Before the world stops,

let me tell you that I've been meaning to somehow digress this disorganized mess I call my life into teeny little informational tidbits for you to digest.

That being said, I've been far too busy. Maybe one of these days after some tearfully long time, you'll open up my blog and be pleasantly surprised.

But don't hold your breath. :)

I love it!

... that the CEO of the bank knows my name. And periodically walks behind the teller line (and elsewhere in the bank) just to see how everyone's doing.

... that I'm over my bitterness about Christmas. I'm actually humming along with the holiday music. Maybe I was just sticking up for Thanksgiving?

... that my photography business has really picked up lately.

... that photography makes me feel like I am actually good at something. [rather than whittling away at my self esteem like other unsaid things I'm getting paid to do]

... that I still get an awesome feeling of warm fuzzies all throughout the photography process!

... that I'm going to Missouri to see my amazing friend Cheree... and it's coming up soon!

... that I gave up my sleeping in (and my day off) to open at the bank because I live so close. Actually makes me feel like I'm doing something beneficial for them.

... that I've gotten marketing pieces for photography done and up on the web for the past week or so!

... that I've been so busy, I haven't had time to post. (I know, it's been like a week and a half.)

... that the workers are coming here tomorrow night and I haven't started cleaning. I haven't even washed dishes for 2 days! Looks like dusting and mopping the floor are out!

... that our dog is growing her hair out. Finally.

... that my life to you all now consists of bullets! :)

Happy snow, everyone! Maybe we'll get the 12 end of the 8-12" spectrum?!

Some new looks!

I guess this is what you could call my complete overhaul.. on my photo blog. :)

I added a weddings section and just more information generally, while updating the header and colors.

Tell me what you think!



Oh and I'm leaning towards the flash, still possibly the battery pack, and maybe just a really good diffuser instead of bracket? I haven't quite decided yet.

Meanwhile, I'm dreaming of beautiful 24" monitors. Someday.

Let's vote!

What does Mariah need more?

a new 24" monitor by laCie

or a flash, battery pack, and bracket combo?

Now keep in mind, both of these cost about the same. The monitor I can use right away because I need more space for working in Photoshop. However, I desparately need a flash (and therefore a bracket) for shooting weddings next year. Right now, I've only budgeted for one. Poo. So I need help deciding..

What do you think?

One of these days..

I promise I'll update with pictures and details from the last few weekends. However, I just wanted to share this morning's accomplishment with you.

I managed to whittle down the messages in my email inbox down to one!

Woo hoo! I got my organization on!

It's about time.

... for a random, that is!


Don't you love that little spurt of power and strength you feel when you crush a milk jug? "I'm the strongest woman in the world!!" Pat myself on the back.

Oh wait, it's a thin plastic milk jug. That I ran under hot water to rinse it out.

Awww..

Cute witto pudder...

Dun dun dun.

The end.

Note to self #4725

Pee before coming home.

Do not, in any circumstances, let yourself pee before the dog pees when you arrive home.

Do not, in any circumstances, let the dog walk around on the rug-free floor in the bathroom while you're, you know...




Ps. Don't take your time doing your thing in a bathroom with motion-sensor lights. Sigh.

Arg.

Ever have one of these days?

Seems like I've made one mistake too many for the like the past week... and my emotions are running amok anyway due to internal forces.

I'm very frustrated with myself... and I can tell others are too. It seems like I spend half my day making mistakes, and the other half cleaning up my mistakes.



I'm thinking some puppy lovin' along with some chocolate might do the trick...

Turbo!

Turbo, Turbs for short if Joel doesn't hear. Our sweet little shipoo who has had only a few accidents, is actually starting to respond to her name, and tips the scale at 2.1 lbs. She loves to cuddle, especially snuggling into your neck, but her second favorite activity is playing..

Enjoy! I'm sure you'll love her as much as we do... (which is why the fact that I'm slightly allergic to her isn't of consequence...?)

Dog!

We're probably getting a dog tomorrow.

And by probably, I mean I'm going to look at a sweet little ball of fur tomorrow with Mary Jo. And have you ever had an intent to buy a puppy and then just leave it there?

No. Of course not.

So. We're getting a puppy tomorrow. :)

These are both Shi-poo's, females, and sisters. We like (by picture only) the tan one... can't wait to see them in person tomorrow!

Just wanted to share...

Some more plexer pictures..

These are from last weekend... by Monday evening, Joel had filled everything in with gravel, so we can at least step up into the plexer instead of being a monkey.

Yeah... I couldn't actually get myself to walk over this by myself... I had to have Joel reach back and help me every time. Yikes.


"Doug" in the hole.

Long overdue.

Click here to see why I've been on a Randominities sabatical.

And in other news.

I've decided to start cooking more. You don't even want to know about our previous eating habits. I don't even want to think about it. Bring on the chicken breasts and hamburger meat!

Work's going pretty good. Yesterday I was late. (So... every schedule I have, including my phone's, said that I opened... and wah lah! My brain says, hey, you go in at 8:30. Le sigh.) And made a boo-boo. But other than that, good.

Joel's started our "driveway project." Here's some pics for those of you w/o facebook. The day after Joel started.. it rained. For a week. I'm already sick of muddy shoes and climbing up into our place on slippery pallets. The floor of the Buick looks like a mudslide threw up on it. And, hm. I'm from Iowa and new to this "red" dirt, which by the way, is the reason for the basement walls caving in in the first place.













Fun, eh?

Sigh.

*Warning* **Nostalgic memories ahead**

At work, we got to talking about high school the other day. As I was sharing some of my "experience," I realized I came across sounding really bitter, which is not how it was at all.

So yes, it did take until mid-high school for those not in my group of friends to say hi in the hallways to me, but had I ever made eye contact, smiled, and/or said hi in passing to them before? Of course not.

I actually rather enjoyed high school. Choir became my lifeline. Voice lessons were my driving force. Classes were fun and enjoyable. Teachers (mostly) were those to be respected, and ocassionally sparred with. Homework was a priority, but only to get the A. Art was present every semester. I loved my job at the little library where I made just above minimum wage (back when it was $5.15). Trips to Wisconsin, dating Joel, among others from there... ;) My group of friends from school; we did something like once a year.

Riding with Justin. Getting my license. Accidents, losing my license, getting close to Mom as she drove Blair and I every day.

Graduating 2nd in the class. Having a huge gathering of relatives and friends at my graduation party.

Yup. Sure was a good ol' time.

Warm fuzzies.

Just one of those days. Feeling good about life in general, caught a lot of extra snuggle time with the hubby while he was home last night, loving photography, loving early morning retouching with light piano music, and loving my job. Wanted to share that with you all. :)



Btw, this is Toby, my cousin, and Kale, his cousin out on Coronado Beach in CA, near San Diego. Photography complements of Kale's sister, Katie.


Oh and just share an interesting little tidbit from work yesterday. One of the Customer Service Reps (Teller/Banker folks) wanted to put together little Halloween packages to give out to neighboring businesses and wanted a little flyer made up to put in there also. She gave me the job (instead of the marketing guy sitting across office... ??). However, it turned out pretty cool for just using Word (Poo, no Photoshop at work. haha), and was even told by the marketing guy that it looked good. :) Yay. Pretty good for a photo major, eh? :)

I'm in love. :)

First of all, with my adorable husband. I was showing him some of the sessions I've done recently and some of the images were less than perfect. All the while somewhat complaining that my lens is junk. Never was spectacular to begin with, and then the backpack incident didn't help. [At least, I'm hoping that it's just my lens and not the camera. I'm pretty sure it's not though. I brought it to a Canon rep at a photo convention tradeshow, and he said just by zooming my lens in and out, he thought something was wrong. Also, when I would put other lenses on the body, it worked fine.] So. He said: You need a new lens. I hemmed, hawed, and was finally convinced to spend my little life's photo savings in the span of about 30 seconds.

Now I'm also in love with the lens... :)

Canon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Autofocus Lens


Aint it just beautiful?

Wow.

So many things to say about this comment that was just written on my blog about my political post a ways down.



Here's the comment:

"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross".

Read the concerns of the founding fathers of this country. Jefferson. Madison. others.

First dispense with the pejorative labels of "liberal" and "conservative". Then you might begin to see how skillfully the power elite have hijacked the party of Eisenhower, T. Roosevelt and Lincoln. And duped its supporters. Of course, they have equally hijacked the Dems as well.

From a lifelong Republican of 60 years (Until last year)



And here's what I have to say to "WCH":

1. Who are you? Honestly. Mr./Mrs. 60-year Repub turned Dem.
2. Who do you think you are?
3. How dare you insult Christ that way?
4. Fine. You have your opinion, and I have mine. I'm not forcing you to read my blog, and quite frankly, I don't want to be forced to read your comment.
5. Which, by the way, I have the right to my opinion on MY OWN BLOG. Just sayin.
6. Grow a pair and let me get back to your profile, Mr. or Mrs. WCH, so I can be more "informed" on your opinion. Or just to write a comment or two.
7. You want to spar with me? Heh. I looove arguments. Bring it on. [PS. My husband can attest that I'm overtly stubborn.]
8. Pushin' me closer to going private.
9. Your fancy words make me laugh. Hijacked? Duped? Come on. Use real words that aren't made to "hijack" your mind and used to trigger certain emotions. You're worse than the media. That's certain to be a success for you. Why don't you pat yourself on the back?
10. You're saying that the Democratic party hasn't changed as well? If you really take a look at how the parties have morphed throughout history, you'll see that some of the views of each party have completely flipped between the two.
11. Ripping on politics is fine. Ripping on Jesus and God, who deserve the ultimate respect and love from every living soul, is not. If you're so concerned about the founding fathers' ideals, take a look at what they set up: nearly everything they created was based on basic Christian principles. "In God we trust" is on our money. The Pledge of Allegiance mentions we are a nation united under God.

I think that's enough for now.

But btw, this is my blog, and yes, I will keep deleting your comments if you should happen to post again.

And PS: Honestly, I feel sorry for you. More than sixty years of life's experiences and you still need to grow up. However, not sorry enough to let you post slanderous comments on my blog.

Update. [boring title for lack of anything better to say]

Snow. Something about it already being winter (eg, freezing temps and snow) makes me extremely crabby. And I'm already freaking out about driving this winter. Yes, I know. I drive like a mile to work. I'm still scared.

On a lighter note, I had a great time doing a couple senior shoots this weekend, as well as the family of one of the seniors, and a younger cousin of mine. I can't wait to show them to you all, but there's too much other stuff to work on right now.

Hopefully once I get caught up with that, I'll be able to post some stuff on my photo blog, which also is sorely lacking in posts recently.

Work is going great! We had an all day training day today, which consisted of the usual numbers/predictions to begin with. We did this "team-building" activity which wasn't actually lame, but pretty fun. Lunch then some compliance talk (which I suppose was the whole reason for the day??). Then we closed with a really disorganized and unmotivational speaker.

Sorry, but if you're "motivating" me (or speaking/teaching/etc), I need to know where you're going. Have a main theme or point that you come back to over and over, and set up your speech so that everything you say supports that. Or do they teach speech class differently than they did 3 years ago??

Anyway, then they got us free laser-tag tickets, which was a blast!! I found out that I get reaaaaallly competitive with that. Haha. We're talking physical force and bending the rules here. :)

So, I've been busy (we've been busy!), but just normal every-day things and nothing really to post about. Sorry for my absence. :)

No. Not rain.

Love indexed.

Not a lot new

and exciting.

Hence, the lack of blog posts.

Just working, doing a lot of (sub?)contractor work on the computer for photographers, and catching up on the shows. :)

I'm on a late lunch right now, but wanted to tell everybody to have a great weekend! It's cold and rainy up here, but the sun's been peeking out every once in a while. :)

Also, just in case any are interested and haven't seen, here's the blog link for Larisa Hertz, the young lady from KS (?) who was in the accident and severely burned.

Too darn cute.

Divorcing.

DIVORCE AGREEMENT

Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists, Obama supporters, et al:

We have stuck together since the late 1950's, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

Here is a model separation agreement:

Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.

We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them. You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU, and abortion clinics. Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell...

We'll keep the capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street. You can have your beloved homeless, homeboys, hippies and illegal aliens. We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms and rednecks. We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .

You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us You can have the peaceniks, and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.

We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N., but we will no longer be paying the bill.

We'll keep the SUVs, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find.

You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors. We'll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right. We'll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the National Anthem. I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, Kum Ba Ya or We Are the World.

We'll practice trickle down economics and you can give trickle up poverty your best shot. Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name and our flag.

Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you ANWAR which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.


Sincerely,

John J. Wall
Law Student and an American

P.S. Also, please take Barbara Streisand and Jane Fonda with you

GOD BLESS AMERICA

New background..

You like?

I can't find anything I really really like... so bummer.

Well, still home sick.

But here's a random! :)

Have you ever seriously thought about your cravings? Do you ever wonder if it actually means something? Say, your body needs something so your subconscious brain remembers back to a time when it got that "something." Then your subconscious shoots an email to your conscious brain and says, here, "crave this!" Or something like that.

My two main cravings are chips/salsa and chocolate. Now chocolate is a pretty easy one. It's been proven that chocolate is somehow linked to serotonin levels in your brain... aka, the "feel good stuff." So that explains why I always crave that.

But chips and salsa? Does my body want sodium? Whatever that goodness is in tomatoes [eg. lycopene, an antioxidant; vitamins A&C]? Jalepenos? I don't know. Am I really the only one that craves chips and salsa... even when I'm sick?

Let's say you crave a doughnut. Does that mean your body "needs" sugar, fattening calories, and nasty fried food? I doubt it. But maybe your body is telling you it needs something to eat... or something as a pick me up to get some energy. In that case, I'd probably go for a protein bar.

So.... Does this actually happen? This physical reason for a mental thought... Or is this just a figment of my imagination?

Either way, I'm hungry!

We really need a peephole.

Because then I wouldn't answer the doorbell, give money out to random people who insult me, and for causes that I really don't support.

Le sigh.

And I'm sick.

But they gave me a prescription for my very own inhaler! Yay!

Note to self #4703

Bring allergy meds to convention. And get tested for asthma so I can have my own inhaler.

Convention was great. I'm talking absolutely wonderful-great. I am not. My asthma really got the best of me. My allergies got the best of me. And now I think I'm getting some type of lung infection/sore throat business from it all.

I sound like a man.

Sigh.

Any suggestions?


PS. My dearest hubby is home this week... glory be. I'm lovin it! :)

Happiness is:

Fresh laundry smell.

Good deals in the grocery store.

The Office, Private Practice, Greys, and Castle returning.

Beautiful summer weather... FINALLY!

Getting some shoes sent from Heaven for my feet for work.

My first paycheck on Friday.

Finding that they have even a bigger size than before in your favorite brand of tampons!!

Talking silly with Joel.

4 wonderful days of convention ahead... starting tomorrow!!


**Update: A few more things:

Finding control top, yet waistband free nylons that don't fall down.

Finally having a job... and one that is very enjoyable.

Becoming friends with the people you work with.

Notes to self #4698-4699

The edges of Parmesan block cheese are *not* edible.

It does not take equal parts of cream and Parmesan to make homemade alfredo sauce.





Double sick.

Quirk.

I have this "quirk" about my personality. I've read about it throughout the many personality profiles and tests I've done in college/work/etc. And I think it's gosh-darn hilarious.

I'm one of those type-a personalities. You know, the director/the choleric, whatever system you use. Anal. In control, especially of everyone else. Sometimes overly perfectionistic. Not really a need for gushy, mushy compliments and small talk. Get to the point. Can often come off as abrupt or harsh. Wham-bam-thank-ya-ma'am.

Yeah, I'm one of thoooose people.

And the quirk. See, we're pretty good people, we control freaks: we don't really need rules. In fact, we're too good for rules. We've no use for them, and they simply don't apply. You need me to close up 5 minutes after the actual closing time? No-sir-ee, I don't think so. What? I need to rip out that seam and do it again? No way.. that'll work just fine the way it is.

It's not that we hate rules. In fact, we make rules up for other people all the time. We just don't need them for ourselves. And we might be just a bit better than you too... which is why we don't need the rules in the first place. Get over it.


And if we respect you, well, then we'll follow your rule for awhile. Especially if it's a pretty good rule. But just until we come up with a better one.



Now, I am not going to put a little disclaimer here that says I only get this symptom of my personality every so often.. so as not to offend anyone. I'm not. Because I don't need that rule of society.

Sick.

They can't afford health insurance. So we're going to fine them.

Dorks.

OH!

I forgot.

You'll enjoy this.

Our big blue van? Yeah. Universal Studios is buying it to make it into a stunt vehicle. Good ol' Doug is gonna be famous. Too bad they wont tell us what movie it's going to be in!

I was so excited...

... and then I realized that I'd have to entertain you all with something besides my job hunt. :)

So I was on the search for "blogable" items all day today as I strolled through my first day. And came up with this. I had to watch this reeeaaaaallly boring video about scammers and identity theft people.

The only thing that kept me from falling asleep: the boring guy just sitting there speaking moved just enough throughout the video that whatever little speck there was on the screen looked like it was going up each nostril.

Sorry, it's all I got. I had a great first day, btw. :)

Fresh view..

on things. Check it out here!

This is a must read!

Oh, and have a good Labor Day!

I should get up early more often..

Full day today.... which is saying a lot for someone with no kids, no job (yet), and no husband at home. :P

Failed at making oatmeal for myself. (Okay, it was good, but still..)

Seriously? You're supposed to take the cover off when you're boiling oatmeal? Sure enough.

Went to Grandma B's to have her help me finish up my sewing project..


Both her and Grandpa weren't too impressed with the jeans that I picked out for this second one... haha. We sewed polka-dot patches behind all the rips and tears though... :)

Came home and did 3-weeks worth of laundry (I do Joel's every week... but I have tons more clothes! haha), and edited pictures for 5 hours. They're not my own, but I'll ask if I can post them on my photo blog. I love the power of Photoshop!
[Disclaimer: Please do not call Adobe. They do not care if I say "Photoshop" on my blog. Seriously.]

And now I'm enjoying this awesome lettuce salad that I absolutely have to share the recipe with you.
Olive oil
White wine vinegar
Parmesan cheese
Dill
Some type of lemon/herb seasoning
A little garlic/onion powder
Salt

Just dump that all on your salad and toss!


Except I added Parmesan after I took the picture.. :)

And Joel just called and said they're on their way home tonight! Woo hoo! :)

This is hilarious.

Not.

So one of the other banks that I'd been in contact with... like a MONTH ago, called me back bright and early this morning with a full-time teller position.

Seriously? You couldn't have called even 2 days ago?

I'm still happy though. :)

em⋅ploy⋅ment

[em-ploi-muhnt]–noun

1. the state of being employed; employ; service
2. an occupation by which a person earns a living; work; business
3. an activity or the like that occupies a person's time
4. MY NEW PAST-TIME!

Got a call this morning from one of the "financial institutions"... and an offer! My response was Jimmy John's fast. I ACCEPT! :D Now all I have to do is pass the background check, credit check, drug test (phew, I'm so worried here..) and I start next Tuesday. I might even get to have the Saturday of Boyden, and all the days of Marion off work!

It is part-time, but leaning towards 30 hours/week with a definite possibility of going full-time.






WOOOooosh. That was the air from the breath I've been holding since May.

We should all do something to celebrate!

Oh, yeah, that.

The two interviews last week Thursday and Friday.

Both went well.
Both really liked me (from what I could tell.)
Both were for part-time positions at banks/credit unions.
Both included shuffling hours, filling in for people, and some Saturdays.
Both positions included mostly teller duties; one had some "fill-in" banker duties like opening accounts, which I'm not too ecstatic about.. Oh well.

Both were going to get back to me this week.


Anyone know of any seniors/weddings in need of a photographer? :)

25 Questions x 2

1. My ex is...still my friend.

2. I should learn to...be more patient.

3. I love...Joel.

4. People would say that I am... [heck, I don't know?]

5. I don't understand...why it's so hard for eligible people to get jobs.

6. When I wake up in the morning...I have to follow my routine, otherwise my whole day is messed up.

7. I lost...some of my singing ability. :(

8. Life is...pretty good, can't WAIT for conventions!

9. My past taught me...I can do anything if I put my mind to it.

10. I get annoyed when...hangers get tangled up. Or when I spill mochas on myself. Or slow drivers.

11. Parties...never had that experience, thankfully.

12. I wish...for a lifetime of happiness.

13. Dogs and cats...Dogs are waaay better than cats. Definitely cant wait to get a dog.

14. My childhood pets...consisted of dogs.

15. Tomorrow is...Monday, and I actually have a list of things to do.

16. I have a low tolerance for...a lack of morality.

17. If I had a million dollars...I would pay off all of our debt, fix up our plexer, and invest the rest for retirement.

18. I'm terrified of...losing the people that are most important to me.

19. I've come to realize... I've "grown up" more since I've been married than all the other years previous combined.

20. I am listening to...beautiful silence.

21. I talk...too much at times.

22. My good friends...live too far away. :(

23. My first kiss...was in first grade.

24. Love is...amazing. :)

25. Marriage is...also amazing. :)

26. Somewhere, someone is thinking... I sure hope someone, somewhere is thinking... seems like nobody is thinking these days.

27. I'll always be...a little bit emotional over things like funerals, touching and inspirational times, and movies.

28. The last time I really cried was...uhm. No comment.

29. My cell phone is...being stupid. It won't connect to the internet anymore.

30. Before I go to bed...I brush my teeth, etc.

31. My middle name...is Dawn.

32. Right now, I am thinking...I should really just go to bed.

33. Today I...went to meeting, ate lunch at the mall, came home took a nap, picked up Gma and Gpa Helf, met the in-laws at Culvers, and went to convention for a sing.

34. Tomorrow I will be...getting some stuff done around here.

35. I really want to...hear back from the places I interviewed at.

36. The person most likely to re-post this is...?

37. The person least likely to re-post this is...probably most people.

38. My relationship with my grandparents...is good... :)

39. My most treasured possession is...Bible, camera, computer

40. My favorite pictures...Wow. Got me here.

41. I sing...well.. not as good as I used to though. :(

42. If I were a crayon...I'd be the one that never got used.

43. Someday I want to travel to...East Coast, Hawaii, Europe.

44. I am wearing...pajamma's and sweatshirt

45. My favorite class this semester... *tear* no school.

46. My native language is...English.

47. It hurts...when you run into counters/walls/tables with your hips. Or walk too long in 5" heels. :)

48. I'm going to miss...sleeping in once I get a job. haha

49. My profile picture is...Joel and I

50. I need...A JOB! haha

Pass the random, please!

Just a little snippet from my mind..

When I was a kid, I would often (as in meaning usually once a day) stop what I was doing, look at the clock, note the time, and think to myself: "Now, if something hugely catastrophic happened right now, or we got a phone call with bad news, I could be a really good witness and know the exact time it happened."

Shoes and interviews

Calling all shoe lovers!

I finally got my shoes that I ordered from Aldo today... (finally meaning I had to wait a whole, what, 4 days? :D)

Ah. Love the 5" heels on the black ones. Don't know if they love me, though.







I have an interview tomorrow morning and then another interview set for Friday morning... both with "financial institutions." (Since using names is inappropriate on here.) I'll let you know how they go!

Mermaid or whale?

Great post on Alaina's blog. Check it out!

Also, I have a phone interview this afternoon, and a face-to-face interview on Thursday morning.. both with "financial institutions."

Both are for part time jobs, but I keep prodding around the idea of doing my own photography thing, so maybe that would give me time to do that...?

I've started doing some trial Photoshop work for a photographer in Iowa, to see if I meet their expectations for quality retouching.. hopefully that leads into something good. :) (And if you're reading this, which you might be, I just want to thank you again for this opportunity.. :D)

Along the same lines, I've had a domain name reserved for quite a while for my 'Baseman Studios', so any thoughts on developing that into a website? I'd like to, but still don't know if I want to jump in head first to my own photography business. It starts to overwhelm me... dealing with lawyers, making everything official, etc.

Joel's out on the road again this week, but it was great to have him home last week. Friday night we went down to Ripon. Joel got a new 4-wheeler a week ago, and so he wanted to test that out. We took the pontoon boat out on the lake for a cruise in the coooold weather, but ended up seeing a nice display of fireworks over Green Lake right as we pulled up to the dock. They were amazing.. we didn't get to see any over the 4th since we were in Houston.

Yesterday we were invited over to Franke's with the Topinka's.. spent the whole day there! It was a great time!

I've done a "complete cricket carnage" this weekend, finishing up the rest of my spraying this morning, and vacuuming up about 10 dead ones in the basement. Phew!

Tomorrow is Corn Day at Marion, and the first prep day was last Saturday.. we got a lot accomplished! I'm team shooting a wedding this Saturday, so will miss that prep day.

This is pretty short and sweet, compared to how my updates usually go... Lots going on, especially for not having a job.. haha. Have a good Monday!


Ps. I've got a hankering for almond cookies... so I might make myself a batch. Anyone want to share them so I don't eat them all myself? :)

Note to self #6382

No more long blog posts.

Sigh. The drama of html formatting, pictures, and center/left align.





(But you know it will happen again.)

*Whooosh*

You can finally stop holding your breath. I'm going to do this super-long post. Bear with me. And I'm going to work backwards, since that's how I remember things.

So today: I'm filling in as secretary/receptionist for Baseman Floors since MMJ made a quick trip to Vanderbilt Convention in MI, and Becky was off. Wooo. I've taken one prank call from Jess asking for "Doug," quite a few from Jeff, one from Jon, one from some chick asking for a schedule, and apparently someone on hold on line 5.. (oh wait, no line five, thanks for that, Jess, as I'm freaking out.) Fun. Tonight we might go to the races with Ron and Jeanine. Or go down to Ripon so Joel can ride this new 4-wheeler he got to go to California this winter. Except it's rainy and really cold.. so.. we'll see.

This week: I did a nice big senior session with Mariah, which was amazing. We had so much fun shootin' up the town of Neenah. If you still didn't check out the pictures, well, by golly, look at them now!

Last weekend, on Sunday a bunch of us girls went to High Cliff park, south of Appleton. It was a good time.. we walked on some trails, brought a picnic supper... We took some more pics of Mariah too.. but none of them turned out as well as the ones from the other days. Enjoy!

View from the "tower" at High Cliff

Suz's mad skills

Mad, mad skills

Lovely Sarah

Rock climbing

Sweet pic of Trista

Mariah and Trista

We left for Virginia last Monday (10th) in the afternoon. They had to do some warranty work on a floor down there, so Mary Jo and I went along with Mike and Joel. It was actually a lot of fun... lots of driving, lots of talking time. We played games, read books, ate at McDonalds... :) I think it was like a 13-15 hour drive one way, somewhere in there. On the way home though, we got stuck in traffic through Chicago... it took 3 hours to get all the way through the city. Then we got stuck again in Milwaukee. Wow. I've never seen traffic that bad. Just a lot of construction, and then there was an accident in Chicago or something. We got back Friday just in time for supper, which we ate at this neat Mexican restaurant a couple blocks from our plexer.

Random: I left my ring at the very first motel we stayed at on our way down... and didn't realize it until we were almost to Cincinnati. Ooops! We ended up just keeping on going, and picked it back up on our way back through. I'm a smartie.

Driving home through the Smoky mountains. I had never been anywhere in the eastern US, so this was pretty cool.

The neat motel at Georgetown, KY.. very nicely decorated. The beds/rooms were even cooler, but I didn't take a picture before we mussed it all up with our luggage, etc. I loved this motel, but MJ didn't... I guess their showerhead didn't work.





I've never seen this much rain ever! They got 6 inches in 2.5 hours.. we could hardly get back to our motel because every street around it was flooded. Water was actually coming out of the drain holes in the streets.

The first day we got there we had to bum around waiting for the power to come on.. Joel being goofy.


So the week before that, I went out to Iowa for one of my high school friend's wedding. I left on Tuesday and stopped in Waterloo for the night. Had supper with the Simons, and spent the night with Lisa. It was really fun! Wednesday I continued on to Mom and Dad's. Blair had his Pre-All State Camp concert that night, so I went to that down in Sioux City.

Lawnmowers in the streets... only in small-twon Iowa.



The group shot of the concert.

After the concert, I went back up to Rock Valley for Amy's bachlorette party that night at a campground. A bunch of their friends from Central College were there. I had a great time getting to know them.. after camping over, we made sandwhiches the next morning for the wedding the next day.

Then we went to Butler's for lunch, a little coffee shop in SC.. we sat there for over 2 hours chatting and having a good time.

That afternoon, I went out and shot some senior pictures with Blair.. his are also on my Baseman Studios blog.

The next day was the wedding day! Amy and David McAlpine; 08.07.09

The group of us girls at the reception.

This should wrap everything up! Have a great weekend!