oooooklahoma.

I took this picture for the cover of our magazine -- we're doing a feature about the effects of the oil spill in Oklahoma.

I think the picture kind of shows how, although Oklahoma's oil industry is directly related, it's small potatoes compared to what those in the Gulf are experiencing.

coooome 'n get it.

I had some success a couple weeks ago with making a dinner menu and sticking to that. And, after going way too long without a grocery store run {save for random necessities}, I've made another grocery run and another weekly menu:

Sunday -- Hot Chicken Salad with Ranch Dip and chips
Monday -- BBQ Shredded Beef and Kraft Bacon Ranch Pasta salad
Tuesday -- Taco Spaghetti {we've had this and J requested to have it again}
Wednesday -- we usually go out with the in-laws
Thursday -- Spicy Jalepeno Burgers with sweet potato fries
Friday -- this was salmon, but now we have plans with friends!

So, the verdict on the hot chicken salad was that it was good, but definitely missing something. J said he liked it but wasn't sure he really wanted it again. Maybe if I can add grapes or apples to it to add something sweet {it's a very savory dish}, he'll like it a little better.

And, tonight, I made the shredded beef. And, can I tell you, it was beyond easy {my fave!}. If you have a crock pot and a significant other/group of best friends/strangers off the street who love BBQ this is the recipe for you!

Ingredients:

3 lb. chuck roast

Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste {we used J's dad's trusty pepper/onion salt/garlic salt rub}

1 bottle Kraft Sweet and Spice Chipotle BBQ sauce {couldn't find it, so we used Albert's Medium BBQ sauce}

1 bottle of beer {we used Miller Lite}

I bottle Sweet Baby Rays Honey BBQ sauce

Directions:

Season all sides of the beef with salt, pepper and garlic powder and place in a large crock pot

Cover roast with Sweet and Spicy Chipotle BBQ sauce

Pour beer over and on sides of roast

Cover and cook on high for 7 hours

Remove roast from crock pot and discard remaining liquid

Shred beef with fork and put back in crock pot, add honey BBQ sauce

Cover and cook on warm/low another 1-2 hours, or until ready to serve

action.

I've been using Photoshop for several years, but not until recently {the last 8 months, maybe} did I realize that Actions existed.

Actions are pre-programmed steps to do different things to a picture -- enhance areas, change colors, sepia tones, 70s type photos, etc. {That's my definition and most likely not the technical one.} Pioneer Woman has two sets -- one with 6 or 7 and another with maybe 10.

PW Set 1
PW Set 2

I've never really played around with these, but I was looking through an Arkansas photographer's blog and it hit me. The different colored photos aren't SOOC, they use actions and other Photoshop tricks and filters! And I call myself a graphic designer, pshhh.

Anyway, I've mentioned that J and I have aspirations of a couple of gallery walls in our house, and I decided to try my hand at some actions of our own photos in hopes that we could put those up in the house.

Here are two pictures -- I'm showing you the before and after.

This one I took of Gus last summer when I was just figuring out our camera and the new lens we'd gotten. I love the SOOC one, but the B&W is awesome!

J and I had gone to a one-day photography workshop and had to get out and take some pictures pre-sunset. He took this one. We did some minor toning, but the action I did on it made it so cool.

Have you guys ever used actions?

Random Thursday - Pictures, bags and BBQ

It's that time again!

• Did you guys see the moon last night? It was amazing. As we were coming home from dinner, we noticed that the moon was huge and still really low behind some thin, wispy clouds. John was super eager to get the tripod out and try to get some cool shots of the moon. {Can I just say that I hate setting up, but love the reward of getting a good shot as a result of taking the time to set up?} Anyway, below is one of the cooler shots we got. It's been super windy here, and we used a really slow shutter speed, which made the trees really soft. Below is the original and then I grayscaled the picture and did a little extra stuff to it in Photoshop. I think it turned out really cool {and a little creepy ...}.

And, one more that John took of a car driving down our street. It might be the coolest SOOC pic we got last night.

• I'm a preferred customer with Coach. Oh, you are too? Yeah, I'm pretty sure if you've bought a Coach bag, you're a preferred customer. Anyway, they've enticed me with 25% off if I go into the store. I've been jonesing over a couple of bags for a really long time. 

Audrey in black -- $398 {$298.50 after the 25% discount}

Madison Op-Art Sateen Audrey -- $358 {$268.50 after the 25% discount}

I really prefer the top bag because I need a black bag {hello, how do I not have a basic black bag?? It's really a travesty ...} and I don't really want the Cs all over it. I'm not so sure that J will go for it. Anyone want to distract him while I make the trek to the Coach store?

• We went to Tulsa last weekend for a BBQ benefit for a fraternity brother of John's who has cancer. Greg is just 31 and has been battling tumors for several years. He and his wife have twins {John and Samantha} and he has a hospital bed in the living room that's now been converted into his personal room. Anyway, some of their really good friends put together a BBQ with a wine pull {that was my first experience with that} and a silent auction and they raised A LOT of money for the family. Anyway, I got like one picture all weekend and it's not even that great. But I loved seeing so many people {they think there were around 250 people there!} show up to support the family. If praying is your thing, please say a little prayer for he and his family.

Can I take your picture?

J and I went to a one day photography workshop on Thursday.

At first, the guy was moving super slow and I was really wondering how we were going to last until 4 if it was going to be this boring the whole time. But, by the time our lunch break rolled around, he had finally touched on something we've had trouble with: lighting.

Needless to say, after lunch the time flew by and we learned quite a bit of good stuff.

And, going to that workshop really got us excited about taking more pictures. So, we decided we would {finally} go out to dinner to celebrate my birthday {a month ago} and we'd leave a little early to take some pictures around the OU campus.

Instead of getting directly on the campus, we stopped at the natural history museum and took some pics of the buffalo statue that's out front.

Here are a couple of the better pics that we snapped.

I took this one.

And, J took this one. I love that the face of the buffalo is only partially lit.

I have to admit, I was annoyed when we were taking pics, because John's were way better than mine. But, I just happened to snap that top pic right before we left, and after a little help in photoshop, I really love it. We're thinking of adding it to our gallery wall {when we finally get around to getting it done!}

Sliders

On Thursday we were asked to take pictures of the food at Seven47 again. {Yep, I took such fab pics the first time, they wanted us -- me-- back for more}

We were there for Slider Thursday. There are nine different kinds of sliders -- crab cake, philly cheese steak, regular cheeseburgers, etc. They're really good and definitely a good price. Anyway, we hit the side patio again and took pics of all nine kinds of sliders.

Here are some of them:

They look pretty darn good right? They definetely taste as good as they look. If you're in the Norman area on a Thursday... go! Or, really, any night...they serve food seven days a week.

Here are a couple other pics I took after the serious slider photography was over. I think they turned out really cool.

Those are just pics I took because I really liked the light coming through the beer bottles. I love that the focal point in both is a little different. I think I'm starting to get a hang of this photography thing.

Pups

Here are a few pics I took of the pugs yesterday. The info about my settings is below each one.

Taken with a Nikon D60

Focal Length: 40mm

Shutter Speed: 1/200s

Aperture: F/5.3

Sensitivity: ISO 1600

Taken with a Nikon D60

Focal Length: 34mm

Shutter Speed: 1/200s

Aperture: F/5

Sensitivity: ISO 1600

Taken with a Nikon D60

Focal Length: 40mm

Shutter Speed: 1/200s

Aperture: F/5.3

Sensitivity: ISO 1600

Taken with a Nikon D60

Focal Length: 40mm

Shutter Speed: 1/200s

Aperture: F/5.3

Sensitivity: ISO 1600

I was extremely pleased with the outcome of these pictures. I found some good information here about what ISO is all about and working with exposure, composition and all those good things. I think her way of explaining things really worked for me, and these pics turned out really well in return. More to come, I promise!