I love my hometown

There are SOOO many pretty areas around my hometown, it really is a Photographers dream.... Well today I forgot to take my camera to work with me and after work I picked Triston up and took him out to Jones Valley to meet Steve and Truman on the boat so he could fish.  When I was leaving I saw this beautiful view and kicked myself (rather hard!) for not having my camera with me..... 
So I had to use my cell phone camera but it turned out ok .

Proud to be an American

Just wanted to say that I'm proud to be an American :)

Results show tonight :)

Erin and I love American Idol..... I'd say were a little over the top obsesssed because when we watch we take notes and make jokes about the performances (as well as their outfits, manerisms, and even the judges) in texts that we save in our drafts and then the next day we send them to each other to see if we liked the same performances etc... Then on Wednesdays we guess who is going to be sent home. I was guessing Mike tonight and I believe Erin thinks that Aaron should go. Im watching right now while writing this and I guess we were both wrong this time!!! Well, I really like Kasey, so I'm hoping it's Siobhan...

Games that span generations....

Growing up, one of my favorite games was Chutes and Ladders. It's also one of the first games I bought Ethan just as soon as he was old enough to understand board games. My (not so little anymore) brother-in-law reminded me yesterday that I used to play it with him too when he was like 7 or 8. Well the game we have now looks just like the original one, not only in design but in wear and tear. I love all the little "life and moral lessons" depicted at the tops and bottoms of the chutes and ladders... Some are just too funny, like the kid reading comics behind his history book has to wear a dunce cap! Let's see THAT fly in a classroom today. I wonder if they made an updated one what the little photos would depict... lets see... kids doing drugs, then at the bottom of the chute would be a toothless grinning adult... I could come up with some pretty good ones that would be an example of some of the things our kids face today that the makers of the original chutes and ladders would roll over in their graves.... wait, is chutes and ladders THAT old? I just looked it up and the American version first made its appearance around 1948 but other versions in other countries seem to have been around for centuries.

Yes, we use dinosaurs.... We have the original playing pieces,

but dinosaurs make ANYTHING much more fun!!!

Purdy new decorations...

Just a cool votive decoration I picked up today on my lunch :)

Photo shoot time!

Today I did Sadie's 8th grade graduation photos. We went to the gardens at Turtle bay and found so many neat photo areas. I LOVE the way these are turning out! Very photogenic Sadie!

No way Jose'

The kids thought it would be funny to put "Make offer" stickers on the little dogs during the yard sale.  I dont THINK so!!!!!!!

Carnival time!!!

Tonight was Turtle Bay school's carnival. Triston and I went even though we had a ton of stuff to still get ready for the yard sale. He loves it, and I had signed up to bring a cake so......

Junk... I mean cool stuff.....

We are having a yardsale on Saturday so I took off work early today and worked on getting all the stuff cleaned and organized in the garage today. We have a ton of stuff now that we did the remodel, because I only allowed things we actually use to go back into the house. Tomorrow Ive got a few more cupboards to go thru and then Im going to price everything.

If the shelves are dusty and the pots don't shine,

it's because I have better things to do with my time.

~Author Unknown

Best employer in Shasta County Awards ceremony

So this morning my boss invited me to go with her to the Best Company to work for in Shasta County breakfast and awards ceremony. The food was good, then there was a lot of waiting.... Then there was a lot of speaking from former winners. They gave away about 7 or 8 gift baskets to companies that had employees write rave reviews that the judges really liked. My bestie's work won one! I also got to see her dad there, and I havn't seen him for probably 5+ years. I dont think he's changed a bit since Erin and I were in High School. He still looks exactly the same.

I saw a couple other people there that I knew. Not too many. We didnt win best small businesss, but it was still fun to get to go. Thanks Debbi for inviting me.

HA Take that!

So exactly a week ago today my phone quit working. Well I made it a week with the razor, we had gone in to the AT&T store and they had told us I had to wait till July for my upgrade to get a new phone, but today Steve called me with the best news! He called the customer service center and they Ok'd an early upgrade, so I was able to go tonight to pick out a new phone!!!!  Once I get used to it, I know I will love it. Its just a matter of finding where everything is. Its the Samsung Impression. It has a side slideout keyboard and a touch screen too. I prefer texting on the keypad, the touch screen is irritating sometimes, but its nice to have for the internet and some things.

“Technology is so much fun but we can drown in our technology.

The fog of information can drive out knowledge.”

Happy Birthday.....

Today was Steve's 34th birthday. He doesnt read my blog, so thats why I can tell you how old he turned... He will never know I told :)  (jk, he doesn't care) Not only did he have to work, he had to go to the dentist today too!  This evening we went out to Red Robin to celebrate. Once again (its becoming a tradition) I forgot to take my camera to the birthday dinner! So I took one when we got home of Steve and the boys...

Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live

Sunday.... My second favorite :)

Today after church I went outside to throw some garbage away and noticed how nice the sun felt so I told everyone that we needed to be doing something outside, it was just too nice to be sitting on the couch. We took all 4 dogs to the ponds by our house. The kids love it and the dogs think its the greatest place. Im calling this photo
"A boy and his Dog"

I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive. ~Gilda Radner

Saturday..... My favorite.......

Saturdays are my favorite day, I love to sleep in (till 8 at least) and then relax with nowhere to go, I can slowly drink my coffee, curl up on the couch, check out facebook.... Its a very nice day. My photo today is my coffee cup, because this cup means I have no where to go, nowhere to run off to so I dont need my mug with a lid, it means the freedom to relax and enjoy, no rushing out of the house...

Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.

ALSO today ( much later in the day thankfully) was the little league Home Run Derby and photos. Well being that I am a photographer myself, I certainly wont pay someone else to take my childs photo, so I have another photo for todays blog, because he's just too cute not to share :)

Feel the Thunder.......

Tonight was the annual Kool April Nites Car Parade. Its always a fun time with friends, hanging out, looking at all the cool cars, awesome paint jobs and hearing them rumble.... Oh and you cant forget the smell of all that exhaust....  Im posting a couple photos because I just couldnt choose...

Fast cars, lots of noise, tons of people, and the smell of octane... Kool April Nites

dandelions...

Just a photo of some dandelion wall stickers I ordered. I love them...

If dandelions were hard to grow, they would be most welcome on any lawn.

Just me...

So Im not keeping up on the rule about taking a photo of yourself every month to see how you have changed, but here's one. No, the glasses arent new, but I rarely wear them because my eyesight isnt bad enough that I absolutely need them, so they wind up just being annoying rather than helpful.

"The object of reflection is invariably the discovery of something satisfying to the mind which was not there at the beginning of the search"

~Ernest Dimnet~

A 50/50 kind of day.

This morning my phone stopped working about 30 minutes after I got to work, a couple of the buttons on the front woudnt work, and by 10 am all the buttons on the face of the phone were non-functional.... I was quite sad, my poor little baby...... I loved this phone! I cant get an upgrade till July, so for now I am using a razor, which is like going from having high speed DSL to using 56k dial-up modem, my phone had a keyboard, and now I have to attempt hunt and peck with T9.... takes me 5 minutes to text what used to take me 15 seconds.... sooooooooo annoying!!!!!! I dont know how I will survive 3 months with this razor... Funny how you can get so comfortable using a certain item, that you feel lost without it..

On a better note, today was Triston's first little league baseball game. They lost to the Astros, but they were so excited to be playing their first game.

Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal and you can spit anywhere you like except in the umpire's eye or on the ball.

 ~Jim Murray

Loving the storms....

I love a good rainstorm...
There's just something comforting about them to me.

The louder the thunder, the flashier the lightning and the heavier the rain, the better...
In my opinion...

I especially love summer rainstorms when its warmer outside. I like to go out under the back patio and watch it. Usually I have my camera in an attempt to get lightning photos, which is pretty tricky to predict when and where they will strike...

Today I decided to take a photo of this cool barn thats down the street from our house. I loved the way the blue sky was peeking out between the clouds just above the barn and the way the storm clouds look so dark and angry...

           Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. ~John Ruskin      

Rain drops keep falling on my head...

It rained all day today. That would have been OK, had I not needed to go to the grocery store.... AND then to top it off, the "best of Shasta County" was out at Winco today as well.... I thought I would be OK, since the weather was so wet... figured most would stay indoors.... No, aparently it brought them all out of the woodwork this afternoon.... 

The rain was nice to enjoy from home for the rest of the day though. This picture makes me laugh, because I didnt realize it until I looked at the image on my computer, but the frog actually looks like he is watching the rain drops in the puddle.... I had just placed him there for some color...

“God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.”

Spring is near.....

Saw these poppies along Eastside road today, so after I got dinner started, I went back over there to take some photos of them..... Love the way they turned out... maybe new artwork for the house :)

“Just living is not enough... One must have sunshine, freedom,

 and a little flower.”

Few and far between...

I know I've mentioned before, that even though Erin and I live within 2 minutes of each other, we dont get together very often. My life is very busy and I wouldnt have it any other way, and her life is pretty.... non-busy, and thats how she likes it. So needless to say, hang-out times dont happen often and thats just something we've come to accept as normal for our friendship. Today we both got off work early and she came over to hang out. We had a lot to catch up on and she had yet to see the house now that its done.

Thanks for coming over buddy! :) Love you!!!!

“Much of the vitality in a friendship lies in the honoring of differences,

not simply in the enjoyment of similarities.”

Work in print...

Our new add for the infant room (my room) at my work... I took the picture of the adorable little boy and designed the ad, which they had to modify some due to the layout of their ad's in the "North State Parent" magazine, and here it is....

(btw, my design {which I included below my photo of the day} I must say is better, but it had originally been designed for The Baby Guide and it was going to be a verticle layout, whereas Parent mag needed a more horizontal layout in the design...)

First item of mine in a publication

End of the day, end of my jury duties... At least for a year or two...

I had mixed feelings today, not only about how this trial would end, but also because I knew it would likely be the last day I would be serving on this jury... I didnt have to go in till 10 today so it was a nice relaxing morning. Closing arguments was really interesting. The Public defender was definitely  out-classed, the district attorney was a bit "theatrical" at times, but it made it interesting I guess... I'm glad it was a short trial in the sense that I really didnt want to miss any more work but on the other hand it was a neat experience and I can only imagine that serving on a longer trial with more evidence and maybe some forensics and such, would be even MORE exciting.....  At the close of the day, I am satisfied with the outcome, I believe we did the right thing, I have faith in the judicial system and I have a profound respect for what Law Enforcement has to do on a daily basis... and the fact that they have to defend their every action at any given time...

Today deserves TWO quotes!

We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.

Ronald Reagan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we ask him to obey it. Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor.

Theodore Roosevelt

Juror # 2

Today was a day full of witnesses, evidence, statistics, and the acuracy of equipment used by the RPD... Oh and it involved a dagger, a friction sheath, and a backpack... Not an entirely interesting case, but it had its moments... all in all it was a neat process to experience...

It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do.  ~Edmund Burke~

Window to the soul....

Often people refer to the eyes as the window to the soul... The image I wanted to post for today cannot be posted yet, because I have to get permission from the babies mom, so in the meantime I will post another shot I took today of another baby in my class that I DO have permission to post about. Also a telling photo, as she is gazing out the window at the toddlers who are playing outside... I imagine she is looking at them, wishing she too, could be outside with them... Its not our turn right now baby :) Soon, very soon....

“Better keep yourself clean and bright. You are the window through which you must see the world.”

He is Risen....

This morning started out at 530am, getting up and ready for the sunrise service at our church. Its really neat to go and watch the sun rise up behind the cross and listen to the music and message that the pastor gives.
First image is pre-sunrise, second is at sunrise.... I couldn't choose just one...

To a Christian, Easter Sunday means everything, when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.


Bernhard Langer

Dragging the field

After practice today, the guys had to drag the baseball field to get the infield level and Triston and Jeff got to ride on the grate that was pulled behind my quad. They thought it was the coolest thing ever!

Doing the Friday dance...

I love Fridays! I get off early on Fridays and thats a great way to start the weekend. Got a bunch of bills paid, some copies and paperwork done for my business and then I started hanging the photos in the hallway. Not much photo-worthy today, so this is all I could come up with...

No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.

~Oscar Wilde

And Justice for all......

Today was spent doing a whole lot of sitting in the Shasta County Court House.... By 4:25 my name was called to the jury box and they surprisingly kept me. I know it sounds crazy to most, but I'm actually excited. I like this kind of stuff, and I have never been chosen, and its actually something I'd like to do once in my life... So now I get to.... Have to go back on Tuesday of next week which is actually the worst week ever for my employer because its Easter break and the school-agers are all there, so we need extra teachers next week, and I am going to miss 2, likely 3 days of it....

Somebody recently figured out that we have 35 million laws to enforce the ten commandments.
 ~Attributed to both Bert Masterson and Earl Wilson