Eyes Of Wonder

Empty Promises & a Pinterest Virgin

2012-02-11T09:26:00.000-08:00

So the "something special" that I mentioned in the last post that was supposed to happen today isn't happening. We were going to go to the Chinese New Year Parade over in San Francisco's Chinatown. I'm really bummed about not being able to go because it would have been an experience that was both fun and new for me. Plus, it would have been a great photo opportunity and a reminder of the times when we used to use weekends for fun trips like that. Damn the financial instability! Oh well, maybe next year? -sigh-

Other than that, there's not much else to report. I'm hoping to possibly start on getting the garage cleaned out today or tomorrow... but we'll see how that goes.

Oh, I did start up an account on Pinterest though. I'd seen the site before but never had the desire to get into it, then I received an invite yesterday from a friend who figured it would be something I would like and I couldn't resist. So to start off, I went on a (mini) pinning spree from Kirkland's... I love each and every decorative item that they have!! I would seriously buy the whole store if I had the funds. I'm using Pinterest mainly to bookmark recipes that I want to try, to help us focus on saving money by not eating out as much. And also pinning stuff for the house; decor, furniture, anything and everything I see that I like. I have to admit, it's addicting and kinda fun!

Scare + Sickness + Randomness

2012-02-01T10:16:00.000-08:00

So 2012 didn't start out easy for us. We had a scare with one of our Irish setters, Mari, towards the middle of January when she started acting a little off: not wanting to eat (which is very unusual for her, since she usually tries to eat the other two dogs' food) and being more lethargic than usual, plus some blood in her stool. We apparently arrived at the vet too late for them to keep her overnight (more like, they just wanted to get home since it was closing time -.-) so we kept a close watch on her and weren't really sure if she would make it through. But she did... and shortly after all of that, Jacques got violently sick for a couple days.. then a few days later I got violently sick. Everyone's okay now, but it took about 2½ weeks for things to get back to normal around here. And now I can't believe that it's already the beginning of February!

Anyway, since I last updated I haven't really had the chance to take any photos. We've been busy with the sicknesses that came upon us, plus we have also been trying to save up to buy furniture for the new house so we haven't really gone out and done anything besides for that. And with me not working at the moment, it's going to take longer than planned.

So I've kind of gone through my photos from 2011 and picked out a [VERY] random selection that never made it past my "editing room." Until now, that is!

Plane taking off in the snow in Pittsburgh, PA.

Random sunset... I think this was around Tracy, CA.

Snow-covered flora in Bethany, Oklahoma.

Just driving through Brentwood, CA.

Random closeup, of the outside flap of a purse of mine.

Scene in Yosemite National Park.

Fallen tree in Yosemite National Park, at the Mariposa Grove.

Just me being a poser. :]
(And I cheated, this is actually from 2012)

There is something special possibly planned for February 11th, though. So hopefully, I'll be updating around then with some photos of something that I have never experienced before! -crosses fingers-

There's a First Time For Everything...

2011-12-29T22:12:00.000-08:00

...although some of those firsts, I would have been fine living without.

I'm taking these last couple days of 2011 to reflect on the year. And I've come to the conclusion that it has been a year of many firsts for me. Starting with a very sad first at the beginning of the year--saying goodbye to my sweet pup of 16 years. Along with my first trip to Pittsburgh to visit my dad. First BFD concert with Jacques. First time whitewater rafting and falling absolutely in love with it. First "dot com" website for my art portfolio. First original logo designed completely from scratch for my dad's company. First house hunting adventures--good and bad. First HOUSE.

As for the year overall, I have mixed feelings. There were definitely some ups and downs, and by that I mean ultimate highs and ultimate lows... and there were times when it seemed that the year just dragged on and other times where I blinked and the year was gone. The end is incredibly bittersweet for me though, since I am dealing with the joys of the new house, but the loss of my job and having to start over at the same time.

As for New Year's resolutions... I usually don't bother making them but I will this year:

First is to keep up with this blog more often... take more meaningful photos, of anything and everything that I can. And actually get them posted up here instead of being a procrastinator.
Another is to get back on track with finishing up college and finally getting my graphic design degree that has been delayed for far too long.
Find a job doing something I absolutely love. [Though I realize that this may take longer than 2012 alone]
Do these more often. Every single one of them.

That's a good start, I think.

[Old-ish photo, btw!]

[The Redheads--Mari & Guinness]

I'll end this post with the tribute video collage I made of my sweet Brandy whom I still miss more and more each day. I can't believe it's already been a year. Thinking about it just makes me want to hug these three big balls of fur that I currently live with even tighter.

( Song credit: "Wonderful Life" by Alter Bridge )

Oh and Happy New Year to anyone who took the time to read this!

Day On the Rocks

2011-12-28T15:07:00.000-08:00

Jacques & I posing on the rocks!

So my dad came out to visit at the beginning of this month, mainly for business, but he also wanted to come see the new house and everything. So after he took care of that business, we spent a few days together. We traveled up to the top of Mount Diablo here in the East Bay, though we were not able to go out on the observation deck because they had it closed off. I really wish my dad and Laurel could have seen the view from that deck area because it is truly breathtaking. Ever since I'd been there last August, I knew I had to take my dad to Rock City, seeing as he's a geologist and I knew he'd love it up there. So here are some photos that I took this time around.

Capturing the sun on a hazy day. With a slight hint of color.

My dad walking along the trail at the top of the mountain.

Looking down from the trail.

Haha.. my dad and Erin posing on the cliff (even though you can't see the edge). She's afraid of heights so he's pretending to nudge her off towards the edge.

Overlook of the incredibly foggy view at a high point of the trail.

I actually really liked how this one turned out, with the middle part as the only area that's in focus. It's a closeup of the bench seat of a picnic table around Rock City.

More of the view at Rock City. I actually climbed up the side of this huge boulder and kind of got stuck on how to get down... haha.

An interesting rock formation where Jacques and I posed for the photo at the beginning of this post.

Just a beautiful view in Rock City!

I also took my dad and Laurel wine tasting one of the days they were here, since I know that they love to do that whenever they are here. I actually went with them this time as well, starting off at a local winery here in Brentwood, where I was surprised to find that I liked their rose wine. My dad bought me the bottle as well, but it's already gone now, thanks to a small pre-housewarming party Jacques and I held a few weeks ago. We will definitely have to go back and get another bottle sometime soon.

That's all I have for today. I'll be putting together another post within the next couple days, a sort of compilation of 2011 and what the year has brought for us!

Mom's Visit + Much-Needed Staycation

2011-10-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

Mom and I @ Bubba Gump's.

So my mom's second visit here to beautiful Cali has come and gone. It was really nice having her here for the week and being able to spend every single minute together this time. We came across a few unexpected adventures, although not quite like last year's (which is a good thing, considering that it was a car breakdown...) and we had a great time. Even though we had to interrupt her trip for a day of house-hunting, but that's another story. The whole trip reminded me of when Jacques and I would go on our weekend photography/tourist-y road trips back before I started working on the weekends. It was nice to be reminded of that, I'd really missed those times of exploration and capturing some beautiful scenery. Hopefully, within the next 2 or 3 weeks, we will be able to get back to some version of that. I'm keeping my fingers crossed about this house we're hoping to get as well. We need all the prayers/hope/faith that we can get! I've come to realize that I have a love/hate relationship with the whole process...

Anyway, I'll get right to the photos:

We stopped here at Seaside Beach on the way to Monterey.

Another view of Seaside Beach... it was so pretty everywhere you turned!

More of the beach life.

Seagulls that we scared off on the way back to the car.

This is in Carmel; Mom wanted to stop here and look at the shops and stuff. People want to move here simply for the location and being able to say they live in "Carmel."

More of the pathways in Carmel's shopping area.

The beach in Carmel... one of the prettiest beaches so far, with the softest sand also!

More of Carmel's beach area.

Closeup of a wave rolling in.

We stopped at Bubba Gump's Shrimp in Monterey's Cannery Row for lunch. I hate seafood, so I had their cheeseburger, Mom was the only one who actually got shrimp.

Jacques bet me that I couldn't stop from smiling when I knew a camera was pointed at me, so this is my attempt at proving him wrong... (haha, I think I failed miserably though)

The entrance of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The outside was being worked on, so I couldn't get a photo of that.

Best view I could get of this quote... it took forever to wait for a clear shot because it was SO crowded.

Again, this shot took forever to capture because of the enormous crowd... I realized I was slightly claustrophobic.

Some type of sea dragon... again hard to capture because it just looks like a plant.

Backside of the sea dragon.

This and the next photo I took simply for the vibrant colors. I love how they turned out! I'd like to point out that there was no enhancement of the colors here either.

More vibrant, vivid colors!! So pretty.

I don't remember what this was, but it was making an odd noise...

Jacques and I under a wave.

Now we're back out past Cannery Row in Monterey, looking at a view of San Carlos Beach in the distance.

Capturing the beach life :) I edited it to make it look almost like a painting.

Here we are on another day at the Oakley/Antioch Regional Shoreline Park. It's basically a big area where people come to do lots of fishing, as you can see from that huge pier in the background.

A view underneath the pier.

Mom was being sneaky here... I had no idea she was taking this.

A boat in the distance beyond the pier.

Just me with the pier.

A pelican making itself at home on the railing. Someone told us that he'd stolen a fisherman's catch earlier that day... which apparently happens very frequently.

I love how this turned out. This was taken while we were laying down in the big grassy field area of the park, though it was rather cold that day so we didn't stay there long.

We also went to Yosemite National Park at the beginning of my mom's trip, but I've been told that I'm not allowed to post those photos until Jacques and I go there and he can see the incredible beauty in person also, so that will have to wait. =P

Hopefully, the next time I post here will also include photos of our amazing new house! I cannot wait to be there instead of here.

Until next time. :]

What a THRILL

2011-07-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

So I've found that I have fallen in love with whitewater rafting. I keep reliving the experience and wishing it could have lasted longer! It was much more fun than I could have ever imagined. I think my cousin-in-law described it best, as insanely fun. Though there was also that sense of danger, mixed with an incredible thrill and excitement. It reminded me of how I feel about rollercoasters or scary movies -- scared but still wanting to experience it. I've never done such an "extreme" sport before, where there's an actual threat of death or at least being severely injured. I know it sounds like an exaggeration, but you wouldn't think so if you'd been through the intense rapids that we faced on that trip!

And after receiving the postcard from our guide the other day, we are DEFINITELY going for a second trip before the season's over. We have to. I don't even care if we have to sacrifice every little bit of fun to save up the money, WE'RE GOING. :) I really never thought I'd love it so much. I found myself reluctant to even let go of the paddle once it was all over, I just didn't want it to end!

On with the photos - starting off with some views of the ride up to the meeting place in Lotus, CA.

And now some action shots of our boat while rafting! Obviously, I can't take credit for these photos as I am in them...

Jacques is on the very left, my dad on the right, me right behind him and John (our awesome guide) behind me. He was further in the back of the boat, but you can't really tell here because of the rapids.

My closeup, while waiting to enter a dangerous rapid ahead, probably Satan's Cesspool.

All of us. I think John was just at the end of saying "FORWARD / Paddle hard!"

Just about to hit a big wave of ice-cold water!! I like how I'm the only one still holding on to the T-grip of my paddle...

And now here's some photos of around the campsite where we stayed in between the first and second days of rafting:

Catching the morning sun through the door of our tent. This was beautiful to just lay down and view. We were up long before this view though.

Peaceful river. We didn't see a whole lot of that later that day...

Jacques and I, ready to start the second day of rafting!!

Pretty view of the trees in Camp Lotus.

It was wonderful being able to camp again, even if it was only for one night! Need to do that more often. I'd forgotten how peaceful it is to just be in the presence of nature, without modern technology...

When One Door Closes...

2011-06-19T01:55:00.000-07:00

So, last week I took a trip out to OKC to visit my family for my birthday. This trip felt different to me, for 2 reasons. The first is because it was the first time ever that I came home to a house without Brandy, my sweet dog who passed away this past January. I'm so used to having her greet me right as I walk in... and I really missed it. She was always so happy to see me and the feeling was mutual. The other reason it was different... somehow, I felt more like an outsider to Oklahoma during this trip. I realized how invested my life has become to living in California. I can't really find the right words to fully explain what I mean by that though... but I could definitely tell that Oklahoma City is no longer my home. It has become just another place where I visit friends and family. It was kind of surreal coming to that realization. But looking back on my trip, there's no doubt that California has become my home now. I'm not sure when it happened, but somehow in the course of the [almost] 2 years that I've been here, it became my home. Though, in no way am I saying that I'm not proud to be an Oklahoman, nor that I will ever outgrow or forget that part of my life.

Anyway, I do have a few photos from the trip. So I'll get on with that, since that is the main purpose for this blog! The first word that comes to mind when I think about the pictures as a whole is a "potpourri" of photos. You'll see what I mean.

I'll start with some photos of my brother's adorable dogs: Mattie, his golden retriever; Lulu, a pup that they started out fostering, but are now in the process of adopting; and Paige, an utterly adorable 6-week old puppy that they are fostering to prevent her from being euthanized. If I could have snuck her on the plane back to Cali with me, I would have! She's the cutest little thing ever!!

Paige. It was extremely difficult to get a good capture of her because she was constantly moving around.

I caught this neat lighting effect, thanks to my mom who was taking a photo using her flash, at the exact moment that I was taking the picture!

Lulu's closeup. :)

Mattie & Lulu caught in action.

Mattie, waiting patiently for my brother to throw the ball. I took advantage of the opportunity for a cute photo!

So the next day, Mom planned on taking me to the OKC Zoo, since we hadn't been in a long time and it was something fun to do to get outta the house. It was really fun, and I got some interesting photos in the meantime.

An Andean condor that would not be quiet!!

Sleepy lioness. I know the feeling.

Of course I could not resist capturing the flowers...

The unbearable heat was even getting to the tigers! They kept pacing with their tongues hanging out. This would have been a much better photo if that fence wasn't in the way.

I don't remember exactly what this is, but he's native to some region of Oklahoma..

Grizzly bears in Oklahoma?!?!?!!

Awwwwwh!

Bald eagle that was posing for the audience.

Really now? I don't think any person in their right mind would even think about swimming in that!

Capturing the sign after walking all the way through the exhibit.

Beautiful lily!! (Found on the way to the new elephant exhibit)

And another!! I loved them.

And after all the hype about the new elephant habitat, we finally made it! The baby elephant was cute!

Well... as cute as a baby elephant can be...

Carrying food over to the pond to have a drink as well...

Just thought this was neat. :)

Yet another day, my mom planned a mini road trip for us, traveling along East Route 66 in Oklahoma. She wanted to catch some historic sites and stuff... though I'm not sure how much of that we managed to find... we made it all the way up to Stroud before turning back for the day.

Huge soda "sculpture" outside of POPS in Arcadia, OK. In all my years of living in OK, I'd never been to POPS before. They had some pretty good food! (and of course the pops, I got Rat Bastard Root Beer!)

Inside POPS, looking for what soda we wanted to have with lunch...

While waiting for our lunch (or after we'd already eaten, I don't remember exactly), I got this idea of taking this photo, at an awkward angle. What you see here is what was directly above us. The building is built at a diagonal and all of those circles you see are glued-down bottles.

Moving on to the road trip, this was just a random view along the way.

This was in Chandler, OK, letting you know exactly what you were driving on... there's a mural on the side too.

I love capturing train tracks. I'm not exactly sure why, since I hate rickety old trains and refuse to ride on them because of a traumatic incident that happened when I was young. But there's something strangely.. majestic about seeing the tracks fading away into the distance like that...

An old sign by the tracks.

The end of our road trip. Shortly after this, my camera officially died.

First Ever Dot Com + Frustration

2011-05-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

So, first off, I don't have any photos ready to update with. I just need to vent, really.

I guess the biggest news I have right now is that I recently bought my first ever .com domain. It's been awesome, I love seeing it. But the reason for it is that I wanted a better place to be able to build an online portfolio of my photos/designs. I was using the portfolio that deviantART provided, but they only allowed a certain amount of photos in each gallery. So I bought a 3 month subscription, thinking I would have unlimited space — not the case. I found out I'd have to make multiple portfolios and the limit was still the same per gallery. So that's what brought me to buying my own domain which allows me to have NO limits because I'm in control. It's not ready for the public yet though, because first I'm having to go through ALL of my photos and see which ones are "worthy" to have in my portfolio... and we're talking over 10,000 pictures. Yeah, it's a bit overwhelming. Especially since I really only have 2 full days off from work.

I'm also kind of frustrated at people who misconstrue my tendency of being too nice. Just because I actually listen to you vent about your problems and try to help you by giving the best advice that I can does not mean that I am romantically interested. It's called being a good friend. I don't understand how that gets so misunderstood. And after only a week of knowing each other. It turned into a situation that was more than a little creepy. And then to throw it all away because the guy could not be just a friend. It's sad that people think that way, but I still hope that he will be able to find happiness somewhere down the road. And that's me being too nice once again. Sigh.

Anyway... I'm really excited to have this new domain up and running. The site is in maintenance mode right now, but if you're still interested in seeing what I have so far, click here. Although it may change drastically before I'm even done reviewing photos! Speaking of that, I better continue while I still have the extra time before having to put in 3 hours of work today.

Discovering Pennsylvania, Last Day

2011-04-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

Hello again! This time I am updating with the last day in Pennsylvania. I have to say that this was my favorite day of them all. If you know me at all, you will see the reason in these photos! It slowly started snowing throughout the day and got heavier as well.

This is what I woke up to that morning... my dad called it a "light dusting" of snow. I LOVED it!

Taking Albert for a walk along this little path that ran around the house.

I liked how the tree sort of framed the pathway in this photo.

Awww! He was so cute. I still can't believe I managed to capture such a clear shot of him looking up at me. He was a very rowdy little guy!

Fork in the road... we took the right path...

...which led to this frozen lake. Though you can't really tell that there's a lake in this photo.

Side view of the lake, with the snow-covered rocks.

This was kind of a spontaneous shot... I liked how there were the paw prints, tire tracks, and footprints all in one spot... like "signs of life."

Walking further down the road... I just liked this barn with all the snow, and that long long driveway.

One of my favorite shots of the day, with the gate looking almost as if it's about to tip over.

Very old one-room schoolhouse, built in 1890!

Another favorite! This was taken while randomly driving around. I loved the look of the bridge with the snow.

And the other part of the bridge that was closed for construction.

Very beautiful scene in Mercer Citizens Cemetery.

I liked how the sign looked with the rest of the clutter from the trees. (it says "Black Willow")

This was actually taken through a window at a jewelry store. We were going to walk down to those beautiful falls, but they had the trail closed for safety because it was too slippery with all the freshly fallen snow. :[ I was very disappointed.

Different angle, still taken through a window.

On the way down to McConnells Mill for some truly amazing views!

The mill. It was snowing at this point, and as you can see, it kinda ruined my shot.

It was such a beautiful scene, especially because no one had been there and the snow was completely untouched by footprints.

Another favorite from the day. This was leaning off the side of the railing to get a view of the other side of the mill.

Something about these snow-covered steps just drew me to it... not really sure what.

The calm on the other side of the mill.

Another favorite of the day! I could have stayed there all day, it was so soothing.

My dad and I posing with a beautiful background.

And in black & white as well!

Looking across the covered bridge before crossing it.

Overall view of the mill, from across the covered bridge and looking through the trees.

Icicles found on the side of the rock, as we were driving back.

More of the scene while driving away from the mill. We were rapidly running out of daylight.

Looking directly up into an icicle. =P

I had an awesome vacation, spending some quality time with my dad, and getting to see some truly beautiful scenes. Even though I only got to spend 3 days in Pittsburgh, I made some wonderful memories that I will keep close to my heart. Love you, Dad.

Discovering Pennsylvania, Day 2

2011-03-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

So I've realized after looking through a few older posts that I totally forgot to continue the photos that I took from my mom's visit here back in June/July of last year. I need to stop letting myself get so behind on this blog. -.- But I don't want to interrupt the photos from PA, so I'll continue with those, and then post the rest of my mom's visit afterwards... plus some photos from a spontaneous trip to Oregon.

Anyway, back to Pennsylvania's trip. Day 2 revolved all around Pittsburgh. My dad lives about an hour north of the city, so we started early.

We stopped in Carnegie first before getting into Pittsburgh to get a photo of this beautiful Russian Orthodox church.

And this equally beautiful Ukrainian Orthodox church right next door.

Going through the Fort Pitt tunnel into Pittsburgh, I liked how this turned out.

Me in an eyeball chair right outside the parking garage that my dad parks at every day.

This was a beautiful old church right in the middle of downtown... the photo does not do it justice!

The cracked and broken tombstone of a Revolutionary War Veteran, in an old cemetery located right next to the beautiful old church.

Side view of the church... I liked how the new buildings were mixed right in with the old. It was like that all over downtown.

Market Square. I forget what that glass building was called but it was pretty!

Same building, closer and from a different angle.

Dad and I with the Christmas tree. A nice guy offered to take this shot for us.

Walking along the river. It was really cold down there. I wanted to walk further but Dad was getting too cold and we were running out of time anyway.

Very creepy depiction of Mister Rogers.

Me with Pittsburgh in the background, taken up on Mt. Washington.

Closeup of the Steelers stadium, from the lookout at Mt. Washington.

Pittsburgh at a glance - the city of bridges.

Driving towards the 16th Street Bridge.

Beautiful heavy door that still worked, built back in 1869. It opened into a very old cemetery. (this was after leaving Pittsburgh, in the city of Harmony)

View of the fence surrounding the cemetery.

It was a great day and I really loved all the quality time I got to spend with my dad. :] Him being all the way across the country really gets to me sometimes, but it's trips like this that make it better. Look for lots of snow photos in the next update, Day 3 in PA!!

New and Improved?

2011-03-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. So I've decided to try and utilize the new template designer on this blog. I want the extra features that it offers, but this means I will probably have to give up a few of the customizations that I currently have. I'm still in the process of working on a test blog to try and keep some of the features that I have now, but I'm having a problem with my header image. Apparently having the image reach over the entire page is not possible. So I will probably have to condense the image down to blogger's maximum size.

Anyway, just figured I would update a little. Things are going okay here. I've recently started tracking food and exercise in an attempt to get in shape. It's something I tried doing awhile back, but eventually gave up. That's not going to happen this time. I want to feel comfortable in my own skin again, as well as build up my confidence. I recently acquired a Wii as well, and have been using that to get in some exercise on my days off. I'm waiting for about two more paychecks until I can buy the Wii Fit Plus and possibly My Fitness Coach as well.

~~That's about all I have to say for now. Back to working on my design layout!~~
Done with the update! Added a new feature where you have the option to sign up via e-mail and get notified of my new updates! Look for it on the left. Also, you can now add comments to each post, so if you have a critique or any comments at all, please feel free to let me know! :]

Discovering Pennsylvania, Day 1

2011-03-09T21:28:00.000-08:00

So back in January I took a trip to visit my dad in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first time I'd gone to visit him there since he moved across the country from me and I was really really excited about visiting a place that I hadn't been before. I think I was more excited for the snow, to be honest! My brother and his wife had gone to visit him the week before and one of the days, they went skiing... I was so jealous! And then when I arrive in Pittsburgh, the snow is ALL GONE. Of course, that is just my luck. But the good thing was that it came back throughout my trip so I did get to capture some beautiful snow photos!

Starting off, I had to get a photo of my dad's new puppy, Albert. He was soooo cute and sweet! Kinda rambunctious also.

I kept wanting to call him Alby for some reason.

I took this one mainly for that tree in the middle. There was something about it that drew my eye to it every time I saw it. This is part of my dad's backyard.

An old barn that looked interesting.

This is the courthouse in Franklin, PA. Notice how the right tower was built higher than the left -- the reason for that dates back to the Civil War.

I love capturing pathways. This was taken at the little park area next to the courthouse.

Memorial to the fallen soldiers of the Civil War, edited for more emphasis.

Closeup of the writing on the memorial.

The Franklin courthouse from a different angle.

Fountain near the courthouse... I was told that it's prettier in the spring/summer when there's water running from it. It was too cold when I was there to have the water running.

Random alley among the Franklin city streets.

Scene I noticed while driving around and made my dad stop so I could capture it!

Railroad tracks with an old abandoned train station in the background. I love railroad tracks photos!

The same railroad tracks, the sun decided to come out between taking the previous photo and this one.

So I jumped out of the car on a bridge to catch a view of the scenery and immediately almost jumped right back in when I looked down to see that this is what the bottom of the bridge looked like. I thought I was going to fall through!

The rest of the bridge.

An old railroad bridge that is no longer in use.

The Eagle Hotel in Waterford, PA -- no longer in use, it dates back to 1826.

Now we're up in Presque Isle State Park by Lake Erie... this is the peaceful side of it.

Other side of Lake Erie, rocks with ice and snow built up around it. This was also the COLD side of Lake Erie.

Dad and I with Lake Erie!

It was sooooo pretty with the snow floating on the water, and all the ice dunes on the shore.

More of the floating snow on the water...

Result of the waves crashing in between the ice dunes... very slippery!

I caught a hint of the sunset in this one... soooo pretty.

The perfect end to a great first day in Pennsylvania.

-smiles- More to come later.

CHANGES

2010-11-09T13:23:00.000-08:00

Simple and to the point, there is no better word that describes what has been going on in my life for the past few months. I've said it before, I'm not a huge fan of change. But, like the quote says, it's inevitable. However, at least I can say that the changes to my life recently have been good.

I suppose what started it all was back around the beginning of August when I upgraded my phone and gave in to Android. My old flip-phone had turned pretty ancient, compared to all of these new smartphones coming out in the cell phone market as of late. It has completely changed not only how I use my phone, but also how often I use it!

Then, around the beginning of September, I got hired as a retail sales representative for a dedicated Nestlé team that requires me to travel to different grocery stores and check their inventory of Nestlé products. It's only part-time, but it takes up alot more of my time than I had planned, which contributes to why I haven't really been posting photos at all. I work on the weekend now so I don't have the free time to take photography road trips anymore. (But I do have one more batch of photos to upload at the end of this post)

And the most recent change is that I got a new car. Due to the fact that my old 10-year-old Saturn failed the required smog test, and when I say failed, I mean failed miserably. It wouldn't have been worth it to spend the money to fix it, and since I use my car for traveling so much for my job, it was more of an investment to just replace the car. I didn't realize quite how bad my car was running until I started driving this new (well 2006 but it's new to me!) Mazda.

Now on to some photos! These were taken towards the middle of August, shortly after I got my new phone. I was testing out the camera on my phone to take these photos. We visited the Redwood Regional Park in Oakland, CA for a 5 mile hike through the forest, along with the two irish setters as well.

Mari and Guinness enjoying the fresh air.

Very reminiscent of Muir Woods across the bay.

Catching the sun between the trees - my favorite of the day.

Different angle from the bottom of the tree looking up.

Jacques and I taking a break for a pic.

Random view along the trail.

Giving the dogs a water break - Mari stops to look up at me.

And now Guinness. I couldn't get one of them both looking at the same time.

Pathway along the trail. Shortly after this started the steep hike up the hill.

Stopping to catch the sun again!

Jacques, me and his daughter Erin on a water break.
And now here are a couple photos of my new car ~ 2006 Mazda 6 Hatchback. I love it!!

It has proved very useful these past few weeks and I'm loving how smoothly it drives! Despite the fact that I hit a bad pothole and am going to have to replace one of the high-profile tires... Damn California highway roads.

San Fran with Mom

2010-07-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

Alright, so after the Cancun trip, my mom came back to California for a 9 day visit, where I took her on outings every day to see this beautiful state. She had an awesome time and I really loved all the time we got to spend with each other.

I'm starting with San Francisco, even though it was towards the end of her stay that we were able to get there. We took a ferry from Vallejo into San Francisco and it was an amazing experience. It was something that I hadn't done before, so I was happy to be able to share that with my mom.

Our ride into San Fran.

Walkway by the ferry building before taking off.

"Tracks" looking back toward the ferry building.

Mom and I on the boat!

It was a beautiful ride, but so windy!

Going under the San Rafael/Richmond Bridge.

First glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge from the ferry!

Alcatraz: Up close and personal.

Getting close to San Fran!

Across the street from the Embarcadero Center.

Amidst an arts and crafts festival, with the clock from the ferry building in the background.

Fountain/play area in front of the Embarcadero Center.
From there we walked to Chinatown:

And then to Union Square:

Interesting upside-down flower trees that were all over Union Square.

From Union Square we walked to Powell Street to wait in line to ride the cable car back down to Fisherman's Wharf and Hyde Street. Here's Mom and I caught in a semi-candid shot while riding the cable car.

Once the cable car ride was done, we walked the other way from Fisherman's Wharf towards the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park. There's a little beach area there and Mom went walking on the shore for a little bit, but decided that the water was too cold!

And again we were back to walking. This time towards the marina overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge:

Pretty park along the way.

A very odd-looking flower in the marina... I'm still curious to know what exactly it is!

Side view...

And there's the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge ♥
We didn't have time to walk closer to the bridge to get some better views of it, so we backtracked and started the long walk towards the ferry building.

I'm not sure what inspired me to take this photo. Maybe it's the old-looking fence surrounded by those beautiful orange flowers... but I really like how this turned out.
Not far from the beginning of Fisherman's Wharf, we stopped here to watch this amazing acrobatics show by these awesome street performers. They are the Sardine family and they are in San Francisco training for the circus. They put on these shows and use the donations they receive to help pay for their schooling. When we took my dad to San Fran, we saw this same show and they were just as awesome back then. Funny story though, back then there were only three of them. They perform this joke where they pull someone from the crowd who's talking on a cell phone and that person ends up being a volunteer (You can see it in the video that I'll post of the show!). Well, the fourth guy in this act now just happened to be the same guy who was pulled from the show back in January when we last saw it! We confirmed it because Jacques ended up talking to him after the show and he said that he was the same guy!

After this photo, I started recording the show:
(First part - playing from my YouTube account. If you're having problems with playback concerning either of the videos, feel free to click the link that goes to my YouTube profile page and view them from there instead.)

(Second part)

The Bay Bridge, taken while waiting for our ferry to arrive to take us back to Vallejo.

Since we did not have enough time to get some better views of the Golden Gate Bridge, I took Mom back to San Fran the next chance I got. It ended up being her last full day here and it was a really great way to end the trip as well.

It was incredibly foggy though and the fog continued to cover the bridge while we were there. But it's still pretty!

Mom and me with the Bridge =]

We ended up stopping at Baker Beach on the other side of the bridge to eat our picnic lunch we had brought with us... and just happened to find some amazing views of the bridge with the beach in the foreground! I had been wanting a view like this since the first time I came here! Sadly, my camera decided to die just before, so I had to use my mom's camera to get the following shots:

Mom and I again with a pretty background! Although she'll hate me for posting this one because she hates the hat she's wearing, but I think it's still a cute photo of us! =p

Okay, those are all I have for now. If I decide to post any pictures from the rest of the trip, it will be in a later post. I'm tired now and it's getting too hot up here in the office.

A Cancun Wedding

2010-07-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

My older brother's wedding was absolutely beautiful. He always wanted to get married on the beach, and he got his wish last month. I'll start off with photos that I took of the gorgeous scenery in Cancun where we stayed ~ Dreams Resort. I had never before been to Mexico and I wasn't prepared for how incredibly humid it was there. Made me actually miss the California weather!

Overlook of our incredible view from the hotel room! (We were on the 16th floor)

More of our view, closer.

Part of the main beach area.

Wedding gazebo. Although that was not where they had the ceremony.

Our building. Find the second floor from the top and that was ours!

Of course I couldn't resist the flowers!

Wedding gazebo set up for the windy afternoon wedding.

Mexican Hard Rock Cafe! We ate lunch here before the wedding that night.

Beautiful chandelier in the lobby.

So now there's a feel for the scenery. Now for photos of the actual wedding. I wasn't able to get any during the ceremony, so credit for those go to my mom and dad.

The setup.

Aron and his best man Michael.

Here comes the beautiful bride! On the arm of her Uncle Phil.

Awww. They look so happy!

It's a little fuzzy but I like how it's almost a silhouette too.

Family photo.

Mr. & Mrs. Bridges... finally!

A kiss before cutting the cake.

Hehe cute!

Me, Aron and Mom after alot of dancing and drinking (for me and my brother, that is).

It was such a fun vacation and a beautiful wedding! I'm glad my brother is happy and I know they will continue to make each other happy for the rest of their lives!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2010-07-02T22:43:00.001-07:00

Hey all. Yes I'm still here. This week has been crazy busy, what with showing my mom around Cali. We've been starting out the day around 8-9am and not getting done until around 9pm. These 12-hour days are really starting to catch up with me!

I don't have any pics to update with, but I just wanted to say that I am working on getting them ready to upload, starting with the Cancun ones, which are absolutely beautiful!!! It was amazing there, yet the humidity sucked. Part of me was thankful that the area was hit with a tropical storm for the last two days of our vacation because all the wind and rain took away the humidity a little bit. I had an awesome time though. I can't believe that my big brother is married and that I have a new sister! It was a gorgeous wedding on the beach. I'll have those pics ready soon as well.

I've been getting back to the house late and am dead tired by the time I get on my laptop to edit pics so it has taken longer than usual. But when things calm down, I'll update with some Cancun photos. We've got a full day of San Fran planned for tomorrow so I better go get some sleep.

Flowers Galore... and the Painted Ladies.

2010-06-14T21:06:00.000-07:00

So my birthday has come and gone. I went with Jacques and his mother Elizabeth to Sebastopol, California to visit his aunt who is an artist specializing in porcelain and stoneware clay. She has her own studio right next to her house and I found it very inspiring being around her. It made me want to get back into my traditional art, such as drawing and painting. If I had a setup like hers, I'd definitely be motivated to do that. I'd love to live that life.

This was also the first birthday that I didn't get to spend with my mom. But at least I'll get to see her in 10 days in Cancun. She said we'll celebrate my birthday there. I really missed her cake that she usually makes for me, since I didn't get a cake at all this year. Maybe she'll bring one to Cancun... haha! Wishful thinking.

Anyway, on with more photos. I definitely won't let it get this backed up again. This next batch is going to be a little mix of photos. I'll start out with another trip to San Francisco when we visited the Conservatory of Flowers and the Botanical Gardens. I was in heaven, seeing as how I love taking photos of flowers...

Our first stop was at Alamo Square, which is famous for the Painted Ladies and the field in front of them that was used for the Full House intro. I grew up watching Full House and I had been wanting to visit this place ever since I came here. We didn't realize that we had parked right next to the Ladies, so we ended up walking around the whole park before we saw the view we'd been looking for:

From there we drove to the Conservatory of Flowers. It was so incredibly beautiful, both inside and out!! From daisies to irises to orchids to lilies and more; get ready for an incredible flow of flora:

Next, we walked from the Conservatory through the National Aids Memorial Grove to the San Francisco Botanical Gardens. These next photos are a mix between flowers that I found along the way and views of the beauty of nature in her natural state.

And I'm ending this post with a beautiful side-view of a rose that I found on the trip to Sonora, California, on the way to Bear Valley.

Whew. That was alot of flowers.
I enjoyed the trip immensely! :]

Spontaneity + Road Trip + Snow = Bliss (at least for me!)

2010-06-10T09:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, so now I'm up to February of this year. I'm really trying to get this photoblog up-to-date before I leave for Cancun in less than two weeks so I can be ready to post those photos after I get back. At least I'm only 4 months behind now.

So, like I said, this batch of photos are from February. Jacques and I took a spontaneous road trip up to Bear Valley to play in the snow! I remember exactly how it happened... it was around 10:30pm and we were in Best Buy, just browsing around the store, although I can't remember what exactly we were looking at. It started with an idea to drive to Reno, Nevada that night and go casino-hopping. He wanted to take his mom there as well, so he calls her from the store, but she doesn't feel like going anywhere that night. So with that idea being shot down before it could even take off, as we're leaving the store he mentions something about this small ski-resort type place about 2 hours away, called Bear Valley. But he doesn't act like he wants to go. And I remember being more than a little disappointed during the 20 minute ride home. Later, I'm on the computer minding my own business when he surprises me by asking if I was going to get ready to go to Bear Valley anytime soon.

So I jump up, pack a quick change of clothes and some winterwear, ready to go about 10 minutes later. And it was the best weekend I've had since moving here! The views were incredibly beautiful, more than pictures can even express. Photographically speaking, snow is one of my most favorite things, along with palm trees of course!

First, here's a [bad] picture of me that Jacques snapped with his phone in a little diner in Sonora where we ate breakfast before heading to Bear Valley:

Then we stopped at this little lake area on the way:

Next, there was an area called Vista Point where we stopped for some beautiful views of the snow:

Finally, we reach Bear Valley. We rented a snowmobile for an hour to explore the village. It was sooooo much fun! The following were taken while riding on the snowmobile with Jacques as the driver.

And we end the day with these photos taken on the way home:

I Left My Heart in San Francisco!

2010-06-07T10:33:00.000-07:00

Well-said, Mr. Steinbeck, very well-said! I have loved San Francisco ever since the first time I laid eyes on it last fall. And every time I go back, I fall in love even more. If I could get away with living there, I would in a heartbeat. But alas, I think I'll have to settle with frequent visits. It's such an interesting city and I totally wouldn't mind being handcuffed to it with the key thrown away!

So I promised in my last post that I would share some of the photos from the visit to San Fran with my dad and Jacques. When we arrived in San Francisco and attempted to get some shots of the Golden Gate Bridge from above, it was incredibly foggy and we could barely see the bridge through it all. But the longer we stayed put, the less foggy it became, though the bridge was still difficult to see.

[ Of course, my dad was more interested in the rock formations; here he is giving Jacques a geology lesson! ]

[ Though I have to admit, they were very interesting. ]
From that little area, we went back down to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge:

... and into San Francisco. We parked in the Presidio and walked down to Crissy Field to get some beautiful shots of the bridge.

[ ... and the San Francisco skyline ]

[ Dad explains this as giving me an Indian headdress... ]

[ While walking to Fort Point, I looked back and got this shot ]

From there, we went on through the heart of San Francisco to the Sutro District to view the Sutro Baths ruins and Ocean Beach, then on to Fisherman's Wharf:

[ Catching rays of the sun through the trees across from the Sutro Baths ruins ]

[ What's left of the Sutro Baths ]

[ a CLEAR Alcatraz ]

[ Finally got my view of Lombard Street! ]

We ended the day with some awesome hot chocolate from Ghirardelli.

Nature of the East Bay

2010-05-31T20:48:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love capturing nature in her truest form, all natural. It is amazing what this world has created on her own, not to mention beautiful to photograph. Being in the presence of nature is soothing and peaceful, and that is what this post is all about: two separate places that naturally create the same relaxing and calm atmosphere. The first is Round Valley Park in Brentwood, only about 4 miles away from the house.

And now we're at Muir Woods again, over near Mill Valley, California. My dad came out to visit me back in January and I knew he'd love this place. The trees were all covered in moss this time, so that made it a little different (for me) from the first visit.

That last picture isn't from Muir Woods, if you couldn't already tell. That was just a random shot that I noticed while driving back from the Napa/Sonoma wine country area, from the same day that my dad and I went to Muir woods. It was a really nice visit and I enjoyed spending some quality time with my dad, even though he was only able to stay for two days. I hadn't realized exactly how much I miss him, now that he lives 3,000+ miles away from me.

During his visit, we also visited San Francisco, with Jacques as our tour guide... but those pictures will have to wait until another day, seeing as I currently have a pounding headache and need to get away from the intense brightness of this computer screen...

John Muir's House

2010-05-24T16:05:00.000-07:00

Moving on to October of 2009, this time we were headed out to John Muir's house, the founder of our National Parks. Remember a previous post with a visit to Muir Woods? Yeah, that place was named after him. He lived in Martinez, California.

Perfect palm tree outside of the house. I happened to catch an interesting view of the sky at the same time.

Here we see John Muir's house peeking out from the path.

Looking back from right in front of the house, we see that perfect palm tree again.

And here's the house, built in 1883 by Muir's father-in-law, Dr. John Strentzel.

Front entry into the house.

One of the many fireplaces in the house. I think I heard them say that there were 7 of them at some point.

Dining room, with another fireplace in the background.

Upstairs hallway. There's something kinda creepy about this picture...

One of the bedrooms upstairs.

John Muir's study, or "scribble den" as he called it.

Perfect palm tree yet again. I just couldn't get enough of it!

Some of the surrounding grounds owned by the Muir family. That little building is the carriage house.

Walkway through the surrounding area that they owned.

Huge tree that John had brought over from another area he visited (I can't remember where exactly).

Rebel red?!

Santa Cruz & Monterey

2010-04-20T12:38:00.000-07:00

Back in August 2009, Jacques and I got in the car and started driving south on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Our final destination was Monterey, with a visit to Santa Cruz on the way. We stopped throughout the drive to see some truly breathtaking views of the ocean...

View of San Francisco (in the background) from the highway.

To this day, this sign still hasn't been fixed...

About to drive over the Bay Bridge!

Coming into San Francisco.. taken through my dirty windshield...

Just one of the many awesome views of the ocean from the PCH!

Another angle of the Pacific.

One of my absolute favorite views.

Testing out the capabilities of the zoom feature on my camera...

I'm speechless!

Totally in awe of such beauty.

Big wave rolling in.

And crashing into some rocks.

At first I thought this was a lighthouse, but it's actually a hostel for the many bikers and travelers along the PCH.

Getting closer to Santa Cruz... and I really should wash that windshield.

This was much prettier in person.

Railroad tracks close to the shore.

Santa Cruz! (Stop sign got in my way)

Random view, taken for that perfect palm!

"Under the boardwalk... down by the sea..." (Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk)

This was like the 5th attempt at getting a clear shot of this sign...

The beach was full!

Walking along the harbor.

Still walking!

A portion of San Carlos Beach.

Kelp fountain close to Cannery Row. That building behind is Monterey Bay Inn.

Little walkway by the hotel.

Jacques snuck a picture of me while I was walking.

Thomas Kinkade Gallery that reminded me of my mom (She loves his art).

View of Cannery Row.

I think that is a restaurant.

Cannery Row again!

I liked the quote.

Silhouetted dolphin fountain found while on the walk back to the car. I actually like it more in this picture than in person!

Pretty mural on what I think is Cannery Enterprise.

Sunset over San Carlos Beach.

This is Guinness, one of the irish setters I temporarily live with. He's focusing through the fence on another dog at the moment, and I even managed to capture that sliver of slobber hanging out of his mouth too...

A Trip to Downtown Sac & San Fran

2010-03-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

Back in August of 2009 (which also explains how backed up I am with getting photos posted here ~ but it's nice to relive the awesome memories!), I went with Jacques to spend a day with him at his office in Sacramento. The purpose of this was so that I could visit the downtown area to get some pictures of the state capitol building. It was a short little visit, seeing as I only had a limited amount of quarters to put in the parking meter. Anyway, here are the results of that little excursion.

At an intersection in Sacramento, not far from the office. I couldn't resist the palm trees!

The State Capitol building.

View from the side.

Side view again, straight on.

Looking away from the capitol building.

I caught the sun hiding behind some palm trees.

Just a random view of the downtown area on my way back to my car.

The next day, which was a Saturday, Jacques finally took me to visit San Francisco, which I had been begging him to do pretty much since I arrived in California. I was so very excited to see all the tourist-y things, even though we didn't get through all of them that day. But I did get to see the rest when my dad came to visit this past January... but that is another post!

First glimpse of a cable car!!

The incredibly long line that we had to wait in for about an hour to ride the cable car...

Snapping the crowd around us while waiting for the cable car.

San Fran is such a busy city, at all times.

Taken while hanging on the cable car to a pole.

Getting closer to Fisherman's Wharf (our destination).

Seagull relaxing by the wharf's shore.

The shore!!

This guy was awesome... He made beautiful drawings using spray paint and pieces of paper to manipulate the paint. All in about 10 minutes as well.. maybe less.

The man-made island by Pier 39.

Lots of sea lions relaxing at Pier 39.

Some day we're going to ride this high-speed boat around the San Francisco Bay.

Norfolk pine tree that I thought was interesting.

Jacques and I with a tiny Alcatraz in the background.

It was an awesome trip and I had so much fun being a tourist!

Christmas in January

2010-01-23T19:28:00.004-08:00

I wasn't able to make it back to Oklahoma during Christmas this year to celebrate with my mom and brother, so the plan was to have our Christmas 2009 celebration on the second weekend of January 2010.

Starting with my sweet 15-year-old "pup," Brandy. She is doing fairly well for a dog of her age, despite a few problems with her back legs, which we think is probably due to arthritis.

And here's Mattie, my brother's golden retriever, posing in the kitchen.

The two of them hanging around the kitchen hoping for some food to drop.

Aron showing me a photo he took of Mattie on his phone, of him drying her off after she had romped around in the snow!

She's one happy pup.

She's also very focused and great at posing...

Mattie in the backyard, running back to come inside. You can see the leftover snow from the blizzard that hit about a week and a half beforehand.

Aron and Mattie horsing around before opening presents.

Now Aron's getting distracted by the football game on tv..

Opening stockings. And Aron making a silly face.

Jenn and Aron posing. This is one of the photos that I'm using in their wedding video that I'm putting together for them.

Jenn opening her present from my mom while Aron looks on.

She got an OU necklace...

...and a bracelet. I think she likes it. :]

Showing them off.. another shot that will go in the video.

Mom showing the pearl necklace that I had gotten her.

Mattie wants to come inside and join the merriment...

Jenn and Aron checking out my gift to them.

And now posing with it ~ San Francisco Bay Coffee, Bailey's Irish Cream, a coffee press and a pastry mix.

And I also got my mom some Ghirardelli ground chocolate!

Jenn and Aron checking out the coffee press.

Aron showing the San Francisco coffee mug I got him and Jenn to go along with their present.

Aron showing off the shirt Mom had gotten him.

Aron and me.

Cute picture of Aron and Jenn. Again, it's going in the video too!

Mom showing Jenn the pictures she had taken on her new digital camera that Aron and Jenn had gotten her for Christmas.

Jenn, Aron and me.

Very cute picture of Aron, Jenn and Mattie!

Jenn, Aron and Mom.

Brandy sleeping the day away...

Keelan's Wedding

2009-10-28T10:30:00.003-07:00

Alright... so I know I just started uploading the beginning of my photos from California, but I wanted to post the pictures that I took of my cousin's wedding from around 2½ weeks ago. My aunt (his mom) had asked me to be her "unofficial" photographer long before moving here became a reality. So, naturally, I said yes because I wanted to help her out and I could always use a good photo opportunity such as a beautiful fall wedding. (And it was really beautiful!)

The ceremony and following reception was held at a ranch near Greenwood, Arkansas. I wasn't able to get alot of the reception because it was held indoors and most of my photos came out incredibly blurry.

The setup before anyone else arrived.

Guestbook.

Photos of the soon-to-be newlyweds in the front entry of the reception hall.

Also in the front entry of the reception hall ~ Lyndsey had this done to honor our late grandfather who died in 1997. Keelan (and the rest of our family) had no idea she had this done until the night before the wedding and it was such a sweet and thoughtful gesture.

My brother Aron was one of the ushers ~ here he is leading his future wife to her seat. My mom is ahead of them with the other usher.

Closer view of the arch before the ceremony started.

More of our family sitting in the row behind us ~ From left to right: Nataley, her boyfriend Don, Uncle Tommy (not paying attention), Aunt Robin (wondering what her son next to her is doing), Brad, Wesley, and his wife Holly.

Uncle Tommy, Aunt Robin and Brad posing.

Aron being silly with the purses that were used to save his seat until he finished ushering. His fiance Jennifer and my mom watching in amusement. Oh and the groomsmen walking to the arch in the background.

Keelan and his parents (Aunt Becky and Uncle Ken) walking down the aisle.

Lyndsey's parents.

Kara, Keelan's sister (and my cousin) was the first bridesmaid to walk down the aisle.

Flowergirls—Err, leaf-girls? They were putting leaves down instead of flowers!

Maids and matrons of honor watching the procession.

Cute bell-ringers, with mixed emotions? =P

Keelan watching his bride walk down the aisle towards him.

Lyndsey and her father making their way down the aisle.

The whole scene, minus groomsmen (there were too many heads in the way to get a clear shot).

Putting on Lyndsey's ring.

Catching a clear shot for the brief moment that the preacher stepped out of the way.

Now putting on Keelan's ring.

Lighting the unity candle.

Waiting for permission to kiss the bride.

The blurriness was a happy accident.

Mr. and Mrs. Hunt!

And in sepia tones!

The newlyweds!

The wedding party filing out.

Posing with the parents.

And now just Keelan's parents.

Keelan's family.

Lyndsey's family.

The first dance.

The guys ~ Wesley, Brad, Keelan and Aron.

The dancing train through the reception hall.

Before the wedding, my mom and I had gone to the nursing home that my grandmother lives in to visit her. Aunt Becky wanted me to get a picture of her so that she could put it in the scrapbook she was making for Keelan's wedding, just to honor her for the wedding even though she wasn't able to be there. We also got pictures of Granmama with us.

Here she is with my mom.

And with me.

It was a fun trip and I am glad I was able to be there to join in the occasion!

Muir Woods - Stinson Beach - Wine Country!

2009-10-21T08:33:00.004-07:00

So here's the start of my California photos. I'll let them do the explaining! (A little note of warning: there are ALOT!)

Heading up the mountain on the way to Muir Woods.

First glimpse of the huge redwood trees in Muir Woods.

Another view.. I like how I caught the sun shining on the leaves in this one.

And now actually catching the sun in the photo as well.

Trio of redwoods.

Interesting angle of a tree that had fallen into pieces.

This just had a very calming feel to it. Well, the whole place did, but this spot even moreso than the rest.

Some of the trail through the woods.

I call this one.... Rebel. =P

Twisted redwoods!

Taken at the very base of the tree.. looking up at how the bark spirals around to the top.

Fire can't even kill these trees!

Catching the sun again.

Now we're headed over to Stinson Beach. This was taken during the twisty turns of the mountain road.

Someone's house on the mountain.

Stinson Beach Fire Department... with that heavy fog overhead.

A view of the beach... it was so very cold too.

Closeup of the waves.

Looking back towards the mountain, again with that heavy fog.

Driving back away from the beach through that curvy road again. This was taken of the whole beach from a place along the side of the road to stop for a scenic view.

A little closer.

Even more closer, with the waves rolling in.

Do I even need to explain?! =)

Maybe I should just stop talking...

Beautiful pink lilies taken outside of a 7-11 convenience store. I noticed them all around the area after seeing these.

This is Mount Diablo, taken back near Brentwood, CA.

Yummmm.

I can't get enough of the palm trees!!

This starts the photos of the drive up to Wine Country!

It was a beautiful drive!

Stopped at a stoplight and just took this random view of the mountains.

This is where we stopped along the way and picked up some melons (honeydew and cantaloupe) at their little farmer's market.

No idea what D & S stands for, but I liked this capture. It was found in the area where all the fresh fruit/veggies were sold.

Fallen rose petals just outside of the farmer's market. There were alot of rose bushes around the market, as you will see in the next photos...

Gorgeous rose that I found out is called Double Delight.

More roses.

Beautiful house and vineyard seen along the way (we were heading to Sonoma).

And another one!

City streets of Sonoma.

San Francisco Solano Mission.

Chapel area inside the mission.

In the courtyard looking back towards the mission.

Another view of the courtyard.

Old Italian restaurant that I was told is probably not in business anymore.

Lobby/bar area of the Toscano Hotel, a very old hotel that is no longer in service, except as a museum. If you look closely on the full view, you can see me taking the photo. =)

Dining area of the Toscano hotel. (It wasn't open to the public)

The home of the owners of the Toscano Hotel, located just outside. Watch your step on that top doorway! =P

One side of the town square in downtown Sonoma.

Sonoma City Hall. Surrounded by a park in the center of downtown.

Cute little secluded area with lots of shops (which were all closed when we walked through). Oh and that random gnome creature...

A sushi restaurant.

Pretty flower I found in the town square park.

And another!

This one was my favorite.

The park!

Going for an artistic view... while laying down in the park. It was comforting.

I was trying to catch a cool view of the reflection in his sunglasses but it didn't work out that well.

His and hers?!

Heading towards Napa.

Another house/vineyard along the way. It reminded me of my favorite book by Nora Roberts, The Villa and what the "villa" in her book would have looked like.

At the Veterans Home of California.

Napa's highway wall designs... it's a bit blurry, but you should be able to make out the vines and grapes...

The sun setting behind the trees.

First off, I love the palm trees in this photo! It was at an old naval base that was decommissioned in 1996.. Jacques was showing me where he grew up.

Captains' housing.

Just a view while driving through the base.

Old storage for small arms and artillery... not far from where Jacques used to play as a kid.

Trio of eucalyptus trees.

Old boat that Jacques says he remembers riding on at one point.

Old hospital that is now known to be haunted by a civil war soldier, and is now part of a university.

Done for the day.

More to come...

The Road to Cali!

2009-09-24T09:35:00.005-07:00

++ 38 hours, countless CDs, a car breakdown, $400 fix, 1588 miles, and five states.

I started the journey at 8:30am on Thursday, July 30th and arrived at around 10pm on Friday, July 31st. It was indeed quite a trip. The unexpected breakdown of my car in Gallup, NM made it... interesting. But the bright side is that I was able to catch an awesome sunset photo while watching the tower load my car on the tow truck to be taken to Pep Boys. Alright, enough talk, on to the photos!

Wind turbines in Weatherford, Oklahoma.

This interestingly-painted building was found somewhere in Texas.. I like how the tree towers over it as well.

Before seeing this huge cross, I'd seen a sign saying something about a "spiritual experience" and "the largest cross"...

New Mexico's welcome sign... although there was nothing enchanting for me in the state.

Just a random pretty view in NM.

And again.. I liked the clouds in this one.

Driving into the storm...

My camera focused on the raindrops...

For some reason, I like how highways cross over each other... and I like photographing it. This was coming into Albuquerque.

One of my favorite snapshots.. I happened to catch it while driving right underneath the overpass.

I took this one for the design on the bridge.

Driving between two huge boulders...

A little community in the middle of nowhere...

Black rocks?!

The sun peeking out after the storm that I'd driven through.

This is the awesome sunset picture I was talking about. Taken just outside Gallup, NM.

Welcome to Arizona!! (This was the start of Friday's drive)

I had to entertain myself somehow! It got pretty boring on that drive...

Lots of motorcyclists that I was about to pass...

Pretty view.

And again!

This was near Flagstaff, where I should have gotten to the day before.

Also near Flagstaff...

Closer to California...

And here I am: slightly sunburned, incredibly tired, but still excited to see Cali!! I couldn't keep that smile off my face...

Though I have to admit, the unoriginality of the sign was disappointing...

First glimpse of palm trees!!! (I love them!) I think this was in Barstow.

This is the majority of what I saw when first driving through Cali... so much desert, kinda redundant...I thought it would never end!

Tons of wind turbines! It was prettier in person.

Just a view while driving on the twisty roads through the hills/mountains.

Almost a silhouette...

Palm trees everywhere!!

I wasn't really able to take that many pictures when I got closer to city life in Cali because of all of the twisty turns of the highway... it was actually kinda scary to be driving and look out the window to see a huge cliff. I was so ready to get out of my car when I arrived... I love driving but that just took alot out of me!

Hopes... and a Dream

2009-07-21T11:21:00.006-07:00

Well, I don't have any photos to update with ~ just some news of some potential-pretty-serious-life-changing events that may surface within the next few weeks or so. Yet there are certain forces that are attempting to prevent them from happening, but I won't let them follow through. And while I'm trying to let the positives outweigh the negatives of the situation, it's not always easy.

It's been a secret desire of mine to move to Cali for about four years now, ever since I started getting more into graphic design and figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. However, I was young then and didn't have the confidence that I feel I have now. And maybe a part of me was a little scared at the idea of starting a brand new life in such unfamiliar territory. Yet through the years, I did attempt that fresh start, keeping a safe distance of only three hours from home. There were times that I wasn't sure if I was going to make it, but something always pulled me through that last glimpse of hope.

Now I'm hoping to add twenty more hours to that original three... and while a part of me is sad for the day that I will have to leave this place, another part of me is content in the fact that I know it will all work out in the end. I have to believe that, no matter what happens or what obstacles try to stand in my way. I'm not backing down this time. And I'm excited about fulfilling a dream... even if I have to do it alone.

"Tell my mother, tell my father
I've done the best I can
To make them realize this is my life
I hope they understand.
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance."
—Shinedown, Second Chance

It's been building up...

2009-06-04T19:31:00.006-07:00

Okay, so first off, I know I haven't posted in awhile. I really meant to get this done sooner, but time has slipped past me once again. This time I'm not letting it! I'll warn you, this is going to be quite a lengthy post of pictures and descriptions! So here goes.

First off, we start with a trip to River Legacy Park... it was a completely spontaneous decision, seeing as I had to be out of the house for 5 hours that day due to an open house going on at my dad's (where I had been forced to move into and stay until the semester ended, originally because of an issue with my apartment complex). I found this quiet little wetlands field to explore. Little did I know that I would later get caught in a huge thunderstorm and get soaking wet as I tried to make my way back to my car, whilst trying not to slip in the mud. I had just cleaned the inside of my car so I was attempting to keep it that way!

So here's the "entrance" to the wetlands field. It was so quiet and peaceful and full of interesting photo opps.

And here's a closeup of one of the beautiful pink flowers that I found all throughout the field.. there were clusters of them everywhere!

One of the clusters I was talking about. The "sparkles" are actually tiny drops of water..

A closeup of one of the trees.. I liked how they looked against the sky.

Looking back at what used to be the entrance to the fields, which is no longer able to be seen.

So I really liked those clusters...

Proof that I really was there! =P You can see the little speckles of raindrops on my shirt if you look close enough.

And yet more proof, this time with the pink flowers behind me..

This is the entrance to the park.. taken as I was leaving.

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A week later, I came back to this same wetlands, only this time I brought one of my bestest friends, Jacques, who had come into town to visit. Here's some photos from our experience there.

Making our way to the field.

Stopping to take a picture towards the middle of the field.

Pretty butterfly that took forever to capture a photo of!

A dragonfly that was resting on the path... The thumbnail doesn't do this one justice!

This beautiful butterfly was just sitting there turning around and around for us.. looked like he was putting on a show!

I call this the "Hall of Trees." =P

I thought the twisting of the wiring would make an interesting photo.

Kinda rare white flowers just like the pink ones.. but I didn't see much of these... at least not as many as the pink ones.

A bee I caught inside one of the pink flowers.. I didn't expect the photo to turn out so good, considering how much my hands were shaking...

I can't take credit for this beautiful photo... this was all Jacques and his awesome little camera, that was the same size as mine and had better zoom, I might add...

Just another photo of Jacques and me.

And another one!

We had an awesome visit while he was here and I've never had so much fun!

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Alright.. now that leaves the pictures that I've taken recently of some flowers in my mom's backyard. Starting with the traditional golden day-lilies that I always take when I am here:

I just really like this one.

Side view... which I really like as well.

I really have no idea what this one was. I found it all by itself on a huge bush towards the back corner of the yard. But I thought it was interesting all the same.

And I was told this one was a weed... but I think it's still pretty. *shrugs*

Beautiful single rose that was almost falling apart.

I still have no idea what kind of flower this is. I thought they were about to bloom or something, but my mom insists that they are supposed to droop like that. I tried to look it up and found bluebells, which are kinda similar, yet they are incredibly more frilly and curly at the bottom. Plus the color was off. So I still am not sure..

And this is a closeup of the previous flower. I was trying to get underneath it to see what the petals possibly looked like if it blooms.

And finally.. I caught a spider! This was using my camera's zoom feature, so don't worry, I wasn't really that close to it.

Fun at the Zoo

2009-04-11T11:23:00.001-07:00

Back in February, my dad and I took a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. In addition to having a father-daughter day to ourselves, it also served as a chance for me to get to know my new camera that he had given me for Christmas. So here are the results of that outing. I was quite pleased with the outcome.

We started out with this little fella doing some morning stretches...

And on the other side there was this cheetah, who seems distracted...

I don't remember exactly what kind this was but he sure is colorful.

An orangutan just hanging out and posing for everyone.

The only decent picture I could catch of this too-cute meerkat! He was so fast.

A happy (asian) elephant playing around.

These next few photos are a series of sorts, with these adorable young tigers who were annoying the crap out of each other. I could have sat there and took pictures of them all day!

Then there was this beautiful white tiger just sitting on this cliff overlooking the younger ones.. I could almost imagine him just shaking his head at their silliness. =P

A male lion that I caught right before he started hiding.

Those massive antlers are what caught my eye in this one. I don't remember what exactly the animal is though...

Here's another series, this time with parrots, in the area of the zoo called "Parrot Paradise."

An eagle that I caught staring intently at something...

This reminded me of a ballerina... just looks so graceful and poised. (Actually, this was the moment just before tucking its leg in to go to sleep)

A colorful macaw grooming itself.

This macaw wasn't shy at all.

Missing...

2008-11-17T10:42:00.002-08:00

Wow, so first off, I want to apologize for never really posting in here. My life gets so hectic sometimes and it feels like I never have time for any of the things I used to have time for. My classes this semester have been taking up ALOT of my time, which means I haven't been able to take any photos at all. Plus there have been a few issues that I've needed to work out.

Second...my camera's gone missing. So that's the other major reason there haven't been any posts here in about 6 months. I've completely torn up my apartment in hopes of randomly finding it, thinking I've just misplaced it or something. But I'm having no luck in that department whatsoever. It's really a mystery to me because I have no idea where it could have gone. And there are no signs of anyone breaking in to steal it (although I'm not sure why they'd take the camera and not the battery charger or USB cords). It's driving me crazy. I think I might have some idea of how it went missing, but I'm hoping that that doesn't end up being true. Anyway.. just wanted to write a quick update for whoever happens to still check this blog! =)

Flooooora!

2008-06-19T11:47:00.005-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted... mainly because I'm just too lazy. =P But I've finally managed to get myself to post some of the pictures that I took on my latest trip to OKC, where I happened to catch photos of my mom's flowers in her backyard, right after a rainfall. I'm not sure I know all of the official names of all the flowers, so I'm not even gonna attempt to get them right. Heh.

I really have no idea what this was, but it caught my eye because of it's unique shape:

Just an interesting "mini-tree":

I played around with the colors (in Photoshop) a bit on this one in an attempt to make it look more...artsy:

The last photos are from after the rainfall, and the first few ones were before, if you couldn't already tell that from the absence of raindrops on the leaves. =)

Geology field trip

2007-10-07T12:49:00.001-07:00

So yesterday, I went with fellow classmates on a field trip to Oklahoma, around the Turner Falls area. Throughout all of the years that I lived in Oklahoma, I'd never been there. It was a fun trip, despite the constant raining and the bus driver insisting on keeping the bus as cold as a freezer! Anyway.. here are some random pictures that I took:

While walking to the Geo Science building to meet in the morning before loading onto the bus, I noticed this view and liked it.

Turner Falls, taken from an overlook high above the park.

The area along the falls...

Closeup of some of the rocks that made up the overlook...along with more of the falls area in the background.

Random stop we made along the highway to look at more rocks and their formation!

Random view of the sky on the way back to Arlington...really this was an attempt to get my mind off of how incredibly cold I was in the bus!

Another view of the sky that I captured...the reflections from the window kinda ruins it though. -.-

Flowers and an Old Mill

2007-06-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been longer than I had hoped... I got my camera back awhile ago...just have been sorta lazy in getting the most recent pics on here. =P Sorry bout that. Anyway.. here goes.

These photos are from March 2007 when I traveled to Arkansas for some family birthday celebrations.

The first batch is from this place called Wye Mountain...where alot of beautiful yellow lilies pop up everywhere and it's just pretty. It was the first time I'd ever been there.

This is an overlook of all of the flowers across the hills...this was close to easter so there were a ton of people with their little kids all dressed up and sitting in the flowers with their parents taking Easter photos. It was so cute!

Just another angle I found while trying to capture the flowers...I was trying to get a shot where there were no people crowded in the photo.

The closeup!
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These next photos are of the old mill that is located near my aunt and uncle's house. I just thought it was neat. It is said to have been in one of the scenes from the movie, Gone With the Wind!

The mill. Pretty self-explanatory =P

The bridge a little ways down from the mill. I just thought it looked cool.

The view as you're walking over the bridge..would have looked alot better if that port-a-potty wasn't in the way! Hah.

just a little update

2007-03-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

So after coming back from my trip to Arkansas to visit family, I'm driving back to Texas, passing Norman, Oklahoma, when I realize...I left my camera in my brother's car. It was too late for me to go back to OKC to try and recover it. So as of right now, it's sitting at my mom's house, waiting for me to come pick it up at the end of April when I am planning on making another trip to Oklahoma City.

So no photos from me for awhile. :P

SNOW!!

2007-01-17T14:43:00.000-08:00

Hello again. I woke up this morning to find that it was lightly snowing outside! I got so excited that I had to take pictures, of course. Here they are:

Here are our (mine and Keith's) cars covered in snow!

Closeup of the front view of my car.

Closeup of Keith's front view of his car.

The outside view of my apartment...we didn't get enough snow to completely cover the ground, but still it was the first time there was enough to actually STICK to the ground..so I thought it was important. heh.

The picture above was taken outside of the UTA bookstore, which I found out was closed due to the weather, after I'd driven all the way up there to change out my books for my history class, because I'd gotten the wrong ones. It really made me mad, because the roads weren't even bad AT ALL.

So, after seeing that the bookstore was closed, Keith and I decided to walk around campus and get some snowy, wintery pictures, while we were already up there.

Just a random shot that I thought was pretty.

This is a cool fountain located outside of the University Hall building, where my history and government classes are held. I liked how you can see the ice that built up around the design.

Another random capture of the path we were walking along.

Now this is a building that I just like. Most of all, its shape. It's designed like a triangle and this view is looking from one of the sharp angles. I believe the name of the building is Packard Hall. (But don't quote me on that...I'm still learning the names of the buildings and where they all are...)

This is something that caught our eyes just by walking by. Someone had created this heart in the snow, out of footsteps in the shape of a heart. It was pretty cool to see in person.

heh...this is my attempt at writing "I ♥ Keith" in the snow. I had forgotten my gloves in the car, so my finger was getting kinda numb by the time I reached "h."

This was a mini-snowman that we saw just as we were driving into my apartment complex ... and I thought it was too cute, so I had to get a picture...

beginning a new year

2007-01-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

Keith and I went back to my hometown of Oklahoma City to visit my mom for New Year's Eve day. She was recovering from surgery, and I really wanted to give her a hug, since my brother was too "busy" with his own life to just take a few minutes of his time to come over and do that. I drive 3 hours out of my way just to give her a simple hug, when she needed it. It makes me so mad how football and friends come before family, in my brother's case. But anyway...that's not what this post is meant to be about. On with the pics:

We started out our day-trip by getting gas at RaceTrac. It was really close to 7am when this photo was taken, and I just happened to look at the sky and this is the result. It had a sort of ominous feel to it, which I assume was very fitting, considering what my new year's ended up to be...

Keith doesn't like it when I drive with no hands on the wheel. heh. I was showing him how good my alignment was, now that it's fixed.

Some people find it hard to believe that I'm a rocker. Seriously, this photo was kind of difficult to accomplish successfully because I was still trying to pay attention the road and simultaneously pose for the picture... heh, it actually took us about 5 tries before I got it right.

Keith and I posing for the picture before going out to Bricktown in downtown OKC to celebrate the new year.

Keith and I again, at the canal near Bricktown. Shortly after this photo was taken, we ended up just driving back to Texas, because I was already sick, and the freezing cold air was only making me sicker. I couldn't stay out in that weather for 3 more hours...so yeah. And I had bought that beanie to help cover my ears, but it didn't work.

and this is my pup Brandy, looking completely adorable while she licks her paws.

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-25T17:28:00.000-08:00

Even though I've had to work every day besides today, I had a great Christmas with my family. My mom and brother Aron came down here to my apartment to celebrate with me. They arrived late Saturday afternoon, and left around noon today, after eating the leftovers from our Christmas dinner last night. We watched alot of movies, because I didn't really know the area around me well enough to know where the good christmas-light-decoration places are. But I still had fun, being able to spend time with them. So, on with the pictures:

This was our little Christmas-tree area, with all of our presents. I didn't really have an actual "tree"--the one you see in this picture is a 32" fiber optic one that my mom let me borrow just for this occasion.

Me, my mom, and Aron gathered behind the tree for our traditional family Christmas picture. There was hardly any room in that little corner, and after I'd set up the timer on the camera, I had to jump over the presents, almost knocking over the tree in the process! It was kinda comical. heh. Luckily, it only took us two attempts to get this shot.

This is me looking at my present from my mom. There's a story behind it. As most of you all know (and for those who don't), I am originally from Oklahoma...which was founded in 1907. Soooo, 2007 is going to be its 100th year as a state, and my mom got me (and my brother) a shirt that celebrates the Oklahoma Centennial. I am planning on going to the celebration, whenever I find out when and where it's going to be held.

Aron gets a gift card for KOHL'S, from my mom.

This expression on my brother's face is what I had been waiting for ever since I bought him his present. Here he is in the process of opening the gift I got him, already glimpsing what it is...

...and now he's showing it off for the camera. It has the concept of a wind chime, minus the noisey clinging. And this particular one came equipped with Aron's favorite college football team's logo, OU, which is short for Oklahoma University. I was extremely surprised to find it here in Texas.

My mom got a similar gift as my brother. Except the logo is for Arkansas, which is where she is originally from.

Just a quick picture of me and mom, before they left this morning.

My brother and my mom, again before leaving to go back to Oklahoma City.

I'm happy that they came down here to see me, but I'm kinda sad because I didn't get to see my pup. I am used to seeing her every holiday...and it just didn't feel right. It didn't even feel like Christmas in the first place. Time is just managing to fly right past me lately. Anyway, that's it for now...hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

modernized + spain souvenir

2006-12-21T21:02:00.000-08:00

So Keith and I were randomly walking to the laundry facility at his apartment, on a mission to get a couple bottles of soda, when we saw this unique dryer door.

I guess this is the new way of letting people know when things are out-of-order. heh.

This is what my dad brought back for me from Barcelona. It's so pretty, and it's the perfect gift for me. One, because I love picture frames in general, and also because green is my absolute favorite color. And it really does remind me of that unique tiling that is found in Spain. But of course, I would have loved anything that my dad brought me, because as I see things with gift-giving, it's always the thought that counts.

hello & welcome

2006-12-13T15:00:00.000-08:00

I finally finished this new layout for my new photoblog. Yeah, yeah I know, I've had alot of these in the past, but this one is here to stay, I can feel it. I've spent about the past 5 hours on this design, piecing it all together and hoping it fit just right. ~~I'm still trying to figure out how to get automatic borders on the pictures that I will be posting here, because so far, it hasn't worked~~. If anyone has any word on that, I would appreciate if you'd leave a comment for me and let me know. If not, I'll still keep trying to figure it out. Actually, scratch that, I think I may have figured out a makeshift way of fixing it. But I still don't know how to make the pictures have automatic borders, like on other Blogspot blogs that I have seen.

Anyways...expect lots of new photos to make their way here in the near future. Until then...