Note Card Party: Wildlife in Winter (1)

I'm joining in the Note Card party this month with my first collection of winter wildlife.

What caption should I put on that first bear one?  Any suggestions? 

To join the party, just choose four of your pictures that have appeared on your blog that you think would make good note cards and link up at A Haven for Vee:  February Note Card Party or go to find more.

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4 Friday Fragments: Photos, Sports, Books

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

1. Photos

   Photo Editing Discovered picmonkey.com at the Creekside Cottage Note Card Party post.
   
   I participated in the Note Card Party blog hop this week for the first time and found lots of new blogs! This one is the third Wednesday of the month, not every week. Whew!

2. 

   
   Sports

   Love that the Detroit Tigers defeated the New York Yankees and are heading to the World Series. We are rooting for them! C'mon Tigers, go all the way.
   
   I am so happy the Browns finally won a game last week! Hope they can win the next two and get some momentum going in the right direction. Looks like we'll be getting another new head coach soon. Oh, and what's with the Patriots??? That was just terrible losing that game last week not holding on to their lead!!!!

3. Not A Fan

   We are doing the Not a Fan (but committed follower) study at church which involves journaling, viewing a DVD each week and discussion. I was surprised to see the NOT A FAN on TV--on one of the religious channels at 4 a.m. on Monday. I DVRd it just to see if it was the same thing as we were doing, and it is! Have you done this study?

4. Children's Author

   
   
   I recently discovered some wonderful children's books that I enjoyed very much too! They were by Pete the Cat! That's right, a cat. He co-authored three books with his mom, Peg Kehret that are very fun reads with suspense. I think any kid (or adult for that matter) who likes cats would absolutely love these books. They are The Stranger Next Door (about arson), Spy Cat (about burglary) and Trapped (about animal cruelty which is my favorite of the three). You can click to links for my reviews.  Both my cats highly recommend them!

Remember, tomorrow is Sweetest Day--surprise your sweetie!

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7 Friday Fragments (sports, marriage, photography, news)

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

U.S. Open

Photograph: Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images

1. When watching the end of the final matches in the U.S. Open, I learned that the women and men champions (Serena Williams and Andy Murray) got $1.9 million dollars! Not bad pay for a few hours work, heh? But, these were both close matches with an extremely high level of play. I am happy for both of them--I like Serena Williams and it was Andy Murray's first U.S. open win so I say, "good for him." His match took just under 5 hours! Who says you don't have to be in good shape to play tennis? You sure do to play at the pro level!

Cleveland Browns

2. 
   

   

   Spunky curled up in the Brown Chair

   From a Browns tweet, I learned the the Browns was the only team to open the season with a rookie Quarterback, Running Back and Wide Receiver. I guess I should be happy they actually had the lead for part of the game and only lost it in the last few minutes . . . yet again. I wouldn't have felt so bad if they weren't so close to winning it. Our defense played well, putting the Eagles in a lot of 3 and long situations, getting four interceptions and even scoring our only TD. Offensively, we couldn't get it in the end zone--same old, same old.

Reading



Aug. 30, 1997 I became a wife!

3. From reading Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggrichs, I learned that when a wife feels unloved, she becomes disrespectful, when a husband feels disrespected, he responds in an unloving way.  Click the link for a funny post about how we put into practice what we learned and got off the "crazy cycle."

Photo Tip

4. Here's a photography tip I found at the Aums on how to get kids to smile for the camera: Let them say “peepee” instead of “cheese.”

Calories

5. 
   
   McDonalds is going to start posting the calories of their food.  I really don't want to know how many calories are in those shakes I like!

Sports Illustrated

6. There is a monthly hour Sports Illustrated TV show that Gerard discovered recently and says is very good. It was on last night on NBC Sports Network and 8 p.m. E.T.  You can opt out of getting the Swim Suit issue of Sports Illustrated--it really is a good magazine with interesting articles and lots of action shots.  Early Dementia for Retired NFL Players is an example of one of the good articles!

Sky

7. 
   On my way to the bus stop one day last week (I think Tuesday), the clouds were so unusual that I took a picture. There was light blue sky with some fluffy grey clouds with orange highlights! I don't remember ever seeing clouds like that. Unfortunately, my camera couldn't capture the light colors very well but this is the best I could get.

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Wordless Wednesday: Favorite Time of Day

Our Favorite Time of Day

See more Wordless Wednesdays at In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being at Daisy the Curly Cat and Jodi's Journey.

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7 Things We Learned This Week (feet, health, photography, dogs, blogging, safety, tragedy)

Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:

1. Feet

   
   
   
   As we get older, we need a bigger size shoe because our arches tend to fall. I used to be a 6 1/2 for the longest time but now wear a 7 or even in some shoes a 7 1/2. The shoe saleswoman at Lucky Shoes told us this tidbit when Gerard bought a new pair of tennis shoes in a size bigger than what he used to get.

2. Annual Checkup

   Our doctor said Gerard has perfect anatomy and used his collarbone to demonstrate to his intern a procedure for inserting a catheter. He marked up his neck while showing her.  It was also the first time my blood pressure was lower than Gerard's.  In fact, I think I set a record low at 110!

3. Photography Tips

   

   Sunrise on way to my bus stop

   
   I found 8 Tips for Photographing Sunrises and Sunsets by by photographer Rob Sheppard over at National Wildlife (www.nwf.org). A couple that stood out to me were to (1) check your white balance setting and change it too "cloudy" or "sunny" instead; have the horizon at the bottom of your shot or not at all to show the sky; (3) take some shots before, during and after since the colors change, and (4) use your zoom with a wide angle view.

4. Dog of Kings

   When playing Freekibble, I discovered a dog breed I never heard of before--Kuvasz. It's a big, strong, white furry dog called a dog of kings. Check the link to learn more and see the picture.

5. ATM

   Over at Jodi's Journey I learned that if a robber forces you to withdraw money from an ATM, you can notify police by entering your PIN backwards!

6. Scheduling Calendar

   Blogger took my suggestion and revised the calendar for scheduling posts to have the week start with Sunday as most calendars do. (It used to start with Monday.)

7. Tragedy

   Our youth minister's parents and sisters live in Colorado Springs and had to evacuate due to the wildfire there. They most likely will lose their home!

(We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.)

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How To Shoot A Video People Will Watch

I think this is a good video by Steve Stockman that gives some great tips from his book, How To Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck.







I will definitely work at following these tips the next time I shoot video. It will save on my editing time, I'm sure.

1. Think in shots. Shoot for only 5 - 10 seconds at a time.

2. Treat the video camera like a still camera: move close, point, shoot (5-10 seconds), stop.

3. Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes. Get the expression of people's faces.

4. Refrain from using the zoom, move your feet closer.

5. Keep it short!

Thinking in shots and not shooting until seeing the white's of their eyes were new tips for me.  This is the first I've heard of these and am very curious as to what other tips are included in the book.  I just may have to get this one!

Now, go shoot a video using these tips and feel free to include the link in the comments so we can see how it turned out.  (I heard about this book in an email I got from Kodak.)   

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7 Things We Learned This Week 22 of 2011 (Photography, animals, computer, Facebook)

Photography

Playing Freekibblekat, I learned that 91% polled said they have more photos of their pets than of their spouse, significant other or friends. I got this question right because I know I have way more pictures of our pets. How about you?

Cheetah

On our trip to the zoo Memorial Day, we actually heard a cheetah make a noise for the first time. I thought it would sound like a kind of roar like the leopard makes but it actually sounded like a cat! Yes, it made the same noise my cat Manny makes, kind of a little screech. It sort of purred too.
(Picture source is from clemet.com)  (I thought I had a picture of a cheetah already but couldn't find it.)

 Computer Training

At work I switched to Windows 7 and Office 2010. One full day of training and I’m off and running! One thing about computers, they are also updating and improving things.

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4 Things We Learned This Week (photography, Windy, charity, interview)

Canvas Prints

At Catyland's post, There's A Giant Cat Peeking Through My Wall, I learned about Canvas Prints. You can use a picture and get it enlarged onto a canvas to hang in your home. It looks really good!

Windy

A plastic bag has been stuck in a tree for 3 years now. It's name is Windy and Kathy at The Junk Drawer celebrates it's birthday at work! This is just hilarious! Hope you will take the time to go see it's party and let us know what you think--is Kathy funny or just plain crazy?

Heifer International

I am excited to see Ann at Up North join us in donating to charity per comment. The charity she chose is Heifer International, one I never heard of. Here is a video that explains all about it how they give livestock to help communities become self sufficient! Looks like a great charity! Why not visit her blog now and leave a comment.

Featured Book Bloggers

Gerard and I are featured book bloggers over at The Gatekeepers Post!

For more Fragments visit Half-Past Kissin' Time.

Organizing Tip of Week 8: Scrapbooking

Keep the camera and camcorder handy if you have children or pets. You never know when someone or something is going to do something new or cute so keep the camera/camcorder handy to get some great shots. Then, organize your pictures right away so they don't pile up and become a chore to do later. Whether you put them on your computer, get prints made and put into an album or scrapbook, do it right away.

Here's a cool site I found recently that may interest you about digital scrapbooking