Inspiration

I love being inspired.
I just wish it would happen
more often.
I even created an Etsy shop
in anticipation
of my upcoming creativeness.
I just hope I can actually
finish a project.

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edited picture from my shoot the other day

Photo Shoot

I asked my friend Nicole
to pose for me today.
She was going for a Hermione
from Harry Potter motif.

Gnomes Away

I love Gnomes. I need to find some more. Is there a Gnomes-R-Us? I also love it when they ride stuff...like snails...

Pictures

I finally got my new camera! Yay! Here are some test shots:












Note: The handsome Mr. Beary Scruffy Dixon posing like a pro.

































Now I will be able to take good photos of my daily foibles, instead of crappy Photobooth ones. Double Yay!

The Garden of Tranquility

I love Portland for many reasons but topping the list has got to be...the gardens and parks. You can find them everywhere and they are spectacular. My Mom and I went to the Japanese Gardens today, and boy were they beautiful.























































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Can a baby get any cuter?





















My Nephew.

I'm getting really excited...this afternoon I am going to take pictures of my Brother, Sister-in-law and Nephew. We even picked out a location...and I have note-cards for all the different poses we are trying. I really hope I don't screw up.

Are you ready to...

TRACK THAT PACKAGE!!!!! Sounds like a really hokey game show.

I think...the ability to track packages is a blessing and a curse. I really like knowing where my package is, when its arriving, etc. However, this ability gets annoying when I check on my package's progress and it is in Hodgkins, IL. I don't want it to be in ILLINOIS! I want it to be at my door...in my hands. Come on UPS drivers, drive FASTER!!

To keep myself busy and sane, I decided to make reflectors from cardboard display boards and shiny fabric. I have a lot of trouble with light, so my reflector will (hopefully) improve my photography.
Yay!

The People of Portland

The other day I was downtown (with my trusty 35mm camera) and I decided to take some pictures of "The People of Portland." Yay! I was quite successful actually. I kind of screwed up though...I forgot my regular lens...so every one of my shots is done with a zoom lens. The pictures came out a little funky.

Advice and Play-Doh

I seem to always have to give advice to people I come in contact with. It's an annoying part of my personality that I could live without. I wish I could stop myself, but I feel compelled...oh well...

Some advice I have given recently (to people of various ages)...
1. Call the police if someone hurts you
2. Always go through your friends purses
3. DON'T RUN INTO THE STREET!!!
4. Read all the books you can get your hands on
5. Go see District 9!

So, I am back to work...watching the kids and such...
I bought a bunch of Play-doh with tools...and let the rascals have at it and OH MY PIZZA...they stayed interested for like an hour. It was incredible.

This is the camera I purchased...I am mad though... they said 3-4 days shipping but UPS is telling me 7. Apparently it's coming from the East Coast...Shucks. I will have to summon all my waiting skills. Ugggh.

Being Rediculous

Birthday Girl

Macaroni & Cheese and Pinapple Upside-Down Cake!! Doesn't take much to satisfy me.


































I purchased a Digital SLR camera, so very soon I will be able to take much better pictures. Yay!

Affinity for Golden Curtain Rods

Today, my family came over to celebrate my birthday! Yay! It was quite fun.

I received a homemade fish-eye lens courtesy of my bro and Laura. I kind of want to throw up I'm so excited!

Here are some awesome pictures we took tonight...

Well 'ello there

I could watch this show for days.

 

I took this a couple years ago...I just found it again. 

It's probably one of my favorites. 

Day of Birth

It is my Mommy's birthday today and my Dad got her an IPOD. Yay! It was hard trying to show her all the features because I am SUPER impatient. I just wanted to rip it out of her hands and shout: LET ME DO IT!!!
But I didn't. I held back.

I think I am growing. I taught my friend how to drive a stick and I didn't explode from the sheer frustration. I stayed calm and boy do I feel like a grown up.

It's about time...I am turning 23 in 6 days. Holy cow.

My Mommy and her IPOD.

So cute.

Painting

Yesterday, I decided I was in a painting mood. So, I tore through the Sunday Oregonian and found a coupon for canvases at Michael's. Two 16'' X 20'' for $5.99! Yay! I bought some extra black and white paint too because I always run out of those first.

I started painting like I usually do: very technical, plotting out colors and shapes...but I became bored and frustrated.

So, I left it. I ignored the canvas on plastic sitting on my floor. I told myself that the next day I would start again...but with a different mind set.

And I did. I didn't plot. I just painted.

This is what I came up with:

Family Park Deux

My family will be leaving today...returning to their respective houses.

...Sad...

I am the youngest in my *immediate* family...so it was nice (for a weekend) to feel like the older sister. I could impart wisdom, tell jokes, do hair... Yay!


I love you dear family...every last weird one of you.

Family

My family is visiting from California/Arizona/Washington for August birthdays! My birthday is the 18th, and I am strangely unexcited.
I AM excited that my cousins are here! They are a hoot.
Below is a picture of my cousin Zoe burning things in my room. :)

Slides from the Thrift Shop

My Mom and I went thrift shopping today...and we went with a purpose! August is a big birthday month in our family, so we needed to find some great items. The first store was bad...I felt like I was gonna die...too many over-perfumed old ladies running around. There was, however, a safe haven for me and people like me (i.e. tired husbands, tag-along friends). It was a whole room devoted to books. Yay!

The next store was tons better. I could have lived there. BEST OF ALL...the prices were fantastic. Holy Jumping Jackrabbits, all thrift shops need to go to this store and take serious notes. I have been to thrift shops where they have great stuff but they want a kidney or some other essential body part for it.

Here is what I purchased:

1. Paperback book
2. Spooky frame for awesome project I am doing
3. Samsonite Bag (I collect them)
















4. SLIDES!!
I got a whole drawer full!
I don't know why.
They are mostly from the 50's and 60's...it looks like the family in the slides lived at the coast. They took some vacations to Cali and Southern Oregon.

I love old people

She makes me smile...

Life

My parents are gone for the evening...and I am craving a cupcake.

I am flipping back and forth between Red Eye (awesome movie) and Law and Order with Jeff Goldblum. I can't choose.

I seriously need a job.











VS















Tomorrow is Sunday and I'm going over to REI to get my Providence Bridge Pedal t-shirt. My Mom, Dad, and I were signed up for the bridge pedal this next weekend but it turns out my relatives are coming up the same weekend.
Dangit. Shucks. Poo. I really wanted to ride my bike for 4 hours with a bunch of strangers.