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!

Calling all Provo Peeps!

Hello Friends!

If you have lived in Provo, or know the area well, I need your help! We will be going there this weekend, and would like to take an informal family photo somewhere (about 30 people). Any and all ideas are welcome! I thought maybe a park would be good (so we can play and socialize, then take the photo), but it's totally not necessary.

Does know a good spot? Thanks for your help!

June Vaca (TRES!)

We took our one week off and turned it into 3 mini vacations! The New Hampshire trip was really spur of the moment, this one was planned a few months in advance and something I had really been looking forward to. 

We went to the adorable and grand Newport Rhode Island. We camped near by at Fort Getty in Jamestown and then spent the days in town at Newport. It's such a neat and unique place. The big mansions remind me of southern plantations. The cliffs are a picture perfect New England scene. The shops and restaurants make you feel like your in a big city borough. 

First I must ask about this photo. Is it cool? Or am I just weird? I kinda like this little snail guy carrying a plant on his back. I picked up the rock he was attached to use in our carions, but found mr. snail much too interesting to add to the pile. 

This was our inspiration....isn't it great?! We found it on our walk along the cliffs. 

Ok, ok. So on to the mansions! Back in the day, all the millionaires around the country wanted to be apart of THE summer social hot spot...New Port Rhode Island. Random right?

The photos above were taken while walking along the 'Cliffwalk' a path that you walk on foot that is wedged between the back yards of the mansions and the rocky cliffs leading to the water. It was very misty the first day we were there, so the pictures aren't that great. 

Eleven of the biggest and best historical mansions are owned by the town's historical society, and are open to the public to tour. We were given tickets to two of the mansions from my boss, and loved having the opportunity to go inside them. The first one we went to was Rosecliff. It was lovely and is rented for movies often. It was used in 27 Dresses (in the beginning scenes where her friend is getting married and she's the MOH who gets knocked out in the bouquet toss....in case you were wondering :)

Next we went to the 'Breakers', the top mansion to see. It was owned by the Vanderbilt family for decades, and then finally given to the historical society after many many years. It was much more opulent than Rosecliff. 

This is the breakers behind us. When we took this photo the day before we took the tour. We had no idea which mansion it was :) The hazy mist adds a whole new element to the look of the mansion..kinda ghost like!

 got gate?

 

 This picture is the backyard view from the 2nd floor balcony

Lastly, here are a few photos from the cliff walk, and Fort Getty. 

 

I said it on facebook, and I'll say it again...I almost died running to this spot on the rocks in under 10 seconds! 

It's a mega post, I know. Way to go! You made it to the end! No more vacations for us for a while :) 

jk. we're going to Niagara and Hill Cumorah next month! 

It's quite a drive, but should be a great weekend trip. Stay tuned!

June Vaca (dos)

For the second part of our June break we went with Daniel's classmates to their family cabins on a lake in New Hampshire. It was wonderful, and we were so grateful for the invitation to join them! Their class is so fun and chill, everyone gets along great and we always have so much fun together.

 {amelia's cabin on a lil island}

 

{we had to all get out on the lake to catch the pretty sunset view. a few kayaked, and we boated. travis, daniel, me, evie, sue}

{sunset spray}

{even the dog 'birch' went out on the kayaks with us. it was pretty adorable}

{the bbq crew. daniel, travis, mike, dave}

{we made a feast. it was incredible}

 {morning kayak trip on the lake. there was absolutely no one else out. is was so peaceful and pretty}

{loon}

{evening water skiing}

{we swam out to this little bitty rock island and the people that stayed back at the house took photos of us from the deck}

{yale}

isn't this one great?! i was actually quite scared to be up on daniel's shoulders, but i think it was worth it! nothing against daniel, we were just so slippery from swimming out there, and the rocks would have been so unforgiving if i fell. i mostly love how dave and travis (as the Y) only touched at the shoulders. such guys! it makes me crack up looking at it.

we were only there for one 2 nights and enjoyed every second of it. one day a few of us went into town to get pedicures and groceries. we arrived at the salon and found a sign from Feb. 2010 that explained that they are open, but if no one is there, give them a call and ask for Tina. So, we called Tina, and 4 people showed up 30 minutes later and proceeded to give us pedicures. We also got designs on our big toes, but when the toe artists came over to me, he just started doing his own thing. He did ask what I wanted! I thought it was kinda funny, and was a good sport about it. He gave me the craziest design w/ black, white, green, and glitter. It was described to me as 'so vegas!' Haha. It was pretty hilarious.

We spent the evenings cooking dinner, which took hours! We'd finally sit down to eat, and realize it was 10 at night! After dinner we played "charage" a new crazy way to play charades, watched ingrid do memorizing poi dances, and spent hours learning the art of hula hooping.

Like I said, it was only a few days, but we had an amazing time. It's so peaceful and calm out there. With no phones, no sense of time, we just got to wander through the day and enjoy life. It was fabulous.

Happy Anniversary.Happy Anniversary...

...Happy Anniversary! HAAAAAAPY Anniversary. 

{Raquel always sings us this song, not sure if she made it up or not, but it's catchy and always gets stuck in my head and makes me smile}

So. You probably guessed by now, but Daniel and I just celebrated our 2 year anniversary!!! We were married on June 6th, 2008. It has been a fabulous 2 years, and we love being married more and more each day. 

The day began with our sealing in Mesa Temple in the mid afternoon. Then we took photos, and headed over to the Wright House for our ring ceremony and reception. Everything was amazing, beautiful, and so much fun! We danced and danced all night and had the most fun ever. Then we booked it back to Florida to leave for our honeymoon, which was also a blast! 

We went to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic and stayed at an all inclusive resort. It was fabulous, and we got to go on some amazing adventures. 

{this is one of my all time favorite photos for some reason. life jackets, helmets, big smiles and even water shoes. can you guess what we were doing?}

I'm pretty sure our life is just one big fun adventure. 

We are very blessed.