Reflections for a New Year

Me & C, a couple of pirates

Being a teacher, I love the smell of sharpened pencils and the excitement in the air as September approaches.  It's a natural time for making new resolutions.  I am a big believer in do-overs or as golfers call them, mulligans.  Which is why I love New Year's Eve.  For me, it's a count down to my mulligan, a new year with no mistakes in it.
I had an interesting conversation on this subject today.  I was asking a friend about her new year's resolutions.  She didn't have any ideas so I offered, "Well, what is going to be different about 2012?"  To which she replied, "I don't know.  I have no control over that.  What will be will be."  We changed the subject.
Last year, Chris and I inadvertently started a new New Year's Eve tradition.  We were sitting around in our living room with some good friends and as we approached mid-night, I decided that, minus fireworks, we needed to come up with some kind of significant rite of passage for the old year.  I gathered paper, pencils and a few other supplies and we all wrote the things we wanted to leave behind in 2010, things we did not want to carry with us into 2011.  Then, we took those slips of paper, put them in a bowl and lit them on fire (my favorite part).  Fortunately, our friend Michael thought to have us put a pan under the bowl so our rug remained intact.  It's hard to describe how I felt watching our papers burn.  Maybe hope is the best word.  The fire was both destructive and purifying and left us to enter into the new year unencumbered by the past.
There are so many cliché sayings that we toss around about change, perhaps without really believing them.

Here's what I believe:

*you can start over (no matter how old you are)
*you can learn or be whoever you choose to be--as long as you're willing to work hard
*attitude is everything--pretending helps too
*even if you'd like to change something about yourself, you are wonderful the way you are right this minute
*a good imagination helps in almost any situation--work to protect and develop yours (huge!)
*you choose your response to life so your life is what you have chosen for yourself--own it, change it but don't waste (too much) time complaining about it
*though the people in your life contribute to your happiness, they are not responsible for it.  Know yourself and what you need.  Then, do it.  Be happy.  Today.

If that came off as a speech, it is.  From me to me.  I do not agree with my friend.  I think we control a lot more than we think.  Which is why 2012 is going to be a great year for me.  I know it is.
My big resolution?  I'm going to start writing a book.  More on that later and it will certainly impact my blogging but really, why not?

Goodbye 2011!  
And to all of you--see you in 2012!

G is for, "More love in 2012!"

A Pirate's Life For Us!

Today was Sophie's last day as a five year old.  Normally, I do not get sad or very nostalgic about the girls getting older.  This time though, I am feeling a little tug at my heart.  Six still seems like too many fingers for Sophie.  Rather than shed tears, I decided we needed to say goodbye to five in style.
Here is the list of the things we did today, you can decide if we were successful:  took an hour and a half walk on the walkways along the wetlands and saw an alligator, among other things, visited a sea turtle hospital and rescue center, read stories with Grandpa and Daddy, watched a crazy pirate hold and swallow fire (and make disgusting comments about bodily functions), rode on a pirate ship where we (or the more brave among us) fought with swords and pistols, marched in a parade, danced, were tattooed, mustached and uni-browed, spotted dolphins, found treasure and became true pirates.  After all of that, we ate seafood, came home and collapsed.  It's a good thing we typically spend a quiet New Year's Eve at home!

Here, just a few of the many pics of our pirate ship adventure:

The birthday girl in a very special birthday hat

 scaliwag doing a bit of swabbing

 Dos dolphins!

Madeleine's tat

me and C, still the cutest couple around

I have pictures to tell the story of the whole fun day but they take so long to upload that it will have to wait.  I need my beauty rest before we get up before the crack of dawn to watch the sun rise for last time in 2011....

ARGH Mates!

My last post coming very soon.....or not at all.

First Glimpses of South Padre

Well, my first impression of this new-to-us place is a definite thumbs up.  The beach is pretty and expansive with plenty of room to run and play.  Off season, it is neither crowded nor deserted.  Perfect really.  There's a bar with a huge deck right on the beach and close to our access path.  We will be checking that out some afternoon.
Our condo is within walking distance to almost everything we need--the big exception being the grocery store.  Today, Madeleine and I walked to several different places in honor of her birthday--more on that later--and late this afternoon, we all walked the short distance to a kind of nature preserve/wetlands with pretty walkways in every direction.  We watched a beautiful sunset and saw many of God's creatures.  I look forward to repeating that activity several more times while we're here.  I'm sad my mom isn't here to share it.  She would love it (and be able to tell me the names of all of the birds and things we saw).
All-in-all, South Padre is number one on my list of our Gulf beach get-aways.  I hope the rest of the week confirms that rather hasty ruling.

I am having a wonderful time taking pictures here.  So much scope for the photographic imagination...
A few of them:

These people were holding paddles standing on what looked like surf boards

first time in

Farkle Frenzy for four

Grace asked me to take her across to the sound side.

We found a parrot...

....and a hammock

Mia used to love water towers...

now, she's almost as tall as one :)

critter with a purpose

handsome critter bird and sky watching

Love this one...

New goal: to take one where the birds fill the whole frame.

One last glimpse

This may give you a good idea of the temp of the water in the pool.  

I took the photo from our back porch.  I suspect the hot tub will be very popular all visit.

Off to eat cake!  See you back here next time for the next to last post of the year!

Christmas Story

 How fast time flies!  I can't seem to stop saying that.  The weeks before Christmas passed in a blur.  I felt a lot of nostalgia and wishing for home and we thought about going to Virginia but the three days in the car there and back decided it for us.  So we made plans for another Christmas at Casa Doyle, a very happy place really.
I got two pieces of very bad news mid-December.  First, I found out that my godfather, who has been suffering with cancer for about three years, has six months--no four--or less--to live.  Then, my friend Linda's dear son was diagnosed with leukemia.  Both things put my own home-sickness in perspective and mobilized me to work on behalf of others.  There is no better cure for what ails ya.
Christmas day dawned rainy.  I am truly weary of living in Texas where, for months on end we worry about drought and then, when rain finally comes, it ruins quite a few fun holiday plans.  Of course, Christmas morning, we like nothing better than to be in pjs around the fire and there we were.  The four littler girls got cotton-candy pink pj and robe sets from the Christmas elf Christmas Eve so they were well dressed for their mother, the perpetual photographer.
Our Christmas morning typically progresses like this:  the girls wait at the top of the stairs until we are ready--with coffee, fire, camera etc.  The coffee is probably the most important for me and Chris who are always tired from the late night before.  This year, we all watched It's a Wonderful Life until 11PM.  I love that movie.  Good ole' George Bailey!  Afterward, Chris and I stayed up past midnight having a private celebration and doing other secret things, the result being that we all slept until 8:30 or so.  That would have been unheard of at 2503 Lisbon Lane.  "When I was little, Christmas morning started at 5:30 AM!!"--not quite, but close.
Anyway, our first activity Christmas morning is stocking opening.  That is the girls' opportunity to tear it up and go crazy.  After that, we take turns opening gifts.  This year, it was tame.  We had a lot of small gifts, nothing too big.  I got a few things I like a lot.  Madeleine gave me the book by the Tiger Mom.  Great so far, I've read about 120 pages.  Chris gave me Hugh Laurie's CD--very good--a bead for my bracelet and some very handy wipes for my computer, camera lenses etc. among other things.  This has already been the year of big purchases and I know I am very spoiled.
We were late to Christmas dinner as always.  We've been going to the Japanese Steakhouse for dinner for a few years now.  Why?  First, I make a big dinner Christmas Eve.  Second, we have three birthdays to celebrate the week after Christmas that require a lot of work, cooking and baking and third, it's great fun for now.  If and when we ever live near family where a big group of us contributes to the dinner, we will go back to that.  For now, this is fun, different and the girls love it.  Ella was very concerned about the fire though.  And we had a rather grumpy employee again.  I always feel a bit guilty that the employees of the restaurant have to work Christmas day but they do a booming business.  I'm sure they love that part of it.  For the past two years though, we've had some grumpy people helping us.  The coolest thing this year was that I ran into my Jehovah's Witness friend Hagar.  I've known her for a couple of years now.  She comes to our house with one or another of her friends and we talk about the Bible for an hour or so--her trying to convert me I suppose, me teaching her about the Catholic perspective.  I like her a lot.  It was funny that we ended up at the same place Christmas day because she does not celebrate Christmas--because celebrating Christmas is not in the Bible.  As for me, I have only been to the Japanese Steakhouse on Christmas Day.  Strange, no?

Tonight, I am residing at South Padre Island.  We arrived today and will be here over a week.  In fact, we will spend the rest of 2011 right here.  Chris negotiated a great last-minute deal (which is how we land most trips like this) and here we are in a very nice two bedroom condo, a six minute walk from the beach.

I'll have more than enough material for my three posts before 2012!  Stay tuned.

Mia's sweet gifts to her sisters

 Opening the bead the girls helped picked out--an angel

 Sophie and Ella kept escaping to their room to play with their gifts.

We felt like we were imposing on them to make them open more.

 Ella, anxious at the Japanese Steakhouse

 because of the FIRE

cool as cucumbers--Grandpa D and Gigi

AND...

first pic at the beach, South Padre by night.

Tomorrow:  Madeleine turns 17!  Not possible.  I swear.  Feels like yesterday....

Our Top Ten of Navidad 2011

"I miss today already" was my god daughter Maggie's post on facebook not long ago.  I echo the sentiment.  Today was a red letter one.  Any day that you spend in pjs till dinner time has to be.  And here it is in pictures.  We chose our ten favorite photos but may post more later for posterity...

 Santa was here

A puppy for E to the L to the A

 Lots of fun waiting to burst on the Christmas scene!

Here they come!

Thanks Aunt Tara!  I know you get my inner monster!

 Putting Ella's 3-D blanket to the test

 Three cheers for Paka!  We love you!

 Opening their big gifts--mini American Girl dolls

 I want one!

 My #1 favorite photo of the day--bollazo

at the Japanese Steakhouse for Christmas dinner

 Adios till next time!  Four more posts till 2012!  It's in the bag.

Christmas Eve at Casa Doyle

Seven Happy Hobbits say MERRY CHRISTMAS!*

God Bless Us Every One!

A savior has been born to us!  Come, let us fix our gaze on the crib and adore Him!  Even as we are children of sin and error, living in malice and anger, captive to our own self-will, let us become renovated and redeemed by the mercy of the infant who delivers us from the powers of darkness unto the salvation of His great love.  O God and infant, save us!  Shepherd us safely home!

from Advent and Christmas with Fulton J. Sheen 

* photo taken using a Gorilla tripod and a remote.  I bought both before Thanksgiving and am still getting the hang of using them.  I would say they are both worth the investment.

The One You've Been Waiting For If Your Name Starts With J

So, about a month ago, I spent the better part of a weekend at Nikon school.  I promised to write about the highlights.  As I thought about what to say though, I realized I might inadvertently reveal a lot of ignorance about the topic of photography as I listed the new things I learned.  Quite honestly, much of it could be gleaned from a thorough reading of the owner's manual.  The problem with that for me is 1) I'm a visual learner and 2) when I read an owner's manual, I don't know what to pay attention to.  The wonderful thing about a seminar is that the experts give you the highlights.  They give insider tips of the trade and good advice.  For me, it is invaluable.
I have a few things learned to share but first, a few more general observations:

#1  Cameras and even cell phones with cameras have come so far that smaller, more simple cameras take excellent pictures for photographers who want to stay on automatic mode.  I can honestly say that the only reason I deal with the weight and bulk of my camera is that I understand the basics about taking good pictures manually.  If you want to stay on auto and engage in hassle-free photography, stick with smaller, light-weight cameras (so say the experts).

#2  Of course--photography is an art form that absolutely can be learned.  Digital cameras are like little computers that we carry around and either allow complete control over the photos we take (auto) or tell very specifically what to do (manual modes).  Anyone can learn how to use a camera, it's simply a matter of wanting to learn and taking the time to do it.  The same is true of technique, angles etc.  I look at photos all the time to get ideas for composition.  Not that I am taking photos for a living but I am the sole photographer for my family which means my photos are literally making history for our girls, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren.....important stuff.  Which is why I believe that anyone who wants to take great pictures of the ones he/ she loves should learn a bit about photography.  Yes, you can get decent photos with a point-and-shoot or even a phone but you cannot get great photos that way.  Or rarely at least.  The better equipment is worth the bucks and will probably inspire you to be worthy of it.

About my rig:  I have a Nikon D7000.  I upgraded from the Nikon D5000 this year and it was noticeably worth it.  Huge difference.  I attended Nikon school to learn how to wield my new gear and was not disappointed.  The teachers were engaging and I learned a lot.

A few nuggets:

*Optimal ISO is generally the lowest one available.  As a rule of thumb, I use 400 in bright light but my camera goes down to 100.  On the other end, I use 1600 for low light but recently shot a batch of nighttime outdoor photos on 3200.  There was very little light but the subjects were still and the photos turned out great.  In low light, if your subjects are not still, use the flash!

*White balance settings.  If you have a Nikon, this is under the camera icon and can make a huge difference in indoor photography.  If you take a test photo and find the image off-color, go to the white balance settings and adjust for incandescent, fluorescent, shade or whatever.  The catch...

*If you save your photos as RAW files instead of JPEGS, you can adjust white balance later.  Chances are, you're saving your photos as JPEGS because that is the easiest way to export them to blogs, facebook etc.  If you change to saving them as RAW files, you will have to convert them to JPEGS later but your photo will be much more malleable.  After the class, I started saving my files as JPEG FINE rather than just regular but I don't want the hassle of RAW files right now because that adds too much to my work flow.

*Speaking of which--one thing that came up in the class is the fact that even though digital photography has been wonderful in the sense that we can see our photos immediately, take oodles of them etc., it has doubled our work flow.  Literally HALF of digital photography is taking the photo from the camera to the photo library to the print or whatever end we want for it.  The guys had some suggestions about organizing photos.  First, name them with the date--year, month, day.  That way all the photos from one year are easy to access.  Next, if you are taking photos every day, you should be organizing and editing daily.  Once you have a system, it shouldn't take longer than about a half hour.  I admit--this is my downfall and I have a New Year's resolution around it.

* When you delete your photos, reformat your card.  It's under your tool icon (looks like a wrench).  If you just delete them, traces of the images are left on your card.  Not good for the card in the long run.

*Find some good editing software.  Very important.  I'm just using iPhoto for now.  It's basic but my goal with my photos is to take them the way I want to show them.  I'm not a big fan of doctored photos.  Of course, doctoring is great while you're learning to take photos ready to use as is!

*Basic Rule:  Get Closer (to your subject)!

*Pay attention to your background.  Look around you--is there something interesting that will add that special something to the photo?  Get it in there!

*Finally--LIGHT.  Where is it?  I asked a question in the class about getting good birthday photos.  I always get blur if I shoot without the flash but the flash ruins the photo of the cake, candles etc.  Their answer?  It's difficult (which made me feel a bit better).  You have to get the subject to hold still for 60 seconds and then your best bet is to bounce a flash off the ceiling or wall.  I haven't bought a detachable flash yet but definitely will.

So that's it.  I hope that was helpful to someone out there :)

I'll leave you with a couple of quotes by a famous photographer (and human being):

"We photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished, there is no contrivance on earth can make them come back again."


" In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject.  The little human detail can become a leitmotiv."  

Henri Cartier-Bresson

O Christmas Tree Again

Here are the promised photos to go with my last post.  I tried to whittle the list but alas I like them all and as I may have mentioned before, photos that don't make it onto the blog go into photo oblivion never to be seen again.  So, please bear with me as I deluge you once again....  :)

 lying in wait while Mommy hangs lights

 One of our traditions--every year, each of the girls gets a new ornament for her collection.  The idea is that they will take these with them when they have their own homes--and trees--some day.

 Ella opens first

On the back: God keeps His promises!

 Mia and Grace got "roommate" ornaments--Grace's has two frogs and Mia's two monkeys

Madeleine got a castle with her name on it to remind her of this year's trip to DW with her Aunt Tara and family and Sophie got a fairy costume ornament with her name and the year.

 I don't normally get Chris an ornament but this one found me....

On the box, I wrote "Teamwork in 2012" and 

"I guess I'm Buzz since I have a Spanish mode" (a little Toy Story 3 humor :)

He liked that.

 I also bought myself an ornament.  (It was a red-letter year!)

Did anyone else have this house?  I can't tell you how many hours I played with it growing up.  My parents still have it.  The ornament house actually opens like the real one and the doorbell works.  

Love it :)

 Spying spots

There are 800 lights on the tree.  A record and quite painful to the light hanger.

One of the Mophus' all-time favorite ornaments

 Ella's favorite branch of the year :)

 Angel problems

Better 

I posted this pic on facebook and my Aunt Laura wrote that the branches sticking out at the top make it look like an angel.  I like that.  An angel tree.  And an angel underneath!

 Here she is again.  Grace has spent a lot of time already lying on the floor looking at all the ornaments.

So dear.

 This little tree came out of the box on Sunday as well.  It is one of my favorite decorations.  The feathers are so fun.  It's pretty delicate though so I fear it will not be with us long.

Grace and Sophie set up the snowmen by themselves.  They were so proud.

 Grace wants to know--which one is NOT a snowman?  Hard to tell, no?

Sophie and Grace decided the snowmen should be holding hands and whispering.  

I wish we had two more.

Santa Claus is coming to town!  The countdown is on!