julialainephotography

Good news - Bad news - Good news

Good news first -

I played with my lens yesterday and it turns out it still works.  YEAH!  I love my lens, and was really bummed that it broke on me, I thought it loved me too.  Turns out the picture quality was due to user error (it takes a big person to admit that on a photography blog by the way!)  There was oil/greese seeping onto the lens, and yes, it will still have to go in to Canon for repairs (once soccer season is over) because it won't hold a filter any more, and I don't like shooting without one to protect the glass - it's much cheaper to replace a $30 filter, than it is a $1000 lens!  But, the lens WORKS for now and that's the main point.

Bad news -

The reason I was able to play with my lens yesterday was because I was home all day with a sick baby.  M has been struggling with allergies all season and has already been to the doctor once about a month ago.  A week after those drugs wore off, the cough came right back and sniffles too (although "snort" is more accurate), but yesterday morning she woke up and was choking and having a hard time breathing with all the flem (sorry).  So off to the doctor we went and this time it turns out she has a sinus infection and the beginning stages of crup.  She felt horrible as you can imagine, and I couldn't exactly come home from a business trip for 4 days and shuffle her off to her grandparents again, so I stayed home with her and while she slept, I worked, or at least tried to. 

Good news -

M is feeling better now, and is back in school today.  She's on steroids for a couple days for the crup, and other meds for the sinus infection, so she should be completely back to her happy little self by the end of the weekend.  Nothing is keeping her from her soccer game though and the doctor said as long as her breathing is fine and not labored she's ok to play, which made her very happy.  So me, M and my lens will all be there at tonights game.  :-)

The road less traveled

A few of weeks ago I had to go to an EEOC Mediation with our corporate attorney, V.  She's a very attractive woman in her late 40's.  She's never been married, and has devoted her life to her career and being involved in philanthropic activities throughout our city and state.  She's chairperson on the state illiteracy council, she runs our annual United Way campaigns, she's slim and in shape, wears beautiful clothes, and drives a cute black convertible Mercedes.   Overall she's just a really neat person; I always enjoy spending time with her.

If you've ever been to a mediation, you know that they are nothing more than a negotiation to see how much money the plaintiff can get and how little money the defendant has to pay out.  There is no semblance of seeking who was right and who was wrong - it's just all about the money, and the plaintiff always hopes the company will pay out big bucks just to get rid of the case.  Soon into our mediation it was clear to see the two parties were not even close.  This gave us lots and lots of time to chat in between the negotiations, so I got to know V a little better during that time.  She already knew I had two daughters that were born in China, but she didn't realize until this time that I was a single mom.  I guess that's what spurred her on to confide in me that she had always wanted to adopt if she didn't get married.  She went on to say how much she loves children and had always dreamed of being a mother and knows that her family would have given their full support if she had decided to proceed with those plans.  Listening to her, she sounded so much like how I felt 11 years ago when I began the adoption paperchase.  Eventually I asked her why she never went forward with it, and she said it was just pure fear.  Fear that she would not be able to do it alone, fear that she was too selfish, fear that she would not be as good a parent as she wanted to be.  It was easy to see the pain in her eyes now from what those fears had cost her.  This woman I had looked up to for years because of her professional accomplishments was actually the person who was now envying me and my life, and I looked at her knowing she is what I would have become if I hadn't become a mother first.

Eleven years ago I had the same fears, but being a somewhat headstrong 30-something, it never occurred to me to let those fears hold me back from motherhood, and thank God for that!  Today marks the 10 year anniversary of my oldest daughters referral day.  Unlike the 3 to 5 year wait that people are facing now, I had a relatively short 8 month wait.  My dossier arrived in China on August 12, 1997, L was born two days later, and I received her referral on tax day, April 15, 1998. 

This was the one and only photo I was given of my daughter.  It was about half the size of a photo you would put in your wallet, but it didn't really matter, it was enough to know that she was mine, and that I was finally a mother.  It sounds so cliche' but I just can't imagine my life without my girls.  Our VP of Finance constantly tells me how much he admires me (which drives me nuts by the way) for becoming a single parent by choice.  It's really not that hard you know.  Sure there are tough times, but I'm just a mom, and they're just my kids, regardless of how we entered each others lives.  My life is full of school activities, and soccer games, and making good decisions and bad decisions, and hoping the prior outweigh the latter.  I don't drive a mercedes, I drive a family sedan.  I don't wear expensive, beautiful suits, I wear whatever I can get away with so I can still be comfortable at the game that I need to go straight to after work tonight.   The dog jumps up on my pants after spending time romping in the wet dewy grass, and I look at the fresh wet paw print on my khaki slacks and think... it's not too bad, maybe no one will notice.  My life is full and many times chaotic and there are more moments than I can count that I just want 20 minutes to myself without someone asking me if _______________ (fill in the blank), but it's the life I chose, and thanks to two very special little girls, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy Referral Day baby girl!

I'm in awe of...

Well, lots of people actually, but today I have to share another fav blog of mine that I've been reading for years.  Heather Ann is just so inspiring, not only in her scrapbooking, but in her daily life and the things she does for her family to make the ordinary really really FUN!

Take her latest post for example.  Every week they do a Fun Family Friday Movie Night.  Now, most of us do "movie nights" with our kids, sometimes it's weekly, sometimes monthly, but we do them, planned or not.  Heather Ann and her fam seriously "kick it up a notch"  They go all out and plan activities around the movie.  In last Fridays example, they had desert and party hats planned around the movie theme.  In other examples she prints out coloring or activity pages that are also movie theme based.  It just always sounds like so much FUN!  I'm determined to give this a go at my house too!

Busy Busy Busy...

The past 10 days have been truly exhausting, both mentally and physically.  Only a few people reading this know that last summer I was handed yet another full-time job.  I already have a full time job as the Director of Human Resources for my company, which is about 800 employees, but we have a sister company that has been through 4 HR Managers in the past 5 years, and since I've been somewhat successful in my position, they said "here, you take it".  Initially they gave me no increase for adding 500+ employees and a whole new company with new policies, benefits, procedures, etc., but after I brought this issue to their attention whined about it enough, they gave me a whopping 2%.  And that's all I have to say about that.

At first, I handled just the major initiatives for the sister company, but in the past 3 months I've been pulled deeper into the dregs of the business; there is a LOT of stuff that needs to be fixed.  On top of that there has just been one major employee issue after another, to the point that between handling both companies HR functions I'm just completely and utterly stressed out. 

If you are in the business world, and you have an HR Manager/Director, please be kind to them, for you know not what they do.

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OK... in other news, the good kind this time, we had family visit this weekend.  Both of my brothers live in other states, and even though we're only a half days car ride from each other, we really only visit about once a year.  The cousins, ranging in age from 7 to 20, but most averaging in the 11-13 age group, get along so beautifully.  My two especially absolutely ADORE their cousins, and the perfect world to them would be a street where we all live harmoniously together.  You should have seen the tears last night when my youngest realized she wouldn't see some of her cousins for several more months... it was pitiful.

But, while they were here we had a great time, and a very busy weekend because the visit, which was held about an hour away from our house, was mixed in with soccer games for each of my girls that were back in the city where we live.  So I was driving back and forth a couple times to get everyone to where they needed to be.

M lost her first soccer game of the season, but played SO great.  She really is a good little player, and enjoys it so much.  You'll be able to see her aptitude and enjoyment of the game quite a bit through the pictures I'll share later.

L won her first regular season soccer game with a score of 4 to 1.  The other team wouldn't have scored at all if it wasn't for the penalty shot in the last 10 minutes of the game.  L's whole team played so well.  They are really a very talented group of girls, and so much fun to watch!  I went through the pictures of this game last night and don't know what I was thinking when I edited them, because I saved them at a really low resolution, and they're grainy and pixelated.  But they're here if anyone wants to take a look.

Again - L was on the other side of the field the whole time, so I had very few decent shots of her, but here's one... and yes, her shoe is untied (again)

More pics of our weekend and M's soccer game coming soon.

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I've added a statement at the bottom of my main site page to state that I am not taking any new photography appointments right now.  Between work and our weekend games that will go through June, then a vacation planned, I just don't know when I would have time to do it.  So for now at least, I will keep the site up, and continue to blog about daily happenings.  Thanks.

"BA-BING!"

I had been talking about my parents 50th wedding anniversary coming up in the summer of 2009, and this conversation ensued...

M:  "Mom, how did Grammie and Grampie meet?"

Me: "They met in college, Grampie gave Grammie a ride home during one of the school breaks, they sat next to each other in the car and then started dating, fell in love, and got married."

M: "Awwww... that's sooo romantic!"
(my youngest has quite a flair for the dramatic, so you have to imagine this comment complete with waltzing around the room, hands floating dreamily, and swooning whenever the opportunity presents itself)

Then she scurries off to play with her Barbies... no doubt Ken is driving Barbie home from college... but then later:

M:  "Mom, I think that when two people meet, then they go on a date, and then BA-BING!  it just happens and they fall in love, and then you have to get married.   Right?"

M:  "Mom, did you ever go on dates in college?"

Me: "Yes, I went on lots of dates."

M: "Did BA-BING never happen to you?"

Me: Unable to answer, I'm now trying to stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks as I could think of nothing other than the "BA-BING" moment happening to my parents 49 years ago. 

Oh man... that kid comes up with some good stuff. 

Peace be with you

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend and the big man in the bunny suit brought you lots of chocolate!  This one and her little sister racked up.

L has gotten a lot of question about the scar on her face.  In fact it's gotten to the point that I asked a plastic surgeon about it on a recent visit.  The scar is a result of an impromptu meeting between her face and the corner of the kitchen cabinets when she was 2.5.  The meet and greet made at full speed split her face from forehead to chin and resulted in our second trip to the emergency room.  What a day that was! 

It's honestly the last thing I see when I look at her smiling face, but the preteen crowd can be so...preteen, and she's getting more and more questions about it to the point that she's becoming a bit self-conscious.  I'm not really sure what to do.  According to the doctor there are a couple of different ways to handle it, but her face is also still growing and developing, and he and I both believe the scar will minimize even more with age.  So I guess I just answered my own dilemma, at least for now, it's best to wait it out.  And hopefully her peers will continue to be captivated by her beautiful smile and warm personality way more than they're interested in any insignificant scar.

Oh, and by the way - I'm trying to convince her to let her bangs grow out, but she refuses to wear anything in her hair to keep it out of her face during the painful grow-out period that follows.  So, if the bangs get longer in the coming months, you'll know I won.  If not, well... it won't be the first argument I lost, nor will it be the last.

Peace out.

Chicago Bound...

I am SO excited!  In only three months we'll be taking a road trip to Chicago for a week to meet up with some women I've been friends with for 10 years but have never met in person.  The adoption world and internet community have been wonderful to me, and I've made some of the best friends in my life due to both.

I'm actually attending a business conference in Chicago for three days, during which my girls will stay with the other family who has girls of the same age.  Then the rest of the week we'll all spend together. Due in part to the fact that I need a car while I'm up there, plus the high price of airline tickets - we've decided to drive it.  It's actually not as bad as I thought, it will be 10 to 11 hours, and we did that last summer when traveling to Disney, so I know we can do this.  On the way up at least, we'll break it into two days,  but that only gives us 5 or 6 hours of driving time, and I was thinking we may have some time to be tourists on the way up.  Even in all my years as an Air Force brat, I've never seen this part of the country before, and I don't know much about the states we'll be passing through.  We'll be traveling through Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana, up I-65 almost the whole way.  If anyone knows of "must see's", I'm open to any and all suggestions!

Thanks!

Game One, otherwise known as...

...an unexpected day.

For the second time in the past 7 years - it SNOWED! 

Three days ago it was 70 degrees and the girls were begging to wear shorts to school.  Today it never got above 45, and that wasn't until it was well into the afternoon.  This would be fine, swell, fun, and an interesting start to the weekend, with the one little exception being that the soccer tournament started with a 9:30am game at fields about 30 minutes north of us.  And did I mention the wind chill?  The temp was a mild and balmy 32, but with the wind chill, it was a decidedly colder 20-something.

All that aside though, it didn't stop some GREAT soccer from happening - once the girls got thawed out.  Normally they're not allowed to play in anything but their standard uniforms, but lots of exceptions were made, and they donned anything they could to try and stay warm.  It was sometimes hard for the parents to tell who was who.  I did manage to get a few pictures of that first game, but very very few of my daughter since I didn't pull out the camera till the second half, and she played on the opposite side of the field the whole time.  Oh well - at least I SAW her play, and can confirm to all that she had a wonderful game - they all did - they played smart, they played as a team, and to win against a Louisiana team 6 - 0 for the first game of the season is a great way to start!

Here are just a few favorites from Game One {these are all clickable and much better large size}:

Blue eyes - J is one of the smallest and also one of the most aggressive on the team, no one ever told her to only pick on people her own size... so she doesn't.  She is also probably the only person on the team that can out-run my daughter, hence her nickname "Speedy".

C is one of the few defenders who also regularly scores a goal, she's tall, skinny, and has a really big foot!

One of the few photos I have of L from game one, she came sooo close to scoring the first goal of that game, with a beautiful kick but it just skirted the side of the goal.  That's OK, in the second half she had the assist on a goal.

One of the parents was calling B the missing dwarf (of Snow White fame) due to her coif, so I had to take a picture.

And yet another parent referred to the girls team as the bad news bears.  If you think this looks bad - you should see their bedrooms!!

And MY game favorite...  L plays our primary goalie, but occassionally she gets out and plays defense.  In December they had tryouts for the Olympic Development Team, and she and her older sister - also a goalie - both made it.  That's one talented family!

My attempts at vanity are in vain

I started the new years off the way millions of Americans do - with an attempt to shed a few lb's.  This, my friends, I have failed miserably at.  And I really only need to lose like 20, but I have a massive sweet tooth... and so the story goes.

Then, on the advice of my mother and a close friend, I ditched my glasses and attempted contacts.  After the 4th day I lost  one.  I have no idea when, I thought I had it in all day (my eyesight is not that bad), but apparently it was gone and I didn't figure it out until that night when trying to find it in my eye and thus stabbing myself with my finger multiple times - that hurt!  So back to the doctor and we tried 3 other pair until one felt right.  They felt great, right until mid afternoon and then my eyes would really dry out so I ended up messing with them the rest of the day and rubbing my eyes.  It's been three weeks though and finally the rubbing annoyed one of the contacts enough that it jumped out.  Again, didn't notice till that night whilst poking myself in the eye.  I'm not sure "3rd time is the charm" for me, because I just don't think I can go there again.

Anyone wear contacts out there?  How do you prevent your eyes from drying out?  And is losing them a way of life, how do you prevent that?  I need to do some more research before going back to Dr. Mike, so maybe y'all can help a girl out.

I have to admit, this year I've had one overwhelming success story, it hasn't been all bad.  I have truly and completely quit drinking Diet Coke or caffeinated drinks of any kind.  It's been more than a month since my last Diet Coke and honestly, I am SO proud of myself.  For more than 10 years I had had at least 1, and sometimes up to 6, diet cokes a day ~ every day!  That can't be good for your body.  So I've been drinking water like mad, and am beginning to actually like the taste again. 

And to end - yesterday was GORGEOUS!  Followed by todays predicted severe weather and tornado warnings.... ahhh Spring.  But at least we got some planting done; the girls were in charge of these:

SPRING!

It's only March 2nd, but it sure does feel like Spring around here:  bright blue skies, birds chirping, kids playing and everything's coming up color...

Ahhh - love spring!

What happened to service?

Customer service seems to be a thing of the past, or at least that's been my experience so far this year - right up until about 5 minutes ago!  I am the new biggest fan of Costco.  Just in the past 3 months I purchased a new HP desktop computer, and then not long ago, we bought a new flat screen tv from them.  I'm HORRIBLE at keeping receipts, I really am.  Receipt holding is not my strong suit, but anyway...

The T.V. is awesome, truly awesome - it's a beautiful thing; the Super Bowl never looked so good!  Computer - not so awesome.  I've always had good luck with my HP's in the past, but this one has issues.  Not minor issues - major issues!  Like it won't read anything on the 100+ photo CD's that I have.  Yes, this is a problem.   It also has two disc drives, but the second one doesn't work - no, nix that...  I have no idea if it works or not because it doesn't OPEN.

So last night, I spent 1.5 hours on the phone with the HP Techie.  She got remote access to my computer and putzed around for a long time, trying one thing, telling me it was my problem, then my CD's problem, then when she saw the CD work on another computer and ran out of excuses as to why mine couldn't be fixed, she politely left me hanging and said "well, is there anything else I can do for you".  Ummmm... no, I don't think so.

So, I found the "technical support" envelope that came on my computer box and called Costco and gave them my woe's.  Imagine my shock, surprise and delight when the guy on the phone says "sounds like you got a lemon, just bring it back".  And then I sheepishly say... but I don't have my receipt (ducking my head - bracing myself for the blow), and then he says "no problem, we can just look up the receipt using your customer card, just pick out another computer and we'll exchange it for you".  HA, I laugh with glee. 

Customer Service - cool!!

Now... my carpeting experience so far with Lowes?  Well, we'll just end this post on a positive note, so I'll skip that story.

Sorry, no pics today - have I mentioned my computer's broke?

UPDATE:  Yes, they let me return the computer, so now let's see if they'll let me return another one...  It seems the computer was not the problem, Windows Vista is.  There is a driver that is not installed with vista that no one can seem to locate.  We found lots of forums where people are having the same problem with older (2004 and before) CD's that will open in Windows XP, but won't with Vista.  Aren't technological advances fun?!

Right now I'm using my laptop, which is probably what I will continue using because me and computers are not friends right now.  I need my tried and true old laptop, it's like comfort food to me after spending 3 hours on the phone with technicians and countless other hours trying to figure it out for myself.

Julie - you wrote I should go Mac, and honestly that's a real option, but for now I need a 'puter break.

On a fun note, since I've been trying to open lots of old picture cd's I've discovered so many fun photos that were long forgotten, so I may be reliving the past here in the next few days.  :-)

 

I'm always late to the party...

But I sure do enjoy myself when I get there!  We joined the ipod nation yesterday when I picked up our first little silver ipod nano 4gb.  It's fun, and the music quality... excellent!  I really do need to get off the computer at some point though, there's laundry to be done, pictures to take, children to entertain...

Speaking of entertaining children (of all ages) - we went to see the Hannah Montana 3D movie last night.  If you have a child in the 5 to 15 age group - GO SEE THIS MOVIE.  We had a blast, the girls were wired after it was over and we cranked the Hannah CD on the way home.  Fun fun stuff...

Oops - no post without pics policy, so here's our sunrise this morning.

I want this

It's typical.  We wish and wish and hope and pray for snow, and then we get some, it's over, then all that's left is really cold wet weather and yet it's still January with a few months of cold and wetness to look forward to, and now the only kinds of rain showers I want are these:

yes, I'm fickle.

Could it really be?

We haven't seen the white stuff in 6 long years.  I'm so hoping this is true!

Friday                         - 01/18
	Mostly cloudy. Chance of rain at night changing to snow late with some accumulation likely. Low: 33   High: 52
Wind: NE 5-10    mph   Sun Percentage: 20%   Hours Of Rain: 1          Rain Potential: 0.20"   Severe Weather Threat: None
Saturday                       - 01/19
	Windy and cold with snow mostly through the morning. Some accumulation. Clearing at night. Low: 29   High: 36
Wind: N 12-25    mph   Sun Percentage: 10%   Hours Of Rain: 2          Rain Potential: 0.15"   Severe Weather Threat: None

Thank you!

Wow - what a great week it was!  I had over 400 new visitors to my photography gallery and this blog, and I know the main credit for this is due to Michelle for giving me this award:

THANK YOU! It was a wonderful surprise, and it's my very first blog award!  Based on some of the comments, it seems many of you visited my old blog - I've had several over the years as I attempted to find the right home/subject for myself, and thankfully I think I've finally done that for good!

Also a big thank you to those that took the time to leave comments.  Like most bloggers, I love the feedback and the ability to meet new people through them!!

And finally a big thanks to those families that continue to give me the opportunity of a lifetime, and that is to be the one that captures the memories for you and your families.  I truly do love photography, and I love families, and putting those two together has been a real gift for me.

So thank you all - and here's to a fabulous 2008!!

22,000 gallons

This has absolutely nothing to do with photography, although I suppose there are plenty of photos I could take.  I could take a photo of the beautiful 8 foot holly tree that is now laying in a dying pile at the corner of my house;  I could take a photo of the 15 sq feet of carpet strips and padding that is haphazardly strewn across my driveway, or perhaps I could take a picture of the bobcat that has been embedded in 4ft of mud in my backyard for the last 5 days.  All would make lovely photos, I'm sure.

Last Thursday afternoon I noticed we were losing water pressure.  It didn't occur to me to research why, and it wasn't a huge loss of water, so that night I turned on the dishwasher and went to bed.  Friday morning I woke up to no water.  Not no water pressure.  NO WATER.  I never thought beyond calling the water board, and they said they'd send someone right out after technicians arrived (it was only about 6:30am).  So then I called my dad and told him of my newest dilemma, he came over and shut the outside water off and we then called a plumber who took down the holly tree to get to the pipe. 

Long story short - my main line water pipe broke, it didn't leak - it actually completely split apart 12" outside the corner of my house.  Over the past 24 hours, 22,000 gallons of water went through the foundation, and flooded my basement.  The carpet absorbed what it could, but quite a bit went into the family room and garage and damaged anything that was left on the floor.  The insurance adjuster came out Monday and now we just wait to find out what the total damage is in $ and what is covered under my policy (hopefully all of it).

The bobcat being stuck in the mud is actually unrelated.  I live on a heavily wooded lot (or at least it was at one time), most of the trees were pines, and in the past 5 years I've had 11 large (60 -100 foot) pine trees taken down.  Four died from a lightening strike but most from a large pine beetle infestation.  Well in the past six months 4 more really big ones died in my back yard.  There were only 9 pines left, so a neighbor who owns a tree service said he'd take them down for me.  Only half of them came down before the bobcat got stuck, and the more he tried to get it out, the more stuck it became.  They took a 4wd truck back there to try and haul it out, but the truck got stuck too.  Luckily (?) the truck is now gone, but the bobcat remains.  I'm thinking about planting some azalea's around it; it should be lovely come spring.

Ahhh  2008 - it's going to be an interesting year!

Tis Better to Give Than to Receive - I don't think so!

Not if you're getting a Wii !!!  that thing is so much fun, the kids have played on it almost continuously, in fact, when they're not on it, it's because I've kicked them off so I can play!

Oh - and the tv it's playing on was our family Santa gift.  :-)

Tis Better to Give Than to Receive - part deux

At times there is so much stress (self-inflicted) that leads up to this day; did I get the right presents, is it what they want, did I spend too much (probably), did both girls get the same amount?  But then Christmas morning comes and everything ALWAYS turns out perfectly - the girls, all three of them - could not have been more excited about their gifts.  I will tell you that in this way, as a parent - it is way way way better to give than to receive.  Christmas mornings always have been, and continue to be the best!

This one got a new puppy pad from Santa, and look, it's got her name on it too!   

This one is EAGER to start opening presents and gave me this look when I told her she'd have to wait for Grammie and Grampie to show up.  Lucky for me they did, just a few minutes later.

Don't you just love the matching Santa hats!

It's now 3 days post-Christmas and she hasn't taken it off yet!  Without a doubt I can tell you this was her favorite present.  Yes, at a mere 10 years old, they are very into clothes and labels.  I'm really in for it with this one...

Spoiled Rotten Dog!  These two have each other wrapped around their little finger/paw.

This one got laughs all around - yes, she IS a 5th grader - and smarter than one too!

Is it wrong that the girls were more excited to pick out the dogs gifts (according to my mom) than mine?

And the little ones favorite gift is this MP3 player.  She wanted an i-pod, but I think she's quite happy with the less expensive knock-off - at least for now. It's been connected to her head blaring the latest in Disney HSM2, Hannah Montana, Hairspray soundtrack, etc - AND if that's not enough - it's PINK - her signature color.

Tis Better to Give Than to Receive

Yes, this is true, but for some reason we've always been on the recipient end of our neighbors good cooking skills.  So this year I decided we needed to return the favor and we spent a good part of Christmas Eve baking cookies and brownies and other yummy treats, including of course niblits for the reindeer that would come that night.  After we wrapped our packages in green cellophane and gold ribbon we walked around delivering our goodies. 

I have to admit, I had been in a sour mood most of the day - the girls were bickering and I considered the baking to be more of a pay back for past years than anything else.  But when we were walking around knocking on doors and handing over our plates of goodies, we were met with cheerful greetings (and not just a little bit of surprise) from our neighbors.  Everyone ended our short visits with a merry "Merry Christmas", and it didn't take long to really get in the spirit of the season.  By the time we'd made our deliveries, the girls and I were singing Christmas carols on the way back home.

Happy Friday!!

Fa la la la la la la la la...

The spirit of the season has hit me big time this week.  Or perhaps it's just the "spirits" I've been enjoying at the three different holiday parties I've been to in the last 4 days!  ;-)  Either way, I'm ready for Christmas - BRING IT ON!  By the way, I've decided that we need to be in color for the rest of the year.  Hey, I'm all about adding to the cheer.

I've been a shopping fool lately, but you'd never know that my looking under our tree.  Lack of time due to work, holiday parties, and a paper-eating dog have slowed me down a bit, but that is big on the to-do list this weekend!  I was going to try and get a pretty Norman Rockwellesque photo of the tree, but it looks naked with out presents under it, so that will have to wait.  Speaking of Christmas photos though, I have not done ANY of my family.  So, this weekend the girls and I will dress up in our winter garb and step out into the 70+ degree temperatures that are expected this weekend and try and look like we're enjoying the chill of the season while wiping away the sweat on our brow.

I was pretty bummed last weekend because I had a late cancellation, but this Sunday I have a photo shoot (yeah!), and it's with good friends, so that will be nice because I can tell them to do anything and they won't look at me like I'm nuts.... Well, they might, but they'll do it anyway.  :-) So stay tuned for sneak peaks next weekend.

Oh, and as for sneak peaks, the girls and I have been big time movie-goers lately.  I have to recommend Enchanted if you have not already seen it.  It's completely a chick-flick for the 3 to 93 year age group, and since we fall in there somewhere we thoroughly enjoyed it.  Then there was Bee Movie (um.. just okay), and Fred Claus (so stupid you have to laugh).  I really want to see August Rush this weekend but the girls want to go see Golden Compass, it's rated PG-13 though so that's a big "no" right now.  I do love that Hollywood has figured out a way to make kid movies that adults enjoy just as much.  The one movie that all three of us can't wait to come out is National Treasure: Book of Secrets.  We'll be there on opening night.

Just thought I'd throw in a pic of the paper-eating dog, I mean who can get mad at a face like this?!

 

Hope y'all have a fun filled and safe weekend!

Coming soon - PRINTING!!

To date I have only offered the CD of print-ready photos.  It kept things simple and many clients appreciated the fact that they didn't have to make an immediate decision on what they wanted to buy, but could take their time and then order what they wanted at a time that suited their needs.

But, I've had other clients that prefer the no-hassle approach of ordering exactly what they wanted in the sizes they wanted and not having to deal with a printing company.  Yep, I can understand that reasoning too. 

So, in an effort to suit both needs I've been researching printers and I am SO EXCITED about the one I've found.  I sent in some samples on Friday and they arrived today - they are GORGEOUS!!!  The quality is simply outstanding and their selection of sizes, coatings, and "extras" can not be beat.  I have a few more things to order so I can do a "show and tell portfolio" to future clients, but once I have those in, I'll be resetting my price list and offering printing options as well so stay tuned!

Oh - and you may have noticed I added a "where are you from" wizard on the left sidebar.  Me thinks I should move to Canada!  LOL!  Feel free to say hi!

I took this photo on Saturday.  My youngest has recovered from her flu, but she and "her" dog fell asleep in the chair and I caught them as she just woke up.  Why do I call D "her" dog?  Because the two are inseparable.  I'm the Alpha-Dog according to D, but M is the one who always gives her lots of lovin' - they pretty much have a mutual admiration society all to themselves.

A Christmas Present to ME

I got a Shootsac!!!  I'm so excited.  My mom gives us each a monetary gift for Christmas each year and it came at perfect timing because my computer was dying a slow, painful death.  So now I have a new computer with a huge mega-screen that makes me so happy!  But then I made the mistake and went on Blu's Blog and they're doing this 50 days countdown to Christmas and I saw the Shootsac and the rest was history.  HAD to have it!

I was having "issues" with my camera bag.  It's one of those big, bulky, cheap Best Buy camera bags and it would only fit two lens, and I really like to bring my favorite 3 to each shoot (85mm, 24-70mm, and 70-200mm) and my 70-200mm wouldn't fit!  Then I'd have to set it down for each shot/location change and then remember to go back and get it because when you're chasing little people they don't really want to stay within a 5 foot diameter...  Are you getting my point?  I NEEDED the Shootsac.  Really.  It was a "need" not a "want" thing.  Who?  Me?  I'm not trying to justify anything here... I needed it.  Really I did.  ;-)

REFERRALS!

Hi All ~

I intend to grow my business by referrals from existing clients as much as possible and as a big THANK YOU, I wanted to announce a new referral credit that you may be eligible for. 

When you receive your completed CD of photos, you'll also receive a handful of business cards to distribute to friends, coworkers, acquaintances, etc.  If someone you've referred schedules a photo session, then you will receive a $50 credit on your next session fee!

There is a limit to one credit per client per session.  Please let me know if y'all have any questions!

So Excited!

Hi!  If you're new here - and you probably are, since this blog is new - WELCOME!  I hope you'll come back and visit often to see what we've been up to.

I'll just start off by telling a little about me and my background, specially as it relates to photography.  I am not one of those photographers who grew up taking photos with their grandpa's old camera.  In fact, I took just a few pictures annually with my little el-cheapo camera right up until one day in June 1998.  I was in China adopting my first daughter, a beautiful 10 month old baby with almond eyes and rosebud lips!  I was in love and determined to capture her every moment!

I never knew there was anything other than the wally-world camera brands and I think I went through 3 or 4 of those, and several hundred rolls of film in her first two years home.  That's about the time digital cameras arrived en-mass, and I felt it was finally time I "invested" in a good camera.  Enter the Canon.  The Canon G2 was my first digital and I had no idea how to even take it off "auto" for the first year.  But eventually I read the manual   :-)  and began to realize how much more there was to photography than just the point and click version.  I began to take photography courses and read as many books as I could get my hands on, but nothing taught me more than going out, taking pictures and trying new things.  Luckily I now had two daughters and lots of their friends who were always willing subjects.

At this same time I had become engrossed in the world of Scrapbooking.  I've had over 25 scrapbook pages published in magazines like Creating Keepsakes, Better Homes and Gardens, and Memory Makers, among others.  It was easy to tell that the better the photos I was using, the more likely I was to have pages published, and it was always such a THRILL to see one of my pages in a magazine.  My daughters got a real kick out of it too since the subject of the page was more than likely them!  So due in part to my interest in scrapbooking a greater awareness of photography was developing.  I began looking at the pictures I was taking with a new eye; the composition, the expressions, the clarity, and especially the photo I could get before I saw the canned "look at the camera and say cheese" look.  Over the years, the more involved I became in photography, the more my scrapbooking hobby wained...

Over the course of about two years I was ready to move on to a Digital SLR, and there was never any question that Canon was my pick.  I  started with their consumer market 300D EOS series, and some "cheap" lenses (I didn't really think they were so cheap at the time).  :-)  I think it took less than a week with that camera and a new passion was born.  GOSH I LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY!  I mean truly truly love it.  My kids think I'm the paparazzi.

I continued to hone my skills with my daughters soccer team and became quite accomplished at capturing fast moving subjects - speedy toddlers have nothing on me!  :-)  One day a coworker who was looking through some of my photos asked me to take some pictures of her newborn (she was pregnant at the time).  I'll admit that scared me at first, but there was also an undeniable thrill as well.  So I breathed deep and said "sure".  At that point, and through completely word of mouth from coworkers, I had about a dozen portrait shoots in the next 8 month period.  The feedback I received from the families was so positive.  I thought being printed in magazines was fun, but nothing compared to the look on a parents face when they saw their photographs for the first time.  I received so many emails and phone calls telling me how they'd cried when they first saw them, and to me that was just... magic.  The ability to create memories for families that will last them a lifetime is something that I am so honored to do.  It still surprises and delights me every time I get an email asking me to take their families photos.  There is just no greater thrill!

It's now been several Canon cameras and lens upgrades later.  As my girls have gotten older and our weekends become more flexible, I felt it was time to truly engage this passion of mine, so the website was produced to showcase some of my favorites, and this blog was developed to share some of my thoughts and experiences along the way.  And that my friends is the short version of how Julia Laine Photography was conceived. 

So again - Welcome.  Stay awhile, look around the website, say hi, and let me know if you have any questions.  I can't wait to hear from you!