BASKETBALL TIME AGAIN

Well, it's actually one of my favourite seasons of the year! Basketball season and I say season because with two kids playing we spend a lot of time in the bleachers watching basketball and I love it. Both Rebecca and Mitchell spend a lot of time practising and they play hard. I'm grateful for their coaches who work hard with them. I keep taking pictures and get a few that I like here and there…the lighting is always bad and my camera doesn't have very good indoor sports capabilities. What was exciting tonight was that one of the Daily News photographers was there,  so hopefully they took a good picture of the game. I will try to post it, for now here are a few from Mitchell's games last weekend…I have only been able to see about 10 minutes of Rebecca's but will work on getting some of hers. Next week is the Fulton Cup at TRU and both kids will be playing in that so that should be fun…with way better lighting!!

CULTURED IMAGE POSTER

Well I can't believe that the end of a semester is here! I finished my last class on Friday and am just finishing up my two other projects this weekend. I thought I would post another poster that was an assignment for one of my classes. We were asked to combine image and type to come up with a poster that used Adobe Photoshop in our Graphic Design course.

 I was really happy with this one because I was able to use my Melodie's missionary pictures and put them into large type letters. I then used one of our pictures of Macchu Picchu, made it BW and reduced the opacity and placed it behind the letters. Because we were asked to use certain words, I chose the word CULTURE and added some extra words around the letters to represent the differences in culture. I just hope Melodie is as happy as I am with it….I'm looking forward to showing it to her because she will have some good ideas for it!

LIGHT PAINTING A PURSE

We had a fun photography class this week on Tuesday at TRU where we learned to light paint! I wasn't quite sure what our professor was talking about even though she showed us a video on light painting but once we turned out the light, put our cameras on the tables to steady them (should have brought a tripod) and then turned the shutter speed way down, we had fun. The hardest part was trying to focus our cameras in the dark, we had to to focus quickly while the flashlight was on them and then hope the picture was in focus. One of our fellow students also showed where the "bulb" button was on our cameras ( I have a Canon EOS XS, yes I know pretty basic but it has taken some pretty sweet pictures for me over the years!) and so we were happily trying that. Have to admit, not many of mine turned out but the couple that did made me happy. Here's my favourite!!

COMPUTER COLLAGE BY A STICK PERSON PERSON

So one of the most difficult classes I am taking this semester is a Drawing Class….with pencil and paper. Considering I have never taken an art class in my life it has been a real learning curve, let's just say I'm being very humbled by it because drawing is not easy when you are pretty much a stick person person. Not only that but our professor has us drawing tons every week, so I am always sketching lately which has forced me to learn about lines, contour lines, shading, hatching and cross hatching and much more than I ever knew makes up a picture.

So you can imagine my delight when our assignment this week was to put together a collage on the computer and then change the colour 3 times to add a different mood to the picture. I am including it here, not sure if we were supposed to actually draw something but I used pictures and blended them and then added different colour treatments and a fun gradient on one. Lots of work, but fun work….I'll have to include some of my drawings on here but not yet, maybe another day when I feel a little more confident about them!!

We will see tomorrow if this is what he was looking for because first off every class (4 hours on Wednesday) we all put our pictures up to be critiqued! Like I said humbling when you're in a class with Art Majors….

COACHES NEED TO PUT SPORTMANSHIP INTO SPORTS

This was a letter that I sent to the Daily News last week that they put into the paper today. I'm glad they published it because I think it's a topic that isn't addressed enough! There are so many wonderful coaches out there, but there are also the terrible ones that will not listen to parents, that do not want to work with you and have no idea of the influence that they have!

So this letter was written for all those parents sitting in the stands helpless as they watch their kids sit on the bench game after game trying to put on a brave face, but crying when they get home and asking: "Why doesn't the coach like me?"

Dear Editor:

I would like to first point out that I am not a coach and have never coached, although I have had 4 children in a variety of sports including soccer, rugby, basketball, volleyball and tae-kwon-do for the last 16 years.  So I have encountered and watched many, many coaches over that time, including a daughter who ended up coaching basketball. Many, many of these coaches have been amazing examples and mentors to my children.  Unfortunately, there have also been the odd few that I have wondered why they’re doing it! I would like to point out a few things from a parent/child point of view as a reminder to coaches out there.

First of all, every child on every team is giving up time and money. They are giving up family time (which often includes dinner), TV time, friend time, work time (some of them hold part time jobs which they have to let go) and homework time to be on this team. Because of practices, games and tournaments, most of their free time and even their not so free time is being taken by this sport. The costs including athletic fees, tournament fees and uniforms add up, especially if that child is playing several sports which most do. They do this willingly because they love to play.

Second, they are giving up their self-esteem to you. Every time they play, any mistakes they make are under public scrutiny whether to parents, family or friends. When they don’t play, it’s even worse because it’s quite obvious that you have no confidence in them. If you yell at them, berate them and call them on the mistakes they make in public, it’s even more humiliating. Constructive criticism can be useful, but becomes unacceptable when the child’s confidence is completely crushed. Kids will play their hearts out when praised, when all they hear is negative criticism, its discouraging and disheartening and demoralizing.

Third, winning is important but in elementary and even high school most parents are going to agree that they also want their kids to have fun. We want to see good sportsmanship! When your team is winning by 90 points and you still have your top line out, you’ve just lost your crowd, not only the opposing team fans, but your own. Nobody likes to see another team being annihilated and slammed when it’s not necessary. I am embarrassed when a coach deliberately crushes another team. I am also not going to be happy when I hear you telling a player to “take him out” and my child ends up being injured because of it. Sportsmanship also means giving every player the opportunity to play even if it’s for a few minutes. They will never be a part of that team; they will never get better if they’re never given an opportunity to play.

Last, I would like to reiterate that thankfully most coaches are aware of this. I am grateful for some of the amazing coaches who have given up hours, days and sometimes years to coach sports teams, to teach kids athletic skills, to make them feel proud and happy to be part of a team. Every child on every sports team should be treated with decency and respect for their dedication and determination. It has been a privilege to watch my kids play sports over the past 16 years and I’m indebted to the coaches that have made this possible. 

BACK TO SCHOOL AT TRU....IN THE DAAD PROGRAM

I haven't been blogging lately because I headed back to school this fall after 20 years! I'm enrolled in the Digital Art and Design program (referred to as DAAD) and finding it overwhelming some days! I love what I'm learning and it really pushes my creativity. I'm also having to work on my time management skills as I have so many projects due every week and not enough time to work on them. I am learning to do homework every day so that I'm not waiting to the last minute to get something done...this really helps my stress load! I thought I would include a poster that I made for my typography class. We needed to combine type and an image and follow all the instructions to the letter...then we all show our projects to be critiqued (there are about 18 of us). It is definitely humbling to be with kids half your age who are creative geniuses but I am certainly learning a lot from them.

This project worked out well because it's been a page I've been wanting to do for a long time! It was a Visually Enhanced Quotation and I used a favourite picture that I took of my Mitchell playing soccer and added it to a quote. I happily worked on it in Photoshop (extracted it, copied it, layered the opacity and moved it behind layers several times) and then worked on the type in InDesign. It's the learning Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator that are the big learning curves for me....loving it and finding it frustrating all at the same time!

Here's my Mitchell:

VERNON STAKE YOUTH PIONEER TREK 2013

I was excited to be asked to make a pioneer slideshow for our Vernon Stake using my friend Blyn Loewen's pictures with some of my own. I'm grateful that I'd already made one months ago, my Pioneer Trek Video 2013 because it gave me good practice!

It was fun to see this one on the big screen in Vernon at our youth fireside. My thanks go out to all the leaders who did so much work to make this possible and of course to all our wonderful youth who showed up eager and enthusiastic and made this trek a positive enriching experience!!! We made some amazing memories, grew in faith and testimony and gained a new appreciation for our pioneer ancestors!

RUNNING 5K

It was quite the experience to be in the Kamloops Marathon this morning! I decided to start with the 5K because I have been using the 5K Runner app on my iPhone. I thought it would be fun to have a goal and this run was perfect timing considering it was my last day of being 46!! I'm grateful for my two girlfriends Shauna and Paula who have been walking and running with me for years because it certainly helped me today. What I haven't been doing enough is hills and that made it harder today. There are a lot of hills around TRU and I was running them today! Have to admit, we still miss Boogie the Bridge but now that they hold it on Sunday, we haven't been running it!

I was especially grateful for my family who showed up to cheer me on, I'm hoping they will run with me next year...although I'm pretty sure my kids will leave me in the dust!! The pictures are thanks to Don who happily took over my camera as long as he could shoot in Sports Mode!! I'm thinking of doing our church sponsored 10K in September! There really is something exhilarating and fun in running with a crowd of others and having to cross a finish line that makes you work that little bit harder! Anyone want to join me in September? Let me know....

BEAUTIFUL BECCA

I like to work on Photoshop tutorials and there are some fun, interesting ones at this website....
http://www.photoshopessentials.com/   I decided to try this one with the photo within the photo. I found this cute picture of Rebecca and added a PW Sunshine action to it, some word art, a starglow from Katie Pertiet and made the background black and white. I'm happy with how it turned out!!

PIONEER TREK 2013 VIDEO

I've been working on putting a video together of all the pioneer trek pictures I took last week of the LDS VERNON YOUTH STAKE PIONEER TREK 2013 and I'm happy with how it turned out!! It brings back so many memories!   I really was grateful for the opportunity to work with some amazing leaders and youth who made all this possible and I can't thank all the "Mas" and "Pas" enough who were willing to work with 8-10 kids and shape them into a close knit family in 4 days!! They too did an amazing job!! If any of you would like a copy of one of these pictures, just let me know in my comments section! 

This is dedicated to my Rebecca and Mitchell because I couldn't ask for more enthusiastic, fun, loving kids...I'm lucky to be their MOM!!! 

TREK 2013

It was my privilege last week to be a part of our TREK 2013! Our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints puts on a pioneer trek for our youth every 4 years. It gives our youth an opportunity to experience just a little what the early pioneers went through to be here. It is an amazing 4 day journey that involves walking for miles, pulling handcarts, eating rationed food and making new friends. They end up hungry, thirsty, tired, sunburned and blistered but with a new appreciation for their pioneer ancestors. They learn that with the help of the Lord, they can do hard things and triumph over them.

I was involved with the back up crew this year, which was a new endeavour for me as well. I worked with my friend Deanne to provide the food for the trip and so did a lot of shopping, organizing and worrying. I was happy with how things turned out and have to admit, I was especially grateful for all the hard work that each member of our back up crew did. There was a spirit of love and camaraderie that you can't find anywhere else and what a stupendous blessing it was to be a part of it.

I had two of my children involved in this year's trek and they embraced it wholeheartedly...they were enthusiastic and helpful but they learned a lot as well. They were put in different families and were given a wonderful "Ma and Pa!" They had so many stories to tell when it was over...and I know that their testimonies of the experience were strengthened immensely. I love them dearly and was so grateful they had this opportunity. Here are just a few of the many pictures I attempted to capture:

JUNE FLOWERS

I was inspired by one of my classmates in my photography class who took some amazing flower pictures! Happy to be using Manual and loved these taken from my garden.....I say garden loosely for those of you who have been in my yard, lol. 

BEST FRIENDS

My five kids are now all taller than I am and they think it's funny. Have to admit, when I look at this picture I remember how little they were just yesterday and how quickly time has gone. I love have them as adults and being able to visit and know they are really some of my best friends but there is still this ache in my heart that my babies are babies no longer. But I love them dearly and look forward to the years ahead making more memories....

I've missed using actions so here is one of my favourite recent pictures with several of PW Actions on them. I used her Seventies, Sunshine and Edge Burn!

FAVOURITE JUNE PICTURES

I know June isn't over yet but I still decided to post some of my favourite pictures from this month! I have lots but picked these 6 because they are just special...and because some of them I'm amazed that I was even able to get them! So here we go:

My friends asked me to take some family grad pictures and this turned out to be my favourite! Here is Mikayla trying not to cry because her Aunt Shauna was trying not to! It turned out to be so cute....

Since I was already at Riverside Park taking grad pictures, my Rebecca saw me and had me follow her around with my camera! I loved this one...these 2 REBECCA's have been such good friends over the last few years...they have both played on the Norkam basketball team and I know my Rebecca is going to miss her friend so much! They're both putting on their basketball serious face when they are both such jokesters!!!  It's "Rebecca squared!!!" 

I was so happy to get this picture!! I was taking some pictures of my friends girls when I saw their little brother on the bench fooling around! I asked him to sit up on the bench and smile at me, I quickly changed my focus and got this picture!! It was perfect.....He's such a cutie!!

Lots of fun pictures at my daughter Vanessa's grad but I really loved this one of my girls....it's just so them!!!

I take lots of pictures at Mitchell's soccer games and of course I get lots of pictures of Mitchell but it's always a bonus when I can snap some good ones of the other players and I was so happy with these 2! It just shows their  intensity and willingness to play hard!!  

 
So there you go.......some favourite June pictures!