The holidays are typically the time of year when the word “bokeh” is thrown around. In photography the word means blur. With all the extra twinkle lights being draped on trees, lampposts, banisters, and maybe a child or two, you can find the holiday blur in the background of pictures worldwide, whether you meant to or not. The lights become enchanting dots or hexagons (depending on the aperture, if you want to be technical).

Last year I received a bokeh filter kit that will allow me to change those dots into various shapes. And now that we have lights on our tree, I can play with bokeh all I want!

If you want a great tutorial on how to get bokeh, check out Darcy’s bokeh how-to post from last year. She’s going to be hosting another Bokeh party on the 8th (mark your calendars!). And if you want a tutorial for making your own bokeh filter (for cute shapes), Amanda wrote about DIY bokeh filters too.

1) I’m behind in decorating.
2) I’m behind in gifting.
3) I’m behind in {fill in the blank}.
4) It’s time for the December Photo Project!

I’ve been crappy at blogging this year, but I have kept up with the photography stuff and I’m thrilled to participate in this fun December challenge again. I even bothered to get it done in the morning so I’m not sitting on my couch at 9 with my brain clocked out thinking, “Oh, I need to post a picture.” Think I can keep this up for 24 more days?

Without further ado day 1:

Our Jesse Tree and Advent Candle.

This Advent our church put together Jesse Tree banners for anyone who wanted them. Our church family can share in Advent together by going through the same scriptures at the same time in this period of anticipation for our long awaited Savior. We did our scripture reading this morning since it fit in with our family plans. I added Aldi Advent Calendars for everyone to get a bit of chocolate, which the kids loved to have in the morning.

[tags]#DPP2011, photography[/tags]

We like to tell people our first children are our dogs.

It’s true. They really are our first children. And it doesn’t matter how many kids we end up having, Lively and Maple hold special places in our family’s hearts because they were the small things we took into our homes to care for with love, food, and plenty of room in our bed when they want to snuggle.

Yes, we let our dogs into our bed. Don’t judge me.

One of those responsibilities, feeding those first children, is what allowed me to offer you this product review today.

I was Maple and Lively were sent a special sample of Rachael Ray Nutrish just 6 dry dog food to try and offer their opinion. They even sent a special bowl for them to use, which is great because their current bowl (yes, they share a bowl) needs a trip through the dishwasher (we haven’t taught the dogs to do their own dishes yet). Having a new bowl makes the pictures look prettier.

But I digress.

The dog food bag indicates there are just 6 natural ingredients, which based on recent commercials I have seen, is the new trend in dog food. Companies are removing the extra fillers and unhealthy preservatives to offer our dogs healthier options in their food bowls. It makes sense, especially as someone who treats her dogs like children (drawing the line at dressing them in outfits… most of the time). If I try to limit my kids’ sugar or preservative intake, why can’t I consider limiting what Maple and Lively eat?

While the ingredients printed on the back do list the first six ingredients as natural, I wonder about some of the other ingredients I don’t actually know how to pronounce. But, I figured the proof would be in this:

Empty bowls are always a sign that something went right.

First: do your dogs do this? Do they take food from their bowls, put it on the floor (sometimes in another room) and then eat the food? Well, my dogs do and we find it kind of annoying. But I consider it a sign they actually like it because maybe they want to savor it and not allow something else to interrupt them while their palettes ponder the tastes of lamb, rice, and poultry fat.

I offered the bowl to Maple and see cleaned it out. Lively was a bit put off that I gave it to her second (she is the alpha dog around here), but she took to the food and eventually cleaned the bowl. It looks like the Nutrish was a success!

If you are interested in your own free sample then check out the link to find out how to get your dog their own taste of Nutrish. Maple and Lively recommend it.

[tags]Nutrish, review, dog food, Rachael Ray[/tags]

I’ve been a mother for over six years now.

In all my years of motherhood, I have to say the biggest impression have left on me about being a mom is how FUN it is. No, I haven’t developed sudden Mommy Amnesia, forgetting about the lack of sleep, the diapers, and the sibling fights (probably because they all still exist in my life). But the overarching theme in my motherhood experience right now is fun.

It is so fun to watch Fuller learn new things. I enjoy watching him build lego creations, listening to him read books to his brother, and just hearing him talk about what is churning in his imagination.

Tebow never fails to make me smile. He loves to cuddle with me and it is fun to see him settle into his own person who enjoys playing with cars, looking at books, and help unload the dishwasher (who cares if the dishes are still dirty?).

This is my mom, my sisters, and me. Can you tell who is who? I’m older than Fuller in this picture, I think Austina is Fuller’s age. And Sarah-Ginny is probably a little older than Tebow. But it makes me wonder… can you tell if my mom is having fun? Because it certainly looks like it too me. I when I think back on being a kid, I remember a lot of fun. No, I haven’t developed Adult Daughter amnesia and forgotten about the misunderstandings of childhood, the angst of being a teenager, or the desperate desire of fleeing the nest, but I’m certainly at a point where I remember the fun I had as a kid with my mom.

She took me on trips, encouraged my creativity, and put me on a path out of the nest filled with light and a hand outstretched that I could always go back and hold if I needed more help.

There was this one time, on a trip back to Atlanta when we lived in Arizona, when my mom and her best childhood friend took us kids on a tour of Mom’s old homes. These were houses her dad had built, the places where she was a girl and went through her own childhood misunderstandings, navigated the teenage angst, and flew the nest on a path leading her to Daddy… and in my memory it was horrible. My poor mom and Aunt Jean were so excited to drive us to Atlanta neighborhoods but they were driving a van filled with tired kids who just wanted to eat or get out of the car or something other than look at old houses. How fun was that?

Well at the time, it really wasn’t. But now that I look back, I know it was fun. And you know how I know? I want to do the same thing to my kids!

Motherhood is fun!

[tags]motherhood, fun[/tags]

There are plenty of annoying and earth shattering things out there in the world… and what I’m about to gripe about isn’t one of them. But it still annoys me. Frozen pizza for one person that is a decent price.

It seems like if you want a pizza at home, you have to cook an entire one to be eaten by the entire family or to be sliced up and have the left overs stored in the fridge. If you buy single serving pizzas, they usually cost $4 or more dollars. Heck, for one dollar more I’ll just go pick up a fresh and ready for the whole family. Or for two dollars more, I’ll get a frozen one for the whole family.

Well, Freshetta has changed the personal frozen pizza game by offering FRESCHETTA® By the Slice (found in the freezer section) for less than $2.

Disclosure: I was provided one of these slices for free. I bought the other three because I couldn’t leave out my husband and kids.

I was asked to provide my opinion on the FRESCHETTA® By the Slice product. So today, I hunted for the product (found at Wal-Mart, which is not my favorite shopping place), brought it home and here are my opinions:

Ease of use: the instructions were a tad confusing at first, telling me to put the slice on the side of the turntable and then again in the middle. The disconnect came for me when the entire slice covered my turntable (testament to the bigness of the slice). So, I just turned it after a minute.

Even these helpful diagrams didn’t help. I blame allergies.

Taste/ quality: Even though I was scratching my head over the directions, the outcome was actually favorable. In my opinion, the taste of the slice was pretty good. I picked the Vegetable Medley to be the subject of my review and over all I felt like I was eating pizza I had purchased from a restaurant last night and was enjoying reheated the next day. The crust wasn’t tough (as I find a lot of frozen personal pizza crusts to be) and the sauce was very good. Only the peppers had that reconstituted/ overcooked taste and texture that frozen peppers always get.

Because of the price, I think I would get these again. Though I am bummed they do not offer a sausage or pepperoni option, so maybe not often. The flavors available are BBQ Recipe Chicken, Six Cheese Medley, Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom, and Vegetable Medley. 

If you are curious, already a big fan, or looking to connect with the folks at Freschetta, then you should definitely  follow FRESCHETTA® on Twitter at @FreschettaPizza and like them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/freschettapizza.

Oh, and the blog title mentioned something about a giveaway, right? Well, leave a comment on this post and I’ll pick a comment (using Random.org) and mail the winner a coupon for their own free slice. And as a bonus, there will be a set of plastic storage containers as well. (Disclosure: I was given the same plastic storage containers.) I’ll pick a winner on Friday, April 29th (aka Arbor Day!). Happy commenting!

[tags]Freshetta, pizza, giveaway[/tags]

This book contains nine images I submitted to Lark after they saw my letter projects on Flickr and approached me. (Sidenote: While some of our flickr photostream is organized, it could be better, I know!) I submitted them at the eleventh hour during the haze of getting our house on the market. I wasn’t even sure if they would pick any of the pictures, let alone nine of them! I have pictures from Chattanooga, Wichita Falls, and Asheville in the book.

I think this is my favorite submission.

The book brings you through the entire alphabet (they didn’t leave out a single letter!) as seen through the lenses of 115 photographers from 26 different countries. It is a kind of coffee table book, or as I like to think of it, a gallery of 250 photographs bound in a handy carry-around size.

If you are so inclined to order the book you can check out Focus: Letters on Amazon or Focus: Letters on Barnes and Noble. (Family members, please contact me before you order.)

I’m a little giddy over this… please share in my giddiness too!

[tags]published, Lark Books, Letters, Digital Photography[/tags]

I am so excited that Spring has finally arrived here in Northeast Georgia. It isn’t just being able to open the windows, soak up the fresh air, and see all the green awake from it’s Winter sleep. No, it also means I finally get to use our back porch again!

One of the pluses of moving here to this house was the screen-in porch. We were able to make it into a second playroom of sorts. It also serves as a second dining room and a second living room.

And no, it isn’t that big of a space. We do have a hand-me down patio set and hand-me down outdoor rug, so right now it works. But…

I would love to take it to a true outdoor room potential! Checking out Pier 1 I see there is tons of room for imagining the what-could-be and the wouldn’t-that-look-great potential of our outdoor playroom/dining room/ living room. For starters, all their outdoor furniture is more than wicker eye candy. It could really provide back porch relaxation at very reasonable prices. I have a crush on their Rockasan™ Chair which would be an awesome place for Fuller and I to curl up and read some of his school books. And these shelves have outdoor organizing potential for all those toys we deemed “outside toys.” (Which is such a plus. Not all of Pier 1′s stuff is for inside!)

Pier 1 has teamed up with Izea for a few Pier 1 Tweetups coming up very soon! And two of them are almost near me, at least in the same state! On April 5th in the Atlanta area there are two tweet ups (the wheels in my head are spinning trying to see if I can go). And on April 20th there is one in New York City. I hear they are fabulous tweet ups.

But, if you can go to one of those, what from Pier 1 inspires you for your outdoor rooms?

Well, 2010 ended up being the year I didn’t really think about my physical health that much. The surgery was postponed and through a bit of doctor shuffling I didn’t actually go to a doctor at all for the entire year. (My old doctor quit his practice and I delayed going to a new one until January.)

Back in January (maybe December too) I saw some tweets from moms who were on the bandwagon to take care of themselves in more ways than just trips to the grocery store alone and the occasional soak in the tub. And it kind of inspired me to get back into the groove and start having my regular check ups and get that surgery scheduled.

I’m kind of proud of myself because I was actually very worried about going to the internist to see what kind of bad things would be found in my blood and pee. And when he ordered an EKG and chest xray as well, I didn’t see it as being thorough (after all, I am a New Patient for him and I hadn’t been to a doc for over a year now), I thought it was the sign of Bad Things. How happy was I that it was just him being thorough and getting the word that just my cholesterol and weight are high and I have a year to try things by myself to get them under control.

Which is where the surgery comes in… more on it later, but it is scheduled for April 7th and I have a sister team coming to help out for two weeks while I will not be able to lift anything over 10 pounds or drive.

Because this gal has to take care of herself too… I wanna be around to take more pictures like this:

[tags]mom, mom health, personal health[/tags]

Being in our new house this spring is so exciting because our backyard is just full of wildness, buds, and possibilities of fun. Damon has been working the soil, planting grass seed and prepping for our new fence (to keep the dogs in). Every evening he comes home the boys head outside to just be in his presence. Then they require baths before bed.

I sit on the back porch watching and just enjoying the feeling of the moment.

This afternoon I was reminded of this gem and really, it sums up exactly how I feel about Spring every year. (It helps that some of the kids in our church are in the video. And the band started at the college I graduated from.)

I Am A Stone from Third Lobby on Vimeo.

Getting out and about to the movies is just not possible these days. But, there isn’t lack of entertainment of the cinematic variety around here… and getting it for free is pretty cool.

Right now, thanks to the folks at Redbox, they are offering free rental codes for any referrals you send their way. Here’s how it works (but do it quickly, since this offer ends on March 17th):

If you aren’t familiar with Redbox, it is a video rental kiosk usually located outside stores. Rentals are a dollar (or free with certain codes) and for one night. The convenience factor is increased when you are able to return the movie to any Redbox (not just the one you rented from). This makes them helpful for trips. Redbox was a big life saver when we were moving.

And now you are lucky enough to get codes for free rentals!

Disclosure: This is a compensated post.