just so.... Random

New Blog

2007-05-15T15:32:00.000+10:00

CLICK HERE

Yep - it's FINALLY up.

If you're one of the super cool people that have me linked on your page, please update links.

Sneak peek:

A Whole Month!

2007-05-11T23:27:00.000+10:00

I can't believe it's been a whole month since my last post. I do have a few things to offer up in my defense though.

Firstly - who knew switching to Typepad would be so HARD! OMGosh! I thought it would be easier then blogger. So far... no way! I'm almost there though - honest. Just a few more things to add and then I'll be switching over. I think I'll have my first post as my Top Ten from 2006 - that way, I can look back in a year's time.

Secondly - my actions are ready to go. I just need to get Typepad up and running and we'll be off. I'm really excited about this because... I have a new one! I'm loving it...

As for my marketing, etc... well. It is coming along... seriously. I have a new logo and am working on my business cards and some post cards, pricing, collections and the typepad blog. I have a newborn shoot coming up and I have plans to get that one 'WoW' image... I'll post it when I get it.

Danny had his knee reconstruction 4 months before we'd expected it. It's put me It's made a lot of things fairly difficult but we'll make it through, we always do. He developed an infection but was very lucky that it moved down his leg, so his wound wasn't infected. That set him back a week or two on doing his exercises, etc. He's finally doing them now and he's started walking... tiny steps and with the crutches still on hand but not on the ground. We're looking at another 3 weeks with the crutches yet though. Then it's time to take it off and bend the knee - ouch!

Piper has asthma. She's had it forever. It never really played up in Queensland but does down here. This is the perfect time to mention how MUCH I miss Queensland - the wather, the life... Anyway, for the 2 winters that we've been back here, her asthma has flared up and she's needed ventalin on and off. This year though, she's been put on a preventative puffer twice a day and at the moment she's getting the ventalin four times a day.

I started helping out at my mum's shop again. My brother had a car accident. Nothing too serious but he had a really sore neck. I called her and asked if she needed help since he wasn't able to work and she said yes. Things are totally sh*t in that department though. I mean, on the work side they're fine. Personally... we're going down the drain. It hurts. Alot.

We've lost someone we thought was a really great family friend. I wont go into details here. I'll just say that he did something extremely inappropriate. It's really hard... he and Danny have been friends for 20+ years... he and I for 10+ years and he's always been around for the kids. It's so strange knowing that he wont be coming around anymore. Sometimes, people just suck, right?

My computer is having SERIOUS issues. Not sure if anyone remembers but I got a new Dell computer sometime in the second half of last year. I went with a Dell. I really liked that I could go on their site and 'build' my own computer. I really love it too... 250GB HD, 2GB RAM, Dual Core Processor. Well, in January I had issues. I kept getting the Blue Screen Of Death (otherwise known on the internet as BSOD). I called. They told me everything was fine. Two weeks later my hard drive crashed. I do have to say, they sent the tech out with my new hard drive very quickly.

About a month ago, everytime I tried opening, burning or tranferring one particular photo file, I'd get the BSOD. I ended up deleting the file and everything was fine, so I thought. (this is after spending a whole DAY backing up onto DVD - the poor thing was running so slowly).

A few days ago, same thing happens. It's grown from one file to three - all in the same folder. Ring Dell... 'oh, it's not OUR problem' - Grrrrr. Tech came out this afternoon. He was here for HOURS. Seriously, I got back from shopping at 4pm and he was here and I got home from mum's shop just past 7pm and he was still here... and he left sometime around 8pm. When he's leaving, he tells me that it's actually in worse condition then when he got here, that he doesn't know what's wrong with it, and that he's done working on it. WTF?!?!?!

Danny gets online tonight to do some research. We find out that a LOT of people have problems with the Dells sent out in 2006 with MY problem!!! Apparently, the only way to really fix the problem is to get a replacement but it's almost impossible to get Dell to admit it's their problem and to send the replacement. Ugh. So... tomorrow I'm going to call a few different places - Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs, etc and get some information. Then I'm calling Dell again. I'm really fired up about this too. I'm going to be forceful and I'm GOING to get this situation resolved. Will keep you updated.

I've not been online as much lately. I'm missing my online buddies on MSN and Hello and also at the message boards I go to. I love you aaaaaaaaaaaall! It's been ages since I've been able to really blog surf too.

Oh oh oh... I called my girl Stacia the other day! The quality of the line wasn't perfect but it wasn't terrible either - and it cost me NOTHING! It was so exciting! I was a giggly little school girl. I just lurve that southern accent. I think it's my favourite in the entire world. Stacia - love you, miss you, gonna call you again soon - hope your foot gets better soon :).

I think that must catch me up. LoL If you've read this far - here's a photo for you. Not my usual thing...

Ciao!

Exciting new things...

2007-04-11T00:18:00.000+10:00

going on.

I've deleted my old photo a day blog. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't keep it up. I thought I was going really well but I got behind and I'm anal and couldn't post after I'd missed one day. So now, it's gone.

I've got a new typepad blog coming very soon. I'll probably still post my personal stuff here for a while but all my session will be posted there once it goes up.

Actions - woo hoo! Thanks to everyone that has asked about my actions. I gives me such a thrill every single time I'm asked. Once the new blog goes up, I'll have my actions ready for sale. They'll be available seperately and in a bundle. I'm really excited about this!

I also have something else I'm working on at the moment. I should have it worked out in the next week or 2. This one will be more for the Aussies but is totally available to everyone.

I've also decided that I've got to stop sitting around and being afraid to approach people about shoots. I know that I can do this and I want to do it, more then anything... so I'm in the middle of putting together a marketing plan and excited about implementing it.

So yeah... lots of new exciting stuff going on for me at the moment!

And I just have to say a special hello to one of my favourite Americans ever! Stacia babe, I love you and I sooooooooo miss chatting with you. Good news? We just upgraded to high speed internet and have invested in a broadband phone!!! I'll be able to call you soon!

A Teaser...

2007-04-03T00:06:00.000+10:00

Love this red door...

Searching out new locations... determined to find 'spots' in my town that I can use for an entire shoot, and still get a wide variety of backgrounds.
Will be posting more in a few days... I love these photos of Jadzia though and couldn't resist posting them.

I'm having calibration issues so if you see funky colour or anything, let me know!

Weather change

2007-04-02T09:43:00.000+10:00

It's turned cold here over the last week or so. Autumn is definitely in the air. I hate the cold weather. I don't mind cooler weather, but here... winter is winter. Freezing cold chilly winds, etc.

On the bright side, that meant it was time to start buying jumpers - that's sweaters for you Americans.
Got this gorgeous jumper from The Pumpkin Patch. I don't usually shop there because it's a bit more expensive then I like... but a once off is ok, right?

These were taken at the end of the day... not the best light. She asked though, and how could I resist?

Was playing with the blur filter here... and 2 photos up. The one 2 up was using the zoom blur and this one was using the radial blur. Don't think I used them properly but I see potential...

Cheeky monkey...

Looking at this face you wouldn't think that it was HER idea for the mini shoot, would you? Playing with textures. I think they could be fun too :)

So... as you're all enjoying the signs of spring... think of me over here, turning cold and about to battle the WPS (Winter Photography Slump).

Jessie's Back!!!

2007-03-25T22:28:00.000+10:00

I didn't break her!

LooK --->

Jess was always my favourite model... agreed to have photos taken almost anytime and would let me experiment and posed so well...
Then I broke her :(
I'd posed her so often that she couldn't act naturally anymore.

Every photo I got of her was fake, forced and uninspiring...

So I gave up for a while... still took happy snaps and all but nothing serious.

The other night I was showing a friend some of my favourites from this year on Hello and we both noticed that I hadn't taken many of Jess at all this year.

Also, her birthday is next month and she's having her party here (YES!) so we decided on photo invites. She was going to use one of the photos taken in October but she's changed a lot since then and I wanted to see if we could get something fresher...

I happen to think we NAILED it! And I'm sooooo freakin' happy with them.

I love colour... it's so bright, happy, fun... out there...

but I'm really lovin' B&W lately too.

This one just blows me away....

Remember - she's only 11 years old! She turns 12 at the end of next month.

We spent about 20 mintues on this shoot... definitely not more then 30. It was all natural light, with a reflector. We had a brick wall for the background. I had quite a few other 'good' shots but next to these they just looked pale... she also thinks she's older then she is and tries to pose more suggestively... she KNOWS that I don't allow this and she also knows upfront that I'll delete any like that (why do I take them? Sometimes she moves just as I click or I don't realise until after I've clicked)

For processing... all the colour ones are with my Colour BAM! action, plus a new skin technique I'm trying to get right. The B&Ws are my own conversion. I burnt a vignette onto each of them. They're all in camera crops too... except that I cropped a little of the ends to be 5x7.

A shoot - start to finish...

2007-03-20T23:40:00.000+11:00

When I get to do a photo shoot with Pacey I know I have to be prepared because it wont last long. This time, it was about 5 minutes only...

We start with the nice shot...

Then we get the first funny shot...
He loves showing off his muscles - can you see them?

Next he has to 'twirl' like his big sister...

Right here, he was singing "picking flowers for my mummmmmmy"

Awwwwwwwww....

aaaaaaaaand - we're done!

Outtakes...

2007-03-19T21:39:00.000+11:00

So yesterday I was raving about how gorgeous she is - and she is, really.... Check out these outtakes from today...

Not so bad, right?

And all downhill from here...

Go away!
aaaaaaaaand... we're done.

I think outtakes are a lot of fun sometimes. So I'm going to tag Julie, Tina & Jen to share their outtakes too. Check them out!

At the park...

2007-03-18T23:24:00.000+11:00

The last week has been just CRAZY with my mum opening her new shop and all the stuff that goes with that. Hopefully, from now on it will all calm down.

We had some time to go to the park today. We haven't been for ages, even though the weather has been great. The last time we were there the older kids wanted to go home and asked not to go back. The equipment is covered in graffiti... and some of it is pretty explicit. We went to meet up with Piper's best friend and his mum today. They were too busy having fun to take any notice of the graffiti today, which was good.

Seriously, this boy freaks me out. He's such a BOY! I think he might just be the one who comes to me with our first broken bone. He was jumping off the top of the ladder you can see in the background. I started out telling him to stop... but he was fine. Then, I notice how the dust flies as he hits the ground. Ok, here comes the photographer in me. I set up and he does it over and over for me.

Not to be outdone of course, Jadzia had to give it a go. I didn't get a great shot of her with the dirt flying but this was the best of the bunch.
I just love this girl. I cannot believe there was a time when I didn't want to be near her. I think back to those years and it just seems like a distant nightmare. She's gorgeous - inside and out. I think I will feel guilt over all that for the rest of my life. If you've read my blog from the beginning you'll know what I'm talking about. If not, sorry for being vague. I should probably explain but it's my blog... so I don't have to :p ;)

Ugh. Really... that just about says it all, doesn't it?

Setting up shop...

2007-03-12T23:20:00.000+11:00

My feet hurt... seriously - throbbing, aching, stinging... just all over hurting.

My legs hurt. Yep, them too... a dull, not-going-away, soreness.

My mum bought a shop. Everything settled on Friday last week. Friday - LOTSA running around getting all the legals sorted out. Saturday/Sunday... painting, cleaning, building new counters, moving big heavy crap, learning to cook, cleaning, keeping 6 children under control, cleaning, counting stock, making decisions, sorting everything out... did I mention the cleaning yet?

This morning, Monday, first day trading. Yay mum - it's done and ready!

Busy busy busy. I was soo surprised by how constantly busy it was. From 10:30 until 3:30 there was not a chance to sit down. I know that's great for business but it's not so hot for my poor legs and feet that just aren't used to it.

So, for the last 4 days, it's been absolutely NON stop. I'm just about to head to bed now... but knew I just had to come post... I know you all dwell in darkness without regular updates *insert sarcastic grin*.

I also wanted to thank everyone who has purchased the Booster Baby! action. I'm working on a few more to add to the mix. I have a stronger colour boost action and an eye pop action that is super easy to use and adjust to your personal taste. I just need to get a little more time to post some examples for you all.

No photos today :(

This put a smile on my face...

2007-03-08T23:27:00.000+11:00

I've been feeling in a funk lately. It's extra frustrating to me as I have good weather. I have sunlight and it's easy for me to take photos if I want to. I know that towards the end of our looong winter, I'll be screaming for sunlight... the weather is starting to turn now... getting colder, raining more... but yet, I can't seem to pull myself out of it.

What I have been doing is getting caught up on editing photos. I'm still behind on getting all the pics from our holiday done... can't believe how many I took. I've gotten behind on my photo of the day to... and that's annoying me.

Anyways, the photo above put a smile on my face tonight. It's of my sister's youngest girl, Little Miss B. She's adorable. She wasn't feeling very well though. She'd just had some medicine for a temp and was having some time out in the bath.

I used my new colour action, Colour BAM, on this as well as my It's in the Eyes action (an eye popping action). I'm really happy with the way it's turned out.

This is for Mum...

2007-03-02T23:19:00.000+11:00

My mum told me that I HAD to blog something and soon. So here I am...

I've had the best laugh night tonight. The good kind... the kind where there's tears in your eyes and your cheeks start to hurt.

First, I watch a YouTube video of Steve Irwin. It's 11pm while I'm watching it... Danny came in from the loungeroom and Pacey came in from his bedroom... both wanted to know what I was laughing about. We were watching it together and just laughing and laughing. You've got to check it out. I've tried to post it with this... hope it works.

Then I'm watching Sex in the City reruns. I haven't been watching for a while (I get sick of seeing the same thing over and over). I couldn't resist watching tonight though as it was the Paris episodes. I looooooooove those episodes. Just love them.

I'm watching, and even though I knew it was coming I STILL laughed my ass off at Big saying, "I'm kickin' some Russian ass." Then he's off and after the Russian... and then when she trips him in the hallway and they're just laying there laughing...

I love laughter... when was the last good laugh you had?

Nearly there...

2007-02-23T23:14:00.000+11:00

Just wanted to update for the Elements users...

Happy to say that the action has worked for PSE5 and PSE4. Still testing on PSE3.

Shouldn't be long now... thanks for being patient.

Booster Baby! action for sale

2007-02-21T23:41:00.000+11:00

I'm so excited to finally have this ready to go!

I've been asked about this a ton of times and finally thought, why not? I use this action on 95% of my colour photos. I will say that I do tweak it to fit each photo. I've made it super simple to be able to tweak it yourselves. In fact, I recommend you use it that way.

Below are some examples, clicking on them will make them bigger. I did nothing to these photographs except crop, run the action, resize, and sharpen... no tweaking.

Please send your PayPal payment of $4.99USD to renee.oakenfull@gmail.com and the action will be emailled to you within 24 hours - usually sooner then that. Due to the nature of the purchase, no refunds will be given.

PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS USERS:

I have a few people testing this out at the moment for me. It looks like we might be able to get it to work on PSE4 and PSE5. I just need to fine tune the details. It should be sorted out in the next 24 hours. Check back soon...

Back again...

2007-02-17T23:22:00.000+11:00

I don't think I've had this long between posts before. I know that all my faithful readers must of been feeling as though they were dwelling in darkness without a new post from me. It's ok... I'm back now. ;)

Well... I've been proofing the wedding I shot at the end of January, getting organised with the 3 older kids back at school and that's about it. I know it doesn't sound like much. I've also been going to bed before midnight every night, which, if you know me you know is strange. It's really working though. I'm waking up much happier and easier in the mornings now. Oh, and I've spent a few nice days with my Mum lately.

I should be blogging regularly again now. This week I'm working on a name for a photography business - I've been sort of portfolio building but now this wedding is over I'm ready to get more into it - and a logo. If anyone has ANY ideas I would soooo love to hear them. I don't have one of 'those' names so I don't think Joe Smith Photography sounds good. I'm wanting to go for something young, fresh, funky and fun. With the colours, I'm either going for the baby pink lime green type look - love it - or a more subtle chocolate brown baby pink or blue look.

I'll leave you with some recent pics of my sister's children...

I've been tagged...

2007-02-07T22:05:00.000+11:00

Twice!

6 weird things about me by Marla and Sarah for 6 things that make me very happy.

I'm going to cheat on the 6 weird things. I was tagged on my Photo A Day blog so some of these are a copy. I must just be too normal. I can't come up with 12 weird things about myself!!!

6 weird things about me...
1. I have a favourite side - really... it's my left side.
2. I copy people when I walk... fall into step with them.
3. I like really hot salty McDonalds fries dipped into one of their hot chocolate fudge sundaes - hmmmm.
4. I don't wear any rings - not even my engagement and wedding rings.
5. I homeschoolled my daughter for 6 months and my son for 9 months.
6. I make words up on the fly... so long as I get my point across that's ok, right?

6 things that make me very happy...

1. Chocolate!

2. Watching my children play together, as a team. It seriously makes my heart skip a beat.

3. Getting that 'wow' photo. (doesn't happen often enough)

4. Hanging out with my sister and her family.

5. Getting some real time out with Danny. (this REALLY doesn't happen often enough)

6. Hanging out with my girlfriends...

I have a BUNCH more things that make me happy. This list is not exclusive. I put the first 6 things down that came into my head... ok, I lie - I left one of them out ;)

Now... I'm tagging Jadzia, Mum, Jessie, Brenda, Robyn and Jen.

I'll leave you with another beachscape pic from the holidays. I really tried to get a dark, stormy feel.

Holiday snaps...

2007-02-06T23:48:00.001+11:00

Thanks guys for answering my 'chips-and-soft-drink-pity-party' call. I didn't realise how whiney I sounded.

Just thought I'd update with a few more of the photos I took on holiday. Bailey and I had a great time shooting the surfers. The day after, I took Jadzia and she was enjoying herself too - until the batteries in the camera ran out. I couldn't even give her my spare because they're different.

I can't decide if I like this one in colour or B&W better... what do you think?

Here's one of the beach landscapes I took.

The kids have their swimming carnival tomorrow. None of them can actually swim properly but there are other activities they can take part in. Notes came home from school today for band too... Bailey and Jadzia both want to join so that's great! Oh - and the big news of the day {insert drum roll} Piper got her very first merit award, for tracing.

Do I smell?

2007-02-04T23:25:00.000+11:00

I swear... I've taken a shower and I have pretty smelly spray on ;)

No one's commenting lately... am I talking to myself? I mean... totally possible. I've often wondered why anyone would read about my life... but now I feel lonely without you all. Hmm... I am a little strange, yes?

Just one of Danny to share today. This was taken while on holidays. I've been so busy proofing the wedding I shot but today I took time out to do some holiday snaps.

I trully love this man... with every ounce of my being...

Much ado about nothing...

2007-02-04T00:53:00.000+11:00

Well... it's been a busy week! We got back from holidays late Saturday. Since then, we've been trying to catch up on cleaning, buying the kids school supplies, sending the kids off to start school again - Piper going for the first time, organising the house (those who know me know that organisation isn't my strong point), catching up with friends, getting my poor puter fixed, trying to get the laptop fixed, proofing holiday photos and more importantly, proofing client pics. Also, Danny works off a 2 week roster. One week he's rostered on normally and the second week is pretty full on... this week of course. Oh! Oh! Oh! He's not been having a fun time at work lately but due to certain issues that I can't really talk about, his work situation will be changing and he's really happy about it. So yay Danny!

So, what's new? Piper has a sore tooth. I'm not sure if it was loose or not to start with (her and Bailey 'bumped' into eachother this morning) but it is now and it's aching. Poor little girl. Pacey has gotten bored without the other kids at home... even Jack has gotten more quiet now they are back at school. He's following me everywhere - if I leave the room, he's right behind me.

I don't have any new pics to share. I'm dying to go through the holiday photos properly but they'll have to wait until the wedding photos are proofed. For now, here's a quick one of my sister.

Sunsets...

2007-02-01T23:51:00.001+11:00

Just the one really. I don't get a chance to shoot sunsets. Where I live just isn't the place for it. When on holidays, I told my sister that I desperately wanted the sunset. So... we jumped in the car and she took me to this little place... had a long, thin piece of land that jutted out into the water. We had to wait just over half an hour for the sun to get down there - but when it did, wow... I only had about 5 minutes to go for it.

Without further ado... my 5 favourites from that evening...

I'm not completely sure about the composition on this one. I don't think it sticks to any rules but it works for me. The thing I really like about this one though is the sun itself.

The last photo is sooc (defog & sharpen). All the other photos have been defogged (some more then once) and sharpened also... the only other thing I did in editing was a soft light layer at 50%.

First days...

2007-01-31T23:23:00.000+11:00

*** WARNING: photo overload ***

Yesterday (Tuesday) was Jessie's first day of high school. She had been nervous but excitement took over a few days before. She's had a new haircut and that, coupled with the uniform, make her look so much older. Everyone is having the time of their lives teasing Danny about having a child old enough to be in high school...

Skip to today... Piper's first day of kindergarten. Omgosh... if only you knew. Years ago, I couldn't wait for this day... when she would be out of the house and away. Now though, I just want to hold her close and not let her go. I've so much to make up for and never enough time.

I'm weird? Come on... it's all about the lunch box baby!!!

On the path... headed away... I didn't cry, really I didn't.

Just think... next year I'll have 4 of them lining up for this shot. I might try to get all 5 actually.

This was my gift for the day... I just wish I had of thrown Pacey into the mix.

Big brother... big sister... leading the way.
A little unsure... omgosh, I wanted to go sit with her so bad!

A last hug goodbye to Granma before heading off...

Walking up the stairs - to her classroom and away from me.

A kiss from a princess to her daddy... and one in return.

Well... I did warn you about the overload :)

I'm back!!!

2007-01-28T22:13:00.000+11:00

Did you miss me?

Come on... just a little?

Well... I took my computer away with me - I was all geared up to be a good girl while I was on holiday and keep up with my photo a day and maybe update here with some holiday snaps. I also had to upload pics for my Impact Posing course at www.ppsop.com. Day 1... turn puter on to upload my deadline assignment photos.... nothing. Yep, nothing. Omgosh... panic stations. I go into panic mode and Danny goes into 'knight in shining armour' mode. He's running all these diagnostic tests and trying everything... still no go. Windows wouldn't even load. I call Dell... bad bad news - hard drive has crashed! Tears, tantrums... meltdown mode for sure.

Danny grabs the kids and takes them to the motel pool, hoping I'll calm down while he's gone. I don't plan to... Next thing, I'm on the phone to my mum, asking her to log into Hello under my name and contact Julie (her blog is in the list on the right - That Red Dirt Road) for me. Julie is also taking the posing course. I'd sent her pics from my practice shoot... was thinking I could use them. No go though - exif data was no longer attached. So, I'm talking to Julie, through my mum... still crying... and they were both great. Instructors too... they let me post my assignmennt late. Ok, time to breathe now and force all thoughts of the hard drive out of my head to enjoy the holiday. *sigh*

We had the BESTEST time!!! It's the first time we've ever gone on holiday. We've gone visiting before... but never just simply on holiday. We did a bunch of stuff... the kids were fantastic too and Danny really relaxed. I have 5gb of memory cards full of photos to sort through, process and post. I can't even start that until Dell bring the new hard drive though (I'm on the kids' sucky sucky computer). So... be prepared to be bombarded with photos at that point.

I plan on doing some serious blog surfing this week... as well as checkng in on the message boards I hang out... I've missed chatting with all my internet buddies, but it was good to see that I can actually survive without the computer when needed.

Remember my engagement couple?

2007-01-21T02:35:00.000+11:00

This couple?

Well..... I've been sitting on a bit of a secret. Wanna know? You can probably already see anyways... if not, scroll down........

.....

nope, further...

Yep - today was their big day. Mick & Paula, I wish you the very best that life can bring... and for the times when life is bringing less then it's best, I wish for you the strength, commitment and compassion to carry you through. I want to thank you both for believing in me and wanting me to be your photographer. Oh, and that cake was DEL-IC-IOUS!!! I couldn't stop thinking of M's profiterole story though ;-).

Here's a few to tide you over...

The GORgeous Miss K - flower girl extraordinaire! She has the most beautiful, dark, soulful eyes...

One of my favourites from the day...

So, in just a few hours I'm off to the beach for a week! What a way to spend the last week of the school holidays, huh? When we get back, it will be a mad dash to make sure we have everything we need, etc. Piper goes to kindergarten this year. She's so little it just seems so wrong....

So yeah, I'll be getting on once a day (I think) to post my photo a day, but that's probably all I would do.

Puh-lease check this website out...

2007-01-19T12:19:00.000+11:00

... and if you can find it in your heart to contribute, then that's great. Either way, send the link to tons of people and maybe some of them can donate.

http://projectsahm.blogspot.com/

I am NOT affiliated with this in any way. I found this while blog surfing and think it's wonderful. I wanted to help get it noticed.

ps - big day tomorrow girls, wish me luck :)

Meet Jenni --->

2007-01-17T15:33:00.000+11:00

Isn't she gorgeous? I mean really... just look at those eyes!

Jenni came over the other day to pose for me. I'm doing a course at www.ppsop.com on Impact Posing and needed a female model. Isn't she great?

Jenni and I have been friends since we were 8 years old. It really is the funniest story. She's going to kill me for telling you - but hey, this is my blog... right? :-)

Well... I was the new girl in Year 3 at school. No one liked me (yes, I know, sounds like a pity party) and I was actively picked on by a bunch of girls. These girls told Jenni to chase me into the toilets and hurt me... so, she did. LoL. Really, I know it's not funny but it is now, after all these years.

The following conversation between 2 8 year olds (Jenni and I):
Me: I'm dobbing on you
Jen: No no... please don't
Me: I'm telling the teacher
Jen: No, don't. I'll be your best friend for a week....
Me: ***thoughtful silence***

I think it's a testament to my desperation that I did not tell the teacher on her. I accepted her offer of friendship for a week. 21 years later, we're still friends. We've seen eachother through a lot of different changes and there have been times where we haven't seen or spoken to eachother for a long time. I moved back to town 2 years ago and I'm so glad that we're still friends.

Jenni - love you babe :-D