FOR THE JOB OR THE EXPERIENCE?

I had to share a glimpse into the images captured last night. The bride and groom got married 2 weeks ago at the top of the mountain. The wedding was a dream. I'm going to sit down and write about my experience, but right now, Im really tired and ready for a nice, quiet night of rest.

Last night, the bride put on her dress and we rode up the mountain. There were these wicked storm clouds in the sky but  and the view was A.MAZE.ING! I can still feel the adrinaline running though me.  It was my dream. I pictured these images since December 2010, the first time she asked me to be the photographer...I guess sometimes its not about the job, it's about the experience.

"IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE"

I find myself a little cheesy lately. With the "oh, it's a wonderful life" type of feel. Sometimes I do think things are wonderful, but not everything is.

Like the fact that my 9 month old baby has been sleeping  in a playpen in the middle of my livingroom because he won't sleep through the night. He thinks he is starving. I had to move him out of my room to get through this...so I'm not so quick to go and pick him up. I don't know who has a harder time with this: Me or him? It's hard for me to ignore the sound of a baby crying.

Also, the fact that I notice the back bedrooms (including mine) has been the catch-all this whole winter. Piles of clothes, books, toys. All clutter that you wouldn't even sell at a yardsale type of clutter. Now that it's spring, I can finally see everything that has built up in these 3 rooms. Yes, 3 whole rooms.

Also the fact that my husband works ALL the time. That isn't so wonderful. It definately isn't wonderful that he is exhausted when he is home. (My husband is an underground miner if you didn't know already). Get this: he works from 430am-6:30pm, 14 days IN A ROW....underground. Long, dark, miserable days. I worry about him every day.

Another fact, girls are emotional.  I don't know how to deal with emotional girls. Mine are extremely sensitive and I just don't handle it in a compassionate way. I think my girls SHOULD be tough. Handle a little criticism without breaking-down in tears. Her brother even called her a "drama queen" the other day and she said
"Mom! Trey just called me a DRAMA QUEEN and I'm not! He's a big bully and is being sooo mean. Humph...."
What do you say to that? "Trey, stop calling your sister a Drama Queen."

As a mother of 4, I search for those moments of "Oh, it's a wonderful life" only to find them in my quiet hour. When I'm with my husband sitting in the hot tub alone, when my baby wakes up in the morning after a full night of sleep, and when my daughters give me a big hug and tell me "You are the best mom ever" . It keeps me going.
It keeps me positive even though I know darn well... there is a dirty diaper waiting to be changed.

THEY GROW LIKE WEEDS

When I was a kid, I remember random people coming up to me with big grins on their faces saying "you have gotten SOOO big....I remember when you were a little baby.."

I remember looking at those people thinking "yeah, ok. So what? I don't even remember you so why are you so happy to see me?"

Now, I find myself going up to other peoples kids saying the same thing "You have gotten SOOOO big in the last 2 years. What happened?" 

 Now I know why those random people had a big smile on their face. It's not happiness, it's shock.
Shocked that they are getting older too, and that kids...well, they grow like weeds.

 Colton is now 9 MONTHS OLD. (what?) Yeah, 9 months. Where does the time go. He crawls all over the place at a very fast pace. He pulls himself up and even does a little dance.

 I can't figure out why people call him a little girl? It happens all the time. Random strangers stop to see the cute baby and before they walk away, I hear them say "She is so adorable!"....
what? I now get angry because it has happened so many times. I might just shave his head.

He is growing like a weed and changing every single day. Literally, tomorrow he could be walking.

A BIRTHDAY TO REMEMBER

Recently, I got invited to be a photographer for Lori Tupous 49th birthday party. This was a surprise party for her thrown by her daughters. They blindfolder her in the snow, told her to walk into her bedroom, and take off her clothes....and this is how it all began. After that, it was all fun and games like musical chairs and a special birthday dance. Everyone had a joke and I found my self trying to join into their family jokes, but mine weren't so funny.

This boy was so funny and always posing for me.  Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but the brother behind him has the look written all over his face. Priceless.

As a photographer of this special day, I saw love and laughter. They laughed, danced, told jokes, ate good food, and just spent time enjoying each other. Lori received heart felt cards and phone calls from other people that loved her too. I too, wish her a happy 19th....
Love Beth

FINDING THE LIGHT

Yes, this is a photography post so I will make it very vague. Photography is the "study of light". There are shadows, midtones, and highlights. You can look into the shadows and still see light. You can look into the light, and still see a shadow (most of the time).

Pictures are flattering when there is more composition in the lighting, vs just 1. Have you ever noticed when you take indoor pictures that the picture is a little flat and you say "that's a cute picture" just to move onto the next. But, when you put the subject up to a window where there is light, it changes the whole feel of the picture and makes you say "wow."

I would like to teach some of you how to "find the light" from your backyard to the inside of your closet. It's a matter of teaching your eye how to focus.

CLASS: SATURDAY APRIL 16TH- "FINDING THE LIGHT"
PLACE: SIMPLE BEAUTY STUDIO
COST: FREE
EXPERIENCE: NONE

MARCH....ITS MADNESS

March. The month we all start seeing a little more light and feeling a LITTLE more heat. When I say us all, I mean all us Alaskans. I find my self singing the theme song from the wizard of Oz "Come out, come out, where ever you are...." because in the movie I start to see more and more people emerging from their homes.
It's spring break here and there is still alot of snow on the ground. A couple weeks ago, I took the kids sledding. It was warm outside (in the high 30's).

Mattie wasn't feeling well and layed down on the log before I hauled her down the hill

We had the Friends come with us.

Trey is getting so big. 11 years old. Next year, sledding wont be so fun for him I'm sure. He will be too cool.

SILLY BANDS

Silly Bands. The rave of 2010. My kids got introduced to them when their Aunt Karrie came to visit back in September (or was it October?...it was a long time ago to me). Anyways, I find silly bands in my laundry, on the floor, in the hot tub sucked up to the filter..everywhere. I guess that is what happens when kids get a whole bunch of little things. They love them....but lose them by the end of the day.

Now they have silly necklaces. They are the same thing, just bigger. Mattie loves to wear these necklaces.

Got to love the silly bands....

SCIENCE FAIR

Trey was in the 5th grade science fair at GV Elementary. This is where the 5th grade students strut their stuff and come out of the closet, showing they do have a brain. Trey created a lemon powered fan. (Really? Lemons can create power from the citrus? Wow. I didn't know that...)

What is it?
*Trey: A lemon powered battery.
How does it work?
*Trey: All the acids go together into an electrical system and it sends all the electricity through the wire, to the generator, and spins a piece of plastic with string.

How does the acid in the lemon create electricity?
*Trey: 1 of the acids in the lemon are zinc. Zinc is one of the main things in batteries. with all the zinc in the lemon, the nail and the penny transfer all the electricity to the wire. The wire sends it to the generator.

In conclusion, could president Obama use lemons to run vehicles?
*Trey: No. 1 lemon creates 3/4 of a volt. You would need 125 lemons to create 200 volts. A car battery holds 12 volts. You would need 6 lemons according to the calculations, but it doesn't make sense. Would it be possible??

Other science experiments included dissolveing egg shells, baking soda volcano (which Trey helped create also), decomposing ...(as seen below)

floating eggs

Potato powered battery

And here is the baking soda volcano.

The lemons creating light

This is a replica of the first plane.

Baking soda volcano ingredients.

The science fair was fun.
What was your favorite part?
Trey: That we got to share our inventions.

DARE

D.A.R.E.
It stands for Drug Awareness Resistance Education. It started in 1983 and now being implemented in 75% of our nations school district. It educates students on drug abuse, gangs, and violence and teaches them the importance of resisting the involvement.

 Trey sat next to his teacher Mrs. Peel. She has been his teacher for 2 years now.

 With all the police around, his teacher still chooses to show her true feelings towards her and Treys relationship...she loves him :)

Trey graduated the 5th grade dare program on Monday. My hopes are that he listened in the class. But ultimately, kids learn more from their parents.

I SUSPECT WE HAVE A PROBLEM

We purchased a new home in July of 2010. Being a new homeowner has it's ups...and it has it's downs. One thing we improved this. month is updateing the kitchen with new granite counter tops and installing new hardware on the existing cabnets. One week after the completion of the project, we descovered we had a big problem...a leaky roof.

It drips water in numerous places. So, we called a roofer and after investigation, our "newly installed" (installed in 2005ish) metal roof was installed incorrectly.

Why would someone spend the money to put a metal roof on and have it done incorrectly? The insulation is packed up to the top so there isn't any where for the air to go...which causes problems with condensation and mold, which ultimately leads to a rotten roof. (good times, good times). Or, did the previous homeowner pay someone to do the job, and the builder cut corners to receive a larger profit. A Nice metal roof should last 30 years, and this one is already on it's way out.

Trying to find out who built the roof is going to be fun because I think I know who did it because he was the 2nd roofer to come over to my house for a second opinion. He didn't say he built it, but you can tell when he wouldn't even climb up on the roof to look and just wanted to leave the whole time with not alot of answers. (hmmmm....a little suspicious in my investigation).

LIGHT WRITING

On Thursday at UAS, the photography class went on a field trip. For the fieldtrip, we were learning how to light write. Items needed for this assignment was a camera, a tripod, and a flashlight.
Right outside the door of the classroom is a lake that is frozen solid (for the time being.) The class went out on the lake, into the pitch black, and learned how to light write. It's really easy and fun to do.

1st-find the "bulb" setting on your camera. This means that you control when your shutter opens...and when it closes. The bulb is a fun setting to play with with night photography. Lets just face it, night photography is cool in itself, but to add extra, funky colors from just a flashlight, is awesome.

 Message me if your interested in learning how to do this. Alot of fun!

ITS HARD TO SAY GOODBYE ISN'T IT???

The rooster has gone. Are we sad??

Oh, maybe I should say this also...he went back to his owners. They took a trip to Florida and we had the rooster for about 10 days. It was interesting to say the least. Every morning the rooster would wake up when the lights came on, and do the "cock-a-doo-dul-doooo". After a few days, I got use to the alarm. It wasn't so bad. I felt like I was on a farm or something.
One exciting momment was when Mattie was walking with an apple in her hand and the rooster flew up, trying to steal it from her. Kinda scary, but funny at the same time.

By the time it was time for him to go home, I think we were ready too. I would love to have chickens...just outside.