Meet Jade: Psycho Kitty + Bundle of Energy

So, around one month ago, we went out to eat for dinner at Big Wave Dave's Mongolian Grill, meeting up with Jacques on his way home from work.  Little did I know that we would be coming home with much more than just a full stomach.  I remember Jacques was still a bit sick (and I was still dealing with the stuffy-ear-problem) and recovering from a bad cough, and since we were already headed to Food Maxx to check out the movie selection from Redbox (although I cannot remember now, for the life of me, what movies we rented), we decided to buy some cough drops there too.

Well... just outside the door, there was a group of people with a basket of kittens.  They were giving them away free because the mother was allergic.  Erin instantly fell in love with the first kitten she held, this 6-week-old, multi-colored, longhaired tabby.  And yes, I have to admit, she was incredibly cute... and so tiny!  I ended up having the final say, and I'll be honest, there are some days that I wish to God I had said no.  But when I saw the way Erin's face lit up, I just couldn't.  I guess I'm a bit of a softie that way.

You have to understand, I am so NOT a cat person at all.  And I never have been.  My family grew up hating cats, so naturally, we only had dogs as pets.  I keep hearing people say that this kitten will turn me into a cat person eventually, but I can guarantee you, that will not happen.

However, she does make a great model for my photography (and I actually do enjoy photographing cats):

This is the look I often get from her... I'm always having to discipline her for getting into things I've already told her not to mess with, several times!

She likes to pose sometimes when she knows a camera's pointed at her.  This photo shows off her multi-colored coat, especially around her face.

Waving to the camera?  Or I caught her at just the right moment during a stretch.

Reaching for my hand, but she was getting tired so she just held the pose.

Food... for Thought?

Today, I decided to start experimenting a bit with food photography. I'm not really sure where the inspiration came from with this, but the best guess I can come up with is the fact that I'm stuck in the house every day (until we figure out the car situation, which is a whole 'nother story) and I just really had a strong urge to take some pictures. I'd started out taking photos of the dogs [because they're always entertaining and I love photographing them] and other random things around the house:

Nappy, looking cute as ever!

Guinness and Nappy cuddled up with each other.

Mom's Visit + Much-Needed Staycation

Mom and I @ Bubba Gump's.

So my mom's second visit here to beautiful Cali has come and gone.  It was really nice having her here for the week and being able to spend every single minute together this time.  We came across a few unexpected adventures, although not quite like last year's (which is a good thing, considering that it was a car breakdown...) and we had a great time.  Even though we had to interrupt her trip for a day of house-hunting, but that's another story. The whole trip reminded me of when Jacques and I would go on our weekend photography/tourist-y road trips back before I started working on the weekends.  It was nice to be reminded of that, I'd really missed those times of exploration and capturing some beautiful scenery.  Hopefully, within the next 2 or 3 weeks, we will be able to get back to some version of that.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed about this house we're hoping to get as well.  We need all the prayers/hope/faith that we can get!  I've come to realize that I have a love/hate relationship with the whole process...

Anyway, I'll get right to the photos:

We stopped here at Seaside Beach on the way to Monterey.

Another view of Seaside Beach... it was so pretty everywhere you turned!

More of the beach life.

When One Door Closes...

So, last week I took a trip out to OKC to visit my family for my birthday. This trip felt different to me, for 2 reasons. The first is because it was the first time ever that I came home to a house without Brandy, my sweet dog who passed away this past January. I'm so used to having her greet me right as I walk in... and I really missed it. She was always so happy to see me and the feeling was mutual. The other reason it was different... somehow, I felt more like an outsider to Oklahoma during this trip. I realized how invested my life has become to living in California. I can't really find the right words to fully explain what I mean by that though... but I could definitely tell that Oklahoma City is no longer my home. It has become just another place where I visit friends and family. It was kind of surreal coming to that realization. But looking back on my trip, there's no doubt that California has become my home now. I'm not sure when it happened, but somehow in the course of the [almost] 2 years that I've been here, it became my home. Though, in no way am I saying that I'm not proud to be an Oklahoman, nor that I will ever outgrow or forget that part of my life.

Anyway, I do have a few photos from the trip. So I'll get on with that, since that is the main purpose for this blog! The first word that comes to mind when I think about the pictures as a whole is a "potpourri" of photos. You'll see what I mean.

I'll start with some photos of my brother's adorable dogs: Mattie, his golden retriever; Lulu, a pup that they started out fostering, but are now in the process of adopting; and Paige, an utterly adorable 6-week old puppy that they are fostering to prevent her from being euthanized. If I could have snuck her on the plane back to Cali with me, I would have! She's the cutest little thing ever!!

Paige. It was extremely difficult to get a good capture of her because she was constantly moving around.


I caught this neat lighting effect, thanks to my mom who was taking a photo using her flash, at the exact moment that I was taking the picture!

Discovering Pennsylvania, Last Day

Hello again! This time I am updating with the last day in Pennsylvania. I have to say that this was my favorite day of them all. If you know me at all, you will see the reason in these photos! It slowly started snowing throughout the day and got heavier as well.


This is what I woke up to that morning... my dad called it a "light dusting" of snow. I LOVED it!

Taking Albert for a walk along this little path that ran around the house.

I liked how the tree sort of framed the pathway in this photo.

Awww! He was so cute. I still can't believe I managed to capture such a clear shot of him looking up at me. He was a very rowdy little guy!

Fork in the road... we took the right path...

...which led to this frozen lake. Though you can't really tell that there's a lake in this photo.

Side view of the lake, with the snow-covered rocks.

This was kind of a spontaneous shot... I liked how there were the paw prints, tire tracks, and footprints all in one spot... like "signs of life."

Walking further down the road... I just liked this barn with all the snow, and that long long driveway.

One of my favorite shots of the day, with the gate looking almost as if it's about to tip over.

Very old one-room schoolhouse, built in 1890!

Another favorite! This was taken while randomly driving around. I loved the look of the bridge with the snow.

And the other part of the bridge that was closed for construction.

Very beautiful scene in Mercer Citizens Cemetery.

I liked how the sign looked with the rest of the clutter from the trees. (it says "Black Willow")

This was actually taken through a window at a jewelry store. We were going to walk down to those beautiful falls, but they had the trail closed for safety because it was too slippery with all the freshly fallen snow. :[ I was very disappointed.

Different angle, still taken through a window.

On the way down to McConnells Mill for some truly amazing views!

The mill. It was snowing at this point, and as you can see, it kinda ruined my shot.

It was such a beautiful scene, especially because no one had been there and the snow was completely untouched by footprints.

Another favorite from the day. This was leaning off the side of the railing to get a view of the other side of the mill.

Something about these snow-covered steps just drew me to it... not really sure what.

The calm on the other side of the mill.

Another favorite of the day! I could have stayed there all day, it was so soothing.

My dad and I posing with a beautiful background.

And in black & white as well!

Looking across the covered bridge before crossing it.

Overall view of the mill, from across the covered bridge and looking through the trees.

Icicles found on the side of the rock, as we were driving back.

More of the scene while driving away from the mill. We were rapidly running out of daylight.

Looking directly up into an icicle. =P

I had an awesome vacation, spending some quality time with my dad, and getting to see some truly beautiful scenes. Even though I only got to spend 3 days in Pittsburgh, I made some wonderful memories that I will keep close to my heart. Love you, Dad.

CHANGES

Simple and to the point, there is no better word that describes what has been going on in my life for the past few months. I've said it before, I'm not a huge fan of change. But, like the quote says, it's inevitable. However, at least I can say that the changes to my life recently have been good.

I suppose what started it all was back around the beginning of August when I upgraded my phone and gave in to Android. My old flip-phone had turned pretty ancient, compared to all of these new smartphones coming out in the cell phone market as of late. It has completely changed not only how I use my phone, but also how often I use it!

Then, around the beginning of September, I got hired as a retail sales representative for a dedicated Nestlé team that requires me to travel to different grocery stores and check their inventory of Nestlé products. It's only part-time, but it takes up alot more of my time than I had planned, which contributes to why I haven't really been posting photos at all. I work on the weekend now so I don't have the free time to take photography road trips anymore. (But I do have one more batch of photos to upload at the end of this post)

And the most recent change is that I got a new car. Due to the fact that my old 10-year-old Saturn failed the required smog test, and when I say failed, I mean failed miserably. It wouldn't have been worth it to spend the money to fix it, and since I use my car for traveling so much for my job, it was more of an investment to just replace the car. I didn't realize quite how bad my car was running until I started driving this new (well 2006 but it's new to me!) Mazda.

Now on to some photos! These were taken towards the middle of August, shortly after I got my new phone. I was testing out the camera on my phone to take these photos. We visited the Redwood Regional Park in Oakland, CA for a 5 mile hike through the forest, along with the two irish setters as well.


Mari and Guinness enjoying the fresh air.

Very reminiscent of Muir Woods across the bay.

Catching the sun between the trees - my favorite of the day.

Different angle from the bottom of the tree looking up.

Jacques and I taking a break for a pic.

Random view along the trail.

Giving the dogs a water break - Mari stops to look up at me.

And now Guinness. I couldn't get one of them both looking at the same time.

Pathway along the trail. Shortly after this started the steep hike up the hill.

Stopping to catch the sun again!

Jacques, me and his daughter Erin on a water break.
And now here are a couple photos of my new car ~ 2006 Mazda 6 Hatchback. I love it!!




It has proved very useful these past few weeks and I'm loving how smoothly it drives! Despite the fact that I hit a bad pothole and am going to have to replace one of the high-profile tires... Damn California highway roads.