the diAry of angi b.

happy birthday,babe!

 

today is john's bday, he's 44. and he continues to remind me that i'm 7 months older than he is! pfffft, whatevah!

Went for a cliffside stroll in Palos Verdes yesterday. The sun finally pays us a visit after being awol for days. It's the first day of Summer for crying out loud! Jess wrote the most mind-blowing poem for her dad, and we gave him a bag full of cash (50 $1's to fill it to the rim.) The teens are missing from this picture... where are they?? In the car with the Ipod of course indifferent to the beautiful scenery.

aimless wandering

be the author of your own life story

 

More hybrid work. Page from my personal journal blended digitally with background paper

products: ps, basic grey, 7 gypsies patterned paper, K&Company stickers

San Francisco in hindsight

 

MLK - no lab class tonight which affords me the opportunity to play with PS and combine traditional scrapbooking with digital overlays. I recently created an on-line photojournal of our weekend getaway to San Francisco last summer. I posted a photo slide-show and will upload scrapbooking/digital pages on a regular basis.

Products: Photoshop CS2, pattern paper background:Basic Grey

anonymous photography

anonymous photography. that's my new focus this year. i am trying something new...the backdrop of the pacific ocean is always stunning especially when the sun hits the water just right. perfect timing is not always handed to one on a silver platter. cool.

 

Gorgeous weather beckens us to slip away from our home in the foothills and take in cool breezes and fresh views of the Pacific Ocean. We were in the mood for tacos at our favorite mexican place in seal beach. Dominic has proven himself to be a somewhat sane model citizen as of late in public places so our hesitation to be out and about with him has surely waned. Afterwards we took a brief stroll on the pier and our spur-of-the minute mentality prompts us to head over to the Aquarium of the Pacific in nearby Long Beach. There, Dominic slips back into "the crazies." He had a small lapse for some reason or another. We signed up for a one-year family membership on New Year's Day so it was nice to pay a spontaneous visit. California. Gotta love it.

wInter quarter '08 begins

Classes I am taking this quarter

• marketing management

• biology lab

• web site development

hopefully i'll be able to keep up with the massive reading in Marketing... he hopes to cover 19 chapters in 10 weeks. GAH. This is an interesting twist in studying science: he also teaches at a Catholic private school. i agree with his sentiment: who's to say God is not the creator of evolution. His perfect plan is beyond our understanding. Finally, I hope to learn a thing or two in website development. REVELATION : I love creating web pages. somehow,someway my extremely bi-polar interests in business accounting, art and technology will converge on a path that reveals my true destiny. whatever happens i tell myself...keep moving forward.

a Week in the liFe... a work in progress

I'm taking a different spin on Ali Edward's Week in the Life Project. I took various photos which portray scenes from our lives right now and grouping them by cattegory. Part of my daily routine right now is caring for our garden.... Just a simple layout that I intend to follow for each my cattegories. I am using an artist's wirebound field book to give it a very "journal" type feel.

... taking a photography class this semester

our assignment last week: cover the viewfinder or lcd and take random pics. The point? to let go of inhibition and the internal judge within. For me this was a major challenge as I am a self-proclaimed p e r f e c t i o n i s t ... so Saturday morning I wandered around the neighborhood and shot some shrubbery hoping to get some cool "dew on leaves" or whatever... This was my submission for tonight's class critique. I loathe spiders but the dew on the web was kinda interesting. I knew it was a little "busy", but my instructor said it worked because part of it was out of focus. Doctored up by Picassa (LOVE that program!). I am lovin' this class. Joe is as sarcastic as they come and brutally honest which is a good thing if I am serious about becoming a better photographer. Side note: I am a business accounting major and yet ART is my passion and real love.... so my boss and others have asked the obvious question: why am I not studying art??? I retort: I can't afford to be a starving artist! Just for now, anyway.... SO in the meantime i'll weave it in somehow because what's the point of living right??? enjOy the jOurney...

labor day weekend... and we are bonfire-less

... we arrived at Bolsa Chica some time after 6:30 i guess... and we are sheer out of luck as all of the bonfire pits were taken! of course they were! What were we thinking?? No worries. We sat in the parking lot and enjoyed the ocean breeze for half an hour. I snapped some pics of other people enjoying their bonfires in the meantime. The sun set pretty quickly. It was there just a minute ago, seriously...

Twenty Three

that's how long John & I have been together, married for 19 and still in love. i said it before - we are total opposites in many ways. and maybe that's the secret to a successful marriage. there's quite a bit of head-butting, and we're not forever and always eye-to-eye on many things... maybe just on the things that really count... like meeting half-way to keep peace. And then sometimes meeting 60/40 or 30/70 (and no difference who is giving more than taking) ... the point is working-things-out-for-the-sake of sanity and love.... for love. That's one key ingredient that has kept us in tact.

New school year

...and we are off and running for the new school year. Over the last few years it seems to begin before summer is officially over. Sigh. Labor day weekend is here, btw. Dominic will begin a new program at Willowood in West Covina starting next Tuesday (hopefully if the transportion goes as planned.) I met his teacher Teresa Griegos today for an overview of her class schedule and layout. She's a self-proclaimed tough teacher and is big on making the student use his communication skills to navigate in the class room and in his world. He'll be bused to and from the school site. I was surprised that a chaperone wouldn't be present for the commute - the bus driver is essentially "it". I was assured by the district nurse that the drivers assigned for the commute are used to dealing with kids with his special needs. I guess it's just me and my anxiousness about Dominic dealing with new and unchartered experiences. I'm not sure how Dominic will deal with it, actually. He enjoys our joyrides and being with other kids his age. I have to stop thinking for the worst and embrace this thing called life. I have to let go a little bit and let my children find their own way in it - triumphs and falls alike. ... yup, just let him find his own path...and as a mom, enjoy the journey alongside him.

Stephen & Eileen Wedding Day 8-23-08

i was asked to photograph my nephew's wedding last Saturday... honestly, i was intimidated because it was my first time and can you imagine the pressure??? so many people had faith in me and as for me, i am ALWAYS my own worst critic. (John kept reminding me all week: it's the most important day of their lives! can you believe this guy?) Here's one of my favorites because it definitely reflects my style of photography ... random and in-the-moment...

experimenting with photoshop

Sean b. is my second son of three, my third of four children.... Just wanted to document a little something about him right now... a simple snapshot of who is right now. The days go by, you know. Here it is. There it goes.

i was experimenting with photoshop today and grabbed his picture from my vast, vast library (can it be that my photo library is so overwhelming that i can't seem to get myself back into scrapbooking?).

and on Beijing 2008...Michael Phelps is so yesterday. LOL.

emersed in a sea of words

wherever she finds herself she is emersed in a world of her own in a sea of a million words

the best part is the elEment of sUrprise...

... dOminic at Irvine Spectrum... there we were just walking around in Irvine and he spots it a mile away ... the fountain of fun where you can dash across the concrete and play "tag" with the water sprouting out of the ground. Luckily i brought along a change of clothes for him --- so getting soaked down to the bone would not be an issue. I took about 50 shots and it was tough to get a good clear picture because he could hardly stand still.... and for 1/2 a second there was a window of opportunity --- and viola! This shot captured the joy of summer perfectly ....'GOTCHA!'

 

out of touch and out of my mind April 24,2008

Feeling out of sorts... and disoriented from the blog world and anything scrapbook or photography related. I've got TOO much on my plate these days with school and work and family.... there's no time for "chilling" do ya know what i mean??? So today I am taking a break and posting a little blurb for the blogworld.

Mr. B. took this pic of me in Carlsbad. We were on a Petra company outing (brunch and shopping in Carlsbad) It was a beautiful Spring day --- and the perfect day to do that "chilling" thing I was talking about. The perfect day to just "do nothing"... 

... Happy New Year --- (24 days later!)

The Bustamante New year's day tradition for the last 7 years: we take a drive down to the beach, walk on the pier, chase Dominic and take a million pics. My darling husband gave me an "after Christmas" gift of all gifts: a telephoto lens that I absolutely LOOOOOVVVVEEE! Now I can take pics from afar and get that cool depth-of-field look. I am loving it to no end....

disNey in dEcember 2007

our company christmas party this year included dinner at the Grand California Hotel and two tickets to Disneyland...

John and I upgraded our tickets to annual passes and wandered around the park for four hours snapping photos of eachother and the cool Disney Christmas Decor all throughout the park.

Although we only went on one ride because we knew we'd be back again and again, we had thee best time doing nothing! It was STRESS free (are U kidding, no kids!)

mY entry for Lu's circle journal

Dear Lu,

I am so late and embarrassed that i've had your CJ since sumMer. I finally finished this 2-page spread about what I tend to say the most...

and it was really a toss up between OMG and Dude!

Valley-speak for a forty-something woman seems ridiculous, but it's pretty much embedded in my California-style vocabulary. so there U go. Confessions of a southern california girl.

I just received Ali's AEZine and what she said about using a few select cardstock colors over and over out of sheer preference makes perfect sense to me. So glad that I'm not the only one who continues to use the tried and true just because it suits me and my style. I am forever using the muted chocolate tones, black, white, kraft as the background for most of my scrapbook pages. I prefer them because they offer so much versatility to my photos and the color-schemes I choose for my projects. Why design with that which does not inspire you? Be true to yourself...

Amen?

nOvember 15,2007

it's my mama's bday today - happy 67th, mama! BTW, I turned 43 last Saturday. Went out to dinner with John just the two of us on Friday night. Hung out at Downtown Disney, held hands, browsed the shops. All kid-free. Such a nice change to our hectic lives ---

Speaking of hectic, my last journal entry on this blog? July 2007. Sounds about right for a busy mom of 4. But I do that. Neglect me and my little corner of the world. Why can't I commit??

It's 12:45 am and I've got to get up for work in about 6 hours. If only there were 72-hour days and I could live on nothing but Red Bull.

cj scrappage

i'm currently doing the CJ rounds with some cool scrappers. (hey LU!)

and it's the coolest thing i've ever participated in.

i just shipped this off today to Jennifer Lawrence  (a page in Vee's journal about my dreams)

(no, i don't aspire to be a Dr. necessarily... the second page is where i journaled my thoughts and spelled out the rest of the word "Dream"... ) I cannot for the life of me stop scrapping red/black/white. It's my favorite, favorite, favorite way to go.... and i LOVE to doctor up my photos using funky techniques that shed my real age... lol...

can U say wahhhhhhhhhhaahhh

... i knew this day would come. I just wanted to hold on to the notion that you would forever remain my little boy. YES, I am in a melancholy mOod indeed as my eldest son Chris went to PROM last week and he will be graduating from highschool next month. The years just spin out of control these days. I made this collage on PS this afternoon of his PRE-prom pics and other recent photos. He will turn 18 this July which btw is just around the corner. I think he wants to hold onto childhood as much as possible too. BOO HOO!

dAydreaming agAin....

fUnny little Guy

last night we took off to IHOP for pancakes (i can eat breakfast morning, noon and night - mmmmm, love it!). Sean is my funny little man. During the course of our random conversation, he said " I don't wanna get married --- it's too FREAKY"

FUNNY little guy! He has this innocent charm about him that just cracks me up. And we did just that...LOVE how kids are just natural comics and they don't even know it.... now back to this " marriage is freaky" thing. Just where did he come up with that? Nice to know our son looks upon our marriage as something strange and to avoid at all costs. Man, i had to write that one down. This boy is a real charmer.

TODAY my TO-DO list has a zillion things on it. Study,study,study for two fast-approaching midterms and two projects that are due Monday and Wednesday; work on my CIRCLE JOURNAL due 5/18; participate in an on-line CHAT at dragonflaire studios; create a scrapbook page for my gallery; buy Jessica 2 pairs of jeans for her upcoming science camp field-trip (she is going away for a whole WEEK for the first time); maybe squeeze in SPIDEY-3 although that's not so much a requirement but more of an effort to DITCH responsibility and enjoy life just a little.

OFF i go--- TTFN

aNyone "my Space" ?

i signed up a few years ago because i was helping our neighbor set one up. I just never logged on because I had a blog and didn't really want to maintain both. Well, my sister who lives in Las Vegas recently signed up to share her Jamaica photos etc. and to keep in touch with friends and family. SO I WAS INSPIRED of course and did a little JAZZING up...come visit me if you have one!

mY spAce

silly but all in good fun -

nutso for Joey Fatone

ok i admit it

joey fatone is my secret crush. LOL. He is so adorable on Dancing with the Stars. His personality spills into each of the routines --- and he is PURE ENTERTAINMENT.

apRil 9 2007 - oops i did it again

tonight i was obsessed with finishing a page--- and i was almost there --- i had the VISION and things were falling into place --- i was totally ENGROSSED in the moment....

then

i

ruined

it

does that ever happen to you?

trial and error is a good thing; but it drives me INSANE because i just don't have the time for it.

hmmmph

there is something profound in that thought, isn't there?

here's that pic i uploaded last night. I overlayed it with a page from Maggie LaMarre's Flourish Breeze kit. I was going to use it in my scrapbook page that went awry.

i'll get over it, i know

tomorrow

is

another

day

apRil 8, 2007 - new DT site

got a minute?

look here

(Dragonflaire's new forum --- we are still under construction but are getting there!)

i am working on a new MINI-BOOK  "Faces I Love"

(Maggie Lamarre's Flourish Breeze Kit - check out the APRIL CONTEST on the forum using this kit)

..... and here's something old:

my two middle kids Jessica and Sean back in 2001. It was only a 6 years ago and yet it seems a lifetime ago! Here they are now:

don't ya want to cry for me??

mArch 26,2007 - Phenomenal Weekend!

look! the FABULOUS KAREN RUSSELL is holding my "By The Sea" Project!

i had a phenomenal time this weekend at Scrapbook Oasis in Irvine, California. I was a total die-hard scrapper, no doubt. FRIDAY night she taught a photography Q&A and we made a keepsake box from the BE (bare elements line) similar to this  :

yup, she shared a TON of samples from her personal stash --- and we got to oogle over them in living color! One thing I loved about this weekend is Karen's generosity in sharing her knowledge and passion for photography and scrapbooking. Just a genuine personality and FUNNY! It was non-stop energy and comic relief throughout. She was totally dilirious at the end of her last class Saturday night --- man, she talked a mile-a-minute and went off on a few tangents which was totally entertaining, yet she was totally comprehensible and made the back-to-back classes a blast. I will definitely take more of her classes just for the pure entertainment factor.

   

that's my coat she's wearing here. I walked in with it and she stopped mid-sentence while she was teaching, and shouted a complement from across the room ---LOVED how she played along and allowed herself to just be silly.

She also gave us great tips for instance, be sure to look up at the camera to avoid the triple chin action. So we squatted here to do just that!

and here are the girls from my table (along with our neighbor Teresa from the adjacent table) - we had a few laughs and giggles sitting in the BACK...  Karen just cracked us up all the day long....

mArch 20,2007--- bLessings

the Joys of motherhood this week

* jessica read Bible verses to me --

*i chased my 4-year-old on the grass in my high-heels. He escaped the classroom where we were having a speech evaluation interview with the school speech therapist

*i have a huge library of unscrapped photos, but i am so spent at the end of the day...that there's nothing left for scrapbooking

*i woke up Sunday morning so disoriented that I thought it was Monday (thank God for small mercies!)

*i referee endless squabbles between siblings all-the-day-long

*i have to console my 10 year old son who has to constantly share all of his beloved action figures with his little brother because all things in the house are community property according to 4-year old Dominic.

there are hidden gems of love weaved into the everyday

and here's an unfinished altered book page

but you know what? sometimes it just works "as-is"

mArch 11,2007 - sleepy!!!!

Sunday afternoon

the time change is already killing me

i don't know why, but I just want to lay down for the rest of the day

(Art journal page i made e-ons ago but suitable for my state of mind right now)

I AM studying for finals for the coming week, and I've been exhausting my brain cells to the point of

"SLUDGE"

time for a break

TODAY is hot, hot, hot!!! maybe that's the reason for my sleepiness. maybe a trip to Starbucks for a VENTI ICED CHAI TEA LATTE would do the trick. There are wasps swarming in front of my door so I am hesitant to leave the dwelling.... but a girl's gotta do what she's gotta do for her quick starbucks fix so wish me luck

.... by the way, if you live in so cal, sign up for Karen Russell's upcoming classes at Scrapbook Oasis this month. I signed up for all of her classes (needless to say I am a HUGE,HUGE fan)

send me an e-mail if you'll be there : )