Merry Christmas!

Well another Christmas has come and gone. I hope that everyone reading this had as much fun as I did and that Santa was good to you! :) When I wasn't working, I was blessed to be able to get my shopping done early, baking done, decorating done, wrapping done, eating done ;), and of course spending some time with the family.

Several days before Christmas my husband and I traveled a few hours south to my Dads home in Kentucky and we had a wonderful couple of days there. After the dinner and the exchanging of gifts, we all loaded up and headed over to the Kentucky Horse Park for the Southern Lights. They have a nice light set up on the drive into the park and then they have a petting zoo (with porcupines….really), gift shops, food, and all that fun stuff. J I have 2 nieces that are 2 years old and they had a great time at the petting zoo. My 4 month old nephew wasn’t quite as enthused, but he did like the lights. J  

Here is just a small sampling of the some of the awesome lights to be seen at the http://kyhorsepark.com/

Also for Christmas this year I was so happy to receive a gift card from my Dad and Step-Mom to my favorite place to buy camera equipment. I can't wait to start shopping! :) http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

Last but not least, I have wanted a small point and shoot camera for awhile now. I almost always have my Sony DSLR with me and it can sometimes be cumbersome. Also, I have wanted something to take hunting and fishing with me that I wouldn't worry about possibly getting wet, too cold, or falling out of my tree stand. So, my husband came through for me and bought me this:
http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666296230

I was able to use it at Christmas #2 at my moms house and I loved it. The camera is smaller than my cell phone and takes great pics. I haven't had the opportunity to test all the features, but I'm sure I will get around to it soon!

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and that you find many blessings in the new year! I've already got my list of goals for 2012 started and I am eager to get started! I'm thinking next post will be goal oriented! ;)

Happy New Year Everyone! Be safe! :)

What to Wear!

Here is the what to wear guide for this seasons festivities! Outfits great for the whole family for Christmas parties, formal Christmas dinners, or new years eve. Of course, we all like to look nice for Christmas photos! :)

Farming and Photos

I was raised in the country surrounded by farms and I was an active member of my high school FFA chapter. Through FFA, I showed hogs, judged livestock, crops, soil, grew crops and participated in a number of other things. FFA was without a doubt the best thing I did in high school to prepare me for the "real world" After having spent so much time hunting on farms and sitting through ag classes and going to farm equipment shows gave me a good foundation to be a farmers wife.

My husband and I are multi-taskers. I am a 911 disaptcher/Photographer and he is a Police Officer/Farmer. My husband and his twin brother have helped their grandfather farm since they were quite young and while their grandfather does incredible for his age (he's 88) they have basically taken over the farming duties. Over the past couple years, I have become more and more interested in the actual farming process. While in college, I would ride in the combine with my husband between classes, but that was more to get a chance to spend time with him then to actually learn anything. Now, I find myself watching weather, something I have never in my life done unless I was planning an outdoor event. I listen to farm reports and check soybean prices. When my husband tells me about a tractor, I am actually interested and not just acting like it to make him happy. ( Don't judge me, I know he does this when I tell him about a new camera (; ) Don't get me wrong, I have always had an agricultural interest, but I tend to be more interested in livestock and small gardening. (My husband's family has not raised livestock in many years.) I guess my point is that Soybean varieties weren't usually a topic of conversation between us until recently. The farm is a soybean farm only. This is rare in Ohio, as most farmers will alternate soybeans and corn each year. So, please don't ask me about corn, all the knowledge I really have on corn variety is sweet, field, indian, and pop! ;)

I consider myself very blessed to have a husband that loves to farm and that this is a lifestyle we enjoy so much. I can't imagine a spring coming that wouldn't be joined by the smell of fresh turned soil and me checking the spray schedule so that my beloved flower beds don't get doused with weed killer carried on the wind from the field that is about 10 steps out my front door. Fall for me always meant deer season and holidays. Now it also means I will find handfuls of soybeans in my washer and dinner will be either delivered to the field or won't happen till well after dark. This year while my brother in law manned the combine, I rode on the side of the tractor while my husband hauled wagons back and forth from the field to the barn lot. As usual, I had my camera and wanted some non-traditional night time farm photos, so this is what I came up! I was pretty happy with the result. God willing, I will have more farm photos in the future! :)

 
Oh and just for fun, here is a site with some fun farm facts! :)
http://www.farmersfeedus.org/fun-farm-facts/

Bad Moon Rising

A full moon is always a good and a bad thing for me. A full moon for some reason tends to make people act a little wild. I work full time as a 911 emergency dispatcher so I know that anytime the full moon is rising, it will be an eventful night at work. Which again, can be good or bad. Eventful can mean many things in the law enforcement/emergency field. The full moon we had last week had us buys, but luckily nothing too serious. It also gave me a photo opportunity. If my friends or family are reading this, they are probably saying, "everything with Hanna is a photo opportunity." Anyhow, that being said, I was very nearly late for the 911 job, because I was standing in a field with a tripod and camera attempting to get a shot of the moon. I had to work fast, but this is the result. What do you think?

Christmas Ornaments! :)

Custom Christmas Ornaments are available. At just $20 each, you can have a lovely photo ornament to decorate your tree for years to come.

Fantastic Fetty Family

I was contacted by a high school friend and asked to take her family photos. I was very excited to take the photos for her and see her again. She has a beautiful family and I decided to share a few of the photos here. :)