2 cuties

I love these little faces soooo much. :)It was crazy windy here today and we were having power issues again, but that didn't stop us from having some fun. We went outside & I grabbed a few shots of my kiddos in their new outfits that Grandma bought them in England. I'll have to get some shots of LV tomorrow after [his last day of] school, because he couldn't keep his eyes open in the wind today for anything. I need to get pics of the big boys in their shirts too. Vern even wore his today but I didn't think of it in time. :p
Well, I was gonna say "Happy Sunday" but I guess it's more like Happy Monday here at this point, so whatever day it is wherever people are, have a great one!

Happy Saturday!

No more proofing! (Well, until August.)
My little kiddos are going to a family reunion today. (I was just told about it - so I'm not planning on it.)
Brandon's off at WestFest with Mo. Hopefully he's having fun and being good. (As far as teenage boys go. :p)
My headset is broken. No vent = a very sad April. What's weird is that the mic is fine, people can hear me - but the sound is gone. Sadness.
My new computer will be here on the 2nd. Yay!
I did something to my lower back. It hurts like crazy so now I probably walk like a pregnant lady. lol

The today I... meme

Today I feel happy! I slept in this morning & had some great cuddle time with Elijah when we woke up. Besides, I have no pressing stuff to do for the moment and the sun is shining. Yay!
Today I want a slurpee?! Some new shorts. Well, those are needed. I have none that fit. :(
Today I think I'll take my mp3 player and hang out outside, maybe watching my kiddos play in the sprinkler. :)
Today I am hungry and craving a cafe rio salad. :p

Well I think I'm gonna go shower and try to find some sort of clothes that fit. (Everything is getting annoyingly tight. :p) Thank goodness for Vern's t-shirts at home, but they're so sloppy and big for going anywhere. :p

Happy Saturday! :)

kiddos and sleepies

This one's not about pictures. lol It's a quick update on my kiddos 'n stuff. :)

~LV had a blast at the zoo with his class yesterday. Three more days of school for him!
~~Vern & Brandon got the swamp cooler working the other day! Yay! It's been so hot here. Vern's little garden out back has mostly survived the crazy Utah weather. For sure we'll have peppers, cabbage and some tomatoes.
~Kirsten is at Hill Airforce base on a field trip today. They have all fun stuff planned for these last days of school. She's so excited to be a safety patrol/crossing guard (I have no clue what they call it here) and to be going into 6th grade.
~~Elijah has been loving his Cars game and has been watching the incredibles like crazy. His sunburn & cold are both almost gone. :)
~Brandon has not been loving summer school. Apparantly it's really boring & easy. I'm glad he's doing something to catch up though - he wants his diploma. :)
~~I'm 13 weeks pregnant at this point. Apparantly the baby should be about the size of a peach. All I know is that I could eat quiznos, cafe rio or taco bell for just about any meal. :p Thankfully I tend to crave veggies (subs, mmmmm) and protein (gogo bean and cheese burritos) when I'm pregnant & have an appetite. My regular clothes still fit for now. Yay!
~Still working on proofs. I was hoping to declare I was done, but yesterday was a rough day so it didn't happen. :(

Well, that's all the updates I can think of. I need to go figure out something to wake myself up. I totally have a case of the sleepies today. o.O

Have a great day! :)

Crashin'

I'm headed to find my pillow a little earlier than I wanted tonight, but I've been sitting in this chair almost all day. I'm sore, I'm tired and ready to get some sleep. I'm much closer to done with the proofing, but not quite finished yet. I've been dealing with some frustrating but well-meaning relatives (who are hoping I'll stop what I've promised to do for reasons I fail to understand and who aren't grasping that I'm actually busy and working hard as it is.)
Thanks to these people I did some analysis of exactly what it takes for me to proof a job like this.
First, please keep in mind that my camera is set to do no processing as I shoot so that I have full final control over every image. There's no in-camera sharpening applied, no contrast adjustments, brightness or color adjustments - nothing until it is done by me in post-processing. It can take a bit of time and effort, but I've always found it worthwhile. Cameras these days are smart, but a person's eyes & experience can make better judgement calls most of the time. Ask me about this after an easier session & I'll sound more convincing. :p K, with that in mind, I made notes today of what it takes to process images. On a properly exposed, beautifully sharp photo I made 16 adjustments on 12 different layers. This "easy photo" took 10 minutes to process. On a "less easy" shot that was slightly underexposed with a major touchup (Gogo peeking straps) there were 29 adjustments made on 18 layers. It took just over 20 minutes to process, and required the opening of a third program for one of the steps. Most images fall into the "easy" category, so let's say that on average I'm creating 1 proof every 10 minutes. That's 6 images per hour and I'm dealing with hundreds of pictures. :p So yeah, I'm going as fast as I can, frustrated with the vastly different color output of the 2 cameras & trying to make the photos from both cameras look nice side-by-side. It's been crazy, but I've been doing everything I can to speed the process up while controlling the output quality. Good thing I love a challenge. :)
Thankfully Lauren has been awesome. :)
(Now if only Denise would stop sending Grandpa Kent to my house asking for disks that'd be great.) She's expecting me to stop what I'm doing to backtrack & create print disks for a project she's working on?! This requires changing the format of all of the photos from both sessions from .tiffs to .jpegs. If I were done proofing I'd be working on that next anyway for Laurie & Ty, but I'm not. And when Lauren has her print disks she's more than welcome to share 'em with Denise. Or since Denise is in such a hurry she can order prints from me from the slideshows when I'm done which doesn't require the format change, but yeah. I'd really like to get done with these proofs before random people start expecting different stuff, ya know? I'm sure her project is important, but so is mine. :p I want Laurie to have her bridal slideshow when she gets home this weekend. And if I can speed up or sleep even less, she'll get print disks. I'm sure I'd be faster if it weren't pushing 100 degrees, or if I weren't pregnant, or didn't have cute kiddos needing me to be a mom at the same time but that's how it is. And if I get asked for anything for someone else one more time before I'm done with my current job I just might scream. Or cry. Or both. :p Rawr.
P.S. Isn't Lauren the cutest? :)

I tried :p

Hola blog readers! :)
So I pulled an almost-all-nighter after wilting this afternoon in the immense heat & crashing trying to get these bridals done. I'm past the s.l.o.w.est ones (Vern needs to learn to watch for straps and things when he shoots - his pics always take forever to "fix.") Now I'm on the humungo pile of pics I took, and I was hoping I'd be popping out the proofs like crazy. Well, when there's as many shots to go through as I'm insane enough to take, it's really not all that quick. I mean, I kinda made a dent, but still have lots to go. Now, to be fair to myself, most brides would be happy with half of the pics I have ready atm. But I'm not most photographers. lol Besides, I've already sorted and weeded and can't imagine not giving Laurie all of the cute shots that I still have to do. As usual there are faves of mine yet to come. :pWell since I did stay up almost all night I've gotta at least share a few more pics for now. I'd still be going if my eyes didn't look like this @@.
Of course I should also admit, and those who know me know it was killing me - I was going crazy with just one pic up so far. I mean, it was just the first one done and web sized - not at all a perfect representation of the session. :pFor now I'm headed to find my pillow. It's really that my eyes are tired, but yeah. I hope it's not as hot upstairs as it is down here. :pOh, and I really am hating how blogger has been shrinking pics. Makes 'em look all wonky. :( I'll have to make sure that they're at least full sized once you click, otherwise I'll need to pull stuff to resize.

Alrighty, it's 6:15 am and that was a beautiful sunrise. :) I had better go close my eyes.
'night!

hugs 'n stuff :)

Wow, it's been 3 days again? Makes me feel like such a slacker. I've been working on bridal pics, sleeping off sickies and cuddling with Elijah. (Who somehow managed to get a cold in 90 degree weather.) Of course, true to form I'm feeling sniffly today too. :p

I've been missing my friends like crazy. When I've manged to find moments to peek in places to say hi my timing's been off. :(

So just in case,
Hi Lauren! Hope you're having a blast on vacation! I'm going to post a bridal picture with this entry just to prove you have some coming. Sorry for being slow, but I think you'll be happy when you see 'em. :) The real preview should be ready tonight or tomorrow. (Depending on how today goes.)
Hugs Jason! When do you guys leave for vacation? Soon huh. I peeked in looking for you & saw that Hy's 33?! I'll have some catching up to do while you're off feeding sharks. :) I'm so hoping for vent when I catch you.
Hey Jody! Still mad at me? Yeah, thought so... /cry :(
Thinking about Jill and hoping she's doing well. (She's pregnant too - we're 2 weeks apart. Yay!)
Smile for me Richard! Some humungo hugs for you! Thankfully Vern's getting better at playing messenger while I'm slacking. :)
Hugs 'n pokes for Ian who'll prolly be 70 by the time I actually get to play, and to his bro who's ahead of him. :p (You'll be able to make your own biscuits!)
Hola Brian & Brooks! Hope you 2 are doing okay.
Hey Robin! How's my favorite big sister? Have you hugged your boys for me? Pictures?

Most of those people don't read my blog, but I feel better having /hugged some of the people I think about while busy working whether they know it or not. :)

...and a pic for Laurie. The first one I sized for a preview - lots more coming soon. Click to undo blogger's shrinking ickiness. :) Vern actually took that one - my copyright info is misleading. Guess I need to make him some ps brushes too. :p

Have a great day! :)

the update

Alrighty, here's the update to the earlier post...

I'm 12 weeks today (and done with the first trimester. Yay!)
The official due date is December 30th.
This little one is so wiggly and active - our first little u/s peek was awesome! :) There is a pic, but I have no scanner. :( It's probably ok - he/she was so active it made for a blurry kind of picture. It was awesome on the screen though, bouncing all over the place. Coolness. :)
I had 6 vials of blood drawn for tests. O.o After not eating all day because of nausea losing a hunk of blood made me feel a little icky. So I came home and slept. Again. (Sorry Lauren.) I still have a headache too. Hopefully I can kick it and work fast tonight. :)
Oh and I didn't like their scale. :p Theirs said I've gained a few lbs. where mine has stayed pretty much the same. I do know exactly where it went, since I had a moment this morning getting dressed. I need new bras. So not cool. I guess for flat-chested girls growing some or getting bigger during pregnancy would be an exciting thing. For those of us who have enough to begin with it's just plain silly. :p

Well, I'm happy. It was a good appointment. I <3 Dr. Larsen. He's seriously the best.
Well there's the update. Now I'd better go find something for my head before it decides to explode. :p

It's today!

I've known about this pregnancy for over a month now and my first doctor appt. is finally here. Yay! :)
He likes to time the 1st appointment at 10-12 weeks, and I'm somewhere around 11 weeks I think. I'm not positive on the timing, but he'll be able to tell me closer anyway and I'll finally have a due date. Woohoo! I was gonna wait until after my appointment to post here, but I needed something to do while waiting for Vern to pick me up. Besides I wanted to apologize to Lauren who's been patiently waiting and peeking in here for her bridal preview. Not yet sweetie, but almost!
I fell asleep yesterday afternoon when I took a proofing break and aoc kept booting me so I didn't end up getting as much done as I hoped. I'll work hard this afternoon when I get back home. :)

I hope Lauren, Kori, Nina & Kenyon are having a blast in England. Take lots of pictures!!
I hope the news today at the doctor's office is all happy and good!
I hope I manage to stay awake this afternoon and can haul it on pics for Laurie.
I hope we can get our swamp cooler working soon. We're having a 90 degree week.
I hope I manage to not barf today. I've had way too many "almost" moments. Ick. :p

I hope you blog peekers have an awesome day! :)

Father's Day

For all of the daddies, grandpas, uncles, and awesome examples of men out there.

To my own dad, I miss you.
To Vern, I love you.
To Vern Sr., you continue to be an important part of our lives.
To Kenyon, Tyler, Josh, Nathan, Devan, Ben & Brian thank you for being awesome and being examples to our kiddos.
To Grandpa Kent, thanks for being you. :)
To all my friends who are daddies in some way or another, hope you have an awesome day.
Happy father's Day!

:)

Slept in. :)
Still proofing bridals.
Craving a quiznos sub.
LV has a week off school for testing.
Four days left until my dr. appointment.
Maybe have a kara run tonight. (still need to sign up. :p)
Sweet Child of Mine (GnR) is stuck in my head.
Those Wendy's frosty shakes look yummy...
Need to fix this headache.
...and get some sun.

Have a great day!

just a few words

I'm having a bit of a rough day today. Nauseous & shakey again. I'm so excited to be almost done with the first trimester though & am hoping that things will become easier.
It's been awesome having Brandon home for summer vacation. He's helped so much, doing things like walking LV to school and playing with Ej so I can sleep off the barfies. He's all signed up for summer school though, to make up some of the credits he's missing from being in a non-accredited school for 9th grade. He was hoping to take some online classes too, but for those he needs his soc. security number, which we don't have yet.
Kirsten and LV with their year-round schedule don't finish up their school year until July 1st. :p LV does have a field trip to the zoo coming up, and Kirsten is having fun with her friends. They don't live quite close enough to hang out and play as much in the summer so I guess it works out.
I'm just looking forward to having some warm weather. We've had plenty of awesome storms and cool weather mixed in with the nicer days. It's June already, c'mon sunshine. :p
Well, it's looking kinda nice out at the moment, so I think I'll make Elijah and I some lunch and have ourselves a picnic. Then I have to get back to work.

(Sorry for another photo-less post. I'll play with my camera more when I'm done with proofing. Promise.)

Have a great day! :)

late again

So last Tuesday was the 3rd anniversary for this little blog! Leave it to me to realize it a week late. :p Three whole years. That's a lot of writing and sooo many pics shared. And people still check in. Unbelievable!
Thanks friends and peekers. You're a quiet bunch, but my counter says you all exist anyway. Whatever makes you peek in on my little world, I appreciate feeling like I'm not just talking to myself.

Have a great day! :)

a quickie

It's been a slightly crazy weekend. Vern helped his brother Ben and his family move yesterday, we went to Grandma Pete's today to visit with some cousins & I started working on Lauren's bridals. Tyler & Lauren have their engagement slideshow disk - I'm hoping they find something that they both like that'll work for their invitations. I've been crazy nauseous all day & craving a jr. bacon cheeseburger from Wendys. :p

Anyway, there's my weekend update, which wouldn't be complete without a short meme.

What was the last movie you watched?
White Girls was on tv the other day & I actually watched it. All I kept saying was "they make such ugly girls." They did. Ewwww.
When did you last eat at a sit-down restaurant?
Um, last Friday with Lauren & Tyler. We went to TGIFridays after the photo shoot.
What was the last thing you said, and to whom?
Yes, you can each have a popsicle as long as nobody touches the pina colada ones. :p I said it to LV.
What is your last name?
Petersen.
When was your last doctors appointment?
I honestly don't remember when it was, but it was when I had to get immunized for immigration stuff. My next one is with my obgyn on the 17th.
What was the last book you read?
Um, I think the Redemption of Althalus by David Eddings. Right now I'm re-reading the belgariad/mallorean series for the gazillionth time.

Happy Sunday! :)

part 2

Woohoo! I'm all done with engagement session proofs - just need to create the slideshow cd for them to view. Those take a few hours to create, but I'm so excited to show Laurie & Ty their pics. :) Of course, then I get to start working on bridal pics, so I'll be scarce-like for awhile longer. I thought I'd peek in though and share a couple more pics - waving hello and sending hugs to my friends and blog-peekers. :)
Have a great weekend!

Oh, I figured out what was wonky in the last post, some of those shots hadn't been color-corrected yet. :p No biggie.

Part 1

I stayed up all night working on photos because I promised myself that the next time Lauren peeked at my blog I'd have some sort of sneak preview ready. The sad thing is, even though I stayed up all night I wasn't able to get to some of my favorite shots. :p (I've come to the conclusion that me and my PS7 dinosaur are way too s l o w.) The other problem is the same one I always have... I took way too many pictures that day. lol So I guess what I'll do is share a few for now, knowing full well that I'm going to want to share more later.
Eeew and they were shrunk by blogspot. The smaller the files shrink the less awesome they look. Click on 'em Lauren to get a slightly better look & I'll make the slideshow files big enough to fill your monitor. I sincerely hope I grabbed files from the right folder - some of these look wonky here and they shouldn't. Of course I can't see straight at the moment, so either way they'll stay until I trust my eyes again. Aw and now I'm looking at these and thinking "but all the fun ones are still missing." :p Incentive to work faster I guess so I can share the ones I'm itching to get to. And yeah, some of these definitely don't look like the right files. :(

Alright, well I need to crawl upstairs & find my pillow for awhile. I'm sure I'll have photoshop filled dreams. lol

I hope Lauren at least gets to peek,
and I hope Jody's not still mad at me,
and I hope my eyes work again tomorrow/today,
and I hope Jason's eye appointment went well the other day,
and I hope that I'm actually able to fall asleep once I find my pillow.

nighty night :)

Powerless

We just survived almost 24 hours with no electricity at home. :p Made for a long day yesterday complete with bored kiddos and lanterns to get through the night. I wasn't able to work on pictures sorry Lauren, play WoW sorry about the kara run OC, open the fridge or cook gogo Mcdonald's. :p
This morning was awesomely stormy though - with my window wide open, and me loving the sound of the rain & the fabulous cool breeze while I waited for the power to come back on. Now that it's on it's back to work time for me. I'm a day behind on proofing, and need to work fast & get lots done so I can take a break tonight for the second kara run.

Happy 11th birthday (I'm always late :p) to my awesome nephew Tyler. Hugs n kisses! Hope you had the bestest day ever! Come play on Draenor. ;) And uh, Robin - pictures please. We'll swap or something - deal?

Have a great day!

4 days and a strawberry explosion

Wow, it's been 4 days since I last blogged?! Sorry for slacking. Had a crazy busy weekend with the photo shoots & am now buried in proofing work. I've been peeking into WoW here and there for sanity's sake, trying to catch friends to say hi. Not much luck so far, guess everyone else is busy too. :p I miss my friends. /themosthumungouslysquishyhugsever to those who peek in here - yeah I'm alive. :)

Well, I'm off to grab a quick shower. I went to pour Elijah some strawberry soda & the bottle was all explodey-like & I ended up with this awesome pink shower. I got the dining room cleaned up, now it's my turn.

Have a fantabulous day!

I'm almost to the point of picking some engagement shots to web-size & share Lauren. Hang in there. :D