if you give a little girl some safety glasses...

(Raw(e) farther down)

Alternately titled: I take awful photos too.

...she'll probably find some scissors. 

Nearby the scissors, she'll probably also discover the comics, which no one except for her has read. 

With these tools in front of her, she's probably going to somehow make them work together. She'll slip on her safety goggles to "protect her from flying paper", grab the scissors and newspaper...

...and the end result will probably look something like this, with paper scattered about the table and floor. 

She'll probably act quite proud of herself when she sees her big brother run upstairs to tell the big sister to get her camera. Despite the gravity of the situation (no, seriously, morning comics are an important element of our household ;)), she'll probably feel even better about her work of art when she discovers that everyone is cracking up. It will seem that her family's futile efforts to hold back the laughter bubbling up in their throats was unsuccessful. 

Lilly has struck again - this time before 8am. 

And while I'm on the topic of Lilly, she was in the library (the one in our house) today with Jeremiah, chanting, "Praise God! He forgives! Otherwise you'd be fired from heaven!"

Where does the child GET this stuff?

Do you have any funny stories about your siblings/children? Do share! I'd love a laugh or two :)

EDIT: I'm throwing my yellow Raw(e) shot in here...because I'm too lazy to write a separate post. Heh. 

Oh, I wanted to edit this SO badly. But I was a good girl and didn't touch it. ;)

-carlotta

a room tour

Like I mentioned in the video, I got a request a couple weeks ago to do a tour of my room...I just now got around to doing it, mainly because my room was a disaster before ;) 

I promise you I don't have a sunburn...I just used the video capability on my point and shoot camera (too bad I couldn't use my DSLR, huh? :)) and it likes to do weird things to my face. 

And I apologize about the shaky video...I'm not sure why my hands were so shaky.

Note: I'm trying Vimeo to host this video for the first time...let me know if it doesn't work. I just got sick of Blogger taking forever to upload the stinkin movie.

Okay, I'll stop trying to prolong the inevitable, bite the bullet, and let y'all watch the video. Eek. 

Before watching this video I didn't realize I moved my eyebrows so much when I talk! Upon asking MeMe, she said that I do it all the time. Well. You learn something new about yourself everyday ;) 

As you might have been able to see, my decorating style is sort of modern mixed with a bit of vintage. My room isn't perfectly decorated, but rooms are always a work in progress, aren't they? :) 

What does your room look like? 

-carlotta

PS I would have posted this earlier, but the video took so long to upload! Sorry :)

i'm too random for my own good

Warning: extreme sarcasm, randomness, and overuse of parentheses ahead.

Really, it's true.

I'm way too random for my own good. I can hardly stay on one topic for 20 seconds without jumping to another one.

Maybe I have ADD! Yeah, maybe that's - ooh shiny!

Okay, I'm putting it on a little thick.

But since I'm already on the topic of randomness, I suppose I'll share a few random thoughts.

(Let's hope I can stay on this topic! But it's randomness. Randomness allows me to jump from thought to thought while still staying the category of said topic. Wait. That didn't make any sense. Oh well.)

Today I went shopping. I really love shopping - especially when it involves clothes. And cosmetics. And chemicals. Okay, so that last one isn't true. It was a pop quiz to see if you were paying attention. I was just trying to make an alliteration. It didn't really work out.

Moving right along.

I needed to pick up some shampoo and a new tube of mascara. I found the mascara and sashayed into the shampoo aisle, MeMe in tow.

(I didn't really sashay, though. If you must know. Hey, that rhymed! I'm a poet and didn't even know it. Okay. Yes. Lame.).

I decided to try a new kind - the Root 66 max volume shampoo (pictured above). It was a bit on the expensive side - about eight dollars for a little over eight ounces - but I decided to go for it since I had a gift card. I checked out in the self check out, and to my surprise, the shampoo rang up for twenty seven cents. Twenty seven! Somehow the price got messed up by accident, but I didn't complain. I just took it and ran. ;)

(That's not considered stealing, though, is it? Since it was the store's fault? But what's done is done...)

I also got another tank, similar to the one I posted about a few weeks ago, except it's all white. I'm in love with these long and lean tanks...they retain their stretchiness (due to the 6 something percent Spandex. Which is also great for holding in food babies. ;)) and look great. Love them.

Random fact number 234: If you give me a long and lean tank or four (in S, please) you will be my forever friend.

Just kidding.

Kinda.

MeMe and Lilly were jumping off a kiddie slide in our front yard last night. I loved hearing their screams of laughter as they landed on the ground (flat on their feet most of the time, no less!)

No small children were harmed in the taking of this picture. 

And the light was just yummy. See?

I've been kind of obsessed with "yummy" light lately. But that's okay. As as photographer, it's in my blood. Not literally, though. That would be weird.

I got a bit carried away with sarcasm and randomness in this post. But to be fair, you were warned ;)

Have a wonderful Sunday! What do you have planned?

-carlotta

things i've been loving

Sweet little hands doing math.

This amazing necklace.



A polka dotted picnic blanket and lush green grass.



Photos taken from above (would those be called aerial shots? I have no idea.)

The best camera bag in the world...I'd be more than happy to accept it as a gift. If you're looking to give me one. ;)




Taking pictures of MeMe's reflection in the mirror.

YOU! Y'all are amazing.

What have you been loving lately?

-carlotta

PS In answer to the question a few of you had, I used Picnik to round the corners of my photos. I just went to "frames" and hit "round edges" (or something to that effect). I know there are probably other ways to this, but that's what I did :)

PPS I was too lazy to upload all my photos to Picnik. Which is why none of the corners are rounded. Oh well.

miscellaneous ramblings

1. delia's. Have you heard of this store? I found it a couple months ago and I'm completely obsessed. I have yet to order something, but I hope to soon - maybe these shoes? I adore them.
Delia's stuff is so darn cute - you should definitely check it out!

2. lilly & a tennis ball. I don't know what it is, but there's something I love about this photo. I didn't see that my brother tossing a tennis ball got into the photo until later, but I kind of like it.

3. 10 days. 10 days until we go to Germany, that is. Ohh yes. I'm so excited. I am absolutely ecstatic to see all my family again - family I haven't seen in over two years! We used to go pretty much every year, but we haven't been able lately. And the second thing I'm ecstatic about? The pictures I'll be able to take. I'm SO stoked.

4. yep. I'm still obsessed with photos that have rounded corners. Hence the rounded-corner photos in this post. Raise your hand if you like this look too! *waves hand wildly*

5. the weather is gorgeous. It really is. These past few days it's been between 75 and 85, with the humidity at a super low 25 percent or so. I could really get used to this.







6. giveaways. Y'all can expect some great giveaways on my blog soon! I'm going to hold another two winner giveaway sometime in early September, as well as a regular one in October. So excited!

7. i love golden light. Isn't this light just so yummy? I went to a nearby college with my dad last night, and I couldn't resist snapping a picture.

You've heard all about what I've been up to...but what about you? What's been going on in your life lately?

-carlotta

chocolate chip cookies from heaven

I obsess over chocolate chip cookies. I think they're my favorite kind...so simple, but so delicious. I like them a little crispy, but still soft at the same time. But I can't stand doughy cookies. Ick.

So, because I'm fairly picky when it comes to cookies, it's hard to find the perfect recipe. I stumbled across a new one yesterday, and decided to give it a try.

I whipped up the ingredients (these are super easy!) and tried the batter. It was scrumptious. After eating a bit, I walked around the kitchen, moaning, "This is so good. Oh my gosh. This is so good. This is so, so good." (other words failed me at the moment ;)) It took a great deal of self control to only eat three spoonfuls of the stuff.

When the cookies were finished baking, I tested one. And about fell over. The finished product was even better than the dough. I didn't think a cookie this good was achievable. Is it possible to swoon over a cookie? Because I'm swooning, big time. These cookies are pure buttery, chocolatey goodness. They're like chocolate chip cookies sent from heaven.

I have now found the perfect chocolate chip recipe. It's the one, folks. It's the recipe that going to be all worn and tattered. The recipe that will soon be so familiar I'll know it by memory. The recipe that is going to be passed down from generation to generation in my family. Okay, maybe not the last part. I'm being a bit dramatic. But really. Make these. Your life will be forever changed.

What's your favorite kind of cookie?

-carlotta

PS I'm a bit obsessed with rounded corners on my photos right now. Just thought I'd let you know ;)

happiness is...

After a hiatus last week, Happiness Is is back! 

To play along, just write a post with two things that made you happy this week (or more. If you're rule defier. Hehe.), with a link to me/the Happiness Is button. Then come back here and link up!

Remember, if I don't get more than 5 link ups, Happiness Is will be closing for an unidentified amount of time.

<div align="center"><a href="http://pastors-girl.blogspot.com"><img alt="Happiness Is..." src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1064/4732886685_1331802b43_m.jpg" /></a></div>

Happiness is...

...spending time with my sisters. I took a bath with them last night (don't worry, I had a swimsuit on ;)), and I realized how precious these moments with them are right now. Soon they're going to be all grown up and they're not going to want to spend time with their big sister. MeMe was jabbering on about how "People are just so fat these days!" and how I'm "like those girls, you know, those teenagers with long hair and blue eyes. Sometimes green eyes. Those ones that always are hilarious and love laughing. And the ones that are fashionable!". Lilly told me that she liked her skin better. My skin had "all those sprinkles on it" (i.e. pimples. Thanks, Lilly. I only have about four!).

I just closed my eyes, squeezed Lilly tighter - who was sitting on my lap - and just relished the moment. 

...driving on rural Oklahoma roads. There's just something about the brilliantly blue sky, the lush vegetation, and the old bridges that I love.

What has made you happy this week? Link up and let me know (or leave me a comment if you don't want to write a post)!

-carlotta

back to school & raw(e)

It's that time again (Already?! Didn't it seem that school just started last year?)...back to school.

Back to learning new things. Back to tests.

Back to pencils, homework, and teacher's dirty looks (I couldn't resist!). Back to reading Ancient Egyptian Literature. Okay, maybe not. But that's one of the things I have to read ;)

Back to fresh, clean notebooks. Back to textbooks.

(Above is my pink entry for Raw(e))

Back to schedules, and if you're not homeschooled, back to rushing from class to class.

Although I'm probably going to change my mind on January 24th at 1:12 pm*, I kind of like getting back to school right now. Even though I'm homeschooled (more like online schooled and self taught with my mom checking on me once a week), I'm going to try to stick to a more rigid schedule this year. We'll see if that lasts ;)

Have you started school yet? Are you glad to be back in the rhythm, or would you rather be doing anything but school?

-carlotta

*This date and time have no significance. They were just picked randomly.

PS I'm only 8 followers away from 300! Eight! Do you think you guys could help me make it to 300? Please? :)

EDIT: People! You've done it again! I am now at 300 followers! Eeeekkk!

candids

These candid photos

aren't the best in the world,

but they're precious to me. 

They show MeMe...the goofy, silly, braid and swimsuit wearing MeMe.

MeMe...my sister. 

I love you, MeMe :)

Do you have any siblings? If so, do you take silly photos of them too? 

-carlotta

(5) tips to better photography: food

No, I don't have a reason for putting the 5 in parentheses. I just thought it looked cool ;)

Haven't heard enough about food photography lately on my blog? Well buckle up and hang on for the ride - you're about to hear about it more! ;)

On my crazy, random, food-filled post a few days ago, many of you said that I take such great pictures of food. (Aww, thanks! Y'all make me blush :))
I thought I'd share a few of my tips...with a little guidance, anyone can take photos (and I don't mean that to sound like I'm bragging) like me...or even better ones!

1. good lighting. This is probably the most important thing - the one that either makes or breaks a photo. Natural lighting is best. I go into our sunroom and take most of my food shots there on a small table in front of the biggest panel of glass. I realize you may not have a sunroom, but I recommend lugging your dish outside to get the best shots. If you're too lazy (and I've done this before, don't worry :)), try going right by a window.
Just make sure - that whenever you're taking pictures outside - to not get directly in the sunlight, which washes out colors and doesn't make food look appetizing.

2. no flash. Oh gosh. Next to good lighting, this is second most important thing. DO NOT, under any circumstances, USE YOUR ON CAMERA FLASH. Don't don't don't. This is one of my biggest pet peeves - when people use their on camera flash just because the camera has it. 99.9 percent of the time, it does not enhance a photo. Just like in direct sunlight, it washes out the subject - but it looks even worse, since it's artificial light. I think I've used the flash on my camera once or twice. Really.


3. get creative with angles. Get up and close with the food. Experiment with different positions. The picture doesn't always have to be taken from above!  I often handhold the plate I have the food on and move it around to make it a bit easier to snap the picture...it saves me from getting down on the floor ;)

4. make the food look pretty. How can your photos be good ones if the food presentation is awful? Go the extra mile and place the food on the dish so it's not broken, etc. Try your best to arrange it a little artfully. And if there are smudged bits of food on the plate (even if it only happened 10 seconds ago), wipe it off.

5. simple backgrounds. Have very, very simple backgrounds. If your camera can do it, blur out anything that doesn't have to do with the food. If you take a picture in a crowded, cluttered place, the food is not the star. And you want the food to be the star, don't you? Focus entirely on your dish. (And by "dish" I don't mean the plate, bowl, etc :))

(I know I've posted these photos of the pig ice cream sandwich before, but I had to do it again. It's just so darn cute!)

Let me know if you have any questions :)

Happy food photography-ing! 

-carlotta

miscellaneous ramblings

1. the dairy. We go to a dairy located in a rather small town about 30 minutes from where we live (in "the big city", as the Pioneer Woman would say) to get our milk, cheese, and cream. All their products are raw; they aren't pasteurized or homogenized. Don't worry, everything is as clean as can be. No milking by hand here - the cows are hooked up to the milking machines. When we went yesterday to pick up a few things, Lilly watched with rapt attention the milk going into the containers and tubes after coming from the cow (see above picture). She was so cute I just had to snap a picture :)

2. rusty, old bridges. I love 'em. When we were driving to the dairy yesterday, we had to pass under one. I, of course, couldn't pass up the opportunity and snapped away as we passed underneath the big steel structures.

3. can you guess what this is? Okay, it's just dish soap on a cutting board I was washing. But I thought the swirly pattern looked cool :)

4. 17 days. Yes, I'm going to include a countdown of days until we go to Germany in every Miscellaneous Ramblings post. Sorry. I'm just excited :) But in all seriousness - SEVENTEEN days! That's just...a little over two weeks away! I cannot believe it's this close. I can't wait to see all my family again. Y'all better get ready for some serious picture load while we're over there... :)

5. a concert. We went to a little concert last night, which was held at the outdoor mall half a mile from us. I had a blast taking pictures of the stage...it looked pretty cool with colored lights and dry ice.

6. q & a. I've had quite a few people ask me questions but I never got around to answering them - I feel so badly! If you asked me a question and I didn't respond, I apologize. I thought it might be fun if we did a little Q & A. Just leave a question in the comment section (of this post), and I'll answer them soon. You can ask me anything! :)

Happy Friday!

-carlotta

food, sarcasm, and random musings

I've been taking quite a few photos of food lately (if you didn't already notice... ;)). There are three reasons for this.

Firstly, I love food. Food makes me happy and I like to take pictures of things that make me happy.

Secondly, I love the challenging aspect of food photography. It's so easy to take a bad picture of food. The lighting has to be right, the food has to look appetizing. While I'm by no means an expert on food photography, I do know that difference between a bad photo and a good one.

And thirdly, I've lost my models - my siblings. They were tired of being photographed all the time, so they fired themselves. (Is that even possible? Okay, they retired then. But can you retire at the ages of 4, 6, and 9? Never mind.) So that put people out of the picture. No pun intended. ;)

And taking pictures of the vegetation around my house gets quite boring after a while.

But food always provides an opportunity to take photos of things that aren't green. And since we eat quite regularly in my house (three times a day plus snacks...but isn't it that way in almost every household? ;)), there is never a shortage of edible things to be photographed.

Random musing of the day - Maybe it's because I've typed the word "food" a lot in this post, but it's a weird word. At least I think it is. I don't think it really sounds appetizing. But that's just me. As a friend mentioned, "A lot of interesting things pop into your mind." I'd have to agree. ;)

Moving right along.

(strawberry smoothie)

(watermelon)

Here's yet another random musing. If you were stranded in the desert and could only bring one item of food (water would not be allowed), you should pick watermelon. 1, it's delicious and 2, it's practically water. It's food and drink combined! Wait, that sounds gross. And besides...where would you get watermelon in the desert? Nevermindthatlastparagraph. 

In conclusion, I've been taking lots of food photos and posting them here because it makes me happy. And I really like things that make me happy :) 

(Although, doesn't everyone? Sorry. I just really like sarcasm.)

What makes you happy?

-carlotta

blogging pet peeves part two

(You can read my first "blogging pet peeves" post here.)

Note: These are my own personal opinions. I don't want to offend anyone by any means. I guess I'm just super picky or something but there are a lot of things that irk me in the blog world...so many in fact, that this is part two of my blogging pet peeves ;) Oh, and if you did see it yesterday, Happiness Is is taking a little break, but it's be back next week.

Google Images pictures. We're all done it at one time or another, myself included. We're writing a post and want a picture to go along with it, but don't want to take it ourselves. So we go to our friend Google Images and find a photo from there that pertains to the post. There's one problem with this - even if you provide a "via" link, you're almost always violating a copyright. Not to mention the photos are usually so...boring. It would be so much better if you just took the picture yourself. Seriously. ;)

Tons of posts on the blog home page. There is a little device called "archiving". Can you guess what it does? Yep, it files your posts so you don't have 134 posts on the first page of your blog. And if many of those posts contain photos, that also means your blog will probably load very slowly (Don't know if your blog loads slowly or not? Ask your readers!). Who wants to wait for 134 posts to load? I recommend not more than 7 posts on the main page. 

"Text talk". You know what I mean. We wnt 2 the stor 2day. (Okay, really lame example but that's what popped into my brain first ;)) Ew, ew, ew. Typing like that DOES NOT by any means make you appear "cooler". Or smarter, or more mature for that matter. Same goes for adding more letters to words likee thisss. What's the point of that?

Check out my blog. I know people are just trying to advertise their blog, but who likes those comments? You know, that are irrelevant to your post and just say "Nice blog, please check out mine at [insert blog URL] and become a follower!". Um, no. In fact, I refuse to go to those peoples' blogs (Why yes, I am very stubborn when I want to be. Thanks for asking!). I am more inclined to visit your blog if you write a comment that pertains to the post and don't advertise your site.

Their, they're, and there. Please get your grammar straight, people. If you mean their baby, write "their" not there. And you're and your. For example, it would be "You're so nice!" not "Your so nice!". (Again with the lame examples...sigh.)

I'm going to stop myself here...I don't want to get too whiny :)

What are some things that bug you in the blogging community? I'd love to hear them!

-carlotta

bliss & raw(e)

Lying under the big (I think it's an oak) tree in our backyard, reading a book and armed with my camera?

Bliss.

Taking pictures of yet-to-be-used flyscreen? 

Bliss.

(I realize taking pictures of flyscreen may not be bliss to you. But hey, it's an opportunity to take a photo, so I'm happy ;))

Brownies for breakfast?

Bliss.

Listening to the steady drum of raindrops on the roof?

Bliss.

Oreos?

Bliss.

88 degree temperatures?  (It's positively cold compared to the 105+ heat we were getting!)

Bliss.

Combining my green Raw(e) shot with this post?  (above photo is my entry)

Bliss.

What is bliss to you?

-carlotta

PS I think I'm going to take a little break from my Happiness Is blog hop...it'll be back next week, though. Is that okay with y'all?