Time With Papa

We spent a little time with Papa (my dad) today. I needed to drop off some papers to him, along with Milo's new carseat that he'll bring to the airport when we return China. I took Xandra with me, as she decided to catch a cold right before we leave!! So she got to stay home with us today, and was rewarded with some time with Papa. (I'm hoping & praying she'll be back to school tomorrow so I can get some last-minute things done.) 

My dad brings his dog Calie to work with him (perks of being an owner!), so Xandra had some extra fun throwing the balls for her to catch & bring back (our little Chihuahua doesn't do that- wouldn't think of it!). We all had fun & it was a good opportunity to say our goodbye's. :(

I'm working on packing and repacking right now. I packed one bag with Xandra's & Milo's clothes, toys, snacks, and gifts for the nannies & officials. I'm going to repack that- maybe take some things out to leave home. I think I'm over-thinking things... & over-packing. I hate packing. Matt always complains that I over-pack. I don't know how not to. Thankfully, we don't travel much. :) 

I haven't even started on my stuff, yet. But I don't feel too bad about that- neither has Matt. I suppose we better hurry up!!


** I'm testing out emailing to post to the blog. Although I'm not thrilled with the pictures (I like big pictures & I'm not sure how to change that via email), I believe it will work well. (no idea what's going on with the font...) 

ICE Day!

Some of the accumulated ICE on our deck. All plans called off due to ICE! After yesterday's post (so full of self-pity!), I figured this was actually a wonderful change of events. This gives me an entire day to study for my upcoming tests (if I could only get myself off the computer!!).

I discovered a new blog, and Lisa (the mom, writer, & photographer of the blog) has just inspired me! She's incredible with a camera - although she's got incredible subjects! Her kids are more than beautiful! I'm going to try to get in touch with her once I've caught up on her blog (I'm one who thoroughly enjoys reading from beginning to end). I've read about a year & a half's worth of her 3 year's long blog, in about 3 days. I love it!

I'm really happy I found her, because I'm supposed to photograph a wedding this spring, and I'm beyond nervous. Lisa has actually started her own small photography business just because she loves to do it & wanted to share her talents. I wish I was that brave. I even went to school for photography, but dropped out because I just couldn't get the hang of the technical aspect (lighting mostly). And I never really learned how to edit and adjust my digital pictures because that really wasn't around while I was in school. I've asked Matt about taking a low-key (read: not technical) class on Photoshop or some other photo program. Now if I could just fit it into my insane schedule!!

I was really hoping to get to school today to study some of the models I'll be tested on in Anatomy, but the pictures I've got of them will just have to do today. I'm going to go bury myself in books & papers in a few minutes - hidden away in my room probably. I'm half trying to hide myself away from Xandra- she always wants just me when I'm home. Daddy's here too, but much to his disappointment, she continues to be a "mama's girl."

I've been playing with some of the features on Flickr - what do you think? Too much?

And Away We Go!!

Ok, I've been setting up this blog for a few weeks now... I suppose it's time to actually post to it! I have been a bit hesitant to get started on this blog, since I do have another blog up & running already (www.babybellylaughs.info). That blog, though, was really meant to be dedicated to our adoption journey. Once we have our son, that blog will pretty much be shut down (it's on a pay site, and I only purchased 1 year of hosting). So, I decided I should just take the plunge & set up a 2nd blog so I can start sharing our family's day-to-day happenings (cause we're oh-so-interesting!).

We're here at the beginning of 2011, looking forward to a great year! Our daughter will turn 5 this May, and we're hoping to be traveling right around that time to get our (currently) 16-mth-old son (maybe we'll celebrate Xandra's birthday in China!). I'll be starting back to school full-time in 3 days, finishing up my general education courses so I can apply to the Sonography program in April or May. I'll be taking the summer semester off, for a much more important reason - we'll be bonding with our son!

Miss Xandra posing for mama on the last really nice day of 2010- before winter officially hit!

As photography is a hobby of mine, I hope to be able to post many pictures to my updates! I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the best photographer (even though I actually went to school for a short period for photography!), but it's not too difficult to take good pictures of cute kids!! :)