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Car shopping and accesories
We are still car shopping, but this is the one I really want!
Saturn Aura
It has low miles, and the best part heated seats! We are waiting on a check to arrive so we can turn in the truck and get the car. Just having some issues with a former employer. I am hoping it ends sooner than later, as there is a sale going on right now at the car dealer I want to take advantage of. Its going to take some getting used to driving a car again. Its been over twelve years since I have drove a car. I have had either vans or trucks for so long.
I have been looking at different accessories I want to get for the car and can’t wait to go shopping! I want to get a GPS. As much as I hated that thing when I took it with us on our first girls weekend in Chicago, it has come in very handy for different outings we have done since. It will also help when I am out with my hubby, as he is not one to stop and ask for directions if we get lost.
This car also has a jack to hook up your iPods, so I will have to find the right cord for my iPod so I can bring mine in the car on road trips. That means I will have to upload some of my husbands music so he won’t get bored with my kind of music.
Hopefully by this time next week I will have a new car!!!
Summer Layered Chicken Salad
This will be on our menu for next week, minus the gorgonzola cheese. I may be fooling myself that the other will eat it, but then I guess that will be more for me for the week!
Salad
7 cups torn romaine lettuce (from 1 head)
2 packages (9 oz each) frozen fully cooked chicken breast strips (not breaded), thawed (4 cups)
1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (about 4 oz)
1 cup pecan halves (4 oz)
1 quart fresh strawberries, quartered (3 cups)
Dressing
1/3 cup olive or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1. In deep 3-quart salad bowl, place half of the lettuce. Layer with chicken, cheese, pecan halves, remaining lettuce and strawberries.
2. In small bowl or glass measuring cup, mix dressing ingredients with wire whisk until well blended. Just before serving, pour dressing over salad.
Strawberry-Cream Puff Kabobs
These look yummy!
6 (10-inch) bamboo skewers
18 tiny frozen cream puffs (from 13.2-oz box), thawed
12 fresh medium strawberries (about 2/3 lb), stems removed if desired
2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1. Line cookie sheet with waxed paper. On each skewer, alternately thread 3 cream puffs and 2 strawberries.
2. In small resealable freezer plastic bag, place chocolate chips and butter. Seal bag. Microwave on High about 30 seconds or until melted. Squeeze bag to mix melted chips and butter.
3. Cut small tip from corner of bag. Drizzle chocolate mixture over kabobs. Place on cookie sheet. Refrigerate about 10 minutes or until set. Store in refrigerator.
My craft to do list
Its time I get back into my crafts. I love baking and cooking, but I need to get my creative juices flowing in my other hobbies. I have bags and bins full of yarn that is just waiting to be made into something. My pictures are stacking up, or should I say they are piling up in folders on the computer. I don’t even want to know how much its going to cost me to print them. Any who…
My list:
* baby blanket to knit
* baby sweater to knit
* dish towels and wash cloths to knit/crochet
* afgan to knit (with all the leftover yarn)
* sweater to knit
* books to read (for reviews)
* I need to figure out what conjugated linoleic acid cla is, as it came up in a book I was reading pertaining to my health.
* tank tops to alter by sewing
* jeans to hem
* Photography – look for new poses and spots to take pictures
I am going to be very busy over the next several weeks.
10 Tips To Better Photography
I am always looking for ways to take better pictures.
Tip 1 – Use All Your Available Space
Don’t be afraid to use all the space in your photo. If you want to take a picture of something, it’s ok for it to take up the whole shot with no or very little background showing. Keep distractions out of your shot
Tip 2 – Study Forms
This is a vital aspect to photography. Understanding forms in your photos. Don’t see an object, she its shape and its form and find the best angle to photograph it from. Form is all around us and I highly suggest you read as many books on it as possible.
Tip 3 – Motion In Your Photos
Never have motion in your photos if you are photographing a still object. If there is something moving while you are trying to photograph a stationery object, your photo won’t turn out anywhere near as well. Also never put a horizon line in the center of your frame.
Tip 4 – Learn To Use Contrasts Between Colors
Some of the best photos have shades of white, gray and black. You can take great shots with just one color on your subject, but the contrasts between colors in a shot is what makes you a great photographer.
Tip 5 – Get Closer To Your Subject
This is one of the biggest mistakes most photographers make, not getting close enough to their subject. Get up and personal and close the distance gap. You can always reshape and resize a good shot but you can’t continue to blowup a distant object.
Tip 6 – Shutter Lag
Shooting action shots with digital camera’s can be tricky due to shutter lags. What this means is, when you press the button to take the photo, it can take up to a second for the shutter to take a photo, by that time what you were photographing would have moved or changed somehow. This means you have to compensate for shutter lag by predicting what your subject is going to do and taking the photo just before it takes the action you want. More expensive digital cameras don’t have this problem.
Tip 7 – Pan
If you are taking an action shot and your shutter speed is slow, pan with the object. Follow through with the subject, from start to finish and one of those shots will be a winner. You have more chance of getting a good shot if you take more then one photo.
Tip 8 – Continuous Shots
To pan like I suggested above you will need a camera that does continuous shots and doesn’t need to stop and process after every shot.
Tip 9 – How To Take Fantastic Night Time Shots
Night time shots can be spectacular, almost magical…. if done right! If not they can look horrible. Really horrible. Without adequate lighting, even good camera’s can turn out crappy photos if the photographer doesn’t know what he or she is doing.
Tip 10 – Study Your Manual
If your digital camera has a special night time mode, read the manual and follow their instructions on how to use it properly.