Sweet Ever After

This morning I spent some time studying for my Photoshop final. It really wasn't that difficult. I'm sure I'll have an "A" in the class, because I only needed 40% to keep it. I really wanted to spend the time being outside with Bear, but the sun didn't last very long.

Today we went to Houlihan's for lunch, and I worked on my website project which is due early next week. I promised Nick I would cook dinner for him, and we tried a new recipe. It turned out okay, but I don't think we'll be cooking it again. It was a bit bland, and Nick later told me he doesn't think he likes artichokes. Oh well, tried to be adventurous.


During dinner, we watched the finale of Survivor. We were both rooting for Parvati to win, but instead it was Sandra. We thought it was hilarious that Russell didn't get a single vote.

Today we went to Best Buy and Target looking to find a camera case. We found a good one at Target, and I couldn't help looking through the shoe department. I found a pair I loved. But I'll let you in on a secret. My feet aren't the same size. In fact, it often makes it hard to find a pair that DO fit. So today...I bought one 6 1/2 and one 7 shoe. I had to do it! My feet are kind of scrunched when I wear them, but otherwise they slide off in the back! I have very narrow heels.


I was worried the cashier would notice, but here I am at home with my brand new shoes :) Afterward, we went to Blockbuster and rented a couple movies. We watched the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. I wanted to see it because Heath Ledger was in the middle of filming it when he passed away. However, it was really strange and didn't make a lot of sense. Neither one of us enjoyed it...Still have Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs to watch later this week though!

Tonight we decided to meet up with a couple of friends for dinner on their side of town. We decided on J. Alexander's, a seafood restaurant that we tried for the first time a few weeks ago. The food is great, and the portions are huge! There was a beautiful sunset before we left.


After dinner, the guys wanted to go to the driving range. I'd never been before and wasn't too sure about it. It was already after 10pm by the time we got there. The place was packed, and they didn't have space for us for 2 hours. Since they closed at midnight, we decided to call it a night and try again another time. I wasn't too disappointed. It's still pretty cold out at night, and I was glad for an excuse to not be out in it.

So this morning I had a doctor's appointment with a cardiologist. I don't expect anything serious, but I've had some irregular chest pain and palpitations and just wanted to make sure that everything's still okay. It's been about 5 years since I was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse, and this will be the first real follow-up. Nick's been begging me to go get it checked for months now, and I finally decided to stop being stubborn and have it checked.

The doctor was very nice and explained everything to me. My EKG was mostly normal, but they want to run a few tests in a couple weeks. After running to another office to get some lab work done, I came home to work on some projects, and let the dogs relax on the deck. We had some major thunderstorms last night, and it looks like a lake just over our fence where the golfers ride their carts.


But the rain has done wonders for the plants in our yard. Since we moved here in mid-October, most plants were pretty much done for the season, and I had no idea we had these beauties in our backyard until the sprung up out of nowhere a few weeks ago. Oh, how I love spring.

Random, I know...but there's an outdoor heater in our backyard, and it's weather-beaten. And I'm still a little obsessed with the macro setting on my camera, so I had to include this one too.

Oh, and I don't think I've mentioned it yet, but one of the reasons I decided to start this blog was to document what's going on in my life. So many things change so quickly. And as part of my new little project, I've decided to take at least one picture a day to create a virtual snapshot of my life. The goal is to keep this going for at least a year. I think it will be wonderful to look back and see all of these pictures that really do show what is going on in my life, even if it seems dull or routine in the moment.

Wednesdays are always a long day for me. I have two classes that are both about 3 hours each. So I don't get home until around 9:00pm. Tonight Nick had a long meeting at work during which future plans were discussed. As for now, it sounds like we will still be moving to California sometime this summer. It doesn't seem as though they are in a hurry for us to move, so most likely it will be around August.


Nick humored me and let me take a few pictures. He thinks the camera is pretty awesome for being so tiny. It's great in low light. On the right settings, it can take a picture in a dim room and make it look as though its bright daylight. Very cool feature for nighttime photos!

So my beautiful new camera arrived today. Let me just say, the two hours I had to wait while the battery charged just about killed me. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this new camera. I'm still learning all of the controls, but so far I really love the macro feature. It lets me focus right on an object in front of me, and the background becomes a blur. I really enjoyed playing with it!


Eventually, I want to learn all of the manual controls. But for today, I had a lot of fun just taking pictures around the house and of the dogs.


The amount of detail this camera captures is amazing to me, especially in macro mode. I took this picture very close up and then cropped since it was off center.

So far I couldn't be more pleased with my new purchase! I can't wait to try it out in low light situations and on vacations to get great shots of city lights and expansive views!