Photographer Extraordinaire

Stop Motion

2010-06-21T19:06:00.002-06:00

For one of my final projects I was assigned a random song to which I was to make a stop motion video. I asked Rosie if she would be my model. After 2.5 hours of photographing and several hours editing and figuring out software... I ended up with 1103 images in 3 min and 40 sec of stop motion video. Here it is!

A long needed post

2010-05-17T21:31:00.003-06:00

These three were for a stock image assignment:

Playing with out of focus images:

"Soothing" (even though I hate oatmeal... this is typically a soothing food)

Just because they are pretty! (I love the whiteish one)

Strawberry Short Cake

2010-04-14T11:38:00.002-06:00

My little brother loves strawberry short cake and since his birthday was on Saturday I decided to try a new recipe. I also needed a beautiful photograph to send to someone random for one of my classes. The cake turned out great considering it was my first layered cake. Connor loved it too, so I'm pretty pleased with myself!

The Latest Projects

2010-03-31T12:02:00.004-06:00

Here are a couple projects I've been working on lately. The first is a magazine spread that I mimicked from Real Simple. I did the photos and styling but did not invent the recipes :). The second image is a composite I'm working on for my digital imaging class. Concept.... weight loss... eating healthy (something I'm not good at).

I haven't spent enough time on the shadows so those will be changing quite a bit. I feel like the top half looks pretty convincing though!

Chocolate before 10:00 AM

2010-03-10T15:38:00.004-07:00

This morning my first class was canceled which meant I would be getting up with Kevin at 7:00 but I wouldn't be leaving until 9:30. So I decided to put my time to good use. I made the first half of a chocolate dish that will soon be pictured here. I'm making a series of chocolate desserts for one of my projects and turning them into a Real Simple article. This is some homemade hot chocolate I made as one of the desserts.

Omelet and Cookies

2010-02-24T12:54:00.004-07:00

This is the edited version of the previous omelet image. I was trying to match the image on the recipe (you can click the link on the previous post to see the image). My lighting is very different but I feel like I got the coloring about right which was my goal.

These are for a "text" assignment we did in my Advanced Photography Class. I'm not in love with the actual text but I think the idea works pretty well.

Cupcakes, Omelets, and Soup

2010-02-03T21:26:00.003-07:00

I've been making new things for dinner lately (I'm actually making dinner, which seemed to never happen last semester). So here are some of the things I've tried. I've managed to set the smoke detector off twice in the past week. Ironically we just had to replace a battery in one upstairs. Now we know for sure that the rest are working properly! Below each picture is the link to the recipe:

Mexican Potato Omelet (Side Note: for my digital imaging class my first assignment is to recreate a photograph as much as possible... this is the image I am going to use. I didn't have blue fabric so I'm going to see if I can change that in photoshop. I'll let you know how it goes)

Corn Chowder

Chocolate Cupcakes (from the box with store-bought frosting :)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-01-30T23:02:00.003-07:00

Last night at 11:00 I was craving cookies. We have so much ice cream I felt guilty... but I found a new recipe so I made these wonderful chocolate chip cookies (minus the pecans)! So today I decided I would continue figuring out my new lighting kit and do a shoot. Here are the results:

Gluttony

2010-01-27T13:55:00.002-07:00

In an attempt to illustrate gluttony we spent the night freezing and eating loads of ice cream.

Balloons

2010-01-13T14:20:00.002-07:00

Our annual New Year's Eve balloon fight.

Food Food Food

2009-11-25T20:09:00.004-07:00

Here are some shots from the few Culinary Arts events I've gone to. I got to try some of them... lets just say this is going to be a great way to spend several hours a week...

Crafty Crafty

2009-11-05T23:20:00.002-07:00

These are some photos of my mom's craft room.

Last Night's Dinner

2009-10-27T10:35:00.001-06:00

Not only did we have a delicious dinner last night, but I decided to bring home a light kit and try photographing food! I'd have to say I feel it was pretty successful.

The Nielsons

2009-10-25T21:56:00.002-06:00

Here is a sampling of some of the photos I took on Saturday. Everyone was a good sport even though it started raining and blowing during the end.

Sadness

2009-10-07T14:48:00.001-06:00

In the middle of this shoot the shutter on my camera broke. It can be fixed but it will take about a week and some cash. So, if you don't see anything for about a week that's why!

Studio Shoot

2009-09-30T21:58:00.005-06:00

I reserved the studio at UVU for a couple hours today and here's what I ended up with:

I love when magazines "write" on photos and use them so this was my stab at that.

I made this bird in my 3D design class this semester out of wire. It was very difficult, but overall I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Below are the lanterns I made earlier this year. I shot both the bird and the lanterns to include in my BFA application for UVU. We are supposed to include artwork outside our field of emphasis.

Glass

2009-09-28T22:38:00.002-06:00

In my photo lighting class we just learned how to photograph glass. Everyone brought a glass object to class to photograph. Naturally glass is quite breakable as we found out. One of the guys in our class was trying to move a table (which we didn't realize had collapsible legs) and the table legs folded underneath causing everything on the table to slide of and shatter. Fortunately no ones camera was on the table, however two glass objects were. Turns out the broken glass was the most exciting to photograph!

Color/Lighting

2009-09-20T00:36:00.004-06:00

I was able to check out some lights from school this weekend. I did a few shots inside and was hoping to use them outside as well but didn't have a long enough extension cord, so I shot without. I don't know that I love any of the images, but it was a lot of fun to use the lights on my own and start figuring things out. I still need to watch my family of angles so I can avoid glare on glass...

This is what the picture of the wall looked like a few months ago without the lovely studio lighting:

One of my many bags...

This series of images shows the original and two versions that have been cross processed (meaning the film was developed in the wrong chemicals). The first was done in photoshop by playing with curves, the other with a spiffy program. We are doing a cross processing assignment in my color class and learned how to do it both with film and digital. My film should be done on Tuesday so I'll probably upload those.

Temple Square

2009-09-09T21:08:00.000-06:00

Mr. Blue -- Seeing in Color

2009-09-09T19:27:00.001-06:00

For my Color Photography class our assignment was to shoot something in a warm or cool color scheme. There is a cute blue bug between our apartment and BYU campus. So, that's what I decided to photograph. I love how vivid the blue turned out without any help from Photoshop!

By the way... I'm loving being able to post these images larger than before... I think the color turns out better too (more like what I see when I edit them).

All Around Campus

2009-05-14T15:57:00.004-06:00

Let me know if you can tell what some of the more abstract images are.

Megorokiteni - To Make It Last Forever

2009-04-03T23:07:00.004-06:00

This is a sneak preview of a project I am working on for my alternative photography class. The assignment is "Megorokiteni" which is the Russian word for photograph. The literal translation is "to make last forever." So, for my project I am learning more about my Grandpa Northrup and photographing things that represent them. The end result will be a book containing photographs and words people have written about my grandpa. So, this is just a few of the images I have taken so far.

The process I am using to print these is called Van Dyke Brown. I'll create digital negatives of each image and then do a contact print onto Bristol paper coated with a sensitizer. The images are then exposed to UV light, rinsed with water and fixed. The result is an antique brown colored image. I think it will help enhance the idea of these images being memories.

New Photos

2009-03-23T11:01:00.004-06:00

These are some photos I have done recently. The dresses and birdhouses were made by my friend Rachel. She will be selling them on Etsy soon, so if you are interested, let me know. The others are some I took at Sundance and the surrounding area while working on my "Sit" assignment.

BYU Application Portfolio

2009-03-12T17:38:00.000-06:00

School Projects

2009-02-02T08:13:00.007-07:00

Here are a couple projects I've done thus far this semester. The first is a poster promoting one of the 31 human rights declared by Amnesty International. The second is a photo montage for my Photoshop class.

a couple more

2008-12-19T09:54:00.000-07:00

Projects

2008-12-17T20:26:00.001-07:00

Thus far I've done a couple digital scrapbook pages, the info on them is not much different than blog posts, but here they are nonetheless.

2008-12-14T20:46:00.003-07:00

I was going through pictures today and found these that I don't think I ever posted.

Sister Hall

2008-12-03T11:58:00.004-07:00

Before my friend Sharolee left on her mission she asked me to take pictures of her. She left on November 19 and will be serving in the Baltic Mission, Lithuanian speaking. You can see her blog here.

Christmas Cards

2008-11-12T21:59:00.001-07:00

I know it's not even Thanksgiving, but I got the urge to design some simple Christmas cards today. Let me know what you think!

Timpanogos

2008-11-04T17:33:00.002-07:00

For my Photography class we were supposed to shoot a landscape. So, one evening Kevin and I went up to a view point off Squaw Peak road and shot a few pictures. We lost light pretty quick because we were a little too late, but I got a couple good shots, most of them just look similar. But here are the two I think were best!

Typeface Poster

2008-11-04T08:44:00.004-07:00

So... I am currently working on this project for my typography class. The assignment is to make a poster highlighting a typeface of our choice. We are supposed to emphasize the important parts of the typeface and also have some sort of concept behind the design. Franklin Gothic was designed for newspapers because it is very easy to read in condensed forms. So, I decided to fashion my poster after a newspaper. It is supposed to have color and something that stands out from 50ft, 5ft and 5in. It's been interesting trying to add color to it because newspapers are mostly black and white and the color is mostly in images, however, early newspapers used quite a bit of red so I'm trying to incorporate that. You can click on the image to view it larger if you would like.

Movie Poster

2008-10-29T12:45:00.003-06:00

This is my photoshop project for my computer class. We were supposed to make a movie poster using at least 3 different images. It is supposed to be 8.5x11 which seems funny to me. I actually started doing it 11x17 and then realized it was the wrong size. It looks better longer though... I would love suggestions and ideas!

Enhanced Quote

2008-10-08T16:35:00.003-06:00

Another project for my type and layout class. We were supposed to use an image to enhance a quote and put a twist on it. I have this quote on my other blog so I thought I would use it. I came up with some interesting twists, PB&J in one jar, cereal and milk, but my teacher wanted something that people wouldn't necessarily think of together. So, thanks to Kevin's help we have cottage cheese and potato chips, which I absolutely love. Most people think it's pretty weird until they try it...

Truck and Sunflower

2008-10-05T15:25:00.007-06:00

A truck has been sitting on the corner of University Avenue and Orem Center Street for quite a while. I needed to do some more photos for my photography class, so I thought since I saw this everyday and it always caught my eye, I would use it as a subject.

The truck had wood on the sides and back. The back was really beat up, but it made for an interesting texture. For my class I am shooting Black and White film so the one I turned in looks very similar to this texture photo.

The one above on the right was supposed to look like an old photo.

Bridal Veil

2008-10-01T20:14:00.004-06:00

For my photography class we were supposed to demonstrate the use of shutter speed through either blurred or frozen motion. I decided to take pictures of Bridal Veil Falls. The picture I turned in for class was with my film camera and in black and white. However, here are some I took with my digital camera.

Art Deco Poster

2008-10-01T12:31:00.004-06:00

For my Graphic Computer Applications class we are working with Adobe Illustrator. Our assignment was to make an art deco poster for an event. It needed to include the event, place, and date. We couldn't use any gradients or photos and it had to be our own work. So, this is what I have so far... suggestions would be great!

Just a side note...

2008-09-29T10:00:00.001-06:00

The typogram I turned in last week (I turned in the Tie) was hanging in the hall at school when I got here this morning! I was pretty excited because that means I must have done a pretty good job!

Typeogram

2008-09-24T11:55:00.003-06:00

This is another assignment for my typography class. We were supposed to give enhanced meaning to a word using only type. Overall my class liked the tie the best so that is the one I will be graded on, but the tongue was almost as well liked.

Typography Self Portait

2008-09-09T20:50:00.004-06:00

One of my first projects for my Typography and Layout class was this self portrait using only letters and punctuation. I had a hard time with it at first, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It was much more fun than the first assignment which was tracing two full alphabets (pretty much a waste of four hours). Keep checking back because I'll be posting more of my many projects.

Nikki and Carter Wilkes

2008-08-20T10:47:00.007-06:00

Tricia Wilkes asked if I would take pictures of her grandkids before they get too big. So last Friday I took pictures of Nikki and Carter. Here are a few:

A Change

2008-08-19T00:36:00.001-06:00

I often get distracted when I get on my computer. I got on to quickly check and see if anyone had updated their blogs and to check my email. A few hours later and now my blog has been redone. I decided I really liked the look of a white background and the clean look. I have seen it on several blogs and thought it matches my style.

Just so you all know, this blog from now on will be mostly photos and projects. I will be taking several art classes this semester and will hopefully post the projects I do. I'll also post any new "artistic" photos I have taken (as opposed to photos of me and Kevin or something like that).

So, to read about my life you can visit my other blog, and to view my work you can keep visiting this one! Let me know what you think about the new look and any suggestions you may have. Thanks!

A new blog

2008-07-30T15:00:00.003-06:00

I started a new blog for Kevin and me. It is at the following address:

kevinandcassidy.blogspot.com

From now on I will mostly be using this blog for photography stuff (as the title indicates) and more about my life and Kevin's will be on the other one. I should be updating both of them, but if there aren't a lot of posts in the next little while it is due to lack of time. However I will do as much as possible!

So I added Kevin's family to my blog list. I love that it pretty much doubled the list.

I really don't like coming up with titles...

2008-07-24T10:09:00.002-06:00

Well, for the past three weeks or so I have been sick off and on. It started with an inner and outer ear infection and then I recovered. Then a few days after it got better it came back. This week I woke up achy and tired on Monday and I'm still recovering. At the moment I feel fine, but I think my body feels otherwise. What seems to be the problem? Mostly I'm just tired, but in the words of Brian Regan, "Everything on my inside wants to be on my outside. But I'm no doctor." So, while I am sitting in bed recovering with not much to do I figured I would work on my blog. Thus the entry yesterday and the entry today... and who knows? maybe I'll post again tomorrow.

At the beginning of the summer I began searching for a new job. I filled out at least 15 applications to who knows where and had a few interviews but to no avail. So when I got back from Europe I pretty much gave up. No sooner had I done so than my aunt called to say that Calli knew of a branch at America First Credit Union (where she works) in Orem that was hiring. I had already applied, but received no phone call. So, I made a couple calls, she made a couple calls, and viola! I had an interview. That interview went really well so then I had another interview with the branch manager which went really well and, viola! I have a new job.

So my last day at Convergys was July 7 (the same day I had pretty much recovered from the first ear ache). I then did a lot that week to finalize wedding plans. The next week I started training to be a teller at America First. After a week of training I was ready and yesterday was my first day as a teller. It was really fun and not quite as stressful as I thought, although it is crazy to realize how much control you have over people's money. But, that's why they hire honest people.

I've learned quite a bit about money in the last few days of training. It has been a lot of fun learning more about the credit union and how it runs and such. I am really excited to be working here! Thanks to Calli for helping me get the job!

At last!

2008-07-23T20:15:00.027-06:00

I know you have all been waiting so anxiously to see something new, so at last I am getting my blog up to date. I don't really have much to say, for the most part I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Water skiing at Lake Mead with Kevin's brother Michael

My Grandma Northrup married Bill Muraffio on June 28, 2008

Engagement Photos (taken by Nic Perner July 8, 2008)

Hiking to Battlecreek Falls - 7/18/08

Connor was a little nervous to go under the falls

But he said if Kevin went in...

he'd go in...

About the blog...

2008-07-15T22:15:00.002-06:00

So there has been about a two week delay in posting to my blog... for that I apologize. I'm sure it's been devastating :). I promise by the end of the week I will have some pictures and hopefully a little explanation to go along with them. I should have photos from visiting Kevin's family, our engagement photos and my Grandma Northrup's wedding. But it won't be for at least a day or so. But it is coming!

I'm engaged!

2008-06-30T13:47:00.004-06:00

This has been a pretty eventful week and eventually all the details will be posted. However, the most important things first, I am engaged! Yep! It's official!

Last night, Sunday, my fabulous friend Kevin (and now fiance) came over to my house after we got back from Overton. He talked to my dad outside for a little bit and then they came in and all of my family talked about us getting married. My family left to go to my grandparents house but Kevin and I stayed.

Kevin suggested we walk outside for a little bit because it was nice out. We walked around the backyard and stopped by the waterfall. I gave him a hug and kiss and we talked for a little bit. Then, the next thing I knew he was down on one knee asking me to marry him. Of course I said yes and he put a beautiful ring on my finger. We are going to get married in August! I can hardly wait! I'm pretty sure I am the luckiest girl in the world!

(Thank you Sharolee for taking the pictures for us!)

En Plein Air

2008-06-21T17:53:00.013-06:00

Thanksgiving Point was hosting the “Plein Air Festival” yesterday and today. Mom said that she wanted to go for her birthday. Local artists come to Thanksgiving Point and paint all day “en plein air” which is a French term for painting outside and painting what you see. It was really neat to see the different artist’s interpretation of the views they were surrounded by. We saw a wide variety of styles and paintings. It was a really fun event!

When we came home from the festival I decided to take up painting. Brianna and I found our painting supplies and made a night of it. Brianna watercolored a picture she found. I used acrylics to do the following picture. Granted, I’m no Breezy Diether, but it’s a start. I definitely need to keep practicing.

Another Friend Married!

2008-06-19T17:53:00.002-06:00

My dear friend since childhood, Michelle Smith was married on June 18, 2008 to Jeff Corrigan. Sharolee and I went to her reception that night. Of course she looked beautiful. I am really excited for her. Sharolee and I took a picture with her, and naturally this is the only picture on my memory card that was corrupted, so we just have pictures of Michelle and Jeff. Sharolee and I noticed that the oldest of our group of friends from High School are still single, and the youngest are married. Interesting... Congrats and best wishes to Michelle and Jeff!

A family campout

2008-06-19T15:10:00.013-06:00

While Devin is home for the next two weeks, Connor requested that we have a family campout, just our family. Once we found a day that worked for everyone, we headed up the canyon. It took a full suburban full of stuff for an over night stay, but it was worth it. We drove up to Timpooneke and ate a delicious dinner and snacks. Later on Grandma, Grandpa, Carl, Kathy, Brady, Shaylee and Brooke joined us for roasting marshmallows and smores. Everyone else left later in the night. We talked for a little while around the campfire and then went to bed. It was pretty cold when we woke up, but it warmed up fast and the mountains looked beautiful! We ate a delicious breakfast which included a variety of pastries. Afterward we headed home. It was a great little trip. Great idea Connor!

{There was still snow up there!}

{Connor's "tough guy" picture}

Hands

2008-06-16T15:38:00.004-06:00

Little kids hands are so cute! Court and Jack were playing in the dirt and looking for bugs so I took some pictures. I don't know why but I love pictures of hands, especially little boy hands with dirt.

The Family Picture

2008-06-16T13:49:00.009-06:00

Every time Devin comes home we do a family picture. Usually everyone isn't too happy about it, but we do it anyway. So, naturally, on Sunday we took some family pictures. It took quite a few tries, but we finally got one everyone liked! Here are a couple, but the last one is the one we liked. We also took an extended family picture that night, but Ann and Mike's family wasn't there so it isn't quite complete.

Friday the 13th

2008-06-14T17:32:00.004-06:00

Our journey home began at 6:45 Friday morning. We grabbed a quick breakfast and then drove to the Munich airport. We checked in and went through security (my dad was the problem this time, they had to search his bag) and then took a two hour flight to Paris.

In Paris we had to take a bus from the plane to the gate where we were supposed to land. Once there we had to take another bus from that terminal to the one where our flight was leaving. Both bus rides were at least 10 minutes, maybe more, and we got a tour of almost the whole Paris airpot. We also had to go through security again and this time my mom was the problem. Not only did they search her bag, but they confinscated her airplane-safe scissors (while my cheap ones made it though fine, and hers have made it for the past 3 years or so). That was just the beginning of our trouble.

Once we arrived at our gate, we were informed that the plane was going to be an hour late. The nice thing is they provided us with drinks while we waited. So, originally the plane was to leave at 12 something, but they said the departure time would be 13:15. Well, after waiting for quite a while, they said that the boarding time (originally scheduled for 12:30) was going to be delayed until 12:45, but that the flight would still leave on time. Around 1:30 we were waiting in line to board the plane, but just standing, not moving or anything of the sort. We finally made it on the plane around 2:00 and it took forever to board.

The flight, although 7 hours long, wasn't too bad. I found a number of things to do and even slept a little bit. We arrived in New York at 3ish. We had actually made up some of the lost time which was kind of nice, but our layover in NY was supposed to be 4 hours, so the delay in the other plane trip made that a little shorter.

Fortunately our plane from NY to SLC arrived and departed on time. The flight left around 6:00 and we arrived in SLC around 11:10. I was looking forward to sleeping on this flight since it was a little bit shorter and because I would have normally been sleeping at this time if we were still in Europe. Unfortunatly there was a screaming baby on the plane which made it very difficult to sleep. I was also in between Brianna and my mom. Brianna let me use her as a pillow for a while, but it still didn't help very much.

Once we arrive in Salt Lake we got our bags, which came out relatively quickly and then took the bus to our car and drove home. It was so nice to sleep in my own bed again, but my schedule was so off I didn't get a lot of sleep.

It is good to be home, but the trip was so much fun! I'd go back in a heartbeat. Thanks to my parents for taking Brianna and I with them. We certainly couldn't have done it without them!

For your information....
We flew: 12,946 miles
We drove: 2,040 miles
We walked: 110 miless

Castles Galore

2008-06-12T13:40:00.014-06:00

This morning after breakfast we set out for Schloss Neuschwanstein, which was the inspiration for Cinderella’s castle in Disneyworld. Driving up to the city surrounding the castle we had a great view looking up at the castle itself. It was very overcast and rainy today so the castle looked a little bit eerie up there.

Across from Neuschwanstein is Hohenschwangau which was the boyhood home of the king that built Neuschwanstein. We didn’t go inside this one, but saw several views of it as we walked around the city and Neuschwanstein.

We took up bus up to Neuschwanstein, rather than take the steep 30 minute hike. From where the bus dropped us off we walked out to Marienbrüke, or Mary’s Bridge, which has an excellent view of the castle. The bridge is over a canyon with a waterfall and is the reason King Ludwig built the castle. He loved the view of the mountains and the bridge was there before the castle. He positioned the castle so that there would be a great view of the waterfall from the windows.

(The last two are views from inside the castle, we could take pictures out the window)

After touring the castle we walked back down to the town. We did some souvenir shopping and also got lunch, bratwurst on a roll, which was delicious. After we walked around for a while we drove out to another castle. Along the way we stopped at a huge waterfall, Lechfall. As we drove up to Linderhof, we saw three other castles. Two were on the top of the mountains and are mostly ruins now, but it was still very impressive to see them.

We didn’t actually tour the Linderhof castle, but we walked all around the gardens. The gardens were very formal with a lot of statuary and gazebos. There was also a covered walk way going up the hill to a view of the castle. Everything was very ornate and a lot of it was painted gold. In front of the castle (which is relatively small compared to the others we’ve seen) was a gold fountain. Every half hour it would go off and the spray from it was huge!

Following our walk around Linderhof we drove out to a city called Oberammergau. This little town was different from others we’ve seen in that many of the walls of the buildings had murals on them. Several of the buildings had fairytales on them. The fairytales we saw included Hänsel and Gretyl, Rotkäppchen (Little Red Riding Hood), Aschenputtel (Cinderella), and Puss in Boots.

It was raining pretty hard while we were in Oberammergau so we decided to stop for dinner at one of the hotel cafes. We had some warm soup and got to watch Germany play Croatia in soccer. It was pretty exciting to watch, although it looks like Croatia was quite a bit better than Germany.

When we finished eating we drove back to our hotel (and stopped for chocolate along the way). It poured rain nearly the entire drive (about an hour). Once there, we packed and got ready for our flight home tomorrow.

This is a picture of our car which took us over about 3,300km (about 2,000 miles) of 4 different countries. It’s amazing to think how far we drove and how much we saw in just 12 days.

Our flight leaves at 9:30 AM from Munich and we arrive in Salt Lake City at 11:30 PM. It’s going to be a long day of travel. What a trip this has been though!

Living the Sound of Music

2008-06-12T13:23:00.020-06:00

June 11

We woke up early this morning and enjoyed a gourmet breakfast at our hotel. It seems each breakfast has progressively been bigger and better. The breakfast at the Marriott was delicious. We had a variety of foods to choose from including French toast, omelets made to order, granola, fruit, etc. Good thing we’ll be able to eat this two more times!

The first city we visited today was Salzburg, Austria. This is the birthplace of Mozart and where Sound of Music was filmed and actually took place. It is a beautiful city. We parked and started walking around by the Mirabella gardens. Not only was it a beautiful garden, but part of Sound of Music was filmed here. This is where the children and Maria sing “Do Re Mi” and hop up and down the steps. It was gorgeous and there were a lot of roses in bloom.

From the rose garden at Mirabella there was a good view of the Hohensalzburg Fortress. It also provided a good view of the lower garden with the Pegasus fountain and other statues.

Another part of this garden was the dwarf garden. There were 12 or so little dwarf statues all in a circle in this garden. Some of them were cute or silly, some of them were a bit odd, but it was very unique. The VonTrapp children actually walk through this garden in the movie as well.

This is a view of Salzburg from the bridge crossing the river.

After walking around the garden we ate some Mozart chocolate and then went to one of the most famous streets in Salzburg, Getreidegasse. This street is full of shops, which turned out to be quite expensive, and also has the birthplace of Mozart. One thing that made the street so interesting was every shop had a metal baroque sign hanging in front of it. Even McDonalds had to have such a sign.

The next stop in Salzburg was St. Peters chapel and cemetery. Due to Euro 2008 (a fussball tournament) a lot of the famous fountains and buildings were surrounded by venue tents and such. However, we were able to see the cemetery at St Peter and go inside the chapel. Both were beautiful.

By this time Salzburg was packed with tourists, probably due to Euro 2008, and we had seen most of the sights we wanted to see so we grabbed a late lunch and took an hour and a half drive out to Hallstatt, a beautiful city between a salt mine and a lake.

It was a little overcast and sprinkling when we arrived, but it was still beautiful. As dad was taking a picture of me in front of the city view the light hit the city beautifully. It was amazing. We looked at the view for a little bit and then walked through the city. Parts of the city are supposed to be dated several centuries before Christ. From the looks of it, the foundations are about all that are still that old.

The city was just as cute and quaint as some of the other cities we’ve seen, but still with a unique charm. The buildings were brightly colored and flowers were growing all over. One of my favorite buildings had a tree that was trained to grow around the windows.

Not long after we made it to the heart of the city it started to pour rain. It rained for about 5-10 minutes so hard that we stayed under a tunnel waiting for it to let up. When it finally slowed down to just over a drizzle we walked out to the other end of the city to see the view of the other side of the city. It was still raining pretty hard but it was cool to see the city surrounded in gray.

We stopped at one of the restaurants and had some hot soup and delicious cakes and pancakes before we drove back to our hotel. It was really interesting to visit these two cities on the same day and see the contrast. While it is fun to see the sights in the bigger cities I really like the small towns, especially along a lake or ocean.

Ahhh… Germany!

2008-06-12T13:11:00.014-06:00

June 10

This morning we woke up to the sound of a lot of bells ringing loudly. As it turns out, the local ranchers were herding their cows up the street. Each cow had a gigantic bell hanging around its neck. Even just a herd of 5 cows made a lot of noise, but the herds of 20 or so were even louder. It was exciting to watch them slowly walk up the street following the lead cow. There were probably about 5 herds that came up the street, maybe more before we woke up, but that’s not something you see every day.

After we ate breakfast, I went up to the internet café to post to my blog. It was beautiful. I sat typing on my computer in the cool, crisp mountain air, watching the fog slowly lift off the valley below. The sun was just coming up over the snowy peaks and shining on the waterfalls making them sparkle. I watched all the backpackers walk by, headed to various destinations.

When I had finished blogging and enjoying the beautiful morning, I walked back to the hotel and we packed up and headed out of town. We stopped at the bäckerei to get some rolls and meat for our lunch later on today.

The drive out to Rothenburg was quite long, well, about 5 hours. Unfortunately there weren’t a lot of scenic views because the autobahn has trees and walls all along it.

We made it to Rothenburg around 2:45 and parked just outside the wall of the city. We made it into the market or central part of the city just in time to see the last glockenspiel of the day. It wasn’t as exciting as we thought, there were just two guys drinking beer on either side of the clock, but still better than closed windows.

The city was quite impressive. The architecture reminded me a little bit of Brugge, with the stair step roofs. The buildings were all bright colors and some of them were a little crooked or misshapen.

The most famous view of the city is of this tower with the clock. It was a really neat little street with some great shops. Brianna and I both bought hats at a little shop near the tower.

Also on these streets, all the signs stick out from the street and are ornate and beautiful. It is interesting to see the different ideas people come up with for their sign. I took pictures of quite a few of them which totaled about 35.

Rothenburg is surrounded by a huge wall. We were able to walk along a lot of it at the lower end of the city. Every once in a while there was a window or slit where we could look out. The view on one side was looking back on the city. It was amazing to see.

After walking along the wall for a while we went back down into the city and did some more shopping. One of the shops we went into was a famous Christmas shop. The decorations and ornaments in there were incredible! There were two floors that just had decorations and ornaments and then another floor that had a museum, which we didn’t go into. The store was very impressive.

We had dinner in Rothenburg at a little shop along the street. I had a typical German meal of Wienerschnitzel with lemon juice and fries. My dad hat bratwurst and sauerkraut, and my mom and Brianna had hamburgers. It was fun because I got to order in German, although the waiter did understand a very little English.

After we ate, we walked back to our car and then took a 2 ½ hour drive to our hotel in München. We’ll be staying in this hotel for our last three nights here and just taking day trips out to the various places we will be visiting. A few minutes after we got up to our room in the hotel they brought up a little treat to welcome us to München. It was delicious!

Lauterbrunnen – “Tal des Wasserfälle”

2008-06-10T00:32:00.024-06:00

Tal des wasserfälle means valley of waterfalls, and that couldn’t be truer. One of the brochures we picked up said there were 72 waterfalls in this valley. Everywhere you turn you can see a waterfall.

This morning we ate breakfast with an excellent view of several waterfalls and steep mountains surrounded by patches of clouds. The blue sky started to creep in so it turned out to be a beautiful day. All of the locals we talked to were very excited about the blue sky, so we were fortunate to have the good weather.

We began our day with a visit to Trümmelbach falls. The thing that makes Trümmelbach unique is that it is hidden away in the mountain. It is slightly visible from the road, but all you can see is the crack it created in the mountain. We took a lift up inside the mountain to view the first 5 falls. It was incredible to see the powerful water as it shot out of the rocks. It was so loud we had to yell to talk to each other. It was also quite cold inside and very wet.

Technically, this was one big waterfall, but there were several lookout areas where we could see different parts of the falls. We walked through tunnels and up and down stairs both inside and outside of the mountain to see the different falls. I couldn’t believe how powerful the water was, and yet it ends up in a very small river (with a fast current).

After we visited Trümmelbach we walked around Lauterbrunnen for a while and did some shopping. We purchased a variety of souvenirs including cow bells. Afterward we drove to the base of a mountain and took a cable car to the top. We visited the city there called Gimmelwald.

Gimmelwald was definitely not a tourist city. It was cute and quaint and almost untouched. There were fields of wildflowers with goats and cows wandering through. They all had bells around their necks so there was a constant ringing.

One of the best parts about the city was the view. There was a beautiful view of the Alps in almost every direction. It was amazing to see the tall peaks with the snow while walking on quaint streets alongside brightly colored flowers. We weren’t there too long before we had to take the cable car back.

For lunch we went to Hotel Oberland and had fondue and raclette, both Swiss dishes. I had the raclette and everyone else had fondue. Both were cheese dishes and both very delicious. After enjoying the main dish we finished with Apfelstrudel. Of all the meals we’ve eaten, this was by far one of the best.

After lunch we drove out to Schloss Oberhofen. While it was not as big as some of the English or French castles it was still a sight to see. The shingles on the roof and the overall castle is very unique, especially because it sits along the lake. The gardens at the castle were also quite beautiful with an excellent view of the lake as well.

From Oberhofen we took a drive along the lake and out into the valley until we came to two large waterfalls we saw on the way in. We stopped and took a few pictures although the rain was coming down pretty hard by this time. At least the day started out sunny and beautiful, although the sound and smell of the rain was quite refreshing.

For whatever reason, I had hiccups almost all day today. They started just after we finished visiting Gimmelwald. Fortunately as soon as we ate fondue they were gone, but they came back while we were in Oberhofen. As soon as we had chocolate though they disappeared as well… Interesting how that works.

After seeing the waterfalls we drove back and had some dinner and then relaxed and watched a little more of Cranford which was “quite agreeable.”

A whole new world!

2008-06-09T02:50:00.010-06:00

Sunday June 8

We woke up rather early this morning so we would have time to make the long drive to Switzerland and still have time to explore. We ate breakfast at our hotel again, which was delicious. Yesterday I forgot to mention my favorite part about this breakfast. Not only do they have delicious breads and such, they also have a delightful bran cereal that has chocolate flakes in it. With a little bit of granola mixed in it is amazing! Of course, anytime you get to eat chocolate for breakfast is always exciting.

After checking out of the hotel we took a boat ride back down the Grand Canal and back to the parking lot where we left our car. We saw the beautiful canals and bridges one more time before we left the country. Afterward, we took about a 7 hour drive from Venice to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland.

The drive was beautiful! We saw more of the Italian landscape, but before long we were into Switzerland. The mountains were much larger and we were constantly switching between tunnels and high bridges going over valleys and between mountains. Many of the tunnels were short, but we did go through a tunnel that was 17 km long (about 10 miles). It wasn’t very pretty, as you can imagine, but it was a pretty impressive tunnel.

Switzerland is completely different from the places we went in Italy. It feels like we are a completely different world, and I guess in a way we are. When we were about an hour or two outside of Interlaken we started to see huge waterfalls here and there. By the time we reached Lauterbrunnen we probably saw over 50 different waterfalls, and that is not an exaggeration. It seemed like every few seconds someone would say “There’s another one!”

Also while we were driving we saw a few marble quarries. There were huge slabs of marble and also open pits where they were cutting the marble out of the mountain. It was amazing to see.

There were a lot of little towns mixed in with the waterfalls. Some were down in the valley, but others were high up the mountain and it looked like the only way to get there was to hike. It was amazing to come around a turn and see a city near the top of the mountain.

(view from our hotel window)

Once we arrived in Lauterbrunnen, which has several waterfalls of its own, we checked into the hotel and then walked around the city. It was a little bit rainy and chilly so I decided to wear long pants, and since I was told we were going to be walking I didn’t wear my tennis shoes. Well…

One of the first places we went was to a waterfall (which we could see from our hotel, an incredible view) called Staubbach Falls. We did start out walking along the street, but once we got to the base there was a trail going up to it. So we took the hike/walk (depending on who you ask) up the falls a little way. It was pretty steep and muddy, but I did it, even without tennis shoes.

(The fence you see is the path we walked up)

The waterfalls surrounding our hotel are very impressive. There is a ton of water coming off each one and they are all extremely tall. The combination of the waterfalls and the unique buildings is a sight to see. It is definitely completely different than the parts of Italy we visited.

We walked around the city more and then also took a drive out to another city which took us to more waterfalls. It was raining pretty hard so we didn’t get out for long, but the falls were gorgeous! We will probably visit a few more tomorrow and see a castle or two as well. But that’s all for now. Tschuβ!

Delay in Blogging...

2008-06-07T15:27:00.001-06:00

So I thought we were going to have internet at all of our hotels, but it turns out I was wrong, thus the delay in posts. In case you were wondering the dates… June 4 – Rome Day 2; June 5 – Cinque Terre; June 6 – Cinque Terre and Venice; June 7 – Venice.

Now everything is up to date. I’m not sure if we will have internet at our hotel in Switzerland, so if you don’t see anything new for two days that’s why. Ciao!

Venice

2008-06-07T15:20:00.013-06:00

This morning’s breakfast served at the hotel was delightful. All of our breakfasts were actually really good. Following breakfast we began our walk around Venice. We walked through a lot of alleys, over many bridges and canals, and though several squares. We also stopped at a lot of souvenir shops with a variety of trinkets.

One of the first shops we stopped at was a hat shop. There were cute hats outside which drew us in, but the hats inside were amazing as well. The lady who owned the shop was very friendly. Like some other vendors she would bring different hats to try on, but she also gave her opinion about which looked good. Brianna ended up getting a hat (which the lady approved of) and so we took a picture of her with her hat and lady who owned the shop.

The most stunning items the vendors and stores had were the masks. Venice is known for masquerade or carnival masks. We saw probably thousands, each slightly different. There were simple masks in bright colors and very ornate masks with feathers, hats ribbons, beads, sparkles and more. Brianna especially loved the masks and bought two.

One of the squares we walked though had a leaning tower. I saw it first through my camera and thought I was just tilting it, but then I looked at it and it was really leaning!

We visited Saint Marks Square and Basilica which was incredible. Brianna and my dad had fun feeding the pigeons and getting them to eat out of their hands.

After they had their fill of feeding the birds we toured the basilica. We weren’t able to take pictures inside, but I wish we could have. The ceilings were covered in mosaic pictures. It looked like the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel but it was all little pieces of tile. It would have been impressive to have one such room, but the entire ceiling which was huge (5-10 rooms) was mosaics. The floor tiles were also very small and intricate. This is a picture of one of the mosaics on the outside of the basilica, as well as a picture of the entire basilica.

As we walked around various places we would frequently hear music playing or people singing. It added to the unique feel of the city. Most of the music was really really good. It would have been fun to get a recording of some of the different music types we heard.

After walking around for a while, and sampling more Gelato (this time I had Mint and Crème), we took a ride around the canal on the boat. The boat was crowded so it was difficult to take very many good pictures, but it was amazing to see the canal. It was huge and filled with boats and gondolas. Some of the men rowing the gondolas actually sang and their voices were amazing!

Following the canal tour we ate some lunch and then continued to walk around. The whole city is gorgeous and everywhere you go there are picturesque canals and bridges and alleys all covered with window boxes overflowing with brightly colored flowers. It is such a beautiful city.

It started to rain in the evening, but the rain didn’t last long. We continued to explore the city as we walked back to our hotel room. We also stopped and had some food and more gelato (I had caramel and hazelnut). We walked around some more and then came back to our hotel to rest for tomorrow.

I thought the price of these sunglasses was a little outrageous (multiply by 1.55 to find the amount in US Dollars).

Cinque Terre and Venice

2008-06-07T15:04:00.015-06:00

This is the hotel we stayed in while we were in Cinque Terre. There was a scooter parked next to it which was pretty typical, but I thought it looked cool with the flowers.

After breakfast this morning we walked around Monterosso since we didn’t do much of that yesterday. We walked along the beach and up a hill to get a view of Monterosso and the rest of the cities. There was a really cool statue on one of the buildings/hotels on the hill we walked up. It started to get stormy today so the sky was grayish and the sea was rough.

Although it was gray and hazy outside, the colors were still vibrant, the ocean especially. There was a huge rock out in the middle of the water that was split in two. It was really cool to see the waves crashing against it. As we were walking up to the older part of Monterosso it began to rain, and then it began to pour. Of course I brought my rain jacket on the trip, but I figured today would be just cool and not rainy so I packed it in my suitcase.

The rain didn’t let up so we took a detour into a souvenir shop. Brianna ended up getting a very cute bag in the shop and I got an umbrella. At the time it was pretty much a necessity, but it turned out to be a very good purchase. With umbrella in hand, we walked to the train station and went over to Vernazza. It was still raining pretty hard but we were mostly doing shopping today so we stayed pretty dry. My umbrella was great because I could keep my camera dry while taking pictures. It was a little bit difficult to hold the umbrella and frame the picture at the same time, but it worked.

The rain let up as we walked out towards the marina. There were a lot of brightly colored umbrellas at each of the restaurants and the tourist umbrellas blended right in. These cities are amazing! It is so cool to see all of the colors and the ocean and the vineyards. This is the view from the marina up the side of the mountain that we climbed yesterday. Up at the top is where we hiked to take the picture looking down on the city.

After walking around the marina for a while we went up into the city more and looked at a few shops. We then took the train back to Monterosso and walked around the older part of the city. There were some unique buildings there. One building was a church that was striped black and white. The thing that made even more interesting is that the stripes were rock, not painted. Inside the church everything was black and white too.

All of these cities had narrow quaint streets so every where we turned there was something cute. While we have seen a lot of scooters and motorcycles on this trip, we haven’t seen very many bikes until this spot today. There were quite a few of them all together.

These are some lemons they were selling in the streets. We saw a lot of lemon trees and a lot of lemons as we walked around.

After visiting old town we headed back to our car. We stopped for lunch at a café along the boardwalk. I decided to have another local specialty, Pesto. Pesto actually originated in the Cinque Terre area. It was delicious!

After we ate lunch we started the drive to Venice. I stayed awake to see the beautiful views of Cinque Terre as we drove up and out. The rest of the long drive though I slept. When we arrived just outside Venice, we parked the car and then had to take a boat to get into the city. It was pretty late when we arrived so it was dark. A lot of the pictures didn’t turn out, but I did get a few. Venice is gorgeous at night, but there isn’t much going on.

After we got to the hotel we decided we were hungry (considering we hadn’t eaten since 1:30 and it was about 10:30), so we set off to find an open food place. This ended up not working out too well for us. Nearly everything was closed or closing. We did get to see some beautiful streets and canals though.

Cinque Terre

2008-06-07T14:49:00.011-06:00

We woke up quite early (6:00) and checked out of our hotel, rented a car and headed out of Rome. Renting the car took a little while, and so did driving out of Rome. We took a wrong turn somewhere which took us to the center of the city rather than outside so by the time we got out it had taken about 2 hours. But, then we were on our way.

We took a scenic view through Tuscany. There were quaint houses and villages all along the way. Brianna and I slept for some of the ride and apparently we missed all the good stuff. As we neared our destination, we began to see clumps of brightly colored houses amidst trees, rocks and cliffs. It was incredible to see these buildings and churches with tall steeples in the middle of nowhere with steep cliffs and rocks surrounding them. As we wound through the mountain villages a spectacular view opened up of a colorful city along the coast, Monterosso, the first of the 5 cities in Cinque (Five) Terre (cites). It was beautiful!

We continued to wind down and up and back down the mountain until we finally came to the city. We were able to drive up to our hotel which was in a cute blue building. We checked in, put our bags in our room and rested for a little bit before we went back out into the city.

At the suggestion of our excellent hotel receptionist we first took the train from Monterosso (where we were staying) to the end city, Riomaggiore. All five of the cities are along the coast and built right into the cliffs. They are tall colored buildings which are so cute and quaint. We started our tour of Riomaggiore by walking up the hill to the city. There were cute shops and restaurants as we walked up, including fresh fruit stands. The fruits were varied and looked delicious! When we came back down we decided to go to the marina, which turned out to be a great idea.

The marina was filled with bright blue boats, bold orange safety rings and buoys. The view from the marina was incredible as well. We could see the waves crashing up against the dark rocks and most of the amazing city. The way the light was hitting the buildings and the boats made the colors even more vibrant.

After exploring the marina we took a hike (more like a paved walkway) called “Via dell’ Amore” from Riomaggiore to Manarola, the next city over. This was supposed to be the easiest hike from one city to another, and it definitely was. The sun was shining brightly on us so we decided to beat the heat with a delicious icy lemonade made with real lemons, probably grown locally.

We made it to Manarola and again explored the city. While it was similar to the other, it was different enough that we had a really fun time walking around. We made it to the top of the city and saw the bell tower and chapel. From there we took a hike (and this was more of a hike than the other) around the vineyards and down to the cemetery. The vineyards in all of the cities are impressive. They are terraced and extend most of the way up the mountain. They grow grapes as well as other fruits, such as limes, lemons, and oranges, as well as olives.

It took us longer than we expected to reach the cemetery, but the view was well worth it. The cemetery was interesting as it was just locked boxes above ground. Many people attached flowers and pictures to the side of the box. It looked a little bit like decorated lockers. The great view though was looking back at the city. We could see all of the city plus its marina and the cliffs and rocks where the waves hit. Up close the buildings are cute, but the combinations of colors aren’t the most pleasing. When you look at the city as a whole however it is absolutely stunning.

We walked back to the city after visiting the cemetery. While we waited for the next train to come we ate a local specialty, Focaccia bread. The kind I had was cheese focaccia. It was delicious! Nearly every food shop or restaurant in Cinque Terra sold focaccia, and it’s no surprise because it is wonderful!

After eating the Focaccia we took the train from Manarola to Vernazza, two cities over. It was supposed to have one of the best views. It was nearing dusk, so we headed up the hill toward Monterosso. This was quite a hike. If we didn’t know the view would be do beautiful we might not have done it. The sun was setting and the light was hitting the city beautifully. The colors were astounding and the bay and marina were beautiful. I don’t think we could have picked a much better time or day.

While we were taking pictures a couple girls were coming down from a little higher up and said the view from up there was even better. So, Dad and I took another hike up. At this point I was pretty tired and wimpy, but we got far enough we decided we just needed to get there. The view was awesome. We could see almost the entire mountain and the city nestled in it, although I was a little too tired to enjoy it. After we took a few pictures we rushed back down the mountain in order to make the next train to Monterosso.

When we arrived back in Monterosso we walked around for a little bit and waited until it was dark enough that we could see the lights from the four other cities along the edge of the water. It is amazing how far you can see, even though it was a little foggy. Naturally, we had some gelato and sat along the beach while we watched the sun go down. This time I had Biscotti and raspberry. It was delicious. The biscotti is one of my favorite flavors so far. Other flavors I tried tonight, compliments of Brianna and my dad, included Kiwi and strawberry.

We walked back to the hotel after enjoying the gelato in order to rest and shower. Today was one of my favorite days thus far in our vacation. I may say that later on, but thus far, today was the best.

Roma - Day 2

2008-06-07T01:42:00.007-06:00

Today we started out a little bit late since we were all tired from traveling the day before. We still made it out to the Colosseum by 10:00 am. We took the metro and ended up right next to the Colosseum. It was huge! I was amazed at how large it was and all of the different levels and rooms and pathways it had. It was amazing to see the columns close up and all of the walls with plants growing out of them. Outside the Colosseum there were people dressed up as Roman soldiers which added to the experience somewhat.

After visiting the Colosseum we went to the Forum. This is an area where they have a bunch of arches and pillars that have been uncovered. It was incredible to see the different structures and how intact most of them still were. This used to be the heart of Rome. There were a wide variety of buildings, churches and gardens. There was actually a grove of orange trees there along with some palm trees which made the area seem very tropical. There were poppies all over, growing up between rocks and in fields. They made everything seem even more beautiful.

After the Forum we went to the Vatican City. We walked through the Sistine Chapel and the museum before it. The artwork that adorns the walls and ceilings is unbelievable! There is so much detail and ornamentation. While the chapel itself was beautiful, the many rooms leading up to it had artwork that was more stunning to me. A lot of the paintings on the ceilings was meant to look like molding with artwork inside. After looking at it for a little bit you could figure out that it was painted rather than real, however it was extremely well done.

The thing that impressed me the most about the Sistine Chapel was the size. Every inch of the wall and ceiling seemed to be painted with ornate murals. In any room that would be awesome to see, but the chapel ceiling is 68 feet high! I can’t even imagine trying to paint on that!

We walked out of the chapel and into St. Peters Basilica. Words cannot even describe this building. It is full of statues and paintings and gold plated ornamentation. The chapels are exquisite! I don’t know how I would focus on a meeting in this place. The whole thing is rather overwhelming. Every inch of the building is decorated in some way. There are huge Corinthian and Ionic stone pillars with very detailed designs.

From the Basilica we walked into St. Peter’s square. We actually saw it earlier this morning but the Pope was visiting at the same time so it was extremely crowded and we decided to come back later. The whole thing is incredible to see. The “walls” of huge pillars surrounding the square was one of my favorite parts. It was simple yet stunning.

The walk from the Vatican City to the Pantheon was quite scenic. We shopped for souvenirs and ate more Gelato. Our flavors this time were: Pineapple, Mango, Chocolate, Banana, Strawberry, and Melon. Pretty normal flavors, but very delicious. By this time our feet were getting sore so we had to get some gelato in us to give us more energy for the rest of the walk. Along the way we walked down quite a few alleys with brightly colored walls and flowers hanging over the balconies. It seemed like every where we turned there was something to take a picture of.

Just before we got to the Pantheon we stopped in Piazza Navona. This seemed to be the area where all the local artists displayed and sold their work. If I had tons of money and a way to get it home I would have bought one of the large oil paintings. I couldn’t believe how gorgeous some of them were! The colors were so vivid and the landscapes and cityscapes in the paintings were beautiful.

When we visited the Pantheon today we went inside (it was closed last night). It was similar in nature to St. Peter’s Basilica, although not nearly as ornate. It was still very interesting though. The thing that caught my attention was the large opening at the top of the dome. It let in light for the building, but if it rained, it seems like the marble floor would have been a little slippery.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the Trevi fountain again for enough time that Brianna and I threw in a coin and made a wish. I’d tell you what I wished for, but then it wouldn’t come true! We also bought a couple scarves and ties at the vendor by Pinocchio.

We ate dinner at the Termini (the central metro and train station). I had a delicious pasta with some sort of red sauce, much like a typical spaghetti sauce. It was so good, but I was pretty tired so I’m sure just about anything would have tasted good. We walked around a couple shops and then headed back to the Hotel for rest and relaxation. We saw quite a bit today and definitely did a lot of walking, about 2953 steps to be exact.

Roma!

2008-06-03T16:06:00.007-06:00

We finally made it to Rome at about 6:30 PM, Italy time. Somewhere we pretty much missed all of Tuesday, but we made up for it with the activities of the night. We took the train from the airport to the center of the Rome train lines. We then walked about 746 meters (thank you dad :) to Hotel Sonya. We are on the third floor looking over an opera house, Teatro dell’ Opera.

After checking into the hotel we walked along the gorgeously lit streets of Rome to the Fontana di Trevi. It was just about dusk when we got there and it was beautiful! It was pretty crowded with lots of people trying to distract you and get money. Some of them were even handing out roses. We walked around the fountain for a bit and then got some pizza and walked to the Pantheon.

By this time it was completely dark, but the streets were very well lit. There were a lot of quaint restaurants along the street, countless Gelato shops, pizzerias, and endless shoe and bag shops. The Pantheon was very stunning, especially considering how old it is. It was amazing to see the “new” buildings mixed in with the really old buildings. This city has so much history! Everywhere we turned it seemed like there was some building with incredible architecture.

Nearly all the buildings had ornate Corinthian columns or various pediments. Some were half circles, others triangles, and some were just flowery and decorative. The walls are all a unique color—I’m sure we’ll see that more tomorrow when it is light—and the streets have a lot of personality.

Driving in Rome is supposedly very crazy and most people suggest you don't do it. Well, this intersection would prove that theory. It is probably about 2-3 lanes wide on each side of the road, there are about 5 different roads, no traffic lights, no stop signs and no lines painted on the road. You just go. It was crazy to watch! The picture doesn't do it justice obviously, but it was extremely chaotic.

While we were walking from the Trevi Fountain to the Pantheon we saw Pinoccio so we decided to stop and take a picture. There was also a shop close by that had ties and scarves for a really good deal.

After we visited the Trevi fountain and the Pantheon we walked around and just looked at buildings for a while and then… we got gelato. For those of you who think gelato can’t be much better than regular ice cream—think again. It was amazing! We tried four different flavors: hazelnut, chocolate fondetta, chocolate cream, and cinnamon. Everyone tasted all of them, but Brianna and I shared the bowl with hazelnut and chocolate fondetta. It was divine! The chocolate fondetta had such a rich flavor and when it was mixed with the hazelnut it tasted like Ferrero Rocher. Mmmmm… delicious! As we finished eating our gelato we walked back to the Hotel and now I am posting this to the blog. What a day!

On my way!

2008-06-03T15:11:00.009-06:00

So I’m guessing you probably don’t want to hear about going through security and the flight, but I have nothing better to do while I sit in the airport… so I figured I may as well write about it.

I am pretty much a security problem. When we went through security at SLC they had to call a supervisor to look at my passport because it had some suspicious spots on it. Yep, it’s a counterfeit passport. Ok, not really, but they thought so. So, once we made it through security there we got on a small plane that took us to LAX.

Going through security in LA my suitcase had to be checked twice. Fortunately though, I made it through just fine. We had a four hour layover (about 45 minutes to an hour was spent getting to our next gate). We watched the first part of Cranford, a BBC special a lady in our ward let us borrow. It was pretty good. We boarded the plane, a Boeing 777. It was quite a contrast to the tiny plane we were on before. There were 9 seats in each row rather than two, and I would have loved to have flown first class. The seats there were amazing! But, coach wasn’t terrible.

We were on the plane for 10 hours so they provided a dinner and breakfast. For dinner we had our choice of salmon or chicken. It was no ice cold fish head served with a turnip and a spork. It was a delicious, hot meal complete with cheesecake for dessert. Probably the best airplane meal I have had. After they served dinner they gave everyone a little packet that included everything you need for a quiet, dark, “comfortable” sleep.

While it was nice to have earplugs and such, I still had a hard time sleeping. But, when I woke up we had a delightful breakfast, so that helped. About an hour after breakfast we landed in Paris. Oh, the flight attendants all spoke mostly French (as we were flying Air France) so they didn’t seem to appreciate our speaking to them in English. Unfortunately I didn’t brush up on anything French for this trip.

In Paris, we had to go through security yet again. And yes, you guessed it, I caused a delay. Everything went through fine, or so I thought. After I got everything off the x-ray belt they wanted to search my suitcase. So I had to open all the pockets on the suitcase so they could examine what was inside. Then they ran a cloth over everything and tested that. Fortunately they didn’t find anything explosive or flammable or the like.

Fortunately we are through all the security checkpoints for today—who knows what the way home will be like. The only thing I have to worry about now is customs… hopefully they let me through… but until then I have about 45 minutes until we start boarding the plane to Rome. Normally I don't like pictures from the airplane window, but it was a really cool view as we came into Paris, so I thought I would take one anyway. Ciao!

Lucky Charms

2008-05-31T21:14:00.002-06:00

My mom, Connor and I were all home on Saturday night, so we decided to eat some Lucky Charms together (but I actually had ice cream...). Kind of random, but fun!

A memorable Memorial Day

2008-05-29T18:58:00.009-06:00

Every Memorial Day we have a Linebaugh family breakfast with all Linebaughs invited. All of my Grandpa's brothers and sisters and their families are invited. Usually around 90-100 people will come. We always have it at my Grandma and Grandpa's house (except while they were on their mission and it was at Kinkades). This year it poured rain the night before and the morning of, so we added hot chocolate to the menu and ate in the garage and kitchen (as opposed to outside). It was still just as well attended.

A little while ago, Janet made some charms that had a picture of her Grandma on one side and my grandpa and his brother and sister on the other side. After most people had eaten she gave one to Jean and Jane (my grandpa's sisters). It was a touching experience. They were so excited and, naturally, it brought my Grandpa to tears.

Later on in the day we had a graduation party for Parker and Brady. The rain cleared up for a little bit so we were able to play volleyball and basketball for a little while. As we were leaving Carl and Kathy's house, there was a gorgeous full rainbow. It was a wonderful day!

The quest for the perfect travel journal

2008-05-22T19:18:00.006-06:00

Every large vacation we go on (such as the trip to Europe in one week) I make a travel journal. It is always difficult to find just the right thing to use. This time I haven't planned ahead as much so I was left to do it the week before, my own fault of course. But after searching for a while, I found this black journal for $3.99 at Target which I think will work perfectly. I spent a while on Friday working on it -- making a huge mess of course. My mom and Brianna teased me the whole time because their journals didn't require any pulling apart or paint or taping, etc. But that it was fun for me to make it just how I want it. So, I am now set for the vacation as far as keeping a record while I am there. Now for the clothes and other essentials...

I am so excited about how it turned out. Just looking at the front with the cute tabs on the side, flower on the front, and the awesome painted letters makes me so excited to actually use it!

Car Wash

2008-05-21T13:34:00.006-06:00

Last Friday I spent a while cleaning my car which was filthy, inside and out. I vaccumed and cleaned the inside and then hosed off and washed the outside. After drying it I decided to wax it. Just before I started, our 4 year old neighbor Christopher came over. He is quite friendly and offered to help me clean my car. So, I waxed on and he waxed off. I thought after a little bit he would realize it wasn't that fun and be done, but he stayed until it was done and then asked if he could clean the lights because they didn't look clean. So, naturally, I let him clean those. He was quite the helper!

Devin is pretty much famous

2008-05-16T07:00:00.001-06:00

Ok, maybe not really, but he is featured in this article. He's pretty cool so you should all look at it!

http://newsroom.byuh.edu/node/1730

Locks of Love

2008-05-14T13:54:00.008-06:00

Brianna donated her hair today for Locks of Love. We took some pictures yesterday when it was long and then some now that it is cute and short! This is such a cool thing. I was going to donate, but I don't quite have 10 inches and my hair would have been really short if I tried to make it work, but it was really cool to see so many people do it!

A Yellow Line

2008-05-14T11:22:00.004-06:00

So after who knows how long, they finally decided to put a yellow line on our road. Pretty exciting eh?

Spring has finally sprung...

2008-05-14T11:09:00.005-06:00

Wow, it's been a while since I did a post! 13 days! Well, a few weeks ago, my family and Kevin and I went a park in Orem called Nielsen Garden. The tulips were in full bloom and it was gorgeous! Here a few pictures...

Self Portrait

2008-05-01T18:45:00.008-06:00

So, I have a fascination with taking self portraits, I'm not really sure why. Something about taking pictures of myself in the mirror is exciting and fun. I could probably spend hours in front of the mirror making different faces, trying to create an image that completely captures my personality, or different aspects of it. So here are the latest, although the Brittany bathroom doesn't provide the best background. Anyway... here they are, a few out of hundreds (wow... that makes me sound really vain to have hundreds of pictures of myself...).

I like the lyrics to this song from the LDS Pride and Prejudice soundtrack. It's called Self Portrait by Stephanie Smith, so I thought it would be fitting for this post:

all of these dreams in my head
keep spinning round
I'm grabbing my paper and pencil
to pin 'em down
I'll sketch my world as a prettier place
draw my self with a smiley face
and make this picture perfect

but all of these lines on my page
won't mean anything
until I learn to erase
the ones that I don't need
I'm covering up the stupid mistakes
and starting over and over again
to make this picture perfect

I'll start with where I'm standing now
and begin shaping where I want to be
no one can tear my picture down
because it's me
and as long as I'm still proud of this self portrait I'm creating I'm doing fine
ya doing fine

every now and again
someone comes along
they try to box me in
to a corner I've drawn
but pushing the walls down and struggling free makes me strong so I can keep
making this picture perfect
ye-yeah

chorus:
I'll start with where I'm standing now
and begin shaping where I want to be
no one can tear my picture down
because it's me
and as long as I'm still proud of this self portrait I'm creating I'm doing fine
ya doing fine

ya doing fine ya

and what I'm sketching doesn't have to be
anything fancy
no
I'm just shaping stronger sides of me
of me, of me ye-yeah

Fabulous Las Vegas

2008-04-30T00:46:00.004-06:00

I'm back from a wonderful weekend trip to Las Vegas. Kevin and I drove down on Thursday afternoon. We stopped in St. George to say hi to Grandma Northrup and Grandma Hardy. I decided to let my visit be a surprise, so they had no idea I'd be coming. Needless to say they were happy to see me. It was really fun to see them as well. We got to Overton, where Kevin is from, at about 11. We talked to his family for a little while and then went to bed.

On Friday, we went to Las Vegas. We walked around the Venician and ate lunch. Then we took the long walk down the stip until we got to Mandalay Bay. We didn't stop at any of the other casinos, but we saw the whole strip. It was really fun. Definitely a different environment than Provo though, that's for sure. At Mandalay Bay we went through the shark exhibit. It was so cool! We learned a lot of random facts about different animals. For example, did you know that a crocodile can live for over a year without eating? Yep! So if you are looking to kill a crocodile, starvation is not the way to go.

After the shark exhibit we walked back to the car. The strip is a lot longer than I thought. It probably took us a good 30 min or more to walk from one end to the other. It was really fun though. When we got back to the car we met up with a couple of Kevin's friends and went to a batting cage. I have never been very skilled when it comes to baseball, but I did pretty well. Granted, we were only hitting balls that were coming at 40 mph, but even still...

Once we each hit a couple rounds, we searched for a bowling alley. However, we never found one. Instead, we went back to Brad's apartment and waited for his wife to get home from work. Once she got home, we drove back to downtown and rode the New York New York rollercoaster. Not exactly the smoothest rollercoaster, but it was so much fun! I haven't been on a rollercoaster since at least high school. It was great!

Kevin's friends went home after the rollercoaster and then we went to the Bellagio (Breezy pretty much lives at the Bellagio, no big deal :). We walked through the casino and saw some incredible flowers, both real and fake. There were some really tall glass flowers by Dale Chihuly that were amazing! We explored inside for a little bit and then went outside for the light and water show. It is so cool! Who'd have thought that a few, or a lot, of fountains with lights and water could be so enchanting. It was incredible! I think I'll have to join Beezy and Kevin and say that the Bellagio is my favorite casino, not that I really have a lot of experience.

After watching the show at the Bellagio we drove back and went to bed. On Saturday morning, Kevin's dad took us shooting. We shot clay pigeons with a shot gun, which I was pretty good at surprisingly, and then we shot balloons with a 22 pistol. I thought I would have been a little better at the pistol since it was somewhat similar to air soft shooting, but I was actually better at the shot gun. It was really fun. Funny how shooting balloons and clay pigeons can be so entertaining. It was quite a shock when my shooting record was better than Kevin's dad. We figured though it was because he couldn't see. Next time he said he might bring his glasses. :)

After that we spent the day playing a variety of games: Mario Kart, Skip Bo, Dominoes, and Darts. We went out to dinner and then came back and watched "Becoming Jane". On Sunday we ate breakfast and went to church and then spent the rest of the day just talking and making dessert. We had Brownie Pudding, which is something like brownies floating in a chocolate syrup. It was really good, especially with a little bit of ice cream. After dessert and some more talking we went to bed and then woke up on Monday morning and drove home.

The trip was a lot of fun and very relaxing. After a couple stressful weeks it was really nice to have a break. But, now it's back to work!

Kirsten's Having a Baby!

2008-04-23T14:27:00.006-06:00

My dear friend Kirsten is going to have a baby boy in July! I am so excited for her! She came down a couple weeks ago to visit and went out to breakfast with Sharolee and I. It was so much fun to see her again. It was just like old times. Ohhh... Anyway, she is definitely pregnant, but so so cute! So, yep. It was really fun. We ate delicious cinnamon French Toast and fruit from Kneaders. It was great!

Finals Week!

2008-04-17T13:52:00.002-06:00

I just took my first final for Winter 2008 today. After several hours of studying and working on a study guide, and an hour in a review session, I felt adequately prepared. As I took the test, I was pleased that I was able to answer nearly all of the questions with great ease. We'll have to wait and see how I actually did, but it is a great feeling to come out of a final knowing that I did pretty well. Let's hope I can do that will all my finals! Only 4 more to go!

So the last few weeks the weather can't really make up it's mind. Yesterday it was snowing and cold, today I am fine without a jacket! It has been cold the last few days which makes it difficult to get a good break from studying. We can't go outside and play Frisbee, volleyball, football, or just relax in the sun. But, it seems to be warming up again, so today I will probably play catch or Frisbee and tomorrow I am going on a bike ride. The thing that is really throwing me off is the lack of spring flowers and colors. Hopefully those will come when it keeps being warm. If not, at least we will get to enjoy summer soon! Only 3 more days of finals and I will be done with school until August, unless I decide to do classes during summer term... Hmmm... we'll see about that.

Oh! While we are talking about school... I have pretty much decided that I am going to UVSC, or UVU, and I will be studying Photography there. I still need to get a few things worked out, like transferring my credits and talking to a counselor at UVU to figure out what class I need to take and when, but I made a decision and it feels pretty good! I will probably be taking all art classes which will be great! I'm very excited about it!

I believe it is wise to find joy in the little things in life...

2008-04-16T21:13:00.004-06:00

"The details make life holy. If you want a little happiness in life don’t forget to look at the little things. It is a poet’s work to see the incidental, pluck it, place an appropriate silence around both sides and see the profound in what passes for a passing moment. It is an artist’s job to as much discover art as create it. Prayer is a way of making the common profound by pausing, tying knots around a moment, turning our life into a string of pearls."
~ Noah Ben Shea

Some of the little things and details I enjoy:

The smell of rain
Going on a walk
Nice notes
Not being on the phone at work :)
Spring skiing
A delicious, filling meal
Homemade ice cream, really just ice cream in general
Striking color combinations
Green grass
New flowers
Blue skies
Dinner Group
Thunderstorms
A good conversation with a friend or family
Having a clean room
Getting a letter from a friend
Fall colors
The smell of Pine Sol, after cleaning
Random surprises from people

The long awaited letter...

2008-04-10T00:52:00.002-06:00

My letter finally came, although with different words than I was expecting. Yep, I did not get accepted to the Visual Arts program at BYU. Sad, but life goes on. I have so many different options it is ridiculous! Who knows what I will end up doing! While I am sad, I can honestly say that it will be a good thing. Although, those of you who know how well I make decisions may be wondering how I am ever going to decide on something! But, never fear, I will. Thanks to my mom and Helen Keller for this amazing quote. Let's just say right now I am excited at the open doors that are coming my way!

Mondrian and Monet? Is it possible?

2008-04-08T23:02:00.003-06:00

For an extra credit assignment in Humanities I was supposed to create a work of art that portrayed a missing work of one artist in the style of another artist. So, I created a Haystack painting (like one of Monet's many) in the style of Mondrian. It was quite fun to layout and paint even though it appears to be rather simple. Well, lets just say I have a new appreciation for Mondrian's art. It took quite a while to get all of the lines and boxes just right. I am quite proud of how it turned out. Breezy also did the assignment and did one of Degas' balleringa paintings in the style of Picaso. Her painting is pictured here too. What a fun assignment! I love art!

Photography Application

2008-04-03T19:08:00.005-06:00

So, most of you probably know I have applied to the Photography program at BYU and am anxiously waiting for the acceptance/denial email and letter that are supposed to come "during the month of April". Well, I think everyday I get more and more anxious for it to come. I'm to the point that it almost doesn't matter whether or not I make it, I just want to know! Ok, not really... I would much rather be accepted than not, but still! So hopefully in the next week or two I will have a post stating that I have been accepted, but we will just have to wait and see. I decided to post the creativity exercise I had to do because a) it took a long time to do and b) it is really cool! So, all of you can wait with baited breath with me to see what the results are...

Spring Jewel Kade

2008-04-03T16:14:00.004-06:00

Spring is in the air, Mother's Day is approaching, and Jewel Kade has brand new styles! Janet is doing a huge show at her house on April 22 and she asked me to make a new mailer for her. I was really excited and loved the picture she took. I love working on Jewel Kade projects! It is so much fun! Here is the latest mailer...

I will most likely have more Jewel Kade posts after finals are over so you can look forward to those!

Salt Lake on a Sunny Day

2008-03-24T15:16:00.006-06:00

Breezy and I went up to Salt Lake on Friday. We walked around Temple Square and then went to lunch at Olive Garden. We split the Venetian Apricot Chicken which was delicious! The best part though was the wonderful salad and breadsticks with Alfredo dipping sauce. We were definitely loving life! The sun was shining and we didn't have anything to do... well... sort of... It was such a beautiful day!

Real Daisies

2008-03-24T15:02:00.003-06:00

On Thursday as I got in my car to go to work there were live Gerber Daisies and a note in my car. The note said "Nehmenglueck!" which is German for "Take Luck". It was so cute! I was really stressed out for the German test I took the day before. I was supposed to get them the day I took the test, but no one was able to get my keys before then. It definitely made my day though!

Britt and Jared

2008-03-15T13:59:00.009-06:00

Britt and Jared asked me to take their engagement pictures. They are awesome!I was very flattered when Britt asked. I had so much fun! We walked around Provo and found colored walls and cute benches. Here's a few of the pictures.

Favorite things about March:

2008-03-06T16:58:00.001-07:00

* Skiing! - Yep, the weather is still cold enough in the mountains that I can ski. Granted, it isn't really good snow, but I can wear just a jacket and not freeze! Love it!

* Rain - I love that it starts raining again in March. I'm not a huge fan of cold rain, but I love the feeling after a good rainstorm. The air is so fresh and crisp and clean. Love it!

* Picnics - Ok, so I don't know that I have been on a picnic in March, but the weather seems good enough this week that I think I may just have one...

* Fresh start - It seems like in March we get a fresh start on life. With the change of seasons I feel a new desire to be better and work harder.

* Being outside - March is a great month because it snows, rains, shines, and just about everything else. So, We can be outside and enjoy all seasons. I love that somedays I can wear a t-shirt and enjoy the sunshine and then the next week I can play in the snow. Granted, I don't like figuring out what the weather is going to be, but it is kind of fun... I just like the variety of activities. Everything from Skiing and snow games to Volleyball and frisbee.

* New clothes - I love buying spring clothes. After months of wearing delightful sweaters and coats, it is fun to buy short sleeved shirts in bright new colors.

* Flowers! - Flowers finally start blooming in March which is so much fun! I love the tulips and daffodils and dutch Iris' that bloom early in the year. They are so beautiful and such bright colors.

* Photography - along with the flowers and fresh new season there are great opportunities for new photos! It is usually warm enough that I can take outdoor pictures without my hands freezing. The colors are wonderful and crisp. Mmmm... Love it! Even the stormy days are beautiful!

{THE MELTING POT: a night in paradise}

2008-03-01T12:02:00.018-07:00

Last night we went to The Melting Pot for dinner. It was heavenly! Words cannot even describe how delicious and delightful the fondue was. What could be better than Sparkling Peach Spumante, Wisconsin Trio Cheese Fondue {Fontina, Butterkäse and Buttermilk Bleu cheeses with white wine, scallions, and a hint of sherry}, a delightful Spinach Mushroom Salad {Fresh spinach, baby Portobello mushrooms, red onion, chopped bacon and Roma tomatoes with a warm Burgundy Shallot Vinaigrette}, and best of all Flaming Turtle {Milk chocolate, caramel and chopped pecans, flambéed tableside}? Rather than continue to describe this wonderful meal spent with fabulous roommates, I will let you see some snapshots of this fabulous moment in time. Soon you will be wishing you could taste the delectable food yourself...

Wonderful Life!

2008-02-28T16:43:00.006-07:00

Pretty much I love life! I came home on Tuesday to find that Natalie had straightened my room and left a flower on my desk. I love roommates. Everyday I realize how blessed I am to be living with Natalie, Breezy and Sharolee. They are all so beautiful and talented and kind and loving and the list goes on and on. Really I can't even imagine how I would make it through life without them. I love that we talk about everything that we do in a given day, regardless of how stupid or silly it may be. Gotta love those days :). So thanks to my wonderful roommates and all my great friends for making my life so much better!

Photos Galore

2008-02-21T19:30:00.005-07:00

I started creating a post of mostly photos awhile ago. I didn't realize that it would show up after the most recent ones, however, it did. So, any of you who have already seen the chalk and paint blogs, look just a little bit further for my life in photos. I feel like it captures at least the last two years of my life very well. It is also a great collection of some of my favorite photos. I had no idea it would be hard to limit myself to only 72 photos, but it was. I probably missed some that I love too, but at least you will get a sense of my life and my passions.

99¢ Delight: an Afternoon of Urban Art

2008-02-19T12:18:00.004-07:00

We bought some chalk so that Sharolee and Natalie could ask some guys to our ward dance. It turned into quite an adventure. Who knew that 99¢ and a little bit of artistic genius could create such a delightful distraction from the dullness of studying. We spent a good two hours creating works of art on sidewalks and around our door. I have this new love for urban photography. So, as we created these colorful works of art I decided to try and take some creative photos and this is what I came up with…

Artistic Musings

2008-02-19T12:16:00.002-07:00

What is it about painting and really just art in general that is so refreshing. After creating a work of art I feel so uplifted and cultured. I also feel like I can express myself and let all of my feelings come out. It is wonderful! This weekend was full of artistic adventures. On Saturday Natalie and I made a large mural and then on Monday (since we didn't have school) we did chalk art. It was so much fun. I think we will have to have artistic weekends more often!

A picture is worth a thousand words... so here's a few...

2008-02-11T23:01:00.021-07:00

When I think about photography I think about...

and all of the 69,599 photos I have taken and the places those photos have taken me. This is who I am.

Writing? What the heck?

2008-02-11T22:42:00.000-07:00

I was just looking at my blog and thinking... why on earth is there so much writing and so few pictures? Granted, I may have more pictures than the average person... but to have several posts that have a couple pages of just writing? I think I may have just discovered something new about myself. Actually, I knew it all along I've just never done anything about it. I really do like writing, but only when I can do it like this. Just ramble on and not care if I am making complete sentences, if it makes sense or if I am going to get an A or if I am covering the right topic and sticking to my thesis. I just like writing.

Right along that line is that I love handwriting. I love copying other people's handwriting and making mine look cuter or neater or crazier depending on the day. There are some days I have a craving to just write, not to actually write sentences and stories, but to put my pen (not pencil) to paper and make beautiful letters. Our Bishop's wife, in one of her lessons, told us that if we had any free time we should write the phrase "It is better to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent" a hundred times. So... I did. I wrote it 100 times in many different handwriting styles. It was so much fun!

I think this blog has been very good for me, in that I can write when I want to and I can just show off gorgeous or unique pictures when I want to. It really doesn't matter.

Actually, tonight I was going to write about a ridiculous 2 hour meeting I went to at work today and how I think people should just learn to be adults and work when they are at work. But, I was looking at other people's blogs and looking at mine and I changed my mind. It was probably a good thing because that would have been really boring and probably would have made me even more frustrated about it, but now that I have made a self-discovery or re-discovery I am a lot happier and I won't weigh down anyone who reads this with my thoughts about work ethic.

Looking back at this post I realize I have completely proven my point that I really like to write and ramble. Even now, I really don't have much more to say but I am still writing just because it is fun to write out what I am thinking. Then I think it is kind of scary when people can literally read your thoughts... Oh well!

In contrast to the above, I will let you know that you should be expecting a photo post coming soon. I am going to see if I can tell the story of my thoughts through photos I have already taken... we'll see how it goes. Good Night!

What a day!

2008-02-08T17:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I am sitting here at work just waiting to leave and go to work again. I don't really have much to do, so I thought I would make a new post. Today is a crazy day. I went to school from 9-11 and then went to Taco Amigo from 12-2:30 and right now I am here at Convergys (from 2:30-5:45) and in a few minutes I am headed to Taco again from 6:00 until about 8:00 or 9:00 and then back to Convergys from 9:00 - 12:00 or so... Yep. It is a great day filled with work. Shouldn't I be on a date on a Friday night? Nope. Apparently not. But, some great news is I just got a huge tax return and I also got a $100 gift card from my work. I figure my roommates and I will go to dinner at a restaurant of our choice. We always talk about going somewhere expensive, and now we get to. Yay! I am so excited!

I always like to have a photo with my posts, so this is one I found in my emails (since I don't have any photos at work). It is one of my many done-in-a-mirror self portraits.

Remember, Remember...

2008-02-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

- Remember to have fun
- Remember to work hard
- Remember you are loved
- Remember to be grateful
- Remember to be yourself
- Remember to serve others
- Remember to do your best
- Remember to laugh every day
- Remember to believe in yourself
- Remember to make good friends
- Remember to enjoy what you have
- Remember all you have been blessed with
- Remember to develop and share your talents
- Remember who you are and what you stand for
- Remember to love other people and let them know
- Remember to be optimistic (especially when things get hard)
- Remember to do unto others as they would have done unto themselves
- Remember to try a little harder, to be a little better, to stand a little taller
- Remember the people who have helped you get where you are right now
- Remember to stop every once in a while and enjoy the beauty all around you
- Remember you control your life and your perspective will make it good or bad
- Remember life will be much easier and more enjoyable if you forgive other people

Healing Chant... by Mary Dawn

2008-02-04T16:59:00.000-07:00

Mary Dawn came over to visit teach Breezy. After she was done we all talked. She signed my cast and did a healing chant so my arm will heal quickly. What did this healing change consist of you may ask? Watch the video below...

The Curse of a Hard Cast: A Blessing in Disguise

2008-01-30T19:55:00.001-07:00

Well, on Tuesday this week I went to the doctor for a follow up on my broken arm. The fracture was hardly visible from the X-ray, but he said it would still take about 4-5 weeks to heal. Last week the PA said there was a chance I wouldn't need a hard cast, that I would be able to just keep the splint. After looking at the X-rays, Dr. Hafen asked how active I was. I wasn't really sure what he meant by that, so then he asked if I wanted to snowboard again this year. I said yes. I guess that means I am active because he said he would cast my arm.

So I now have a beautiful blue cast which is obnoxious, but at least my arm will heal and I don't have to worry too much about it right? So while it is a curse, for reasons which I will assume most of you can figure out, it is also a blessing at times.

You might be wondering how this bulky, non-waterproof thing can be a blessing, so let me explain. Having a cast makes it difficult to type/write, so at work if I don't get as many emails done as I usually do they understand (I still usually get about the same amount, or at least more than most other people... funny how that works...). I have a good excuse if my hair is messy because it is hard to do my hair with a broken arm. I constantly remind Breezy how cool she is (her name is huge on the top of my cast :). People feel bad for me and just about everyone has told me that if I need anything I can call them... this could be greatly used to my advantage...

Probably the best thing for me about the hard cast is I can't take it off. That may seem obvious, but it is a great blessing for me. As many of you know, last year when I sprained my wrist I probably didn't wear the brace or have it wrapped long enough for it to heal completely. Sometimes it still hurts if I do too much with it. So, the advantage of the hard cast is I don't have an option of taking it off. Even if it doesn't hurt (which it doesn't and hasn't since last Wednesday) I can't take the cast off so it still stays put and has plenty of time to heal.

So there you have the benefits of my cast, truly a blessing in disguise.

Photography Thoughts

2008-01-27T15:59:00.001-07:00

So I was sitting at my desk (doing something important I’m sure) and I was looking at the pictures that were on my screensaver. I started thinking about photography. I was thinking about the types of pictures I take. I have a lot of pictures of friends and family but most are not posed and different than your typical photo. Then I started to think about what I love to take pictures of.

I love photographing people, but not in a studio or formal setting (like at Kiddie Kandids… which I found out pretty quick). I like taking pictures of people, and just pictures in general, that tell a story or capture their personality. I avoid typical picture of people in front of buildings or with something they like. While those are sometimes essential and they can be done creatively or tell a story, I like taking photos that show the details and tell the story with little or no written/verbal explanation needed.

The other day I also realized that I don’t like having other people take pictures for me. While it is good to have pictures of myself so people know I am alive and remember what I look like, I sometimes get frustrated because usually these pictures end up being snapshots and typical. I know that may sound really vain and somewhat rude, but some days I wish I had a second me that could take pictures of me. However, I realize that I can get picky when it comes to photos and I really do appreciate the people who are willing to take photos of me.

It makes sense to talk about capturing people’s personality and emotion with photos, but it may sound weird that I try to do the same thing with places, buildings, and nature. Maybe it’s not so much that I try to capture personality as much as I try to tell a story with the picture. I try to avoid the typical “postcard” picture, but rather take a photo that would make a great postcard because it really captures the mood or feeling of the place. I try to get photos at angles or of different details that most people don’t notice.

That is what I really love about photography though is that it is so versatile. I can take typical photos, or as my favorite photography title indicates, extraordinary photos. I have started to look at the world in terms of a photograph. I cannot tell you how many times I look at something and then analyze it and try to determine how I would photograph it or what I would try to capture in a photo. I have seen so many gorgeous sunsets and sunrises that are very unique and I always wish I had my camera with me. But, whenever I think that I start looking at it as if I was going to take a photo and then I enjoy the beauty of it so much more.

One of my favorite photography quotes is:

“My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph.” ~Richard Avedon

This is so true! While I feel like it is good and somewhat essential to have photos of myself, I feel like all of my photos have a part of me in them. A lot of my personality comes out in my photographs. The subjects of my photos, the angles I use, how I place things in the photo, what stands out the most, and the focus of the photo all tell something about me, or by piecing them all together you would be able to see what is important to me and what I love.

So there you have a few of my thoughts and feelings about photography. Basically that is just a taste of what really goes on in my head when I think about photography, but maybe more will come out later…

“There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.” ~Ansel Adams

Temple Square

2008-01-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

So I never did a post about when Natalie, Breezy and I went to Temple Square, but there are some really cute pictures so I decided I would post them now. Not much of a story except this was Breezy's first time experiencing the lights at Temple Square so that was pretty exciting.

Snowboarding: A New Passion

2008-01-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, Breezy and I are taking a snowboarding class at BYU. It is so much fun! The week before class started we went up to Sundance twice to just try it out, as neither of us had been before. Well... as it turns out we improved greatly in the first two runs we made. By the end of the second run we were switching from our heel side to our toe side. Don't believe me? Just watch the movies!

Seriously though, we were decent by the end of the first day (two runs) but by the end of the second day we were even better. The movie was from the second run of the second day, so we were a little bit better than the first time we went. It has been so much fun!

On the first day of class we were definitely a lot better than most of the people, but then again, most people hadn't been before. Well, the second week of class they let us move up to the level two class. It was so much better! The teacher definitely knew what he was doing and I improved so much. I now know what I need to work on. However... I probably won't be able to work on those things for about three or four weeks because...

I was going down the hill doing great. I knew what I was doing and was just practicing so that eventually I wouldn't have to think about it. All of the sudden as I was switching back to my heel side I caught an edge and fell on my back. Being the intelligent person I am, I put my left arm down to break the fall. And while I broke the fall... I also injured my wrist. Well... it didn't hurt too bad so I finished that run and then Breezy and I did two more runs (the class was over so we had about an hour of free time). I still practiced the new skills we had learned, but I was careful not to fall again.

So after we were done, we stopped off at the bathroom and I took of my glove. To my surprise (I really wasn't in that much pain), there was a good sized bump on the top of my wrist and my hand was pretty swollen. It didn't help that my hand was freezing. A lady (who I believe works at Sundance) said I should go to Ski Patrol. So... she took me to Ski Patrol and they put my arm in a "splint". Basically they put some wire mesh under my arm and wrapped it in gauze. Then I took the bus back to BYU where my mom picked me up to take me to the doctor.

One thing I took for granted is being able to take off your coat when you get in a building. Because I was in my ski clothes when they wrapped my arm at Ski Patrol, my coat was wrapped into the splint. When we got to the doctor's office I wanted to take my coat off, but I couldn't really. I was able to remove one arm from the coat, but then I just had to leave it on the other arm. I walked in to get x-rayed with a coat attached to my arm. It was great. I just carried it wherever I needed to go.

So, in the end, I found out there was a small fracture on the side of my wrist. They gave me a hard splint (which was much more comfortable than the ridiculous one I got from Ski Patrol) and told me to come back in a week to see if I needed a cast. The PA said it should probably heal in about 3-4 weeks. Sadly, that means I have to drop the snowboarding class, but fortunately I should be able to ski for the last part of the season. I probably won't be going back on the snowboard until next year, but at least I am good enough on skis that I don't have to worry about getting injured and I can still enjoy the great snow Sundance has had this year.

So there you have the story of my snowboarding experience. For eight years I have been skiing with no injuries, and after four days of snowboarding I break my wrist. How stupid is that? Oh well! I got 10 hours of paid time off at work and now I will have some free time on Tuesdays!