A Pig With Bling!

Happy Brithday Regan! For this first birthday party, we were asked to create a cake that was pink and girly, and had some elements of the farm (Regan has many little barns she loves to play with).  So, a pink barn seemed to be the way to go.

a barn is not the most challenging shape to make out of cake, so to make things a little more interesting, we had to focus on the details like a haystack with flowers on it, a shovel and a rake, a pig with bling etc...  Have a look!

did you miss some of our earlier cakes? you can see Lily's giant cupcake here. For plenty more like a pirate ship, a monkey, a motorhome, click here.

Winter... Wonderland?

Well, I've been trying to motivate myself to get in shape lately, and I started jogging a little bit. I say a little bit, because it has been years since I've done anything with this body, so I don't get too far before I want to lay down on the sidewalk and reject my insides. I was running on a fairly regular basis a few summers ago (the first time since I was young), and feeling pretty good about it, so I'd like to get in that routine again. I'm not looking to do great distances, or spend much time doing this. I was always satisfied just going for a quick 4 or 5km boot around town.  Right now I'm killing myself just trying to get to 3.5km. hah. I've only been out a few times though, so I'm sure it won't take long to get the old body into it again.

The big problem I'm having is that running (which worked for a few days when it was warm) has now turned into a challenge of making my way through deep snow, ice patches, and stinging wind. I'm not so interested in that, so progress is a little slower than I'd like.

Winter is definitely not one my favorite things, but when you think about it, there is something kind of magical about snow, isn't there? Here are a few wintery shots I've taken...

Some Lo-Mob Fun!

Thanks to fellow creative mastermind Eric Rockburn, I discovered and got my hands on this tasty little iPhone app that's exactly what I've been looking for! With Lo-Mob, I'm able to take shots with the phone, and give them a damaged, flawed, retro look... similar to what you'd get when taking photos with a Holga, which I love.  There's so much about the Holga that you just can't match with any digital photography (the mystery of how your shots will turn out, the excitement of getting some sweet looking shots with what is essentially a crappy platsic toy, etc...), but this app is definitely worth playing with.

Here are a few phone pics I've had a little fun with!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Money. Love it? Hate it? Need it.

I've got money on the brain these days, for a few reasons:

First: It's time for me to start organizing all my financial info for taxes for the business. I usually have this in order and tracked on an ongoing basis, but this has been quite a messy year, and things didn't come together like they normally do.

Second: Because of the messy year, I haven't had time to be as active with my business as I'd like, as far as promoting myself or going after new clients. This needs to change so that I can keep things rolling, and keep the dollars flowing. So, like it or not, I've got money on my mind because of that.

Third and Final: I'm seeing a lot of greed all over the place these days (nothing new, I'm just noticing more), and it's really annoying. Of course we all need money, to pay taxes, to keep a roof over our heads, to feed the very hungry mouths of our children, and to buy a few toys here and there. Some people just take it to the next level.

I have no problem with people wanting to make more money, get a nicer house, a great car, go on a cool trip, whatever... Of course people want these things, and as a small business owner, going after more money is very important to stay afloat. Like it or not, money is a necessary evil.

Where I get disgusted is when people just want to get their grubby paws on everything they can, even if it's stuff they don't care for at all. It gets to the point where a person loses any trace of personality, and goes on a mission, with a one track mind. If there's something free to be had, they'll take it. If there's money to be made, they'll go after it, regardless of who it hurts. They'll sneak around, turn on those close to them, whatever it takes. All for a few bucks, or a couple pieces of junk. Oh, and of course if you've got a few bucks more than the next guy, you must be a better person right? Not familiar with this type of person? Just wait until someone in your family passes away, they'll be all over the place in no time, sniffing around for anything they can claim as their own.

I guess in the end it's a fine line isn't it? Even for me, at what point does my desire to do better in business become a matter of greed, and not just wanting to do well and support my family? I don't know if I'll ever figure that out. Oh well, in the spirit of greed, here's a shot I took of some big money!

Why Do I Keep Doing This Anyway?

If you've even loosely followed my blog, you know that I eat a whole lot of eggs. Pretty much every day, my breakfast has some sort of eggs in it, and I'm now trying to think of a decent breakfast alternative. Not because I feel like eating something different, but because I want to take pictures of something different. How many egg pics does a guy need on his blog, right?. I need to mix it up!  This leads me to wonder, do I have some sort of problem here?  I change things in my life based on what I want to take pictures of. No other reason, just for the pictures. ya, it is a problem huh.

I guess it might be a little strange for me to keep taking pictures of just about everything, or to take shots of today's breakfast even though I already have hundreds of egg pics. The thing is, I just can't help it. I look at something, and I see it as a photograph. It doesn't matter if it's breakfast, plants, shadows, scenery, the kids, whatever. That's just the way I look at things. Actually, I've always visualized everything as a painting, but the truth is, I would never have time to paint all the things I'd like to, so the next best thing is a photo.  It's a thousand times quicker to create a nice image with a camera than it is with a paintbrush, so it has become my tool of choice. Not only because of time, but because I think I'd look a little silly if I brought a big canvas and painting supplies everywhere I went. 

Anyway, I may very well be wasting my time with all these pictures, but it is nice to look back on past years of our lives and pretty much see what we were up to every single day. OK, so I admit that a lot of the shots I take are unnecessary and just silly, but I like that. Here's yet another egg breakfast!