Grand Rapids received snow showers all day Friday and Saturday with winter weather advisories and lake effect snow advisories galore! Yay!
I predict we probably received 7-9 inches. Temperatures remain cold with highs only in the low to mid 20s and wind chills in the teens.
I only headed out Saturday morning to play raquetball, and roads are slick. Today I will be meeting up with some family at Rivertown mall, but the roads should cleared as it hasn't snowed since last night.
Christmas cookies are baked, frosted, sprinkled and a few eaten. I had to eat the broken cookies! This is my Grandma Owens cut out cookie recipe.
Grandma O's Christmas Cookies makes 60 cookies: 1 c. shortening 2 c. sugar 1 tsp vanilla 2 eggs 1 c. sour cream 1 tsp baking powder 5 c. flour 1/4 tsp nutmeg
Frosting 2 c. powder sugar 1/3 stick oleo 1/2 tsp vanilla little milk food coloring
In large bowl, beat sugar, eggs, shortening together. Add vanilla and sour cream. Add dry mixed ingredients. Blend together. Let stand overnight in fridge. Roll out and cut in shapes. Place on cookie sheet (lightly greased) bake 10 minutes in 375 degree oven.
This couldn't have worked out better. Ryan and Dad had red sweaters, I brougt a green sweater, and mom just had to look through her closet to get a green sweater (she has sweaters in every color, so no big deal for her). I put in my wide angle lens so I can get a nice full view of the my parents beautiful Christmas tree. This year decorated with gold and red. The lighting was a bit hard to work with, so we are not as crisp and sharp as I would like, but it is better than flash.
Today I put up my Christmas tree. Its an artificial tree with lights already built in. It takes 5 minutes to set up and then I just hang the ornaments. I think next year I should get some garland, all I have is ornaments. I received some new (well old) ornaments from my late Grandma Owens' collection and my mothers'. Here is the tree. Its a skinny one. Oh, and I realize I need an Angel or a Star for the top of the tree, right now its a Christmas Shrek (in this picture he is falling.)
I have been in the process for the last couple weeks converting more home movies to DVD. Last year I was able to complete a few years on DVD for Christmas and am inspired to do more footage. I beleive we have more footage than any other family...man...we tape EVERYTHING! Here are a few montages that have been put together: REMEMBER WHEN
YESTERDAY
KELLY GET OUT OF THE WAY (apparently i liked being on camera)
Before: My brother Ryan has been talking all year long about the new building and office he will have at J & S Construction in Cookeville, Tennessee. He finally made the move yesterday. Quite an upgrade was made! From an orange 70s style cubicle to a nice space with a wrap around desk and drawing board! Pretty Sweet! He also said he now has a window, but I don't see it. He says "I am in Heaven!" Who can say that at work? He really loves his job! We'll check back with him in 6 months. Ha!
I bought a new lens today. I had been wanting a lens that can take a nice portrait with some depth of field. (soon I will post some pictures) I was looking at the Canon EF 50mm f1.4, but I was able to get a better deal with the Canon EF 50mm f1.8 for less with little difference in image quality. Of course the f1.4 would have been a bit sharper and provided more of blur in the background, but I realized I will save some money and put that towards a zoom lens in the future. This lens is still a sharp image for the money paid! So now my Photography equipment and digital dark room includes:
Body: CANON REBEL XT
Lenses: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Canon EF 50 mm - f/1.8 II Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM
Here is montage I did for Sarah's wedding. (Wedding Date August 16, 2008) I think it turned out great, and of course they are a beautiful couple that had the perfect wedding day with a great summer day and scenery! Here is the montage:
Mom, Dad and I flew out from DTW to visit Ryan in Tennessee on October 10. We had a 4 day weekend and visited the Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We rented a cabin, went hiking and even saw a black bear! We had a great time and here are some pics and video of bear.
So I have started P90X program. A 90 day exercise and nutrition plan. Its meant to get a normal person toned and ripped. ha! We'll see! It involves intense works that include push ups, pull ups, plyometrics, a mean ab ripping dvd and yoga. You would think the Yoga would be easy, but it is the beast! Ok - so here is a pose that I had to do. This is medium difficulty. I hope to post harder poses, but I look like a fool doing them, but here is one where I don't look so much like a fool. Here is my video of Tree Pose in Yoga X. I am on day 12.
Well softball is coming to an end, Tuesday night was our last league game for girls. My team, Hot Stix ended up in 2nd place. I still have a couple more weeks to go with my Friday and Monday night league. But, my raquetball league started a couple weeks ago and I am 3-0 in the league so far!! Its a ladder league, so i will move to the next level after round 1. Raquetball is quickly becoming one of my favorite sports, so if anyone would like to challenge me...pick a date and time, I'll get the court! Below is a video of what I look like when I play, I am kind of like the guy in the blue. :)
Well, I did it. I went out and bought a Wii this past Sunday. I think I played for 5 hours on Sunday. I own Mario Kart and Madden 09, so if anyone wants to play online, give me your friend ID.
Ok, so I am still not sure how I feel about the movie. I saw it the day after the musical. Of course the musical is 20 times better. But the movie offered some details of characters that you couldn't get from the live stage version. What I didn't like about the movie. The lighting was horrible. Some scenes just looked fake, green screened or like they were in a studio. I am not sure what it was. The backgrounds just didn't match sometimes. Now the location (Greek Islands) they were on was quite beautful in some scenes, but looked overdone sometimes, or not done enough. Maybe they were going for that magical look, not sure. Pierce Brosnan - ok, he cannot sing. He looks uncomfortable singing and I actually laughed out loud when he tries to sing S.O.S. He is fine to look at though. The whole feel of the movie was cheesy, but I actually find myself wanting to see it again for some reason, maybe it is because I can't watch the play again and again.
The Good - Meryl Streep was excellent. Some notes were a little off, but mostly right on. My favorite scene is "The Winner Takes it All," seen below. Christine Baranski was hilarious as best friend Tanya. The scene on the beach with "Does your Mother Know" was fun. And the actress the plays Sophie is a joy to watch. She always has a bright shine to her and she can also sing.
It's been about 4 years since I last saw the musical and convinced my friends to go to Mamma Mia when it came to Devos Performance Hall here in Grand Rapids. They had never seen the musical, although were familiar with the 70s pop band, ABBA, whose songs the story is based on. Seeing it the second time didn't disappoint. I enjoyed the performances best of the actress that played Donna, the mother and the performance of the actress that played the best friend, Rosie. The music is addicting and infectious, I got Mamma Mia cds for my friends because I knew once they saw it, they were going to want to sing along in the car to songs like "Mamma Mia" or "Dancing Queen." And indeed, they have already become addicted. My personal favorite is "The Winner Takes it All" and "S.O.S." I recommend if the musical comes close to your town that you make sure you catch it. I have already checked, it is coming to Lansing in October. I may just have to go again! Here is a clip from the Tony Awards of Mamma Mia, not the cast we saw ( The audio is a little un-synced, but couldn't find a better clip:
Vacation at Long Lake up in Traverse City, Michigan was a memorable one! A group of 8 of us vacationed at a cozy red cabin on the beautiful pristine lake. Activities included kayaking, paddleboat, water volleyball, frisbee, bag toss, Rockband, and renting a Wave Runner. It also rained a couple days, but there wasn't any boredom at the cottage, Rock band and Wii kept us busy, as well as a trip to the brand new Turtle Creek Casino (in which I won $17, woo hoo!) We ate out at Boone's Inn that offered some great steak and seafood. Otherwise, Keith served up his famous beer-can chicken and ribs, along with other grill favorites. Here are a few pics of the vacation! Click on the picture for a larger one.
Last night we started playoffs for our Monday night co-ed Byron Center league. The first game we won 16-9. Then we had to play Softball Addicts, a team in which we lost to by 1 run in regular season. They were an undefeated team coming into the playoffs. It was a close game throughout, 1-1, then 2-2, then 3-3. We finally made is 5-3 in the bottom of the 6th inning and had to hold them at the top of the 7th. We did, and we are off to play in the championship game next Monday. Here is a team photo of the future champions.
The Bay City Fireworks Festival is one of the greatest fireworks shows/festivals in Michigan. People come from all over Michigan to see the show. The festival runs from July 3rd, 2008 to July 5th, 2008 with fireworks every night and entertainment every day. We went on Saturday July 5th and watched the 45 minute show. The spectacle is enhanced by it's proximity to the Saginaw River, providing great viewing locations all around the park's area, along the river banks and from boats on the river. This year they started charging $1 for each person that wants to sit near the riverwalk. We decided to do that and got a great view (despite one tree). Here are some pictures I took with my Digital Canon Rebel XT. I shot with an 18-55mm lens on a tripod in manual mode at f11 and varied shutter speeds of 3-4 seconds, and sometimes 5 seconds. Later I used my Sigma 10-22mm wide angle lens, as you can see the river and audience in some of the shots (some of the pictures look like a war is going on). Click on a picture for a larger version. Enjoy!
