52 Week Photography Challenge: Week 3 - Red

Artistic:  Red
Shoot whatever inspires you. Red should be the focus of the image. Don't be afraid to be creative.

This week FLEW by and that found me getting ready for Carus's show Friday evening realizing I hadn't photographed a thing all week with my big camera - and definitely not focusing on the prompt of the week of "Red". 

But that's okay - Dusty's colors for the show were red and Carus had a red snood in her hair and hey lucky us the arena is red too. All my prompt photos were taken at 2017 Shaggy Days horse show in McMinnville at the Yamhill County Fairgrounds.

Carus studying her pattern.  Her hat had the plastic cover to keep it dry and clean. 

We're becoming very organized for horse shows tack, outfits, and supplies wise.  This and knowing more of what to expect alleviates a lot of stress and anxiety.

This was Dusty's first show and we were worried about how she would do. Dusty is an emotional/nervous/busy body type horse and she does pick up Carus's anxiety and nerves easily.

Dusty was nervous and looked around a lot, didn't like putting her back to the stands and all the people in the stands, wasn't too sure about the loud speaker or all the horses, but she still did well.  

And Carus did amazing and kept her cool when Dusty was not keeping her cool.  We put the red ribbon in her tail as it's the horse show symbol for "this horse kicks".  Dusty hasn't ever offered to kick but we figured it would help keep some people from riding or walking too close and creating more anxiety for an already anxious horse. 

Showmanship was first and while their pattern wasn't perfect, Carus didn't forget any of the steps and Dusty didn't run the judge over so all in all we're happy. 

Green Horse Showmanship - Sixth place 

Western Equitation Green Horse Walk/Trot - 4th place 

For her riding classes, again Carus did very well keeping her cool and working with Dusty who was nervous and a little spooky about the new place.  

Western Pleasure Green Horse Walk/Trot - 5th place 

This was in the morning before we left for the show.  I had banded Dusty's mane in an attempt to get it laying down nice and neat for the show. It did not stay over night.  We ended up removing the bands and just leaving her mane in all it's appaloosa glory. 

More information about the Dogwood Photography 52 Week Photography Challenge can be found here.

#dogwood52, #dogwood2017, and #dogwoodweek3

52 Week Photography Challenge: Week 2 - Landscape

Landscape:  Traditional Landscape

Shoot a beautiful landscape and share it with the world.  Find a nice foreground and don't forget the sky.

Phone photo of the view from the front window.

There were so many landscapes that I wanted to go out and get while we had our snowpocalypse but was mostly stuck at home.  The roads were not safe to drive and while we could have done okay with my all wheel drive car and Robert's truck, we didn't have to risk it, so we didn't.

Instagram photo of Chewie looking and the view.

It snowed, then the clouds left and it got really cold. With the sun out during the day though, the snow on the streets melted enough for people to start getting around and we went out to the barn to do chores and haul water buckets all over since we'd only hook up one hose to fill waters.  The morning crew would take the evening's buckets and put in the tack room to thaw out for the evening crew to switch with the day's buckets.  And pushing wheelbarrows full of manure through snow to dump is a pain in the butt. Almost literally. Carus slipped a few times pushing up hill (I clean stalls, she dumps) but we managed and were rewarded with some lovely sunsets.  

Cold weather and clear skies gives some pretty sunrises and sunsets.

Phone photo of the sunset colors at the barn.

Adam shoveled our driveway and some of the sidewalk and then made me a snowman.  If you look just so, you can see he has two eyes and a smile. 

I did get my big camera out on my lunch and breaks and walked the backyard with the dogs. (Downfall from working from home - no snow days.)

View from our back porch

7 inches of snow

Adam making snowballs for the dogs. 

And then he bit on it and was confused when it disappeared into the rest of the snow.

Playing with the frozen soccer ball.

My frozen clothes line.

One of the evenings we were out at the barn doing chores, Carus and I decided to go for a little ride. 

We probably spent more time tacking the horses up than riding. It was COLD!  

More information about the Dogwood Photography 52 Week Photography Challenge can be found here.

#dogwood52, #dogwood2017, and #dogwoodweek2

Happy Birthday Chewie!

Chewie just turned 1 (January 7th)!

Had to include the cute outtake. 

I can't believe he's already 1.  Of course I had to take pictures for it.  Carus helped me positioning him and getting him to hold still.  

She's a good helper and he's a good boy. 

We had to lock Leia and Yoda in the other room. They wanted to do tricks for treats too. Haha

The hat was put on his head like 50 times for each shot I got.  Except this last one where he only shook his head instead of pulling it off so one more cute pic.

52 Week Photography Challenge: Week 1 - Rule of Thirds

We've completed the first week of 2017, though it already feels like it's been longer than a week. I started hearing commercials for tax prep and it feels weird.  Like, we can't already be back at the part of the year where we pay taxes, right?!

The challenges are separated into three categories; Story-Telling, Technical, and Artistic Impression.

Story: Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is the first compositional rule most photographers learn; but most don't know why they learn it.  The rule of thirds is amazing for telling a story.  Tell a story using rule of thirds.

I didn't have a plan for what images I was going to take for the challenge this week. I tried to just keep it in mind whenever I picked up my camera or felt inspired.  While I want to make sure that I use my actual camera/DSLR more often, sometimes the best camera is the one you have with you. While I'm at the barn, I have my phone 100% of the time so it becomes my go to.  Plus, I like being able to share my photos on Instagram and Facebook. I like the instant feedback (read: attention HA!).

Leia and Chewie love playing in the snow and we've been getting snow so I took them outside and kept the rule of thirds challenge in my mind.  Yoda isn't a fan of the snow, but he likes following me.

Dusty and Scout seemed completely uninterested in the snow, they just wanted the hay, some attention from Carus, and maybe a cookie.

Scout rarely doesn't head straight for Carus the second he sees her.  The only times he's decided the grass he's eating is more important only lasts until she crinkles a peppermint wrapper or she comes into the pasture.

The photos of the dogs are DSLR and the horses are phone with Instagram filters.

More information about the Dogwood Photography 52 Week Photography Challenge can be found here.

#dogwood52, #dogwood2017, and #dogwoodweek1

New Year, New Post

In an effort to get back to blogging more, as well as getting back into my photography, I've decided to do a 52 week photography challenge through Dogwood Photography.  I'm not even sure how I stumbled upon it, but I did.

Anyoo - I guess watch for those.

In other news, the kids are doing well in school.  Robert had another surgery in December on his back (if you didn't know already), and well... we don't know if it's helped any....yet. Maybe it will help in the long run, though he's still hurting now which makes me sad and frustrated, though probably not as frustrated as he is. I'm working away and doing mom stuff and feeling overwhelmed by life and responsibilities constantly, but I think that's how it's supposed to be.

Carus's first show with Dusty is next weekend. She's excited. I'm excited and nervous.

Adam got his license (yay!) and we haven't had to drive him to and from work, which is NIIIIIIIICE! He's enjoying his car.

Adam leaves for his Washington DC trip next week. And he'll be gone for almost a full week. He's excited. I'm excited and nervous.  (Heh, since a theme to me?)

Robert and I are remodeling the bathrooms. We're starting with the kids bathroom and then will do ours.  They'll match when we're done.  The kids have gotten roped into helping too. We'd probably be further along if we could agree on a route to take with the floors and cabinets and such. We've decided and got a lot of it picked out, now to just buy and install all the things. Hey, maybe I should share updates of that here too.  There's an idea to encourage me blogging more often.

So, there we go. A quick and dirty update on things.

Band and Choir Concert

(This is a redo, a bit late because I didn't notice it didn't post when I posted it.)

Adam is in band again this year, and Carus has joined the choir, and so the concert at the beginning of the year was for both of them.  

The fall concert shows what the kids have been learning so far that year and gives a little bit of a baseline of their skills for you to see how far they come by the end of the year concert in May.

Carus is in the middle front - with the light purple hair.

Adam is just to the right of that cello in the middle.  This was taken during set up for the next performance as the tromboners (and Adam) are in the back and you can't really see them/him (he's in the middle of 3 or 4 tromboners and well hidden from cameras).

Clip of the choir

Clip of the choirs, orchestra, and band. 

Clip of just the band.

Going ons

I should probably update this more often so I didn't feel like I had to make a list of all that is happening.  Lots is happening, some good, some bad and some it's still to be determined good or bad...

Gah, I just looked at recent posts to see what has been said and I've got not a whole lot for a base level.  Let's just break it down into per person or subject.

Me: I'm doing well, but at the same time not well at all.  My health is fine or steady or whatever. My plantar fasciitis is still killing me most days and I'll get it doing okay then push myself to do more/exercise more because I know that if I build up a higher baseline than what I'm currently at it will be better in the long run, but then I pay for it for a few days.  Guess where I'm at in that cycle right now - the point where I want to whine and cry.

Emotionally, I'm all over the place.  I'm stressed and anxious, but don't feel like I have enough to be stressed or anxious about, which makes me feel guilty and then I get all anxious over that. So yeah, I'm in a pretty shitty spiral and doing my best to stay afloat. I don't feel like I'm juggling all my responsibilities well, but my kids are fed and loved, my pets are fed and loved, I still have a job, and everyone is wearing clean (albeit wrinkled) laundry so there's that. Work is fine, they love me and I mostly love my job, but I'm irritated as fuck over some recent unnecessary changes that make my job more difficult and don't feel like I can say anything.

Carus is doing really well with Dusty now, which has alleviated some of my anxiety about how Dusty and Carus would handle showing, but Scout might need to find a new home which is breaking my heart. I love him as much as Carus - he's basically my first horse too - and I don't want to take him from her, but if we get to the point of leasing/buying a horse for Carus to finish her 4H career with, it has to be a horse she can actually show and Scout can't show. (He is doing okay physically, so could handle some showmanship and probably some trail, but not the amount of work needed for equitation.) Enter ALL of the guilt with that situation and then multiply it by a billion.  I don't know. A lot can happen between now and when Scout needs to find a new home, but for now the prospect is debilitating.

Speaking of Carus, now an actual update on her and not just my anxieties about her.  Carus is doing well.  She's adjusting to high school extremely well and is doing okay in classes (there has been some confusion on how the teacher wants answers formulated that have affected her grades).  Socially she is focusing on friends and making good friends and ignoring the bad friends and those that talk crap.  I think her self-confidence has helped this aspect immensely and I'm glad that all the steps I've taken to help her there have done their job. She's excited to turn 15 and get her permit so she can learn to drive, like now.  She's excited for shows this year and is ready to get Dusty in the show ring. I'm very proud of all the hard work she's put in on herself.

My anxieties about Adam have dulled... at least until we get closer to graduation and looking at going to college stuff. So for like 5 minutes? And I'll probably end up hyperventilating in a ball in the corner when he gets his license and takes his car for a drive all by himself. Shit, I'm almost there just typing that out. See above - RE: I'm a mess.

Adam is skating through his senior year, though he'd probably tell you otherwise because he is busy and doesn't have as much downtime as he'd probably like.  He only has to get 2 credits to graduate but he's taking a full day of classes.  He's taking two different culinary classes as well as band and astronomy "for fun".  I think his physics class counts as a credit, but to him it's still "for fun".  His senior project is about managing a play; the first play of the school's play year - High School Musical - and that has been keeping him busy and not really working much.  He's averaging about 20 hours a week for work which is enough for his car payment and insurance.  Now for him to just get his license; he just has to schedule a time (there's a waiting period).  The other night he realized that he's an adult and doesn't need permission to get a tattoo or buy lottery tickets and thought that was fun; and he just got his first ballot in the mail. Woohoo adulthood - which shit head politician should be president?

Robert is working now.  He finally got released from medical for his back injury and was able to get a job and has found one that he can do without causing too much pain which PHEW because I don't need that added worry back in.  He'd tell me that I don't have to worry cause it's his back, but that's not how it works.  He's looking into surgery to fuse those discs that are bulging in the near-ish future.  Approvals need to be sent and received and steps taken to get there. I'm also worried about that.  At least I have a theme for my life right now - worry and anxiety all day long with a side of bonus anxiety for those extra worrying times. For now, he's dealing while working a lot; he works 12 hour shifts 3 days one week and 4 days the next though right now it's just 4 days a week as there is a ton of over-time available.

Blargh. This post feels weird, but it's what I got for now.