Kiddos!

I remembered my camera today. :) The problem I had this time around was that I have too many favorites from today. I'm really going to have to limit myself when I'm posting. For those of you who don't know about the kids I take care of, F is a 3-year-old boy and A is a 1-year-old girl. They're a handful most of the time, but I have a lot of fun with them and they make hysterical faces. There will be captions with these photos so you can understand what's going on. Enjoy!

J

 A looking out the toy room window

 F making his "cheese" face

 A figuring out how to operate a sippy

 Leila, the adorable boxer :)

 F's TV watching face :P

 A, looking pensive

Running!

Mundane Monday

I forgot my camera this morning! I had every intention of taking it to work with me, but I totally spaced and left it at home. I was rather annoyed with myself. The photos I took after work are really not that interesting (in my opinion), but I'm still getting used to the fact that not every day will be as photogenic as New Year's Day was.

I have two different subjects for today. These first two images are of the dice from Zombie Dice. I bought the game for C as a Christmas present, and we've both been a bit addicted to it in the last few weeks. It takes about five minutes to play, and the main goal is to eat 13 brains and not get blown up by shotguns. Awesome, right? We both think so. :) Here are those images.

Braaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnsssss..... :P

And....shotguns!

Also, I've found that I've become rather obsessed with light fixtures. I've always loved Christmas lights, but I'm finding that I love the contrast of lights with black background. We've been out at night a lot, so I've been taking lots of photos of different light sources, and I'm loving it! I was walking to our room, and the night light in the hall called out to me, so....I photographed it. :)

It's like a jellyfish...only less squishy.

On a random side note, C and I saw Tangled tonight. We both laughed hysterically through it, and snuggled a little closer together during the mushy parts. I'll definitely be waiting anxiously for that one to come out on DVD. :)

I hope your Monday was as laidback as mine!

J

Busy as a bee

I wish I'd had more time for photographing today. I'm not totally sold on the photo I have, just because it's not very interesting, but I wanted it to be representative of what I did for most of today. After seeing the new Tron movie this morning (amazing, by the way), I met up with a NaNo buddy to discuss books and writing. Hi, S! :) It was our first meet-up, so we spent the whole time talking to get to know each other a little better. We found that we like a lot of the same books, and that we're both equally picky when it comes to reading material. :P

I had to help C clean the apartment for a few hours after our meeting, but once we finished there I headed home and jumped into writing. I'm excited about 2011 largely because I'm feeling uber-creative, and I can't wait to see what I'll produce over the course of the year. Here's a little glimpse at what I'll be carrying around for the year. ;)

Not the most interesting subject matter, I know, but I love it. Writing is something I know I'm good at, but also something that challenges me and pushes me to do better.

I'm feeling pretty good about all the things I'm accomplishing in 2011. I'm confident that I can keep my motivation all year, and finish all these wonderful things I've started. Best wishes for your creativity in this bright and shiny new year!

J

Everyday photos

We have reached the part of our program that involves daily updates. Happy dance, everyone! :P With 2011 just beginning, I decided that now is as good a time as any to tackle #25 on my list: Complete a 365 photo project. For those of you who don't know, the 365 project challenges photographers to take at least one photo every day. Some people give themselves limitations to make it more challenging, such as a self portrait every day. I've tried doing more specific 365 projects, and failed repeatedly, so for this one I'm just challenging myself to take one amazing photograph every day. It may require a considerable amount of shooting every day, but it'll be worth it to have an extensive portfolio of work by the end of the year. :)

C and I went mini golfing this evening and I took my camera along for the fun. We were a little crazy, as it's been in the low 30s all day and it was 7:30 and already dark when we left, but it was totally awesome. C wore his new long johns so he could break them in before we visit my parents in a few days, and we were both in our winter coats with hats and gloves. Luckily, we weren't the only people who'd temporarily gone insane. :P We played two games in the frigid winter air, noses running like faucets the entire time, and I've never enjoyed mini golfing more. C won the first game, and I won the second, so I get to cross off #83. Nothing like crossing an item off my list to ring in the new year. :)

I had a hard time choosing my best photo from today, so I'm posting more than one. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know which one you like the most!

J

Lots and lots of updates!

Oh my word, I have so much to talk about! The holidays have been a bit nutso around here, so I haven't had much time to update blogs. I suppose I should tell you all that C and I had a lovely Christmas, and both of us got everything we wished for, along with some things we didn't even know we wanted. :) C painted me the most amazing watercolor...it's hippo Harry Potter, and yes, I squealed a little when I saw it. It's so awesome! Just in case you didn't know, hippos are my favorite, and so is Harry Potter, so just take a moment to imagine the two combined into one incredible work of art.

I sent C on a scavenger hunt around the house for the pieces of his present. Once assembled, he was pretty thrilled to see the ominous-looking robot/cyborg Lego thingy I got him. :) Both of us put together art projects for his parents. He painted a watercolor of the Northern Lights, and I assembled my best photography and put the ten photos in a frame for them. Everyone was pretty pleased with the day.

In terms of my list, I've actually accomplished a lot in the last few weeks. I think it would be easiest to discuss them in the order they appear on the list, and I'll try to supplement with photos when I can. So...here it goes.

#30: Buy a Rubik's cube and solve it. This one is in progress at the moment. I purchased a Rubik's cube a few weeks ago and mixed it all up. Here's what it looked like right before I started working on it.

Pretty, right? I've been working on it for about thirty minutes at a time on days when I think about it. Needless to say I'm not putting a ton of effort into it right now, but it'll be finished before this list is! I didn't realize it would be so hard...

#36: Bake Christmas cookies for family and friends. I did this with the little boy I take care as well as with C and his family. The ones I made at work were given to my bosses and their family members. The cookies we baked here at home were eaten with gusto, although we did manage to put together plates for every house on the block (18 total!). Our cookie supply is pretty low now, but boy, were they delicious! Definitely worth the work we put into them. :)

#45: Spend a weekend unplugged in Sedona. This one was just completed this past weekend. C and I spent the weekend in Sedona with his parents for Christmas. I left my laptop at home and turned my cell off as soon as we left the driveway. I even managed to convince everyone else to do the same! It was exciting and nerve-wracking all at once. I've been an avid cell phone user for over seven years now, so to have my phone completely off was odd for me, but well worth it. We trekked up to Flagstaff and enjoyed a day of playing in the snow, and took in the Tlaquepaque light show in Sedona. I didn't worry about texts or calls or e-mails the entire time. I got a lot of photography in and had a really relaxing weekend with my fiance and future in-laws. I think I may even do it again sometime. :P Here are some photos from the trip.

#57: Increase my number of Disney DVDs by at least 15. We added two more to our collection, courtesy of Santa Claus. Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 are now part of our extensive library of movies, both of which I love. I'd been craving music from The Nutcracker, so Fantasia arrived just in time. :)

#99: Do something special for my brothers. I'll post more about this once I reveal it to them, just in case they read this. Just know that it's done, and it's awesome. :D

In other news, our puppy celebrated her first birthday last Thursday. She's a big girl now! We got her a bunch of new toys, and Grandma and Grandpa C sprung for a new pillow bed for the living room. She's a very lucky pup. Check out the happiness on her face!

I should probably stop for now...hopefully I didn't lose anyone!

J

Another Oscar winner :)

C and I watched Driving Miss Daisy last night, which was the 1989 Best Picture winner. It was our reward after a very long day of packing and hauling stuff to the in-laws' house. We moved in with C's parents to cut costs and save some money while we plan our wedding.

I actually really enjoyed Driving Miss Daisy. I love Jessica Tandy anyway, and she was pretty hysterical as the incredibly bitter Miss Daisy. Morgan Freeman was equally as incredible as Hoke, her chauffer. Even though very little actually happened in the movie, it still kept me entertained the entire time. I was quite pleasantly surprised. :) For those of you who haven't seen this one, you should definitely check it out! I won't give a plot rundown here, just in case it would spoil it for some people.

I'm trying to talk C into watching Rain Man next, since it was the 1988 winner, but he keeps saying no since both of us have seen it. One of these days I'll get him to cave... :P

J

Still alive!

Good grief, it's been a while since I've updated! It's not like I've really been doing a whole lot to move myself forward with my list, ashamed as I am to say it. We've been so busy with planning for our move and celebrating the holidays that I haven't even had much time to look at my list, much less complete anything on it. However, I did make a teeny bit of progress.

C and I started watching The Last Emperor, which was the Best Picture winner from 1987. We didn't finish it. Let me tell you something about this movie. It's a history based on actual events, and it's two hours and forty-five minutes long. We made it about an hour and a half before I started dozing off. :P C said that he actually found it interesting, and I won't lie. I thought that the story of China's last emperor would be really interesting too. However, they use flash back and forth between his childhood and his "present" situation (which was 1950), and it was really hard to follow at times. I'm sure it would have all made sense had we actually gotten to the end, but I have no desire to see the rest of that movie.

I'm giving myself a break on that one, since it's so stinking long, and counting it as watched. I watched half, which was enough to know that the second half would be equally as difficult to get through. Who knows? C may even succeed in convincing me to watch the other half. I'm still crossing it off my list. ;)

Also, I took some Christmas photos! Enjoy! :)

J