New Year, New Goals, New Blog (or at least an active one!)

Hello everyone (all 6 of you!)  ;-)

As the New Year approaches, I can't help but think about some fresh starts in my life.  A few areas in particular have grabbed my attention, and I'm hoping to set some goals and make some changes in my life to make 2011 a really great year.  As some of you may know, 2010 was full of some really difficult times for me, and I am looking forward to the fresh start of 2011.  Of course, 2010 was also full of happiness and pretty amazing moments too (specifically related to my close friends and family - especially a select few of you! - my husband, and especially my bright-eyed little girl).  However, with all that I have been through this year, I can't help but sit here and be a little reflective and a bright-eyed optimist for what the new year will bring. 

Here are my goals to help fill my life with happiness in 2011:

1.  A big one for me!!  Photography!!  Before Bella was born, we bought a used Canon 20D (a very nice DSLR camera - although a little old, it takes some pretty amazing photos - assuming you know what you are doing!!).  This camera has always frustrated me because it was not a point and shoot, and therefore I had no idea what I was doing, and therefore my pictures always looked terrible when I used it.  As some of you may know, I'm a bit of a photography fan. I love looking at pictures, especially beautiful ones, and I made a decision that I need to know how to use this camera to start taking good pictures.  Thus, my photography obsession began.  I got a new lens for my birthday (and Christmas - one of those combo gifts that I normally hate, but this year I love it!).  Since getting it, I have been immersing myself into learning the photography foreign language (words like aperture, bokeh, metering, ISO, etc are no longer quite so foreign to me).  I can already see a huge improvement since figuring some of this out, but I still have a long way to go, which brings me to one of my goals:

- A 365 Day Photo Challenge.  Not a new concept, by any stretch of the imagination, but I am setting a goal to take at least one photo every day this year.  I hope to focus on building specific photography skills this year, and hopefully get a few great pictures along the way.  I'm not going to lie - most of my photos will be of my daughter, but I'll try to throw in some non-Isabella photos to keep things interesting.  I know myself.  I know that I will not update this blog every single day.  Look at my track record.  haha  However, I really want to build on my photography skills, so I think that will hold me more accountable to this blog.  I'm really excited for this challenge, and even if I can do it weekly, I will be good with that.  =)

Here are a few recent favorite photos from Christmas time.













2.  Getting healthier and losing some weight.  It's time.  I'm trying to set realistic goals as far as working out and eating healthier so that I can try to stick to it over time.  This is always so hard for me, but with a very active little girl, this is something I need to do.  Plus, I definitely want to lose some weight before we try for a second baby, and time is passing very quickly...  I'm not going to get super specific here on my goals, but hopefully I can stick with it this year.  I feel ready.

3.  Disneyland.  It's calling to me.  I need some pixie dust and Disney magic this year.  And some more special moments like this...


























 
 
4.  Spend more time with these girls.  Hopefully 2011 brings us some fun adventures together.
 

 

 
 
5.  And most important - lots of quality time with these two.  This year, whenever things got tough, these two have been my constant source of happiness and love.  Despite all I've been through this year, I have to say that I have had a pretty amazing year - due mostly to my husband and daughter. 

Isabella's Birthday Extravaganza

Two parties and a mini celebration with Mommy and Daddy on her actual birthday.  How lucky can a girl be?

The Tucson party was pretty much just our Tucson friends with an added guest - Isabella's fairy godmother, my cousin Jenn.  I am so grateful to Jenn for loving my little girl as much as she does.  Bella loves her godmother!!

Isabella's cake was adorable!  I was in love with how it turned out.  Mama helped her blow out the candles.

Isabella had zero interest in eating her cake.  I had to dip her fingers in the frosting, and even then she wouldn't try it.  Can't even get my little bird eater to eat cake! 

After her party was over, she played with her new toys.  Her friend Heidi stayed over, and they played in Isabella's new Little Tykes car (thanks Auntie Jenn!!).  Isabella was a little scared of it at first, but Heidi went right in. 

Isabella thought it was far more fun to push Heidi around the house...

Around and around they went for at least 45 minutes.  This did not get old for Isabella...

However, it may have gotten a little old for Heidi.  This picture pretty much says it all.  Isabella is having the best time ever.  Heidi gives a look that clearly says, "Seriously?  Are we done yet?  Please save me..."

On Isabella's actual birthday, Ray left work a little early so that we could go to the park and play.  Of course, first we took her 12 month pictures! These didn't go so well. Isabella was not very happy about these pictures, and about being forced to sit in the chair. Mama and Dada are so mean!!

At the park, Isabella had a great time on the swings and going down the slide (with Daddy's help). 

Then we hung out by the water and fed the ducks.  A fun birthday!!

What's this? A blog?

My few followers are probably scratching their heads right now, confused to see a blog entry from me. I know, I know. I've been a terrible blogger. Er, non-blogger. My Isabella photo books kind of took over my creative soul, as well as much of my free time (well, and let's be fair - Facebook and the Tini have not helped...). But I want to try to get back into this, so here I am!

Definitely not jumping backwards in time at this point. That's WAY too much blogging, so instead, I'll just start over with today and the most recent things going on in our lives.

Ray has been doing more brewing the past few months. He still doesn't brew nearly as much as before Isabella, but he's starting to work it into his life more and more again. I know he loves to brew, and I'm happy that he is finding the time to do it again.

Isabella likes to help. =)

Of course, she also just likes to be anywhere and everywhere that her Daddy is. So, that may be part of it. What a Daddy's girl she is!

This is a common occurance... Clinging to her Daddy's legs, saying, "Up, up, up, up, up, up, up" in a soft little voice. Although, it mostly sounds like "Puh... puh... puh... puh... puh... puh..." since she mostly just makes the P sound over and over again. Until she just gets mad and starts whining... ;-)

And speaking of my Isabella photo books, I have found myself practically redoing my 2009 book in My Canvas. It's amazing how satisfied you can be with a project until you look at it 6 months later and start to combine projects together. All of a sudden, I find myself changing almost every single page to get our version of the book that I slaved over last year for all of Isabella's grandparents. I must be crazy...

And adding on to that thought, I'm definitely insane because I also decided that for her 2010 book, I will be attempting to make all pages from scratch in Photoshop instead of using My Canvas or another program to design it. Overly ambitious? We'll see... Somehow Christmas seems really close all of a sudden... Photoshop Elements 8 should be here on Friday!! Can't wait to finally learn how to really use it!

I will not be overwhelmed by Photoshop... I will learn how to layer... I will not be overwhelmed by Photoshop...

(Hoping if I say that out loud over and over again that it might actually happen...)

And my final creative ambition this year is to learn how to take pictures. I don't expect to be the next pro photographer on the Tini (I will leave that amazing talent for Adrian because she is just amazing). However, it would be nice to know how to use this fancy, schmancy Canon 20D camera that I own that always frustrates me because I don't know what the hell I'm doing on it... Ray is working with me though. And I've been playing with it a bit. I have a LOT to learn, but practicing is fun.
















I may not be a pro, but I'm having fun learning. And it helps having an adorable subject to work with... ;-)