Jolene's Memory Keeping

Any Animal House fans?

2010-06-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

I decided since I hadn't done a blog post in a while I would tell you all about some local history. By a show of hands how many people have seen the John Bulushi movie Animal House?

Well I don't know how many people know that it was filmed here in Lane County Oregon. A lot of movies have been filmed in Oregon but most of them have been filmed up north. Twilight and Goonies being the 2 most popular. But Lane County's claim to fame is Animal House. Although if you have seen the movie it's almost embarrassing and if you haven't seen it all I should have to say is National Lampoon's and you will probably get the gist of what kind of comedy it is.

The majority of the movie was filmed on campus at the University Of Oregon. The parade scene was filmed 30 minutes south in Cottage Grove (for the anniversary of the movie they held a huge toga party in C.G. ) and then there was a scene at the Dexter Lake Club.

Inside the club was filmed somewhere else but the front of the actual Dexter Lake Club was a hilarious scene where the guys from the movie hit almost every car in the parking lot trying to get out of there!

Yesterday on my latest geocaching adventure we were sent to the Dexter lake club to find a cache.

The view from the infamous parking lot is so pretty (this picture doesn't do it justice.)

Unfortunately it is for sale right now. It's sad that a piece of history like this (albeit a small piece of history) is just going to be sold, it would be a great tourist attraction if someone fixed it up and marketed it as a tourist stop.Maybe with some memorabilia and pictures from the movie? Would be cool.Incase anyone is interested in buying it Dexter Lake Club is a little under 30 minutes from Eugene and could be a great opportunity.

Geochaching...or why I haven't been on the computer lately

2010-04-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

I had been curious about this hobby for a while now and finally decided to try it. I found I really enjoy it :)

So, what is GeoCaching (pronounced Geo Cash ing)? When I descride it to most people I say it's like a huge treasure hunt, not to be confused with a scavenger hunt.A scavenger hunt you have specific things on a list you are looking for. Geocaching you are given coordinates to locations posted on geocaching.com. These will lead you to places where other people have hid "caches" which can be anything from the size of your pinky nail to a 10 gallon tub. Inside these caches you can find anything from a log sheet that you leave your mark on or SWAG (basically stuff you have around the house that you may or may not use.) Mostly toys from happy meals are considered swag.

Our family name and the kids displaying swag.

Not just a family hobby, because some of these can be quite tough. They send you on hikes in the forrest which I absolutley love. Once you find a cache you log your visit on the paper log if it isn't soaked and if you take some swag you need to replace it with other swag.

Me signing the log.

you would be amazed what you can find in your local area. right now my area within a 20 mile radius has 1290 caches. At first we didn't have gps so i was using google maps to help me pin point coords. We found a lot of golf balls and very few caches.

I broke down and we went to a pawn shop and bought a gps (garmen etrex) from $60.00 (usd) since then we have now found a total of 38 caches in the month we have been doing this. It's really a lot of fun. I highly recomend it.

PS sorry for some of the pictures being so big I havem't resized them because I haven't been on the computer much :)

Day at the Oregon Coast

2010-04-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

His little footproints across the sand.

My sister

my review of Alice in Wonderland

2010-03-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

(spoiler alert~ Oh yeah and I have only seen the movie twice so if I get any quotes wrong, forgive me.)

Alice "sometimes I think of 6 impossible things before breakfast."

Hatter "that's a wonderful practice but for now you should focus on one."

1. There is a potion that will make you shrink.

2. There is a cake that can make you grow

3. Animals can talk

4. Cats can disappear

5. There is a place called Wonderland

6. I can slay the Jabberwaukie.

I love the classic Alice in Wonderland tale. I also love movies. What is a good indicator that I loved a movie? I get obsessed with it! (Twilight Saga, Rent, Wizard of Oz, Titanic.) However on a scale of 1-10, 10 being obsessed...I give Alice in Wonderland a 9.

Things I loved!

~Alice's pretty costume changes. The way the outfits just drape on her is great. I especially loved her Um from Umbrage dress (big and little) but sadly could not find a picture of it on the Internet to steal.

~Johnny Depp's rendition of the Mad Hatter! I heard one argument that Helena Bonham Carter's red queen. I personally didn't think so. I have hated some of Johnny Depps characters in the past...namely the tripped out reporter in Leaving Las Vegas.But I loved the Hatter! He had so many different dimensions childlike, protector, comforting and rebel!!

Things I Liked.

~The script. It was so quotable. Beyond just the regular Alice in Wonderland quotes. "off with her head!" "beware the jabberwauk""why is a raven like a writing desk?" but new ones that I really like for instance the 6 impossible things I listed at the beginning of this blog and my new random line "down with the bloody big head!"

~The Red Queen. She was "cute." not the best word for a mean mad women but she reminded me of my 6 year old! She threw a fit when she didn't get her way, wanted everyone to pay attention to her and worship her. (hey that is a lot like my 6 year old!!!!!!!!!!! LOL) I do wish that they did make her go a little more mad so that it would be more believable that she was feared.

What I didn't like. :(

~For a Tim Burton movie I expected a lot more imagination and magic. When Alice enters wonderland through the door it's perfect, very whimsical. I liked the red queens castle as well. But after that the background was just that background. I could have easily watched the whole thing in front of a green screen and received the same effect. Wonderland is not just about the characters. It is a huge place that as a little girl I really wanted to get lost in. i do not want to be in Tim Burton's Wonderland.

~Missing characters. i am sure because of story line it was necessary to get rid of these character's but I did miss them. One being the white knight. I guess the Hatter took his place at times but you got to love the old knight who must serve the white queen until he dies. The other 2 don't play a huge role in the Alice in Wonderland story but the moral of their story within the story is very important. That would be the walrus and the carpenter....The time has come the walrus said to speak of many things....come on! sigh oh well.

So that's just my opinion I would love to hear yours. comment please!

Learning to Crochet

2010-03-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

I am excited to announce that I am learning how to crochet....it's not as hard as I thought it would be but I am still learning. Not sure if I am making a pot holder or ???? but I will share the finished project, if I ever finish it :)

An Emotional Day

2010-03-07T09:13:00.000-08:00

Today is my son's 3rd birthday and i must say he has turned out to be such a handsome little man.

I will spare you any gory details but wanted to share what an emotional day it is for me. You see shortly after we learned I was pregnant with him my mother in law moved down to Orange County California...She was really happy to hear we were having a boy. A week after we found out though, she unfortunately passed away. There is no nice way to say this, my husband is a big mamma's boy so he was of course devastated when she left. He was so depressed at that point in time that he said having Brighton at that time was bad timing. I know now that he didn't mean it the way it came out but it was still hurtful.

I had to be induced because I guess my body just doesn't like to progress the way I think it should (My daughter was induced as well) so we went in at 8 am and started the process...It was a long day and no matter how many times people tell you each pregnancy is different you never think it is until you go through it. Compared to my nightmare labor with Mckenna (I couldn't even tell you all that happened with her because most of it I don't remember because of a mess up with the drugs) everything happened in slow motion. Every contraction felt like a roller coaster only backwards, you get the pit of your stomach feeling building up to the peak and then relief coming down.

During the really bad part of my contractions though my hubby in his depressed state was distant (wishing his mom was there) and not very helpful. Thankfully he did a little bit better when it came time to push. 5:29 pm on March 7th 2007 Brighton Dawson was born. Almost 8 lbs 21 inches long with a 13inch head. And of course he was precious!

I held on to him for most of the day and took care of him that night as well (My husband let me sleep after Mckenna was born so this time it was my turn to stay awake with the new baby.) I was so happy and thankful that he was finally there in my arms. I had had 3 miscarriages before he came along so I spent most of my pregnancy praying he would stay with me.Words could not truly express how I felt about finally holding my lil man.

As we were getting ready to leave the nurses insisted that he wear a hat because he was so new and little. The only hat they could find was a crocheted red cap...a sign from heaven. Brian's mom loved crafts and her favorite color was red....you decide.

Love Love Love

2010-02-23T22:23:00.001-08:00

Here it is the end of Febuary and I have written much here in a while so I thought I would do a little post (again.)

First of all, like the picture? This was my look for the Winter Formal that my office threw lately. My husband even bought a suit for the ocassion ( or maybe just an excuse to buy one) and we ended up staying for only an hour...alas we are not the ritzy type.

Valentines day was nice but somewhat uneventful...

So on to March, and much will be going on! First of all it will be Brighton's 3rd birthday...*sighP no longer a baby. The day after as silly as it may sound it will be our 8th year anniversary...we have been married for 5 years but acctually got together 8 years ago. It's gone by so fast and I know most people don't celebrate thier original get together anniversary after they get married but we are still so in love...

How did I know he was the one? Well one night while we were out the subject came up about us being a couple. I was still seeing my high school sweetheart casually, but we didn't want the same things. I was still holding out for him though so I explained this to Brian . He didn't even blink an eye. He told me to talk to for mentioned "sweetie" and see what he wanted.No matter what he would be there for me and he would wait for me if he had to. :) That's what hooked me, I made the choice to be with him that night and we have been together ever since.

"Wait, what about your high school sweetheart?"

Good question. We stayed friends for a while after that and eventually he got married and has a couple kids of his own. We haven't spoken in a while and I still hold a lil soft spot for him but that is the way life goes.

Anyone have a simular experiance? How did you know your honey was the one?

Waterfalls

2010-02-05T18:26:00.000-08:00

You will notice that when I get the chance I love to take road trips...and pictures. Living in the part of Oregon I live in, I don't understand how any Oregonian can not be an out doors person. Even just a little bit. An hour in one direction we have mountains, an hour the other direction we have the coast. As long as you have a vehicle that can make the trip and the spare gas it is a nice way to waste the day away.

Tuesday we packed up the trust north west standerd S.U.V. and went up to Sahalie and Koosah Falls. http://web.oregon.com/hiking/sahalie_falls.cfm

the sign at the begining of the trail

There was still some snow and ice up there, keep in mind I live in the Willamette Valley which means that it usually doesn't snow more then a couple an inches a year down here so when we want to see snow we drive up to the mountains.

My daughter was in school so we took my son.

so pretty there! If you get a chance, stop by.

until next time....thanks for viewing

Style? What style?

2010-02-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

So upon lots of consideration this morning I came to the realization that I just can not stick with one "Style". I love love love reading the vintage style blogs and will still continue to make attempts...but alas for this girl it is a little too much up keep. I'm not that high maintance, give me a hooded sweatshirt and a pair of jeans any day!

So where does that leave me? Out of the box. I am a little bit of everything. As described on my myspace page I am a foo foo bad ass red neck hippi in a insecure shell...that fits. Just thought I would share :)

my first product review!

2010-01-26T15:54:00.001-08:00

photo courtesy of Soap And Glory. com

Ok so I am not some kind of expert on beauty products or style but I wanted to share my opinion of Soap and Glory's Off Your Face cleansing cloths- available at Target.

I noticed the product first on Lisa Freemont Street's blog. Just a quick mention about Soap and Glory's retro product line...as she hadn't had the chance to try it out. I didn't really pay attention to it much since I don't normally find myself in Target.

But low and behold yesterday I was in Target looking for make up remover. Knowing my new slight obsession with vintage things my sister spotted the product line before I did.

They have a wide variety of products. Not only do they have cosemetics and skin care products, but they also have gift ideas and fragrences. All cutely marketed with retro looking advertising.

So I figured since I had a few extra dollars I gradded this off the shelf. Odbviously this is not really ment to be make up remover, but it works. This product reminds me more of Oxy or Clean and Clear cleansing pads but without the harsh burn of alcohol. They are also really soft with no harsh smell. I had to giggle when I read the ingredient list on thier website: Poreshrink-rs, glycerin and parfum.

I might be checking out some more of thier products when I get the chance to go back to Target. Check out thier website!http://www.soapandglory.com/us/

When did I become such a homebody?

2010-01-19T22:52:00.001-08:00

Tonight I kind of feel like this picture. But trust me this isn't how I see myself at all! I used to go out every night, once I started having kids of course that slowed down a lot. I used to jump at the chance of going out (after the kids are in bed and I know some one is there to watch them if they wake up...I have a household full of people by the way.) but tonight I passed. By Choice.

And then I ask myself...why???? As previously mentioned I used to love going out. So what is different about now? Have I grown out of the bar scene, yes but doesn't mean I couldn't still go out and have a good time.

The only thing I can think of is that Friday is my 29Th birthday. My last year to be "in my twenties". I have heard lots of people say 30 is the new 20...I'll believe it when I see it. Am I scared to be 30? NO,if I was scared of being twenty I would be having a mid life crisis going hog wild!

I maybe a little sad that I am getting older but I am that is no reason to stay home...right? Idk if anyone reads this let me know what you think.

SHamlessly promoting my friend

2010-01-08T17:29:00.001-08:00

So I'm not very popular right now, well not at all actually lol, but I wanted to promote my friends new venture. She is really good at knitting and her first creation is this.

I will be purchasing one very shortly ( I actually owe her a lot) and hope to be modeling it soon. I think it is clever, a cap that you can actually wear a pony tail with! If anyone is interested right now that comes across this blog -currently she is only on Artfire under the name KPKnits. :)

Some Christmas Pictures

2009-12-27T19:14:00.000-08:00

Thought I would share some Christmas pictures, Enjoy!

Our Christmas tree, "enhanced" but yes this was out tree.

Present from Santa for one special little princess.

Present from Santa, our little drummer boy

Fun opening presents!!!

Proud Oregon Duck fan, my MOM :)

A gift for both of them to enjoy :)

and last but not least...

My Nephew, wearing his Christmas present from my daughter :)

Hope everyone had a great Christmas, thanks for stopping by!

Special Ornaments

2009-12-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

Everyone should have a special ornament to hang on the tree. It creates such a memory and makes decorating the tree just a lil more special.

These as you can tell are my kids first ornaments . Both have a bear theme...hmm maybe all of theirs will. They are still young so I have time to decide that :) They also each have a silver bell ornament with their first initial on it. Putting up these ornaments is like getting to unwrap a early present especially to my daughter. She was so happy to hang her own on the tree. Being the oldest she also gets to put the star on the tree, it's cute to see my husband lift her up to put it up there.

This is one of a dozen of my porcelain angels. I begged my mom for them when I was an adult with my own Christmas tree. I need to research it a bit more but these angels are my lil bit of vintage for the holidays as they are keepsakes from before my mom was born. I'm not really sure how old they are but for me they are a huge connection between my grandma and me (as far as I know she bought them.)
Do you have a special ornament? I'd love to hear about it

pin curls, a lil better this time.

2009-12-10T18:20:00.000-08:00

I was not 100% pleased with this attempt and I know what I am doing wrong but still not bad turn out. What do you think?

Springfield Christmas Parade

2009-12-05T16:58:00.001-08:00

I have been going to the Springfield Christmas Parade since I was a little girl. Growing up in a small town like Springfield Oregon it is just one of the staples of childhood around here. I was in it several times for Girl Scouts. I could tell you horror stories about walking in the "oldest and coldest parade in the North West." Today it was only 33 degrees outside but at least it didn't rain or hail :)

Springfield is a small town but we can throw a pretty good parade. Although most of the entries are either old cars or logging trucks.

This cute dog got tired of the parade quickly

And of course what would a Christmas Parade be with out Old St. Nick?

I'm looking forward to posting a lot more about Springfield and the surrounding area in the next year. I hope you enjoyed my little glimpse of the Springfield Christmas Parade.

Donna Reed Wanna be

2009-11-28T17:25:00.000-08:00

Ah the perfect family. Growing up I stayed up so very late in elementary school to watxh nick at night and the Donna Reed Show. How perfect was she? Pretty dresses, pretty hair always had dinner ready and a clean house and entertained guest. She was the perfect mom and I SOOOOOOO wanted to be her. Still do! Not realistic for todays day and age but wouldn't it be nice if we could just make it look this simple and perfect????

pin up attempts

2009-11-15T14:02:00.000-08:00

I will continue to try, maybe this blog will some day reflect my growth into style lol. Again inspired I took to trying to put my hair up in pin curls!

So much harder then it looks!

Butt... I was successful at doing my sisters hair!

So what did I learn this time???It's easier to mess with someone else's hair (especially since her hair is much shorter and will take a curl!) and once again my hair is way way too long. Maybe I should try to cut my own hair next...what kind of disaster could I do to myself?

My Smile Bites Contest

2009-11-12T19:45:00.001-08:00

why not post this here too incase anyone stumbles upon it. Please vote.
http://www.1800dentist.com/Default.aspx?DN=09ffcb37-e17a-44f1-ad0b-a4ca70329e32

little darling

2009-11-07T19:47:00.000-08:00

Tonight I had the whim to try my hand at some portraits. I had my tall hubby hang our good white sheet ( A really fancy sheet that we received as a wedding present that we thought was too nice to ever use LOL ) played with some lighting a bit and went to work so to speak. My son is a little too squirly to sit still for mommy pictures just yet so I got very few of him but my 6 year old photo diva is always willing to put up with me :) especially since I let her "dress up."

As I started to download the pictures and use my favorite free editing tool...we can't all own Photoshop, it prompted me that there was a new beta available! Yippie I was as giddy as a child at Christmas!!!! So I did a few of my normal tricks to see what the difference was. Here is two of my attempts.

Nothing spectacular had changed, they updated a few of the graphics but didn't add any tools...I guess what can I really ask for free? If anyone wants to know what I use or how I do the little graphics I do... feel free to ask.

Halloween '09

2009-11-01T17:49:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a great halloween!!I woke up at 3:30 a.m. just so I could do my hair for work (I work at 5 am pacific time so all you people on the east coast can have a 800 number and talk to someone who's first language is English.) I was a little disapointed that more co-workers did not dress up. It's the one time a year you can act like a kid again and be someone else for a day...why wouldn't you want to do that? So my quest for a 50's dress that would fir me didn't work out that great. Lots of 70's dresses near hippi town here (Eugene) but 50's was harder to come by. The ones I did find were too small for me...hmm wonder if I should start a little etsy shop? So I went to walley world and found a button up dress for $10 as well as a really cute garter belt :)

I had a lot of fun taking the kids trick or treating, Aren't they adoreable?

Hope everyone had a really great Halloween!

victory rolls ???

2009-10-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

So as I have already said I like the pin up look, but have never really mastered it myself. Last night I got a wild hair to try it. I wanted to blog about it and what came up to this. After watching several tutorials on you tube and some failed tries this is what i have discovered. Let me tell you that I have tried almost all the tutorials. Even the "cheating ones" to where they are feau victory rolls. My hair is extremely long , well too long for my taste at the moment. So i started to think none of the conventional ways would work for me. It took about an hour for my original bangs post I did a while back and even that did not turn out quite the way I wanted to. I have several splint ends right now to so just looping and rolling my hair around my fingers the authentic way was getting really sloppy.

I came across a tutorial where a girl used foam curlers and hid them well enough in her hair that she still got the look of the victory roll but my hair is also extremely thin. So every time I tried this technique I could not hide the curler as much as i tried.I also saw several tutorials with girls who just twisted their hair so it looked like victory rolls. This also did not work for me because with thin hair comes flat volume less hair. *sigh* so I was frustrated.

Then one night while playing with my hair I finally figured out a technique that just might work. Instead of starting at the base of my hair "the vintage way" I grabbed the section of my hair that i needed and used one hand to hold up the hair putting the section of hair in between my fingers (think "live long and prosper"). then i would wrap the hair around two of the fingers not to tight but not too loose. I needed room to pull my fingers out but still be able to hold the curl...tricky and hard to do I admit. Probably the long way too and if you do not get it the first couple of times your arms get really tired of being on top of your head. Pin like crazy and spray with hair spray. Since my hair is really long I did not roll my hair all the way up. i had a little over an inch on each side that I had to pin back...but here is my end result.

If anyone has some suggestions on how I can do this better and faster I would really appreciate it. I will be going as a pin up girl trick or treating with my kidlins so there will probably be another set of pictures next week.

2009-10-22T17:49:00.000-07:00

I'll get the hang of posting these the right way eventually. Any way that cute little "comic strip" was during our trip to Lone Pine Farms about 3 miles outside of Eugene. This place is great and I jumped at the chance when my work decided to throw a little event there. On any given weekend the place is packed. There are hayrides, photo ops, tons of stuff to do and see. For the older folk there is a haunted hotel and a haunted corn maze.

Last year I ventured there with the kids by myself...huge mistake it was so stressful to try to keep both kids entertained and out of trouble. I was thnakful to have brian with me this time.

I didn't start going to pumkin patches until I was in high school but have been trying to go every year since. It is so much fun and I highly recomend it...a whole lot better then picking that perfectly round one in the cardboard box at the grocery store. Happy Halloween everyone!

My day at the cemetery

2009-10-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

I know a lot of people that don't like cemeteries. Even more would think I am a weirdo to even want to hang around one, especially taking pictures in it and not knowing a single soul that was buried there...personally. But I am drawn to cemeteries for a few different reasons. So let me explain my favorite way by sharing these pictures.

#1 History!
Take for instance these pictures I took yesterday at the Eugene Masonic Cemetery.

The more notable historical pictures in that selection above start with the bottom picture, the first settler and namesake of Eugene. The Abbey pictured in the middle was modeled after a roman mausoleums and inside they have a time capsule that is not to be opened until 2914...it was put there by the Masons in 1914...you can only imagine what might be in there! The top left picture is really sad. Somewhere in that bit of forest is supposed to be the remains of Wiley Griffen one of who knows how many African Americans that actually lived in our area years and years ago. There is no marker to remember him and I think that is a huge problem...but a common problem at this cemetery, I will explain why in a little bit.

#2 The stones
Tombstones not only tell who a person was and how long they lived but some of them are so ornate that they really are just interesting to look at.

I tried to make the dedication on the one stone easier to read...it really is sad and beautiful at the same time and reminds me of the dedication to Hero in Much Ado About Nothing.

But alas...The Eugene Masons have a lot of work on their hands. They started restoring this cemetery about ten years ago it had not been taken care of in years. I remember the first time I stumbled upon it driving around town on a dark night and seeing tombstones on the side of the hill. It scared me at first. The next time I found it was a couple of months later in the day light...it had wild grass and bushes all over the place and you could not tell how big it actually was. Yesterday was the first time in the last ten years that I was actually able to explore the cemetery with my sister. I liked it of course but then was really disappointed to see the condition of some of the headstones.

I circled the stones in the pictures that were hidden behind brush. It is so sad to see how this cemetery seemed to have gotten forgotten through the years...and the "non historical people" are not kept up??? That is what I call disrespectful. I plan on putting my name down to volunteer next time they do clean up but it probably will not be until next spring/ summer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Slightly off subject I also stopped by this fireplace on the north side of Skinner's Butte. Thought I would share these pictures too because it's still kind of interesting.

Day at the Oregon Coast

2009-10-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

50 miles west of Eugene is Florence Oregon. Florence is not as popular as Newport or Tillamook but it isn't a city to miss either.

The one bad thing about most of Oregon's coastal beach access parks is that you have to pay, usually about $5. When most people think of going to the beach though they think of nice warm weather...not so much here. It's most of the time very windy and cold. It's best to bring jackets but we also brought kites.

Seeing as how we didn't have the kids with us and we haven't been kids ourselves in what seems to be forever we decided that kites would be a great idea! Too bad we forgot how to put them together :( My sister Shari and my kite not only decided to rip very badly but they decided to spin rather then fly and get tangled together...my husband's kite (he choose Bumble Bee from Transformers) flew like a pro! And to think we made fun of his choice at first.

We also visited Sea Lion Caves, a must see at least once to get over your curiosity but only once if you can help it, the access price for this is $12 a person and for a trip down a almost 50 year old elevator 200 feet down to the cave...well that is your call. Not for the faint of heart but before they installed the elevator you had to climb down stairs , I think that would have been worse. I pay mainly for the photo ops! The adorable Sea Lion statue and the most photographed lighthouse in the west ! Heceta (pronounced ha see ta) is interesting but I chose not to venture up the coast any further...would like to take the kids to that one.

Then we went to the Three Rivers Casino, or what I like to call it the ATM.I spent $21 and walked out of there with $240 :) (my hubby won $99 and my sister LOST $60) So today I went and bought myself a new camera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So hope to be posting a lot more blogs here soon !

Happy B day Boo!

2009-09-26T22:25:00.000-07:00

Wednesday is Brian's 29th birthday...wow time flies! I'm excited because we get to go to the casino on the 6th to celebrate...still wish I had a camera to document it though...sigh maybe Christmas. But Happy B day Boo!

my thoughts on blogging

2009-09-15T12:34:00.000-07:00

So i feel almost like this is a wast of e-space for me to write this short little blog but i felt the desire to post my opinion on my blogger experiance thus far. I used to blog to get my emotions out...although poetic eventually got me in a little trouble with my husband. I came across Casey's Elegent Musings in July and that opened my eyes to the world of wonderful ladies who are brave enough to live life vintage and blog about it and have these wonderful etsy shops and I just got so excited i follow Strawberry Koi vintage and Vixen Vintage and Oh kirby...all are wonderfully gorgeous and write such interesting articles . So i was inspried to write my own, I enjoy photography and photo editing but am not vintage lol at least not outwordly. So I have to admit I have been getting a little upset everytime I check my blog to see I have no followers and as far as i can tell a couple people have looked at my blog.

I know blogging is not a popularity contest but please if you are looking at this blog, even just passing by, leave a little comment. I like sharing my photos and memories but if no one is enjoying it with me then well, its a little sad. Thanks

one last summer memory

2009-09-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

Since I had to wait until i had money to develop the disposable cameras i used at the Portland Zoo I didn't have these pictures in the goodbye summer blog. yes i spelled disposable wrong on the picture because I hate point and clicks, how are you supposed to get a decent picture with these ancient things lol. I used to think i was good at taking pictures hmmm...can't wait til I get a camera!

goodbye summer

2009-09-06T17:28:00.000-07:00

I had a fun summer and so did the kids... too bad my camera had to suffer for it. Oh well I will have a new camera soon ..... hopefully!

A few miles away (Sahalie Falls)

2009-09-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by one of the blogs I subscribe to. I didn't ask her permission to say who it was so I will leave that out for right now...not too many people read my blog right now anyway. Getting off track!

Anyway, the whole idea is that just driving a little ways here in my home state of Oregon you can see such amazing sights. This particular water fall is one of at least 15 I know of and have visited in the last 6 years. I used to call it waterfall hunting it was so fun to pack my daughter in the car and go looking for waterfalls. Wether we found them just by drving down a major freeway or going down a service road. They never disapoint.

I think I will highlight Sahalie falls in this entry. Mainly because of my computer crash in dec 07 I lost almost all the other pictures i had of waterfalls in and around Lane County.Here is a geneal information link about the falls. http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/willamette/recreation/tripplanning/pointsofinterest/sahalie_koosah.html

My memories of the falls started when I was really young, maybe 5 or 6 years old as a pit stop on our way out to sisters to see a rock garden. (exciting huh). I had been there several times since. Once when it was completely surrounded by snow which is pretty much 60% of the year since it is up in The Cascades. This is one of the most photographed waterfalls in Oregon and if you have ever watched the movie Homeward bound, the cat~ Sassy goes supposibly goes over this same waterfall.

I took this photo of Sahalie the last time we visited which was actually last summer , some great memories.

memories of the county fair

2009-08-24T17:12:00.000-07:00

Ahh memories of the county fair growing up...testing my bravery by going on the scary rides, elephant ears, great music- all together a lot of fun!

These were taken last year, we are going to try to go to the state fair this year...even bigger and better :)

Last year they had Alaskan racing pigs and my daughter was picked as a section leader for the pig named strawberry. Strawberry won! They gave my daughter a ribbon for picking the winning pig....hmm next time i should take her to the track. JUST KIDDING!!!

So to see if i get any comments hehe, what is your favorite memory of the county fair? Did you ever go to one?

Here's looking at you kid!

2009-08-21T16:58:00.000-07:00

This is my son Brighton. He was born in March of 2007. He is my miracle and the reason why I smile every morning...Good thing I named him such a cheerful name :)

I had 3 miscarriages in between my daughter and him. By my third miscarriage I was doing everything in my power to make sure that he would stay. Every night I asked him to stay with me. A little pathetic maybe but if you have ever had a miscarriage and really wanted to keep the baby then you know how it feels.

After he was born I was still a little paranoid and put a mirror over his bassinet to make sure he was still breathing at night.

I love both my kids equally, every mom says that and deep down they really mean it even though it doesn't always show. Now that I have my boy and my girl...I don't need any more...they complete me.

my nifty doo!

2009-08-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

After watching several tut.s on you tube by 2 of my favorite bloggers I just had to try doing one myself. I have long fine hair so I am lucky if i get my hair to curl but i was really proud of how this turned out...let me know what you think.

i want my ring back

2009-08-14T18:29:00.000-07:00

Figured i would put this out there. I am not very crafty at all, mainly just scrapbook pages. But today i had a lingering feeling that I wanted my spoon ring back. The ring was much like this one shown on the left. only the heart shape was more defined and there was less flowers.

I thought i would go searching for one like it on etsy or e bay with no luck.My ring was so "unique" yet simple, i would have figured there would be lots of them out there....couldn't find a single one. Lots came close, but not to my liking. It was so me, yet was not made for me...i gave it back to the jerk that gave it to me. Now i am wishing that I didn't!

So then I had the idea that I would google how to make one...yeah right! i can try but i am going to ruin tons of poor helpless spoons in the process:( SO if anyone knows how to make one and has an inkling to, please let me know.

cruise

2009-08-13T17:20:00.000-07:00

One thing my family really likes to do during the summer time is go to the local cruise. here are some of my favorite pictures.

My Daughter

2009-08-07T22:23:00.000-07:00

A Little about my daughter, Mckenna. I hardly ever have to pose her. She is naturally this photogenic. SHe thinks of these posses all by herself so her personality really shines through. Only 6 years old and drama queen has always been her nickname. She is a ham and loves attention which makes it reall easy to take tons of pictures of her and play with them.

My little flower girl

2009-08-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

I should say my little model :) My little girl has always given me reasons to take pictures :) You will find out that I take A LOT of pictures of her as my subject. In this case she was the flower girl in a friends wedding and after I curled her hair I knew it was just like mine and I had to take pictures before the curl would fade. here are a few more. Doesn't she look like she belongs in the 40's or 50's?

Thanks for viewing :) ~Jolene

a quick posting

2009-08-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

A mommies day is full of things that need to be done RIGHT NOW so I am posting this really quickly and off i go again.

Ode to my dead camera

2009-08-03T19:53:00.000-07:00

Alas poor camera, you had a good couple of years. You were my best friend for so long. to salute your final hurrah, here are a couple of the last pictures you took.

Now I must search for a new camera, one that can put up with my family :)

My very first post

2009-07-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

I used to blog a lot on myspace, but only my friends were interested in reading it, and very few at that. Once my husband started reading my blogs I backed off on writing them a lot! I would usually blog about my feelings before I told him what was going on...my way of venting. o what inspired me to try to start this up again???

My Inspiration:

Casey's Musings and Strawberry Koi Vintage. (hope they don't mind that i mentioned them)

I loved that they were passionate about there style but mostly all of there pictures. I myself love to take pictures. I found the pictures on there pages so simpley elegent. Somewhat like the photo shoot I set up of my children recentally.

I odviously do a lot of photo editing as well but that's besides the point. The point is that I wanted to blog my art, my pictures, my memories of my life.

oringinally the title Jolene's Memory Keeping was the name of the short lived business venture I tried 3 or 4 years ago. My Idea was to go to nursing homes and assisted living homes to teach them and help them scrapbook. After 1 unsucsessful class where only one resident attended and a miscarriage I let it go thinking that I would just keep scrapbooking at home and share my pictures with friends if they cared to look and comment.

It was going ok for a while but I keep longing for soemthing more, when I saw the previously mentioned blogs/ sites and decided I could give it a try...so Here goes, let me know what you think.