in a fog. The first one back I never left the house I was just with Ana inside trying to work with her. Last year all I did was shovel and shovel and didn't notice my winter outwear cause all I wore was my snowpants. Now the fog has lifted and I looked at my winter stuff and went what the heck.

My boots from last year were all ripped, jackets need help and I didn't have any warm mittens or hats (stylist ones anyway the ones to shovel and snowblow yes cute no)

The past 3 days I have been trying to find a jacket, mitten hat what ever and found a few things. But does nobody believe in warm scarf anymore???? Not to mention that warm stylish clothes are expensive.

Thanks I feel better now for venting.

new computer/softward

I got my new computer all set up, however I didn't get my new desk organized yet. I have been playing with all my new photo software. My head is going to explode trying to figure this stuff out. Here is one that I did play with.

Not only do I have to export all my photos to lightroom - I ordered the wrong photo shop - but I have 3 web casts set up for the NIK software I got.

When ever I pick a school to go to watch out world here I come...

Oh Christmas Trees

This year I did something different, you know I like to change things up sometimes. I got 3 trees that are 3 ft tall and put them on my buffet. It takes up less room and too less time to get all set up.

Tis the season for a little sparkle

Taken with my flash tips from my trip

treadmill

Yesterday at the gym I almost feel off the treadmill...why you ask. I have had my eye on this guy in the gym for a couple months now. He always pop ups from no where, and yesterday he popped out of now where looking really good and caught me off guard - lost my concentration and almost fell.

Yes I know I'm crazy -