Your camera must be really nice!

Picture this, a surgeon just operated on your dying family member and saved their life. As the surgeon is telling you how things went you are thanking them and you say, "You must have a really nice scalpel!". Sounds a bit silly doesn't it?  Or a race car driver wins the Indy 500 and the headline reads, "he must have a really expensive car!"  Ridiculous right?

Seems silly right? 

Then why do so many people look at a photograph and say to the photographer, "wow! You must have a really nice camera!" or " Your camera must have been really expensive"!  Why yes, yes to both. They probably do have a nice camera, and it is expensive, so why don't they just hand it off to you and you take the exact same photo.  Right? Yeah, that wouldn't happen. While it is true that with a good SLR camera you can take even better pictures than you could with a point and shoot, if it weren't for the eye of the person behind the camera, that nice picture would never happen. 

I am a hobbyist. I in no way take even remotely professional pictures. It's just something I enjoy. But I do study it, and try to learn and I make a point to never shoot in automatic. Because it's disrespectful to my camera. But I have several friends and family members who are professionals and it is their living. They work very hard at what they do and they are fantastic. And nothing is more insulting than when someone says to them while looking at the work that they poured blood, sweat, and tears into, that judging by that picture their camera must be really nice. 

Holiday Crunch Time!!

Seven days until Christmas and I am just now picking my cards up today. And absolutely RUSHING to mail them out. Otherwise they become happy new years cards! I also have not started shopping for Tenley at all. She has two little things in her stocking and that's it. But I did get all the nieces and nephews taken care of so that's something right??  And my tree is up. So go me!
So I will be one of those people contributing to the mad rush of shopping a week before Christmas. I thought this year would be different. But maybe I can try again next year. Be a little better prepared.
But probably not. I am a born procrastinator. Although the second Tenley was born I became a little anal retentive and a big planner. But only when it comes to places we have to be. I start planning who's houses we are going to for holidays a month in advance. And you know what? I'm never stressed out the day before. I get all the politics and hurt feelings out of the way in advance! Because holidays are supposed to be fun. Not stressful. And even though I haven't gotten my shopping done, I'm not the least bit stressed. And I count that as a WIN!!

The most perfect, imperfect Christmas tree..

I am a little obsessed with our Christmas tree.

It's bare in some parts and full in others, and it pricks the absolute piss out of me every time I touch it. But I love it.
What do I love about it? It's rustic and simple, and it's ours. It's not only our first tree as a family, but it's the first tree Rob and I have ever had as adults. The last tree either of us had ever had before now was when we lived at home. So that makes it extra special. We're starting family traditions and that is a wonderful thing. Honestly it makes me tear up as I type this.
Saturday morning we loaded up in the truck all bundled up for our big journey into the woods to find the perfect tree. Princess T was jumping up and down with excitement and yelling "Yea!" at her Daddy as he opened the gate to our property. We had barely gotten out of the truck when we spotted a pretty great tree. And upon looking at the rambunctious 17 month old we decided it was probably not in our best interest to go trekking off in the woods. I don't think we would have gotten very far.
So he got to work and started sawing the tree down. T cheered him on as I watched and asked a million questions. This was new for me, we'd always had fake trees. So I was pretty curious about what was going on. He got it down in 2 minutes. Literally. I was shocked. We loaded it up and took pictures to commemorate the occasion.
We headed out to home depot in search of the perfect ornaments. I tried not to go too crazy, because if you buy your stuff all at once rather than build it up over time I would imagine it can get really expensive.
Princess T picked out our new Santa tree skirt, and Rob did the manly job of picking out a tree stand.
We got it up and mostly decorated while T napped, and saved some for her to do when she woke up.
She loves her tree and likes to Ooo and Ahh at it. But for the most part she doesn't mess with it. Unless she's feeling extra mischievous. Then she'll walk over to it and reach for it all the while looking over her shoulder to make sure I am seeing her.

This tree will probably always remain the favorite, and always on my heart, because it's the beginning. It may be a little rough around the edges, it may not be the perfect Southern Living Christmas tree, but it is perfect and wonderful in it's imperfection. Just like us.

Stop it with the Susie Freaking Sunshine already!!

Do you have that facebook friend that seems to just emit sunshine and lollipops constantly? Do you want to just punch them in the throat? I know I do. I have a friend or two like that. And I love them, if I didnt' I'd delete them. Also I enjoy stalking them. But it always makes me wonder... Is their life truly that perfect? Do they take their morning poo and fill the toilet up with pure gold? And then donate it to the less fortunate?
Or are they hiding something.
Do they have to say constantly how perfect their life is so that they don't have to admit that they have problems?
Or do they just want to make sure all us common folk know they eat, sleep, and breathe amazingness. . .

For some people I think it's the latter. They just need people to know how awesome they are. But guess what? We're all making fun of you. Because it makes you seem like a douche. Every once in a while stop smiling, show that you are human and that you have a bad days like the rest of us.
Cause constant happiness is creepy. It makes people uneasy.

(disclaimer, I know sometimes I post about how awesome my life is, because it is!! But I also do my fair share of bitching!)

My childhood self would be so embarrassed!

As a kid when i fantasized about how awesome it would be as an adult i never imagined I'd look forward to trash pick up day so much. I do. I hate having a full trash can. And I try to shove every last bit in there before I take it down. No trash left behind at my house! And if you ever want to know what the end of the world looks like, come see me on a day I realized I forgot to take the trash down!! It sucks! It's the worst. I stay depressed for days. And kick my own butt for my thoughtlessness.
So on a day that I have a full trashcan watching the truck pick it up is like Christmas morning as a kid! So much excitement! And such hope for that empty trash can and what I can fill it up with this next week!

Getting in the holiday spirit!

I'm trying to make my house more festive without breaking the bank. So being a huge crafter I have oodles of scraps at my disposal. So I did a little crafting today. I love the results! I took old planters that I'd long since killed the plants inside, and made a B with hot glue, and then spray painted them black. I threw a scrap bow together, cut some limbs from the christmas tree on our property and VOILA!

I don't know what kind of tree it is. I know it's some kind of "Christmas" tree. But oh my, those tree branches were not kind to my fingers! Apparently they have stickers. But it's totally worth it because my house smells like heaven!! If heaven were in a pine tree.

Hopefully when The Man gets home he won't be upset that I "pruned" our tree a little bit. And also he won't notice that I first attempted to cut the branches with something that I think is used to work on cars.

I must be on crack!!

I have gotten more done this morning by nine am than I did all day yesterday!! Go me!! Must have been the three and a half cups of coffee. Or knowing that I'll be gone all afternoon and won't get to do it during afternoon nap. Either way, my house looks fantastic, coffee is already ready to be brewed tomorrow, the trash is down, the dogs are fed, and laundry is going! Wow! I'm so excited. Maybe I'll continue the craziness by ironing the Man's clothes for tomorrow!!