Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Entry: very capricious

I thought that for the sake of blogging, I'd grant the world a glimpse into my head. Yep; watch out!

My first beef is with crocs. Mike knows how much I hate them. For no reason other than their sheer ugliness (and my stubborness). I already settled the issue of owning them back when I first laid eyes on them: it was NEVER. I will not purchase crocs for Jamie. I see them everywhere! Fred Meyer, Target, Wal-Mart, even Old Navy are carrying a rainbow assortment of these god-awful trendsetters. The fad seems to have drifted it's ugly way to Europe as well. Bleh. That's how I feel about crocs. Mike has permission to throw me out of the house if I ever come home sporting these on my feet (or Jamie's). The only exception would be when I reach the delicate age of 99. Yep, I hate crocs.


But on the bright side of the sheer erratic posting... I like having red hair. A co-worker respectfully shared his opinion that I resemble a superhero. Normally, this would be a bad thing! Perhaps it's my funny personality that likes to go opposite of what's normal, I dunno? I was never popular in High school :) But I like to call my red Fruit Punch. It's quite an accident that it wasn't as deep red as I was hoping. Instead, it turned an interesting shade of reddish pink with some orange highlights. Horrified yet? It actually doesn't look bad. However, as soon as we get a few bills paid this month, I'll be headed to the salon to give it more red saturation. I'll post a picture tomorrow so you can truly see how fruity my hair is. In a good fruity way.
Ok, photo:
red

And lastly, Friday is the big event at the bookstore for Stephanie Meyer's 4th installment of the Twilight series; Breaking Dawn. I've read the series and I read her Sci-Fi for adults called The Host. A word of advice; definitely not a guys' read. Unless you like to read chapter upon chapter of teenage girl angst and unrequited love for a hot vampire. The good news is; it's full of sound morals. Weird isn't it?

That's all for tonight, have a great week!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

One down...one more to go!

I just finished Samantha and Brandon's wedding album...

Here's a link to view previews: The Wedding

I would love to know what everyone thinks! Also contributing to the images inside the album is Peter Serko, totally talented and taught me a lot.

Once I get the images from Emma, I'll be starting Shawnta and Ronald (Dee)'s album. It's going to be a long few weeks. lol :)

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Waking up Jamie

Greetings!

I woke up to a beautiful day today. It was 6am and I woke up happy! Close friends and family are probably picking up their chins right now because that rarely happens. But today it did.
My soul sensed that everything was going to be okay. I must've just really tapped into that as I brought myself out of dream world just in time to click off the alarm before it buzzed (it's a knack that I'm proud of btw).
The day started as I walked into Jamie's bedroom after getting dressed from my cool shower. He was upside down in his bed, facing the fan. Tiny, thin limbs poked in every direction and his little butt was rised ever-so-slightly. I always smile when I walk in to wake him up.
"Wake up! Wake up!" I sang to him, patting his behind and ruffling his hair. A tiny grunt and his Shrek blankie flew over his head in protest.
"No no... it's time to get up! Let's get some clothes on!" my voice dripping in cheer as I tore the blankie off his head.
"Aarrggh," he grasps for his baseball blankie this time and wraps himself as tightly and as quickly as he can before I am able to tear that one off too.
I use my best Jamie-imitiation as payback, "But JAMIE! I'm HUNgry! Get up!! Turn on Curious GEORGE for me!"
I can hear him giggle under the blanket.

If this doesn't signify a good day, I don't know what does :)
Here's a brief list of good things from today:
~ I get to plan my day at work. Keeping myself busy and organized in my own way.
~ Spoke with a good friend that I haven't talked to in awhile. Made my day :)
~ Nearly finished with my surprise for Sam and Brandon's wedding gift. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.
~ My youngest brother is spending the night. He broke his arm at a concert last Wednesday. Moshing. But still, it's cool that he's here. He's even going to watch Jamie tomorrow while I work :)
~ Jamie didn't use potty mouth today so he got to play with his skates. (potty mouth meaning: poop pee butt... not cuss words lol)
~ Knowing I'm getting paid on Friday. I'm in desparate need of a haircut.

I hope everyone else has a great day soon :)

Sunday, July 13, 2008

So much!

I regret not documenting more often lately. Things have been racing me along this summer!

I've already got 2 weddings under my belt as a photographer. At this point I think it's wise to reflect back on the experience and decide if this is the path I want to pursue. Honestly, I don't know. Weddings are overwhelming, fast-paced, wrought with emotion; all of which I can handle... I've proven that. But I think I'd like to try slowing down just a bit. Tap into my artist soul and really put some meaning into my images. I've been thinking of starting a project just for myself. The theme hasn't been decided but maybe I don't need to think in terms of themes. The images will come to me.

I've stepped back into the supervisor role at work, a very different kind of supervisor in which I'm basically supervising... merchandise. Now THAT'S my kind of leadership! It's been about a year since I stepped down as Operations Supervisor. I was asked during my hour and a half interview why I stepped down. It's so unfair to list only one reason but I had to keep it simple. Family. Had I been in a casual conversation with an old friend I might've gone into more detail but the general idea was family. When I saw the posting for Paperchase supervisor I knew it was time to snag the chance. Am I hoping to prove anything? Naw. I just need to exercise my brain :) Long stretches of time spent at the registers or cafe will leave you drained, intellectually. But I'm only speaking for myself. But I'm happy to have my own domain again!

In other news, I've been trying to teach Jamie how to read and recognize words. Tonight we read one of the Curious George Phonics books called George is Happy. I've only read this twice to him but he remembered all the words!! Darn! Just when I thought that maybe he was actually reading! But that didn't stop me from cracking up as he recited 'George is happy to pat a rabbit' word for word. Ah well, it's not like I've ever taught someone to read before, I'm no expert. But at least he will get used to having to look at the words along with the pictures.

About a month ago, we noticed pollywogs in our dried pond in the back (I say dried because it's a piece of crap that the previous owner built himself. It doesn't hold water except the top tier). Jamie was very excited to learn that they would become frogs someday. I picked up a frog habitat from Target and we set about placing a few pollywogs inside. He enjoyed peeking in occasionally. The sad part of this story come to just a few days ago when I heard him gasp and cry, "Mama! Where are my tadpoles??" I motioned for Mike to come over as well since he's more of the animal-boy-pet-expert than I am. "Jamie... did you put soap in here?"
The moral of this particular story is: don't feed tadpoles dish soap. They'll dissolve...like grease! Sad! Once we're sure the habitat is sanitized, we'll refil with new tadpoles and give Jamie another chance. I think he's learned his lesson. Only time will tell. :)

I should probably write a little about our short vacation in Cannon Beach, Oregon! Mike had a few days off before the fourth of July holiday (also his birthday) and I decided to take a few personal days from work as well. We found out that Mike's aunt's husband has a vacation house RIGHT on the beach in Cannon Beach! How sweet! They were super excited to have us come and spend two days with them. The drive from Buckley to the beach took about 3 hours. Jamie promptly started in with, "Are we there yet?" in which we quickly replied, "No and if you ask again you're not going to the beach until tomorrow". It worked. It was a bummer that it was overcast during our stay but it certainly didn't diminish our wonder of this beautiful spot. Pat and Noreen welcomed us warmly into the cute little two story bunglow. We set down our things and they lead us out the side road right to the beach! You know how you see those movies with beach houses and they have this sandy entrance flanked with cute fences and tall, beachy grass? Well, that's what this looked like. It was perfect. The next day, Pat and Noreen took us to Ecola Nat'l Park to explore the beach at low tide and see all the sealife. I think I can speak for Mike and Jamie by saying, we'll be back soon!! We LOVED it! :)

I hope this long post will tide everyone over until next time...

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Foo Fighters

Absolutely AMAZING! These guys know how to really make a concert enjoyable! They kept playing and playing and chatting... Grohl (Lead)is a great performer. The only thing I have to say that I didn't like were the white strobe lights! Heidi and I secured our seats in what she calls, the Nosebleed section right in front of the stage. Being so high up, we caught a lot of direct strobe lights right in the eyes... Other than that, it was memorable.
While, I didn't smack on my Foo Fighters fake tattoo like I threatened, I did purchase a cool black zip-up sweatshirt :)
Heidi, not being a fan of Foo Fighters, seemed to enjoy herself too. She even sang along to the few songs that she knew.

Thanks Heidi, for the Birthday present! I'll always remember it!

On a separate note, my new site is nearly finished! Feel free to head on over and take a look! The links at the top aren't in working order yet because there are no pages created but the main page is lookin' good. Let me know what you think!

Another Fine Mess Photography