Easter Sunday, And A Milestone!
Posted by Amanda on Friday, April 5, 2013.No Comments »
I'm surprising Jeffry & Sadie with a trip to NOLA in two weeks to see their favorite show live - Yo Gabba Gabba.
I am known for taking a zillion pics of the kiddos and leaving them on my memory card. The only time I pull out the laptop to edit pics is when I need one for something, like Christmas cards or for one of Sadie's pageants.
When I got my new iPad, I bought an SD card reader to connect to it, thinking it would be an easy way to dump images and browse through them quickly. I found an Adobe PhotoShop Express app in the app store and downloaded it, thinking it would probably be marginally better than Instagram.
I was pleasantly surprised! I can now adjust my exposure, saturation, and contrast with a flick of the finger. I can also sharpen images, crop, and reduce noise as well. I printed out a few test prints locally to check the quality - I wouldn't use the app for enlargements or wall-hangers, but for snapshots and 5x7 prints, they are of pretty decent quality.
Adobe PhotoShop Express is a free app - there is a newer version called Adobe PhotoShop Touch that I plan to download and play around with soon.
Here's a few side by side comparisons of the SOOC (straight out of camera) and PS app edited pics:
Since Jeffry so graciously shared his croup with Sadie, I had to stay home with her earlier in the week and keep her dosed up on steroids and nebulizer treatments. I had to make a stop at the grocery store on the way home from her appointment to pick up a few things for dinner, and she begged to go to our local store "with the baby buggies."
I started this blog as a way to disconnect and connect at the same time. I know it sounds confusing, but hear me out.
With iPhones and apps and tablets everywhere, it seems like everyone claims to be so connected to everyone, whether it's through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or the next latest and greatest thing that promises to keep you up to date with your friends. But next time you're out and about, just look around. How many people are fixed to their phones or devices, scrolling through feeds or furiously tapping out status updates?
Over the past five years or so, I have amassed hundreds of "friends" on Facebook. Many of these are people I have contact with daily - family members, long time friends, and coworkers. Many more of them are people that I casually know, or who are friends of friends that I have no contact with. And the majority are people that I, in some way, had a connection with at one point in time and never spoke to again.
Random business contacts, online retailers, and reposted contest entries are what clutters up my devices. I've spent so much wasted time weeding through irrelevant postings and "likes" and "shares" to get to the few posts from people that I connect with regularly. And in the evenings, during the little free time I have at home with my family, I've been zoned out in front of an iPad, oblivious to what is going on around me.
When my children have to compete with a device for my attention, it's time to disconnect a little - so that's why I've started this blog. It's something that I can easily update when I'm away from home - not tying up my family time - and can keep my close friends and family updated on what's going on in our lives.
Everyday photos, video clips, and the random kid-quotes that I would normally share on Instagram and Facebook won't be posted there anymore, and will instead be published on the blog. It can easily be organized and will be something that will chronologically document the new things Jeffry & Sadie are doing and learning.
Later on down the road, everything will be chronicled here, and (hopefully) they'll want to go back and read some of the quirky and funny things their Momma wrote down here because she wanted to be able to remember and tell them about it when they were bigger. And that's just something you can't get from a Pinterest board or a Twitter feed.
I'm inviting everyone who's reading this to check back often and interact with me here, since I won't be updating Facebook or Instagram any longer. Comment on photos and posts, ask questions, and laugh at some of the crazy things my kiddos are doing and saying. While I'm disconnecting in some ways, I'm connecting in others, and greatly looking forward to it.
~ Amanda