They gave her a camera?!

So I've been waiting 3/4 of 2010 for my new DSLR camera and on Christmas, I got it! Now, let me preface this post by saying I know nothing about photography. I hope to take a class sometime to learn all about the crazy features on this camera in hopes of getting better...

...but for now, I just sort play with the dials and buttons and snap snap away and hope for the best! Can anyone give me any photography tips?

* * *

Here are some pics from Christmas day- and yes, there are a lot of dog pics, but let's face it- they are more tolerant of me snapping away in their faces than humans are.

This is Elgar- he's very sophisticated

Bailey is my parents' beagle. She is 8.

Love when these two play together

After photographing Lady, I am even more convinced she should be a doggie model- she really does seem to pose

These next pics aren't particularly good in quality, but they are too cute to pass up posting.

And a little Sawyer series

A sleeping puppy is a good puppy.

One golden afternoon

Sometimes I take my camera places and I don't pull it out once. Other times, I leave my camera at home and regret it. Every now and again, photo ops align with the proximity of my camera, and I feel like the shots I snap are almost as good as the moments in which I'm taking them. This was the case today.

* * *

Let me back up a little. A lot has happened since my last post, and although much of it is not worth posting, Drew's new career as a high school teacher and coach began late August. While he is so thankful to have work, he (and I) had no idea he would be working 75-80 hours a week, including Sundays. So Saturdays have become very precious to us- and today was no exception. After we finished our errands for the day, we decided to grab two beers, two of our favorite pups, and walk over to the park down the street from our new house. The air has finally cooled and the light was really lovely as it was setting- so we ran around the field and snapped away (Drew did the bulk of this).

No more captions necessary.

Happy Fall, everyone.

We can be losers together

Check another U.S. city off the list- Austin!

Last week, I had a conference in Austin, TX, and decided to drag Drew along for good measure. Aside from the conference itself, we got a chance to see brother and sister, experience the nightlife in Austin and bond a little bit with my co-workers.

* * *

Starting off the trip at the Cedar Door

Chicken, jalapenos, cheese deep-fried then wrapped in baccon and dipped in hot sauce

We checked out 6th- which is a little like Garnet Ave. meets Bourbon street- but fun nonetheless. Here is the Thirsty Nickel

Look who I ran into!

Almost Charlie's Angels (If I weren't barking orders at photographer Drew)

Co-workers Noel pictured on L and Brandie on R

Cute couple Dave and Brandie

After the conference sessions (yes I did work, I just didn't take pictures of it!), we went to the Congress St. bridge to see the bats. But they are too pregnant to fly or something

Group shot

The Stillwell family at the sponsored dinner

And I got a chance to see Mandy! I miss that infectious laugh soooo much. It's good to see the people who will just pick up right where you left off.

And the last night we went out to the Salt Lick and had a huge family-style BBQ dinner. It's a good thing because we brought some family along (sister-in-law Monica)


cute little Sierra

And our last night took us to 4th street (a much more mature scene- little bars with great live music). This is the Ginger Man- 81 beers on tap... yes, please

At Six (Mandy tells me this is Lance Armstrong's bar)

Good stuff. Next stop- Tahoe!

On the road again

Willie Nelson can't wait to get on the road again- and apparently, neither could we. It was just 10 months ago that my mom and I drove from San Diego to Tallahassee, but I found myself on the all too familiar I-10 when Drew and I decided we couldn't wait any longer to get his truck out east. So we thanked Drew's parents for taking care of Big Red in our absence, and set out from Exeter, CA.

* * *

Last trip, I made sure to get a postcard from each state and sent them all to Drew along the way. This trip, we played the "capture the state welcome sign" game. We couldn't pull over to take the pic, and we didn't use maps or navigation to try and anticipate the state sign (but having been cross-country on numerous occasions, I was pretty good at remembering which little towns were on the borders). We got them all!

* * *

Oh, Arizona, you still have a little piece of my heart

New Mexico: the land of enchantment. Hmmm. I'll refer to Toby on this one.

Really, Texas? I could make a comment about your obsession with everything being "bigger" but this is a family blog.

Everything's a little fuzzy in Louisiana.

The mighty Mississip. It reads: birthplace of America's music. Praytell, what kind of music would that be? I have a feeling the answer involves spoons and washboards.


Obviously a selling point for the position of Governor of Alabama

And here we are... the Sunshine State. Although I'm pretty sure Arizona and New Mexico feel slightly jilted by that slogan.

The pups welcoming us (and Big Red) home

Hopefully I'll get around to posting pictures of our last two trips on here soon- soonish.

2 years and counting...

Andrew and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on Monday

Snapped a couple pics before we headed out

(I wore my hair up for Drew and he helped pick out my dress)

And because we are traveling out of state 3 times in only a few weeks, we decided to stay in town and do something simple. We ate breakfast out (my favorite), went bowling (we took a bowling class together in college, and let's just say our scores didn't reflect any such thing!) and went to the Hotel Duval for a leisurely dinner and drinks on the rooftop lounge (pictured). It was a great day start to finish

Earlier in May, we were at Drew's parents' house and spent some time at the same arch under which we said our vows. I knew, when picking the location of our wedding, that it would be special to be able to visit the place of our wedding for years to come. One day, we can show our kids where their parents got married.

* * *

The Moms aren't going to like this picture, but I love it. I hope we get a similar picture when we are old and wrinkly- it will mean that we have spent a lifetime being silly together

My heart has had to grow to fit 7 years of love for Andrew into it.