Sunday Smorgasbord

I unfortunately do not have any new information about Dave's condition. Thank you for all of your prayers, please keep them coming. I promise to update as soon as I know more. I'm hoping to get an update sometime tomorrow.

Two trips to Disney's California Adventure = awesome. First trip wasn't so fun, what with the bf being in a REALLY bad mood all day and being a jerk while we were there...but he's since apologized profusely and we're all better now. Today's trip was AWESOME. Just a relaxed day with the bf and our friend Trickster. He's an amazing rider and like a little brother to both of us. (updated the nicknames post with his and a few other new nicknames)

Went to the mother/daughter luncheon with the bf's mom yesterday, we had a great time. This was her last year organizing/running it. She actually worked out that the Knights would host it and would make it into a family event next year. They'll do the bbq, etc. The ladies will still run the silent auction and raffle, etc. I think it's a great idea. It will bring in a lot more people and subsequently a lot more money for the fundraiser. (a center for the support of pregnant women and mothers, wonderful organization) The bf's mom and I talked about having a girl's day sometime with lunch and a chick flick. That should be fun, she really is such a sweet lady.

Swine Flu has everyone in a tizzy for no real reason. I get the significance, I think the media just needs to chill and find something else to focus on. They're inducing an unnecessary panic. That being said, there was a chance of the campus I work at closing. In such a case, I would be considered "essential staff" and would still have to work. Lame. But our student who was ill was tested negative for swine flu, so I think we're pretty safe for the time being.

Beth's posts over at A Mom's Life inspired me to buy and start the 3o Day Shred. I'm doing really well so far. Even started a separate blog to track my progress. (yes, I realize I'm posting more consistently there than I am here at the moment...I'm working on it)

I suppose that's about it for the moment. I think I'm going to get some sleep now. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Jigsaw

Summer is a time of swimming pools and tag, ice cream and late night sleepovers. Hot, overcast summer days always meant something for me and my friend next door...those days meant puzzles and hoping for thunderstorms. (though we rarely got them) We both loved our puzzles, we would pull out my 300 piece movie poster Disney puzzles and put them together countless times. My mom let us take over the whole dining table! Of course, it was usually July, and we were usually in our "Christmas can't come soon enough" phase. We played a game that we were elves in Santa's workshop, we were the head of the puzzle department. And before we could package up any puzzle to send with Santa on Christmas Eve, it had to be put together and double checked. After all, who wants a puzzle with missing pieces? It was a fun game, often accompanied by contraband Christmas music when my mom wasn't paying attention. Our barbie's also celebrated Christmas all summer long in our elaborate, full room setups...in both our houses.

Last week my mom told me to watch a movie or something to distract me from my throat. I started with Star Wars, but my eye also caught on this lovely, 1000 piece Mickey Mouse puzzle that the bf gave me when he discovered that I loved puzzles. It's been sitting on my table for a while, waiting to be put together. I broke out the card table, and began sorting. Took me a week, but I finally finished it! It's still sitting on my kitchen table because I can't bear to break it apart just yet. Can't say much for mono, but it took me back to those rare stormy summer days with my neighbor, and helped me rediscover my love for jigsaws. I bought a new 1000 piece Thomas Kinkade puzzle yesterday. I'm going to start it tomorrow, I'm so excited! I made the bf take me to two different stores before I found the perfect new puzzle to work on. This one might take me a bit longer to put together since I doubt I'll be working on it in the wee hours of the morning, since I can actually sleep through the night now and not wake up in pain. That's always fun. It looks like a beautiful puzzle, I can't wait to get started!

Happy Sunshiny Friday!

It truly is. I could tell last night that today was going to be beautiful. It didn't get too cold last night, I slept with most of my windows open, it was so pleasant this morning. I love clouds and storms, but I adore the sunshine too, it just makes me happy. In just under 3 hours the bf and I will be leaving work to head up to my parents', I'm so excited! It's going to be a wonderful and warm weekend. My family gets to spend more time with my bf, get to know him a little better, and I get to spend time with some of my favorite people! :)
I've found myself having to go back into my older photos to come up with good pictures for my posts. Clearly I need to work on taking more pictures...daily even. Don't worry, there will be plenty of pictures taken over the weekend. And I needn't worry about maxing out my memory card, because I now have a 2 gig one. The bf ran errands while his mom and I were at the luncheon last weekend, and he picked it up for me as a surprise. Did I mention he's wonderful? Seriously, I think I'll keep this one around. (he's all for it, as he doesn't ever want to let me go either) I can't stop grinning. :) I'm planning to do a mini shoot with my brothers this weekend, get some cute shots of them to get printed for my parents and grandparents as surprises. And to just have some more recent shots of the boys, they are so photogenic, I love taking pictures of them. And now I have a shiny new really big memory card to handle my photo craziness!
Today is just so beautiful, and we're listening to a Michael Buble station on Pandora right now, so we're getting all sorts of Buble and Sinatra and similar styles, perfect Friday music! I'm just happy and excited. I'm all bubbly and hyper and happy. Especially considering how little sleep I got. I tried to go to bed before 10! I really tried! My mistake was reading a chapter of the last Harry Potter and then putting it down to fall asleep. (yes, I'm just now FINALLY reading it) I lay there and couldn't fall asleep, and figured if I was going to be awake I might as well be doing something productive. So I finished the book, and fell asleep around 12:30. Not too bad, but definitely used to a few more hours. But I got Jamba with green caffeine this morning on the way in, so I'm doing well. The bf had to be here really early (we're talking like, 5:30am), so I surprised him with Jamba for breakfast, since I knew he wouldn't have eaten anything yet. Speaking of, he just walked in, so I'd best wrap this up. I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and a beautiful weekend!

Photo specs:
~taken July 27, 2007
~settings: full auto; flash fired, auto-mode, red eye reduction
~comments: from a wonderful trip to Disneyland last summer with my family and my cousin.

Into the Unknown

Last October, actually, two Octobers ago, my friends and I took a Disneyland trip to celebrate a birthday. We forgot something in the car, so two of them went back to get whatever it was we forgot (it's been so long I honestly don't remember what it was) Anyways, I was hanging around with the fourth friend, playing on the escalators and waiting for the other two to get back, and I just happened to get this shot with nobody on the escalator. The reflection of the sunlight makes it look like it just keeps going, though in actuality, it will deposit you on the top floor of the Mickey and Friends parking structure. This picture has so many stories that you could tell along with it, endless possibilities-that's one of the reasons I like it so much.

Photo specs:
~taken: October 20, 2006
~setting: auto, no flash

California Reflections

I mentioned Disneyland in my first post, so I thought it only appropriate to make my first photo post one of my favorite shots from Disney's California Adventure. This combines my love of Disney with my love of night time light shots on long shutter speeds. I took this photo across the water from the bridge into Paradise Pier. I didn't have my tripod with me, so I used one of the pillars on the bridge to steady my camera. It was a fairly calm night, so the reflection in the water turned out well.

Some specs on the photo:
~taken December 16, 2005
~exposure: 2.5 seconds (5/2)

If you want to know any other specs just ask. :)