The world seems to be making a mass exodus from the blogosphere to Facebook. I'll admit I was a pretty early user but only really got hooked once I started meeting up with peeps I hadn't heard from in YEARS! It was great fun finding old friends and making some new ones. Well, I figured out the other day how to set up my own Fan Page. It's still a work in progress but you can CHECK IT OUT HERE and become a fan, too!

Well as impossible as it is to believe my middle child; our third little angel; the second daughter; my happy-go-lucky, mix of a tomboy princess turned 7 years old on Wednesday, July 30th!!!

I just can't get my brain around this birthday! She is going into second grade and is just such a perfect delight to our family!

Ever fun and energetic, Tacey personifies life lived to the fullest!

Always on the look out for new things to discover and fun to be found in unusual places, Tacey can play for hours with just a stick and an old sheet! She is always bringing frogs, lightening bugs, caterpillars, and even bees for me to see. She is fascinated by everything in the backyard and loves discovering things about nature and animals.

She has really grown up this past year; really tackling school and home responsibilities with gusto! She is becoming more and more self motivated, as her natural confidence and vitality just shine through everything she does. And her infectious giggle keeps the whole family in stitches!

So we want to wish her a veerrry VEEERRRRY Happy Birthday from: Mommy, Daddy, Trenton, Trina, Tyler, and Tegan!!

We You, Tacelyn Lark!!

My Lightroom still hasn't arrived but I've been playing with Photoshop and going for some of that "Sixties" look that is all the rage right now. My little brother, Caleb, is always a willing model and I took these a few weeks back but only now am playing with them:

He's a great model and his "look" seems to lend it's self to this style of editing. What do you think??

One of my dear Xanga friends has a wonderful weekly feature going on showcasing inspiring love stories! My hubby and I are the featured couple this week. Run over and check it out!

I don't usually do this. But watching my man put in hour after hour of studying over the past few weeks I know he deserves to do well but with 6 (and often 7 to 10!) kiddlies running in and out of the house and all around him, quality studying is hard to come by!!! So if you think of it, pray for him today as he takes this exam that all the work that he put into studying the past few years of information would come back to him and that he would have a clear un-hindered mind able to focus and move quickly through the questions. This test is like a 8 hour exam so also pray for his stamina and endurance. He's already exhausted from studying and tired of looking at a screen. Please pray for renewed focus and enthusiasm for the subject. THANKS SO MUCH!!

**Updated at 9:20pm**
Thanks so much for all the prayers and out-pouring of support! Looks like it went well. We won't know until his scores are posted but he wanted me to tell you he really appreciates the prayers and encouragement!

I had set my camera on Manual and the mode: Vivid, Aperture Priority: f/4. This made the colors really pop (...maybe a little too much) and the background blurry. But to me the photo was kinda blah. Couldn't put my finger on it but it needed something. As I explained in my reply to a commenter, I picked up a tip from ialsolovechocolate
and found some free images on Flickr of old walls and distressed rock
and then layered one of them with the photo above after I messed with
the colors and made the photo blurry with the Gaussian Blur tool. I
then lowered the distressed image's opacity to about 50%. I then used
the Rectangular Marquee Tool with Feather set at 250px and cut out the
middle of the that layer and made a new layer with it. I then dropped
the opacity some more on just the middle so my picture was a little
more visible. I did a few other minor tweaks but I think you get the
idea. And here, again is the finished product:

Hope that helps you get a feel for how I do it. I'll post some more before and afters over the next little while too.

~TTFN

One last collection of Baby George photos... He's just sooo precious!