Where have you been?

What have the Crocketts been up to lately and why, oh why, have I not updated my blog in so long?  Well, Blake has been at the school, at the library, and in his office, studying.  Friday was his last final and we got his final grades today!  HE PASSED EVERYTHING!!!!  Praise the Lord, and thank you to everyone that has been praying for him.  This process is long and difficult, but we are making it through with your prayers and your support.

What have I been up to?  Building my NEW WEBSITE!  Lori Crockett Photography is really taking off thanks to some wonderful friends who are helping me out with word-of-mouth marketing and a website was the next step.  I've been using blogspot, but it just wasn't cutting it.  I asked for some quotes and advice from a few programmers I know and the response was the same- out of my price range (think $1,800 and up).  And so, I've spent the last two weeks learning how to build a website and code it.  I'm by no means an expert, but I'm really happy with how it turned out!  Head on over to LoriCrockett.com to let me know what you think!  Also, it's possible to follow my posts over there, so if you'd like to do so, let me know and I'll give you the link!

This is a short week at work, then we're heading up to Jefferson City for Christmas, then over to Lamar to continue the holidays.  I can't wait for some down time with the people I love most in this world.  Until then...

Keep praying...

Blake has a test every school day starting tomorrow and ending the 19th. My hubby is brilliant, but this will be hard. Extra prayers are appreciated.

We had our Pharmacy Party this weekend. The theme was tacky sweater and everyone brought a dish. It was so much fun and a great way to relax before they headed into testing.

Here's the whole group:

Our Christmas tree:

Blake and I rockin' our tacky sweaters:

If you want to check out a cool blog go to yeebird.blogspot.com. So inspiring!

22 Days Till Christmas!

I love this time of the year. The weather is turning cold, which is the perfect excuse for hot cocoa, and snuggling under blankets. While I usually stress a bit about buying presents for everyone (I'm a bit of a procrastinator), I love finding something that I know each person will love. My favorite people to buy for are my three nieces and I have all of their gifts wrapped and waiting to be loaded in the Tahoe to take up to Jeff City for Christmas.

I've been doing more and more photography and design work lately. I opened up a small business checking account yesterday which was pretty exciting, and I also ordered some business cards. You can see my work at my website: loricrockett.com. If you're on facebook, be sure to check out Crockett Photography! Ok, that's enough plugging for me:)

Please keep Blake in your thoughts over the next few weeks as he will be having finals. Pray for him to be able to absorb all of the information and remember it during testing (and beyond). Pray that he doesn't get sick from too many late nights of studying instead of sleeping. Pray that I have patience and can do some of the things he normally takes care of so he can have less to stress about.

Finally, I have added a few people to the list to get these blog posts automatically. If you did not want to be added, please just let me know and I'll take you off the list after a $20 donation (just joking!!!).

Thankful

Blake and I had a great dinner last night with his friends from CPFI- Christian Pharmacist Fellowship International. We did a little thing called Popcorn Preaching where each of us shared for a couple of minutes what God was doing in our lives. The leader of the group told us that he had recently been asked what he was thankful for and it brought to mind a quote that went like this:

"I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet."

I complain about Blake and I being busy, and then I remember how thankful I should be. Yes, Blake has to study, but it's only for a season, and he's getting the chance to chase his dream. Yes, sometimes I have to work late, but there are many people that have no jobs right now and don't know how to provide for their family. We make lots of plans with friends and church and family, but we HAVE friends and church and family.

Thank you for your words of encouragement, and know how thankful I am for the many blessings I have been given.

Ya know that saying?

FYI this post is on the negative side, so if you're having a great day, skip right on past this because I have no desire to ruin it.

I once read, "I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least a little bit tired."

I can't remember the last time we weren't at least a little bit busy. Work, school, house, dogs, church, friends, hobbies, hobbies that are turning into nice little side work, family, the list goes on.

Even when we do have down time (and this is especially true for Blake), we always know there's something we should be doing instead of taking it easy. So is it really worth the down time if 80% of it is spent thinking about the fact that the house needs to be vaccuumed, or the bills need to be paid, or Blake needs to study? How do you get rid of the guilty feeling and just enjoy the two hours you've set aside to spend time with your spouse?

I really need to vaccuum.

Picture for our Living Room

Here is a photo I took in San Antonio, that I did some fun stuff with in Photoshop, and now I'm thinking of getting it made into a large print for our living room. Thoughts?

Veterans Day Tomorrow

I know that Veterans Day is tomorrow, but I wanted to do this early so you can take advantage of the link at the end.

To all the veterans...

Thank you for your service.

Thank you for your sacrifice.

Thank you for the protection you have offered us all.

Thank you to your families, who have also given so much.

Thank You for our freedom.

And check this out for some free food.

Class

Last night was my next to last photography class. We got the spring 2010 schedule and I am planning on using and Christmas and birthday money to take three more classes: Studio Lighting, Photography Level 2 and Photography Level 3. I love, love, love these classes. My favorite part is meeting other photographers and getting tips from them, I've met some really neat people that take all kinds of different pictures. Very inspirational. Last night, I was talking with my new friend, Sunny, about how to shoot something specific and she told me to use a tripod. I told her I didn't have one, but have been meaning to get at least a little cheapo and she GAVE ME her old one! I may have clapped my hands from excitement!

I've got a couple of fun projects to work on this weekend, and Blake is going hunting in Missouri. Lets hope he kills a lot of ducks!

The Pioneer Woman

Last Tuesday I got to meet my favorite blogger- Ree Drummond of ThePioneerWoman.com! She recently released a cookbook and Tulsa was her first stop of her book tour. It was held at the Tulsa Historical Society and we got free tshirts, cupcakes, and and I got to meet her and Marlboro Man (her husband), her friend Hyacinth and her brother, Mike! So exciting!

By 7pm this place was FULL- standing room only and they sold out of cookbooks!

Marlboro Man!

Ree's brother Mike

The Pioneer Woman- and my new bff (even if she doesn't know it)!

Love this book!

:)

Happy Monday!

Weekend recap...

Friday night:
We met up with some friends and carved pumpkins. Well, Amber and I carved pumpkins. Blake and Nic played nintendo. Then we headed out to Oktoberfest, which was quite the experience. We were only out there for an hour before they closed, but it was fun while we were there.

Saturday:
I had my first family photoshoot of my friend Tamara's family. You can see how the pics turned out here. It was a lot of fun and I know I learned a lot! I then went and saw Couple's Retreat with the ladies from my small group followed by lunch and Target. Blake changed my headlight and studied.

Sunday:
Church, then lunch then a birthday party. Small group was cancelled so Blake studied some more and I edited more pics.

What was your favorite part of this weekend?

Yum In My Tum

My food blog has been relaunched. It will now be a collaborative effort between myself and my bff Jessica Brewer errrr Howell. She just got married in July (See here & here) and I still think of her as Jessica Brewer:) This should mean more recipes, more often, with more variety.

Check us out: yuminmytum.com!

Photography Class

I had my first photography class last Thursday. It was pretty interesting, a little more technical than I was hoping for, and I'm thankful I've been doing a lot of reading on my own or I think I would have been lost. We got our first assignment and I have ideas for three of the four pictures I have to take, but need suggestions on the fourth. All pictures have to be taken in manual mode on the camera, which means I have to set the aperture (depth of field), shutter speed (motion) and ISO (I SO have no idea what I'm talking about) myself. Each setting has a different affect (effect?) on how much light is let into the shot and you have to balance the three to get the image you want. This sounds easy. It's not. I promise.

I've never shot in manual, I've mostly been shooting in aperture priority because I.LOVE.IT. But, methinks I love it because it's the only one I understand, and because you get such a pretty effect when you shoot in low aperture- one thing in focus with the rest blurry. If you look at all the pictures I posted from the farm you'll see that that's what I did with pretty much every picture. I'm so adventurous, aren't I? Anyways, here are the four settings I have to do:

1. Low Aperture- pretty much have this one down, except, I've only shot in low aperture with the other things automatically set. I think I'm going to go out, take a picture in aperture priority to get the shot I want, then see to what the camera set iso and shutter speed. Sneaky sneaky:)
*Works well for portraits.

2. High Aperture- I know this one too, it's just not as fun to me because it's not really a cool effect (affect?).
*Good for things like landscapes where everything in the shot is important.

3. High Shutter Speed- Understand this one pretty well, I just need Blake to jump around a little bit and I can take the pic and freeze his motion.
*Use when you want to freeze motion- sports and action shots.

4. Low Shutter Speed- this is my problem child. I know what this does, and I even know when it's good for taking pictures, but I don't know what to take pictures of with this in October. You would use this setting for things like fireworks, when you want to capture the trails of the motion. Or a picture of a subway with one person standing still in front and you get the blurry speeding subway with a clear person because you paid them to not move. Great in theory, but I don't live near a subway and its not the 4th of July. Ideas?

I have a sneaky feeling I'm also supposed to shoot something in high and low ISO, but I wasn't feeling the greatest and pretty much just took my papers at the end and left, so I need to look at them and see if that was an assigment too. If so, uh oh, because I really don't compredo ISO.

Ok, this was a really long post and I doubt most of you care about any of this stuff, but it's what's going on in my life right now so I thought I'd share. In other news, Blake got an A on his last Kinetics test and he's really handsome with his scruffy duck hunting beard.

Posts without pictures

The main reason I am not posting as much as I was is because in reading a few other people's blogs I realized how much better pictures make posts. I take LOTS of pictures, but I don't download pictures to my computer that often. This is because I happen to be really picky about my pictures, and editing to me is an art form. I love the process, fiddleing with each image to make it perfect, seeing what cool effects I can give it in Photoshop, etc. I love it so much that a simple download of pictures can turn into HOURS of editing. And I don't have hours to spare on any given night. And so, the photos sit on my memory card, waiting to be downloaded, waiting to accessorize my blog posts, and because I don't want to write about things without the images to go with the story, I haven't been posting as much lately. And I don't like that. This blog is supposed to be my way of communicating with family and friends, and keeping a journal of Blake and I's first years of marriage. And so, I plan to write more, with or without photos.

Tonight Blake and I are going to dinner and a football game with some friends of ours and tomorrow night I start my photography course! Friday we are heading to Dallas, TX for OU vs Texas- the biggest game of the season. Then church and small group Sunday.

Right now I am loving all things fall- pumpkin spice cappucino, hot spiced apple cider, pumpkin patches, fires, chili etc. What is your favorite things about fall? Let me know by leaving a comment!!!!

Pictures from the farm

Blake and I went up to Lamar last weekend for his Grandma Laura's 75th Birthday and while we were up there I got to play around with my new camera! I start my first photography course October 15, so I'm sure I'll be posting lots more pictures, but here are some from my first time out...

I love cows.

Foxy

Some pretty flowers

A farm fencepost

Our super cute puppy Gus man.

Pretty things

Darrel's cornfield

Fall corn

The best model ever- so handsome and rugged:)

Well hello there...

We have, of course, been very busy lately, so I've got lots to catch everyone up on! I'm going to try to do so in a couple of posts.

September 22 was our two year anniversary!

Blake and I celebrated with a fancy schmancy dinner out the Friday before at a place we've been wanting to try since we moved here: Bodeans. It was so good and it was restaurant week so it was at a discounted price and part of our bill went to charity.

Our appetizers- steamed mussels and salmon pate

Our main courses- champagne salmon and shrimp scampi

Our desserts- chocolate dome and creme brulee

On our actual anniversary, we cooked at home some really yummy tuna steaks and scallops- can you tell we love to eat?

The food was fantastic, but mostly it was just great to have a reason to treat each other to special things and spend time together. Blake is an amazing husband and it's wonderful to talk about where we've been, where we are now and where we hope to be in 5, 10, 50 years.

Football Season

One of the perks of Blake attending Pharmacy School is that we have first dibs on OU Football season tickets at a very discounted price. So, we took full advantage and have been to two games so far. The first it was pouring rain, the entire time, so I didn't take out my camera. We were more fourtunate this time around. Here are some photos from OU vs Tulsa. Final score:45 to 0.

School & Shows

School is consuming Blake's life right now, while shows are consuming mine. I had a show last weekend and another this weekend, then the fair Oct 1-11. Plus I've been doing really well at getting public outreach engagements, which is really good, but has involved a few 9:30 nights during the week, which makes for a long day. At least I really enjoy the actual events, just not the time away from the hubs and our puppies.

Our two year anniversary is next Tuesday (can't believe it's been two years already!!!), and we are celebrating Friday night to coincide with Tulsa's Restaurant Week, where you can eat a three course meal at a realllly nice restaurant for a fixed price, with a portion of the proceeds going to charity.

Next weekend I am going down to visit Cory, Kristina and Briley in TX and Shane, Carrie and my other two nieces are going down as well. Blake has three tests that following week, so he won't be coming with me, but I'm excited to spend some time with my fam and especially all three of my angel girls:) I love, love, love being Auntie Lori. Can't wait for those pictures!

More pics of Briley

Here is a link to some more pictures of Briley. Overall I'm really happy with the way they turned out. Only frustrating thing is that I know that with a few years of practice I'll be better and there's no getting these early moments back. No amount of practice with a cabbage patch doll can compare to the real thing. I really wish I had started all of this when my oldest niece, Madera was born so I could have pics of her and Savannah. I just hope my pictures capture all the love Cory and Kristina have for Briley and how loved she is by her Auntie Lori.

This weekend is OU's first home game! I have a show Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but we're going to head to the game after I check on things. We won't get to tailgate, but work comes first. Blake has his first test this Friday, so keep him in your prayers. He's already really busy with school and site visits and his organizations. I think we were both more prepared this year for what to expect. How was everyone's Labor Day holiday?

Briley

Here are some pictures I took of Briley over the weekend. I've always had a passion for photography, but I'm thinking of taking some classes. If you know anyone having a baby or getting married etc, I'd love some practice- they can have full resolution copies of all the pictures!

MS150

150 miles on a bike. That's ONE HUDRED FIFTY MILES! All in the name of raising money to fight Multiple Sclerosis. No, I am not brave enought to do this race, but my cousin's husband, Steve, is. Click here to read about Steve's journey, and for who he is riding. Then, be a really nice person and donate to the cause.

As I read about Steve and his reluctance to ask people for money, I completely identified with him. I hate asking people to donate money to something I am doing. HOWEVER, I feel no shame in asking people to donate to other people when I believe in what they are doing!:)

The Pioneer Woman

I have a lot of updating to do, but no time to do it right now. I do want to pass along a link to a very fun site I found. Click for The Pioneer Woman.

Briley Dianne

She's here!!!

We got the call at 2 this morning that baby Briley arrived at 1:07am weighing 6lbs 9oz. Mom and Baby are doing great! And not that I'm biased or anything, but she's absolutely gorgeous!

Our new niece is on her way!

Blake and I got a call last night that they were going to induce our sister-in-law, Kristina, due to some concerns with high blood pressure. They started her on Pitocin this morning and the latest update is that things are progressing, but no baby yet. Please keep my brother, Cory, Kristina, and Baby Girl Davenport in your prayers for a safe arrival and health for all!

So excited!!!!

Blog Stuff

If anyone would like to be added to our mail-to list for the blog, just let me know. This means anytime I write a new blog it will be emailed to you instead of having to check it for updates. Also, don't forget about our Housewarming Party coming up this Friday from 6-10. I think I'm going to delete the Party Post here pretty soon because I don't think I want our address out there for the world to see, so if you need our address, or directions, email me!

Thanks!

Fitzgerald First Realty

As many of you know, I used to work for a great real estate company in Springfield, MO. Today, they started what I think is a super cool thing: a video diary of a house build. Now, I know I'm a bit partial, because I love houses, and I love Bob and Doris (Fitzgerald), but I also think it's an awesome idea. So, check out their first video, and follow along!

Jason & Marrisa Build Their Home

And, check out the FitzFirstRealty website!

PCCA Institute

Blake is currently in Houston, TX for a compounding class. Here's an explanation of what he's doing, straight from the PCCA website:)

Introductory Compounding Lab Boot Camp
Current pharmacy students may utilize PCCA's expertise and training through this course. The intent of Boot Camp is to introduce students to the unique and novel dosage forms utilized by today’s compounding pharmacists; to enlighten them as to the reality and feasibility of opening their own compounding pharmacy; and to inspire them to think of compounding as a viable, rewarding, and fulfilling career pathway.
Two full days of lecture and hands-on laboratory work provide a basic understanding of the skills, tools and equipment used in Contemporary Compounding. Students complete eleven dosage forms they take home with them, focusing on dosage forms such as lollipops, lip balms, troches, and transdermal delivery systems. Demonstrations of modern compounding equipment include the Ointment Mill, Electro Mortar-Pestle, Homogenizer, and Heat Sealer. Lectures on various contemporary compounding topics, compounding as a career path, and patient case studies are also on the agenda.

Did you get all that? So far he's really enjoying it. He's down there with his friend, James, from his class who actually wants to open his own compounding pharmacy someday and I think it's tweaking Blake's interest as well. I think he's also enjoying the food- he said they ate at a Cajun restaurant last night that was delicious!

Madera's Visit

"Auntie Lori?"

"Yes, Madera?"

"How much further?"

"Auntie Lori?"

"Yess, Madera?"

"Why do you wear makeups?"

"Auntie Lori?

"Yesss, Madera?"

"Why are you doing that?"

"Auntie Lori?"

"Yessss, Madera?"

"I love you."

I love you too.

More pictures!