Home Sweet Home

I am glad to be home. My travel today was pretty uneventful except that I managed to hit a traffic jam at the exact same exit as the last time I was in AZ. Weird because I drove 100 miles both times and both times it was an accident. Once a motorcyle and then a semi today. Just seemd odd. We had the TVs in the back of the seats in front of us and so I watched TBS for another 3 hours. Did a little crocheting too.

No real plans for the weekend except dinner tomorrow night with everyone (yay) and a session on Sunday that might end up being outdoors if it is nice and then a Superbowl party. Hmm, when I type it out it sort of sounds like I have plans but I don't have anything to do tonight or tomorrow until dinner so I am going to park it right on the couch tonight and then do some (yuck) cleaning tomorrow. I realized when I went to put a pack of 100 calorie teddy grahams in my purse on the way to the airport on Tuesday that had expired in 2007 that it might be time to clean out the pantry :-) and by pantry I mean the top of my dryer where I store food. So sad. I really want to get a lot of stuff cleaned out anyway so I don't move junk and can just get rid of it all.

Last night when I told Craig what weekend I was going to move he said "you will be here in 8 weeks, that is crazy" and it is....It will be exactly 3 years the Monday after I move that we met. Not that I planned it that way and the only reason I remember the date is because it snowed that first week we were there for work and I said "this place is awful, I could never live anywhere where it snows in March" Hmmm, little did I know. I met Craig that first Monday but it took almost a month before we actually talked about much other than work or went out. It is just so exciting that after 3 years I will FINALLY be able to see him for more than 10 days in a row....I think that is the record for how long we were together in a row.

I am trying to find something fun to do the Saturday before I go away that everyone can do. My place is a little small for a party if I invite lots of people...especially since the chair and a half now blocks the patio door (which I can get to from my room and don't really use since I don't smoke). Anyone have some fun ideas? I thought about bowling or something like that but would it be cheesy and is it cheesy to throw yourself a going away party? I just want to see people that I might not see on my visits (cause I expect to see all you guys that read this) and of course the people I will see on my visits.

Moving Day

So, I think that the move date is set!! I think that the magic weekend will be March 21st! My boss is supposed to be working out where I will sit at the auction in Cincy and my mom is all ready to drive up with me. I had a hard time finding people to help move me but Dudley stepped up and is going to help. I don’t really have anything heavy to move cause I am leaving my TV in Atlanta (though it will have a lot less channels and no DVR or HD J) and I really don’t have that much else that is even bulky other than my bed and couch and chair. I am super excited about getting the date nailed down.

And, of course, after I posted my geography lesson, they have a ton of snow in Ohio…perfect timing but I swear it is not normally like that and really it came a bit south. Now you also understand why I knew it would be a death wish to try to move in January through the mountains. Sadly, I am a little worried about my trip up there for V-day L but hopefully by March it will all be gone and I will be able to move just in time for the end of their winter and the beginning of spring.

For all you Atlanta people (and others interested), I will be sure to have a going away get together that will probably happen the weekend before if you are around...if not then I will be back in April sometime to celebrate the big 3-0!

Reason #627 that Craig is a dork...

And Molly will like this....if you look at the comments to my "geography lesson" post then you will see that Molly was talking about KY and whether we could consider it "the South" or not. On my two hour drive to Tucson I was telling Craig that story and since he is a dork (reason #627 that he is) and loves history, he looked it all up. I decided to post it here instead of in the comment section. Here is the reference and as it turns out, KY didn't really know what they wanted....they were split and they never actually seceded from the Union but they were claimed as a territory by the Confederacy and apparently they had two governments at one time. They are one of the stars on the Southern Cross flag (which I call the confederate flag). So, I think that we can claim them as Southern if we want....not sure about how to get rid of Florida and while Craig agrees that it is a shithole, he is still figuring out how we can get rid of them.

By the way, did anyone know that Tennessee seceded from the Union and then tried to secede from the Confederacy? They wanted to be their own country....I didn't know that they tried that too. Funny history.

in phoenix

The flight was better than I thought. No one sat next to me so that was nice. We had our own tvs so that was nice....I watched 4 hours of tbs. Flight was really bumpy but all in all much better than I expected. I got my latte and now I am on my way to get my car and drive 2 hrs. And it is much warmer thn 44.

thoughts going through my head

-This flight is going to suck.
-I hope I get to sit next to a normal person.
-Flying with cramps on a 4 hour flight, not fun (sorry if tmi)
-I work how girls sucessfully pull off that messy hair look. Is mine too thick for it or am I just not good at it? Anyone have tips and how do they even see the back to know if it looks good.
-i bet people think that I didn't shower today. I did shower but my hair is up and I have on workout pants and a t-shirt which I normally only wear to the gym.
-Sure wish I had looked at the weather before I left home. When I checked in it was only 44 in Phoenix at 1pm. I am going to Tucson so what are the chances it is warmer 2 hours east.
- Is the movie "the long shots" any good? I am sort of doubting it.
-someone near me stinks and I hope I just got a wiff as they went by and they aren't sitting near me. Or is it me? No, I showered.

I think it is nap time after I call Craig to whine.

Platinum Weddings

So, you know how I helped with that wedding a few months ago that is supposed to be on Platinum Weddings? Well, I set up my DVR to tape all of them so I can see it when it comes on. Today I am working from home and since daytime TV sucks, I am watching them. The one on right now is Thomas Davis. Plays for the Panthers in Charlotte and went to UGA...funny, I thought that the name sounded familiar!! There colors are going to be red and black. Her ring is HUGE. She just told about their family and he has a kid named Denim (not hers) and she has a kid that is 6 (not his) and they have a kid together and NOW they are getting married....classic UGA football player :-) It is like they don't understand how kids get made...speaking of which, shouldn't Champ Bailey have a kid coming to college soon? He had like 12 when he was in college. She is also wearing black..I guess that is appropriate since they already have 3 kids between them, white just wouldn't seem right. They are cute together though.....

Weekend

This weekend I visited Drena, Oliver and Adam on Friday. I didn't witness evil monkey at all....I am glad. Oliver slept most of the time...or really all of the time so I didn't really get to spend any time with him. It was right after his visit to the chiropractor so I think that Drena was just happy that he wasn't screaming :-)

Saturday I went to visit Alyson, Zach and Ariyana. Ariyana is so cute it is not even fair! We had fun playing with her. I tried to practice the whole natural light with kids running around shooting thing with her. It was hard and I didn't have much light to work with. Studio is definitely my thing. I really need to get better at it. Here are a couple. The ones of her with the lotion I am also using for my NLP325 picture. She was so funny. She hass dry skin and eczema like the rest of us so she constantly gets lotion put on her. While we were hanging out in her room she got the lotion bottle (my sister was smart enough to close it) and she "pumped" it and then "put" it on her arm....how funny. It is amazing what they learn. It makes me wonder if the lotion makes her skin feel better so she likes it or if she is just so used to getting it put on that she wanted to try it for herself. She also helped me 'put' on lotion! Too cute!

Yesterday I had two sessions and they were a little stressful. The first family was a little late and said they had my old code to the gate so I felt horrible and then the second family was 30mins early. Sometimes I don't think that people realize that this is not Target, you can't just hang out in the lobby. It ended up working out so other than the fact that I wasn't expecting them, we got it all done. Luckily the other family had already left. They were fun too so that made it better. Their baby was so funny because she would laugh and giggle and then when we put her in front of the camera she would get stonefaced. It reminded us of that cartoon with the singing frog where he will perform for that one guy but when he tries to show it to anyone else the frog stops! Funny!

Tomorrow I go back to Arizona and I am not looking forward to it or excited about it :-(

Geography Lesson

I had dinner with a friend last night that I haven't seen in a while and she was very concerned about me moving to Ohio and how cold it would be....and I have heard that a lot. So, for those of you who know nothing about Ohio, you will be surprised at just how close the part I am moving to is in relation to the south...Kentucky is literally 50 mins away from Craig's house...as a matter of a fact, the Cincinatti airport is really in Kentucky by like 10 miles and it takes an hour from Craig's door to the airport door. Here is a map for you guys and I have circle key items :-) Of course I did it with my mouse so the writing is not the greatest but at least you guys will know where I am so you can visit. Craig lives in Beavercreek and I will be working in Middletown. I also circled the nasty cold yucky (though is looks like yurky) parts for you...notice how far they are...it takes 3.5 hours to Cleveland...that would be like going from Atlanta to the border of Florida..you know how much that weather changes! Also, notice the part that is cold and yucky is on the Great Lakes...water+winter=extra cold!! I hope you all learned something :-)

Randomness and Mattresses

--did you know that my heart beats about 80 beats per second when I drive to the gym?
--did you know that my heart beated faster walking up the stairs and to my car then it did in the 20 mins that I did the "free step" on Wii Fit last night?
--Why will people sit on the toilet at work and at a hotel but not in a restaurant? Do people that work and stay in hotels have cleaned butts than people who eat out?
--How exactly should you handwash a sweater and does it really make that big of a difference if you put it in the wash on cold?
I am sure I have more but I don't know what they are right now...

So, here is my other random thing...I am starting to get together some stuff for the move and making a list of what I need. One thing that I am going to need is a mattress for Atlanta. I obviously am taking my bed with me so I need something to sleep on here. It doesn't have to be anything great so I was looking online at them and they are really expensive! I got my mattress like 7 years ago and I think that it was like $500 but considered pretty middle of the road. I thought that surely I could get one for $200 or so. No such luck. Then I got really curious because I know I had seen them on Craigslist so I went there to look. They had tons on there at good prices. Have you guys ever gotten a used mattress and how do you feel about it? I mean, I sleep on a lot of hotel beds and I am sure we have all heard about the special where they show what is in hotel rooms, but at the same time, it sort of grosses me out to get a used mattress....hmmmm, would just like to know your thoughts. Any precautions I could/should take? Worse case scenario would be that my mom has some twin beds, but they are not comfy and they are twin beds....any other ideas of a cheaper solution for my mattress problem?

Clarification on Disappointment

I just wanted to let you guys know that nothing happened to me yesterday. I mean, I heard all the negative comments but people have a right to voice their opinion so I am not bothered by that. I would like to think that my friends would always respect my opinions just as I respect theirs, even if we don't agree. Plus, if it was any of you, I would have called you out :-) I feel lucky that, for the most part, I can have intelligent conversations about politics with you guys, even if it is a touchy subject. Just felt like I should clear the air so you didn't think that something happened to me or that I was talking about any of you :-)

The decluttering of Melissa

First, I wanted to tell you guys that I watched the movie "W" tonight. It is about Bush's life. I am not sure how much of it is true but it really made me want to learn a lot more about him. I would love for some of you who know more about him to let me know how much is true. I know that is got good reviews from conservatives so I wonder if it is close to the truth. I watched it off the internet (you can decide whether that is good ethics or not) cause Craig said it was a really good movie. Here is the link if any of you feel like watching it. It is in two segments and I don't think that you have to download anything.

So, lately I have been trying to declutter my life...mainly my closets. It has been so nice!! I cleaned out all my drawers (at least the ones with clothes in them). I have cleaned out other clothes and shoes. I got my stuff at my mom's house all cleaned out. I am now working on my pantry :-) I am one of those people who will buy food on sale....and there is always something on sale. So, now I have all this food that doesn't really go bad for a really long time and it is just sitting in my pantry. I also buy meat on sale and put it in my freezer...that is also full. I am actually starting to wonder if I will be able to eat all of this before I move. I have decided to try. I think that I have always been one of those people who just live in clutter. My mom is the same way, but lately I have been in the mood to clean, clean, clean and it has felt good. Now, if you stop by my place don't expect it to sparkle like some of your places, but if I let you look in the closets that no one was ever allowed to see or to look in the drawers that I no longer have to force shut because there are too many clothes in them, you would definitely see a difference. I am really hoping that this trend continues.

In sad news, and this has me a little worried....my senior, who moved to be with her boyfriend, broke up this weekend. I know that they had a rocky relationship and stuff but the fact that she moved to be with him and it didn't work out kind of hits close to home. They probably started dating around the same time that Craig and I did. I don't know a ton about their relationship and I am sure that everyone is different but a little part of me is a little scared. It is just a really little part though. For the most part, I am extremely happy about my move (other than the missing people here part). I feel like I am ready to start my next chapter....maybe the decluttering is part of that too...who knows.

Disappointment...

I just wanted to comment that I feel disappointed in some people who feel like that have to attack their friends because they have different believes. In all honesty, it sort of hurts my feelings and I want you all to know that just because I don't agree with you on "issues", that doesn't mean I would ever degrade you or not value your opinion. I don't think that I understand it and it makes those people sound really close minded. Even if you aren't happy that he is the President, can't you give him a chance? The majority of the country did think that he was the right one and if he isn't then you will get to slap a big fat "told you so" on us in 4 years. It just makes me sad that people take things so personally and feel the need to be so rude about it. Hopefully none of you were "that" person today (surely not, right?). Sorry to vent!

And, yes, even I can agree that some of the stuff they showed today was completely unnecessary but isn't 90% of news these days, no matter what they are covering? Do we need "Stormwatch 2009" for 3 snowflakes?

New tough times but we will survive....

That seemed to me to be the theme of Obama's speech. I don't know if that was the actual theme or not because I have learned that I have horrible reading comprehension and I am sort of assuming that if I don't always interpret the reading so well, then speeches will be no different. So, here is what I heard. I thought that it was sort of funny/ironic that he messed up not once, but twice during the oath. For someone who is such a great speaker, it was just a little funny to me. I also liked the fact that it showed that for all the coolness and calmness that he always seems to have (and is often criticized for) that even he realizes how important the office of President of the United States is and respects that. I think that him getting nervous shows that he takes it seriously and it is not just another title. I like that.

I also liked how he compared the times we are facing now with times of the Americans who have come before us. It sort of made me think about it a little bit and how the past tough times in America really did have to do with people who believed in the greater good of the country and not just how much they could get ahead. (The civil war, civil rights, and women voting were all fights that were fought by people who wouldn't necessarily benefit from the outcome but did it because it was the right thing to do) Since that is an ideal that I believe in very much, I was excited to realize that I can relate to some of the great people who have come before us who thought the same way. I do think that the situation we are in now is not going to get any better if people can't look beyond their own interests at least a little bit to help make things better for everyone. I also felt like he was supportive of the troops and the fact that America will not tolerate terrorism. I think that is one place where he didn't really take a stand before and I know it worried a lot of people. I really feel like he will try to get both parties involved in the rough road ahead and since I am a more "middle of the road" person, I really like that fact. I don't agree with him on everything and I don't think that he is strongest in every aspect of the government but I do think that he is humble enough to work with people who he might not agree with if he think that the outcome will have positive results. I really hope that he proves me right.

I thought it was exciting to see all the people who were there to watch it. I can't remember Bush's inauguration and I am positive that, even though I voted for him the first time, I didn't care about watching him get sworn in. I think that the fact that all of those people there really believe in our new President will go farther than anyone can estimate. I think that the more people who pay attention, the more challenged a President is to make the right decisions. With so many people watching, it is harder to hide shady deals (not saying it can't be done or accusing any previous Presidents, just saying..this applies to all aspects of business/government) and I hope that will keep him honest.

He earned my vote the first time he ran, but he hasn't necessarily earned it in 4 years. The first 100 days in a President's office are what everyone uses to measure his success and I can't wait to see what he does in his first 100 days. Even though I liked the speech, and thought it was good, we all know the saying "Actions speak louder than words" and it is the actions that I will be waiting for. I am sure I will not be disappointed.

*disclaimer...this was written without reading any analysis of the speech by anyone, so even if I am way off base here, this is what I and, I alone, got from the speech :-)

Beyond Lazy

That is what I have been since I got home on Friday. I ended up not getting home on time but since I didn't have any plans it didn't really matter.

Saturday I got up and didn't do a whole lot. I did go to the gym at 11am to the personal trainer and considering it was freezing and the gym is never fun, I was pretty proud of myself. Afterward I came home and cleaned out a few of my clothes drawers to get rid of old t-shirts and shorts and such and just tried to keep warm, ran a couple of errands and did some more blanket work :-)

Sunday I got up early and went to my mom's house to clean out some of my high school stuff in her extra garage. This is usually a hard thing for me to do but I was in a good mindset so it only took me about 4 hours to get it all done. The rest of the time I worked on this GT blanket I was making my sister (I KNOW but I started it when we had beaten them and now I just want to finish it so it can get out of my house) while my mom had to perform stuffed animal surgery!! To step back a bit, last Saturday my two sisters, Ariyana and their hubbies all had dinner at Jennifer's new house. While Alyson and Jennifer were at the store, they left Bunbun (a stuffed bunny they got when they found out they were pregnant with Ariyana and it goes everywhere with her) on the couch. Jennifer and Robb have a new doggie that is not as well trained and he used Bunbun as a chew toy. It was not pretty! My sisters got the call while they were at the store and got a stuffed doggie that was the same color as Bunbun but it wasn't him. We decided that surgery was definitely needed...his cheek was torn and was half of his side and his eye was popped out. We found all the pieces and last week I went to the store to get some repmlacement fur for the skin graph he was going to need. I was going to put him back together but decided that my mom was much better at that so I took him to her house yesterday. It took her 4 hours!!! to get him back together. But, I will say that when she was done...he looked GREAT!! I dropped him back off at Alyson's last night but unfortunately he needed a bath before Ariyana could have him again. I know she will be happy to get him back! Last night I went to see Bride Wars with Jenn and Morgan...cute but at $10 for a movie, I would rent it! Delta Gamma did get a shout out in it though..random.

Today I have not done much of anything!! I did finish my blanket (picture at top) and now I am just going to relax some more....sometimes it is so nice not to have any photography sessions...especially after last week.

The other picture is from my Natural Light Project and I named it Falic Cactus....HAHA! It is from Gates Pass in Tucson!

YAY Home!

I am glad to finally be home and you guys weren't lying...it is cold here!! I can't seem to get warm even inside my condo...time to break out the electric blanket my dad got be for xmas!

For you guys doing the photography project...sorry I slacked a bit..I do have another picture to post from the other day and am going to cheat and do a few tomorrow night...if I don't freeze.

Not scared anymore, just annoyed....

Today has not gone too well. I left in plenty of time for the 2hr drive to Phoenix to fly home and then I get within 10 miles and there is a bad motorocyle wreck so the highway is shut down.....finally get going again and don't know where a gas station is to fill up the rental car so I just return it, am rushing so I don't miss my flight.....finally get to the airport and the flight was delayed an hour...ugh...oh well, at least I haven't thought about the crash since the Today show this morning and it hasn't been mentioned once in the airport so far...now if my plane could just get here so I can get home to what sounds like is a freezing Atlanta.

By the way, Craig emailed me today and said the temp there was -11....without windchill. He said after being outside for 4-5 mins your skin felt weird and then it took like 15 mins for you to warm up...I hope that Ohio gets this out of its system this winter before I move there. Now you see why I waited until the spring...Molly aside, doesn't moving in weather like this sound miserable????

Wish me luck or entertain me until I get to leave Phoenix :-)

Unnecessarily Scared

Ok, I am sure that everyone has heard of the US Airways plane that went down in the Hudson River today...and if not, here you go.

Now, I fly A TON, and even after September 11th, I wasn't scared to fly, but for some reason this crash freaks me out a little bit. I don't know why. Everyone got off the plane, it landed and it wasn't a firey mess but for some reason it just freaks me out. I hope that I am not nervous tomorrow when I get on my flight. A 3 hour flight nervous is not fun.

Today I worked out of my hotel room. I was surprisingly productive but it was a little lonely. This weekend I don't really have that many plans and from what I hear, it is going to be cold in Atlanta, so it is probably just as good. I hope that I can clean out some drawers, my closet and some random storage boxes. I also hope to get my pictures updated and some crocheting in. I thought that I would finish my blanket here this week but I haven't had time to work on it at all. Maybe later tonight.

Anyway, hopefully the flight will go smooth tomorrow, I am sure it will...this only happens once every who knows when, right????

Homesick

I am a little homesick...not that I really have anything to go home to or anything but I am a little homesick for my routine. This job has been pretty stressful and even though the girl that I am working with is a sweetheart, she is intense and I had to spend my whole week defending my opinion on everything with the client (to which he would always agree with after making me jump through hoops). It was just tiring. The mornings were pretty cool because I could get up at 7 and it felt like 9 which meant that I worked out every day this week....that was good. I was also careful not to stuff myself every night so that was good. I just think that I had been in town for so long that I got into a routine and coming here sort of jerked me out of it. When I used to travel all the time that was my routine. I knew I would always have a long Monday and it would make me tired on Tuesday and I knew that I would travel every Friday. I also knew that I would have lots of hours in a hotel room to edit because I had no one to go to dinner with. This time was different. I still had 4 sessions that I needed to edit but I also had someone to go to dinner with and a 30 min drive to and from work every day. It is also hard to talk to Craig with the time difference and I miss him :-(

On a happy note, more good news for Greece....we leave 6 weeks from Friday and I called the Marriott there that we are staying in for the first two and last two days of the trip to ask if they would hold luggage. The Greek airlines only let you check a 30lb bag and carry on 17 pounds which is hard to do for an international trip. We all decided that we would leave a bag with nothing valueable at the hotel if they would let us....so I bought a cheap phone card and called them. The conversation went like this:

Hotel Lady: something in Greek that I didn't understand
Me: Does anyone speak English (I figured they did but I didn't want to be an ahole American who assumed)
Her: Yes, everyone, what can I help you with?
I explained and she told me that they did that. I wasn't 100% sure so I called back at a different time...I just wanted to be double sure because it would suck if I got over there and had to pay a ton on Greek airlines because my bag weighed too much....the next time it went like this:

Hotel Lady: Greek intro
Me: Do you speak English?
Her: Yes, of course...

Note to self....all the Marriott people in Greece speak English and don't like you to ask if they do :-)

Oh well, at least I don't have to leave camera equipment that I want to take at home :-)

Tomorrow night I am visiting with my aunt who lives here....hopefully that will be fun!

My boyfriend and I are "on" again....

My Delta boyfriend that is....Delta must have really felt bad for all the times I was delayed because I got not one, but TWO excellent calls from them this weekend! Friday they called to say that I had been upgraded to first class for my trip to Phoenix...sweet...that is a 4 hour flight for anyone keeping track and I was glad for the upgrade. Then on Saturday they called to tell me that I was on the same flight as my sister to Greece...so, instead of going ATL-PHI-CDG-ATH, I get to go ATL-JFK-ATH...much better AND, it is a plane with 2,3,2 seating so I got us 2 seats together in the exit row! YAY! My flight yesterday was really smooth, no delays or anything (the actual flight was really bumpy but I got a sandwich in first class and a brownie).

I had asked Craig to look up some places that we could stop at on our way from Phoenix to Tuscon and he looked up some for us. We set out to the first one and got there about 20 mins before it closed...sad and then by the time we got to the other one it was dark...double sad. We did have a fun adventure though...it goes with the picture. We saw this cactus on the side of the road and I needed a picture of it. There was this dirt field with a road that I could sort of make out so I decided to turn down some random road and try to get to the dirt road....after a half a mile of rutted road we got to a fence we couldn't drive through so we exited and went back to the highway and got back on the highway to turn around and come back and pull over next to it. They have these little turnaround things on the highway and it doesn't say you can't go on them so I slammed on the brakes and turned into one....then I realized that the other side was REALLY high...oops. We took it slow though and got to the top and waited for traffic to slow down so I could pull out...then I had to cross all the way to other side and pull over... good times, but I got the picture :-)

Other than that, this job has been a little stressful. I actually have to come back here because I was supposed to go to the auction on Wed and Thurs but the Controller is sick so I am going to come another week..I had prepaid my hotel because the rates were ridiculous so I am staying to work on some other stuff. The stressful part is that the girl I am working with is really nice but she just doesn't understand the importance of somethings and the guy at the location is the former owner and knows nothing about accounting....it is just a long day and we didn't even take a lunch. The good part was that I worked out this morning so that was a check in my column.

Smell Update and Projects, Projects, Projects.

To update all of you on the helpful hints with my smell. When I came home today it was a lot less noticeable than yesterday. I assure you that everything is spotless....garbage out, garbage disposal all clean and freshened with one of those garbage disposal balls that smells like orange and everything so I know it is just the smells from my cooking (I have cooked dinner every night this week and made eggs every morning) and the lack of air circulation. So, I remembered that when I moved in there was a slight smoke smell here and I bought a little fan that you plug in and it sits right on the plug and freshens the air so I plugged that in this morning and it seemed to help. I have also been running the oven vent fan since I got home and the fact that the heat probably ran today (and I know it has tonight) has all helped. Hopefully it will be gone soon! I am not cooking tomorrow so the clients won't have to worry about smelling it.

Today I went and did another shoot for the family whose session went so bad right before Christmas. They still ordered a lot from that session but I felt so bad. Today I went at lunch and did some more at their house and then at a nearby part. Noon is not the best time for outdoor pictures but I think that they turned out pretty well. I remember thinking as I was taking them that I was going to use one for my NLP325 today....I just haven't uploaded it yet.

I have been working on my blanket, my natural light project and just other random projects that I really enjoy doing lately. I used all of this to fill the time that was voided by my photography business as I took a much needed break. This weekend that break will end. I have 4 sessions on Saturday and then the one from today that will all need to be edited and I am leaving mid-day on Sunday for Arizona. I am ready to get back into the photog biz but I am sad to have to put my other projects on hold. I am free again next weekend though because I didn't really have that many clients with January appts. I think that I did 75% of my clients in Nov and Dec :-) I guess one week will not be that bad....plus, I don't really do any editing anymore so it takes a lot less time.

The Natural Light 325 Project is going really well! People are participating and taking cool shots...you guys that don't participate should check it out! This Sunday we start with themes for each week and there have been some good ideas by Carrie and Molly in our little discussion area so I am excited to start those. I think that it will be fun to keep the project up all year, especially once I move...it is a good way to still "see" people and things here :-)

I am tired and I need to go to bed...Dudley talked me into letting her give me that darn Twilight book that everyone is raving about. I tend to revolt against a book that everyone loves...I hold on for a while. I did it with Harry Potter too...but usually when I give in I like it just as much as everyone else. I have only read one chapter of the Twilight book and so far I am not addicted but we will see.......

Blanket Update and Funky Smells

So, I have a housekeeping question for you. When I come home I smell something a little funky when I walk in. It is just this sort of stall smell and I don't know how to get rid of it. I don't normally have it and I think that it mostly has to do with the moisture and the temps outside. My place is small so if the temps are stable outside then my heat and air don't run...therefore no air circulates through my place, which might be the reason. Also it just seems humid or something....and it is worse after a shower. I am not sure what to do...my garbage is clean and taken out, no dishes in the sink, garbage disposal is cleaned out so we can rule out all of that...do any of you guys have a suggestion for me?



Now to my blanket...I am happy to report that I have pretty much finished all the pieces, I say pretty much because I still need to do the white outline on them all like the blue one on the top left and then put them all together but hopefully that will be the easy part....here is a picture of the "before" I sort of hope to have it done by the end of the weekend but I leave on Sunday for Arizona so I might not make it...I was thinking about taking it with me to finish...hmmmm. This was also my entry for the NLP325 today.

Excuse me while I brag...

Carrie sent me this in an email this morning.....funny because when I used to go to their sign to look at classes, I would wonder where they got the photos from...a lot times they were from the instructors but not always. I also think that it is funny that it is under Melissa Anne...I guess that is because the email where I submitted it was Melissa Anne Photography :-)

Anyway, not really anything to brag about but I just wanted to share with you guys.

Photography Project

Still working on my Atlanta pictures...thought of a few that I want to get:
Fox sign
Coke Sign
Underground sign
capital building
olympic park and fountains
good one of stone mtn
Varsity sign
Skyline (sort of have one of these that I like too)
Turner Field (not sure from inside or outside yet)
Dome
Philips Arena (I like how is says Philips Arena on the side)
5-6 signs of different streets with "Peachtree" in them....I can get three of them within a block of my house...how sad
Piedmont Park sign
View of Midtown from Piedmont Park
High Museum
Traffic on 85
17th street bridge (though I sort of have one that I really like of that bridge)
Would love to get either a creative shot of the highway signs here (cause we have so many and I spend so much time sitting on them) or of spagetti junction...not sure on this one though.


Anymore ideas?

Also, for my Natural Light Project, and since I don't have pets or kids (which everyone else has at least one of :() I was thinking that maybe the group would want to do themes once in a while to help spark creativity....any themes that you guys can think of? If you are in the group, check out the "discussions" part of the group and let me know if you have any ideas, we could do a theme one day a week, all week, or just random (like 7 sins, 12 days of Christmas, things like that). Any ideas you guys have would be great though!!

Ok, I need to stop posting today!!!

Signs that I need to clean out...

I have wanted to clean out my drawers, cabinets, and bathroom stuff for a while....here are four signs that I should do it ASAP

I pulled out some face lotion that expired 12/2007 (in my defense, I had two cause I didn't unpack every time I came home, but still)
The inhaler I went to use this morning when my asthma was bothering me expired in 09/2007
I have some Mary Kay hand lotion stuff that I must have gotten 3-4 years ago
I have bubble bath from at least 2 years ago!

Very scary and it will be taken care of this weekend! I look forward to the new space!

Diets

I am ready to go home. I don't know how I will make it through a whole week straight of work after not having done it for so many in a row!! yikes. The project I am working on is just frustrating and to top it off, I get to leave her to go get my butt kicked at the gym and then I have a dentist appt tomorrow morning..yuck!

I had fun yesterday visiting with Carrie, Erin and the girls. Charlotte and Emma did a little modeling for me with my hats and they were great models. Other than that we just hung out and played with them. I can't believe how big they have all gotten!

I slacked a little on my photography project yesterday (now you know why I did 325 instead of 365 like some people do...I know myself). I did actually take a few pictures yesterday but I didn't get to post them. Hopefully tonight.

For an update on the blanket...I have 4 more octagons and 11 squares to go...I started at 20 octagons and 14 squares so I am definitely making progress. The other day I figured out that it takes me about an hour to finish one square...that is a lot of time invested in this blanket..it better be warm!!

Everyone around me at work is on a diet. I don't know why but they are so funny about it. We work on the 4th floor. You walk in on the 2nd floor and I never take the elevator unless I am going somewhere with a preggo (they both were at one point). In the year I have been working in this department I have probably only take the elevator 5 times. They always complain about taking the stairs but promised me that this week they would start doing it. It is funny. They also are eating those lean cuisines for lunch...YUCK! I can't stand those things. I can do the pizza or the paninis but that is about it. They are doing weight watchers so I get to hear the points of everything. I do think that it is one of the better diets but it is still funny to hear points all that time. The one girl is really good about it but the other one has already cheated! HA! I am curious how long it will all last but in the meantime it entertains me. I just hope that all the people who decided to start the gym will hurry up and quit...it is too crowded and I am probably going to have to go down at 11am to get into my 12:10 spin class...UGH!

Anyone else excited that the new shows will start coming on starting today?? I am...I am sick of reruns and nothing waiting for me on my DVR!

Lost

I have to admit that I am a little lost on the weekends with no photography sessions. Since I normally do them from about 9am-4pm and then edit, it is a lot of extra hours to have all to myself. I really like it though....just a little lost as to where to start when I have all this time to accomplish items on my to do list. Today my mom came to help me take down and return my tree. When we took it in they gave me a dogwood sappling. How cute is that? I obviously have nowhere to plant it but it said you could keep it in your fridge for a while until you planted. I am going to Dayton in 5 weeks so I will take it with me then. Until then I have a tree in my fridge. Oh well. Another project I worked on today was my sock situation. I always have a hard time finding socks that match so I finally took all of the socks out of my drawers that didn't have a match and sat down to match them....good news is that most of the socks had a mate...sad news, some didn't :-( I also cleaned, but for those of you who visit often, it is pretty clean here right now...I have actually had time to keep it clean!! I also did some crocheting and some cleaning off of the computer and backing up of all my files and pictures and did my NLP325 picture. Click to see all our pictures so far! I even had time for pizza and a movie with Dudley! It was a very productive day today. Tomorrow I really have no plans other than visiting three of my favorite baby girls :-) I am going to hang out for a bit with Charlotte, Ella, and Emma...oh, and Carrie and Erin :-) Actually, they are going to model some of my hats for me so I can list them on etsy on someone other than pooh! I haven't seen Charlotte in forever and didn't get to play with the twins long enough the last time I saw them so I am excited about the visit. The best thing is that I don't have to rush to go anywhere else and they are close to the farmer's market so I can get some of that healthy food that I need to eat. All in all, a great weekend. Next weekend it will go back to my normal 9am-4pm on Saturday and then on Sunday I am leaving for a week in Arizona. I get to check another state off my list and I know some of you (Drena) like my travel stories, but I really hope that this one goes smooth. It is actually two trips in one for two different locations at work. We are flying into Phoenix and driving to Tuscon since it is so much cheaper. The drive is supposed to be beautiful and I am going with another girl that is our age so we are going to stop and take pictures along the way. I am looking forward to that part. I also have these visions of beautiful sunsets over the desert so I hope they don't disappoint.

Hope everyone else in enjoying their weekend. The weather makes it a great weekend for me to be so productive and I hope to get more done tomorrow!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year everyone! Yesterday I went to Athens with Morgan where our evening went something like this: get to Athens, run to Target to get cookie dough and icing, go home, watch football, go to Mexicali (eastside since the main one was closed), went home, more football and an awful movie, baked cookies, ate cookies and then at 11pm we headed out to a bar to meet up with Rachel Johnstone and her boy. We got there at like 11:30 by the time we drove, parked and walked to the bar. It got so crowded that I was afraid that I wouldn't ever see Morgan again after she went to the bar but she reappeared at 11:50 or so. We actually got seats at the back of the bar and had fun making fun of everyones clothes. Apparently college girls are a lot like 6 year olds now..you know how they pick their favorite shirt/pants/skirt/dress/costume and want to wear it everywhere, even if it doesn't match? That is what the college girls dress like now...we saw sequin dresses with cowboy boots, tank dresses over thermal shirt with tights and boots (none the same color scheme), and lots of other mismatched stuff. It was funny. We did the countdown, though we didn't know what number they were on until they hit 4....took some pictures and left around 1am. Back home and to bed....perfect! Today we pretty much watched football ALL DAY! I crocheted some more of my blanket and did my entry for the Natural Light 325 Project. Ah, good times!