Learn Your Camera with the Best Buy Camera Experience-Christmas Photo Edition

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are completely my own based on my experience.

‘Tis the season for your annual Christmas card photo.  I know because this is my busiest time of year as a photographer and my weekends are FILLED with photo shoots right now.  You all know how much I love photos.  They are my memories and I love to look back on them fondly from time to time.

For all of those who ask, I own this camera body and love it: Nikon D750 FX-format Digital SLR Camera Body

One of my very favorite Christmas shoots this year:  Hot Cocoa Booth Pictures 

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This time of year I also find myself racing to the mailbox to see if we recieved any Christmas cards from friends and family.  I enjoy seeing the beautiful family photos and how kids have grown.  One of the most common questions I get as a photographer is “How do I use my DSLR camera?” or “How do I shoot in manual mode?”  Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit Best Buy and check out their new Best Buy Camera Experience Shop.  This is a great class if you are learning how to use your camera- it doesn’t matter if you shoot Nikon, Canon, Sony, or whatever…all your questions will be answered.  And the best part is the class is TOTALLY FREE PEOPLE!!!

Best Buy offers the Best Buy Camera Experience Shop on the first Saturday of every month.  There are three in the Dallas area.  Find your classes HERE.

I have been using a DSLR camera for around 6-7 years now, but I will tell you this…I’m constantly learning something NEW!  So I was excited to attend this class with a couple of my friends and talk about one of my favorite subjects- PHOTOGRAPHY!

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Our instructor, Kenneth, did a great job and really engaged with each person.  After the class the employees were very helpful at answering all our questions.

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You will be given a workbook so you can follow along with your instructor.  This is great so you can take it home and refer to it while shooting later on.

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After the instructor finishes talking about the material you will break up into small groups, depending on what kind of camera you have.  There you will get to ask questions to your heart’s content.  It was fun to discuss photos and ideas, no matter what level photographer you are.

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Best Buy also offers a wide variety of cameras and accessories.  I’m constantly losing my lens caps…ha! dsc_7744

From filters, batteries, lens caps, tripods, cleaning kits, and all your camera needs…Best Buy’s got you covered.dsc_7747

I’m super excited for those Christmas cards to start rolling in 🙂  You’ll never regret taking too many photos.  That’s my philosophy anyway.  If you have a DSLR that’s been sitting on the shelf, dust that sucker off and get to Best Buy so you can start making those amazing memories!

Renovation Reality & Pinterest Dreams

As most of you know we moved into our new home about a month ago.  So far we are loving it!  We knew we wanted to stay in a certain area and stuck to our guns when it came to that and I’m so glad we did.  We did look outside of this area, but we kept coming back and hoping and praying something would turn up in our desired location.

Connor got to trick-or-treat in our new neighborhood last night 🙂

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We moved into an apartment during the summer of 2015, only to renew the lease two more times.  It was over a year long process of searching in DFW for the perfect home. To be honest I thought we would never find our home.

I truly believe we found the perfect place thanks to a lot of hard work and a great team!

We have done some renovation projects to our new house, and we still have a lot more we’d like to do.  That’s the thing about houses…it never really ends!  We painted the kitchen and living room a bright white and it made such a difference.  We made changes that included paint, lighting, fireplace, and a few other cosmetic details.

Living room BEFORE:

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Living room AFTER:

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I’ll share more with you on all the changes we made in another blog post.  Today I want to talk to you about home equity.  Although we’ve made some major improvements in our new home we do have a “wish list” that we still want to tackle in the future.  That list includes the bathrooms and maybe a mud room some day.  We’d like to put a barn door where the laundry room is.  It’s so fun to dream up how you envision your home in the years to come.

Capital One has some great home equity tools on their website.  If you are thinking of a remodel, but don’t know where to start I encourage you to take a look.  I’ve never been happier than investing in a home we know we are going to be in years to come.  It’s money well spent and I can’t wait to make all the memories and future visions come true.

Whether you’re remodeling your home or consolidating debt, Capital One is here to help with simply smarter tools that help you choose the right option for your situation. I know by using the right tools and having a plan we can save to make those dreams come to life.

By visiting capitalone.com/home-equity you can get a customized rate offer, an estimated loan amount, and even begin the application process.  There are no fees and no impact to your credit score either.  So when we are ready to replace those sea shell sinks in the bathroom we can start the process right away.13958064_840856172681733_2915495672524413337_o

The DFW area is booming right now, I can tell you that because it took us over a year and almost 30 STRONG offers on homes to figure that out.  It’s a battlefield out there y’all.  Be prepared to bring your A-game.  

Check out these Dallas Fort-Worth Survey Results:

  • The DFW real estate market is thriving. And with higher home prices and smaller supply available on the market, 58 percent of homeowners in DFW anticipate home improvement expenses in the next two years.
  • As DFW residents plan ahead for these projects, only 25 percent have taken out a home equity line of credit previously and nearly seven in ten (68 percent) admit to facing obstacles in obtaining a loan.
  • When asked to identify these specific challenges, 33 percent of respondents cited the amount of paperwork needed and 29 percent indicated not knowing exactly where they stood in the application process.
  • With these obstacles in mind and as residents go through the process for the first time, Capital One is here to help with simply smarter tools that empower DFW residents to take charge with the support they need on their own terms.

If you are in the market right now, or just want to make your Pinterest dreams come true, don’t forget to check Capital One.  You can see how much equity you have to play with right away & make your dreams a reality.

Here’s to many more memories to come…

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I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

School Halloween Treats

I always like getting crafty when it comes to Connor’s school holidays.  This was the easiest treat….

 

Just get a bag of Sixlets at your local grocery store.  You can use the free spider printable below.  (Just click on it to make it bigger, then right click and save to your desktop)

We have the cutest little spiders 🙂
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Just glue or tape to the back of the spider’s face.  I used cardstock so the paper was a bit heavier.  Have fun and happy Halloweeeeeeeen!spider-2

 

I Stink at Chalk Art…But Wait a Minute!

This is what I aspire to do…
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But it usually ends up looking like something a kindergartener would do.  I found these great stencils and I’m ordering some to see how that works.  I think you just rub the chalk over them and voila!

I’ll let y’all know what I choose!  What is your favorite Christmas saying or quote?

(Click on each picture to check out each stencil)
Old Fashioned Hot Cocoa Sign Stencil – 10″ x 16″ – STCL1384_1 – by StudioR12

Merry And Bright – Skinny & Script – Word Stencil – 9″ x 12″ – STCL1396_2 by StudioR12

Merry Christmas – Whimsical Swirls – Word Art Stencil – 10″ x 11″ – STCL1413_1 by StudioR12

Fresh Christmas Trees – Word and Art Stencil – 13″ x 5″ – STCL1343_1 by StudioR12

Dinner’s Ready with Reynold’s Heat & Heat

This post is sponsored by Reynolds™ but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

When I get home from a long day the LAST thing on my mind is “what’s for dinner?”  I’ve told y’all before I’m not the best cook.  I have a handful of go-to meals up my sleeve for the weeknights, but I would really like to start cooking more at home to save money.

I recently tried these new containers by Reynolds Disposable Heat & Eat.  These can be found at your local Walmart and are priced very reasonably.

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These Reynolds Disposable Heat & Eat containers are a great alternative to plastic and are made with natural plant fibers.  These are good for reheating dinners at home or work in the microwave too!

We had tacos for dinner last night.  I put our meat and beans in the Reynolds Disposable Heat & Eat containers and I had a taco salad for lunch today!  

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No more melting plastic in my microwave!
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Like my Mom always said “Waist not, want not”.  Next time you’re at Walmart check out the Reynolds Disposable Heat & Eat in the food container isle.  

GET YOUR $1.00 OFF COUPON HERE!

Life Update…Fa La La La FALL!

I’m already seeing the glimmer of Christmas bulbs in Target people!  You know if Target has it then it must be true….I mean you can’t trust Hobby Lobby or Michaels because it’s basically Christmas 24 hours a day/ 365 at those joints.

Like seriously I’m so anxious to decorate this house because I have more Christmas decorations that I actually have regular decorations so it sort of makes my house look shall we say….”decorated“???

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This week begins my very favorite Christmas shopping event in DFW Christmas in Cowtown 🙂

Check out our past shopping adventures HERE.

Update on the house…well, we had to buy a pool pump and my washing machine broke along with a thousand other things that need to get done, but that’s okay we have a lifetime right?  I’m not going to sell a kidney just yet.

Check out our entry way.  Gone is the tuscan Olive Garden feel and welcome sleek and modern clean walls and lighting from Savoy House.

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At least all the messy stuff is over and we can relax a bit.  I’ve been getting into Snapchat lately: Username: thejavamama

Connor has been having a lot of fun playing soccer again.  We are about to start boy scouts too!

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I did the prettiest engagement shoot for my friend Kelly’s daughter.  The Dallas Arboretum is so gorgeous this time of year and they have pumpkins EVERYWHERE!
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Aren’t they the cutest???

Well, that’s about it besides the daily routine of school and work.  I’m loving the new show “This is Us”.  If you haven’t watched it….DO IT.  My parents are coming in for a visit in the next couple of weeks and I can’t wait!  For the daily you can find me on Instagram 🙂

xo Becky

It’s Fall & All

I can’t believe we are already into October.  I mean we have like 80 something days until CHRISTMAS!  If you ask anyone and everyone that knows me Christmas time is my absolute favorite ever!  When I was pregnant with Connor the very first thing we bought for our new home was a Christmas tree because Terence knew how important that was to me 🙂  I’m so excited to put up our tree this year…it may be the only thing in our dining room right now, but that is perfectly fine with me.

We went really bold on this color.  New lighting to come soon!

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Oh the joys of moving into a new home….so far our washing machine has broken, the pool pump broke, and we’ve also spent a ton of money updating the house.  But, hoping we will be here for the long haul and all this will be worth it.  I absolutely LOVE our neighborhood and everyone is so friendly.  Connor’s school is only a few streets away….I mean God knew y’all.  He really did.  Why do I question Him so much?

Speaking of school….Toyota sent us back to school in strait up style.

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All the room for all the THINGS!  Connor started soccer again…so we are hauling chairs, soccer balls, school stuff.
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Seat bun warmers and coolers…yes ma’am!DSC_5412 DSC_5408

I like to be in charge of everything.  And I am with all the buttons and the nice little shelf for my phone.  I meeeeaaaan….I have officially decided my next car is an SUV.  DSC_5411

I can’t believe he’s in first grade.  My baby…he’s growing up so fast.  I need another one before I turn into an infertile myrtle.  Waaaahhhh!DSC_4519

Yep, lots of changes going on and YES– I am behind on just about everything in life right now.

We get to do so many fun things as bloggers and social media divas.  I just love the community of women I’ve met.  Over the last 10 years a lot has changed, but the one thing that will never change is my love of writing and reading.  I did say 10 years because my little blog here is TEN YEARS OLD this year!  What????

I can’t believe it.  Time flies.  Enjoy every second.  Reflect, love, learn, grow, reap, sew, and for the love of blogging and pen and paper WRITE IT DOWN.  Because some day when you are old and senile you will want to remember all the little bitty things in life you forgot.

Maybe one day my grandkids could read this blog?  Gulp.

Anyways…that’s a ways off….until then coffee cats 🙂

*House updates to come soon!