Decisions have been made.

Craig is now on his second half of vaction. I kind of like it that he took it the way he did, instead of 2 weeks it feels like 3 weeks because he only worked 3 days last week, having had the previous week off and yesterday started another week off. It's so nice to have him home.

I bit the bullet and bought the camera I've been wanting, the Nikon D40. Although the kit lens is perfect for what the average person needs, I also purchased another lens that picks up where the kit lens leaves off in zoom. I figured I'd need it since I'm often struggling to get good shots of the kids at concerts, sports events and such. I also got a tripod and 2 premium SD cards, a 5 G and a 1 G. So I should be good for about 1,000 pictures at a time. I've really had my eye on a Digital SLR since they first started coming out, but couldn't handle the ginormous pricetags they came with. Thankfully company competition has allowed the prices to drift down into a range the average amateur photographer can wrap their head around.

I've been struggling for months with the decision to buy either this camera or the Canon Rebel XT. It was really a back and forth kind of thing and no one could really help since like I was told, it's like asking someone which is better: Ford or Chevy........ everyone has thier preference and none of it really matters. Nikon had a better lens, Canon had more on board editing features..... Nikon had a bigger LCD screen, Canon used memory cards I already own.... Nikon just looked more "classy", but Canon had won me over before with my G2. I was undecided still upon walking into Best Buy. It didn't take me long once there to figure out which one I wanted. The Canon just isn't very user friendly, and it doesn't feel quite right in my hand. As someone who is often chasing after kids with a camera in my hand I really wanted something I could get a firm grasp on. It didn't take long before the Nikon won me over.

Then of course I "needed" a good photo editing program. I've been using a combination of Picassa by Google and what elements are available without the disk in the Ulead program my friend had installed on my computer. The picassa was nice, but not full featured and the Ulead just dissapointed me over and over again with the cheapness of the edits. My friend has shown me pictures she has edited with the full version of the program and while the photos are very nice, it's mostly due to good photography. I just think the program takes something away from some really nice pictures.

I am not the type of person to make purchases on a whim so of course I researched the hell out of programs before walking into the store. Unlike the camera decision that was still stressing me out, I knew going in which program I was leaving with....... Corel PaintShop Pro Photo X2. There really was no question. The only competition would be Adope Photoshop but why pay twice (or more) the price for a program with the same features that is more difficult to use?! Thankfully, God gave me more brains than money anyway. I haven't had much time to play with it since I've promised myself I will get the hundreds of pictures on my harddrive printed before I put anymore on this computer (I think I just printed number 89, lord help me) but the bit I checked out definitely seems fun! Definitely worth the $99 price tag.

Next week we are taking a couple days and going to the Dells for an overnight trip with my brother and his wife and kids and my sister. I cannot wait to just park my butt in a hot tub somewhere and leave my cares behind. Of course I'll have 6 kids to look after, but a girl can dream.

Anyway. It's almost 1am. I think I'm going to let my poor printer and my tired brain rest for a few hours before the kids are up demanding fruit loops.