Just a Spoonful of Sugar???

Tuesday night I went to Souplantation with Jamie. We dined on delectable salads full of color and texture, hot creamy soups, and a ton of ooey gooey pizza! Then I made the mistake of helping myself to the molten peanut butter chocolate chip cookie bars (with ice cream on top). The entire meal, conversation and company was amazing-- alas...

Sugar has a way of dusting off the welcome mat for any and all cold germs to come visit me. Not even 24 hours later, I was beginning to feel like death. Thursday, blick! Friday, left work early. Yesterday, did a photo club shoot and overextended myself-but loved every minute of it. Today, feeling crappy again. Moral of the story? Don't eat sugar dawn!

Latest photography news: just got booked on Wednesday to do a wedding in June.
Jessica and Josh, Saturday June 19th. :)

Still Life

I helped on a friend's film set yesterday- I captured some video and some stills. Still photography is certifiably my favorite medium.

My cat is doing so much better. I love that Heavenly Father is allowing her to stay on the earth a bit longer!

I'm teaching Sunday School today- woot woot! Stay tuned: Adam and Eve get dismissed from the Garden! Blessings to follow!

I'm in search of a summer job- out-of-state would be fine- something artsy and creative, working with kids, or at a national park would be cool too!

A Cow's Meow

I have a cat named Cow. I found her on my way to a church activity back in '97. She was in a box next to a dumpster outside the building, along with her 5 brothers and sisters. I took the box inside, the kittens scattered and I scooped up the one that came to me and took her.

I could say many things about her- She is full of idiosyncrasies, has an unusually poor sense of balance (for a cat), and drools all over the place when you pet her. She often runs up to my car when I come home, meowing for attention.

This week she got really sick and I thought she was going to die-
She had looked so ghostly on Friday- My grandma took her to the vet yesterday for a super vitamin shot and hydration. I dreamed about her last night- I dreamed that she died. I woke up crying around 4a.m. Cried for a good 20 minutes- prayed for another chance to have her walk up to me for affection and hear her purr—

I walked out to the pool area around 9 a.m. and watched her take a few bites of food. She hadn't eaten in 3 days. She saw me, meowed, and walked slowly over to me. I scratched her head and she purred quietly. I said an immediate prayer of gratitude-- thank you Heavenly Father for allowing me to have this moment with my kitty. May she recover.

Meow

The Theme of the Weekend...

Why limit ourselves? Why attempt to control the uncontrollable?

I met a man named Craig yesterday while helping a friend's relative move. I took an instant liking to him. He calls himself a story teller. Consequently, he told several stories on our trips to and from the storage units.

He fell in love on a blind date at a doughnut shop. He lived with this woman for over 20 years and took care of her for the last 8 after she was paralyzed in a car accident. She passed away 8 months ago. He is still mourning her loss.

I wanted to share with him the knowledge I have about eternal families and temple ordinances. I later found out that he is LDS. He even served a mission in Kentucky when he was 30. He hasn't been to church in a long time and can't see himself coming back. He referred to himself as "a monster".

I made a comment about the limitations we put on ourselves. We go through life believing our inner talk, that we can only have or be certain things- and it's just not true. I too struggle with self-limiting thoughts, but the difference is I now know those thoughts aren't reality. We can be and do so much more than we tell ourselves. Our potential is divine and with God's help it is infinite.

Flash forward to this morning. I felt prompted to open Jack Canfield's Success Principles. I picked it up and opened to a chapter that I'd bookmarked months ago after reading. What do you know, it was Principle 33: Transcend Your Limiting Beliefs. It was a positive reinforcement to the experiences of yesterday.

"Everything you want is just outside your comfort zone."

- ROBERT ALLEN

Chile con Wreckage

Tonight I had a chance to read about the 8.8 quake that shook the daylight out of Chile Saturday morning. The report spoke of the rising death toll, (currently in the thousands), 1.5 million homes damaged or destroyed, and massive looting sprees igniting across the country.

The quake hit in Concepcion, a city which my brother spent a good deal of time in while serving a mission for the Lord. Through this one degree of separation, I began to feel the weight of what these people must be experiencing. Another thought that came strongly to my mind was the importance of emergency preparedness!

Chile is not a newcomer to seismic disasters. In fact, Chile was home to the largest earthquake ever recorded. The 1960 Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean Earthquake rated 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale. Its resulting tsunami's affects reached as far as southeast Australia! This formative quake changed the course of Chile's building codes, laws, and regulations. Their retrofitting standards are among the highest in the world! Thus, many of the building were able to roll with Saturday's quake for 3+ minutes straight.

Unlike Haiti, Chile also takes great care in mixing high grade cement- 3 parts sand, one part cement. The sand is washed first to remove impurities that could cause it to fracture and crack under pressure. Much of Haiti's cement was 5 parts impure sand to one part cement which is why it pancaked.

Disaster forced Chile to prepare themselves for the future which spared them from greater destruction. For decades modern prophets have pleaded with the membership of the church to gather and store a years supply of food and water in case disaster strikes. We are asked, at the very least to have a 3 day emergency backpack on hand, with enough water, food, clothes and supplies for 3 days.

After reading about Haiti and Chile's woes, the importance of being prepared is so clear to me now.

He Stopped the Rain

Saturday, Jon and I drove out to Irvine to catch The Young Victoria- clearly one of the best films of the year. The DP's style is unlike any other- a fascinating use of shallow and rack focus! After the movie we went to the Irvine Spectrum and ate at the Veggie Grill; 3 words: Sweet Potato Fries (with chipotle ranch)!

Yesterday Nick and I drove to downtown Long Beach to plan a pirate scavenger hunt for my birthday. It rained all the way there. We parked the car and prepared ourselves for the frigid wet cold we were about to embrace. Minutes after shedding our vehicular skin, the rain ceased. We proceeded to have a great time traipsing about, pinpointing hiding places for clues, concocting the puzzle our guests will unravel on Saturday night.

I felt like a parent on Christmas Eve wrapping the last gifts- It's an exciting feeling to create something for others to enjoy!

Exhausted from our adventure, Nick introduced me to a delicious El Salvadorian eatery on 7th- our famished state made grand food more glorious, our hilarious server Able added to the impressiveness of the experience.

When we walked to the restaurant there was no rain- as we ate, the sky rung heavy drops from the clouds... we walked back to the car and the skies were dry yet again! I could not help but feel watched over, smiled and upon even- Heavenly Father stopped the rain so two of His children could enjoy a beautiful afternoon by the sea, worry free of future colds or sore throats:)

The evening concluded with Br. Johnson's Institute class. He taught us about the importance of bridling (directing) our passions. Loved it.

Kids!

Some of you know that I work at a preschool part-time. I absolutely LOVE 4 & 5 year olds! For some reason, this year more so than other years, the kids have been taking a great interest in my fingernails; they'll take my hands in theirs and try all sorts of tactics to remove them. Yes children, I felt that. They are real. They all comment on how long my nails are and counsel me to cut them as soon as possible.

Yesterday, one of the girls came up to me, scoped out my nails briefly and concluded, "Teacher, you have long claws!" I laughed so loud and quickly shared the observation with fellow teacher Sarah.

Earlier that day, Sam was laying across the bike path staring and the ground with his arms pulled into his shirt. I called over to him to make sure he was OK. He called back and said, "Teacher! I'm a snake!!!"

Preschoolers never cease to amaze me with their beautiful minds! :)

Traveling the World

World Book style.

I overheard a conversation yesterday, in which my brother was informed tomorrow would be Columbus Day; to which the other person informed him that Columbus Day was not February 8th, but was in fact in October, the month Columbus struck land, San Salvador, a little island off the coast of Cuba.

Well...I forgot about this correction of dates and was pleasantly surprised when this morning, the encyclopedia I was holding in search of the color wheel, fell open to Christopher Columbus. "How appropriate", I thought to myself, "with Columbus Day just around the corner."

Thus, I refreshed my memory in honor of February 8th: Non-Columbus-Columbus Day.
I read about Columbus' Italian birth, his young love and loss, his 4 voyages, in which he only touched, very briefly, what could be considered North American soil, (Costa Rica), once.

Most of his explorations were contained in Hispaniola. We give him a lot of credit, but his vision seems so limited from the account I read this morning. He continued to return to and work to redeem his original discovery which did not produce the kinds of results anyone had hoped for.

Myth Busters: Most of the world did not believe the world was flat at the time of Columbus' voyage and Columbus did not intentionally bring diseases to the people of Hispaniola (i.e. nasty blankets). He did enslave the people, make them mine for gold, and punish them if they failed to meet their quotas. A bit of a power trip?

The positive note:
He ended centuries of ignorance about what lay on the other side of the Atlantic, and his discovery led to trade with Native American peoples who taught the ancestors of our future founding fathers the love of freedom and shared leadership. So in an indirect way, Columbus led the way to democracy and freedom, even though his personal choice did not reflect such values. This is most likely how he ended up being mentioned in the Book of Mormon (1 Ne. 13:12) and why we of the LDS faith, consider him to have played an integral part in the restoration of Christ's gospel.

Lights... Camera...

Yesterday I helped film a short called A Drink to Savor. I was invited by a friend to be the lead camera operator. P.S. The B camera operator was Australian!!! It was such a diverse mix of people coming together in the name of art! We shot from 10:30-8. Craft service was delicious and the fight scenes were exhilarating. Both of the "assassins" were individually directed to sit on top of me while I held the camera and pretend to stab and beat the junk out of each other (me). Then we did a 360 roll, where I ended up on top of them-- It was the most intense film making I've experienced to date.

Thanks to a great crew and super talented director!

Safe and Sorry

I was away at a training retreat for work this week high above the little Podunk town of Banning California, off Highway 243, in Idyllwild. Despite horrid weather conditions we traveled anyway rather than holding retreat in Long Beach. 5 minutes after our arrival on Wednesday, it began to snow- it rained and stormed and felt like the wind might blow our cabins away.

We were set to return home on Friday. We began the slow descent around 10 a.m. My car began sliding off the road on a few icy turns leading to a side-on collision with a guard rail, which protected us from a 500 foot drop to Never Never Land. Thanks goodness the railing was there.

We were towed down the mountain, yes, me and 4 passengers- still in my car, riding at a 45 degree angle. Thank you AAA man #1. We got on the 60 W and made the interchange to the 91 W. It had begun to rain again. All my passengers were now sleeping. I attempted to clear my mind while listening to the melancholic crooning of Keane, trying to be thankful that my car,(pictured above- pre-accidents), was still drivable and everyone unharmed.

Minutes later, I hydroplaned at 50mph into the center divider waking everyone up with my shouts of terror just before impact. We hit the divider, flew 3 feet in the air, slammed back down to the ground, and went sailing ahead, still uncontrollably, for about 30 feet before the popped front wheel managed to create enough resistance to stop us-maybe our halt was angelic, both were most likely responsible.

A CHP officer pulled up behind us within 5 minutes and helped us pull over to the side of the road. We called AAA again. A man arrived, threw a spare onto my car and said in a hurried tone,"gotta go!" Another wave of relief began to wash over me- Wow! My car is STILL drivable! After all that, it's really ugly, but drivable!

However, it turns out that the underpinnings of my steering/wheel system were twisted and bent, so when I attempted to drive my car again, with the wheel turned all the way to the left, I was still moving right.

My passengers, once again protected from injury, were picked up by the last drivers from our group to reach the bottom of the mountain- I rode the last hour home with Joe the tow truck man, Great White trailing behind us in all her new found glory.

Yesterday...

Maria hired me back at The PURPLE SIDE!!! :)
Yay.

~~~~~~Hello 2010 : NYD HIKE 3.0~~~~~~

I am such a fan of creating traditions! And I am happy to say that the annual New Years Day Hike is 3 years strong now! Yesterday Erin and I, the co-founders of NYDH, welcomed a new member- We'll call her Autumn, cause that's her name:)

We drove down south to one of my favorite destinations! San Juan Capistrano. We took the Ortega Highway towards Riverside and parked across the street from "The Candy Store', a.k.a. tell-tale sign you've arrived at the San Juan Loop trail head.

Highlights: The descent into the cool, damp, earthy smelling shadiness of the trail; Lots of great photos; Great conversation; El Champeon for delicious Mexican food; and all the laughs on the way home.

It was an absolute success- I can't wait to do it again!

Good Bye 2009

What a year this has been! Even though I know time is relevant, I'm still committed to using it as a measuring stick for everything in life. I love what a friend wrote in her blog about her fast approaching birthday. She came to the realization that being a step closer to middle age really doesn't really mean anything because we are as old as we feel. This topic could continue in a multiplicity of directions, but I will steer it in the following:

One thing I have learned this year is; the only limitations we have are the ones we impose on ourselves. This fact was reinforced in my mind as I watched a particular movie yesterday. My friend Matt bought a Clear Play DVD Player which filters out any unwanted elements from PG-13/R rated films: language, sex, nudity...you can even kiss "mushiness" goodbye!

Thus, Slumdog Millionaire became a PG movie, and we watched as Jamal emerged from the pits of oppression, neglect, and greed. He did not allow his circumstances to dictate his future. He used what he was dealt to his advantage, stayed focused on his goal, which was "others-centered", and achieved.

I am ready to do better in 2010.

May God bless you with a safe and happy New Year!!!

The Job Hunt Continues

I've just submitted my resume again.
This time it's for a product photography gig in San Gabriel.
"Eep-Op-Orp-Ah-Ah!"

December

I'm excited to show Catherine her head-shots! I have a portrait shoot this afternoon in San Pedro and a website looming in the not too far off future. Christmas is less than a week away and a dear friend just flew in from Colorado! I'm excited to reunite with him!

I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season!

Much Love!

Haw Ha!!!

Last night I returned to the studio where I was going to do a re-shoot. Two fellow class-mates were waiting with me. No one ever showed up to unlock the lab. We ended up laughing and having a good time anyway. That was nice-ness #1. Nice-ness #2;

I walked to my car, got in, inserted key, turned it, nothing-

Long story short, I had my first dead battery.

Thank Goodness my grams has carried me on to her AAA account for the last umpteen years- free roadside assistance! Ricardo came, gave my car a jump, did a diagnostic test and confirmed my battery was the trouble maker.

As I drove home, a principle flashed through my mind: COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS DAWN!!!

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

So, I am thankful for:

My new car battery- and to my generous grammy for picking up the tab.

The great experience I had with Ricardo the AAA guy- got to give him a Joy to the World Pass-along card!

For having to leave campus early so I wouldn't have to wait for the tow truck late at night, in the dark, by myself-

For the Holy Ghost!

For Jamie Van Santen who's getting baptized on Sunday!!! :)

One More

Still Life

Today was a challenging one- in studio- I attempted a 60's style still life with lava lamp- It didn't turn out the way I'd hoped- I'm going to re-shoot... The picture above is inspiring- Human creativity- its an amazing thing- I can't begin to imagine what Heavenly Father's brain must be like!

A beautiful night to all- or day, depending on what side of the hemisphere you're on~

Photo by Dan Tobin Smith


http://www.dantobinsmith.com

Hair Creme?

I did my first "hair shoot" yesterday- Loved it. Sudie was a fantastic model- such a sweetie- and her stylist, Hannah, was extremely helpful- it was a gorgeous afternoon in the park-side. I had tons of fun and can't wait to do it again!

~Awesome~

p.s. photo by Jason Tran.
p.s.s. I love my studio lighting class!!!