Let there be light! (and wind) hehe

Yesterday we (and by we I mean Dennis and his dad) completed the much dreaded installation of the chandelier and ceiling fan in the nursery. Because we didn't have anything wired into the ceiling to begin with, this took a lot of work and crawling around in an insulation-filled attic. We started the day at Lowes buying all of the conduit, wiring and other supplies and while we were there, I found the cutest ceiling fan ever. Because it was a floor model and the last one we had to wait about an hour for someone to come take it down off the display ceiling, but I totaly think it's worth it. Here are a few pictures of the finished products!

Here is the chandelier during the day time.

And looking into the room, this is what you currently see.

Here I have them lit up at night. I think the shadow that the chandelier casts on the wall is really cool. Dennis is going to put the chandelier on a dimmer switch so we can use it as a night light as well when we just want a tiny bit of light.

Here is a shot of the cutest fan ever hanging on the ceiling. Each blade is a different colorwith a flower and the pull chain is a butterfly!

And here is the chandelier lit up at night.

Thanks Dennis and Big Ray for all the hard work. It looks great and Angelica is going to love it!

Painting the Nursery

Last weekend my stepmom came to paint the nursery! She is an interior decorator and was a great help in picking out the colors and getting it done! Here are some pictures.

Right now there are no lights in the room so this picture didn't come out too well. Dad and Diana painted the entire room Cadillac Pink (a light pink color). While we were out of town Diana came back to do the striping.

The main color is the light pink. Then there are 4 inch pearl stripes (the pink shows through the pearl) surrounded by 1 inch light green stripes.

All finished!

It is hard to see how it really looks without any light in the room, but this gives a pretty good idea.

Next week we will move in the furniture!

Traverse City, MI

Last weekend we took a 4 day trip to Traverse City, MI. We were looking forward to a little getaway and some relaxation. It was only a 5 hour drive, but at some points seemed like a whole different world. It is really beautiful up there! We did a lot of sightseeing, went to some state parks, lighthouses and an art museum. We stayed at the Grand Traverse Resort but spent most of our time out exploring.

Just about everywhere you looked, there were trees everywhere!

This one windmill was powering an entire energy station!

We took a 7 mile drive through the Sleeping Bear Dunes state park. Our first stop along the way was this covered bridge.

Our second stop we saw this crystal blue lake!

Here in the distance you can see Lake Michigan.

A nice lady offered to take a picture of us together.

Den at the top of the dune overlook. It is hard to see how steep this drop off was. From the edge of this picture, the drop off went straight down about 1/4 mile. There were warning signs about being careful about hiking all the way down there. We saw some people hike down. We didn't see anyone make it back up though.

Me looking out over the lake.

pretty deck walkway going up the dunes

Here you can see how steep the drop off is down to the lake.

Pure Michigan :)

Later on we headed north up the peninsula between East Traverse Bay and West Traverse Bay. A lighthouse and a log cabin were up in this area.

The lighthouse wasn't tall and skinny like I had expected, just attached to this house.

At this location we were halfway between the North Pole and the Equator.

Ahhhh! This eagle is going to carry Dennis away!

On Sunday we went to The Dennos Museum. It is an art museum which is part of Northwestern Michigan College. In the interactive wing there were some cool exhibits. This exhibit was pretty cool. You walked into a dark room and as you moved around, your movements were replayed on screen in slow and fast motion in different colors, etc.

Me

Den

Den and Me

Looking at some of the Native American Art

In this exhibit you could touch the different colored pieces of wood and each piece made a distanct musical sound, chord or type of music. By figuring out the correlation in colors and shapes you could play a song that went together.

Here is a virtual digital harp. There are no actual strings but as you move your hands you can play music.

McDonalds art in the Chinese/ Japanese wing

This exhibit took up an entire room. It is called "Carbon."

On Sunday we drove all the way up to Northport, MI on the western side of the bay between the bay and Lake Michigan. Can you tell, it was really sunny outside!

This was a very small state park.

Anotherbeautiful view.

a saliboat off in the distance

A lighthouse in northport.

Photography

I have always loved photography. Perhaps this interest in photography started out in my 3-year old pre-school Christmas play. I was assigned the part of one of Santa's helpers and I stated in my cute high-pitched little girl voice: "I'm Santa's helper and I make cameras!" I believe that was my only line in the Christmas play, but hey I was 3! I gave it my all and announced it loudly!

Growing up I had a variety of cameras. One of the cooler cameras I had was probably around 2nd grade when I got a polaroid camera for Chirstmas. I thought it was SO cool how you could take a pictures and get it right then and there! I'd save up money to buy extra film since those poloroid photos were expensive compared to regular 35mm film.

When I went to Australia in 8th grade my parents bought me a REALLY nice 35mm camera. I took at least 15 rolls of film while there. I have some great pictures from that trip. Unfortunately, that camera ended up getting stolen while I was in high school.

I had one of those novelty cameras in high school that was like a polaroid, only it produced miniature pictures in the form of stickers. And of course I have used my fair share of disposable cameras for both regular and underwater photography.

While in college I dated a guy who was into digital photography and that's when I started getting interest in that area. My first digital camera was a Kodak point and shoot digital camera. I think it was 1.8 megapixels and very easy to use.

Wanting to upgrade, I purchased a Cannon AS630 point and shoot digital camera about 2 years ago, fully expecting it to last me for a long time. I found the Cannon to be much more superior than the Kodak, still there are things I want to do, that I just can't do with this camera. It takes good enough pictures for printing, framing and journaling. However, there are times I get frustrated with it and wish I had something with a better quality.

I have been doing a lot of research on SLR cameras lately and after talking with a few friends who are into this and really understand it, I believe I am going to make the leap and purchase a Digital SLR camera. I realize that this will be a commitment because while you can use it as a point and shoot camera, you would be wasting it by just keeping it on "Auto" and shooting pictures. There are so many more features that come with an SLR camera. I really want to learn how to do everything I can with it. I know that with the purchase of an SLR camera, comes the commitment of learning about lenses and filters and all sorts of other things. I know I can't just toss this camera in my purse and run out the door. I will need to carry around a camera bag, extra batteries and plenty of memory! I am really excited about it though.

I have some friends who have the Cannon Digital Rebel XS and XSi. I LOVE the pictures that they have taken. Cannon now has a Digital Rebel T1i that I am interested in. In addition to the features of the XS ans XSi, the T1i also has video capabilities. I plan to hang on to my little point and shoot for more casual occassions when I need to toss a camera in my purse and run. However, I am planning to take full advantage of learning how to use the SLR camera.

I signed up for my first photography class last night. The first class is just a one day class. If that goes well, the school offers 7 week courses for about $500 a course. There are 3 courses there I would possibly be interested in taking. This means traveling downtown once a week for classes and it's probably not something I will do until after the baby is here. With the first class being on Halloween, a 7 week course after that would put me right up to my due date and I don't think that would work out too well.

My friend Tony recommended a helpful book as well to get me going before the class and to supplement what I will learn in the first class. Hopefully I will be able to spend some time experimenting with the camera throughout the holidays so I will have plenty of questions to ask when I sign up for my first 7-week course next year.

Lately everything has been all about work and all about getting ready for the baby. So, I am excited to jump into something just for me. It's been a while since I have had a serious hobby that has held my interest. I am really excited to get going! I hope to make a final decision on which SLR to purchase this week.

Funny how the world keeps turnin'

I heard this song on the radio the other day and it made me laugh a little bit to myself. There are so many things I worry about - things that are beyond my control - and this song kind of said to me "Hey, just sit back and try to enjoy the ride. Whatever happens, the world is going to keep on turning."

Unfortunately I have always been "a worrier" but with a baby on the way I've come to think about how I want the world to be a better place for her - not a worse place. I know it's the same things my parents wanted for me too. In some aspects it is a better place. Technology has advanced a long way and as of right now, we still have our constitution. I worry about the current administration and what it's doing to our country. I keep thinking in the back of my mind "There is no way that these laws are going to get pushed through. They'd have to be crazy!" But there is a small part of me that worries about how our lives and our quality of living are going to change so dramatically if these proposed laws were to go through.

Again though, there is nothing I can do about it. So I guess I am sticking with the motto of "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." This song (as politically correct or incorrect as it may be) just kind of told me to "relax" and just keep moving forward. Try to live in the here and now and enjoy the moment and the liberties that I currently have. Instead of spending all of my time worrying about what my life or my children's lives will be like if these liberties are taken away, I will enjoy them now since I have them now.

American Ride, by Toby Keith

Winter gettin' colder summer gettin' warmer
Tidal wave comin' 'cross the Mexican border
Why buy a gallon it's cheaper by the barrol
Just don't get busted singin' Christmas Carols

That's us that's right
Gotta luv this American Ride
Both ends of the o-zone burnin'
Funny how the world keeps turnin'
Look ma no hands
I luv this American Ride
Gotta luv this American Ride

Mama gets her box off watchin' Desperate Housewives
Daddy works his can of payin' for the good life
Kids on the youtube learnin' how to be cool
Livin' in a cruel world pays to be a mean girl

That's us that's right
Gotta luv this American Ride
Both ends of the o-zone burnin'
Funny how the world keeps turnin'
Look ma no hands
I luv this American Ride
Gotta luv this American Ride

Poor little Lithamus Americas town
She gained five pounds and lost her crown
Quick fix plastic surgical antidote
Got herself a record deal can't even sing a note

Platinum gettin' bigger Jesus gettin' smaller
Spill a cup of coffee make a million dollars
Cousins caught a thug with an airsoft can
If the shoe don't fit the fits gonna hit the shan

That's us that's right
Gotta luv this American Ride
Both ends of the o-zone burnin'
Funny how the world keeps turnin'
Hot dog hot damn
I luv this American Ride
Gotta luv this American Ride

My babies

Gosh I love these boys!

My loyal buddy BamBam sleeping outside my office door. He was sleeping so soundly he didn't realize I had walked out of the office and snapped this shot of him!

Russ loves being surrounded by pillows!

25 weeks

25 weeks down, 15 weeks to go.

The baby currently weighs between 1.5 and 2.5 lbs. and is about 14 inches long.

We are 63% done coooking this bun in the oven!

24 weeks

Barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen...how cliche. hehe

Snazzifying the house

A couple weekends ago we went on a little shopping spree and decided to do some upgrading in our main living area. We bought these 2 oil paintings with gold frames for the family room to replace some old print art we had hanging that was from Target. We like these much better! We also replaced the old blonde wood pedestal kitchen table with this new cherry wood counter height table that matches our entertainment center and sideboard table in the family room. It all goes together really nice. You can't tell in the picture, but these paintings are quite large - measuring 4 feet wide!

Venice Scene

Paris Scene

A shot of the family room with the new art

The new kitchen table with the chairs pulled out.

And all put together. We were looking for a smaller table to provide a better walkway in the kitchen. The path to the refrigerator was pretty tight before. Our old table was 42 inches wide. This one is only 2 inches smaller, but with the chairs tucked neatly underneath the table, it gives a lot more walking room. We also got rid of the throw rug to open up the room more and show just the bare wood floors.