Christmas Puppies!!!

Ok, so I'm posting this a little late, but I really did make it before Christmas...

For those of you who don't know, the one dressed as Santa is my sister's dog, Rocky. And the cute one with the elf hat on is my dog, Jerry.

Matt & Emily Are Engaged!!!

Just a few hours ago, my friend Matt proposed to my friend Emily. I was thrilled to be a part of the special occasion. What was my roll? you ask... Well, Matt wanted the proposal to be a surprise, so he planned to sneak in town and have me get Emily to the place he wanted to propose. So I had the difficult task of getting Emily to Laumeier Sculpture Park at a certain time on a certain date - not an easy thing to do. We had to be flexible because Emily kept changing our plans! But it all worked out. Emily thought she and I were going to go to dinner and then the Billikens game tonight. I picked her up at 4 (which she thought was too early for dinner, but I insisted that by the time we got downtown and seated we'd be hungry). It wasn't until I was making a left into the park that she asked where we were going. I told her that I had to give a cd of images to a client. She thought this was kind of shady, but I told her this is where I had the photo session (which was true, and they did get their cd today, just not at the park). Emily thought about staying in the car, but I told her to come with me. 


As we were walking to the spot Matt and I had decided upon, she told me that she and Matt used to come to this park a lot. We were talking as we approached Matt, and when she realized it was him, she looked at me with a look of astonishment. She had no clue!! She was frozen to the spot and Matt had to come over and bring her to the location he wanted to propose. I was shaking a little; I was so excited for them. I stayed in the background and took some pictures, trying not to intrude on their private moment. After the proposal, we walked around and took pictures, utilizing the last remaining daylight.


I am so excited for them! Not only are they two of my best friends, but they're also an amazing couple. I know they will be happy together. Oh yes, and Emily also found out today that she got the job at the Vanderbilt hospital. Now she will be moving to Nashville and she and Matt will live in the same town for the first time in 5 years.


Ok, since this is a Photo Blog, here are the pictures:


This is Matt's actual proposal:

This is the reenactment for photo purposes..         

This is Matt celebrating his ability to surprise her.

                      I just love these pictures.

Especially this one!!!

 Here is the cat sculpture they used to visit. Matt considered proposing here...

I had to keep reminding Emily to show off her ring!

This picture was Emily's idea. I like how it turned out.  

Does it sparkle enough for you?

Matt bought chocolate covered strawberries for Emily.  Here they are feeding each other.  I just wish the picture of Emily accidentally biting Matt's finger had been in focus!

 Congratulations Matt & Emily.  I love you guys!

 

Albuquerque!!

I went to Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit my brother the first weekend of October. Main reasons for going: 

           1)visit Joe 

           2)I had a birthday holiday from work (day off with pay, I'll take it!) 

           3)the Balloon Fiesta!

I met 3 interesting people on my way to Albuquerque, but didn't exchange names with any of them. I met the first man on my flight to Dallas. He had an Australian accent (I think) and I couldn't always understand him because he talked softly and well, I'm going deaf. But we had a good time making fun of items in the Sky Magazine. Seriously, who wants grass for a dog to pee inside the house? or a creepy baby doll? 

While waiting for my connecting flight, I met an 82 year old man with Alzheimer's. He was friendly and fun to talk to, even if he kept forgetting where we were and where we were going. He was going to visit his 64 year old daughter in Albuquerque. He's really going to miss his dog and his wife.  He says the great thing about being old is he got to marry a woman 20 years younger than him. I just smiled and nodded and realized his daughter is probably older than his wife. He told me about his WWII war training experiences (he didn't have to go to active war but his training experiences were bad enough).

On the connecting flight, I sat next to a teacher who teaches 4 through 6 grades in one classroom in a small town outside of Dallas. She says she likes this because she really gets to know her students. She was visiting a friend whose husband died over labor day weekend. I told her about my grandpa, and she told me that her father-in-law died of a prolonged illness a couple years ago, and as time passes, it becomes easier to remember them the way they were before the illness. I found this reassuring.

I got there on Thursday night, had a couple bites of sushi, tried out Joe's ab rocket, and then drove around trying to find a place to buy a wrist brace (my wrist was hurting due to strain due to sitting at a computer all day with my hand practically glued to the mouse). So after 20+ hours of being awake, I finally went to bed, on an air mattress.

On Friday, I woke up and went out on the balcony to see the view and enjoy my bowl of Special K cereal and Starbucks double shot that my thoughtful brother bought for me. Then, Joe and I went to the zoo, aquarium, and botanical garden.  The aquarium was lame (and when I say lame, I mean it was so small it took less than 20 minutes to see everything) but the zoo and botanical garden were cool. We were pretty tired at the end and had a nice chicken and rice dinner at his place.

Saturday we woke up extremely early, well normal time for me, actually an hour later due to the time difference. We had to catch the shuttle bus for the Balloon Fiesta at 4:30 a.m. Our bus driver was crazy and didn't know how to get there. We were wondering what she was on... The dawn patrol was canceled, which kind of sucked because we were standing around in the dark waiting for balloons to ascend for a while. But once the action started, it was amazing! The mass ascension is really a site worth seeing. I took hundreds of photos. You can see some of them in the collage below.

Side note: the weather in Albuquerque is superb. It was hot, but there really is a difference between a dry heat and the stupid Missouri humidity. The skies were blue and the two storms there were were up in the mountains and didn't come to us...  Also, the view from my brother's balcony is fantastic.. in the collage to follow, look at the picture on the left with the blue sky on one side and white clouds on the other; it was storming in the mountains while the sun was setting in the west.  Oh another thing, I can tell direction in Albuquerque!!! The mountains are always to the East! How easy is that? Hmm the mountains are behind me, I must be facing West.  Why doesn't St. Louis have a natural landmark like that?

Joe and I also went up to the mountains on Saturday. It was pretty cool, but I decided I really don't like tourists. We hiked around the mountain looking for rocks to bring back to my friend from work. Don't ask me why she wanted a rock, but she did. We left the mountain just in time. When we got back to Joe's apartment, a storm started in the mountains. I got some amazing pictures, but I'm glad I wasn't stuck in the storm!

On Sunday, we went to Old Town for a little shopping. I got a small decorative pot to remind me of the trip, a shot glass, balloon t-shirt, and of course, balloon salt and pepper shakers for my mom. Joe also got a decorative pot and a glass lizard thing. Then he took me to the airport. I sat next to a cute guy on the plane, but he slept the whole time, it was annoying. I like to talk to the people next to me. Oh well, I enjoyed the view to Phoenix. My connecting flight was delayed. On the 2nd flight, I sat next to an older couple who weren't really into talking either.  Odd coincidence, my neighbor was on that flight! I hitched a ride home with him so my parents didn't have to come fetch me from the airport at midnight.

Well, that was my weekend in Albuquerque.  Now here's what you've all been waiting for: My Albuquerque Collage!

St. Louis Balloon Glow

On Friday, September 17, I went to the St. Louis Balloon Glow with some friends.  It was pretty awesome.  Here are a few of the pictures I took.

Old Collages

I haven't taken a picture in so long, my poor camera is probably covered in dust! Ok, I may have exaggerated a little bit, but it feels like I haven't taken a picture for myself in ages.  I've been so busy lately, I've forgotten to make time for my photography.  The problem with taking pictures is then I have to tone them...I have pictures on my computer that I took in June and haven't even looked at!

Here is a collage I made of St. Louis. I didn't post it when I made it because it was a gift for my brother. I didn't want to take the chance of him seeing it before I gave it to him (I shouldn't have worried, he never looks at my blog). I tried to get pictures of the high lights of St. Louis, and yes, that is a metal tree in Forest Park. Can you tell I love the arch? I think the center image really makes this collage. It is actually graffiti downtown by the Fox. I wish I could claim it as my own, but alas, I am not that creative. I did, however, realize it's awesomeness and took a picture of it....in the collage I gave to my brother, I made the heart red because he is a "manly man" and doesn't like pink. I shall visit him in October so expect to see a New Mexico collage sometime this year!

I was going through pictures on my computer today and I came across this collage.  My aunt gave me this really cool camera key chain. I took the pictures with the photobooth on my laptop.  I meant to post this a while ago, but I guess I forgot.

My Trip To Dallas

So y'all know that I went to Dallas July 9-11. I've finally finished toning the pictures for your enjoyment (sorry I didn't post this last week like I promised, but working 10 hour days got the best of me). 

If you know me, you know that I love making collages, so of course I made a collage of the major highlights of my trip. The top one is obviously the collage in normal color and the 2nd one is over-saturated because I think it looks cooler like that.

I went to my first ever horse race that Saturday. I was hoping I'd have beginners luck, but alas, that was not the case. This is me with my first ever bet ticket thing...

                             

In horse race talk, that's $5 on horse 2 to show. (He didn't show)

They started on the other side, so no pictures of that. But here they come! My horse is that one in the middle...

Yup, there he is in the straggling behind the first group of horses. If I remember correctly, he came in 5th.

I think this is the horse that won the 2nd race.

And here is the horse that I bet on. He was the favorite to win, but the jockey fell off at the gates!

After that, I decided to just soak in the atmosphere.I pet this horse...

Ready for another race? I didn't have anything riding on this race, but it was still fun to watch, more so because I didn't have to worry about where my horse was in the line up.  I think my friend lost money on this race...

And they're off!

#4 won that race, he was in the lead the whole race

We left after this race and drove around Dallas. (you can see those pictures in the collage)Then we went to Medieval Times for dinner. I hadn't been to a Medieval Times since Junior High, so it was fun to experience it at a different age. The wench (our waitress) kept telling us the food being served was dragon parts..sure lady..whatever. I was dumbfounded when I learned our only choice of beverage (should we choose not to buy a cocktail) was pepsi or iced tea. I didn't particularly like either choice because I don't drink soda and don't like tea. Water would have been delightful. Ah well.  The show was entertaining and we had fun, that's all that matters. 

There was this one horse and rider that danced along to some arabian music. It was amazing to watch. As I sat there taking in the dance, a strange thought occurred to me. You know those animal movies like Madagascar and Over the Hedge? Well, I was thinking that if this horse was in that kind of movie, it'd be such a diva. It was a gorgeous white horse with bows in it's tail, and it danced so well and in a way that made me think it must have an attitude. I think the yellow and red knight won that night. My friends and I were wondering if they change it up every night and let other knights win, or if it's always the same outcome. I think they much switch it up, otherwise, why would people go again?  But I think the green knight is always the evil knight, and thus must always lose. I really think the actor liked playing the 'bad' guy. He smiled whenever the crowd booed him and would blow kisses at people. I found it quite funny.

So on Sunday, Sharisse and I went to the Dallas zoo. It was soooo hot! It was a nice zoo, but I still maintain that the St. Louis Zoo is better. Here I am at the entrance of the zoo (while I was still fresh and looking decent).

Here I am all sweaty and gross, and shaking the hand of the chimpanzee statue.

This sign was too funny.

I'd say the best part of the zoo was the big cat area. The leopards and lions were laying right next to the glass, so we got a good look at them.

There's a bug on your nose...

Right after the zoo, Sharisse took me to the airport (it was pretty close to the zoo). I was sweaty and gross, but changed my shirt at the airport and the people on the plane didn't seem to mind. Maybe they were just being polite... anyway, we carried on a conversation the whole flight, which made it go by pretty quickly. I also took the pictures in the previous post (scroll down a bit) from the window of the plane.

All in all, I had a pretty fantastic weekend. It was way too short, but I managed to fit a lot in (shopping, more shopping, horse races, medieval times, zoo, and sight seeing). And best of all, I got to see my friend Sharisse.