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Monday, October 17, 2011

09-24-11 to 10-09-11

Ready to see some awesome pictures? I'm trying to not get too far behind again, so here we go!

10.09.11

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We had a Groupon for this brunch place called the Tavern and we finally went and used it (the day it was set to expire because we are awesome like that). I LOVED those potatoes. As in, I would probably marry them if it was legal to do so. : )  We'll probably go back if we're ever in the area. It was a pretty good little place.

10.08.11

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I mentioned a cute photo shoot that I'd be doing during my last blog post. Well, this was it. Not done editing all of the cute photos, but this is one of my faves!

10.07.11

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This shot was taken at the end of a disastrous six mile run. I thought I was a tad demented because I thought  they looked like flowers. But then someone else did tell me that the stones in fact do look like flowers.

10.06.11

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Oh, yeah. We have two dogs now. Hannah is our newest furry creature. Chase is still dealing with giving up his only child title, but I think that they'll be good friends at some point.

10.05.11

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The last watermelon of the year for us. I'm sad to see it go. : (

10.04.11

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Asparagus. Yum. PS - iPhone charger bokeh is kind of cool? Or maybe distracting?

10.03.11

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Ok, here's the new dog's face. Chase hates that he now has to run faster to get HIS toys. : )

10.02.11
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Walking through Home Depot. Don't ask.

10.01.11 - Missing. I took a picture but didn't add it to flickr for some random reason.

09.30.11

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My parents were in town again. That's my dad.  He made us drive all the way to Arlington to go to this place.

09.29.11

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World's greatest running socks. Seriously, when I don't wear them I fell like I am going to die. They are magic. Or so I believe.

09.28.11

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These people really wanted to sell us a car.

09.27.11


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Loved this book. I really need to write a review and share with you guys!

09.26.11

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Best spaghetti sauce.  Seriously, this and a little Italian sausage. Magnificent!

09.25.11

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I thought I'd be a cool chick and choose a funky color when I got my last pedicure. Note to self. I am not cool and or funky and purple toes bothered me. A lot.

09.24.11

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Another groupon that needed to be used. Isn't that funny I started this post with a shot from a groupon and I'm ending  it with one. We went to the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens (which is free) and our groupon was for the Japanese Garden (the only garden that is not free). This is actually walking back to our car. Here's the thing about this shot. I took it without looking and my camera phone was upside down. I think that even if I had been looking I would've composed this shot the same way. It's one of my favorites from my iPhone ever.

Friday, October 7, 2011

OMG - Two times in one week

This is a recent record for me! Although, I do really have plans to be completely caught back up by this weekend so you will probably see at least one more post from me! Tomorrow, I am shooting the cutest family in the world if the rain holds out, so be looking forward to that as well.

09.23.11
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Pretty sure that I took this exact same picture at some point last year. Maybe I should try to find it to see how similar they really are. But anyway, for the same reason I liked this one before, I really like it now - wax myrtle bokeh. Seriously, the best thing ever.

09.22.11
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Best nuts anywhere. : )

09.21.11
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Home sick. I just really loved the look on Chase's face here. Doesn't he look guilty?

 09.20.11
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Dead/dying roses. You can see alive pictures of them further down.

09.19.11
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The reason I take pictures??? I suck at any other type of art. Yeah, that's my attempt at drawing something on the iPad.

09.18.11
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My first 5K. This is what I looked like after. Yeah, my face was really red. It was really hot outside. You can read the race recap here if you are so inclined.

09.17.11
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For three and a half years we've been all alone on our side of the street and then in the last few months the building has started. Boo.

09.16.11
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Finally got my bike hung up. Now if we could just get Ditz's hung (his is going above mine). Ignore the random plant. it's not there anymore.

09.15.11
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The starting of the perpetual cold that plagued me for three weeks.

 09.14.11
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It's been a while (other than in this post) since Chase made an appearance in a POTD. So here he is playing. Just FYI that ball in his mouth is tiny. : )

09.13.11
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This was when I still thought that it was allergies and not a cold.

09.12.11
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See I told you those dead flowers were actually quite pretty when they were alive. I bought them on clearance because they were already starting to turn, so you can imagine what they looked like by the time I took the other pictures a week later.

09.11.11
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This is where I was on the 10th anniversary of September 11th. About three miles into my first five mile long run. I heard the church bells all through downtown start chiming and stopped and snapped this shot.

09.10.11
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We take green chiles seriously in this town. All the grocery stores do a chile fest and a lot of the Mexican places do to.

09.09.11
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What I was reading on this day. Women's Running & My Name is Memory by Ann Brashears. You can read my review here.

09.08.11
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Went on the first photo walk in a looooong time. Unfortunately, it was a major bust. Oh, well.

See, I am closer to being caught up!

Plus, if you are wanting to keep up with my training for my half marathon you can be bored to tears by clicking here!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

So where were we?

Alright, I promise no more book reviews until I am caught up on pictures! : )

09.07.11
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From my three mile run. There was really nothing better that I took a picture of that day. Sorry for the first picture in this post to be blah. : )

 09.06.11
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Our new computer for watching TV. How weird that I am posting this picture today. RIP Steve Jobs.

 09.05.11
090511-89.jpg Hiking with the hubby. I just remember feeling pain the entire rest of the week after this hike. I think we pushed a little too far.

 09.04.11
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At the in-laws. I love this old truck, but can never get "the" picture of it. This one is pretty close, but not perfect. Guess I'll keep trying.

 09.03.11
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I don't even remember why I took this picture (it was over a month ago). All I know is that it makes my look like an super athlete. You know, bicycling gloves & shot blocks. In fairness, this was a fairly long ride.

09.02.11
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Sometimes this is the best you can do on a given day.

 09.01.11
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The problem with waiting so long between taking, editing and posting the photos is that for some (see 09.03.11 as well) I have no idea what I was going for. Such is the case of this one.

 08.31.11
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Early evening bike ride. I like riding in this neighborhood, but I have no idea why.

 08.30.11
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OMG. A picture that I actually brought my camera to work. I've been really lazy with my photography for the last few months. This was a big deal.

 08.29.11
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I love Tootsie Pops. They are fan-tab-ulous. : )

So that's all folks. There would have been more, but the stupid computer was going so slow last night that I was having issue editing. Here's hoping that I do another week or so tonight or tomorrow so that I can get close to catching up. I guess the really good news is that I actually have been taking the pictures...it's just the editing and posting that I seem to have an issue with lately.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Book Review: Distant Shores by Kristin Hannah

Distant ShoresDistant Shores by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Well, first off I should say that I am typically a Kristin Hannah fan. Everyone of her books I've read to date, I actually liked / loved, so I was disappointed to say that I barely liked this one. As a matter of fact, I toyed with the idea of a one star, but in the end decided on two. I won't read this again, not that I ever do, but I also won't be loaning it to any of the ladies that I know who like to read. I think it was really that I just didn't like the characters or that they weren't as dveloped as I would have liked. Typically her books are twice as thick and maybe that was the problem, there wasn't enough time to fall in love with any of them. There were lots of things that I thought could have been expounded upon, but in the end I was just glad when it was over.


This is the synopsis from publisher's weekly, quite possibly if I would have read that last line I would have realized this book wasn't going to be for me.
Hannah returns with another second-chance-at-love story, this one as bleak as the soggy Pacific Northwest setting. Perimenopausal former artist Elizabeth Shore is feeling lost and miserable these days, as daughters Jamie and Stephanie matriculate at Georgetown and husband Jack focuses on jump-starting his stalled sports broadcasting career. So Elizabeth, tellingly nicknamed "Birdie," compulsively redecorates her empty nest and pesters Jack with lugubrious questions about what's wrong with their lives. Then Jack scores a journalistic coup, and in his implausibly meteoric return to broadcasting glory, winds up in an efficiency apartment in New York City, halfheartedly fending off the advances of both a nubile assistant and a Hollywood bombshell. Meanwhile, back in rainy Oregon, Birdie grieves for her beloved late father, joins a support group for "passionless" women, starts to paint again and talks to herself in the self-help homilies Hannah favors ("No more cheerleader years for me. I need to get in the game"). She even has a rapprochement with newly widowed stepmother Anita, who, in a particularly explosive burst of character development, somehow transforms from a tacky Southern "Bette Midler on speed" to a white-haired sylph favoring "long, flowing" white dresses. (When Birdie finds her bliss, she discovers she's miraculously lost weight.) Hannah's tried-and-true formula includes the predictable happy ending, complete with life lessons tearfully learned, but only hardcore fans will make it to the last page of this dreary soap.

View all my reviews

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares

I promise not to turn my photography blog into a book blog, but not that I've found a good place to review books easily, I think I'll post these here for a while as well. Unfortunately, that means you may see how many books I read at any given time and wonder why I haven't been editing and posting pictures if I can read so many books! : )

My Name Is MemoryMy Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I stayed up way too late last night finishing this book and have to mimic what some of the other reviewers of this book have said.... I may have wanted to throw the book across the room, but I didn't. Last night I would have probably given this book two stars, I was that annoyed. But then I slept on it and realized it was an open ended ending, which I typically don't like (I need it wrapped in a little bow for me, that;s how I roll), but decided this morning it was actually the best way it could have ended given the circumstances of the book. (I may have also read somewhere this morning that there will be two more books in the series, if that's true, I move it to five stars, if that's not true.... then I'll be sad).

This book is very reminiscent of the Time Traveler's Wife, which to this day still ranks as one of my favorite books of all time. It had a lot of similar elements...a love that never kept popping up at inopportune times (he's four, she's 70). And you are left wondering if the life they are living now is the one where it will finally work out for them. (For those who know nothing about the book, souls keep getting reborn in new bodies, most people forget their old lives, but there are a few people who have the "memory" to remember all of their past lives. Daniel remembers and spends nearly every life trying to find Sophia).

This book is well written and very well thought out and there ends up being only one character that I despised. My only issue was keeping up with who all the people were in their old lives and in their new lives. Daniel always lets you know if you've met that person before, but frankly I could only keep the main four characters straight and ended up letting the others just fade away in my mind.

View all my reviews

Friday, September 9, 2011

Good Reads Book Review: Blood Vines by Erica Spindler

I recently found this awesome website to help me track books I've read and books to read.  Maybe this means I might actually publish more book reviews!!


Blood VinesBlood Vines by Erica Spindler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love most of Erica Spindler's books, she's an author I found ages ago and always try to make sure I've read whatever her current book is. I'm giving this one four stars although I am not 100% sure it's because I loved the book or because I love her an an author, if 3.5 stars were an option that's where this one would more than likely land. There were times when I felt like this book went too fast and there were times when I felt like it went too slow. In the end, I liked the story and the plot, however I figured the majority of it out half way through. There was never a gotcha moment that I kind of like. Although in all honesty that could be because I have read everyone of her books and know somewhat how her mind works. I'd recommend this to people who love a good mystery, but with a notation that there are some weird undertones that some people may find offensive.

View all my reviews

Sunday, August 28, 2011

08.11.11 - 08.28.11

Seriously, where does the time go? Here's some of the last set of pictures!

08.28.11
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I haven't mentioned this here yet, but now is as good a time as any. I've stupidly decided that I want to run a half marathon early next year. If I don't die between now and then that is. I've actually got a very comprehensive training plan which actually allowed me to step back a little from the miles that I was putting in. It means less bike riding and more running, but I am down with that. Anyway, I am blogging through my training and all my races leading up to the big one here if anyone is interested in following along.So this is a picture from today's long run down on the Trinity Trail in Fort Worth. I pretty much wasn't smiling at this point.

08.27.11
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Best picture of them ever.

08.26.11
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Central Market. No pictures allowed. I am such a rule breaker.

08.25.11
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I love Jersey Mike's. Too bad I only get it every now and again due to my gluten issues. Sometimes it's just worth it.

08.24.11
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A certain husband of mine whose name shall not be mentioned might think this shirt is funny. I guess I just don't get it.

08.23.11
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My hair was so stinking cute on this day and that's what I was actually trying to get a picture of, but as it turns out shooting the back of your head is hard.

08.22.11
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Somebody hit my car in our parking lot at work. Seriously tried to get it totaled. : )

08.21.11
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Best salad ever. Ditz smoked the meat for hours and it was perfect.

08.20.11
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Local vegan place. My food was good. Ditz's - not so much.

08.19.11
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An accidental picture. I had the wrong camera on on my iPhone. I liked it anyway so I am going with it.

08.18.11
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Best card game from 1982 ever.

08.17.11
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After a long bike ride.

08.16.11
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My super famous black beans and rice.

08.15.11
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The maze was only the beginning. I finished this book in five hours (this is the second book in the series). I also preordered the third book so that it will arrive on my door step the day it comes out. Who's a big time nerd? This girl.

08.14.11
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Hiking with the hubby. This was after five miles. We were dirty and smelly!

08.13.11
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Ditz's camelbak. Getting ready for the next days hike!

08.12.11
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Trying to decide which I like better for the longer runs. Right now I am leaning towards the shot bloks.

08.11.11
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Made stir fry. It was phenomenal. Unfortunately, I know what was in it, but I have no idea what amount of anything. So I'll keep trying to make it and recreate it.

That's all for now folks!