90% Framed

Four windows in this direction

Our house off in the distance

Welcome to State University

Business is booming and anyone can tell you parking is a pain if you come to work mid morning like I did. I’m recording and encoding (for internet streaming) a class throughout the semester and occasionally my schedule makes it to where I get here a little later than normal. With that being said, I found myself driving around the parking lot for 30 MINUTES looking for a parking spot. I finally gave up in my department’s general parking and parked 3 blocks away from my office. Even when I finally found a spot I had to fight for it….welcome to a state university.

Currently, I’m wrapping up all photo and video editing, but not without interruptions every 10 minutes. Oh I digrees… I don’t mean to complain, but I guess I really needed to vent about parking.

Besides being aggravated with parking, I’m still loving work. Last week the department launched my virtual tour and we celebrated the opening of the Smart Hospital™. I was the official photographer for that event. I would’ve never thought I’d be a professional photographer, but I’ll take it on and grow with it. My boss and I chat often about how it’s almost unbelievable that we get paid to do this kind of work. I genuinely enjoy coming to work everyday and my boss is always cheering on our creative team. Even though I’m fairly new to the professional world of photography, I’m no dummy, but I do have general questions that need answering. When we purchased my Canon from Wolf Camera, they offered free photography classes and tonight I plan on attending. The first lesson is photography in relation to video, sounds like some general knowledge I could use. I already have several question about my camera…mainly related to the flash. I hate shooting with the flash, but with some photo opts there is no way around it…or is there? Well, I’ll find out tonight.

Oh, earlier I was talking about growing with photography; there are other areas I want to professionally grow as well. Specifically web publishing, but that beast will have to wait until next semester.

Trey Wuz Here With His Personal Photographer

Trey and I had a sharpie say it out loud moment. I claimed the fireplace and he claimed the bathroom. He thinks every time we go, we should write something new so I have to start thinking about what I want to write next. As you can see the house is really taking off.



Here is the fireplace

To give you an idea how high the ceiling will be I stood next to an entry way.

Kitchen area

General living area

Upper Deck

When we went to the Rangers game Trey lead us to the upper deck of the stadium. It was a hike up, but once he caught a glimpse of the Dallas Cowboys stadium (About a block away) he started freaking out, “Wow! Look at that…” Well, at least it was nice seeing the new stadium from a different angle. Usually we just sit in the Wal-Mart parking lot and stare.

The Exterior Frame Is Up

I took these pictures Sunday afternoon. In a matter of hours the builders had the exterior framed up. Yeah, it blows my mind how fast this house is being built. Trey and I were saying as much as we drive by the house we might as well just move in now. Okay, I'll go get the boxes now.
Aside from the house, I’ve decided to never go grocery shopping at Wal-Mart every again. I stood in the checkout line for 20 minutes yesterday. I think I’m going to start shopping at Albertsons or ever better do all my shopping at Central Market. The reason why I’m leaving Wal-Mart is because the lack of Customer Service. The workers hate working there and if they don’t want to be there then I don’t want to shop there. So long Wal-Mart. My experience yesterday was so bad I’m seriously considering writing them a letter. I should do it.

I can’t help, but reflect on the South Park episode where the town vows to stop shopping at Wal-Mart. I guess it’s true, every incident in life can be related to South Park.





Trey insisted I take this picture.

All You Can Eat Baseball Fun

This weekend Brandon and Maghen came to visit us and attend a Rangers game. I don’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but we ended up with all you can eat tickets. I’m talking free drinks, hotdogs, peanuts, and nachos. I had two rounds of nachos and Trey had at least 3 dogs. To say the least it was a lot of food.

Oh, I wanted to publicly congratulate Brandon and Maghen on their engagement. While they were visiting Brandon proposed to her and she accepted. Just from talking to Maghen it sounds like it’s going to be a great big wedding, I can’t wait.



Gary Rhodes was right, it looks like I need a lens hood for my camera. At least the sunrays make Trey look dreamy.

Concrete

We have concrete and now everything seems to be moving a lot faster. This morning we met with the builder to select our paint, tile, wood, exterior elements, lighting, etc. Mom and dad are stopping by this afternoon and they’ll get to see it for the first time.

Super Immune System

It's been a slow work week because they still haven't poured the concrete. Maybe they'll get to it today.
Well, Trey is feeling much better and is finally back at work. I got sick too, but I stole some of his medicine and I feel much better. It's funny because he got sick first, but I recovered days before he did. My immune system is crazy like that. I only get sick maybe once a year. Guess, I'm done for the rest of year.


Look I'm standing in the kitchen



I'm sitting on our front porch.

Get Well Soon

This is for Trey because I figured you'd be online.
Trey I hope you get to feeling better. Get rid of that nasty cough and get some much needed rest. I love you and I'll see you when I get home.

P.S. If you need me to buy snacks before I come home just call. By the way we're not having hotdogs tonight look at the menu and be thinking about what you want.

What A Weekend

Exhausting sums it up. Non-stop…that’s another one. And yes fun.
Friends from Abilene, Johnny and Joneil, came to visit. The boys went to the Cowboys game and the girls went out.

Joneil and I were talking about how they make us put up with football all season long and then when they get an opportunity to go to a game they don’t invite us. Joneil and I were talking about getting tickets and not inviting them. Now that would be fun!

Well, Trey’s been sick since Thursday with bronchitis, but he wouldn’t miss a Dallas Cowboys game for anything. So even though he felt horrible he wore his dark blue jersey in 90 degree weather and cheered for America’s team. Isn’t that what they call the Cowboys? I should know, I’m the only woman I know who watches hours of ESPN (not by choice).

Oh the Parker’s booked a room in Irving, near Texas Stadium. Irving is a part of DFW I’ve never been to…EVER. So while the guys were out Saturday, Joneil and I bravely ventured the town, without a map. We found ourselves at the mall and eventually a movie. Joneil said she’s really bad with directions and she wasn’t kidding. After watching the movie she said, “I don’t even know which way to exit the parking lot to get back to the hotel.” Good thing I was driving.

What we watched: No Reservations.
My two favorite things, romance and food, you can’t go wrong with that combination.

Overall, the weekend was fantastic. When the Parkers left town, Trey and I napped hard. Hopefully the next time they’re in town they won’t have to stay in a hotel they can have a room at our new house.

Something New

Just Click, Drag, and Drop to Desktop

Susan the pictures were too big to email, but you can download them from here, with no problems.

Whenever I take pictures I always shoot in the highest resolution, which results in large file sizes, my inbox wouldn't allow me to send the pictures it thought I was trying to terminate it....computers are so dumb.

Smart Hospital™ at UTA

Photo by freelance photographer Jon P. Uzzel












Usually I’m the one taking the photos, but last week a photojournalist stopped by work and needed bodies. It’s summer time so a lot of the nursing students are off campus. So, somehow I found myself posing as a nurse. The article including picture, appeared on Fort Worth Business Press.

Read the Article

Right now it’s an exciting time to be working for the School of Nursing at UTA. We’re getting pumped up for a one of a kind facility called the Smart Hospital™. I guess you just have to read the article to see what all the buzz is about. Lately, we’ve been getting a lot of press, which makes my life busy. Typically, the reporters don’t bring their own photographer, since I take care of that for the department, but in this case the FWBP hired a freelancer to shoot this.

Here is one of my favorite photos I’ve taken for the Smart Hospital™

First Pre-Contruction Meeting

We had our first pre-construction meeting and everything appears to be running smoothly. You have to really use your imagination, but in a few months this will be our home.