I seem to be strangely obsessed with football lately. And I don’t just mean Bronco football, which should be no surprise, but I mean college football in general. You see, my husband’s family has a tradition…a little something called a Bowl Challenge.

At the end of every season we make our picks for each of the bowl games. We score points for calling the winner, points for choosing the right scores, and points for guessing the margin of victory. I’ve got to tell you, I’m a little obsessed…I poured over statistics, chose my winning teams by their average offensive scoring over the season and determined the final scores by choosing which defense was stronger. It’s been on my mind for a week now. The anticipation was killing me! Until yesterday.

The bowl season kicked off with BYU and UTEP. I was all smiles when BYU came away with the win. And then there was the Humanitarian Bowl. Steve and I had the opportunity to see N. Illinois and Fresno fight it out on the Blue in person…Steve was rooting for Fresno (being true to the WAC), and I was cheering on the Huskies (I was all about the stats). It made for a very tense anniversary celebration…that’s right, we decided we couldn’t miss the game, so we celebrated our first wedding anniversary with football. Yeah, we’re crazy like that!

In celebration of N. Illinois coming away with the win…uh, I mean…in celebration of our anniversary, Steve took me out to dinner. I chose Red Robin. For two reasons. One, I’m in love with their Bonzai Burger. And two, we were dressed for football…I couldn’t see myself walking into a fancy place…I mean, “Hellooooo Hillbillies!” So we played it safe. Of course, while we gazed into each other’s eyes over a romantic meal of burgers and fries, we snuck glances at the New Orleans Bowl playing on the televisions that surrounded us. Hey, I had to keep an eye on my pick…I needed Troy to do well. I have my eye on the prize, after all.

Speaking of prizes, back to the tradition…the winner of the Bowl Challenge wins the trophy. That’s right, a real life shiny trophy. And you know us girls, we like shiny! So, you can bet I was super excited to hear this morning that I’m on top with the highest score so far…this makes me happy. Let’s just hope my picks continue to make me proud. If I continue to do well, Steve and I may end up with this little beauty on our mantle and have the title, “Champion,” for a year.

Hey Dad, bet you never thought you’d see the day your little girl would be so into football, did ya? I’d like to blame Steve for this…but I’m afraid it’s just my obsession with a good competition that’s driving this one.

I love this time of year. I love the time I get to spend with my family. I especially love the traditions that we’ve made together over the years.

One special memory I have growing up is of a special Christmas Eve tradition…My Dad would take my brother, sister, and me on a hike up the “mountain” near our house for a fun afternoon adventure before the Christmas festivities began. I say “mountain,” but it was more of a hill than a mountain…to a five year old, though…it was HUGE! Anyway, we would get all bundled up in our coats, scarves, and mittens, and we’d head on out for our hike. Upon reaching the top of the hill, we’d pour ourselves the hot cocoa Mom always put in a thermos for us. We would have a blast looking out over the town trying to spot our house, telling stories, and just laughing.

This was always something we’d look forward to each year. And it wasn’t until I was older that I learned that it was all part of a grand scheme that our parents cooked up…to keep the kiddos out of Momma’s hair while she finished up the decorating and baking! Haha! Even still, it’s a special memory, no matter the motive.

What special traditions do you have with your families? I’d love to hear what you do or have done in the past to celebrate the holiday!

I’m so excited to share these photos with you. Earlier this month, on our trip to Dallas, we had the opportunity to stop in Colorado to visit with family. My uncle, Bruce, is a photographer as well, so we all packed up our cameras and set out for a journey up to the beautiful Stanley Hotel…you may recognize it from the Stephen King movie, “The Shining” (made in 1997, starring Steven Weber). With the hotel’s rich history in the paranormal, we were sure to have an adventure! …we wouldn’t want it any other way.

I love shooting historic architecture. When I was framing these photos, I wanted them to look as if they could have been taken in the early era of the hotel. So I took them from my camera into Photoshop to work some magic. I desaturated the photos, layered on some color, and added a couple of my Olde World photo textures to add a bit of history. Compared to the originals you’ll find toward the bottom of this post, I think the edits give these photos a bit of mystery and paranormal charm…what do you think?

Original photos, straight out of camera (SOOC).

I couldn’t just pick one of these photos to share as my Sweet Shot…they kinda come in a set!

…back from Dallas, and back to blogging. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of excitement. Michelle and I had a blast down in Dallas for the I Heart Faces “Dream Big” workshop. We made a road trip out of it, photographing beautiful country, architecture, and tourist attractions along the way. We traveled through Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico…did I miss any? Nope, that should about do it…we had to save a few states for our next road trip, right? All four of my memory cards are jam-packed full of photos that I can’t wait to share with you. Look for those in the coming weeks.

But first, I must share some exciting news…even though it came just a little too late to take with me on my trip, I was super excited to see this little beauty waiting for me when I got home (by excited, I mean the jumping-up-and-down-squealing kind of excited). Yeah, I’m like that.

Lola by Epiphanie

This week at I Heart Faces, Angie and Amy have given us a fun challenge…to photograph beef! And, since I love food so much…uh, let me re-phrase that…since I love photographing food so much , I thought I’d play along, too.

When I thought about what I might photograph, I immediately went back to a photo I had taken in Florida, while Steve and I were on our honeymoon. We had the opportunity to splurge on a fancy restaurant, so Citricos is where we went. It’s located inside the swanky Grand Floridian resort at Disney World. Wow, was that an experience! The food was delicious, as well as artistic. And before I could even take a bite, I had to snap a photo. I couldn’t help myself, even though I only had my trusty point-and-shoot with me! Wouldn’t you agree, this dish is totally worthy to be photographed?…

Head on over to I Heart Faces to see all of the yummy beefy entries!

This is a special week for the Love Your Shot! | Link-Up, we’ve sprung a theme on you this time! We want you to show us “your favorite faces”. To help us choose the winner…oh yes, I said winner…we’ve asked a couple of photographers to help us out. You may know them well. But you’ll have to click on over to this week’s link-up to find out more. How’s that for leaving you hangin’!

My entry this week is not only my “favorite face” but he is my favorite person, too! This is my husband, Steve. He’s sweet. He’s thoughtful. And he’s a total goof, who never fails to make me laugh (you may remember the fishing photo I posted a few weeks ago, nuff said). But most of all, he’s my world. I love you, Steve!

I shot this photo last night as the sun was going down. Steve and I decided to take advantage of the cooler air, so we went for a walk. Of course, I grabbed my camera. Steve’s getting used to the idea of my camera going everywhere with me, so he didn’t think anything of it. But I had different plans… I needed a photo for our link-up. So, in steps a bit of trickery. You see, for this photo, Steve had no idea the camera was pointed at him…he thought I was shooting the landscape behind him. Well, the cat’s out of the bag now…sorry Steve…

This brings me to my tip this week…never rule out the benefit of a little trickeration from time to time. Because hey, sometimes it just has to be done!

Photo edited in Photoshop, using Photo Veils and Textures from Love that Shot, and Soft & Faded from the Pioneer Woman Action Set I.

What a beautiful ending to a beautiful Sunday. Steve and I enjoyed this gorgeous view as we drove home after having dinner with his family. I told him to drive fast because I didn’t want to miss this one…you see, I was caught without my camera! Tragic, I know. Oh, I can’t wait until my Epiphanie camera bag comes (they’re temporarily out of stock until the end of October, gasp!), it will be so nice to be able to carry around a bag that looks like this, rather than the standard issue black and yellow.

Photos are straight out of camera (SOOC).
Do you have a favorite photo you’d like to share? Click on over to my friend Darcy’s website and share your Sweet Shots!

We have an exciting surprise planned for the Love Your Shot! | Link-Up this Thursday, September 30th. There’s going to be a theme, a couple of guest photographer judges (you may know them pretty well), and a fabulous prize for the winner! You’re definitely not going to want to miss this one…

We’d love for you to tell all your friends to join us on Thursday for the Love Your Shot! | Link-Up…because hey, what’s a party without the guests, right! Oh, and if you’re not quite sure how the link-ups work, click here for the FAQ page, or click here for the Link-Up archives. We can’t wait to see “your favorite faces”, so get out there and start shooting!

I love fall. I love it when the leaves start to fade into a golden orange, and when the air turns crisp. It’s when I get to pull out the apple cider and cozy up on the sofa with a warm fluffy blanket. It’s when I get to decorate the house with pumpkins, corn stalks, spider webs, and scarecrows. It’s my favorite time of year…aside from Christmas, Easter, and the Fourth of July, of course!

My tip for this week’s link-up is to look around you and photograph something you love. It can be the changing season, a book you love and would read over and over again, or your children playing together. Whatever it is…photograph it. Capture the moment.

Photo edited in Photoshop, using Photo Veils and Textures from Love that Shot.

Have you ever anticipated something so much that you stay up all night waiting in line, sitting on hard concrete for 6 hours? Well, that was my Friday night in a nutshell! ESPN’s College Gameday came into town to cover the BSU vs. Oregon State game. So you bet Steve and I were right there in the front of the line! We made a date night out of it…we started off the night making a poster that would be seen on national tv. Steve came up with the saying and the idea for the poster and of course, me being the cool graphic designer that I am… …helped with the lettering and the cartoon beaver, who sadly met his demise. Aww, ain’t he cute?

We had a bite to eat at a hot spot across from the stadium, before heading over to begin our campout adventure…and oh, what an adventure it was. Without going into much detail, I’ll just say this…we were surrounded by some pretty colorful folk…and I’m not just talking about their costume!

Thankfully, five o’clock in the a.m. finally rolled around and, after having our poster meticulously scrutinized by four or five security guards (apparently a dead beaver is cause for concern) we made our way to the mosh pit. Just the sound of that should have scarred me off to begin with, but like I said, we set out for an adventure. And an adventure is what we got! We were shoved, pushed, elbowed, smothered…but we survived…barely! And we accomplished what we set out to accomplish. We got our sign seen on national tv! It’s kind of a big deal.