A New Project

I have not been blogging here because I have been busy with a new project. A new goal. I am still doing photography, but not blogging about it. If you are interested in following my happenings you should head over and check out The Ninety K Project. It's a work in progress and I think it's gonna be awesome. I think it's already awesome :)

Eleven Eleven Eleven and Thirty Five

CELEBRATE! Eleven Eleven Eleven will not happen for another 100 years! You should feel special to live in this century and be able to enjoy such a rare occasion. Really. What is extra special about 11.11.11 though is that it is Brain's birthday! That's where the 35 comes in... HOLY COW! I know, 35... (sigh). I say it every year and I will say it again... he will always be 28 in my mind (at least until I am 28!).I was thinking about making a list of 11 awesome things to do on this grand day, and then I realized I coulcn't think of 11 awesome things that Brian would want to do on his birthday, because there aren't eleven things. There is only one. Go to the beach! Well, and of course, HAVE NO PLAN! Plans don't seem to work for us, and they only seem to frustrate me so I decided not to have one and so far it has been grand! It is also Veteran's Day so be sure to hug your soldier or sailor! I know I sure will :)



Yes, this guy is 35... Doesn't look half bad for 35 if I must say so myself! :) Yes, this shot was taken mere days ago... so I guess THAT guy below is 34... Don't worry I will post the shots of the 35 year old soon :)



Doesn't he look SO much like his dad in this shot?! CRAZY, crazy.

Crazy Ideas & Helicopters

I have a lot of crazy ideas. Crazy ideas followed by more crazy ideas. They breed like rabbits. My latest idea or goal rather is to become a helicopter pilot. Yeah, sounds random and I guess it kind of is. Last summer (2010) my friend Kristan and I went on a helicopter ride in New Zealand. We flew over glaciers and even landed on one. It was pretty awesome, especially as Kristan landed (oh so gracefully) on her bum while exiting the aircraft. Who knew the snow was so powdery and soft! There was definite skill because she was stepping out facing forward and she landed on her butt... a wonderful twisty move to save her dear camera :) Rabbit trail! The point is, the helicopter ride was pretty freaking awesome, and for whatever strange reason both Kristan and I have started seriously considering becoming helicopter pilots. Something about letting that experience fester for a year worked the same way on both of us. Problem is... becoming a pilot is EXPENSIVE. I took an intro flight where I was allowed to fly the plane (only under direct supervision of course) and it was, as I'd imagined, AWESOME. The shot below is directly after our flight in NZ when the helicopter left us on the side of the road for our bus to pick us up... I don't think there is a happier picture of us anywhere.



The school here in Hawaii is $90,000... it's painful to even think about that amount of money especially when we are still paying off our oh so painful student loans. No way I am taking out more loans, and really, how hard could it be to make $90k? I had a new idea almost daily for about 3 weeks. Some days I had more than one idea, but let's be realistic... there were a lot of bad ideas. No need to worry though, I bounce all ideas off Brian before attempting them. As of now I am going to attempt to make enough money with photography to at least get my private license. After that point, I am hoping to win the lottery. Actually, winning the lottery may be a little more difficult, all I really want to do is go on the Amazing Race and win that. Everyone's got goals they are working on, these are mine: Goal #1 is to pay down as much as possible on our student loans by the end of the year (I have a specific goal to reach each month and we JUST might make it!). Goal #2 Somehow muster enough photography business to at least get a small start on my helicopter plan by January. Goal #3 Apply to be on the Amazing Race with Kristan (and possibly my dad too) hoping that I can make it on with one of them. Goal #4 Enjoy getting there.

Number four is proving to be the hardest one this week. Life passes by too quickly. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Desperate Times... Desperate Measures

 Life is an adventure. I have been marveling lately over all the adventures that Brian and I have shared. We got married one year before we graduated college (in Santa Barbara, Ca) and we have since then lived in San Diego, Japan, Florida, and now we are in Hawaii. That is five very different locations in five years. I think that has to be some kind of record! I have done something different in every location. It seems I am a Jack of all trades master of none. I completely thought that of myself in high school... little did I know it would follow me into adulthood (I'm pretty sure I am actually considered an adult at 25 now :). Photography is always on the side everywhere I go, but this time around I am working at a dive shop. Because what other way can one truly enjoy Hawaii? I spend my days on the water in a kayak and went on my first dive Thursday. My question is how the heck did I get this job? The question can only be answered by the picture below...

I saw an ad on craigslist about a week before coming to Hawaii. I had responded to a similar ad the day before (a job as a kayak guide). I really wanted the job and was deliriously responding to it late at night thinking, I have no qualifications for this job. I need to stand out. They want a picture? There are only two pictures of me on this computer... and so I sent the picture above in my response to the email making some comment about how I am outdoorsy and athletic and promising that I am professional despite the ridiculous picture. Somehow I received a call from them a few days later (I had already forgotten about it thinking they had hired someone else). They asked to do an interview the day after I landed and asked how soon I could start. Next thing I knew I was “working” three days after arriving in Hawaii. The program that I work is called Warrior Adventure Quest (WAQ) and it's a contract they have with the military. The people that come out for this program are signed up by their unit and they get to do kayaking, stand up paddle board, snorkeling, and diving. I have been on the kayaks for the most part, but will be learning to dive next weekend so I can help in other areas. With my dive certification they will also have me work in the dive shop on the days that they don't have WAQ. Which means, I have a steady job Monday through Friday. I have no idea how this happened. I just got lucky. Really lucky.

So... Hawaii. It's going awesome :)

Road Trip - Reno, Nevada

Road trip of the year. I didn't exactly go on any other road trips in 2011 and now that I am in Hawaii “road trip” is not something really in their vocabulary. Or if it is, we did it yesterday because we took a “road trip” to the north island (a whopping hour drive). Which brings me back to my initial point that Florida to Indiana to California was and is the road trip of the year.

Brian's parents live in Reno, NV and they were our last stop before hitting my parents in California. We stayed the weekend there and enjoyed a visit to Lake Tahoe, a hike, and some good time with the family :) The flowers below are all snaps from our hike. I like the image below and I am not sure there is anything to say other than throw your arms in the air and sing... aaaahhhhhhhh! I don't know how to spell a tune. Sorry. It was light at the end of the tunnel. I enjoyed the road trip and time visiting all my family thoroughly, but I was SO ready to get to Hawaii, reunite with Brian, and get settled into my own space. It wasn't a bad tunnel. It was an exciting tunnel, but I was finally beginning to see light at the end of it :)

 

 

 

Traveling Dogs

That's right. Traveling dogs, not traveling gnomes and though I have packed my traveling gnome t-shirt, I have yet to wear it on my travels. My dogs will be the most well-traveled dogs you will ever meet. At the end of this trip I will be posting their photos of all the lovely locations that they have been able to visit. Chancho even swam in the Mississippi, but only because he took a dive off the dock... the water wasn't super nice at the spot we stopped so we didn't actually want to get in. I even asked the lady at the gas station if the Mississippi was nice and clean to swim in. Note to self: don't ask a local if their super famous river is gross.



Aren't my pups the cutest!?! They really do look like brothers :)

Hicks Family – Huntington, Indiana

My brother and his family have just moved from Massachusetts to Huntington, Indiana. He is a new professor at the university in town and the timing was just right for me to visit just days after their arrival and days before the school year starts. The last time Jonathan and I saw each other was in May 2008 when I drove with him across the country to help him move all their stuff from California to Massachusetts. Adrienne was very pregnant with Camille at the time and sitting in the car for days on end at that time was not going to happen. So here we are in August, three years later. Camille is turning three in a few days and we all have really enjoyed the week together :) Her little curls are my absolute favorite!

Ethan is a wild boy. Loves to be loud and all over the place. Typical boy. Below is the reaction I received when I told him his parents were not coming home and I would be taking their place. They went out to shop for some birthday stuff for Camille and we had some good bonding time with the camera.

Camille is really difficult to make look at the camera. She unfortunately got over me pointing it at her rather quickly. I only got the shot below because I told her to watch for the camera to blink at her :) It worked! Then Ethan also wanted to see the camera blink at him.

 

I LOVE both the shots below. Awesome :)

I love grumpy kid pics too...

Looks like he's up to something, definitely my brother's boy.

Ethan's got that look again... JUST like my brother! Sneaky sneaky ;)

Cute little country girl!