tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45692058309094873662024-03-05T20:53:16.481-06:00It's All RelativeA humorous look at the crazy things that happen in my everyday life as a wife and mom. BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.comBlogger108125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-70230354800979237812018-12-31T17:03:00.003-06:002018-12-31T17:09:16.223-06:00Faceless Self PortraitIt seems as of lately, I only take the camera out when we're on vacation, or there's some event going on. I decided now that I have a somewhat working studio I needed to give myself assignments as an excuse to play with my camera more. But left to my own devices, the ideas just don't flow freely. Last year a photography friend found the Dogwood Challenge, and I tried to BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-47784940767958384202017-03-06T07:07:00.000-06:002017-03-06T07:07:03.686-06:00Road Trippin' - Part 5: Route 66 to home<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-17467798543700295582017-03-04T07:24:00.001-06:002017-03-04T12:00:12.868-06:00Road Trippin' - Part 3: Antelope Canyon<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-19208738858785742532017-03-03T10:58:00.000-06:002017-03-04T07:31:34.984-06:00Road Trippin' - Part 2; White Pocket<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-48205780081919622722017-03-02T17:03:00.000-06:002017-03-03T11:10:07.822-06:00Road Trippin' - Part 1; Minnesota to Arizona
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BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-86172042398850709692017-01-17T19:56:00.001-06:002017-01-17T19:56:41.185-06:00Top 10 Photos of 2016A photography group I belong to is doing a year in review, where we go through all of our photos from the past year and pick our top ten. It's more difficult that I thought. At first I thought I'd go to my Viewbug page and see what others thought were my top 10, but then I remembered it's my top 10. The ones that I'm exceptionally proud of, or the ones that may not be BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-33740826917941326122016-10-28T17:18:00.000-05:002016-10-28T17:18:06.187-05:00Shadowy figure at the top of the stairsWith Halloween right around the corner the radio station I listen to was in the Halloween sprit and asking listeners to call in if they're ever seen a ghost or lived in a haunted house. I didn't have time to call in, so I'll share my story here.
I grew up in an old house, that had been in my dad's family for 4 generations. I always thought there was something there but never saw BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-77643973717087356312016-10-05T18:55:00.003-05:002016-10-05T18:55:36.727-05:00Regency Beauty InstituteMy daughter started at Regency on August 29, 2016. She was only one month into her education when Regency closed their doors. She paid the school $7000 (of her own money) for her future tuition just a week before they closed. Now it looks like that money is gone and this has discouraged her from wanting to continue her education in this field.
I've been scouring the web lookingBHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-80744732930886299712016-06-30T08:00:00.000-05:002016-10-28T17:40:28.169-05:00A house on stilts
Every time I go out to visit my parents, I pass by the big yellow house that I grew up in. A new family lives there now and it's been over 10 years since I last walked through it's familiar rooms, but I will always consider it HOME. That's were all my childhood memories are.
The house was originally built by my great-great grandfather and was were my grandpa and my dad grew up. When I BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-72733576766266512612016-05-08T17:17:00.000-05:002016-06-26T16:09:17.285-05:00So how was your Mother's Day?Mine was... well... lets say it was interesting.
I had just finished a 65 hour work week and was looking forward to spending the day at my Mom's (without my children) putting flowers on Grandma's grave, going out for lunch, maybe go for a ride on the pontoon; just relaxing. But instead the chaos started even before I got out of the shower.
I was in the middle of a shower when there was a BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-52796661693305033142016-02-23T12:59:00.000-06:002017-03-03T11:11:31.031-06:00Running away from home
Recently the Hubby and I ran away from home for two weeks. We drove all the way from Minnesota to Florida. Stopping in Loretto, Kentucky to visit Maker's Mark distillery and Nashville, Tennessee to visit the George Jones museum (Hubby's a fan). And finally after four days of driving and getting a little lost we arrived in Bradenton, Florida.
The weather was beautiful. BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-6474670069546911062016-01-13T12:46:00.000-06:002016-01-13T12:46:25.066-06:00I'm a speedlite dummyOk call me stupid, but it's taken me 3 months to figure out why my speedlite (flash) wasn't working with my camera and it was really one dumb little mistake the whole time.
Shortly after I bought my new camera I realized I wanted a remote shutter release so I could take photos without touching the camera. The opportunity to photograph my own family photo seemed like a good enough BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-69451206953061123632016-01-02T16:32:00.002-06:002016-01-02T16:32:32.285-06:00A-Z Photography ProjectI bought myself a dslr camera this fall and decided to do an A-Z Photo project, to give myself a reason to go out and shoot and as a way to learn to use my camera. I wrote up a list of subject ideas for some letters, but have gotten stuck on others. After searching the web, I've found a few idea lists. These lists should help inspire some creative ideas.
An A-Z BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-30282809446538824632015-12-30T16:19:00.000-06:002017-03-03T11:12:24.531-06:00Vacation plans gone awry<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-35548149511909942662015-08-02T16:30:00.000-05:002015-09-13T10:09:59.733-05:00I used to be a World Wrestling Federation Groupie
Flipping through twitter yesterday, I saw the headline
“Roddy Piper dies of a heart attack at 61”.
And my heart sank a little because I used to be a fan girl. I texted my friend, V, to tell her the news and
that started a flood of memories from the mid to late 80’s when we were both
crazy for the WWF.
I don’t remember exactly how it all started; only that V was
the one who turned BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-4885643853595978382015-03-09T10:15:00.001-05:002016-05-10T19:06:45.104-05:00Designed my own jeans
I've been thinking about making these jean capris since I started sewing for myself a few years ago, but I didn't know enough about pattern alterations, drafting and fitting to make them possible. After several years of practice I finally felt ready to give them a go.
I knew I liked the way my RTW jeans fit, but I was having a hard time finding a similar jean pattern, so I BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-40053612217515994042015-02-18T07:32:00.000-06:002016-05-10T19:06:45.101-05:00Yes, a hammer is a sewing toolLooking through my sewing cabinet, I have some non-traditional tools that I use in my sewing.
Sharpie Markers: I use them in drafting patterns and marking my muslins. When I'm drafting a pattern I usually use a pencil or a colored pencil to mark my stitching lines. I use the sharpies to mark the grain line, pocket placement, and cutting lines. If I need to make changes toBHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-36357591781197802012015-02-17T16:10:00.003-06:002016-05-10T19:20:54.047-05:00Why I chose to fit good enough instead of perfectlyI finished my jeans. And yes they don't fit perfectly; there's still some fit issues that I could work on, but you know what? They're good enough. I have the same fit issues in RTW and never noticed, so why should I let it bug me in what I make? I've spent a lot of time looking at other people's backsides and noticed a lot of fit issues and nobody seems to notice. BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-50974104202613831592015-01-28T15:39:00.000-06:002016-05-10T19:20:54.063-05:00Fit vs How you feel wearing your clothesMaybe I'm totally off base here, but how can you say something fits if you don't feel good wearing it? This is something I've come to terms with over the last couple years while trying to make a decent pair of pants for myself. I've talked a lot about this process over the years as I shared my trials & errors, disappointments & semi-accomplishments, but it always came BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-674293981247994572015-01-28T12:50:00.000-06:002015-09-13T10:13:01.615-05:00Going on a prom dress hunt...I'm not scared....Well, maybe just a littleMy daughter has announced she's going to prom. She doesn't have a date, but that's not going to stop her.
Why am I scared? I like to think of myself as thrifty. I hate to spend a lot of money on something that will only be used once. Case in point, my wedding dress was under $300 and I thought that was a lot of money. I liked how we did it last year. She BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-69110320273551087102015-01-12T10:00:00.000-06:002017-03-03T11:12:55.583-06:00Makin' moonshine in Minnesota and grabbing ass in IowaThe hubby and I have a new hobby, and not it's not what you're thinking. It's visiting small independent distilleries and wineries in the region and sampling their products. It actually started several years ago on a romantic weekend in Wisconsin Dells; where we visited our first winery Wollersheim. Then a few years later we visited the Amanas in Iowa where we came home with I BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-46018398483680164892014-12-02T09:47:00.000-06:002016-05-10T19:20:54.059-05:00The true costs of handmade
http://www.gosocial.co/wedding-dress-on-a-bus/
I've seen articles about this before and thought the dress was beautiful and she looked gorgeous on her wedding day as any bride should, and that's as far as my thought process went. But then today in my Facebook feed I saw this article again and they were making a big deal about how it only cost her $30. For her this BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-481519875588603122014-04-21T08:01:00.002-05:002015-09-13T10:14:24.344-05:00Prom 2014My daughter and her boyfriend went to prom a few weeks ago. I guess you could say I was living
vicariously though her since I never when to prom. I was just as excited about everything as she was, from finding the dress, to dreaming about how romantic it was going to be. Yes, I guess you could say I still have some Disney princess fantasies about how things are suppose to be. BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4569205830909487366.post-91149490852781762092014-04-07T15:54:00.000-05:002016-05-10T19:19:07.876-05:00The mysteries of pant fitting - I'm starting to get itIt's taken me about a year of trial and error, multiple muslins, and several drafts and re-drafts, but I finally have a pattern I'm happy with. I came close last winter, I had a pattern that fit, but I wasn't completely happy with. The biggest issue with that pattern was the double darts I had to put in the waist. My ultimate goal is to make jeans, and since I can't find a jean BHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877322613237653886noreply@blogger.com0