DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME

Hi everyone,

Just a quick reminder for those of us in North America...Daylight Savings Time is happening at 2.a.m. on Sunday morning - November 4th...so don't forget to set your clocks back an hour tonight (Saturday) before you go to bed...that is unless you want to wake up at 2 a.m. and set your clock back then. I do not.  I'd much prefer to sleep :) :) That's the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs, Heather :)

HAPPY SONDAY, EVERYONE !!!!!!!

Hi everyone,

I want to wish you all a very happy SONday.  Here is a nice Scripture photo for you to enjoy.  Feel free to share this on your blogs or on Facebook. Just please, link this photo back to me. Thanks :)

Have a great day, everyone. I start my new job tomorrow and I'm nervous and excited all at the same time. That is the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs, Heather

I GOT A JOB. I GOT A JOB.

This is a vintage truck that I saw in the parking lot of the local mall. It's so cool. Nothing compares to vintage vehicles. They have so much style and character.

Hi everyone,

How are you all doing? It has been a LONG, LONG, LONG, LONG time since I last posted something here.

Well, let's see. I got a job. It's a part-time job here at a well-known department store. I'm so excited.  There is the possibility of picking up extra shifts when available, which is really nice. It also means that I am one step closer to being completely off of public assistance. It's scary and exhilirating all at the same time.  I've been grateful for the help, because without it my family would have really suffered. However, it'll be nice to slowly be back to a place where I can "be my own boss" in terms of my money etc :) :) :)

I also became a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant and I'm really excited about that, too.  So if you have any questions about that, please send me a private email :) :) I can ship anywhere in the United States.

What else? I"m pursuing my photography a little bit more. That's really neat. I'm  looking into seeing what I can do to earn some extra $$$ from all of that.

I am also going to get braces. I'm paying for that out of my own pocket since I don't have health insurance. However, God is making it possible for me to do this. My dentist and my orthodontist are aware of my situation and have been really bending over backwards to work with me. Did I mention how thankful I am that God is making this all possible?

Oh, and I'm taking my "behind the wheel" driver test on Friday, October 5th at 2:30 p.m Pacific Standard Time. Please pray for me that I"ll pass.  It has been a really difficult couple of months in my personal life. I'd written about it twice and then deleted the posts, because I didn't want a reason to dwell on those bad things.  However, God has been really, really good to me...and so many things are happening all at once :) :)

With that, I leave you all with this photo. This is me, how I look now after having lost 87 pounds. I rarely post photos of myself, but I like this one:

That really is the news from the ocean shores of California today. Extra love and hugs, Heather :)

TEXTURE TUESDAY

Hi everyone,

How are you all doing today?  I'm doing really well. I'm still dealing with some congestion etc that I've had since the Tuesday before last. It started out as a really bad, hoarse, scratchy throat and now I'm just congested. It's getting better, but it still sounds icky gross when I cough sometimes.

However, having said all of that, it's a fantastic day. My dad and I were running some errands today and decided to take the ocean drive back home. We almost always drive through Pacific Grove...and lo and behold there is a "Little Car Show" going on.  So I had to stop and take some photos. I'll share some more of that another time.

Today I'm participating in Texture Tuesday over at the lovley Kim Klassen's blog. Click here to pay her a visit. She's a really nice lady with some of the neatest textures anywhere. I use them with Photoshop and Picmonkey. 

This week it's centered around "looking down".  Whenever I am at the ocean (which is any chance I can get) I like to go to the rocky shore and look down at the ocean. It gives me time to rest, breathe, think and be grateful for all the good things that are happening in my life. It makes me happy.

Here is the original photo that my father took of me this morning. It was a rather ocean foggy day this morning. The fog hadn't lifted yet, so it was still very gray:

Then this is what I did with the photo. I used three different, but equally lovely textures from Kim Klassen.  Here is the photo and then I'll tell you what I did with it:

I started out with the "Dream It" texture for this week...and I followed a similar recipe to what Kim Klassen used for her photo.

I added the "Dream It" texture in soft light at 80% opacity and gaussian blur at 100%. Now the gaussion blur, I'm not sure what "percentage" I should have used. I consider it a success that I even found that feature on my Photoshop CS3 :) :) 

Next I added "waterstained frame" at 80% opacity. Oh, I think this was in "screen", but I can't remember for sure...

Then I switched to Picmonkey...hush...don't tell anyone...and I added a third layer of "Reverie" in Overlay at 76% fade...

So that's what I did to get this look. I love the much softer look. It still reflects the gray tones on a foggy ocean day. You really can't see much of anything. In spite of all that, it's absolutely gorgeous and I love the icy blue/black of the water when I look down at it.

Thanks for stopping by to visit me today. I love it when you all leave me comments.

That is the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs to your day, Heather :) :) :)

I'M STILL HERE

Hi everyone,
I'm still here :) :) :) I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile. A lot is happening here. It's all good things, but I went from having nothing to do everyday....literally, to suddenly having something planned every day of the week...and it's been a bit of a shock, a happy shock....but wow, I really need to manage my time better.

Also,  someone that knows me (but has chosen to remain anonymous) has generously paid for me to get some much-needed dental work done...It's been well over 10 years since I've been to a dentist...probably around 17....I'm ashamed to admit that...but I've not been able to afford to go.

Needless to say, I have some cavities and tooth decay happening behind my beautiful smile. However, that is now getting fixed and correct...and can I say WOW...how amazed and humbled I am about that?  I'm so thankful :) :)

With that, I'll leave you with this photo of the day:

I had visit number TWO of four at the dentist office this week? WHAT???? Remember, what I said earlier about needing some serious dental work?  Well, it's all good and my dentist is FABULOUS.  So after that, I went to see my chiropractor in Pacific Grove.  Since his office is three blocks from the ocean, I decided to take in the view today. Let me tell you that it is some kind of fabulous today. It's really warm and the water is the most beautiful shade of blue I have ever seen.  Enjoy this.

Pray for me as I work to be more disciplined with my blogging.  I really do love and appreciate all of you. Your visits and comments really make me smile BIG :) :)

That is the news from the ocean shores of California today.  Love and hugs, Heather :)

INDEPENDENCE DAY PHOTO CONTEST

Hi everyone,
I am entering this super fun, super cool photo contest over at the "Have an Epiphanie" blog. If you love really cool photo stuff and the coolest, most stylish photography bags EV-AH...then click here and pay these nice folks a visit.

We were asked to post one photo that speaks to us of our Independence Day.  This is my favorite photo out of all the pics that I took on July 4th. In fact, I shared this photo in a previous post. This photo was actually taken on July 2nd, as the city was getting ready for the 4th of July parade.

This is a photo of Colton Hall in Monterey, California. Monterey has a HUGE historical significance in the Spanish and Mexican periods...and also in the American period.  We are getting ready to celebrate another year of independence...and I don't know about you, but it feels really good ;) :)

Colton Hall is where the very first constitution for the State of California was signed. It also served as a school in the early 20th century. That bit of information I learned from my 80-something year old neighbor, whose mother went to school there.

Here's my entry for Independence in July :) :) Enjoy:

That's the news from the ocean shores of California today. Extra love and hugs to your day, Heather

HEATHER'S TEXTURE TUESDAY

Hi everyone,
It's been a really exciting week for me.  I'm not ready to talk about what it is...yet. However, it is pretty big for me :) :)


I'm participating in Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday this week. Today it's an "anything goes" edition. So I decided to show you all my very FIRST texture that I used. It was Kim Klassen's "Autumn Burst" back in September 2011. I hadn't learned how to resize the layer image yet, so I just cropped everything instead. This photo was of a lilac bush in my neighbor's yard. Lilacs are so beautiful and delicate:

Tomorrow, our country will be celebrating it's birthday on July 4th :) :) There will be a parade downtown and I'm looking forward to checking that out.

In the meantime, I leave you with a photo of Colton Hall in the city of Monterey, California. Colton Hall is where the first constitution for the State of California was signed back in the 1850s. It also served as a school at the turn of the 20th century. It's being decorated for our July 4th celebrations tomorrow:

That is the news from the ocean shores of California today. Extra love and hugs to your day today, Heather :)