I painted stripes in my new bedroom. I really thought it would lend an elegance to the room, especially since they are only on one wall, the wall I see when I wake up in the morning.

I’m not a professional designer or painter, but I like them. I like them a lot.

Our old house was a project house, a place constantly under some sort of chaos disguised as renovation. The end result was pretty awesome, but we spaced out each project in an order that put our master bedroom last on the list. So I never had a “finished” bedroom until about a month (maybe two) before we moved. And since I was picking out carpet and paint colors for our bedroom knowing it was more for the sale of the house and not really for my enjoyment, I didn’t really get into enjoying the finished product.

Now, I’m putting stripes on the wall and getting ready to buy new bedding (once we get a bigger bed). I’m going to find that elegance for our master bedroom and enjoy the finished product.

Within hours of its return, the laptop was sitting on the dining room table and I was turned into a work-at-home(-except-its-really-your-in-law’s-house)-mother.

On the day my laptop turned into a brick and I had made my peace with losing the things I actually hadn’t lost, I secured some freelance work that I suddenly couldn’t do. And on the day I got my laptop back, I started working 4, 5, and a few times 8 hours a day trying to get a fast turn around on the project because I wanted to finish before returning to Chattanooga. Which turned out really well because we didn’t go back for a week after I sent the invoice to the client.

Yeah, that’s where the story goes… laptop dead, laptop raised from dead, start working hard, and then get an extra week of lakeside living which was really hard to enjoy knowing my husband was back at home working his butt off to get the house ready for our return.

In the end, we were away from our house and fourth family member for a month. If I had spent my time blogging every day the blog posts would have looked like this:

I love the lake but I wanna go hoooooooooome. I missssss my husband. I want to curl up next to him and help him with this last big project. I was made to be a helper and suddenly I can’t heeeeeelp. Wah. Wah. Wah.

And even though I think the first post like that would have been ok, the internet probably would have gotten sick of the homesick theme after the third post. Heck, I was sick of it before I posted anything.

But the story doesn’t end there. We returned home on Valentine’s Day (kind of romantic, kind of not) and I actually got my wish to be a helper in this project called home renovation. I’ve been taking stuff to storage, I’ve been painting trim (and have a hand cramp to prove it), and there have been more trips to Target and Wal-Mart than I am proud of (and I need to go back to Target to return something. Again).

I haven’t been sharing my story with the internet because I have been busy in a way that doesn’t spin itself into blog posts but exhaustion. And since we currently are sans TV (that’s another story), I have been trying to keep ahead of the exhaustion by going to bed at early to bed times.

And yet the story doesn’t end there because the story is still going… today I have to conquer clutter and possibly take another trip to storage. I have to roomba, steam mop, and whatever else in order to feel ready to meet with a Realtor tomorrow.

See, the story doesn’t end… it just takes a dramatic twist. And I think I just felt my first chest pain.

My baby kept getting his hair in his eyes. So we finally gave in and took him to get his first haircut!

And my pick for today is this fake bokeh picture:

I say it is fake bokeh because it has nothing to do with depth of field. Instead it is me putting the camera in manual and making it all out of focus. And I like the outcome!

Technorati Tags: December Photo Project, haircut, bokeh

I introduced Fuller to tomato soup today. Yummy!

Technorati Tags: December Photo Project, tomato soup

This morning Tebow was up at 6, so I gave him his bottle and turned around to look out the window and see snow swirling in the darkness, lit up by the street lights.

We had snow! I watched it for a while and then the day started. We left the house around ten for a downtown thing and by noon the snow was all gone.

I sent this picture to the local news station and you can see it in their slide show.

I hope we get more in the future, but the first snow is always magical.

Technorati Tags: snow, Chattanooga, December Photo Project

One of the things about photographing my kids is trying to get certain things captured in megapixels. Tebow has been standing on his own for a little while now, and today I finally got it on camera. He stands up, throws his hands in the air, and waves them like he just don’t care.

I guess walking comes next and I better make sure I have the video camera ready for that.

Technorati Tags: December Photo Project, milestones

So, as I look behind me and see the debris of the last week and I look before me to the other appointments and get togethers and even more minutia, I tell myself I have to stop and slow down.

Today, I was gifted with slow time. I woke up feeling awful and very sore (probably not sick, just sore from working out). Damon helped by taking the boys away from me for over two hours. I worked out, took my shower, took a little nap, and got to catch up on some TV. It was plenty of time for me to feel like me again. And face the fast pace our life seems to be taking right now. (Thanks, Damon. It was really sweet of you.)

Technorati Tags: me time, fast pace

Well, there it is. This is me today, on my birthday, at the ripe young age of 33.

I think I look ok. And I feel ok. Things are low key around here, due to just getting back from a weekend away and you know- life. But we took the day off from school. Tebow did a great job napping (an excellent present). And right this very second, Damon and Fuller are conspiring in the kitchen with noises of the mixer and hushed conversation about how old Mommy is.

1. A 5th generation iPod Nano. This is a cop out since technically I already have it. Damon bought it for me back in September as an early birthday gift. I love it because it has a small video camera. I just need to learn how to convert the files to something I can work with. (Of course, I would take this protective case for it, since they finally seem to have some on the market.)

2. The Nikon 35mm lens I have been wishing for. I learned that a 50 mm lens that works with my camera is really expensive. But a 35 mm prime lens is cheaper and just as good.

3. Wii Fit Plus – I have the Wii, I have the Wii Fit, why not add Wii Plus?

4. This Kodak printer because our printer has problems and I want a cheap way to print some photos at home.

5. An all expense trip to Blissdom, including being able to take Damon and the boys, who would love hanging out at the Opryland Hotel. There is a boat ride in the hotel! Fuller would love it!

6. I would love an eye-fi card for my camera. I got to see it in action at Type A Mom Conference when I saw Rick Bucich (from Tiny Prints) using one. He was really great about explaining how it worked and it made me want one a lot!

7. The latest version of photoshop so I can really know what all those photoshop tutorials are talking about.

8. I have a crush on Burberry. Some women like Coach. I like Burberry. It’s the plaid. I want this purse. (See, I said some were outlandish.)

9. I think our family could use a Netbook for travel. Love my laptop, but traveling with it and the baby stuff and the camera is a bit much.

10. Someone should send me (and my family, I guess) to Hawaii. I want to photograph volcanoes, coffee plantations, and surfers. Anyone want to send us? We love to travel!

11. (Ok, this is a bonus.) I would love some of these photo mailers.

So there it is. The “what I want for turning 33″ top ten. Want to see other Top Ten lists? Check out OhAmanda for the linky!

Technorati Tags: top ten Tuesday, birthday gifts, digital photography, eye-fi, Nikon, Blissdom

I always worry I might miss the peak of Fall colors and with all the rain we had recently it would be very easy for the leaves to change and then throw themselves on the ground in disgust, sick of being heavy with rain and under the cover of clouds for so long.

Last year Fuller and I took a Fall walk on Lookout Mountain so I could try and capture some of the Fall splendor. This year, we tried to do the same, but a sleeping Tebow sent us elsewhere… to a playground. The sky was clear and bright, lining up for some beautiful shots.

I’ve been obsessing about lens flare lately, a photographic technique that adds magical orbs of light to the picture. I wonder if it is because the sun has been missing from our lives a lot lately that I went seeking to get it into my pictures yesterday. Like I want to keep some memory of it, in case it goes missing again.

It was a beautiful Fall day, and I hope every year I get a chance to take my boys to discover the beauty found in our backyard.

Technorati Tags: Fall, sun flare, lens flare, Lookout mountain