My Sweet Birthday and a Surprise

Yesterday I turned 44.

My sweetheart husband made pecan pancakes for breakfast.

I was serenaded via the phone - twice! (For their trouble, I put them both on speakerphone - be forewarned!)

My kids made me cards, but neither could fit 44 candles on either of their illustrations.

I received cards, e-mails and phone messages from loved ones with birthday wishes.

I spent much of the morning taking photographs in my garden. (I'll be sharing my hydrangeas on here with some tips soon!)

Later I got a spa pedicure - hot pink for the sassy birthday girl!

My sweetheart husband made one of his specialty dinners for me - orzo pasta with fresh vegetables and mozzarella and a whole bunch of other flavorful ingredients!

It was a very good day.

Then to top it all off - the icing on the cake you might say...my husband brought up this beauty - a blue and white hydrangea cake! Inside it contained homemade peanut butter icing. Oh, yeah. My day just got better!
Made by this beauty: My sweet, fabulous, sneaky and uber talented friend, Amanda. Thank you my dear friend!
Thank you everybody for your birthday wishes.
A special thank you to my hubby, too for making it such a sweet day!
I leave you with some of my favorite quotes about aging & birthdays.

The secret of staying young is to love honestly, eat slowly and lie about your age.
Lucille Ball

You are young only once. If you act foolish after that, you'll have to find some other excuse.
unknown

Youth is not a time of life, it's a state of mind.
You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt;
as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear;
as young as your hope, as old as your despair.
unknown

Next time you want to be young again, remember algebra.
unknown

M Family Session

Remember when I shot this Sweet Pea?
Well, guess who was lucky enough to shoot big brother and expectant mommy?
Yep, me!
To see MORE and BIGGER photos from this shoot, click here.
Or, you could even follow me over at:
http://tracilordphotography.blogspot.com/
(That would really make my day!)

Thank you M Family for the opportunity to do a family portrait!
I look forward to meeting your newest little one in a few weeks!

Mosaic Monday - Pink & Green

Linking up over at Mary's Little Red House
for Mosaic Monday.
Be sure to check out all the other lovely linker's mosaics!
From my garden: (top left going clockwise)
Matilda Gutges (hydrangea), Oakleaf Hydrangea,
peony and Geisha hosta.

Thanks for stopping by!
I also welcome all visitors to my photography site - here!

Excuse Note

Dear Friends,
Please excuse Traci's absence from Bloggerland as she has been working in the gardens morning, noon and night.
I, myself, have tried to be patient with her, but then she went and had THIS done to me.
The words "summer cut" are forever ingrained in this canine brain of mine.
I did hear her babbling on to herself about gardening, hydrangea and photo shoot posts, but I don't know if the "moo-nure" is getting to her.
Please be sure to come back. Soon it will be sweltering outside and then Traci will be right back where she belongs...giving me belly rubs and biscuits.

Your Faithful Friend,
Ella

Fabulous Photoshop!

I have to admit that a lot of work (for me) goes into making a photograph. Before this whole digital world, I shot with a SLR and film - for twenty years. (Feel free to think, "Gee she must've started taking pictures when she was 10 years-old." I love starting the the day off in denial!) So shooting photos was a lot of trial and error. I got photos back and had to learn from my mistakes after the fact.

Now with my digital SLR and photoshop, I can go from this:(not too bad)
to this:

Our wonderful, cute, stinker-boy, Godson goes from this:

to this:

or even this:

Doesn't that make a world of difference?

So while it may take some extra time processing my own photographs, the time is well spent. I've had to learn to embrace this technical & digital world. It hasn't been the easiest transition, but how can I argue with the results?
I still believe though that even without this technology, anyone can become a better photographer by learning about the basics: lighting, composition, textures, patterns, etc. Do any of these topics interest you? Let me know!

If you have time, please visit Lens Us Together. I am hosting the theme this week and it is "Prepared". See what my peonies have to do with my theme!

As always, thank you for stopping by. Your kind comments and encouragement are greatly appreciated!