Do I have blue eyes?

The other day, while I sat at the computer working on a pic of Cori, Cole walked up and said, "Cori has blue eyes." I replied, "yes, honey she does, doesn't she?" He looked up at my and swept a stray lock of bangs out of my eyes and said, "Mommy has blue eyes." I agreed and just before I said the obvious, he looked up at me and said, "do I have blue eyes?"
My reply: "Yes, baby, you have some of the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen."

Flash....

Wowsers am I overwhelmed. I am getting some help from some very nice people though. Here are the only examples I have as of right now. These were taken basically in automatic, I am verturing into manual with reading the histogram but I haven't got anything I am willing to post yet, lol. On the other hand...I have one more of my 26 things! Only 19 left to go.

The last two of dear nephew are soft but I was happy with little shadow...forward progress:)

If I don't get back before Christmas, I wish everyone a very blessed Christmas.

An explanation...

for Mom. She comes here and takes a peek every once in a while. She didn't understand the blog name. She has never heard the song That Red Dirt Road. She doesn't listen to Country music. So for those of you unfamiliar with the song, here are a few bars. Read my first post and it will all make sense...

It's where I drank my first beer ,
where I found Jesus,
where I wrecked my first car,
I tore it all to pieces.
I've learned,
I've come to know,
there's life at both ends
of that red dirt road.

Okay...so I didn't wreck my first car here but Matt did and he did tear it all to pieces. You get the idea though, don't you?

I should have had this all together at once but I am figuring it out as I go. Custom blog header coming soon, then the pieces will all fall together Mom ;).

More of my 26 things....

Just recovering from our trip over the weekend, doing laundry, and trying to get some housecleaning done before Christmas.

Remember to take these....

A friend, mentor, and continual source of inspiration lost a pet the other day. She reminded me to capture my pet.

This old girl, Boogie, has been with me through thick and thin, stayed with my mother when she couldn't stay with me, and still sleeps at my feet every night. Her life is not so quiet as it used to be, she now has a three year old and a one year old to contend with but she rarely complains, she just loves them as much as I do.





I am headed to my Mother's house this weekend. Hopefully I can catch up on a few of my 26 things...I am down to just a couple weeks. Yikes! Have a great weekend.

The Brady Bunch

Okay, I'll admit that while I didn't have a stint as a private dancer, I did watch the Brady Bunch, a lot! Found this on Stephanie's Blog

You Are Bobby Brainy

Ultra competitive, you will do almost anything to win. From pull ups to pool sharking, you're very talented. And while everyone is aware of your victories, they still (affectionately) consider you to be a little brat!

What Brady Are You?

So, Which Brady are you?

Which reindeer are you?

I know, two posts in one day. Who would have thought. I couldn't help but play this game off Renee's blog. Santa's Dancer....too funny. I have done a lot of things but private dancing, lol, isn't one of them.

You Are Dancer

Carefree and fun, you always find reasons to do a happy dance. Why You're Naughty: That dark stint you had as Santa's private dancer. Why You're Nice: You're friendly. Very friendly.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

So, Which of Santa's reindeer are you?

I *love* lilies....

and my husband remembered. How sweet of him. I don't receive flowers too often anymore but he bought me these. I have admired these all weekend. I have taken snap after snap. Here are a few.






I also had a practice shoot for Cori's first bday pics. Here is a sneek peek:

A Few Recent Shots

Believe it or not I am done Christmas shopping except the small things that I pick up at Wal-mart that go on the grocery bill. Now, I just need to wrap it all.

Not too much going on here. I took several shots of the Christmas tree last night. First round I left my ISO up on 1600 (ISO, ISO, ISO Julie...you would think I would remember, but no...lol) I did reshoot a couple but I am going to work on it again tonight to see if I can get more angles. Here is what I have so far:

26 Things....

I have until January 1st to gather a photograph of a list of 26 things. I have been slacking a bit lately....not exactly keeping up while I try to put this blog together but I do have a few of them:

#3: Reality


#6: Low


#21: Stop Sign


Okay, the reality pose...overdone, I know. I needed a pic for myspace though, lol. Then I got to thinking...when I took this I had no makeup on, my hair wasn't done and I was trying to get a spot in the bathroom mirror where there were no toothpaste splatters. Pretty much reality for me, lol.

Thankful...

It has been a really busy Thanksgiving weekend. Yesterday we visited some close friends for another wonderful Thanksgiving feast. After that we went out to a local bar with a few friends for a few drinks. Had tons of fun, good thing Melissa, Sherry and I didn't get into it with the hooker...for some reason she thought we were enough to gag her. Too funny, she was the one licking her own boob. I still can't believe her man had on a wife beater...looks like she's in for a great life. Did I mention that life in a small town is sometimes a hard adjustment?? LOL.

Anyhow, I am thankful for many things. My children and my husband of course. Most of all....I am thankful for city sewer and the husband that dug the hole and hooked us up. Hallelujah.

Here are a few shots from the day...nothing great, just capturing the moment.

Practice, practice, practice

That is exactly what I have been doing lately. I am trying to step away from the technical side of photography and work on creativity. I am striving to make my photos tell a story. This story had a happy ending...no paint on the carpet:)

Happy, Happy Birthday Baby....and a sincere Thank You

Friday, November 10 is the Marine Corps Birthday Ball. I blew it off this year, sorry honey. I know it is important to you, we will definitely go next year. Happy Birthday!

Saturday, November 11 is Veterans Day. Thank you very much babe, I love you.

Tennessee

It has been just a couple weeks since I returned from my trip to Tennessee to see my friend Gina. We had a great time. We took shopped, took pictures of her, her kids, and me and we went out for a night on the town in Nashville and drank waaayyy too much. I had a blast though and I really needed the break.

It was nice to have a subject stand still and not have to bribe them. Here are a few of the shots I was able to get of Hailey and Hayden.

That Red Dirt Road

I couldn't think of anything that explained my life at this time any better than this Brooks and Dunn song, so I named my blog after it!

Why, you ask? My family and I moved from Dallas, TX to this small town in IL two years ago. My husband was raised here, in fact, we live all of four blocks away from where his parents live. I have had a very hard time adjusting to small town life. Being raised in Decatur then moving to DFW, I am a big city girl. Some days I am just like a fish out of water. That is when I have to remind myself of the positive aspects of living here. The biggest of these is my family. My mother was raised just a few miles away from here and her grandparents lived just down the road from them. This is Mom: cute, huh?





She moved away long before she had me but some of the fondest memories of my childhood took place very near to my current home. You see, when Mom and I visited, I was introduced to country life: riding in a combine, feeding horses sheep and goats, riding a 3 wheeler in the woods in the middle of the night, swimming off the dock at my aunts house and going to small town church for Sunday service. Most of my extended family still lives here and I know I am welcome to drop in to say hi any time. So, on the not so good days, when I would really prefer to go shopping at Stonebriar Mall for retail therapy or eat some fajitas at Pappasitos, I remind myself that there is life at both ends of the red dirt road. I just have to make a place for myself here. It isn't necessarily my red dirt road, but it is my Mother's. My Grandmother and my Great-Grandmother raised their families and lived their lives here, surely it is good enough for me.