Tulle Wreath

So I found A tutorial on how to make a Tulle Wreath.  I thought it was just too cute so I decided to make one.  I figured how hard could it be.  Well it really wasn't that bad.  The hardest part was cutting the Tulle, well what took the longest.  And I decided that it needed just a little something else so I added a "n" to it for Miss Nona.  I hope she likes it!

The first is without the flash, and the second one is with the flash.  You can see the sparkles better with the flash on.

I have materials to make a Christmas Wreath next.  I can't wait to see what that one is going to look like.

Thanks for looking.  And as soon as I have time, I will put up a tutorial if anyone is interested.

The View Keeps Getting Better

I have tried taking more pictures lately.  Especially since I hadn't picked up my camera in so long.  I would really love to take pictures every day, but I don't think that is possible right now.  So at least twice a week will be my goal.

As for Miss Nona, she is doing well.  She is just getting over an ear infection, while at the same time getting in her last set of molars.  We have lost several nights of sleep over these.  But thanks to good ole tylenol and motrin, she is doing better.  (Thank Goodness!)

Aaron is doing well.  He is still working at Four Corners and really likes it. Hopefully he will be there for a while.  He has also started writing music again.  I don't know how it is going as I try to let him do his thing, and not pester him.  As for me I am still a Perfusionist.  I love my job, and the guys I work with!  So I guess you could say we are all doing well.  Including Miss Dixie.  Of course she is doing well, she is still spoiled rotten.

So now on to the pictures.  I have taken several over the past few days.  And tonight I took my All Time Favorite:

I don't know how Aaron and I were blessed with such a beautiful child.  She was so funny when I went to take this picture.  I asked her to go and stand over there, so she walked right over to where I had pointed.  Then she turned around and said "Cheese."  It was just too cute.  She actually posed for this picture.  And I was lucky enough to capture it!

The next picture was a bit later.  She only wanted to pose for the first two pictures.  After that she was done.  After that she wandered around and finally went to lean up against the wall of the apartment complex and wait on her crazy photo-snapping Mother, and Miss Dixie.  So of course crazy Mommy took a few more pictures.  they turned out cute, but not like the first one.

so that is where we are right now.  Just hanging out, living life day by day.  Trying to enjoy every minute, and not let it pass us by.  She is growing up so fast and it seams like just yesterday she was just learning to walk.  Now she has and attitude, and knows exactly what she does and doesn't like.  One day Aaron and I will be added to that don't like list.  But until then I am going to soak up every minute of the Mommy and Daddy are better than sliced bread phase!

Shooting On Manual

Okay, so I got to borrow another lens.  And I must say, it is awesome!  It is a Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens.  I am so jealous, and I want one.  But I am so thankful to have someone nice enough to just allow me to borrow Lenses like this.

So anyways, I spent a little time outside this afternoon.  After an emergency heart this A.M. I got home to take some pictures.  I am loving my camera!  I am now beginning to feel more comfortable with it, and I shot in Manual Mode today.  Which is exciting to me, only because I thought I would never be able to understand enough to do this.  But I think I did pretty well.

 I never thought I would enjoy taking pictures, but I really do like it.  I think what I like so much about it, is that if I mess up a picture, I just hit the delete button.  (Thank goodness for digital photography)  And if no one else likes my pictures well that's okay, they are just for me anyways.  I am not the greatest at composing a good picture, but every once in a while I get a lucky shot in there.  I almost feel like an artist, and I really don't have an artistic bone in my body.

I really am enjoying playing around with Manual.  I have complete control over the shot.  Today I was playing around with exposing the shot for the light and then re-composing the shot to include a lot of the shadowed area.    The effect was pretty cool!  I was also just shooting, just to shoot.  I actually got off a shot of the stairs leading up to our apartment.  It actually turned out to be a pretty cool picture.

Lots of Park Time

Okay, so I stink at this blogging thing, but that is nothing new.  I actually have some free time this evening, as Nona is in Nashville, and Aaron and I are in Birmingham.  So I figured my blog could use some attention.


So what have the Griffith's been up to?  So glad you asked.  Nona and I found a local dog park.  So on Saturdays we usually load ourselves, and Miss Dixie into the car and head over there.  Dixie loves it.  She doesn't have to be on a leash, she gets to sniff to her hearts content, and doesn't get yelled at to behave.  Nona loves it because she gets to see all the dogs.  Because of course Miss Dixie is not a dog, at least as far as Nona is concerned.


Then usually on Sundays Aaron, Nona, and I all head to Veteran's Park to play.  Nona loves the playground.  There are a certain set of swings that she loves.  She also loves to walk up the steps and go down the slide, all by herself.  I think the all by herself is the part she loves the most!  

Nona is also becoming such a big girl.  Thursday her toddler rails came in so I put them on her bed.  And Thursday night was the first night she slept in a big girl bed.  She did really well.  She didn't get up until 6:30 on Friday morning.  Of course aaron and I are very lucky in the fact that she pretty much puts herself to bed.  We will ask if it is time for night night kisses.  If it is, she will give her kisses and walk to her crib and wait to be put in.  Last night she walked to her "big girl bed", and climbed right in.  I was so proud!

So this weekend she is up in nashville staying with my parents.  And she is going to sleep in a toddler bed up there as well.  I think this weekend is going to be harder for Mommy and Daddy, then it is for Ladybug!  Of course a weekend to ourselves is nice, the only problem is that I am on call.  

Fourth of July Weekend

So we went to my Mom and Dad's for the weekend of the Fourth.  It was so nice to get away and have a mini vacation.  And of course I had to take a few pictures.  I am so loving this new hobby.  Especially since one of my coworkers let me borrow one of his lenses! A Nikon 105mm f2.8 ED-IF AF-S VR micro-nikkor lens. It was awesome, and now I want one!!!!!  But alas it will have to wait until I hit the lotto!  So here are a few of the pics.

The first on I love, it is Nona and Frazier, checking each other out.  And if you actually know what Frazier looks like now days, this photo does wonders for him!  Poor guy has bad arthritis and doesn't look so great anymore.  But here he almost looks like a spring chicken.

Normally I can't stand spiders, but I just had to test out this lens.  Now it is not the greatest picture, but considering I am still a novice and learning, I don't think it is terrible.  It looks better in full screen on my computer.  But you can still get the gist of it.  I really wan't even standing that close.  It looks like the lens is almost touching the little guy.  And he was pretty little.  When I got home from work the other night there was a huge garden spider building a web under the steps up to the apartment.  I wish I had gone in and gotten my camera, but alas I was just way too tired!

This little guy is one of the flowers sitting on my Mom's front porch.  If you can actually zoom in on it a little bit you can see the center of the flower.  It is a shame that to post pictures on a blog you have to compress them to jpegs.  The RAW file is beautiful, you can even see the fine hairs on the green leaves.  Again this lens is amazing, and I would love to have one!  I am so jealous, but at least I do have someone who is willing to let me borrow it!

I guess that is all for now.  I hope that everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July Weekend and didn't have too much trouble going back to work!

What's Goin' On

That's the Question.  Not much has changed since my last post.  Nona has gotten bigger, of course.  And she has learned a few new things.  Including telling us yes or no, when she does or doesn't want something.  Which has been helpful, most of the time.  As Aaron learned today, just because she says she doesn't want to eat doesn't mean she isn't hungry.  She has also learned to say thank you, and is doing very well at realizing when she needs to say it.  She has also learned to sign please.

She has become a very independent little person.  I don't know where she got that from, well okay, she got it from me.  She is also a real girly girl.  She loves to wear bracelets and necklaces.  She also wants to put on makeup when I am doing mine.  That doesn't happen very often, but she still wants to wear it.    Now I really don't know where she got this girly thing from, I am so not girly!!

So that is pretty much it, I think.  It's late and my noggin isn't working all that well right now.  It is so neat though, to look at her and see a little lady standing there instead of a baby.  Kind-of makes me sad, but not really.  I love the way she interacts now and can communicate better.

Nona's Closeup

So here we are and it is almost Mother's Day.  And for Mother's Day Nona, Aaron, and I are going to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens for a picture taking morning.  I am so excited!  I can't wait to go.  We have only been there once with Aaron's parents and it has been about two years.  I am trying to decide what dress to put her in and I think I have the perfect one picked out.  But you will just have to wait till I post the pictures!

I did take some pictures the other day, while Aaron and I took Dixie outside.  They turned out really well if you ask me.  Of course my camera takes such beautiful pictures, and of course having a beautiful subject doesn't hurt either.  Also I have started using Aperture to edit my pictures and it is so easy to use,  So here are a few pictures to wet you palate.  If you would like to see the rest they are in my Mobile Me Gallery.