The 50

Whoa, how long has it been?!

My apologies for the unannounced super long break I took. I moved across the state and into a sweet new apartment, started a new job, started another new job, blah blah blah... I know being busy is no excuse, but that's really all I have.

I could catch you up on life's happenings right now, but I think I'll just share some new photos instead. I'll save the crazy long life update for another post (because I'm tired and I have to work a nice 13 hour day tomorrow. Hello, sleep.) But here's a little one for today: I'm shooting a wedding this weekend (My very first! Not sure what my cousin and his gorgeous fiancee are getting into by asking me to do it, but I am extremely excited, and I really really really hope I don't disappoint.) But ANYWAY, I'm renting a fancy 50mm lens from borrowlenses.com this week, so I can use it at their wedding. And let me tell you, I am in love with this thing after just a few hours of having it.

So I got ahold of my good pals Amanda and Kyle, and we walked along the bike trail and even did a little off-road hiking (Ha!) and had ourselves a nice little photographic adventure. And then, this is my favorite part, we stopped at the Milky Way and at some hot dogs and ice cream to finish off this fantastic day.

I do love my friends.

Here's some fresh new photos:

 

Typically not a fan of powerlines in photos, but somehow it works here...

Yumm-o!

Tonight was the first day (aside from when baby Corbin was born) that I've been really excited about photography for a while now. I've kinda been in a little funk the past couple months. It feels so so so good to be shooting again.

Now, who wants to buy me this lens so I can keep it forever and ever? =P

(Oh, also, taking a vote on whether or not I should post the creepy spider photo up here on my blog...Yes or No? I know it freaked out some of you, don't know if I should keep that strictly on facebook. Ha! Let me know.)

City Lights

I'm about 3/4 the way through Catching Fire and it is taking quite a bit of willpower to type this up right now instead of finish the book. But I know once I finish it, I'm gonna want to immediately go out and get ahold of the third book. And I don't feel like leaving tonight.

Today Brian and I went to see Act of Valor. Holy cow, what an intense movie that is. I recommend it, 100%, for sure. After we left, I decided that I sort of felt guilty just watching that movie and then carrying on with my normal life. It's one that you feel you should sit in the theater for hours afterward and just think about it. If you see the movie, you will understand.

Anywho, we've had some crazy weather here this past week. It's sunny, and then 5 minutes later it looks like a blizzard outside, and then 5 minutes later it's back to sunny and all the snow melts, and then 5 minutes later it's snowing again. I don't like it. Yesterday it was amazingly warm and I felt like I should have gone to a baseball game, and now today it's freezing outside. I do not like the winter here. Not one bit. Would rather it just be cold and snowy for 3 months straight, but this little patch of SD doesn't work that way, apparently.

However, having rain instead of snow makes for some fun city lights driving photos...

Winter in Rapid City. No snow...Just rain. And cold. And wind. And when snow DOES finally show up, it only lasts for a few hours, if even.

Love the way the wet streets reflect the lights. Adds a whole new look to the crazy lights! Some others from this rainy night and city lights adventure

Late-night hockey game at the Main Street Square rink. Sort of a fun one, the players look like orange ghosts skating around. And I love love love the lights!

Fun stuff, eh?

Sent in my application for an apartment in Sioux Falls. I'm hoping to be able to move in next week, but we will see what happens. My job should transfer to the SF store, although I've yet to hear back from them on whether or not it's happening. Little frustrating. But either way, I'm gonna need another job, so it's not too big a deal. I can't wait to be closer to home and be able to catch some family time whenever I want. And BASEBALL season is just around the corner!! So ready for some super nachos in the sun!

Oh, also, donations are still being accepted via the little orange link on the right. I received one the other day from a photographer who I greatly admire and that little act of kindness and confidence in me just totally blew me away. Thank you, THANK YOU!! Just over one month left to reach my goal amount. Slowwwwly getting there!

You guys are the best, seriously. =)

Maybe Next Year

Wow have I been slacking off lately, or what?

My apologies.

The last TCT shot was of lace. A lace top. You know how girls wear all sorts of lacey shirts over other shirts and it's a big huge trend right now? Yeah. I have one of those. Never been one to really follow a trend, but Ashley helped me buy it one day. So thanks for that, "Mel!"

Haven't really been keeping up with my project either. So sad. How do I fall behind so easily? I need motivation. Or something. It's like, I miss one day, and then I'm like "Well, I guess I fail. No sense in continuing trying." But we all know that's not true. Somehow I need to just DO IT.

Here are a few recents, though.

Last weekend, my older brother and his wife and daughter, and my younger brother, drove all the way out to Rapid City to hang out with me and Brian. We had tons of fun! Quite a few adventures on Saturday. We enjoyed some bagels at BHB, we visited Mt. Rushmore, we went off-roading when we wanted to drive up Needles Highway but the road was closed, we ate a lot of taffy, we went swimming at an indoor water park, we ordered pizza in a hotel room, we found a beer that I enjoy (Landshark,) and we followed a firetruck to a grass fire in the backyards of some Rapid City folks. Hence the above (and below) photos.

It was one crazy adventurous day. We had a blast. Here's a photo Derrick shot of Miss Halle. It was her first time seeing Mt. Rushmore. She wanted to climb it until she saw how big it actually is. Maybe next year...

He's got some photo skills, for sure. I love this one! We asked her on the way up if she knew who the four presidents were. I believe her response was "I only know Thomas!" She's one smart cookie, that's more than a lot of the tourists knew that I overheard this summer.

Oh! Look what I did with my nails last week. I wanted to show some sort of festive flair for Valentine's Day, and so I actually attempted something I found on Pinterest. Oh, lovely Pinterest.

Pretty cool, huh? Brian helped me pick out the colors. I was hoping for more of a gold in the middle, but it ended up being more of an orangey shimmer. A little disappointing, but they still looked pretty cool. Sadly, they only lasted about two days. Removing security tags from clothing at work all day really turned my pretty nails into a big mess of broken and chipped colors. Oh well, they were fun while they lasted. And it really made me realize that I CAN do cool stuff like everyone else! Just takes some time and a little creativity.

So I've got a few other photos stuck inside my camera that I should be sharing, but I'm right smack in the middle of reading The Hunger Games (the first book) and I just can't be bothered to edit and upload them tonight. Must get back to reading!!

Tuesday!

Hey, friends.

Real quick, before I go make some important phone calls...

It's Tuesday!!

Here's the shot:

And, because I'm awesome and can't decide, here's another one...Possibly makes it much easier, unless it was easy enough already. But anywho, here ya go:

Make some guesses, blah blah blah...

And a few daily's for your viewing pleasure.

Ice on my window and mirror after work yesterday. It was pretty cold outside. And windy. And all winter-y. =D This is a cell phone picture. Wish my camera was easier to carry around with me everywhere. I just don't like the thought of bringing it to work.

Sunday Self-Portrait #5 (?) I lose track of numbers. Finally got a few new books this weekend. Really enjoying this one so far.

And Saturday's photo....Such an exciting moment for me. I'm a huge nerd, I know.

That's all for today. Sorry it's kind of boring...

Babble on and on and on...

Hello, Friday. Even though you're about to leave. Saturday is cool, too, so I'm not complaining.

Working at TJ Maxx makes me feel like a big huge pile of BORING. Most of the girls I work with are super stylish and wear crazy cute clothes to work every day. Me, I rotate around a pair of khakis, some black capris, and some gray capris. Mixed and matched with like five different shirts, all just lame solid-colors. Usually I throw on a zip hoodie or something, too. Oh, one day I did wear a skirt. But still...Big ol snore fest. Then people come through my line buying adorable clothes and I just wanna join them and buy myself some funky skirts and layered tops and cute kicks. But I'm in no position to go on a shopping trip.

However, I am considering hitting up the bookstore tomorrow.

Yeah, priorities.

Anywho...Blah blah blah a bunch of talk about stuff you already know because you're all my facebook friends and read my life updates over there because most of them I don't feel like writing about here because I would probably babble on and on and on and I don't want to put you through that.

So how about some photos, including the big awesome TCT reveal? Fo sho.

I only had two responses this week. TWO! And it was like the easiest shot I've done to date. Come on, you guys!

You guys were both right, Amanda and Summer. It was an egg shell! I've developed this weird like of eggs recently. I loved them when I was a kid (Like LOVED loved them) and then hit high school and college and suddenly I couldn't eat them. For a while there, just the thought of an egg made me feel sick. And sometimes, I'd be like "Yeah, an egg sounds good! I'll take one!" And then my mom would make me an egg (and my family makes really good eggs!) and I'd eat about half of it before deciding I couldn't do it and pawn it off on Dustin. Crazy. But recently, after standing at work all day with nothing to eat, they really hit the spot when I get home. Fry it up, throw it on some buttered toast. Yummo!

Some others...

I believe celery is simply a handy tool that was invented to transport peanut butter into my tummy. Yup. Straight outta the jar!

Last bowl of strawberry Frosted Mini-Wheats. =( Probably could cry every time this happens to me. Might add a quick trip to the grocery store after the bookstore tomorrow. Life isn't complete without them. <3

These are always fun, no? Sort of a cop-out photo, I know. But sometimes I end up with cool looking ones like this. Sometimes I try to find words in all the squiggles. These are a little too crazy, though.

Tonight I ate a "Love It" sized ice cream from Coldstone. That's a lot of ice cream! But it was soooo tasty! White chocolate ice cream with Reese's peanut butter cups and a nice little drizzle of fudge. Perfection! (But I think the Sioux Falls Coldstone would have made it better. The RC kids seem kinda skimpy on the toppings. I'll be there soon, SF Coldstone...Make me proud.)

Next weekend DEH and Dustin are coming out here! I am so so sooo excited!! Haven't seen them since Christmas. It'll definitely be nice to have a little bit of family time. =) Wish I could see my WHOLE family, but that doesn't take away from the excitement of seeing some of them. Can't wait!

I sure typed up a lot tonight. Hope you all are ok with that. =)

Jake's

Hey guys! Real quick!

Worked all day today, so just now getting today's TCT photo shot and posted up here. Here it is!

There ya go! Make some guesses! Good luck!

Also, yesterday's photo:

Had lunch at Jake's BBQ yesterday. Sooo good! If you're ever in Rapid City, make a stop at this place. Everyone is super friendly and laid-back and the food is aaaaamazing! =D

Been a while since I mentioned my handy dandy little Donation button over there ----> somewhere. Feel free to chip in and help me out. =) I'm just under $300 right now, and my goal is $700 by April 1st. Thanklin Franklin! (101 points to whoever can associate that phrase with music. Go!)

Happy Tuesday!

Luck

Today my friend Summer actually showed up at my apartment to tell me that I still had not posted this week's TCT reveal. (JK, she actually stopped by to introduce me to her husband - something that was long overdue) But anyway, she did mention it and I realized how far behind I am. So here ya go. Sorry for the delay.

The answer wasssss....

An onion. A red one. Or a purple one. Or whatever the correct name for it is. Yep. It was an easy one.

I also missed a few days of photos. Woops! One of them can be found on Brian's phone, unless he deleted it. (He probably did.) But the other just didn't happen. *sigh*

So here's a few others instead:

"hope" bracelet. Ashley gave this to me over the summer. I wear it all the time. =)

Yeap...Photo from the car. Blahhhh...But I do like the birds.

And today's Sunday Self-Portrait (#4!) My grandma gave me this mug a loooong time ago. It spent forever sitting on my dresser with bobby pins and paperclips and other random junk inside it. Now that I'm a coffee and tea drinker, I use it nearly every day to transport that delicious stuff into my belly. Faaaavorite. <3

So did anyone else watch the Winter X Games this week? I caught a bit of it earlier today and after work tonight. But HOLY COW, do you know what happened?! Someone did a front flip on a snowmobile. Let me repeat that. Someone did a FRONT FLIP on a freaking SNOWMOBILE!! Like...How is that even possible?! Honestly. My stomach dropped and I got all scared when he started. And then...There he goes. Just like it's a perfectly normal thing for a snowmobile to do! My jaw dropped. I wanted to scream and cheer. But I didn't. And THEN, Shaun White goes and scores 100 on the superpipe? WHAT?! I am floored. So glad the TV was on ESPN when I got home from work, or I would have watched My Fair Wedding instead and missed the whole thing! Talk about luck!

Sparklyness

So sorry this is so late tonight. I worked all afternoon and got home and then ate at Famous Dave's (Sorry, RC, the one in Sioux Falls wins my heart. You're cool and all, and I know you're brand new to this city, but you're missing that super fun atmosphere. The food was still phenomenal, and I'll always love you, but you've got some breaking in to do.) And then I did some laundry and THEN I had a few people ask me about TCT and I was like "Holy cow, it's Tuesday!!" So yes. Here I am. You guys can thank Summer and Traci. =)

Here we go...First of all, the TCT shot:

Woo! I need more daylight to get better shots. I believe that no light can top sunlight, and we don't get enough of it in the winter. Hang in there, friends. We'll have some better TCT's soon.

Make some guesses as to what that is in the comments. Blah blah blah, you know the drill. =P

So here's some recent daily images:

Look what I woke up to today!! SNOW!! Not much snow, but it still made my morning. And then it got warm and it all turned to slush and then it got cold and it all turned to ice so I'm a little less happy about it. Boo, Western SD, you're no fun for a snow-loving girl.

I feel like this should be a TCT, as well. Brian couldn't figure out what this is. If you don't want to know, stop reading now. If you do want to know, continue reading now. It's a clear plastic up of icy Dr. Pepper. The condensation bubbles around the outside looked all glittery and I took a bazillion photos of this cup. Ok, more like 10...But either way, I was all intrigued by the sparklyness. Yep, I just made up another word. And then I used it as the title of this post.

Self-Portrait Sunday....Yeah, I know, this is like soooo cliche. Same with last week. But the photo I REALLY wanted to get wasn't working out, and I was tired and getting frustrated, so you get the mirror camera shot. Hope you're happy. I'm not. =P (Ok, I admit it, I do kind of like this one....Kind of. Like a millimeter of like.)

Books. These are most of the ones I read in the past year. Mainly over the summer months this year. So many good reads here. If anyone would like to borrow one or two of these, let me know. I'll gladly send them your way. And if anyone would like to borrow a book to me to read, shoot me a comment and I'll email you my address. Book exchanges are good. And I have no books to read currently. Boo.

So there ya go. A Too Close Tuesday shot, and some other dailys. Hope you enjoyed them.

Oh! And if you're wondering, work is going great. Haven't started at Best Buy yet...But TJ Maxx is a pretty fun place. I like my co-workers and the job is pretty simple. I fully enjoy jobs where I can talk to new people every day, and this is definitely one of them. I also realized that I don't know if I'll ever have a job that I enjoyed quite as much as working at the museum over the summer. Seriously...It was the best. And if I wanted to stick around the Hills for another summer, I would totally work there again. Anywho...Just wanted to get that out there. =)

Make a TCT guess! And then go do something else that's fun. Be happy, my friends.

Snow-Less

Hey, guys.

Thanks for reading this. I don't know if I say that enough. I can't believe how many fantastic people I have following this little piece of the internet. Makes me feel pretty awesome. I'm trying to top my stats and reach 1,285 views for this month. My record is 1,284 from December 2010. So I've got 11 days to get 285 more views. Think I can do it? I believe I can. But only with your help. =D

Ha...We're all about goals this year, have you noticed? Speaking of goals, my donations amount is slowly increasing. Thank you, THANK YOU! everyone! I'm really feeling confident about reaching that $700 by April. Big things are happening, all because of you.

Anywho, here's some pretty pictures.

Everywhere else in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD has snow. And we have this. What the crap, Rapid City? Get your winter together. This is so not cool. I mean, I know I will appreciate the 40-50 degree weather you have in store for us all next week, but come on...I just wanna see some pretty winter snow already. Get it done. This photo makes me very depressed.

OH! Up next is this week's Too Close Tuesday photo reveal! Remember what it looked like? Any final guesses?

You guys were super duper close with your answers. I'm gonna give credit to all of you, because you were all basically right. Here's the photo:

It WAS yarn! Good work everyone. This is a scarf I'm re-doing for miss Halle. The one I made for her for Christmas didn't turn out too great (because it was the first one, cut me some slack, right?) And I was so unhappy with it that I decided to make her another one that didn't suck. Still gave her the first one, so she'd have it to open up, and she seemed to like it despite its flaws. =) Little kids are so sweet. Anywho...I really need to get going on this thing, as you can see there's still lots of yarn left on the ball and not much on the scarf. Ha! Here we go....

Wednesday's photo. Baby Jimmy John's subs in the break room at work. Cell phone photo. The only one I got all day. It works, I guess. (PS - I did not enjoy one of these little guys, sadly)

Tuesday was my first day of work. When I got home, Brian and I took a trip to Sonic and got some Cherry Limeades and  late night fast food. Cherry Limeade from Sonic is now my favorite drink in the whole world. Sooo yummy.

How about some photo requests? Think of something you want me to shoot. An object, an idea, a song, a word, ANYTHING...And I'll interpret in my own weird little way, and report back here with what I come up with. How's that sound? Give me some ideas, I'm running low on inspiration and motivation in this snow-less city.

Frost

First real day at the new job tonight. Well, not sure how "real" it will be; I think I'm pretty much just shadowing someone, doing a little training and learning. But we can call it a real day. =)

Anywho, it's Tuesday!

Check out my super close shot and tell me what it is.

Easy peasy.

Some others...

Finally got some snow yesterday! And it was cold and it felt like winter. Woke up with this lovely frost on my window. I was pretty excited. Today, however, it's back to being rather warm and sunny and most of the snow has melted. I am SO not used to this warm winter weather out here. I miss you, SESD. 

So, the day before yesterday, I forgot it was Sunday and that Sundays are Self-Portrait days. So I jumped the gun a little when I made cookies and used my cookie jar shot as Sunday's photo. So later Sunday night I got a dumb picture of myself and we're moving Sunday's cookie jar photo to Saturday, since I didn't get one that day. I know, it's cheating. But I don't care. This is my project and I can do what I want.

=)

Self-Portrait Sunday #2 - Snore...It's so lame and cliche and all those other words that I don't like. But it fits the rules so I'm sticking with it. Boom.

And COOKIES!

I have to say, these are way up there on my list of good cookies. They're still super soft and tasty today. Next time I'll make them bigger. (Although these ARE the perfect size for dunking into a glass of milk. You know who you are.) =)

Also, because I'm awesome...Here's the recipe I used.

Now go make some cookies.

After you guess what my Too Close Tuesday shot is.