O-M-G!  Did you know today is supposed to be day 100 of the 365 project, if you started on January 1st & posted faithfully up until now?  Well, obviously I haven’t been very faithful!  I’m going to try to catch up on the remaining days I was gone in Ethiopia, to add to my 365 posts, while adding on this end too.  It’s gonna be very confusing for all involved.  Don’t try to understand it.  As long as I have “Image 365″ by the end, then it all worked out.  *sigh*

This is image 69, actually taken yesterday, so I’ll be posting again later tonight.  My husband Josh & I have a tradition of going to the Baltimore Orioles Opening Day every year, and we were able to keep that tradition going this year.  I can’t say as much about the O’s having a tradition of winning, but for that discussion I’ll direct you to my brother-in-law’s sports blog:  Section 336.

These are my husband’s hands during the game.  I don’t remember the exact moment this was taken, but let’s just say it wasn’t an easy win or loss for either side.  There was some stress involved.  But I was glad to share in this day with him again, and grateful that my father & brother-in-law joined us this year.  Thanks for letting me in on your boys talk, guys!

*if you want to see a few more photos from this day, head on over to my Facebook page & check ‘em out*

**highlights of the game:  lady getting beamed in the head with a foul ball by Ludo (hope she’s okay), drunk guy jumping on to the field, and Gonzalez losing the game.  I didn’t say they were positive highlights**

Baby Kiss Leather Album from Mandy Sroka on Vimeo.

Welcome to my video debut.  I have to give a big thanks to my friend, neighbor, and fellow blogger, Mary.  She came over last night, loaned me her sweet camera, and video taped me making this little speech.  Thanks Mary!

On to the baby Kiss book….

So, as I said, the specs are:  4×4 inches, leather cover, hard pages, 10 spreads or 20 pages, sweet carrying pouch.  *BAM*  That’s it.  It’s so simple, and so awesome.  I’ll be offering to anyone who’s had a past session with me for an introductory price of $80.00.  That includes shipping from me to you (but not sales tax).  So, instead of ordering 15 to 20 photos that are showcased in this sweet little guy, you can hold them forever & always in this little album.

Keep scrolling down to see detailed photos of the baby Kiss & cover choices.  Enjoy!

Yes, family & friends, it was only a matter of time before a Settlers blog post appeared.  In case you don’t know about Settlers of Catan, it’s a German board game that my family is obsessed about – or, that I am obsessed about winning.  Personally I think it’s like a cross between Monopoly & Risk.  Currently I am on a 3-month losing streak.  And, people, we don’t just play once in a while – we play at least once a week, sometimes more, and even more than one game in a sitting.  I am the official Settlers loser in my family, and I make sure to let them all know about it.  I stink!  I just don’t know why (they could all probably tell you), but I can’t seem to win.  Oh well, such is life.  And it’s just a game, right?

Today after Bert & Laura brought Emma back after her sleepover, we all had lunch at our house & played two games of Settlers.  Congratulations to Mom (Bonnie) & Bert on winning.  (You won’t be invited back, since you didn’t let me win).

In the photo above I’m the blue pieces.  As you can see at this point things didn’t look too terrible for me until Mom came full force with a massive road, cutting the entire land of Catan in half!  And Bert with his stinkin’ castles!  OMG!  How’s a person supposed to win with this kind of competition?  I even have Settlers of Catan on my iPhone so I can practice against highly-skilled computers but I just can’t seem to bring the winning into real life.  I’ll be sure to let you know when my streak ends.

Oh, and if you want to play with us, come on over.  We’re usually up for playing any day of the week, even into the wee hours of the night.  Sroka’s are always up for some competition!

Photos I’ve been looking at:  Melissa C.  She’s a person I randomly found though…you guessed it….Facebook!  I think I saw her comment on another 365 blog & clicked through to her blog & saw her photo of a crossword puzzle.  Immediately I thought of my dear grandmother who loves crosswords.  Melissa gave me such an encouraging comment the other day when I felt like giving up on this 365 thing.  Thanks for the push forward Melissa & I love looking at your work.  Keep it up!

*oh, and we’re such Settlers nerds that we bought Kids of Catan for our children.  Yup, we took it that far.

I’ve been waiting to post this blog for weeks, but I was sworn to secrecy by Aubrey’s parents.  See, they were having these photos taken secretly to use as a Christmas surprise for their family.  So there was a strict no Facebook & no blogging policy!  Well, Christmas has past & I’m just itching to put up a few photos of this little beauty!  Congratulations to Jessica & KC on your new, & lovely, baby girl!

Okay, let me first start this blog post by telling you how badly my day was going, and then end it with how great Corinne‘s head shots turned out.

First, I woke up with a headache!  Argh!  This fickle Fall weather keeps my head spinning.  I’ve recently been using Claritin D & it’s worked!  Occasionally there are times when it’s not enough & sleep is the only thing that can save me.  Well, sleep was not an option on Saturday.  My wonderful husband Josh went in to work so that he could meet a deadline that would allow us to take our VACATION!  My sweet sister-in-law, Ashley, offered to have my girls come to her house for her son’s 4th birthday party while I worked.

Second, as I was driving the girls to Ashley’s house, Brooke’s drink spilled all over the passenger seat & I didn’t notice until I was almost all soaked up.

Third, after dropping the girls off, I began to sip my sweet sweet tea from Mickey D’s when, BAM, the cup malfunctioned, split, and spilled sweet sticky tea all over me & my car!!!!  My first thought – WHAT A WASTE OF SWEET TEA!!!  Needless to say, this ruined my professionally stylish outfit & I was late to meet Corinne at the Annapolis Mall.

However, just because a day starts out badly, doesn’t mean it has to continue in that direction.  And although the mall wasn’t the ideal place to photograph Corinne, it was all we had with the on-again, off-again rain.  So while we dodged rain & a gazillion trick-or-treaters in the mall, we captured some great shots of this up & coming writer!

Corinne is such a neat person & really easy to chat with.  I’m really excited to see her book when she finishes it, and you should be too!  In the meantime, after you drool over her photos (sorry guys, she’s taken), go check out her blog, Following Bliss & leave her some love.  Thanks, Corinne, for being so flexible & patient with me…and most of all, for pointing me in the direction of some non-dairy ice cream!