Year 27

May 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment
YEAR 27 (April of 2007 to April of 2008)



Of course, my life changed on June 27th when my Nikon D-80 showed up! I’d started playing around with the office camera & taking an interest in photography as a hobby. I needed something to do now that I wasn’t planning a wedding anymore. This was my very first photo, of course it’s Zoe!



In July, H’s mom’s fiance passed away. He had a long and difficult struggle with alcohol addiction, and it was tragic to be a part of their lives and not be able to help either of them in a more substantive way. It was a horrific experience that I wouldn’t wish upon anybody, but it was also an opportunity for me to see the devastating effects of alcohol abuse and develop a new understanding into this incredibly complex problem.



I took Humberto to my favorite place on Earth- Colorado in July for a mini-road trip.



Several of my friends were joining the blogging world & I started following many, many more blogs thanks to Google Reader. I gave into peer pressure and started a blog in July, mostly to have something to do with all my new photos I was going to be taking with my camera.

That fall, I started volunteering at a local ministry outreach tutoring math GED. I was only able to do this for one semester before I got swamped studying for my own test to pass the engineering licensing exam in April.

Fall of 2007 was H’s first really big season & it was insane at his work- lots of late nights and weekends. We did manage to get away to McKinney Falls State Park in Austin in September though.



In January I completed another Houston marathon, and this time H’s mom tagged along to help him do “road crew”.



February anniversary trip to Brazil & Argentina.



We went to see the future President of the United States, Barack Obama, at a rally in Houston.



Zoe skins problems started in February, and she had 3 Mast cell tumors removed from her right rear leg. Her skin problems continued throughout the summer & eventually led us to think she’s developed some type of food allergy.



As part of our ambitions 101 in 1001 Day of Marriage list, we started a garden to grow vegetables in our backyard.

Took the PE Exam in April and officially a licensed engineer in June!

I also wrote and presented a paper at the SAE World Congress in Detroit on my birthday, where H & I took a little weekend getaway to be tourists in Motown.

Filed Under: flashback, history

1 Year with My Camera

June 27, 2008 By Leave a Comment

It may sound silly, but I think getting a *real* camera (DSLR) changed my life. I’ve always been a picture nut, but it suddenly dawned on me that I could get a better camera than a point and shot (even though I do love mine). I borrowed one of the work cameras and signed up for a Saturday afternoon class. The rest is history, all documented with the 13,465 photos I’ve taken in the last year.
This is the first photo I ever took with my Nikon D80, 1 year ago today. Still probably one of the things most photographed by my camera.
My initial motivation for getting the camera was our trip to Colorado. This was my 1,000th photo- on the side of the hill in Breckenridge. I quickly learned the joys of Lightroom while processing my photos, but I’m still pretty clueless with photoshop.
My 5,000th photo just happened to be my favorite subject at her favorite place. I started out with my all-purpose 18-200 lens, which it’s great for almost any occasion. For Christmas, I received 2 fabulous lenses. I’ve been having a ball lately using the macro on our garden.
My 9,999th photo with my camera, and I was very glad to be back in the United States after our (mis)adventure in Canada.

This technically would have been my 10,000th photo, but the counter rolls over and we were back to 1. It was of my favorite abandoned building in Detroit.
I’m so excited to keep playing with it, keep learning, keep documenting my daily life.
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I’ve got a super-awesome photo session coming up after-hours at the museum in 2 weeks.
Filed Under: photography

Alpine Symphony

January 22, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Saturday night was date night for us & we started off at a fabulous sushi bar in the River Oaks area called Rickshaw Far East Bistro. Great food & excellent service, and they had a neat bar area that looked like it would get packed later at night.
Then we headed downtown to see Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss. The Houston Symphony has a great initiative to combine sight & sound called the Alpine Symphony with images by photographer Tobias Melle of Berchtesgaden Alps in Bavaria, Germany.

The first half of the show was music only, so I was really anticipating the second half filled with amazing photos. I guess I’m not at cultured and sophisticated as I’d like to believe, because I just wasn’t blown away by the music or the alpine photos. There were some really nice shots, but very few that wowed me. It did however excite me even more to head to Banff this fall and take my own photos of the majestic Canadian Rockies.
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Off to Denver this afternoon!
Filed Under: Married Life

Photo Favorites of 2007

January 4, 2008 By 1 Comment
I thought I would take a further reflection on my photography, and how much fun I’ve had in the last 6 months by sharing my 10 favorite photos from 2007. Well, besides my 6 dozen favorite wedding photos, here are some I took with my new camera. In no particular order….

One of my all-time favorites of Zoe with her chewy, trying to decide if why I’m on the ground with her and if she should run away before I take her treat from her.

I love, love, love sunsets and sunrises, but this one from the County Fair is by far my favorite this year.

I loved being able to go around Houston, documenting our history, and this shot is so awesome because we took it with a remote.

Our trip to Colorado was the first big outing for the new camera, and this photo is a favorite because I love my husband and I love him being surrounded by nature and the mountains.

The above photo was one of many that I took on the Photo Marathon that DH tagged along with me to help out.

There really are no photos to capture how amazing and inspiring the (replica) of the Vietnam Memorial Wall was, but this photo is the best I could do to share those emotions.

Our trip to Alabama provided hundreds and hundreds of photos, but this one has always been a favorite of mine for no particular reason.

Capturing the camaraderie between my dad and my brother during his baseball game was what makes this photo so special.

And of course another Zoe one that makes me smile every time. It took me forever to catch her licking her chops for the treats I was teasing her with.

I shamelessly stole the inspiration for this photo from somewhere else, but I knew I had to have it when we were wandering around downtown.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: So much fun I can’t stand it. I hope this year rocks just as much =)
Filed Under: photography, review

2007 REVIEW

December 31, 2007 By Leave a Comment

Holy Cow! I’m totally blown away when I stop to think back of all the wonderful things that have happened this year. Of course, the biggest thing was our wedding in February in Puerto Vallarta with all our friends and family.

We continued the party in Mexico with our Honeymoon in Cabo.

Probably the other single biggest thing that happened this years was discovering the world of real photography. As much as I loved photos with my other camera, I realized there was just so much more I could do with a SLR. I took a few classes and spent a bunch of money and I know I can’t be without my digital baby. I’ve had so much fun photographing my married life, Zoe, nature and the crazy construction (or destruction) of the world around me.

I found a new passion in my life in July as I joined the addictive world of blogging July 23rd, just after your long weekend trip to Colorado. Plus it was a perfect place for me to put all my new photos. Stephanie and Ginger came out to Texas for a visit, we hung out with the kidz in Galveston and toured downtown Houston.

I spent quite a bit of time this year recording a little bit of my history, about the stories I remember growing up and the places where I spent my early years. I’ve enjoyed all these flashbacks and I think they are an alternative way to keep a family journal or make a big album.

I’ve done quite a bit of travel for work, taking some fun photos from the airplane on my way to investigate car crashes around the country. I also spent 1 evening a week this fall volunteering to tutor GED students. Making a difference even closer to home, we were able to help out some very special boys with their Christmas.
Due to H’s job, we made lots of concerts and games. I had the chance to read many books this year and we’ve even made an effort to watch more good movies. Plus I’ve posted a few movie clips- mostly Zoe on the blog from my other camera.

We spent our Thanksgiving in Alabama, exploring the deep south and all it’s history. Christmas- all 4 parts were just awesome, including spending 40 days before celebrating the birth of Christ to reflect upon his life. Not to mention the new lenses and the Wii.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: A special thanks to my blog-world friends who leave lots of loving- Christy, Amanda, Katie, Rhonda, Liza and Courtney!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Filed Under: blogging, Married Life
« Older Posts