Birthday Pictures

I finally got the pictures from Heather's birthday party edited and uploaded. It took me awhile but I had a bunch of them. So here they are!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Love Thursday

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I'm not a real big fan of Valentine's Day but for some reason this year I'm a little more into it. My Dad and Cricket are flying in tonight and I'm excited about being able to see them. That may have something to do with it. At least I get to spend the day with folks I love! Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day.

To see more pictures of love visit Shutter Sisters.

Jessie

Can You Say Happy

Today I went and picked up my dream camera! The Canon Digital Rebel XTi is officially mine!!!! I've been wanting this camera for a long time but didn't have the money to get it. So I've been saving my change for a good 2 1/2 years now and I thought I may have enough. So I went and cashed it in and there was $972 in change!!!! Enough for my camera!

I'm so excited. I had class in Topeka today and then I was able to go pick it up after that. And since I bought my camera at a certain store I get to take two photography classes there for free. It's included with the camera purchase. So hopefully one Saturday when I don't have my social work class I can go up and take one of the photography classes. This evening I've read the manual, watched the tutorial DVD and taken some pictures. I can't wait to use it for real! I'm going to do some portraits of Amanda and Katilyn and Mattie this week sometime so that should help me get used to it. And Heather's birthday party is next weekend. So I'll have it broken in in no time at all.

Cameras make me a very happy girl...

Jessie

Snow Day

We ended up getting another 5 inches of snow last night. It rained all day yesterday and then the snow started around 9:30 last night. So this morning when I woke up there was a lot of beautiful snow on top of quite a bit of ice. Good times!



All the area schools were closed including the university. That never happens. So I ended up having no school. I haven't had a snow day in years! So since I don't have any kids to play with in the snow I took Lena out for a bit. She wasn't quite sure about playing in it. She really doesn't like snow balls but she sure was cute. Now she is hiding under a blanket on the couch trying to get warmed up.



My guess is the snow will melt in the next couple of days. I can't believe how much snow we have gotten so far this year. And who knows how many more snowfalls we will get. This has been one long odd winter. Lucky for me I love snow!

Jessie

Pictures

Today I tried to take Caden's Christmas pictures. Caden usually is one of the easiest kids to photograph. But today he wanted NONE of it. He just wanted to play and goof off. Which makes perfect sense because he is three and fun and who wants to mess with silly Christmas pictures when you can run really fast and chase cats and pretend you are superman...

So we ended up with a few cute pictures and quite a few Christmas card rejects. You can see the end results below. But most of all we had fun. Caden is turning into such a big boy. He was hilarious at lunch after the picture attempt. He talks so clearly now and he adores me which just makes my heart happy. If all else fails at least I have an adorable three year old as one of my biggest fans. It doesn't get much better than that.

So here are the pics... Enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Jessie

Picture Fun

Since I didn't post for so long I feel a little bad about it. So to make up for it I thought I'd post some pictures from last weekend. So here is the proof that my crazy aunts are way fun and that Fall is fabulous!

Where I Live

Gene from Turning The Pages Of Life came up with a great idea to help bloggers get to know one another better. His idea was for bloggers to post 10 pictures about the area they live so others can get to know them and what their daily lives are like. I love taking pictures so I just had to participate.

So here are ten things I see on a regular basis...



This is my lovely little house. I've been living here for about a year now and I'm starting to get used to it. I finally feel like it is a home.


I live very close to the railroad tracks and I get stopped by the trains several times a day. Usually a train goes by about every 30 minutes.


You can't live in this part of Kansas and go a day without seeing a cow. In fact we have a large meat processing plant here that kills quite a few cows a day. Not nice to think about but nice to eat. So I'm guessing this cow didn't live long after I took this picture...



I love old barns. In this area there are quite a few awesome old barns. I drive by this one several times a week.



This picture is of my sister and I at my mom's headstone. I spend a great deal of time at the cemetary. For some reason I find it very peaceful and calming. I probably visit 3-4 times a week.


I love going to our local zoo. I really enjoy sitting by this little pond and waterfall area. For being a small town we have a very nice zoo area. Many fun times have happened at the local zoo.



I see lots of flowers everyday! I love that about where I live. Lots of beautiful and unique flowers throughout town.



Every Thursday I meet my two best friends Darby and Tammy for lunch at this restaurant. LaHacienda! It has the best Mexican food in town. It also has a creepy waiter guy that wears a hairnet (Caden, Darby's son says the hairnet is spider webs) and he stares at Darby's boobs. Minus the creepy waiter it's some of the best food in town!



William Allen White is a renowned newspaper editor and he happens to be from my home town. This is his house that is now a historical location. I went to an elementary school that is located across the street from his home. The school is named in his honor.




Veterans Day was first celebrated in my home town. We take great pride in our Veterans and this is our local All Veterans Memorial. It's a very nice location complete with a tank, helicopter, and plaques honoring the veterans of Emporia.

So that's a little view of things I see every day. I love where I live. I can't imagine living anywhere else...

Jessie

Music

I downloaded a bunch of new music so I'm busy burning cd's. I'm sick and tired of listening to the same old thing on the radio. I used to have XM radio and I loved it. But I didn't love paying for it. So I decided to let it go and just depend on burned cd's and radio.

I also took a bunch of cool pictures this weekend so I need to get those on the computer and edited so I can share them. There is a really awesome on of Heather that I love. She is easy to take pictures of though. It's not hard to get a good photo when you have such a cute girl to take pics of.

Later

Jessie

Picture Help

To edit my digital pictures I use the Kodak Easyshare program that came with my camera. I can crop and change colors and do fun stuff. It works well and then I can very easily upload them to Kodak Gallery so I can share them with my friends and family. But I'm starting to have some problems with it. It loads slow and doesn't have all the features I would like. So what programs do you all use. Does anyone know of a good digital editing program?

Jessie

Pictures

Who knew that getting pictures on here would be such a process. Blogger has been fighting with me. After about 10 attempts I think I have everything loaded now... Hopefully it will post!



This wheelbarrow was my grandpa's. My mom and I painted it and I have always filled it with Petunia's. I can't believe how much they have grown already. By the end of summer they will be overflowing the sides.



I collect teapots and this happens to be one of my favorites. Heather found this for me last fall and I love it! Every morning when I walk out on my patio I see it sitting on the table and it just makes me happy. I'd rather have flowers than tea any day!



I found this antique baby stoller a couple weeks ago and had to have it. It's something different and it can hold flowers so you can't beat that. My dog Lena really loves it for some reason. I always find her trying to hide behind it.



I've used this three tiered flower basket for five years now! I bought it so cheap from LTD I think. I can't believe it has held up so well. But I love it! I always add some vinca vine to it and it grows and fills in so wonderfully. It will be huge by the end of summer.



This is our first whole summer in this house so I was pleasantly suprised when I walked out on the patio the other morning to find these beautiful flowers blooming on the lattice work above the fence. They are so pretty. I don't know for sure what they are so if anyone knows I'd love the info. I just love the pale lavender. Very pretty little flowers.



Here are Heather and Kelci getting ready to go on their trip. They have their boarding passes and they were pretty excited. I'm guessing they didn't look that happy two days later when they finally got to Greece.



This is Darby and I not going on vacation but taking the girls to the airport. I can't wait till we have our going to Mexico picture. Only 6 weeks till we go!!!

Jessie