Sunday, August 16, 2009
Weight Loss - So I hit a plateau for a couple weeks there. I would fluctuate between 3 pounds, neither going over or under but somewhere in between on each day. I started a exercise routine and wondered if that was it. I was on the verge of being discouraged when I measured and weighed last week and had lost 1 pound for a total of 28 pounds. I measured and went down 7 1/2 inches, which the time before I had gone down 10 pounds and 7 1/2 inches. So I was happy to see that even though the scale wasn't showing a difference my body was. Well I've stayed consistent with my exercise routine and have officially lost 34 pounds and 41 1/2 inches all over as of this morning! :D I feel fantastic! What's more surprising is that 3 years ago when I was a couple pounds lighter then I am now, my measurements were bigger then they are now! So I may weigh more by a couple pounds but I'm smaller physically. It feels great and has made me even more determined to keep going. I understand that plateau's happen and will happen in the future but I'm going to stick them out. The reward is so worth it! Another interesting fact is that the last time I lost this much weight I did it over a span of 10 months. I've currently been working on losing weight since early June! Only two and a half months! :) It makes me feel my next big goal is very attainable! I've reached my first goal which is to lose 32 pounds. My ultimate goal is an additional 50 pounds but my next short term goal is 25 pounds. So I'll keep you posted! Birthday Plans - I'm not sure if these plans are going to happen yet but... I want to have a BBQ on my birthday which is September 4th. I picked Friday because I'm going to BootieLA on Saturday September 5th with a big group of friends and that's always a late night so I figured I'd be too tired to do anything on Sunday September 6th. So we'll see if I can pull this together. Right now the financial side of it is what's concerning me, even if I have everyone bring something. But I haven't had a big party at this place yet. I've had a dinner party of about 20 people but this would probably be bigger then that, at least I hope so. :) Oh and I plan on going to Disneyland the day of my birthday if that works out. I signed up for the free birthday pass but since I already have a season pass I hear they give a gift certificate in its place. Job Search - I've been pretty discouraged about the whole job hunt thing. I've gotten confirmation that doors are staying shut for a reason, just haven't figured out what God's reason is yet. That might seem a little odd but it's true. Things have happened that there is no other explanation then God shut the door. I'm trying to stay positive about that. It's hard to understand when I don't see the bigger picture. But that's what faith is all about, trusting in what you can't see or understand. Unexpected Honesty - Right now I feel so torn between being a good Godly woman and being completely unrestrained in opportunities of the worldly nature. There's a song that fits where my hearts at. Satisfy - Tenth Avenue North
Before the sun has touched the sky
Colors bursting from Your eyes
Before the flood of the morning light
Before the earth has felt Your heat
Before I stand up to my feet
Before I begin to feel this weak
Satisfy me Lord, oh oh
Satisfy me Lord, oh oh
I'm begging You, help me see
You're all I want, You're all I need
Oh, satisfy me Lord
When the day is closing in
Like the stars in the night I am falling
Into the pull of the earth and it's affection
In me, oh lord, can you create
A pure heart cuz I'm afraid
That I just might run back to the things I hate
Satisfy me Lord, oh oh
Satisfy me Lord, oh oh
Yeah, I'm begging You, help me see
You're all I want, You're all I need
Oh, satisfy me Lord
You're beautiful, You're beautiful
You're more than all this world can give
You're beautiful, You're beautiful
You're love is all I need to live
You're beautiful, You're beautiful
You're more than all this world can give
You're beautiful, more beautiful
You're love is all I need to live
Satisfy me Lord, oh oh
Satisfy me Lord, oh oh
I'm begging You, help me see
You're all I want, You're all I need
Oh, satisfy me Lord My relationship with God has become stronger in this time of having to trust His plan for my life but I also feel the draw to do things I've always been against in my personal beliefs or what I have always felt was morally unacceptable. It's been quite a challenge! Especially when the opportunities keep presenting themselves at the most unexpected times! Of course, that's when it's the hardest to prepare yourself to fight against the temptation! Those of you who understand where I'm at, please pray for me to have continued strength. A Chair's Photography - I'm almost afraid of sharing this because I've said it so often. I actually have made steps to moving forward with the business plan. I am happy to say that the signs that God wants me to move forward with starting my photography business are too great to ignore anymore! I have to get it up and running and right now is the best time! So hopefully I'll be sharing updates in regards to this very soon! I woke up at 3:30 this morning to make my way down to Pasadena for another photography group outing. This one was organized by my friend James. James' friend Jon ( 2Factor Photography Smug Mug page) joined us, and I had a great time learning new things about how he started his business and what he uses. Our photography group is planning on getting together every 3rd Saturday of the month with a new photography project or location each time. If anyone is interested in joining let me know! This next month we've decided we wanted to play with nighttime portraits and I'm going to use my friend Andy as my model (he's already agreed)! I wanted a rock star look and he's got it! I'm really looking forward to playing with lighting. Jon has some external lights and Septembers project all started when I asked if I could just go with him when he's shooting a portrait with external lighting. I am really happy about this group. I hope it grows because it’s a great way to gain more knowledge and it's so fun to talk to people who have the same passion as I do about photography. Here is a couple of my favorites         Depeche Mode - I'm going to Depeche Mode Monday night at the Hollywood Bowl! I love Depeche Mode! I'm a little nervous because Dave Gahan has been having voice issues and has had to cancel a couple shows this week per doctors orders! The last email I received said the two shows at Hollywood Bowl would still be happening but I'm still nervous! That would totally suck! Especially since a couple of the people going with me have never seen Depeche Mode live before! It seems crazy when I've been to at least 1 show per tour in the last few tours. :) I love the Hollywood Bowl as a venue so it should be very cool! Labels: A Chair's Photography, Beliefs, Birthday, Disneyland, Inspiration, Parties, Photography, Rambling, Updates, Weigh In
posted by Charity at 8/16/2009 02:48:00 PM
Monday, July 27, 2009
So since my last post, life has been filled with non-stop adventures! Gotta love that right? But that means LOTS of pictures (as usual)! So I guess the first announcement might as well be the biggest… Weight Loss – So I’ve lost a total of 27 pounds as of today! Better yet, I’m able to fit into jeans I haven’t been able to wear for over two years! I love it! Oh and I have lost a total of 27 inches all over! Yup, I feel great! I’m so close to my first goal! I’m proud of myself. And I have no desire to falter or cheat. Ok so there are those days but they haven’t happened in a while. I want to lose the weight at a healthy rate. And, I haven’t been working out as consistently as I would like to but I’m still very happy with my success! In my last post I had to run off and didn’t finish explaining the wedding and the busiest day of the month last month. 6.19.09 Terrance & Holly’s Wedding - I can’t share the pictures of the wedding because I haven’t given them to the bride and groom yet. I’m waiting on them for something so I don’t like sharing until they have access to them first. So it should be sometime next week. 6.20.09 Toni Michels Funeral – Well there is nothing good about funerals. I will say it felt like a reunion of the old Aspen Street Crew, though I wish it was under different circumstances. Toni had a big impact on my youth. It’s hard to imagine I won’t see her, on this earth at least. Steve had written his thoughts out because he knew he wouldn’t be able to make it through talking about it. His brother read it for him. The one statement that stood out to me is that every time he goes to bed and wakes up he will feel the sorrow of her loss the most… Wow! How true and real is that? I went to school with Shawn and I got teary a lot during his talk, but it wasn’t until his oldest daughter got up to speak that the tears flowed. She talked about how her Nana always said she loved her more then the universe and broke down in the middle and Shawn had to finish for her. It was so tender... She ended it saying "Nana, I love you more then the universe". Yeah, not a dry eye in the place. She passed away from Breast Cancer so the entire family wore pink of some sort which I thought was fitting. The women wore brown dresses with pink ribbons in the pattern. The guys wore black shirts with pink pin stripes and pink ties with a breast cancer sweat band on their forearm. All the grandkids wore pink of some sort as well. After the service I got a chance to talk to the family and it was an emotional morning. Toni will be missed. 6.20.09 Sasha's Going Away Party - I left there and had to rush to get lunch and head down to Sasha’s going away party in Yucaipa. Here are a couple of my favorite shots. It was a nice time. I didn’t get to hang out with Sasha that much but it’s always so relaxing at the Clements’s home.        6.20.09 and Poet Sky @ Old Towne Pub Pasadena – I made my way out to Pasadena to make sure I would get there in time. The drive was relaxing. I was looking forward to the show and the venue has so much character I was looking forward to taking more pictures there again. I had a great time that night! Poet Sky was on fire! Their last show at this venue was a bit of a disappointment for them but this one I think more then made up for it. And it was a late night!      6.29.09 Laguna – My sister and I had an appointment in Irvine again. And since we were both going down together for once, we decided to spend the afternoon at our favorite beach afterwards. I love Laguna! I found it difficult to just sit and relax. I wanted to be exploring, taking pictures or walking around. Heidi on the other hand enjoyed reading and lying on the beach.     I posted a status update on Facebook and a friend called me and had a recommendation for where we should eat for lunch, Sun Dried Tomato. I was laughing but he took care of everything! Made the reservation and even suggested what we were to eat and where to sit while we were there. And we got there and decided against outdoor seating only because it had gotten chilly and we also decided against his food recommendations because of the day’s specials. It was yummy! All-in-all a great day!    7.1.09 Monthly Worship Concert – My church, The Place, is putting on monthly concerts the first Wednesday of every month. This was our very first one and I am thrilled to say it was a success! We even had a hotdog cookout because it was so close to the 4th of July. We had a great time! I’m looking forward to the next one!                7.4.09 4th of July – I normally don’t get out to the fireworks but was happy to be able to this year. We met up with some family friends and I was impressed with the show.           7.10-12.09 Santa Cruz – My sister was hired to do makeup for a wedding up in Santa Cruz. They paid for the cost of her travel, her hotel room as well as paid for her time. Since I don’t have a lot going on, she asked if I wanted to join her. Of course I said yes! How cool is it to experience a trip up the coast at no cost to me other then food!? So, we decided to take the scenic route which was the 101 to the 1 since we were leaving Friday and had the time. It was such a great time with Heidi and I, we had so much fun being silly and listening to great music.          It was such a beautiful drive! I had a hard time not stopping every few minutes to take pictures!           Saturday was the day of the wedding and while Heidi started work on the bridesmaids I had made arrangements to meet up with my friend James. James and I have been friends for years (10+ easy)! He usually has to come down to Southern California for us to hang out so this time I was actually able to meet him up in his territory! We’d always ended up at Santa Monica Pier when he’d come down and he’d always say it was nothing like Santa Cruz Boardwalk. And sure enough he was right! I loved it there! We had a great time walking around, talking and catching up and of course me taking lots of pictures!      I got back in just enough time to get ready for the wedding that evening. James stuck around so that after the ceremony we went back to the boardwalk and then went to Downtown Santa Cruz and walked around. It was a great day.         Sunday we took the boring route back down the 5 Fwy because we were on a time crunch. My brother’s band, Poet Sky, was playing and we had decided to be the hard core fans and drive 5+ hours to go see their show in Pomona that night. 7.12.09 Poet Sky & AMP in Pomona – Before the show I wasn’t sure I had the energy to make it through but as usual once I start snapping pictures I was energized! The show was originally supposed to be in a bar but there was some confusion and luckily they were able to play out in a courtyard which I thought worked out better!           It was a long crazy weekend but nothing compared to what was coming the following weekend! 7.17.09 Camp Schultz Practice – Andy had asked me if I had time to go take pics of his band while they practiced for their show the next day. It was a short practice and early enough that I was able to stop by for about an hour and take some shots. I was pretty happy with how they turned out.       7.17.09 Club E (a Gothic Event) – My good friends Joe and Erica had put on a big Gothic party for Erica’s birthday. They wanted me to take pictures for it and were generous enough to pay me for my time. I had a great time shooting pictures and enjoying the nostalgia of my old wannabe Goth days just out of high school. It was a bit of a reunion as a lot of the people there were friends from that time.             7.18.09 Pasadena Photo Walk – The only bummer about my late night out was that I had already agreed to be in Pasadena the next morning at 7:30! Yeah I got like 2 hours of sleep, but I don’t often get out there and take artistic shots of random places. But that was the point of the event and I took advantage. Sadly we were all supposed to meet up after a couple of hours but the location they set wasn’t opened for another hour so everyone just kind of went their separate ways. I was looking forward to checking out what other people shot. Anyways, we got done and with the lack of sleep and being out in the hot sun, I was definitely losing it. I needed sleep bad! I got home and took a nap for a few hours and had to get ready for my final shoot of the weekend.      My friend James had been the one to invite me to the event and we stayed close while taking our pictures through Old Town Pasadena. We plan on going back out on our own August 15th and we’re going to invite anyone who wants to go to join us. If you’re interested let me know. 7.18.09 Camp Schultz and others with CJ Ramone – So Andy and Chris were pretty excited about their show with CJ Ramone who was going to be playing all the old Ramones songs. My other friends, Voting with Bullets, were there as well so I knew a lot of people at the show.                At some point in the evening I lost all gumption. I believe it was the lack of sleep catching up with me because I got unreasonably moody. I struggled to even want to be there. I felt like I knew everyone but that there was no one there that I could hang out with. Everyone I knew was in the bands playing so they were too busy. By the time CJ Ramone came on I just wanted to leave. Mike from Camp Schultz convinced me to stay because when was I going to get a chance like this again? I was glad I did stay but I didn’t close out the event, I stayed for about half the set. Job Hunt – So I had a pretty big let down this week. I interviewed for an Admin II position for the Pharmacy at Kaiser in Victorville on Monday. I felt good about the interview and sent out my thank you letter as soon as I got home. I found out Friday that they went with someone with Pharmacy experience, which makes sense but I was pretty down. She told me I did great in the interview and thought the thank you letter was definitely a nice touch (thanks Russ!). I have another job I’m still waiting to hear back from but it’s been dragged out because of some issues beyond their control, so I’m not sure when that one will be confirmed one way or another. So it’s taken me over a week to complete this post! Hopefully it won’t be this long before I can post again. I really need to start writing less or posting more often. Not sure. Labels: A Chair's Photography, Inspiration, Photography, Photoshoots, Pictures, Rambling, Random, Travel, Updates, Weigh In
posted by Charity at 7/27/2009 10:46:00 PM
Saturday, June 27, 2009
I've been doing a lot of reflection. Or I should say I've been avoiding my responsibilities. Being unemployed sucks. I am a person that likes order and schedules. I find it hard to function without them. I've said it lots of times, I thrive on chaos. When I have an open day, or MANY open days, I find it hard to stay motivated to stick to a schedule. I get bored easily. The week before last was almost a little too busy but I'll go into that later. Today I woke up determined. I didn't realize it until I saw that I woke up when my alarm went off, something my body seems to have been rejecting any other day. I accomplished a lot before 10am. I have been finding comfort in coffee for once. I normally have to have fufu coffee but since I'm on a diet and can't have sugar I'm stuck with plain old coffee, cream and sweeteners. With the heat, add some ice and you've got a refreshing drink that feels like a treat. Either way, I got out of the house. For the first time I went and sat down at a coffee shop, did my devotions, wrote in my journal, and read some of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (I want it read again before the movie comes out). It was oddly relaxing. Sure it was hard to block out the sound of people talking, debating how our country could mourn the loss of a pedophile (which I'm inclined to agree, sorry to those readers and friends who are actually mourning the loss... I can't seem to bring myself to feel sad at all). But people came and went through the coffee house and there was plenty of time for quiet. I enjoyed it a lot! I think I will do it on a regular basis. As I sat looking out the window at The Grind (the coffee house), a sudden rush of appreciation filled me for the fact that I live in beautiful Southern California! And that I have no idea where I will be in the future, even the near future. My future is completely unwritten. And I felt for the first time a sense of anticipation rather then dread or fear about what’s going to happen next! I have no idea what God has in store for me. It's totally open! But knowing that even in a few months my life will not be what it is today is no longer scary but exhilarating! As I wrote this, a song came into my mind... What's that song?... Unwritten - by Natasha Bedingfield. Youtube videoI am unwritten,
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand
Ending unplanned
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten, yeah
Oh, oh
I break tradition
Sometimes my tries
Are outside the lines, oh yeah yeah
We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes
But I can't live that way oh, oh
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
the rest still unwritten
(Gospel)
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
Sometimes we get so preoccupied with worry over the unknown that we forget the unknown should be looked at with excitement! Today can change the rest of my life depending on what happens next! I think being unemployed has its advantages. How many people feel like their life is so repetitive? They feel like they are going through the motions with nothing new and exciting to report. The same old job day in and day out. I'm not saying they too couldn't look at their life with anticipation but not even knowing what your next job is going to be, who you will work with, where you will be living, etc. is quite unnerving for some people. Lately, it's been scary to me. I have been filled with dread that I would fail. Not be able to find a job before unemployment runs out and be stuck dealing with horrible finances. Wow... What a depressing picture huh? But today I'm filled with the possibilities of what God can do! I am excited to see His plans unfold and what He plans on bringing next in my life! I want to enjoy this time off as much as I can! Because when I do have a job, there may come a time when I feel stuck. So I am going to try to experience each day with anticipation and excitement for what God has planned. I guess reading this, it seems so obvious. I didn't hate life before, or think every day was horrible, but I did feel dread and fear. I no longer want to feel that way. The idea of not knowing what's coming tomorrow is bringing a smile to my face rather then worry! Ok so I barely survived the busiest week of the month! Lots of emotional ups and downs and the worst day (Saturday, June 20th) was the biggest emotional roller coaster of them all! So at this point I haven't even gone through all the pics so they may or may not be attached to this post. Weight Loss - So I've officially lost 15 pounds! Yay! I feel great and have only experienced a couple days of hardcore cravings. I'm realizing they are more emotional cravings which I knew my problem was emotional eating. I haven't measured in a while. I normally wait till Monday to do that. But my last measurements put me at losing 12 1/2 inches all over! How cool is that!? I went to try on clothes and am practically a whole size down! :D I don't know if it's noticeable to anyone else. My brother said he could tell (which is cool cause he's a guy! lol), but no one else has said anything. I think I need to lose my first goal before people will start noticing. But I'm halfway there. :) I haven't cheated either. Once you get the hang of it, it's not too hard to figure out what you can and can't eat. Jam Bernardino 6/13/09 - So I went down to check out my friend Jimi play. He is quite the talented guitar player! I had never had a chance to see him live. I was able to hang out with him, his new girlfriend and his friends back at one of his friends beautiful mansion! I had a good time. It's funny that I found myself in unfamiliar surroundings and around unfamiliar people (aside from Jimi and Sasha) and I was actually a bit shy! I guess it takes me to be in my own surroundings to be myself. :) But I had a great time. Jimi's friends were cool, down to earth people and I really didn't feel too awkward around them. Disneyland! 6/15-16/09 - So I was able to make it to Disneyland one last time before my block out dates started! It was quite crowded as I'm sure everyone else was attempting the same thing. I went down with Linda, Vicki, Emily and Stephanie. They got a room and asked me to spend the night. I, of course, couldn't pass that up. :) We took our time getting down there the first day. And it was cool because Stephanie hadn't ever been on some of my favorite rides, so it was fun to experience that with a first-timer. I am finding that I like California Adventures more then Disneyland. Probably because I've been to Disneyland so much the rides are classics and California Adventures is all still new. We even got a chance to watch the Electric Parade. After the parade we met Jerret who came down to take Stephanie home since we were all spending the night.       The next day it was REALLY hot and WAY more crowded. I think we went on a ride or two but ended up heading out early. But I had a blast! I was so glad I was able to go with them!     House sitting 6/16-18/09 - So when I got back from Disneyland I had to house sit. I was a little tired but found it relaxing to be at the place I was housesitting. There were a lot of animals with specific instructions but all-in-all it worked out pretty good. But this meant I hadn't spent the night in my own bed from Monday - Thursday! I was thinking it's a good thing I didn't have a job! Rehearsal Dinner 6/18/09 - Holly wanted me to take some pictures of her and her fiancé to be printed up for a frame at the wedding. She was pretty stressed out but I didn't mind. I was down at Edwards Mansion and scoping the place out for the wedding day. Our original goal was to take pictures before the rehearsal but we ended up doing it afterward. I specifically didn't want any landmarks in the pictures because I didn't want the guests to know it was the same location. I picked a pretty green spot and took maybe 100 photos. Here are a couple of my favorites.     Also on the way home the sky was so beautiful I had to snap a couple shots. I had a car pull up next to me checking me out while I blindly shot pics out through and out my window. hehe  Ok so I was going to continue on the rest of my busy week but I have friends bugging me to get to a BBQ... I'm off for now... More to come... Terrance & Holly's Wedding Shoot 6/19/09 and Toni Michels Funeral, Sasha's Going Away Party and Poet Sky @ Old Towne Pub Pasadena 6/20/09Labels: A Chair's Photography, Disneyland, Inspiration, Photography, Photoshoots, Pictures, Rambling, Updates, Video Clip, Weigh In
posted by Charity at 6/27/2009 06:35:00 PM
Thursday, June 11, 2009
How often have I started my blog posts with something like "Life is good"? And even though I have no job, struggling to even find places for me to apply to, I can honestly say life is good! Though I find it difficult to understand why I don't update my blog more now that I don't have a job. The funny thing is, time flies for me now that I'm not working. Before I know it the day is over and I don't have much to show for it. I consider it a productive day when I get at least ONE item on my "To Do" list completed. But I will say this week I've gotten a couple items each day. It feels good to have completed items that have been on my list for the last 3 weeks! There are a lot of changes going to be taking place in the next few months. I know this even without having a clue where my next job is going to be. I had an interview a couple weeks ago and honestly I'm quite hopeful. I was told I should hear something right about now so please keep praying. God is doing a lot in my life right now. I feel closer to His call on my life then I ever have before. Or I should say more able to hear where He is directing me. It's been a long time since I've felt even somewhat close to Him. And I think there is a maturity with it that makes me more aware of even the minutest voice. I love it! I am not saying I'm where I need to be, far from it actually... But it just feels so good to have that closeness again. I'm getting involved in ministry again. The Care Place is an umbrella organization for the church. My dad put it on the back burner for a few years and amazingly the people in the church have come together with their individual ministries which make up the entire mission statement of the original Care Place and some of these people didn't even know about The Care Place. So it's like God is opening the doors to start something big! I'm really excited! We have our first official meeting June 20th. But it looks like we'll be doing a worship once-a-month, hopefully starting a soup kitchen, making blankets for the people in the community, and lots more. But those are the things we feel we can start pretty much right away. June Chaos - This month is going to be quite busy. But as I always say, I thrive on chaos. These are the events I have on my calendar as of right now. June 2nd - Camp Schultz Live shoot Chris and Andy from Poet Sky are in another band called Camp Schultz and I went to take pictures of their show. They are quite good! I was definitely impressed and I'm not a big "punk" music fan. Here's a couple of my favorite pics from the night!      June 4th - Lunch with Rachel and Rashaell for the latter's birthday. We hung out at Rashaell's for most of the afternoon.  June 5th - Dinner and the movies with my friend Jeremy. We went to go see " My Life in Ruins" and I hadn't even seen the previews before he mentioned it. It was a cute movie. June 6th - BootieLA with my friend Andie. Ok so I've had a lot of people ask me "Bootie whah!?". So go to this website, www.bootiela.com. Basically it's a club where the dj's do mashups all night long. The music is awesome! Everyone should experience it at least once! But if you can't make it to the club then download the Best Of mp3's they have on their website. Best of Bootie 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008. I think 2006 is my favorite. Anyways it was so fun dancing and letting loose. It was their 4th anniversary in LA. I missed having Russ there, because he's the one who introduced me to it. But I still had a blast and can't wait to go again! Hopefully Russ can join us next time. ;) Oh and my sister did my hair and makeup. I had fake lashes on and everything. :) You can see the progression of how the hair and makeup held up with all that dancing around and sweating! lol    June 7th - My parents 40th Wedding Anniversary!!! Talk about setting a great example for me. :) They went up to Big Bear for the weekend so I didn't have to do anything for them but it's still a definitive landmark! June 10th - Operation Blankets Some of the ladies from the church put together some of those easy fleece blankets for the needy children in the community. We're going to be getting together once-a-month to make them. For the rest of the month: June 13th - Jam Bernardino to check out my friend Jimi perform a short acoustic set. June 15th - Disneyland!!! I'm sneaking in one last Disneyland trip before my blockout dates start. Linda has asked me to go with them a few times and every time she asks I was busy doing stuff. So this time I'm hopeful it will work out. :) June 18th - Rehearsal Dinner shoot. The couple wants me to come to the rehearsal dinner and take pics of them. They want these pics ready and printed the next day so I'll shoot, go home, play and send them to the bride Holly so she can get pics printed for the wedding. June 19th - Terrance and Holly Wedding Shoot The wedding is in the evening at Edward's Mansion! I've been there one other time for my friends wedding and it's a beautiful place. I'm looking forward to how the pictures are going to turn out. :) June 20th - Busiest Day of the Month! In the morning I have the first official meeting of The Care Place which I'm running for the office of the Secretary. That afternoon at 4pm I am going to Yucaipa for a Going Away Party for my good friend Sasha. It's a bittersweet thing because I'm sad she's going but happy for her achievements and she's following her dreams. I then have to be in Pasadena at 9pm for a Poet Sky show at the Old Towne Pub. It'll be a lot of driving that's for sure. June 26th - Jr and Brandie's Wedding Shoot They are getting married in San Diego in the morning and the place looks very pretty. This is a small wedding. They will be having an intimate beach lunch as their reception. I love the beach and taking pics should be a lot of fun! June 29th - Irvine then Laguna Beach with Heidi. Heidi and I are going down to Irvine for an appointment and we both like to go to the beach afterwards. :) I usually go alone so it'll be nice to spend time with my sis. Toni Michels Funeral - A good friend of mine, Toni Michels, lost her battle with cancer. She passed away on Wednesday. I know she's in a better place and out of pain but it's hit me quite hard how big of an impact she's had on my life. She was such a good listener. And to be quite honest I've been avoiding thinking about her death because I had felt the need to call her for the last couple of weeks. Every time I would think to get my phone and get her number something came up. Right now I regret that more then anything! (sigh) :( They had moved and I lost touch. The funeral is in California sometime in the next week or so. Weight Loss - I've started focusing on weight loss again. I've been walking more regularly but now I'm sticking to a lifestyle change (I hate the word diet). I will admit the first two weeks are more like a jump start but I am determined, nervous and excited about it. I'm ready for the change. I'm ready to start feeling better and having more energy. So hopefully in the next two weeks I'll have significant weight loss. I want to lose 32 pounds as my first initial goal. I know better then to set the big goal. I won't be weighing in again until next Monday. Anyways, I think that's it for now. Labels: A Chair's Photography, Disneyland, Inspiration, Photoshoots, Pictures, Rambling, Random, Updates, Weigh In
posted by Charity at 6/11/2009 09:39:00 PM
Friday, May 15, 2009
I've had a productive week. Actually I've been pretty busy the last couple of weeks, but I consider productive as doing the things I've had on my To Do list! Since being unemployed I've struggled with the constant battle of keeping a positive attitude and being motivated. I've failed at times. But this week I've been pretty successful at keeping a positive and upbeat attitude. I'm going on 3 months being unemployed. It sure doesn't feel like it though! Movies (And my reviews of them hehe) - In the last few weeks I've been going to a lot of movies. I have been really excited to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Star Trek and Terminator Salvation. I will say I was slightly disappointed in Wolverine. I wouldn't say it was a bad movie just not as good as I had expected. I can't say enough about Star Trek! I've seen it twice in theaters! I loved each of the characters. I am hoping that because of the fact that it's an alternate universe they are going to continue making the series with the group they have now. I have a huge crush on Zachary Quinto as it is. And he was an excellent Spock! Yup, one of my favorite movies recently! I've had only two friends say they didn't think it was that great but most of my other friends agree with me, it was an excellent movie! And Terminator Salvation obviously hasn't come out yet. So hopefully that one won't disappoint. I went to a couple other movies at the request of other people. My mom invited me to go see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and not that I had any expectation of the movie to begin with, I wasn't at all impressed. I felt the concept had been done too many times for it to be interesting. You knew how it would end. And it just wasn't that funny. I left thinking "eh..." and that's it! One movie that did surprise me was 17 Again. On Mother's Day it was decided that the girls would all go to the movies and let the guys stay home and relax. Megan really wanted to see the movie since it had Zac Efron whom I've never thought much of. But I was highly surprised and quite entertained. Even if the concept had been done before there was something redeeming about the movie. It's possible that because I had absolutely NO desire or expectations of liking the movie that I was pleasantly surprised but I've heard good things about the movie since I went to it. My favorite character is Ned Gold the rich geek best friend! So there ya have it. The movies I've seen recently and what I thought of them. Missing Alliance - This last weekend I realized how much I miss my old job. I had lot of conflicts with the people, but towards the end, I'd say even a year ago I was well on my way to LOVING my job and the people I worked with (well with maybe one exception lol). At the end I was thoroughly enjoying the challenges being brought before me. Sure studying for my AAP was a lot of pressure but I find that I like that. I miss it. I miss the people I worked with, even though we all do our best to keep in touch, it's just not the same. It's hard to imagine where I'll work next. The Future - I've been taking a personal inventory. I went to my parents and my old supervisor and asked them what they saw as my strengths and weaknesses. It was interesting the feedback I got and helpful on the personal side but I also need to use it for the direction of my future career. I feel I'm at a cross roads. Really I have a lot of different directions I can take in my life. The question is what direction do I feel God is calling me to? He's given me my strengths and interests for a reason. Now how can I use that to my benefit? Every job I've ever had I've just kinda landed in. I finally heard back from the Pasadena job, they can't afford me and I'm not willing to settle for less especially since they expected me to move down there. So we'll see what God has in store. A Chair's Photography - The other side of this unemployment is that my photography seems to be going somewhere. I took pictures of a wedding May 2nd and was asked for my business card a few times. I didn't have any made so I should look into that. The other thing is I've had to borrow my friend Ludek's equipment because I don't have some of it to make shooting easier. Until now, with some of the money I got from my last wedding shoot I bought all the items I'd been borrowing! An external flash, diffuser, an extra battery and a tripod are all on their way. I got a great deal. Everything was A LOT cheaper then I had anticipated. My next big purchase is a new lens but that will be a while before I can afford something that pricey. Here are a couple of my favorite shots of the wedding on May 2nd for Brad and Randi at the Redlands Temple, reception shots are in someone's backyard in Apple Valley             Jesse - So the 3rd anniversary of Jesse's death was Wednesday this week. He's been on my mind quite a bit. I've actually been reading the blogs I've posted (listed below) of when it happened. 5/13/065/14/065/17/06I wonder at times what our friendship would be like if he were still alive. I know I let go a lot of the pain and resentment of our relationship at the funeral. I have gone to Disneyland a couple times in the last few weeks and I couldn't help but think of him. We had season passes when we were dating. I really miss him. Disneyland - So yes, I went to Disneyland back on May 4th (with Andie) as well as May 14th (with Ron)! I had a blast both times. I love Disneyland! And with the passes you can enjoy a fairly cheap day of entertainment! Andie and I have a lot of the same interests at Disneyland so it's always fun with her. It was the first time I went with my friend Ron and was amazed at how different my Disneyland experience was! He showed me sides of Disneyland I had never even heard of! It was fantastic! I can't wait to show Andie! :) Mostly it was performers but I was thoroughly impressed. And on top of that I learned of a new talent of his! He plays the piano phenomenally! My jaw dropped to the floor when he played three of my favorite classical songs beautifully! And then he shared a few of the songs he's written himself! ... Amazing! It was great to get to know him better. And we're for sure going to Disneyland again after my blockout dates have passed. So here are a couple pictures of my two trips.            Santa Cruz - Heidi has been hired to do makeup for a wedding I believe the second weekend in July up in Santa Cruz. She's asked me join her. The gas and hotel are being paid for by her client, which is freakin awesome! I'm soo happy she invited me! I can't wait! And I will get to finally visit with my good friend James in his neck of the woods. :) All at relatively no cost to me! :D And I'm so excited for a new place to take pics! So that's it for now. Enjoy the pics. Labels: A Chair's Photography, Disneyland, Photoshoots, Pictures, Rambling, Travel, Updates
posted by Charity at 5/15/2009 10:30:00 AM
Thursday, March 05, 2009
I'm in my 3rd week of being unemployed. The week after I got laid off was pretty uneventful. In fact, I don't really remember what all happened. But last week was pretty crazy busy! I've got a lot to share and of course loads of pictures to go along with everything! February 20th Dinner - So for the 2nd week in a row Andie came over to help me learn how to cook. We made breaded chicken with bowtie pasta, sun dried tomatoes and sauteed asperagus in an alfredo sauce and seriously orgasmic garlic bread. lol    February 21st New Hair / Tango Kilo - I got my hair done by Heidi and it's quite a bit blonder but I love it. My sister was too busy to style it so another girl Randi took some time to curl my hair. I thought it was cute, a bit more curls then I like but I was going out that night so it worked out nicely.   So my friends band, Tango Kilo, was playing at a local dive bar, the Marina Lounge in Spring Valley Lake. My brother and I went. I had a lot of fun! I don't go to too many local shows so I was surprised by how many people I knew. It was a reunion of sorts. I enjoyed hanging out and talking with my brothers friends. My friends Andie and Barbara came as well. It was a late night but I had a great time! February 22nd Poet Sky @ the Universal Bar & Grill - Well this whole night was odd for me. First of all I look at the pics and realize it was a great night, and I really did have a good time. Though there was another side to that show, my internal emotions were miserable! I struggled and looking back I'm STILL not sure what was up with me that night. If you look at the pics you can't really see it either. But it was a bitter sweet night for me. But check out the rockin pics!                  February 23rd LA Meeting - So I drove down to LA for a meeting with the payroll company and it was incredible. I had only gotten 4 hours of sleep because of my brothers show, but I thought I looked presentable considering.  This company was already awesome in my book but the owner took me out to lunch to discuss options to get me a job and I was blown away by how nice he was and how hard he was trying to make it work. The bummer is, without traffic it took me 2 hours to get down there. So we left it as I was going to take a week to think about it. In this week we both came to the conclusion that I'm a great fit for the company if I lived closer. I'm still considering a sales position which would let me stay local for the most part. Just waiting to see what God has for me. It was rough to try and stay awake because I was so tired. But this is towards the end of the night...  February 24th Pasadena Class / Alliance Crew Lunch / Dinner with Berrys - You got that right! I was non-stop that day. I drove down to Pasadena for aWesPay ACH class that I was already signed up for before I was laid off. It was from 9 - 12:30. The only awkward thing was they recognized me and asked me to stay afterward to explain what took place with Alliance. It wasn't too bad. The person I talked to said he was hearing two stories and wanted to know what the correct one was. I told him about having troubles looking for a job and he introduced me to someone who then asked me to email her my resume and she would pass it around. So that was cool! And I ran into another lady I met back in August when I went to the conference in Vegas. She also had me email her my resume. So it was a good networking venture. Alliance Lunch - After the class I drove to Rancho Cucamonga to Wahoo's where I was gonna meet a bunch of the crew. I was actually really happy to see everyone. And it made me realize how much I missed seeing them every day. Here's a picture of the group that made it.  Dinner with the Berrys - I hadn't hung out with my friend David in a while so I had arranged for us to meet for dinner since I was going to be down there. He sadly was laid off by linkLINE, yet again, because of the Alliance fiasco. Apparently linkLINE couldn't afford the lack of income that Alliance paid them for their servers etc. Anyways, it was great to see the kiddos before me, David and Erin went out to dinner. Their kids are getting sooo big! Here's a pic of the group of us.  More Updates - I have a lot more to share but I'm out of time. I'll post something in the next couple of days. To Share: Dinner Party - February 27th Megan's Birthday - March 1st Visitor from Africa - February 28th - March 5th A Chair's Photography - February 28th New Glasses Possible new job with big changes Labels: A Chair's Photography, Photography, Photoshoots, Pictures, Rambling, Updates
posted by Charity at 3/05/2009 09:10:00 AM
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Finally an update! But not just any update... A gigantic update mostly of pictures! Those of you who have my myspace or facebook have seen most of these pictures. For those of you who do have my myspace and facebook, there are new ones towards the bottom. :) Where oh where should I begin!? There's just too much and I have plenty of pictures to go with. Maybe I should just let the pictures tell the story. 11.2.08 : My CEO's wedding - Yeah that was back in November! I was really happy with how the pictures came out. I think I've determined I want an outdoor wedding. I love all the green in the pictures!             11.21.08 : Twilight Geeks - Yup I'm a huge fan of Twilight. So a few of my friends went to see the midnight showing of Twilight. :)    11.27.08 : Thanksgiving - I've explained my Thanksgiving on a post below so here are the pictures from that day.       11.29.08 : Brown Family Portrait - This is my second year taking pictures for the Brown family. :) They are a beautiful family so it's not hard to get great shots. But this is in their backyard! Talk about a beautiful view!            12.3-5.08 : My Vacation / Disneyland - I have a Worldmark Timeshare and decided since I didn't have a lot of cash I would go on a local vacation. I went to the resort in Anaheim for a couple of days and also went to Disneyland. One of my bestest's, Andie, came down and went to Disneyland with me. Then we met up with my friend Brandie with her daughter Lexi (first time to Disneyland) and her friend Kari. Good times at the Happiest Place on Earth. :)             12.6.08 : OURS @ the Roxy in Hollywood - So my friend Jimi got me hooked on the band OURS. The first time I saw them perform, a band called Plain Jane Automobile opened for them and the lead singer Duke was just an all around cool guy. He posed for a picture on stage and asked me to send it to him. So this show since I felt I knew him to some extent I sent him some of these pics and he liked them so much he posted a folder on the bands myspace giving me credit for the pics. :) That was so cool!          12.11.08 : Alliance Gift Exchange / Brunch - Because our traditional Christmas Potluck included significant others, Alliance decided to have a brunch the day before the potluck so we could do our gift exchange without the significant others feeling awkward about it.         12.12.08 : Alliance Potluck - We had to get a table for 23. Quite the interesting setup. It was quite relaxing to just sit around and enjoy lunch together. The department directors got up and said nice things about their departments. The CEO got up and talked about the company and was sweet enough to pick me out of the crowd and told everyone how much I've "blossomed" in the company. It was only slightly embarrassing, I felt pretty special actually.           12.13.08 : Gregory & Tawnay's Wedding - I took these pictures as a wedding gift for Tawnay. I was dissapointed in all the lighting and weather and tried to make the best of what I had. I didn't have an external flash which I think was the thing bugging me the most. Anyways, these are the ones I thought turned out ok flash and all.                     12.13.08 : Poet Sky show in Pomona - Right after the wedding I was rushed down the hill to go watch my brothers gig... The first time Poet Sky performed since they have gotten back together. So of course we had to go to that! Heidi, Andie and I stopped by one of my favorite places, Wahoo's, for dinner. Then we met my brother and the band local bar near The Wire where the show was at.                   12.14.08 : Free Hugs - In 2006 we did our first ever Free Hugs, click here to go to that post. We decided Christmas is the best time to do it so we went again. Sadly this year it didn't get as positive a response. We think it had to do with the cardboard signs and the shopping carts near us. lol People thought we were homeless or something. We'll know better for next year. But here are a couple pics of the troops.   12.16.08 : AAP Certification - It came in! So it's official! I can sign my name Charity Ring, AAP. lol I will say that it felt more fulfilling to have the unofficial pass then when I got the piece of paper. I guess because I had already gotten my promotion and raise. So it didn't change much having the piece of paper. But as my mom pointed out, if I didn't get certified then I would have felt it! I plan on going out with a few of my coworkers to celebrate. We had it planned for Wednesday but with the snow we have to put it off. And with the holidays I didn't want to stress out about figuring out a good day for everyone. So we're hoping to go karaoking January 9th or something. I think that would be fun! Here's a pic of my certification and the card everyone got for me when I passed the test, and you can sort of see the box with my pin in it. :) yay!  12.17.08 : Snow... LOTS of snow! - So it snowed on Monday in the pass and I wasn't able to get to work. But Wednesday I actually attempted it before finding out they just closed the Cajon Pass. Here are some pictures of our snow day! I've never seen this much snow come down in such a short time while living in California! Craziness!            12.19.08 : A random Friday - Like most Fridays, went to Wahoo's but this time Joshua joined Mike and I to celebrate me getting my certification (since Joshua would probably not be joining the group that goes out in January). But here are my two favorite guys at the office. :)  And that evening I met with David and Erin. Great friends of mine that I haven't hung out with since I started studying for my AAP. I got to meet their 6th and final little one, Matthew Elliott. He's such a sweetie.     Holy cow that's a lot of pictures! I'm sure it's more then most people care to check out in one sitting so I'm sorry about that. Hopefully you enjoy them. I'm off to decorate the house with the little that I plan on putting up for the Christmas season. It'll only be up for a week so I'm not doing much. Labels: A Chair's Photography, Free Hugs, Photoshoots, Pictures, Random, Thanksgiving, Updates
posted by Charity at 12/21/2008 06:25:00 PM
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Hello World! Did you miss me?! I wasn't too sure I'd blog even after I was done with my AAP exam. But here I am... Oh and I'm now no longer a blond! I would say I'm a brunette but it has quite a bit of red to it too! So far people either love it or think I make a better blond. No one has said they hate it. I will gradually go back to blond but it's nice for a change.   Poet Sky 10/11/08 - So I took some pics of Poet Sky. It was seriously a 10 minute shoot and I thought the shots turned out pretty good. And it helps that the guys in the band are all good looking.      AAP Exam 10/29/08 - So... Short Version - I'm happy to say that I passed my AAP exam!!!!! (Long Version) It's an "unofficial pass" though. So I'm not exactly sure what that means. I've narrowed it down to a few options.
- This is the first time they've done electronic testing so they may say its unofficial just in case there is a computer error and they can confirm everything processed correctly.
- The certification is handed out based on how many applicants pass, and if there are a lot then they pick the top scoring applicants.
- They just want to make us sweat it out till we get the official certificate in the mail! lol
No clue which is the right answer. I was told they * may* be grading on a curve. So if that's the case then idea 2 is most likely the answer. So I won't know if I'm AAP Certified until the end of November. But my goal was to pass the test and I did that! A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders! This test has been looming over my head for the last 5 months and has been in the forefront of my mind for the last month! I have no idea what to do with myself! No constant nagging of how I should be studying, doing flash cards, taking practice tests or reading. I can go home and veg GUILT FREE! I've had so many people praying over this test and my confidence would waver back and forth on whether or not I could do this. I decided my best bet was to worship all the way down to the test so I could keep my mind off of it and on God. And it helped, every time I wasn't fully submersed in worship my stomach was in knots. I knew God has brought me this far, I had so many people praying for me and I truly had done all I could to study to the best of my ability so I felt there was nothing more to do then just sit down and take the test. Anyways, the day of the test I got there WAY early. The testing center was in Riverside. I sat at the computer station and read the first question and went into panic mode. I took a deep breath and said another quick prayer for God's help. The test was completely different then I expected. I had been given warnings that it was a tough test and that they word things in such a way as to trick you (or I should say make sure you truly understand the concept of ACH payments). But I was shocked at how seriously close each answer was! I went through each question answering to the best of my understanding, marking the ones I wasn't confident about (which was like half the test!). Once I completed all 120 questions (20 of which are pilot questions that wouldn't be scored) I went back through the ones I marked being sure to read the question very carefully. I was happy I went back through because as I took the test I got more comfortable with the type of questioning and wording and I picked up on things when I went back through. I kept most of the same answers but a couple I knew without a shadow of a doubt I needed to change my answer. The test took me 2 hours and 15 minutes. I went out and waited for them to print my results and honestly I wasn't sure what to expect. I really was waiting to hear I had failed and that I would have to explain to my work that I didn't pass. But the girl said congratulations, you passed. I practically fainted! No joke... I got weak and a bit teary eyed. I've wanted this so much. I've focused all my energies on this for so long I was in shock that it was over and I got a great outcome to all my hard work. I immediately went outside with a HUGE grin on my face and called my supervisor to tell her the good news. She said she knew I could do it and congratulated me. I made all the necessary calls and text messages on my way back to the office. Here's the coolest part! So I walk in to my office. I wasn't sure what to expect but I said hello and walked to my cubicle where I was greeted by my entire department jumping out at me yelling "Congratulations!" with streamer poppers flying at me, camera taking a picture of my reaction! I was shocked! They even had a banner congratulating me and decorated my desk with candy and little streamers. There was a card signed by the entire office! I was in shock! I felt so completely and utterly special! I mean seriously!? How awesome is that to have happen!? I'm gonna remember that one for a long time! :) Here are a couple snapshots from my cell... I am patiently waiting for Tina to send me the pics she took from her camera.   Wedding Shoot - So I have a wedding shoot tomorrow! The CEO of Alliance is getting married and asked me to take the pics! It's a paying gig too. I'm really excited and nervous at the same time. It's at Thatcher Manor in Perris Ca. Sadly it looks like it might rain tomorrow. So pictures should be fun! (Um... yeah) But the place is rather pretty so I'm hoping the weather cooperates! Thursday 10/30/08 - I had to open so I was up at 4am to leave my house by 5am to be at work at 6am. The day was busy. I got off work at 3pm and had to grab some food on my way to the rehearsal. I got there an hour early but asked if I could come in and get the layout of the place for photo ideas. Here are a few of the pictures I took.     Here are a couple pictures of the happy couple   I was thrilled I was done so early. I called my friend Ludek on my way home. He is so awesome. He's lending me all his fancy camera equipment so I can get the best possible shots for the wedding tomorrow! He has my same camera model so I am able to use his external flash and gigantore lens! I was so happy when he said he had no issues with me using it. He's such a generous person. I'm thankful for his friendship. I was heading home sooner then I expected so I stopped by my friend Andie's house to come up with a last minute costume for the Halloween Potluck at work. I got home at about 8:30 and started baking cookies till 11:00pm when I finally decided it was time to crash. At the Moment - As I'm typing this there was a sudden downpour of rain. And I really do love the smell of rain! And my mom just overloaded me with some sugar. Bleh! My parents and sister are staying with me for the next week (possibly two). They had to be out of their place yesterday and the new place they are renting isn't available until the 5th at the earliest. So right now my parents are staying in my brother’s office. My sister is sleeping in my office. She wasn't supposed to have her kids this week but her ex-husband had an emergency with his other son. Derrek is in the hospital. It seems so strange that he's no longer part of my family. So for the night Bailey slept on my couch in the living room and Megan stayed with her other Grandma. My brother Brian has conveniently stayed out of the house during this entire transition. A benefit to having my parents staying with me is that my mom is a fantastic cook! I'll get awesome home cooked meals for the first time in ages! And my dad has always been so willing to help me put stuff up. And one of the things I've neglected since moving into this new place is actually putting up all my decorations! My dad said he'd be happy to help but I'm not going to bug him this weekend. He's been through enough in having to deal with a transition placement at my house! I really do feel bad that my parents have to go through all this at their age. Alliance Halloween Potluck - This potluck was a lot of fun. I'm not sure if it's because we actually took time to sit and talk and enjoy the conversation or what. Normally it feels so awkward, but I enjoyed myself. Here are a couple pictures of the day. :)                Life after the AAP Exam - I need a vacation. I've spent so many months focusing all my extra energies on studying. Work has been a bit crazy because we're understaffed and I have had added responsibilities. Which has been cool but it's made every day at work a non-stop chaotic environment for me, just trying to fit it all into a routine and get everything done in a timely manner on a daily basis. It's always been a laid back job so it's not like I can't get over it. But yesterday after the potluck I started to lose it. I felt like if I didn't get peace and quiet I would scream! I think it's just that I've been telling myself... As soon as the test was over I would have time for myself and that hasn't happened. I've been almost MORE busy, taking pictures of Paul's rehearsal, baking cookies for a potluck, planning a costume, meeting up with Ludek to grab his equipment, helping my parents move and get situated, and then dealing with the concerns of taking good pictures for Paul's wedding! If it wasn't for my completely lazy day today (which hasn't been fully lazy as I have company) I think I would just want to shut down. I emailed my supervisor on my way out of work Friday and asked her to consider allowing me to take some time off. With the lack of help I know it's going to be difficult but I'm finding it difficult to concentrate and get things done. And who knows, maybe all I needed was a day like today. A bit lazy and somewhat quiet (definitely not used to kids being in the house! haha My niece is running back and forth outside my room window playing with the dogs, not that it's bothering me, its just not ... quiet). I think of how my parents must feel though, living in limbo for a week or so and how annoying and uncomfortable that must be for them. I have NOTHING to complain about. So I'm trying to be as obliging as I can for their sakes. Anyways, it’s taken me longer to add pictures to this post then I thought and I want to go help my mom with dinner. I know this is an extensive update. But hey, it’s been a month! What do you expect from the blogging addict? Bye for now… Labels: A Chair's Photography, Photoshoots, Pictures, Rambling, Updates
posted by Charity at 11/01/2008 05:00:00 PM
Saturday, June 28, 2008
I think it's high time I wrote an update with pictures! Of course I won't have pictures of the event I shot tonight but at least you'll get something! I just got home from Edify's first concert. They are my churches band. They so rock! I'm so proud of them... They are all my boys from youth and well Tom's my best friend’s husband so he's practically family and Michelle is just an absolute doll! It was fantastic! Here are some of the pics of the photoshoot I had with the band earlier this month. It was a lot of fun! Edify 6/8/08      AAP Certification - Anyways, I've been on an emotional rollercoaster the last couple of weeks. I have found that I have been stressing WAY too much on this AAP examination in October, almost to the point of self sabotage. I'm just trying to take deep breaths and take it one day at a time. I think the part that is disconcerting me is that I'm an intelligent person, I pick up on things fairly quickly, but these ACH rules are a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo and I'm struggling to grasp a basic concept just because the verbiage is so wordy! But I've been persistent. I took that AAP Preparation Class in Pasadena and felt completely out of my league. Mind you, the person heading up the class made it clear that it wasn't meant for beginners. So I had a teleseminar last Thursday on Risk Management Strategies and I was reading the Rish Management Handbook all week before the class and again struggled to comprehend what it was I was reading. Then I take the class and was blown away by how much I understood and how easy it seemed. I think I am just struggling with processing the ACH legal jargon. Either way, after taking that class it did help me calm down quite a bit about the class. Also I'm going to Vegas in September with my Supervisor for an Operations Conference dealing with the AAP stuff. It will be my first business trip for Alliance, well actually for any company I have worked for so it should be interesting. I think another thing that is putting the pressure on for passing this test is all the money that Alliance is putting out on my behalf. I don't want to disappoint them. These classes, workshops, teleseminars, etc aren't cheap. Failure is not an option! My friends are awesome though... they have faith in me and are all so encouraging and uplifting. A Chair's Photography - Sometimes I'm so surprised at how many people are so willing to hire me to do their photos. Joshua says I'm professional since I've been paid more then once. It's hard to look at myself as a professional photographer because I still have sooo much to learn! I assisted with Susan Whitney for that wedding down at Kimberly Crest Mansion and it was an absolute blast! Like I said in the post about that event, I was sweaty, tired and non-stop and I still felt like it wasn't work... I had too much fun! Photography is definitely a passion. I get lost looking through the lens. I forget about all the troubles and focus on another world. It's awesome! So tonight at the concert I saw my Political Science teacher from college and we got to talking and he saw me taking pictures and he said he would like me to take the pictures for when he and his wife renew their vows. They asked for a card. This isn't the first time I've been asked if I have a card. A great friend of mine Annette has a bakery Sweet Addictions and when she saw my engagement shots of Daniel and Mary she wanted cards to hand out to her clients that come in for wedding cakes. Yet shooting with Susan I realized how far I am from being ready for any kind of professional business in wedding photography. I'd love to work with her again. I'm hoping she will call me for future weddings. I don't know how rude it is to ask if she liked my work well enough to actually use me again. I finally got the pictures back from her. Our schedules were never meshing and I was quite discouraged by the time I actually got them all, which was last night. I finally looked through the ones she liked and felt comfortable with her critique of my work. She had valid points. I know there is so far to go. But sometimes I don't think it's going to take very long. Meaning I may still have so much to learn but life will carry me from one thing to the next with this whether I feel prepared or not. I was just thinking back that my first real photography job was for Brian and Rashaell Fischer's wedding. That was back in March! That was only 3 (almost 4) months ago! It's been a whirlwind. I can only imagine what the next few months hold! For those of you who don't have my myspace page I apologize, you don’t get to see the pictures as soon as the people on myspace. I just realized I never posted the pictures of the Steampunk Treehouse! Or Turtle's Reception!So without further ado... Steampunk Treehouse 5/1/08 - A select few... I have posted a small slideshow so if you would like to see it go to Steampunk Treehouse Slideshow           Random Shots 4/08 - I just ran into a bunch of shots I took in April and never uploaded them. Some of them are really rather cool...        Turtle & Amber's Wedding Reception 5/17/08              And I can hardly believe I'm actually able to do this but here are some of my favorite pics from the wedding! Robert & Jessica Simpson Wedding 6/7/08       Labels: A Chair's Photography, Parties, Photoshoots, Pictures, Rambling, Updates
posted by Charity at 6/28/2008 11:40:00 PM
Saturday, April 26, 2008
I can't believe how long it's been since I've updated! Things are going really well! The Move - I have yet to start packing for the move. I stopped by our new landlady's office to sign some papers this morning. She seems genuine, which is a good sign. She's fairly laid back. The community we're moving into might be more uptight then we're used to but the rules don't seem too outrageous compared to some of the communities I've heard about. I'm excited about this place. It's really nice and has so much space. I’m looking forward to getting over there. My Weekend - I'm not even sure if I'll get a chance to post this since I only have a few spare moments to post this blog. Friday I got home at a reasonable hour. I enjoyed a leisurely evening because I knew the rest of my weekend would be non-stop. I stayed up later then I would have liked because a friend needed some advice. I have also been working on the engagement shoot pictures so that I can post a couple! I got to bed around 1:30. I got up this morning and went tanning, rushed back home to go with my brother to meet our new landlords. Dropped Brian off and went over to Coco's to have lunch with Brandie who had brought Alexis up for the day! Alexis is adorable! She's so sweet and very alert. I had a great time catching up with Brandie. It was great to see her and the baby. After that though, I came home truly exhausted. I really needed to be working on some graphic work for my brother but I couldn't keep my eyes open. I took an hour nap! I got up at 3:30 and started my graphic work for Brian. Amazingly enough the task only took me 10 minutes tops! Who rules? I do! hehe That was a pleasant surprise! Now I have some spare time and I decided to update everyone on the happenings. Tonight Andie and I are going to the play Guys and Dolls at VVC. Ron and Amielle, a couple from the church are in it. I believe Jerret (my adopted little brother) is going to join us. I've heard the play is really good! Sunday after church I'm heading to a family portrait shoot for my coworker Margarita. It's down in Rancho Cucamonga in their backyard which I hear is beautiful. After that I plan on heading over to spend the evening with my friend Sandeep who lives in Northern Cali but is going to be down here for a training class for work. I'm looking forward to hanging out with him. I don't get to see him enough. Then it’s back to the daily grind. This Week - I have to start packing in the evenings. I'm taking Thursday off to go down to take pictures of the Steampunk Treehouse. James decided to go with me. Though I just found out this week that he's taken a job down in Santa Monica! I am actually pretty bummed! It's been nice to have a coworker that enjoys photography as much as I do. He says we'll still try to get together for our photography group but I'm sure him living down there will make it a little more difficult. Though I am happy for him and any time I'm down in Santa Monica I'll be sure to stop by and say hi. Anyways, my friend Drew wants us to stop by his place in Palm Springs the day we go to Indio. So that should be a full day. And Drew likes photography too. We'll see how the day works out. Daniel and Mary Engagement Shoot 4/20/08 - Some of you have been asking to see some of the pictures I took of the couple last Sunday. I have not had any time to sit down and sift through them until yesterday and that was only because my plans Friday night changed to my benefit. So here are some of my shots. I took close to 550 pictures the whole day! These are a few that I like. Let me know what you think!             Labels: A Chair's Photography, Photoshoots, Pictures, Rambling, Updates
posted by Charity at 4/26/2008 04:49:00 PM
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Where to begin!?! Life has been quite surprising! A Chair's Photography - For so long I had been looking through windows of what could possibly be (with my photography in particular), but God just hadn't allowed those windows to open... until now. It was somewhat discouraging, but I tried to be patient. I got little glimpses of hope, with people like Joel Eckman Maus contacting me about working with him, (which I still hope to do someday)! Some of you may remember that post in January about him and another wedding photographer George Sillas. Well this week I was contacted by George Sillas's sister Susan Whitney to be an assistant photographer for a wedding in June! I'm totally excited. And how she heard about me is short of a miracle or maybe it was God. ;) His fingerprints are all over this stuff! Anyways, I'm sort of getting ahead of myself, going back to that post about the wedding photographers. It was in that post that I made the declaration that I wanted to do whatever it took to be a professional photographer. I looked into a photography degree. Even researched some books that might help me organize a business. (I never purchased them and just today Joshua sent me a link to one of the ones I thought of getting. Seriously the signs are everywhere that someone upstairs wants me to pursue this!) But it seems that since I've made that declaration there has been a snowball effect in regards to my photography. I originally went to this bridal fair because my friend Rashaell asked me to take pictures at her wedding and reluctantly, as well as being scared to death, I agreed to take her wedding pictures. The wedding was March 2nd. And I was happy with the way some of the pictures turned out! In the middle of March James (from work) sent me a link to the Steampunk Tree House. James is a fairly new employee of Alliance who also loves photography. He's invited me to join a photography blog and group. The Steampunk Tree House was his idea of the groups first photography outing. The Steampunk Tree House originates in Northern California but they are bringing it down for the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals. The more I thought about it, the more I realized seeing it during the festival won't be much fun because I'm sure it will be crowded. I emailed the project manager and explained my desire to see and take pictures of the Tree House and asked if there was any way it would be open to the public outside of the festivals. He said that it would have minimal access during the festival for liability reasons and he may be able to get me in to see it sometime between the two festivals. After a week or so of no confirmation I emailed him again and asked if he had given it any more thought and sure enough he's opening it up for me on May 1st!!!! I'm totally stoked! Shortly after that I heard George Sillas was looking for another assistant photographer. I already told my brother about what I thought of his work the day I came back from the bridal fair. Sure enough Brian knows his sister from an old job and his friends, Eirik and Angie are good friends of the sister and they recommended me! This is how it all came to be that she called and asked me to be an assistant photographer. Networking is an awesome thing but I haven't seen it work for my benefit so completely! The day my brother called and asked me if I'd be interested in being an assistant photographer my coworker asked me to take a family portrait for her and she was willing to pay me. This was shortly after my successful photo shoot of my (at the time) pregnant friend Brandie. I am confident in my abilities to take portraits, or I should say I feel more comfortable with taking portraits. And we have a tentative date scheduled for the last weekend this month. I spoke with Susan Whitney yesterday and she's invited me to join her for a couple engagement shoots! I'm excited for the experience! It's also going to push me to prepare and study before the shoots. One is going to be done in Vegas at 4am! I'm excited by the challenge night shots will be and what I can learn. Another is scheduled for Pasadena next Sunday. I've already told her I would like to go. She gave me the details of the wedding and what she's expecting of me. Honestly this is the best way to learn! I'm so excited that I get this opportunity to take some great shots without the stress that all the responsibility is on me. I would definitely love to assist more! Then just yesterday my friend Turtle called me as I was leaving work and asked if I would be willing to be the photographer at his reception! He asked my rate and I told him I would get back to him. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that he's a friend, it's not the full ceremony and being that I was already going to the reception meant I was already going to bring my camera and already be taking pictures! So I kept the price low. I'm excited for the experience! It'll be a gothic style so it should be quite fun to shoot! Moving - So I dropped off our 30 day notice to our landlady tonight. Yup, just like that we're moving. Last Friday on my way up the hill I spoke to my sister about Misty and Jeremy moving out of their place and them needing replacement tenants ASAP and how it's the perfect place for me, Brian and Mike. It did sound nice. Five bedrooms (Mike sleeping on the couch just isn't cutting it anymore and Brian needs an office to work out of), it's a nice neighborhood, we'd each have our own bathroom, and rent was reasonable considering we'd be moving to a nicer place with more space, A LOT more space! Saturday I went and got my hair done at the Salon and Brian stopped by. He was meeting Jeremy to go check out the place. At this point I realized he was taking it seriously. Sure enough we had a meeting at our place that night and decided to pray about it because we had to give them an answer by Monday. As my first sentence indicated we all felt it was the right choice. Now I get to start packing. Yay! Well I think there was more that I wanted to share but this is becoming a large post. Goodnight! Labels: A Chair's Photography, Inspiration, Photography, Rambling
posted by Charity at 4/12/2008 02:43:00 AM
Sunday, February 24, 2008
So some of you have been asking about the pictures I took of Brandie and her pregnant belly. I wasn't sure how I felt about doing this photoshoot. Brandie and I have been dear friends for years, but some of her choices have caused a strain on our friendship. But in the end I love her no matter what. I want to see her happy and well she's very happy and that's all that matters to me! The cool part is Brandie called me tonight and told me that when her mom went to Costco to print some of the shots I took, they gave her a hard time and said she isn't allowed to print professional shots without written consent from the photographer! Ok so I know the employee at Costco isn't the best judge of quality but hey! They thought my work was the work of a professional! That made me feel really good. :) Here are a couple of my favorites. Let me know what you think. Night! Labels: A Chair's Photography, Photography, Photoshoots, Pictures
posted by Charity at 2/24/2008 11:15:00 PM
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Updates are pretty scarce these days aren't they? I've spent a relaxing day working on the Assemble Fiji site, watching tv, doing laundry and being a lazy bum all at the same time. hehe Not sure how that works. I guess sleeping in till 10am will make you feel like a lazy bum! It was amazing though! I wore comfy clothes, no makeup and only left the house for dinner and came right back. I took my time working on the Assemble Fiji site and still felt like I accomplished a lot! I just finished watching Superman Returns. Good movie... I bought it when it first came out on dvd and I hadn’t sat down to watch it. A friend referred to a line from the movie in a chat the other day so I decided to watch it. I’m currently waiting for a load of laundry to be done so I figured it’s time for an update. So I turned in my prints to the San Bernardino County Fair. I opted to volunteer on a Saturday for a couple of hours so I got a free ticket and parking pass. I guess I'll be going to the fair for the first time in years! I think the last time I went to the fair was with Jesse. (Speaking of which, the anniversary of his death is coming up and he's been on my mind quite a lot. That and running into his brother at Starbucks the other morning didn't help. It's a bit hard to realize someone so close to me is gone and has been gone for almost a year.) For those of you who don't know, I entered my first ever photo contest. It was quite process let me tell ya. I entered just in time and wasn't sure what pictures I wanted to enter so I picked 2 divisions and 2 classes each that I knew fit my style of photography. This proved to be more difficult then originally planned. I had my friend Leonard help me print up the pictures I picked. He was a Godsend! He helped me crop and print at the best quality. He opened up his own business called Cracked Egg Graphic Design Studio. I met him on a web/graphic design job quite a few years back, he was working at a printing place at the time. Anyways, we’ve kept in touch off and on through the years but I was happy to hear from him a little over a month ago and we met up so I could check out his studio and when he heard my dilemma with getting my prints done he offered his services. Anyways, here are the four I turned in... Top left - Color Misc: Desert Sunrise. Top Right - Black and White Nature: Cherry Blossoms. Bottom Left - Black and White Misc: Journey. Bottom Right - Color Nature: Tears of a Flower.  A Chair's Photography - Having entered the photo contest my friend Jason encouraged me to get at least a bit of a splash page up before I turned them in so that whoever saw my prints (which have my url along side my name) would be able to check out my site. So here it is everyone! www.achairsphotography.com ! A work in progress but something is actually up. I got a bit of a vision for what I want to do with the site and surprisingly enough it’s going to go away from my personal sites look and feel. Assemble Communications - As I stated above, I worked on the Assemble Fiji site today. Yes, they have commissioned me to do more work for them. It’s been hectic but I’m thankful for the extra cash that it will bring. Dentist - I had a dentist appointment last Friday and found out my referral for my wisdom teeth extraction came back approved! In some respects I’ll be glad when it’s over, but right now I’m like a little kid that hates the dentist! The idea of being put out scares me and of course because my teeth are impacted they want to put me completely out. Not sure if I’m more afraid of what I’ll say as I’m coming to (I’ve heard embarrassing stories!) or just the thought of actual surgery… in my mouth of all places! I remember what it felt like when they took out some teeth to make room when I got my braces on. Not a good memory. Anyways, I have almost two months to fret about it! As the oral surgeon isn’t available till June 28th! Oh joy! Travel - I talked to my friend Stephanie up in Oregon the other day. She wants me to come up for a visit. I think I need/want to! I have been trying to figure out where to go for my birthday. Maybe this is what I should do. But I also want to go visit family in Montana as there are a lot of events that are taking place there. One: A family reunion on my mom’s side. People I’ve never met in the entirety of my life! This has already been set as lowest priority to the other events. Two: My grandpa’s 80th birthday! What a milestone! Definitely want to make it out for that. Three: grandparents may be moving and will need our help. But we’re trying to not have this happen as my grandparents have lived on the farm since I believe they were married. So the family is trying to figure out a way for them to stay there. But going back to the decision to go to Oregon, the decision is made, it’s just a matter of when. April 7th - Jason's Play and dinner: my long time friend Jason called me or I called him. I can’t remember. But he had a play he was in for Easter and wanted me to go and he wanted to hang out afterwards and catch up. My friend Andie and I went. It was a great play! I was impressed. Jason didn’t have a main role but he did well in his performance. Afterwards we hung out at Red Robin with his uncle who was also in the play. Here are a couple pictures.    April 8th - Easter and makeup: Easter was mellow. I went to church, got to test drive a 2006 BMW 325i!!! Holly and Daniel came to church and they are Rachel’s in-laws. It was Holly’s new car. I was lovin it! Here are a couple pics from church.   After church I went over to my parents’ and had Easter dinner and then watched the Passion of the Christ and of course cried. I have a hard time watching that movie and not tearing up. After that my sister wanted to use me as her canvas for her makeup class. And I was quite shocked at the difference but here are some pictures! What do you think? Hehe    April 10th Tax return! - I went over to my dads the week taxes were to be turned in. Nothing like procrastinating to the last minute! I knew I was going to owe because my severance package from linkLINE was not taxed and neither was the money from the work I did for Assemble. So I was dreading another bill I had to figure out how to pay. My dad helps review what I’ve already entered and helps me answer the questions I wasn’t sure about on turbotax and in our review he noticed I hadn’t claimed my tithe. I told him I never claimed my tithe and he asked why I hadn’t. I guess it was because when I was younger he told me I didn’t make enough for it to matter and well now that I’m older and making more money it is enough to matter… So since he is the keeper of the tithe records and turbo tax allowed me to go back to 2001 I was able to claim the exact amount I’d paid in tithe every year. I got a little over 1,200.00 back!!!! I’ve never gotten more then 600.00 since I’ve been doing my taxes! This was such an unexpected surprise! Of course it’s all gone to pay off debt but that’s the way it should be right? It’s just a bit of a bummer I couldn’t use that money to do more for my business like get equipment or something. But that’s ok… It was a huge blessing and I was never more grateful that I tithe! Haha April 21st - Hector’s Surprise Birthday Party: Hector is a guy I work with at Alliance. Keith had invited me to his surprise birthday party for Hector’s 40th birthday. It was a hoedown theme. I had a good time. Got to see my friends Jess and Marc who drove from Wisconsin to be there! I leave you with a bunch of pictures from the day.                   Labels: A Chair's Photography, Assemble, Dentist, Parties, Pictures, Travel
posted by Charity at 4/29/2007 01:00:00 AM
Friday, February 16, 2007
I have Monday off (have I mentioned I love working banker hours?). I have been contemplating what I should do with my free day. I was even thinking about taking a photography day. But sadly I need to get my camera cleaned because of the specs I’m seeing on my prints and I called around today and found a place in Pasadena that will clean it there rather then sending it out for 4-6 weeks and I can pick it up the next day! But that means I have to drop it off Monday. I will be camera-less on my day off! But I really don’t mind, if it means getting those silly specs off of my prints! So now I’m not sure what to do with my day. I will already be down in Pasadena. Should I just take my little point and shoot Sony Cybershot and enjoy the day? I think I like that idea. Don’t make any plans and let it just happen. A Chair's Photography - I’m really excited about my photography business. Though I find it funny when I mention that I’m going to start a photography business people seem to assume that means I’ll be a wedding photographer! Not likely… But I was even suggested to be a pet photographer, like an Anne Geddes but instead of babies… pets! Um… no thank you. Hehe So a week or so ago I wrote in my personal journal that I wanted proof that God is in this thing and it’s not just something I want so badly that I have to make it happen. I know all faith requires action. So I wasn’t just going to sit back and do nothing but I was feeling lost and overwhelmed and felt that it should just move forward naturally without too much effort if the timing is right. Soon after that it felt like everywhere I turned I had information given to me and people offering to help in the areas I felt most lost in! It was really quite amazing! I will keep you posted on my progress. I took a couple of my more recent pictures and had them printed as 8x10’s and was really happy with how they turned out! I still need to test the highest scale but that’ll happen soon. Weigh In - 2/10/07
 I haven’t really been talking about my weight because there really hasn’t been a lot to share. All of December I was consistently the same weight, which was a good thing considering how many Christmas parties I went to and stuff. It was after Christmas that I fluctuated between my weight and an extra 10 pounds, only to end up plateauing on the heavier side of the 10 pounds. Well I’m glad to say that I have lost that weight and kept it off and am back down to my lowest weigh in. I looked at my driver’s license and was happy to note that I am currently smaller then I was back in December 2003. Well I wrote this throughout the day yesterday so I’m going to post this part for now. Maybe I’ll be able to update more this weekend. Bye for now… Labels: A Chair's Photography, Weigh In
posted by Charity at 2/16/2007 10:12:00 AM
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
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