VEDA Day 3 // On Being Adult...

So I was sick most of yesterday, but once I finally roused from my death bed, I was feeling much better.... so yeah!

Monday Musings

Ways to know its Monday:

(In case you are like me, and are wildly hoping you got itconfused with Friday)

• Waking up at 8:00AM [time you need to be up]
• Waking up again at 8:30AM [the time you need to be in thecar]
• Prying yourself out of bed and almost getting hit by a kamikazebird, IN YOUR HOUSE.
• Standing on the porch, with the door wide open straining tosee (with your near sighted vision) if the bird is still fluttering around inthe house.
• Giving up, and dashing for the bedroom to complete yourmorning toilette

Welcome to my life.

The good news is, by the time I got dressed, and the glassesin place, the bird was nowhere to be seen. I declare, I have never had such anissue with vermin, wild animals, or bugs in my entire life!

Things Are Looking Up!

At the beginning of the month, I started writing a draftregarding my goals and such like for February, [a draft that has yet to beposted] it went a little something like this:

“…I just so much more optimistic about February, like things might start to happen. Perhaps, I'm still just giddy from the fact, that the Judge dismissed my ticket yesterday. (As long as I don't get another one in thenext 30 days) or maybe I'm excited that my puppy will be born this month.. regardless,I believe February will be a good month.”

And things did happen.

Just not in the “good” way I was thinking.

• Losing a loved one?
• Gaining two new bills in a week?
• A fruitless job search?
• Living paycheck to paycheck?

Not exactly the good I was thinking.. 

Last week, seemed to be especially hard, for reasons I can’t explain, it just was. So God knew I needed the ONE of the phone calls I got Friday morning. (The other I really could have done without but whatever)

By 12PM Friday afternoon, I had secured something to fill those lonely, long hours for the next year at least.

Life is Officially Good. 

[You want pictures? Check out his blog here: Chronicles of a Puppy Walker] 

Goal Update: 

• Early to Rise[Otherwise known as my 12 in 12 goal]  - This month I've been working on getting up at least 30 minutes early, as well as attempting to be at least 5 minutes early- on time for things such as work, church or etc..  There were a couple of days were I just couldn't get it going, but for the most part I've done really well on this. 
• Continue working towards my 100 books in 2012 goal. [ 25 down!]
• Continue to drink more water and less soda [ so/so]

Short,sweet and attainable. :)  

Insta-Friday #2

Another Insta-Friday ... with finals right around the corner, I have spent the majority of my week in front of a computer, slaving away over last minute homework. By Wednesday my brain was fried. HOWEVER getting an 85 on my exam...? TOTALLY WORTH IT. Looks like I'll make a "B" in Math. For the first time in my college history. Yes I'm a little excited about that fact. 

And because Finals we're going "so" well, I decided to take puppy sit for a day. You can read about that BIG mistake on my other blog. :) 

But he's oh-so-cute

How was your week?

Done.

"....Friday, Friday, I can't believe its Friday, who knew the weekend would be here so soon, soon...Friday, Friday....".

Hey. If she can do it, I can too. :)

However, I'm soooo glad its Friday, this has been one of those weeks where I just felt stupid on multiple occasions on a daily basis. I'm blaming my spike in caffeine intake. Its "funny" but since I started drinking caffeine again, my food intake has once again decreased to MAYBE once a day. Again. I know its not good for me, but when you're not hungry you don't think about food. Not to mention how tired caffeine makes you...I don't think I've gone to bed before 12:00am in about two weeks. I'm seriously feeling it right about now.

Why isn't it summer yet?????

However, next week I'm weaning myself back off the addicting stuff. Mainly cause I'll be outta of cash/change. :D

I don't have much else to write about at the moment, well...technically I have a LOT but in an effort to respect other's privacy and to "not put everything on the internet" I won't. :) So you're left with this drab post! :)

I realize I haven't been posting many photos on this blog...um..so I decided to post these that I have taken for my studio still life class. I honestly didn't think I'd like it...but have been pleasantly surprised by my teacher and what we have to do!

Don't have anything overly exciting this weekend, trying to decided if Rob and I want to "road trip" to AVL this weekend for a puppy meeting or do the sensible/responsible thing and stay home and do homework.

We'll see.

Counting down the days until Summer Vaca!!!!  2 months +

TTFN!

Glass Bear with a blue and white Background: Canon Rebel xti; 50mm; Light Table, Two light setup, Blue Gel, 

Opaque Object: Oatmeal Lotion bottle surround by oatmeal. Canon Rebel xti; 50mm; One Light Medium Soft Box, ISO 100, f/4.0, 200 sec. 

Metal: Sony Alpha a200, 18-55mm, One Light, Light Tent, ISO 100, f/11, 160sec. 

Opaque Objects: Same as above 

To Drop or not to Drop

That, my friends, is the most-over-used-question.
I'm not a quitter, I hate quitting in the middle of things, whether or not I like them or not...so most of the time I never start things. However, at 8pm on this very tiring Saturday night, I'm contemplating just that. Quitting I mean.

That and removing the voice box from one of dogs. (He wants a toy I'm not letting him have. Mean mom I know.)

I've come to the sad realization, that I may have put too much on my plate for this semester. If I were better at managing my time, perhaps I could do it all, but at the moment I don't know. I don't know what happened this semester, whether it was getting started late, or the different changes that happened over the last couple of weeks, but I just haven't had the motivation or drive that I've had in past semesters.

I don't know.
Have I said that enough already?

I do know that I have less than a week to decide whether or not I'm going to stick it out with this class, or drop it until  a later date. Both options scare me, but I don't want to put my GPA at risk, just because I wanted to stick it out to the bitter, bitter end.

I don't know.

I also know, that today has been a long day, mostly spent traveling mixed with a little bit of fun. =) My sister and I went to #AVL for our monthly puppy meeting today, Rob was tired of walking around so we put him in my bag. He looked quite funny with his little bobbing out the back, but he didn't wake up!  As nice as it was to go back over there for even a little bit, I'm looking forward to doing absolutely.NOTHING (except for homework,re-doing my hair, cleaning my house, car shopping and more homework) next weekend.

Weekend Plans are HIGHLY overrated.

November 9: Twitter Thought Tuesdays

This week I'm joining in with Twitter Thought Tuesday at DutchBeingMe!

I had...way.too.much.fun with this post if you can't tell. :) 

First we'll start with the random stuff....

Then for the bird Saga. This is bird #5 that's INVADED my home. 5!!! 

Thank God for Neighbors.
Err.. and start from the bottom up...

And last but not least....my baby preparing to leave me in two weeks, 3 days, 10 hours....*sigh*

Before and After Blog Hop

As my photography teachers like to say, its easier to lighten a photo then to darken one. I'm giving my sister some tips as to how to use my camera in manual mode (which is all I shoot nowadays) so she was having a hard time getting my skin properly exposed without whiting out Pompei completely. If anyone has any tips at how to shoot white and black people without over exposing one or the other, I would love to know! Anyway raised the exposure and saturation levels, and warmed the temperature up in the camera raw editor, and then ran the Pioneer Woman's "Lovely and Fresh" action on it. I think it came out ok, the photo is now a little noisy...but it happens. 

See More Edits at Pixel Perfect!

Blog Comments

Hello Bloggy World!

I have a dilemma, how you write a post about comments without sounding like you are begging people to comment? Its something I've been mulling over for a couple of days now and can't quite figure out how to do it just yet. I don't want to sound superficial, but at the same time, it kind of makes you wonder with 94 followers (Insert shocked face) and perhaps 1 or 2 comments here and there, if perhaps you are just so "one of a kind" no one can relate to you!

However, I am pleased and grateful to those of you who comment on a regular basis. (I love you guys!)  I blog partly for me, and partly to meet new people. Through my other blogs I have met TONS of people, who I am glad to call "friends" thou we've never met in person. I was hoping it would be that way through this blog as well.

I have met several people, and am very glad to know them!! But I would love to interact with my other readers more as well!! If you stop by today, I'd love to hear from you!!


In the meantime I live you with Pompei's opinion of "Studio Photography 1"

{Ok, we're not in Studio here, Pompei was feeling a little goofy during Digital Imaging this morning}

{Pompei does a reluctant "down/stay" while I'm across the room}

{Bringing a dog to college, is like having a well behaved 3-year-old. After six hours of class he was ready to go home.}

BTW Shooting RAW is awesome and totally the way to go! First photo I hate the white balance set to "Daylight/Sunlight" and then when in the "Camera Raw" editor and dialed down the temperature some and still ended up with a "good" photo. 

The Paper Mama Photo Challenge: Self Portraits

First off I can't believe my little dude, is not.so.little anymore. Seriously the dog is possibly very close to 80lbs without an ounce of fat on him.  Second of all, I can't believe in a couple of days he'll be 10 months old!!! 

For those of you who don't know, Pompeii is a Guide Dog in Training so, the closer we get to the dreaded 12 month mark, the closer we come to having to give up said pup, and the closer we get to heartbreak. Typically the pups are sent back to the Guide Dog Foundation at around 14 months old, but lately I've been hearing more and more, they are taking them back at 12 months....um me no likey that at all.

Seriously that would be October or November......*gulp*. There are many days I wonder why in the world I do this too myself. But am quick to remind myself of the benefits doing this. 

Summer Week 5

[1] Fun weekend. Finally. I was way tired of staying home, and felt less guilty about ditching the pups for a day, since Pompei got neutered and is on "house arrest". So Rebekah and I  went to Panera and talked and talked, then to McKay's Bookstore, and the mall for some splurging fun. :) I finally found some white shoes at Payless.. I may have to return them for now, so I can make it through the week, but its breaking my heart! I also finally got around to using my Areopostle gift card, which Roomie gave to me at Christmas.. I know, I know.

[2] After all that spending, I came to the sad realization that I was broke, and still have another week before payday. So Sunday I spent a lot of the day budgeting, planning what have you. I really really need to save some monies, cause I really really really really really really really want another car. Like real bad.
[3] Umm...listing my Canon Rebel xti on Ebay. Good bye Camera, you were good too me but its time for to find a new home. Works great, but I like my Sony a lot better, the colors on it are so much better SOOC. 3 out of 4 pics on here were took with Sony can you tell which one was with a different camera?  Also listing my school books as well. Finally.

[4] My life is ridiculously boring right now. If you can't tell.
[5] Summer Projects: About me Scrapbook, Daily Photo, Photobook for Rei's handler, photobook for Midnight's new family, and of course Pompei's scrapbook, and wittle down my 101 N 1001
[6] The job hunt has slowed down to a crawl. I really waiting to see them outcome of certain things going on here, before I move too a more active hunt, plus I'd really like to be a job more than well 8-12 months for once. Plus who says having a career in one field is fun anyhow? My roommate is trying to get to come work with her at her school for Special Ed. I'm tempted but scared, that I'm not qualified.
[7] Finished the Vampire Diaries series last night, how anti-climatic I can't believe it ended the way it did! ARGH!!!

[8] Re-Organized my closet Friday. I need more summer clothes still. I need money to buy more summer clothes. I need another job, so I can have extra money to purchase summe....you get the point.


[9] Baby my neighbor was babysitting

[10] Good Bye

Daily Thoughts

The random ramblings of me in 140 characters.....

• 19:04 @ServicePuppy SPRINT! SPRINT! SPRINT! ;) #
• 10:54 CLouds,rain = blah day #
• 10:58 Pompei has had a great day. Got loved on by the FA office staff. Then met his first guide dog. #
• 11:00 He did really well meeting the other dog. Wanted to play at first but settled quickly. Yay! #
• 12:39 Trying to stay focused #
• 14:19 For some reason I feel like crying. And I have really have no clue why. Oh wait. Maybe I do. Now I really feel like crying. #

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Daily Thoughts

The random ramblings of me in 140 characters.....

• 21:13 Just realized I have Midnight's BC number..need to get up my nerve and call. I miss that dog still so much. #
• 21:14 Midnight was the third puppy I raised as a guide dog, she was chosen as a breeder last Jan..? #
• 21:15 Survival mechanism has been not to think about her much, so don't realize how much i miss her. #
• 11:32 @kimhalligan1 Pompei is the fourth pup, 1st didn't make it,2nd is a guide,3rd is a breeder and then Pompei :) #
• 11:33 @LeaderDogMom well that's cool! #
• 11:34 @the_KaraSchultz lol I'm just glad he didn't try to eat it! #
• 11:36 @TheSophDog he was definitely miffed by my reaction ;) #
• 12:23 @kimhalligan1 it is sad but we can always get another! :) #
• 12:30 @kimhalligan1 exactly. My orig idea 4 raising was 2 have a big dog w/o the long term responsibility or expenses. Now I just love it :) #
• 12:43 @barrie I have one but you can't have her. LOL! #

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Daily Thoughts

The random ramblings of me in 140 characters.....

• 10:47 Happy International Puppy Raiser day! Tore up my room looking for my shirt this morning. #
• 12:06 @LeaderDogMom Wow! Good luck to her!! Will you be raising another? #
• 12:08 @K9_Kirsty twitpic.com/1453ej - Such a Cutie! #
• 12:09 @K9_Kirsty Lol yep! puppyraisingshirtday.webs.com/ #
• 13:54 Suuuunnshiiiinnnnnneeee!!! #
• 15:0 4 I love how we communicate through email subject lines around here. #
• 16:02 Studying outside while the dogs play in the yard. Loving this weather!! #
• 16:08 Texas has decided that Natural Balance is better than Wellness and is refusing to eat his food, and trying to eat Pompei's #
• 16:20 I knew when I saw @GuidePupPompei running joyously towards me that he had found something dead. #gag BUt it has been disposed of. #gag #gag #

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Daily Thoughts

The random ramblings of me in 140 characters.....

• Trying to figure out where all this laundry came from...I think I would remember putting my entire closet in the wash...!? #
• Off to class feeling very unprepared. #
• @K9_Kirsty good job Dan! How old is he now? #
• Another blah grey winter day. Which I guess is perfect for office work... #
• I think I'm all social networked out. Google Buzz just feels like a copy cat. Not overly impressed #

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Last Weekend

Life is back in the slow lane again, and it feels sooo good!! But anyways, had one of the funnest, wettest, busiest weekends...Saturday rather. 

Normally after camp meeting we have a big picnic with all of our out of town guests. The weather stations had been reporting rain, rain, rain all day Saturday, but some of us...ok me, was very optimistic that it would be beautiful day.

Needless to say my hopes were squashed at the sound of pounding rain in the morning. Which immediately made me decide that Ira would need to sit out this picnic, (which was to go on rain or shine) After waiting about an hour after it was scheduled to start, we loaded up on umbrellas and towels, and headed out in the rain.

Which was still POURING DOWN. Everyone was huddled under shelter, eating, talking and having a great time.

Eventually some decided that a little water wouldn't hurt them and dove outside to play volleyball. While we (smart ones) stayed under the shelter and watched the park turn into a lake...or a ratha large pond.

Once everyone was throughly water logged, we made plans to do something INSIDE later, and I split for work.

Two hours later was on my way to Gatlinburg TN, to go Ice Skating!! I have never been, but used to roller-blade Alllll the time. It took some getting used to the thin blade of the skate but once I did, it was fun!

Once they kicked us off the ice...(they were closing) we all walked around the Bass Pro Shop...massive all things camping-fishing-hunting-store......it had Starbucks..:)

I headed home ASAP as I was seriously dragging and my dogs had suffered another day crated, so I went home exercised them and crashed.

A Great day IMO.

Summer!!!!

And its OVER!!! I'm SO happy, yet it feels weird having nothing due, and nothing to do.

Today I hung out with Abby and wandered the streets...or should i say street of downtown Hendersonville. A quaint little town right outside of Asheville.

First stop was Mikes Main Street something or other, a cute little restaurant that looked just like and antique soda shop! Complete with bar stools and soda fountain!

But what surprised me the most was the reactions Midnight night got. In Asheville I guess Guide Dogs/Service Dogs/ Guide Dog Puppies are SOOoo common (yes i was being sarcastic), that normally I don't get anything more then "What a beautiful dog." type comments.

All the waitresses came and said something to me about her, or was asking questions, the people across from me, had a sister who had a guide dog, another waitress had two black labs at home.

As we were leaving, another couple stopped me and asked me for training advice...hope fully it was helpful too them!

As we strolled down main street..(taking random pictures of goats along the way)...lol...people would stop and look, people driving by would be looking at us...we were celebrities of sorts!

We found a mineral museum and walked through that! Quite interesting. Then we went through Mast General Store, and another lady stopped me and was full of questions about raising, even went and got her camera and took a couple pictures of her.

Another man stopped me at the intersection, to ask if I thought it was compatible for blind people working with a guide dog. Since the traffic flow was very little, and very slow, I told him I didn't really think they'd have much of a problem.

Midnight got lots of practice with dogs, though and while she was distracted she was easily corrected...we did get a glimpse of a man walking and irish wolfhound, down the street... i was VERY impressed with that!!

On our way out of town, we stopped my a bakery and loaded up on sweets

On the way to the restaurant, Abby had revealed that she'd gotten an Nikkon D60 Digital SLR Camera, (for those of you who don't know those are really, really nice, really really expensive cameras) so we spent a lot of time taking pictures, of random things.

The goats being the main subject of our "affections".....or something like that.

And now for the pictures...most of the courtesy of Abby Fleming and myself. :-)