Love is in the Air!

February 13, 2023 by GmasPhoto 2 Comments

Love is in the air!

Today’s inspiration began with lunch at Subway. One of my favorite places for a BLT wrap. Then off to the library to work on my blog!

Sitting here reflecting on the events of this weekend, not only am I a middle-aged person or senior as some may say, but I am actually doing some of the very things other folks my age does.

What did Kevin and I do Saturday evening you might ask. Well we went grocery shopping. We went to Price Chopper first. As we were strolling the isles, I passed several couples and individuals. A few moments later after going to a different isle, we passed by a couple we ran into several times throughput the store. I mentioned to them, ‘you know when you are old when, when you go shopping on a Saturday night.’ Most of my fellow shoppers were senior citizen’s.

We then went to Wal-Mart for the items not available at the grocery store. Again I made the same observation, most of the shoppers were middle-aged senior citizens. Two stores, same scenario!

Okay, you may wonder when I will get to the description of the post, love is in the air. Saturday evening there was love in the air. I felt it with my husband as I am sure the other couples felt it with their partners. Especially when my husband helped me carry the groceries into the house. Love is shown in the smallest gestures.

While eating my Subway BLT wrap, it occurred to me, tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. My mind drifted to my grand girls, wondering what they will be taking to school. Wondering if their Valentine’s Day was like I had in my school days. Thinking of all the Valentine cards I got and how I read and re-read them.

A bright idea came to me. I would make my own Valentine’s Day cards for my loved ones! This was a bunch of fun. My daughter had used Wal-Mart for Christmas cards and they turned out nice. I had to check out Wal-Mart Photos for Valentine’s. Knowing my daughter already planned for the grand girls school party, I wasn’t sure she knew how cute the Wal-Mart templates were. I created one for each granddaughter. Here they are.

Brie v day card — Brie’s Valentine’s Card

Bryn v day card — Bryn’s Valentine’s Card

These were fun to make. I also wanted to try and make my own without using the desktop computer and photoshop. The below 6X4 was designed on my iPhone using ProjectLife for the collage then imported into GoodNotes to add the ‘stickers’. If you would like more details on how I did this, leave a comment below!

The first three were printed on card stock paper. My 6X4 was printed as a matte picture. I was very pleased with the turnout. Of course I bought some chocolate candy and cute containers. Will add the candy and card to the containers, tie some cute ribbon and share with my family!

Wishing you a love, fun filled Valentine’s!

Best Wishes, Debra

The Serenity Prayer

February 6, 2023 by GmasPhoto 2 Comments

The Serenity Prayer

Hi, I have the Serenity Prayer hanging on my diningroom wall. A reminder I need to keep reading and re-read. Times like now when I hit a funk (depressed) is when I have to stop and remember the prayer.

I take “happy pills” daily for depression. The pills help keep the tears at bay. But the funk can creep up on me and that is where I am now. My funk is about things I can change like my weight and how I think about myself.

After many years I have come to the conclusion, I simply love and enjoy eating. My favorites (weakness) donuts, hot chocolate, ice cream, macaroni and cheese, pastas, baked potatoes, meats and so many others. Fiber does not fit in my diet for Crohon’s.

I am working at home now after COVID. Not getting out, no excersize and my love to eat. Guess what, yep, I have gained weight. And I am down on myself. So what am I doing about it you may be wondering. I have a plan.

I am beginning with this blog. An online diary of sorts. Working at home now, the idea of having a project and selecting a location such as a coffee shop, restaurant or the library to work on this blog/online diary. Getting out of the home, socializing will certainly be uplifting.

The thought of where I will go to write my next post is already exciting. Living near a college town, there are many different coffee shops and restaurants to choose. Heck, I can pick a different location each week!

Exercising is another goal I am interested in doing. Not that I plan on going hulk, but taking a walk or walking on the treadmill. Drinking water with my meals. I don’t like the taste of water. Water washes food down verses calories in sweet tea.

Just this past Saturday, I spent the day with Kevin. First we went to breakfast and drove the long way home, a scenic drive. Once home both of us took a nap. And to end the day we went grocery shopping. Proof we are now part of the senior group. Most of the shoppers were our age. Getting out of the house felt good.

Sunday the library was my chosen location to write my post.

Best wishes, Debra

tonganoxie library

Selfies, take part in pictures!

January 30, 2023 by GmasPhoto 1 Comment

Selfies, take part in pictures!
Hi, if you are like me as you are looking back on the pictures taken, none of them have you as the photographer in them. One way to create better images for memories sake is being in the image. That’s why my post, selfie pictures.

As simple as this sounds, getting the best selfie is an art. My daughter said practice taking selfies and watch YouTube! There are lots of YouTube tutorials. My plan is first give you pointers today. As I add posts that include pictures, I will provide the techniques used to get that shot.

For example, this image of me to the left, I used my selfie stick. I am the grandma with a big purse! Actually the selfie stick folds up pretty small. Not only can I use it for selfies, it’s a tripod as well. I have been able to take pictures of a larger group of family and friends.

In addition to using a selfie stick, I have learned that having a ring holder on the back of my phone helps me hand hold the phone while taking pictures overall. PopSockets is another good option for stabilizing your phone while taking a picture.

Phone ring

In this next set of pictures, I was trying to figure out where to look and how to hold the phone for just the right pose.

You might be wondering why would you want a selfie? I like to have a picture reminding me of a fun time I shared with a friend.

Selfie pictures friend

We are our own self critics. And we are too critical. Just take the shot. Later you will be thankful for that! Here are just a few I enjoy looking at time again.

More selfie pictures — Taken with the selfie stick.

Best wishes, Debra

Get Brain Farts?

January 23, 2023 by GmasPhoto 8 Comments

Hi, did I get your attention with brain farts? Hahahah, maybe I should have said senior moments!

This is what I will be writing about for this post, forgetting. Thru my life journey, I had the pleasure of experiencing cancer. I say pleasure because I was lucky in the respect of an extended lifetime and cancer brought about changes that I would not have taken if I never had cancer. This can be another post. I mentioned this because I did experience the chemo brain. I had a very difficult time with remembering appointments and simple stuff. Prior to chemo my short term memory was excellent and long term memory ok. But boy, I sure had issues once in remission. As time progressed (like a year after remission) I still experienced the chemo brain. My father who is 20 years my senior said to me, “it could simply be your age.” Either way I had to do what ever I could to remember.

At that time I used many different colored sticky notes. Today, my phone! No need to dig for paper and pencil. Just whip out that phone. See what I mean in this illustration.

Brain farts

When I need to remember something I take the shot. Then I can look at the picture later to recall the desired information I wanted to remember. Or when the print is too small, take a picture of the print and enlarge the picture. This has been a handy one for me! Once I have taken action of the saved info, I delete the image. Here’s another example.

Brain fart

There are many different ways to help with recalling information on the fly. My daughter uses her refrigerator as a white board. She will have a few different to do list written on the front doors of the refrig. Well we have a few different things on our frig. The most common is business cards. There was an exception.

Brain fart list

I’ll keep this picture. My grand-daughter wrote this and now I can keep it forever. Don’t have to worry about loosing it or taking up lots of space. I have added it to my favorites folder!

Cell phones were not common when my kids were younger. Definitely the cell phone we did have back then did not have the camera capability like today. But I could have taken a picture with my 35mm camera, but did not.

Whether you call forgetting things brain farts or senior moments, remember you can take a picture of something that you want to remember. Think smarter, not harder!

Best Wishes, Debra

Take the shot again!

January 16, 2023 by GmasPhoto Leave a comment

Hi, I wanted to elaborate on my previous post. Taking the picture is the first step in getting better images. Once you have taken the first image take it again but differently. Let me demonstrate using my peanut butter, jelly and pickle jars.

Take shot again

As the collage illustrates: the subject of the image never changed; just the camera setting and the camera angle was adjusted. I had changed the camera setting from ‘photo’ to ‘portrait’ and brought the phone down. By making these two simple changes, the first image is different from the second picture. Now I can choose between the two for the one I like better. Without the first, a moment of time would never have been captured. The second image offers a different perspective.

That PB&J was really good. Tuesday I had to have another! Take a look at the below set of images. Same subject but each picture taken at a different distance and angle.

Take shot again again

I did add the glass of milk and the loaf of bread to my Tuesday’s lunch subject!

Don’t be hesitant to take that shot. The available storage on the phone can handle the pictures you take. After taking the shot, or two or maybe three, you can always delete the ones you like the least. Main thing is, you have the one or two saved memories to look at tomorrow, next month or whenever.

Just about any object can be interesting and fun. IMO, the PB&J is not something you would want to take a picture of! But in this post, I think I did a fabulous job of showing how good they can look in a picture! Have fun with your phone camera. You just might be surprised and amazed at what you get.

Just take the shot and take it again!!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

PS. If you are wondering; yes PB&J was my Wednesday lunch too!! 🙂
Thursday and Friday was home made Mac and Cheese.

Take the Shot

January 10, 2023 by GmasPhoto 3 Comments

The best place to start taking better pictures is simply to take the shot. Any shot is better than not taking a shot at all.

My goal is to take one image each time I leave my home. This may be when Kevin and I go for breakfast or lunch. Other times when I take a walk in the pasture, around the farm. This post image is my favorite entrée at the Aqua Mexican Grill and Cantina, the beef quesadilla.

The picture is straight from the phone camera. No editing. Image was cropped to make two images. Camera (iPhone) settings used: photo, 1x lens, Live Photo off. I let the camera’s auto function do the rest. While framing the image, it was necessary to move the phone to avoid getting its shadow in the picture.

Just because my phone is with me, I still have to remember to take the shot. It’s second nature for the younger generation. For us baby boomers, we have to train ourselves to take the shot! Taking the shot is better than not. Now I have a visual to add to my memory of my yesterday’s lunch date with Kevin.

What’s your favorite meal? Have you taken a picture of the food you like to eat? Please share!

This is the original image from the phone used for the collage at the beginning of this post. Here you can see a bit of the phone’s shadow in the bottom right side. I was able to crop the same image twice. Creating two different images for the collage. Notice in the collage the phone shadow is not shown. With simple cropping, I was able to make the picture look better.

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

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