Last night was our first night in the new house. Brennen says he slept like a baby. :) So glad! I awoke this morning to the bright sunshine pelting thru the cracks on the sides of the blinds in our master bedroom. That is a switch...this time of year in Indy doesn't leave too much early morning light - let alone sunlight. I considered it a welcoming touch here in Naples, Florida. When I flipped the blinds, this was my view. Another HUGE difference from our dark wooded backyard lot in Indy.
The house is slowly but surely starting to come together. I am finally able to walk down the hall without tripping over boxes. I can see light at the end of the tunnel now. Kenidi has calmed down substantially and that is a great sign. It means that she is feeling at ease - more relaxed here now. I took Mom down 5th avenue last night and showed her all of the condos and apartments that are an option for her when she is ready to move into her own place. It was great to see the ambiance seeping from the streets of 3rd and 5th. That ambiance and atmosphere is what Naples is so known for. As I drove carefully down some of the brick pavered streets, I told Mom that THIS is why Naples has always been calling my name. It's the window shopping up and down what I consider a mini "rodeo drive." It's the dining. The white sand gulf beaches steps from the boutiques and restaurants. It's the cozy and quaint beach cottages that are so unique and eclectic - so outrageous - so Naples - so "dream worthy." Everything about Southwest Florida makes my heart skip a beat but it is Naples that officially takes my breath away. I feel very blessed to be waking up to this scenery full time now.
And yes...this morning was the first time I have picked my camera up in over a week. Big Papa has definitely been feeling a bit left out since arriving here in Florida. I finally have him out and ready to snap away. I've been going thru convulsions without him. I'm sooooooo ready to begin sharing the sites and sounds of Naples with each of you on a regular basis. In the meantime, I hope to be back to regular blogging in the coming days. I apologize for the lack of posts this past week. As you can imagine, blog updates have been the farthest thing from my mind during this move. Now that things are beginning to settle and fall into place though, we'll be back to our regular scheduled programming very soon - just coming to you from a new location. Wink wink! :)
I played around with some photoshop actions (tints over your photos basically) for a few hours this weekend. Of course I still have NO IDEA what I'm doing when it comes to 3/4 of that program but I'm bound and determined to not let it kick my butt. It's on like donkey kong now. I like a clear, crisp, image most times so I don't really enjoy using much of what photoshop has to offer. It's still fun to switch things up here and there somewhat though I guess. What did we do without photoshop before anyhow? Well, we took shots straight out of the camera and made sure we were getting good enough shots that we didn't have to worry about altering them in a program somewhere. I remember being back in my college photography courses way back when and praying in the dark room that a shot would turn out. Just P-R-A-Y-I-N-G! Back in the day, we snapped the shot and you'd better hope it was a decent/good one because film cost time and money back then. Today - in the world of digital and photoshop - no such thing. I will say that it is still fun to be able to change an image up just a tad when you want to though. I just never want to get into the habit of using photoshop on every single image I ever take let alone even the majority. I want the bare bones, the clean, crisp, original image that focuses on the subject at hand and not the textures, actions, etc. of photoshops details. I know some photographers love to doll up their images with everything photoshop. And that is great. Their work makes me swoon and I love it all. They are stunning and beautiful images - forces to be reckoned with. However, I'm after the original image - the clean and crisp shot. Give me color, give me sharp and give me crystal clear and then I'm just peachy when it comes to an image.
While playing this weekend, I took some shots of Brent and the kids in the pool. Of course Brent wouldn't let me post the REAL behind the scenes shots I got of him goofing around and acting silly in front of my camera. Trust me though - I have them stored for safe keeping should I need them for blackmail one day. HA! Kenidi's eyes really stood out to me in a lot of these pictures because she was up against this brilliant blue water in the pool. Therefore, I had fun playing up her eyes. Maybe a little too much. Ha ha! Again, still learning...
Love this girl. Love her look. Love her smile. And I definitely love those eyes...
And above...we have Zsa Zsa Gabore...hee hee!
These eyelashes are to die for. Where the girl inherited her hair and her lashes from, I have no idea. She has no idea just how blessed she is yet.
I love this picture of Kenidi and Brent above. They were blowing bubbles in the water - nose to nose - with one another. Great daddy/daughter moment.
And here is Daddy - playing down his silliness - just so I could get a snapshot of him for the blog. Here he is Joe Cool - in the others previous to this shot - he was my best friend playing in front of a camera and being all out goofy. Loved it! No worries babe...your secrets are safe with me. I've got plenty of pictures to prove it. Ha ha! I love how Brent turns red in the sun. Poor guy - the rest of us just frolic in the sunshine basking in the heat and the rays but he has to lather up, hide under an umbrella, and still pray that the sun doesn't reach his skin. Somehow it always does though - no matter what he does to prevent it.
And last, as Brennen is yelling at me to not put this on the blog, I'm putting it on the blog anyway. HA! He is turning into a mini me and really detests being in front of a camera. Especially because he has little girls from his class that read this blog. Hi girls! :) Anywho, loved this impromptu picture of him and Kenidi giving one another a "muah." A muah in our house is a kiss of course. Kenidi established that code word for us a couple of years ago and it has stuck ever since. (It's the sound you make when you give someone a kiss) She couldn't say "kiss" back then so she says what sounds more like "Muh" today. It's so stinking cute.
We are headed out the door to run some errands for now. I'll check back in tomorrow as usual. PS...I hear Indy has sunshine there today. YYAAAAYYYY! Muah, Angie
Here are just a couple more pictures from my camera that I've recently uploaded. These are just of Kenidi and Brennen chill-laxin' at the pool. :) I thought I'd share either way. I have better pictures to post but I am just now getting around to editing all of them tonight. Hopefully these will hold you over until then. FYI...I couldn't get Kenidi to open her eyes for me for nothin' in the above image.
Not a cloud in the sky today. The temps tomorrow and thru the weekend are supposed to range from 87-89 degrees again. We got lucky - it's been an incredible time to be here in South Florida. But then again, any time is a good time to be in South Florida. The weather down here never dissapoints - no matter what time of the year. Unfortunately, a lot of our friends who vacationed in Destin or the pan handle area for Spring Break experienced not so fun and very chilly weather. That is the difference between Northern Florida and the Southern tip of Florida though. It's night and day when it comes to weather - literally! (at least when it comes to the temps this time of the year and toward the winter months anyhow.)
Here is our fish, Kenidi Grace, in the pool. As most of my facebook friends have read about...Kenidi has done a total 360 in the pool this season in comparison to last season. Each week at school, her class takes a field trip to a therapy facility that does water therapy with her in a pool. Apparently...those classes have really paid off. I emailed her teacher from here in Florida and told her how much progress she has made. We are so thankful for all of the time they've invested in her and just how many HUGE accomplishments she has made thus far this year. Brent and I are just ecstatic about it. She is jumping off stairs into the pool and everything. We just can't get over it. Last year, even with her floaties on, she didn't have the trunk strength in her center area/core muscles to keep herself above water - especially her face. Now though...she is able to swim with her brother without our help and we are just on cloud nine about that! God is sooooooooo good!
Of course Brennen is the biggest fish of them all. He loves the water and can't get enough of it either. They inherited their love for it naturally I guess.
I always tease him about wearing these goggles. Cracks me up. Today he got to playing with them and doing stunts with them on. I'll blackmail him with these someday...HA HA!
I'll post more shots tomorrow. For now, I'm off to get Brennen and his little friend tucked into bed. He has a buddy here spending the night with him tonight. (his friend from class back at school) It's been great having him here to keep Brennen company. I'll post some photos of the two of them tomorrow. :)
PS...For those of you wonderful AGD blog readers and facebookers who keep requesting photos of myself...I thank you. However, your sweetness will not win me over. HA! I told you the last picture had to hold you guys over for at least 6 months. You know the one...the image that Kenidi took of me with her fisher price camera? :) Yeah that one! Maybe you'll see some this summer. Hee hee! I'd have to teach my family how to use it first...
