I ♥ FACES: BEFORE & AFTER

This week at I ♥ Faces Amy and Angie are taking a little break, so I get to post more than one photo! LOL! This week's topic is Before & After. What you do is post a picture {or two} from when you first started your photography skills. Then you post a picture of what your photography is like now, and how it has improved. It should be fun! Lets take a look and mine! :D

This was a few days after Lyla was born. I was just barley becoming serious about photography. At the time, I was extremely proud of this picture. I had just downloaded the GIMP, and learned how to use Selective Colorization. I still think this is a beautiful picture, but it could be better. :P

These two photos were during my "natural" phase of photography. I was trying to make every picture look natural, with natural light and all that jazz. However, it was quite hard. You see, my camera at the time was not that good of quality, which made picture taking pretty frustrating.

Ahh, the "over-used-eye-pop" stage. Lovely. I had just learned how to do an eye pop on my photo's and overdid it on almost EVERY single photo of Lyla. LOL! I was so excited that I could make her eyes sparkle, but now it just kinda looks freaky!

This was my "vignette" stage. I was trying to give my photo's a nice warm/soft look, so obviously it was with a vignette! Right? Haha, I think it looks OK, but not great. It needs to be feathered more.

FINALLY, I got a new camera. My beautiful Canon PowerShot. It is a more advanced camera, but not a DSLR. I guess you could say that it is what some call a "bridge" camera. Along with my little beauty, I also got version 7 of Photoshop. So with those two tools, I started taking better pictures. :)

You can see that this picture is much clearer, and is more natural looking. I downloaded some nice actions that helped a lot, but I then started doing something else......I OVER softened Lyla's face. She looked like bad airbrushed model! LOL!

Finally, I have the look I was trying for for so long. My photography is still evolving and changing. And I really want to learn as much as I can, but I think my pictures are starting to display me in them. I want photos that are fresh and different, retro and cool, sweet and classy. I think I am coming closer to reaching that goal, but I still have a long long way to go. I can't wait to continue my photography journey. :) Thanks for stopping by!

EVERY GIRL'S FAVORITE PLACE...

THE MALL!!! YES!

Yesterday was amazing! I got to hang out with two amazing ladies that I met at YoungLives camp. Aly is 15, and was one of the childcare workers at the camp. She is a beautiful young girl with amazing photography talent. Her heart is for the Lord, and she makes me smile. :)

Amy is 18, and she has a beautiful daughter named Addison. Amy is so cute and bubbly! She makes me smile with everything she says. She is the kinda person who you would think would never hurt a fly. :)

So along with Alexa and her new boyfriend Garett {I know, I didn't tell you, sorry :P} we all had a blast! First we all met up at the Starbucks, then we headed off to Panda for some much needed lunch! While in line, I realize that I have forgotten my wallet! Imagine that!! I am 1.5 hours away from home, and I don't have my card, my driver's lisence, or my cash! I am soooo angry! Alexa lets me borrow some of her money for food, so that was good.

After we ate, we headed to Forever 21 {best store EVER!} and spent about an hour in there, no joke. We were trying on all these silly hats, glasses, jewlery, etc. It was really a blast! Garett was cracking me up! He was putting on scarves and looking at girl clothes! I think Alexa was embarrased! Haha!

Once that fun was over, we marched onwards to Dillard's. Lexy and I wanted to look for ideas for Homecoming dresses. We all decided that we were going to try on a dress, and I would take some pictures. I found the PERFECT dress! It was so amazing! To bad I didn't have my money! >.<

Anywho, after that we walked around for a few more minutes, got some DQ, headed to Am Eagle, then we said our goodbyes. It was an amazing day! I love my new friends. I really really hope and pray that we can hang again soon. It was nice to get out of the house. Love you girlies! Thanks for hanging with me! Muuah! ♥

I ♥ FACES: FIX-IT FRIDAY

Its that time again! Time to show off my Photoshopping skills! LOL! This week's picture is entitled "Beauty", and that is just what it is. This picture is almost to perfect to edit. The composition is wonderful, and the colors are gorgeous, but I took a whack at it.

Original

Kylee-Edited-Awesomeness Version
So there you have it! Whad'ya think? Hmm? LOL! Have an awesome Friday everyone! :D

A PERSON'S A PERSON, NO MATTER HOW SMALL

I am completely appalled! I went to our local pregnancy center today {no I am not pregnant!!}, and I saw the saddest thing ever. We watched a video about abortion. It was digitally shown, not a real abortion, but what I saw will forever be in my head.

Having never had an abortion, I had no idea what went down during the process. I knew that it killed babies {In my totally humble, unbiased opinion} but I had no idea how vulgar and violent it was. They actually suck parts of the baby out through a vacuum type tube!!

To those who have ever had a abortion, I am not judging you in any way, shape or form, and I hope you are dealing with it well. But I am convinced more than ever that abortion truly is murder. How could someone do that to their unborn child?

I hate the excuse that it is not a baby. If its not a baby, then you're not pregnant. Its a fact, a baby is a baby at conception. It is a living thing. No matter how long you tell yourself otherwise.

I am a teen mom. I understand how scary an unplanned pregnancy can be, but I never once thought of killing my baby. I did, however, plan on giving Lyla up for adoption at one point, but obviously I didn't. That's what I don't understand. Instead of abortion, why not adoption? Well, I have heard the same answer from everyone I have talked to, "I couldn't carry a baby for 9 months, and then just give it away to strangers." So what you're saying is that you would just kill it? How is that right?

Okay, I am really sorry for rambling, and I am sorry if I offended anyone, but this truly makes me sad. Where would I be now if I aborted Lyla? I would probably be depressed from killing my baby {which a lot of people are after an abortion}. My prayer is this: those who have had an abortion, I pray that you will learn to forgive yourself. I pray that you will realize that an unborn child is a life, and that you won't have another abortion. I also pray that the law making abortion legal would be banned. I don't think that will happen in my lifetime, but it could happen.

Thank you all for listening to my ramblings. I hope you will join me in the fight against the murder of innocent babies. They didn't chose to be put in someone's uterus, a choice of a man and a woman put them there. Why should the baby have to suffer?

This is what Pro-Life looks like...

{Click HERE to donate to the National Right to Life Campaign}

SO WE DON'T FORGET WEDNESDAY

Its that day again! Join me for, So We Don't Forget! It's an opportunity to document those precious moments...sweet memories so that ... You Don't Forget. :)

This Week's Topic: What is a favorite "alone time" activity?

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I am a loner. Pure and simple. I like to be along. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE hanging with family and friends, but most of the time, I do really enjoy having time alone to myself. My favorite "alone time" activity would have to be curling up in bed or a comfy chair {or a nice warm bath} while reading a really good book. I love books. They are the gateway to the imagination. I have read countless stories in my 17 years of life, and I cannot think of anything I would rather be doing during my alone time. I could finish a good book in a whole day if I had the chance. :)

These days, reading is becoming somewhat of a memory. Now that I have Lyla, I don't get a chance to read much. I don't mind though, after all, Lyla is the most beautiful baby in the world! DUH! :P But seriously, I do try to read at a chapter in a book a day. Just to escape for a while and go into another world. Reading is beautiful, and I think everyone should do it more. :)

Well....off to read my book now! Haha! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my alone time activity. :)

THESPIAN SPIRIT WEEK: ANIMAL PRINT

Hey guys! So, so sorry this is late. :( I ended up spending the night at Doran's last night, so I didn't have a chance to post my Thespian pic's. : Soooooo, I have them now! Whoot! Check it peeps...

So this was my awesome zebra print dress {Thanks for letting me borrow it Lexy ♥} It was pretty radical!

Aaaaaannnnndddddd....

I FINALLY GOT MY FLUTE!!! I am taking this class called Music Studio to learn how to play an instrument. I already play piano and sing, so I decided to go with a woodwind. :) I am loving it so far! It is a really awesome class. So I finally got my flute yesterday. I can only barely make a sound come out, but its still fun. :P

Have a wonderful Wednesday all! Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuah!

BLOG HOP TUESDAY

This week's Blog Hop theme is TIME TO LAUGH. Post your favorite joke, cartoon, funny picture or video. We all need a good laugh sometimes, what a great way to start the week.

This week I chose to use a photo and me and Lexy! :D I just have so much fun taking pictures with her, and laughing at how goofy we look! I would love to post a million of these pictures, but I am only allowd to post one. LOL!

This picture was taken on our couch! LOL! We were just sitting around waiting for church to start. :) I busted out the camera and started snapping! Looking at this picture makes me almost laugh out loud!

Have a great week!

THESPIAN SPIRIT WEEK

Okay, so remember a while back when I posted about making it into the International Thespian Society? Well part of being in the Troupe is partaking in a week long "spirit week." Well, this started today! {I didn't get the memo, so I missed today} I am going to start tomorrow! I actually really excited about it, and I wanted to share with you! :D I will post a picture every day this week of what I dressed up as! Whoot! Hope you all enjoy it!


The weeks is as follows:

*Monday* - Superhero Day {I missed that one! : I winged it and said I was SUPER MOM!!!}
*Tuesday* - Animal Print Day!
*Wednesday* - Silent for a Cause Day
*Thursday* - Fairytale Day
*Friday* - Backwards Day

So there you have it folks! My very first Thespian Spirit Week! Whoot Whoot!!

I ♥ FACES: NOSTALGIA

Alrighty folks, I am not gonna lie here, this weeks I ♥ Faces theme was a real tough one. This weeks theme is nostalgia. Something that brings back a fond memory or feeling. I really don't expect to win a prize with this photo seeing as how it is an old photo I took a picture of!!! Haha! My parents don't really ever keep anything that we don't need. This means that we don't really have anything that I used to play with as a kid, not old dishes, no saved baby clothes. Nothin'. So I just decided to take a picture of my sister in her Cosy Coop! Yes, this week features Alexa once again! Haha! Alexa and I LOVED our Cosy Coop! It probably brings back some of the best memories of just riding around in that thing for hours! :D So here it is, my take on Nostalgia.

Thanks for taking a little stroll down Memory Lane with me! :D

HAPPY MONDAY

Good morning everyone! I just wanted to say a quick hello before I headed off to school. :) I am really feeling quite happy and chipper this morning, and I just wanted to pass that on to everyone else. If you are reading this and feeling blue, put a smile on! Remember that in ALL things you should give thanks! God is with you today, whether you feel Him or not. I am going with God on this beautiful Monday, how 'bout you?

HAPPY MONDAY!!!

ENJOYING THE COOL WEATHER WHILE WE CAN

Evenin' folks! :D Remember how last night I said I had to quickly get off the comp before the power went out? Yeah well, it did! A HUMUNGO storm blew threw and knocked the power out for about 1.5 hours! And in AZ, it gets real hot, real quick. Mix that in with the 100% humidity and your just about dying!

Anywho, it finally came back on last night and the storm cleared up. But this morning...we woke up to this.

It has been overcast all day! In Arizona that is pure bliss! The cool breeze in amazing, and the clouds block out the harsh sun. Ah, thank you Jesus! To celebrate this awesome weather, us Cosgrove's just had to hang outside this morning. :D Needless to say I brought my camera! Whoot! Almost all the pictures are of Lyla, but there is one of Billy {my pug} too. :P Haha! Enjoy!