Santa Photos

Well, these last few weeks have been busy with doing Santa photos on the weekends on top of both of our full time jobs, so I haven't posted to the blog as often as I would like. On the other hand, I'm now equipped with more experience and best of all funny stories...

Last Sunday, we had quite the adventure. It was the first picture of the day, so I asked, Have you already had your picture taken? (because people were thinking they had to pre-pay)
Customer: Yes
Me: Okay, here they are (the only folder there so far so must be hers right???)
Customer: I like this one... I want a C... *pays for it*
So, I print it off and look around and she's not there... and then the kids that are in the picture show up...
Me: Here's your picture!
Them: Do we have to pay?
Me: A lady stopped by here already and paid for it...
Them: Was it that lady over there?
Me: I don't think so...
Her: No, I didn't pay for anything
Someone else: Maybe it was a random act of kindness
So, I don't want to make them pay twice (I hadn't figured it out yet) so I give them their picture and they leave...
About ten people later... a man and his son come to look at their pictures... they pick package C.. and I give them the total...
"Oh my wife already paid for it...."

Now for a special treat before I log off, belly pictures!!! I know that we've been slow on this aspect too and didn't quite do what we were planning to do but we like what we have so far, and that'll motivate us to do more until our little bundle of joy arrives. Here we are at 24 weeks:

Almost Halfway

It's amazing how fast time is flying by... it feels like it was just yesterday, the end of July with it's warm summer sun that we found out we would have an addition to our family. And now it's November, winter is beginning to take it's hold again and as it starts to wean, the newest member of our family will make it's entry into the world. We've heard the heartbeat - through a doppler, during the ultrasound, and even through a stethoscope. We've seen the precious miracle growing inside of me and we're feeling it move too. Words cannot explain how wonderful and precious this is. I hope that I never lose this sense of awe over this miracle growing inside of me.

We're Expecting

For some of you, that's old news, and you've known for awhile. For others, especially those we don't see that often - that's quite the shock. It's given me time to think of my own childhood and things that I want to do with my child(ren), or things that I want to change. One thing that goes back a ways in my childhood, and even before I was born is a comic that was in the newspapers, in books and even had a tv series and a few movies. I was watching a few episodes of the tv series that I haven't seen awhile and the theme song really caught my attention. Here's the lyrics so that you know where I am deriving my thoughts from:

6 am with little sleep and its another crazy day
Whoever said that life is fair they better not comeour way
Pretty sure the mufflers gone and there's just one thing to say
One look from you and you know its true I wouldn't change a thing
As long as we are sticking together we can take what life may bring
We have to keep reminding ourselves there's laughter and there's cryin
And if we think that everything's perfect then we'd just be lyin
Not everything is gonna have sunshine but we'll keep on tryin
For better or worse things will turn out fine

After reading the lyrics (and hearing them sung a few times) I really got thinking, you know, that's really what life is all about. I mean, my childhood was not perfect - Just listing off the things that us kids set on fire or put out is enough to make anybody cringe (bathroom, hair, teacher's desk, the cat). I wonder if I would have the patience to be able to deal with one of my children setting something in our place on fire, another living being or themselves. And that's just the tip of the iceberg - I mean, there is so much that parents have to deal with. But at the end of the day - just as the song says: For better or worse things will turn out fine.

Now I guess I have been thinking about this because with my first trimester ending, I was hoping so would the bouts of nausea and throwing up. I am sick of it (pun intended) and am physically exhausted at the end of the day. I am on medication that is supposed to do wonders (I suppose it is, as it could be much worse but I am still throwing up) Every morning, our radio goes off as our alarm clock and I've been hearing advertisements at Cravings Maternity and Baby - now I like to browse and look around on their website for ideas and such, but it's not always the best idea to go out and buy everything you read/see/hear about. One of the items in particular, was called "Preggie Pop Drops". I was like, it sounds like a good idea and might as well try them out. So I went down to the store, and at the very back on a shelf where they just might be missed, I grabbed the last package (read:item must be very popular) and headed to the checkout. As I am paying for my purchase, another customer who was receiving assistance (the sales clerks were on the ball and very efficient - I was very impressed) was like "Oh those really do work". The look on her face was enough to say: 1) she'd been in my position before and 2) that she was quite sincere. I have to say, for the few times where I've felt just a bit queasy, that popping a drop did just the trick and I'm feeling better than before. Tying this all together, I hope I don't sound overly whiny but in the long run - this will pass and be but a faint memory in the back of my head. I finish off with a verse that I found, and that reminds me, perhaps I should just enjoy this time that I have right now:

Ecclesiastes 3:11-13
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.

Videos

So I have had a chance to play around with my photos over the last year, and make some pretty cool videos. I've always liked doing scrapbooking and making slideshows and such but with animoto.com, it lets you do a mixture of both, and it does all the work for you. I picked out the music and arranged the pictures in the desired order and it's very user friendly. Click and drag. Anyhow here they are:





I am hoping to use my experience and practice with these videos to make a special "happy 16 birthday" video for my brother in just over a month. I'll have to post the video here after I am done.

*UPDATE* Here's the video for Mark's Birthday

It's official now

Jason and I had a fantastic wedding and even had a few days in a hotel. Now that we are both back to work and we have a few pictures to show I thought I would share them here. The days before the wedding were pretty crazy though. I wasn't sure that we were going to make it but we did. I just want to put out a general thank you to everybody who helped to make our wedding a success ~ honestly, we couldn't have done it without the support of our community and those around us. Now onto some pictures of our special day:







and here's the cake, made by our very own Monica!



All photos are property of © MAKI FOTOS 2009

A Walk in the Park and by the River

On Wednesday or Thursday, and then again today, Saturday, I got the opportunity to take a walk in a park and in and around the river. The first time, I had the chance to pull my bike out for the second time this year and was planning a picnic and some writing in a lovely grove of trees. After venturing outside though, and it looked like it might rain, I soon realized a picnic might not be a good idea after all. I grabbed my camera instead and got some practice with some different settings (and the editing afterwards too -- which can be seen in the picture below... I think the graffiti on the table adds a nice touch) Jason may be converting me after all.


On Saturday, while Jason was at work, he handed me his camera backpack (that also holds his laptop which I am writing from) and I walked down 2nd avenue to 21st down to the Bessborough and along the river until 19th and then down 3rd Ave and 4th until the library and ended at Mulberrys (which at the moment I am currently typing this up) On my venture, I got some pictures of the Bess, a goose that posed for me, some prairie dogs and ski-dooers. It was a lovely walk and as I walked by 92.9 The Bull station, the sign read 29° celcius. Someone remarked that today felt the first true summer night and I am apt to agree with them on that. It has been cold and rainy after the snow melted that it might as well not melted for how awful it has been out.


Anyways, here are some of the pictures from my walk this afternoon:












Hope you enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

I La-la-la Like You

Considering that we are just about to be married, I found it rather funny when an old e-card that Jason sent to me a few years ago came up in our conversation the other day. He had sent this e-card when we at a stage of "Are we dating?" and the answer was "I don't know". Most of you who know us can remember that ha ha. I went through a few thousand emails (yes, a few thousand, not a few or a few hundred) and could not find the link for love nor money. I did find some older pictures that I had emailed and haven't seen in awhile and so that was a bonus. Here are some of those pictures below, the first one of Jason sitting at a bus stop (this would have been around the summer of 2006) and the second a picture I took of a fire juggler at the fringe in 2006 with a really bad camera and I didn't think I got any good shots.. this was accidental. Hope you like them:






I recently switched my web browser from Firefox to Chrome and all my bookmarks and stuff transferred over quite nicely. Now this wouldn’t have anything to do with this post except that there was a folder marked “Other Bookmarks” which I hadn’t seen before. So I opened it, and found a list of bookmarks I had kept while I was down at Western in Grade 12. Coincidentally, this also coincides with the first year that Jason and I dated, and thus the already mentioned e-card. I was bursting with glee when I found it. Not for long though, my bubble was burst when I clicked on the link and it was 404. I googled the link, and tried to find it and got nothing, everything was pointing back to the link that no longer existed. So, as one last ditch effort to try and find this silly e-card, I typed the title of it into Google and the first link had the e-card – go figure. So, now that I have created enough suspense and awe for this card, here's the link for it below.



Hope you enjoy it.

Beginnings

Life is full of beginnings and seeing as there are many that use blogs to keep up with daily affairs and to keep in touch with others, we too have decided it is a worthwhile pursuit. This will be nothing fancy and I don’t expect to get lots of comments or have tons of visitors. A blog is a journal of sorts and I expect that it will be fun and exciting to watch where this dear creation goes and to see thought processes grow and mature over time. It will also be a place where my creative juices can flow with or without criticism. Constructive criticism can be good thing, although as harsh as it feels at the time, it does help one grow.


As I am pretty sure everyone knows, and I do not grow tired of talking about it, is that there is a new beginning looming in my near future. I will soon become part of the “K-Team”. I suppose it’s been a bit premature to post under such but alas, I have always been premature with things – even my birth. Ha ha. Sorry, my humor can be quite twisted and confusing at times. I hope I do not chase readers away with such. As I was saying, and before my train of thought derails, I came up with the idea for this blog title as such, K – for soon my last name shall start with such and Team - because we are going to be on the same team and working together for the same goal. Right now, our team will contain two people but hopefully, in the near future, but not too near, there will be more added to our team and we shall all be as a team and be close to each other. Another aspect that appealed to me, was the fact that “K-Team” sounds a lot like “A-Team” and although I have never seen an episode, the fact that it is a play on words, it appeals to me. I suppose now that I have said as much, I will just have to watch an episode or two.