I take pictures

January 26 - February 6

2012-02-05T19:18:00.002-06:00

More pictures! All from the cell phone this time around and most done with Hisptagram.

01.26.12 - Readers of this blog for a long time might recognize this disfigured toy from a Capture Your 365 prompt from last year. I honestly thought I'd thrown it away, but it turned up again.

01.27.12 - Dinner out with the hubs. We went to this great Asian place that comes with soup as a starter. It was so good.

01.28.12 - Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Loved this book. By the way, even as far into the series that I am. I'd still choose to be pretty. What does that say about me? (You'll see the sequel, Pretties, below and probably next time the third book, Specials, and the fourth book, Extras).

01.29.12 - Accidental 7 mile run with the hubs. It was a six miler on the schedule, but I didn't count the detour to check out the Cats stadium and then we ran a little further looking for a place to sit at the "halfway" point.

01.30.12 - Early morning flight to Phoenix that was delayed by an hour. These people suck. I'll be making this flight quite often for a while and I really hope that the delay was a one time deal, but based on the other people that are on this flight a lot, it happens all the time.

01.31.12 - Pretties by Scott Westerfeld. Yeah, I still want to be a pretty. Even if I lose my brain. I'm kind of ok with that. It wasn't that awesome to begin with. : )

02.01.12 - When I left for work, all of this stuff was strewn all over the bathroom. When I got back the maid had put it in order and all nice and straight. I might have immediately messed it up after taking this picture.

02.02.12 - Gym time. I did manage to hit the work out facility a few times. This night I did a few miles on the treadmill and then thought I would be cool and use the elliptical. Here's the thing, the elliptical sucks. No lie. I hurt for three days after this.

02.03.12 - I normally mix granola into my yogurt, but since I was staying at a hotel, they had the option of fruit loops. Fruit Loops make strawberry yogurt way better. I'm just saying.

02.04.12 - Finally home from Arizona (for a little while at least). Went to a local Antique Mall and had to take a picture of the Yetti vacuuming that they had painted on the wall. It was too stinking funny.

02.05.12 - 7.25 miles with the hubby. Beautiful day. We opted to go later in the day than normal and that equated to some stomach issues on my part, but it really would've been too cold early in the morning. When we started it was cloudy and grey. When we came around the corner and were running straight to Fort Worth, the grey had all burned off and we were left with a gorgeous day!

Until next time!

January 19 - January 25

2012-01-26T09:23:00.000-06:00

I actually seem to be keeping up with this right now. Crazy. So, I think the only reason is that I have Lightroom4 on my work laptop and most of my pictures have been taken with my phone, but I guess whatever works. I will say that one of the pictures below was taken with my big girl camera. Can you tell which one?

01.19.12 - Still sick. This was my new best friend and helped me get through the long work day.

01.20.12 - I love these things. All pointy and what not. Plus they look great with some bush bokeh. : )

01.21.12 - New books that I picked up from Half Price Books. The top two are the 3rd and 4th in the series. I ended up having to go to another Half Price Books to find the 1st and 2nd. #1stworldproblems.

01.22.12 - This totally happened. Pink compression sleeves (6 mile long run on this day, for sure needed those), one neon green sock and one striped sock. I was in a hurry to get dressed to go to lunch after our run that I just grabbed whatever socks that I could find(laundry was done, but not put away). After lunch we went for a walk around the neighborhood and I wore shorts and didn't change out of the sleeves or socks. So yeah, that happened.

01.23.12 - I am really loving the Hipstamatic App.

01.24.12 - Starbucks hot chocolate with a half of a lemon pound cake. My friend Natalie had the other half. I don't know if that pound cake was really good or if I just haven't had real wheat flour in ages.

01.25.12 - Cold, rainy day in Dallas. Chili for lunch. It was totally great.

Alright! See you soon for more picture-y goodness!!

January 12 - 18th

2012-01-19T07:36:00.000-06:00

I am actually posting another grouping of pictures! Crazy times. Anyway, I do want to semi-apologize. I seemed to have rediscovered my hipstamatic app and I might have used it for everyone of these photos. Enjoy.

01.12.12 - Getting ready for a really cold run. These are my favorite running tights that I got for my birthday. The only bad thing is that it has to be REALLY cold to wear them and so I've only gotten to take them for a spin three times since I got them. (PS. Ditz thinks they are hideous)

01.13.12 - Chase. I think he was trying to figure out why I am so weird.

01.14.12 - Went to my mother-in-laws to watch a movie. She was working when we got there and instead of offering to help, I took pictures. At the time I snapped this one I didn't even notice that the horse had turned around to look at me.

01.15.12 - 5 mile hike with the hubs at our favorite hiking place. It was so nice out that the trail was packed and that kind of sucked, but it was still a good work out.

01.16.12 - One of the windows near my office. I always think that I want to go into this store and then remember that we got one of their catalogs at the office and I can't even afford a throw pillow from here.

01.17.12 - I buy the vast majority of my books from Half Price Books. One of the really cool things about buying used books (besides them being way cheaper) is that you find all kinds of "bookmarks" that people left behind. I've found a couple of plane tickets, movie stubs and other notes. This is the latest one. Apparently the Megan clan rox.

01.18.12 - Ditz and I both spent the day in bed sick. It was not cool or fun. Plus the dogs were confused as to why we were still home.

So, there we go. Another week of photos!

2012 Photo of the Day

2012-01-12T07:57:00.001-06:00

I'd actually considered taking a break from this project. I started in 2009 and have not yet missed a day (however there was one really close call where I lost a memory card and cried, then we found it). I told the hubs in December that I was for sure going to take a break. And then January 1 came. And I took a picture. And then on the 2nd and 3rd. Then I decided it was kind of ingrained in to me at this point. It's a new day, you take a picture. So, I am going to keep it up. Towards the end of last year, I took the majority of the photos with my phone and I thought that made me a failure as a photographer, but this year I decided that I am ok with that. Cell phone pictures can still tell the story. So without further ado. Here's a look at the first 11 days of 2012.

January 1 - The final Christmas in a long line of Christmas' this year. That's Chase and our new dog, Hannah.

January 2 - Lunch at Mi Cocina with the hubs. We're reflected in the sugar bowl. Every time I eat at Mi Cocina I remember it's over priced. Maybe once I'll remember before I go.

January 3 - Lunch for the Razorbacks at my office. I wasn't allowed up front, so no pictures of the coaches and wives.

January 4 - What I am currently reading. I finished 89 books last year and really wanted to make it to an even 90, but the Hate List was just a little too slow in the beginning for me to finish it. However, about half way through I ended up speed reading it. I gave it 4 stars on Good Reads.

January 5 - Family game night with my parents. All I have to say is that this game sucks. I hate it. And the hubs was really good at it. Now he wants to play it a lot.

January 6 - My parents at the Cotton Bowl. Yep, we were there rooting for the Razorbacks. Glad they won otherwise it would've been an awful ride home.

January 7 - Fro yo from Yogurtland, the best of all fro yo places. I chose vanilla cookie yogurt with nuts, a few chocolate chips and two vanilla wafers. It's toooooooo die for.

January 8 - One of the dogs toys. This is Chase's favorite.

January 9 - Just me. I was trying to take a picture of how good I thought my hair looked that day. Didn't work out so well.

January 10 - Me again. I took 10 days off from running do to some serious foot pain. I felt like I had an incredible run my first day back (hubs went too) and had zero foot pain, so I am calling that a big time win. Please ignore the hair.

January 11 - Twenty years from now I'll probably wonder why I liked this picture. Truth be told it was an accident. I didn't even mean to take it, but at the end of the day, I kind of like it.

Anyway, there you have it. The first 11 days. (If I was smarter I would have waited a day and done 12 days, but since who knows if I'll have any time tomorrow, I better not chance it).

December

2012-01-02T20:49:00.001-06:00

Just dropping int to say that yet again, I am not dead! Instead of boring you with tons of pictures in a post, I've put it into a slide show for your amusement.

09-24-11 to 10-09-11

2011-10-17T08:08:00.002-05:00

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

10.09.11

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

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

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

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

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

10.04.11

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

10.03.11

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

10.02.11

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

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

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

These people really wanted to sell us a car.

09.27.11

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

09.26.11

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

09.25.11

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

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.

OMG - Two times in one week

2011-10-07T11:52:00.000-05:00

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

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

Best nuts anywhere. : )

09.21.11

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

09.20.11

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

09.19.11

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

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

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

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

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

09.14.11

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

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

09.12.11

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

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

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

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

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!

So where were we?

2011-10-06T07:41:00.000-05:00

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

09.07.11

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

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

09.05.11
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

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

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

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

09.01.11

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

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

08.30.11

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

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.

Book Review: Distant Shores by Kristin Hannah

2011-09-27T13:55:00.002-05:00

Distant 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

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares

2011-09-13T08:05:00.001-05:00

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 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

Good Reads Book Review: Blood Vines by Erica Spindler

2011-09-09T08:02:00.000-05:00

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 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

08.11.11 - 08.28.11

2011-08-28T21:01:00.000-05:00

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

08.28.11

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

Best picture of them ever.

08.26.11

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

08.25.11

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

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

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

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

08.21.11

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

08.20.11

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

08.19.11

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

Best card game from 1982 ever.

08.17.11

After a long bike ride.

08.16.11

My super famous black beans and rice.

08.15.11

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

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

08.13.11

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

08.12.11

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

08.11.11

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!

A week in the life

2011-08-26T13:00:00.000-05:00

Way back in July a lot of people played along with Ali Edwards and her week in the life project. Most really together people actually blogged the entire time or shortly there after. Me, I didn't even really know what I was going to do with all of the pictures. At the end of the day, I opted to put them all in a book since it was the first time I've actually finished that project (out of three times starting it). Anyway, all the photos were taken with my iPhone to make it super easy. Anyway, I threw them all into a book and called it a day. If you want to see how boring my life is click below!

Ps - warning there are a lot of self portraits in the book because I am a nerd and that was actually a secondary goal - to take a picture of myself every day.

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Hey, guess what - I'm not dead

2011-08-10T21:44:00.000-05:00

I know, some of you were probably worried. Or not. At any rate, I am not dead and I have 100% kept up with my photo a day project, but to say this summer has been busy is the understatement of the year. I've been working all summer on another project (that I am pretty sure you can figure out because when that's really all you are doing and thinking about it kind of shows up in other parts of your life, ie your photo of the day project). It's like I need two extra hours a day just to get everything that needs to be done - done. Anyway, enough whining from me.

This is a VERY picture laden post and because of that, I am going to go backwards. Starting with today(!!!) and going all the way back to July 5 which is the next picture after the last one I posted last time!

08.10.11

The important part of this picture is the fact that even though we took a mini vacation, there are still work out bottles in the dishwasher. Amazing.

08.09.11

After dinner out with my father-in-law and brother-in-law, I had enough time for a "quick" run. And by quick, I do not mean the pace. I think two snails lapped me, but I did get to see an awesome sunset.

08.08.11

Happy Anniversary to the best hubby ever! This was taken on a hiking trail at a park on Lake Waco. We stopped on our way back from San Antonio so that we didn't hit rush hour. It was very nice to be out of the car and on a hike!

08.07.11

This was hand held. That doesn't mean much to most people, but other photogs will think it's cool. I had literally ten seconds before some people walked back in the shot. I shot it at 1/30th. I think that's the slowest shutter speed I've ever manage to hold steady.

08.06.11

Our suite included a dining room table that seated six. Had to take advantage and order room service. This was the rum punch that we snuck upstairs from the manager's reception (where it was free).. Yeah, we're cheap.

08.05.11

Packing for San Antonio. I'm such an over packer. (PS that's out guest room if anyone would like to come visit.)

08.04.11

We're doing soil samples of our lawn. That is if we ever do them. But they made a cute picture.

08.03.11

I was dead dog sick this day and for some idiotic reason I thought that a hike would be better than my run. Yeah, my name is stupid with a capital S.

08.02.11

No idea why I thought that this was a flattering angle when I snapped this. It was literally the only picture that even looked half way decent which is the only reason it makes in. Boo.

08.01.11

I won't lie. 96% of all of my POTD's from July were taken with my new iPhone 4. I love the snazzy yellow case.

07.31.11

Ditz and I hiking at Eagle Mountain Lake. Um, yeah, I don't know if you guys know this or not, but it's a thousand degrees here right now.

07.30.11

I think I could word for word write the same thing as above. Ditz and I hiking at Eagle Mountain Lake. Seriously. Two days in a row.

07.29.11

My two favorite magazines showed up today. I think I love Peeta even more now that I've seen the actor that's going to play him. I wasn't excited by him at first, but then I saw him dressed as Peeta and wow - I love him.

07.28.11

Post 3 mile run. My bondi band says "just don't be last." That is my current mantra.

07.27.11

I know, two photos of the day in a row of me. But this is my favorite picture of me since forever. I wish I could wear my glasses everyday. : )

07.26.11

My famous squash / mushroom roast. Well, famous to me anyway. My mom learned the hard way to taste something before adding seasoning to it. It doesn't look spicy, but it is.

07.25.11

My mom's dog Lawson. She loves my house because I give her cookies.

07.24.11

My mom's other dog, Atticus. He always looks best in black and white and I don't know why.

07.23.11

Every time we go to the FW Cats game I get lens envy over this guy. I mean seriously he has two cameras both with huge A lenses.

07.22.11

Hanging newly printed pictures at home. Ditz made this with the hangers. Isn't he creative.

07.21.11

Another picture of me. This one pre-workout.

07.20.11

These are seriously burning a hole in my desk drawer.

07.19.11

My current favorite place to run over in Euless. I don't go but maybe once every few weeks, but every time I go I remember how much I love it!

07.18.11

Gluten-free gift package from my mom.

07.17.11

17 Mile bike ride that was supposed to be 15, but I got lost for two miles because I am apparently a dork.

07.16.11

We were on safari... or at Cabellas.

07.15.11

Do you see that it says 114? It's pure and total insanity.

07.14.11

A chapter heading from the book I was reading. I surprise myself a lot too.

07.13.11

Evening bike ride where I ran into some cows. Mooooo.

07.12.11

Seriously, best blue sky ever.

07.11.11

I didn't even remember why I took this. I guess I thought I was being cool.

07.10.11

Picked up at the Peach Festival. The drink was gross, but at least the cup was funny.

07.09.11

Peach Festival in Weatherford. Might eventually do it's own post because there were some cute pictures.

07.08.11

I love you Potbelly. Always will.

07.07.11

In case you were also wondering if Chase was alive. He is or at least he was on 07.07.11

07.06.11

Our new grill. Totally in love.

07.05.11

The mirror is a new addition. It was a gift from my mother-in-law and I don't think Ditz likes it.

Wow, we made it. Or at least I did. Not sure if anyone else is still reading this! Well, now that I am caught up, I'll try not to disappear for so long next time.

i heart faces: Props

2011-07-19T06:53:00.000-05:00

This weeks challenge is about props and well, boys with flowers constitutes a prop in my opinion. I mean they would never really want their picture taken with flowers, but agreed because it was funny (it still is). So, here are the boys with their props!

Last Week

2011-07-04T16:50:00.000-05:00

Happy Fourth of July!! Here's what's been going on for the last week in my neck of the woods.

06.26.11

A gift from my mother-in-law that Ditz really does not like. : ) (by the way, I love it)

06.27.11

It was only a matter of time. When we bought our house we'd hoped to get one year neighbor-free and instead we managed to make it three and a half years. Our across the street neighbors came over and offered their condolences. Ha-ha. At least it's just one side. Who knows when the lot on the other side will get a sign.

06.28.11

Me before a 2 mile run in 106 degrees. Also the very last picture taken with my iPhone 3 before it died.

06.29.11

I'm such a technology nerd. I love the reports that this thing spits out after every workout. I also love not having to remember where I went to figure out how far I went!

06.30.11

Testing out the focus on my new iPhone.

07.01.11

Sushi at An Zen on Friday night. It was pretty good.

07.02.11

Birthday lunch for my father-in-law, Joe. Then we walked to a winery and happened to take the really long way. It was just a bit hot to be doing that.

07.03.11

Fourth of July party at the in-laws. Judi bought nine hundred plates and napkins. I think we'll be using red, white and blue all the way to Christmas.

07.04.011

Half way through my ten mile bike ride. It was positively pleasant.

06.25.11

2011-06-26T13:56:00.000-05:00

Hey look, an entire day that gets it's own post! Haven't seen one of those in a while! We went to lunch with my mother-in-law and we were going to go to Esparanzas, but at the last minute we decided to go to Joe T Garcias. I've never been a huge fan, but it was different and I had their tortilla soup which is actually pretty good. After that, we decided to got to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. We bought the complete package and got to go to the planetarium, the museum and see an iMax movie. Here's what nerds we are:

First stop the planetarium. I actually learned a few things, but I am pretty sure the narrator guy was still mad about Pluto being deemed a dwarf planet. He seemed pretty upset about it.

Then it was on to the cowboy exhibit. This cow stood perfectly still for me.

I think they were discussing how cool they would be if they were cowboys.

This part of the exhibit told you what all cows are used for. It was kind of gross.

Then we went to the aerospace exhibit where I tried to get either Judi or Ditz to stand in front of this sign and point to their career. Neither would. Boo on them.

Then we saw dinosaurs and ran into our neighbors. How weird is that?

This is my photo of the day. I came really close to choosing a photo that Ditz took, but I refrained. It's my project. Anyway, I had to power this part of the town and then take the picture. It's tough work.

This is one where I am trying to figure out exactly what I was doing or looking at. I have no idea.

This one taken by Ditz. It's the entrance.

This one was also taken by Ditz. This was a cool slide that the kids could play on.

We were in the kaleidoscopic. We tried to get a picture of all of us. It didn't really work.

So Ditz stepped out and we tried again. This is the first of several pictures where we were annoyed by little kids. Can't you see the grown ups are playing?

I told you we were nerds.

This would have been my photo of the day if I was going to use one of Ditz's pictures. Again, we are nerds and I am OK with that. After all, there was a dinosaur trying to eat us and no one was helping us. Even those people behind the dinosaur were just casually walking away as if it was no big deal. Dinosaurs eat humans every day.

We waited forever to ride this turtle. I think the parents of the little kids waiting to ride the turtle might have thought we were special.

And then because we'd spent so long at the museum it was actually time to eat again. We went to Tillman's which has to be the best food I've ever eaten and then we actually got dessert. Something we haven't had in months. And yes, it made me sick. But it was totally worth it.

OK, slightly more than two weeks. : )

2011-06-26T13:35:00.000-05:00

Here's what's been going on!

06.10.11

Got some beef jerky from my mom. It was a sampler pack and was quite good.

06.11.11

Yeah, my sunflowers grew really tall, but not very pretty. Most of the pictures that I have taken are at angles to crop out the unpretty parts.

06.12.11

Started a project that involved me painting these white. Step one, done. Maybe at some point I will finish this project (It's two weeks later and I only remembered this project when I got to this picture).

06.13.11

Nothing special. Just my keys.

06.14.11

My bicycle pump. I suck at filling up the tires, just fyi.

06.15.11

Yeah, just heading out for a run.

06.16.11

Bought a dollar bag of soldiers. All of them are doing weird things. Like this guy looks to be on his cell phone.

06.17.11

Must've been a slow picture day. What can I say, this is the end of dinner.

06.18.11

The pretty side of my sunflowers.

06.19.11

Taken with my iPhone. This is me at my resting point nine miles into my 16 mile bike ride. When I finished I nearly died.

06.20.11

My current favorite snack and I really do eat them just like this. It's the perfect mixture of pretzel and peanut.

06.21.11

Some beans for a soup that we have still yet to make.

06.22.11

Finished one of her books. I hated the last two pages, who kills the character on the next to last page? I mean who does that? Oh and that cute little girl, that's me. : )

06.23.11

Water bottles practically litter our kitchen right now.

06.24.11

My favorite shoes.

Two weeks.

2011-06-09T20:51:00.000-05:00

Maybe I am just going to start doing these in two week segments now. It just seems that I never have enough time to take pictures, edit and upload on the same day (or even the same week right now). So probably through the rest of the summer I will update photos once a week or once every two weeks, but don't you worry, I am still out there snapping away!

05.30.11

Oh my word. This kid gets cuter every time I take her picture!

05.31.11

These were actually almost dead which is why I blurred out the petals. : )

06.01.11

My parents are in town. These are my mom's glasses, aren't they cool. Plus that's my dad's homework. So a little bit of both parents in one shot.

06.02.11

This dog officially hates me.

06.03.11

Look a rare shot of my dad, there in the back. I think this was the time that they all plowed into me trying to get that stupid ball. (it was popped about an hour and a half later).

06.04.11

When I have no ideas for a shot, I either a take a picture of a camera or by take a picture of shoes. Those are kind of my hobbies. : )

06.05.11

We may have paid more per ounce for these travel size units, but it beats having liquor just lying around that we'll never drink. As it so happens, I am pretty sure you'd see these six months from now still full.

06.06.11

Took me a while to get into it, but once I did it was really good. Except now I think that there are ghosts everywhere. Boo.

06.07.11

I planted my own personal sunflowers this year. This one is totally ready to pop! I can even see a little yellow. The sucky thing is that the only way I can see it is standing on a chair because the stupid sunflowers have grown taller than me.

06.08.11

Speaking of lack of creativity and ghosts..... do you see me?

06.09.11

Pretzels in my salad is my new favorite thing EVER.

See you guys later!

05.29.11 - Fort Worth Cats Game

2011-05-30T14:15:00.000-05:00

We headed over to La Grave Field in Fort Worth to watch a Cats game (minor league baseball). It's so much better than the big leagues. Plus tickets to a Rangers game would break the bank right now seeing as how they are charging extra just because they made it to the World series last year.

We're thinking maybe next year we'll get season tickets. I enjoy going so much.

We get there really early. I'm always afraid that we'll get stuck in traffic and be late. But we're always super early.

This guy got everyone's and I do mean everyone's autographs twelve times. I am not kidding. See that binder? He has all the card in it. We counted two pages per player and six cards per page. I wasn't kidding about twelve autographs. Ditz figures that he's doing it in hopes that one day they get called up to the majors and then he has an autographed card from them when they were minor league. Good strategy I guess. I do wonder if it's ever paid off for him.

This one was almost my photo of the day. That's me and Ditz and our seat mates. Partly I am including this picture of the wall that I cannot see over so that next time we go I will insist a little louder that that was indeed where we sat last time. (I tried that this go round, but he didn't believe me. We get there and I couldn't see very well over the wall. You'll see this way in some pictures further down. I hate being short).

We were on the visitors side. Fleckenstein was my favorite name of the game. However Hunter Jobes came close becuase when we heard it the first time we thought they said Hunter Jones.

This kid was sitting here trying to get balls. He had at least three before he left.

Photo of the Day Alert

This one took some patience. I wanted the pitcher to be blurry, but everyone else to be clear. Then I also wanted the Cats sign and downtown Fort Wort to be visible. See the blurry green at the very bottom of the picture. That's the wall. You know, the one I can't see over.

A better view of the wall that I can't see over. This is what it's like being me at the game.

And one last one for good measure. The Cats lost by three, but that's good because all the way up until the 8th they were down six nothing. Really a shame that they couldn't pull it off.

Nature Week??

2011-05-30T13:56:00.000-05:00

It;s nature week over at Capture your 365. You'll notice that I have a ?? in the title, because I guess I wasn't in a naturey mood. Most of them sort of follow the prompts and some of the might be nature, but a week of nature photos they are not. : )

05.21.11 (metal)I got this bookmark at Mayfest a few weeks ago. When I saw the prompt was metal, I immediately did a photo shoot.

05.22.11 Soon this will be my sunflower. Hopefully they will grow!

05.23.11 (grow)We grow weeds. It's kind of what we do.

05.24.11 (reflection) Here's where I truly deviate from nature. Unless you count that I am a freak of nature. I really wanted to show my new hair color, but really I think the weird colors kind of take away from the blonde, yes blonde, in my hair. (PS - I took this shot using jpg instead of RAW which means this was the best I could do to make this picture even decent)

05.25.11 (up) See now I am back to nature.

05.26.11 (blue) I think today was supposed to be something blue in nature. Well I came up with something orange on the street. Close enough, right?

05.27.11 (horizon)That's my camera bag. I just really liked this one better than all the other true horizon pictures that I took.

Stay tuned for a Cats game!!

Finishing out food week

2011-05-30T11:38:00.000-05:00

Here's the final two food pictures before moving on to nature photos!

05.19.11 Food at it's source and for me that's at the store, but I wouldn't take a picture there, so here is my refrigerator. : )

05.20.11 Strawberries. A nice cool drink. : )

It's food week!!

2011-05-18T20:56:00.000-05:00

Super exciting because I love food. : ) This week over at Capture your 365 we're doing food and I have to tell you if you want to drool, go take a look at the gallery. There are so many wonderful looking foods! So without further ado, my first four days worth of food shots!

05.15.11 (Prompt was photograph something you eat)

Ditz was able to get our grill working and made this lovely plate of food for me (well, I did the rice. Rice is hard to make...) Anyway, we tried a new spice on the chicken and let's just say I won't be using that spice for a long while!

05.16.11 (prompt was photograph something edible)

The dentist will kill (as if he reads my blog) but my favorite thing about staying at a hotel is the ice. Perfectly bite sized. Sucked I was only there for one night!

05.17.11 (prompt was photograph food with a prop)

Those apples aren't real. Don't try to eat one, you'll just hurt yourself.

05.18.11 (prompt was sweet)

I should have dipped them in sugar since that is my preferred way to way to eat them. If I had a macro lens I would have for sure, but alas....

Stay tuned for the next group of food photos!

05.14.11 & Hunter's graduation post

2011-05-15T20:12:00.000-05:00

Hunter and his wife graduated from college on Saturday. It was really cool that they got to graduate back to back since they now share the same last name. (On the program there is a name in between them, but that person didn't show). I have tons of pics, so I'll start with the photo of the day and then you can see the rest of the day in chronological order or skip the rest. : )

05.14.11

Lisa, Ditz, Hunter & Ditz

Hunter's waving. That's Ryan right next to him not looking at us.

This guys wife was graduating. She had about fifty people there. Or so it seemed.

Hunter and the empty envelope (we know there aren't really diplomas in there). The sucky thing about them being one right after one another was that I missed Ryan.

Back at their seats.

Ditz capturing graduation.

Brothers.

Husband and wife.

Ryan's mom and dad, Jill and Russell.

Lisa, Hunter and Ditz.

Husband and wife. The breeze blew at just the wrong time exposing his face to a little sun. Boooooo, wind.

All the "kids." We went and had a late lunch at Dodies in Rockwall. How I got to choose the restaurant I'll never know.

Ditz and Lisa, better known as "the adults."

The boys

The girls

And finally,Ditz and I.

05.11.11, 05.12.11 & 05.13.11

2011-05-15T19:59:00.000-05:00

It's still toy week over at Capture your 365! Here's some more toy shots:

05.11.11

The theme today was black and white, but at the end of the day I decided I liked brown and white best for this photo. Close enough, I say.

05.12.11

A free toy from woot.com that they sent us to get our business back. We are such suckers.

05.13.11

Todays prompt was broken. And the only toy I would comfortably mutilate was a toy that couldn't be broken, so again I bent rules slightly. I burned mine. It's still broken, just a different kind of broken.

That concludes toy week over at Capture your 365. Next week is food and if there is one thing I know a lot of, it's food. : )