Benefit of Crazy

A couple weeks ago was Telecommunicator Week (April 9th-14th) and with my intense excitement for both Mix-Match Days, I won. On Tuesday, I was presented with a $10 gift card to Target. Yay! I had previously seen a notebook that I wanted, so I bought it today, along with a bunch of black photo corners. 

I had been wanting to put together a book of wide Polaroids, but sometimes even a fun hobby can seem like a daunting task. Luckily, I find simplicity to be quite beautiful. I've only begun, but here are some photos from August (when Michael bought me the camera) that I have added into the notebook already.

New Program

Because Picnik.com is shutting down tomorrow, I thought I would go ahead and try out another editing website that their page suggested: PicMonkey.com  ~It's actually very simple to use. I tend to get discouraged with some sites because I can't figure what each button means or when the site saves my photo, its not the original size that I uploaded it as.

All I had to do today was download a simple Flash Player. It really takes my photos from "I guess this one is okay.." to a magical, "I took this photo?! I'm a genius!" which of course makes me want to open my own photo exhibit. Ego boost! Here are my favorite effects - in order of how I like them, specifically for this photo.

Although I listed "Dusk" as third favorite for this picture, I can see myself using it on a daily basis, so look out for that in later posts!

*I used this "Intrepid" effect for the first two photos of my most recent post - flower yard and our lovely colored Polaroid pictures.. I hope you found this as interesting as I did! Xoxox!

You Are My Sunshine!

I meant to take photos of these flowers a couple weeks ago, but the following morning, the complex guys had cut the grass and since they are "weed flowers" and not part of the decoration landscaping, they were mowed down. So I got them today! Phew!

Michael is working another night for the zombie shoot. I'm not sure what production day # this is, but thankfully he isn't needed every night, so I have been able to spend a little more time with him than I was expecting. Its not as much as before since I don't get home from work until 10:30pm now due to my Phase 2 training schedule. (Although I complained about having to wake up at 4:30am for the morning shift last month, the time went by a lot faster those days. Hopefully I can get back on that shift & A side! when I'm done with training - around the middle of June.)

Anyway, Michael was kind enough to give me a few minutes of his time to snap these super romantic photos before he left to drive to the shoot. Hopefully it will keep my heart satisfied until he gets home again. 

*I totally wore my Jesse and the Rippers shirt while I watched a specific episode of Full House! The one where Becky finds out she is pregnant. She worried Jesse would be upset because they hadn't planned on having kids that soon. I laughed when Joey said, "Too bad you're not an elephant. They stay pregnant for two years! Then you would be right on schedule."

Post-Lent Lent

I feel like I barely did anything for Lent. Yes, the whole "don't-eat-meat-on-Friday's... unless you forget.." (haha) is the easiest because I've had practice most of my life. I knew from the start that my 2nd chance at New Years Resolutions was a bit over the top. I wanted to suddenly change into who I want to be, like BAM - GO!

But figured if I gave up chocolate for 40 days, I would end up binging and that would only make things worst. For the most part I didn't buy scrapbook items. I can honestly say that I haven't been to Scrappy Boutique in 6 weeks & that is an improvement. There were more, but I think I will just break it down by the week of what I SHOULD start to do.. at some point.. WEEK 1: No computer/internet. (Aside from at work, of course.) WEEK 2: No spending money! WEEK 3: No eating out & No chocolate or candy.  More ideas, please. Otherwise, I may have to simply repeat them. // For now I will leave you with some simple photos to get you through this week! Today Michael and I dyed eggs. It wasn't as eventful as I was hoping for, but I still enjoyed the company during the short celebration..  & Spider found a home in my Marigolds.  I think I accidentally killed the rest of my plants because they are all falling over (they have really long stems without anything to support them) and wilty. But every time I checked their soil, it was all dry!.. (Polaroids) Sasha by some of my newer plants. & Jet Ski sign at Ormond Beach. It made me think of when Michael and I rented jet skis on our honeymoon at the Bahamas - that was sooo fun!

Thoughts of Home

I've been wanting to spruce up my work desk area a little to make it more personal. I did bring a few photos in the other day to show my trainer, Kristen, then let the wedding photo lean against my monitor within easy viewing distance. So last night I quickly hand-crafted this frame complete with stand.. two thin pieces of cardboard glued and taped together.  
Hey, it works!

Toy Story

On Tuesday I brought some of my favorite mini books to work to show my trainer, Kristen. She is very nice and also asked to see the premiere ones, so I'll have to bring those this weekend. But now that I have a good amount of mini Polaroids, I've been meaning to create an album for them, especially after seeing the pretty ones other people have made. 

Yesterday during my fun errand run, I picked up this sad looking bear for Sasha at the Dollar Store. I have also been looking for some small bunny & sheep figurines for my own decoration display. I was only able to find this porcelain bunny at JoAnn Fabrics. Such a disappointment that with all the Easter decorations for sale, this was the only "cute" one I could find. (&&&.. I planted six new flowers ~ Phytomania, I know!)

Soft bear with the long torso has been added to Sasha's collection. Soon enough crucial body parts will be missing - such as the eyes from Frankenstein and Santa porcupine's nose! That's her way of showing them love. (I gave her a couple treats for posing.)

Tonight we are having a "dinner meeting" with Julie at Bahama Breeze to tell her our plans to move to North Carolina instead of Los Angeles, to see if she still wants to live with us for a year before we design & build our house (that's the current plan)! Also, Michael has a job proposition for her to see if she wants to be the secretary/manager of the new Special Make Up FX business that he & Osiris are talking about starting.

Burning House ~ Online

Since my original blog posting on January 28th,

raving about The Burning House website,

I've continued to check back to see

 if my submission had been added yet.. 

And finally today it has! 

Here is the direct link to my entry.

Mr. & Mrs. Leu

This weekend has been very nice. After Michael ran a few morning errands - for breakfast and to get flowers for his mom (he's such a sweetie pie!) we met Ms. Patty and Parker at the Peabody hotel to watch the Duck March. They ran down the red carpet pretty fast, luckily we had a warning. And I was still able to get this shot:

Then we went to the Harry P. Leu Botanical Gardens where Michael proposed. I've been wanting to go back for ages! The weather was hot, but the sunshine was enjoyable. We were worried that it would rain, but never got more than a few sprinkles. I have very much liked having Parker around to take all the digital photos on his Canon T2i because I feel like I can enjoy more of life when I don't have my face hidden behind a camera. However, I really do like having photo memories as well. Parker took a wonderful reenactment Polaroid of Michael and I in the "Cinderella area" where that special moment happened at 1:41pm on Saturday, September 25th 2010. There were more mini Polaroids taken, but these few were the prettiest. Michael took the gazebo one below. The light colors turned out much prettier when he over exposed it than when I first attempted it from a different angle.

Side note ~ I am currently obsessed with THIS Taylor Swift music video & am going to see if I can convince Julie to be my model for a related photo shoot in the near future.

the Burning House

Thanks to another girl's blog, I came across a very intriguing website called The Burning House. Everyone takes a picture of what they would keep should their home catch on fire. Some people seem to have a lot of stuff and others only have their phone and a picture of their parents or something. I'm not sure why I think about it so often, considering I have never been involved in a fire myself. Perhaps its because I have friends who have been involved in fires - or I just want to know how much of my "stuff" do I count as "really important". Not including Michael and Sasha, I have made 2 lists. I will share both of them with you.

What I Would Grab, IF There Was Enough Time ~

 

My List:

Reindeer Sweater.. Dorothy dress.. DVDs of videos I made with my friends and a couple from during Full Sail.. Dagger, the lion.. the carnival bear that I got from the set of Dumb&DumberER.. my Blood Widow Scrapbook.. a bunch of mini books I have made (includes: winter break 2009, cornfield with Michael, when Sharanya/Mia then Lindsey/Steven came to visit Fall 2010.. book of me and Michael from when we started dating to when we got married, Star Wars Convention 5).. laptop.. external hard drive.. Wide Polaroid & Mini Polaroid camera- both with extra packs of film.. envelopes full of the Polaroids I have already taken.. old pictures from when I was a baby/of Grandma Re & Grandpa Narles.. journal I am currently writing in.. "Jesus Calling" devotional book.. Mini book of "normal" (square) Polaroids that I took with Mia.

It seems to be a bit much, so I have submitted my own photo (one that is organized and much more condensed/filtered down) to their site. I will keep checking back for that. Then I will link my post here, once they have added it to their page.

Yoder-Le-Hee-Hoo!

I want to tell you about my day in Amish Land, Sarasota with Ryan. I needed to spend a day with her before her and Ben leave to go work with the Ringling Bros. How cool! After a 2 and a half hour drive, we ended up at Yoder's Amish Restaurant. There was a bit of a line, but after maybe 20 minutes, we were seated. The menu was pretty big, but I ordered a tuna salad sandwich and Amish Noodles. Ryan got a hamburger (she said it was really good!) and a chocolate pie sample dessert. We had a lady take our picture outside the restaurant. Yoder's also has a gift shop (I got a couple items for my mom & a glass figurine for Mia). Ryan and I both found really cool collage keychain things, but they were kinda pricey for their size. We also went to the market and I got more Strawberry Rhubarb jam and Amish popcorn! After that we drove to Siesta Key beach and walked along the shore for a bit before heading back home. =)

BFF Polaroids

Here are a few other pictures that I haven't shown off yet. The Mini Polaroid was taken just before Mia and Sharanya left on the 29th (amazing day!) - I miss them dearly and wish we lived closer and that our schedules meshed better. I need them. 

The Wide Polaroid was taken by Michael at Coldstone on Wednesday night while Julie came to visit for a few hours. I always feel like a terrible host when we don't have other fun activities planned, but I was out after the ice cream idea. I was finally able to use the $15 gift card that I got for graduation last April. I got "The Pie Who Loved Me" - Oreo and cheesecake. Mmmm! Julie got "Oreo Overload" and Michael got a small funnel cake with vanilla ice cream, strawberries and whipped cream! I miss our Glee nights, but the show is on hiatus until a few days from now. I've been working every Tuesday lately while it's on.

OH! Mia recently created a webpage for her work as well & I wanted to share that with you. Its her work from her art since high school. Not it includes models for her Soil & Water classes. Very cool!