It should be simple

I’ve been away from my blog for so long I feel like I could easily write a book.  A lot has been going on.  Good things.  Not so good things.  Photography and blogging were put on the back burner.  Every time I’d look at my camera collecting dust on the floor, I’d wonder if I still remembered how to take a picture.   The thought was a little depressing.  Just when I was starting to improve and feel comfortable with photographing, I had chose to put it aside.  I’d like to say I had no choice so I wouldn’t feel so guilty about it, but it wouldn’t be true.  I had to prioritize and let’s just say it fell to the bottom of the list.  Along with blogging unfortunately.  Without the two, I’ve been feeling a little lost.  Don’t get me wrong, the break has been rather nice too.  I know confusing right?  I don’t get myself sometimes.  My hiatus, though, gave me more time to confirm, yet again, that I am definitely not an extremist.  Never have been.  It may work for some people, just not me.  I wasn’t happy dedicating every spare minute I had to photography and blogging, and I wasn’t happy removing these things completely from my life either.  Yeah, I’m more of the happy medium type.

The Missing Link – Week 20

Have you ever felt like something was missing from your life? Well, it could just be one of the links below. Hence my post title! You may ask yourself "Is she serious"? Well the answer is "No, I'm definitely NOT serious”. I'm just feeling silly. Seriously though, I thought I'd share some of my favorite links with you in an effort to spread the love. What's better is that I thought I'd make this post a weekly thang! No that isn't a typo. I told you I was feeling silly. So the links below may not complete your life, but I'm hoping they, in some way, add to it. I separated them into categories for easy navigation. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

The Missing Link – Week 19

Have you ever felt like something was missing from your life? Well, it could just be one of the links below. Hence my post title! You may ask yourself "Is she serious"? Well the answer is "No, I'm definitely NOT serious”. I'm just feeling silly. Seriously though, I thought I'd share some of my favorite links with you in an effort to spread the love. What's better is that I thought I'd make this post a weekly thang! No that isn't a typo. I told you I was feeling silly. So the links below may not complete your life, but I'm hoping they, in some way, add to it. I separated them into categories for easy navigation. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

Finally shooting RAW!

Guess what?  I’m finally shooting RAW!  I didn’t think the ol’ laptop was going to be able to handle the RAW files, but I lucked out!  It didn’t shut down once!  It’s amazing how much you can alter a RAW photo file.  So much more than a JPG/JPEG that’s for sure!  You know what I love though?  A photo that barely needs any processing!  As much as I love to have fun with edits, it’s quite refreshing to get a shot that needs little to no tweaking!  Especially when you’ve taken hundreds of photos! 

I just want to cry!

If you’ve been following me, you’d know that I got my new MacBook Pro in the mail, however, I’m typing this on my old laptop.  Why, you ask?  Well I’ll tell you…

First, and most importantly, Windows Live Writer (which is the tool I use to write my posts) isn’t supported by MAC and after hours of searching for a new blog posting tool, I’ve come up with nothing!  That’s right NOTHING!  I’m not yelling, I promise.  I’m just venting.  I tried publishing some test posts using two different applications but with no luck.  Ecto removed my formatting so my post was a mess and MarsEdit apparently published my post but it wasn’t showing up on my blog!  Really?  Qumana couldn’t find my blog at all even after multiple installations and I’m pretty sure Bleezer was the program that needed my FTP host and path which I still have yet to find!  I’m worried that I will not find a blogging tool!  I could use the Blogger interface but I’m cringing just thinking about it.  They always remove my formatting so my posts are all over the place.  You know, paragraphs and images inconsistently spaced!  It drives me MAD!

Which edit are you digging?

So here’s the scoop.  I need some help.  If you follow me, you’ll remember seeing this picture of my hubby already.  I've decided to print it but not sure which edit I like better.  I thought you guys could help me choose.  Please, however, do not take #2’s crop into consideration when you are choosing.  It’s really not cropped like this; I just wanted to fit it into the same size box as the rest of the photos and I was working with a collage template.  In my original crop, his chin is not cut off and you can see more of his hair.

In the market for a desktop?

I just wanted to apologize for being MIA lately.  I’ve been putting all my free time into researching a new desktop to replace my old and VERY slow HP laptop.  I’ve been having so many problems with my laptop, I’ve kind of been waiting for it to die already.  I guess I’ve just been lucky! 

I decided on a desktop thinking I wouldn’t be able to get the specifications needed for photography in a measly little laptop.  Apparently I was wrong.  After careful consideration, I bought the Macbook Pro with the Retina display!!!!!!!!!!!  Can you tell I’m a little excited?  No, I’m not typing on it at this very moment (unfortunately).  Since I customized it, I had to order it online and it’s estimated to deliver around mid August!  Not sure I can wait that long! 

The Missing Link – Week 13

Have you ever felt like something was missing from your life? Well, it could just be one of the links below. Hence my post title! You may ask yourself "Is she serious?" Well the answer is "No, I'm definitely NOT serious." I'm just feeling silly. Seriously though, I thought I'd share some of my favorite links with you in an effort to spread the love. What's better is that I thought I'd make this post a weekly thang! No that isn't a typo. I told you I was feeling silly. So the links below may not complete your life, but I'm hoping they, in some way, add to it. I separated them into categories for easy navigation. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

A shout out

I feel the need to discuss something VERY important!  Every day my blog followers grow and my posts are receiving more comments which is super exciting to say the least! Seriously, I love every single comment that I receive!  What’s most exciting, though, is to know that I am actually posting content that is interesting to all of you!  It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!  So, where am I going with this?  Good question!  In addition to leaving all of my commenters comments on their blogging sites (I like to show love too), I wanted to do something a little extra to show my appreciation.  I actually copied and pasted every single comment that I’ve received in 2012 into an Excel spreadsheet then sorted by name to see who my most dedicated followers were.  I wanted to make mention of them in this post! 

The Versatile Blogger Award

Go me; it’s my birthday!  Go me; it’s my birthday!  Nah, I’m just kidding.  It is, however, a great day to be a blogger!  I was nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award by the wonderful Jeni and Kendel over at Two Shades of Lovely!  I can’t thank them enough!  I’m really VERY honored especially since I’m fairly new to the Blogosphere and have been working really hard to meet other bloggers with similar interests!  This award will allow me that very opportunity.  Please feel free to click on the button below and it will bring you to the Versatile Blogger Award website.

A Wednesday Photo Challenge

I love the photo this week for the Edit Me challenge at My Reflection of Something!  I have two edits to share with you, but I've chosen the first edit to submit for this challenge.