Saturday, January 27, 2007
I just got back from an hour and a half walk. I don't know how far it was but I was in the mood to explore! I had explored an area around my neighborhood another time and I guessed it was about a mile and a half in one direction. This had to have been at least 3 times that distance. But oh my gosh! Talk about cool stuff to photograph! I didn't bring my camera on purpose. I really wanted to enjoy the walk. The prior exploration walks I got an idea of what I wanted to photograph and the time of day that would be good to photograph it and came back. I will do the same for this route. But I did like some of the imagery so much I took a few pics with my cell. If they turned out even half way decent I'm sure I'll post them below.     And I know… I should have at least updated with a quick "hello, I'm back safe"… But things have been a little strange since being back from Colorado. I'd say hectic but it hasn't really been. I guess I've had other things I'd rather be doing. Ok so this is gonna take me a bit to get posted but I should get it posted by this evening. Colorado - So, as most of you know I had an absolute blast in Colorado! I definitely need to get back there, preferably when it's a bit warmer and I can see some more of the nature other then just white! Though I will admit I was surprised at how easily I handled the cold! I guess being dressed for it helps. Thursday - I actually worked a little over a half a day. My flight left in the evening and I got into Colorado at about 8pm. My cousin Joey picked me up and brought me back to her place. Friday - Was up and ready for the day by 7:30 and went with my cousin to take her daughters to school. She and I went to breakfast and then met her friend Layle (?sp) at the mall. They got their ears pierced together. My friend Jason met up with us at around noon. It was the first time meeting him in person. It’s amazing that you can be so close to someone and have yet to meet them in person. Anyways, it was great meeting him face to face, as well as his kids. My cousin Joey and I had agreed to help Jason pick out some stuff to decorate his living room, so that was our goal for the afternoon. After shopping at a few places I think we finally ended up picking out some great items at Cost Plus World Market. Joey had to pick up the kids and drop them off for Nate to watch that night while she, Jason and I went out. We met back up with Jason and went out to dinner to this authentic Japanese place that Jason loves. It was good food! I even had a Japanese soda which was quite an interesting experience. The bottle itself kept me intrigued. Hehe So I took a few pictures of the dinner but then this is where I made the biggest mistake of the evening. Joey wasn’t into getting her picture taken. She seemed quite moody about it actually. So when we decided to take the light rail to downtown Denver to go to the movies I figured I didn’t want to lug around a camera when all we were doing was going into a theater. BIG MISTAKE!  I actually would have liked to take pictures on the light rail and there was a tunnel on the way to the train that had neon lights and when you passed them they made cool chime sounds… It would have made for some fun pics. But then again we were rushing to catch the train so I wouldn’t have been able to take a lot of time to get the pictures I would have enjoyed getting. So like I said, even on the train would have been kind of fun to get some pictures. We were walking to the theaters and Jason saw the horse drawn carriages and ran over to ask how much it was. So he paid for us to go on a carriage ride. It was freezing and Joey and I were bundled up under the blanket while Jason had to bear the cold in just a jacket. It was great though… I was bummed when Jason pointed out that a picture of Joey and I bundled up in the blanket would have been classic! It would have been. I was torn between missing out on getting great pictures and also being able to experience the moment without constantly thinking of the pictures I could get with my camera… After the horse carriage ride we looked at the movies and didn’t see anything good playing but saw a bowling ally so we decided to check it out. It was a great bowling ally! Nothing like the white trashy places you usually see. This was like a full on club! Great bar area and it played loud music and had the neon lights. We got a lane almost immediately and I had a blast bowling though I have always sucked at bowling, I still had an awesome time! I laughed a lot and thoroughly enjoyed myself! There was this one guy from the lane next to us that kept teasing my cousin. It was hilarious and I don’t think I could describe any of the incidents’ without writing another novel. But it was good times for sure! We made our way back to Jason’s and ended up setting up the stuff we had bought for him that day. It looks good. I think I got to bed around 2am. Saturday - My cousin Joey had a hair appointment at 11am that I went with her. I took some time to journal and got a call from my mom and sister asking how my time was so far. Later that night we met her friend Tish at her place at about 5pm and the night started from there. One thing I was surprised about was that everyone we rode with seemed to get lost! I was thinking most of these people live here, why are they getting so lost? Haha We finally got over to Rio Grande, a bar in Denver and met up with a group of people. I met my new friends Bruce, Nicole (Tish’s sister) and Deseree. I really enjoyed Nicole and Des. We hit it off and had a great time chattering away about lots of things. I took a few pictures. We made it over to the Comcast belated holiday party at about 9pm… It started at 7pm. Hehe It was at the Aquarium. This place was awesome! The whole thing, set aside for the Comcast party. So I of course made my way through the aquarium part of it and took pictures all along the way. We left that party at around midnight only to go to another bar and close it out. I was tired. But we even made our way to Denny’s after closing out the last bar. I didn’t get into bed till 5am!     Sunday - There was a blizzard warning so it was emergency travel only. So I was able to recuperate from the night before. Hehe And I was actually able to watch the game between the Patriots and the Colts. A very good game considering I don’t much care for football. I went to bed at about 10pm, fairly early considering the other nights I was in bed well after midnight! Monday – I went with Joey in the morning to work and Jason was going to pick me up and “babysit” or “entertain” me all day. We ran a few errands, went to lunch and then went to see a kid appropriate movie since his kids were with us and then went back to his place for the rest of the time. Joey had to work late so she needed me to work out meeting up with Nate so he could take me to the airport. Jason was nice enough to drive me all the way back to Joey’s. Joey ended up calling me to tell me she was ditching work and she made it in time to see me off. I landed in Ontario Ca. at about 10:00 and my parents were there to pick me up. I had a good time and can’t wait to go back.    A Chair’s Photography - I’ve meant to write about this for a while but I think because I’m a bit nervous to put it out there I’ve avoided it. But the decision is made… I am looking into getting a photography business going. There are so many aspects of it that I’m not sure in what direction to take it. But the defined plans are putting up a site, selling prints, and offering my services for events, family portraits, etc. I have been encouraged by a few of my friends. I think Jason was the first to get me to think about it seriously (since he knows I can put up the site and he’ll help me market it) and as soon as I had made the decision in my own mind, without really telling anyone I suddenly had a lot of people randomly suggesting that I sell my prints, or offer my services and many of the things I had already been mulling over. Hmmm? Yeah, I think someone upstairs is trying to tell me something. Hehe Each person offered either confirmation or even another perspective of what and how to go about it. It’s been exciting! Photography - Last night I was textin Jason about wanting to go to China Town and then I realized that I always feel so excited about going out of state to take pictures of places I’ve never been, but there are plenty of places here in California that I haven’t been to that would be awesome to take pictures of! So as I drove home I started to make a mental list of places I would like to visit or revisit, taking my camera along. The cool part is I already have plans to make most of these trips! Here’s what I have so far… Santa Monica Pier / Promenade PCH and the surrounding areas China Town Bishop Redwood Forest San Francisco Fresno My friend Russ called me last night (he is one of the many to suggest I start a photography business without knowing I have already been thinking about it). He was really encouraging about my photography skills and getting the business going! And for our next visit he’s going to show me around PCH (Pacific Coast Highway for those of you who don’t know what that is) and some of the surrounding areas. He says there are some great spots for pictures. I’m really excited! We’ve made plans to meet the last Saturday of February. We have a hard time hanging out since we live so far apart. But I plan on driving down to his place and we’ll make a day of it! I am looking forward to it. He said it might be prettier in the spring but with how hard it is to commit to a date we should just stick with February. Hehe And I agreed, if I need to I can always get together with him again in the spring! My brother Brian said he’d take me to China Town. He says the one in San Francisco is better though. And I’m like, heck… if you want to take me to San Francisco lets go for it! Haha But I’ll have to set up the date and just tell Brian he’s taking me. But I think I’ll shoot for March or something. If I went up to San Francisco then I’d add a few more places to my route! My friend Sandeep lives in Fresno I’d have to visit him! He has a farm and I think it would be cool to take pictures up there. Actually he’s asked me if I’d be willing to take pictures of it for him. He’s another person that has encouraged me to start a photography business. And of course San Francisco! And then I’d have to stop by and see my friend James! Gosh… maybe I should plan a trip to go up North! I could drive up Friday night and stay till Sunday night so it wouldn’t be taking me away from work. I’d eventually like to get up to the Redwood Forest! Santa Monica Pier is a place I can go on my own… Though I think I would like someone to go with me, especially someone that enjoys photography as much as I do. Hehe But if I go alone it might be kind of interesting. So I just got off the phone with my friend Andie. She said she wants to take me to the Arboretum in either LA or Pasadena. And then she came up with a great plan! Since most of my friends are taking me to awesome places to take pictures and to experience new things… I should put it out there that all of my friends pick their favorite unique place to go and we’ll set it up to go together… So, how about it friends? Help me experience the more interesting places of California! Anyone interested? Let me know! Labels: A Chair's Photography, Colorado, Photography, Pictures
posted by Charity at 1/27/2007 11:49:00 AM
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Colorado - I am heading to the airport for my flight to Colorado here in a bit. I’m definitely excited! I am not sure if I will have time to post while I’m out there but I will of course be taking LOTS of pictures, whether Joey and Jason are ready or not! Hehe It will take me a bit to get them uploaded but I will most likely post a few of my favorites at least. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I went to bed after 1:00 am or so and got up at 5:30 am. My dad took me to work this morning with him and is planning on picking me up at 2:00pm to head over to a Starbucks and then over to Ontario Airport. My flight leaves at 5:00 pm and I should arrive in Denver after 8:00 pm. Contacts - I’ve attempted my contacts and suffer through the time that I’m supposed to keep them on each day. I decided not to take them with me on this trip just because I want to enjoy looking around without having to deal with the annoyance of getting used to the strain of wearing contacts. Yesterday I had worked up to 9 hours and finally took my contacts out my eyes were completely bloodshot and burning. Is it really worth it? I am starting not to think so. Dentist - I had my dentist appointment and didn’t get scolded for not getting my broken fillings replaced… at least not as much as I expected. She said there wasn’t any bone decay and that I was lucky. But the concern now is my compacted wisdom teeth causing damage to my other back teeth. So she’s recommending extractions. Happy… happy… joy… joy… Another bummer is that she doesn’t think she can cap my chipped tooth in the front because it’s so smoothed out from wear and tear she doesn’t think it will stay. So I was kind of disappointed about that. But I guess it gives me character! Hehe PHS to 30-Something - I had a meeting with Drew and Heather about the next step for our Post High School to 30-Something Group. I am excited about the ideas and we are definitely going out for another “Free Hugs” event! It will probably be the weekend of Valentines Day. We have something else in the works but it’s too early to tell how to work out the logistics of it all (I remembered the right word Drew! Hehe). Well I think this is the best I can do for an update for now. I need to get ready to head out. Labels: Colorado, Contacts, Dentist, Free Hugs, PHS to 30-Something
posted by Charity at 1/18/2007 01:39:00 PM
Friday, January 12, 2007
My Drive - So I am actually sitting at work with a moment to spare... maybe even two. I just finished a big project and am quite relieved! It’s one that has consumed every moment off the phones since last Thursday! My drive into work this morning was a bit disconcerting. I was feeling good. Even got on the road a little earlier then expected from my contacts appointment. Which by the way, I am currently wearing contacts on a trial basis. Today I was only allowed to wear them for 4 hours. Thank god it was only 4 hours because my eyes were totally dry! I don’t have drops which I think is a must to continue. Anyways, back to my drive into work. I was testing out my new headset, the other one I purchased with my new cell phone didn’t seem to work too well, I was chatting away with my friend and suddenly I was stopped by a wall of traffic. I had heard the roads were bad because of some snow and ice and the clouds looked pretty harsh in the pass. As I inched forward at a crawl I considered the choice of turning around before it was too late. It took me 45 minutes to get from 395 to the top of the pass! I won’t bore you with details… But my full trip took 2 ½ hours. I was a little surprised to see snow all the way down to Glen Helen. And along the way I saw about 3 cars on the side of the road that looked to be pretty banged up. So apparently accidents were prevalent this morning and I just got stuck in the residual effects from them. Yay for the Cajon Pass!
Stuff - This morning was filled with good and bad. The drive took a lot out of me. For some reason I was not in the mood for any of the cds I had in my car and I was anxious because of the stop and go and lack of knowing or being able to see what was causing the traffic. Yeah it’s the control freak in me, I know. Hehe So I got my contacts this morning, which was a good thing. I got a call from my optometrist shortly after leaving their office telling me my second pair of glasses is in! Luckily I’ll have time to get used to them before I go on my trip. (Below is a little better picture taken again with a camera phone of the first pair to come in, my Calvin Klein glasses) I got to work an hour and a half late but finished that project that I was stressing about. My supervisor wanted me to take a half an hour lunch at least so I took a walk and did my gratitude list. It totally changed my outlook.
My Room - So the other day I took some time to do some serious spring-cleaning in my bedroom. It’s needed it for a LONG time and I finally got around to doing it last weekend. I love my room! I love specific design elements of my room. It’s a great retreat for sure! When I keep it clean that is. And so far so good, I’ve been able to keep it clean. So here are some pictures I took after it was clean and I was enjoying it to its fullest! And my room isn’t always this filled with burning candles, though as most of you know, I do love my candles. Hehe
Ok so this is actually the living room
but this amounted to our Christmas Tree this year. :) 
I love my boxes 
Awesome lamps from IKEA 
A painting from my sister
and my awesome lamps from IKEA
My window
Candles
Lights on
Lights Off (and yes that is myspace hehe)
My favorite corner :)
Candles
One of my favorite pieces
More candles
Lamp and candles
My window at night :)
Hanging candles
Reflections in the mirror
My dresser
Labels: Pictures
posted by Charity at 1/12/2007 11:03:00 PM
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Looks like my Calvin Klein glasses are in!!!! They weren't supposed to be in till the day before I left for Colorado! Guess I know what I’m gonna be doing tomorrow morning! YAY! The lady from the optometrist office said my other pair should get here before the estimated date as well! So great news! I’m really excited to see how they look. Oh and also according to the weather report there is supposed to be a thunder and lightning storm Friday! :D Yay! I love those! Gotta get back to work… Servers are back up…
posted by Charity at 1/10/2007 11:02:00 AM
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
I’ve debated on writing out New Year’s Resolutions but to be honest I haven’t come up with any. I’ve been on the road of change since October and really don’t know what goals I have for the full year. I know I have a lot of short term goals. Things that I hope to accomplish in the month of January in particular. And maybe that’s what this year is going to be all about. A bunch of short-term goals and will end up being amazed at how the year ends. Game Night New Year's Eve 2006 Edition - So last year ended on a good note. I was at Game Night New Year’s Eve 2006 Edition. I love games nights! We had a good time. We had different groups playing different things. I played African Uno, Pit and Pictionary. Below are some of my favorite pictures of me from the evening! Or Click Here to check out all the pics of the evening. I had Uno but Heidi had a "7" in her hand! :(  I love the looks on our faces as we're trying to figure out what Rashaell is drawing  Me being goofy  linkLINE Crew - A couple days prior to New Years, the old linkLINE crew got together for dinner at Bombay Bistro in Claremont Ca. It was my first time eating Indian food, good stuff! It was quite an interesting experience looking around the table with only a couple faces missing, meeting up with a group of people I loved at one point in my life. I still love them. They were a big part of my life. This connection seemed surprisingly stable even after all this time. I hadn’t realized how much I enjoyed this season of linkLINE until I was there enjoying the people again. linkLINE had a great group of employees, it’s too bad they didn’t appreciate what they had when they had it. But as Sam always said… “linkLINE will always survive despite itself.” But I no longer care what was done by them, in fact I thank linkLINE for laying me off, it was the best thing that happened to me! And for the time that I was there I made a great group of friends that has gone above and beyond the office environment. It may take another year for us all to get together (hopefully not) but still good times…  For those of you who don’t know… I uploaded a BUNCH of pics to my album a day or so into the New Year, so if you haven’t already go to My Album and check em out! There are so many pictures of Bishop that is the one album I have yet to complete. I’ll be sure to announce when those are up. Plans, events and happenings – Goodness, like I said in the beginning, I may not have goals for the whole year but I sure as heck have short term goals and plans. Glasses - I recently purchased two new pair of glasses. I knew I wanted to replace my current worn out frames but they are no longer available so I was forced to make a change. Forced is probably not the best word, it was a requirement but one that I was all too happy to oblige to. I know my life has changed and therefore why not make a change to my highly visible accessory such as my glasses? I hadn’t realized how long I’ve had these current frames for until I happened upon some pictures of Jesse and me and I was wearing the same frames! That was 6+ years ago! I definitely think it’s time for a change. Another thing that hit me is why haven’t I ever thought of buying more then one pair at a time? (Well financially it was probably an issue.) With more then one pair I can mix it up. Play with my mood. So here’s a sneak peak at the frames I bought. (pics taken with my camera phone so they are not the best quality) Can’t wait to get feedback!   Appointments Galore – [side tangent] The word “galore” always reminds me of the Cure, is that odd? I think that’s odd. [/end side tangent] So I finally got past my 90 days at Alliance. Go me! Thus meaning I get insurance and all that good stuff. I made the eye appointment because I knew I wanted new glasses, sadly vision was not covered or maybe it was and well I stick with Dr Newton no matter what just because, well he’s family in some distant way. His son is married to my sister-in-laws sister. HAHA yeah… distant… very distant. So they treat me good there, not that I get any family discount or anything, but that’s ok. I also have an appointment to give contacts another try. I attempted contacts back after highschool and my eyes couldn’t deal with the dryness. So I figure it’s been almost 10 years, they probably have better contacts to chose from. Now how odd is this: going from 1 pair of glasses for the last 6 years at least… to having 2 pair of glasses and contacts to chose from!? That means every outfit has 3 choices! This is gonna be fun! I have a dentist appointment a week from today. I had some fillings that came out a while back and I can only imagine what damage I’ve done to my teeth since! Oh well… I couldn’t stand the dentist I had with linkLINE and when I finally got around to changing it, I got laid off. So I’m glad to finally be getting somewhere with it, but not looking forward to the scolding I’m going to receive about the shape my teeth are in. hehe Colorado – I’m heading to Colorado in 9 days. I’m really looking forward to it! I need the change of scenery for a bit. And who am I kidding; it’s another place to mark on my map of “visited places”! And I’m excited to hang out with my cousin Joey and my friend Jason. Turns out Friday I’ll be hanging out with Joey and Jason. Saturday Joey’s office is having their belated Christmas party, and she’s made arrangements for afterwards. Hehe See, the night I made cookies and was rocking out in the kitchen listening to U2 Vertigo Live in Chicago (see prior blog post), well I realized I needed to get out and go dancing. I had made the decision to ask Joey and that was exactly the plans she’s made for me prior to me even really suggesting that we should go out dancing together. So I am looking forward to getting out and she’s a hoot when she’s out having a good time. Hehe Though I don’t party or get drunk so that is the only apprehension I have about the evening. Sunday not too sure what she has planned. I wouldn’t have minded checking out Jason’s church but I don’t think I’ll be anywhere near his place Sunday morning. Monday my cousin is still not sure that she can get the day off so I’ll be hanging out with Jason I think. I should probably plan to come back out when the weather is nicer so I can get up to the places like Hanging Lake, or Garden of the Gods. It’s amazing how you think, wow there isn’t that much to write and once you sit down to write you realize there is a buttload to write about… The following is one of those added topics! Assemble Project – I’m still working on the project for my brother. In fact, I ditched the project so I could update my blog. I was sitting here fretting about getting it done and wishing I could make time for me when I realized, well then why not make time for me? So I made a selfish decision and well I am happy I did. Anyways, back to the reason I chose this topic. This project is extensive and will probably last quite some time. I’m looking forward to the extra income but it has been slow in coming. I finalize one phase of the project only to start on another. But it’s all going very well. Well I suddenly lost all gumption so I think this is a good enough update. Took me long enough I know… I hope you’ve all survived the absence of updates. Hehe I love you all! P.S. Just so you know, comments do actually work on these blog posts! Click on the Date and Time stamp of that post and at the bottom of that page you can click on "Post a Comment"Labels: Assemble, Colorado, linkLINE, New Years, Pictures
posted by Charity at 1/09/2007 11:51:00 PM
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Happy New Year to ALL! I don't have time for a proper update but I just wanted to say that I'm having the best night! It's raining outside! I love rain, especially the smell of rain! I've got "U2 Vertigo 2005 Live in Chicago" playing from the High Definition channel! I'm rocking out, dancing around in the kitchen while I am baking cookies and drinking a glass of wine (yes wine, a VERY rare occurance!). It's just such a wonderful evening! Enjoying my house to its fullest! I only had about 4 hours of sleep last night and it was a tough night, had more revealed to me about how distrusting I am about whether people are honest with me or are playing me for the fool as I seem to allow myself to believe, anyways that's a story for another blog. Well I gotta get back to baking cookies! I hope you are all having as great a night as I am! Labels: New Years
posted by Charity at 1/04/2007 09:55:00 PM
|
