Announcing –

Check out the latest from Devine Texan’s Creations!!

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I won, I won, I won!!

Well, I didn’t win anything here in WordPress (yet!! lol…), but one of my loves and passions is photography. I am getting published soon in the Parade Magazine. The pay isn’t too much, but it is a $100 more than I had in my bank today!! lol….

I’ll certainly try to keep you posted on when it officially comes out…but, I am dancing on cloud 10,000!! 😉

Hope you are all off to a phenomenal weekend! ttyml….

Your friend,

Kat

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Summer Ebbing Into Fall

Summer has been eventful for me…..

1. Biotechnology Program — I attended ACC’s fasttrack program this summer. A very intense program whereby we had 5-1/2 weeks of classes for 3 full days each week, then later had 5-1/2 weeks of nearly 40 hrs/wk internship at many Biotech type locations. Mine was held at the Texas Department of Health. It was an invaluable learning experience and I would love to consider it for a career option; however, the market for Biotech personnel, on the whole in this area, require a degree in Science already. My degree is in Criminal Justice, but they would prefer a degree with more of a forensic approach to it, if in Criminal Justice. Therefore, I am looking to attend in the Spring, perhaps, if I get a Scholarship to do so.

2. Granddaughter — This summer my granddaughter was born. She is absolutely beautiful and growing slowly but surely. Well, that isn’t exactly true as she is outside of the growth percentile range, but weight/height proportional. They are thinking that she may end up being very tall.

3. Still working in the crisis field. I am enjoying it and may continue to make it my career option — if only the money was better!

4. Took a bit of time this summer for a short retreat to reflect upon the summer events and assess where I should be moving forward in my life. Still not sure about the whereto, but really enjoyed the retreat time to enjoy some much needed R&R. (The picture above is one of many pictures I took during my retreat.)

Other than that, not much else happening. Still involved in my Red Hat Society group and planning activities to keep myself active — Church, bowling, reading books, blogging, etc. Would love to hear from you all to see what you have been doing this summer, as what your current aspirations might be. 🙂

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You suspect your cats being up to no good?

Well, if you are like this guy, you can creat a webcam for your cat to see “just where does he go” when he goes out and play—See Mr. Lee’s Catcam. It is hilarious to see just where all this cat does go on his adventures outdoors. Be sure to look down at bottom of the initial page for a series of photos from Mr. Lee’s trip (adventures!).

As for me, I am wondering how do my cats, who seem to turn into Dr. Seuss’s “Thing 1” and “Thing 2” while I am gone, seem to always manage to pull the curtain down in the living room, for instance, here lately!! Actually, they shouldn’t be doing that any more as I have nailed the spring rod into the inner portion of the window frame. If they try, they will be in for a surprise…or, I am going to have a shredded curtain one! lol…

I am beginning to think that setting up a private webcam just might be a great idea to see what is happening when I am away from the home—and, to see if the addage of “While the owner’s away, the cats will play!” is truly true!! 😀

What do you think????

See more progress on: Webcam my cats

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Lace Curtains

Lately, I have been having a heck of a time being able to keep curtains up in my apartment because my cats have turned into Dr. Seuss’ “Thing 1” and “Thing 2” and knocked all kinds of stuff upside down and around. Lately, this has been including my curtains as well.

I was laying on the sofa and heard a noise after I had dozed off. I looked up; yep, the curtains are still there!! lol… and I fell back to sleep. But b/4 falling back to sleep, I snapped this dramatic vantage point I had of the curtains.

Hope you enjoy!!!

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Fire Engine at a Dead Stop on Upper Deck of IH35

I was in another part of the same highway and noticed this fire engine that decided to take the upperdeck of the highway at about 4pm that day with its lights on. Normally, not a bad decision as the traffic begins to build up later. Couldn’t get a good shot of it where it had stopped in traffic from where I was near 29th on the east side of the highway.

Drove around to the west side of the highway past 26th and headed to 19th (MLK) off of Red River. Turned back when I saw that I could catch a glimpse of it through the UT practice fields’ gate.

Drove up to the gate at an angle and walked to the gate to capture this picture of the fire engine. It has given up moving forward after sitting there for 45 minutes and turned of its lights. Hoping that there was no fire it still needed to respond to…I hope that all turned out well in the end on Tuesday, June 26th.

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I avoid the traffic on IH35 like a plague and, as such, made it a priority for my living and work to be in a whole ‘nother part of town. This particular instance could have been a very serious manner.I have also posted this in my

Inquiring Minds (Austin American Statesman) and
Inquiring Minds (My Fox Austin)

blogs already to jumpstart the issue recognition.

See more progress on: Bring Awareness of Issues of Traffic on IH35

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Photography daytrips…

can be quite interesting. I haven’t really done it in a while (since my Annual Bluebonnet Daytrip this past spring), excepting for some time I took in taking an off the beaten path way to an out of town meeting that I had earlier this month. (If I can’t make time for a daytrip, I can a least squeeze in some time whenever I can!)

The picture of the longhorns is a prime example of some good opportunities stemming from just making the time. Had I not taken an off beaten path (which was also a shortcut) coming back home from the out of town meeting, I would not have happened across this Mama Longhorn and her calf who was just getting his/her horns. Isn’t that just the cutest thing you have seen????

Themes for photography daytrips can be good. Any ideas what my theme for an upcoming daytrip should be????

See more progress on: go on a photography daytrip excursion

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In speaking of online portfolios,

is paying $19.99/month worth it to place up to 15 images in 6 different categories on the CMYK Magazine site for a portfolio image, worth it???

Has anyone had any luck with this portfolio site? Are there any with better values???

See more progress on: creating a photography portfolio

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Creating a Photography Portfolio

I am getting some photos that I do rather like, and may stand a chance in getting a shot of a gallery to take a look at them and perhaps offer me some space to sell my photos.

Question is this: 

Do you think it is better to create a hands on version in a notebook/scrapbook style, or, just offer a gallery a business card with your contact information and a link to a site, such as Flicker or other like sites, where they can view your styles and/or purchase your items???

What do you think? What has your experience been?

See more progress on: creating a photography portfolio

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Pecan Parkway – Austin, TX (horizontal viewpoint)

Okay, as promised, I am posting the horizontal of this shot.  Unavoidable is the construction going on across the street in the distance, which is revealed more here than in the vertical shot.

Surgery was fine, aside from them not being able to find my veins for the IV.  I got poked many times.  I think it was the 7th or 8th one that finally worked! lol… Told them as one of the jokes I was joking around with them about, if they poked me any more I would turn into a sieve.  They were laughing hard by the time they brought me into the surgery room.

Trying to keep the cats from pouncing on my stomach while I am laying down, but it appears to be healing up pretty good.  Thanks to all for their well wishes!! 😀

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Pecan Parkway – Austin, TX

 

Undergoing surgery this morning.  New experience for me so I thought I would post something very peaceful to me; an image I can take with me to the surgery room in my mind.

The path aligned with the pecan trees is actually in a median on Pecan Parkway in NW Austin, TX.  I had an opportunity to stop in the turn lane when no one else was traveling on the road much and captured this picture.  I took both horizontal and vertical pictures of this section of trees aligned.  In the vortex of the vantage point, the tree alignment is actually curving to the right so it appears that they are curving around to meet each other when they are not.

Because the vertical is my favorite of this site, I am posting that this morning.  Perhaps, tomorrow morning I will post the horizontal so that you can tell me which one is your favorite.  If you don’t see me for a few days, it is only because I have had to stay a little bit longer than expected.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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Valley of Fire – B/W Exploration (“Ominous Desert Sun”)

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Valley of Fire – B/W Exploration (“Dancing Shadows”)

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Valley of Fire – B/W Exploration

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Mercado Woman – Xela, Guatemala

This woman was amazing in Xela, Guatemala. She was with another woman that was selling wool rugs one morning at our hotel in Xela when I was there in 2003 for a mission trip. One day, I broke away from the group and walked towards the mercado area in town. I bought some bread from a vendor and she saw me and told me about the bread I was buying in her broken english. Afterwards, she wanted me to buy some of her fabrics from her and I had already been on a mission to find the internet cafe to send off some emails back to friends and family. Afterwards, she was still there and called out, “Katrina, you…buy??? Me made. Beautiful, yes???” I couldn’t help but smile and seeing that she was still there. I bought one of the fabrics she had woven. I asked her to hold it for me so that I could get a picture of her with the fabric.

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Hungry???

I have tons of photos from my Guatemala Mission trip that I am very proud of to show off to everyone. This is after our venture in Tikal, Guatemala, and heading to the airport. We stopped at an island known for their black pottery (where I bought a black pottery vase) and shopped for a bit. Before heading back on our venture to the airport (which was another whole experience to getting to Tikal from Guatemala City), we stopped in this hole in the wall restaurant. A co-delegate on the mission trip and I had decided we weren’t extremely famished so we thought we would split an order of a fish marinated in a type of sweet and sour sauce (with a slightly different flavor from the chinese sweet and sour sauce) and some vegetables.

When the extra large platter arrived, we were certainly glad that had split this order! It even had an eye on it. I choose the none-eye side; wasn’t too sure that I would want to look at the eye while eating it. Somehow that made it just seem a little tooooo fresh! lol…

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Photo Challenge Seeking Volunteers

In searching for a site I am familiar with today, ThePhotoChallenge, I stumbled upon this challenge for photos from someone named Kara (as posted on 2/17/07):

Hey my name is Kara. I’m a photography student in Boston. I’m doing a photo project for display in a local coffee shop. I’m looking for unique and open minded volunteers for the project.What makes this project unique is that all of the pictures for the project will be taken by the volunteers themselves, which enables me to have people from all over the globe involved. I’m making a collage of peoples faces hands and feet and arranging all of the pictures randomly. The whole concept of the project is to see if people who view the project can match the feet and the hands to the faces. And since the people for the project will be taking the pictures themselves, no two pictures will be alike. If you’re interested in volunteering I would just need a picture of your face, Two pictures of your hands one picture of the top of your hands, the other picture the palms. And two pictures of your feet, one of the tops of your feet, the other one the soles. All you’d have to do is email me the pictures and I’ll add them to the project. If you’d like I can email you a picture of the finished project. I am hoping that the project turns out good, as I think it’s a cool concept that’s never been attempted before. Everyone I’m asking to volunteer is being selected completely at random. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask. I thank you for your time. I know this quite random, but such is life. I look forward to hearing back from you. Take Care 🙂
Kara

kara2zmax@yahoo.com

Are you up to the challenge????

 

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Thank you to all that…

supported and voted for my bluebonnet picture that I submitted to the photo contest (as mentioned to you in my “I have submitted a bluebonnet photo…” posting).  They have selected another photo to be the winner for Week 4 of the Photo Contest. 😦

I am not sure what they are looking for exactly, but there are always other contests! 🙂  Again, thank you, for your support!!

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I have submitted a bluebonnet photo….

in the KEYE-TV Photo contest. Be sure to look for this photo in the Week 4 of the Photo Contest for KEYE-TV and place your vote. I win a canvas photo of my photo, when I win! 😀

Reminder:  You can vote once a day for the following week for my photo; therefore, bookmark this so you can go to it each day.  The one with the most votes win!!

Thanks, in advance…

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It’s Official – Bluebonnet 2007 Photos…

presented in a RockYou format. This certainly has to be one of the best years despite, or because, of the strange weather we had this winter and spring. Check it out…. Bluebonnets (and wildflowers) 2007!

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Cross Project & Bluebonnet Search

Worldly Inquiring Mind “iWIM” 😀 › Create New Post — WordPress

Got back this afternoon from my adventure of my ritual, traditional bluebonnet photo hunt this morning. Went along 620, to Hwy 71, to 281 and through Marble Falls, Burnet, to 29 and through Bertram and Liberty Hill, to 183 and through Leander and Cedar Park, to wiggling back to 620 to head back home. Along the way I got some pictures for my Cross Project.

I have updated the page with the Cross Project on it. Check it out!!

I will be updating with photos from my Bluebonnet tour, which ended up getting a lot of other wildflowers as well this year at some phenomenal places, later tonight or sometime tomorrow.

Although we were threatened with thunderstorms, hail storms, and possible tornados in the area, they still haven’t arrived just yet. Sun is shinning and it has been a beautiful day after all. Glad I didn’t let the forecast from the weathermen this morning keep me from getting out and about today. I think you will agree that some of these photos are just awesome.

Check back for the bluebonnet photos; however, enjoy the Cross Project photos in the meantime!

More soon!

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It’s my birthday!

Yep. I am 48 years young today!! Unfortunately, the typical aches and pains are here as one gets older. Taking my Aleve now! lol…

Today is also my designated traditional bluebonnet hunt day. This afternoon’s weather is supposed to be not quite so good today – with promises of thunderstorms and possible tornados and hailstorms. So, I am changing clothes soon to head out to take advantage of the non-thunderstorm weather as much as possible.

Will be having dinner tonight with my daughter and her significant love. They are making fajitas — yummmy!! My parents will be in town for a conference this weekend; I’m looking forward to catching up with them as well.

I will try to upload bluebonnet photos tonight; if not, I will be doing so at some point in time tomorrow.

May everyone be blessed…

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Worldly Inquiring Mind “iWIM” :D

Worldly Inquiring Mind “iWIM” 😀

Check out pictures from last year’s SafePlace Walk (2006) to see the excitement and fun that you will have at this year’s Safe Place Walk (2007) who raises funds for domestic violence and sexual assault programs in the Austin area. See you all there on Saturday, April 14th!

[rockyou id=38423391&w=426&h=320]

Don’t forget to also check out my Cross Project that I am working upon as well. It is a collection of photos of crosses that I am, currently, finding throughout the Greater Austin Area.   I am seeking out a publication commitment as well for part of this project.  Any ideas/suggestions, please let me know.

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Worldly Inquiring Mind “iWIM” :D

Worldly Inquiring Mind “iWIM” 😀

So much was added today.  More shopping links, Radio-Television-Film links, interesting links on self help and domestic violence issues, Webby Award links and so much more were added.  I added a Sunrise Thoughts article, as well as an article about being careful regarding Imus, a tragic death of a 7 yr old who had been shot while jumping on a trampoline and some personal humorous antedotes of my needing to be careful as well.  Check out my garden flower photos as well.  I just might add some of my Cross Project photos by tomorrow afternoon. 🙂 

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Being Careful – Theme for the Day?

Imus leads the pack in being careful, without doubt.  It was announced today that MSNBC that they will cancel running the simulcast of his show as the sponsors for the advertising have pulled their ads; they may sponsor again at a later time, but not for Imus’ show.  Sometimes, one has to wonder if these folks ever had Mom’s who told them that they “must think before you speak” while they were growing up.   After all, as my Mom would continue, “it just doesn’t show your intelligience, if you don’t think before you speak”.  I know that some people are simply not raised the same as others, but you would hope and pray that there would be much more cooth than that!  At any rate….

In Hays County, a rural county south of the Austin area, horror swept throughout the 5-county region, if not across the nation, as Daniel Galicia, a 7 year old boy, was shot to death while jumping on a trampoline with his friends.  The man who shot the boy claimed that he had been shooting at a target at his own home with his new 22 gauge rifle.  He told the authorities that he thought all his bullets had hit the target; he had no idea that any of his bullets had strayed and certainly didn’t think that they would have hit anything beyond the target.  Apparently, he might not have thought that the children would have been playing in a community in a rural county where the houses were somewhat close together, about 1/3 a mile apart.  The 37 year old man has been charged with manslaughter, a second degree felony that has a maximum sentence of 20 years.  Sometimes, while even being in the country/rural environment one should just use a bit of common sense.

On a lighter note, I need to be a bit careful myself! 

This afternoon after getting off work and running some errands, I stopped by my home to rest up a bit before heading back to work for an 8 hr shift this evening.  I put up some candles that I bought, checked some of my emails, and laid down to rest up.  After some tossing and turning after an ever so brief of a nap, I decided that I would continue my pursuit of photos of flowers and crosses for an upcoming photo project I am working upon.  I turned upside my home looking for my keys as I was getting ready to leave.  Nowhere to be found!  I even asked Gibson and Moobaby (my cats) where in the world have they moved my keys and they looked at me with a very puzzled look.  A lot of help they were!!   After exasperation, I went to look at the front door.  There they were!!  They were still in the door where I left them as I unlocked the door and carried in the store bought items.  Gracious!!  Thank goodness my neighbors are honest. 🙂

I got to the gardens where I wanted to take some of my flower photos.  I succeeded in taking some of them; however, my batteries died.  😦  I was trying to travel light while hiking through the gardens.  *Sigh*  I best not forget my batteries on Friday when I head out on my Bluebonnet Adventure!!

In the meantime, please enjoy some of the garden photos that I did manage to take before my batteries died in the camera….

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