Winter at last?

So, it finally snowed earlier this week. Yay! Elora had a great time running around in the fresh snow. We were out for almost two hours! Of course, ever since then, she doesn't want to stay outside for more than about twenty minutes. Guess she's not used to the cold yet.


Oh, this post is about one more thing. We got Photoshop on our computer! Can you tell? Here is what this looked like originally:




And this was the other part of the picture:



I'm thinking that making those little stories might be a little easier now.
ps here's one more I liked.


I made the coat darker, and saturated the color in her bucket and her hair. The scarf was already that bright.

The End

Heidi tagged me to do this post about seven things...I just hope I don't repeat too much stuff from my "100 things" post I did when I started my blog! Maybe I'll just expand on a few...

Rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

.............................................

1. So, like Heidi, I love going off by myself into secluded places. I haven't had a chance to do it much since I've been married, and not at all since the kids were born. I took numerous self portraits in said places as well (sans the dress Heidi wore) because I'm vain like that. This one is in Nauvoo.

I'd have to say my favorite period of seclusion was when I lived in Montlake, a suburb of Seattle. Several times a week I'd go sit on a bench under the Montlake bridge to work on my journal or read. When I got really adventurous, I could follow the nearby trail into a section of the Arboretum, which had numerous piers near the 520 bridge over to Bellevue. I'll spare you another portrait (yes I have some) and share this great view:


2. The longest job I've had was at Airborne Express (which later was bought by DHL). I alternately loved and hated my job. I loved: the view of Puget Sound, the stress free nature of my job, the ethnic diversity of my coworkers, the nice art work on the walls, the walk to the ferry and later the bus. I hated: that people looked down on my job station, knowing that I could do much better, +987being bored a lot of the time, feeling like I was in a dead-end job.
This is a view of the two buildings I worked in, on Elliot and Western, respectively. There is now a large sculpture park right next door!


3. I have these weird skin tags on my eyelids...I'm pretty sure I got them when I was pregnant. One of my eyelids is always itchy, and I secretly fear I'll get one on the inside of my eyelids, which will turn into one of those weird African diseases where my cornea will get scratched up and I'll go blind. Aaaaahhh!


4. I own a real sword. I used to ask for one for Christmas when I was a kid; my dad got me one when I was seventeen or eighteen (when I didn't want one anymore). It is still at my parents house, and probably ruined with rust. Oh, I redecorated my horrendous bedroom shortly after this photo was taken!



5. I was never one to have random crushes on lots of people (well, until around the time I started dating Joseph) but I did have two or three major crushes that lasted for years. Every once in a while, I still think about a couple of them. I realize I wouldn't really have been compatible with any of them, but its strange to remember how obsessive I was about it. Seriously. I would have been scared of me if I was them.

6. um.... this is a picture of my senior class in high school. Can you find me? Hint- I'm in the lower half.


7. Along the same vein- I've drawn class pictures three times: in sixth, seventh, and twelfth grade. My sixth grade teacher thought I was offering the drawing to her when I showed it to her, so I don't have that one anymore. But here's my seventh grade core class! (You can't find me in it because I drew myself and my friend Emily in a different section of the paper that wouldn't fit in the scanner. Glossy...you're on the top row.) The kid on the bottom left is saying, "New Kids on the Block Suck!"



Lets see, do I know seven people who haven't done this yet? I guess I'll tag:
Kiera
Glossy
Cardine
Julie
Warnser
Nettie
Kara
Tirzah
not that any will do it...will you?

Pet Peeves

Everyone has to have a post about pet peeves, right? I was originally thinking of doing a Top Ten list, but realized that wouldn't be enough. However, doing a top 100 list might be over the top, and people could perceive me as being overly negative. But I find that I have far less patience and am more easily annoyed as I get older. Hmmm, Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Pet Peeves with driving:

• People on Cell Phones- I don't care if you think you drive safely while talking...you DON'T. I've been in cars with phone drivers and witnessed their erratic swerving, and I've almost been run off the road at least half a dozen times by those who don't even realize they did anything.
• No Turn Signals- Doesn't it drive you nuts when you're waiting for a car coming the other direction, and at the last minute they turn with nary a signal in sight? Usually they're on the phone.
• A car behind me- this is probably my own personal thing. I don't care if they're tailgating or not, I hate cars being behind me, it makes me nervous. Go ahead and get in front of me, I don't care if you're going too slow. Just get out from behind me! (I don't do freeways.)
• When the driver yells at other cars for doing the same thing He..oops, I mean they do themselves. Joseph.
  

Pet Peeves with People:

• Reading over my shoulder, or standing behind me in general.
  
• Someone not looking at me when I'm talking to you.
• Adult men who are addicted to video games, especially when they have a family of their own (No, this is NOT my husband, thankfully!)
• Those who think in general stereotypes, ie "Everyone who listens to that type of music is like..." or "Everyone of that political party must be..." If someone makes a statement like this, I immediately feel dislike for them. Sorry.

Household Pet Peeves:

• A wet washcloth wadded up in the sink...eww, mildew!
• Dishes full of water in the sink. I don't care if they're not washed, just please rinse them and stack them to the side, not in the sink.

Pet Peeves of the Random Sort:

• People blocking the whole isle at the grocery store (or walking too close behind me)...but then, too many people at the store stresses me out anyway.
• Too much background noise. I prefer to drive the car with no radio, and to not have the tv on before 7:00. Of course, Elora has learned to turn it on anyway. I once lived with someone who had to have the tv on all the time, even if she wasn't in the room. It drove me crazy! Its probably been years since I've had headphones on for any type of music.
  
• Having the curtains closed during the day. Especially in the Northwest. It drove me nuts when my roommates would keep the curtains shut so it wouldn't glare on the t.v. I don't care if I can't see the show, let the light in! They didn't agree.

There are many, many more things I could mention, but I don't want to offend all of my readers, just a few is good enough for me. Now I suppose I'll have to do a positive post to balance this one out. But not today!

costumes

Which one is which? This year Elora got to be a clown for Halloween. Actually, she got to wear the very same outfit I wore for Halloween when I was little! So can you tell which ones me? Okay, so one picture has a distinctly early-80's feel to it. And in the other the clown costume is starting to fall apart.
But you can tell we're related, right?