How to Take a Good Self-Portrait

While the wind and the rain from Hurricane Sandy continue to underwhelm us here in the DC area, I thought I'd take this opportune moment while the power remains on and impart on you some important information that will surely stupefy you with its profundity.

How many times have you been somewhere all by yourself and realized that where you are is so awesome that you want to remember the moment forever?

Sure, you could just take a picture of the raging hurricane, but where's the fun in that? You can buy a postcard with a pretty hurricane on it. You want it to be personal. You want to remember that you were in the hurricane too.

So what do you do?

Let me save you some time: skip the fad of just asking a random passer-by to take your photo. Their results don't last and you never know when the random passer-by is going to surreptitiously cut your head out of the picture.

Do you want your kids to remember you as a headless freak?


Not unless you want to frighten them!


But what other options do you have than polluting the world with poorly taken photos?

A self-portrait of course!

Now some people get a little intimidated by taking self-portraits and worry that no picture is better than an up close one of their nostrils.

Not so, though! I'm here today to take away the self-portrait taking mystique that causes people angst and I, Lara, will teach you how to take the perfect self-portrait.

First, here are a few do's and don'ts of taking a good self-portrait.

DO zoom out before turning the camera on yourself, or risk being remembered for your untweezed eyebrows rather than your killer gumline!



DON'T hold the camera down below your face, or you will get a first-hand glimpse of the contents of your nostrils as well as drawing attention to the duplicity of chins that may be found on the underside of your face. Taking the picture at eye level or slightly above is the most flattering angle.



DO check what's behind you before pressing the shutter button or you may get more in the background than you bargained for.



DON'T forget to bend your elbows slightly or you will find yourself having to explain the general flabby state of your arms and random choice of loud colored clothing to future generations.



DO check the lighting on your face, especially when taking pictures in the bright sunlight or you could end up with a creepy Phantom of the Opera face...



or a shadowy face that gets lost in the brilliance of the beautiful background...



or a strange raised-eyebrows kind of look when you're forcefully trying to keep your eyes open as you squint into the mercilessly bright sun.



DON'T sneeze at the exact moment you're about to shoot the picture.



DO wrap the camera strap around your arm a couple of times, so that in the unfortunate event that you should lose your grip on the camera while in your out-stretched arms that the worst that happens is an unflattering shot of yourself taken while catching it and not a strained back from having to pick it up off the ground.



DON'T forget to keep your camera with you, so that you don't miss out on an opportune time to capture a memorable moment.



DO think about brushing your hair and putting on make-up, even if you do not intend to leave the house. You never know when the moment will arise when you decide that taking self-portraits in a hurricane is the thing to do.



DON'T be afraid to take several shots from several different angles to increase your likelihood of getting a flattering shot. That's the beauty of digital cameras...you can just erase the pictures you don't like.



or if you're like me....


you can always just do a blogpost about them.





DISCLAIMER: All double chins, nostril contents, and distracting background subjects were fabricated for the purpose of educating the public on proper self-portrait taking techniques. Author is not to be held liable for any defamatory self-portraits that may be taken while using the techniques in this blogpost. These tips are meant for suggestive purposes only and may or may not result in the same level of gorgeousness  as can be found in this instructive blogpost.  

ACKNOWLEDGMENT:  I'd like to dedicate this post to my sister, AnnaLisa, who taught me everything I know about taking self-portraits.

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Battening Down the Hatches

After fifteen plus years in the East, you'd think we'd be used to the weather hype that always seems to precede storms  that come anywhere within 100 miles of us.  Yet again and again, we get sucked into the drama and the hyperbolic television meteorologists who spout such catch-phrases as "storm-of-the-century" and "super storm" with careless abandon.  Occasionally there is a noteworthy storm worth writing home about (September 2003's Hurricane Isabel, June 2012's derecho, and the winter of 2010 being the main three), but most storms here end up being a tad on the anti-climatic side. 

Now we have Hurricane Sandy heading our way, threatening to pummel our area as well as most of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast US.  The meteorologists are talking it up BIG time and while we still hope this is another one of those over-hyped storms, we worry that this one might be the real deal.  After all it's not every day that a category 1 hurricane is heading straight for some of the most populated cities in America....DC, NYC, Philadelphia.      Our whole area is under both flash flood and high wind warnings  and they've already cancelled school for Monday and Tuesday.   We live in a neighborhood full of beautiful mature trees and we rarely have a storm of note without some trees and power lines down somewhere in our neighborhood, so we fully expect to be without power for a few days once this really gets going. 

Here is our checklist of what we did to get ready, figuring that doomsday or not, some things are reasonable and helpful to do anyway: 
 
Stock up on water--✓
Buy more batteries--✓
Find the flashlights--✓
Fill up the gas tanks--✓
Bring in the trashcans and lawn furniture--✓
Make room in the garage for one of the cars--✓
Park the other car in the driveway away from neighbor's tree--✓
Plan a no-electricity-required menu--✓
Charge cell phones and laptops--✓Blog--✓
Finish up the ice cream--✓
Pray and look forward to sunnier days ahead--✓

I took this picture on the road up to the Griffiths Observatory in LosAngeles, CA

"...there is no fog so dense, no night so dark, no gale so strong, no mariner so lost but what the lighthouse of the Lord can rescue. It beckons through the storms of life. It calls, “This way to safety. This way to home.” It sends forth signals of light easily seen and never failing. "  Thomas S. Monson

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And on the same note, here's my facebook status from today: 
My mother-in-law, Sandy, is one of the sweetest, gentlest, most thoughtful people I know, which makes the impending storm that shares a name with her all the more ironic. We are battening down the hatches and praying that the storm proves to be a little more Grandma Sandy-like than the "Frankenstorm" that the meteorologists are predicting.

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Signs of the Time

You go through life and there are signs everywhere.

Some signs make you pause in the middle of your carefree moment and conjure up a fatalistic plan of action should the unthinkable occur....

Other signs are fun and fill you with a sort of longing for adventure...

Other signs give you a little twang of anticipation....

Still other signs are complicated and require reading the fine print...

And other signs are just plain confusing...

Some signs seem glitzy and exciting from afar...

but when you get up close, you realize that the stars are cracked, dirty,  in a raunchy part of town, and really not all that impressive...

And sometimes you realize that the best signs of all are homemade and scratched onto a scrap of paper you scrounged up in your purse....

Clinic Stats:  Weight:  71 kg., WBC:  4.05,  RBC:  4.37,  Hgb:  15.1, Platelets:  147, ANC:  2000+


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 All these photos (except the one of Spencer) were taken while on my vacation in California.

Tsunami sign: as we walked down to Salt Creek Beach at Dana Point
End of 66 sign:  on the Santa Monica Pier
Hobbit sign:  in Hollywood
Parking sign:  in downtown LA
Entrance/not entrance sign:  on the door of the Griffiths Observatory in LA
Hollywood sign:  taken from the exterior of the Griffith Observatory
Walk of fame:  Hollywood, CA
Spencer:   at the Pediatric Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders


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The Coolest Museum in San Diego (where Lara gets to wield a deadly weapon)

While I came to California mainly with the intent to relax and spend time with my mom and sisters, I  also definitely hoped that we could also go do some sight-seeing while I was here as well.  Lucky for me, my sister, Heather, is a trip-planner who enjoys mapping out routes and finding new places to see.  Double lucky for me, my other sister, Kristina, is a local which means that she knows the ins and the outs of what is actually worth seeing.   

I was a young child the last time I was in Southern California, so my list of places I wanted  to see was pretty basic--including such places as the San Diego Zoo, the beach, the temple, Hollywood, and the La Brea tar pits. 

Thankfully my in-the-know sister decided that if we were going to spend the day in San Diego, that there was one place that we didn't want to miss....

The Mormon Battalion Historic Site in Old Town San Diego. 

While most church visitors' center have helpful missionaries standing by to answer questions about their interactive exhibits, the one there at the Mormon Battalion site left other museums and visitors' centers in the dust with its pure awesomeness.   Regardless of your religious affiliation, I highly recommend it as a fun and interesting place to take your family if you're ever in San Diego. 

So, why is it so cool? 

Let me tell you:

1.  It is totally free.

2.  It's in a very charming and beautiful part of town (Old Town San Diego) and has plenty of free parking.

3.  You walk in and you are greeted by missionaries dressed in period costume, who invite you to join them on a 30-minute tour to learn more about the Mormon Battalion* (see the end of the post to read more info about the Mormon Battalion).  

4.  This is NOT your average museum!  It starts off pretty normally  as the missionaries begin to introduce the story, but after only a minute or so, they are interrupted mid-sentence by the seemingly normal looking pictures on the wall beginning to talk and move.  (you should have seen our jaws drop at this unexpected change from the norm)   From there, the missionaries start talking to the pictures and it is decided between them that the "characters" in the pictures can tell the story much better themselves.    The audience is then invited to follow them into the next room where they can continue their stories. 

We arrive into a room decked out pretty authentically to resemble  where a company of 19th century Mormons has camped on their trek west.  Movies are projected onto the sides of the tents and the story is begun in a personal and moving way. 

5.  There is no chance of falling asleep during this tour!  The presentations are interesting, interactive...

 and take place in several different authentically decorated rooms. 

6.  The fun doesn't end when the tour is over! 

7.  They take pictures of your group with an old-fashioned background. 

8.  You can climb into  a covered wagon and see how little space they actually had to carry their belongings.



9.  The architecture of the building is gorgeous and done in authentic California mission style!

10.  You can pan for gold!

And if that hasn't convinced you to visit yet...

11.  Then just think of how cool you can look when your sisters so kindly volunteer you  to get outfitted in authentic battalion clothing and gear! 

Just think of it....you could be almost as fashionable as me. 


A very brief summary about the Mormon Battalion:  Under the direction of then US President James Polk, the Mormons were asked to gather 500 volunteers to march from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Mexico to help support the troops fighting the Mexican war.  They marched nearly 2000 miles to San Diego without ever seeing a moment of battle.  Their march was one of the longest military marches in US history and proved instrumental for forging the first passable wagon route through the southwest.  Additionally, after arriving in San Diego, the battalion's veterans proved to be very helpful in building up that part of California.  

For the Kids

It was my intention to do a detailed blogpost each day I was gone, so that my family could keep up with my happenings while I am in California.  Unfortunately my jet-lagged body wants to sleep far more than it wants to blog, therefore consider this a teaser post. 

My kids were jealous when they found out that I was going to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park today and really wanted me to take pictures of koala bears for them.  Alas, there was nary a koala to be found in the Safari Park, but I'm hoping that this picture of a mama gorilla and her baby might suffice instead.  We watched them for nearly 20 minutes oohing and aahing over how snuggly and sweet they were with each other. 

And it might have made me a tad bit lonely for my own "babies" too. 

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Good Hands

We have been blessed to have had a lot of visitors this year. 

My parents, all my siblings, Glen's mom, a few old friends, and an uncle and aunt

have all made the trek to Virginia to spend time with us over the last several months.

I consider it a great blessing to be a part of a family that values spending time together despite the distances between us. 

With Spencer's illness and Glen's job loss, we haven't been able to do much of our own traveling this year.  We did go on a budget friendly trip to Williamsburg in August and Glen kayaked in Maine with friends, but other than that have stuck pretty close to home this year. 

Shortly after Glen got home from Maine, feeling renewed and refreshed after the time away,  I got the idea that I would like to take a trip to visit my sister in California.  I had never been to their home in Southern California and I was frankly itching for a little time away too.  We had a bunch of frequent flier miles that Glen had accumulated from his business travels and so it was that one random day I very spontaneously made a ten dollar plane reservation to visit my sister.  Instantly my sister Heather and mom made their own reservations at the same time and so it was that our rather impulsive Girls Weekend in California was born. 

Although I already miss Glen and the kids, I am thrilled to be here and hoping that a little sightseeing, girl bonding, and relaxation will do me some good!

 In the barely 24-hours since I left home,  I've already read an entire book and done far more than our fair share of laughing and being silly...

The only thing that would have made these next few days more perfect...

                       
                  was if my sister,  AnnaLisa, and sisters-in-law Karey and Mika could have come to   practice their fish faces with us too! 

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And just in case you were worried....

Ellie has informed me that the kitchen is in good hands in my absence. 




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still looking...

Although Glen going through his first ever experience with unemployment this year has added to our already stressful 2012, being unemployed while Spencer was in the hospital was a huge blessing in our lives.  It allowed Glen and I to put forth more of a team effort into taking care of our family during those long months.   Additionally, Glen was also able to go to youth conference and Spencer's high adventure trip this summer without worrying about whether he might have been able to get the time off of work.  Knowing that Glen could be with him in Spencer's first few weeks out of the hospital and away from home, was a huge comfort to both of us.

With how perfectly the timing worked out at the beginning of all this sick child/getting laid off adventure (read here if you don't remember the details), we just assumed that as soon as the need for him to be at home had passed, that he would find a new job easily.    He didn't really start looking in earnest until late summer, but since then we've discovered that job searching does not come easily and the hunt itself has turned out to be a full-time job.  Over the last few months, he's gone to employment workshops, networking events, met with head hunters, gotten in touch with long-lost colleagues, sent out his resume a million times, gone to mock interviews to help improve his skills, etc. and still he's had nary more than a couple of nibbles.

We are not discouraged yet. 
We have felt the hand of God so constantly through this entire journey, we have faith that the right opportunity will present itself eventually.  While we hope and pray that it's sooner rather than later, we also recognize that our timing is not always the Lord's timing. 

In the meantime, if you're in the financial world and think that you might have an opportunity for Glen, please feel free to get in touch with us.  He has a master's in tax and has several years of experience with corporate accounting, but he is looking to stay more involved with the business side of finances, which is more congruent to his most recent experiences working for about seven years as a fund manager at a private equity firm.   We strongly prefer a job here in the DC area, but would consider relocating to other locations if the opportunity was just right.


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While unemployment is not a fun thing, it does present unique opportunities. In addition to being able to spend the time Glen needed to spend with our family this past year, he has also been able to participate in some other opportunities he otherwise probably would not have if he were working.  Enjoy these pics of Glen from a recent getaway to Maine he took with a friend--a getaway he never would have been able to take with his previous job. 

This is a picture of a wild bald eagle doing some fishing while Glen did some fishing of his own. Glen said this sight in and of itself was worth the trip up to Maine.

Fly fishing so happens to be one of Glen's favorite past-times in the entire universe and I love this picture that captured the art and the beauty of the sport. 

Most of their days were spent kayaking on Moosehead Lake in Maine (one of the largest freshwater lakes in the US) and he loved the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors,

Although there were some harrowing moments on the lake with 4-5 foot waves tossing his kayak around out in the middle of the lake miles from land, the weather was largely ideal and made for some great photos:

One of the days, Glen was out fishing and this little hitchhiker landed on the under side of the bill of his baseball hat and just hung out for a while. I laughed at the fact that Glen didn't mind a bit about having a large insect so close to his face.  Although I admire dragonflies from afar, I am fairly certain that if a dragonfly ever lands on my hat that the dragonfly along with the hat would probably be thrown unceremoniously to the ground, most likely accompanied by a whole lot of screaming! 


Unfortunately, the dragonfly, eagles, and fish didn't have any job leads for him and now Glen is back home, nose to the grindstone searching for the right job opportunity.  Although we are very ready to have Glen back to work, it was a welcome treat for him that he was able to tag along on this trip. Going back to his childhood spent in the Rocky Mountains, Glen has always found solace in the outdoors and loves opportunities to explore them. 

Next week it's my turn for my own little getaway!

Birthday Boy by the NUMB3RS

Here's a little glimpse at our birthday boy: 

10-years old today!!!! 
9-thousand "what-if" questions he asks per day
8- days past his due date when he was born
7-minute mile, he can run! 
6-times a day he makes jokes about going to the moon
5-outfits that he will wear and if one of those is not available he refuses to get dressed
4-main hobbies include Legos, bird-watching, rock collecting, and reading
3-musical instruments--cello (1st year), piano (2nd year), recorder (3rd year)
2- his APGAR score when he was born
#1-math whiz / bird identifier / puzzle solver  / homework avoider in our family! 

Happy birthday Adam!
 

An up-close glimpse at his 10th birthday:

Birthday dinner:  Spaghetti and Meatballs
Birthday cake:  Andes Mint cake--made by Cami (cake and ganache),  Glen (frosting), and me and Ellie (putting it all together)
Birthday treats to share with class:  Mud and worm cupcakes
Birthday Crepes made by Daddy:  coming on Saturday morning
Birthday wish list:  Nintendo DS, motorized Lego kit
Actual birthday gifts:  light up Lego kit (which we thought was a motorized Lego kit) and Lord of the Rings Lego kit

Some past posts about the birthday boy:

• Birth story and baby pictures

• Another glimpse at his personality

• Last year's slightly crazy birthday

• Best worst planned birthday party ever