Before & After :: How Photoshop Actions Have Changed My Life

Since Micah decided that she would take good naps yesterday, I was finally able to sort through the pictures we took on Easter, get them edited, and upload them for our friends and family to see. I'm sure that everyone in the whole world has known about photoshop actions for ages, but I only recently discovered them, and they have changed my life. As a communication major at Mississippi State, I took a photography class that covered rudimentary Photoshop skills, and for years, I have relied upon those basics to edit my digital pictures. I'm glad for the foundation I got in that class, but I've always wanted to be able to make my photos pop, and I wondered how other people did it with such ease. Now I know the secret. Photoshop actions. The great thing about many free photoshop actions on the internet is that you don't have to have the full version of Photoshop to use and enjoy them. I have Photoshop CS2, but my favorite actions are available for Photoshop Elements users as well. Yesterday, I used CoffeeShop's Perfect Portrait action to transform this picture of Micah from dull to bursting with color and life:

Photoshop actions. If you've got PS or PSE, you should try them. It will change your life, just like it changed mine. And now, my secret's out of the bag. It's not so much that I take fantastic pictures as it is that I can manipulate them to make them better.

For more of my favorite amazing free Photoshop actions, check out The Pioneer Woman's PS/PSE action sets.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Motherhood :: A Marathon of Hurdles

Well, week one of the writing challenge didn't really go that well, but even if I haven't succeeded in writing five times a week as promised, I'm at least writing more frequently than I used to, which is a good thing, right? But today is Monday. A new week means a fresh start, and I'm praying that this week goes better than last week. It has already started off well. Micah slept for almost 12 hours last night without waking up at all, and when it came time for her morning nap, I laid her down in the crib, and she drifted off to sleep without a fuss. For the first time in 7 days, Micah put herself to sleep. Glorious day! I love rocking my baby, but I don't love being chained to the rocking chair while she naps in my arms. I'd rather rock her while she's awake. Cuddling time is sweeter then.

I have a friend who just had a baby a few weeks ago. The other day on her blog, she quipped that motherhood is a marathon, not a sprint. She's right. It's definitely a marathon. But it's a marathon of hurdles. Every time you drag yourself over a hurdle, there's another one looming in front of you. Recovery time is short. And the hurdles just keep stretching out in the distance. I'm pretty sure they'll never go away. Maybe with more practice, I'll be able to handle the hurdles better and will hop over them with ease. For now, I'm just glad when they're behind me. I don't know what the next hurdle will be, but I'm sure that there will be one. For now, I'm going to enjoy the in-between time.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Rock-a-Bye, Baby

Pardon me from my departure from the promised update yesterday. We had...extenuating circumstances...that kept me from writing. What are the circumstances, you ask? A water leak in baby girl's closet and the arrival of tooth number two. Poor thing. She's been ousted from her room and forced to sleep in the Pack 'n Play in the office, which is where the computer lives, which means that I've been ousted from the office and forced to fill my time doing other things. Not that that's a bad thing. I'll have to tell you the story of how the water leak came about some other time. The short version is that in Micah's short life (only six and a half months), Dennis has pulled up the carpet in her room no less than four times. We've got to get out of this house. That's become our mantra.

But since my baby girl is fussy and cranky and slightly feverish and gnawing on her hands constantly, I thought I'd share my favorite songs to sing Micah while we're rocking. You won't find Brahm's on this list.  Ready? Here we go:

1. Be Still My Soul
2. Amazing Grace, My Chains Are Gone
3. I Need Thee Every Hour
4. How Deep the Father's Love for Us
5. Great Is Thy Faithfulness

It's funny how the most comforting things I have to offer my child are the songs of my faith.  They are ingrained in my soul. Singing them is second nature. They soothe me and help me relax, which in turn helps her relax.

What do you sing to your baby when's she's fussy?  

Until next time, grace and peace.