Wednesday, January 5, 2011

24 Weeks

 
 
How Far along are you?   24 weeks Only about 100 days left!!

How big is Baby? Baby is weighing over a pound

Weight Gain? Oh yes....Thank you to the Christmas Holiday!  Working out is helping I hope!

Sex? We hope to not know until the big day!

Maternity Clothes? Yup you've gotta love being in big comfy clothes.  I am not looking forward to going back to work clothes!

Stretch Marks? None yet!  Hope Lotion helps!

Sleep? I am enjoying the relaxing afternoons of vacation and feeling great!

Symptoms? None yet.  We just pray that God has it all in his control and everything will keep running smoothly! 

Movement? YES!!!  It is the most fun when he/she rolls and I feel his/her whole body turning inside!

Food Cravings? Umm...I think I need to get off the sugar high I am on!!!  That will quickly change when we are back at school!

Labor Signs? Praise the Lord not yet!

Belly Button in or out? It is beginning to flatten.  I have a feeling it will be out soon!

What I miss? Zipping up my jacket.  I don't have one that fits....It is not really cold enough to get a new one but at times I do wish I could zip my jackets!

What I am looking forward to? I want to know if it is a boy or girl!

Best moment of the week? Realizing that I am in my 6th month not my 5th month!  I know that seems weird but I was a whole month off!!!  It just makes the due date feel that much closer!!!!!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Messing around with the Camera

I have a Nikon 5000 that Norris bought for me last year for Christmas.  He got it for me after he lost all of our stuff in India....(that is for a different blog!)
So today was a BEAUTIFUL day in Cairo so I thought I would take some pictures from our apartment.  I am trying to learn about the Aperture stuff and the Shutter Speed stuff.  I can do enough to get by but I want to REALLY learn about this camera!  My mom made a good point about her camera...If she spent the money for the camera she wants to learn all the it has to offer!  I feel the same way....

So here are some of my shots....

This first shot is an aperture shot out on our balcony.

Lens: 18-55 mm  Shot at 55mm
f 3.5-5.6-   f/5.6
ISO: 250
So I got it blurred behind the chair, but I need a better lens so that I can get more of the picture blurred!

Now this shot gave me just the opposite.  I got the stuff behind the chair in focus but nothing else!  It looks cool but not what I wanted to do!!!
Lens: 55mm
ISO: 250
f /5.6
1/320

Lens: 18mm
ISO: 250

f/22
1/125
This shot I am trying to get everything in view into focus.  I think that it worked out ok but I feel as though some of the stuff behind the large building is not quite in focus.


My next shots are playing with the Shutter Speed on my camera.  This is much more difficult for me.  I have a harder time getting what I want into focus.
Lens: 55mm
ISO:250
f/36
1/13
Now this shot the car that is moving is in focus but the other things around the car are blurry!  WHAT??  Not sure how that worked but I will keep trying!
Lens:80mm ISO: 250
f/20
1/15
Now this shot is better.  One of the cars moving is in focus and the other black car behind it is very blurry.  Well at least I got one in focus.  I am not sure if I like the longer lens for these shots better or not. 

These next two shots are just fun.  We can see the pyramids from our apartment if it is clear enough and today it was!!!  That is the great pyramid in the center.  To the left you can kind of see the small one and then to the right you can see the corner of one pyramid!
 The fun part is we had no idea we could see the bent pyramid from our place but today we could see it!  You can kind of see it to the left of the photo. 
If you want to give me any advice on my shots I would love it! 

Enjoy your photo taking!!!!!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Shopping in Cairo

Well Norris and I have been living in this culture for the last 3 years and we are starting to get the hang of shopping here.  It is hard to describe the chaos, yet order, of being at the grocery store.  I can honestly say there have been moments that Norris and I pick up one thing on our grocery list and we realize we are not going to make it...so we put it back and leave the shopping to the next day!!!  It is funny when we try to rationalize whether or not we REALLY need to do our shopping when we look in the store and see the crowds of people!!  Now when thinking about shopping I have to paint you a picture about what the norms are for Cairo.

First:There is NO such thing as lines....REALLY...NO such thing!  If your cart is two inches away from the cashier someone else will find their way to the front.
Second: They never have change.  They will either insist that you give exact change or it takes a LONG time for them to walk around and try to find you change!
Third: There are about 25 million people that live in Cairo and I am pretty sure that they all go shopping at the same time.  We have not figured out what time that is yet.  It seems to be every time that we go shopping!
Fourth: If you get any fresh fruits or veggies you have to get them all weighed and priced in a separate line that everyone is also waiting for!
Fifth: All the carts are made with four moving wheels.  They all can rotate each way and it can make it very difficult to move the cart! 
Sixth: I love IT!  It is so fun to pretend that you are playing bumper cars with all the other carts! It is always a fun adventure to see if you are going to get cut off by someone who thinks that half an inch is enough space for them to fit!

The strange thing is it works for them!  I would not change what they do, if you did I think the system would fall apart!  Someone very wise told me that they do not see a line...They see space!!!  If there is space there is a place for them!  After our 3 years we can't quite get to that point but we now know how to protect the "space" that is around us!   

Enjoy your shopping!!