Canon In Action

Here are some of the first personal photos I've had a chance to take with the Canon 30D. All together I'm impressed with the image stabilizer lens. Although, I've realized it doesn't always mean a clean photo.

Entertaining In A Small Space

This weekend my mom and sister stopped by and stayed at our place. As we were there I could feel the walls closing in on us. The space is just right for Trey and I, but when you add two extra bodies to the mix it becomes too much. Luckily, we didn’t spend much time there; instead we spent time all over town and even had a chance to show them where our future home will be. We have everything lined up for the builders to start and soon enough we’ll meet with them to select the design elements of the house.

Well, no weekend is complete without stopping by the Cowboys stadium.

In Town

My mom and little sister are in town and I already know it's going to be a busy day tomorrow.
This evening Trey and I took them to Central Market to eat and watch a band. We eventually ended up downtown at Sundance Square. As I was walking around I was wearing my camera around my neck and a street evangilist asked me if I was a tourist. I live here, but walking around with a camera apparently makes me look like I don't belong.

Building the American Dream

After viewing dozens of homes in the surrounding DFW area, we decided it would be in our best interest to build one. Well, I’m not literally building the house instead we’re having a professional build it in a developing community.

The best part about this builder is he’s designing the exteriors of the homes to look like older homes. Sounds like the perfect match for Trey and I. We selected an elevation that looks similar to a brick bungalow. It’ll be so cute.

Another big selling point for us is the house will be a very green home, which means our electric bill will be low. Also the HVAC will be nice too, but Trey could probably go into more detail about that than I can. All I know it will equal nice utility savings.

I’m excited and can’t wait for them to start building. I plan on documenting the entire build and if the weather plays out right we should move in by mid-November. Wow, these builders move fast.

Enjoying Life

Can you tell she had a great time at the zoo?

It's Here! It's Here!

Yesterday I went to the local camera shop, walked to the closest salesman and said, “I’m here to buy a camera and I know exactly what I want.” My co-worker was with and just laughed. I haven’t had a chance to take many photos, but the few I have look spectacular. Now that I have this camera Trey thinks I’m going to neglect my other one, but I know I won’t. Especially since the 30D is for work. Originally, I was looking into buying a Nikon, I’m glad I selected the Canon. It’s nice to already be familiar with the Canon brand and to be able to pick it up and start shooting.

Impromptu Slumber Party

Despite all of Amy’s indecisiveness, she made the trip. She also invited Ray at the last minute, without letting me know and he was unable to make other sleeping arrangements for that night. So, Saturday night was like one big slumber party at the Anderson’s. But we all had a good laugh Sunday morning about it. We laughed about how Trey and I were comfortably sleeping on the oversized bed, while Amy slept on the hot leather sofa, Angelica slept at her feet, and Ray ended up on the floor with no covers. When you live in a shoebox an extra comforter takes up much needed room and Amy failed to tell Ray to bring one. It was okay because he laughed the whole thing off.

Well, Trey was on call most of Saturday, so I was the official Fort Worth tour guide. Some of the main highlights: the zoo and later that night Sundance Square. We did however stray from my tour agenda when Trey mentioned the Dallas Cowboys Stadium. He insisted we drive to Arlington at 10:30 to admire it. Ray is a Cowboys fan as well and he encouraged the drive. Once we got there the stadium was not lit very well, but the guys managed to appreciate the beauty of the shadows. Overall, it was a wonderful weekend and great memories were made.

Here are some stills I snapped at the zoo.

Don’t Be Indecisive, Just Come Over

For the past week, Amy and I have been talking on the phone. She’ll tell me one day, "okay I’m coming this weekend to visit you and I want to go to the water park, the zoo, the mall," etc. She’s bringing my niece with her and a friend. To my understanding her friend is making sleeping arrangements for herself, but Amy and my niece will be crashing on our couch at our apartment. Yes, the shoebox of an apartment. This should be really interesting. So after about four different conversations of “I might come, I’m not coming, well okay maybe,” she finally decided she will make the trip.

Optometrist appointment

Trey went to his appointment yesterday and he was told he didn't do any severe damage to his eyes. The damage that did occur will heal with time. He was given some eye drops and has a follow up appointment soon.

A Contactor Exploded in Trey's Face

HVAC can be a dangerous job.

Sunday Trey had to run a service call and while he was working on the equipment a contactor exploded in his face. The explosion was so bright that he had to sit there for about two minutes waiting for his eyesight to return. Even with his sight back, he said everything had a yellow tint to it. This morning he’s still feeling the effect of the explosion and is trying to make an appointment with an optometrist. To begin with Trey already has sensitive eyes.

Well, while Trey was out of town working, I stayed behind to look at open houses. I drove all over Fort Worth. I even went into houses that were ridiculously high just because I wanted to kill time. I’ve always had that kind of curious nature, where I want to see how other people live. I think it’s fascinating.

As you know, I want an older house. But can I be honest for a second? I’ve been so disappointed with the historic neighborhoods. They are so inconsistent. You’ll see a beautiful house, a good house, a run down house, followed by a vandalized house. Once we buy, we have to consider resale value even though we don’t want to buy and then move soon, it’s just something that has to be seriously considered. Looking for a home is exciting some days and other days it’s frustrating. For the most part it’s been exciting, but when I first realized how bad some of the historic neighborhoods were it was definitely a let down. This is good news for Trey because now I’m seriously considering newer construction.

Lights, Camera, Action

I finally pulled out the light kit. For weeks I’ve been trying to find time to experiment with lighting and well, basically just get familiar with the lighting equipment. I got the camera stuff down, but I really want to polish my lighting skills.

When I was going through the grip equipment, I found about half a dozen C-stands. I love using C-stands for production and I've already managed to put them to great use by using them to hold my backdrop.

Other than playing with lights, I'm looking forward to the weekend. Originally, my mom and sister were coming to visit us, but at the last minute declined due to weather. Trey is on call this weekend, but I'm sure we'll find some free time to do something fun.

The Summer Without My Scooter

Scooter withdrawals don’t even begin to describe how I feel not having my shiny friend. With the move and our current living situation, Trey and I have made the wise decision to keep his motorcycle and my scooter in storage. Trey jokingly said we can bring my scooter to Fort Worth, the only catch is--- I have to drive it from Abilene to here. He’s crazy and he knows it.

Last week, as we were driving I saw a vintage scooter shop. As Trey passed it I yelled, “STOP AND TURN AROUND!” When I was browsing through the aisles of shiny bikes, I began to regret leaving mine behind. There really isn’t anything I can do to make it better except look forward to spring. Maybe by then we’ll have a place to store our bikes. The funny thing about the whole situation is we recently paid the note off on both bikes…so now we really own them and we can’t even drive ‘em. The next note to be paid is the Element. I’m really excited about that one because by end of this year we’ll own it too! Hooray for financial peace!

Downtime Produces An Oppurtunity to Learn

There is never a dull moment at work.

Recently, I’ve had some downtime, so I try to use the time to develop new skills. A new skill I’m working on is shooting video using green screen. I whipped this video together in no time. When shooting this type of video, it’s assumed the better the lighting the better the effect. Well, I didn’t want to lug out my light kit to experiment so I just used the available light on set. Not bad if you ask me. I could see myself using the green screen for future projects.

Green Screen

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Victory Park

I don't know why my picture has this crazy tone to it, but you get the picture.

Arena Football

This weekend Trey and I had a chance to attend the Dallas Desperados football game. This picture was taken right outside the game in Victory Park. After seeing downtown Dallas, I prefer downtown Fort Worth any day. We arrived early before American Airlines opened and we needed to kill some time. We walked around and saw tons of places to eat, but there was really nothing to do. So, we wandered around aimlessly until the gates opened at the game. Oh, it was hot, but once we arrived at the game I had a great time. Everyone should experience a live major sporting event.

New Versus Old

Now that we sold our house we’re in the beginning stages of house hunting. If you know me, you know I love older homes. You know, houses built before 1940. My wonderful husband on the other hand, wants to buy a newer house. Yeah, talk about battle of the sexes. I’m keeping my options open and Trey is making sure of that. I’m telling you, Trey can be extremely persuasive when he wants something. If HVAC doesn’t work out for him he should consider sales.

Dog Whisper Meets South Park

I know two people: Rosie and Pete would both appreciate this video.
South Park Meets Dog Whisperer

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Planetarium Panoramic

Here is UTA's planetarium. Trey and I had a chance to go to a special showing a while back. I've always been fascinated with astronomy and the planetarium is a great showcase for it.

Yes, if you haven’t noticed I’m enjoying creating panoramas. When I get a chance I want to head downtown and take more.

Awesome!

I got my new stiching software last week and I've been playing with it ever since. As you can see not all of DFW is underwater.