Day 265: Beam Me Up, Scotty

Sunshine on the Ocean

Today was our first official day at sea.  After my lovely bout of sea sickness last night, I wasn't too keen about the whole boat thing, but I felt better today (and I discovered the beauty of taking motion sickness medicine).  It's still colder than I was hoping.  We were going to lay out by the pool this afternoon - we even got in our suits and headed up to the deck with our beach stuff - but it was cold and windy, and the clouds kept covering the sun.  I couldn't make myself lay out in my suit, so I kept my shorts and shirt on the whole time and wrapping myself in my towel (which would have given me a farmer's tan if I had stayed out long enough).  We eventually gave up and went down to one of the lounges to hang out with the group we came with.

There's so much I can write about just today, and it wasn't even an interesting day.  So instead of writing a really long journal entry that bores me just thinking about it, I'll give you the highlights.

• Morning work-out on the track/miniature golf deck.  It was fun watching all of the 8am drunks try to play mini golf on a moving ship.
• Breakfast on the Lido deck where we were greeted with the stale smell of food blowing out of the exhaust fans at the top of the ship.  Once we were inside where they have the buffet it didn't smell, so that was good.
• Lunch on the sun deck where we froze our little toes off and tried to read our books.
• Hang out with the singles in the Shanghai lounge where we played embarrassing get-to-know-you games that involved winking and other stuff.
• Get ready for formal night and hang out with the guys.
• Formal dinner and sitting with new friends, with photo ops afterwards.
• Another dose of motion sickness meds and change for after dinner fun!
• Alas, stay in the room the rest of the night because of the drowsy effect of the motion sickness pills.

Day 263: Hometown America

Lunch

My favorite parts about today's road trip to San Diego:
 - Lunch at Hamburger Patty's in Parowan (and checking out the awesome retro signs they had)
 - Rocking out to They Might Be Giants in the car
 - Riding the Desperado at Buffalo Bill's in Primm
 - Quietly rocking out to Free Bird while Ryan was sleeping
 - Driving through the Fallbrook hills in the rain

Days 196 and 197: Delirium

Day 196: Sustenance 

Cranberry Juice.

Day one of hell:
5am - Wake up in a cold sweat with nausea.
7am - After 3 agonizing trips to the bathroom, call in sick. (Temperature: 100.8)
9am - Give up on going back to sleep and make a feeble attempt at ingesting food.
10am - Pay for trying to eat.
11am - Fade in and out of consciousness. (Temperature: 101.4)
2pm - Start ingesting Cranberry juice because nothing else will stay down. The aches start.
4pm - All of my joints are inflamed.  The aches get so bad, I check my temperature again to see if I'm as close to death as I feel. (Temp: 102.9)
6pm - Get a blessing from Dad, try to walk around to alleviate the pain.  My hips feel like someone smashed them with a baseball bat.
8pm - All of my limbs suddenly gain 300 pound each, can't pick up small objects or move my head.
10pm - Gratefully drift off to a fitful sleep after the Advil finally lowers the fever.  My last thought, "I wonder if my hip bones are being eaten by microscopic bone termites with sharp teeth?"

Day 197: The Sickbed

My home.

Day two of hell:
6am - Wake up feeling hardly any pain and get excited that I can go to work.
7am - After an emergency trip to the bathroom and checking my temperature, I call in sick again. (Temp: 101.7)
9am - Try to go back to sleep to escape from the nausea.  Mom visits me and tucks me in.
11am - First attempt at real food after I wake up feeling a little better. (Temp: 101.3)
2pm - It takes me 2 hours to eat my very small lunch, but it stays down!
4pm - Start feeling strong enough to brave the stairs and walk around a bit.
5pm - Shower and clean up my sick room a bit, then rest for another hour from the exertion. (Temp: 100.9)
8pm - Hope reigns as I check my temperature and find the fever has finally broken on its own! (Temp: 99.6)
10pm - The "stomach" part of the flu retaliates, but not with gusto.
11pm - Blissful sleep.

Day 183: Half-way Point!!!!

Sunset in my back yard.

Today marks the last day of month 6 and is the official half-way point in the photo project!  I made it half-way!!  Yay for me!  Tomorrow I start on the second half of the year, which is awesome and a little bit scary because I ran out of ideas a long time ago.  But I'm hoping with the holidays coming up, I'll have a lot more opportunity to take some good shots.

Thanks to everyone who reads and comments on this blog!  I know your numbers are few, but it is a tremendous boost to me on days when I'm ready to give up because I can't stand the sight of my camera!

Some things I've learned so far:
*You don't know if you're good at something until you try
*Consistency is a nightmare, but totally worth it!
*You can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it.
*Cameras are expensive, sure, but printing the photos on 14x16 mat-board is worse
*Photography looks much cooler on paper than it does on the screen
*It's OK to let yourself be proud of your accomplishments every now and then
*It doesn't matter how many times my mom, or others, praise my pictures, I'll always be a little embarrassed at the compliments.

Day 114: Play With Your Food

Lauren hamming it up for the camera.

Birthday party for Dad at the Pizza Pie Cafe:
Lots of family, laughter and noise.
Hyrum kept us entertained with stories of invisible frogs leaping around the room.
Esther held court at the head of the table, and wouldn't move.
Baby June captivated all the women with her wide eyes and attentiveness.
Most everyone played musical chairs as they traveled from one conversation to another.
Dad soaked up the family fun and had a grand time opening his presents, surrounded by great-grandchildren.
Lauren kept Ashlie busy with her cute high-pitched voice, and her fascination with food.

And every time I put my camera up to my face:
  Lauren would grin from ear to ear
  RoseMarie would look away
  Hyrum would accidentally cover his face
  Mom would accidentally frown
  Baby June would stop smiling
  Christine would look mentally challenged
  And Dad would have his mouth open and his eyes closed


I got a lot of pictures of Lauren and parts of Hyrum's face. :)

Day 98: Dancing

Katie.

I looked out my window this evening to see the neighborhood children running and skipping back and forth on the sidewalk outside my house.  They were all in such a good mood and being so cute, that I decided to try and capture it.  I got this shot of Katie, who was so happy dancing and twirling and skipping along that she didn't notice that the other kids had passed her by and gone on to another house.

Oh, the unabashed joy of children!

Here are some lessons we can learn from Katie:
*You only look foolish if you feel foolish
*Sometimes you need to let loose
*Enjoying the simple things in life will make you happy all the time
*You don't need to follow the crowd
*Never be afraid to dance with reckless abandon - all by yourself.

:D

Day 61: Sunday Happy Thoughts

Bridal Veil Falls up Provo Canyon

Since I'm still in the middle of family reunion time, I'm gonna keep this short.

Some of my favorite things about today:
*Playing with my nieces and nephews
*Hanging out with Jeri and fam in the kitchen while helping with dinner
*Family testimony meeting
*The super-cool dish washer (I got a huge OCD fix from washing the cups...no idea why)
*Games, games, games...and I didn't have to play ANY!
*Cat naps
*Getting to watch all my wonderful family laugh and play and reminisce

Day 51: Hair

Christine's hair.  So cool!

I think I'm in another photo slump.  It's time to break out of my box and try some new stuff because I'm starting to regress with my photography.  Also, I'm tired of editing my stuff to death to make it look acceptable.  It's time for me to up my game and take stuff that needs little to no fix.  I know I have it in me...somewhere.

Some stuff I thought about today:
Life is a joy, if you allow yourself to live!
Take the time to sit back and watch your friends and family interact.  You'll love them more for it.
Good tunes and great scenery are the best forms of inspiration sometimes.
Know your limitations, but don't let them rule you.
Change is good.
Find a song with your name in it, and let the narcissism momentarily overwhelm you.
When in doubt, make a list. ;)

Day 49: Feet

Becca and Sherry

My sister and her daughter are staying the night with us, and I managed to grab a random shot of their feet as they were getting ready for bed.  My favorite part about this shot: the cute little scratch on Becca's knee. :D

A few thoughts from today:
*Books are the best refuge sometimes.
*Temple night tonight.  Looove temple night!  We came out of the temple to a gorgeous, stormy, black sky, and a warm breeze.
*I wore a skirt that I haven't worn since my brother got married, and I forgot how cute it is.  I felt like twirling around in it all day!
*I've been hanging around my cats too much.  I caught a glimpse of a co-worker as he made a conspiratorial look at another co-worker, and my first thought was that he looked just like Georgie when she's stalking the laser.
*I love my sweet mother and her patience with me and my sister.  We are so rude sometimes!
*Lunch breaks are very important.

The End

Day 40: Some Bad Advice

June and her Great-grandma.

I've been feeling poetic all day, and now that I'm finally in front of my computer, ready to write...

Nothing.

My mind is a complete blank.  That's what I get for procrastinating.  I should have sat in front of my computer the moment I got home from church, when my mind was buzzing with ideas of what to write today.  Or, in the very least, I should have written some of those ideas down.

Now, I sit here in a sleepy stupor, wondering why I'm still sitting up.  So I'll leave you with just a few random thoughts for the evening, and I'll try harder tomorrow night.

I love to color
Even though it's exhausting, I love to act crazy in front of the primary children during singing time
I love babies and the peaceful feeling I get when I hold them
Laughter is the best medicine...except for headaches
Nobody likes a whiner
If a hymn gets stuck in your head, let it stay a while
Don't agree to do something you really don't want to do...because you'll end up backing out at the last minute
Procrastination is the lack of foresight, and the height of selfishness

Day 39: Family Time

Chicken Foot at home on a Saturday night...

I had the perfect Saturday!  My favorite things about today:

• Swedish pancakes
• Spending most of the day lounging in the living room, reading
• Lunch with the girls, and a Great Harvest shopping trip
• BIG raindrops
• Not having to help while Steen baked a few pies, but helping with the eating! YUM
• Taking a nap in the middle of the day!
• Goofing off with Domino bombs while playing Chicken Foot
• Geeking out on Doctor Who

Day 35: Family Temple Night

The fam' after the temple session.

Top ten favorite things about today:

10. Finding a Jimmy John's close to my office
 9.  Smelling campfires outside
 8.  Driving with all the windows rolled down and my hair flying in the breeze
 7.  The moment when the lethargy of the muscle relaxant finally wore off and I felt like me again
 6.  Getting an email from a friend that made me grin at their thoughtfulness
 5.  "Cosmic Love" by Florence + The Machine
 4.  Mac n' Cheese, Mom style
 3.  Running into my YW leader from San Jose
 2.  Running into my lovely friend Valerie S. from high school (she's not only cool because she's named Valerie, but more importantly, because she spells it the right way!)  
 1.  Going to the temple with family

What a great day!!

Day 28: Confucius Say...

My fortune cookie at lunch today.

I have a picture on my screensaver slide show that says, "Who is the most awesome person today?" Below it, there's a hand with it's finger pointing at the viewer like Uncle Sam.  I love that picture because it helps me remember to be confident, and I always need remembering.  It also always gives a mini uplift to my spirits every time I see it.  Today's fortune cookie was like that picture, pointing right at me and saying, "Your dreams WILL become reality!"

I needed to hear it, and now that it's been said, I keep repeating it to myself.  Over and over I think, "my dreams WILL become reality!"  It's awesome how much better I feel about my immediate future, knowing that a little positive thought goes a long way.  It makes me want to try harder, to be better, and do more.  I've got that get-up-and-go feeling in the pit of my stomach and it's making me excited to keep trying and to keep working towards my dreams.  

Now, some of those dreams - the most important ones, in fact - I keep closest to me, and I don't like to share them with just anyone.  I suppose I should if I want to make them happen, so perhaps I'll break my rule and share them on here...or perhaps I won't.

Here are some of them (Now, these are all dreams oriented around me.  This isn't my list of "world peace" dreams):

*Write a book and get it published

*Finish school

*Travel to Europe and live abroad

*Get married

*Sell a photograph

*Be one of the "cool" kids

*Travel by train (first class)...anywhere

*Have kids

*Live without fear

...and my dreams will become reality.

Day 25: Tree Leaves

My view of the tree I was resting under.

Saturday is usually my chore day, and it's usually stressful and/or boring.  Today was nice and relaxed, and not my typical Saturday.

What I liked about today:
 - Watching tennis in my PJ's
 - Eating home made hash browns with my fingers (sometimes food tastes better when you eat it with your hands)
 - Getting in to the local water park for $5
 - Doing flips underwater with my sister and feeling like a kid again
 - The view of the tree above me as I read by the pool
 - The light breeze that blew through the trees and grass
 - The view outside the grocery store as the setting sun hit the mountains
 - Going to the movies with Ryan and Christine
 - Eating candy during the movie when I know I shouldn't
 - Hanging out after the movie until all the lights in the parking lot went out
 - Laughing

Day 15: Babies Again

I was supposed to take baby Jack's one-month photos on Sunday, but I forgot.  So when RoseAnne came over tonight for girl's night, she asked if I would take a few.  I took over a hundred pictures, but I wasn't really happy with any of them.  I do like this one though.  He's such a cute boy!

I've been trying to think of something to write to go along with this picture, but I can't think clearly tonight.

Nothing's coming to me.

So instead, I'll write down a few words of advice for little Jack on his journey thru life.
1. Eat your vegtables (only the yummy ones)
2. Dance when you feel the beat
3. Don't be afraid to speak up
4. Love everyone
5. Crawl before you try to walk
6. Listen to your mommy

Day 12: Moab, Part 3

Last day in Moab, and we headed to breakfast before leaving for home.  It took me a few tries to get this shot (poor Kim and Steen were probably tired of posing for me) because I had to keep adjusting my camera settings.  I'd left them on all the over-exposed settings from our night shoot last night.

Things about breakfast that I loved this morning:
  * Fresh squeezed orange juice
  * No wait for our table, and then no one in the tent with us because we were the last party to be seated
  * Swedish pancakes!
  * The granola seating hostess with her cute pigtails and Bermuda shorts
  * Snitching potatoes off Christine's plate
  * Kim coming clean about not liking the toast :)
  * Leaving the restaurant feeling satisfied and smug that we got in right before it closed