Sunset Dreams

A LOOOOONG time ago I had a couple of assignments in school that I would now like to show you. I am taking Medie this year and also a class called Trykk og Foto. Both of these classes revolve around the "techincal" world. Medie is more of newspapers and magazines, where as Trykk og Foto is more of a class to teach how to take good pictures with nice qualities. Both classes however, required me to use Photoshop which was something I had never done before. After about a month of lessons, we got our first assignments using the program. The first two picture that you see are to look exactly like a spread sheet from the Farm & Ranch Living magazine. If any of you out there subscribe to these, if you take a look at page 52 and 53 of the August/September edition, as well as 56 and 57, you will see that without flaw, the layouts are the same. To me, what is more intereseting than the photos that I took, is what is written. Because the pictures are so small, I will write again here, what is written on the pages.

A SEASON OF LOVE
The peacefull sound of sleigh bells ringing in the crisp air on a cold December day, is the first sign of Winter. Some seem to think that this season is the most enjoyable of all. Wether it's sitting cureled up next to the fireplace, harnesing the horses while seeing your breath make short puffs of air in front of you, or outside taking a try on the slopes, all agree that the Winter months provide much entertainment outdoors along with peaceful evenings inside. Many of those cold days spent indoors can be enjoyed by practicing old family traditions, baking cookies together, reading, knitting in your grandmothers old rocking chair, or decorating for the upcomming holiday.
Christmas seems to be a main focus when thinking of Winter and what it bears. Christmas is a time for celebration and family gathering, a time for Christ and caroling.
The smiles on the small childrens faces during the holidays is enough to make anyone smile. "We make chocolate and pass them out to hundreds of kids when they come out to the farm to see Santa on the 25th." says Hans Petter, farmer and owner of Frøvedtgård near Åros. "Rain or shine, they'll be there."
To end the holiday season, there is nothing like a nice cross country skiing trip up in the mountains with the whole family. To see all the wonderful creations that God instilled on this world, and to be able to be a part of it all, is all too overwhelming, flattering really. To hear birds call echoing through the trees, and childs laugh carried over the mountain tops, can take away any hard feelings created that day.
To sum it all up, Christmas is not just a holiday, it is a season; a season which brings more joy to all than any other. A season of love.

(Winter snow flurries start to appear in mid October as they settle themselves upon the mountain tops near Stø in Vesterålen.)



I can do the same here....type the words that you see below.

SLEEPING BEAUTY
As the winter season arives, fall quickly disapears. The leaves have long gone fallen, and the cold air has ome to stay.The crisp cruch of steps in the ice and snow, the crystillization of breath hanging just a moment longer than needed in the bitter air, is enough to make any non-believer, belive. As God "shuts down" the earth for a few months, life still seems to go on. Beauty is still present, and awaits her kiss from the beloved springs sunlight.

SLIPPERS
Waking up to a front covered window and juping out of bed to see the new layer of snow, is the best way to start a day. As I slip into my warm slippers situated under the wood stove all night, I slide down the banishter racing my sister to the Christmas tree, only to find out that sure enough, Santa had not forgoten to arive.

(The fresh smell of baked goods fills the house. Clockwise from left: Amie filling in for Santa during his busy time of year; One of the mony book shelves used to keep busy in the quiet winter days; Warm cinimon rools baked and ready to eat; A red barn sticks out in the white snow; The first blizard of the year.)



The two pictures above were for my Medie class asignment. We were to interview people we had never met before and make a mock magazine or newpaper article out of our interview. I got my information from Hans Petter, the farmer I work for. This next picture however is my absolute FAVORITE. For my Trykk of Foto class we were to take pictures and make a book cover for a make believe book of our choice. We had topics. We could either make a cover that would portray crime, comical, drama, etc. I chose to topic Romance and came up with a title "Sunset Dreams." Now I just had to come up with some pictures and complete the project. I worked for what seemed like years on this one page until it reached perfection in my eyes. I am not so sure what all youw ill be able to see in the small photo, but above the cowgirls head, there are three pictures hidden in the clouds. They consist of a bronc rider, calf roper, and bull rider. The words beside the title read: Life is a gamble; make the best of every hand. I think most authors write the book, and then worry about the cover...hehehe....not me. Now that I see this cover and have fallen in love with it, I now want to write a book for it to actually "cover." :D