Most boring weekend evah

C just got his new computer for work and school, and spent the entire weekend setting it up. Where did that leave me, you ask? Right here.

I spent all day Saturday and most of Sunday curled up with my hippo, who still needs a name, tearing through the Hunger Games trilogy. I finished books 1 and 2 and half of book 3 over the weekend. Sad, I know.

Last night, we did get the chance to watch a movie together. I captured this. :P

Yes, he makes that kind of face often. :)

Today, after a very long grueling day with the kiddos, I came home and spent some time outside. I photographed some of the flowers in the backyard, but this one was by far my favorite.

Sorry this post isn't more interesting, but I'm starving and haven't really spent much time with C in days.

Enjoy!

J



Zoo day :)

I've had better zoo days, but I suppose that all things considered, this one wasn't so bad. We didn't really get to see many animals, and we didn't really have much time for photographs, but we got to get out of the house and enjoy a gorgeous day, so I really can't complain. I really wish I'd had more photo opportunities though. I feel like I barely had my camera out of the bag at all, and then we were leaving. I did manage to snap this one though. :)

In other news, I finished Fallen by Lauren Kate, the F book on my 26 books list. Overall, I enjoyed it, although I felt like it took a little too long to explain certain elements of the story. I'm a bit impatient though, so I may not be the best judge of that. :P The characters were likable enough, and I thought that the emotional side of the book was well done, but the names left a lot to be desired. I'm a bit of a name snob, so if I don't like a character's name, I often change it a little to make my reading experience more enjoyable. Awful, I know. I'm anxious to read Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick next, which is similar in the general idea of the story. It'll be interesting to see which one I prefer. :D

J

Back to the old grind

Today was my first day back after a little break from work. It was difficult to get up at 6 this morning after five days of sleeping in, but I did it, and was greeted by two little faces at the door this morning. F and A were really excited to see me, which always makes me feel good. :)

We went to Imagination Avenue for the first time in a week, since they had the flu last week and then I was gone. Both kids had lots of fun at storytime, but were a mess by the time we got home for lunch. Apparently they've been off their sleep schedule, so they were just completely exhausted. They napped really well this afternoon, which was good news for me. :P

We're headed to the zoo tomorrow, so there'll be lots of interesting photos from that. Watch for them! :D

J

Honk shoo

I'm completely exhausted, so I'm just going to post real quick before I pass out. I spent the whole day hanging out with K, which was lots of fun. We ran a bunch of errands in the morning, had some lunch, and then spent a couple hours reading while her baby took a nap. Afterwards, we made dinner, and then finished the night off with Nacho Libre and organizing her baby's dresser (it was full to bursting!).

I forgot my camera at home, which was lamesauce, but I did take a photo of another little piece of my hippo collection. :) Enjoy!

J

Yay for car maintenance!

Today was a fun-filled day of awesome. I had to take my car in to the dealership because the power steering pump had to be replaced (not sure if I mentioned that in my last post, but...there ya go). C had to come along so that I didn't have to sit there for hours while they worked on it, so that was helpful. After it had been repaired, the maintenance guy informed me that my tires are nearly bald, so that gets to be my next great adventure. Shopping for tires. Oh yeah.

Once we got home from getting the car fixed, I took some photos of C drawing so that he could post one on his blog. I guess it's supposed to make him look more productive, and it was pretty fun. It only took a few minutes, but we got to be indoors using natural lighting, so it was a win. :)

Look at the concentration! :)

Also, check out what my mom got me! It was a late Valentine's Day present, and arrived today (along with my contacts, which I've been patiently waiting for).

Yes, that IS our queen-size bed that it's sitting on. It's huge! And fluffy! For those of you who may not know this, I have a slight hippo obsession. :P I think they're awesome, so every time anyone sees a hippo in a store, they feel the need to get it for me. This one just happens to be awesomely huge. :)

Enjoy your Wednesday!

J

Vacation!

I have another massive post to do, due to the fact that we spent the weekend with no computers in Sedona. :) We were really excited for our trip, but our excitement quickly faded as we set out in the rain on Saturday. We drove the entire two hours in pouring rain, and by the time we made it to Sedona, we were both a bit miserable. All plans of hiking and a day trip to the Grand Canyon were gone. I took these in our condo once we finally made it to Sedona.

I haven't had the chance to play with reflections much with this new camera, so these photos were fun. :) After lugging all our stuff into the condo, we headed back out into the storm for dinner. We ate at Olde Sedona Bar and Grill, which was pretty good. The only problems we had were that the menu had far too much variety (it made it difficult to decide what kind of food we wanted to have) and our waitress kind of failed in the dessert department. We ordered a hot slice of pie with ice cream, and the pie came out completely cold! We also didn't get our ice cream until the entire slice of pie was already gone. Other than that, the food was delicious, and provided us with two of our five meals in Sedona. :P

Sunday was spent holed up in our condo with some games and the Food Network. We only ventured out for some vodka and lemonade to bring back to the room, and for a little midnight snack after 4 hours of Food Network. We had a lot of fun playing board games and watching the crazy weather outside. It snowed, rained, hailed, sleeted, and shined throughout the day. It was very bizarre to watch! I snapped this one while a gentle snow was falling.

We left yesterday morning under heavy cloud cover. Luckily, we didn't have to deal with bad weather on the drive home. We made it back in the early afternoon and had lunch together before C had school. I drove him yesterday, since it saves him time, and K and I hung out at Barnes and Noble to pass the hour and fifteen minutes of his class. I've been on a book binge lately, and have been buying lots of new things to try. I got some spending money from my overnight, and have been stretching it as far as it can go. :) I've actually found a lot of really promising stuff!

Once C's class was over, we hung out with K and P for the rest of the evening. That was completely unplanned, as we were only going to stay for an hour or two. We had dinner with P's extended family, and then the guys went to go pick up the dogs from P and K's old house (they just moved to a house five minutes away from us!). K and I watched a super-girly movie, which was wonderful, and then watched some South Park til the boys got back. C and I finally made it home by midnight lol. I snapped this when we got home.

I'll let you figure out what it is. :)

Lots of really fun things happened this weekend, but I think P and K's move is the most exciting one. K has become a really good friend in the time that I've lived here, and now that we live so close, we'll be able to do a lot more together. We've both been missing girls' nights, with makeovers and sappy movies and ice cream. :P We're reinstating them! And we're also going to be working out together, which will be helpful for both of us. I'm so pumped that they live so close now. :D

More later today...

J

Wedding bells and boredom

Today may have been the most boring day of my life. No lie. Work was very uneventful, due to the fact that we couldn't go anywhere (since the kids were sick yesterday). Once I finished up with work, I came home, where C spent the entire night looking at computer specs for the new PC he's buying for work. I left to window shop at Target, and no one even knew I was gone. I was gone for over an hour. :(

On the bright side, I picked up a wedding magazine from Target, and I think I finally figured out what I want to do for centerpieces at our reception. It mentioned using cake stands with cupcakes on them for centerpieces, and that's totally perfect for us. We wanted to do something small, like cupcakes or mini cheesecakes, for our dessert anyway, and this does both. It's a centerpiece AND dessert! I have to refine it a little, and start looking for little cake stands, but I'm loving the idea.

I'm throwing in a photo of my Nook and some new books I got a few weeks ago. It's a nice comparison of the new and old methods of reading. Though my Nook is really convenient, I think I'll always love the smell, feel, and vibe of good old books the most. :)

Enjoy!

J

Ick

I'm not really in a blogging mood today, but I need to do it anyway. This has been one of the hardest work days I've ever had. A either has food poisoning or a stomach bug, and spent the entire day puking and/or pooping all over everywhere. Thank goodness her mom stayed home to help today, because I don't think I could have handled that on my own.

Needless to say I didn't get much photographing done. I was too busy at work, and by the time I got home I was pretty exhausted. Then I wasn't feeling creative enough. I'm getting better at recognizing these excuses and powering through them for the sake of developing a skill. I buckled down and tried, and actually ended up with something I'm moderately happy with. I fully intend on plugging myself into my iPod and going to bed, which is where the subject matter comes in. :)

Enjoy!

J

Some super cute kiddos :)

Okay, I may be biased, but I'm pretty sure I take care of the cutest kids ever. They definitely have their obnoxious moments, but they're so freaking adorable that it always balances out. :) A was dressed in the CUTEST Western-style outfit today...I nearly grinned my face off when I saw her this morning. Look at this baby!

I know, right?!

We had a pretty uneventful day today. We spent lots of time at Imagination Avenue this morning, and there wasn't anyone else there for the majority of the time. It was wonderful! This afternoon, after a nice long nap for both kids, we played outside with chalk. A is a budding artist, and has decided that chalk is her new obsession, so we spend a lot of time doing that. I even came out of the bathroom the other day to find that she'd colored the tile in the entryway with her chalk (the bucket got moved out of the lower cabinet after that)!

Here are some more photos from the day...enjoy!

J

Updates, updates!

I realized right after I posted yesterday that there are some things I've done but haven't blogged about yet. So...I'm going to blog about them. :P

#14: Read 26 books I've never read, one for each letter of the alphabet. I think I mentioned a few posts back that I've been reading (and loving) the Iron Fey series, which definitely falls into the category of books I've never read. The Iron King, which is the first in the series, will sit in the I position on my book list. The books are about a 16-year-old girl named Meghan. She finds out that her father is actually Oberon, king of the summer fey, and the book follows her journey into the Nevernever to learn more about him. For those of you who aren't fantasy fans, I won't be offended if you don't read it, but I've been on quite a fantasy kick lately and these books really hit the spot. Sometimes it's nice to escape to a world that isn't this one. :)

#30: Buy a Rubik's cube and solve it. I've nearly finished! My photo for today is of my nearly solved Rubik's cube. I've solved the top face and two layers, so I just have the bottom layer and the yellow face to solve. I looked up some tips online, but they were really basic. They told me that I needed to learn how to make a cross and insert corners on my own before I could solve it, so I spent all night last night figuring those two things out. I feel so much smarter! :P

Look at it, in all of it's nearly-finished glory! :D

Those are the only two that I've really made major gains on, so I'll leave you with that for now. Enjoy! :)

J

Eek!

I haven't posted since Friday! I've still been photographing, but we had a pretty chaotic weekend and I didn't really get much time to post. Let me see if I can sum everything up...

Saturday, I helped C photograph a bunch of his artwork for a new portfolio. It was a pain, but he's got his work archived digitally now, which makes it easier to add to portfolios and to print for potential buyers. The following photos are my photography, but his artwork. :)

This last one, the willow in the moon, is my favorite. :) Also on Saturday, we went out for Thai food to celebrate Valentine's Day. Neither of us are really into the overly commercial aspects of the holiday, but we did take some time to just enjoy each other's company over a delicious meal. After dinner, we headed to Frederick's of Hollywood, where I bought the first outfit that's ever made me feel totally sexy. :P I can now successfully cross #15 off my list!

We had friends over Saturday night, and we played a zombie game together. It started out fun, but then quickly turned into everyone-gang-up-on-J, so I wasn't enjoying it much at the end. Oh well...you win some, you lose some. :)

Sunday, we saw Gnomeo and Juliet, which was hysterical. It was part 2 of our Valentine's date, and despite the fact that it was a theater full of small children, it was actually nice and quiet during the movie. It was a really enjoyable experience for both of us. Sunday afternoon was devoted to schoolwork for C and some creative time for me, and last night we went over to our friends' house for fajitas. They were absolutely delish, and we had lots of fun playing with their baby as well. C is slowly warming up to the idea of having a baby soon after we get married, which is exciting news for me. :D

Here are some photos of O, our friends' adorable little girl!

Today was back to work as usual. F made it through the whole day in undies, with no accidents at all! It was wonderful. :) I'm definitely enjoying only changing 4 diapers a day, as opposed to the 10-15 I was changing when I first started taking care of the kids. I didn't get a chance to photograph the kids, as we were at the library most of the morning, and they slept late. However, I photographed more artwork tonight for C and his mom. Here's a photo of C's mom's creative use for old software discs. :P

So, now you're all caught up on my weekend escapades. Happy Valentine's Day to all!

J

9 months to go!

It's hard to believe we've already been engaged for 6 months! And we still have 9 more to go...ugh. It seems like such a long time to wait. Some days it's a little overwhelming. I'm already fed up with wedding planning, which is surprising because I thought I would enjoy it. Honestly though, I'm just ready to be married to my best friend and be done worrying about all the stupid details. Plus, I'm super impatient. :P

Here are some photos of our countdowns, now that they're getting nice and low. :) Enjoy!

J

Completely and utterly knackered

What an exhausting day! The kids and I went to Imagination Avenue for storytime this morning, which is always fun. There was a really small group today, which was a lot nicer than the normally overwhelming crowd of kids screaming through the whole thing. A showed off her wicked dance moves and had all the moms laughing at how absolutely adorable she is. :P

After storytime, we headed over to the railroad park for a picnic lunch. We rode the carousel, and took a ride on the little train that circles the park. Both kids really love the train, and that's the main reason we visit that park, but we had some fun on the playground as well. I made F try baby carrots today, which was quite an ordeal for him. He chewed the same carrot for a half hour before I finally got him to swallow it. Ugh!

Once we got home, the kids had a nice long rest and I did some reading. I've been reading the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa, and I'm loving them! We played outside for a bit after naptime, so both kids got plenty of fresh air today.

Enjoy the photos from today. :)

J

Oh yeah!

Today is the third day in a row of no accidents, not even at naptime! :) It's finally happening...diaper days are nearly over for one kid. Wahoo!

In other news, as Valentine's Day approaches, I'm working very hard on a big surprise for C. I have a few things to pick up this weekend, but I think he's going to be wowed. I'm looking forward to seeing his face when I hand him his present. ;) As for myself? All I want is some of these.

Here's hoping my man delivers! :P

J

I can't think of a clever title for this one

It was another boring Tuesday in the life of me today. The kids and I spent time at Imagination Avenue this morning, and then went home and had a nice, long nap in the afternoon (well, they had one...I didn't). F is super close to making it five days with no accidents, which will earn him a prize. He's been doing really, really well since I started that system, and I'm pretty confident he'll be fully potty-trained soon. Yay!

I went outside to experiment with the manual focus on my camera for a little while. It's my new favorite tool, but I don't usually use it when I'm photographing moving subjects (like children). Enjoy the latest photos!

J

Quickie :P

I'm not going to waste too much time posting today. I didn't really do anything noteworthy, and I've had a pounding headache since Saturday. I'm ready for bed now. :( Enjoy the photos from today, and hopefully I'll be feeling better tomorrow!

J

Super Bowl!

I'm feeling much better on this lovely Super Bowl Sunday. :) I still have a bit of a headache, but my stomach isn't so messed up anymore. C and I are now happily tucked up on the couch cheering the Steelers on. We're not having a party this year, but in light of yesterday, I'm totally ok with that.

We went and saw The King's Speech this afternoon. I had ten bucks to use at AMC, so we decided to catch it while we had some time. It was actually a pretty good movie. It's the story of King George VI, who had a stammer for the majority of his life. He got help from a speech therapist named Lionel Looge (I think that's how you spell the last name), and the movie was about his therapy with Lionel. We both really enjoyed it. :)

I've been wanting to photograph these apples for quite a while. They've been sitting in a basket on the counter for a week or so, and they just look so beautiful. Since we don't have a bunch of Super Bowl food sitting out, I figured I should use the opportunity to photograph some healthy food. :P Enjoy!

J

Sick day

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday because we went out for girls' night, and I didn't get to bed until 3:30 this morning. :P Yesterday's photos are from work, which was uneventful for the most part. A was super cranky, but that's not really anything new lately. I did get a decent photo of her in her awesome winter hat though. :)

Girls' night was awesome! We went out to dinner first, hitting up Pancho's. After Pancho's, we headed to Barnes and Noble for an hour of browsing, which I always love. I could live in that store if they'd let me lol. Once we were finished at BN, we headed back to our house, where everyone left but K and P (our married friends that we hang out with the most). They stayed for five and a half more hours, until we were all falling asleep at the table. It was totally awesome. :D

The problems came today. I'm relatively certain that I got food poisoning from Pancho's. P was really sick after eating there last week, but we all thought it was just because he ate too much. It's a Mexican buffet, and apparently he ate a lot. But then today, I was confined to my bed because I felt like I was going to throw up. I was finally able to get out of bed around 8 o'clock this evening, so I feel like I wasted my Saturday a little bit, but it was nice to have a lazy day. Hopefully I'll be feeling better tomorrow.

Here's a photo of the fireplace I sat in front of when I finally made it out of bed. Pretty, isn't it?

Enjoy!

J

Quick as a flash!

This is just going to be a short post today. C and I finally got our engagement photos back, so we're going through those. We can only choose 10% of them to be fully touched up to perfection, and it's hard because we have so many good ones! :D

Anyway, the kids and I spent the entire morning (we're talking three hours) at Imagination Avenue today for storytime and play with friends. Other than that, my day's been rather lame, with the exception of getting our photos back of course. Enjoy the photos, and I'll catch you later!

J

I love lamp :)

I have several things to discuss today. :D

#47: Make a new friend. I think it's safe to say that I've done this by now. I've met several nannies and moms at Imagination Avenue that I set up playdates with on a regular basis. One of them is even interested in hanging out outside of work. :) I've also been writing at the library with S, one of the girls I met through NaNo. I've been doing a lot better about conquering my shyness and talking to people I don't know, which is exciting for me. :)

Also, my photos are of the lamps outside our house (I know, I know...light fixtures again, J?). I don't know what it is about them, but they provide so many unique and interesting photo opportunities. I especially love lamps with a vintage feel, like the ones outside our house. It lets me pretend I'm in medieval England. :P

Anyway, I have to head out to game night, so I'll be going now. Enjoy!

J