I've Fallen Off...Again

Yep, I've failed and stopped exercising.  Yikes.  I think it was a lack of seeing results that made me stop.  But, I've got a pair of 2.5lb weights and plan on starting back up very, very soon.  The weather is going to be insanely awesome this week, so I'm actually thinking about running a bit in the morning.  I don't know if I can realistically pry myself out of bed early enough to get out and do it, but right now I think it sounds like a good idea.  I don't live too far from Central, so I could easily drive there, run/jog/walk for a bit, then come home and shower. 

All I know is that I've got to do something.  I'm back to my feeling-like-a-blob stage and I hate it.

A couple of weeks ago Miles and I went for a walk on the parkway and veered off into a bike path.  It was more of a hike that way, which we both like more.  Neither of us knew the path was there and it was crazy pretty!  I need to get a senior girl in a flowy dress to go back there to take pictures.  It'd be perfect for that.  Miles and I took some pictures of each other since he might be helping me in the future with some wedding photography.

The shoes in the second picture look terrible.  I'll definitely need to get a new pair before we do family pictures this spring.

Oh!  I've ordered two ruffly diaper covers from a seller on Etsy (I ordered last Saturday and she just shipped this Friday...talk about making me impatient!).  They're super cute and I should be getting them tomorrow.  I think on Thursday I'll be taking some newborn (eeeek) pictures.  I'm so stoked!  Okay, I'm stoked and completely nervous.  I would love, love, love to be great at newborn photography, but it's definitely something that requires tons of practice that I just simply don't have yet.  Hopefully I'll be able to get a few more babies lined up in the future and I can get better at it. 

Now I should shower.  We'll be going to Bible study in about an hour and I am so incredibly far from being ready.

Goals, Not Resolutions

I've made a list of talking points for this entry.  That's how scatter-brained I am these days.  I can't even remember what I want to say long enough to say it.

Anyway.  I've been thinking about what I'd like for myself this year.  I'm about a month late for this kind of post, but I don't care too much about that.  It's taken me this long to come up with what I have so here goes.

First off, I want to start on a quilt this year.  A full blown fabric-scrap-pieces quilt.  I don't know when, for what, or for who (whom? those will never make sense to me), but I do know that I want to start on one.  If I thought I'd realistically get close to finishing a quilt this year I'd go for that, but I'd rather not be that big of a failure.

Back on the topic of me and exercising.  I started the 30-Day Shred by Jillian Michaels on January 2nd and stopped on the 15th because my knees were hurting.  We've since had a talk, I told them that they were being big babies and they've gotten better.  Yesterday I restarted the workout in hopes of not hurting myself so I can actually finish the 30-day challenge.  Here's to hoping!  I've made a few goals for myself that are basically dependent on me finishing the shred, so maybe those will keep me going.

I want to be able to wear pants like these and have them look cute:

Specifically I want to wear them for family photos.  We didn't get a chance to do any photos this fall, so I've told Miles I want to do some this spring.

Another goal is that I want to be able to wear a skirt that I've made myself.  Now I don't have to be in shape to do that, but for it to fit correctly, I think I might.

That's the pattern that I have.  Joann had a 99 cent sale on all Simplicity patterns, so I bought a few.  I think the top left skirt could be cute.  I wish they had a real picture of it, though, instead of a drawing.

Another pattern I bought was for this dress:

I think it's way cute.  The bad thing is that I'm not very good at sewing, so this one will have to wait.  Let me make a few skirts before I try tackling something like that. 

Other weight loss goals I have include being comfortable in a bathing suit (or as comfortable as possible), fitting in jeans that I've never been able to wear, and wearing actual shorts this summer.

I do have some other goals that are not centered around losing weight.  Those mainly focus on photography.  I'll be getting a Nikon D7000 (which I'm way too incredibly stoked about, but I won't get into that) when we get our tax refund back and the cameras are in stock.  Seriously, no one has them in stock...what's the deal?  Once I get that camera I'm going to try to book a few weddings.  I have one booked in August, one in September, and a possible wedding in November.  I'd like to get maybe one for June and one for July.  June would be hard to plan for though, since our family will be going to Colorado for a week or so somewhere in there.

Anyway, I've decided that once I get the camera I'm going to try to do a photo challenge.  I've attempted one before, but I lost interest in the challenges, so I'll either have to find a good one or make one myself.  We'll see.

Oh!  And, I've decided that I should change my photography business name.  If I'm going to actually make money I need to make it an actual business, right?  Alysa Ramsay Photography just doesn't work.  I have way too many syllables in my name for it to flow.  Also, not that I've had any unsatisfied customers, but in the even that I did I'd rather them be made at my business than my name.  Does that make sense?  I think so.  Anyway, the name that I'm thinking about now is Bountiful Eye Photography.  It's not really much shorter, but it is one syllable down.

Here's my potential logo:

I like it right now.  I may hate it tomorrow, but hopefully not.

Oh, and here's a cute baby:

Her hair is barely long enough for pig tails so I had to take advantage of it.  Seriously, how cute is she?!

Tomorrow I am taking some family/maternity pictures at 2.  It should be a good time.  I'm bringing a small yellow rocking chair I bought for Anna, a small chalk board, and a couple of blankets.  Maybe some bubbles, too.  We'll see.  If only I had my new camera for that shoot!  Come on government and camera places!  Work together on this!

Exercising|Knee Pain|Photography

Well, I've started my 30-day shred!  Today was my 10th day, and my first day on level two.  My goodness, I got used to level one that level two was super difficult.  I was feeling pretty good until I started...then I realized that I'm still completely out of shape.  Soon it'll get easier then I'll have to move to level three and be back here again.  I'm probably more surprised than anyone that I'm still doing it.  I've always given up a day or two into the workout.  I took before photos and took some today as third-of-the-way-through photos.  I don't think there was much of a difference if any.  But, hey, it's only the 10th day!  Hopefully the 20th and 30th will show something.
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Okay, I started writing this post a couple of days ago.  The story is a bit different now.  As of today it's been 14 days since I've started the 30-day shred.  Sadly, I've taken two days off (one was only three days into it and it was just because I was terrible about setting aside a time to do it, and the other was yesterday because of knee pain).  On Friday I did a workout from a weight loss yoga video I bought before I got pregnant with Anna.  My knees have been hurting pretty badly for the passed few days.  I assume it's caused by a combination simply working out and doing so in bad shoes and on thick carpet.  I figured the yoga workout would be less impact for my knees but apparently it wasn't a good enough break for them, so I just had to refrain from it all yesterday.  Maybe I should have done that today, too?  I don't know, but my knees sure do hurt.  I did level one again of the 30-day shred workout, and I plan on attempting level two tomorrow if my knees feel better at all...or maybe I'll go back to the yoga workout.

My left knee feels like it wants to pop off my leg.  This is another reason I want a one story house instead of two.  Upstairs is so far away...and so many stairs away!

But, I guess it's safe to say my 30-day shred will be more like a 35-40-day shred.  But, I don't mind.  I'm in no rush.  And the good thing is that now I feel bad if I don't do any workout at all.  And, I kind of like feeling the mild soreness that comes from exercising.  That's an accomplishment in itself, I'd say.

That's my baby in the bath.  She's way too sweet/cute/funny/silly everything nice. 

That's the Badlands.  It was pretty there...but it's not related to the post.

I think that's enough for now.  Eventually I will finish the pictures from Christmas and New Year's Eve and post some of them.  I've been spending my editing time on some family pictures I took a couple of weeks ago.  But, I should be finished with those tomorrow or late tonight.  Really, I only have about one or two more to do, then I need to put a quote on one.  That shouldn't take too long.

Also, I've decided that if (I hope, I hope, I hope) I get a Nikon D7000 (please, please, please) then I would try to book more weddings.  I'd definitely keep my D80 and bring either Miles or Aimee along to help me.  I don't think I'd loathe wedding photography so much if I had a better camera and help.  A wedding is HUGE job for one person to photograph.  So, here's to hoping!  Of course, if that happened I'd need to actually make my photography business an actual business, which it's currently not.  Oh, to be able to charge $1200 for a wedding and not feel like I'm overcharging!  Oh, to feel like I'm actually getting paid enough to photograph a wedding!  Oh, the joy!

Okay, now I should shower...and take ibuprofen...yep.

Oh My Goodness

I am tired.  Like headache, could fall asleep right when my head hit the pillow tired.  I think I have a problem with taking too much on.  Eh?  The real problem is that I like to make things for people for Christmas.  Now on its own, that's not a problem.  But, when it comes to having a baby running around and not being great at sewing, or really having the necessary space, it becomes a problem.

Let's see...so far I've made five scarfs (one still needs to be made and three of them need to be stitched by hand to close the gaps), three crowns, three ribbon wands, two pencil roll-ups, one train roll-up, one onesie, a few fabric letters, four small hand warmers, and two fabric memory games.  I still need to make a rice-filled heating pad, two recipe card boxes, more fabric letters, a car roll-up, and something for Miles.

Oy vey.

It makes me laugh, though.  I was so super stoked to get all of my pictures edited so I could work on Christmas projects and now I'm so super stoked to be done with all of them.  I'm just worn out.  These projects have messed up our schedule around here.  Anna doesn't go to sleep until midnight (which is fairly normal since I stay home with her so there's no real reason to wake up early if it's just a normal day), and she sleeps for 12 hours normally.  So, she wakes up between 12 and 12:30 generally.  The other day she didn't fall asleep until 1ish so she woke up around 1:15.  Goodness.  I've been going to sleep between 3 and 4 lately and I'm not a fan of that.  I really haven't even been very tired when laying down which leads to its own issues.  Usually I don't have trouble falling asleep, but since I've been doing so much right up until bed time I have trouble winding down.  Also, when I'm laying there with my eyes closed I'll start to think about where my eyes are pointed.  Then, when I do that they start to feel like they're looking in the corner of my eye, then I get uncomfortable and have to open my eyes and try again.  It's obnoxious and downright strange.

I don't think I'll have that problem tonight, though. 

Anna got to sleep around 11:30, and I would have followed shortly after.  But, Miles is running a paper route for our landlord this week so he's napping until 2 so I'm staying up so I can wake him up.  He doesn't want to take the chance of not waking up, and frankly I don't blame him.  With as tired as I am I probably wouldn't hear my alarm if it went off.

Oh!  Starting Monday (I think) I'm going to start doing the 30-Day Shred!  It's a workout video by Jillian Michaels that's supposed to be super spectacular.  In general I lack motivation, determination, and discipline so I think having an already set timeline will be helpful.  Also, I think the workouts are all only 20 minutes, so it shouldn't be too bad.  I'm stoked about it.  So, maybe one day I can post some before and after pictures...maybe.

Also, I'm sick...ish.  I woke up this morning feeling stuffy in my sinuses.  It got a bit better as the day went on, but sadly, it's back.  I've also been sneezing a bit and have a headache (though that's probably more just because I'm tired).  Anna's been stuffy lately so maybe I got it from her.  Oh well, I just hope we both feel better soon.  This is no fun.

Before and After

Yesterday I took some photos of Miles' parents' neighbors for them to send out with their Christmas cards.  I had to bring along my makeshift backdrops and stands and use my flash and diffuser.  First off, let me expand on how I am not at all satisfied with my diffuser.  There are times when I have pretty good luck with it and other times, like yesterday, that I absolutely hate it.  I think for it to work properly there needs to be white walls and ceiling.  Jack and Patsy have wooden walls and ceiling, so it made it a bit difficult.  But, I've been working on editing three of the shots (they're going to use only one pose for all of the prints) so I can show them on Sunday when we go to Bible study. 

Anyway, long story short:  I wanted to show a before and after.

For all intents and purposes this is the straight out of the camera shot.  I shot in RAW, so this was lightened and the white balance was fixed a bit.

That's finished!  The sad thing about this picture is that Jack's face is a bit out of focus...oops!  It's not terrible, but it could definitely be better.  In my defense, I'm used to shooting outside, so when I have to shoot inside I get all kinds of flustered.

In other news, I'm making peanut butter rice crispy treats tonight.  I think they'll be tasty, so I'm excited about that.  Amber is coming over in a bit and I'll be making dinner at some point.  I don't know what I'm going to make, but hopefully it'll be something good.

Listen to Me Whine

I never know how to start blogs.  So, let's get passed the awkward start and get into it!

Anna still isn't walking regularly.  I don't think she's ever going to walk.  She absolutely loves to walk around the house while holding our hands, but it HAS to be both hands.  If you let go of one of her hands she sits down and cries.  And, when you're done walking around with her she cries.  I think I've got a bit of a whiner on my hands.  She'll do a bit of walking from chair to toy and things on her own, but it's usually not more than two or three steps, and she'll hardly ever walk when pressured.  She's going to be 10 and still only walking while Miles or I hold her hands.

I really don't like when people say "So-and-so and I's blank."  That's just not correct.  Neither is labeling a picture of yourself with someone else "So-and-so and I."  It's me, not I!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I'm not stoked, but I would be if I could actually comprehend that it was tomorrow.  Does that make sense?  November has gone by ridiculously fast and I can't believe it's almost over.  I'm making mashed potatoes for my aunt's house tomorrow.  Then, Saturday we're going to my grandma Pike's house and I'll be making a caramel macchiato cheesecake.  Fancy, fancy.

I'm so incredibly tired of taking pictures.  I think I've just gotten burned out on it.  Actually, it's not taking pictures, it's editing them.  It takes so very long and I rarely have time to work on them.  Sure, I'm home 99.9% of the time and about 75% of that time I'm at the computer.  But, about 100% of the time I have a baby on my lap who doesn't like to let me get things done.  Sadly, whenever I have time to myself I do things like update my blog cough cough, or search diligently for nothing on pinterest.  I CAN'T HELP IT!  I have about four people I need to get back to with picture information.  This weather makes it difficult to plan anything, though.  I don't have anywhere inside to take pictures, so bad weather kind of means I'm out of commission.  The other thing is that I really just want a break.  I want to WANT to take pictures again.  I like to look forward to editing pictures...that's one of the things I like about the winter.  Also, I have quite a few things I want to sew and make for gifts.  Poor me, poor me!

Oh, oh!  So recently Anna has been pretty difficult to get to sleep.  Then, once she would fall asleep she'd wake up between two and four hours later, and either stay up for a bit of go back to sleep fairly easily.  Then, she'd wake up again about two or three hours later and I'd change her diaper and pull her into bed with us.  She falls asleep so incredibly easily when she's in bed with us.  (Sidenote:  Anna sleeping in bed with us always terrified me, as Miles is a pretty deep sleeper and he doesn't turn over, he rolls over and elbows are a-flyin'.  But, now that she's able to move herself around and smack Miles in the face, I feel better about it.)  Last night she fell asleep while eating (which she used to do every night, but had since stopped) and actually stayed asleep after I put her in bed (again, which she used to do but doesn't really do anymore).  I think she woke up once last night to get her pacifier back, but that was it.  She went to sleep just after 1am and is still sleeping...in her bed, mind you, at 11:23.  Amazing!  I wish she'd do that every night!  Here's to hoping this is her new schedule!  (Don't worry, I don't actually expect that to happen every night...but a girl can dream!)

Okay, enough.  I've got to work on pictures!

I fear that this is super boring.

I need to get in shape.  About two weeks I decided that I should start exercising and started doing a little workout I found on Pinterest.  I thought about posting about when I started, thinking that if I did I'd feel a bit of pressure to keep it going.  I think the idea would still work, but alas, I didn't post about it.  Really I should take before photos and update about it.  Maybe that'd make me stick with it?  I don't know, but I hope something will.  I lack motivation something awful.

Anyway, I've been thinking about Christmas presents lately...kind of.  I think I know what I want to do for Anna, but I'm not completely sure yet.  Generally I make presents the girls I see at my grandma Pistole's house along with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law.  The last couple of years that I've done it the presents haven't really been all that useful.  First I made small notebooks and magnets, then it was hot chocolate on a stick.  I fear that the hot chocolate was a fail because all of the ones I had weren't very good and wouldn't melt correctly...but they sure were cute!  I have an idea of what I'm going to do this year.  It's a bit different and not everyone would be getting it.  That sounds rude, but I have something else in mind for Miles' momma (I'm thinking maybe a new paper carrying bag or something with pictures of all of her grandchildren) and something else for my grandma.  I'm not going to say what it is, because 2/3 of the readers that I at least think I have would be getting one.  The problem is that I'm not sure if I'll be able to execute it correctly, so I'm attempting to make one for myself first then deciding from there.  Hopefully I can make it work because I'd like one.

That whole paragraph is just stupid since it's so vague. 

Well, I should be working on pictures right now.  It's hard to get them done, you know?  On a regular day I have the photo folder and Photoshop open and I get about two pictures done in an hour.  It's sad that that's not even a joke.  It seriously takes me that long.  Anna generally hates to be put down, so I hold her on my lap for most of the time.  She usually takes a pretty good afternoon nap, but that's when I get my shower and wash a couple dishes and maybe move around laundry.  So, by the time I'm ready to get to work she wakes up.  Also, the times Miles plays with Anna are usually when I can get a few done without being too interrupted...and wouldn't you know it, Miles hasn't been feeling great the last couple of days so that time has been erased.  I guess it doesn't help that I'm currently working on three different sessions.  I try to do a few from each session every day, but it's difficult. 

Today Miles went in at 6am and is working until 7ish.  I'm planning on vacuuming today.  Sadly, vacuuming is an event around here.  Seriously, it's a big deal.  Our carpet is somewhere between red and maroon so EVERYTHING shows and Anna is at the wonderful stage of eating everything she finds on the floor.  The problem is that she is afraid of the vacuum.  So, I have to hold her while vacuuming...20 pounds gets heavy after a while.  I'm excited about it, though.  I like to have clean floors.

Now it's almost time to get Anna down for a nap and do some work.  Here's to hoping for a long nap!