Photography Outing

I haven't played with my Nikon D200 in a long time. Which bothers me because it means I'm not getting any practice or any better. There are so many buttons! There's still so much to learn! I want to be inspired, to take great pictures. I'm determined to lug the camera out more often, so Staci and I went to The Huntington Library on our day off this past Friday. It was hotter than heck, but we endured the oven-like heat and took photos for a couple of hours.

Mostly been shooting in aperture mode, still trying to get a feel for it. I hope that one day it will just click (no pun intended) and that this will all come naturally to me! It will take many more outings and thousands more photos, I'm sure...

Here are some photos from the day, you can see all of them in this flickr set.

Why I love my job...

Okay, I admit it, I don't love my job all of the time. But who does? I don't think there's one person out there who likes their job every moment of every day, work can't always be roses and sunshine. How I feel about my job spans the whole spectrum of emotions. I have many moments of stress, tears and frustration. There are times when my weaknesses creep up or my fears overcome me. But along with that, I also experience moments when hard work is paid off and accomplishments are recognized. I'm at a place where smiles and laughter are plentiful and people are awed and inspired every day, where people truly care about the work they do.

And every once in a while, something very special and rare happens...I touch a life, I make a difference somehow. No matter how simple or how small that impact is, it still means the world to me.

Summer's bounty

Summer is, once again, slowly coming to a close. One of the things I will miss most about the season? This fresh, juicy, sweet deliciousness. Each season brings its own gems of fruits and veggies, but summer is by far my favorite. Of course I can still find berries and peaches and nectarines during the rest of the year at any old grocery store. But nothing compares to getting it local and in season at my Sunday morning farmers market.

Photo snippets from this past weekend

Had a mini vacation with friends this past weekend, which was great since I haven't been able to get away all summer. We went camping one night out in the desert at Red Rock Canyon State Park for the Perseids meteor shower, then spent the rest of the weekend in the Pismo Beach/San Luis Obispo area. More photos to come soon hopefully, but here are a few photos from my iPhone...

Baby Ferris

Look at his adorably dimpled hand. He's so cute, I just want to eat him up.

In the blink of an eye

Yesterday was February. I blinked. And today, today we are partway through June. Summer is approaching and I’m not quite sure how four months passed by so quickly. I have been swamped doing things, but besides a few events, I can’t really account for my time. That’s how life is, though—you get caught up in so many things and before you know it, time just slips through your fingers. So, since I can’t recall the details of what has been keeping me so busy the past few months, let me at least share pics of a few of the events that I do remember...

Old roommate, Ann, was in town during her spring break. It was fun to see her and hang out, we went hiking and biking. We also went on a sail and had an American Pride crew reunion--it was so much fun to see those guys again and made me miss all of our good times on the boat!





Went on our "1st Annual Pt. Mugu Camping Trip", or AKA "5th Annual Malibu Camping Trip" with a group of friends...




Worked. Worked some more. Worked really hard. No, we were really hard at work, I swear...




Alicia and I went to a Rise Above Plastics/Surfrider event that Kat was working. What we learned was to "Recycle, YO!"



Went camping at Mount Laguna...




FINALLY went on a photography outing with my friend Kera. We had been trying to get out with our cameras for months, our last attempt resulted in her breaking her foot. But this time, we successfully made it out and actually took pictures! Here's my shot of a night heron...



Went camping at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We did some hiking, some of it through snow, saw amazing views, relaxed, hung out. It was beautiful and a lot of fun...

That never happens

I forgot to eat breakfast the other day. Didn't even realize that I had skipped a whole meal until it was time to eat lunch--to my surprise, I discovered breakfast still untouched in my bag. It never even crossed my mind that I hadn't eaten all morning. That's how busy work (and life!) has been.

Quote-o-the-day

"He thinks that if one cares deeply about someone or something new one throws a kind of energy out into the world, and "fruitfulness" is drawn in."
-The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

Quote-o-the-day

"Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers. How delightful if that were true."
-The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Boy that title is a mouthfull. It's our new book club selection, I've just started reading and am enjoying it so far. I think this is a cute quote--some books are so special, it really does feel like more than just chance that they've made it into our lives.

So much going on, so little time

Haven't had much time to sit and reflect or share what's been going on lately. But I promise I will soon.