Balloons!

Over the weekend, Colorado Springs held it's annual Balloon Classic. There are so many vendors and things to see that you could easily wander around for a few hours! A friend and I took our kids to see the balloons light up at night, and man...it was AMAZING! It was the first time I'd taken any night shots with my camera, but I don't think they turned out too bad. Especially for not having a tripod with me. Chasing 3 kids while juggling a camera and tripod did not sound like fun at all! I'm already looking forward to next year's Classic. The Husbeast should be home by then, so we can go as a family. He'll definitely want to chow down on one of the HUGE turkey legs they had for sale. Here are a few pics from the night:

So proud!

It's not big secret that I'm an atheist, and so is my hubby. Our girls probably identify that way right now, but not because we force it. If they want to go to a church, synagogue, or mosque, that's cool. When they are older, they can choose whatever religion they want, or none at at all. Anyway, this all leads up to a conversation I overheard in the car today. My oldest (who is 6) was teaching her younger sisters the Pledge of Allegiance. It went something like this:

Oldest: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under...well, I don't believe in God, so I'll just say Earth...under Earth, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

To say it made my heart swell with pride is an understatement. Not that she declared that she doesn't believe in God. She's 6, I don't think she fully grasps that yet. What made me so proud is that she thought about what she was saying, and didn't just go along with saying something she doesn't agree with. More than anything, I want our girls to be free-thinkers. I want them to question, I want them to make their own decisions. It seems like we are headed in the right direction, and that makes me so proud!

Wicked

I got a job! How cool is that?! To top it off, I work from home, which is awesome. Hubby is super excited too, which makes me feel...proud. :)

My camera has been getting neglected lately. It's that time of year, where everything is just super busy. We've been doing dentist appointments, meeting teachers, back-to-school shopping, and trying to maintain some form of sanity! Luckily, all this running around has helped keep our minds off the deployment. Oh, and I've lost almost 4 pounds in the past couple weeks! Yay!

I did happen to snap a picture of some crazy clouds the other morning. This is a view of the mountains off my back porch:



Awesome, huh?

Deployments Suck

That's pretty much all there is to say about that. :(

Impending Doom

So, once again I have let life get in the way of blogging. That's okay, it was time well spent. My fearless husband is about to deploy yet again, this time to a country to which he's never been. We've been spending every possible second together lately. You would think that each deployment would get a little easier, but they never do. Each time one rolls around, there's another kid (like the first 2), or the kids are older and realize what this actually means (like the last one and this one). This is our life and, aside from the deployments, it's a really good life...so I guess I can't complain too much.

It still sucks.

Learning Curve

I wrote a few days ago that I had gotten a Nikon D90. Since then, that thing has been practically surgically attached to my hand. This camera is amazing. Taking a great picture is easy to do right out of the box. Of course, I still got my fair share of blurry or almost-there-but-not-quite photos, but it didn't take long to start getting photos like this one of my oldest on the swing:



I love the way her hair is flying around her head. It's not perfect, but I'm getting closer! I've been having so much fun taking pictures that I haven't even attempted to tweak any of them in Photoshop.

One thing that has helped me tremendously is David Busch's Nikon D90 Guide to Digital SLR Photography. Man, this book is a lifesaver! After only 2 chapters, I feel a bit more at ease with the camera. Chapter 3 and beyond is where he really starts to get into the different settings. The pages are nice and thick too, so I'll probably be sticking this in my camera bag for reference without too much worry about destroying it.

Speaking of that book, it's time for me to sink myself back into it until the munchkins demand my full attention again. LOL Then maybe a trip to the park later for more pictures. What are your plans for this weekend?

Hello gorgeous!

I may or may not have a new toy to play with. And by "may or may not", I mean LOOK AT WHAT I BOUGHT! (More like, LOOK AT WHAT HUBBY BOUGHT FOR ME! LOL)


Photo courtesy of Nikon

That is my brand spanking new Nikon D90. I also have the lens that is attached in the picture, the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR. I had debated just buying the body and using the extra money towards another zoom lens other than the kit lens, but reviews I had read online said that the kit lens is actually pretty good. So I went with that one. Let me tell you, the Vibration Reduction? Awesome. I also bought this lens, which will be arriving today:


Photo courtesy of Nikon

That's the AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D. I really wanted to get the 1.4D, but from what I read online, I just couldn't justify spending another $200+ on a lens that I wasn't sure I would be able to tell a difference with. Maybe after gaining some more experience!

There's a few accessories that were purchased with the lens, like an extra battery, etc. I won't bore you with all those. However, when my camera bag comes next week, you'd better believe there will be pictures!

What have you bought lately that thrills you?