Fiddling around with my DSLR>>Manual Mode!

So I've decided since I have this DSLR, and I have really no priorities over while I'm here in Italy (no kids, no job, and not attending school,) I might as well make some use out of something!

So yesterday I decided I would take a whack at only using the manual mode on my DSLR. If you are utterly confused by that 4 letter word and what exactly it means, here's your definition. DSLR means "Digital Single-Lens Reflex" which in Lehman's terms is just another name for a fancy camera with much higher quality pictures than a plain old point and shoot (no offense to all the point and shooters out there.)

I chose to invest in a DSLR camera because not only did I want to take higher quality, more in depth portraits, but I also wanted to film with much more precise and higher quality images. I'm slowly but surely getting into the YouTube community and want to eventually upload videos about my life, beauty, my cats, etc. and share my stories on YouTube. I know I know, that's what everyone's dream is.

So here are a few pictures I shot and edited yesterday. I acknowledge and understand I still have a LONG way to go, and am no "big-headed" by any means. I have a total entry-level DSLR with a beginner kit lens. My images of course aren't going to look like a professional captured them because I don't own a $4,000 DSLR or a $2,000 telephoto wide angle lens.

An Italian poppy. Here in Italy the locals consider them weeds. Before they bloom the locals apparently eat them in salads.

An immature wheat field. 

One little poppy alone in a sea of immature wheat.

These trees were purposely planted to be in rows like this. I wonder how old they are?

Using my aperture priority mode for the blurred background.

[Actual] PCS ANNOUNCEMENT!

Whelp, we found out where we'll be headed to this Fall!

Drumroll please....

Mountain Home AFB in Idaho!

Even though it wasn't on our "Wish List" this base is still close to our families and we couldn't be more happier about that!!

Wanna Know a Secret?

Well it's not necessarily a secret but it definitely is something worth sharing that not a ton of people yet know about! (Unless you're reading this blog then you're one of the few lucky ones to know!)

About a week ago we received our stateside listing for when we PCS come this fall! As some of you know (who've read my recent blog posts) we were going to Japan then had those orders cancelled and are now heading back stateside (yay!) Even though we were actually hoping to stay overseas due to the COLA and better pay we were hoping for either Germany or Alaska, but unfortunately it wasn't in the cards for us to stay overseas for this next tour. Japan has its ups and downs but after looking at it as a whole, we decided it was best for us to cancel those orders.

Anywhoo...

So here we were twiddling our thumbs waiting for the stateside listing to come out and finally it did!!
Remember our wish list for stateside bases?

• McChord/Lewis Washington
• Fairchild Washington
• Beale California
• Travis California
• Malmstrom Montana

Well...out of those we managed to snag only one on our list (better than nothing right?)

And another PNW which we weren't super thrilled to see on the list, but it's very close to our families so we're content with it. Then there was one in the South West, one where all the shootings happened recently, and the final one in the South East.

Technically I can't tell you all exactly where the bases are located on our list due to OPSEC however once we find our where we're going I'll for sure announce it to everyone!

So now we wait. Oh the anticipation. Fingers crossed we wind up somewhere decent. This base was a total and complete surprise (not in a great way) so we're hoping our next base won't be a slap in the face as well. All we want is to be able to travel and visit our families more than once a year. My husband and I are super family-oriented so living overseas on the other side of the world hasn't been the best experiences for us.

I know it's part of the military but I wish they would station families/individuals who desire to be stationed here verses ones that have no desire and request to be stateside.

It is what it is and I understand we need to count our blessings.

Overlooked...

WARNING: This is a complaint blog post. If you dislike reading my complaint posts then feel free to skip over this one! Spanks.

Today isn't "Talk About It Tuesday" but I really felt this needed to be vented both on here as well as my personal Facebook. (If your not friends with me on my personal Facebook, then feel loved that you get to take a peak inside my personal life and read about what's getting at me tonight!)

I have to be honest, I'm not a part of the spouse community very aggressively. I'm just not a very social butterfly. And I'm okie dokie with that. I don't have a ton of friends here. And I'm okie dokie with that as well. I'm classified as a loner, the person that I hang out with the most is myself.

Ok back on topic!

So tonight I received a newsletter pertaining to the spouse community that I'm sort of a part of. The community members are aware that I actually exist here at this base, hence they have my e-mail address, phone number, etc. And some of the community board members are indeed my friends on Facebook. So when this newsletter came out online I was more than thrilled to endeavor and read more about what's going on with the daily life of the spouses here at this base.

Until I got to the second to the last page. There was a place for birthdays as well as anniversaries. Our anniversary is the 14th of this month (9 days!) and it wasn't listed. Let me just say I wasn't very excited it wasn't posted. However almost everyone at this base apparently has their anniversaries in April, and there was only 1 person's anniversary listed for the month of April, so it did make me feel slightly better.

I ask myself constantly, "Why even try to fit in here?" When I apparently am not counted for any effort that I attempt to put in? I do volunteer here and there...and that says a lot from someone who's not a very social butterfly.

To end this post off with a bang I'm just going to say always cover your bases. It really molds my oranges when people overlook certain things that really matter to other people. I don't care if people roll their eyes at our anniversary, but acknowledging the fact that it does exist would be nice.

Just kidding...

You remember the last blog post right? How we received orders to go to Japan?
Well, that's actually not happening anymore...

The orders weren't cancelled technically, they were amended. My husband and I decided it was best for both of us to not be stationed over in Japan.

There's nothing wrong with Japan but since once again my schooling wasn't provided over there we decided it was best for myself and the kitties to head back to the states (and receive NO BAH) and my husband take this next tour unaccompanied...for 2 years instead of 3.

Luckily he was able to request amendment from Japan, so now we are headed back to the states!!!!!
We have not received the list yet which will be coming out next month, but we're hoping something close to the PNW will be on it.

These are what we're hoping will be on that list:

• McChord/Lewis WA
• Fairchild WA
• Malmstrom, MT
• Beale, CA
• Travis, CA

Hopefully at least one of those bases will be on the list!!! Wish us luck!

The wait is OVER! PCS Announcement!

The wait is over! We finally know where we'll be headed to come this October! My husband and I wanted to stay overseas for the remainder of his first enlistment, so when the listings came out for our month block both Alaska and Japan were on the list. He decided to take a whack at it and sign up for both.

Well today we found out through a work e-mail he was chosen to go to Japan! We'll be headed to Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa-Shi Japan this October!

Venezia=Venice...What?

Yesterday we went to Venice for the first time in the nearly 2 (husband's nearly 2.5) years stationed here at Aviano! I know sad, but remember we aren't exactly your typical world travelers.

Sunday, February 23 was the start of "Carnevale" aka what I like to call "Italians mix of theater costumes and Halloween...yikes. It was crazy busy. One of my major pet peeves is being in a huge crowd of people; especially a huge crowd of foreigners. Yeah, not my cup of tea.

We went with some friends who had been to Venice previously, which helped tremendously to know where to go...because being the complete tourists my husband and myself are, and of course thinking we can totally get by and not read any maps or brochures; would have totally and completely screwed up this trip to Venice...ha!

Here in Italy if you want to get from point A to point B one typically takes the train. One of the many types of transportation I have never had the chance to endear in my short little life. So what better way to get to Venice than by taking the train?

Well, after a crazy schedule and hopping numerous trains due to our first train not functioning we finally made it to Venice...only 3 hours later than we had originally planned. It was Cah-Razey! No like totally and completely populated by tons of foreigners, Italians mostly (hence living in Italy, duh.)

Here are some pics of our first time in Venice during Carnevale!

On one of the bridges in Venice...can't remember if this one had a name!

There were a TON of masks of all different characters!

Sun glare. Not the best thing for a lens without a UV filter, but I still thought this shot was cool.

Gondola! These were everywhere!

As you could tell by this pic, the streets were incredibly crowded. Not the best for a person with severe claustrophobia and anxiety!

Nutella treat. How could we say no?

Over another bridge. 

We took a water taxi thing back to the train station.

I'm still getting the bugs worked out on my camera, so sadly all these shots were taken in the auto mode (Not the best to learn with on a DSLR!) I'm still messing around with all the different modes and forcing myself to stay in manual mode (although it's confusing because I don't know what half of these numbers mean!) Looks like it's back to YouTube tutorials!