PLAYING WITH MY NIKON

I should name my camera.  I say this because...well...I have had it for a couple of years now and I am just now playing around with it.  So, It deserves a name.  I am trying to do something today other than just lay around and watch TV.  So far I have managed to post this Blog and one other...which is nothing really. 

While Makayla actually fell asleep for her nap, Easton insisted on fighting it.  So, I whipped out my camera and started playing with the Manuel setting.  Since it is a really cloudy day and the house is sort of dark, I thought it would be  great time for me to learn a bit about how to take a photo without flash indoors.  Maybe I could get at least one good shot.  I learned quickly that was tougher than it seemed.  I also learned how hard it is to take a photograph of a MOVING kid with a low shutter speed.  But how else will I learn if I don't start clicking away with the 1000s of settings that I am sure my camera has. 

Maybe now that I have slap wore Easton out and he is  asleep, I can give my camera a break and move onto another project.  Or....I could try and nap with him.  The house is as quiet now as it has ever been...everyone is sleeping but me...THERES A CHANGE....LOL.  I usually pride myself in taking advantage of a nap.  Its the only time I feel like I get rest.  Sleeping through the night for me is sort of a rare event lately. 

Well I guess I could get started on a handbag I have been meaning to finish.  Theres a thought.  In the mean time, here is a shot I was able to edit in photoshop.  Its pretty decent, but not near as great as Candace Arnold could make it with her mad skills.  She is a wonderful photographer.  You can check her site out just by clicking on her name.   Enjoy the picture.  He sure is a cutie (not that I am biased or anything)!

SNOWY DAY

So this morning I wake up to a couple of inches of snow in our yard.  Just as predicted, our yard is covered by a beautiful white blanket of snow.  I am not a fan of cold weather and don't much like cold rains.  Snow is not a favorite of mine either, however its beauty is well worth the chills I feel when I open the back door and the cold air seeps in.
 

It snowed the day after Christmas this year here as well.  That snow piled up to almost 8 inches in some places in our yard.  It was perfect snowman material.

Today's snow however I am not certain will make for a good snow man.   I am certain Makayla and Easton will want to test that theory.  We will see.

You want to know what I don't like about the snow?  Well as crazy as this sounds...I am annoyed that I see foot prints in the snow.  I think of the gorgeous white blanket as perfection.  When people start to walk in it and then Cars start to slosh dirt with their tires, it becomes dirty and flawed.  Its almost like I want to correct it somehow and I know I cannot so...I rather not see it on the ground at all...I TOLD YOU IT WOULD SOUND CRAZY.  But that is just how my mind works sometimes....LOL

Another thing that baffles me is the reactions people have to the weather.   A couple of weeks ago before Christmas, weather threatened for sleet, rain, and ice.  There was a 2 hour delay for every school in the county and for Ft Bragg!  The exclamation of it is....there wasn't much of anything on the roads at all.  This morning  comes and there is a couple of inches on the ground...roads are covered in snow and ice and it  looked as though they didn't even salt the roads (I could be wrong).  It took Ft. Bragg until 8 am to decide whether or not they would shut post down.   I fishtailed the whole way there.  North Carolina rarely gets snow so often...unlike up north where they are used to driving and plowing through snow...we usually shut down everything.  Much to my surprise and not until I actually made it to work do they decide to tell us to turn around.  Post is closed.

Geesh....So...now...I am back home and relaxing in my bed with a hot cup of coffee and enjoying the not so perfect blanket of snow outside my window.

All jokes (complaints) aside.....The smiles on my kids face when they see the snow is well worth any crazy obsessive compulsive thoughts of imperfect snow.

PRODUCTIVE DAY

Today has been really productive.  Since I couldn't sleep from pure excitement about the fact I was starting a new blog, I  spent most of the night looking for ways to personalize my blog page.  I really could get lost in all the new graphics and gadgets available.  I absolutely loved it.  So, needless to say, I am exhausted today.  Still  yet, I managed to get laundry done, both kids down for a nap (thats good for a 3 and 4 year old to still take naps)  Can I get an AMEN?  Bite my tounge now, I am sure i just jinxed it forever now!  At any rate, I also was able to get my floors mopped which is  a huge feat, since I have two grown men in the house who love to track dirt in from our back yard, a little beagle who loves to shed hair, and the gosh forsaken PARROT that Fain, my father in law has, plucking his feathers out!  LOL.  Another day, another story for that subject.  We will leave that one alone for now.

So I also found some really fantastic freebie printables from this designer online at http://www.leeloublogs.blogspot.com/.  I told myself that I was going to start preparing for next Christmas now so that when it arrives I will be ready and not trailing behind all the other procrastinators.  LOL.  I really shot myself in the foot when I didn't stick to last years resolution to start preparing early for 2010 Christmas.  Oh well...It came and went and now I am in 2011 tackling small tasks one at a time, such as the Christmas tags I found on Leelou's website.  They are so stinking cute.  Especially when you punch them out with a shaped punch out, such as the 2 inch scalloped shape puncher.  LOVE It......  Goodbye black sharpie to's and from's written on the wrapping paper, HELLO cutesy tootsie Christmas TAGS.  THANK YOU Leelou!

Easton just crawled in my bed beside me and is sound asleep again.  That boy knows how to steal my heart!  His rosie red cheeks and sweet little nose.  Kids are so darn adorable when they are sleeping.

....And then they WAKE UP!  LOL.

Brad and I are doing something tonight we havent done in  a while.  BOWLING.  How exciting.  This should be fun.  Last time we went bowling Brad got mad becuase he didnt bowl enough strikes.  The guy is a pretty good bowler too.  But first came the look and then went the hat.  He reminds me so much of our little Makayla.  LOL..  Perfection is good enough!  To them anyhow.  We are going with a couple of 3/ 73 pals of ours.  So I know we will have a  great time and maybe Brad won't pout too much.  LOL.  Just kidding.  I know he prides himself on being GREAT  at everything.  Thats why I love him so much.

Brad is golfing now in 30 degree weather.  Nothing will keep him from 18 holes and a Sunny Day, except a RAINY day and Snow...which weather threatens by Monday or Tuesday of next week.  So, its good he got in the 18 today.  Now he will be a much happier camper next week for sure!

Well off to shower to get ready for our company to come over.

Ciao'

MY FIRST BLOG!

Hello everyone!  I am excited to start this blog.  It's sort of funny though since not too long ago I remember asking some friends what a blog even was.  LOL!  I don't think I even ever got a real solid answer.  So that brings me to... tonights blog. Why I am now deciding to take on this venture?  For those of you who know me and are reading this, you might be saying, where is she finding the time to blog.  She doesnt even hit up facebook on a regular basis.  Well my friends, I have made it my new years resolution to turn a new leaf and become better at writing down things that matter to me.  I am planning on keeping those who I hold close to my heart updated on the Hamrick Family events.  And....for those of you who don't know me....After a few posts...I am certain you will feel as though you have for your whole life.  You see I am what most call a CHATTERBOX.  Recently I told my dear husband, Brad, that I wanted to write a book.  Before I take on such a journey, I THOUGHT I WOULD BLOG.  I have a lot to say and well a lot to write about.  So after tonight, It is my goal to update family and friends, but most of all...just write down those moments throughout my day that make me smile, cry, laugh out loud, and yes even those that embarrass me.  I hope each of you enjoy the colorfulness that I have been told I bring.  I hope that I will find myself an outlet of some sort to channel all that I have going through my head at night.  Heck!  Maybe I will get some really good sleep after all.

So to start my first blog off I would like to give those that don't know me a piece of history about me, my family, and my friends.  You will soon see why I feel the need to finally articulate myself through blogging.

Well, Childhood was no cupcake, but could have been a lot worse FOR SURE.  So for that I do count my blessings.  Having said that, I will say that I have grown from those experiences and I have tried to embrace them as tools to use while raising my own children.  I married at age 21 to a wonderful man, named Brad.  We met at Western Carolina University where we both eventually graduated.  Go CATS!!!  Just 3 days after we married, he joined the United States ARMY.  He left for basic training literally on the 3rd day post wedding...LOL.  Over the course of the next 6 months, he finished basic, AIT, and Jump School.  For those SKY SOLDIERS & 82nd DIVISION GUYS and GALS reading this.....AIRBORNE!!!  Our first Duty assignment was none other than Vicenza, Italy.  Yes, you read right...How lucky could we be.  Well read on....

After arriving in Italy, just 7 days later, Brad was a part of the SKY SOLDIERS who jumped into Iraq.  So I spent our first year of marriage in Italy, some would say alone.  Scared, worried, and Sad, that my husband was in a newly declared warzone....I managed to obtain a job as an accounting technician at the local department on base.  There I met some really terrific friends who will later turn out to become THICK AS FAMILY.

After a year in Iraq, Brad returned home safe, we spent the following year preparing for Brad to attend OCS (Officer's Candidate School).  We returned back to the United States in April of 2005 where Brad spent the next 16 weeks in Ft. Benning, GA.  I waited for him at his soon to be new duty assignment, Ft. Bragg, NC.  We have spent the last 5 years here in Fayetteville, NC.  Well I should say I have.  Brad has since been deployed 2 more times totaling 3 tours to Iraq.  Somehow, he managed to work his magic and we now have two beautiful children to show for it.  Makayla who is now 4 and Easton is now 3.  Yes once again, I am not playing a trick.  They are exactly 12 months and one week apart.  Am I crazy?  ........  Maybe.  But Happy none the less.

Recently, before Brad returned home from Iraq, we found out our little girl had a brain tumor.  Makayla is such a miracle to us.  The tumor was just about the size of a racket ball!  She survived an almost 7 hour brain surgery.  She is walking talking and priss-potting around like no ones business!  We are so greatful to the staff at the University of North Carolina Children's Hospital.  The 3 teams of neurologists, brain surgeons, and oncologists that followed her are by far the fondest heros in both mine and Brad's life.  Becuase of them, and all the prayers that surrounded us, she pulled through in no time and has without a doubt blown us away with her recovery.

We also have some pretty terrific friends who stood by me while I waited for Brad to fly home from Iraq.  He arrived just the morning after the surgery.  Poor guy, had to fly 15 hours without knowing if his daughter survived the procedure.  As if finding out your 4 year old baby girl has a brain tumor on skype isnt bad enough.  Although, I must say this...thanks to skype, he was able to speak with the doctors some what face to face and have them answer the 1000 questions he had running through his head at the time...so....a HUGE thank you SKYPE!!!! 

Those pretty terrific friends I was mentioning just now...did I say terrific... I MEANT PHENOMENAL!  Amanda drove 5 hours to come help with my son, and took him home for about a week while we got things settled and arranged.  That helped tremendously because we weren't worried about how to answer some pretty difficult questions he would have had.  That kid is
IN-QUIS-I-TIVE!!!  Kristy flew from Louisiana to be with me after the surgery.  Chiara sat with me through the surgery, Sherry, Danny, Eddie, Shelley, Zee, The Curry's, Buddy, Kevin, Charlene, MYAH MASON...my own personal connection to GOD.  (she the wife of a ARMY CHAPLAIN)  So special requests were made on our behalf.  Just Kidding.  I do know that there were an eplithera of prayers going out.  The list of friends goes on and on.  FAMILY....just count each of them there...you couldn't have pulled them away even if they were told they were in danger of being exposed the highest radiation levels ever.  THEY WERE there!!!!  And we are are so grateful of that.

Easton is such a special little boy to us.  Of course, he is our son....we aren't biased in any way right?  LOL.  He has such a big heart.  He stayed close to his sister thought out  her recovery. You know, he's going to be a famous golfer one day.  He's been hitting them into our neighbors yard across the street since he was still in diapers at a year and half old.  He could clear his daddy's jeep at 2 years old.  FIRECRACKER!!!  That is what he is going to be.   LOOK OUT TIGER...or PHIL...our child prodigy is making his mark and is bringing his sister along for the ride! Where he goes she goes...and vice verse.

Anyhow....if Brain Surgery wasnt enough, Brad returned to Iraq just 2 weeks post OP and the day after he boarded the plane...our house flooded due to a refrigerator malfunction!  So 3 months later in a hotel, our house was renovated downstairs and we are now back inside.   Brad is home now...He is attending Captains Career Course in February for 6 months.  Then where ever the ARMY takes us we will go.

So...not so much in a nutshell...but that about sums up the most history in detail you will get from me.  So from here on out...All my blogs will be short, sweet, hopefully FUNNY...because...there usually is something silly going on...my two kids are awfully entertaining.  So...check back again....I will most definitely have something to make you smile.