Blended Paths

Congratulations to the first place winner of the baby photo contest, Abby!

Abby's Mom sent this message to post with Abby's feature:

"This sweet and spoled little girl will steal your heart with her smiles the first time you see her!"

Abby's Mom had this to say to Abby:

"After three long months you were conceived, my little one. I have no words to express my happiness to God. We promise Him that we will always take care of you, no matter what, and we always thank Him for giving us the opportunity to be your parents."

First is the image that won the contest, followed by some images chosen by Abby's Mom to include here. Congratulations again!

The second place winner of the baby photo contest I held via my Facebook fan page (which is no longer in existence due to time constraints) was Cecily! Cecily's Mom wanted to share this message with viewers and with her baby girl:

"Well it's been a year! A year since you came into our lives baby girl! A year in which we have seen you grow and become the beautiful,smart and happy baby that you are! A year in which we have gotten to know you and learned how to care for you. A year in which you have learned to smile,crawl,talk,transitioned from just milk to foods, grown teeth and grown in general, leanred how to walk and so so much more. This has been the best and happiest year of our lives as I am sure every year shall continue to be as long as you are in our lives. We love you more than words can explain baby girl! You are truly a blessing!"

Congratulations, Cecily!

Here is a small spread on Cecily (all the winner's Mom's had the opportunity to share more shots of their babies in the feature):

Congratulations to Riley, the third place winner of the baby photo contest held at my (no longer in existence) Facebook fan page!

Riley is quite a little man. His Mom sent this message from him to include with his feature:

My name is Riley. I a Virgo. I just turned one in September. I like to play with my dogs and kitty. I love balls and trucks. My favorite snack is anything crunchy. I love ice water its my favorite beverage. I love the water and sometimes my mommy thinks I should have been born a fish. My favorite person besides my mommy and daddy would have to be my grandma she is the best, and grandpa too. Everyone that meets me says I am so handsome, I'm pretty sure I got my good looks from my mommy, Daddy would agree. I am a pretty cool dude. Thank you for everyone that voted for me.

Love,

I'm slowly getting things done:

• Jesse's first birthday party invitations
• The contest winner features here at the website (in the works, just not published yet)
• Getting prints out to the winners (having trouble finding the original of one of them but working on it!)
• Getting Jesse's party plan more solidified (a lot of decorating already done LOL)
• Then there's the household stuff - laundry, clean the floors and bathrooms...
• I took a hot bath this morning (thanks to Jeremy watching Jesse) and even shaved my legs for the first time in about 5 days (OMG)

So yeah, things are coming along. I have updated a few things online that I haven't used in a while, and I've uploaded some new pictures of Jesse to his album here. I need to update his page with the latest info, and I need to get those features finished but I'm still debating whether to do temporary pages for them (each one or all of them together) or individual linkable blogs for each one with a link on the front page... I'll get that figured out in the next day or so and get them posted.

In other news, my iPhone is having those same battery drainage issues and it's really beginning to piss me off. But, I don't really have time to worry about it. I don't use it much (lately) so I just check every now and then and plug it up randomly to make sure it has some charge in case someone calls (and I feel like answering, or can - based on what Jesse is doing).

Alas, it's been a long couple of weeks - had an enjoyable weekend but didn't really take any photos. I didn't take my big camera to the event I managed to get out to, so I didn't really get any good pictures as far as the street thing I was kind of going for. Plus, I was so busy trying not to freak out that it wouldn't have mattered. But, at least I've gotten out a bit more and I hope that it helps me continue to have an easier time going out. I am doing OK with Jeremy so maybe soon I will be able to go and do as I please. Wishful thinking, maybe - but if I don't keep trying to have positive thoughts it's only worse.

I am going to be starting a conditioning and (perhaps) new running routine with Jeremy as my coach so we'll see how that goes. We were supposed to start that today but it's been so crazy and busy. Jesse is finally down for a nap so I'm going to work a bit more on the features stuff and then try to sit down with Jeremy and eat and talk about what I want to get out of him coaching me. Hmmm.....

Hope everyone is well and having a great time and no hardships and hope that our hardships continue to get better with each passing day. /praying

Take care everyone, and look for new updates soon!

That's right! Only 19.5 hours until voting for the baby photo contest is closed. We will have a winner, or winners, actually, since there's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place going on in this contest. Alas, everyone is tired of working and waiting (I didn't realize these people would work so hard to get votes for their babies, but wow!) and I'll soon have the task of counting the votes again and comparing them to what I've kept in a notepad document. Then Jeremy will double check me since he has no stake in the contest and didn't vote.

As I mentioned to the people with entries yesterday, it'll be at least Saturday before winners are announced - Jeremy's uncle passed away and since Jeremy is working Friday and we have the funeral on Friday, it's going to be tough for him to get to the counting then. He's working this weekend, as well, but short shifts and he'll be here long enough to count for me.

Death. Death is a funny thing, especially when there's a belief system in place and part of that belief system is that when the person that dies is 'saved' they will be in heaven when they die - and, the person was pretty old and really sick, so you're really glad (between all of those things) that they're not suffering or in pain and that they are technically at peace. But, there's a selfishness about the loss of a loved one, even one who was really sick, because - well, you love them and especially for his children, everyone would rather have him still be here - but, again, they don't want him to be in pain or suffering from his illness... So, then you have grief. Grief is a very strange process and it can span so many emotional places depending on the person. It also depends on who the person was who passed away and how they are tied to your life. When it's a parent that's been lost, it seems like the worst confusion occurs.

When it's a child that's been lost, it seems like the worst anger occurs and to most everyone I know, that is the worst type of loss. I know only a handful of people who have lost a child, but their grief has had the most obvious affect on me. Even before I had a child of my own, I would feel so small around those parents suffering loss and feel so sad for them. Losing a parent, which has nearly happened to me at least once - that causes a different kind of anger and for me (and others I know who lost parents) sent me straight into completely new and undefined territory. Losing a parent makes you go, "Wow. My worldly protection and my worldly guarantee of love and comfort is no longer there. I'm on my on." The preachers at the funerals will say, "don't forget your Heavenly Father is always with you, will never forsake you," and so on...but even for a spiritually mature and strong person, that doesn't help much. Losing a parent is still losing a piece of yourself, a piece of your life, a chapter in your life - you become a different person in one way or another. Losing a child is much worse - you never stop being a parent, no matter that they're not longer with you. I can't even begin to imagine losing my child. In fact, I don't even want to talk about it anymore. /moisture in eyes

So. Moving on then! Once the baby contest is over I will be uploading some new images to my Fan Page and looking at the next contest ideas. I think I will hold the next contest via this website rather than Facebook, as we've run into some problems there - like NOT BEING ABLE TO VIEW ALL THE VOTER COMMENTS! - and the next contest will be more akin to photography in general, although I have decided which theme to use. I am thinking of trying to do a poll here (if I can find a tool or app to embed one). I have asked the question at my Fan Page and my personal Facebook page, but no one has posted any comments with ideas, so maybe I'll branch back over to deviantART or to Xanga to get more input. Maybe all 3, but a poll would be that ultimate awesomeness if I could get people to vote on it - and I think a direct link to the poll from Xanga, deviantART, and the fan page would be ideal. Bring all those people to one place to give their input with a click.

If you read this blog and have any ideas, you can comment below! Have a great Thursday. Enjoy the full moon and the hugeness of Jupiter in the sky, and the last days of summery warmth and beauty as we're heading into fall quite quickly here, it seems!

Guess what, folks?! We've got enough entries now to officially call the contest "on." Refer to THIS POST for current information about the contest. I wanted at least 5 entries in the contest to make it a real contest, and this morning I posted a fifth entry. Keep them coming!! Including today, there are still 6 more days to enter! i'm so excited!!

In other news, Jesse is NAPPING, and I have posted my 365 project pictures at the 365 page, my Xanga blog, this site's 365 album, and my Facebook Fan page! So that's crazy - I don't think I've ever stayed caught up like this. Am I in the twilight zone?

So, now for the fun part of this blog - not that the contest being on isn't fun but hey! For all of you iPhone fanatics out there - especially ones who are photographers in any form or fashion - I got a new app last night!! It's not a photography app, per say. It's more of an editing app. But, IT'S AWESOME. It takes a little getting used to and you really have to watch the video tutorial and know your options for it to work really well (which is true of any program or app!), but once you get the hang of it - boy, is it FUN!

The app is called "ColorSplash," and it costs $1.99. I have to say that at first I was skeptical, you know - when I tried to use it the first time, but as I mentioned - it takes a little getting used to. Once you've gotten the hang of it, you can do this kind of thing with it:

Yeah - right?! Pretty cool and as I've said at least three times already - A LOT OF FUN! These were just images I had taken with my iPhone that I randomly selected to play with. I can't wait to take pictures for the sole purpose of editing them with this program.

Check it out if you have an iPhone and randomly feel artsy but aren't much at drawing and the like. This app really makes you feel like you're creating something more than a picture with a camera (not to put that down - you all know how I feel about that if you've been following my blog and my writing for any length of time!).

So, happy Friday! Football season started last night and we watched a game together. I think there are some games going on tonight (or this afternoon) and I KNOW there are tomorrow - the first full Saturday of football. This is our favorite time of year - football, fall....even in my current physical state I am so happy! have a great weekend, y'all!!

The submission deadline for the baby photo contest is Sept. 9, 2010. That's one week from tomorrow!

Here is some new information for you: Right now, I only have two entries! Based on logistics and personal situations, there will be no voting on this contest unless there are at least 5 entries! So get your photos submitted via the information in THIS LINK and let's make this work!

Simply put, I can't afford to pay out prizes for automatic winners, and that defeats the purpose of a "contest!" So repost this message, recommend it, get the word out to your friends/family - whatever you have to do! I want to give prizes but this is impossible for"automatic winners."

I recently posted on Facebook that I will be hosting a photo contests for Moms and babies!

ANYONE CAN ENTER: parents, grandparents, friends - just follow the steps!!

Here are the rules:

Age limits: This is a BABY contest. Age limits are 0 months (newborn) - 12 months of age. The photograph entered can be taken at any time (it doesn't have to be taken within the time frame of submission) but your child must be between the ages of 0 months (newborn) and 12 months AT THE TIME OF SUBMISSION.

If this contest goes well, I will host another contest for toddler age children and possibly another one for pre-adolescent children.

1. You must email me the photo you want to enter in the contest (so that I can compress it - not in dimensions but in file size).

2. You may only enter ONE photo.

3. The final submission date is September 9, 2010 at 12PM central standard time (this gives me time to organize the photos and upload them to a contest album at my Facebook Fan Page).

4. Voting will begin at 12PM central standard time on September 9 and run through Spetebmer 23, 2010.

Send your photo entry to blendedpaths@gmail.com! The subject line should say "Photo Contest Entry" so that I don't overlook it!

Requirements:

The only requirements for submission and voting are that you must be a fan of Christy Grimes Photography to submit a photo to the contest, and voters must also be fans of Christy Grimes Photography in order to vote. It only takes a second to click like - this way it's more valid and easy to count the votes.

Details of the process:

1. I will upload the photos you submit to an album at Christy Grimes Photography on Facebook, and number them 1-the final number (of submissions), based on ORDER of submission.

2. Voters will then vote via comment on the contest photo album.

3. Voters may vote for up to three images.

4. Votes will be counted via these comments, which can be seen by everyone. Votes will only be counted if cast on or before September 23, 2010.

Prizes are and will be awarded in the following fashion:

1st place winner - $50 cash (if you have a paypal account) or a $50 gift card to your choice of online vendors (for example, I can purchase gift cards online through Babies R Us, Toys R Us, etc.). The first place winner will also receive a feature at my website and an 8x10 high quality print of their choice from my website or of the image they have submitted (depending on the quality of the image, the winner may have to send me a higher quality image for printing).

2nd Place winner - an 8x10 high quality print of their choice from my website or of the image they have submitted (again, depending on the quality of the image, the winner may have to send me a higher quality image for printing). A small feature at my website.

3rd Place winner - a small feature at my website.

All features via my website will be linked and shared at Facebook, Christy Grimes Photography on Facebook, my blog, and the winners may link the feature anywhere they choose!

Winners will be announced within 5 days of the close of voting.

Disclaimers:

1. You must be 18 to enter this contest.

2. If you live outside the US you are responsible for any taxes, custom duties and shipping in the event you win. I will only ship the prize to a US address unless a foreign winner agrees to the above statement.

3. By submitting a photo to this contest, you automatically give your permission for your child's photo to be published in the Fan Page Contest Photo album for voting. If you do not want your child's photo shared publicly online, do NOT send a submission!