Way back in high school, I wanted to be a photojournalist when I grew up. I had acquired a copy of LIFE magazine as a Freshman, featuring famous war photographers such as Robert Capa and Margaret Bourke-White and was convinced that’s what I wanted to do. Not sure what was going through my head at the time. Now, I have no desire to document war, and in fact, it’s the farthest thing from a desirable career choice.

I saved up and purchased my first camera, a manual 52mm Nikon FM10, from an older friend of mine who was already into photography. I used it through high school and into college now and then, but gradually, it lost it’s charm and it has sat in my closet since then.

All this to say, I pulled it out and used it on a camping trip Steve and I went on last weekend. The pictures turned out great! I don’t think I’ll be taking it to war anytime soon, but from now on I’m sure I’ll get some good use out of it.

Life’s full of bumps. I just wrote this huge paragraph venting about how… well, in a nut shell, we should cherish the bumps and not consider them a detour from our ultimate goal of success, but decided to start back at square one to just say – Life is the bumps and I’m intrigued to see where they take me.

This all to say, the financial struggle of our time has turned us in a new direction. Sometimes I think I’m exempt to stuff happening around me, then SMACK! it hits me in the face and I’m force to change my tune. Change is good!

I got some pink peonies at TJ’s a couple days ago. Peonies are my absolute favorite flower! They’re huge and complex and smell delicious. I took some pictures to share. Embrace the day and make it count.

To be frank, blogging sucks! I find myself going in and out of wanting to do it at all. I don’t know what my inspiration should be and among many others, I’ve struggled with knowing what to write about. No one wants to hear about this stuff. A lot of the time, I end up writing about what I think others want to read about. I know, that’s bad you say. You should write about things that make you happy, you say. blah blah blah. Ya, your right. What if I just started taking pictures of my life, my house, my pets, my habits, my stuff and wrote about that? What if this blog had no other purpose in this world than to show everyone reading who I am?

Seems kinda narcissistic. Ok, I’m over it.

It’s cherry season! If you have a minute, go get some. A cute neighbor girl came to our door last night and sold us a bag for $3. I put them in my vintage strawberry pattern bowl today and have been chomping them off their cute little stems! There’s a bit of my life today whether you wanted to read about it or not.

I’ve figured something out, but I don’t know what really. I did a bit of research and compiled a group of pictures. Ok, I’m not sure why I did this in the first place. It’s all entirely random and there’s not much point to it besides trying to compare my style attempts to those of celebrities that I am aware of. Whatever the point may be, here goes. I’ve always liked Audrey Hepburn. I love her movies and her fashion sense. I enjoy how she seems like everyone’s friend and appears happy in pictures. I want to be carefree and fun and experience life. On the other hand, I also love Winona Ryder. Besides all the crap she’s been involved with, I love her back in her 90’s, rebellious, short haired “Reality Bites” era. You know what I mean? She makes me want to paint and write in journals and sit in coffee shops all day. I identify with that. Although I doubt that anyone who knows me would ever label me as a “rebellious,” but still. An finally, I’ve discovered that I love Michelle Williams of late. She’s collects books, dresses super cute and she’s a mom too! I look forward to becoming a stylish mom that reads a lot some day. I guess I would have to become a mom at all first…

It was fun putting this together. Just a bit about myself, kinda. Make your own sense of it.

I just wanted to briefly brag about my husband and his awesome computer nerd skills! My computer broke a few weeks back and yesterday, in order to fix it, Stephen transplanted my Mac Power Book G4 into a new housing. This may not sound that intense, but I was like performing surgery at a microscopic level (well, that’s kind of an exaggeration). Anyway, it was crazy, and my sweetie pulled it off. Here’s a picture showing what he had to take apart and put back together. After he got it all together again, to our surprise and delight, it turned on and the problem was fixed

He’s got the skills to pay the bills and he’s kinda cute too.

It’s a new year and a new me. Change is everywhere and I welcome it in with open arms and a fresh perspective. I’ll started a new job this week, but not fully moving on from the old. I love the coffee shop and my relationships there. My heart is there. I cut back to one day a week. I don’t want to say good bye until I have no other choice. My pocket book is another matter entirely. Isn’t it everyone’s dream to do something you love and get paid well for it? Ya ya, well it’s mine too.

I cut my hair off too. I love it. I have to say my aspirations to grow it out didn’t last long. Knowing me, it was delaying the inevitable. I would like to say thank you to Shalina for keeping me accountable… even though I didn’t listen to you.

Yes folks, I’m feeling good and feeling thankful. I’ll write back soon.

Alright, I admit it. I’m traveling my way up the ranking to about a seven or eight now. Maybe I’ll even be a ten on my way to the theatre. I can’t wait!

On a scale of one to ten, ten being the most crazed fan out there (you know, the type who would cover their walls with posters and join the Twilight Fan Club online, or even produce a faux montage of random images and call it “Official Movie Trailer” on YouTube)… I would probably would fall around a four or even a five. Not the crazy nut follower, but definitely excited for the movie to come out.

I just finished the fourth book. I’m very sad that it’s over. I won’t give anything away in this post, mainly because my sister-in-law is currently reading them, and she would kill me! I just want to say that they were really fun to read. A great story with very interesting characters. I’m super looking forward to the movie on November 21st. All I really want to say is Edward Cullen, hubba hubba. A good-looking vampire can fall in love with me any day. I don’t think Stephen would mind

So life is a blank canvas, some say, waiting to be filled with whatever may come. I believe this. but how daunting is that thought. You have a blank canvas sitting in front of you. It’s perfect. Sturdy. Clean. Bright white. … now what?

Sometimes i wish that ideas came naturally to me. But then again, having an idea is only the first step. I have to then carry it out. Point “A” to point “B”, right? I wish it were that simple.

I finally have an opportunity to show my art in December at a local coffee shop. I’m stoked beyond belief, but needless to say, I’m struggling. I have ideas, but what to do about them, I’m not sure.

I’m going to grab a orange popsicle out of the freezer and mull it over for a while.

I’m sitting in Peet’s Coffee (yes, I’m here a lot these days) looking out the big glass windows to the park across the street. There’s this little girl peddling a tricyle as fast as she can go. Her little legs pumping around and around with all the energy her little body can muster. Her helmet, a few sizes too big, bounces from side to side as she goes. Just feeling a bit nostalgic. She looks so happy.