Scrapbook Tag

I've apparently been tagged by Amy for a some scrapbooking info. Although still relatively new, figured I'd play along. No being a party pooper for me even if I don't have anyone to pass this on to.

1. Name your two favorite scrapbooking topics: My photography which crosses all subjects and probably my family, Shawn and kitty Mickey.

2. Where are the two best places you’ve been to?
Hmm.. so many places I still want to go, but Belize and the Olympic Peninsula have been a couple of my favorites.

3. Name two things you do every day:
I take it Amy and I are both on the same page: tied to our computers because one is checking my email and tied to our men, cause giving Shawn a kiss everyday is important.

4. Tell us two things that pretty much everyone knows about you:
I love photography and horses

5. Tell us two things that everyone DOESN’T know about you:
I love wearing high heels and I collect Disney movies on DVD

6. Tell us two things that got you into the hobby of scrapping:
Wanting to do something with all my photography to display it and finding a great way to use the digital format of my photos.

7. Tell us two things that you want to accomplish in the next six months:
Have a great wedding! Throw a celebration summer party with all our new friends we've made since the move.

8. Name your two favorite scrapping tools:
My camera! and the delete key on my computer :0)

9. Name your two favorite sources of scrapping inspiration:
SBB & Amy and Lisa's pages

10. How has your scrapping changed since you started?
I tried scrapping the old fashioned way with paper and couldn't stand it, but am loving the whole digital side of scrapping.

11. What scrapbooking project have you yet to try but would love to?
I really want to scan in my regular photo prints and scrap them in the digital form. I have the photos piled up beside the computer, just haven't gotten to scanning them in.

Fresh Update

The web page has been freshly updated. Mostly in part to a new service I'll be offering for 2008. I want to break into photographing animals, primarily horses, and the interactions with their owners. I have a brochure available discussing the options I have and what my main goals are.

My other exciting photography news is that I will be offering postcards soon at the local drugstore in Okanogan, J&S. There will also be a 5x7 portfolio of some of the photos if you would like to see them in person.

There will be a local fund raising auction at the Elks Lodge in Omak for The Children's House Montessori Preschool on February 29th that I will be donating to. There will be an options to bid on a gift certificate for a fine art print and also for a location fee for my new animal photography.

This last week I also attended a 4-H leadership training and wow, leaders have to do a lot. It sure didn't seem that complicated when I was 10 years old doing the program. I'm hoping to start helping out with 4-H this spring in the horse projects and if their are kids interested in photography, maybe helping out there too. I also want to be able to use the opportunity to learn about other large animals and pretty much just to learn in general, you're never too old for that and sometimes kids are the best teachers.

Snow Dog Super Mush

This morning we headed up to Conconully with Jill and her family to take in the Snow Dog Super Mush. Although I grew up with dogs and showing them, I was never exposed to sled dog racing. Boy I wish I had been. What a fun time everyone looks like they are having, except of course the dogs left behind! I even got to try out driving a sled with one young, tired malamute.

I really had fun taking some of the pictures too. I gave some detail shots a try and really played with the black and white. I've really enjoyed some of Stephanie's detail shots so thought I should give that idea a try. I like what I got and I could have posted a ton of pictures, but here's a sampling, go check out the rest in the portfolio.

An Igloo and Sunrise

The building of the igloo started with my help, but ended with half a dozen neighborhood kids and two dogs. It still stands and I don't think it will melt until the very end. We built it on a just barely freezing day, so it melted just enough to refreeze rock hard. I am surprised Shawn hasn't spent the night in it yet.





Friday morning while I was doing dishes, I looked up to see a beautiful sunrise over the mountains. Of course I'm never in a good position to take pictures from the house with all the power lines, trees and roofs, but I'd say these turned out alright.

News, but No New Pics

I have some new news, but no new pictures. I did take some pictures of the sunrise the other morning, but have yet to take a look at them.

Last weekend we planned on heading to Spokane for a wedding show and just a weekend in the big town, but we never made it. Our first big experience of driving on snow and ice happened. Shawn hit an icy spot and lost control and flipped the Passport. We weren't hurt, but it sure taught some lessons about winter driving on the east side of the mountains. The Passport was moderately hurt. Shawn was taking the worse case scenario that it was totaled, but thankfully it's repairable. In fact it is at the shop now getting a new leaf spring and a wheel alignment. The tow bill ended up being more expensive then the repair bill and of course we learned our lesson about not having any tow coverage.

Shawn's constructive doings of the last weekend was building a full size igloo in the backyard. He is very proud of it and tries to climb into it at least once a day. I got a bit tired of helping so called over Amy's kids and the in turn they brought some more kids and they all helped Shawn put the finishing touches on the igloo. Once again I have pictures, but they are still hanging out on the camera. It is a pretty impressive sight to walk out the door and see an igloo.

With the Passport out of commission, my truck had to go to work. It wasn't very happy with me. We took it out Sunday to get some extra weight in the back and it took two tries to get it out of the driveway. Then with 250+ pounds in the back Shawn had to push me out Tuesday night to go to the shop and I had to get a good running start on Thursday when I headed to Wenatchee. If we get the chance I really do see us trading in my truck for a decent 4x4 truck.

This morning Shawn and I headed to a fellow teacher's property. Dean's house burned down the Thursday before we tried to go to Spokane. His family made it out alright, but the house was a complete loss. I've never known someone who has lost their house in a fire. I can't imagine how traumatic that must have been watching it burn down. Dean seems to be handling it as well as can be expected and today was the clean up day. Along with some other teachers, friends and students we cleared out all the metal roofing and copper wiring along with many other metal odds and ends. There wasn't that much wood to remove as it all burned. Shawn did use the chainsaw to cut up the deck and some of the trees surrounding the foundation. Dean plans to rebuild on the same spot, but will have to start from complete scratch as about half the foundation is just loose rock. Hopefully Shawn will be able to help out with that this summer.

Well might as well wrap this up as we will be heading to the basketball game soon. Shawn runs the scoreboard and I make believe I help. Hope to get the pictures looked at soon and maybe even some posted.

Scrappin Sledding

I braved the cold of the computer room today to make a scrapbook page. Shawn requested I do his sledding so he could replace the summer scrap page of him sit skiing on Lake Chelan. I believe the last one I made would have been back in November. I have officially started saving for a laptop so hopefully you'll see more pages soon. Though the main inspiration for my pages is geocaching and well, it's a bit too cold and snowy to do it much around here. We were used to caching all through the winter months in Bellingham (just getting a bit more wet in the process.) Oh well, life sure has changed.


Journaling: "With great views of Omak Mountain and a spectacular crash we enjoyed our first trip to Sheep Slaughter Hill south of Okanogan. Shawn perfected hurting himself on a jump someone else had made. Needless to say he was pretty sore the next day. Shawn thinks this hill could even rival sledding on Mt. Pilchuck."

**The SBB Gallery is down so I will post full credits here for now: Paper and frames by Shelley Rae, Snowflake from Marie Stones and journal spot from Ronna Penner. Photos by Kendal Jean Photography and the font used is Orator STD in Adobe Photoshop.

DINOSAUR!!

BIG POINTY TEETH!

LONG SHARP CLAWS!

IT'S EATING THE NEIGHBOR'S TRUCK!!

IT'S SNOW DINO!!!!

So while Shawn was out fishing this morning I put my creative side of the brain to work. Presenting my bushy-eyed, 5'7" tall Snow Dino. He's really quite friendly and at this present time has laid down to take a nap. Even in 40 degree weather I was able to put him together. Though don't tell the dino he was supposed to be a rearing horse, but the snow was a bit too heavy and melty to get the legs out there so I settled with something with short legs. I really had a lot of fun putting him together.

Shawn got home just in time to see the Snow Dino before his nap and had a very successful fishing trip. Three huge trouts all about 17-20" long and over 5lbs each! Needless to say it's fish for dinner. He's looking up yummy recipes now.

New Years Sledding

Happy New Years! I can't believe it, the first day of 2008 and I'm already posting pictures. Maybe it is a good sign for the year.

We spent a good couple hours sledding today. No Sheep Slaughter, but this hill was just as fun. I have lots of photos of Amy's, Lisa's and Jill's children. I have them all posted in the portfolio, but here is a fun little peek of what the day was like. I missed having you ladies up there. If you want some better quality photos let me know and we will have to get together now that my cd-burner really has gone belly-up.

Winter Wonderland

Back home in our winter wonderland. We got over Stevens Pass safely Friday night, though it was a longer then usual trip do to an accident closure outside of Gold Bar, but all in all not too bad of a trip. Of course we get home and there is a whopping foot of snow in our driveway plus whatever the plows have pushed into the entrance. So we parked on the road and spent about 20 minutes shoveling out the driveway. Better to do it then, then compress everything and make it ice.

We sure are glad to be back to the slow drag of Okanogan. It's a chore going on vacation now because there are so many little things you want to do that you don't have the opportunity to do in Okanogan. Guess that is more of the life of living in a small town.

Yesterday Shawn enjoyed playing in the snow with his new snowshoes. I have a pair too, but he never seems to want to pause his playing to take a photo of me. They are our Christmas presents from his parents. We have yet to hit a big trail, but our yard worked pretty darn well for Shawn's first exposure to snowshoeing.

The cat also got some play time in the snow. It was much deeper then he remembered and I don't think he appreciated us throwing him into the middle of it.

Today we hit up the infamous Sheep Slaughter Hill. Oh my! Shawn rates it even better then Pilchuck for all you classic sledders out there. There was a jump pre-built that Shawn had a bit too much fun with. I'm expecting some sore back complaints a little later tonight. We hope to return on Tuesday with Amy and her family. I'm sure Shawn would have more fun with other sledders. I braved the hill only a few times, but mostly enjoyed watching Shawn and the other actual kids playing and got a few pictures in :0)

Fancy Family

A little impromptu photo before dinner last night. Of course why would I bring the tripod my brother gave me for Christmas when the cabinet works just as well in the hotel room. I wish I could have spent a bit more time playing with posing the shot, but hey we were in a hurry to get to the complimentary drinks in the hotel lobby.

From left to right is Shawn's dad, Bob; Shawn; me; Shawn's mom, Robin; Shawn's bro, David; and David's girlfriend, Kaylee.

The Other Side

Back on the other side of the mountains and all it seems to do is rain here :0) The sad part is we are missing the snow back home. I think they are supposed to get another six inches. Hopefully it will all still be there when we get back.

We got to Shawn's folks late Friday night and left early this morning for our annual trip to Seattle. I lugged my camera around the first half of the day of shopping in hopes of finding some good photos, but gave up as the rain just kept coming. We did get a picture of all of the family prettied up before dinner which I will get edited and loaded up hopefully this evening.

We stayed at Hotel Monaco which has to be one of the most unique hotels I've stayed in. It is completely pet friendly. You can have any size dog and you can even bring your cat and rent a litter box. Since we didn't bring any of the animals we got a goldfish in each room to help keep us company. Connected to the Monaco is one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle, Sazarac. Their motto is American food with a Southern flair. It is the only place in the NW I've been able to get my favored fried chicken livers. Oh so good... sometimes I can be such a southern gal.

Then we headed to the 5th Avenue Theater for "Jersey Boys." It's a musical about the career of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. It was like being treated to a concert. It was great. Though Shawn and I enjoyed "The Buddy Holly Story" a bit more because I think we knew a few more of the songs, but it was still fun.

After the play we wandered to Purple for a late night treat. Purple is a wine bar with a crazy amount of wine and a staircase that goes to nowhere. It was pretty neat, but by then I was starting to catch Shawn's cold and wasn't feeling my best.

It was a fun night and I'm not sure if we'll be able to pass up this tradition to have a white Christmas at home.

Christmas Spirit and Frost

We got the lights up on the house. The first time we've actually had a house to decorate together. We put a limit of $50 on lights and I think we did alright don't you? We started the afternoon of the 1st and by the time the snow was done Monday morning we had 8 1/2" of it. So sad that it melted as fast as it did, but we had some flurries this morning and there is snow forecast for this week.


Thursday, on my day off, I finally pulled my camera out again. The freezing frost was simply amazing! I stopped down at the Legion park and took some photos. The river is trying to freeze over, but not quite yet. Then I took some more at home when the sun peeked out for just a few moments. I got some blue sky and the ice crystals on the wind spinner, but it quickly fogged over again. I don't think I have ever seen a frost/fog quite as think and long lasting as the one that happed that day. It was very beautiful though.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Six inches and counting. Yup, we have a real winter on this side. It started pretty heavy last night around 5 and the Mickey just wasn't sure what was going on. Of course with it dark, no pictures to really speak of, not for not trying :0) Shawn got up nice and early this morning and shoveled the walkway and our driveway where the snow plow pushed in a good amount of snow. Not that we are really planning on going anywhere. We were supposed to go get a Christmas tree east of Tonasket, but I think neither of us are comfortable with heading up here. We'll see though, if my co-worker is driving, then we might be game. If not we'll walk down to the High School Christmas Tree sale and drag one home.

My picture contribution today is Mickey. He was a bit surprised how deep the snow got when I tricked him to run through the snow.

Snowbirds

So the snow has fallen! Our first measurable snowfall... or should I say the first snowfall that we can make snow drinks out of. Shawn had two last night. It's a family tradition of mixing snow, milk, sugar and vanilla and eating a yummy slushie.

This morning Mickey enjoyed some outside time without my supervision. I had accidentally left the cat door open so he was out exploring. While I was hanging up some Christmas lights he came bounding around the corner very excited with himself. He ran around for a bit more in the snow while I finished up the lights and then willingly went inside because his little paws were so cold.

My only pictures of the snow so far. I have a hard time visualizing photos in the snow. Maybe it's all the white and lack of color. So here are some of the neighborhood quail in the snow.

SNOW!!

Our first significant snowfall! Possibly we'll get 1-2" tonight so maybe some photos tomorrow in between the gym and work.

Turkey Day

Our turkey day was relatively uneventful. No 40+ pound turkeys this year, no turkey frying fires, I mean the grass just grew back from the last incident two years ago. Nope, this year was pretty quiet. Though this was the first year we really had to travel a good distance home to Shawn's folks. A four hour drive later and we were on the warm side of the state. You can sure tell the difference now that we are getting used to these 18 degree mornings in Okanogan. Pretty soon we'll be wearing shorts when we go home to visit family.

No Black Friday shopping for me, instead I drove another three hours south to Kelso, just north of Portland, to get an afternoon visit in with my mom. She was in for the weekend to judge a dog show in Longview and I figured it would be a good chance to see her, since it has been about two years since the last visit.

My big accomplishment for the weekend vacation was my 6 mile run. Yes, 6 miles! I've been at the gym for about 2 months now and figured I'd test out my road running. I had Shawn drop me off in Machias on the Centennial Trail and I ran/walked/limped to my friends' house in Snohomish for an early Thanksgiving breakfast. I made it in an hour and half so I'm pretty darn proud of myself. That earned me the right to eat whatever I wanted in sickeningly large amounts and the rights to sit and do nothing for the rest of the day.

Now that we are home we are all hoping for snow soon. There is a big storm coming in and the Spokane news says snow every day this week, I just hope we get some of it. It sure feels like it's ready to dump. Hopefully that adventure will lead to more exciting photos then this one I took of Shawn and his brother frying one of the two turkeys for Thanksgiving this year.

Wedding Planning

Since you have all seen the ring, here's what I've been working on in secret: http://ingwedding.blogspot.com. Since we decided we needed to start planning a wedding before it became official with a ring I started jotting down my ideas. Enjoy the read.

The Ring

Photo by Zanna. Credits

Photo Shoot

I had such a blast taking photos this morning. Lisa asked if I would be willing to take family photos for her and I was very excited to do so. The girls were great and everyone was very photogenic. Here's a sample of a few, the rest you can view in my portfolio. Thanks for the opportunity Lisa, I hope you enjoy the photos!



There is finally snow in the forecast, never mind that it's in a snow/rain mix format.

My best friend Brent and his girlfriend Zanna are riding the train to Wenatchee where I'll pick them up next weekend. I'm excited for them to come visit. I've got to show Zanna digital scrapbooking and it will be good for Shawn to see his friends. I'm sure they will go golfing and maybe we'll go get some more wood. There is something very appealing to showing off this small town to our friends and family. Even though we all came from a small town, it's just different. Maybe it's the climate and that it doesn't rain all the time. Come on snow!

Happy Halloween

"The night before Halloween and we finally carved a pumpkin. This is the first house we've been in so it is exciting to display a pumpkin and look for trick or treaters. Shawn was the master carver of a pirate ship theme. Maybe we'll make it a tradition to carve the pumpkin the night before Halloween."

Credits Here