my big brother

day seventy seven:


tonight i went to see my brother get an award for going above and beyond the call of duty... or something like that. 

it was really dark in the auditorium, and i wasn't that close to the stage, but i did the best i could.


i got a couple of good shots. the two i picked for today i tried to edit a little in my trial version of photoshop.


i am realizing that photoshop does all sorts of crazy things to pictures, but none that are really practical. just fun i suppose. i'll definitely try them out, but i can't say that i would actually use them for anything worthwhile. 

perspective

day seventy six:


downloaded a trial version of photoshop. so far i can say, i prefer lightroom.


here's a little of what i learned today.

football

day seventy five:


sunday afternoon football is amazing. it always starts with snacks, and ends with naps.


griffey has caught on quickly, however, she is not allowed the snacks, but she watches intently in case you drop something. 

the naps on the other hand... she has got them down pat.

meow

day seventy four:

so, i'm not really a cat person... i know it may come as a shock, but i prefer dogs.


however, tonight i met the most beautiful kittens. 


looking at these kittens actually made me think that maybe i should reconsider my position on cats, then i thought of the litter box and remembered why i have a dog. she poops outside.

but still, these kittens are the cutest things i have ever seen (second to griffey as a puppy of course).

the last one is my favorite.

the fear

day seventy three:


griffey does not seem to be afraid to much, however, she is quite afraid of the vacuum cleaner. which means she is also afraid of the new dust buster.


it's kinda hard to see, but tim is cleaning up ashes from the fireplace with the aforementioned dust buster, and griffey is intently watching him.


should he make and sudden movements, she will be on my lap.

thanksgiving

day seventy three:


i have so much to be thankful for...


i don't even know that i would know where to start.


but today's pictures are of the two thanksgiving dinners i crammed into one day.


the last picture is of the turkey that my nephew made in school. 

"nick, did you make that in school?" "yeah, i'm in pre-k. right dad? i'm in pre-k?"

finally

day seventy two:

today's picture is for matt and julia. i just love the both of you! and i am so glad that julia is going to be a part of my family.

red sky at night

day seventy one:

FYI: the sun sets really fast... by the time i got outside, i almost missed it!

annie's something or other

day seventy:


i had a terrible day... well, terribly long anyways. 


so here's all i had time for.


it's called annie's breath, or something like that.

and then there was griffey

day sixty nine:


we have owned dogs since i was a kid...


first there was ginger. she was a lemon beagle. she was pretty cool. 


next, we had penny, a tri-color beagle. she was a little crazy in the coconut. 


then there was a while with no dog... but then came tawny, the beautiful golden retriever. she is the most loving dog in the world. i miss having her follow me around and bring me socks. not chew the socks. or even let me have them. just bring them and show them to me.

and then i got married, moved out, and got a dog of my own. and i just love her to pieces... but i have to go visit tawny once in a while :)

superbowl-ing

day sixty eight:

well, this year at superbowl i bowled my little heart out.



i didn't roller skate, because used roller skates gross me out... i don't know why that doesn't translate to used bowling shoes. maybe it's the fact that roller skates have all that padding in them, just soaking up the nasty feet juices, but bowling shoes are just two pieces of leather sewed together to a sole.


anyways, i saved my energy by playing "apples to apples" and "taboo" while everyone roller skated....


so then when we got to bowling i was all ready to go. and i killed it! my first game i bowled a 127! the second game wasn't great, but then julia, matt, nothe and i played one last game... where i won (matt wasn't really playing, but still). it came down to the last frame for nothe and i. but he choked. 


and yes... these pictures were taken after midnight... about 5:00am to be exact.

all night long!

day sixty seven:


well, today is an early post because i am going to be out all night with the youth group.


we are going to an event called superbowl. it's a falcon's game, a rally with prizes, bowling, and roller skating.  


but for those that don't like to roller skate or bowl, we will be playing games. all night, we will play games. so get ready for the - mindy julia unstoppable taboo duo!

little friends

day sixty six:


although griffey destroys most things, she loves to keep her stuffed animals intact. she plays with them all the time, but never chews them.


she actually has one or two other stuffed animals too, but she likes these two the best.


maybe she gets her love of stuffed animals from me. cause i sure do love stuffed animals. although... it is not socially acceptable for me to own them anymore. but i used to have lots!

here's my card

day sixty five:


i have secrets. i think most people do. 


and today i would like to share one with you all...


when i was a child i used to collect business cards. that's right. you heard me. 
b u s i n e s s  c a r d s .


you think it's no big deal? it's just  a little hobby? well here's the best part, i had over four hundred cards. yup, i counted them. more than once.


i'm not sure where they all went. perhaps my parents threw them out so they could pretend they had a normal child. or more likely, perhaps i lost them. wherever they are, i can't help but still be fascinated by people's cards.


in fact, i'm thinking of making my own. i have always wanted to say, "here's my card".

dessert

day sixty four:


nothing like a cappuccino and a molasses cookie to warm up your night.


well, maybe the fire is helping.

margaret atwood

day sixty three:


i have loved poetry since... well since i could read i guess.


and even though i am a positive, upbeat, well-balanced person, i absolutely love dark poetry. 

on occasion i like poems about nature, but for the most part, i love poems that make you feel a little uneasy.


today's picture is of one of my all-time favorite poems.

after after

day sixty two:

first night with a fire. griffey loves it.

after

day sixty one:


finally finished. it's going to be so nice to have a beautiful fire in our living room. 


and i can't help but think about all the money we will be saving! 


thanks to howard mann for helping tim finish. he couldn't have done it without you.

before

day sixty:


i know you may have seen this wood stove before...


but tonight is the last night that it will look like this.


tomorrow night it will be finished. and there might even be a fire in it.


so, this is the before shot, and soon you will see the after shot.

playing in traffic

day fifty nine:


tonight i took a few pictures while tim was driving...


and i thought it might be cool to show you the different stages of my picture taking. this way you can see the different versions of a picture.


so this first one is a regular night shot.






this next one is with a slow shutter speed.

and this last one i edited.

the first night

day fifty eight:


for those that don't know, tim and i met at work. however, we did not hang out outside of work until after the school year was over.


a good friend of ours was moving and a few of us got together to hang out one last time.


tim went. and this was the shirt he was wearing. 


and, i don't know why, but every time he wears this shirt, it reminds me of that first night.


chilis, bowling and a movie. with great friends :) 

lion king

day fifty seven:


so i am still playing around with shutter speed and aperture.


tonight i took a few pictures outside. it was almost 8:00pm when i took these, and it was pretty dark.

and for some reason they remind me of the lion king.

light show

day fifty six:


today i learned a new trick with my camera. it's not something that is very practical, it's just for fun.


i learned this trick from my friend tina... who had just learned it from her friend... he was shooting while she was moving her cell phone.


however, i am only one person. so i had to improvise. i shot the light on the ceiling, while moving my camera.


and the weird thing is, (i know it's because cameras are just mirrors and such allowing light into a little box, but it's still weird) i had to "draw" upside down in order to get a shape right-side-up.


then after a little photo editing, i had some awesome colors too.

the bag lady

day fifty five:


for as long as i can remember, i have had a thing for bags. 


as a child i enjoyed putting everything possible inside one of my many bags, and carrying it around.


i then went through a phase of buying bags... all the time. i now have quite a collection of bags. i have so many, i have put myself on "bag-buying punishment".


however, my favorite bag of all time is my dooney and bourke. which i received for christmas last year.

home sweet home

day fifty four:


well, after three days in the hospital, we are finally home.


tim is feeling soo much better. thanks to everyone who prayed, called, worried, visited, and even just thought of us. we really appreciate all of your support. all of the tests came back negative, so it is just an infection in the lung that can be fixed with antibiotics. not bad at all.


this first shot is of tim waiting for his ride home. it was the first time he was allowed to leave his quarantined room in the three days he spent there. (and i love that he had to wear his cut-up shirt home)


the second picture is my favorite... 


thanks to my parents for watching our little griffey while we were away.


but here, i think it's obvious that she is glad to be home with us, just as much as we are glad to be home with her.

here's a close-up of her cute little face.

definitely taking them home

day fifty three:


if you've ever been in the hospital, you know they dress you somethin terrible. 

the johnny has to be the worst part. with your backside hanging out. cold air giving your pale skin goosebumps. as you try to walk to the bathroom, with your one hand holding the opening at the back, you use the other hand to precariously maneuver the IV pole in and out of various medical carts and homeless people. 


however, the best part is the slippers... you have to admit, they're pretty amazing.

quarantine

day fifty two:


well... i did not expect to go to the hospital at 5:00am.


kind of a long story... but the short, mindy balut, blog version, is that tim had trouble breathing, and now (after 8 hours in the ER and 5 hours in a quarantined room) we know that it is an abscess in his lung. not serious.


it was a long day... and the next two days are gonna be long too. however, it was kinda fun getting weird looks all day. 


i guess that's what happens when you have to wear a surgical mask. and are in a room with an alarm. and have a sign on your door warning other people not to enter. 

practice makes perfect.

day fifty one:

umm... this might not mean much to many people, but i am learning about aperture and shutter speed... and this was my favorite shot today.

we are the champions

day fifty:


i came home from work super late... only to find my husband armed with a spray bottle.


let's just say that the battle with griffey at the half-wall is now over.

he thinks he's arnold palmer

day forty nine:


i've never been a big golf fan... but i have to please my fans. 


so i wanted a picture of the nine iron, because it reminds me of the joke my brother used to tell when i was a kid... the one about Jesus using the nine iron... 


anyways, i wanted a picture of the nine, but the picture of the four came out better.