Heading for sunny weather...

In about 15 minutes, Tim will drive me to the airport where I'll catch my flight to Florida!! I get into Orlando at about 7:30 am tomorrow and I'll wait to meet up with my mom, my aunt, and the other 4 ladies we're cruising with. Our ship leaves port on Sunday, so I'll have a little bit of time to settle in to the warmer weather before we hit the ocean. I hope to be able to upload some photos to the blog while on board, but you'll just have to stay tuned for that. Catch you later...

So sorry...

I've been horrible about posting lately. I guess I'll have to catch up in one big swoop. So here goes...

First off, Sara's been taking a beginner's gymnastics class and just loving it. She's been learning how to do a handstand, cartwheel, and going on the bars and the balance beam. It's only once a week and for an hour, but I think we finally found HER activity. I've taken some pretty bad photos of her, but here's some to give you an idea.



And Kyle, Alex and Tim are doing karate two times a week, but I haven't made it there to take photos of them yet. They all love it and want to go more than that, but the rest of life gets in the way, so they'll have to live with twice a week for now. I'll try and get down to the dojo after my upcoming trip and take some photos to post.

Other than that, I've been taking a digital photography class and doing my "lessons" or "challenges" and liking it quite a bit. It's given me a better understanding of what I can do with my camera, and also a better appreciation for what my camera does on its own when it's set to Auto mode. I've got a Depth of Field challenge to complete this weekend and then I have two more classes to attend. The first challenge was about exposures and reading and setting my f-stop, shutter speed, and ISO. Here's the results of a side shoot I did using the principles from the challenge.



Basically it's taking photos in a range from overexposed to underexposed and seeing with your eyes and computer what your camera does, how the light affects the exposure, and what YOU want out of an exposure. We actually took two sets of photos, one with a gray card and one without, using the same human subject (in my case, Tim). I have to say, my camera does a pretty good job of reading the environment it's in without me having to make any adjustments. Now, when there's snow on the ground, the light is low, and it's 20 below zero, I may have to adjust a bit, just as any other photographer would to get an exposure that isn't too light, too dark, or too blue from the changes. Time will tell, I suppose. For now I'm enjoying learning about my camera and it's capabilities.

And other than that, fall is passing quickly and winter is approaching rapidly. We had 2-3 inches of snow in Wasilla the other morning, but barely any here in Palmer. It's gone now, but the temps are much cooler. Low 30's at night, high 30's during the day, though today it's 48 and WINDY!! Yes, the much hated winter winds are back. UGH! I can't tell you how much I detest the wind! Leaves have blown far, far away, as have my leftover yard decor (flags and such) in the past 24 hours, and we're back to the howling nights where I sleep with my earplugs. Enough said.

Next Friday I'm off to sunny Florida and boarding my cruise ship on Sunday morning, though, and I'm sooo looking forward to it. I will have LOADS of photos to share upon my return, but I will try to post at least once more before I take off. Ta ta for now...