Guest Post: I Found This While Rummaging Through Amy's Nightstand

this is how we make many decisions: pros/cons.

ben

she's here!

i'm an aunt again! here she is, snuggled up in the arms of her father.

hannah joy
august 22, 2010
born at 6:26 a.m.
seven pounds, cute as a button

those are her stats—all very official hospital measurements, no bias included. ;)

congratulations, dave and lauren! praying for you and your precious little one. to God be the glory.

oh, aperture.

what a fun tool you are. you take my pictures from blah to cool!

check out the little running man. (i wonder if some people are getting sick of me snapping pictures of them all the time. this guy doesn't mind.)

super boring picture, right? i used a high aperture number, which actually means a smaller opening, to get a greater depth of field. but what a terrible background—who wants to see our nasty bushes? WE WANT RUNNING MAN!

so a lower aperture number (i think i used 4) equals a larger opening equals a smaller depth of field. check it out. RUNNING MAN IS A STAR!

blurred background, focus on the subject. much better.

but don't even ask about shutter speed—my mind will get boggled in two seconds. luckily, the AV setting automatically sets the shutter speed based on the aperture selected. whew. full manual is still in a galaxy far, far away.

i learned all this in my first free natcam class, digital slr 1, which i took on monday. the teacher flew through the material, but it was a great class and i have a lot of "homework." i had signed up to take digital slr 2 next monday, but i canceled to practice more. i think i will have a better understanding of the concepts if i have more experience. expect to see more running man! i think he deserves a name...suggestions welcome.

this is how we live.

keeping it classy with makeshift side tables and window treatments. that monogrammed bath towel is the high school grad gift that keeps on giving.

i'm stuck on window treatments. anyone care to share any ideas? i like the look of bamboo blinds, so we bought an off-the-shelf version at home depot. the mounting hardware was cheap and they aren't substantial. i don't want to spend a fortune on custom stuff, but i think this is an area that's worth buying a high quality product. i was thinking a roman shade? we are looking for both privacy and light filtering. what do you think? any sources you like? thoughts welcome.

it's the final countdown

closet systems: up. [at least the preliminary arrangements. there's a collection of baskets, shelves, bars, and shoe racks to fiddle with.] mirrors: installed. electrical inspection: passed, as of 20 minutes ago. plumbing and final building inspection: "between 10 and noon."

we are planning to sleep in our new room tonight. no, we don't have window coverings yet. we'll get creative for the next few days and make do. but we're dying to get down there.

last night's storm knocked out our power and let me tell you, without fans, it was sweltering upstairs. i came down to the main level and sleep on the couch. so we're just really excited to sleep in our well-insulated, first-floor master suite.

i was also concerned that we wouldn't have power for our electrical inspection. how ironic would that be? but God graciously restored our power at 7:46 this morning. He is so good to us. what a blessing to have such a beautiful place to live. i must remember that this is not our eternal home. we're just pilgrims, sojourners, wanderers—we're just passing through.

noticing good design

this is a box of matches. so simple and yet so lovely.

i think i first started paying attention to really good design in packaging after reading through some tom peters, recommended by ben, of course. i mean really, a ziploc bag is pretty amazing.

my sister-in-law, maggie, was in los angeles this past week and visited tom colicchio's restaurant. she told me she was bringing me back biscotti, and the matchbox came with it. those lowercase letters . . . that sans serif font . . . that orange . . . slam dunk, craft restaurant. gorgeous. thanks, maggie!

[p.s. it took me like thirty tries to get these shots—you must know i'm really into close-ups and select focus. i had to pull out the manual and try switching to manual focus, but in that last one, you'll see the focus is not in the center of the image. a mistake? creative license? i'm so excited to take my free nat cam classes later this month! now about that biscotti . . . ]

shower glass

installed! yahoo yahoo. i'm kinda nervous to take off that blue tape. i mean come on, we've all read the green ribbon. and the reflection makes it look like there's a big window in the middle of the shower. i assure you, that is not the case. we're only giving a peep show to each other, not the entire neighborhood. [was that bad? come on...you were thinking it.]

someone asked if we were installing frosted glass. the thought didn't even occur to us. we both like the look of the clear glass and this way we can see all that gorgeous tile! i'm really glad we chose a slider, too. a space saver that looks good.

the trim is installed, caulked, and puttied, so i'm off to do one last coat of white paint before carpet is installed tomorrow. hip hip hooray!

a misprint

i was thinking about my last post, and i'd like to print a retraction. dave and lauren's baby is not my niece-to-be—she's my niece now. some might call this semantics, but i think it's a really important distinction. life begins at conception.

onwards! here's the link to the burp rag tutorial i used from make and takes. i actually had it stored in evernote. [do you use evernote? if not, you should. i'll do a post on it someday.] from what i read, using cloth diapers is the way to go (very absorbent). here's another one to check out. way to go, hannah!

a shower for niece-to-be

last thursday, me, my mom, and my sister threw a shower for lauren. she and dave are expecting their first baby—a little girl!—any day now (she's due the 17th).

unfortunately, the white balance must have been off on my camera, because many of the photos turned out very poor. i'm sharing some of my favorites that turned out decently.

for a gift, i sewed up some burp rags using instructions i found online (all about the google search—let me know if you want the steps and i can dig up the link). they didn't turn out perfectly (first time using bias tape), but i got a chance to use a new stitch on my machine.

we had an absolute blast putting together food, favors, gifts, a game, and flowers. it has been so sweet to think how God is knitting together this little one in lauren's womb. a big thank you to everyone who came. you are all blessings in our lives and we were so thankful for your presence at the shower!

as a thank-you, lauren gave me this gorgeous plant. i got a little choked up. she's so wonderful, and will be a great mom. can't wait to meet my little niece! we pray she will walk with Jesus all the days of her life and treasure Him above all else.