My first PAYING customer.....

I think they turned out well. Not bad for a point and shoot. Can't wait to get my SLR camera. Imagine the pictures I can take with that! I have had a few people contact me about doing weddings. I think that might be fun. I'm just nervous that I might mess it up. I will definitely make sure I have my backup point and shoot and I will probably take a couple disposable cameras just in case. Ha, ha. That's funny to think about. I'm the professional photographer that takes disposable cameras as a BACK UP.

Mia and Daddy....

I took these pictures yesterday. I was practicing for a shoot I have tomorrow. I have a guy coming that wants headshots. I have never done these so I needed to practice. These were my willing models. Well, one was somewhat willing the other was more interesting in the mirror I was using as a reflector and the camera and tripod. It is amazing I could keep her out of most of the shots I took of just Saylor.
Anyway.....this one is my favorite of the two of them. Look at that tooth. How cute. Oh and I LOVE her adorable little outfit. Children's Place outlet. Big Sale. Can you say $3.99. So cute. So I'm not sure how I feel about my new white backdrop but I guess it works well enough.

Here are the "headshots" of Saylor. I don't know if this is along the lines of what my customer is looking for or not, but I think they are pretty good pictures of my husband. The bottom one is my favorite. It was hard to get him to "be himself" since he said he felt silly having his picture taken but I think they turned out o.k.

Wish me luck tomorrow and say a little prayer the guy doesn't laugh at me when he sees my camera (point and shoot). If all goes well and he pays me I am that much closer to my new camera and my new job.

FINALLY.......

I have been trying to post these photos for 5 days and couldn't get them on my page but finally....here they are. This is the beautiful baby boy of my good friends Brodie and Lindsey. Deacon was such a good little model. My favorite is the last one with the tie. Isn't he adorable?

Photography website revision....

I have spent MANY hours over the past few days re-doing my photography website. You can see it here. I felt that I needed a more professional looking site if anyone is EVER going to hire me to take their pictures. I am happy with it. It is my first attempt at actually making a website. I think it turned out pretty good.

I having been reading lots of info on how to take better pictures and how to edit them. I am dying to take Mia outside and practice, but it is cold and rainy. YUCK. What happened to the beautiful weather we had last week?
I am looking forward to Spring....and SUMMER!!! Can't wait to take Mia to the pool. She will be so much more fun this year.

If you are in the mood to read something sad...go here. It's a tear-jerker.

Some favorites of Mia from this week...

This was Mia on Valentine's day. I just love that hat. Her dad got it for her a few months ago. She wanted to go play in the backyard. Her swing is broken and she was really upset so we had to go to the park and swing. She is so cute. She says WHEEEE, WHEEE, WHEEE everytime she swings back and forth.
Here is Mia and her Valentine's balloon. She has been wanting a balloon for at least 2 months. She always points at them at Wal-mart and "asks" for one. She has drug this thing all over the house. I am afraid of the meltdown when the helium is all gone. I still love that she loves balloons.

Poor Mia. Her swing (the rope) in the backyard is broken and she wanted to swing SO BAD so I got her baby swing back out of storage and she fell asleep in it yesterday. She has been playing with it a lot. We may have to keep it out for awhile.

What is Cindy doing today...

I am sure you are all just dying to know so here goes:

• having a cup of coffee (thanks to mom and dad's Christmas present)
• watching Mia play in the backyard



• enjoying the touch of Spring I can smell in the air (with the backdoor open) I saw a tree with blooms on it yesterday! One of my favorite things.
• enjoying this scrapbook page I just finished



• trying to talk myself into doing some kind of exercise today

Most of all hoping you all have a great weekend!

Got an email from Elsie Flannigan....

For those of you who don't know....Elsie is quickly becoming one of the most popular "Celebrity Scrapbookers" these days. She has recently become published a lot in Creating Keepsakes magazine and she is on the design team for Two Peas in a Bucket. She has such a fun style and I just love it. She uses lots of cool flowers and swirls (which I have loved forever) Inspired by her style I had made some foam flower stamps (I used them on my Valentine LO posted a few days ago) and I wrote her to tell her thanks for the inspiration. SHE WROTE BACK and suggested I send it to Creating Keepsakes. Here is the e-mail she sent. I'm so excited!!!! And yes I really AM a scrapbook NERD! This is my version of a Star Trek convention. Ha ha ha!

Here is the text:
Cindy,
THANK YOU! You are so sweet! I just checked out your stuff and LOVE
it! I added
you to my BOS! :) So excited! You rock!
You know, you should write this stuff to CK and submit some pages that
use this
inspiration for the mail call. they love to hear this kind of positive
feedback!
thanks for taking the time to share your creations with me! they are
adorable!
Elsie

Mia this morning in the backyard.....

Mia's new favorite thing is the backyard. She was yelling at the dog in this picture. She also stepped in abig pile of dog poop! Gross! Well, there's a first for everything.

Last night....

Mia was so tired she crawled up on the couch and just layed down and went to sleep. That is my feet she is laying on top of. I didn't want to move and wake her. Saylor took these pictures of her and then he put her to bed while I tried to wake my feet back up.




Also on Friday night I went to a crop at my church and came home with this project finished. It is a Valentine's gift for Saylor. I had to take about 60 pictures to get these of Mia and I. I am happy with them. I just wish she would have smiled more. I hope he likes his gift. It's in a frame to hang on the wall. I really like how it turned out. I really had fun with all the Valentine's stuff. It's always been one of my favorite days.

Mia wants a vacation...

I think this is Mia's way a telling us she wants to go on a vacation. I hear ya girl! I have really been feeling the urge to go somewhere recently. I am talking hotel with a pool and loads of touristy things to do. I don't see a vacation anywhere on the horizon though. Oh well.
Sunday I decided to clean. Maybe the meds are kicking in. For those of you who know me well...you know that I don't do laundry well. Actually I am great at keeping the clothes CLEAN it's just the folding and putting away that I just can't seem to get a handle on. So Sunday I decided it was time to stop crawling over the pile of clothes in the laundry room just to get out the back door (NO, I'm not kidding) and put those clean clothes away. I spent all afternoon. I do mean ALL afternoon separating, folding, and putting away clothes. I even boxed up (2 boxes) of Mia's clothes that don't fit anymore. So sad. They will go in the attic. I just can't part with them yet. It's hereditary (keeping old clothes). I have a drawer in Mia's dresser where I put my favorite outfits of her's that I get out every once in awhile and look at. How sappy. She just turned one. I'm going to be a basketcase by the time she's a Senior in high school. I'll sit surrounded by piles of her old clothes the day she leaves for college and just cry. It's a good thing that the next step up of my thyroid medication increases tomorrow. I think I'm developing an immunity to this one already. I'm showing signs of crazy thinking. Which I have learned is a symptom. There have been several people who were originally diagnosed as Bi-polar and later actually found to have a thyroid problem. Interesting. Explains alot of things huh. Anyway, that's all for today. Not much going on here. My big plans for today include taking a shower and maybe going outside to get the mail. Speaking of shower I think I'll go do that now. Have a great LAST day of January 2006..........already.

Feelin' creative

Yesterday i was looking through my pictures and this one just kept speaking to me. I felt the need to create. It's weird (the need to create) it's like it takes over and you have to paint, cut, paste, doodle.....NOW!!!! This was such a fun page to make and I just love this picture of Mia. I really hope she loves art as much as I do. If not, I hope she finds the passion for some other hobby. Until then I can't wait until she is old enough to sit next to me at my scrap table and create along with me. I was in such a pink and red mood. I have been lately, can't get enough of it. It must be Valentine's coming up soon. The tag next to the picture is from a Valentine's shirt I got at Target. I fixed to say "what do you love". Very cute.

Budding artist.....

Mia has been very interested in pens and pencils recently. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that she has been trying to "write" on paper with them so I thought I would give crayons a try. She was really interested in them.....for about 10 mins. and then she decided to taste a crayon and that was the end of art time. That's o.k. at least she is showing an early interest in drawing. Saylor makes fun of me, but I just know that we have a budding artist.

At the park....

Mia and I went to the park last week to feed the birds. She really loved it. The birds get REALLY close if you have bread for them. Mia just laughed and laughed. It was fun. She also liked all the open space to run. She just starts off in a general direction and runs until she falls. It's really funny to watch.
Mia loved the swings at the park too. Even though it's hard to tell from this photo. She cried when I took her out of the swing. I think Mia and I will have to go to the park more often.


Yesterday was my first day taking my new medication and so far I didn't feel any different. I didn't expect too, since the Dr. said he thinks my dosage will be quite a bit more than what he started me on, but I did notice that my neck (where the thyroid is) was not anywhere near as swollen as the day before. It must be working!!!!

I put my Hall of Fame entry in the mail this morning. I am not sure if I really have a chance, but at least I tried and feel like I accomplished something just by entering. Also I have 10 new scrapbook pages that I love that I wouldn't have made otherwise.

I also went to the Dr. this morning. Starting tomorrow morning I will be taking Synthroid, a thyroid hormone replacement. My test results show that I have a mild case of Hashimoto's disease, which is an auto-immune thyroid disorder. It is also hereditary. The Dr. said that without medication it would slowly become worse and with a second pregnacy become extremely problematic. Good thing I got this taken care of now. Now begins the process of figuring out what dosage I should take. Could take up to 2 months. He has started me on a low dosage which I will take for 2 weeks and then we will increase it until we find the amount that works best for me. Can't wait to feel normal again......or maybe for the first time?????

Been busy...

I had a entry all ready to post a few days ago and my computer did something with it.
I have been busy working on my Hall of Fame entry. Would love to share but I can't or I'll be disqualified. I am so close to being finished!!!! So in the meantime I would like to share this page using my Christmas cards. Love the way it turned out!

Trying to find inspiration....

I spent about 2 hours at my favorite scrapbook store this morning. They were having a HUGE new year's sale. I exercised restraint, and mostly bought paper with a few goodies I have been wanting for a few months. 45 mins. of my time there was spent standing in line. It was crazy in that store!!!! Now I am home. . .FINALLY and trying to decide what to use all my new stuff on. I have been scrapping like crazy lately. I think it is because I am loving all the recent pictures I have taken. After looking at some of my Christmas pictures these three are the ones that keep screaming "use us, use us....we want to be on a scrapbook page!" Besides I can't look at them without laughing. We had a fun Christmas! Sorry mom and dad, but I had to share these!

Birthday Girl

Well. . . .we made it. One YEAR! There were some days I wasn't sure either one of us would make it through the day alive.
In the past year I have laughed AND cried for joy more times that I can count. I know every parent says " I can't imagine life without my child" but it's not a cliche. I have such a hard time remembering what life was like without Mia.

One year ago today at 4:52 pm Saylor and I became a family because that is when this wonderful little girl entered our lives. Little did we know what the next year held for us. Good times and bad. Easy times and hard. And lots and lots of happiness. She makes us laugh everyday and there is no better gift that she could give us than that. Can't wait to see what the next year holds in store for our little family.

Happy Birthday Mia! I love you.

Leaves. . .

I have so many Christmas pictures to share but in the meantime here are some I took yesterday of Mia playing in the leaves. It was a beautiful day! Warm enough for shorts. In December! I love the way these turned out!

Too tired to eat

Poor Mia. She just couldn't handle it anymore. She was so tired she couldn't even finish her dinner. When I went to pick her up to take her to bed she grabbed another piece of chicken nugget and put it in her mouth without even opening her eyes. She just sat there with it in her mouth and didn't even chew. It was so funny! Can't wait to show this picture to her boyfriends. I'll tell them not to bore her on the date or she will fall asleep during dinner. Ha ha ha!

How to make Christmas candy

Step 1: Roll the candy into balls
Step 2: Taste test to make sure you mixed them right
Step 3: Melt the chocolate
Step 4: Dip Candy in the chocolate

The finished product

Don't forget the final step. . . .

Lick the spoon!!!

Just had to share this picture

Isn't that sweet! I am so excited for it to finally be Mia's first Christmas. Today I bought wrapping paper and wrapped presents while she took a nap. I wrapped her gift in the paper I bought just for her. Green with white snowmen. When she got up she went right for that present. She didn't bother any of the other ones, but she can't keep her hands off of the snowmen. She gets really excited when I plug the lights in on the tree also. I am so glad Mia loves Christmas as much as I do.

We finally got our tree. . . .

So we went to Wal-mart Sat. night after our Christmas party to get our tree. . . .finally! They were locking the outside gates just as we got there. This is the one we all loved! Mia was really tired and not too interested in the tree. Since the outside gates were closed Saylor had to carry the tree through the store to the front to check out. What a funny picture.

The tree spent the night in the garage and we put it up on Sunday night.

Mia loved the orange stuff the tree was wrapped in.....and the lights.


And here is the finished product.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Also I took some maternity pictures for some friends and added some of them to my portfolio. Go check them out. I'm really happy with the way they turned out.

Go take a look. . .

At my new website cindymillsphotos.tripod.com

I have decided what I want to be when I grow up. A photographer. Well, for now at least. A few of my friends, my husband included, have talked me into it. I really enjoy taking photos so. . .why not? So tell everyone you know and even some you don't. I have a student loan to pay off . . .someday.
This was my first try at building a website. It doesn't look exactly as I had imagined, but it will do for now.

In other news. . .it is cold. VERY COLD. For Texas anyway. Mia and I went grocery shopping today and she looked like the Michelin man in her new parka. You know that kid in "A Christmas Story" that falls down in the snow and can't get up. Kinda like that. She has trouble walking with her coat on. I think it makes her top heavy. Maybe tomorrow I will video it. I have to have something to torment her with when she's a teenager.

I worked on a scrapbook page with Mia's Santa picture on it. I tried 8 1/2 X 11 for the first time. Kinda like it. I used a snowflake stamp and A LOT of glitter. Not sure how it's going to turn out, but I had fun working on it. I have been inspired by Ali Edward's Christmas Art journal. She is so amazing. I wish I was that talented. I suggest looking at her blog and you just might be inspired too.

Meeting the big guy. . .

Mia got to meet Santa Claus last night. He came to our bible class Christmas party. She didn't take her eyes off him from the moment he walked in the door until she got to sit in his lap. She was one of the few little ones that didn't cry. What a big girl. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the picture of her looking up at Santa. What a sweet picture. I have to get that one enlarged. I hope she told Santa what she wants for Christmas. Can't wait til he visits us again.

Creative Clutter

I have been working on several projects in the last week. Here is the mess left behind. I plan on cleaning it up today. I don't mind a creative mess. It usually means I have been accomplishing something. In the past week I have:

• made a birthday crown for Mia to wear on her birthday
• finished a baby album for my friend Lindsey
• made a Christmas ornament for a ornament exchange I am going to tonight
• embellished Christmas decorations for my living room
• made a mini-album for 2005 Christmas pictures. It's done and ready for the photos and journaling.

Sounds like I've been busy huh? Well. . . .see the photo above and you be the judge.