July 16th

Here's a few pictures looking back at July 16th in 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005. Amazingly only one of these pictures was taken on a different day, and that was the 17th. However, I decided not to go back any further. 2004 has the 18th as the closest day, and there was one picture from July in 2003 (23rd) and no pictures in July 2002.

2009- England
Bolton Abbey. We also went to Skipton Castle that day.

2008- Maine
Scottish Highland Games in Brunswick. We stopped on our way to Acadia.

2007- Belmont
I had just gotten a new camera lens and was testing it out on the plants in the garden.

2006- Cow Parade
This is the Trojan Cow. IT was located in South Station. I spent two Saturdays roaming around Boston trying to get pictures of all of the cows (approximately 100 of them, if I remember correctly).

2005- Philadelphia
Aunt Ethel's funeral. She had numerous scarves and Chris was displaying them and offering them to anyone who wanted any.

Happy Birthday.... to me!

So I wake up and Chris says Happy Birthday. I ask him if I can have my gift yet (a new camera). He says no, it's not wrapped yet. I say, but I know what it is, so what's the point in wrapping it? And I'll want it to take pictures of my cube (since I knew Vanessa was going to decorate it). He still said no.

I little while later I get up and I see the camera sitting on the dining room table. Yay! I call him to make sure that I can open the box. Yup. Yippee! I take out the necessary components and bring it with me to work so that I can charge the battery.

On the way to work I notice that one of my rings is missing. :( I've had this ring since summer before senior year of high school, so 14 years. I've lost it before, but I somehow always find it again. It certainly has no monetary value, but there is sentimental value. You see, my dad and I were at Wal*mart to get me a watch before I went on a youth group trip. Watches are in the jewelry section, so I was looking at the rings. I kiddingly asked him to buy me one. He said no. Later that evening we were making dinner. There was a steel ring holding a bag of potatoes closed. He took it and gave it to me as my ring. I've worn it ever since. Except when I've lost it.

This has happened a few times. Partly because I wear it on my thumb and so it needs to be pretty big to fit on over my knuckle, but then it's loose so it can come off easily, and partly because it's an adjustable size style, so it can get snagged on things and come off easily. Normally when I loose it I find it pretty quickly. One time though, I searched and searched and couldn't find it anywhere. I gave it up for lost. I bought a bag of potatoes to get a new ring, but it just wasn't the same. It didn't feel right. A few months later I found it in my car. In a place I know I had searched before.

Well today I thought over my actions on my way into work, and my hunch is that it is either in the garbage bag that I left on the curb, or it fell off when I put the bag into the garbage can. I'll try to check when I get home, but I imagine it's gone.

So after that, coming into work and seeing my decorated cube was a great way to put a smile on my face. And after charging the camera battery, I was able to test out the camera and take some pictures. :)

Playing with the new camera lens

My new lens arrived today for my camera, so naturally I had to go outside and play.

I tried taking a self-portrait and discovered that I can't do that with this lens. It kept chopping off half my head. Oh well. You may also see that my pink dye is fading. :( Good thing I have plenty of extra dye. One of these day's I'll get around to touching it up. I was thinking it would be this evening, but now I'm rethinking that. Maybe tomorrow?

The new camera has been giving me lots of excuses to get out and take pictures if the garden. Not sure why, but today I got down on a lower level and took my pictures at a different angle than I normally do. I love the results! It makes the garden look much more full and lush.

Check out all of those herbs! We've got chives, parsley, basil, lemon balm, and then some snow peas on the trellis and some other flowers in the front.



Here we've got my two tomato plants, my cucumbers, and my peppers. In the front is some iceberg lettuce that didn't do too well. Anyone know the secret to growing good heads of lettuce?


And finally here we have the tomatoes. two different kinds- Better Boy and Sweet 100's. Can't wait until they ripen!

On Wednesday, to celebrate the 4th, we went to Old Sturbridge Village- a recreation village set between 1790 and 1840. All of the pictures on this post are from our visit there. It was a great chance to play with the camera and try to learn the settings. Unfortunately I over-exposed one event. I thought I had fixed the settings halfway through, but apparently not. Nothing major, so I'm not too concerned. I'll just have to practice more so that don't mess things up on our upcoming vacations.

While we were there, we rediscovered badminton, although at the Village it was Battledore and Shuttlecock and was played with paddles (similar in size to ping pong paddles). On the way home we stopped at the store to pick up our own badminton set. And since Wednesday we have played almost every day- and twice on Saturday.

There was another game there called The Graces that we also enjoyed- and picked up a set to play at home (although we haven't played yet). However, my skills at badminton are far superior to my skills at the Graces.

It's weird to me to be so into a sport- I am not an athletic person at all. If we keep up with the badminton I may even get a better racket. I question the quality of the racket that came in the set for $12. The racket I want is pink and costs about $50.


This weekend I also got a new bikini. It's very cute- black with a skull and crossbones on the top front and another on the bottom back. And since I already had purchased pirate scrapbook paper with no use in sight, I now have a reason to use that paper. Right?

However, I am realizing that perhaps my time for wearing a bikini is coming to an end. It's hardly a skimpy one, yet I seem to have some rolls of fat hanging out. Aaargh! I'm not used to that at all!

So, any suggestions on ways to loose a few pounds- especially in the tummy, butt, or hips? I guess I knew this was happening as I've noticed my weight gaining and my old clothes no longer fitting, but it still comes as a shock to me.


And my final update for the weekend-I finally got some scrapping done! Christmas Album, Mom's birthday, and Easter. The Christmas Album had been dragging for weeks and weeks. Such a weight off my shoulders to have that done. The other two layouts- nothing spectacular about them, but I was able to use some new products on them and it was a nice way to get the creative juices flowing a bit. Next up on the scrapping front is my trip to Chicago in April. I think I have about 4 pages worth of photos. Just one problem- no room for journaling. Not so sure what I want to do about that. The journaling that was on my blog earlier this month is about 4 pages long. I may just print out the journaling and tuck it into the page protector behind the LO. Either that or LOTS of hidden journaling.

New camera

Yay! We got a Canon Digital Rebel XTi today! I LOVE it almost as much as I LOVE my pink hair. :)

I love that I can finally take pictures like this one where the flower is in focus and the background is blurry. I had lots of fun out in my garden taking pictures of the flowers and veggies.

And then I came inside and took some self portraits. So much easier with an SLR than my old point and shoot. (Just look for your reflection in the lens in the mirror and you'll know it's lined up properly.)