[serendipity]

head on over to my new blogger blog

Thought I'd just remind y'all that I'm now blogging on Blogger here: http://kerribradford.blogspot.com

Remember to change your bookmarks and/or the links on your own blog. :)

See ya over yonder!

making the move

Okay, that statement alone can mean so much, eh?

Gotcha nervous or anything?

It's not anything drastic . . . well, except for maybe Cori Dahmen, who doesn't want me to do this. lol

I'm making the move to Blogger.

It's true.

I decided I wanted to be free, literally, in the world of finance, so I want a blog that I don't have to pay for. And to top it off, Blogger now has some really cool new templates to work with, so I've been having fun with that (works best with the most recent version of your browser). Part of my whole "learn something new" shtick.

Now, a couple of coincidences.

Today is the second anniversary of my blog. TWO YEARS I've been doing this! I can't believe it! I took a brief glance at what I wrote back then. Love that I've kept track of life this way. And now I'm going to do it freely.

Also, the one thing that bothered me about Blogger was that there were no real-time stats. I love that about Typepad. You can see everything immediately. A definite drawback for me about Blogger. So I thought perhaps I'd see if there was something other than Google Analytics that would have real-time stats and you know what Blogger just announced today? They're adding real-time stats! It's coming soon, so I'm excited.

So the moral of the story is, all the stars have finally aligned . . . it's time to move it over. (Sorry Cori.) Go check it out here and become a follower: http://kerribradford.blogspot.com.

I've got some more fun things up my sleeve too, so keep your eye out!

trying to take some photos!

I've been trying to take some photos of this newborn babe for two days now! It got all cloudy yesterday morning so taking photos in natural light was out of the question.

Today started out sunshiney. One shot was going to be on the bed in their home. It faces east and the morning sun was up. As I walked over to their home, I could see tons of dark clouds in the south, but blue sky where we were and to the west.

Looking good.

They were getting everything together--making the bed, getting the boys ready, ironing a shirt, changing a diaper. Okay, let's go. Um . . . CLOUDS! Right in front of the mountains.

I did take a few shots of the baby, but since the lighting was off I didn't want to take the actual shot with the whole family. But I did move the baby up on the bed to where the lighting was good and captured this one with two of the baby's brothers. I'll post some more later.

(playing with some different coloring options)

They are such a cute little family!

We're shooting for sunshiney day on Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed! My house, where I was planning on doing a bunch of the newborn shots, faces east too. Won't work there either. I think I need to get some kind of diffused lighting because I can't always rely on natural light. ;) I am so excited to do this shoot!

I also tried my something new today. While I have shot in RAW before, I never used them because CS2 couldn't handle RAW . . . but CS4 can! I'm going to make a habit out of that when shooting "professionally" now. If you're not sure about the difference between RAW and JPG, the simplest way to explain is that when the camera creates a JPG, it takes all the information about your photos and compresses it to make one file. It decides how all that information is handled and saves it that way. With RAW it essentially keeps all the components of the photo--like contrast, color, etc.--as separate pieces of information allowing more control over the information that makes up the photo. If that makes sense . . . that's my lame-brain explanation. lol

My "learn something new" yesterday was using Fireworks (no, not the 4th of July kind) to create a Flash compilation of some photos. Just tested it yesterday. But I also started to make some photo banners to flash through. Maybe you'll see them soon. ;)

Love learning how to do things! Very exciting.

Oh, and HAPPY CANADA DAY!

the mysteries of the mouth

Monday I had to have a tooth pulled. It was a tooth that had a root canal and a crown, but the tooth broke under the crown and it got sick, sick, sick.

Out it came.

It was the second one from the back on the bottom.

So I'm sitting here eating something soft--okay, okay--it's a chocolate donut! Shees. I'm keeping it to the left side of my mouth and tongue . . . trying to not necessarily use the right side of my mouth.

But you know what?

It just doesn't taste as good until I can have it on both sides of my mouth and taste it on the backside of my tongue.

Why the heck is that?

I mean, if I'm going to splurge on fat and calories, I NEED the full effect. It's not worth it otherwise. Am I right?

So since it is something soft that kind of melts and dissolves and it's not tiny piece of rice or something, I'm letting that donut waft on back to both sides of the back of my mouth.

Ahhh . . . now that's better!

mmmmmm . . . . .

a little road trip

I love taking a trip to the mountains. I love that we live that close to "the great outdoors" that you can go anywhere and experience something new and refreshing.

It's rejuvenating.

Love spending a little quality time with the fam that way.

While we have been up into the Uinta's before, we'd never stopped at Provo Falls. That was a very cool thing to see. Also, there was still a bit of snow here and there and at one spot at Moosehorn Lake, Dan and Jordan even had a little snowball fight. 

Next time, we're taking something to cook over a fire pit. We stopped at Mirror Lake to get a parking pass and people were cooking over a campfire . . . smelled good! However, the trip to Granny's for a late lunch in Heber was also most satisfying. Mmmmm . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't you just love all the cameras in this family? lol

i wanna go . . .

I'm dying to go some place fun.

Some place photographical (yeah, it's a word).

Maybe sometime soon . . .maybe . . .

In the meantime I guess I'll just have to dream of the far off lands that I've been. Dying to go to Italy again someday too . . .

Where do you wish you were?

[dingle ireland]

i'm on a quest

For the past few years I have worked full-time . . . and then some. Too many times over the course of my different jobs, I could be found working some really long hours. During my "Cricut-cartridge-making" days, I went through a spell of working 16-hour days.

Two words.

IN.SANE.

Okay, so that's really one word, but you get the gist of life for me over the past few years. It wasn't that way all the time, but really, there was often "too much work and not enough play."

So needless to say, since I stopped working I've been a bit less-than-motivated to do anything . . . at all. I think I've done a complete about-face on work and I need to gain some motivation.

Enter these books into the scene:

I decided I needed to start learning some of these programs that I have. I WANT to learn how to create something with Flash. I WANT to learn how to create a website. I WANT to learn how to use PS better.

I've been patiently waiting for these to arrive at my home via the amazing world of Amazon.com. It was like buying two and getting one free as compared to Borders. In this case, convenience and instant gratification was definitely ruled over by the ol' "watching the money" scenario.

They came today.

Yahoo!

So now, between all three of these books I am on a quest . . .a quest to learn something new every day--at least through each weekday this summer anyway. ;)

I need motivation.

I need to get back to the computer that was my slave for so many years, but this time I'm vowing to not let it--or my office--rule me.

It's been lovely being away from it--its hard to want to be there right now, but I need to return to its bits and bytes and turn those little babies into some glorious new ways of seeing life over the internet highway.

I'm excited.

Excited to see where this quest--this new part of life--will take me.

what a day!

Nothing like cramming as much "doctor" stuff as you can in one day! Jordan got her wisdom teeth out yesterday morning and then Kass had a dermatology appointment.

Both Kass and Zach have had their wisdom teeth out. They were groggy and said some funny things afterward. But Jordan? Oh my freakin' heck . . .

she laughed . . .

and laughed . . .

and laughed . . .

and laughed . . .

and laughed . . .

and laughed . . .

and laughed some more . . .

. . . all the way home even. 

It was like she was drunk or high . . . or both, rather. lol

Of course Kass (who went with because Dan was working) and I were laughing hysterically too. I was worried about Jordan laughing because it was just too much. I kept trying to calm her down, but then she'd say something funny and we'd all start laughing. Kass recorded Jordan on her cell phone. It was freakin' hilarious!

Trip to the pharmacy and a run to Iceberg for a shake for Jordan.

Then came Kass' turn. Off to the dermatologist. She's had this large bruise-looking thing on the whole front of her shin for a couple months. It started small, kept getting bigger, finally went to the doctor, gave us an antibiotic, still didn't work, he suggested the dermatologist, and he knew what it was immediately--erythema nodosum. Apparently it only happens in women and it's often associated with Strep. Kass got her tonsils out about ten years ago and hasn't had strep since, but oddly got strep earlier in the year. About a month or so before this occurred. Is that weird or what?

Trip to the pharmacy for Kass. I assured the pharmacist that I was not out to start my own pharmacy.

I also made sure I also treated myself to some of that oh-so delectable Magelby's chocolate cake . . . as long as I was in the vicinity after Kass' appointment.

Then Kass had a double-header that night. Dan stayed home with Jordan and I went to watch Kass. Had to make some REAL mashed potatoes for Jordan before I left thought and just missed Kassidy hitting a triple. Dang!

Anyway, I'm done with the doctors now. Oh, now wait . . . I've got more dermatology and dentist appointments for all of us in the next couple weeks. If you can't find me at home, you know where to look for me. ;)

Have a great weekend y'all!

a pay it forward story

So, you remember not too long ago how I talked about my neighbor fixing my beloved laptop, right? Well, since my neighbor didn't ask for anything monetarily from me and because I knew he spent time working on it--and taking time away from his family, I thought that giving his wife and him a night out would be a nice thing to do in return. So after a couple times of forgetting to buy a gift card here or there when we were in the vicinity of a restaurant, I ended up getting him one from Goodwood. They've got such great food! And I LOOOOVE their strawberry lemonade! It is divine! And don't even get me started on the hot fudge brownie dessert . . . ohhhhhh . . .

So my neighbor told his teenage Scouts that whoever participated in some certain tasks the best would earn a bottle of bbq sauce that he was going to get when they went to dinner.

Four boys felt they were deserving of this very tasty sauce. The sauce is something worth fighting for, after all.

He shared this Scout story with the waitress when he asked to purchase the delicious bottle of bbq sauce. She asked him to hold on a moment and came back with the manager . . . and he shared the story again.

Well, not only did he wind up with more than one bottle of sauce, but he received SIX POUNDS of pulled pork to feed the entire scout group! The manager said that six pounds feeds 30 people. Um . . . I think that's only enough for ten growing boys. ;)

How extremely kind was it for that manager to do that. Wow.

There was only one boy who absolutely could not make it to the scrumptious dinner. Even a boy who had just returned from Spain--jet lagged and all--was there to partake of the feast.

My neighbor and I marveled at how things happen . . . and he didn't even know that I'd considered a couple different restaurant options, for which I'm sure would not have produced this same result. 

I am a believer in "karma" (so to speak). I believe that if you are good and kind that it comes back to you . . . even if your life, at times, doesn't seem like the most positive of moments. ;)

I also love the word serendipity--a fortunate accident (and the name of my blog). You happen to be in the right place at the right time to result in something fabulous--whether it's a picture, you're there to help a stranger in need, or you buy the right kind of gift card that results in a "pay it forward" moment.

Isn't life grand?

t-shirt goodness

So a couple weeks ago I was chatting with my dear friend Lisa Bearnson, who's son is also serving an LDS mission right now in North Carolina. It's nice to comisserate with someone. ;) She was talking about something she was going to make with her son's mission name on it and as I was looking at her while she was talking, this image came to mind for me to make a t-shirt for my son with his mission name on the back. When I told her, she said, "You just thought of that while I was talking?!" And I responded, "Yeah, I like to multi-task." lol

So this was the result (being held up by little sis):

Here's a view of just the image:

 

Gotta love the heat transfer baby!

So I suppose y'all are wonderin' who the lucky winners are.

Doth I dare keep you in suspense any longer?

Me thinketh not. :)

    Mel H | June 11, 2010 at 09:48 AM

    Sandy S | June 13, 2010 at 03:10 PM

    Marti | June 12, 2010 at 04:44 PM

Congratulations girls! Here's hoping you do something fun with them in your "free" time. ;) E-mail me at [email protected] and I'll get those out to you!

And I just have to say how much I loved all of your comments! They were so fun to read!

Hmm...maybe I'll start cleaning my office today . . . maybe?

my top ten

Okay, so because I like being a positive person, I thought it would be kind of fun to do a top ten list. So . . . here are:

My Top Ten Reasons Why It’s Nice Not Having A Job At The Moment.

10. I don’t have to leave the cat in my daughter’s room when I go into the office. He can be free.

9.  I can clean if I want to . . . operative word . . . if I want to.

8.  I can watch tv all day if I want to. (Okay, so maybe there’s been a day or two where I have watched tv all day. lol)

7.  I have more time for my own blog now.

6.  I can sleep in to the lovely time of 6:45 . . . if I'm lucky, that is. Curse my internal clock for not letting me sleep in for reals!

5.  I have time to do more photography. (Ohhh, the ideas in my head!)

4.  I can finally clean my office like it’s suppose to be. (It hasn’t been clean like those photos since I took them! *gasp*)

3.  I can research and learn new things to improve my skills (said in my Napoleon Dynamite voice).

2.  I can have lunch with my dear friends whenever I feel like it–like having lunch with Teresa Collins yesterday or Kristy Banks last week . . . twice. Love them!

And the number one reason why it’s nice not having a job at the moment . . .
1.  I get to be at home with my girls all summer long and can take a vacation without “missing work.”

Now, to continue the act of positivity, I'm doing a GIVEAWAY!!!

Leave a comment in today's post about what you do or would do with free time and you'll have a chance to win a set of these KI Alphabet Soup kits . . . from QVC back in the day. It's funny the things you find when you're cleaning. ;) I do have to keep the winners limited to the contiguous U.S. I have THREE kits to give away too! I'll draw a winner Tuesday morning.

[this contest is now closed]

fly me to the moon

Okay, so I'm not making any plans on going to the moon or anything. But there were a lot of things all saying Washington DC to me this week including this photo: 

It's the Air & Space Museum (Smithsonian)--a photo I saw on stuckincustoms.com. I love looking at this guy's stuff! Such a fun and unique way to make a good photo turn into eye candy. A very unique perspective indeed. Go check out his site. He travels to some of the coolest locations. Luuuckkkyyyy. He also has some great information to share on using HDR photography and other fun stuff. Delightful.

E-mailed with my boy online yesterday (in DC). Thank heavens for technology today. I had to pick up my two girls and two nieces in Salt Lake that afternoon and Zach hadn't e-mailed yet. Luckily my nieces had internet on their phones so when I picked them up, Zach had e-mailed and we chatted (niece typed) on our way back to home where I could hook up again with him on my own computer. I sent him some squirt guns in a package and he and his companion were both having lots of fun with them until Zach kept bugging his companion with fresh water...the companion didn't think it was so fun anymore. ;)

Oh, and yesterday was the anniversary date of Zach actually being in DC. He actually only has less than ten months left on his mission though. Going SO FAST! And yes, he thinks so too.

We also watched Night At The Museum 2 the other night. I love that movie. Hank Azaria rocks! "Don't cross this line!" I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at a movie. And if you've seen this movie, you know they've been to that museum...we have too. 

having a little fun

As you can see by this new banner, I'm just playing around...having a little fun. Learning some new tricks and all. I need to figure out how to make it better and use higher quality photos because they aren't the sharpest looking here.

Bear with me . . .

Who knows what you'll see next. lol

just a quick note

I just wanted to say thank you so much for all your support. You guys are simply amazing. I don't know what the future holds for me. I guess at least now I feel like I'll have more time to focus on my own blog again. ;)

But speaking of the Silhouette blog, my "last hurrah", so to speak. was to have the uber talented Miss Maggie Holmes do the Inspire U today. It's on photography--helping you to become a stronger photographer and make better pages. You MUST go check it out! She's even giving away a set of her PS/PSE Actions (which I LOVE....love) AND a spot in one of her photography classes! YAHOO!

This girl's photography is gorgeous! And she's an absolute doll as well. ;)

Have a great weekend y'all!

what's that saying?

When one door closes . . . ?

Some interesting changes in my life right now.

I'm no longer with Silhouette.

Not sure where the path may lead for me right now.

Luckily I have an amazing support group of family and friends. Seriously. Amazing.

I guess now I have some time to do all those things I needed to get done around the house. ;)

And on another note, just wanted to say thank you for all your kind words about Kass' graduation. And to you moms that had graduating kids this year too? What a change it is for all of us, eh? And congratulations to your kids as well!

Looks like for many of us it is the season for "what's next?"