Picking Oranges at MawMaw & PawPaw's

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Terry and his Dad are picking oranges from a Satsuma Orange Tree in his backyard. That little tree was loaded again this year! I always bring my camera when we go out to the country. Today, I watched the sunset so beautifully. I told my husband to let me take a silhouette pic of him on his 4-wheeler in front of the horizon. He was at the barn talking to his dad for a sec so I started walking out to the field. I was looking at my camera settings as I walked. My destination was just past a big huge live oak tree with big branches that touched the ground. This is where I wanted to set up for the shot. Like I said, I was not really paying attention to where I was walking but looking at my camera. Suddenly, I began to hear really loud snorts coming at regular intervals right in front of me. I kinda checked myself to see if my clothes or feet could be making the noise. nope. As I got closer to the big bushy tree branches, the snorts got louder and louder. OH MY GOODNESS! WHAT IS SNORTING AT ME?!!! I started walking backwards like a crawfish. I turned around and yelled, HELP, HELP! I didn't want to turn my back and run. I also didn't know if Terry would hear my call for help all the way across the field and above the 4-wheeler engine. He heard. He and my father-in-law came speeding over and pointed their headlights into the oak tree but did not scare up anything. The animal must have already run away. They told me that it was probably a deer after I demonstrated how it sounded. They explained how a deer snorts when they are startled.

Hey, I know wild deer are not like Bambi! What if it was a big buck with huge antlers? It could have stuck me or kicked me with its hoofs. Whew, close call man, for reals! I have never been that close to a big wild animal like that before. (except one time a rotweiller came bounding after me. All I could do was stand frozen in place and tremble because all I was imagining was meat coming off my bones!...but that is another story...where was I anyway?..back to the deer story..) yeah, that wild creature was giving me some warning snorts and I didn't want any part of that! And, dadgummit if through all that drama, the sunset of bright pink, orange and gold that I wanted to capture went away in a snap! Oh well, I got something I kinda like. You can see it as the final shot on the PICKING ORANGES slideshow.

Silent Night, Holy Night...

Christmas Eve 2009 Slaton Side

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My side of the family gathered at our house this year on Christmas Eve. We had smoked brisket, meatloaf and gravy, granny's famous potato salad, and Aunt Tracey's sweet treat specialty ice-box pie and fudges. The food and fellowship is always special when we come together. We also had a blast with Wii Sports. PawPaw and Granny got into it!

Christmas Bonfire at the Sibleys 2009

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This is my husbands' side of the family. We enjoyed roasting hot dogs and sitting around the bonfire at MawMaw and PawPaw Sibley's house. It is always a great time when we get together, lots of love and laughter. Sherie and Caleb were able to visit from Dallas so that made it even more fun & special! Caleb got a Star Wars helmet and a Bumble Bee helmet, games, legos...you name it. He went nuts. It is so much fun to have young ones to open gifts again. All the older grandkids are grown now.

yipee!

Make a Smilebox slideshow Allison takes dance lessons. I asked her to do some jumps for me. It was so dark but I finally was able to catch one jump that I liked.

Allison and Abbie in the City

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Allison is my 1st cousin's little daughter so that would make her my cousin 'once removed' right? :) Anyway, I went and picked up Allison (dark hair) and her little friend Abbie and went downtown Baton Rouge and we kicked up a good ole time. I got some cute pics that I really liked. The only problem was, we started too late and lost our daylight very quickly! Oh well, just a good excuse to do it again soon! Watch the slideshow I put together called 'girls in the city'. The song makes me wanna dance....wooo!...fine...,fine, 'JUST FINE'...wooo!!! Did you catch the hint? Yep, Mary J. Blige! This a good anthem for me and all my fellow YOUNG AT HEART chickadees out there! Hope you enjoy it and remember what it was like to be so young!

2 min Soar Scholarship Submission

I finally put something together. This is my first video experience. I purchased Sony Movie Studio HD to edit this simple video. That program can do so much more but it will take me a little time working with it to know more. I'm proud of how this turned out because it feels like a triumph. The reason I say triumph is because I drummed up the courage and inspiration to step out and submit this video as my application submission for a scholarship. If I were one of the 3 lucky women who receive the scholarship, I would have the opportunity to learn about the photography business from esteemed professionals in the business. I have hours and hours of pictures and days worth of stories I could tell about how I became interested in photography and what inspires me. But, the requirement was a 2 min. video. This is the condensed version and final submission. There are so many wonderful video entries already submitted. I might not be chosen and that is ok. But, I knew that if I failed to submit, I would have zero chance. Anyway, here is my shot at it. I uploaded on Dec. 19, 2009.

STOP THE MADNESS! Look at that stupid face shot! Why does video always freeze on the most ridiculous and goofy look?!! Conspiracy, I say! Whatever, I don't care. I am proud of myself for trying actually.