Some awkwardness to start your day

Yes. This is a cat post. Fair warning.
It's been a little while since we've caught you up on some pictures of the cats. (Well, it seems like a while to us, at least). And since I've been learning how to better use my camera, I've been taking a lot more photos around the house.

I present to you, therefore, for your end-of-the-week delectation:

"cats suffering through affection"

(no cats were harmed in the making of these photos)

(I know this post is very Pandora-heavy [pun intended] but as you can see, the normal way of things in our house is that Pandora is kooky and awkward, while Maggie usually sits in judgement.)

Have a great weekend everyone!

iPhone HDR

Hi guys! We've got some really great stuff planned for you over the next few weeks. Now that we've reached a point of general unpacked-ness...
Wait.
Stop.
Did I just say "unpacked"?
....
OH YEAH I DID!!
Can I get a little angel chorus up in here? Hallelujah. Amen.

So, now that I've gotten that out of my system...
I wanted to share with you a little fun feature I just discovered about the iPhone. All people more Apple-y knowledgeable than me can stop reading.

[crickets chirp]

So, now that I'm the only one here... Remember how I said I unearthed my camera equipment and will be taking better pictures for this lil' ol' blog? Well, wouldn't you know that I discovered a way to improve the overall quality and effect of my iPhone pictures? Naturally.
There are two little setting available under the "Options" setting: "Grid" and "HDR"

The grid helps with that "rule of thirds" theory of picture taking, which I consider rather subjective (but let's remind ourselves: I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to photography)
The HDR is the real kicker. HDR or "high dynamic range", takes three photos of differing exposure in quick succession and combines them for optimal exposure. This feature is seen most dramatically in pictures that feature both light and dark: the sun reflecting off water with deep shadows in the tree lines or even a regularly lit person standing against the glare of an open window. The HDR feature combines the best bits of it's three photos to create a "perfectly exposed" picture.
So, I'll give you one guess as to whom we asked to demonstrate this little feature. Yup, one of the cats (which I totally typed first as "fats". Freudian anyone?)
First up, the original:

Now, the HDR

Luminous, right? Here's another:

Subtle, but nice. One more? I (don't) hear you say? You got it. But like ying and yang, Cane and Abel, peanut butter and jelly, cookies and milk (anyone else getting hungry?) you can't have one without the other; here is Pandora to illustrate a final example of the HDR feature:

Has anyone else recently found a feature on a piece of technology you've been using for a long time? Any wondrous discoveries?

The fur is flying around here...

So, let's just be upfront about this: this post is for my Mother. Jayne-with-a-Y. The awesome lady whose generosity and whole-life-know-how I completely exploit. Query phone calls over the past years have included topics varying from kitchen appliances, paint, résumés, work attire, you get the picture. She's my go-to gal (Just don't tell Pinterest or Google.)

Oh, and Mom? How to do I add seam allowances when making a sewing pattern?

Anywhoo, back to the point of this post. What does this lovely lady request for her time and energy? Pictures of the wedding and of the cats. And since we've been covering the wedding over the past few weeks, here are the fluffy ones.

And no, we are not in denial about the cats currently filling the grand-baby-shaped-hole for my mom. That's exactly what's happening. ;-)

 

 

Recently, Pandora has taken to climbing on the bar stools at the island. Apparently my bar-tending skills aren't up to snuff.

 

 

*ahem* ... It's rude to stare.

(but seriously, she's not fat, she's fluffy!!! coughmetoocough.

 

 

Maggie clearly has the skillz for pictures. Look glamorous yet completely uninterested all at the same time.

 

 

And now for a couple of bonus Pandora shots... She takes the cake (mmmm....cake) as the master of awkward. And my handsome hubby has a real gift for bringing it out in her.

 

 

And these are oldies but goodies:

[this is where I would normally insert a mom joke but I really do need her help with that sewing question...]

 

Side note: good news! I found my camera AND the cord to connect it to my computer. So, hopefully there will be many less iPhone photos to suffer through. Oh yeah, we're upping the ante around here! But seriously, a big THANK YOU for reading. We're having so much fun and hope that we can start continue making it fun for you, too!

 

Caption contest

Maggie, mid-manicure. What should be the caption for this picture?

 

The trouble of unpacking with cats...

The funny thing is, I didn't even see Maggie when I took this picture!

A few evening pictures of ''helping hands''

 

 

 

Pandora Portrait

Pandora, after a good time exploring our new home:

Introductions, please!

If you've started reading our blog, you more than likely know who we are (that would be crazy at this point, otherwise) and thus probably know our sweet pets: Maggie (short for Magnificat) and Pandora.

But, I thought since this is a family blog, that they should get a little screen time, too. So here they are in all of their feline glory: