My Best Shot

It's been quite awhile since I have participated in a photo challenge... but this is one I just couldn't pass up! The Paper Mama is hosting a "Your Best Shot" challenge, just link up with your best shot of a child (or a furry child, if you prefer). With all the new baby pics I have been taking lately, I knew it would be hard to choose a favorite, but I finally narrowed it down...

I love this one. He has such a little grumpy face when he is sleeping! Little Mr. Nathan, I know you are much sweeter than that furrowed brow would suggest!

Well, I hope you all enjoy it too, and if you have a favorite shot that you would like to enter, just head over to The Paper Mama!

4 Months

4 Months have come and gone without so much as a glance to my blog. With a new job, moving, and just the craziness of life, a few things ran away from me. My blog was one of those things, but it feels good to be back again, typing away. :-)

Anyways... update? I love, love, LOVE my job! I am working for the California Conservation Corps as a Special Corpsmember - Education Coordinator. For those of you who have never heard of the CCC, you should definitely check out their website for more info. It is a great program that offers tremendous opportunities for young adults to gain invaluable work skills. My position allows my to help Corpsmembers get the most out of their time in the C's; to help them be as successful as possible in the program. It is incredibly rewarding, and I truly love going to work each and every day. :-)

Of course, we also moved.... again.... Ugh! We move too much! But, it was necessary. We are now right in town, less than 2 miles from each of our offices, rather than 20+ miles away. We can walk or bike to work, or to just about anywhere else we need to go in town. We love it. It's nice to not have a long drive home after work every day!

I haven't been making much lately... no jewelry or ceramics in months... Not many cakes either, just a few cupcakes or cookies every now and then. I like to spoil the crew at work when I can, and they always appreciate baked goods! Beyond that, I have a planted a little garden this year. Tomatoes, green beans, bell peppers, mini carrots, mini watermelons, yellow squash, & zucchini have all been planted, and are growing like crazy! I will be planting some more this week also. Maybe some cherry tomatoes and who knows what else... Our new house has this great little sun room off of the kitchen, and that is where all my plants have been. The winter here has been dragging on forever, so it is just recently safe to put my precious plants outside. But the sun is now out pretty consistently, so the plants will be outside this week!

My little garden

Beyond that, I have been doing quite a bit of photography. Specifically, maternity & newborn photography, which I am finding I really love. Take a look at some of my recent work:

Dear friends, Daniel & Melissa Hood. This is baby #3 for them... all boys!

Baby Nathan

Renee (above) and her sister Wraylene (below) were pregnant together. I had a blast taking their pics!

Awwww.... sisters!

Baby Bailey

Well, my friends, that is all I have for now! Have a great week!

M.I.A.

So, I'm working again... Yay! It is really nice to have a job again after a year of unemployment. I started my job 2 weeks ago, and I am currently in training for a total of 9 weeks. That is a crazy long time for training! But, there is a lot of information to learn before I start working with clients.

Anyways, that's where I have been for the last few weeks. I have been acclimating to the life of a employed person again.... not staying up to late, getting up early, having to be somewhere at a set time, etc. I have gotten used to crafting/blogging/web surfing whenever I want,  so having a schedule is a big change! I am trying to develop a weekly schedule for myself so that I make time for my blog and my Etsy shop. I am thinking I may start blogging once or twice a week, on specific days, and updating my Etsy shop at the same time. I am hoping that a set schedule will keep me from going M.I.A. for long periods of time!

This weekend I am busy finishing all my entries for our county fair. I turned in my photography, jewelry, and ceramic entries today, and all my baked goods are due on Tuesday, the day before the fair. Below are some of the pictures that I entered. Let me know what you think!

Goodnight all!

~Amber

Photo Challenges!

I haven't entered any photo challenges in awhile, so I am jumping back in today. I am entering five photo challenges today, and some of these photos are ones that I am entering in the fair this year also!

Photo Challenge #1:

"Over My Head"

I took this at our annual Balloon Fair last year. I love all the colors!! Can't wait for the balloon fair again this year. 

Photo Challenge #2:

"Landscapes"

This was taken just a week ago at the Ride in the Light Christian Biker Rally. This was during the Sunday morning ride. I followed behind the bikers and took this picture out the sunroof of the car. This is one of my favorites from this weekend. 

Photo Challenge #3:

"Faces"

This was taken at a friends wedding a month or so ago. This sweet girl was resting on her Momma's shoulder right in front of me. I just couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of her precious face. I used The Pioneer Woman's Vintage Photoshop action on this photo.

Photo Challenge #4:

"Action"

My "babies" playing and running around. I am amazed that this pic is not more blurry!

Photo Challenge #5:

"Ice Cream"
My furry baby, Cammie, loves ice cream, which is probably part of why she is a little pudgy!! This was taken when she was just a pup. She really loved that Coconut Sorbet!

That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed my pics!

~Amber

SOOC Saturday (The View From My Back Door)

The other night, I looked out the window and saw the most beautiful sunset. I grabbed my camera and rushed out the door and took picture after picture until it was too dark to take any more. The pinks, reds, oranges, yellows, and blues made for a magnificent view. It was as if God was painting the skyline, and he certainly didn't need any help from photoshop. ;-)

I feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful place, where I can enjoy amazing sunsets (smog free), see all the stars at night, and hear nothing but the crickets chirping and the frogs croaking.

Mmmm, blissful.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

You can also check out other entries for SOOC (straight out of the Camera) Saturday by clicking on the link below.

~Amber

Waterfront & Macro Challenges

Here are a couple more photo challenges for this week. I am really enjoying entering these, as I feel it is helping me grow in both my photography skills, and my post processing knowledge. Looking at everyone else's photo's always gives me some great ideas. I hope you will also check out the links below and gains some inspiration from everyone's amazing photography.

Waterfront:

This picture was taken in Bandon, Oregon, the day after my Mom and Step Dad's wedding. It was taken using my old Pentax Film camera. I love how the focus is on the grass, but you can still see the ocean in the background. It is one of my favorite pictures from that day.

Macro:

This picture was taken outside of our local junior college after the first big snow of the year. I love how the light is shining through the leaves and reflecting off the melting snow.

That's all for now.

~Amber

New Photo Challenges

I was so busy with my friends wedding this past week, that I didn't have a chance to enter a few photo challenges. That's okay though, I found some new ones.

Check out my pics, and let me know what you think!


My first entry is for In a Yellow House. The theme there this week is Water.
I took this picture at the Lower Burney Falls in beautiful Northern California. Shortly after taking this picture, I managed to get my car stuck in the snow, and was almost 2 hours late for my ceramics class. You know what? It was totally worth it.

My second entry this week is for Simplicity. The theme there this week is Self Portrait.
I kinda like this picture of myself. :-)

My final entry is for Trendy Treehouses' Shutter Love Tuesdays. The theme there this week is a Father's Love. I have lots and lot's of pictures of my Dad. But, they either were not taken by me, or they do not fit this theme. So, I am adapting the theme a little bit here to (Grand)father's love. If it doesn't count for the challenge, that's okay, I still wanted to share this photo. This is my Dad, with his Grandson giving him a big ol' kiss. I love, love, love this picture!!!

Well, that's all from me for tonight. Soon I will have pictures from the wedding I helped coordinate this last weekend. It was tons of fun, and really beautiful, so be on the lookout for that post! Until then, have a good night all.

~Amber

A Few More Photo Challenges

I am finding that I really enjoy photo challenges. I love looking through my pictures to find the perfect one for theme, and I really love looking through all the other submissions. I feel like I learn more and more about photography just be looking at other people's work. On that note, I have found a few other weekly photo challenges that I will be submitting my work to. I am going to try to submit pics on a weekly basis, however I am also going to try and post them all in one post next week, instead of in a bunch of separate posts, with the exception of the iheartfaces entry.

The first entry is for The Trendy Treehouse, for Shutter Love Tuesday. The theme there this week is Smiles.

This is the other son of my friends Daniel and Melissa. He is the big brother to the adorable baby I posted yesterday. This little man is such a cutie himself!

My second entry is for In A Yellow House Photo Challenge.

The theme this week is Nature. My entry is one of my favorite shots of Mount Shasta. I love living in an area with such gorgeous scenery. I could take pictures of this mountain every day and never tire of it!

That's all for now. I'm off to bake. :-)

~Amber