So, this week has been busy. Chris and I both took Wednesday off because my mom went into surgery that morning. She's had some problems for many years but only recently was the cause found. She had a rather large pelvic mass in her abdomen. She decided not to biopsy it until after it was taken out. It turns out that it was only a fibroid mass attached to a ligament - fibroid masses are usually non-cancerous. So all is well and she is doing really GREAT! She spent 2 nights in the hospital and I've been helping her when I can. She already says she feels some relief from her related pains she's had all these years. We're all very happy things turned out so well.
Because I took Wednesday off of work for mom's surgery I've been staying at work extra long hours the other days to make up the time. It's been busy and eBay is super crazy right now with things constantly changing.
I also went to an orientation for my master's program Thursday night. I am SO excited to be starting school again. It's so weird because while you're in school all you can think about is getting done with it, but after having a semester off I'm totally ready to begin this new chapter. These classes are so much more specialized and totally what I want to be doing as a career so I am just so excited to get going! My first official class is Tuesday :)
My schedule will actually be very light compared to what I was doing in the last few semesters of my undergrad stuff. I'll still get to work the day shift at work, but on Tuesday and Thursday nights I'll head up to the U from 5-8 pm. Not bad at all!
So that's the update. :)
Friday, August 21, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Good Deed
So the other week, exactly 2 weeks ago to be precise, the garage door was accidentally left open overnight and Ramin's golf clubs were stolen. So was Chris' snowboard and sub-woofer, plus some change out of his car. What horrible luck. Guess you can't trust any neighborhood anymore.
Anyway, last week Chris and Ramin decided to put out some flyers on the community mailboxes asking for any information about the stolen loot. As they walked around the neighborhood they also took Belle for a walk :) It was good for her. There also happened to be this stray dog wandering around and it came up to Belle for a minute and sniffed her and ran off. About 5 minutes later a car pulls up and asks Ramin and Chris if they'd seen a big white dog wandering around. It just happened to sound like the exact same dog that they had just seen. So they told the lady in the car what direction the dog ran off in. Another 5 minutes goes by as they are heading home and the white dog shows up AGAIN! So this time Ramin and Chris take her by the collar (at least she had one) and walked her home to our house. And behold the pictures of what this beautiful dog looked like:
This dog was named Tiny Malone according to her dog tag and she was THE SWEETEST thing. She was also impeccably groomed!! And she was HUGE!!! Just look at the size of her compared to Chris! She was so sweet. When they got home I came outside to see her and I gave her a bowl of water. She has so much fur she was dying of thirst after running around the neighborhood! Ramin called the owners and told them where we lived and it took them about 20 minutes to come pick her up but it was great taking care of this beautiful dog for a short while. Turns out she is a Great Pyrenese. I don't think I'd ever want to own one, I can't even imagine how much fur she sheds, but she was so sweet and laid back. I feel good Chris and Ramin brought her back so we could make sure she got back home safely. I just hope she doesn't get out again :P
Anyway, last week Chris and Ramin decided to put out some flyers on the community mailboxes asking for any information about the stolen loot. As they walked around the neighborhood they also took Belle for a walk :) It was good for her. There also happened to be this stray dog wandering around and it came up to Belle for a minute and sniffed her and ran off. About 5 minutes later a car pulls up and asks Ramin and Chris if they'd seen a big white dog wandering around. It just happened to sound like the exact same dog that they had just seen. So they told the lady in the car what direction the dog ran off in. Another 5 minutes goes by as they are heading home and the white dog shows up AGAIN! So this time Ramin and Chris take her by the collar (at least she had one) and walked her home to our house. And behold the pictures of what this beautiful dog looked like:
This dog was named Tiny Malone according to her dog tag and she was THE SWEETEST thing. She was also impeccably groomed!! And she was HUGE!!! Just look at the size of her compared to Chris! She was so sweet. When they got home I came outside to see her and I gave her a bowl of water. She has so much fur she was dying of thirst after running around the neighborhood! Ramin called the owners and told them where we lived and it took them about 20 minutes to come pick her up but it was great taking care of this beautiful dog for a short while. Turns out she is a Great Pyrenese. I don't think I'd ever want to own one, I can't even imagine how much fur she sheds, but she was so sweet and laid back. I feel good Chris and Ramin brought her back so we could make sure she got back home safely. I just hope she doesn't get out again :P
Saturday, August 8, 2009
New/Old Passion
It's no secret I want to have my own invitation business. I've been thinking about it for almost a year now honestly. I've done so much research on what is out there that it's almost overwhelming. Nonetheless, I do know that when I do start my own projects (once the photography thing transitions a bit more to Jill and when I have more extraneous money), I'd like to incorporate handmade stamping into my invitations. In the invitation business, everything is either digitally printed or letterpressed. Digital is cheaper but doesn't offer the handmade feel and letterpress offer the extreme handmade feel but is hella expensive. So I think I want to combine the two. The whole reason I even wanted to do invitations was so I could use my hands and have fun compiling all of the components. I actually like mundane work like that. I always have, ask my mom who used to take me to work with her when I was young. If you needed labels made and stuck on folders, I was all over it!
Anyway, so I've been researching a lot lately about what kind of stamps I'd like to incorporate. I think I'll use my blog to sort of show some of the things that inspire me. Or maybe I'll start a whole NEW blog just for inspirational things - I already follow a lot of blogs dedicated to that sort of thing. So for now I'll just post the few I've found already that I LOVE! I actually have a lot more to post, including stamps from Tim Holtz (note to family, anything gift related should be from Tim Holtz - man I'm the easiest person to shop for hehe).
These stamps I found from Somerset Studio. They create an awesome mixed media and paper magazine. I've purchased it a few times in the past but never really had the will to do much. Now once I get the right supplies I'm totally ready! These stamps here are totally my kinda style!! What do you think?
Anyway, so I've been researching a lot lately about what kind of stamps I'd like to incorporate. I think I'll use my blog to sort of show some of the things that inspire me. Or maybe I'll start a whole NEW blog just for inspirational things - I already follow a lot of blogs dedicated to that sort of thing. So for now I'll just post the few I've found already that I LOVE! I actually have a lot more to post, including stamps from Tim Holtz (note to family, anything gift related should be from Tim Holtz - man I'm the easiest person to shop for hehe).
These stamps I found from Somerset Studio. They create an awesome mixed media and paper magazine. I've purchased it a few times in the past but never really had the will to do much. Now once I get the right supplies I'm totally ready! These stamps here are totally my kinda style!! What do you think?
Monday, August 3, 2009
While I'm thinkin about it...
I heard this song on the radio today. It's my all time favorite song. It has many good memories for me, most of which only Chris and my Dad would understand and remember :) Anyway, I love this song and it's very special to me. It's not only the actual music but the lyrics as well. It's helped me get through the hard times in life. I've talked with my friend Lisa before about songs we'd want at our funeral. I want this song played. Anyone even remotely close to me understands and would appreciate it. Not that I'm planning to have a funeral anytime soon (knock on wood) but I think it would be a great song for everyone to remember me by.
And I'd also like this song played because it's my second favorite song and it makes me cry whenever I listen to it. I can remember when Chris and I used to sit in Dad's car for hours and just listen to this 8-track play over and over, Steve Miller Band's greatest hits. I loved all of the songs, but these 2 really have a special place in my heart and evoke strong emotions for me.
And I'd also like this song played because it's my second favorite song and it makes me cry whenever I listen to it. I can remember when Chris and I used to sit in Dad's car for hours and just listen to this 8-track play over and over, Steve Miller Band's greatest hits. I loved all of the songs, but these 2 really have a special place in my heart and evoke strong emotions for me.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Anything Goin On?!?!
I've been trying to think of an update but honestly, everything is the same as it has been for the past 2 months - BUSY!! Work is very busy (in a good way of course) and so has the Atmina business. We're coming up to a slower period because we haven't got many scheduled appointments. But we're welcoming the break I think. We're at the point where we REALLY NEED a new camera. And we've already got our choices narrowed down - it will be either the Nikon D5000 or the Nikon D90 - basically very similar cameras. We've done our homework and talked to various photography stores about the cameras and looked at things online. For our price range this is the best we can get. And speaking of price range, the only way we'll be getting this new camera is if we qualify for the business credit card we applied for at Chase. I've pretty much got everything business wise taken care of for Atmina. Checking account, sales tax license, business license from the city of West Jordan and now we're in need of some funds. Don't get me wrong, we've made money so far but a lot of it has gone to more urgent supplies, like creating our OWN backdrop for the studio. An associate at Inkleys gave us the idea so instead of spending $125 for one of theirs that we weren't too fond of, we decided to make our own with supplies from Home Depot :P And it cost less than $100. Jill is in the process of creating it.
Anyway, enough about the business :P Then again, I don't have much to talk about. You might be wondering how I'm going to keep up with things once school starts again in a few weeks. Well I've thought about that. We're hopefully going to find an assistant for Jill to take on photo shoots, and she's going to have to do a lot of them herself. I will probably still have time to be the editor and run all of the business aspects, I just won't have time to be going to all of the shoots. I guess we'll see how it goes as it comes.
I'm now working for eBay at home 2 days a week. I think I posted a bit ago that we've had to move buildings as things expand and we've been crammed into tiny rooms with folding tables for our desks. So our awesome boss got us all laptops and now we can work at home a few days a week. So I work at home Mondays and Fridays. It really helps me out because I save those few hours each day not having to get ready and pack a lunch and drive back and forth. I'm able to actually be MORE productive at home since there is less distraction (hey I like to talk to co-workers :P) and I enjoy just being at home. I hope I'll be able to keep up this routine once school starts as well.
Anyway, that's an update. I'll try and get a picture update of the garden items sometime this week. I always LOVE showing off my plants :P
Anyway, enough about the business :P Then again, I don't have much to talk about. You might be wondering how I'm going to keep up with things once school starts again in a few weeks. Well I've thought about that. We're hopefully going to find an assistant for Jill to take on photo shoots, and she's going to have to do a lot of them herself. I will probably still have time to be the editor and run all of the business aspects, I just won't have time to be going to all of the shoots. I guess we'll see how it goes as it comes.
I'm now working for eBay at home 2 days a week. I think I posted a bit ago that we've had to move buildings as things expand and we've been crammed into tiny rooms with folding tables for our desks. So our awesome boss got us all laptops and now we can work at home a few days a week. So I work at home Mondays and Fridays. It really helps me out because I save those few hours each day not having to get ready and pack a lunch and drive back and forth. I'm able to actually be MORE productive at home since there is less distraction (hey I like to talk to co-workers :P) and I enjoy just being at home. I hope I'll be able to keep up this routine once school starts as well.
Anyway, that's an update. I'll try and get a picture update of the garden items sometime this week. I always LOVE showing off my plants :P
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Some new portraits
Jill and I had to test out a new location we've heard about this week. Of course we brought the camera and took some pics. These are a preview of some of mine. We're taking a client to this place tomorrow night so I'll be posting their pictures at this place on the Atmina blog later this week. I'll just tell you right now, it's one of our ultimate favorite places now ;)
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Yellowstone!!
I'll admit, I've been horrible lately at keeping up on my personal blog. I'm sorry about that. I took a much needed rest from the photography biz this past weekend and went with Ramin, his brother Babak, and Chris up to Yellowstone for 3 fun filled days!
I don't have all of the pictures yet as the majority of them are on Ramin's camera and we haven't yet loaded them on to the computer. So here are the pictures from my camera. Here's how our trip went:
Friday - we left in the morning around 9 am. We took a pit stop right at the top of Bear Lake, there's a convenient rest stop there. As Ramin and I were waiting at the stop we looked at all of those touristy pamphlets they have. I happened to see one called "Explore Minnetonka Cave" - I thought it looked interesting and we asked the attendant how far it was. It was only 20 miles off our main path. We decided to go for it! We got there and realized it was more popular than we realized and we had an hour to kill before our tour began. There happened to be a trail down the mountain near the cave so we hiked it...that was our first hike of the trip :P The cave was AWESOME and HUGE! I definitely recommend going there if you have the chance. We drove the rest of the way to Yellowstone after the cave trip and set up camp. We arrived around 8:30 pm, just enough light left outside to see things :) We stayed at Flag Ranch right outside of the entrance to Yellowstone.
Saturday - we did the infamous Yellowstone Loop this day. We saw all of the mud pots, paint pots, geysers, lakes, rivers and waterfalls!! We took MANY hikes this day to get the best view o the waterfalls. Artist Point was awesome!!! I have a few pics here of Yellowstone's Grand Canyon - I almost like it better than the REAL Grand Canyon!! Seriously!! Overall, this day was great but exhausting! We saved Old Faithful for the very end. I have a video of it going off - I might post that later!
Sunday - ok, this was BY far the hardest day for me of the trip. I was already tired from the hiking the previous 2 days, but Ramin had signed us all up for a half day mountain bike tour and a half day of rafting down the Snake River. We started the bike ride with a personal guide named Dan around 10 am. We rode 14 miles!?!?!?! Let me tell you, it was the hardest thing I've done in my life probably. I cried at some parts because I was so scared going down hill and then I loved other parts because we were in such a pretty part of the forrest. I'm proud of myself for actually going all the way and not giving up, even though I wanted to many times :P After the bike ride we had a little time to grab some lunch in Jackson Hole - we ate at a pizza dive called Moutain High Pizza Pie - it was good but I couldn't eat much after biking so much. An hour later we were on our way to the meeting place for the river rafting trip. We'd all been rafting before, Ramin Chris and I have gone down the Colorado River in Moab before and had tons of fun. But this trip takes the cake!! The water was bloody cold but there were some awesome rapids!!! Rafting is hard work too with the paddling you have to do, but it's really all fun :) After the river trip we packed up the truck and drove straight home and arrived around 11 pm.
So that was our trip in nutshell - obviously a lot more happened. We saw almost all the animals there are in Yellowstone. A moose walked through our campsite. We saw a bison sitting in a parking lot chewing his cud - picture soon to come - we saw an osprey, or hawk, flying over the river carrying a fish in his talons. We saw many elk, bison and deer and Babak found a coyote running around and caught a glimpse of the infamous bear (I'm glad I didn't see it!)
More pictures hopefully to come this weekend!
Mammoth again
More pics to come later!
I don't have all of the pictures yet as the majority of them are on Ramin's camera and we haven't yet loaded them on to the computer. So here are the pictures from my camera. Here's how our trip went:
Friday - we left in the morning around 9 am. We took a pit stop right at the top of Bear Lake, there's a convenient rest stop there. As Ramin and I were waiting at the stop we looked at all of those touristy pamphlets they have. I happened to see one called "Explore Minnetonka Cave" - I thought it looked interesting and we asked the attendant how far it was. It was only 20 miles off our main path. We decided to go for it! We got there and realized it was more popular than we realized and we had an hour to kill before our tour began. There happened to be a trail down the mountain near the cave so we hiked it...that was our first hike of the trip :P The cave was AWESOME and HUGE! I definitely recommend going there if you have the chance. We drove the rest of the way to Yellowstone after the cave trip and set up camp. We arrived around 8:30 pm, just enough light left outside to see things :) We stayed at Flag Ranch right outside of the entrance to Yellowstone.
Saturday - we did the infamous Yellowstone Loop this day. We saw all of the mud pots, paint pots, geysers, lakes, rivers and waterfalls!! We took MANY hikes this day to get the best view o the waterfalls. Artist Point was awesome!!! I have a few pics here of Yellowstone's Grand Canyon - I almost like it better than the REAL Grand Canyon!! Seriously!! Overall, this day was great but exhausting! We saved Old Faithful for the very end. I have a video of it going off - I might post that later!
Sunday - ok, this was BY far the hardest day for me of the trip. I was already tired from the hiking the previous 2 days, but Ramin had signed us all up for a half day mountain bike tour and a half day of rafting down the Snake River. We started the bike ride with a personal guide named Dan around 10 am. We rode 14 miles!?!?!?! Let me tell you, it was the hardest thing I've done in my life probably. I cried at some parts because I was so scared going down hill and then I loved other parts because we were in such a pretty part of the forrest. I'm proud of myself for actually going all the way and not giving up, even though I wanted to many times :P After the bike ride we had a little time to grab some lunch in Jackson Hole - we ate at a pizza dive called Moutain High Pizza Pie - it was good but I couldn't eat much after biking so much. An hour later we were on our way to the meeting place for the river rafting trip. We'd all been rafting before, Ramin Chris and I have gone down the Colorado River in Moab before and had tons of fun. But this trip takes the cake!! The water was bloody cold but there were some awesome rapids!!! Rafting is hard work too with the paddling you have to do, but it's really all fun :) After the river trip we packed up the truck and drove straight home and arrived around 11 pm.
So that was our trip in nutshell - obviously a lot more happened. We saw almost all the animals there are in Yellowstone. A moose walked through our campsite. We saw a bison sitting in a parking lot chewing his cud - picture soon to come - we saw an osprey, or hawk, flying over the river carrying a fish in his talons. We saw many elk, bison and deer and Babak found a coyote running around and caught a glimpse of the infamous bear (I'm glad I didn't see it!)
More pictures hopefully to come this weekend!
This was the starting and ending point of our 14 mile mountain bike trip!
Chris, Babak, Ramin and Dan (the tour guide) after our ride
Me after our ride, can you tell I'm pooped?!?
Babak and Ramin acting like the ride we took was a piece of cake :P
Chris had fun too!!
Part of the Loop - this was Mammoth Springs
More Mammoth Springs - very cool formations!
Mammoth again
And one last one
Here's Babak climbin on a tree while Chris and I rest while hiking up from the lower falls
Yellowstone's Grand Canyon - yes it's awesome!
This is the river before it hits the lower falls (I forget which river it is, there's so many!)
Chris, Ramin and Babak admiring the awesome power that is the waterfall!
Chris making a silly "cool" move
More pics to come later!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Baugh Baby!
So as I'm sure you can guess, Jill and I have still been extremely busy with the Atmina photography business. It's been great and stressful! Last Saturday one of my best friends who I haven't seen in years came over with her family to take some portraits!!! I was SOOO excited to see Jenn Baugh (formerly Bahr) and her husband Matt and their new 5-month old daughter Liesel (I always butcher how to spell the name) :) Anyway, I will be posting highlights from their photoshoot on the Atmina Blog tomorrow, but I wanted to give a preview of those highlights here on my personal blog because Jill took a cute picture of me with the baby.
On my goodness!! Isn't she the cutest thing? :) I had SOOO much fun doing this photo shoot with them. I loved holding the little one for a bit.....I can't wait till it's my turn :)
On my goodness!! Isn't she the cutest thing? :) I had SOOO much fun doing this photo shoot with them. I loved holding the little one for a bit.....I can't wait till it's my turn :)
Thursday, July 9, 2009
North Carolina Fun!
Here are some of the pictures from Ramin's family reunion in North Carolina. We spent most of our time on the awesome beach and in the pool and therefore we really didn't take the camera with us very much. We're also waiting for the official reunion photos - I'll post those when I get them!
Here's Ramin's dad at the beach house. There was a mass birthday celebration - his birthday was actually today but we all celebrated it last week with the family!
Angela (the wife of one of Ramin's counsins) brought this really fun game called Bananas. It's like Scrabble, only you build your own board. Anyway it was really fun and we played it 2 nights in a row. I think I need to buy this game ;)
Ramin and I at the beach house after the big dinner his mom helped to make. It was GOOOD!!
Ramin's mom, Fatima, and me on the pier at the beach. We had so much fun walking along the beach and picking up shells. You wouldn't even BELIEVE how many shells we collected between the two of us. We also found some beach glass too!
Anyway, it was a fun trip and went by too fast of course. Now it's back to the hectic life of work and starting the photography business up. Don't get me wrong though, this is some of the most fulfilling work I've done in a LONG time, mainly because it doesn't feel like work! I'll post more about it later.
Here's Ramin's dad at the beach house. There was a mass birthday celebration - his birthday was actually today but we all celebrated it last week with the family!
Angela (the wife of one of Ramin's counsins) brought this really fun game called Bananas. It's like Scrabble, only you build your own board. Anyway it was really fun and we played it 2 nights in a row. I think I need to buy this game ;)
Ramin and I at the beach house after the big dinner his mom helped to make. It was GOOOD!!
Ramin's mom, Fatima, and me on the pier at the beach. We had so much fun walking along the beach and picking up shells. You wouldn't even BELIEVE how many shells we collected between the two of us. We also found some beach glass too!
Here's Ramin's mom with Angela's son Riley (I think that's his name, so many names to remember!) - they look so cute here!
Anyway, it was a fun trip and went by too fast of course. Now it's back to the hectic life of work and starting the photography business up. Don't get me wrong though, this is some of the most fulfilling work I've done in a LONG time, mainly because it doesn't feel like work! I'll post more about it later.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Back!!
Phew - we're home and safe! We have a BLAST in North Carolina. I'll be posting pictures I gather up from everyone on here for you all to see. I am burnt, I spent a bit too much time in the pool and lost track of time :P We also had fun on the beach! It was great meeting much of Ramin's family on his Dad's side and it was great spending time with his mom and dad as well. It was hard learning about 30 people's names but I think in the end I did it! Jill and I have a busy week with our photography stuff but I won't forget about this blog and keep it updated :)
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