Photoshop

So we recently purchased Photoshop Elements to do some photo editing since I couldn't do everything that I wanted with some of the free programs out there (Picasa is pretty good for a free program but didn't have everything).


The program has tons of options of things to do and I am just starting to get into it. One of the best things so far is the ease of blotting out pieces of the picture that you don't want. It really helps to take an ordinary picture and kick it up so that it really pops.





The first picture is the original. The second has been touched up to remove the ugly sign from in front of it. The third, I played with the colors and made the photo look a little older. It takes a little bit of time sometimes (mostly when I am messing around with seeing what it can do) but makes for some very pretty pictures.

DC Trip - Day 3 and 4

July 4th - we were planning on getting up and going to a parade, but didn't look at what time the parade started until the parade had already started. So instead, we decided to take the Metro downtown. We avoided the National Mall due to the ridiculous crowds but we walked around a little bit, visited the aquarium (avoid this, def not worth the money), and then headed back to Andy's apartment.

That evening we walked down to "downtown" Gaithersburg to watch the fireworks. They were spectacular. The show last a long time and the finale was extremely impressive.

Last Day - On our last day in DC we decided to take a bus tour of the city, where you can get on and off and see all of the sites. We went with Tourmobile mainly because one of the stops was out to Arlington Cemetery. We started the day with stops at Jefferson Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial which were cool because you have seen pictures of all of these places, but it is completely different in person. The story about the Jefferson memorial, where the statue looks across the Tidal Basin and looks at the White House so that he is always overlooking the current president.

Next, we stopped at Arlington Cemetery to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. A very moving experience, especially when there is a wreath laying ceremony going on. Information on the ceremony. It is quite an honor to be able to volunteer for this duty.

Our last couple of stops were to the Korean War Memorial (my grandpa served during this war) and the WWII Memorial (Shawnna's grandpa served in Europe). The Korean War Memorial is 19 soldiers reflected in the stone lines (19 more soldiers) to represent the 38th parallel. The WWII Memorial is spectacular. All 50 states are represented and the memorial is split into the European front and the Pacific front, divided by a fountain.

We left the next morning to make the 9 hour drive back to pick up the "kids" from the kennel and get ready for work the next morning. All in all, a great trip, that I am sure we will make again (probably in the fall or spring to avoid the crowds).

Thanks to Andy for the 5 star accommodation, the excellent tour guide services and the evening entertainment by Jade.

Washington DC Trip - Day 1 and 2

So I realized that we hadn't posted yet about our trip out to Washington DC over the 4th of July and here it is almost the August.

We left Tuesday evening after dropping the dogs off at the kennel. The plan was to stop in Morgantown WV for the night since it would be almost 11 before we got there. The hotel was very nice, Waterfront Place Hotel and we wished that we had gotten there a little earlier and enjoyed it a little more.

Got up in the morning (my birthday) and made the final three hours drive to DC. We stopped in to see Andy at work and then headed downtown on the Metro. We saw the Air and Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History before heading back to Andy's apartment. It was nice because he lives about 10 minutes from the Metro, but unfortunately it was another 45 minutes from there to downtown.

The next day, we headed downtown to do some sightseeing. First on the list was the National Archives where the Constitution, Declaration of Independance and Bill of Rights are on display. We got there early so that we wouldn't have to wait in a long line and we were glad we did. We were able to get right in line and see all of the documents without much waiting at all. The documents are so old and very difficult to read, but it is pretty cool to see such historic documents in person.

Next on the agenda was to duplicate a picture of Shawnna's grandma that was taken in 1947 after her grandpa came back from the war. Thanks to Andy, we found the fountain and got the picture.

We also saw the Library of Congress which is very highly decorated on the inside. Unfortunately you had to go on a tour to see the reading room (made famous in the National Treasure movie). By this time, Shawnna was sufficiently warm (since it was 85-90 degrees, no clouds or breeze) so we headed back for the day.

Always good to see Andy and his infectious humor. More pictures can be see here.

I've HAD IT with Comcast!!

Game Show Network was the first to go, then the TV Guide channel, followed by a handful of channels we don't watch....then yesterday CMT was gone!!! All over to the realm of Digital Cable. You'd think Comcast might lower the price of our package, since, they deleted 10 channels from it, but no, we're paying the same amount. We've been dragging our feet with the whole digital cable thing. Due to both cost and having multiple televisions in the house. Because CMT is a channel that I watch on a regular basis, and Dan semi-regular, hopefully, this will be enough to jolt my husband into shopping around!!! And my vote is for ATT just on principle alone!

Fun with Hawaii Pictures

So I decided to have some fun with our pictures and created a slideshow. There is some sound and music with it.

Hawaii Slideshow