Friday, February 26, 2010

oh diana.

photo by amyelyse


photo by occhichiusi


photo by occhichiusi

For a long while now, I've wanted two cameras.  Those were a Diana and a DSLR.  The Diana was a (perfect) gift from the bf last Christmas so that just leaves the DSLR on the list.  Well, as I was perusing the web (as I so often do), I read a headline essentially saying that demand for luxuries is down so the price for normally expensive cameras is too.  With that in mind, I popped on over to Best Buy's website to check it out.  And I saw this.  A Canon Rebel XS for 499?  Oui and Oui again.  But I still can't justify it as a purchase.  Why oh why can't I just spend money frivolously?!

On the plus side, I do have the Diana.  And I loooove her.  I'm on my third roll of film.  I've only had the first roll developed as of yet, but next weekend I'll be trekking to Fort Collins so I'll be dropping off my next two rolls.  I'm so excited to see how they come out!  Working with film adds a whole new depth to photography.  Instant feedback with digital cammies is of course lovely, but the anticipation of what your photos will look like is so fun.  I'll post some of my Diana shots as soon as I scan them in.  The images up top were shot from a Diana.  Lovely, isn't it?  I couldn't agree more.

but I thought it was green.

photo by jbrownell



I hail from all over the place.  I'm an Army brat and being one means that there are many places I call (or have called) home.  My most recent, and longest, is Arizona.  I'd had the itch to move on for a while, but education called so I stuck around.  After I graduated college, I decided it was time to hightail it out of there.  I got a job in Wyoming, found it on a map, and drove north to start my new life.  Upon entering the state that is now my home, I was struck with how brown it was.  Wait.  I just left brown.  Arizona is brown.  But this is brown too! I expected green.  Sadly, I naïvely assumed that everywhere outside of Arizona was some lush oasis.  But all that means, is that Wyoming certainly isn't the last stop in finding the place to lay down some roots.  And I'm sure that whatever that place may be, it'll definitely be green.

Why do I need green so much?  There's something about a green, wet, lush landscape that makes everyday feel magical.  You can smell the life in the air.  It makes me feel alive.  I think Washington/Oregon/Vancouver B.C. would be perfect.  You have the ocean, the green dense forests and mountains to ski.  That sounds pretty perfect to me.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

is it almost over?

photo by left-hand

Although I'm sure this isn't the case, it seems that this year's winter is the longest winter I've ever experienced.  As this is only my second "real" winter in about 12 or so years, I only have one other winter to compare it to (last year's), but this one seems extra long.  I'm not entirely sure why...Last winter, I cross-country skied a bit, and went snowboarding once.  This year I've either cross-country or downhill skied every weekend.  You think that would make the time go faster, eh?  Apparently not. Our first snow came in October. We've had a couple big snows since then but for the most part it's been snowless and miserably cold (we're talking -15s and such).  February is nearing it's end and March is nearly here (along with my birthday!) so hopefully some warmer weather will come soon too! 

I shouldn't get too excited though.  The bf and I went backpacking for the 4th of July last year and there was still snow on the ground! 

Oh spring, how I miss you.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

mornings.


I'm not what you would call a morning person.  Not at all.  Given the opportunity, I'd probably lounge in bed all day (maybe not all day, but I'd only get up to make crepes, then I'd get back into bed).  As that usually isn't an option, I get up as late as time (and work) will allow.  A typical morning should have me waking at 7am and leaving the house by 7:45.  Do you think I follow that schedule though?  Of course not.  For each week, I probably only wake up at 7 once and am probably on time (8) to work only once.  It is lovely that my work schedule is remarkably flexible; technically 8 is just a guideline and as long as I get my hours in, nobody minds if I'm in at 8:30 or even 9, but I should be there at 8. 

This morning however, was different.  The bf had to be at work early so he woke up at 6:30.  I laid in bed until 6:45 promising my body that I'd go back to sleep and wake up at 7:30 or something.  Nope!  Once he got up (and started making lots-o-noise), there was no turning back; I was awake.  So I got up, took a shower, and I still had oodles of time!  I took my time making oatmeal for breakfast, made a lunch for the day, read a blog or two, blowdryed my hair and left for work.  And I arrived with time to spare.  It was amazing!  Today made me realize why morning people are morning people.  Whether it's a choice of theirs, that I don't know, but it may become a choice of mine.  But only sometimes...let's say once a week.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

koalas are punks.

photo by echoforsberg

They're just so cute and cuddly, right?  Wrong.  Over the past couple of months, I've been confronted with evidence that points to koalas NOT being cuddly.  The icing on the cake came in the form of a video today.  But first, I'll give you the essay that started the koala explosion.  And BAM!  After I read that essay, there were suddenly pictures of koalas and stories about koalas everywhere!  Here are some of my favorites: koalas and more koalas.  It seems that everyone hates koalas!! I couldn't quite understand the disdain most people (and other animals) have for koalas, that is until I saw this video.



Now I understand it.  They're crazy orc beasts on the warpath! No wonder nobody likes them.  Did you hear the noises they made? Crazy.  Unfortunately, this video disproves the kid's essay.  They sure don't look weak to me...

photo by the bf
My costume is modeled after the koalas in the kid's essay above. 
Notice the koala hat and the "sharp but weak" claws.

Monday, February 22, 2010

feed the shoe monster.

I'm not your typical girl that saves every penny to buy my very own Louboutins.  Don't get me wrong; I can appreciate a beautifully crafted shoe and now and again, when the time calls for great shoes, I will wear them.  But I live in the mountains.  Here we have two seasons, winter and an itty bitty summer.  Winter in the mountains=snow and ice.  Summer+my job=working outside.  As you can see, there isn't much time for beautiful (and incredibly expensive) shoes.  That's not to say I don't have to feed the shoe monster now and again.  I just feed it with adorable and practical shoes.  It seems to get the job done.  Check out the shoes I'm drooling over now:



The first two are both sorels.  They (strangely) have Sorel stamped in HUGE letters on the sides, but it's kind of growing on me.  What do you think: weird or cute?  The last pair are KEENs and I've actually tried them on.  They look kind of weird but I promise, in real life they're cute as heck. 

My birthday is coming up.  Maybe one of these will be my bday present to myself. :)

poker run. aka drink a ton and ski.


Yesterday was the annual Murf the Surf's Poker Run.  Imagine this:  hundreds of people, half dressed in costume, most drunk or on there way to being drunk, on skis.  Sure sure, some were on snowshoes, but the majority?  Yep, on death sticks.  And I only call them death sticks during the Poker Run because hello, we're all drinking...and skiing...downhill.  The event supports some charity (I've been told).  It takes place on a popular, mostly downhill cross country ski trail.  I've skied this trail a number of times but never inebriated, which brings me to the problem.  I have never face planted so many times.  And I'm not talking just on this trail.  I have never face planted this much.  Every 30 or so feet, I went down, face first.  Where were my arms to help me fall you ask?  I have no idea.  It seems they decided to take the day off and let me fall in all of my tutu-ed glory (that's right, I was wearing a tutu).  This particular trail typically takes one and a half to two hours to do.  Yesterday?  A cool four and a half hours.  Hundreds of people on the trail, half of those people (myself included) falling all over the place and our poker run stops really held up the day.  By the time we made it back to the car, the bf and I decided to skip the raging party that follows the run and headed home.  We had our party on the slopes.

Have you ever done a Poker Run?

Sunday, February 21, 2010

ski ski.


photo by Scott Teresi

Last weekend the bf and I (plus 8 other friends) rented a condo in Winter Park, CO.  We arrived Friday night and were scheduled to leave Monday am.  I'll have you know that I ski.  I grew up skiing as a kid, stopped when I moved to the desert, and started back up this year.  So I ski, but I'm not amazing by any means.  On the little ski hill by my little town, I can ski the whole mountain, green through black.  On Winter Park and Mary Jane, I can ski up to blue.  That leaves blue/black, black and double black all off limits to me.  A big mountain is intimidating!  It's also liberating.  There's so much space; the runs are incredibly wide and long.  And even though I was scared half the time, I wish I could ski big mountains all the time.  Do you ski?  If so, where is your favorite place?  What do you ski on?

As for the condo: Amazing.  Amazing!  It was huge, was right by the shuttle for the mountain and was crazy beautiful.  Oh, and there was a hot tub.  It was heaven!  After a long (and I mean long) day of skiing, it was so perfect to come back and soak.  We'll be going back again I'm sure, and when we do, I'll make sure to take pictures this time. :)

Saturday, February 20, 2010

where to go first.

photo by - reuben -

Northern Michigan
Oregon/Washington/Vancouver
New Zealand
Hawaii
Australia
N/S Dakota
New England
France
Germany
E Europe
England
Ireland
Chile

This is the list of places the bf and I want to go. It's long, and it'll probably take years and years but it's so exciting to imagine the adventure, non? Coming from a military family, I spent a large amount of time traveling. But since we've been back to the States, large trips went by the wayside. In the past 14 years I've spent six months in Central Mexico during college and I've traveled to Vancouver, BC. Both trips were amazing, but not enough to quell my travel bug. I can't wait to start checking this list off! Happy travels!

Friday, February 19, 2010

the list.

photo by kharied

The List is the primary reason for this blog so I need to type it down before I forget.  The List represents all of the things I want to accomplish in my life.  On many blogs, I've seen the 30 before 30/25 before 25 and so on lists so depending on the number of entries I have, I may convert it to a list like that.  Here goes.
The List:

Start a blog
Take a ballet class
Get one more tattoo
Live near a Farmers Market and shop there often
Live near the ocean & mountains
Ski a black diamond (on a big mountain)
Go back to school for Counseling
Cook more often
Learn a new knitting stitch
Sew an outfit
Make a terrarium
Start a container garden
Tune up my bike
Add places to my "traveled" list
Get mendhi on my hands and feet
Sing while playing a song on guitar
Make my own sushi
Have a magic fruit party
Take a ceramics class


Okay, that's all I've got for now.  I'll keep adding to the list and when I can think of no more, I'll put it in the sidebar.  It feels so good to see these written down!

el gusto es mio.

This blog was started as a way to organize my crazy mind.  My life?  Not so crazy.  My mind?  Filled with a million, swirling ideas that can never all be captured.  But I've found my butterfly net and soon, the ideas will be captured and preserved for posterity.  Success!  Let's hope. 

Like most blog writers, I started as a blog reader.  I read far too many blogs and still not enough.  I'm continually finding new writers to devour on the web and my eyes never tire of all the gems that get posted.  I only hope that this blog will one day serve as inspiration for others.  I hope that my little journey in life can push someone, just like all of the blogs I love push me. 

This blog will typically be ramblings of yours truly, thoughts that cross my mind, things that inspire me, lists, lists and more lists, and visual gems.

I'm excited to get started!
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