Aliciasfamilyblog

A new lens......

2009-06-02T05:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it's been awhile since I have logged on and updated my blog and I'm sure you've been wondering what has been goin on. Well, for starters I am excited about the fact that I have a new lens. A 50 mm 1.4!! What does this mean? Well, for starters it means I can capture some pretty great shots of some very beautiful horses with the background displaying what we in the shutterbug business refer to as "BOKEH". Now, I was confused about how to pronounce this word so after asking many friends and with the help of wikipedia I have learned that the proper pronunciation is "boquet". That's right, just like a boquet of flowers. Which anything associated flowers makes me happy. This word does too. I don't know what it is about this strange word that I have recently learned. But I just love the way it makes a picture look. So I am dedicating this blog to just that: Bokeh!! And I am going to post a few pics that display this wonderful new word....................B O K E H!!!!!!

This is a necklace that I made. Yes, that's right!! I made it, and it's actually pretty snazzy. But that's a whole nother blog all together. Now, see the background here. There's some bokeh but not alot. I still like the picture though. Maybe I am just a little biased. hee hee

Ok, so I know this is a strange picture but it's a perfect example of my beloved new word. And it was by sheer accident that I even took it!! I accidentally hit the shutter button while parking at my son's school when I went to pick him up on day. But, needless to say, it's a great example of Bokeh.

Oh, aren't these beautiful? I have so many pics of flowers with some very wonderful Bokeh in the back ground but alas, I could not post them all. Any way my friends this is just a little sample of what I have been up to lately. This along with, making jewelry and taking wedding pics.....but, those are blogs that will have to wait... Much love to all my family members!!

Easter Day Cupcakes!!

2009-04-18T19:24:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, yep it's been a long time since my last post and I do apologize for that but I have decided to try to keep you updated a little beter. Since my last post. Dale has had to take up residence in Ft.Wayne and stay there during the week and commute hom only on the weekends. I have been taking a photography class, which I will be sharing that with you asap. Also, a new venture that it close to my heart and hopefully It will be to my wallet pretty soon. Jewelry making!!!!! That's right!! Jewelry making. I used to do it a little when I was younger. I never had anyone to teach my I just sort of picked it up and started doing it on my own. I have made several pieces over the last couple of months and am happy to report that I have sold EVERY single piece but One and I have orders o make more!! I love it love it love it. But, I will leave that for next weeks blog. Right now lets get to the cupcakes. Now as you can see by my title that these are EAster DAy cupcakes and you may notice by that date that today is in fact NOT Easter day. Easter was last weekend BUT, being so busy and all, I FORGOT to make them so I decided I should no longer allow my poor deprived family (yah, right!!) to go without these yummy tasty treats!!! Alot of ppl on their blogs post these famcy homemade recipes for their food. Well, ladies, NOT ME!! These were made from a store bought cake batter mix and the icicng, well, it was bought too. It's whipped Buttercream and it IS to dies for. All I did was add some pretty food coloring and frosted them up. And I must say they were sooo goood!!!

Indiana Life...........

2009-02-22T22:02:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone......I was out the other day driving and taking pics when I thought it would be nice to share with you all a little slice of Indiana living.... And a pat of that life includes snow. Snow as far as the eye can see. These are corn fields covered with snow. A huge contrast to the bright green stalks that protrude from the ground in the summer time. But beautiful none the less.......You can see the corn silos in the background. These silos house the corn until it is ready to be shipped out. It's also houses food for animals who need a little supplement feeding in the winter time when food is very scarce. So farmers will buy or harvest hay or use the corn to feed their animals. Animals like cows and horses.....

These Beautiful babies are grazing on what is left of the summer's harvest. Farmers also supply the horses with barnes to protect them from the winter's harsh bitter coldness. You can see in the background one of the barnes thohe horses use to sleep in at night. One of the greatest joys in life is riding on horse. When your sitting up there so high in the sky you feel like your miles up. The wind shipping your hair as the horese gallops....well, that's a memory I will keep close to my heart....

Here is a quaint little country church that I just had to photograph. This church has been around since the 1800's and it has seen it's fair share of worshipers. I love the way this little church looks. It looks like you could just pluck it right from where it stands and display it on a shelf somewhere in your house...........

This is the Ski-Hi drive in and yes it's in the country too. It's not in service anymore and it's in need or much repair but when I was a little girl this was the place that my parents brought me to see my first drive-in movie. It was King Kong.(if that tells you anything about how old I am) That led to a family tradition. I took my boys to see their first drive-in movie here also. It was George of the jungle and they loved it. We would bring our lawn chairs and blankets. Our sodas and popcorn. We did this because we were too poor to buy the snacks that they sold on sight. But we didn't care. It was marvelous. We would lay on our blankets with the movie blarring in front of us and the stars twinkeling above us. It was like Heaven. This old theater holds many a memery for us Hoosiers......

This is a fun picture. This was taken out at the resevoir. Another landmark icon that us Hoosiers love the enjoy. Any time of the year can see many people stopping to feed the ducks. They will actually stop traffic to get fed as they did us here. We didn't have any bread with us but I did go up to the bait store and buy some to feed them. The resevoir is a great place with many memories also. In the summertime you can find folks fishing, boating, swiming, picnicing or just soaking up the sun. On a clear night with the moon full the water looks like it's shimmering. Many a night has been spent lieing on the grass starring up into the great unknown and making wishes on falling stars.....

So when city folk gruff at us country folk and comment that we're not so smart. That little smirk on our faces just goes to prove that we really are in deed. In fact, to the point that we aren't so inclined to invite a ton of city folks out to all out favorite places.....matter of fact we'll just keep them to ourselves. I hope you have enjoyed sharing in my Indiana living memories.....

This N That...

2009-02-11T06:31:00.000-08:00

Hello all......So sorry it has taken me so long to get back online but a ton of life's happenings has occured preventing me from sharing. Anyway, I'm so glad to be back!!

Let's see....what do I have to report. Well, Feb.8th was Dustin's 16th birthday!!! YAY, Happy Birthday to my beloved boy. Time does pass by quickly. Seems like just yesterday he was crawling around, or going to his first day of school. Yep, time does fly by so fast. He starts driving this summer so I'm sure he is looking forward to that. Me?.....well, I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand, my baby is taking just another step toward adulthood. And on the other hand, man I can really use him as an errand boy!! LOL

Dale managed to get the bedroom "almost" completed. The drywall is up now and next step is carpet. It's actually to the point that it can be used as a functional room. In fact, that's exactly what Sarah has been doing. Although, it's not finished yet she has it set up really nice in there. From her oh so comfy king size air bed to the cute little bedside table holding her disco lamp. It already has a computer connection and satelite t.v. is hooked up. Woo-Hoo, Sarah has her own space.

It has been sooo cold here lately. Temps have dropped down to 15 to 30 degrees below zero. So I have been feeding Buddy, the neighbors dog extra at breakfast and warming up milk to pour over his food. He is such a good watch dog I feel he needs a special reward. :) I have also been feeding my little squirrell buddies xtra almonds because the snow has been so deep they cant dig up the food that they buried away.

So, as you can see. Nothing spectacular has happened but the daily activities have really been preventing me from blogging. So, I'm off for now and I would like to make this testament to try to blog more frequently and have much more interesting things to blog about.

Much Love to you all.......please support animal rights.

Squirrels, Squirrels, and more Squirrels.....I

2009-01-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!! I hope everybody had a wonderful weekend. All is well here on the ol' homefront. However, One funny little incident did happen......

Apparently friday night I woke Dale by talking in my sleep about squirrels!! Yes, I know, that's crazy but it gets even crazier. Now I feed "my" squirrels, which are actually wild squirrels but I put out cracked corn, sunflower seeds and almonds for them every morning. So around noon time I had a thought that I would take some pictures of my furry friends with my new camera. And so I did and then posted them to my facebook page. So when Dale got home I was ever excited to show him how well my photography skills were coming along. He immediately began cracking up laughing. He said, Don't you remember talking in your sleep last night about seeing squirrels? I relplied, No, I don't remember that. He thaought that was the funniest thing ever! So I decided I would share this little story with you all and hope that you too can share in a little chuckle.... Oh, and I hope you enjoy the pictures.....much love to all.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

2009-01-02T20:48:00.000-08:00

Hello all and Happy New Year!!!

I'm sorry for not logging on for so long but you see I have been nursing such a horrible lingering cold that I just haven't had the strength.

Let's see where to begin......well, first al all christmas was just too fabulous this year. The whole family got together and celebrated the holiday. All minus Trey that is. He was much missed but we did phone him and each one of us all took turns whshing him a Merry Christmas. We are hoping next year that he will be here iwth us as we celebrate the birth of our savior.

Everyone got what they asked for and all was well. Sarah was surprised to get her laptop, Dustin was thrilled with his new LCD TV, Wes got new golf clubs, Jason got a new video camera to shoot those spectaular shots of Dominic with. And Christina got some much needed Victoria Secret items she wanted (hehe) and I of course, got what I wanted. My new camera. Now if I can just figure out how to use the darned thing I will be cooking with oil!!! I am going to attempt to post some ics so please bare with me.

So, you see, all in all in was such a happy time in my life. My family is quite large but I guarantee you there is NEVER a dull or quiet minute around this house. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Just don't tell the kids. lol!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!

much love.......

Monday 12/22/2008

2008-12-22T07:13:00.000-08:00

Hello all, I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We here at the Hodges/Snapp homestead had a wonderful but excruciatingly cold weekend. The temp has fallen completely off the thermometer! We all thought it was cold this weekend as we headed out to Dales' father's house to celebrate an early christmas with the family. But compared to today we all could have worn our bathing suits! lol! It's a brisk -4 degrees out today with a high of only 15. Woo-hoo break out the sunscreen! Not only is it cold outside but the wind is whipping out of control with gusts of up to 40 mph. Talk about cold!!!! I felt it's fury as I refilled the car with antifreeze. Which I am very proud of. It was the first time I have every done anything like that all by myself. Dale usually does all the maintenance on the cars but seeing how he is at work in Ft. Wayne which is an hour away I had to don my coat and hat and face the cold all by myself. I had some trouble finding the latch that releases the hood but once that task was achieved I managed to find the overfill resevoiur and top it off like I had been doing it for years. Of course, Dale failed to tell me that the hydraulics on my hood were not working properly so I almost got whopped in the head with the hood. But, I managed to overcome this little obstacle and complete my task with honors if I must say so for myself.

Anyway, back to our christmas celebration at Jim's(Dale's father) house. Everyone had a wonderful time. We all ate, chatted, exchanged christmas gifts and had a wonderful time. Our family has been blessed with some new additions over that last couple of years. Jason, Dale's second child, has a 14 month old son by the name of Dominic and Ryan, Dale's nephew, has two sons: Kevin age 2 and Jackson about 8 months old. So we all enjoyed watching them open their gifts. This is the first real christmas that they can enjoy. Last year they were all just babies and too young to understand what christmas is all about. PRESENTS!!! And lots of'em. lol!

Jim was a little under the weather. He has a degenerative diesease in his back and it was causing him a considerable amount pain. But he seemed to grin and bear it taking it all in stride. He has had a tough year this year so we all have been keeping him even closer to our hearts than normal. I am a firm believer that when something bad happens to a family you should all rally around that person and be there for them. Providing them with more love and support than normal. Christina, Dales's oldest daughter and 4th in line in our blended family was unable to attend the festivites and she was much missed. Christina is 19 and she is just beginning to find herself. She like Trey, my oldest son and 3rd in the line up of our children, are really getting a big dose of reality thrust onto their plates right now. It's a difficult time for both Dale and myself. Our first reaction is to bail them out of whatever dilemma they are encountering at the time. But we know we have to stand our distance and allow them to learn from their mistakes. It's so hard being a parent at times. We sometimes forget that we have to let them stand on their on two feet. That they no longer need the training wheels. Or even if they do still need the traing wheels we can't rush out and install them, allowing them a crutch. Nope! They have to learn to be adults on their own. Our job now as parents is to stand on the sidelines and watch only rushing out to them when they are truly in need of it. You truly don't know what it's like until you have children of your own. Parenting can be defined in one word as Bittersweet. And I wouldn't change it for anything in the world!!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!
xoxo much love to all........

Tuesday, 12/16/2008

2008-12-16T07:25:00.000-08:00

Good Morning all. I hope everyone is having a great start to their week. We here at the home of "alicia's family blog" are all doing well. I have finally gotten the christmas treet up and If you know me at all you will know that I am not one of those day after Thanksgiving put up the christmas tree kinda gals. About two weeks prior the the day is when I like to put it up. My attention span is relatively short so you can imagine how crazy it would be to me to put a tree up and leave it for almost 4 weeks. Now if I can just keep the cat out of it I will be able to decorate it tonight with the kids. I plan on continuing to wrap presents the rest of the day, putting a roast in the oven, doing my caily chores and then relaxing.... if that is possible....lol!! So please have a great day......much love from alicia

Sunday's thoughts...

2008-12-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

Hello All and a very happy sunday to everyone. Well, it's not as cold today as it has been. Winter didn't ease it's way into season this year, instead it skipped fall altogether and went smack dab into winter full steam ahead. It has snowed several times and the ground is already frozen solid. I swear every year I say i'm moving to Florida because I just can't take this cold. But I never do and even if I did I would just miss it. Snow and all.

It has been a fairly quiet year this year for my klan and I must say It has been rather nice. Lord knows I have needed it. Christina got maried this year and we didn't get a chance to welcome Ryan into our family since he was deployed only after a couple of days of marriage. He is due home this month and we are all happy that he is coming home safe.

I can say that with all the free time I have had I've been able to do some work on the computer and I am happy to say that I have caught up with some of my old friends from High School. There's nothing like catching up that reminds you just how old you are. lol

Trey turned 21 this year and Dustin turned 15. Trey is now legally old enough to drink and I pray that he doesnt. And in just 2 months Dustin will be old enough to drive. I guess next year won't be so quiet......

Introduction

2008-12-12T05:37:00.000-08:00

Hello, My name is Alicia and Welcome to my blogspot. Here you will view pics of my family. Read my thoughts on everything from politics to our everyday life. You will meet all the member of my family right down to our pets. I hope you enjoy your visit and feel free to leave your posts. They are not only welcomed but encouraged. Have a Wonderful Day!!!