To black and white...or not to black and white?

I've really enjoyed experimenting with different editing programs the past few weeks, and have constantly debated on how a picture looks better, in vibrant colors or classic black and white. I can usually never decide, so I save both forms :) (being indecisive on colors is 'so me').  What do you guys think?

Black and white version above. Isn't this yellow so great?!

Awesome train ride into Verde Canyon in AZ. I love the eagle on the side and the red rocks contrasting against the turquoise.

Picnik.com is a really easy, free editing site that sets up cool side-by-side frames for your photos like this one. It's neat to see the changes between your original photo and your edited version.

I've been editing photos since back in college. I don't feel bad enhancing them, and neither should you! Everyone does it :) It's like steroids and baseball, you have to do it or you wont be as good as the other guys. At school I entered lots of photos of my friends and I to be in USF magazines and in the school planners...all edited of course! My friends and I would always giggle as we 'clicked' our pasty winter white skin into the sun kissed Florida glow we longed for in the winter.

Anywho, you should check out the picnik.com website and play around. It's really fun. Picasa is also good to use, but you have to download it and it's much less fun, and more complicated. You should also let me know which versions you like best! I need help deciding...to black and white, or not to black and white?

Ahoy Matey!

Ahoy Matey! Daniel and I took sailing lessons this weekend and it was quite a learning experience!

We learned that...
- A 'Boom Bang' is not just a sound. It is a specific thing. It is not funny to laugh when someone tells you to 'get the boom bang'.
- A 'jib' doesn't only go before the word jab. It is a specific thing. It is different than a 'jibe' which is a specific action.
- It IS ok to laugh at the craziness of sailing terms. Jib Jibe Boom Bang?!.... It's just CrAzY!
- There is such a thing as too many triangles. Who knew? We Ramos' have a two hour MAX on riding around in triangles.
-  Sperry's are not really great sailing shoes.
- Water-shoes on the other hand.....are Marvelous!!!!
- We will probably never love sailing enough to name our daughter Genoa - which is a type of sail - which is what one of our teachers was named. 
- No matter how cool you act during the process, hooking your boat onto a buoy and dragging around the bay is not OK.

We are definitely not pro's yet...but we never keeled our boat over, and learned that we can go in figure 8's, 'sausage' runs, and triangle routes LIKE NO ONES BUSINESS! Haha. We joked that next time we go out we'll try sailing in the shape of a rhombus...triangles are so over rated!

We decided to take sailing lessons for a few reasons. First being that Daniel is in love with the idea of having a sail boat, and often thinks about living near water to sail and scuba. We decided that we shouldn't let sailing become a factor in where we live until we actually knew if we liked sailing! The other factor was that we knew there wouldn't be a lot of other chances later in life to take lessons. So, we forked out the dough and paid Yalie undergrads to teach us how to sail. There are classes going on all summer, and ours had about 18 people in it. It was a fun experience and I'm glad we went ahead and took the lessons. I was also very happy to have Daniel there, and that we are able to do such neat things together. You need two people to sail, and some of the solo students were understandably disheartened when they realized this. So just like scuba diving, sailing, and life, we'll always be a team and ready for the next adventure together!

{something happened to me. i don't know what exactly, but somehow, i didn't take one picture! sorry!}

Off of the Checklist

Hello Friends! We just got back from a fun weekend trip to Palmyra New York and Niagara Falls. We saw the Hill Cumorah Pageant, the sacred grove, and Niagara falls. They are now off the 'to do' checklist and I couldn't be more pleased! Please don't think all we do is vacation :) The whole drive there and back Daniel was studying in the car. We squeezed 6 people into one hotel room to save money. We are normal people, with normal lives and are just making the most of everything...you know 'enjoying the journey'.

Day 1 - Palmyra at the Pageant. We didn't have lots of time to see all the church sites there, but the show was awesome and I'd love to go back again with more time!

The crew + a lil Nephite Family

Los Hustedts :) 

Us. It rained.

Click 'more' for the rest of the trip...you know you want tooooo!