Image Expression

Our New Deck

2011-08-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

About a month ago we started the process of building a deck in our back yard. I knew what I wanted, and Bethany's brother Connor knew how to build it, but neither of us knew the time it would take. In all we spent probably 10 nights in the backyard putting in the deck and landscaping. Also we didn't realize that we would be starting the deck on the hottest week of the year. Several days actually broke records (114 degrees).

So it took longer than we ever imagined, but we finally finished and saved money doing it ourselves. Here is what all that work went to build.
One thing that made building our deck extra special was that I got to use some of Poppy's tools. These are just a few of the tools I used while cutting boards, hammering them into place and measuring to keep things straight and level.

Colorado

2011-08-15T13:31:00.001-07:00

I know it's been a while since our family reunion in Colorado, but I wanted to put up a few of my favorites. There are way too many to share them all, but here are some.

My Logo

2011-07-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

So I had a lot of fun hearing what photos you all liked on my last post. So much fun that I thought I would ask for help with something else. As I try to start doing some photography work on the side, I am trying to create a few promotional items. First to do is create a logo. I don't have a lot of experience creating logos, but here is what I have so far. Let me know which you like best and I will work from there. Thanks for the help.

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Colin

2011-07-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

So I did another practice session for some friends of ours. There little boy Colin is adorable. Let me know which ones you like best so I can try to understand which photos to try to replicate in future sessions.

Being a model is hard work!!

Warm Weather!

2011-04-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

It finally got warm enough to pull out the pool for Roxy, only to be back in the 40's the next morning! I am ready for it to be warm and stay warm for a while. As you can see, Roxy is ready too!

Magic of Photoshop - Disappearing Guy

2011-03-25T12:19:00.001-07:00

So I think I'm going to start a new ongoing post. It will give me another reason to post something on here during the times I don't have anything else going on.

Anytime I have a picture that display's something cool Photoshop can do, I'm going to post the original and the edited version. I think it's cool when you compare the two. Just roll the mouse over the original and you will see the edited version.

I left the guys arm because if you don't know better you just assume it is the lady's that is in the background. This was just too good of a picture, but there was someone starring at me in the background. Photoshop helped me take care of that!

Also you might have noticed I changed the background to my blog. The background is a photo from my trip to Italy in 2004. Let me know if it distracts too much or is slow to load.

Kathryn's Bridal Portrait's

2011-03-25T08:35:00.001-07:00

Bethany's sister Kathryn got married this weekend (pictures of that to come). These photos are her bridal portrait's. We took these several week's ago at the Arkansas State Capitol. Bethany helped a lot by posing her sister and using a reflector to help add some light. We started out on the Grand Stair Case and then Bethany found that the Governor's Conference Room was open so we went and took some in there as well. We tried a few outside, but it was very cold and windy so that didn't last long. For my first indoor shoot i think it went well and we got some great shots.

Snow Day

2011-01-11T07:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a SNOW DAY in Arkansas! We had five and a half inches of snow Sunday afternoon through Sunday early Monday morning. It wasn't a mix of rain, sleet and snow like last year. It was snow from beginning to end and was perfect! The state pretty much shut down for the rest of Sunday and all of Monday. We had a great time playing in the snow with Roxy and building a snowman. That evening we went across the street and ate pizza and played games with some friends. It was a good relaxing day, but now it's back to work.

Our "Hog Fan Snowman!"

Christmas Tree Farm

2010-12-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

I know it's late, but at the beginning of December we went with some church friends to a Christmas Tree Farm.

This is our neighbors new puppy. We were lucky in that when we bought our new home, some of our friends from church ended up buying a house on our street. I'm sure you'll see more of them and there dog since we do so many things with them. Their new lab "Cam" is so cute, but VERY energetic!! The picture below is our neighbors and the picture below that is their new puppy.

Go Hogs!!

2010-12-15T08:56:00.000-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving Bethany and I got to go to our first Arkansas Razorback game. Twice a year they play a game in Little Rock instead of Fayetteville. It was the last game of the season against LSU, and we couldn't have picked a better game to go to! here is the view from our seats.

We walked around before the game started and visited our friends seats who where in the other end zone.

The picture below was right after the best play of the game. We had six seconds before the half and we had the ball around our 25 yard line. No one expected us to do anything besides kneel the ball, but Mallett the QB threw it to Hamilton who dodged a few tackels and ran for the touchdown to give us the lead going into halftime. The place went crazy!

The player below went to same High School as Bethany and is an amazing wide receiver. He scored the last points of the game giving us the win over the 5th ranked LSU team. I think I'm hooked and will have to start going to all the Little Rock games.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-15T08:13:00.000-08:00

A bit behind on my posts. Sorry. I will attempt to play catch up, but the next few posts will really just be photos and a few notes here and there.

First off is pics from our Thanksgiving break. Bethany and I went with her family to visit Bethany's grandma "Grancie" in Fulton MS. We had so much fun and can't wait for our next visit with her. The day before Thanksgiving Bethany, her brother Connor and I went to visit the birth place of Elvis in Tupelo MS.

For Thanksgiving Day we went to Alabama to have lunch with some of her relatives. We stopped at the state line and took some photos sporting our Razorback shirts.

Her relatives are big Auburn fans so we all decided to surprise them and show up in Razorback gear. We even talked her Bethany's grandma "Grancie" into supporting the Hogs!

LEGO Birthday

2010-09-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago we went to Houston to visit the family and see the boys for their birthdays. We were only there for Andrews party, but we had a lot of fun at his LEGO party. Here are some pictures from the weekend!

Little Chocolate LEGO men and candy LEGO's!

We got Andrew Star Wars toys.

We got Nathan a Rex toy from Toy Story,

which he then used to destroy what was left of the LEGO town.

Run......It's Godzilla!!!!!

Nathan's Power Rangers move. "Power Up!"

I was trying to get Nathan to smile by asking him if he had "Stinky Toes!"

I guess he had to find out before he could answer!!

Cooling Off

2010-08-10T09:29:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been extremely HOT for Arkansas. At one point we had 7 days of triple digits. To help cool off and enjoy our new backyard, we bought some $5 blow up pools for Roxy to play in. After two days we had gone through both pools. She likes to paw at the water and jump around, so it didn't take long for her to poke holes in the pool. It was well worth it because she had a blast! Now we just need to find one that can stand up to her rough housing.

Our New Home: Still a Work in Progress

2010-07-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

So we officially closed on our home about two weeks ago. Sorry i am just now getting pictures up, but it took some time getting things together. We still have a lot of work to do to be DONE, and will probably never be DONE, but this is what it looks like at the moment. Enjoy and let us know if your making a trip to Arkansas and we'll make sure the guest room is ready for you.

(Roxy wanted to pose in some of the pictures!)

Email me if you need our new address: (javen@customxm.com)

Our Yard

2010-05-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

Here is a look at our yard and landscaping. There's not too much landscaping in the front yard, and that's good cause I don't want too much yard work. We plan on building a deck in the back yard with a little landscaping, but I'm trying to avoid a whole lot of yard work. Not having to mow a yard has been one of the best things about apartment living. More pictures soon of the work done on the interior.

Just Another House Update

2010-04-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of what was new last week. They added cabinets, counter tops, crown molding and doors. Below are pictures of the updates, but first, the lovely 10' x 11' room that will be the guest room. :)

Dry Wall & Drive Way

2010-04-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

The whole house has dry wall now. This is the front door that leads into the main living area.

Our Master Bedroom

We also have a drive way and sidewalk now. Yaaay!

That's all the updates for now. When we go on Sunday I'll try and take a picture of our 10 x 11 guest bedroom for those of you who might be staying there at some point. It's not much, but the company you'll be with will totally make up for it. :)

New Home Update

2010-04-09T13:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the progress on our home. Bethany and I are both very ready to be out of apartments and in a home! June 15th was the estimated closing date, but we are both hoping they get done early!

Easter 2010

2010-04-07T11:25:00.001-07:00

Here is a family picture from Bethany's parents house on Easter. One of the good things about not having any babies on Bethany's side of the family is we still get to do the egg hunting. Her mom and dad hid 34 eggs with various amounts of money in them (1's, 5's 10's and even a few 20's). I was too busy finding eggs to take any pictures this year, but let me just tell you it get's crazy!! Here are some pictures Bethany took two years ago. These show how crazy it can get.

Notice who WON!!! Yep I did!!
Notice also how cute Roxy was back then!

The Fam Visits Arkansas

2010-04-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

The whole family came up to Arkansas at the end of their Spring Break! We had a blast. We got to show them the progress on our house and got to spend a lot of time having fun!

If you have ever seen Man vs. Food, Cotham's was one of the stops in Arkansas. The have a burger called a "Hubcap". It was easily enough food for two people.

All Nathan wanted to do was "fight".
For some reason he liked being the yellow (girl) Power Ranger!
It was a lot of fun and we can't wait till our next visit with family.

Our First Home

2010-03-06T18:17:00.000-08:00

So if you weren't aware, Bethany and I have been struggling, trying to decide what we wanted to do for the next few years. We are first time home buyers, so we really wanted to take advantage of the tax credit that expires in April. We were struggling with whether to buy a home here in Little Rock, or to move back to Houston.
We have decided to stay in Little Rock for the next few years. We have good jobs and have become good friends with many of the young couples at our church here. We will miss the fun experiences we could have had if we would have moved to Houston, but this just seemed like the right thing for us at this point. We started looking about 3 weeks ago at houses in our area. We have made an offer on a home in Bryant, AR which is on the south-west edge of Little Rock. We are expecting the builder to sign tomorrow making it official!!

Our home is still being built, but we got to walk through one with the same floor plan as ours. Here are some pictures of what the finished product will look like (with a few changes). At the end there are some pictures of the progress so far on ours.

We'll be able to choose the brick and paint color of ours.

Instead of just a light on the porch, we're going to have them install a fan as well.

We are also having them put laminate floors in the den, master bedroom, and hallway to the guest bedrooms.

Here is the progress on our home. It should be done on June 15th.

That's it so far. I'm sure I'll be posting pictures of the progress every few weeks.

Snow Day!!!

2010-02-12T12:04:00.000-08:00

So we had a snow day this past Monday. Bethany and I both went in to work because we had just had an ice day last week. There was only maybe an inch Monday morning, but around 9 it started snowing again. We both went home around noon, and it was bad. Cars were sliding everywhere!! Us Arkansas folks just aren't prepared for this kind of thing. Supposedly we had about seven inches. I think it was closer to five! It has been above freezing everyday since but just enough to melt a little snow into water and then refreeze overnight all over the roads. The snow isn't necessarily gone yet, but it isn't snow anymore it's just ALL ICE! I climbed the hill behind our apartments on Monday and went for a little hike. Here's some pictures.

Roxy really liked the snow! She just pounced around. When we got done and tried to clean her off inside, she had that wonderful "wet dog" smell!!

If you kicked the snow up, she would jump up and try to eat it. Bethany was kicking the snow and I was trying to take the pictures.

I got a lot of pictures like this where I cut her head off. She can jump a lot higher than you would think! It was a very good time, but I am ready for the sun to come out and melt all this leftover ice away! (I'm not sure how you Colorado folks do it!!)

Houston for Christmas at New Years!

2010-01-11T13:03:00.001-08:00

Here's a few pictures from our trip to Houston for Christmas at New Years!

My Dad got coal in his stocking!!! Andrew thought it was funny!

I have several pictures that look like this. Andrew would open a present and I would ask him to show me what he got. In his excitement, he would hold it right in front of his face

He got better, but I still couldn't see his whole face!

This is what my dad did most of the time. Every present Nathan opened, my dad had to take out of the packaging. The toy manufacturers make this rather difficult most of the time, but Nathan was very patient.

And very appreciative for his presents. Especially the "Wonder Pets" toys!

He got a chair that matched Andrew's!

This is the look I usually get from Nathan. He doesn't really know what to make of his Uncle that is always taking pictures!

Another thing we got to do on our trip, was celebrate New Years with some of the family. We celebrated at 8:00 since we had little one's with us. It was midnight somewhere, so I guess it counted! I also handed out the 2010 Family Calendars to the family members I got to see. If you haven't received your calendar yet, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Houston at Thanksgiving.

No Shave November!!!!

Connor's Sr. Portraits

2009-09-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we got to take some unofficial Sr. portraits of Bethany's brother. We went to the newly renovated park downtown that is right in front of an old railroad bridge that has been converted into a walking bridge. It is a really cool little area and although the sun was setting and we had very limited time, I think we got some good shots.

Party Weekend

2009-08-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

We had the chance this past weekend to go to Houston for my nephews birthday's. Here are some of the photos from our trip. This is a longer post with quite a few photos, but it was just a great weekend!

I have more photos on my flickr site, (www.flickr.com/photos/jwaven) and if you want Hi-Resolution copies of any of the photos you can get them there.

Friday night was Nathan's first Birthday.

The next night was Andrews ROCK STAR party! Stacie made sure the whole family had on Rock Star shirts and I think the boys looked pretty awesome!

Stacie and Mike set up a stage on the deck in the backyard and the kids loved it. They had the backdrop set and spray painted boxes to look like speakers. I was impressed, and the kids put on a great show.

Every great Rock Band has to have a harmonica!

Nathan saw the bigger kids dancing and playing guitar, so he walked around the stage bobbing his head.

Even Mike had a Rock shirt on.

It was a great trip and Bethany and I had a blast!

Destin, FL

2009-08-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

Check out more pictures from our trip to Destin, FL on my Flickr site.

www.flickr.com/photo/jwaven

Other Recent Images

2009-04-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

Nathan & Andrew

2009-04-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

California

2009-04-17T10:45:00.001-07:00

Images

2008-02-28T14:00:00.000-08:00

Friends

2008-02-20T11:51:00.000-08:00

Andrew

2008-02-20T11:43:00.001-08:00