Along for the ride...

Creating a Home

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:01:00 +0000

As I cleaned the house today I was having a sense of nostalgia as I thought about how much our home has changed since we first moved in. We've slowly been acquiring things and making it our own and in the past year and a half we've put our own spin on it. So I snapped a few quick pictures of the front part of our house because that's what has changed the most to share a bit of us.

Also, if you're moving to Germany this will be a great post to see what the average 2 bedroom apartment looks like and how much you can fit in it. I have seen floorplans that are slightly smaller and I have seen some that are larger by FAR so this is a fairly even middle ground.
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Week 19 - Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sun, 19 May 2013 08:32:00 +0000

I worked with an adorable little girl yesterday and thought I would share an insight that is very fitting to week 19's theme.

Practice makes perfect.

Something that all photographers strive for is tack sharp images in which all the details of the eyes can be seen. There are a few techniques for this so over the past few months I've been playing with them. I believe that I have finally found what works for me.

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Body Type Ideals

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Thu, 09 May 2013 07:22:00 +0000

It's crazy for me to think back on High School and even early college when I thought that all that mattered was to be thin. I had no concept of muscle tone in relation to a woman's body. In fact, I remember seeing an infomercial about some exercise equipment on TV and calling the woman with a 4 pack creepy looking. I thought it was strange to see women with muscles and therefore did my best to ignore my body's will to gain definition. Now I would kill for a 4 or 6 pack!

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Week 10 - Flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 07:15:00 +0000

I am waaaaaayyyyyy behind. Oh well....

The other day I took some photos of some tulips that recently popped up outside our building. The photos were originally taken for a different project but it's all the same. I'll share the separate project I'm working on as well.

This photograph is edited in 2 separate ways for a very specific reason and it relates back to the project the photo was actually taken for.

PCS Checklist from Overseas to Stateside

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:05:00 +0000

The most popular post by far on this blog is the Germany PCS Checklist that I created. The checklist was created to assist myself in staying organized while my husband and I went through the daunting task of moving to Europe. Now, after less than 2 years we are facing the tast of moving back to the states. I was originally going to use the same checklist for this move until I realized that there was some overlap. There are things that you shouldn't have to do (like stocking up on "American" items) and there are additional items that should be added on (including scheduling delivery and pick-up for loaner furniture). So therefore, I have a new and improved list. Since it is fairly early in our move, I'll update it as I go but for now, it is a pretty solid start.

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0 kids vs 1 kid

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 07:33:00 +0000

Today is going to be a tad bit of a vent so please bare with me.

Let's take a moment to compare housing for those that have no children and those that have 1 child. We'll assume that the families are of equal rank and stature and the only difference is that one family has a child. The following are pictures of actual housing at our next duty station. Something's gotta give...

There may be better housing available for a 2 bedroom but honestly this is about as good as it gets on post. Feels a bit one sided for the military community.

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Fitness Goals Update

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 08:16:00 +0000

I may or may not have fallen off the workout wagon this past month. I'm working at climbing back on but it's a long and laborious process. Even so I have made some improvements and even accomplished another goal. Check deadlift off my list!

Goals 2013	Current Progress
Run 5 miles	---------
50 consecutive Double Unders	3 consecutive
90 lb Deadlift with solid form	COMPLETED 100#
5 consecutive pull ups (not strict)	1 / 3 Kipping
5 consecutive chin ups (not strict)	2
5 consecutive dips with no assist	COMPLETED
8 minute mile time	10:00 mile time
50 bpm resting heart rate	approx. 62 bpm
Splits all 3	Left split achieved
5 Rope Climbs (16 ft)	3 Rope Climbs ~12 ft
500 meter freestyle swim >10 min	15:10

Recipe Binder Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 08:05:00 +0000

After much Pinterest stalking I have decided to create a Recipe Binder.

This is no easy task, let me assure you.

I have spent hours upon hours working on it and it is not close to being finished yet. /sigh.... BUT, I know that when it is done it will be so nice! I'm looking forward to not having to run back to my laptop every time I need to look up one of my go-to recipes or flipping through 5 different cook books trying to find the one that I want to use. I will have all my favorite recipes in one place rather than 10 different places. The hardest part is the fact that I'm typing all the recipes essentially. A lot of binders I saw had recipe cards essentially pasted on paper and that was it. In an attempt to have peak efficiency (and this is the inner Type A speaking), I'm typing my recipes in a 2-column format so that more recipes can fit per page and they are all easy to read. The downside of this obviously is that the book wont have many pictures but if I've done the recipe before there really is no need to know what it looks like because I've already done it and know!

Here is a little sneak peak of what I'm working on. There is still a long way to go but you can get an idea of how freakishly organized it's going to be.

1 1/2" binder. Although I might have to upgrade at some point.

2-column, typed recipes

Index of Recipes with the "favorites" marked. The right column will be for page numbers

The red star marks a "favorite" the lightening bolt is a crockpot meal

Things that still need to be done:

Typing recipes (I only have chicken, breakfast, and desserts done)
Create tabs
Insert dividers between sections (possibly with folders to hold new recipes that need to be added
Page numbers added
Index completed with page numbers

/sigh... such a daunting list. Anyone want to do it for me?

Week 13 - Details

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 11:28:00 +0000

Last night I threw my husband a surprise birthday party. It was Lego themed and a lot of fun. While I was prepping for the party I was thinking about how there are a million of little details I put into this party that would be great for this theme. So this morning when I got up and when the house was somewhat picked up from last night's festivities I got to work on this challenge.

I came up with this very boring picture. No it's not the final product.

Semi-Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 07:30:00 +0000

I love chicken noodle soup, especially when I'm sick. I've always wanted to make homemade chicken noodle soup but I never wanted to spend all day making it. The idea of making your own stock from scratch and such is just a daunting task that I'm not ready to face yet. This is a good alternative for me. About 30 minutes in the kitchen and you're ready to go!
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Moving Inventory (DITY)

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 06:58:00 +0000

Image from Find Joy in the Journey blog

I found a great article via Pinterest recently that could really be of some use to the frequent movers in the military community. This article will be of the most use to those that are handling the move on their own without the military issued moving company. It covers a technique of how to order your boxes and provides an insight to how to organize your packing. You'll even receive a moving log that is fantastic for keeping track of what items are in each box. Perfect for type A personalities (like myself) or those moments where you move into your new home and for the life of you cannot find the dang remote to the TV!

And since I'm all about moving these days with our impending PCS change I thought I would re-blog it for your viewing pleasure.
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Anxiety About Moving

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 06:20:00 +0000

We have just over 6 months to go before we will be leaving our current home and settling in somewhere new and I must say.... I'm freaking out. I'm not worried about the things that we still need to do, all of that will be accomplished in time. I'm worried about what will happen after we arrive.
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Week 12 - Reflections

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:58:00 +0000

I was wanting to do something with the reflection of people or a building in water of some type but my schedule has not allowed me hardly any time to go out in search of locations. I'm pretty much stuck doing last minute pictures that I can bust out in a few minutes before going to work, the gym, or wherever else I need to be at the moment. Check out the entire list of challenges to see how far behind I really am.

My husband says it's a good picture though so that means it HAS to be true. lol

The photo was taken on a mirror plate that was pushed against a window.
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Week 11 - Shallow Depth of Field

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:06:00 +0000

This week's theme for Project 52 wasn't even a challenge and that's only because 9 times out of 10 when I shoot, I shoot with a shallow DoF so any photograph would really work. Just to stick true to the challenge though, I took a photograph specifically for this week.

I also wanted to do a photograph this week that had zero edits and was SOOC (straight out of camera) since I realized I haven't really done that yet. Without further adieu, here is my lovely dog, Mandi, and her super sniffer

Week 9 - Self Portrait

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:53:00 +0000

Meh. That's what I think about how I did for this photo.... meh.

The post-processing was easy it was obtaining the images that were difficult. I am going to force myself to re-do this week because I'm just so unhappy with how it came about.
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Week 6 - Fog

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 09:40:00 +0000

ISO 200 f/3.2 1/320s

It just so happens that the only day we seem to get fog is when I have to work. Fog here in general hasn't been a common occurrence so catching an opportunity to photograph it is very rare.

About a week or so ago we were blessed with nice thick fog but I of course had to work that morning and had essentially zero time to head out to field and photograph it like originally planned. So I ended up stepping on my balcony and snapping a picture in the 5 minutes I had to spare. Who knows, I might get an awesome picture later down the road to take this one's place but for now, this will have to do.

For the master list of all the challenges see my main Project 52 post.

Week 7 - Still Life

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 08:47:00 +0000

Week 7 was where I lost all of my momentum for Project 52. My original plan was to stage a battle using my husband's newly acquired Legos and use it for this theme. We spent a better part of an hour setting up and photographing only to discover that it wasn't going to work. I tried for several hours to attempt to composite the images to match what I had in my head but the problem was that I forgot to take a "blank image" meaning an image where there were no Legos just the background and the table. So I found myself trying to fit together pictures that just did not fit. After that disaster I fell of the wagon and it was very hard for me to climb back on.

But I'm back, at least for now. I spent this morning trying to knock out a few more themes that I've missed in my absence and I'll be posting a few more in the next coming days.

This post, however, is all about still life. I chose to photograph crayons. Don't ask me why... I just did.
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Favorite Workouts

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:48:00 +0000

These workouts have been sitting in my "drafts" folder for a few weeks now just so I could have them for personal use but I might as well put them out for others to use as well! Before I let you loose on all my favorite workout routines let me explain how I usually plan my workouts. I have bit of an eclectic taste when it comes to working out. I love Pilates, circuit training, weight lifting, and CrossFit style workouts so I usually do a medley of the movements I like the best and roll out an intense workout. I also usually focus on more than one body part while exercising. I find that I can get so much more out of a workout if I alternate between body parts rather than hammering one area until collapsing.

No fancy names, just listed the areas of the body that you'll feel the burn. Also, links are provided for your viewing entertainment.

So without further adieu here are my favorites (so far!)

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March Fitness Goals Update

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:15:00 +0000

Not a ton of change in progress for fitness goals as I've been struggling with illness and STILL recovering with my legs. Good news though! I am a beast at doing dips and have officially met that goal for the year! I actually completed it by accident one evening at the gym when I was just messing around and not completing any particular workout. I hopped up on the dip bars and was able to complete almost 3! I am now up to being about to do 2 sets of 5 with no assist. Pretty proud if I can say so myself.

I have decided to start setting weekly goals for the gym that will help me focus myself and get on track for knocking more of these goals out of the park. I also think I am FINALLY ready to start running again so be on the look out for improvements with that.

Happy working out!

EDIT (3/6/13): I timed myself on my 500 m swim today so that I have something to track in terms of progress. I included all rest time between 100s and came out with a total of just over 15 minutes. Super slow but a huge improvement over the 30 or so minutes that it took me on my first day back to swimming. I'm now able to swim 100m intervals rather than the 50m ones that I was doing before.

Goals 2013	Current Progress
Run 5 miles	Roughly 2 miles
50 consecutive Double Unders	3 consecutive
90 lb Deadlift with solid form	75 #
5 consecutive pull ups (not strict)	1
5 consecutive chin ups (not strict)	2
5 consecutive dips with no assist	COMPLETED
8 minute mile time	10:30 mile time
50 bpm resting heart rate	approx. 62 bpm
Splits all 3	Left split achieved
5 Rope Climbs (16 ft)	3 Rope Climbs ~12 ft
500 meter freestyle swim >10 min	15:10

Busy Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 17:49:00 +0000

I have some catching up to do.

I have taken on a tutoring position in the AVID class at my middle school so now I am officially working 2 jobs. I have also been trying to keep up on my workouts and such which leaves little time for anything else except home life.

I have some still life pictures I am trying to get up and going for one of the past weekly themes. I think I am going to start taking the stance that as long as all 52 themes get done, it isn't an absolute necessity "when". Although I will try my very bestest to get it done on time, I promise... :-)

Week 1 - Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 06:28:00 +0000

I did another make-up post this week for Project 52 and it is very different than what I usually do. I tackled a mild form of HDR. I'm not usually a fan of HDR, it just feels too over-processed. Of course, that is the idea, I'm sure.

Anywho, for the week of "resolutions" I originally planned on taking my camera to the gym and getting some artsy shots of some of the equipment but I didn't feel like looking like a stalker. I could just imagine the looks that I would get as people thought I was taking a picture of them getting all sweaty. Definitely don't need any restraining orders right now! So for the pictures I did the next best thing... I enlisted the help of my dear friend, Alicia, who is a champ and photographed her lifting in the basement and then outside while she pounded a tire with a sledgehammer. Yes you read that correctly.... tire vs. sledgehammer.

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Fitness Goals Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 20:05:00 +0000

Since it has been a month or so since I posted my goals for 2013, I will do a little update on my fitness progress. The bold inputs are the new PRs, you can see the originals here.

Unfortunately, early in the year I began developing shin splints and it is taking a really long time to recover from them which means little to no high impact or running. Insert sad face here ---> As a plus side though, since I can't run I'm going to try to get back into swimming so that I don't lose out on a cardio opportunity. Today was my first day back at the pool in about 5 years and it was great! Horrible because I'm not near as good as I used to be, but great! Can't wait to get back. Possibly Saturday?? I got so excited about swimming that I'm even going to add a new goal for 2013!

Goals 2013	Current Progress
Run 5 miles	Roughly 2 miles
50 consecutive Double Unders	3 consecutive
90 lb Deadlift with solid form	75 #
5 consecutive pull ups (not strict)	Almost 1!
5 consecutive chin ups (not strict)	2
5 consecutive dips with no assist	Multiple with roughly 60 lb assist
8 minute mile time	10:30 mile time
50 bpm resting heart rate	approx. 62 bpm
Splits all 3	Left split achieved
5 Rope Climbs (16 ft)	3 Rope Climbs ~12 ft
500 meter freestyle swim >10 min	You really don't want to know...

My Favorite B&W Preset

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:00:00 +0000

This little post is for all those LightRoom users out there. I've been using LightRoom since I first started photography and I love it. I only switch over to Photoshop when I have some composites or drastic edits that I need to make. Well with my love for LightRoom has come a love for presets. Presets are so incredibly useful for getting the "meat and bones" of the editing done. In one click I can do the basic changes that I make in nearly every photo and then adjust as needed on an individual basis.

Well I'm going to share the preset I have adjusted to become my own so that you may use it if you like. If the download stops working please let me know because I am new to sharing these types of things. Also, if you need help installing a preset please follow the guidelines listed at the bottom of the post.
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Week 5 - I Dreamed a Dream

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:12:00 +0000

50 mm lens ISO 3200 f/ 2.5 1/200s

I know I'm a tad late posting, but I promise this is the first chance I have had to work on this week's project. I worked all last week and went to the gym every day and then Friday my hubby and I left for a weekend in Garmisch. So anywho.... here it goes.

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Chocolate Chip Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Ashley) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:25:00 +0000

I made these a few weeks back to bring to school because I lost a bet with a few kids. Anywho, they are delicious and incredibly easy to make. I originally found the recipe on allrecipes.com but made a few modifications to make my own. Be sure to apply the topping liberally as you should have plenty to go around. My only regret was not making extra batch just for myself!

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