{May 15, 2011}

Yes, yes...I know...I took this yesterday. But come on...how can you resist that face (and also it's been raining like mad here so I'm stuck indoors)? Okay, maybe if you're not as in to sheep as I am you can. I can't, however, so you're stuck with another sheep photo. This breed of sheep (Tunisians) are my favorite breed--in so far as I know without 1.) ever having truly spent a lot of time around them, and 2.) not having a lot of knowledge on the various sheep breeds. Still, I get all giddy when I come to the "Tunis" and will linger the longest at their pen while I dream of having a flock grazing in a pasture by my house. What? You don't do that? You should, it will make you smile. ;o) I promise this is the last sheep picture I'll post for awhile. And by awhile I mean at least a couple of days.

Taken with my iPhone and edited with the Photoshop app.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 13, 2011}

Friday the 13th wasn't very good to me. Ian had a doctor's appointment today at 1:40. At 12:30 I got up to do some work and realized that I needed to pick Ian up from the high school in about 30 mins. Problem is, I hadn't showered or eaten lunch yet. Ensue mad dash all over the house. Showered, fed, dogs put up, I rushed out the door to my car. I should note that I had not driven my car in about 2-3 weeks as I've been driving our new (to us) Jeep given to us by my amazing dad (THANKS DAD!!). However, the Jeep was at my dad's today so he could do some service stuff on it. Yesterday I told myself, "Self, when your husband comes home for lunch tomorrow you should totally start your car while he's here to make sure it runs. That way, if the battery is dead, he can jump the battery and all will be right with the world." Given I had forgotten to both shower and eat, as well as forgotten the appointment, you can see where this is headed.

Put the key in the ignition, turn it, it makes a noise but it won't catch. Three attempts later I'm now on the phone with my dad who is telling me he'll be at my place in a few minutes. I call the doctor's office and let them know we'll most likely be late. When my dad arrives I tell him I don't think the battery is dead as I can roll my windows down, etc., so he has me pop the hood. "Laura," says my dad, "You might want to come look at this." Tentatively I walked towards the front of my car. Looking down I see tons of paper, leaves, feathers, and other random pieces of material all neatly formed in to a large nest. Needless to say, it was the last thing I expected to find resting on my battery...let alone in my car. Course, I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised given the mechanic found a large nest in my air filter when I had it serviced last year. Apparently my car is prime real estate for the critters of our woods. Sigh... I was just glad there were no mice babies in there as I would have felt bad for disturbing it.

As we clear out the nest and start charging the battery my cell phone rings. It's the doctor's office and they're telling me the day is incredibly booked. If I can't get Ian there within about 5-10 mins. of the scheduled appt. time, they won't be able to get him in. Rather than chance it I opt to reschedule.

I still have to clean out the rest of the crap the rodent brought under the hood of my car, lest I risk a fire while I'm driving. Lovely. I wish I could figure out how to keep these guys out of my car, but for now I'm planning to start it at least every other day and let it run for a bit in hopes of deterring them. We'll see how that goes...

Taken with my iPhone and edited using the Photoshop app.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 9, 2011}

Not sure what type of spider this is, but he/she hung out by our front door for awhile then disappeared one day. I kind of miss seeing him/her.

Taken with my iPhone and edited using the Photoshop App.

{May 8, 2011}

Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there! Hope your day has been filled with lots of love, laughter, and relaxation! Having said that, here is my gift from my adorable daughter, Megan. She loves to paint and worked really hard on this one. To say I love it would be a huge understatement! This is Mt. Hood at sunset and I'm planning to frame it and hang it in our front room.

Taken with my iPhone and edited using the Photoshop app.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 6, 2011}

Crummy photo tonight as we were in some serious low light...tres romantic. Ryan and I went to The Common Man for dinner and I snapped this pic of the killer oil lamp, my water glass, and part of the menu. Even after editing it in various apps it still looks awful, but it's late and we're about to watch a movie so this is it.

Taken with my iPhone and edited using TiltShiftGen, Photoshop, and Lo-Mob.

On to the pic...{click to enlarge}

{April 13, 2011}

mmmmm...bagels with cream cheese, smoked salmon, and capers. It's what's for dinner. Yum!

Taken with my iPhone and edited with the PS app

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{April 6, 2011}

Today was Megan's first track practice, so I embarrassed her by taking a photo for posterity's sake. One of these days she'll look back and appreciate my craziness. At least, that's what I tell myself.

Taken with my iPhone using the TiltShiftGen app, border added with the Photoshop App.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{April 5, 2011}

I've always loved birch trees. The way the bark peels like paper, the mix of black and white, and how pretty they look against a backdrop of pines. This is one of a few birch trees scattered throughout our property that I could get to easily. In the fall the leaves turn an intense shade of yellow that contrasts nicely with the black and white branches.

Taken with my iPhone then edited using the Photoshop app.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{January 27, 2011}

My first attempt at making homemade fries. Yum! I went for sweet potato ones as we all love them around here, and I found this tasty sounding recipe from my new favorite food blog: Our Best Bites. Given it's been awhile since I last had to cut up sweet potatoes, I had forgotten just how tough they are. My poor hands still bear the pressure marks from my knife. :o/ Ah well, they were quite delicious so I think all the work was worth it. The kids gobbled them up (Ryan hasn't eaten yet as he had to take Megan to her school concert--I am home recovering from an awful migraine) and I went back for seconds. The leftovers are being kept warm for Ryan in the warming drawer and I may or may not have snuck a few since they went in. Hopefully they'll be even better when he gets back...or at the very least, just as good.

I took the picture with my iPhone, then edited it in TiltShiftGen and added the border using the Photoshop app.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}