Passion found... CHECK.

Being a good mommy, A REAL GOOD mommy, 

will always be my purpose, my joy, my number one passion. 

BUT a girl needs something that is just hers, something to take a little "me time" with.

Something that excites her soul. Makes her heart even the more fuller.

Makes her even a better partner & mother.

I have found my passion in photography.

I am SO in love with it, & though I'm just in the beginning of our long love story....

I can't wait to learn more each day.

Right now I'm giving a go at only shooting in manual.

(It's FREAKING me the heck out. BUT loving the difference when I get it right!

It's getting a little more natural day by day!)

I'm also trying to be more comfortable in front of the camera, especially getting pics of my Jaxy & I.

(note to self: Maybe that's why you are so crazy about taking a tra-zillion pics of your sweet little family...

you missed out on having those memories to look back on, & have maybe 12 pictures of your childhood. WOW. That makes sense! )

(I promise he is in this shot! You just have to look closely.) Lol)

Anywhoooo....

My VERY favorite thing in this whole wide big ole world....

Getting sweet kisses from my baby boy...

AND capturing these sweet moments in time.

He'll ALWAYS know how much his mommy LOVES him, 

but I want him have these precious moments to always look back on.

Sigh. LOVE him SO.

OHHHH! Come link up early with our Finalge a Fot #13

A Mother's LOVE photo challenge!

Come help us celebrate the beauty of being a mommy.

Let's inspire & lift each other up!

.......................................................

edit me~ {week 12}

This weeks pic was taken by the talented Beth from Snaps of Our Life.

Love the beautiful bokeh!

sooc by Beth

edit by me

**What the heck I did?**

Next time I need to write this down... but I'll try to remember..?

cropped*auto fixed*added a Polaroid preset*added sunaged preset, toned it down*matted the edges*

unsharp maked*watermarked*used a reflection frame...*for b&w edit used a tri- x 400 preset)

Yes. I used my beloved Picnik again for this edit.

I keep meaning to get into Elements, & get more comfortable w/ it.

My excuse WAS I wanted to use all the premium tools on Picnik, before it closes down...

But now w/ Pic Monkey, I haver no excuse!

Plus my lovely friend invited me to a great new online PS course.

No more excuses guys, I promise!

Picnik, I will always love you. 

 You were fun & easy (no pun intended)lol ...but it's time to grow up.

On to being a big girl!

I'm a sucker for b&w, so I had to add this little diddy.

Edit Me~ {week 10}

This weeks lovely picture was taken by Amy Sands from Little Adventures.

Click on over & say hi, her blog music makes me happy.

sooc by Amy

edit by me

cropped * slightly tilted horsey up *  smoothing effect * cloned out rope *  added lomo action 

* un-sharped masked * rounded corners * added shadow box frame

I couldn't help myself adding some b&w love.

Linking up with Edit Me!

Edit Me~ {week 9}

 Thanks to Stephanie from Behind the Camera & Dreaming , 

for this weeks crazy cute picture!

This is her HANDSOME little fella.

Stephanie's sooc

Edit by me

What I did:

I started by rotating. I wanted to make those big beautiful eyes the center focal pont.

cropped

increased the exposure & the contrast a tad

added a smart focus effect around his face

used a Polaroid  & skin glow action.

focused, & walla, that was it!

 

Linking up with Edit Me!

Edit Me~ {week 8}

     I was so happy to join Edit me this week. Jaxy & mommy are still fighting an ugly head cold, so not many pictures have been snapped this week. Instead I got the pleasure of editing this super lovely shot! Is this not the perfect setting?! This was taken by Bree from His Honey & Her Mommy, & this is her gorgeous little girl. I heart this picture, & it was a joy to edit!

sooc by Bree

edit by me

What I did~
- I was originally not going to crop this. I LOVED that her cute bare feet were in the water. I wanted to focus on her sweet face though. Her expression is priceless. So I went ahead w/ cropping.
- Cloned out the sun ray on her hand
-basically just added a "faded daguerreotype" preset on Picnik, & that is it! I loved the pretty soft colors in the original, but think the b&w makes this cutie pie stand out more than the background.

Linking up with Edit Me!

P/S....

hey loves,

This is Tiger's love letter to the famous & the most wanted kitty there is... aka Miss Kitty Paw.

Nothing says I love you like a tattoo!

if you likeeee... 

please take a second & vote for him.

He really wants to win Kitty's paw!

(we are #16)

Thanks guys!

Adventures in... muddy jeans, & winter sunshine / edit me {week 6}

     I had to share these pics! Jaxy & I went on a nice long walk a couple days ago. I was just going to enjoy spending time with my boy, & not be distracted by taking pictures. So I left my new slr, Ceecee, at home. We had such a fun walk, were on our way back home... then I realized I had Henry, my point & shoot, in the stroller. Well, I wasn't go to argue w/ fate...

So we just had to "break in" (walk through the gate) to the neighbors Christmas tree farm...

Why hello there Mr. Tree...

Jax soaking up the winter sun, &  how dang glorious ginormous this tree is!

Jax was able to find one tree I will actually let him climb!

(seriously, how freakn adorbale... ey?!)

As y'all can see...

we really do live out in the country.

My cute lil country bumpkin, also known as Jax.

Mama's little sunshiny boy.

How did I ever get this lucky?

This is how close the train is to our house!

I don't even hear it anymore.

Get ready for some giggles.

Somebody slipped & fell in the mud. Big time!

Hahaaa.... I have the one boy who doesn't like gettn dirty!

His facial expression kill me!

XOXO's for the poor dirty boy.

Well... since we're already D-I-R-T-Y... go ahead monkey-man!!

He found the ONE mud puddle,

AND it was conquered!

Of course he did.

His name is Jax.

Lol.

Linking up with

Poetic Winter , Shoot. Edit. Submit.,

Earth Wonders,  & Foto Friday!

Edit Me~ {week 5}

This weeks lovely capture was taken by Linda at Coach House Crafting! When I look at this I imagine Miss Julie Andrews herself coming up over the green rolling hills, singing w/ a bunch of beautiful happy children. So. It's already a great photograph, in my book!

sooc by Linda

edit by me



I really didn't do a lot to this photo. It was already pretty fantastic!

Elements 9

I cropped it down.

increased the exposure a bit

added a little Saturation

added a ortan action

played with the levels

rounded the corners

added watermark

pretty easy peasy!

Linking up with Edit Me!