Weddingness

Jaden and Fisher have been a tad…”hyper” this past week, to be completely understated.  I could feel my resolve to be patient and understanding slipping which each passing day.  It’s not that they’ve been bad, per se, it’s just that they’ve had excesive amounts of energy and a bad case of selective hearing. 

All that said, I was relieved to have a wedding to go to this past Saturday.  For starters, I love weddings.  I used to not really care about them until I had the kids.  Something about child birth alters your emotional settings.  Now I can’t get enough of weddings, babies and any other stereotypical girly event.  Secondly, it was the wedding of a highschool friend which I adore.  She is one of the sweetest girls I know and I couldn’t be happier for her.  Thirdly, it was at Gin Creek, which is breathtakingly beautiful.

Saturday finally rolled around and Jordan and I were eager to make the drive to the wedding, child-free.  Ah, this blissful silence. *laugh*  I love parenthood, but sometimes it’s nice to have a few hours to yourself.  Plus, Jaden and Fisher were going to be staying with my cousin, Demi, and they couldn’t wait to get to her house.  To say that they love her is an understatement.  They couldn’t hardly sit still from all the excitement. 

Soon we were on our way, winding through the back roads of Southwest Georgia and praying that we wouldn’t get lost.  Thankfully, we made it to the wedding on time…even though Google Maps tried it’s best to make that impossible.  Seriously, Google, what were you thinking?  Anyhoo, the wedding was amazing.  The bride, groom and attendants were gorgeous.  It was the best outdoor wedding I’ve been to.  Not too long and completely intimate.  Le sigh.  I feel all fuzzy inside just thinking about it.  *wink*

Don’t we clean up nice?  Not too shabby if I say so myself.  ;)

We didn’t stay too long, though.  As nice as it was to have some time to ourselves, I was sure that Demi would soon need a break.  I wasn’t worried about the kids acting out, they always act like angels for everyone but us.  *wink*  I was concerned about the just how excited they were to see Demi and if they would run out of energy long enough for her to catch her breath.  :)  We did stay for dinner and dancing, though, both of which were fantastic. 

All in all it was a great evening.  The highlight of which was that I never once tripped.  Hey, it’s a momentous thing.  I can barely walk a straight line in tennis shoes, let alone boots with a three inch heel.  *bowing to the crowd*  Thank you, thank you.  However, by the time I got home, as was more than happy to hand the boots back to my sister.  I’m not sure if my toes will ever regain feeling.  ;) 

How Low Can You Go?

Today I got my ears lowered. 

Don’t you love it when people use that phrase?    I’m actually not a fan of the phrase, but my theory is that everyone can use it at least once a year and avoid criticism.  *shoulder shrug*  Besides, the phrase always makes for a fantastically gruesome mental picture:

“…and now, if you please, turn the crank very slowly so as not to disrupt the placement of the eyes.  Yes, nicely done, Igor.”

So, here it is:  My new do in all of its over-exposed goodness.  Yes, the smirk is back.  I told you, I’m lacking the gene which makes me capable of taking a decent self-portrait.  That and I may have played around with an online photo editor.  This picture just screams amateur photographer.  (Score one for Raine!)

I may have gotten carried away with the glaussian blur…oopsies.  Oh well, just think of this as a serious moment in a soap opera:

 *Organ Music Intro*  “Will Raine’s husband aprove of her new haircut?  Will her dog even recognize her?!  Tune in next week for the shocking conculsion.” 

All in all I’m quite happy with my hair.  I’ve had short hair since Junior High and have come to love it.  It is easy to fix and easy to maintain.  Plus, you can take an afternoon nap without a bad case of bed head giving you away:  “What?  No.  I haven’t been sleeping.  I’ve been dusting, I swear.”  *wink*  Works every time.

I Suck at Photoshop

For all of you out there who don’t know what Jordan, a.k.a. “The Hubs”, does for a living, he is a colorist for several comic books that are currently in the beginning stages of life.  Coloring a comic is much more involved than coloring Disney Princess coloring books with your kids.  It takes a lot of time and talent.  A lot.  The Hubs works hard and works a lot of hours, which means that I don’t get as much snuggle-on-the-couch time as I’d like to have with him.  But, I’m okay with this.  He does more than most to make life for the kids and I comfy and for that I am eternally grateful.  (Aw, *tear*) 

So, I have decided to learn Photoshop and help him out by laying the ground work for him.  (Hey, now.  Stop laughing.  Stop it, I say.  Photoshop can’t be that hard to learn, right?)  All I’ll be doing is flatting the black and white images for him so he can go in after me and do the real color work.  Surely I can handle such a task.  *fingers crossed*

Last night, after the kiddos were tucked away in bed, Jordan & I seated ourselves in front of the computer in his office and began my crash course in Photoshop.  (Aw, come on.  Stop giggling.)  The Hubs decided to just give me a walk through of all the different tools available in Photoshop for my first lesson.  There are oodles of them.  Caboodles of oddles.  (Ha)  To demonstrate what effect each tool had on an image, he pulled up a still he had taken from the movie, “Big Fish.”  Poor Albert Finney, if only he knew the things we did to him last night:

It started off innocently enough.  Jordan was demonstrating “Dodge” and “Burn” to me and before we knew it, Albert Finney had laser beams coming from his eyes.  It could happen to anyone.  Originally, he looked like a vampire with red eyes.  Then we came across the line tool and well….laser beams were born.  Who could pass up such an opportunity?  No one.  No one is that strong.  So, Jordan went with it and took it to the extreme.  Oh Albert Finney, forgive us.  We know not what we do.  

Once we’d finished defacing Albert Finney’s…face, we went on to view some helpful Photoshop tutorials.  *ahem*  Now, I know that watching tutorials does not sound like fun stuff, but trust me, these weren’t your average tutorials.  Want to learn your way around Photoshop?  No?  Okay.  Well, how about just watching some that is utterly hilarious?  Hm?  Yeah.  That’s what I thought.  Watch, laugh, learn.

What’s that?  I’m a genius?  I’ve saved you from an afternoon of boredom?  Oh, you’re so welcome.  *curtsey*