sweet summertime

for the first time since i got an iphone, i have uploaded my iphone photos to my computer. 

i love looking back on the pictures i took with my phone. 

they are usually random and remind me of a sweet time. 

.: here are a few of my favorites from summer 2011 :.

my father-in-law sent me this picture.
it reminds me of how i enjoyed
every moment of my wedding day.

honeymoon in sonoma, california.
we took a drive up highway 1 to the redwood forest.
chase stopped many times for me to take pictures. love him.

after the honeymoon, it was back to reality.
i work on the 44th floor of this building.

spending the 4th of july holiday with the gentry family @ galveston.
days were filled with...
reading, wave surfing, games, and sweet family time.

i loved getting to hang out with friends in the summer.
abi and i are waiting to go into the civil wars concert.

the civil wars.
they are amazing vocalists.
i loved being able to sit and enjoy their music.
(and uncontrollably laughing at chase's silly facials)

summer softball.
crazy awesome fans (and friends :-) and summer breezes
(and getting to watch our boys play some good ball!)

lazy evenings
where you see families playing sports in the yard until dinner
just getting to stop and enjoy each others company

3D movies with my man.
(he is obsessed with 3D, which means i am too)
and don't forget the movie theatre popcorn

lunches at work
where i was dying to get some vitamin D
but only if i could get a spot that had at least a little shade

dog-sitting Kirby for a weekend
and learning that we will not be getting a puppy
until we have a house and a yard

shopping with my mom
and getting home decor ideas
from Langford Market

celebrating the 14th birthday
of my favorite sissy in the world
Megan.

going to Onion Creek many times with good friends
and sitting for 3 hours just chatting

getting to spend a weekend with Amelia
who drove in from Dallas
SO good to see her!

it's good to look back on past times and remember and smile.

sometimes i wonder where my summer went...

but now i remember.

do you remember?

Cooking for One

Last Sunday Chase went to Canada for work for two weeks. Honestly, I was a little more upset than I thought I would be. I mean, in my head, I thought, "It is only a little less than two weeks. He will be back before you know it," but it made me sad. 

Luckily, my mom and sister had invited me to go see The Help with them after Chase left. I was glad to have that to go to and to have them to go spend time with. And, oh-my-goodness, The Help is such a great movie. I will go see it again with anybody who hasn't seen it. You will laugh and you will cry. Love love love. 

So back to how Chase is gone... one night, I came home and decided I wanted a cooked meal. Not a Lean Cuisine, not Kraft mac and cheese, not a bowl of cereal, but some good food. In the freezer I found a frozen chicken breast. In the fridge I found some Prego sauce and parmesan cheese... 

You guessed it, I made Chicken Parmesan for one. I adapted the recipe from {this website}, but by adapting I mean that I didn't have all the ingredients and I only wanted one chicken, so I improvised. I must say, it was quite tasty. 

the breaded chicken

ready to go in the oven

voala

I promise I ate my greens during lunch.

Puppy Love

Meet Kirby. 

Chase and I decided to dog-sit for his co-worker one weekend. Kirby is a sweet four-month-old chocolate lab puppy. She followed us all around the apartment and loved to sprawl out on the tile floors in our apartment to cool down.

As cute as she is and fun as it was to have her around, Chase and I confirmed that we will not be getting a puppy or any dog while living in a fourth floor apartment. I know. I know. You think we are crazy. Why wouldn't it be a good idea? Right?

Well from experience, I will tell you that it is tedious and tiring to go up and down the stairs to take her to the bathroom. In addition, there really isn’t anywhere for a dog to just roam around and play. So for at least the next year, there will be no puppies in the Gentry apartment.

She was a great weekend friend. Who knows, we might be willing to do it again... !

Denver came to Houston

Last week, Dixie came to town for a very brief stint. Really, she came to be with family, but I got to steal her away for a few short hours which I was SO grateful for. 

It was so good to hear about how she is doing and the things she is learning. I am so blessed by her friendship and cherish any time I have with her. 

:: to my sweet friend Dixie ::

I love you!

Lunch with a Side of Photography

Today I went to Sam Houston Park with my friend, Katie, during lunch to practice using the manual setting on our cameras. A couple of weeks ago Katie and I went to a photography class at Hermann Park. Besides learning about photo composition and how to use the Manual setting, I came away with a renewed sense of excitement towards photography. Katie and I decided that, even though it is 100+ degrees outside at noon every day, we would spend one lunch break per week practicing photography.

:: It is fun to have photo-taking buddy :: 

Thanks {Katie}!

This is Katie! (Not me, Katie, but my photo bud, Katie.)

Our subject today was the church.

Cute green shutters.

I also wanted to quickly share some of the lessons taught at our class by {Jimmy Loyd}.

Six Guidelines of Photography Composition:

1.     Simplicity

·       Keep it simple

·       Fill in the frame, and don’t leave any dead space.

·       Make sure there are no distracters in the background of the photo

2.     Frames

·       Frames help keep your eyes in the photo

·       You can frame your subject with circles, squares, two people, trees, etc.

·       Not every photo has to have a frame

3.     Balance

·       Extra people and/or items in the photo will help tell the story

4.     Lines

·       Your eyes follow lines until they end

·       Lines in the shape of the letter “S” or “C” are very peaceful

·       Diagonal lines often mean action is going on

·       For scenery, don’t let the horizon line cut your picture in half

5.     Rule of Thirds

·       If you were to make a tic-tac-toe board across your photo, your subject should be where the lines intersect

·       Don’t worry about this rule with group shots

6.     Mergers

·       Don’t let your subject and your background merge together to deform your subject

·       Ex: child sitting in front of a fountain looks like he has water spouting out of his head.

·       Don’t cut your pictures at the joints (elbows, knees, etc.)

Five Steps of the Manual Setting:

1.     White Balance

2.     Image Quality

·       Small = Low Quality

·       Medium = Medium Quality

·       Large = Best Quality

3.     ISO (International Standard Organization)

·       Sunny = 100-200

·       Shady/Indoors = 200-400

·       Darker/Night = 800-1600

·       Remember, less light means you need a higher ISO

4.     Aperture

·       5.6 = letting in a lot of light

·       16 = letting in very little light

·       Remember, for a bright place you need less light coming into the photo

·       Going up the scale is letting in less light

·       A lower number creates a more narrow focus

·       For landscapes, use a higher aperture

5.     Shutter Speed

·       Controls the action by controlling the light that goes into the camera

·       A higher bottom number lets less light in and stops the action more (ex: 1/1000 lets in less light than 1/60)

up close and personal

fierce.

All photos on this entry were shot in manual. It is starting to get easier!

Blueberry Buckle

When I was younger, my family would travel to Elysburg, Pennsylvania to visit my mom's family. One of my favorite memories is having fresh blueberry buckle at my Great Aunt Becky's. We all would sit in her screened-in porch, talking and doing puzzles on lazy summer days. Not a care in the world. I don't think I appreciated it then like I would now. 

Eating blueberry buckle takes me back to those days. Although I didn't use my Gram's famous recipe, I did find a different recipe for {blueberry buckle} which turned out great.

eat more blueberries. i can't get enough of them.

Third Base Wrecks

Tuesday night marked the end of summer softball, but I hope this becomes a tradition. I have loved coming out to watch these boys play every Tuesday night this summer. It was surprisingly cool by 8:00 PM and the breeze in the stands was amazing. Not to mention the games were entertaining because the Third Base Wrecks were a phenomenal team. What a season they had! (And, if I might say so myself, they had a good looking fan club!)

::: a peek of the champs :::

the BEST FANS EVER

Even Dallas came down to Houston to see this game. Not really. But I was soo glad Mar and Parker came!

Kiel starting off the game pitching.

The Umpire who rooted for the Third Base Wrecks!

Drew hits a double.

David. Focus.

Kiel gearing up for a big hit.

Chase. My Hubby. Up to Bat.

My Boy running it home!

Abi is a little nervous...

Good Sports.

I love these girls! So fun to watch softball and hangout with good friends!

A great season. And many more to come.