Overdue Decor

Alrighty. I took these pictures around midnight after I got organized, ate dinner (leftovers - I had lunch on the porch with Sasha!) had a full conversation with Ryan via text and Skyped with Mia. I did end up buying a lot of stuff ~ luckily it was all 50% off. I didn't really make anything myself. I did wrap up some faux presents (hard cover books) and taped a few glittery letters onto Christmas paper! Let me know what you think.

 Golden Dove tree in the bathroom. I think the colors gold and brown are wearing off on me because I used to hate them. I still prefer silver, but this is a nice mix of colors here that I do find pretty.

 With the room light and standing lamp on. (Above)
With only the Christmas lights around the items. (Below)

 I think Michael may have changed some settings on the camera because the pictures I took with the 50mm were being weird. Either too bright or very dark and out of focus. I couldn't find a proper medium, like I did when I took all the BTS photos at Full Sail.

 I liked the variety of snowmen with scarves. Too cute!

& they are still making me crave a chocolate Frosty from Wendy's.

I wanted to feature the Mini-Polaroid of Sasha Renee from Christmas Day into my decorations & I love the Amish sheepy in the snow. These displays didn't turn out how they were on Pintrest because everything was much more coordinating online, rather than me grabbing whatever from Target's 
leftover bins & deciding it needed a new home. 
Oh well. Still pretty cute, right? 

Better Late Than Never!

Bad news. I am very disappointed in myself. (Not only because I haven't updated my blog very much this month.) Aside from the Christmas tree, a few decorations around the apartment and my obsession with fake snow, our home has not been very festive. The only crafts I really made this year were a few simple Christmas cards which I sent to a select few people ~ my parents, Michael's parents, Grandma Belva and Dawson (although he said he never got his).. 

Thank goodness for Pintrest to give me loads of Christmas ideas. Most of what I plan on making right now will be using holiday scrapbook paper and whatever I already have available. I don't want to spend any money. So I have decided to let the season last until the end of January. At least in places where Michael will allow me to most likely keep decorations up: My scrapbook area & the bathroom that Sasha and I share. After that, February turns into Valentine's Day month. I'll need to work on cutting out a bunch of pink hearts!

Twenty Three Hours.

I feel like my New Year began on Monday. After Christmas presents were opened on the 25th, I began rummaging through my mind of all the resolutions I wanted to make. I always have the same ones once a month - eat healthier, go to church, get more exercise - so instead I wanted to make a check list. For example:

Go to the beach five times.  
Read ten books all the way through.
Eat at 10 places I haven't been to before.
I may up that last number since I've already made it to three new places in just a few days! Mia and Sharanya came to visit, so for lunch today we went to Greens & Grille near the mall. I got the Californication Signature Wrap. Later, I got a Caribbean Swizzle mango smoothie from Fruit Sensations at the food court and for dinner we ate at Uno's. I was intrigued by a picture of the Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla and ordered that. (My meals today were paid for by my mom's best friend, Dana! I used the $25 gift card she sent us for Christmas.)
Today has been one of the best days. I enjoyed a much needed girly day, new yummy food, and I got hired as a hostess after my interview at Tony Roma's! I've decided not to complain about cold weather now that Christmas Day was a ripe 80 degrees in Orlando. I enjoyed the long night walks we went on, bundled up in sweaters and scarves and being amused by the ability to see our breath while we talked. 

Check Out These Babes!

I have been going through a few blogs today and need to share them with you. They are very cute - two couples, one has a baby with another on the way. The other I believe simply has a dog for now, like us! They are making me feel extra crafty and a little disappointing that I came across these so late in the month. My favorite is 12 Dates of Christmas. However, I have sent out a few hand crafted Christmas cards. Another woman is older and her boys are around 10 and 12. She does December Dailies. I would love to make these too, but I feel like Michael and I don't do enough Christmasy stuff to make a whole mini-book of 31 days. However, I did make one about the first half of Christmas break in 2009. *Here you can see 4 of 18 pages.* (Maybe I can make legit December Dailies when we have a child old enough - three years old? - to do the crafts with me.) I'm hoping we will visit his Na Na next month in Mobile and hopefully I can put one together then.

Portraits ~ Drew

This past Sunday, Mr. Drew Prescott and I were able to find a time that were were both available during Golden Hour so I could get some portraits of him in his peacoat. He took me to the location where the other half of our class shot their 35mm project, Terror! I believe Drew was 1st Assistant Camera for their production and Boom Op for ours (Gruff's Bridge). We snuck onto the roof of a parking garage in downtown Orlando and were there for about 30 minutes before a security guard with heavy cologne said we needed to leave. The other pictures were taken right outside the garage on a cobblestone road. I like cobblestone roads.. I worked 7 hours today. That was an accomplishment. Tomorrow will be spent buying groceries, putting together Christmas gifts and making sausage balls for Michael. 

~ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ~

Timeline

Just a blurb of what I've been doing today. Facebook has been updated again. There is a new thing called Timeline. I think it takes up too much space on my "wall" and I can't see as much at one time. I'm sure it will be fine once I get used to it, but then a couple months later they will have something new for everyone to complain about. I wonder what Facebook was like back in 2005 when it was the new Myspace. The only part I really like about it, is the "cover photo". Here is mine:

Romantic, right?

I made my Christmas song list that I want to play when we open presents on Sunday at 2pm. This is the most excited I have been about Christmas in a long time. Maybe I was this excited the past few years too, but don't remember. I have something special planned that I am very giddy about. Our first Christmas together. We have spent our other Christmases together too, but this year its just us. We will celebrate with our families later. I don't know if I have a favorite song from my mix, but I've always liked "Merry Christmas, Here's to Many More" by Relient K.

While I listened to this music, I edited some extra Christmasy versions of Miriam and Matilda. They are very cute and pretty and I like them a lot. Haha, poor puppy. Aside from that, I am now watching "The Santa Clause 2". I forgot how funny some parts of it were. Five more days!!

Miri & Matil, Part II

I was excited to shoot Miriam again this weekend. We had been talking about different ideas since September, so two in one month is great! Her and Matilda were joined by Garth - Miriam's boyfriend. I got a handful of good ones of all three of them. Smiley ones that they can send to family members in a Christmas card, if they wish. I got some of Matilda by herself on a table that Miriam set up with a tiny trees, cloud fluff and empty presents. Others were in front of a wall covered with festive wrapping paper, garland stockings and snowflakes. The one I've decided to post was me, at the end, attempting to play with the sunset. I think they turned out very well. I've decided that I visually enjoy the results of keeping the sun just out of frame, compared to using her body to block the sun to create a back light. The golden glow feels much more professional.

~ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ~

Update, August 2016: Most of these photos (the more obvious edits) were done in 2011. Isn't it just the nicest when our boyfriends/ fiances and husbands pose in pictures with us? They should know it's to be expected with creative girls who love having photo shoots! And although it states that Miriam and Garth were dating during Christmas 2011, they have now been married for almost three years. 

Girl's Night In

Tuesdays are pretty wonderful to me. Thank goodness for Glee to bring us all together. Julie and Ryan came over again tonight. I liked the Christmas episode. One of the better ones since the Season 3 premiere. Afterward, we had a much needed hour-long chat about each of our futures. Michael and I have been talking a lot about money lately and how we will "survive" after this month. His parent's have been so gracious to us, supporting us financially, but there comes a time when we need to ween off and learn how to be responsible adults. Michael doesn't agree with my drastic suggestion of moving into a smaller, less expensive apartment..  

I    N  E  E  D    T  O    P  R  A  Y

Here is my frog comparison that I promised you from yesterday. In these two photos, I favor the shot using the Fujifilm, probably because of the angle and how there were still raindrops on the leaves. The water had dried up a few hours later when I was able to use the Canon. Although it is obvious that the detail is more "crispy".

Edits & Lost

I feel naked without the T2i. Michael took it to work so he could take pictures of the Who's he put noses on. I had a photo idea and ended up using my old pink Fujifilm camera. When Michael comes home I will probably try to take the same pictures with the good camera and compare the two in a post later. Tonight, maybe tomorrow?
 My work days are slowing down. Nothing yet to take pictures of. So I have to find new things. I edited some more pictures of Miriam, when I wasn't at Kirkland's or watching Lost on Netflix. I have a bunch to go, but added some of Francesca doing her Hulk make up. I think its better for me to take lots of pictures of different people. Because then all of the people they are friends with can see the pictures of whoever was tagged. I am currently up to 113 "likes" on my Wild Photography page.

Miri & Matil

During my four-hour shift at Kirkland's, I got to smash up a mirror. That was pretty cool. Luck, schmuck. At noon I drove home, ate lunch, took a mini-nap with Sasha and made it to Miriam's house before 3pm. I am very glad that it stopped raining once I got off the Interstate. This portrait session was a new experience for me. One that I needed. Normally I am telling people how I want them to pose and what facial expressions to make. But Miriam - being the creative genius that she is - had a lot of good ideas in mind and I took pictures how she wanted me to. I was the one taking direction. I liked that. One big idea that I had from the beginning, was to have her new puppy in some of the pictures with her. Matilda is sooo cute! A 10-week-old Boston Terrier. (I really wish I had been around Sasha when Michael first adopted her, about 4 years ago. More today than ever.)
After the shoot I stopped by Full Sail because I was told that someone was filming a music video. I believe it was more like a make-up montage put to music.. Not what I was expecting. I only stayed for about 30 minutes because my friend, Francesca, was there. I got a few good pictures of her making some guy look like a mix between Shrek & the Hulk. I work again tomorrow. After that, the near future is open for more business.

 ~ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ~

Update, August 2016: I had 50 cute pictures in this folder and I only posted one.. Even with such a cute puppy! Here are some more to enjoy. I left them edited the way they were from 2011. I remember I liked the original photo (above) because her face kind of made her look like Jennifer Aniston.