Newport News

After we left OBX (Outer Banks) on Saturday, we headed up to Newport News, Virginia to see our friends Corey and Kristi. We know Corey and Kristi from way back... we were all at Nellis in Las Vegas together back in the last millennium. Seriously. 1998-2000! They were at our wedding in Oregon in 2000.

And we've managed to stay in touch over all the moves and all the years in between now and then. [I have mentioned that I sent out 175 Christmas cards last year, right? I am good at staying in touch, and so is Kristi!] They've had two beautiful girls in the past few years, and although I'd never met them I felt as though I had because Kristi gets gorgeous photos taken of them every other minute and sends them out a couple times a year. In fact, there was one waiting with our names on it when we arrived, and it is currently up on our fridge. And let me just say it; those two make some knockout little girls. Whoa-mamma are those gorgeous girls!

For some reason I didn't take many photos, and I completely missed getting one of all of us. But we've decided that we must see each other again soon since we're so close (only two and a half hours!). So we'll fix that right up next time! Jason and Corey and Kristi all ride motorcycles, so Jason brought his gear and went on a ride with Corey.


Kristi and I loaded up the girls and drove to Colonial Williamsburg to meet the guys. I'd been there once before (in 8th grade I think?) but I mainly remembered all the people dressed up churning butter and making candles and tanning leather and making horseshoes and stuff like that. This time we just wandered around the shops and got a great cheese plate and yummy snacks and called it dinner. Yummmm. Jason hadn't been there so we'll definitely make a trip back at some point to see the historical side (like we need an excuse to visit again)! :)

The next day we drove to Yorktown. What a great little town! We had lunch and did a bit of shopping.


Here is a very bad photo of Miss S in Founding Fathers, the Americana store. She has amazing enunciation and I love listening to her talk about how she traveled to Ih-tah-lee. Here she has introduced me to a "gentleman"... so adorable! Then Kristi and I went to a great bead store while Corey and Jason took the girls down to the beach. I got some heavenly faceted ruby quartz rondelles that I can't wait to use!

It was so great to see them and it was amazing how comfortable we were with each other instantly again! My favorite kinds of friends are the ones who, during a meal together, I can notice that we are missing something from the table, get up and find it in the kitchen, bring it back to the table, and they will respond, "Oh, I'm so glad that you just went and got that, thanks!" :) Extra bonus thanks to Kristi because she worked a 24-hour shift (she's a Midwife in the Air Force) and didn't get home until 8:30 a.m. on Saturday and somehow managed to be a trouper on just a few hours' sleep which is way more than I would be capable of!

I also loved hanging out with them because they are such great parents--a perfect balance of patience / go-with-the-flow / don't-get-worked-up-about-the-little-things while also instilling in their girls a very defined sense of politeness and good manners. They've officially been added to my short list of "Parents I'd Like to Be Like." It was a great way to end our vacation, and we're already looking forward to visiting them again (and hosting them here so we can take the girls to the National Zoo and the National Aquarium)!

OBX

Oh my goodness what a vacation!


We drove down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to hang for a few days with Mike and Kerry and their girls Kelsey and Emma on the beach.


Oh my heavens am I glad I'm taking this photography class. Oh how I love playing with aperture and depth of field (DOF)! Love love love that shallow DOF!


This is the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. We climbed all 250-something steps to the top and man was that breeze at the top lovely!

We swam in the ocean.


Jason of course made the absolute most of the waves. Love this boy! :)

We took some photos on the beach.


We watched a glorious sunset.


You are not going to believe me, but this is SOOC (straight out of camera). I promise. This doesn't even do it justice, so imagine how great it was in real life!

We watched kite surfers:


We hoped good things and crossed our fingers for sea turtle hatchlings:


We ate great food and drank great drinks and hung out and relaxed and took naps and laid in the hammock and looked for shells and did a little shopping. I also learned what happens when you spray your entire self with sunscreen while your feet are buried in the sand (ouchie red feet!). To prove I was there, here's one more photo:


We left Hatteras on Saturday morning at the crack of dawn. Jason and I stopped for breakfast and when we got back on the road we got stuck for almost an hour in a mysterious traffic standstill that turned out to be a firetruck blocking both lanes of the highway. An old car had caught on fire on the shoulder of the road so of course the firetruck had to block all lanes for the rest of the morning, long after any trace of smoke existed. On the only road going up and down the Outer Banks. You know, to protect us all. Or something. I'm so not annoyed at all. Totally over it. :)

After we made it around the VIF (Very Important Firetruck) we continued on our journey up to Newport News. And that was totally worth the traffic drama. And I'll write about that tomorrow! :)

A Leading Lady

When Cynthia first announced her amazing plans for Technicolor Postcards Studio Crafting Kits, I knew I'd love them (because she has stunning taste!). When she announced her Design Team call, I went to work creating projects that showed Me. Capital-M Me; my style and my vision and my passion.

I worked feverishly (which is very Me). I was obsessive-compulsive about my techniques and re-did things until I achieved the look I'd envisioned (very Me). I used tons of color (Me-me-me!). And also only black and white (Me, too). I made a hand-bound book (Me!) and two scrapbook pages (with lots of blank space--Me!).

In the end I came up with three things that I was happy with. Three things I felt encapsulated me and my style at this moment. Three things I was glad I'd created! [I shared one page here and will be posting my other submissions later this week.] So I sent them off to Cynthia and then packed for our vacation and tried not to think about it.

But I did. I thought about it a lot. So when she said she'd post her selections for Design Team (aka "Leading Ladies") on Saturday, I checked several times (in between, you know, being on vacation and being social with our hosts!). And then suddenly I saw this:


And then I made this noise very, very loudly in our hosts' house: WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!

Favorite {Photo} Friday! #11

Oh, I'm still having so much fun choosing photos for Favorite {Photo} Friday!


A few Septembers ago Jason and I went on a sailboat trip around some Greek islands with some of our friends; Bill and Bonnie, Ken and Melanie. It was a sailboat so it was small, just (barely) enough room for the six of us and the captain and his girlfriend. To complicate things, Ken was Bill and Jason's boss. And all three couples were different ages, spanning 30+ years. Happily and to my great surprise, the eight of us all got along swimmingly for the week we shared such a tiny space! It probably helped matters that we drank a lot of wine. A LOT of wine. When we actually did the math at the end of the trip and tallied up how many bottles we'd shared and how much per-person that amounted to, we all did a green tea detox at home. :)

Anyway, here are my feet. After dinner one night, docked at one of the little islands, I slipped away to have a few "Cameron is a great big introvert" moments, and I took my camera (back in my pre-digital film SLR days!). Some of my favorite pictures from that trip were taken during this little break! I really like this one, though; it just reminds me of that moment. I remember staring out at this scene and thinking how much I wanted to remember it, the color of the sky, the scratchy feeling of the concrete pier I was laying on, the peace of being by myself, the utter relaxation of having absolutely nothing to do and all week to do it in. :)

Your Passion is Waiting...

Now that Cynthia's design team call is closed I'll share my submissions. Here is the first one:


As soon as I saw this quote I knew what I wanted to do for this page. I tried a couple of different techniques but this one worked out to be closest to what I'd envisioned. [Inks and letter stamps are Close To My Heart (contact me for info or to order!), felt scroll is Queen & Co., cardstock is Bazzill.]

The best part is this is a two-fer 'cause I'm also entering it into Elise's Crafty Olympics. :)

Okay, we're off to the beach! Hooray!

Vay-Cay

Leaving for vacation for a few days, yay! So excited to be going anywhere somewhere else!

In typical Cameron fashion I've filled every moment up until the time we have to leave with preparing for the vacation. Laundry is still being done at 10:10 p.m. when we are leaving at 8 a.m. Does anyone else do this?

And remember that bikini that I've been dying to not wear? Upon packing I realized that it was not in the drawer I thought it should be in. Ack! So I spent the next twenty-seven minutes in a frenzy trying to find it. Because what is worse than wearing a bikini when you're not excited to wear it? Shopping for a bikini when you're not excited to wear it. I mean, really; is there a worse shopping experience? But luckily the bikini fairy or that saint who is in charge of lost objects or karma or something helped me out and I did find it, along with my gorgeous sarong. Hooray! Now I will be extra happy to wear it and prance about in the ocean with my bare toes in the sand (and SPF covering every inch of me). :)

And if I get tired of doing that then I will just read one of the 18 books I'm bringing or take some photos of Kelsey or head on over to baby Emma and just sniff her head and kiss her toes. Ahhhh, vacation!

Peek x 2

Our pumpkins are growing like weeds! I love going out and checking them in the morning and again in the evening and seeing them grow. I love when I can see a new one peeking through the soil!


Do you see how all of the pumpkins are growing in kind of a circle, except for one bare section (from like 9 to 12 on a clock)? That would be because Jason and I planted the seeds together and that little section is where Jason poked those poor little seeds deep into the soil and they are having to struggle more to reach daylight. Hopefully they will make it. And when I plant a garden I am not letting Jason help. [Just kidding, J, I will so need your help!]

I have been cutting and pasting and brayering and printing and designing and coloring and stamping and inking and measuring and markering and blinging and stickering and sewing and generally papering my heart out for Cynthia's call for Leading Ladies. It's so fun!

I still need to finish my last piece to submit so I don't want to show too much until then, but here is a sneak peek.


Aren't those colors just YUMMY?

I'm also getting ready for our trip to what I have now learned is called "The Outer Banks." [Sorry, East Coast, I'm new here. Thanks for your understanding re: my ignorance.] Kerry and clan are already there and she's posting photos to her Flickr so I know that we are going to have a super time! Yay! And I have made complete peace with all the parts of soon-to-be-bikini-clad me that, you know, make it oh so obvious that I don't spend any much nearly enough time in a gym. For this trip, anyway, a peaceful truce has been called, and you know what? I will take it.