A picture is worth 365,000 words

2010-08-04T22:56:00.000-04:00

Oops. Thought I had left a forwarding address.

See, this format sucks. I'm sorry, it does. This was not what I signed up for when I started this blog and because of this, I have switched blog sites. You can now find me at Christina Stetler Photography. One good thing about the new site is I'm better at keeping up at it. There are all sorts of posts, almost all which involve eye candy of some sort. Check it out. Leave a comment. Become a follower. Can't wait to see you!

2010-05-09T23:59:00.000-04:00

In honor of our upcoming vacation, I ordered the Fish Eye lens through Lensbaby and prayed it would come in time. IT DID!!!!! I got it yesterday and I plan on heading up to the big city this week to play with it. I got it on the camera lens and looked through the viewfinder. It was AWESOME! Can't WAIT to get out there and play. I'll post some shots when I take them. :-)

2010-05-04T20:37:00.002-04:00

Really great article about what makes you you and how to be successful being you.

Running Your Own Race

2010-03-03T20:05:00.000-05:00

It's HERE!!!! My new photography toy has arrived!!! The email came yesterday saying it was shipped and today it was in my mail box. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

I took lots of photos of taking it out of the box and started taking some photos with it. Check back soon for those! My model? Wall-E. :-)

2010-02-28T23:16:00.000-05:00

It's mine...all mine!! My sweet hubby has seen/heard me drool over this little baby for months. I just check out the website randomly just to look at it and the optics you can get to go with it. Today was our 14 year dating anniversary and he ordered me THIS LENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am soooo excited and CANNOT wait til it arrives! Hopefully sometime this week, but it may not be until early next. It will be like Christmas Eve all week until it gets here. :-)

More drooling...

2010-02-23T16:35:00.000-05:00

See the above? That's a Lensbaby Composer. It goes on your D-SLR camera to help you take better photos. No, it doesn't give you instant magic or perfect pictures, but if used correctly, it sure can make your images cool. And in comparison to some other lenses not to mentioned here, is much more affordable. I really want this little baby. Badly. I dream about it and wish it were coming in the mail. Why does it always come down to money? Ugh.

More Cat Photos

2010-02-22T20:21:00.000-05:00

Ok, the cats make the best subjects. LOL! I had Higgy and Pooka sitting next to me all afternoon and of course I took a couple shots. Then I flipped the flash up, put my light blue sweatshirt in front of it and took some photos. What do ya think? I think they're just funny.

Higgy - original and edited

Pooka - original and edited

Elizabeth - original and edited

Drooling

2010-02-21T14:37:00.000-05:00

I just saw this book on one of the photography blogs I follow. The author did a review of the book and honestly, he could have told me it was the worst thing in the world and I would be drooling. I WANT TO LEARN HDR PHOTOGRAPHY. It is AMAZING! I have searched on-line for directions, but haven't found anything great. When I saw THIS??? It will be mine. This I swear. It will be mine...

These are why I want to learn this type of photography:

My furbabies

2010-02-20T22:16:00.000-05:00

I have three (somewhat) willing kitty models. I have a tabby, a tortoise, and a black and white. They are adorable...except when they are being bad. LOL! Here are some photos I took recently of the three of them. I find them pretty funny.

Elizabeth the Kitten

Higgenbaffum...or Higgy for short

Pooka

Aren't they just so cute?

Great magazine!

2010-02-18T17:43:00.000-05:00

I love mail. I love magazines. I love photography. So, for graduation, my hubby gave me a subscription to PhotoPlus Canon Edition. Yea! What's really nice about this is that all the photography magazines I've bought in the past were generic and came from England. I have nothing against England. In fact, it's my favorite country outside the U.S. My fabulous grandmother comes to us from there. The problem lies in the price of their magazines are awful and kept me from subscribing. Big kuddos to hubby for doing something that I've been wanting to do, but haven't.

So, for the past several days I've been reading through the magazine - reading articles, looking at photos, drooling over equipment, checking out the reviews. I'm so excited about it. I have noticed that some things in the magazine do not apply to my four year old Rebel. It's ok. I can still keep it in reserve until I purchase my new D-SLR. I'm ok with that.

PhotoPlus Canon Edition should help me perfect my craft and give me lots of inside tips all for one low price!

Fun photos from a fun weekend

2010-02-17T16:25:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, my friend from WI, my friend from NY, and my friend from PA all came to visit. WI friend came in on Thursday...barely! Her flight was originally scheduled to land in Baltimore at 4:15, but it was canceled. She rebooked for later than night and it was a go. So, we missed a few hours of visiting time, but she was still able to get here. Phew! We hung out on Friday, then Sat. friends from NY and PA came out and we had a great weekend! Here are some fun photos...though not master pieces. Sometimes they can't all be winners, ya know?

Nissley Winery in Lancaster County. Beautiful, no?

Sunset at Nissley Winery

Saturday, we all headed to Chocolate Town USA - Hershey!

After riding the Hershey's Great American Chocolate Tour, we headed to The Hershey Story Museum.

Inside, we donned our aprons and hairnets to make truffles!

After wards, we went to dinner at a local sports bar. It took forever to get the salad. That'll teach you to try to eat healthy at a sports bar! The rest of the evening was spent tasting wine and playing Wii.

Sunday, our friends from NY and PA headed home. My friend from WI was headed home that day too, but not til later, so we hit Baltimore's Inner Harbor. It was snowy!

I just LOVE this shot! Guess there's no dragon boat sailing in the winter!

We dropped our friend from WI off at the airport, then headed back to a yummy Valentine's Dinner at the B&O Brassiere on N. Charles Street. I would totally recommend the restaurant and the hotel it's attached to. Awesome places, both of them!

Favorite Snow Photos

2010-02-16T15:07:00.000-05:00

We have been inundated with snow lately here in the Mid-Atlantic. We had a storm on the 6th that left us about 2 feet of snow and then another 2 feet of snow on the 9th. It's been K-raz-y around here! So, here are some shots from our snowmageddon.

Friday, Feb. 5th - you can still see the driveway!

Friday, Feb. 5th - those white dots aren't ghosts, that's snow!

Fri, Feb. 5th - say good bye to the Neons

Sat, Feb 6th - the next morning...

Sat, Feb 6th - Crap...where did I leave that Neon?

Sat, Feb. 6th - View from the dining room outside

Sat, Feb. 6th - all decked out to shovel

Sat, Feb 6th - hubby didn't think shoveling the drive way was enough, so he headed out to the roof and shoveled that too!

Sun, Feb. 7th - Oh! There is the Neon!

And just a pretty picture

Imagine all the above photos happening again...three days later!

New Toy

2010-02-14T23:23:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts! We've been digging out of snow for a week. A snow storm dumped 18"-20" on the 9th, then we got ANOTHER 18"-20" on the 10th. Craziness I tell you! I don't think we've EVER gotten that much snow so close together.

Sooooo...I have photos of the snow and I have photos from the weekend to upload, but today I'm excited. I have been drooling over a Holga camera for a few months now.

I've had it on my Amazon wish list, but nothing. I've been hemming and hawing about ordering it. Really wanting to, but being a wuss about spending the money. This afternoon, while in Baltimore, I found a Holga at Urban Outfitters for the same price as Amazon, but I wouldn't have had to deal with shipping. Well, I hemmed and hawed, but when we walked out of Urban Outfitters, I was the proud owner of a Holga camera. I cannot wait to try it out!! That's a project for the week. Get the camera set up and take some photos. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Sooo excited!!!!

Playing with PhotoShop Elements 6

2010-01-24T22:17:00.000-05:00

I recently became the examiner.com's history beat writer and had to submit a head shot for the site. Well, I had nothing I liked or was willing to crop for it, so I had hubby take a photo of me for it. The shot itself was fine, hubby did a fine job, but I noticed some things about it that I wanted to change. So, I opened the photo up in PhotoShop Elements 6 and tried to fix them. So, I am sharing the original and the touched up version. What do you think?

Original

Touched Up

Photos around York Haven

2010-01-20T23:23:00.000-05:00

Today I decided to head out for a walk and take my camera. I should have run yesterday, but I was a tad lazy and didn't, so I thought a walk today was better than nothing and why not take the camera? I ended up walking 2.86 miles while out, so I was happy with the mileage and some of the photos! Take a peek. What do ya think?

Just the trees against the sky. Loved how the color of the sky and clouds came out.

I tried framing the fun playground with the trees. Not the greatest. Maybe the trees are too far apart? Maybe they are too far from the playground? Not sure. But, I tried.

I just love this view. It reminds me of small town America. And while York Haven is a small town, it's not quite what you would think of if you saw the whole town!

Did anyone else love this playground ride? I just LOVED it as a kid!

This probably isn't the greatest technical shot, but it was so darn cute!

This building is in the town of York Haven. When we first moved to the area it was the library...which was opened on Tuesdays from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. LOL! Now it's a town building. Though I don't think the hours have improved. I just love the window!

So, I wander down the street a bit and decide to walk towards the river - sorry, no river photos. I turn the corner and see the train lights are going. So, here are a couple train photos I took...by pure luck!

Not technically great shots, but...

2010-01-20T00:38:00.000-05:00

They sure mean a lot right now!

I received my diploma from Penn State and have officially graduated! I can now write my name as Christina M. Stetler, M.A. Wooohoo!

Photo Criticism

2010-01-14T16:12:00.000-05:00

So, I submitted my photos for the class I took about nature light. Got the critique back today. Here's the photo and critique. What do you think?

Your first photo is a daytime silhouette. It can happen this way with a shape silhouetted against the daytime sky when you are shooting from the right direction. This photo is well composed - vertical is a good choice and you placed the steeple off center too. It is simple and strong. Excellent!

The second photo of the sunset is really pretty. There is lots of great color in your sky and the combination of purple and yellow is complementary. When you have the actual sun in a photo you can move around until you have it placed behind something like a tree until just a few slivers of light are showing. That makes a really effective way to include the sun in the photo. In this shot you have the sun along the bottom edge of the frame. Either include or exclude it. Try cropping this photo and just taking that bottom inch off and see how that redirects your attention to the top sky.

The third shot of the ornament is fun. I love shooting ornaments myself. Those square facets on this one make it a great photo subject. You did a fine job with this one. When you are shooting a subject like this, try to eliminate hot spots in your background. You have a large area of bright white at the top right of your frame which is competing with your ornament. Just work your camera position until you have a solid, even toned background in your frame.

Silly Photo

2010-01-12T21:38:00.000-05:00

In case you just started following along, I have three cats - Higgenbaffum (Higgy), Pooka, and Elizabeth. We have lots of cat toys around the house, but the one they all LOVE is rat on a string. It's not as weird as you may think. It's a furry rat on a elastic string attached to a plastic bar that hangs over a door. They love it and go nuts when they "find" it. LOL!

As I was putting away some laundry in the bedroom today, I noticed the sun came through one of the kitchen windows and hit rat on a string making a shadow on the door. So, I thought I would try taking a photo of it and see what happens. So, here's the best one I took. It's a tad blurry. If I have time to re-shoot it before I turn in my homework assignment, I will. I think it's a neat shot. And follows the assignment of how to look at light.

What cha think?

Try Again

2010-01-10T22:25:00.000-05:00

Alright, so I realized the sunset photos I tried on Friday didn't turn out. And I wrote a post on that. So, after thinking about what I did wrong, I went back out today to try and fix it. I went out with the tripod and tried again. I think there are a couple good ones. What do you think?

Learning

2010-01-08T16:59:00.000-05:00

Yup, I am learning. I realized that the sun was setting and I might be able to get some shots off today for my assignment. So, I grabbed the camera and headed outside. Then I realized my 75-300mm lens would probably be a better option than the 15-55mm I had on the camera. Off I went to grab the 75-300mm to try and grab some shots of the sun setting behind the trees. And I got a bunch. And then I realized I didn't do it right. You see, when you use a telephoto-type lens, you need to hold the camera extra steady to avoid camera shake. And if with the temps being fairly nippy out there - it snowed overnight here - I didn't do a good job of it.

I did run the photo through Photoshop Elements to see if it could sharpen it up any. It did, but not enough. Ugh. So, I will share my sad photo with you and try again later in the week. We won't be around tomorrow at this time to take the shot, but we will be on Sunday!

Original

Sharpened

First Swipe at Photography Homework Assignment

2010-01-07T15:21:00.000-05:00

So, I signed up for an on-line photography class. They give the assignment, I take the photos, play with them until I like them, and submit the top three (my choice) to the teachers for critique. I have until Jan. 13, then I have to submit. Until today, there's been very little sun, which has been the assignment. But today! Ah, today. There was some sun. Not much, but the clouds were not as thick as the last several days and I was able to grab some shots. Here are the ones I like best from today. What do you think?

Not 100% sure of this last one.

Playing around

2010-01-05T16:04:00.000-05:00

So, I am trying to teach myself Photoshop Elements. I got the ever-helpful "Photoshop Elements 6 for Dummies" book and am slowly playing with the applications. This is my first attempt at ANYTHING. Well, actually I'm already lying to you. I sharpened a photo earlier. But, that was a one button fix. This took brushes and percentages and hand-eye coordination. What do you think?

Before:

After

I know it's not perfect, trust me. I'm a little frustrated with the color of B's face on the second photo. Trying to figure out A. what I did and B. how to fix it. But overall, what do you think?

New Year...New Start

2010-01-05T13:59:00.000-05:00

It's been several months since I've posted anything here. I think it's about time I dusted off the ole blog and add some stuff to it. I can't guarantee it'll be everyday, but I am going to do a better job of posting something more often than I did last year.

In reality, this is going to be a testing grounds skill-wise for me. I'm working on improving my photography ability this year in the hopes of going professional. So, when I post stuff here, hopefully anyone stopping by to check it out will tell me what's good and not so good about it. Be honest.

So, without further ado, a couple recent favorites. Both from a recent trip to Atlantic City.

A Christmas ball from Caesar's:

This photo was taken from the car on the way home from Atlantic City:

So, what do you think? Any good?

Vacation!

2009-11-02T11:27:00.001-05:00

A whole separate post about our vacation. We spent 10 days in the mid-West visiting friends and family in Wisconsin and Indiana, with a day trip to Illinois. Here are some highlights from the trip!

October 9th, my birthday! The first weekend in WI, hubby and I stayed with our friends Kim and Nigel. On Friday, Kim, Brian and I went to lunch with Crystal (above) at Rock Bottom Brewery. Our appetizer was fried cheese curds and from the the two ladies who know about such things, we were told these were good fried cheese curds. Yea!

Saturday, we all got up and headed into Milwaukee to race in Al's Run, an 8k that benefited the local Children's Hospital. This is hubby and I pre-race getting ready to hit the bathrooms and warm up before the start. We had a great run and I enjoyed seeing downtown Milwaukee through running. I finished in 1 hour 7 minutes and 48 seconds. I was the last of our group to finish, but I did finish 5 minutes faster than I thought I would. Yea me!

After the race, we all headed to the Miller Brewing Factory for the tour (and free samples!). This is Kim and I hugging the Miller Lite bottle. LOL! It's silly, but after running 5 miles in the freezing cold and drinking beer, you tend to get silly. It was a fun day. :-)

Sunday, we headed to Kim's bar to watch the Eagles play. After the game, we tried out hand at darts and realized we had NO idea how the darn thing was scoring! Kim came in first and I came in second with the boys trailing behind. ;-) And since I am moving so fast in this photo, the darts must have been some good exercise!

Monday, we headed to Indiana to spend the week with hubby's grandparents. We did take Wednesday to head into Chicago to visit with a friend and her son. These are our train tickets into the city. We almost didn't get back that night! We parked at one train station, but thought we were at another. I took a photo of the sign for the train station and that's the only reason we didn't get left at the wrong one! Photography is good for something!

Hubby and I at the Sears...er...Willis Tower in Chicago. They added what are called ledges to the tower so you can stand on clear plastic 107 stores above the ground and look straight down. Thanks to our friend, here's a photo of us standing on the ledge. It's kinda freaky the first time you go out, but easier the more you do it (and don't go falling to your death).

From the Sears Tower, we headed to Navy Pier. As you can tell, it was a tad chilly and overcast this day. I brought along my gorilla tripod and was able to get a nice photo of us and the skyline in the background. It was nice to have a good photo of us rather than just the self-portraits we usually get. No worries though, we took plenty of those while we were there!

And while on Navy Pier, we decided to go on the Ferris Wheel. It was COLD! We had great views of the city and Lake Michigan. It would have been better had the day not been freezing and overcast, but it was fun to go up. It was one of the things I wanted to do while in Chicago and even though it was really cold, we did it.

On Friday, we left Indiana and headed back to WI to spend the weekend with hubby's aunt and uncle. On the way, we made two stops. The first was the Jelly Belly Factory, of which all we had time for was the gift shop. ;-) The other was the Mars Cheese Castle. We each got to visit something fun. LOL! Here I am outside the Jelly Belly Gift Shop.

On Saturday, we got tickets to attend a Wisconsin Badgers game, so we did. LOL! I take a lot of random pictures of hubby, so this is him getting me back. He was sneaky as I had NO idea he had taken it until I saw it on the camera later. LOL! It was another cold day in WI and our seats were in the shade, making it even colder. Ugh. It took a long time to warm up after THAT game!

Our last self-portrait of the vacation. On Sunday, we went to the Horicon Marsh Preserve with hubby's aunt and uncle. Behind us is the marsh lands. LOL! It was cold that day too, but honestly, it was the sunniest and somewhat warmish day we had the whole trip! And I must say, the weather didn't improve when we got home. It was just as cold and rainy here when we got back as it was on vacation. Guess it really is fall now.

Wow! A Whole Month With No Postings!

2009-11-02T11:14:00.000-05:00

Well, that's just wrong. I didn't realize I hadn't updated in so long. I feel kinda bad now, not that I think many people are still hanging around, but...I'm going to share some photos from Oct. and there's a bunch as we went on vacation. :-) Here we go!

Brian and I headed to Philadelphia to see the Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs at the end of September. It was a fairly nice day, though it was kinda wet out. We tailgated a bit with our friend's Mike and his brother Dan in the parking lot before heading into the game. We had nose bleed seats, but we could see the whole field, so it was ok. The Eagles won and we had a really fun day, though long.

After the game. :-) With the field in the back ground. Go Eagles!

The following weekend involved a full two days of baseball. Saturday we headed to Camden Yards to see the Orioles play. Saturday night was Oktoberfest and we scored free Orioles steins (which turned out to be plastic, eh.) and saw a nice O's win. The O's went on to win Sunday as well, keeping them from hitting the 100 loss mark this year. Yea O's!

Well, this is a tad blurry! Guess that's what happens when you forget to zoom out. LOL! I have a habit of zooming in for a photo, then deciding to take a self-portrait...and this is the result. What I just noticed about this photo is we are framing the ground's keeper at CBP very nicely. :-) The Phils won this game, though it meant nothing in the standings overall, they had already clinched the NL East earlier in the month, but it was good to go to a win. And with the Phils win, we were batting 1.000 for the weekend in baseball.

Sunday - Fort McHenry 5k Tunnel Run

2009-09-20T17:16:00.000-04:00

I fancy myself a runner...at times. LOL! I'm a slow runner, but I do my best. Sunday, hubby and I had signed up to race in the Fort McHenry 5k Tunnel Run. We decided to it since it was a unique race - run though the Fort McHenry Tunnel on I-95, how many times do you get the chance to do THAT? So, we headed there this morning. It was a huge success for the organizers as 1,000 people turned out, double what they anticipated. It was a good run and I finished faster than my last 5k, which is nice. I took a camera with me as I ran and got some shots of the race. Most of them were blurry, but I got a couple good ones. Here's me running. ;-)

Saturday - I feel small

2009-09-20T17:13:00.001-04:00

Saturday we headed to Baltimore for the Fort McHenry 5k Tunnel Run. The race itself was on Sunday, but because the race was early and it's about an hour drive, we chose to stay over Sat. night. We booked ourselves at the Hotel Monaco Baltimore on North Charles Street. AWESOME hotel! If you need to stay in Baltimore for some reason, I totally recommend it! After we checked in, we took our bags to the room and found a simply gorgeous room. I took a pic of me on the bed and this is what I got. I feel so tiny in this photo. :-)

No, I'm not a doctor

2009-09-18T14:36:00.000-04:00

Today's photo is courtesy of my new venture - walnut harvesting. We have a walnut tree in the side yard that seems to give a TON of walnuts off each year. For the past 5 years, I have just been annoyed at how many of them are about - bouncing off the roof, landing in the driveway, tripping me when I go outside because I don't see them. Well, this year I decided I am going to harvest my walnuts and see what I get. Today's photo is my first attempt at harvesting the walnuts. There will be more walnut photos in the future - you have been warned. LOL!

Tying it up

2009-09-17T22:37:00.000-04:00

Another photo! Today's photo, boys and girls, is all about running. Two years ago I ran the Harrisburg Mile. I then promptly stopped running until I signed up the next year to run it again. Then I spent 6 weeks freaking out and trying to get myself ready to run again. And promptly stopped running again. LOL! This past Jan. I decided to try it again, running that is. So, each Sat. morning, I would head to be park and run a mile. Nothing exciting, but better than nothing. Then classes calmed down in April and I started running a couple nights a week. Then I started adding distance. In the end of June I ran my first 5k (check out the June photo update to see me in my race gear). I'm running another 5k this coming weekend (Sept. 20) in Baltimore. So, today's photo is me lacing up my shoes. :) Hoping my run goes well Sunday. (Sorry it's a tad blurry.)

Injury

2009-09-14T23:29:00.001-04:00

I am not a morning person. Let me get that out there at the start. It usually takes me a while to wake up and get myself together. This morning was no different. I was barely awake when I poured myself a cup of cereal. I don't eat it with milk, I like it dry. Weird, I know. Well, hubby walked by and patted the arm holding the cereal bowl. Being that I've been awake for maybe 10 minutes, I wasn't real with it. I dropped the bowl. Cereal went everywhere and I got nailed on the right foot with the glass bowl. It hurt! I guess the good thing is that the bowl didn't break. So, here's my poor foot. Hoping there's no problems running. I have a 5k this Sunday!

Me and my kitty

2009-09-14T23:19:00.000-04:00

I just love my kitties. I know people think that's strange, but I believe kitties have a personality all their own. And it sure is true for my three! The other day, my fluffy Pooka was sitting with me when I decided to take some photos. These cats will have more photos of them than any pets known to man! LOL!

Starting September

2009-09-08T19:34:00.000-04:00

Sunday, Brian and I headed to Philly for an action-packed day. We started at the Independence Seaport Museum on the Delaware River. We went to see a tattoo exhibit at the museum. As part of our museum entrance fee, we got to board the Olympia (cruiser) and (submarine). The have you start with Becuna. Then you head to the Olympia. The above photo is me heading down the steps into the Becuna. I will say, I should have headed down backwards, cause the stairs are REALLY steep. LOL! Ah well...live and learn. Both ships were incredible in their own way and being able to go on the ships made it so worth the admission fee.

More August Shots...Not sure how many though...

2009-09-05T13:34:00.000-04:00

Time for the rest of August, though not sure how many more. August was a really slow month. We didn't do much. July was really the high-water mark of activity. LOL! Alrighty, onto the second half of August!

Brian and I after the O's game on August 30th. We headed to the game with our friends Shaun and Ada. It was Shaun's birthday, so we all chipped in and got his name on the score board. :-) He loved it! And it was a great game cause the O's won. Yea! The weather was great, we had a blast chatting and catching up, and the O's won. What a lovely day.

Look! A real blog photo!! I have an obsession with recipes. I have about 20 notebooks filled with them. I collect them from magazines, write them in spiral bound notebooks, and never use them. LOL! That's not completely, true, but there are hundreds of recipes I have collected that I have never used. One day, I may use them. As of now, nothing. But, this is me going through all the recipes that had collected and writing them in the notebook. It's fun and whenever someone needs a recipe, I tend to have one. So, if you're in need of a recipe, let me know. I'm sure I have one for you!

Some August Shots...Early!

2009-08-18T20:12:00.001-04:00

August has been somewhat of a let-down after July. LOL! But, we have done some fun stuff, so here's some of the fun so far this month. We have more to come, so I'll do more photos as the month goes along. I'm sure you'll love them! ;-)

Brian and I have a partial season ticket plan to our local Independent League team, the York Revolution. Here's us enjoying a game. This night, we got fireworks too! Yea!

Brian took this one, but I'm in it. LOL! On Saturday the 15th we headed to Pinchot State Park to celebrate Brian's birthday early. Last time we were there, it was a beach on a lake. This time grass by a lake. Very strange. But, we had a good time. And yes, that's me in a bathing suit. Eek!

Brian's actual birthday! We had Revs tickets through our plan on B's birthday, so we headed to the game. Sucks they couldn't pull out a win, but we had fun with our turkey burgers, fries, and B's beer and ice cream. Happy Birthday Brian!

July Photos

2009-07-31T14:18:00.000-04:00

July has been a busy month! It was a good month, but we had a LOT going on. Probably more than we should have bitten off, but whatever, it was a fun month. So, here are some shots from July. Hope you enjoy!

We headed to Hershey Park on July 3. We generally get there once a summer because we get free passes, though they have to be used by July 4th. So, nothing like waiting til the last minute, huh? LOL! We went on a ride that you sit on and just go over part of the park. This is our feet over the river that runs through the park. At the bridges over the river, you can feed the ducks. I like doing that. And it's only a quarter to get the corn. Or you can be cheap like me and pick up what people drop and feed them that. LOL!

Us on the ride. It's such a great ride to take. I like it because you can just sit back and check out the scenery. Plus your feet get to dangle while you ride it, making it seem dangerous! LOL!

The following weekend, we headed to NJ for a wedding. Brian's cousin from Louisiana was getting married and we were invited! We were actually pretty excited about it, as we haven't seen these guys since 2003. The wedding was GORGEOUS! The bride was EXQUISITE! It really was a wonderful day and just a lot of fun.

Had to post this. The bride came up to the table and grabbed the camera. She said she had to take our photo because it's hard to get your picture taken when it's just two people. LOL! She is very sweet!

So, yea. I have a habit of taking a zoomed in photo, then wanting to take a self-portrait. I don't know how many times I've done this with THIS type of photo as a result. Normally, I just delete them, what's the point in keeping them? But, for some reason, I did not delete this one. I think it's kinda funny. So, if you wanted to know what my teeth looked like up close - there ya go!

Another photo from our trip to New York City. This is cheating since the bar tender took it, but whatever. Our friend Maryrose (in red) wanted to go to Burp Castle, so we headed over there after dinner. This is us hanging out at the Belgium bar. It was a lot of fun and the beer was good...if not sweet. Would completely go back!

Yea, you would think this photo is strange, but it's not. Stitch and I had a beer at the Sam Adams Celebrates Atlanta bar in the Atlanta airport. We missed our flight to Vegas by ONE MINUTE, so we grabbed beers here. Stitch was for my friend Kim, whose wedding we were heading to. I love that this is a self-portrait and I got the beer, Stitch AND me in!

Not the most flattering photo of me and my friend is a little blurry, but at this point in the night, we were both feeling a little blurry! LOL! We played some beer pong at O'Shea's in Las Vegas. We did not do so well, lost 2 of 3. :-( Sad. so very sad...

All dressed up! My friend and beautiful bride Kim. This was the whole reason we went to Las Vegas - to spend her special day with her and her new husband. Thank you guys! It was a great time!

What About Some Photos from June?

2009-07-02T10:21:00.000-04:00

It's sorta been a while. About a month, but here are some photos from June. :-)

Brian and I were lucky enough to get tickets to a Hershey Bears play-off game on June 6th against the Manitoba Moose. This was Game 3 of the Calder Cup finals. It was a great game and a great Hershey win! Woohoo!

Here were are at Hershey again, except three days later and a victory shy of the Calder Cup. The Bears had a 3-1 lead going into the game and LOST. :-( They headed back to Manitoba to defeat the Moose, but not in front of the home crowd. We were sad.

My engagement and wedding rings. LOL! We were at a York Revolution game and I was having fun with the camera. I kept wanting a photo of my rings, but they always came out blurry. So, I tried again and it worked! My engagement ring is an opal. :-) Isn't it beautiful?

This is me on Sunday, June 28th in Baltimore, MD. I ran my first 5k at the Baltimore Women's Classic 5k that morning. My goal was to run the whole thing, no matter what the time. And I did! I ran the entire race, finished in 45:25 (which was 5 minutes faster than I thought I would), and didn't come in last. Yea me! It was a good day.

Photos - May

2009-05-31T13:56:00.000-04:00

Brian and I at the Hershey Bears. They won. They are currently in the Calder Cup finals. Go Bears!

Brian and I at the O's game Thursday night. Look, this is a recent photo! LOL! Our friend's dad had tickets he couldn't use, so we all headed down to a night of Orioles Magic. The O's won and a good time was had by all.

Photos - April

2009-05-31T13:42:00.001-04:00

Some shots from April. Love the weather starting to get warmer. :-)

Opening day baseball! LOVE IT! We had opening day tix for the Phils and I had to get set. I painted my nails Phils red and painted on a white Phillies P on each thumb. :-) It's blurry in this photo, but it looked cool. Take my word for it. ;-)

Brian and I at the Phils. It was COLD! But we had a good time, even if the Phils couldn't win.

Off the next day to Baltimore to catch the O's play the Yankees. It RAINED. It was rainy all morning on the way down and at lunch. Then the sun came out and it was gorgeous. Then it went away and seriously poured again. 30 minutes after start time, the skies cleared and we played ball! And a great game it was! O's beat the Yankees in a fantastic game. At least we went .500 in our two games.

After our 10 year college reunion, we stopped at Sheetz (PA convenience store). Brian decided to take photos IN the store. LOL! This is me telling Brian all about the fancy coffee optinos they now have.

The next day, Brian and our friend Maryrose and I headed to Camden Yards to catch an O's game. The weather was incredible! It was HOT. We grabbed water outside the park because it was cheaper. LOL! But, when we got into the park, they were giving away free ice. Really! I was shocked. Never heard of that before. But it went a long way on such a hot day. *nod* Here's my second cup.

More of my great nail painting skills. Actually, I took this photo because the pop corn was just so good! It was kettle corn. Yum! The bonus was I still had my Phillies P. ;-)

Photos! - Jan/Feb

2009-05-31T13:36:00.000-04:00

I tried posting new photos, but it wouldn't upload. I'm not sure what the problem was. But I'm going to post some from the last few months. :)

Brian and I at a Beach Themes Party at Bube's Brewery. Love that place! If you're local and haven't been - GO! It's in Mt. Joy, PA. Awesome, awesome place! There is not a restaurant in the place I don't recommend, but I do love the Catecombs.

Our anniversary! Well, sorta. :-) We celebrate our first date anniversary, so off we went to TJ Rockwell's in Elizabethtown, PA. Our first date was in this building, but it was known as Mookie's then. TJ's is a good place too. :-)

Hey Look! More photos!

2009-03-23T00:01:00.000-04:00

I really need to update this blog more often when I take the photos. LOL!

It's a tad blurry, sorry. I have a hard time taking photos with my left hand. This was my tribute to Fat Tuesday. This bracelet is from New Orleans. Got it as a gift when I was there last year. It's kinda sad. A whole year since I've seen many of my friends. Love ya ladies!

My other nod to New Orleans, my fluer de lis necklace. This also came from New Orleans. I love this necklace. I found it in the cutest little shop. They had lots of adorable jewelry and writing materials. I also bought a fluer de lis in silver, so I can wear one no matter what color I wear. :-)

And you thought I was finished! March

2009-03-22T23:38:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been awhile, but I have been taking photos. Sorta. There isn't much going on, so there aren't too many photos, but here are some:

March 22, 2009 - I'm not the world's fastest runner by any means, so 13:14 isn't that great for a 1 mile run, but it is the fastest time I've ever had! I did this yesterday. It made me happy to beat my personal record. I go each Sat. to the park. Next week I'm hoping to go back to 2 miles.

March 22, 2009 - Lizzie and I were sleepy last night. LOL! I was a tad surprised that she stayed like this actually. She will spend HOURS sitting on my lap, but not so much cuddling like this. So, when she stayed, I grabbed the camera and had to take a picture. Isn't she cute?

March 23, 2009 - It's back! Classes that is. And the homework. Ugh. I'm almost done for this semester, will be done at the end of April. Which is kinda freaking me out. Today I worked on Literary Review. That's oh so fun. In just two weeks my Introduction to my thesis is due. Can you see why I'm freaking out???

February 22, 2009

2009-02-22T20:18:00.000-05:00

Because one injury in a weekend is just not enough. *rolleyes* Hubby and I were making a delicious dinner of mac 'n cheese with green and orange peppers, corn and tomatoes when I slammed by poor left index finger in the vegetable crisper. My poor finger swelled up immediately and it sure as heck hurt! So this was the weekend of injury for Chris. LOL!

February 20, 2009

2009-02-22T20:11:00.000-05:00

Warning: Gross photo

So, Friday I went for a walk. I try to walk at lunch a couple times a week for some exercise, since I have class two nights a week, so I can't do much at night those days.

So, Friday off I went. I have a nice 30 minute route laid out. I went off walking. I got about 2/3 of the way through my walk and the sidewalk attacked. I was minding my own business when the sidewalk tripped me. I went down hard on my right palm and right knee, as you can see. It was freakin' painful! And to top it all off it, the fall caused a tear in the knee of my FAVORITE pants! So ticked!!!

Knee feels better today (Sunday), but there is still some pain. Stupid knee...

February 18, 2009

2009-02-22T20:08:00.001-05:00

So, you saw what my Mii looks like, so now you can see what I look like in person doing Wii Fit. :) I was doing the Advanced Step, which is the one I do the most often. It's 5 minutes, which is long enough to add up quickly, but not so long that I get bored. LOL!

And don't those roses look nice? My lovely hubby gave them to me for Valentine's Day. Isn't he sweet?

January 31, 2009 - The Kitties and Me

2009-02-15T19:54:00.001-05:00

This really only happens in winter, all the kitties on the sofa with me. The reason? It has nothing to do with me, it has all to do with the fleece. It's a kitty magnet. I do love when the sit with me though. They are the nicest kitties and are great heat generators. LOL! It was a lazy afternoon, which was nice.

From closest to farthest - Pooka (black kitty), Higgy (tabby cat), Elizabeth (the kitty curled up on the red fleece blanket)

January 30, 2009 - Mii

2009-02-15T19:51:00.001-05:00

For Christmas, my wonderful hubby got me the Wii Fit. I played with my Mii and this is what I look like on the screen when I use it. I thought it was kinda funny and while it's not me, it is Mii. LOL! I wish I could change clothes though. I would NEVER wear white pants!

January 28, 2009 - A HUGE pet peeve

2009-02-15T19:48:00.000-05:00

I get very annoyed when there are holes in my socks, especially at my large toe. I have a ton of socks that are like this and I don't know why. I don't think I'm hard on my socks, so why does this happen? I like to blame it on the construction of the socks. One day I need to go through all my socks and darn them. And yes, I can stitch my socks. I've done so on a number of them. I just haven't gotten around to all of them. Stupid socks...

January 27, 2009 - Snow (but no snow day)

2009-02-15T18:36:00.001-05:00

We woke up to about 3"-4" of snow. It was so pretty. I was so hoping for the 8" they were calling for, because that would give me the day off. But, instead, we got a 2 hour delay. Bah! Brian spent the morning shoveling the cement portion of the driveway. The funny part was the gravel portion of the driveway eventually started to look like an amusement park car ride. Two very narrow lanes that the wheels had to go through. Once you were in the two channels, you didn't even have to steer the car! And that lasted about a week. Amazing what cold weather does.

I'm Back!

2009-02-15T18:22:00.000-05:00

Yes, yes a month and a half later I return. It's been a kinda slow month and a half and not much for picture opportunities. But I have had some. So, I'm going to upload the ones I have taken and start fresh. I will do a better job of keeping this updated, promise!

Jan. 4

2009-01-04T18:05:00.001-05:00

Two photos today! I made a family favorite - Deep Dish Pizza Casserole. It's a Weight Watchers recipe and oh so good! The photo on the top is me, gloating. LOL! The photo on the bottom is the actual Deep Dish Pizza Casserole. We chose to make it with veggie crumbles rather than beef tonight. It's really good. If you want the recipe, let me know. I highly recommend it!

Jan. 3

2009-01-03T22:28:00.001-05:00

It's a chilly night out there and what better to go with cold than hot chocolate? Brian made me a cup of hot chocolate with a little something extra to help ward off the cold. :-) It's tasty!

And the mug? That mug is older than I am! I have two left of a set of eight that were my parents. These mugs were my dad's. We used the other mugs. When I moved out, I stole the last two of these. Shhh...don't tell mom!

Jan. 2

2009-01-03T21:30:00.001-05:00

Isn't this a fun photo? LOL! Actually, it's me in my work out shirt. Today, I started my healthy eating/exercise New Year's resolution. So, I broke out the new Wii Fit and took her for a spin. I did yoga, strength training, and cardio. Loved some of the yoga (the Tree pose is a killer!), and the running and hula hoop. Lots of fun, tells you how long you were actually excersising, and it keep track of stuff for you. It was great! So looking forward to using the Wii Fit all year!

Jan. 1

2009-01-03T21:26:00.001-05:00

I must give credit to my friend Anita who did a similar shot for her Facebook photo. I thought it was great and the perfect way to show off my new books. I wanted the Intellectual Devotional series of books for Christmas and my lovely hubby got them for me. They are awesome! But I waited until New Year's Day to start reading them. I thought since there is one bit of information per day, that it would be perfect timing to start them on NYD. So, I have three "The Intellectual Devotional," "The Intellectual Devotional American History," and "The Intellectual Devotional Popular Culture." They rock! Go and buy them yourself!!

Dec. 31

2009-01-03T21:24:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year's Eve! This is a photo of Brian and I on NYE at a friend's house. We didn't have any plans, but then on our way home from AC, I had a message from a friend asking us over. Yea! We wouldn't be sitting in on NYE. We had a great time and are looking forward to hanging out with them again soon.

Dec. 30

2009-01-01T19:14:00.000-05:00

I have no photos of me from today. Lots of photos of friends, but none of me. Sorry!

Dec. 29

2008-12-31T14:44:00.000-05:00

Today, in honor of my 7th wedding anniversary, you get two photos! Today, Brian and I were married 7 years ago in Westville Grove, NJ. It was a lovely day. The temperature was perfect, the friends and family were all there, and it was just an all around great day! Today, we spent the day at Harrah's Casino in the pool area. It was heavenly. We hung at the pool, had a couple drinks, took a dip in the pool and just relaxed. Ahhh...if you can't get to Jamaica, this was nice too.

The second photo is us going to dinner. We headed back to The Pier Shops, where we ate the nightbefore, and had dinner at Buddakon. It was a fancy place, but fun. A large golden Buddha was there overseeing all. We had a nice philosophical discussion on whether Buddha would really approve of the restaurant or not, and other lovely table topics.

Happy Anniversary Brian! Thanks for a wonderful 7 years and here's to loads more!!

Dec. 27

2008-12-31T14:42:00.001-05:00

Brian and I headed to Atlantic City, NJ today and had a great time! We had a wonderful dinner at The Contintetal, watched the Eagles beat the Cowboys at Game On and then went on the beach. You say What??? Isn't it too cold to go on the beach in December? Not if you haven't been to your beloved Atlantic Ocean/Jersey Shore in over 4 years. Brian refused to to in the water, but I didn't let that stop me! I took off my shoes and socks and headed right in! Well, ok, no more than ankle deep, but it was soo nice! You can even see my coat on. LOL!

Dec. 27

2008-12-31T14:40:00.000-05:00

No photo today either. Just one photo taken AT ALL and that was of Brian. Here, check it out:

Dec. 26

2008-12-31T14:39:00.001-05:00

Ummmm...no photo today. Too busy shopping! LOL!

Dec. 25

2008-12-31T14:36:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas! There's no real good shots of me from Christmas, which is ok by me. LOL! This one I took of my Lizzie who decided my lap was a good vantage point to see presents being unwrapped. Her presents didn't get unwrapped, but have no fear, the kitties got Christmas presents - two small stuffed mice, a fluffy bell ball in a caged ball, and ping pong balls. Yup, they LOVE them! And Brian and I had a nice Christmas too. :-)

Dec. 24

2008-12-31T14:33:00.001-05:00

Happy Christmas Eve! Ok, I know it's a December 24th post, posted a week late, but it's the holidays and I've been away! I didn't obviously take this photo, but I did set it up on the tripod, so it counts. This is Brian and I in our annual Christmas photo. We do one each Christmas Eve before going to mass. Don't we clean up nicely? LOL!

RANDOM POST

2008-12-23T21:22:00.000-05:00

And just because I feel like it.

Dec. 23

2008-12-23T21:20:00.001-05:00

This is me, right after the salon. Got my hair trimmed for the holiday. And took my own photo. Didn't really get my hair good, but I though I looked cute. LOL! And this is the shot you are getting today.

Has anyone noticed that the frequency of posts has really shot up since I stopped class? Amazing what a little free time will do for you.

Dec. 22

2008-12-23T21:18:00.001-05:00

What, pray tell, is this you're wondering? Why it's my head and Elizabeth the kitten. Missy May loves to attack my hair. Usually when it's in a ponytail, but with it cut so short lately, she hasn't been able to play. So, I shook my head at her tonight and had a blast keeping my actual head away from her adorable, sharp claws. LOL! She's a cute one alright.

Dec. 21

2008-12-21T22:16:00.001-05:00

Ah, the joy of Christmas wrapping. LOL! Spent the day wrapping Christmas presents. I still have presents to wrap, but I got hubby's done and most of my mom's. Just need to finish her's, a couple friend's and I'm done. Yea! And it's not even Christmas Eve!

Dec. 20

2008-12-21T22:11:00.000-05:00

Brian and I after our friend's holiday party. Nothing real exciting to say about this photo really. We had a good time at our friend's party and always try to do the self-portrait.

Dec, 15-19

2008-12-21T22:10:00.000-05:00

Again, no photos this week. Many papers and class to handle. So, all they would have been was me writing or reading. LOL!

Dec. 14

2008-12-15T20:44:00.001-05:00

It wouldn't be the holidays without cookies and what cookie speaks of Christmas more than any? That's right! The gingerbread man! And no, I didn't make this gingerbread man, Weiss Markets did. Thank you Weiss Markets. He and his friends were good. :) I better be careful what I say. I don't want the Gingerbread man from Shrek to come after me!

Dec. 10-13

2008-12-14T20:43:00.001-05:00

No photos. This photo a day is HARD!

Dec. 9

2008-12-14T20:41:00.001-05:00

Don't let this photo fool you, I'm not making coffee! Yes, this is the exact same area of the kitchen, but see that container? That's cat food. I'm pouring my cute little Elizabeth kitty her dinner. She only gets dry food. The other two furballs get dry and canned.

Dec. 8

2008-12-14T20:37:00.000-05:00

Another school photo! In the month of December I have three papers. This is me researching for paper one. Why do profs give you so much work at the end of the semester?? Seriously? There's 4 months of classes. Does all the work have to be due in December? I know there's usually a final or paper, but come on! One class has two papers due within 2 weeks of each other. Insane! Christmas break is needed!

Dec. 6

2008-12-07T23:26:00.001-05:00

Ok, this will probably be out of order, but I forgot I did take a photo yesterday. LOL! This is me...helping get the snow off the car. Yup, snow. We went to the PA Christmas Gift Show in Harrisburg and came out to snow. Who knew? We sure didn't! So, this is my, with my hood up helping hubby get the snow off the car. As they say, many hands make light work...or some such.

Dec. 7

2008-12-07T21:45:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year! At the office, we are doing a secret santa, but instead of the gifts going to the person we picked, we buy a toy that corresponds to their likes and it gets donated to Toys for Tots. So, here is me wrapping my gift for tomorrow. My secret santa likes football, so I got a flag football kit. It's pretty neat and a kid who likes football should have fun with it. I bought an extra gift, a football, to go with it because it seems unfair to give a flag football kit without a football.

Dec. 1-Dec. 5

2008-12-07T21:44:00.000-05:00

No photos. I spent the week reading and writing for class. Pretty pathetic and you've seen enough photos of me reading to be bored by them. LOL!

Nov. 30

2008-12-07T21:41:00.001-05:00

Well, this is my new hairstyle, non-straightened. It's ok. I like that it sometimes flips up at the ends, but it doesn't always do that. Eh. I'm not good at doing my hair, so we shall see how this works out. I'm going back right before Christmas for a trim. I think I'm going to let it grow out a few inches. It's just a tad too short. It doesn't even keep my neck warm anymore. :-(

Nov. 29

2008-12-07T21:37:00.000-05:00

Well, we usually decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving, so Sat. we pulled the trees up from the basement and started decorating. We have two trees, one in the living room and one in the dining room. This is me decorating the one in the living room. It sits in our front window. I love that it has the '80s bulbs that I had as a kid. We got them at Target last year. :-) They make me happy.

Nov. 28

2008-11-28T22:28:00.000-05:00

So, this is a pretty uncreative photo for today, but I got my hair cut. It's been since July and it needed it desperately. I asked for shoulder length, just for something different, but she cut it just a tad shorter than I was thinking. Ah well. It will grow out, right?

Nov. 27

2008-11-28T22:23:00.001-05:00

You will have to forgive me for not taking this one myself, but as you can see, my hands were a little busy. :-) My hubby and I spent Thanksgiving in Jersey, but went that evening to the Eagles/Cardinals game. It was a night game and temps were scheduled to be in the high 20s, so I had to bundle up. I wore 3 pairs of socks, 4 shirts, a head band, and hat, 2 scarves, and 2 sets of gloves. LOL! I was still a tad chilly, but it wasn't too bad. So, this is me getting ready to head out the door. This is my second scarf. :-) The positive thing is that the Eagles won handily and we had a good time!

Nov. 26

2008-11-27T07:45:00.001-05:00

It's the night before Thanksgiving and all through the house, not a creature was stirring...not even a mouse! Um...ok, wrong poem, but right holiday! We're heading to Jersey for Thanksgiving and volunteered to make egg nog bread. So, here's me making egg nog bread, from scratch! It's soooo good. I made two loaves because we're having 15 people and I was afraid one loaf wouldn't be enough. I also make cinnamon pecans and toffee pecans. Those were AWESOME!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nov. 25

2008-11-26T16:15:00.001-05:00

This is how I spend almost every weekday morning, ironing my clothes for work. I could do it the night before, but I never think to. I always just do it in the morning. Ah well, one mustn't upset their routine. LOL!

Nov. 24

2008-11-24T21:51:00.001-05:00

Wondering what that is? It's a small bike. I just rode it for an hour while reading the most boring ass article on global education. Ugh. I am committing myself to getting healthy and loosing weight. I had a good day until I ate three sugar cookies. So, I grabbed my little bike and rode it for an hour. Hopefully ran off 1 cookie. But it's a positive step in my goal of loosing weight.

Nov. 23

2008-11-23T13:21:00.004-05:00

Look at me cleaning! LOL! I've been spending the weekend, while not running errands, trying to straighten up the living room. With Thanksgiving Thursday and a nice four day weekend coming up, I want to get the house decorated for the holidays next weekend. So, this weekend is cleaning. This is me wiping up the coffee table. I like how Elizabeth the kitten is in the background. She'd been on that ottoman for about 2 hours. LOL!

Nov. 22

2008-11-23T13:21:00.003-05:00

Nothing today either. We went to the PA Food and Beverage Show and ran a TON of errands and forgot the camera. Sorry!

Nov. 21

2008-11-23T13:18:00.000-05:00

Friday morning I woke up to snow. Now, snow in the Northeast isn't all that unusual, but snow in Nov. is...kinda. We don't often get much of a snow fall in Nov. A flurry or two, yes, but enough to actually make me wipe off the snow from my car? No. Ok, ok, before I get yelled at, Brian cleaned off the car. Though I will say, it continued to snow all day and I had to clear off my car after work.

Nov. 20

2008-11-23T13:17:00.001-05:00

Nothing today. Busy day - work and class.

Nov. 19

2008-11-23T13:15:00.001-05:00

I have been stressing over what to write my one paper on for school. I have ONE paper to write for this class, and for 2 months could NOT decide what to write. FINALLY, I decided. We read the book Dominion and the author is a vegetarian, conservative and Republican talking about how we should treat animals humanly. So, I decided to write my paper on vegetarianism. Still narrowing down the scope, but the paper topic has been decided! Woohoo!

Nov. 18

2008-11-23T13:14:00.001-05:00

Nope, nothing today. Oops.

Nov. 17

2008-11-23T13:08:00.000-05:00

This is me lately. I am always tired. I think it has to do with work, school, homework and oh, not going to bed until mid-night, 1:00 a.m. LOL! If I got to bed earlier, I think I would feel better, but alas, I do not. I am such a night owl. I can be up until 1:00 a.m., 2:00 a.m. and not blink an eye, but ask me to get up early. Blech! And how does this all work with a morning person as a husband???

Nov. 16

2008-11-17T23:32:00.001-05:00

I couldn't find the camera... No photo today...

Nov. 15

2008-11-17T23:26:00.000-05:00

Chilin' on the chair and ottoman. Saturday afternoon involved a lot of reading. Had to read Dominion for class on Wednesday. 400 pages all about animals and whether they have feelings and how can one eat animals when other animals are pets. It was interesting. Prof said we might not eat Thanksgiving dinner because of it, but it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle was worse. LOL! But totally different subject matter...and era.

Nov. 13

2008-11-16T11:25:00.001-05:00

Alright, no photo today. Keep moving...

Nov. 12

2008-11-13T22:03:00.001-05:00

OK, I didn't take this photo, but it's WAY too funny not to use. I was reading for class last night because I procrastinate and waited until the last minute to read 4 articles for class tonight, after class last night. So, about 10:30 p.m., I'm sitting on the sofa reading the articles on the laptop when Elizabeth decided she wanted to sit on my lap. Well, as you can see, I had my notebook on my lap so I could take notes on the article. Well, that didn't keep Elizabeth from doing EXACTLY what she wanted. LOL! She walked right up and curled up on my lap...on top of the notebook! Hubby decided that this deserved to be photographed, so here ya go.

Again, Lizzie is much cuter than I am, hence why she makes a good photo topic.

Nov. 11

2008-11-11T18:07:00.000-05:00

Today's post is not the most cheery. Today is Veteran's Day and it is the 20th anniversary of my father passing away. I was 13 years old when he passed on. I was in 7th grade and honestly had no idea. Well, that's not entirely true. My father had been sick since I was 4 months old, that's when he had his first heart attack. He had 3 more before he passed on and quadruple by-pass surgery 2 years before he passed on. Just before he passed on, he had been really bad. He went into the hospital in mid-September and didn't come out again until Nov. 9th. He was in the ICU the entire time, which limited the time we got to see him. He was released on the 9th and came home. On Friday, Nov. 11, 1988, just before I went to school, my parents said they were taking my dad to the hospital as he wasn't feeling well. I left for school. I came home regular time, about 2:45 p.m. and saw my Grandparent's car in the drive way. I was really excited and started running down the street. Then about 2 houses away from my house, I stopped because it dawned on me that at close to 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon, my Grandparent's should NOT have been there. I walked slowly to the house. When I walked in, my Grandparent's, Uncle David, and mom were in the living room. I was sat down and said that my dad's heart stopped working while they were in the Emergency Room. He passed away about 8:30 a.m. She thought it was best not to take me out of school, that I would find out soon enough.

It's been a rough day. 20 years is a long time. It's amazing how fast time goes by. There are days when it seems like yesterday, like today. And other days that it's so not apart of my life. So, today's entry not so cheerful.

Nov 10

2008-11-11T18:06:00.000-05:00

Forgot again. Oops!

Nov. 9

2008-11-09T20:04:00.000-05:00

Well, that will teach me to wear a HUGE sweatshirt to go hiking! LOL! Today's picture may be kinda cheating as this isn't a physical part of me, but you can't go anywhere without a shadow, so... My friend Jenn and I went hiking along the Appalachian Trail today. She estimated we went about 3-4 miles. It was fun and I hadn't hiked on the Trail before, so it was a neat experience. We had a great day for it too! The weather was fantastic. I had a big ole sweatshirt on and needed to take it off, I got so hot! But it was a gorgeous day for a hike and I'm so glad we went.

Nov. 8

2008-11-09T08:11:00.001-05:00

What an exciting photo of my leg and foot. Actually, this is me hiking. LOL! Brian and I did a wine hike on Sat. and this is me hiking the trail. It was a lot of fun. We went to Moon Dancer Winery in a local town for the hike. We did a tour of their wine making facility, trying three types of wine there. Then we met outside and was given a talk about efforts locally to keep the land around the Susquehanna River in our county forrest rather than developed. From there, off to the hike! We went through the vineyards and learned about the wine process, what they do in the fall/winter, and just how much land they have to work with. At the end, we stopped by a campfire and had a nice lunch, accompanied by different wines. There was soup, breads, cheeses, fruit, and desserts, along with 4-5 different wines, including a mulled wine. Yum! It was a nice day and the weather was BEAUTIFUL! I think it ended up being 68 degrees. Much warmed than we anticipated, but oh so nice for early November!

Nov. 7

2008-11-07T22:07:00.001-05:00

Sorry it's a little blurry today, but I just couldn't get it to focus.

Today's photo is obviously me painting my nails. LOL! What I'm painting my nails with is new. It's the Sally Hansen Color Quick Fast Dry Nail Color Pen. AWESOME! LOVE IT! I got Crimson today at CVS (that place is like crack) because I'm all for the new gadgety stuff. I debated between three colors and got this one. It's a tad pricey $7.99, but worth it! I now want to go back and get the other two colors I liked. I'm such a dork. :lol: But it was just like using a real pen. Simple and each to use. So recommend it. Go buy it now (and you can grab me one too while your at it out of gratitude!)!

Nov. 6

2008-11-06T07:50:00.000-05:00

Today is bonus day! Two photos for the price of one! :-) Last night I thought it would be great to take a picture of me turning off my alarm clock. So, I set the camera by the bed and fell asleep. When I went to get up this morning, I grabbed the camera, turned off the flash and got photo 1, very dark, but you can see the time. Then I realized it wasn't a good photo. So, I turned on the flash and got photo number two. Which is really kinda boring and you can't see the time. So, today, two photos. Imagine if you will the ultimate photo - the photo is dark because it's morning. You can see the time on the alarm clock clearly and you can see my arm just as clearly turning off the alarm clock. Ah well. All the best laid plans, right?

Nov. 5

2008-11-05T23:29:00.001-05:00

And you all thought that there would be no more baseball posts once the World Series was over and the Phils won! Today I got my gear. I ordered this hat, t-shirt, and sweatshirt and they came today. Woohoo! I'm very excited. I got the hat on now. I now have all the championship gear for all the series the Phils won. I am just basking in the glow of being a World Champion!

Nov. 4

2008-11-04T20:18:00.000-05:00

I voted. Yup. As much as I hate politics, I voted. Not telling you for who, but I went to my lovely polling place and voted. The line was kinda long, but apparently the line for those whose last names start with M-Z had a separate line. And it was much shorter. LOL! It was in and out in about 15 minutes (10 minutes in the wrong line and 5 minutes to register and vote). Then we went to the local donut store and got our free donut and coffee for voting. Niiiice!

This should be an interesting night. I think it is a historic day. Hoping that the best candidate for the country wins. We need change. I didn't vote in 2000, I couldn't find my polling place (I had moved and my directions were bad) and I was at work until 8:00 p.m., so missed it altogether. In 2004, I voted and was happy that I had my opinion counted. Not saying if I was right or not by who was elected, but I was happy I was part of the process.

Tonight, a new feeling. I had read an article on-line today that stated that other countries were having election day parties, waiting to hear who was elected. That hit a nerve. I was impressed at how interested the world could be in an election that had nothing to do with their laws. As I stood in line, I realized how amazing this election process is. I thought about the line of people waiting to get inside the building to cast their vote. There weren't any mobs, there weren't any people trying to get us to change our minds, and we had the ability to vote about what we want our government to be. It was just a surreal feeling that it was so peaceful and easy. I was proud of the US for that. Proud that I have the ability to voice my opinion. I didn't wait in lines that were 1, 2, or 3 hours long, but I admire those who did. I've never really cared about politics, but today may have just changed my mind.