March 26, 2014 by Stephanie

Homemade Photo Backdrop

I love looking for new unique ideas to infuse into my photography.

One of those ways is with backdrops.

I like simple and classic backdrops that aren’t going to distract from the subject, but instead add to it subtly.

I saw something like this on Pinterest, and Tom and I were sure we could make it.

We got lumber and the laminate at Lowes. We got a great deal on the laminate, and we were able to get the look exactly like I wanted.

I thought I got pictures of the building process, but I can’t seem to find them.

We built a frame with basic 2X4s first. We wanted it to be fairly sturdy.

We got the interlocking flooring. Once pieced together, we secured it to the base.

The back and bottom are two separate pieces. Tom made it so it can come apart for easy storing.

There are two like this on the back. You just lift the screw up and you can take the two apart.

I really do like the sturdiness of this, but it can be a little bulky. I want to start looking for other vinyl flooring or paper that I could roll up. There is some great durable and thick fabric I have seen but it’s fairly pricey. This set up was really cheap to make since we found a lot of it on sale.

Here is some of my work with this backdrop.

Baby 4

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I was able to fit a family of four on it to do some indoor shots, but I will mostly use it for kids. I really want to focus eventually on infant/child photography and the size is perfect for that.

August 12, 2013 by Stephanie

PCSing..whoseywhatsits

Today, I am linking up with Ashley from Eights on the Move for Military Monday and PCS Adventures.

I thought Student Affairs was bad with acronyms. That field has got nothing on the military.

PCS or Permanent Change of Station is basically the military’s way of saying moving for your job.

I am finally feeling like we have settled in from our PCS in May.

In the military, you can have the government pack and move you if you so choose. Tom and I decided to do a DITY (Do-IT-Yourself) move, which is where we move ourselves and then get paid by the Army.

We ended up saving/gaining some mula doing it this way. This way, I also had control over it and knew where everything was. Plus with the timing of things from my exit from Iowa State, we were able to get moving help from my end as well with loading the truck.

Double score.

Many people take this opportunity to travel and see the sites along the way to their new abode. Unlike others, we did not do anything extravagant on the way here. Our road trip was simple-get there as fast as we can. I get really stressed out on road trips-mostly because I get restless and cranky. We just wanted to get out of that Uhaul and into our new space. Plus sight-seeing can be somewhat difficult with a pooch. So we just drove through Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky stopping as little as we could.

I was so lucky to have Tom help with the moving process. I am a little terrified of driving. (Seriously, I have a panic attack about driving on a weekly basis.) So driving this bad boy is a nightmare for me. I couldn’t imagine doing it without him, which is what many military families have to plan for. We have been thinking about what the next move will look like and the timing of his exit out of the Army and the next deployment. There are a lot of things to consider, but we aren’t going to worry about that just yet. But I am leaning more towards using PODS, especially since the Army will not pay for you to move “out.”

I am not sure which option is better. They both have pros and cons to it. I think you have to figure out what is best for you and your situation. It may look completely different if there are kids in the mix and depending on where you are going.

Maybe we would have taken more time if the trip would have needed to take several days across country anyway. Also if we were PCSing to say Italy or Hawaii, I think sight-seeing would be in order…all the time.

Regardless, I am glad the move is done and our PCS story has been written.

But the thing is, with the Army, someone is always PSCing. Tom’s unit seems to be doing all kinds of turnover. I feel like every day he comes home talking about another new person. It is really difficult to keep track. I need him to make the Army version of a family tree to keep it straight, along with their titles.

With this you have to say goodbye to people that you have gotten close to and learned a great deal from. You do this in any move really, but the frequency is probably not as high as it is in the military. It is just part of the deal with the Army. You get to meet a lot of people along the way, but they may not always stay in your neighborhood.

Tom just recently said goodbye to his platoon sergeant. Tom was the driver of his vehicle in Afghanistan, so he got to know the Sgt. pretty well. Plus, I think Tom was attached to him more because this Sgt. was his first out of basic and for his first deployment. But that is me just speculating the sentimental. His wife was also the FRG leader who answered all my questions while Tom was deployed and I was in Iowa.

To show their appreciation, the company pooled together to get him a gift. Tom of course went into creation overdrive to make it the best thing ever. And it is one of the coolest things I have seen, so of course I have to share it!

They bought him a gun and had it engraved with special emblems for the brigade and company. It looked pretty snazzy! Then Tom made a box that looks like the boxes that everything came shipped in while they were in Afghanistan.

The fun thing about this, was that Tom took a lot of time and energy to make it look like he didn’t care about the details. He was very particular about making it look like it had been on deployment.

He then bought foam padding and also used the padding from the box the gun came in to cushion the gun while moving it.

Even though I didn’t get to see this, it was fun hearing how the company gave the gift and the reactions from everyone. This family will be missed when they move to California!

July 8, 2013 by Stephanie

Fight For It

It’s a Monday after a holiday weekend. So like most, I sit here reflecting on the amazing down time that I had and dream that it wasn’t over. My newsfeed this morning was littered with all the witty “I hate Mondays” commentary.

So to recap our 4th of July.

It was not full of BBQ, beer, red/white/blue ribbons, or personal fireworks.

It was full of rain…all weekend long.

Don’t feel sad; we managed to make the most of it. We had a great relaxing weekend being free of work and responsibilities. And seriously what is better than actually being able to sleep in and be lazy on wet and rainy days?

Fort Campbell had a 4 day long carnival event, which we did attend on the 4th in the brief parting of the clouds before they canceled the firework show. It was really cool to see all the families tredge through the mud to celebrate what our families have gone through to ensure freedom for our nation.

We did not ride any rides because after working at an amusement park for 6 years (this is where Tom and I met btw), I am pretty skeptical of any ride that can be packaged into a trailer as a traveling show. And don’t get me started on my nightmares of Ferris wheels. Plus it cost money, and we were being cheap.

I also worked games for 2 years, so I cannot wait until we have kids so we can win them useless toys. After working 8 hour shifts for 2 summers, you learn a few tricks of the trade. We just don’t have a need for the game stuff now.

We were not too cheap however for my ICEE obsession. I L.O.V.E ICEES.

We love that we are lucky to be together to celebrate our independence! I think about all those families who cannot say the same. (Special shout out to our buddy Andrew Martin and his lovely family! We can’t wait to celebrate with you when you get home! And also to the Landis family, you all are in my thoughts and prayers regularly!)

The night of the fourth we ended up watching from our backyard some of our neighbors shoot off their own fireworks.

Grace did not seem to mind her first firework display.

And yes we made an outside bed for Grace to be comfortable watching the show.

They had rescheduled the fireworks for Friday. But it rained all evening so we didn’t really want to pack up to go across the base. So we watched in the rain from a parking lot right by our house in our Jeep. Nothing more American than being barefoot in a mud covered Jeep watching fireworks I guess.

All in all it was a good holiday for us, and we cannot forget the sacrifices that are made to grant the freedoms we hold so dear.

Talking with my husband about how the fireworks sounded like war and his FB statuses for the day gave me a lot to reflect on, and I hope they do for you too.

“Today and every day, ask yourself two questions. Who sacrificed their life so that I could have mine? What am I doing to make myself worthy of that sacrifice?”

“Remember that rights aren’t something you are entitled to. Rights are something we have to fight for. Nothing in this world is free.”

Nothing like a national holiday to make you think about your priorities eh?

It’s ironic (don’t you think) that those who give up so much of their own freedoms are the ones that are making sure you and I have ours?

Now on to our home improvement project of the week.

We created these shelves so that we could have some flexibility on changing the deco in our house without the hassle of measuring and putting in new holes in the wall. Since we live in on-base housing, we are trying to leave as little damage as possible.

Shelves are pretty expensive if you want to buy more than one of these at the store, and you cannot get them in a very long size. I think the cheapest we were able to find was like $30ish bucks for one that was like a foot long. So Tom volunteered to make them for us. For 8 shelves, it was around $75 for us doing it this way. (If you are able to find ones cheaper than this, share with the world please!)

Basically you pick the size shelf you want from the wood selection. We chose a couple different sizes because of the what we had planned to put on the shelf, so we had 1X2s and 1X3s.

Then we picked out simple decorative molding to make the face of the shelf. You can make it relatively inexpensive depending on the molding you pick, or just not getting molding and just using the base wood only.

Tom did all the handiwork. It seems pretty simple from watching him. He made all 8 of them in an afternoon.

This is before he stained them all.

Then he added wall hangers/hooks on the back to make them more secure on the wall.

Then was the long process of measuring out the locations on the wall. This included a stud finder, tape measure, level, T-square, and Tom’s persistence for perfection.

Here they are empty.

And here is our new photo wall. I am working on getting some new photos, and it will be so easy to add. I can just move them around until I feel like I have the layout I like. Until the next day when I want to move them around again.