For the love of photography!

I attended another photography course over the weekend. When I attended my first, I don’t believe I was in the right head space. The way the technical terms were explained went over my head all too quickly and before I knew it we were outside attempting to use our new found skills snapping away using a model.

The weekend’s course saw me take a better understanding of aperture, the ISO and shutter speed. All aspects which I knew had to be considered but I became lazy after Rob bought me a fixed 50mm lens and all I would change was the aperture. I would snap away with a low f number as I knew that would create a blurred background and hope for the best with the lighting.

I now know a low f number gives me a greater depth of field. The ISO can stay on 200 at all times if I am shooting outdoors and when I am inside a 1600 ISO suits. The shutter speed if I want to create movement perhaps shooting a flowing river bed I would use a slow speed. The little line on my DSLR screen will show me once the shutter speed and aperture are in perfect harmony creating the perfect photo quality wise.

I was in photography heaven on Sunday morning using my new found skills snapping away at Dakota, Sophie and Rob whilst we soaked up more sunshine on the back deck. The photos aren’t the best if we look at posing etc but in my eyes the quality is FABULOUS.

I am disappointed in myself for not taking this more seriously previously as I have LOVED setting Sophie up for mini photo shoots, but then I thought I can just re-create some of the recent shoots and then I have something to compare my new shots to. If they come out even a little bit better I will be one happy, photography loving gal.

What I love now is that I can look at a photo and analyse it, I could easily have a go at guessing what shutter speed and aperture the photographer was using.

That my friend is something I am proud of.

I have never been a studier, heck I left high school at the end of year 11 and never ventured to uni, only completed my Cert III in Business which was all too easy for me. I think I have found something that I will enjoy learning.

These are some of the shots I took on Sunday, as I say I was just playing around with the settings so the positioning and angles aren’t ideal but I am happy with the light and the effect I have managed to capture and there is definitely room for improvement …

Simple Things ...

We have been renovating for so long that we certainly don’t utilise our home to its full potential.

The backyard has been complete for almost a year and during these 10+ months we have hardly used it. Part of our outdoor lounge sits on the back deck and we have an old outdoor setting here. The outdoor table is covered in things for Rob’s work as he sometimes works here instead of in his shed and the lounge, well Dakota sought refuge here too many times to count and it was covered in fur.

I took to the back deck on Friday, moved the table around to create more space, moved Rob’s work things to only cover half of the table and proceeded to vacuum the lounge.

Saturday afternoon then saw Sophie and I relaxing on the lounge enjoying the winter sunshine before she was due for her bath. Mama had a red wine in hand and Sophie and Dakota bonded with Dakota’s mouth and chunks of fur being grabbed and Sophie receiving a few too many kisses.

It is these moments that make me stop and realise how amazing my life is. Enjoying the view of our garden that we worked so hard to create, spending time with Sophie without the interruption of my phone, the TV or the laptop to sit behind.

I often catch myself smiling on the inside when we venture out for a walk and get to enjoy the view of the river so close to our home ... looking down at my wrist and spotting the $10 bracelet that I bought from Seed which I am so in love with as it compliments my bargain online $60 Esprit watch (25th bday pressie from the hubster) ... opening the freezer door and admiring the oodles of sandwich bags containing yummy meals I have created for Sophie and portions of flavoured butter and red curry paste that I have whipped up in my Thermomix ... picking fresh herbs from my new garden.

It really is the simple things for me.

I count my blessings each and every day spending time with my little family.

Too Soon

I really need to get my butt into gear.

It is already August which means only three months until I have to return to work … THREE months. I am so not ready for this.

Three months to determine if my boss will take me back part-time … three months to start the day care search … three months to choose said day care and start Sophie’s orientation … three months to freak out about leaving Sophie with complete strangers … three months to be OK with leaving Sophie with complete strangers … three months to feel completely comfortable with leaving Sophie with complete strangers.

I told you I am so not ready for this.

I had hoped that my new venture with Thermomix would take off with a sprint but it seems a slow walk is still occurring.

Commission work is hard work.

I have been off work for nine months, to say that it has flown by would be a drastic understatement.

Nine months of becoming a whole new person, taking on a new role … the biggest role that I will ever take on in my entire life, learning new things each and every day, making mistakes, feeling new, both scary and exciting feelings.

What a rollercoaster of events I have endured these past nine months.

So many people told me that the first year of Sophie’s life would fly by, I never thought they meant it would fly by this fast. I have loved every moment I have had with her over these past 7.5 months. I definitely am not feeling the urge to head back to work for adult interaction. The days leading up to my return to work will be treasured forever.

Sunday Fun

I had a demo booked for Sunday but unfortunately the host came down with gastro and it was cancelled, it was actually a blessing in disguise.

I have had a super tiring week. Waking up each morning feeling as though I haven’t slept a wink; Sophie is still sleeping through, the odd night throwing one wake up our way, I even managed two 7am sleep ins but the headache that came with my tired feeling, oh the headache, hit by a truck kinda headache knocked me for six.

So I woke up yesterday morning and proceeded to lift my heavy head from the pillow wanting to enjoy the amazing sunshine Perth has been delivering lately, wanting to spend the day with my little family doing things we love.

Doing things we love is exactly what we did.

We ventured into Guildford, a gorgeous suburb only 10 minutes from where we live with my sister and her hubby in tow. Guildford has a strip of antique stores selling amazing furniture pieces and too many items that I proceed to drool over.

We had lunch and a well needed coffee and then the browsing began. I think I heard Rob say ‘I could make that’ around 10 times. Well come on then baby, make me some gorgeous furniture.

We visited the nursery and I fell in love with the owner. We were searching for a pot to plant all of my herbs in and she is now on a personal hunt for me. She even offered us a tea or coffee while we perused her collection, super sweet.

I now want to grow blueberries, expensive plant but so pretty and who wouldn’t love to be able to pick their own blueberries.

We returned home and got started on the gardening that we have wanted to get stuck into for too long. We had ripped out one of our garden beds some months ago as all of the flax were looking drab and were all dying on us; we had let it accrue too many weeds and finally dressed it up again. One strip of garden bed contains irises and they were TAKING OVER the garden. OK not quite but they had grown ridiculously big and were covering half of the path that leads to our front door. We dug each one out and split it into two, re-planted them and took the remaining half to our weed infested garden bed around the corner and voila … a brand new and beautiful garden bed now adorns our garden entrance.

Our two girls were our partners in crime and as a family we enjoyed the sunshine, making our home even prettier and plenty of laughs.

Taking time to notice the small things

Improvising with a new watering device

Before ... TOO BIG

Before ... AWESOME DIRT

Couldnt walk along here without getting knocked as I took each step

Loving the fertiliser that we used

After ... Aahhh thats better. Still a decent size but much neater

Sooo pretty

How did you spend your Sunday?

I hope it was as fabulous as mine.

One lucky lady

Watching Sophie each and every day fills me with so many emotions. I have been watching her over the past few weeks take a leap into a new stage, a new stage of wanting everything that isn’t a toy, a new stage of making completely different sounds … this week being ‘ducka’ which this morning we interpreted as Docker, clearly already barracking for the correct footy team.

I love sitting her on her play mat for her to interact with her toys and I will leave her on her own for a bit, when I return I stand ever so quietly behind her without her realising and these are some of the funniest and proudest moments I experience. She has learnt that when she tugs at her mat, toys that are out of reach suddenly become closer for her to take hold of. She is extremely cheeky, she will begin to whinge, she turns her little head to see if either Rob or I are there, realises we’re not so continues to play.

I have laughed each time I have witnessed this.

Today brought with it a new experience. Swimming.

Sophie looked more beautiful than ever today, she didn’t have a morning nap as Uncle Gav was visiting but being the trooper that she is, she was soldiering on. We waited our turn and then entered the pool.

The half an hour flew by, we sang songs, glided through the water and jumped up and down.

Rob was there to watch. One of the many reasons why I love that he works from home.

Watching her face as water was splashed over her, as we sang new songs she hadn’t heard before was the most amazing experience. I had tears in my eyes whilst I was in the water with her. I was not only witnessing her experience swimming for the first time, I was experiencing it with her.

She would look over at the other babies and start giggling as if to say ‘how much fun is this?!’

My love grows for her more and more each day and I honestly didn’t think that was possible. Could it be that for the past seven months my entire journey as a mother so far has been so surreal I thought I was going to wake up from the best dream ever and it would all be over?

I am on one incredible ride and have the most beautiful cherub to thank for that.

Beating the Winter Blues ...

I am linking up with Fi from My Mummy Daze today for Windows of Happiness.

My window of happiness was Friday last week. My sister and her family live in Karratha and have been down in Perth visiting for the past week, staying with my parents. My brother and his family live down south and they too were in Perth visiting. My SIL and two nephews were heading back down south and were dropping into my parents to say goodbye so Sophie and I were going to visit.

I have been feeling tired lately, OK I have been feeling exhausted. Sophie hasn’t been sleeping the best and had decided 5am wake ups were a wondrous treat for her Mama along with several wake ups in the middle of the night. I started to prepare breakfast for Rob and I when I decided that I needed to change my attitude, yes I am tired, but I can easily change my way of thinking, the days are too precious to sit around and mope about how tired I am. I proceeded to make poached eggs on toast with mushrooms and fetta … YUM! The eggs gave me the perfect pick me up so I got Sophie and myself ready and decided to walk to my parents’ house.

It is only 2.8kms and it is a beautiful walk, I get to cross over the river and enjoy the beautiful winter sun that Perth is having lately.

My family is very laid back, there are no rules when we are at the family home, we all hang out and just have fun.

Friday morning saw my nephew racing my sister around the block and winning, 3 of the family doggies all playing together, coffee being made, my nephew opening up to me about being bullied by his older brother and his friend one day, plenty of cuddles for Sophie, high fives from my beautiful littlest nephew Cooper each time he said bubble and then another 2.8km walk home.

It is the simple things that make me the happiest … spending time with family and soaking up some rays.

Bad habits !

How Rob made it to 30 without me in his life I still wonder.

Yesterday morning as he made his way to the study to start his day, I proceeded to walk around the house clearing his trail of destruction.

Fry pan after making eggs for breakfast just left on the bench.

Because recycling should be left on the kitchen window sill.

Random tablets.

Empty strepsils box ... empty vitamin bottle ... wallet ... I could go on !

Because one plate for breakfast just isnt enough.

Golf clubs have been here since Sunday, he is playing again on Sat, I know they wont move until he leaves for that game. Sophie's empty vaporiser box ... again recyclying ... bin is OUTSIDE babe !

My pet hate (pardon the pun) ... he leaves this out EVERY night (well every night that the dog is let in), I hate walking into the lounge and seeing it there, it should be put behind the couch.

He had a relatively neat and tidy apartment when I met him ... what have I done for him to have lapsed with these skills? DId I take over too much too soon?!

My constant nagging doesn't seem to get anywhere, i'm hoping this blog post will!

Babe ... ARE YOU LISTENING?