Legit Photographer

Photography has become quite a trendy thing these days as it seems everyone is picking up a D-SLR and calling themselves a photographer.  And yes, a good camera can help make everyday pictures look good and knowing how to work with the aperture etc can make them look even better.  However, there is nothing that can replace the talent of the one behind the camera.  There is a difference in the person who takes pictures and the person who thinks and lives photography.

So I wonder, when I tell people that my brother-in-law Michael is a photographer, do they understand that he is legit.  He has talent.  It is not just the camera. (And I should know- I have the camera he used to use and there is no way the photos I take with it are anywhere close to the ones he took with it!).

Michael has gained excellent experience in his year and a half at Visionyard Photography in Phoenix and has had the opportunity to shoot many weddings and grow his portfolio.  Today Michael was published on TWO wedding websites- Storyboard Wedding & Bridal Guide (you know... the people who make that huge wedding magazine you always see).. Yes, two!  I am quite proud of him!

I love this quote from storyboardwedding.com: There are times when choosing which images make it into a post is an easy task, and there are times when the combination of photographer & couple make it incredibly hard! This is most definitely one of those times!


Check out his work!

Bridal Guide- Photo of the Day

Storyboard Wedding

House Update: February 2012

February started off as a slow month for us when it came to getting things done around the house.  However, the last two weekends were incredibly productive.

Yard

JP did a ton of yard work in February.  I wish I had before and after pictures, but our side yard was completely over grown.  JP worked all day one Saturday going through all of the overgrowth.  Apparently there was quite a lot of poison ivy in there.  After a week of constant itching, welping, and it not going away, JP had to make a visit to the doctor to get some Prednisone (steroid) to make it go away.

The Saturday after the attack of the poison ivy, JP went back out into the yard... this time on steroids.  So, naturally he decided it was the perfect day to cut down a tree.  After watching a 9 minute youtube video on how to cut down a tree, JP felt prepared to conquer the task himself.  He did get the help of our neighbor who apparently held a rope around the tree to guide it in the right direction on the way down. 

Note: JP borrowed a chainsaw from our neighbor.  He is itching to get one of his own.

When you cut a tree down, you end up with a TON of branches, etc.

I helped break this down so they could be used for kindling next winter.  JP was quite insistent that we keep as much of this tree as possible.

We still have a lot of clean up but got a big chunk of it done in February.

Hallway Painted

While JP was cutting down the tree, I was inside painting our hallway.  Here it is before:

It is hard to tell the color here but it was a darker color than we wanted.  The hallway is very small and only has one light in it.  We wanted to paint it a lighter color to make it seem brighter, more open, and bigger.

Note: You will notice the green painters tape. I prefer the green tape to the blue. Partly because that color of green is my all time favorite color, but also because I feel it works better than the blue.

I don't have any after pictures yet... I'm waiting to do a whole paint post when I actually finish all of the rooms- only 3 areas left! And unfortunately I don't even remember the name of the color.  It is a Benjamin Moore color that I had Home Depot color match so the paint can does not have the color name on it and I seem to have lost the paint sample. Hopefully I can find it!

Next up is to paint the ceiling in the hallway.  The people who painted this house before were not the best painters.  The ceiling in the hallway has a ton of the old wall paint that got on it.  It looks especially bad now that that color isn't even on the walls anymore.

Guest Bedding

I bought the bedding for the guest bedroom from West Elm when it was on sale in January.  I finally put it on the bed in February.  I just loved the way the quilt came packaged.

The sheets are exactly what I was hoping to find to tie in the yellow of the chest with the bedding.

Note: My sister was the first to sleep on the new bedding!

Next up is a headboard and bed skirt.

Rug

JP has been wanting a rug for his man room- the wood paneled room.  He knew he wanted a jute rug and had found one at World Market in December.  Being that we try to buy as much as we can on sale, he waited until World Market put there rugs on sale.  We went to World Market one Saturday and bought this rug.  I'm not sure the size he got but it fits the room nicely.  I have no pictures of it in our house but here is what it looks like!

Marching in to March

Although I realized as a salary employee I was basically working for free on Leap Day, I was appreciative of the extra day in February which gave me just enough time to get done with the projects I wanted to get done with by the end of the month.

Now it is March! Summer is right around the corner!  Being that it is March, it is National Nutrition Month, a noteworthy month for my career field I suppose.

Also now that is March, it means it is time to get excited about March Madness! Love this sporting event and can't wait for Selection Sunday and to fill out my bracket... and to watch all the games!  Who will the Cindarella be this year?