Day 268: Lap of Luxury

The glass elevators.

So I took this shot from the lobby (on deck 2), looking up to the huge red skylight on deck 10.  Everything on the ship is really...gaudy.  We were chatting about it tonight after dinner, and decided that it's a lot like Vegas. There are a lot of gold-guilded things, cherubs, carvings on walls and window frames, tacky impressionist paintings in the rooms, etc.

At first I loved the sheer tacky feel of the place, but after spending a few days on the ship, I've got to say it's getting old.  Still...it's been such a fun cruise!  We've done so many awesome things and met some great people!

Last night we had a dance for just the singles group, and it was awesome! They played great tunes, and I had a blast dancing with a nice, big group of friends.  In fact, I danced so hard I actually kicked a shoe off at one point.  It was really embarrassing.

Day 253: Brought to Light

A light fixture at Paradise Bakery

Tonight I almost had a mental breakdown.  Well, I kind of did have one.  I wasn't feeling good when I went to work this morning, and I told my coworkers that I'd probably leave early because of it.  I delegated as much work as I was able, to facilitate my early departure, and then started on my huge stack of invoices.

I tried my hardest to get those things done swiftly so that I could leave even an hour or two early.  The longer I stayed at work, the worse I felt.  And, try as I did, I still left work an hour later than usual, with a half-finished stack of invoices.

When I met Christine for dinner on the way home I was beside myself.  All that work and all that pushing when I felt rotten - and it didn't even make a difference!  I felt like a failure.  Especially since I had a meeting with my boss earlier in the day where he told me (at my own request from a week prior) that I needed to improve my work habits, particularly my swift completion of invoices, and that people had noticed that I took too long to get them finished.

I was devastated.  I was crying my eyes out all the way to the restaurant.  I couldn't face life anymore and expect to remain sane.  I felt like my handle on my life had slipped from my grasp and there was no hope of trying to pick up the pieces.

I was so dramatic!

After dinner I felt much better - emotionally anyway.  I drove home feeling a little foolish at my breakdown, but still feeling quite worried at how my day went.

I wasn't planning on making this my picture, but my outburst at dinner threw me off so much that I forgot all about it until just now...so, there you go. :)

Day 246: Month 8 Complete!

The Mt. Timpanogos Temple

So today marks the first day of month NINE!  I only have FOUR MONTHS LEFT!

This extremely exciting to me because I've got to tell you...I've had it with this project.  It's not that I don't enjoy taking pictures anymore.  I still love to take pictures, I just wish I could do it on my own terms again.  It's so annoying when I realize at the end of the day that I still didn't get a good shot, and then I have to wander around my house or neighborhood, or bug one of my family members just to take a stupid photo that I know won't turn out because my heart's not in it.

But, I'm in it for the long haul baby.  The other night I contemplated just exactly what I would do if I totally spaced out (still a very real possibility with my A.D.D.) and didn't take a picture one day.  I'm proud to say that this has honestly never happened yet.  I've let my midnight deadline slip a few times, but those times didn't feel like the start of a new day yet.  I didn't go to bed without taking a picture.  Ever.  So what would happen if I actually missed a full day?

I've decided that, having gotten this far in the project, I would simply take two pictures the next day and keep going.  Obviously it wouldn't be quite the same for the remainder of the project, but I hit the point of no return a few months ago.  To just give up because of one spacey day is ridiculous.

And I've got to say, this is a huge improvement for me from the beginning of the year.  When I started this project, I never would have kept going if I had missed a day.  It just shows that this project has really helped me grow not just with my photography, but with my responsibility.  And to me, that makes it 100% worth it!

Day 231: Flooding Hassles

The new padding for my carpet.

So...

Monday morning I woke up to a soggy carpet and wet furniture.  I live in the basement bedroom with my sister, and apparently our drain pipe outside got clogged and flooded the window well next to my bed.  At first we just tried to dry the carpet by moving all of the furniture out of the way and putting towels down and a fan on the area.

Then Dave (my brother) stepped in and reminded us of the padding underneath the carpet and it's mold potential.  Immediately mom was sure she smelled mold, so up the carpet came.  Dad rushed out in his sick state and bought new padding, moved all my furniture (bookcase, dresser, clutter of junk, bed, cabinet, etc.), ripped up the carpet, cut out the old padding, and dried off the cement in 2 days!

Tomorrow he'll place this new padding and replace the carpet before he Mom leave for Arizona for at least a month.  Crazy!!

Day 147: Mirror Images

Ryan, Christine and Me.

I went to the movies tonight with Ryan and Christine.  After the movie I made them pose for me under the mirror ceiling in the lobby.  I thought it was a cool perspective, but having the camera in front of my face messed it up so I needed other people in the shot.  Anyway, they kept making me laugh and blur the pictures.  I had to mess with this one quite a bit to cover up the blurriness.

I also saw my first snowfall this season.  I was driving on an errand for work when I got hit by a few flurries. I would have stopped to record the moment on camera, but I was on the freeway in a construction zone, with no where to pull over.  It was fun to see the snow coming down, but I was glad when it went away fast.  I may like the look of falling snow, but I hate the hassle that comes with it.  But bright side, this season will give me many opportunities to practice taking pictures with snow!

Day 134: Short Order

The kitchen at the State Street Grill in AF.

Christine and I grabbed some food at the new State Street Grill in AF tonight on our way to the temple.  The place opened up just a few weeks ago, so everything's shiny and new.  With the sunset streaming through the windows and catching the smoke from the burgers, I thought it was a nice picture.  

Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as cool on film as in my head, but I still like it.  The guys there were really nice, and gave us extra fries because they cooked too many.  They aren't like McDonald's.  Their fries were FRESH!  

Anyway, good night.  Nice change.

I'm sleepy.

Day 128: The Power of Sharpie

Nothing says Security like a hastily scrawled, 5-inch high, "Keep Out!" sign in Sharpie on the door to your garage.

I love everything about this house.  The peeling paint.  The random folding chair next to the garage door so old, it has to be hoisted up by hand using a handle that seems to be falling off.  The randomly-placed, tiny reflector circles to mark when to stop your car, in case you missed the giant white wall they're stuck to.  The boarded-over windows-turned-cork-boards with butterfly decorations on them.  And although it's not in the picture, the tiny "Proud to be an American" bumper sticker above the garage door that was only legible when I zoomed in to the highest setting.

But, I have to say my favorite part about this house is the "Keep Out" sign written in Sharpie directly on the garage door.  It was made all the funnier when I noticed the For Sale sign in the front yard.

I think they may be sending mixed messages here.  "Buy this house, please! But stay away from it!"  What do they say to interested buyers when the want to have a tour of the place? "Sure you can look at it.  From the curb.  Now git!"

Awesome.

Day 127: Deja Vu

A view of ceiling at the Tanner building at BYU.

Before you start freaking out, let me just say that I realize this isn't a picture of an old thing, but I will explain.  Well...there's not much to explain.  I took this picture tonight when I was at BYU for an institute class.  I wasn't planning on using it for my picture today, but I didn't have time to take any other pictures.  Plus, I have a story to go with this one.

Here's the story:
When I was 19 and going to school in Virginia, I had a very involved dream full of meaning and significance.  When I woke up I wrote the whole dream down and the impressions I got from it.  The basic gist was that I needed to slow down and enjoy life, and that I needed to be patient.  The dream had such significance for me at the time that I have never forgotten it.  I can still picture the scenes from the dream when calling it to memory.  So tonight, when I walked into the Tanner building to go to institute, I was shocked to see that the interior of the building is identical to a building in that dream from 10 years ago.  What's even weirder is that in my dream I was trying to find my institute class, but kept getting lost in the huge building.  So, 10 years later, never having stepped foot in this building before, I was having flashbacks from this dream with the identical scene and identical circumstances.  The only difference was that I found my institute class tonight, and in my dream I never found it.

So, I guess if you think about it, this picture still follows the theme of Old Things, because it is a picture of a dream I had when I was just stepping into adulthood and waiting for my life to begin.  Now I'm almost 30 and I'm still waiting for my life to begin...I'm just a little more grown up about the way I wait. ;)

Day 125: Forgotten Treasures

An old house in my neighborhood.

I've been itching to photograph this house for months, but I've never had the guts to do it.  It belongs to a grouchy old farmer in my neighborhood, and I'm always afraid he'll catch me taking pictures on his property and yell at me.  This house is old, and probably condemned, so I shouldn't have been so worried that he'd be hanging around.  Anyway, when I saw it today, it gave me the idea for this week's theme:

Old Things.

I love old things - antiques - and I love the way they photograph, so this week I'll try to include something of the sort in every shot.  I'm excited to see what I find next!

This doorway reminds me of forgotten things, that once found, become treasured or important once again.  Like old journals or photographs that remind us of our past selves.  It usually brings life into perspective again.  We look back on times when we were really struggling, and we can usually say, "I had no idea how bad it was really going to get."  And we can appreciate how strong we are now in comparison.

Sometimes forgotten things are reminders to think outside the norm again.  Ironically, sometimes they help us reset our thinking and look at life with fresh eyes.

Day 92: Self-awareness

Somewhere in AF.

I'm pretty in tune with myself when it comes to figuring out my flaws and processes.  I like to say that I'm self-aware, which I use as a positive thing, but at times like today, when I figure something out about myself that I don't like, I really hate that phrase.

I was talking to Christine about something I've been thinking about, and as I explained my thought process, I could hear how cynical I was being about it.  And it hit me.  I have a complete lack of confidence or faith in people.  I never thought of myself as a glass-half-empty kind of person, but when it comes to my fellow man, apparently I am.  It wouldn't be so bad if I were a cynic in general, but I'm only a cynic when it comes to people's ability to change and become better.

I don't think anyone can change?!  What!?  Me?

Yep.

It's tragic.  I'm fundamentally flawed if I think no-one has a chance to progress.  But I guess the self-aware part really helps, because I KNOW that's not true.  I seriously know better than to think that people aren't capable of progressing.  I mean, that's the whole point of this life!!  To become better, to grow, to learn!

So if I've been allowing myself to subconsciously judge my fellow man like that, then I need to stop.  Because that kind of thinking not only stops my own ability to change and grow, but it stops my ability to trust and love as well.  And what's the point of life without those things!

Day 83: Golf

The driving range view.

It was a beautiful day to be playing golf today.  Too bad all we did was hit the driving range after work. Still...I got a few good shots in, and I learned that even though I'm left-handed, I can't really play with left-handed golf clubs.  I could never tell for sure before if I was a rightey or a lefty because I usually play equally bad on either hand.  But tonight I experimented with my clubs (left-handed) and my brother's clubs (right-handed) and I found that...I'm boring myself.

Anyway, it was fun and I enjoyed the time with the family (it was our FHE activity).

Day 75: Sunday Drive

A foot bridge across the river.

Today's the last day of our camping trip.  We spent most of the day lazing about the campsite and playing games with the family since it was Sunday.  After dinner we all took a drive up the canyon to sight-see.  I'm not sure where we were when we stopped at this foot bridge, but it was cool.  It was riddled with HUGE spiders and it swayed when we walked on it, but it was still cool.  And the view of the water rushing by under our feet was really cool.

Not so cool?  When Victor got pulled over in a speed trap on our way out of the canyon.
Scary fact number one: Two cop cars pulled us over, not just one.
Scary fact number two: After the polite policeman asked to see Victor's license and registration, and after he made sure we had no open containers in the car, he then asked Victor to step outside the vehicle for a moment.  I got a little freaked out by that because you never see cops ask someone to step out of the vehicle in movies unless they're about to arrest them, or search them or something.

It turns out he was just pointing out the fact that one of the tires looked like it was going flat.  Afterwards when we drove off with just a warning, we all realized that they were probably looking for drunk drivers since the canyon is a hot spot for such people.

Still, it didn't dampen the trip, and I'm sad to leave.

Day 64: Storms

The view from one of the windows in my office.

The coolest storm cluster to hit my area all year, and I missed all the cool parts.  While all my other friends were out taking pictures of down-pours and lightning strikes, I was either asleep or sitting in my cubicle staring at my computer.  When I finally did get my head out of the sand, I whipped out my camera as fast as I could, but was only able to capture the tail end of the storm as it rolled through AF.

Then there was a second storm which practically on the heels of the first, and again, I was stuck in bad traffic and couldn't pull over to grab a shot.  The sad thing is, that puppy is still going strong and I keep catching glimpses of lightning strikes outside my window as I type this.  But I'm tired and I'm in my comfy pajamas, and I don't feel like trudging outside with my tripod and gear and waiting in the rain for the opportune moment.

Oh well...there's always next time...right?

Day 53: Family Time and Theme Parks

Rides at Lagoon.

I took so many pictures today!  And so many of them turned out so cute!  I'll post them on my other blog tomorrow.  We had a barbecue at Dave's house and hung out afterwards to try out a few fireworks for the holiday.  I got some great family shots with the baby, and caught a bunch of candid looks.  I also created a quick slideshow of some of the stop motion shots I took of Lauren playing with her mom on the swing and of the snake fireworks Christine and I were playing with.

I also went to Lagoon with Christine at the end of the day (just to get a few rides in before the hour-long drive back home), and I got a few shots of the rides at night.  And since I've got a lot of family shots on this blog, but I don't have any night shots of roller coasters, I decided to post one of those instead.

I really had a great time tonight!  I was worried that I wouldn't have fun because I didn't get enough sleep last night and was grumpy most of the day because of it.  But I grabbed a small nap before heading up to Dave's house, and it made all the difference in how my evening went.  Thank goodness for naps!

Here's the stop motion video:

Day 44: BFF

The door reads: "Not an Entrance"

Dear Christine,

You're the coolest sister in the whole wide world.  You let me tag along with you and your friends when I was way too young and immature, and you haven't been able to get rid of me since.  You introduced me to all the best bands, all the best foods, and all my best friends.  You are always you, and you never change who you are to please others, and I have always envied you for that.  I look up to you in so many ways.  You make me want to be a better person, every day.

Because of your example and faith in me, I am a stronger, happier, more confident person.  Because of your love of friends and family, you have changed hearts and uplifted all of us.  You love to laugh and you love life, which is so contagious!  And until one of us finds a boyfriend and runs away, I'm stickin' to you like glue!

Love,
Bal

Day 34: Old Things

A brick wall.

Ok, so neither of the subjects in this photo are old (kind of).  The brick wall is not even 10 years old, and my dad is...you know...young at heart.  The aging effect I did on the photo is really what I meant by "old things."

Kind of.

Anyway, had a great day off today!  I started the morning out helping my parents with a project in the back yard, and then headed out to the tennis courts with Christine to practice and make fun of ourselves (and, of course, I hurt myself).  Then it was hot dogs for lunch, baking sugar-free cookies, and SYTYCD with the girls!  I also got a little laundry in, and was able to run an errand.  A varied day for me. My typical days off include hiding in my room pretending to straighten up or fold laundry, or spent running errands and vegging out in front of the TV.

Well, now that I think about it, not much was different about today.  Aside from the yard project and tennis in the morning, it was basically exactly like my typical day off...

Heh...

Day 29: Eclipse

Kim and Christine...spooky!

We went to see Eclipse tonight (which was awesome, by the way!), and afterwards we wanted to get a picture of all three of us in front of one of the posters, but we couldn't see a single poster of Eclipse (aside from a small one hidden behind a sales booth)!  So we went outside to take a picture in front of the theater instead.

I think it turned out cool!  I'm actually in this shot as well, but I cropped myself out because I look a little retarded and it ruined the shot.  We had set it up to take a timed shot so that we could all be in it.  We were going to take a few more to be sure we got a good one, but these two teenagers showed up on a bench near my camera equipment.  They were putting off some seriously creepy vibes, and I suddenly got paranoid that they were going to steal my stuff the second I walked away from my camera to take a shot.

So I called it quits on the mini photo shoot and we headed back inside to take a quick picture in front of the only Eclipse poster in the theater.

Lame photo op's, great night!

Day 14: Two Weeks Down!

I can't believe it took me this long to hit the two week mark! Hopefully the next 351 days will move faster.

Tonight at the temple.  I went a little crazy on the editing, but the exposure was off, so I had to cover it up with mass processing.

Tonight was weekly temple night, and Christine and I went to the Timp temple this time.  I love temple night!  It gives me a chance to really sit in quiet contemplation at least once a week.  It's a time when I have the chance to leave the world behind and really absorb the feeling of the Spirit.  I always come out of it recharged and recommitted to bettering myself and the world around me!

My goal this week: pay more attention.  It's so easy for me to zone out 90% of the time and just hyper focus on one thing or another, but I need to be better at paying attention to what is going on around me.  Not just pay attention, but act when I see action is needed.  It's really difficult for me, but I'm going to try my hardest.

Day 10: Moab, Part 1

So I'm in Moab tonight, and thank heavens we get free WiFi here so that I can keep my goal of posting every day.  We arrived in Moab just before sunset, and decided to take a walk before heading to dinner.  Cruising down main street, I almost passed this place before I realized what was hanging in the windows.  My first thought, "this must look really cool during the day," which I must have said out loud because someone then pointed out that it would still look cool with a flash.  So I took a quick shot, not expecting it to turn out.  Boy was I wrong!

A haiku: :
Oh, poor derelict
Creeping out with ghostly shapes
Please don't haunt my dreams

Day 3: Sunset

Tonight at dinner.

Bliss!  Christine and I sat inside Terra Mia and watched this beautiful scene unfold before us as we ate our Caprese salads under a tree in the middle of the restaurant. As the sun broke through the clouds on it's way to bed, it was as if the streams of light were heaven's arms reaching down to hug the earth goodnight.

Shortly after I took this shot, a light breeze magically formed above the tree we were sitting beneath, and it made the tiny leaves dance and fall all around us.  Sure, some of the leaves fell in our food, and the breeze wasn't so much magical as it was the restaurant A/C kicking in, but it was still a great, peaceful moment to be eating good food, surrounded by "magically" falling leaves, and watching the sun set behind the clouds outside.