Are you a fan of CSI?

I am.   But the thing that always gets to me while watching those shows is when they manipulate a photo and pull an image from just three little pixels.  It doesn't happen that way in real life.  Until now!  I found a website that let's you feel like you are a CSI tech.  Check out this picture of Rileigh that I shared with you a few days ago.  When you go to the website you have to type really quick random things into the computer while muttering something about the contrast and voila--you have enhanced the picture to reveal what lies beneath.

This time last year

This time last year we went to the park for a rainy day. This is a favorite picture of mine. It is so simple but the colors are so pretty.

Supergirl!

Today we went to McDonald's to spend some time with the kids in the play place.  I took this picture of Rileigh coming down the slide as superman and it wasn't until I got home that I noticed her reflection in the slide.  I hope you can see it.

The seasons

This picture was taken last year when we went with my in-laws to Amish country.

 

 

And this one was taken this weekend when we went with my parents.

I'll have to go back in the spring.

I saw the sunrise.

I am not really a morning person, so when James asked me if I wanted to wake up with him to see the sunrise I wasn't to interested. But I dragged myself out of bed and it was pretty cool. It's just like a sunset but in reverse--who knew?

This is the life

This is the view from our room. Our little porch.

Our shared area.  Doesn’t it look nice?

Treat!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Trick or Treat!!

We had some early trick-or-treaters stop by today.  Man, I love taking pictures of the kids!

More pictures to come.

I learned something new about myself today

Image via Wikipedia

Apparently I am incapable of frowning.  I can pout but not frown.  I didn't know this about myself until today.  My question to you is can you frown?

Burning tree

Remember that orange tree from the other day.  I was playing with the contrast in one of the shots I took of it and it looks like it is on fire.  I just thought it was cool.

I think I like this picture

I’m not quite sure.

I really wish I had the big camera that day.

Lighting is everything

When we got to the maze it was a bit overcast and dreary but on the way back up the hill I turned around and said WOW!  This is what I saw. It is just perfect.  The hill was pretty steep so I was breathing pretty heavily but if it wasn’t for that, this sight would have taken my breath away.

I want to go down that road

I really wish I had taken my big camera to the maze with us.  I didn’t think there would be enough photo opportunities to justify my DSLR so I took my little pocket sized one.  I’m glad I did that because it so pretty there.  This little road looked so inviting.

I got lost in the maize

Yesterday I fulfilled one of my lifelong dreams of going through a corn maze.  We had a really good time.  And don’t worry, we didn’t actually get lost in the maze.

Guess where I went today...

Pictures of me

A few weeks back I told you about the new feature on Picasa that scans your pictures and puts a name with the face.  It’s scanned about half of my pictures and I am stunned that I am in 676 pictures so far.  I used to hate having my picture taken.  I was the person that would run and stand behind something or duck under the table because I thought that somehow it was better to have a dumb picture of me cowering than smiling.  It was okay if I didn’t look good in the picture because I didn’t want to look good.

So what changed?  I think it was a few different things.  The first thing that clicked in my mind was when Laci Peterson went missing.  Do you remember her?  She disappeared in 2002 and every picture they showed of her on the news she had this gorgeous smile.  I wanted to go look for this friendly woman just based on her smile.  But that got me thinking—what if I fell in a well and they had to show my picture on tv, all they would have would be those stupid pictures of me with my hand over the camera.  They wouldn’t even show those on the news and no one would come looking for me trapped in that well.

So I had made up my mind that I would suck it up and let people take my picture.  But it was still so hard.  I’m a big girl and it’s really easy to be self-conscious in a picture especially when they say the camera adds 10 pounds. I read an article that I really wish I could find but it basically said that anyone you care about isn’t going to look at a picture of you and say, yuck.  They won’t see all those flaws that you see, they see you.

So now I’ve become a ham in front of the camera.  I am constantly poking my head in front of the camera.  And if there is no one around to take my picture, I’ll take it myself.  If we go somewhere new I want proof that I was there.  I want proof that I have loved ones that are willing to stand next to me and smile.  Looking back through my pictures makes me smile so big.  What great memories I have.  In alot of the pictures I look ridiculous but there are alot of nice ones too.

I hope if I do end up falling into a mine shaft that they show the nice pictures of me.  I wonder if people would look for me if they knew I was a bamboo-eating, cannon-riding, moose-poop faking princess?  And yes, that is me pretending that I was pooping but hey—I was in Alaska and it’s a good memory.

Leaves, leaves, leaves!

We went to the park again today.  We just couldn’t resist taking more pictures of the leaves.  It was chilly but worth it.  I even had to break my gloves out.

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I feel it is necessary to point out that those are my old shoes that I wear when we go to the park.

Pretty stairs

A patchwork quilt

The beauty of Fall