Monday, November 28, 2011

Canvas4Life Giveaway Winner

according to Random.org, 6 is the perfect #

& #6 =



Hooray for Leslie! & hooray for 70's porno mustaches!


shoot me an email with your address & i'll get your gift card right out to you!
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Thursday, November 24, 2011

give thanks

"Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
~ Ephesians 5:20

I think that about sums it up- yeah? short & sweet.

thank you Lord.

have a wonderful Thanksgiving!




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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Canvas4Life Review/Giveaway

who'd like to take a gander at our Christmas photo for this year?

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that's right. all 4 of us looking in the same direction at the same time. incredible. thank you Photoshop.

now, who'd like to see this picture on canvas?

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...and i figured i'd take one outside for good measure

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awesome right? the folks over at Canvas4Life did a killer job putting this photo on canvas. the colors are spot on & the canvas is beautiful.

now i just have to figure out where to hang it. living in a log cabin = a lack of legit wall space.

it's a cross i bear.

so back to the canvas- it's awesome. and i feel like everyone should have a favorite photo on canvas. it's big (or small if you want), pretty & it's a nice change from framed prints.
canvas' also = a kick ass Christmas gift.

"Merry Christmas mom & dad!"
"oh dearest child- what ever could this be? another framed picture for our walls?"
"sort of...open it."
"well ok...why, what's this? oh it's beautiful! you're our new favorite!"

bazinga.

see? total present winner.

with that above scenario still playing in your mind- why don't you head on over to Canvas4Life & look at all the different options. tons of different sizes & what not (fyi: my canvas = 16x20)

and if you do happen to order one- take off 10% by using the promo code trinabird.
Happy Merry Christmas Holiday Hanukkah Kwanzaa to you.

aaaaand, i'm also giving away a $20 Canvas4Life gift card! this is the part that all of you were probably waiting for.

all you have to do is leave a comment telling me what picture you're most likely to put on your canvas- your kid? your dog? yourself? Obama? (who knows, maybe Michelle reads this. just sayin')

just make sure you leave your comment by Fri Nov 25th @ 11:59 PST
i'll announce the winner on Mon Nov 28th & pop your gift card in the mail (you'll have 24 hours to email me your info)

good luck! and again, for those of you that don't win remember that you still have a 10% promo code at your disposal: promo code trinabird

disclaimer: Canvas4Life didn't pay me or anything. they simply said, "hey do you want a canvas?" & i was all like, "hellz yeah!" & they were all like, "ok cool. when you get it- put it on your wall & tell us what you think. bam."
and so i have. that's it. nothing fishy going on here.
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Monday, November 21, 2011

this week

i'm going to start by giving you guys a little present:

lightsweb-3
lightswebb-3

twinkle light pictures for the win.
i wish i could fully make you understand how evil taking these pictures were.

the plan was to setup, convince children to smile with m&m's & marshmallows, snap pictures, edit pictures & pat myself on the back for a job well done.

20 mintutes tops. right?
wrong. so wrong.

setup alone took a good 40 minutes thanks to my tiny house. also, children seem to have a fascination with anything they're not allowed to touch. like setup stands. light. white blankets (for the love of God- do NOT touch that white blanket with your toddler hands). etc etc.

eventually i set up & attempted to wrangle them in. i shook a bowl of m&m's in front of their faces (much like you would do with a puppy) & this got their attention. but said attention was soley focused on getting m&m's (& marshmallows for brynn) into their mouths.

"alex, smile!"
"no! more?"
"ok- but only if you smile..."
"...no...::lip shakes, eyes fill up, tears flow::"
"ok ok- fine. here! see? m&m is yummy! please stop crying!"
::happy alex. unhappy me::

bribery fail.

and brynn- she was actually a little better. but she just kept moving. you know, like babies do. the nerve.

eventually i called it & they somehow got their hands on the entire bowl of candy/marshmallows.

we won't discuss that.

out of 100+ shots i got those 2 up there. both girls clearly have marshmallows in their mouths & brynn's smile can only just be called that. barely.

but whatever. i did it. i win. go me.

in other news. it's Thanksgiving week. i have the rest of the week "off".
i'm stoked for an addtl 4 days with the girls. i'm also wary that they've already devised a plan to make me question ever taking time off again.

we shall see.

so this week is going to be filled with playing, diapers, milk, Yo Gabba Gabba, baking, cooking, pictures, naps & attempting to reason with 2 little girls.

i'll also be doing a sweet Canvas4Life review/giveaway. think, Christmas gift ideas...score.

happy Monday!
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Monday, November 14, 2011

you understand- right?

it's been over a week since i last updated.

if i told you i'm cringing over that fact would you forgive me?

i'm not gonna lie- i looked down at my calendar last week & i couldn't believe it was already wednesday. then friday. then...my bad.

you've all heard my excuses- i'm tired. tired. tired. busy. sick. so much to do. tired some more. work. play. errands. more sick. diaper rash- etc etc. so i'm just going to recycle all of those. because once again:

- we are battling a diaper rash. i cannot wrap my head around a child sitting in a poopy diaper long enough to aquire a rash. but that's what went down on friday. the husband picked up the girls (from my in law's) & when brynn started screaming, not even 30 min after they go home, & i took a gander in her diaper- ugh. so much red. so sore. her poor little butt.
i was furious. in fact, i'm still annoyed. i do understand that rashes happen- but come on. so this weekend had me watching for every poop & pee & running around cleaning up after the trail my diaperless 11 month old left.

it's better today. but the girls are at my mother's (another location where rashes seem to occur) & all i can do is hold my breath for a bottom that look at least the same, if not better.

- i am truly busy. i've had a couple of shoots (yay) among other things & plus it's hunting season. which means many hours sitting in the woods doing God knows what (the husband- not me) which leaves me with the girls. which is fine. but busy.

- the holidays are fast approaching. this means cooking, baking, making gifts (i'm cheap this year), getting cards ordered, cleaning, etc etc

- brynn's 1st birthday is also coming. it's going to be small but still- cards to order, a meal to plan, a cake to bake. the works.

- life crap. we (or should i say the husband) own a condo aside from our home. we couldn't sell it when we bought our house so the husband's brother moved in with the intention of renting it until he could buy it. long story short- that didn't work out. a year later, my father moved in- but rent free. finally we decided we needed rent- so my younger brother moved in last month & we thought we were good.
...yeah. not so much. now he can't pay. so out he goes. and once again we're left with paying another mortgage.
so now i'm rushing to replace the carpets, clean & update & hopefully get this place rented out to someone who IS NOT family.
paying 2 mortgages + childcare (which = more than our mortgage) is NOT fun. at all. in fact, it's downright depressing & slightly stressful.

- the list goes on.

i'm really not complaining (well, perhaps a tad) but sometimes i just want to sit down & not have to worry about anything. work, bills, children, husband, life, cars, animals, other people...

but that's not how things work. so i pull up my bootstraps & make time & energy for everything.

then again- looking back at my list- should i really even be complaining at all? so many people are dealing with so many more things. things that i can't even imagine or being to try & comprehend. some of the things i mentioned aren't even "bad" things.

the holidays? those are wonderful. just busy.
so should that be something that tires & annoys me? probably not.
but am i tired & annoyed? yes.

goodness- now i feel guilty.
perhaps you should disregard everything you just read because in all reality- my life is wonderful. & normal. & full of so much. even if that "so much" does include exhaustion & way too much laundry.

and this, people, is how my brain works 24/7. wavering bwtween guilt & justification. frustration & happiness. contentment & selfishness.
i'm not the only one- am i?

i'm going to blame this random rambling entry on the fact that brynn kept me up until 12:30 this morning. & i had to be up by 4. yeah- you do the math.

anyway- if you've made it through the above, here is a gift for you eyes.

i had a shoot @ the most beautiful location this past weekend.

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right? ok. i feel a little better now.
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Friday, November 4, 2011

the girls

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happy weekend
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Wednesday, November 2, 2011

a few things i'm excited about

#1. Breaking Dawn

Twilight Breaking Dawn Banner

it's no secret that i'm a Twi-hard.
bad writing & lameness aside- these books sucked me in from the get go. i read all 4 in 3 days. i barely slept & i got irrationaly angry & sad at all the right moments. when i closed the final book i cursed Stephanie Meyers for what she had done to me.

vampires? real & hot? able to sparkle, run faster than light & resist their desires for human blood?

no way. but...maybe? omg. ::squee::

i proudly proclaim myself Team Jacob & have no qualms over standing in line at the theater, dressed in sensible jeans, a fleece jacket & Dansko clogs; all the while surrounded by 100+ 12 year old girls in copious amounts of eyeliner & skintight black clothing.

while they giggle about how hot & smoldering Edward is i'm thinking "bish please. you wouldn't know what to do with him if he came with a manual."

...not that i would either (or want to, because hello, i'm married. duh) because let's be honest- vampires are cold & bloodless right? so how do...certain "things" actually even happen? i mean, i took sex ed & i know a little bit about the human body & things aren't adding up.
i am well aware that a bed or 2 is broken, feathers go flying, bella blushes & a horribly named little vampire/human girl is conceived - but if we want to get technical...NO! nevermind- let's just let certain things remain a mystery.

these books had me embracing my inner teen & all 3 movies have allowed me 2 hours each of uninterrupted made up shit bliss.
so i cannot wait for 11.18.11 (well, let's be realistic & make that 11.26, maybe later. because i'm too old & tired to go to opening night & then it's Thanksgiving week & i have to be a mature adult & roast a turkey while rolling out dough for a pumpkin pie. so yeah, let's just say sometime in late November- yay!)

#2: The Hunger Games

thg

this is another semi-teen series that had me holding my breath, choosing sides & wiping away tears. though not nearly as lame as overly attractive vampires with hearts of gold- i still have to admit that these are way below an adult reading level...and i love them.

i polished off the series in 2 days (because i have a job & kids & blah blah blah) & crowed with delight when i discovered that they would be making them into a movie.
then they started putting out promo posters & cast interviews- and it's like Twilight all over again.
i.can.not.wait.

p.s. i'm team Peeta. all the way.

#3. Brynn turning 1

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just kidding. i refuse to believe my child is almost a "toddler". ignorance is bliss & i'm going to embrace said ignorance & cling to my baby.

#4. Thanksgiving

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family togetherness & thankful thoughts. good thoughts & wishing people well. yadda yadda. whatevers.
the truth is, i'm excited because i love turkey. i also love mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie & cranberry sauce...and eating so much food that it's really not ok but it kinda is because IT'S THANKSGIVING YA'LL!


#5. Decorating for Christmas & listening to Christmas Music.

i've made a vow (for the husband's sake) that i'll do neither until after Thanksgiving. so at the crack of dawn on Nov 26th i'll be throwing down with some tinsel & Christmas tree lights.
bring it.

and that's it. for now.
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