LightRoom Presets - Go get them!

Things have been super busy around our household! I have lots to update on but it might have to wait another week or two when things slow down a bit. I wanted to take the time to look into some LightRoom presets. A favorite photographer of mine that I stalk follow on Instagram had her presets on sale recently and of course I wanted to break out my wallet! I, however, have never used them before, didn't know how to use them, and wasn't sure if I'd even like them.

Off to Google...

I found this great article that explained how to download presets and what they are. Then I had to go in search of a program to open the zip files. (Am I qualified to be a programmer yet?) Hah!

After I figured out it might be worth a shot, I found this great website with many FREE LightRoom Presets! I downloaded about 6-7 of them and picked a few photos that I liked. This was a great way to test out my skills and even make new presets of my own!

Below were the results:

So for the first photo I used the preset (one click, my friends). In just one click I felt like that photo went from amateur to "woah she might have a fancy camera." Then I brightened the photo, popped the blue color for his eyes a bit, and softened his skin with the luminance setting. No rhyme or reason. I just play around with settings most of the time. Then I felt like my photo went to a whole new level with the extra adjustments.

This second photo I did was an outdoor picture. I wanted to try one of each. I used a different preset and got a dramatic first (one click! squee!) effect. I then brightened, highlighted blues, and added more vignetting as well. I absolutely love the end photo and it didn't take me 10 minutes to go through every setting like it used to. 

Less than 2 minutes, people!

If you haven't used a preset before, I encourage you to try! I absolutely love them! I will probably try to make some of my own from photos I've edited before and these new presets and see how I like them. After that I will certainly look into buying other photographer's presets because I just don't see myself starting a business any time soon so this will strictly be for family and close friends anyways.

 I have read in a few articles that Photoshop does "actions" which are similar, but you cannot edit the picture afterwards. Also, I saw that it sometimes depends if you shoot in RAW vs JPEG but I haven't tested that theory yet. I will since I can shoot both at the same time and compare the different images. 

Here are some more of my images that took me almost no time at all to edit once I set up some individualized presets...

 

 

Instagram - December 2013 (and a little January)

 

 1. Cam's favorite place to go shopping is the grocery store. He always has the hardest time (and pushes mommy's patience) in choosing which color car/cart to drive.

2. Cam got new Pottery Barn Kids bedding from grandma for Christmas. It was accidentally shipped to our house beforehand so we decided to put it to good use right away.

3. Brad took Cam to see Grandma Jones and Aunt Rachael while I studied for my finals and worked. He loved the lights, train, and made a reindeer friend.

4. He was really into Christmas movies this year and got tons of movies from Santa! This winter has been too cold to go outside almost every day so we do movies once in a while.

5. I was late taking Cam to school one day so we had an impromptu breakfast date at Big Apple Bagel. Why we don't go here more is beyond me. It was delicious!

6. Santa came to Cam's school one night and they were able to decorate some cookies, too. He was more hesitant about Santa this year, but still sat on his lap.

7. I finished my 3rd semester of nursing school!! One more semester to go!

8. We have fully transitioned to the toddler bed, which brought on the curious toddler who changes his clothes mid-sleep. (We are currently wearing only backwards zip-up pj's due to the curious toddler who strips and urinates in the middle of the night, too.)

9. I decided on my one-month break (that felt like one week) to peel wallpaper and paint Cam's bathroom. I got a lot checked off of my "To Do" list, which felt great. 

10. We bought a Children's Museum membership and visited for the first time ever. Camden absolutely loved it! We only went to one exhibit, too, so I know there will be many more trips in our future.

11. We have had tons of snow. Sub-zero temperatures, also. Winter can be over. Any time now.

12. Early January Cam had his first dentist visit! He did so well (I was surprised) and let everyone clean his teeth and look around. I'm sure it helped he really wanted to pick a toy from the toy chest and got lots of goodies.

All in all it was a great break from school and it's back to the grind. Juggling work, 2 clinicals, homework, care plans, discussion posts, reading, and studying is going to be challenging but I can't wait to be done with school!!

Children's Museum

 

 We recently purchased a year membership to our local Children's Museum. It's been rated #1 in the country (world?) for as long as I can remember. They had it decorated for Christmas time, but Camden had so much fun in the Playscape.

 

 There was a big music room where kids can play with egg shakers, drums, and other instruments. I grew up with music (flute/piccolo here) and want Camden to be able to do the same. When I was in school music wasn't an elective; it was an expected part of the curriculum. I feel that it still should be although many superintendent's don't agree. Whether it's offered in school or not, he will be participating in lessons either way. :)

 

His favorite part of the museum (besides the food) was the messiest part, the water play area. There was flowing water, scoops, spoons, plastic sharks, etc. He loved it. There were aprons, but they were all really wet and by the time I found a dry one, his clothes were soaked anyways. 

Overall we absolutely had a great time! I love taking him places where we aren't having to constantly watch what he touches or plays with. I like the fact that he can play with anything and everything he can reach.

LOVE IT!

I think it really helps him to be able to test his own limits and is great sensory stimulation. We will definitely be getting our money's worth out of this membership!

A Family Christmas

 Per the usual we had to get a real Christmas Tree (Frasier Fir) and we found a bargain at Home Depot at less than $50 for a 10-foot tree! Camden was so excited to water and decorate it!

 Per our tradition, we also had Brad and Cam put the star on the tree. We had to borrow a large-tree stand that would be sturdy enough to hold a 10' tree.

 As you can see the tree was gorgeous and that includes the random hanger Camden thought would fit well on the tree. Confession: I was too sentimental about the silly hanger and left it through Christmas. ;)

 LOVE

We ended up seeing Santa at his school on their holiday party night. They got to make cookies and see Santa.

 This year he was a little more hesitant to sit on Santa's lap. He did, but after I talked with him a little. Last year it was all I could do to hold him back from being in everyone else's picture. Hah.

We also had a mommy's play date Holiday Party getting all of the kids together. We really miss our Friday play dates and I can't wait until school is done in another 5 months.

 Christmas morning was a BLAST! He loved ripping off the wrapping paper. He had to get every last piece off and tore it off every square inch at a time. It was slow and he is at the age where he wants to open every single toy as he sees it.

Funny how many high-tech and expensive toys he received, but his favorites were a puffy jacket and a $3 cell phone from the dollar section at Target.

Of course Papaw Jones got him a Big Wheel. I mean where do we store all of this?

A family member made a fantastic idea for future presents. Because he gets so many different toys from all four sets of grandparents he has and then even more from us, it was suggested to start a college fund and allow people to donate. Starting on his 3rd birthday and all following holidays, we will be starting a college fund and allowing family to donate and asking for monetary donations with minimal toys. This way we are being responsible and frugal. We can also keep Camden modest in gifts and what he receives.

 

But really, how easy is it to say no to that adorable, perfect little face?!

Not easy. At all.

Indiana Blizzard

 

Our street.

 The past 48 hours has been a crazy whirlwind of heavy snow and desperate ploys to keep my toddler entertained. With a snow emergency comes beautiful and amazing scenery.

 

Back yard.

 

 

Front of the house.

 

Buried mailbox.

 

Gorgeous snow!

Fun in the snow? PLUS: snow ice cream recipe

We have had some crazy weather these past few days and thought I'd share some amazing and fun photos I got of the Indiana blizzard. Starting 2014 off right, I guess. State of emergency. Quarantined to the house. Any travel made illegal. 

 

 

Then, temperatures with windchill in the negative 30's and 40's. It was so cold that there was frost on the inside of Brad's truck. 

If anyone wants to know, ice scrapers do not work on the inside of windows.

 

 

 

 

Some of these pictures show just how wet the snow was. My jacket was soaked! It was so wet we used an umbrella to keep the snow off of the camera.

Snow Ice Cream

Later that night I saw a friend who posted that she made ice cream from snow. Who even know that was possible!?

 

Just take a bucket of [clean] snow (around 1 gallon) inside.

Add about 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 1/2-1 cup of milk. (Add the milk in small increments until the consistency you want.)

 

Add sprinkles or other toppings.

 

This was such a fun thing to do with the kiddo. 

Camen @ 2 1/2 years

Just a few more weeks and my baby will be 2 1/2 years old. I wanted to document some of his fun quirks and hobbies so I can remember down the road.

A while back The Incredible's was Camden's favorite movie and I'm sure I could recite every scene without hesitation. Here lately he's been into Despicable Me and requests it every single day. I can't wait to get him the second movie soon!

He's also very much into pretending and being very active. He is so sweet with his manners and being helpful (most of the time). He always says please and thank you (or "thanks" now, for some reason). He says, "excuse me" if you are in his way. He knows his first and last name. Miss Katie and Miss Jenn are his teachers and they are always saying how happy and cooperative he is. He always knows every animal, shape, color, letter, number, etc. When they are singing a song he knows, they say he will bust out in a solo all the time. Amazing kiddo!

He's a garbage-disposal/sponge. He eats everything on his plate and then asks for more. He eats more than I do on some days! Snacks are a must-have around here. He also is a little sponge; more so than I thought. True life confession: I was changing his diaper the other day and he kept running around the house yelling, "I have diarrhea!!!" What I didn't realize was that I'd said that while changing him. Good thing I didn't say something worse. Also a good thing we were home for the rest of the night. HA!

At home he loves to play with trains, Matchbox cars, watch movies, pretend cook for us (or really pretend anything). He has transitioned to the big boy toddler bed although one day while I was working, Brad apparently didn't wake up as soon as Cam would've liked. He played "finger paint" on the carpet with some diaper contents we won't talk about.

Must be payback for when I did it to my mom.

 He absolutely loves going to school. And grandma's house. He is so sociable! At school he apparently greets everyone in his class by name in the morning. He always has the "Ate everything" column checked off for all meals and snacks. Naps are usually 80-90% there, but some days he doesn't want to nap. This is the ripe age for discontinuing naps unfortunately. 

Please. 
No. 
I need that mid-day break.

He loves to sing songs. Just the other day he sang Jingle Bells to me almost perfectly. :) He's also really getting into the Christmas movies, lights, decorations, and other songs right now. I think this will be the most fun year for opening presents with him yet!

Unfortunately he has started to hate having his picture being taken. (It couldn't possibly be from me constantly taking them.) If he sees the iPhone pointed at him, he waves his hands and says, "No, no picture!" Celebs. Pfft.

The potty training we are letting him do on his own. I want him to tell me when he's ready (to a certain point). It is going to make it easier on both of us and we really don't have the time to dedicate to it .. if I'm being honest. At school they said he goes once in a while but always tries to sit for a little bit. If we catch him right after waking up from night time or nap, we will ask him if he has to go and he usually says yes and has success going. He holds his bladder most of the night/nap so we can tell if he's got to go because his diaper is dry. Right as he's getting tucked into bed he says over and over that he has to go potty (because he knows it'll delay bed time) so we have started asking him while getting ready if he has to go.

Camden used to be a momma's boy and is quickly preferring Brad over myself. (*moment to mourn*) It's so bittersweet to see them together, bonding, yet sad because he wants his daddy to read to him at night and rock with him. He will let me, but only if Brad isn't around. I think Brad secretly loves this phase because it's making up for the first year when Cam preferred me (especially for nutritional needs .. lol). I keep telling myself it's from my lack of presence because of work and school. It's temporary. Just a little while longer.

He constantly tells us what he thinks. If something is fun, sad, funny, or happy he will tell us. If he is happy or silly, he tells us. If we make funny noises or do something odd he will tell us, "You're silly!" Also, everything is Camden's. In the entire world. Driving down the street the conversation from the back seat is, "That's my store. That's my truck. That's my school. That's my gym." Sometimes he'll say it's "Camden's" also. He is getting better at sharing, but rarely his food.

CAMDEN. DOESN'T. SHARE. FOOD. (FRIENDS reference)

Even if it's something he knows he likes or wants, if we give him something (say, a cookie) and ask him to give it to mommy or daddy, he will do so. Of course, then he will ask for one. ;-) He is constantly hungry (something I'm definitely bringing up to the pediatrician next visit/call).

Sometimes he does hug our dog, Cato, and tries to play with him. Cato is just so nonchalant and lazy that he doesn't do much so Cam just ignores him most of the time.

That's about it for updates on the little man. He's always on the move and wanting to play and interact with us, which is so much fun (and exhausting sometimes). 

When it rains, it pours .. and blizzards .. and floods .. and sleets ..

Lately I've been feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. I'm so tired.

As I mentioned in the last post, our water heater took a hike. I still remember hearing the sound of the garbage men loading it onto the truck from the hot, steaming shower I was taking (and had been deprived of for so long, apparently). 

As I was driving Brad's truck home today it decided to give me an error message it's never done before. "Check charging system." Remember the red ring of death (X-Box reference)? Yup, this is your car's version of that. Okay, maybe I'm being overly dramatic, but it still means that the guy at Auto Zone said we need a new alternator and my dad wants us to stop driving it ASAP.  

Fun Fact of the Day: We just paid thousands to have the transmission rebuilt, too.

Some days I feel like I'm barely surviving. You know when you buy a new house and things are pretty much all in working order? (I mean, you had an inspection and made them fix it, right?!) Then stuff breaks or wears out. You don't have time to re-stain the fence. Or the money to tune up the furnace. Or pull that tree the storm took out. Or remember to get your oil change you don't have time to wait on. The "To Do" list continues to grow exponentially. It just all happens at once. 

I barely have two weeks left of school and I seem to be working a ton, Brad just had surgery today, Cam is sick and running a fever (so day care won't take him), and I've hardly touched my study material. It all happens at once. 

I feel like I'm barely surviving and not because I'm not trying, but because I feel like I've taken on too much. Sometimes I think it's because I expect too much of myself. I want to be with Camden all the time. I need to study every hour of the day I'm not working. I feel such guilt whenever I want to spend an hour or two cuddling my baby watching a movie instead of studying; but then I feel guilty studying and not being with him. I have guilt because I'm so exhausted at the end of the day I'd rather throw my contacts away than put them in a contact case and I'm too lazy to take my bra off. (Under-wire's hurt, guys.) Then again, I have guilt for sleeping only 4 hours a night and not respecting myself enough to get adequate sleep; or nutrition; or water. 

This isn't the way I wanted to lose weight.

I do thank God for my health and family. I know that just about everything I am stressed about, I brought upon myself. I didn't purposely break the water heater or Brad's truck, but I did choose this career path. I can't choose what happens to me next in life, but I can certainly choose how I react to it.  

I need to learn to live in the now. I can't dwell on the bad test grade I got; only learn from it and move on. What would it change if I got upset and moped over a bad grade, horrible clinical instructor, didactic professor that ignores my emails, and coworkers that insult me? Nothing. That's exactly what it would change. So that's exactly what it should mean to me.

Nothing that happens to you is worth your life. Make your life matter. Make it better.

Instagram Summary

The past few weeks has been a whirlwind of craziness, stress, changes, home repairs, work insanity, and lots of excitement about the upcoming holidays (not so much about the weather). Here is a look at my iPhone pics and Instagram (Indymamma) photos that I love.

1. Wish list item: Matrix Exquisite hair oil to tame this mess without having to pull it back in a ponytail ALL.THE.TIME.

2. Papaw came to visit (and fix the water heater that was leaking). Camden had TONS of fun with him!

3. Water heater broke out of the blue (or we just realized it) and was leaking underneath the wood laminate floors. We dried them out and replaced but will tile before the end of the year. (Gotta find some money and motivation.) We also unfortunately found existing, old white tile underneath. Who does that?!

4. My baby loves to go to Target!

5. So this Pinterest felt tree idea has taken off and Target has noticed. I made one last year out of leftover felt and bought a giant piece of green for the tree. I still think (read: hope) I spent less than $10. Regardless, it's a great deal.

6. Who knew they had FREE KIDS COOKIE SAMPLES at Target? I mean, I feel like I was depriving my child.

7. The toddler bed transition is going well. Hah. (He actually does really well, but he woke up early and climbed up here but fell asleep.)

8. Wish list item: EOS lip balm. Gotta try it. It's all the rage, apparently. Even my 75-year-old patient the other day had some. If that doesn't make one feel old (and behind the times), nothing will.

9. First snow of the season. Camden and all his school friends were raving about it that day. He loved to play in it, but sadly it was melted by the time he got home.

A ghost says BOOOO

Halloween night this year was "rained out" and postponed due to strong winds and heavy rain. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go trick-or-treating with Camden this year because of that. I worked really hard to be available from clinical and work on Halloween night, but was scheduled to work the next day. Thus my disappointment in the postponed trick-or-treating.

Several local mascots came to visit the kiddo's on Halloween!

On Halloween I had my pediatric clinical and someone coordinated about 8 mascots to come visit the sick kids in the hospital that day. Some students in the past have gotten to meet Peyton Manning (which would also be SO awesome, hint hint).

Around Halloween a local senior community hosts an indoor Halloween trick-or-treating event. The residents can sit in their doorway and the kids run up and down the halls trick-or-treating. They also sit in the dining area and serve cookies, fruit punch, snacks, and more. I am not sure if they had it this year, but last year they had a craft station and arts area where kids could make a drawing, too. 

Camden had a lot of fun. (Even if it did take him the entire hour and a half we were there to trick or treat on his own.) He was a little scared to go near the strangers at first but when he saw they had candy and other goodies he started warming up.

On Halloween night (the postponed version .. bah humbug) Brad took Camden out to trick-or-treat. I think that he did better there because it was in our neighborhood he's familiar with and he knew some other people. He likes doing whatever the big kids are doing.

I guess he caught on quickly and went house-to-house saying "Trick or Treat" and greeting our trick-or-treater's later in the night with a "Happy Ha-ween!"  He absolutely loved dressing up as Mickey Mouse and totally understood the costume idea. He liked all the pretty princesses in sparkly dresses and also saw a spider girl!

Mom and dad like the raiding the candy bucket at the end of the night part. ;)

The rest of the year should be fairly low-key since I'm on call at work for Thanksgiving and Christmas is always at home. I can't wait until I get an entire month off of school in December! We haven't had a break since spring break in March. 

Literally nonstop. 

I'm thinking a mini-vacation is in order. Maybe for spring break? Yes, please!

Fam updates

Summer has officially come to an end. 

It ended on a difficult note. Brad ended up in the ER one day for what turned out to be a 2-foot-long blood clot. Yes, you read that right. I freaked out and the ER doc put him on a strong anticoagulant medicine. He unfortunately wasn't allowed to finish out his baseball season; his last baseball season (so he says). 

And they won the championship...

After a few weeks I finally convinced him to see a vein specialist. He told Brad that the ER doc was overreacting and that it's not a big deal. (NOT A BIG DEAL?) He has to wear compression stockings ..

(moment to laugh at that, since I work in Orthopedics)

.. for about 6 weeks and then can have surgery on the affected vein. Between Camden's broken leg, ENT appointments, my gall bladder surgery, and this, we've definitely met our deductible so I'm glad it's being taken care of this year at least.

As for school, I'm finishing up a rough and busy semester on Friday. One. More. Final. Then I am going to do nothing but relax and enjoy the fall weather and my family this weekend. My next courses do not open up until Monday so I can't even print things or see what the next 8 weeks look like so I don't want to know. ;-)

I'm excited to go from two clinicals a week to one, but I am also starting part-time at work (mainly for benefits) so I will be even more busy than before. I wanted to get used to working more as well as get the benefits my hospital provides since they are way better and affordable than my husband's. If we do the premium plans for all (medical, dental, and vision) plans with my company, it's less than the cheapest and highest deductible plan with Brad's. I consider that a HUGE advantage!

Also, I found a GREAT baked french toast recipe that is easy, quick, and uses regular sandwich bread! YEAH!

Tuttle Orchards

With the end of summer (and baseball season), comes fall.

Fall means delicious apples, homemade apple sauce, beautiful fall leaves, pumpkins galore, and lots of yummy not-so-good-for-you treats. :)

We decided to visit Tuttle Orchards last weekend after I learned about them from a friend. They provide everything you need to pick the apples and even have tons of red wagons which the kids end up riding in by the end of the trip.

They even had a huge play area with two mazes, a red tractor, a few play sets, swings, and more. Camden loved that area and when we left kept asking to go back to the "apple trees" over and over again. If I have ever been to an apple orchard, I don't remember but this seems like a great place to go every year!

Camden loved to play with the corn hole set as well!

They had two barns of delicious goodies and treats. We all split an ear of corn and a caramel apple. Brad wanted a cold apple cider (YUCK!) and I wanted a hot one so we each got that. I wanted to try the slushy, but we saved that for next year. They also had a neat little honey bee hive case you could see the bees. Cam really loved that!

 So far, fall at home has been wonderful and our little man is growing up so fast! *tear*

If you are as excited and ready for fall as I am, I highly suggest visiting Tuttle's for apples and in October they open the pumpkin fields! We usually always go to a certain farm for our pumpkins, which we still love, but this place just had much more to offer and is slightly closer. It's so hard to break tradition, but Camden loved this place!