Dancing Princess Video Edition:

Shenzie loves all things Princess and of course loves to dress up in her princess costumes. As you can see she is way more into it than poor “Prince” Heaten. It looks like he is just trying to spin her around faster and faster hoping she falls. I especially love her batting of the eyelashes which means she’s wearing makeup (she’s not). =)

2/13 Run 3.1 miles (Pine Nursery Trail)
2/15 Power Yoga
2/17 Power Yoga
2/19 Power Yoga

Lost one pound, then gained it back. =) No running the rest of the week due to lots of this…..

However, we did roll, fall, play, and sled a ton, which is WAY more fun than running.

Heaten getting ready to pelt me with a snowball. =-)

Winter Wonderland Edition:

When we first moved to Bend I was a little frightened by the thought of our first “real” winter. I’m thrilled to report winters in Bend are pretty awesome, not all that cold, and MUCH less snow than I anticipated. This is the (I think) third real snowfall of the entire winter. I went to bed to zero snow and woke to this. I’m still loving it and of course the twinzies are too!!

Once upon a long time ago I got a Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro Lens. This lens was my pride and joy and oh how I adored it. And then I got new lenses, new cameras, and new subjects to play with so the Macro kind of just sat for awhile. And then I discovered it takes AWESOME photos of newborns little itty bittys. At every newborn session I use it for the close ups of lashes, lips, nose, ears, toes, fingers, etc. But this lens is so much more. It makes a great portrait lens (albeit, a little on the slow side) and since I don’t have a true long lens the macro helps out when I need a bit more reach.

So yeah, the Macro is awesome and I love it. But did you know you can also turn your Macro into a Super Macro?!?! Aha!!! And the fun continues. Here is an example of a super macro of my Valentines Day Lilly’s… *And yes, I’m just going to come out and say that it strangely looks like a vagina. I guess its fitting…Valentines Day and all. I told Jeff it was my interpretation of a Georgia O’Keefe Print.* =)

What you’ll need to do Super Macro’s:

A DSLR
A macro lens (ideally a prime lens)
A fast lens (ideally a prime lens with f1.8 or f1.4)
A coupler ring
A tripod

I used natural light with mine, but an external flash will help keep your ISO and noise down if needed. Put your Macro on your Camera, put your coupler ring on your macro, and turn your second lens (I used my Canon 50mm f1.4) on the coupler backwards. It looks like this (minus the camera)…

Here are a few more (not the greatest photos, but you get the idea)…..

That last one is a teeny tiny water droplet on the stamen with the pollen flaked into the water. My 50mm was almost touching the water (just so you know how close you need to get).

A few tips…you need to turn your Macro AF to MF (manual focus). You need to be really, really close to your subject and have your focal point directly on what you want in focus. I think I shot these at f4.5 SS 1/125 ISO 2000-3200.

I’m pretty sure my Macro love affair might be in bloom again. =)

2/7 Power Yoga
2/8 Power Yoga
2/9 Run 2.6 Miles (Deschutes River Trail)
2/11 Power Yoga
2/12 Baptiste Long and Lean DVD (at home)

Lost 1 pound

Just Chillin’ Edition:

January 30 - February 5

2/1 Power Yoga
2/2 Run 2.39 Miles + Strength Training (Pine Nursery)
2/3 Power Yoga
2/5 Run 1.8 Miles (Deschutes River Trail)

I love lists. I love to makes lists, cross stuff off of lists, and throw old lists away. Now I’m not saying that I’m a scatterbrain (although sometimes I am), but these lists help keep me organized and knowing what I need to do. So pretty much, if I don’t make a list I don’t remember to do it. My short term memory is shot, and sadly, so is my long term. I know a few months from now I’m going to want to look back and compare my stats from day one to present so I’m going to keep a little mini health log here to help keep me on track. Basically, just what exercise I did and if I lost any weight. And just to be clear…..this is not about losing weight (although I’m hoping that is a nice side benefit), this is about a lifestyle change of eating and treating my body right. I want to set a good example for Shenzie and Heaten that moving is good and veggies are not scary, but good and healthy.

I started the Couch to 5k in January and completed 4 weeks. I have no idea what my weight was since I left our scale in Las Vegas so no weight loss. Along with running 2-3 times a week I also did strength training at home with 10 pound weights (lunges, squats, crunches, pushups, and a few free On Demand workout videos). I also did my very first yoga class (thanks Angela), and loved it so I am adding that to the mix as well.

The other night I was doing the dishes when Heaten came into the kitchen to ask what I was doing. I told him I was washing the dishes and his response was “Mama, I’ve never seen you do the dishes before, only Daddy”. I suppose I should take this as a sign to do more dishes (in addition to all of the other cleaning my awesome husband does…oh, and cooking too). It will be a sad, sad, sad day at Casa de Barr when Daddy has to get an outside of the home job. I might just cry….big, fat, crocodile tears. =(

Playing (?) Together Edition: