Let us Discuss

Okay...so I've shared with you the beginnings of this new year...I didn't necessarily make "resolutions" persay, but I just kinda got sucked into all these things at once...

So, I showed you the hair chop...I am getting used it, although, I don't feel comfortable just blow drying and leaving the house anymore...to which many in the outside world are saying, "praise the lord, that lady was a little hard on the eyes there for awhile...good to know she's got something that will make her fix it up a bit before steppin' out into the light." 

We've discussed my OCD with regards to everything remotely related to a memory and thus the explosion that happens to be my basement.  And as I said, we ARE making progress.  I didn't make it downstairs today...instead I wrote a book about a dog with Little Munchkin...3 whole pages and about 5 sentences total...but she LOVES it.  I especially liked the part when Daddy comes home and she reads it to him lots of times:)  We also played Bingo and did a bunch of matching with colors and numbers and letters and even beginning sounds.  All in all, it was a good day and it was that much better because I didn't have to force myself to stuff another doll from the 70's or my wedding runner into the trash...and YES, I said my wedding ceremony runner..don't ask me why I still have it...but I do...in all it's glory...rolled up in a big ole box...along with my wedding dress hoop:)

Anyway, I haven't mentioned the acne craze that has taken over my face too much...mostly because it's just plain painful.  I have seen some improvement though...got myself some nice Neutrogena acne wash and my sis-in-law got me all stocked up awhile ago with "anti-aging" creams...it's not completely vanished, but I can at least cover most with make up and/or leave my hair all frizzy (as my husband says he likes it) and it masks it pretty well.

What I'd like to confess about now is the weight dilemma.  I don't like to exercise and I don't like eating healthy.  I'm just being honest...seriously, if I could drink Pepsi and Starbucks and eat cheesy chips and pizza all day every day...I'd do it...and then I'd throw in some regular potato chips and dip and a few dozen oreo cookies...and then I'd start munching on gumballs and jelly beans when I needed to switch up the sugar. 

And basically, that's what I did this past fall...in the midst of all the photo shoots and my hubby being gone, I ate...I ate like I wasn't going to see the next day...and I didn't move my behind from off the computer chair for about 3 months. 

And so, that brings me to present day...me and my muffin top have been together for awhile now and she's starting to irritate me.  She won't allow me into 2 pairs of my favorite pairs of jeans...no matter how I try to cram her in...

The problem is that I'm such an immediate gratification person that it is sooo hard for me to keep going when I don't see immediate results...and a loss of ONE lb in one week is not what I call "results"...

It's like those before and after pictures...except I'd like the after picture to be taken the next day...wouldn't we all??? 

So, I'm eating yogurt and granola...oatmeal...cottage cheese...drinking water...carrots and fruits...and I'm dreaming of chocolate chip cookies and having a fountain drink.  I'm running 2 miles every day and doing moderate versions of p90x with weight lifting and other stuff...I like to watch the infomercials while I work out...it's ridiculous I know, but they keep me going for the time being. I'm just hoping and praying that by spring, I 'll actually be able to fit into the clothes that I purchased last year when i was all fit from going to Grand Cayman with my hubby...

And that's that folks...hope your resolutions or goals are going well...I'd love to hear what you are up to as well!!!

Treasure Hunting

A couple days ago I told you of our plan to tackle my Hoarder's Heaven...AKA the Basement.

I am quite proud to say that the end of our driveway now looks like a dumpsite thanks to the purging efforts of myself and my husband...moreso on my husband's part as I was dilly-dallying and relishing in the "treasures" that I found once we began. 

See, this is the problem...I get to sorting through things and then get swept away in memories...I found old passed notes from high school...Dan, Angie, Carol, Ted, Lee...you know who you are...I STILL have all those notes...crumpled and folded and dumped into a box in my treasure trove.  I found old pictures from childhood and ton of my brother for some reason...Don, I will be sending those to you soon...well, as soon as I locate them again cuz they got all mixed in with my Calculus tests and Biology drawings...but, I'll find 'em.

We have made progress...now, if YOU came to my house and saw my basement you'd probably sarcastically say, "THIS is progress...what in the world did it look like before?"  And that's where I'd have to assure you that we indeed HAVE made an improvement b/c it really does look a ton better than it did 2 days ago.  Don't get me wrong, we (and by we, I mean I) have a long way to go...each day I have to psyche myself up to get down there, but...baby steps...and large doses of hot coffee and the occassional ibuprofen for the headache that arises when I realize that I'm throwing away parts of my LIFE!!! 

Okay, so it's not THAT bad in reality...but it FEELS that way sometimes...and I'm weird....and I'm okay with it...

So, I thought I'd share a few of my "finds" today...I've put one of the pictures up here before, but I finally found the matching set, so I took a picture of top AND bottom this time:) 

First off we have some old Calculus, Anal. Geo., Algebra 2 and Physics tests...

Next, my favorite:)  It's my "teddy-dog".  I've had this thing from the time of my earliest memory and I remember sleeping with it well into my elementary years.

Lastly, we have my Wonder Woman Underoos...I will spare you pictures of my baby teeth and my retainers, but they were all boxed up together...I just pulled these out especially for you!!

Stay tuned for more treasures to be found:)  Have a great Monday!

For my camera loving friends!

Every once in awhile, I hope to be an encouragement to those that stop by here to read my family blog, in the area of photography.  It's because of friends and family that I got into photography in the first place...encouragement and a desire to keep memories are strong motivators to me!

Granted, I hope there are times that you may be encouraged in other areas as well...such as, "oh my goodness, at least I don't parent like her!" or "whew, she totally blew that one...yep, I'm feeling mighty fine about myself now!"  And if you leave your time breezing by my blog and have a smile or have laughed a bit, I count it a privilege to have been able to give you some humor & encouragement for the day:) 

Now...back to the photography...sometimes I know that it can be overwhelming...the whole aperature/shutter speed/ ISO thing...

And some of you are going, "ummm, whatch u talkin' bout willis?"

Yes well...Here's where photoshop has been my help. 

Ultimately it would be AWESOME if I could figure out every little thing IN my camera so that every picture just came out great every time...but, let's face it...that's not going to happen...

I mean, hey...I've got dishes to load, crumbs to sweep and dancin' to do with the kids on the wii...when I see a moment and it needs to be captured...I don't always have time to get all my settings ready so that I can get the perfect shot...

So, I do the best I can with what my sticky fingers and flour covered apron can handle and I just snap...and then I cross my fingers and hope I can fix it all on photoshop...and 9 times out of 10, it's possible...

I have recently learned about ACTIONS in photoshop and I must tell you that I'm LOVING them...they are time savers and easy to run.  Let me give you a few examples of photos from about a year or two ago...I just went fishing for old photos that I knew I had snapped with my old camera and I ran them through actions in photoshop, and just a few little tweaks...take a look

Most of the actions that I use are from here and totally FREE.  I also love Pioneer Woman's Action sets as well...  There are some great tutorials on how to load them if you have photoshop elements and then away you go.  I like to adjust each layer as it runs so that I get the look that I'm going for.  Not every picture merits an action...sometimes it just needs a contrast boost...but other times, it just makes it fun!

Hope you have fun with your photos...and don't forget to print them and hang them up in your home...stick them on the fridge or enlarge the ones of little kids with goggles on their faces...those are the memories that you want! 

Happy weekend!

You're so VAIN!

Okay, maybe it's more like: I'm so vain...
But that's not really the song title...so you'll just have to go with it...

For the millions  5 of you who sooo sweetly asked for a picture of my "new do" 

Well...here's at least one...As I mentioned previously, I am able to do the do in many new styles...one of which, if I tilt my head forward just a tad, it apppppeeeaaarrrsss that it is actually longer than it is...woohoo for me...and here it is...

Now, if I could figure out how to walk with my head tilted this way and not look like I've been in a car accident and received whiplash, we'd be all set!

And lest you think I was lying, you BETTER BELIEVE that I totally photoshopped my forehead to rid myself of the potholes...you just never know when a picture can come back to haunt you...if you don't believe me check out some tagged photos of me on facebook...oh heavens!

I asked my darling Italian Stallion which "do" he liked best...did he like it when I first came home from the lady who cut it...that "shag" sort of look?...what about today's "curled" under/make it look a bit longer?...or maybe when I curled it up big and it hung just under my ears?  hmmmmm?

I received a blank stare..."Um, I didn't realize that you had done it differently...so many times...Umm, how about when you came out of the shower that one time and it was all frizzy...that was fun!"

Thanks honey, that was HUGE help!  Wow! 

And since today is Friday and I'm going to VAINly believe that everyone cares what my hair looks like each day...I'm planning on going with the curly look...in case you couldn't make it to the weekend without that tidbit of information!

Enjoy your Friday...I'll be posting soon over at CTPhoto...I got to spend a wonderful afternoon with my next door neighbor who just had a precious baby boy the day after Christmas...so you KNOW I was itchin' to get my camera at the ready...Little Munch and I ran over and "played" yesterday...

Love you all!
~Mamarazzi

Hoarder's Heaven

I think you all know that I'm a pack rat, a hoarder in a sense...not to the point that you can't enter my house or have to find pathways to get to the kitchen...

Well...unless you count my basement...

Yes...down in the depths of my basement lies "Hoarders Heaven".  This is where I "keep" my baby teeth, all my mail from college, every note written to me from pretty much anyone, including passed notes in high school.  In crates you'll find left over material from dresses or crafts, buttons and yarn.  In boxes you'll find every yearbook I ever owned, every award given, old lesson plans, calculus tests, college text books, and even my wedding negatives.  I KEEP everything it seems. 

Everything has a story attached to it and when I pick it up, I am transported back in time and I start to remember...and all the old emotions and laughter starts bubbling up.  I have paper bags filled with old pictures from my childhood.  I have dried flowers and boutineers from weddings that we've attended. 

And the thing is...I need to stop.  And it's hard. 

I've done a bit better as I've gotten older.  I've kept just a big tub in the basement for each daughter and I've MADE myself throw out school papers and other things...at times I just hold my breath and do it.  Other times, I stack it in a pile and come back when I am able to deal.

I know that sounds crazy...I'm not sure why I'm wired this way, but I literally have these tiny panic attacks whenever I have to start pitching things, "Oh, I might neeeeeed that someday" or "I remember this, I can't just throw it in the trash!" 

Well...when you have that attitude for your whole life, "stuff" starts adding up...and thus the pathways in my basement.  However, we are really wanting to start to finish off parts of the basement and that means that I must make room. 

Therefore, I have taken up working a half hour every day in my Hoarding Heaven and beginning to throw things away.  I did really well the first 2 days and then the 3rd day, I found that my pile of "save" was bigger than my "toss" and I knew I wasn't getting anywhere...today, I spent an hour and I managed to fill another trash bag. 

I'm trying hard...I really am...that along with washing my face and eating yogurt and running and chopping off my hair...man, it's like 2011 hit me with a BANG!

So, bear with me if I sound sad over thrown out underroos or babydolls from christmas 1979...and if you have any advice..moreso, emotional stabilizing advice on how to pitch stuff, I'm all ears!

p.s. I will get a picture up here soon of my hair cut.  The one plus of this "style" is that I can actually "style" it many different ways...curly, curled under, flipped out, just straight...I'm finding new ways to make it "appear" longer than it actually is...granted, to many of you, it's not that short, but just touching the tops of my shoulders is SHORT to me...sooo, just bear with me...I'm finding creative & interesting ways to take my own photos too:)

Just Stuff

How did it get to be Wednesday already?  These days seem to slip by too quickly lately...

I figured that I'd give you the scoop on where this wife of an Italian has been since Christmas...

First off, let me begin by informing you that my hair has been chopped.  I believe that my husband is one of the very men on the face of the planet that really likes short hair...This is quite a dramatic change from my growing up years where both my fathers liked long locks.  And for the record, I rather prefer long versus short.  However, I don't think that long hairs looks like I THINK it looks on me...

I envision myself with flowing hair, curled in all the right spots, as it cascades down my back and over my shoulders...

In reality, it looks more like a big bush exploded on my head.

And so...I closed my eyes, grabbed the chair and told the hair lady to "Just cut it! and do it quick" 

Yep...that's the first thing on the list...coming in a close second was the explosion of pot holes that erupted on my forehead and chin.  I thought once you hit a certain age that acne became a thing of the past.  Apparantly I was wrong, for it has come out in full force.  It might have been the stress of the fall or the holidays, or the fact that I've eaten so much chocolate and coffee and soft drinks that you could probably set up an IV and get sugar from my veins (if I even allowed you that close to me with a needle)

And so, the daily cleansing and putting on of all things alcohol, benzoyl peroxide and that sacilyc acid (not sure if I got those words correct, but you get the point) has begun.  Minus the flakes of skin that come off of my face due to over-drying, I think I may be on my way back to my regular wrinkly self...I'm guessing that my next skin drama will include age lines and a need to wax the eyebrows!

Lastly, you can't begin the new year with out discussing weight and healthy living.  I stepped on the scale about mid December and realized that I not only had gained weight, but didn't realize that I hadn't weighed this amount for about 2 years...WHOA...and therefore, I've decided to forego my friend, fountain Pepsi and instead drink:  water.  It's a bummer in some ways, but I'm hoping that perhaps in a few weeks, I will be thankful for the change...along with this has come daily running 2 miles and 15-20 minutes of p90x weight training (or whatever I can remember from the videos without actually having to insert them into the DVD player) 

It also means my house is stocked wtih yogurt, cottage cheese, humus, veggies, eggs and oatmeal...that's about the extent of healthy foods that I will deliberately eat. 

And that's about where I am right now...Little Munchkin and I are going to play today...and I'm looking forward to some time with just her without having to drag her all over Timbuktu with errands and such...

So...have a great day!  I'll be enjoying some Almond snacks with my baby girl and will not be looking in the mirror nor stepping on the scale later today:) 

2010 is now 2011

Peanut, "I don't want to leave 2010 Mommy, I've been with it for years!"

I think all of my girls have inherited their mother's love of all things memorable and unchanging!  They are "hoarders" like me...they like things to stay the same, familiar...and they like to have the memories and then TALK about them..

Yep...it's not comin' from the Stallion's side of the family...

We had a GREAT Christmas and New Years...thought I"d share just a few pictures in case you didn't catch the albums on facebook.

Christmas Eve yielded untold amounts of sugar consumption and hyper activity up the "whazooooo"...but, it's all in the name of Family Fun:)

And then...at JUST the right moment...we changed them into the nicest clothes and gave them FIRE.

The grandkids all then like to come home and perform multiple versions of the Christmas story...I like it best when "mary" changes costumes into "herod" and when Joseph starts shooting people with nerf guns...it's the "best christmas pageant ever"

Nana & Popi don't mind though and we thoroughly get a kick out of watching them do their thing...

That evening after 18 glasses of sparkling grape juice and consequently 20 trips to the bathroom...after the delicious 7 course Italian meal and getting them into bed before Mommy & Daddy had a chance to explode and shove only lumps of coal into their stockings (not really, but I've always wanted to threaten that:)...they finally fell asleep and awoke to a snow covered lawn (it had been that way since the beginning of the week, but we take blessings in any manner) and got ready to head downstairs after reading the Advent Book and opening the last door...

They were met with this...

which they promptly tore through and headed to the tree...I may post the video a little later...but if not, you can catch it on facebook:)
We had a whole penguin theme goin' this year...penguin wrapping paper, penguin nightgowns for the girls, penguin pjs for Mommy...Daddy was the only one left out and I think he was hurt...

doubt it...but, we did look for penguin pj bottoms for him...when I explained that we were unable to locate a single pair for him, he replied, "Ummm, there's a reason for that!"

Yes well...back to christmas morn'...we always send the girls on some crazy scavenger hunt..this year we gave them spy clues/puzzles to figure out in different locations...apparantly earmuffs and electric toothbrushes were helpful tools for discovery.

 and...one thing on the older girls' list was Aquasand...Mankinds WORST invention...let's mix SAND and WATER in the KITCHEN for fun...perfect!

By far though...our favorite gift was the Lego Set of a Christmas Bakery...

I think Italian Stallion particularly liked the part where I took pieces and made my own toys without following any of the directions...I could tell by the lovely glares and facial expressions that I was TOTALLY making it worthwhile!  It was even better when we finished the entire thing and there were left over pieces!!  This is where right and left brain people have some FUN with each other...

The thing I like about Christmas with my family, is that it's forever...I mean, it takes a longggg time and we get to celebrate multiple times...and so, on the 26th, we headed up north to visit my side of the family...

 I LOVE seeing my brother and all his boys...They all have a great time together!  And they all go crazy over their Aunt Rachel too...

And there you have it...our Christmas...

New Years followed with my Peep's family over to visit (you'll have to read the previous post to "get" that) but, let's just say we introduced them to dancing and wine:)  YIKES! 

Well...in the form of sparkling juice for the kiddos and Just Dance Wii...but MAN, our guys can boogie with the best of them...

"Oh Mickey you're so fine...you're so fine you blow my mind...hey Mickey!"

Happy New Year!