Down Memory Lane

MCP Project Weeks 1-4

2011-01-29T14:49:00.000-08:00

I decided to restart my blog since I havn't been here in quite a long time. I started a photography challange where there is a weekly theme and we just have to take a photo a week. I decided this would be a great way to start working with my photography again. I am in no means professional. I just love it as a hobby. I will post the first four weeks in this

The 4th week was themed: Soothing Repitition. What is better than M&M's.

The 3rd week's theme was "Shades of Gray" I was coming home from the grocery store and it was a gray, rainy day and decided to go to Spring Creek Park. Normally the swings would be full of kids, but because of the rainy day, they were empty and I thought this would be a perfect shot.

The 2nd week's theme was "Inspired by a song" On that Friday I was driving to work and listening to the radio when I heard the song "Little White Church" and that is how this photo came to life.

The first week was Around the house. Well, I was craving sweets, so I went and bought cupcakes from Frost Bake Shoppe in The Woodlands. I didn't eat them right away and decided to take photos of them first.

Had a day off!

2008-06-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I had off today but still didn't get home until 4pm. I had to take Ashley to Blinn College in Bryan/College station for her class advising. Yes, my baby is leaving me for college in a couple of months. We got that taken care of and then we went looking at more apartments. I think we found a couple. We are going back on Sat. with Roy to make the final decision.

Came home and yet another disaster, the upstairs commode wouldn't flush and ran all over the bathroom floor!! Called the plumber and they fixed that.

I then went and put in an application at a hospital. I am ready to leave the Home Health Agency that I have been working at for almost 4 years. I took an office job after having my back surgery and now I am ready to go back out into the "world" of patients, but they still havn't done anything about it, so off I am going.

It's been a long journey

2008-06-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

I decided it has been a long time since I posted and I am in a talking mood. Since my back surgery I have had one thing after another happen with me. Back in April, I had my mamogram for the first time and there were 2 masses that showed up. I seen my life flash past me. I was so upset, crying all the time. It seems that's all I have done since Sept. I had to go in for more testing to see if they were maglinant or benign cysts, luckily everything turned out great. They were benign.

I havn't been scrapbooking since my back surgery either. I really need to get back to that. I know I need to get to circle journals done for Alicia and Sally. I know they really think real low of me right about know and I don't blame them. I should not have stopped scrapbooking. It really took my mind off of a lot of health issues. Alicia and Sally, if you are reading this, please, forgive me for not getting your books to you. I still have them and they are safe.

Roy and I renewed our vows on June 2 in Cabo with the kids and thier girlfriend/boyfriend, my nephew(he was our ring bearer at our wedding 25 years ago) and his ex-wife. We had a blast! None of us wanted to come back. I just got our video in the mail today. Tomorrow I will try and upload it.

Well, that's all for now!

Long time no talk!!

2007-11-10T21:32:00.000-08:00

Well I havn't posted it quite awhile, actually 6 weeks. Well, I had my surgery and I made it through pretty well. I have had some minor complications since then with depression, severe leg pain to which I wasn't sleeping. I had to have some extra tests and thankfully they were all negative. I still have some bouts with depression, but it has decreased quite a bit. I am able to get out now and drive some. I am now going to aquatic physical therapy 3x/wk for 4 wks and then they will reevaluate me. They keep telling me that I am way ahead for just having surgery 6 wks ago! Gosh, that seems so long. I am still having numbness in my left foot/toes and I am now having low back(muscles) pain after getting up or after sitting for awhile. I am thinking it is from the therapy because I havn't used those muscles since March 07 when I stopped working out with my personal trainer, so hopefully it will go away.

Since I am home all of the time now, I have been playing around with photoshop and learning how to edit my pictures more and quicker by using "actions". I can put a frame around my pics in a second. It is too cool. Here are some pics that I have been playing with.

Emotional Times

2007-09-23T19:18:00.000-07:00

I thought about Cassie's challenge about blogging about something that makes you sad. Well, if you know me, I am a very sappy person. I can cry for all kinds of things, but right now there are 2 things on my plate that if I think too hard, I will cry.

The first one, is more obvious, is my back surgery on Monday. I am so scared. I hate being put to sleep. I am afraid that I won't wake up. I just don't want to hurt any more. There are days that if I was brave enough, I would end it all, just give up. Now, I know you all are thinking, ok, someone help her, but you can be assured that I am not going to do anything stupid. I am too chicken.

The 2nd thing that has been sad to me, is that after the end of this school year, by baby will have graduated from high school and be leaving for college in the summer. I will then be without kids in my home and that really scares me. If I had my way, my kids could live with me forever. There are a lot of people that keep telling me that I will be so happy to be alone. I don't like being alone. I love having people around me, especially my kids.

Well, that is all I can write about, because the tears are already coming, so here are some happy photos from a wedding that I did. Now, beware, they are very amatur. (sp?)

That's all for tonight! Talk to you all when I get home from the hospital.

2007-07-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

This won't let me put a title, so sorry about that.

We are back from Alaska. Sorry it took so long to post a few pics. I am going to have a separate place to view my photos but I am going to post a few of my favorites.

This pic is of the train we took to Wittier to catch our cruise ship. We were towards the back of the train and I was out on the outside platform when taking this picture. The guys wanted me to take a pic that would make it look like we would fall of the track into the water.

In Fairbanks, we took a Paddle Boat water tour down the river and stopped at an Indian Village. This lady was one of our tour guides through the village. Here she is wearing a custom made Parka from a native. The native said it took her 6 months to make and it would cost us $16,000 to buy one. I think I will take 5 of them.

The pic to the left is from Glacier Bay where I was able to catch some glacier calving. I took 3 of my pics and combined them here on this pic that I put together myself.

When we were in Juneau, I went on a photography tour. It was a gorgeous day out to see all kinds of beautiful Alaskan scenery. This is one of my favorite "scenes" that I took. The pic on the left is of sea otters taking a break. Such a hard job. The one on the right, is of the lighthouse with the mountains in the back. I will post more at another time. Hope you liked what you have seen so far.

2007-06-06T06:31:00.000-07:00

Well it's that time!! I am so excited to be finally heading to Alaska. Our plane leaves at 1:05pm and we fly to Minneapolis. We have a layover there before we head off to Fairbanks. We are supposed to arrive there around 8pm their time. Tomorrow we start our land tours thru Saturday where we board the ship and off on our cruise!! I will post more later. Talk to you all later.

It's almost that time!

2007-05-24T16:07:00.001-07:00

Well, there are only 13 more days left and we will be in Alaska! I am so ready to go on vacation. Roy and I have not been on a vacation by ourselves since our 5th wedding anniversary. I am starting to get things together slowly. I am going shopping this weekend for clothes with my gf. She has some formals that she can't fit into that she said that I could try them on since i have lost weight. That will save me money to spend on other things.

Speaking of weight, I have lost a total of 16.2#'s so far. I need to lose 3 more pounds to be at my halfay point. I am hoping to lose it by the time we leave for vacation.

I have been practicing with my camera/lens again. They are not the most creative pics but it's getting me to use my different lenses.

This one was taken with my Sigma 70-200 lens. I love the bokeh of this lens.

This is one I took with my Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens. It is a pic of Brandon's new truck! (shhh, it's a secret)

This last one was also taken with my WA lens and I thing this one really shows what this lens can do. It is of a friends motorcycle.

Have a great Memorial Weekend everyone!!

Oh Happy Day!!

2007-05-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

Isn't it a beautiful day?? I think so. Well, I went and got weighed in tonight and lost another 2.8#!! For a total of 15.4# lost in 5weeks!! I also got some of my goodies for Alaska that I ordered. I got my GND filters and holders in, my monopod, cleaning things, a monopod pocket holder. I am still waiting on my new Kata camera bag. All in all, a great day! I can't wait to play with the filters.

Have a great evening!!

True Blue

2007-05-06T15:08:00.000-07:00

I decided to play around with my camera today. I wanted to practice using my circular polarizer on my Sigma 10-20mm. I just went out in the back yard and played away. I thought the blue was real striking even though the composition isn't the most interesting. I also learned how to use the burst mode on my lens. This will come in handy for when I am in Alaska. Who knows, maybe I will see some glacier calving!! Enjoy the pics.

Getting Closer!

2007-04-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

Well, this week wasn't as good of a loss as previous, but a loss is a loss!! I have lost a total of 10# so far in 3 weeks. I am hoping to lose more by the time we leave for our cruise!! I am getting so excited. I need to get new clothes, but I want to wait until I lose more weight. There is going to be 2 formal nights so I want to get a couple of real nice dresses. My new lens, the 70-200 F/2.8 is on its way to me as I type. I should have it by Thursday! I am so excited to play with it. I still need to get a camera backpack and probably a monopod instead of a tripod.

On the cruise, I noticed that I can buy an album, 12x12 that is white and has the name of the ship with a picture on the front of it and it has 10 pages in it. It costs basically $20. Do you think I should get it? They also have a Reflections DVD that would be of our cruise/ports etc. Do you think I should get that in addition to the pics that I take. Well, sorry for all of the rambling tonight.

Here are some new tickers!!

2007-04-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

Well another 2.2 #s lost for a total of 8.8 in 2 weeks. I also walked on the treadmill tonight while watching American Idol. I walked on the treadmill for 30 min which is a lot for me. I am going to try and do this everyday and see what happens. I am also drinking way more water than I used to do in the past. I have had maybe 3 cokes in the last 2 weeks. My ticker will change everyweek as I update my weight.

Have a great evening and day tomorrow.

Weight Loss

2007-04-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

Well Ashley and I have started Jenny Craig together. We started 2 weeks ago and tomorrow is our 2nd weigh in. Together we lost 11.6#. I want to get healthy and try to lose the weight to also help out my back issues. I had another injection into my back this morning and I am still pretty sore from it. When I first got up to walk in the recovery room I couldn't!! I fell over to the side like my left leg had no control. The doc said that he gave me some numbing medicine and that this was normal and would go away. I had to stay for another 2 hours until I could walk.

I am looking for a partner for Scrappy Arts Amazing Race contest. If anyone is interested let me know.

I am so looking forward to going on our cruise to Alaska in June! I am getting so psyched. I feel like the time is dragging. I need to get a lot of items for my camera and some new clothes, but waiting on the latter until I lose some more weight. Well, I need to go eat my snack and take a pain pill. Night everyone.

Oh, Cassie, thanks for the challenge.

Finish the sentence...Jan 8th Blog Challenge

2007-01-08T18:24:00.000-08:00

1. I've come to realize that my life is... Full of excitement and many challenges.
2. I am listening to... BCS College bowl game.
3. I talk... all of the time. I have been told I talk tooo much.
4. I love... my family, Roy, Brandon and Ashley!
5. My best friends... are Bobbie and Barbara. I don't get to do much with them, but we are there for each other.
6. Love is... forever.
7. Somewhere, someone is thinking... why we "talk" about ourselves on a blog.
8. I'll always ... love my career as a nurse and be a caring person.
9. The last time I cried was because... my parents went back to Florida. I will cry again in a couple of days when Brandon goes back to college.
10. My cell phone... is in my car where it belongs! LOL
11. Before I go to bed... I read a little, brush my hair and teeth.
12. Right now I am thinking about...getting my steroid injection in my back again on Wednesday.
13. Today I... went back to work.
14. Tonight I will... Check the message boards at scrapaddict.com and post some comments in the gallery.
15. Tomorrow I will be...Working again... my days do not change. LOL

Thanks for the challenge Annette!!

Merry Christmas

2006-12-23T07:02:00.000-08:00

Morning everyone!! It's almost Christmas. Do you have any past Christmas memories? I remember growing up my cousins and brother would always give gag gifts to my dad. One of the gifts was a box full of different tennis shoes but all of the same foot tied together. There had to be at least a total of 20 shoes all tied together. Another gift was a tire with a hole cut out of it, but I don't remember what that one was for.

I love Christmas trees all lit up with all of the lights out. I could stare at it forever. Here is a picture of our tree this year. I used my cross screen filter with it.

He's finally moved in....

2006-08-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

We finally got him moved in on Tuesday and we came home on Wednesday. He forgot several things that he really needed so he ended coming back home on Thursday and then left today. I did really good when we left LA because I new he was coming back the next day. Today, wasn't so good. I ended up crying like a baby yet again, but this time it only last a few minutes. I think I am getting better. I am trying to post some pics, but for some reason this isn't working. I will keep trying. I just uploaded it to photobucket and did it this way. This is Roy and Brandon on the balcony of his apartment.

He is leaving

2006-08-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

Well Brandon is already to go. His truck and mine is packed to the hill. I can't believe he is starting his second year of college and I still can't let go. I still get very emotional when he leaves. Will this get any better? Just waiting for dh to get home and then we are off to LSU and his "Home Away From Home", his new apartment. I will post more when I get back.

Back to School

2006-08-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it's that time again. I havn't posted in quite awhile. Ashley started school today. She is a junior in highschool. Doesn't she look thrilled to have her picture taken. I can't believe she only has 2 years left and she will be off to college like Brandon. She is just growing up too fast. My emotions are like a roller coaster. One minute I am happy and the next I am crying like a baby. I will post again soon. We will be taking Brandon back to college on Monday so I will have more pics.

5 Things About Me.....

2006-07-01T18:10:00.000-07:00

I havn't posted in awhile and I thought I would try to get my blogging in gear, so I decided to take on the challenge at ScrapAddict.com to list 5 things that I like about myself. This is a tough one, but I can do it:

1. I would have to say my caring attitude towards people. Being a nurse brings out my sensitivity.

2. I love my eyes. I have big hazel eyes that unfortunately are hidden behind glasses. My dad use to call me "bug eyes" when I was a baby because they were so big.

3. I am a great friend. I would do anything for them. I am there for them.

4. I love being a mom. It is the most rewarding job that I could ever have. It brings out the best in me and also the worst, but mostly the good.

5. I love my emotions. I express myself through my emotions. Crying, laughing, anger they are all good in their own ways. Some say that crying is my main "emotion". I do tend to cry a lot. I am a real softy.

There you go, 5 things that I like about myself. What about you? What do you like about yourself?

I did it!!

2006-06-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

I was able to register for CKU-Houston and I got in!!! I am soooo happy. I got all of the classes that I wanted. This makes for a perfect night. There are a lot of friends that I have talked to on IM and message boards for couple of years and they are also going. We are all going to be able to meet for the first time.

Not very creative!

2006-06-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well, as you can tell, I did't get very far with my blog. I just can't seem to figure this out. There is a lot that I want to do but just don't know how to go about it. I didn't do a thing all day today. It was just a long boring day. Did some laundry and hopefully will go and scrap. Talk to you later. Here is a LO that I did recently.

2006-06-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

Well, it is Sunday morning and I have tons of things to do today. Laundry is the main one and also try to figure out this blog thing. I have no clue how to get it looking so nice like the rest of you, but I will get there. Have a great Sunday!! Happy scrapping.