my nieces pics

Here are some pics of my nieces that I took last night for my portraiture class and for my sister in law. It was fun.

denied health insurance

i have now been denied health insurance because of my brain tumor six years ago...

how bad is the system?

in class

here are a few of my latest images, the first is the gradient assignment for advanced lighting, and the last is the shiny object. the middle image is the one i created in class for an in class assignment. we were given 6 images and had to put them all together within an hour and a half. so that is what i got out of it.





so not much is up lately, i quit target because it was the worst job i have ever had. my last day in next saturday. school, the quarter is already over 1/3 of the way done. how crazy is that. i think its going pretty well. it could be because i dont feel as stressed out this quarter, which is awesome! jon and i are doing well with our relationship. we have been watching tons of movies. we watched malcolm x the other day, it is about 3 hours long and took us three nights to finish because we are like old people and stop the movie halfway through and finish it the next night. the other day jon and i went hiking, it was awesome. we finally got a hicking book with lots of trails in it. we are planning on going camping sometime here.
its been way too hot out here, it was 103 the other day. and we have broken a record here in denver. the record was in 1901 with 19 days of over 90 degrees in a row we are now around 23 days i believe. its no fun... jon and i have camped out in our living room where the air conditioner is the last two nights. way too hot for us. thats it all i have to say today, sorry it took me so long to update

scooter updates...

oh, the little scoot and the big coco bean





scooter is doing pretty good, its coco who is crazy. scooter is like that annoying little sibling to coco. scoot likes to chase coco and play lots and lots, coco has long forgotten how to be a little kitten. coco licks scooter here and there, then bites him...i dont really know how bad of a bite, but scoot seems to know coco will get in trouble if he squeaks. its all good though

Another day of finals

I think it's pretty much official I want to be a photojournalist. Maybe I will go to college another couple years and do journalism as a minor. All I would have to take is another couple english/journalism credits. Tell me what you think about my pj story...







lots of stuff happening for me so it seems.

Joe in Denver

Joe was in Denver this last week. He, Rachel, and Ricky drove out last Sunday. We went to Red Rocks, drove in the Mountains, went up Pikes Peak, and had they did some other stuff while I was in school and Jon was at work. I really enjoyed having Joe here. I was thinking about it and this week was the longest amount of time him and I have been together since he was kicked out of my parents house. I had forgotten how much I missed him. I love having a big brother! This morning was when the three of them drove away. They got up around 7am and Joe made a stink in the bathroom before I took my shower (some things never change.. okay so I couldn't smell it). As I was leaving for work they were headed up to 72nd and Federal and then they were on their way out of Colorado. I drove off on my moped with my pink helmet and wished I could give him another hug. A few tears came out of my eyes and then blew off my face by the wind as I drove down Lowel. It's kind of weird how years don't always change your feelings for the people you love.
Also, big news, the long awaited proposal happened at the top of Pike's Peak! the pictures above show Rachel and Joe hugging and she was crying she was so happy, it was very cute and the ring is gorgeous!
Funny, Joe had gotten quite the sweet tooth since I have hung out with him last. Make him anything sweet, and he will love you lots. hahah

moped and credit cards

The moped was a smart decision, we have already saved lots of money on gas and my school parking. sweet-hola

Jon and I got a moped!! I have totally wanted one for forever.

news on the mile high front

so the other day i posted about the crazy upstairs guy. well jon finally talked to our landlord howard about it and he said that the police had handcuffed him to a chair in his appartment when the went up to talk to him. also, the best news, the dude is moving out in a month or so!!! hopefully the person taking his place is a quiet person.

snowy spring day here in denver

yesterday was 80 some degrees out, today, snowing and i'm working in the mountains. crazy...

hey did i share on my blog how i had gotten stuck in the mountains for a night because of the snow! the Eisenhower tunnel had become closed and i had to stay in Frisco, CO for the night.

whatever

so i havent written in a very long time. every time i think about posting a blog, the internet doesnt work. so stories i have. the other night the guy upstairs was really really loud from 10:00 to when i woke up around 2:30 in the morning. i woke up jon, he went up to the guy and asked him to turn down his music. the guy yelled at him and then came downstairs and banged on our door yelling at us, saying "come out and i we can fight..." or something like that. jon said it was the last call and we called the police. the police came and talked to him and he was pissed! after the police left he banged on the floor (our ceiling) and said i am going to F'n kill him. jon and i were very scared and we only got about 2 1/2 hours of sleep. it sucked, hopefully he will move when the school year is over.

other than that i got another job, i am working at target developing film. two jobs, and full time school, sucks. i'm ready for summer break now, but i have 6 weeks left until i have summer break (which is only 4 weeks!).

jon is in his week of finals. he is all excited for his summer break, it suck to watch him getting done and me having to wait.

anyways, i have been thinking about what type of photography i would like to do and i am still thinking documentary or journalism would fit me best. ever since i was a pre-teen i have liked documentary type photos and documentary movies and so on. also this means i dont have to fool around on the computer correcting and putting pictures together and more of the fine art photography things to do.

alright, time to do my stuff in class.

prairie dogs

i have now lived in two states with prairie dogs in them. they are funny. today i was taking boys baseball pics for some high school up in longmont, CO and behind the kid was a prairie dog. i laughed and then said "i'm from minnesota, prairie dogs are still funny to me."

other odds. got my grades today, the western civ class i was all worried about i got a C+ in. my overall GPA has dropped, but next quarter i should get it back up again. i am standing on a 3.4 GPA. i'm still proud of myself.

jon had an appointment with DU (Denver University), its a private college down I25 from us. he had a lot to ask the guy he spoke with this morning. its prety exciting to hear that he is prety much a shoe in for grad school because of his grades. the only worry is financial aid; whether or not he will get a TA position. Jon has an appointment up in Fort Collins at CSU. I'm ganna go with him up there since i have the day off. his parents might also go, they will be in town for the weekend. thats it, i'm done...

color management

A couple more pics for class. the first one is my final for color management, the other one is the last project.




here we are, sitting in the computer lab waiting for the teacher... where is he, i wan to take my final RIGHT NOW! haha (j/k). it will feel good to have it done though. after my history test this afternoon, all i have left is my color management final.

my to do list for the day

here is the final pic for lighting class


wake up
go to school
drop my picture files
take LF/Lighting final
critique photos
check financial aid process
try and print color management pics
study for west. civ./Dig. Im. finals
put on my spare tire
get my tire patched
get Jon's fin. aid info verified
study for finals...
do the laundry
fold the laundry
study, study, study...
go to Chelsie's goodbye party
sleep

start all over again

+New Post (my final images)

Some of my final project images:

Digital Image

Large Format


randomness: so i think i broke my toe. it hurts like when i broke my foot (left foot too). i've woken up and my toes are sore and then when i push the bone it hurts bad and so on. not going to go into the doc though. its just a toe. other odds: i talked to my dad the other day and he asked how i'm doing, if i've been sick, told him i'm doing well then within the next day or so i was sick. so now im sitting in class really tired and feelin sick. hopefully that will leave before finals week.

dead week

yesterday was the beginning of dead week for me. dead week = the crazy busy week before finals. i am in the quarter system so i have this week and next week left for this quarter. i then have one week of and go back to school 3 weeks from now. spring break is much needed, though, i will probably be working every day of my break so that jon and i can catch up on our credit card bills. we are still trying to pay it all off after me not working much over christmas break, the car insurance bill, my car being fixed, and all the other odds and ends that need to be met. we are getting there though. only a couple hundred left on our couches and it feels good to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel there.

for dead week, jon and i went to AiC last night and took pictures and developed my reshoots/remakes until around 11:45 and then we headed home and went straight to bed. i got the grades back for those and i have gotten a 4 on all but 1 remake (in other words, an A). Jon has been a great encouragement and helping my worn out mind with ideas. i was going to put up some of the pics today but i brought the wrong cable over to the library, sorry. i will have to do that tomorrow. today was crazy too, i worked in the dark room all morning and then in the afternoon i took my final project photos with the digital leaf back for the 4x5 camera. i have one more final shoot for that class which will have to get done on sunday. no clue what i want to do for that. studying for my history test next week would be a smart thing to do. i am not doing well in that class at all, we cant aford for me to retake that class ($1500 for just one class) all right, im tired. im going to try and get some of my final pics up tomorrow during my digital illustration class. oofta (as they say in minnesota). oofta again, its the only way of getting that out.

lighting, and other photos

here are a couple pics. the first one is the karsh assignment that chelsie took of me. look up the name karsh and you will find a guy that did this style of hot light photos. the second photo is the lead singer from the band hearts of palm. jon and i went to their show on saturday night. it was a free e.p. release show at illegal petes downtown on 16th street. it was awesome. they are one of the best bands i've heard in a long time. enjoy

jon's first gray hair

as him and i were in our living room of the one bedroom appartment that we live in, he was sitting on the love seat near the window. i glanced over at him and saw a shiny hair sticking out from an inch or so behind his ear. i hastily went over to him, said, "hang tight" and pulled the measly gray hair out of his head. yes, that is the first one and he is only 21. his thought was that since his hair would be gray it is better than going bald. in other words, he means he is going to be silver headed pretty soon like his father was at his age. i suppose full gray head of hair is better than a spot on top that can get sun burned :)

a day of class

sitting in class... zzzzzzzzz... that should explain everything. the class is color management, the learning is lecture, my interest is low. how would you like to sit in a class all about how to work with color in photographs. it is a good class, a base class that is needed, but i look through the tiny holes in the shades and long to go outside into the nice day.

besides class, i have to work at 2:30. the job shouldn't take long, which isn't good because i would like a bigger pay check. oh well. the job is just a re-shoot of a basketball team.

before i go to work Jon and i are dropping the Mazda off at shop to get an estimate. we went to another car repair shop yesterday, he looked at it and said that he could make it about half the price midas had said. he also pointed out i need a new muffler because the pipe or something has rusted and broke while i went over a bump and now my muffler is just hanging there. anyways, that gave Jon and me a bit more hope! so i suppose if it is half the cost we thought it would be for that (we don't know how much the bad oil leek with be) then we are better off than we thought and we are actually doing ok with our money.

we did our FAFSAs yesterday. one question is how much money do you have. we have $100 to our name. hopefully that helps us get better aid for next years college. oh and i go to write junior because i will be only a couple credits away from being a junion. i am a senior for sure. i probably have over 100 credits in my name. i suppose for my third year of school that is pretty normal. with my credits that transfer and the classes i have taken, i have one full year done at AiC. i just want to be done! is there any way i can get it done any faster? please? ok so there isn't any way to get around the next two years at school. I'm counting down the months!



in these pics, the clock is in the exact same position, how i set up the 4x5 camera is how i distorted the shape. and actually the clock was at an angle on the table. hmmm... camera tricks. love it!

large format

another day has passed, and i dont have much to show for it. not, i totally felt like i had accomplished something in class today. i turned in both assignments do, like i have done every other time, i got both the assignments for next week done also, and i started my fafsa which i will hopefully finish soon. i suppose there are a few other things that i have accomplished, but i cant really remember what they are at this moment. oh, i got my mid-term grades this week and last. i am getting an A or high B in all classes except history which we have had only one test to put in the grade book anyways.

i am so bored, i am sitting in the computer lab on jon's campus writing in my blog because i have nothing else to do (besides a little bit of homework, which isnt due at the beginning of class). jon is at work, which is a good thing for the wallet, but i am tired of being home alone with coco. i suppose, when he is home we dont get any studying done anyways, but whatever. i need a friend, besides jenny, that i can call or hang out with. i'm tired of this boringness.

so here i am sitting in the computer lab of a school i dont even go to typing nonsense onto my blog. which by the way i have had for four years now. how crazy is that. and the beat goes on. . .

oh, some day soon i will show a few more of the crazy pics i have taken with the 4x5 camera. pretty sweet tool we are working with.

my joke for the day

so today was a bit better than the last few days. its prety exciting that a couple hours ago my parents got noah, finally. i hope and pray everything is going well, for the whole situation and all. that would totally suck to be noah and have everything in your life totally change. i think it would be harder to be noah than it would be to be mya. cause mya has no memory of when she was in china but noah will.

anyways, i talked to joe today. i love having a brother. it was really encouraging to talk to him. it didnt really help to solve the whole car problem but he did tell me some other things we could do to the car to half way fix it. like use a soup can as part of the exhaust pipe. kinda crazy sounding but all i want is the car to last another couple years until i am finished with my undergrad/bachelors degree. he also told me it could be way worse and told me a couple stories that made me feel better. like his friend had to put anti-freeze in his van every day. so if i have to check my oil once a week i suppose that isnt horrible. his life doesnt sound to be going that great either. he said he is just taking it one day at a time and life is better that way. its nice to have a sibling that is in the same boat as me and jon. its encouraging to know that we are not alone in struggling. He said if him and rachael can get a couple hundred bucks together they still want to come out to colorado this spring or summer. that would be great! i miss him and rachael.

on to my next subject...

my joke for the day:

What do you call a sleep-walking nun?

-------A roamin' Catholic

car crazy!

oh what a wonderful day... nope sorry, thats not how it went. well, i suppose it started that way. early in the morning while i laid in bed asleep, i woke up to jon hugging me and cuddling. it makes me happy to wake up to the love of my life laying next to me. he whispered to me that he loves me and we kissed. i love him.

him and i ended up sleeping in until 10:30. that is latest we have slept in since, well, a long time ago. it felt great to sleep in. after we got out of bed we got ready for the day and went to midas to get our oils changed. ps, my cars oil light went on this last friday. so when the midas guy gave me back my keys he said that my car has a bad oil leak. i wanted to fall down right there where i was standing and just cry. along with the oil leak we learned about today, my exhaust pipe is pretty much not there anymore and almost all of the exhaust system has to be replaced. this will cost estimatedly over $1500. so what is the thought, my car has almost 193,000 miles on it, is a '95 and is not worth much more than the fix itself. what should we do? buy a new car that we have no money for (trade in), just plane fix it, or let it sit in the parking lot and buy my dream moped which will cost around the same as is to fix the car. jon and i are lost. we called his parents, they were a so so help. i cant call my parents they are half way across the world getting my baby brother. which is great, but why when i need them a lot they aren't callable. i called my big brother, he was at work and said he would call me back later. who else do i call?? i dont know anyone around here besides dan and my sister in law both down near colorado springs. i feel so lost and i keep crying. poor jon, he's so good at putting up with me (he went to work this afternoon, so im all alone!). coco isnt much of a help about expensive car troubles. i wish that i just had some long lost rich relative that would help me.

life is so depressing lately. love is great lately though, Jon is a great husband! never really did understand why he loves me so much. we can do it, we can do it, we can do it. . .

class today

oofta, yes, that is a Minnesotan word. but sometimes it just fits so well.

today i had my large format and lighting class. in other words, i was stuck in the same studio bay for 8 to 9 hours. it wasn't too bad today, i got to take a few of the pictures with a digital leafback. in other words, i could look at the laptop and see the product without having to spend hours in the dark room. i have decided that this class is the load that is bearing me down. a good thing, i am passing it with at least a B, midterm is now over, and only about 5 weeks left of the quarter.

So Jon came and visited with me at school today during my last couple hours of class. it made it so much better. i love him lots! i wish i could take him with me more often. he deserves big 'ole kisses. oh that reminds me, i have no idea what i am going to do for him for valentines day. i'm thinkin'.

i registered for classes today. i will be taking photojournalism (which i am really excited about!), printing, photographic matterial..., advanced lighting, and spanish 1. thats it.
Here are a few pics i took with the leafback for lighting class.

cars SUCK! / rambling rumbles

another day, another problem. I took my car into midas yesterday to see what was wrong with the muffler. When the man returned and told me the problems, he said there are a couple things wrong. All in all, it could cost up to $1,200. That is an ouch right there.

On a good note, I finally received my book that Jenny and I are going to do a Bible study together with. Also, yesterday I didn't have school or work, and I got my wedding ring back from "the shop". It feels good to have my ring back on my finger, I felt naked without it. Jon and I ended up staying up until around midnight, I am tired today. And I forgot my hard-drive at home today. I swear I put it in my backpack. Oh well, my teacher is nice and just made me feel bad for forgetting it. He said he could be fired if he forgot his hard-drive and so on. I know I did something wrong, so you don't need to tell me again. . .

I'm sitting in class on my break, my tummy is growling. I should call my mom today, see how the China business is going. hmmmm... I have to work at 2:30 today. We are taking pics of two wrestling teams of 50 some kids. That will be fun. Mike put three of us on the job though so it should fun and pretty easy.

So anyone have any photography jobs they know about and can fly me there? I wonder if the adoption agency could hire me to do documentary photography for them. doubt it, oh well.

It feels good to be thinking and then just write it down.

I love Jon! I can't believe we have been married over a year, and I can't believe he is turning 22 at the end of February.

Wow, if I have made it this far in life, I think I can make it a couple more years. ya think?

Taxes suck!! So because we are students that makes it tough. Jon and I talked to Regis Financial department because his tax form said that we hadn't paid anything, WRONG, we have paid over a thousand dollars last semester for his school. The lady said that the school didn't have to write how much you paid. It isn't required. DUMB! So the two of us are thinking about going to the accountant at the greenhouse to get our taxes done.


Remember this picture from China?

a bit stressed? YES!

i am so worn out from today. i have been up since 5:15am and was at school from 6:30am to 6:30pm. i barely even saw the sun today. VACATION!!!! I'm ready! now that i am back from school i get to study study study for a test i have in western civ class tomorrow afternoon. the chemicals from the dark room are making me crazy... ok, so i am crazy anyways.

one good thing today; i got an A on my first assignment in large format photo, but in lighting (the sister class) i got a reshoot. also, we have an assignment due next week and i got most of that done, except something happened in the drying rack to my negative and now on my best neg. there are chemical spots. jerks!

alright, done complaining; i guess i got a lot done today and should be proud of myself. i am i suppose.

oh ok, my little tiff of the day. so i drive jons car to school today, pay for a parking permit for the day and then the school tells me i cant even get a one day pass to park there (the little sticker in the window), and then i park on the street and then i get a $25 ticket! screw the system! what is wrong with AiC having us pay over four hundred dollars a credit and plus 5 dollars per day in the parking garage. well screw you, you ass holes who steal the money from a students pocket!!! its not like students have money in the first place unless they are spoiled rich kids. aghh.

ive gotten it out of my mind, i feel a bit better, thanks

New Year and Beyond

sorry it's taken me so long to make another post. after Christmas, and then new years time went by too fast. new years eve Jon and i stayed up watching a movie, drank a little bit of alcohol to the new year and then enjoyed ourselves some more. New years day, our first anniversary, we hung out together until around 5 when Jon's sister Mary came over whttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gifith the girls. We then drove overnight in his little volkswagen jetta with him and I and Mary and the girls all packed in. it wasnt a very cozy trip, unless you were in the drivers seat drinking some monster energy drink and watching the nothingness of nebraska go by.

back in minnesota we had very few minutes alone. our days were pretty much planned out to the T. one day here with so and so and another day there with the other so and so. it was a good non-vacation trip.

I now already on my third week of school. the projects keep piling on and work isnt getting me enough money; like always. this quarter I'm taking large format (with a 4x5 camera, the one that kinda looks like an acordian), lighting, digital Image, Western Civ, and color management. I would have to say that my plate is overflowing like at a Christmas dinner. The biggest complication is trying to juggle my time wisely and then keep my mind in an organized mess. I think I'm ok so far. We will see in about 3 weeks when the quarter is halfway over. One of my goals for the quarter is to keep my GPA up. At the moment it is at 3.6, which is the highest it has ever been, that i can remember. I'm so proud of myself. I guess its that time in my life where i have to start patting myself on the back and telling myself that i am doing a good job in life. it would be nice at times to have someone other than jon tell me that i'm doing a good job though. oh well. i guess im in the "real world" now.

Jenny and I are starting to be Bible-study buddies. I called her the other day crying my eyes out, just needing someone to talk to. She was there for me and that meant the world to me. I love that I have her! she is such a blessing. we talked about everything big and small that has been happening in our lives. it was wonderful...

Life seems to be getting me one thing after another after another. To have God, my husband, and a great friend to talk to is the best thing that could happen to me. It means the world to me that they will listen to all my questions about God and life and wont make fun of me or tell me i am a bad person for thinking the things i do. Never in life will you know all the answers, and even if you think you know the answer, it may not be right. I hate having the people in my life that when i even mention something that might have passed through my head or a question/theory that i am contemplating that they judge me and i am wrong right then and there. it is one of the most hurtful things a person could ever do to a friend or family member.

well there were some thoughts that went through my head. it feels good to write them down and get them out of my head. I suppose that is what journals are all about.