Self portrait

Photo of the day #16. I was just messing around with a snoot. I made it out of the box my flash came in. Lots of fun.

p.s. I don't love my own face, I just like playing around with new techniques using an off-camera flash. I got a lot of inspiration from Zack Arias, who is a great photographer up in ATL. He has a great work shop called One Light. Check it out!

I heart hockey!

#15. The Texas Stars have moved to Cedar Park and the arena is only 2 miles away! It couldn't get better than that. We went to see the Stars vs the Houston Aeros tonight and had a blast. Granted, we did spend 40 dollars on parking and food, but still much fun. We went with Taylor and Leah. Leah decided to root for the opposing team and yelled for them the whole game. It was kinda funny though. The Cedar Park Center is going to be a great thing to have down the street. I will definitely be going to more hockey games.

My wife...

#14. My wife is strong. She is tough. She is soft. My wife is gentle. She is caring. She is smart. My wife is thoughtful. She is nurturing. She is passionate. My wife is mine and I love her. The following poem means a lot to us. To anyone reading this, take time, soak in these words. Love is powerful. It makes the world go round.

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

-- e. e. cummings

Dance Dance Dance

We decided to go to the Bluegrass Festival that was in Leander today. We got the kids pumped up about it by telling them we were going to go listen to some music and dance. They loved it.

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#12. We decided to go out to eat tonight and Robin had the idea to go to this place that we have talked about since we moved here. It's called Catfish Parlour. It is located on 183 just south of Mcneil Dr. You can't miss the sign from the highway. We walk in and I look to my left where the bar is and the person standing behind the counter asks,"Would you like a root beer in a frosty mug or a beer?" "Why yes," I said, and within 10 seconds I was holding a pint of Shiner Bock in a ice cold mug. I immediately think to myself, "This is my favorite restaurant ever!" We sit down and are immediately approached by a short smiling lady holding a bowl of hush puppies and tartar sauce. They have jalapeno tartar sauce as well, might I add. Very tastey. She can tell we have never been here before by our responses to the questions so she helps us out with the menu. The kids eat free? Ok, this really is my favorite restaurant ever! Robin I both order fried catfish, of course. The kids have chicken strips and fries. This is their first experience with having an all fried food dinner. We are normally pretty particular with what they eat. The waitress, Bernie, was so friendly and treated us like we were in her home. I almost invited her to sit down because she was at our table so much. She was just a cutie. We also had probably 4 other waiters/waitresses come over to our table and all were just so nice. We will surely be back and I recommend it to anyone in Austin. Great food, great service, great atmosphere.

Brownies anyone?

365 #11. My parents brought this camera to me last weekend when they were here. This is the second old camera my parents gave me. It is a 1960 Kodak Brownie Starmite. It used 127 film which was only used on a handful of cameras. It is very interesting to see how cameras have evolved since their birth. I shoot with a Canon 50D and it is like holding a piece of machinery. You can feel the camera moving in your hand when you focus and take a shot. I love it.

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#10. Olivia absolutely loves Apey. Apey was my favorite stuffed animal when I was a kid and Olivia cannot part with him. It is just heartwarming to see my memories being duplicated in front of my eyes. Deja vu.

"It's yours Apey daddy!" - Olivia

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#9. I made my super fabulous special recipe turkey chili today. If you want some you better hurry!

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!

365 #8. I came home today slightly saddened. I am normally greeted at the door by Robin, Hadley, Estlin and Olivia. Robin likes to have a greeting party for me, which I think is great of her. Hadley is barking up a storm because she missed me so much.... not really, she thinks I am a robber probably. Estlin is usually standing right inside the door saying,"daddy, uh daddy, uh daddy" with a look of concentration. He is trying to tell me about his whole day in 5 seconds and can't seem to get much out due to his excitement. All the while, Olivia has her arms and legs wrapped around one of my legs waiting for a ride. It is a grand welcoming and it is one of the best parts of my day.

Today I came home earlier than expected to find Robin slaving away in the kitchen making chicken salad. It was yummy by the way. Hadley was laying in her bed in the living room resting and the kids were sitting in the middle of the floor watching Wow Wow Wubbzy. This is also quite a cute site to see. They barely looked up when I walked in as the show had put them into a pseudo-japanese style cartoon trance. It is actually an interesting show, not like anything I watched while growing up.

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! is a whimsical, animated, preschool comedy series starring Wubbzy, an innocent, cheerful little animal of some sort who loves to play! Whether it's riding his scooter, baking a chocolate doddleberry cake or playing kickity-kick ball, Wubbzy just wants to have fun. He is normally getting himself into some sort of trouble and needs his friends Daizy, Walden or Widget to help him out.

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!

Double-up

#6 & #7. I know this may seem like it is cheating, but I really did take a photo yesterday. I was just too pooped to do all the uploads and edits and resizes and writings..... I was also too busy watching Texas whoop up on Tech. I also could barely move after building this sweet porch. It took my dad and me approximately 2 full days to build it and the planter boxes. I am really pleased with how it looks and can't wait to sit out there with a beer and my wife and just relax. I am so thankful to have parents that are willing to do anything for me. They loaded the bricks up and brought them all the way from Houston. My dad helped me all weekend with everything, even at 74 years old. My mom insisted she buy the new chairs to go on the patio. Amazing! Enough jabbering. Here are the photos from yesterday and today.

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#5. There is just something special about dandelions (AKA blow flower). Blowing the little petals off as hard as I can just seems to have an immediate effect on my mood. It makes me feel like a kid again. Every time I see one I give it to Robin and just hope she is wishing something about me. I can't help it. I have also taught Estlin and Olivia to blow them and it is the cutest thing to see them try.

Bangs!

365 #4. This is the conversation that occurred last night at approximately 9:57 p.m.

Robin: I want bangs. (said in a slightly pitiful way)
Jeremy: Ok. (said half-listening)
Robin: Look at her bangs. They are sooo cute. (showing me a photo of a model in her In Style Magazine)
Jeremy: You want me to cut you some? (trying to just fix her problem... this is what men do)
Robin: Really? How long will it take?
Jeremy: 30 seconds.
Robin: Ok.

30 seconds later...

Robin: I think I changed my mind about bangs.
Jeremy: You look adorable.
Robin: You don't sound like you REALLY like them.
Jeremy: I really love them. (knowing this would happen, changes tone to sound more convincing)
Robin: Really?
Jeremy: I think your hair looks great because when it's down it will look so much more in style. (no pun intended.... since the idea came from the In Style Magazine :-))
Jeremy: Just don't wear it in a pony tail. It might look like you are straight out of the 90's.
Robin: That's how I wear it all the time, every day!
Jeremy: uhhh you look cute.

She does look adorable doesn't she?

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#3. I decided to play around with my flash today. I bought Zack Arias's One Light DVD and loved it. I was so intimidated by using an off camera flash until I watched the DVD. I would recommend this to anyone. This is a simple self portrait using only a 580 EX II and a convertible umbrella. I probably took around 30 pictures and this is the one I liked. I look surprised, but that is just the face I make when I am concentrating. This was probably a shot taken just to check the lighting, but I found it to look more comfortable than the rest. I posted more from the series on my Flickr if you want to see (www.flickr.com/jeremythatsme).

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#2. Today I came home to find a wonderful meal, that was made by my beautiful wife, just waiting for me. It is always nice to have a hot meal ready for you when you walk in the door. What can I say, I AM spoiled. I was washing my hands for dinner and immediately saw my beer glass housing a little basil plant sitting in the window sill. "How cute" I though. Robin thought this was a vase. :-) Cook me up some pasta!

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#1. I have a busy job, family and marriage and I know there is very little time to fit things in sometimes, but I want to post more often to show a little more of who I am on a normal day. I am committing time out of every day to take at least 1 photo and post it's significance.




This is a photo of what my night stand looks like every night around 9:30. My phone is drained from the day and waiting to be charged. My wallet is void of any money. Robin, stop taking it. I need Starbucks. My tiny, but trusty Gerber knife ready for action if robbers break in. Robin got this for me for Christmas one year. My Target sunglasses are have been resting there for days due to the rain. It rained for almost 3 days straight here and we got a long awaited shower. Hadley is snuggled up in her bed, snoring away already. She got a haircut recently and looks like a Q-tip. For those of you who do not know, Hadley is a rescue dog that we got soon after we were married. She is a full bred Shih tzu that was saved from a puppy mill. She has been a very loyal dog and is wonderful with the kids. I don't know what the past 4 years would have been like without her.

G'night

Jeremy