I wish you ALL could have won!

Now that I've kept you all in suspense forever.... 

(And sorry Laura, two comments doesn't help your odds...) 

drum roll please.....

The winner is: 

Elise!

Which also means my niece, Kate wins too... because she's not a big fan of sugary treats, but she does like these.  She will just have to hide them from her brother Matt, who eats anything with sugar in it.  :)

Thank you to everyone for all your kind words.  I love you all for so many different reasons.  I wish I had enough time and energy to bake snickerdoodles for all of you!   I've decided that next week I'm going to post my snickerdoodle recipe for you all to have.  You'll be amazed how easy and simple it is.    Well, I better get my kitchen cleaned up and ready to do some baking.  Elise, I'll text you when the package is on it's way... hey, maybe it can double as a early birthday surprise for Kate, too?

Extension

Yesterday, my mom and I were having a texting convo and I asked her why she hadn't commented on my previous post.  She's been in Lake Tahoe for the last several days, but my parents both have iphones, so they are never far from their technology.  She mentioned that the word verification didn't let her post a comment from her phone, so I've decided to remove the word verification and extend the cookie giveaway for two more days.  The deadline will now be Wednesday night at midnight. 

Click Here for the original post to leave a comment.  Good luck!

The Big 500

Today is the day I'm blogging my 500th post.  On September 30, 2007, I became a blogger.  I really didn't understand what that meant at the time.  For me it was a free way to post pictures and stories about our family since we live in a different state from all of the grandparents and the rest of the family.  I didn't have any idea what it would snowball into.  I didn't understand the widespread blogging community in cyberspace, but I LOVE it.  It's been a great experience for me so far... so here's to another 500 posts!

Today I'm stepping out of my comfort zone by putting nothing but a picture of me on this post.  A picture of me that I took myself last week with my tripod and timer, in an effort to take a good picture for my facebook profile.  I played around with it a bit in PSE, but I can still see every flaw... which I think is normal for people like me who prefer to be behind the camera and not in front of it.

To celebrate my 500th post I'm going to give away a batch of my Snickerdoodle cookies.  I'm not much of a baker, mostly because I HATE the clean-up that is involved afterwards, but I make a pretty awesome snickerdoodle, if I do say so myself.  And, they are easy to ship.  I thought about making something else, but mailing most baked goods could be disastrous. 

So what do you have to do to win a batch of these amazing cookies?  Just leave a comment!  That's it.  Totally simple, yet so hard for most people to do.  (I know, I'm one of them.)  I have 80 blogs in my google reader and I rarely ever make a comment.  Not that I don't want to, I just feel awkward if it's someone I don't know in person, or I'm lazy because it requires me to click through a few screens to do it.  I know all the excuses for not commenting...  but I know you will go the extra mile to get a chance at a batch of snickerdoodles.  I just know you will! 

Fine print:  the deadline for the giveaway will be Sunday at midnight.  I will pick a winner on random.org on Monday morning.  I am willing to deliver the cookies in person if you live (or happen to be visiting)  in the Phoenix metro area, or WILL ship to the 50 states, if you don't.  If you are unsure if I have your email address, please include it in your comment so I can contact you when you win. 

GOOD LUCK!

I Heart Camping

Very few things in life get me as excited as a camping trip.  I grew up 2 hours from Lake Tahoe and 2 hours from Stinson Beach.  Given a choice... I will pick the mountains over the beach just about anytime. 

(Unless it involves a beach in Maui.)

Friday night we headed to the mountains to have a campout with our Church group.  It was a lot of fun, even though we were the last ones to arrive and had to set up in the dark.  (We are getting quite experienced at that, too.)  Thank goodness some friends of ours took our tarp up and saved us a spot for our tent, so we didn't have to search around in the dark for a place to put it.

 Saturday morning was cold and gorgeous up in the Arizona mountains.  Who knew parts of AZ could kinda look like Tahoe?  I love it, even though it makes me homesick!  Brayden and I didn't get off to a fab start on Saturday morning.  He was crying and I was irritated that he woke up at 6 a.m. crying when Eric and the big kids didn't come to bed until almost midnight.  They were having too much fun playing Capture the Flag out in the woods.  (One bad thing about a Ward Campout... your nearest neighbors can hear everything going on in your tent in the late night or early morning hours.)  Let's just say I was not my finest "mothering self" and they heard it all.  But, they are the kind of friends who don't judge those kind of things... they were probably just thinking, "glad it's not me...."

The boys enjoyed playing football with some of the men...

Making the trek to the porta-potties...

I thought this was funny...

A seasoned scout... he slept outside and slept right through most of the morning noise.  I wish my kids would sleep this heavy on camping trips!

Megan helping out with the little tykes... By the way, what do you think of her "bangs"?

I love this little girl, and this look she gave me was so hilarious.  But it speaks volumes about her character.... she's got sass!

The breakfast crew... they were awesome... they cooked, served and cleaned up.  All while the women sat around and gabbed and kept an eye on the kids and the fire.

This little beauty proves it's never too soon to take them camping.  She was an angel the whole time!

Brayden got the award for the dirtiest kid.  He was covered in dirt and filthy, which was made worse by his meltdown in the tent, which produced a multitude of boogers to cement the dirt into the skin.

Campfire art... the kids figured out they could heat up the marshmallow roasting sticks, and then use them to make designs in the foam plates... some of them turned out really cool.

As everyone was packing up, I became very sad... I didn't want to leave the beauty and the cold air to head home again to the triple-digit-heat of home.  I was hoping to stall our departure as long as possible, but the men were motivated by the promising afternoon of BYU football on TV.  I guess 24 hours in the mountains is better than nothing, right?

Right.

Can You Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?

Last fall, when Eric told me he wanted to buy me a DSLR for my birthday, I emphatically said, "NO!"  There were multiple reasons for this.  The number one reason was the cost.  The second reason was the guilt, and the third reason was the fear. 

Fear?  Yep.  Fear.  I first dabbled in the art of Photography in my senior year in High School.  I joined the Yearbook staff, and spent the first semester being an all around "helper".  I didn't have any background at the time, but learned how to develop film and make basic prints from friends who had already taken the courses and learned the trade.  It was FASCINATING and fun. 

Fast forward 6 years.  I was pretty comfortable with my dad's old Pentax SLR he gave me when my oldest child was just a toddler.  It was 1998.  I promptly signed up for a night class at the local community college so I could improve my craft.  Our class focused on Black and White Photography and learning skills in the Dark Room.  I LOVED the Dark Room.  I spent as much time in there as I could.  I only ended up taking one semester course, however because we moved early the next spring.  Our new city didn't have the closeness of a Community College 5 minutes away and my husband now had a 90 minute commute he didn't have before.  When we bought our first house in Dublin, Eric promised me he would find a way to turn a corner of our garage into a Dark Room for me.  That was before we bought our first digital point and shoot camera, the Canon G2.

I remember my photo teacher saying that Digital Cameras were "neat" but would never be up to speed or on par with film.  She believed there would be no true competition.  At the time I believed her.  DSLR's were thousands of dollars and even the best photos were grainy or pixilated.  I often wonder if she eventually caved to the Digital Revolution, or if she is the only one still working in the Dark Room.  (I would still love an opportunity to work in a Dark Room if I was given one.  There is something very therapeutic about developing and printing your own film/prints.)

The other night I was looking for a certain picture that I knew I had taken back in my student days, so I dug out my old photo 22 binder and box.  I haven't looked through that stuff in probably 10 years.  Some of my work I am really impressed with.  Most of it looks so amateurish to me now.  (When I have time to do some scanning, I will post some of the early works, just for fun!)

Anyway, back to the fear.  One of the best things about a DSLR is how many settings you can manipulate and control and change.  But you kinda have to understand those settings before you can change them and have a desired outcome.  I bought a very thick book about how to use my camera and use the different settings and I bought an even thicker book about Photoshop Elements, so I can learn how use that as well.  I feel like getting back into photography is like immersing myself into a foreign exchange program in another country.  Everything is foreign and new.  And there are like 100 thousand more options and things you can do to your photos that just didn't exist in the old days.  It's incredibly overwhelming!  And scary!

I've waffled back and forth between being gung-ho and gun-shy about using my camera.  When I am out in public, I feel self conscious about taking pictures with my fancy camera.  I get frustrated easily when I can't figure out how to manipulate the settings to get the desired effect in a picture. 

All this rambling does have a purpose.  I read a "how to" tutorial that seriously changed my life.  It made me see that I'm making things way too complicated and I need to go back to basics and start from there.  I've also realized that pursuing photography further needs to be a hobby and not a means to an end.  I want to just take my time learning new tricks and not put huge deadlines or expectations on myself.    Having said all that, here are 4 pictures that illustrate one of the most basic concepts in Digital Photography, that I had completely missed until just a couple days ago.  I will call this "Adjustable ISO".  In Film Photography, you picked your ISO when you bought your roll of film, and the entire roll of film had to be shot in that same ISO.  My camera's default setting was on 200, which is a great all-purpose one, so I never even thought to adjust it.  But look what happens when you do...

These pictures were taken in a semi-dark room, no lights on, and the blinds were all closed and NO flash was used.   Photo #1:  200 ISO... VERY blurry.

Photo #2:  400 ISO, still blurry, but not quite as bad.

Photo #3: 800 ISO... remarkable improvement in clarity.

Photo #4, 1600 ISO.  Perfect!  And had I been taking pictures with my old film SLR in 1600 ISO, they would NOT have come out looking this good.  (In fact, I think the highest ISO I ever took pictures in before was 800.)  They would have been super grainy, but when I pulled this up full screen size, I could barely see the graininess.  The focal point of the shot is on the far handle of the basket, which is focused beautifully. 

I am already thinking of all the scenarios in which I take pictures that will be forever changed for the better by this one simple discovery.  So I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks, it just takes a while for it to sink in.  ;-)

Marching with the Band

 Every year our High School sponsors a "Jr High Night" with the Marching Band.  6-8th graders are invited to preform a short  song with the marching band during half time of one of our football games.  Megan and Taylor have both done this and they both have had a great time.  This year, the 8th graders were invited to sit with the Band in the bleachers and play along the entire evening. 

It's an excellent way for kids coming into high school to get a taste of Marching Band, and it works wonders in the recruiting of Freshman each summer.  Taylor wanted to do Marching Band really bad, but eventually decided against it because he wouldn't be able to do fall sports and do marching band.  They overlap too much.

Megan is in this picture but hard to see.  She was shadowing her partner really closely, but if you look close, she is in the 2nd row from the left behind the first person in that row.

It was so hot that night... 110 that day and humid.  She had a great time, but was exhausted by the time the night was over.  And she wasn't even wearing one of those polyester band uniforms.  I don't know how those kids do it each week.  I guess if Megan decides to go for it next year, we'll soon find out!

Poll

I'm just a few posts away from a big milestone on my blog.  I've put a poll in the sidebar to get some ideas for a giveaway.  I can't do anything extravagant, but I came up with some ideas and hope you all take a minute to vote!  And feel free to leave suggestions in the comments if you come up with a better idea and it's actually something I can do!   I need some creative juices channeled my way!

Blogger Shout Out

I don't really have time to blog today. I am going to be cleaning today.  Last week I was amazed at how well my house stayed clean by itself, with minimal effort on my part. This week, there has been NO effort on my part, and it's officially a disaster again.

But, hey, no worries, because I have nothing urgent on my calendar today, I have a good audio book to listen to, and at least I know it will stay clean for more than 5 minutes.  And I will attribute my extraordinarily good mood on a cleaning day to the cool weather outside.  Woke up and took T to school and it was 68.  68!!!!  I know what you are thinking, but around these parts 68 is almost cold, and I immediately came home and opened up as many windows as I could.  It's not really cooling my house down at all, but it's just the idea of being able to open the windows up and get some fresh air that has me feeling so happy!

But while I am away today waltzing with the Windex, I wanted to share a blog I LOVE to read.  This girl (and no, her name is not really Vern) is hilarious and I eagerly look forward to reading each new post she produces.  Today's post comes from a long lost letter her dad wrote, and I finally get where she gets her sense of humor.   If I could meet one blogger who lives in the state of Colorado, I would want it to be her. (And in case she sees this, she is not the only blog I read coming from Colorado... I really do like hers the best!)

Click here to have a good laugh for the day.  I know you'll agree it's better than anything I could come up with.  I only hope that when my son is serving a mission, I can be that creative with my letters to him.  :)

"So What Did You Think of Mockingjay?"

I can't tell you how many times I've heard or read online that question. 

Hmmm....... I haven't talked to a lot of people that have a clear cut answer.

I finished the book on Saturday and I'm still chewing on it. 

It's not a clear-cut 5-Star book, but it's not a dud either. 

Truth be told, I feel kind of the same way about it as I did about Breaking Dawn, by Stephanie Meyer. 

Things about it, I loved.  Things about it, I hated.

Was it well written?  Definitely. 

Was it appropriate as Young Adult Fiction?  Not so sure.

Were there deaths in it that broke my heart?  Absolutely. 

Was I happy with the romantic outcome?  Yes.

If you are still reading this post and haven't read the book, be warned... you are about to get spoilers!

Here's my take on some of the prevailing themes throughout the books.

Katniss-Peeta-Gale love triangle:  This is one thing where I was completely satisfied with the ending.  I was never really on team Gale or team Peeta.  I loved them both for different reasons, and at the end of book two I was still on the fence about who I thought she should end up with.  Throughout book 3 we finally saw Gale's true personality, and although I liked Gale, I didn't see him as a good fit for Katniss.  In the end, the only place for Peeta or Katniss was with each other.  They were both broken by the Games/Capitol, which is something that Gale will never be able to relate to.  And to be honest, Gale designing those new weapons with Beetee really disturbed me.  I felt like he was stooping to the level of the Capitol, which makes him no better than Snow.  I fully expected Collins to kill one or the other off in book 3, making it an easy choice for Katniss, but I actually liked the way she handled that too.  Completely unexpected and different from the usual love triangle solution.

Katniss:  in general her, character was so weak during the 3rd book.  I really got tired of reading about her wandering around, drugged out, and hiding from everything.  It just doesn't fit with the girl who volunteered for the Games in book 1.  I know she's been to H*ll and back, twice, but still... I expected more fire from her.

Peeta:    It was sad not to have our Peeta through most of this book.  I always felt Peeta deserved a happy ending because of his good nature and gentle spirit.  It broke my heart to see what Snow did to him.  It made me happy to see him fight back to overcome it.  In his dying breath, why did Boggs tell Katniss to kill Peeta?  That never made sense to me.  The other stuff he told her made sense, but not that.

Prim:  How ironic that Prim died in the end, after all Katniss did to save her.  The entire series was born from Katniss's desire to protect her baby sister whom she loved more than anyone.  If Prim had indeed gone to the games when her name was called, she would have likely died and the revolution wouldn't have been able to come-out-of-the-closet.  I guess, there was some long term benefit because the games didn't go on after she died.  And she died doing what she loved. 
District 13:  The whole concept of District 13, it's leaders, how it's run, etc., was alarming to me.  I know it was such a different and peaceful place from the rest of the districts under the Capitol's reign, but was it really any better?  Did people really have more freedom?  It seemed to me like a very controlled utopian society.  I never trusted Coin or her motives.  Turns out that was a wise move.

Who I wish didn't die:  Finnick.  His death hurt the worst.  Maybe because we finally got to know him on a personal level.  Maybe because we finally understood how much he had endured after he left the arena the first time.  Maybe because we misjudged him.  But mostly because he finally got his 5 minutes of happiness.  And it was only like 5 minutes.  Just heartbreaking.  (It hurt almost as much as losing Fred in book 7 of Harry Potter.)  And while we are on the subject, I was heartbroken over Cinna, too.  I loved Cinna, and every time his name was mentioned in Mockingjay, it was like a little dagger in the heart.

The Capitol Games:  This part of the book was so upsetting to me.  How could anyone in their right mind suggest continuing the games and keeping it going with kids from the capitol instead of the districts?  I still don't understand why Katniss voted yes.  If someone understands the logic behind that, please fill me in... please.

Given the extreme violence in this book, I can't decide if I think it should be classified as YA fiction.  I know it's about teenagers, children, really, but does that mean it should automatically be put in the YA fiction category?  I don't think so.  The concept of children being forced to kill other children is so despicable.  At the end of the audio for Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins herself tells how she came up with the idea.  Think back to the Roman Empire... think Gladiator.  I've never seen that movie, because that kind of stuff doesn't appeal to me, but it's the same concept.  Putting people in an arena to fight to the death while spectators watch, all for sport.  I guess we can't say that it hasn't been done before.

And one final comment before I turn it over to you to comment and throw in your two cents:  why did they make the cover light blue?  It just doesn't fit.  And it bugs.  It really bugs.  Whose idea was that?  It's a nice color for a book jacket, but it doesn't fit well with the other two.  It looks terrible on the shelf next to the first 2 books.  Doesn't anyone get paid to catch these things? 

Weekly Report

Eric's been out of town since Sunday night and I had a goal to blog every day while he was away.  Obviously, that hasn't happened.  I have started two posts, but ultimately abandoned each one.  In a nutshell, here's how the week has gone.

Sunday night, just minutes before I talk to Eric after his plane lands in the Bay Area, I discover the guinea pig is dead in his cage.  Which meant that I had to dispose of it, clean up the mess, and tell the kids the next morning, ALL by myself.  Joy.  Let's just say that I don't do well with dead things... animals or people.  I prefer the living.  But, since it was 10:30 at night, I wasn't going to call my Home Teachers, so I just had to suck it up and deal with it.  I lived through the ordeal, but I hope I NEVER have to do something like that again.  It sucked, big time, and I had guinea-pig-haunting dreams all night long.

Monday I broke the news to the kids.  Ian and Brayden were the most upset, but got over it quicker than I expected.  I guess Ian wasn't as attached as I had thought.  I treated them all to Kokomo for dessert after we delivered cookies to Eric and Taylor's home teaching families for FHE.  We were doing some serious gospel multitasking on Monday night... service, HTing, FHE, and grief therapy all in one.  And I actually got to enjoy my dairy-free watermelon flavored frozen yogurt, which I topped with pound cake bits and vanilla mini chips.  Even though it's not really ice cream, it was a good substitute. 

Tuesday, I cleaned, cleaned, cleaned.  All while I listened to Mockingjay.  I am happy to report that the downstairs is looking pretty dang good.  I've been doing some decluttering too, but still have a long way to go until I'm satisfied that we are completely de-junked around here.

Wednesday was errand day.  I did interrupt my errands to go to lunch with Colee... one of my favorite college students ever.  She just started at ASU and I got a kick hearing about how every student has to take the "Succeed at ASU" course their first semester.  And yeah, they make you pay for that!  Crazy.  One part of me felt 20 again, the other part of me felt 40.  And I'm not 40 yet.  ;-)

Today was supposed to be another cleaning day, but I got distracted with stuff here and there.  I had a long list of phone calls to make... and I booked airline tickets for a weekend away in November for just Eric and I.  (Thanks, MOM!)  Eric knows we are going somewhere, and that my mom will be staying with the kids, but he doesn't know where we are going, so that will be a fun surprise for him when the time comes.  A word to the wise however... if an airline gives you travel "vouchers" in exchange for being bumped or a cancelled flight, don't assume that $400 airline credit will get you very far.  I was totally surprised by the limited options I had for using my vouchers.  Oh well, a $50 flight is better than a $250 one, right?

This afternoon, we went to Taylor's swim meet.  The younger boys have to come with me, which they hate, and today was brutal because it was 106 and only the swimmers get to cool off in the pool.  Brayden saw me train the camera on him, and he gave me a good possum stance.  That kid is a bust up!

 Here's some shots from Taylor's 500 meters.  He's doing much better this year... got his personal best today at 5:52.  That's 20 seconds down from his time last year.  In this picture, he's the only one not wearing a cap and wearing longer shorts.  If he does the Casa Grande Tri again with us this year, I think we will take the top swimming time.  He was pretty happy with his performance today and it's only the first meet of the year.

Tomorrow will be a workout day for me, and cleaning up the upstairs.  Mostly just our room and bathroom... I was doing sewing projects in there last week and there's still fabric mess everywhere.  Tomorrow night we get to see Megan perform with the High School Marching Band during the football game, which normally, I look forward to, but it's supposed to be 110 tomorrow.  So, yeah, it's going to be hot and miserable.  This is what I hate about September.  Where's fall when you need it?