Full Time Housewife, in Training!

With a new full time position created at work there was a need to downsize the part time help.  As such, I have been  laid off.  For the first time in a long time I'm with out a job, and being a self diagnosed Workaholic I went through my few days of sadness as this reality sunk in.  Surprisingly, though, I woke this morning with a vigor and a desire to work hard as a house wife!  I think it will take me a few days to get a routine down but I am ready to make sure my house is clean as can be.  Once my house is significantly cleaner than it may or may not currently be I have sewing projects to complete before the baby comes.  Hopefully I can live up to the name of "Housewife" and "Stay at Home Mom."

Ode To Running

My feet on the road
You know, I do miss you so
I can't wait to run!

So the most difficult part of pregnancy, at this point, is being unable to go running.  I often dream of running, and not struggling with my asthma while I'm running, only to wake up feeling jealous.  Walking is still a physical possibility for me, though walking as quickly as my non pregnant self used to might not be. 


Oh well, only a month and a half left before we can start running again.  At least I can go walking and I'm not bed ridden.  Thank Heavens!

Soon to be Missionary

Madam Camille has been kind enough to let me take pictures of her again.  It's always fun to do a photoshoot with Camille.  Here are some of the better shots:

 

She'll be a good little missionary, me thinks.

Lightroom

Photographers are like runners at times.  Both feel so passionately about their hobby that they are eager to share their knowledge and learn from anybody who seems to take an interest in it.  It's amazing what you can learn by talking with strangers who are passionate about photography.  For instance, last summer while Heidi, Mom and I were in Jackson Hole shooting at Mormon Row a gentleman arrived at the location just after the buffalo had walked past.

He was disappointed to have missed the buffalo but excited that we could be there for that magical moment.  We later saw this man again as we were shooting pictures of the Tetons.  Mom struck up a conversation with this gentleman asking what he did, what some of his pieces of equipment were, etc.  During this discussion he mentioned a piece of software called Lightroom which he used for post-processing photos.  He told us that Lightroom is made by Adobe with photographers in mind and that is much easier to use than photoshop for editing photos.  

Well, kind gentleman, we finally took your advice and purchased Lightroom.  Adobe is kind to students by giving great discounts on software.  I picked up Lightroom from the bookstore for Mom and now we have it running on both of our laptops.  I can't believe how wonderful this program is!  Here are a few examples of what I've done in Lightroom:
 

Camille Before

 

Camille After

 

Camille Before

Camille After

I still have much to learn about this software, but I have enjoyed using it so much already!  I definitely would recommend this to anybody who classifies them self as an amateur photographer who is new to photo editing, especially if you can get the student discount!

Geek Zodiac

 

Quite delightful.  I'm a fan of the "Super Hero" type font used for the title, though I'm ashamed to admit I don't know the name of that font off the top of my head.  Alan disagrees with categorizing Jedi Knights as Ninjas; I'm still debating, though.

So in my routine of checking up on the world via internet (i.e. email, web comics, news, etc) I came across this delightful find: The Geek Zodiac!

Trimester Two....Conquered!

That's right, we're on the final stretch of this game.  Week 30 is just around the corner for us.  The doctor says Baby's doing fine; growing just like she should, healthy heart beat, kicking like a beast.  My belly has finally "popped."  It's nice to know strangers realize I'm pregnant rather than over weight, so so very nice.  Were it not for Annette, Sharon, Camille, and Grandma Johnson I wouldn't have anything to wear but men's t-shirts. Thanks to their generosity, though, I have a lovely little wardrobe of belly-appropriate clothing.  Never before has my wardrobe been so fashionable/girly/feminine/all of the above. 

Alan's been able to bond with Baby now that she's getting stronger.  Usually their bonding moments can be described as a "swift kick to dad's head."  How tender.

My on going project of the times is getting the nursery set up.  Alan helped me move the computers downstairs and put the crib together.  However, this is still a work in progress.  My house is currently less than suitable to live in and driving me crazy.  More motivation to finish I suppose. 

Catching up, yet again

Well, so much for doing well with keeping up on any record of my life.  Here's a quick recap of this last month's happenings:
 
-Moab trip with the Johnsons!  We went to cheer Annette on at the Canyonlands Half Marathon.  It was so fun to be back as a spectator for the race, and camping with Sharon, Ryan, and Annette's fam was a grand-ol' time.

 

I was impressed with Annette for being silly and not falling at the same time.

-Riverton's 3rd annual half marathon!  I L-O-V-E the atmosphere at races.  The energy  is always so high with excitement  and joy.  Being a volunteer at a race is even better!  As a volunteer I get the quite satisfaction of knowing somebody's day has been made or life goal may have been met because I was willing to get out of bed at 5 o' something in the morning to help with this event.  Mom had such a good turn out this year!  I'm so glad everything went well.


-Last month o' teh semester.  Alan's been working hard in all of his classes and hopefully his hard work will pay off with finals next week.


-I'm loving my new job.  I've been in the USU Bookstore with the IT staff since the end of January and loving every moment of it.


-The weather can't decide if it wants to warm up or not, but the temperatures are slowly getting warmer.  At least it's not snowing anymore! 


And.....yep.  That's about it.