Last night I was able to get over a small part of my disappointment about Hillary falling out of the race. I listened to Obama's entire speech, plus his little video biography, and I can honestly say I feel a little better about this election today. I would still vote for Hillary hands down over Obama and really felt like they could have been the Dream Team that repaired this country or at least got it going in the right direction, but it is what it is and at least Biden can make up for Obama's short-falls and vice versa. For the first time I'm filled with hope that we can put this country back together.
What concerns me this Friday morning is the lack of experience of McCain's VP candidate. I feel more so than Obama that something could happen to McCain (health-wise) while he is in office and the fact that he'd leave us with someone with little-to-no experience is really scary. Especially someone with no International experience and with all of the relationships that need to be repaired abroad, it's a little scary.
Who knows if I would have always been this passionate about politics, because I never used to be, but I think after spending the past 8 years seeing what's happening to our country and the economy, I'm very pumped about this election. There are so many people losing jobs and healthcare, how could you not vote for someone that is going to begin fixing that? With the price of gas and food skyrocketing, how could you vote to continue the tax cuts on the wealthy and tax the lower-middle class even more? How could people with young children vote for someone that doesn't make college affordable, or give them affordable healthcare? We don't even have kids yet and with the way the economy is, I wonder "how will we ever put our kids through college?" This country is just as bad now as it was during the Great Depression and if we don't at least move into the right direction soon, it's going to get really bad. Sure, it can't all be fixed in four years, but we can get on the right track, a more positive track, and begin the healing process.
I'm thankful day to day that I can afford groceries and gas and healthcare and that I work for a great employer that takes care of me. But there's so many people who aren't fortunate enough to have that and I don't think it's fair. We're Americans and we're supposed to care about each other and our country and stop being so damned selfish.
So that's my rant, I will now step down off of my soap box.
Obama-Biden-08 - let's go!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Is it Friday yet?
Perhaps the lack of sleep and all of the travel and drama from last week has put me in a permanently bad mood this week. Not even my cute little bee picture (critisized for being over-saturated when I was asking about cropping) can lighten me up. My usual pretending to be nice and in a good mood when I'm not is not working. I can only be blantantly honest with those I'm close to. Little things are making me irritated when they shouldn't. Like someone leaving a burrito in the microwave 5 minutes after it's done cooking when all I want to do is heat up my lunch. The fact that two of my closest friends are now really good friends and often enjoy things without me (or ignore me when I'm there). Someone speaking in excel language to me that I just don't understand and getting frustrated with me because I don't get it. People asking dumb questions...the list goes on and on. Things that I typically brush off, just seem to bother the crap out of me this week. I'm way more moody and whiney than normal and I hope a long weekend helps get rid of that. Perhaps a vacation...
Ordered my Slik travel tripod for our trip. Hope it comes soon! Can't wait to bring it along to Italy. Oh how I love receiving things in the mail, epescially when they come from Amazon.com.
No big plans for the weekend. I need to go to Hollywood and exchange some shoes I bought so I figured we could spend a couple hours out there and grab something to eat. Sunday we're volunteering to hand out clothes and food to the homeless with our friend Shannon and then have dinner with her. I have some cleaning to do, but I'd really enjoy sitting on my butt all day Monday if I can.
Cheers!
Ordered my Slik travel tripod for our trip. Hope it comes soon! Can't wait to bring it along to Italy. Oh how I love receiving things in the mail, epescially when they come from Amazon.com.
No big plans for the weekend. I need to go to Hollywood and exchange some shoes I bought so I figured we could spend a couple hours out there and grab something to eat. Sunday we're volunteering to hand out clothes and food to the homeless with our friend Shannon and then have dinner with her. I have some cleaning to do, but I'd really enjoy sitting on my butt all day Monday if I can.
Cheers!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Montana
On Tuesday morning Jeff's grandpa passed away, so we quickly hopped onto a standby flight Wednesday morning to Montana. Although a sad occasion, I never miss an opportunity to take my camera to some place new. My camera has been to almost all of the new places I've been to and is my best companion next to my husband and cat. It almost makes me feel more at ease when I'm behind my lens. Like I don't have to deal with anything but composing that great shot. I actually took this shot from a moving vehicle during our 6.5 hour drive from Missoula to Billings. I thought none of my pictures would come out, but quite a few did...and well.
I have a hard time stepping out of my comfort zone. It's not something that will ever change about me, it's just the way I am. Everyone has their vice and mine is that I get stressed out and anxious in new situations. Funny because I love to travel, but traveling is only great if I've had time to prepare mentally for it. That combined with the family drama that is part of the Happ-Family-clan makes for a very uncomfortable and awkward situation. To most people it seemed odd that I even went to the funeral, but not only did I need to be there to support Jeff, but his family would probably frown upon my non-existence had I not gone. That's the way that they are unfortunately.
So today I am rightfully blessed with a cold. Of course I can't travel, not get any sleep, eat crappy food, and come back to work without getting sick. And since I was out so much last week, there's no way I could take a sick day to get better, so who knows how long it'll take me to recoop. At lunch I'm off to Wal-Mart to purchase cold pills before we head to AAA to get our documents for Italy.
I have a hard time stepping out of my comfort zone. It's not something that will ever change about me, it's just the way I am. Everyone has their vice and mine is that I get stressed out and anxious in new situations. Funny because I love to travel, but traveling is only great if I've had time to prepare mentally for it. That combined with the family drama that is part of the Happ-Family-clan makes for a very uncomfortable and awkward situation. To most people it seemed odd that I even went to the funeral, but not only did I need to be there to support Jeff, but his family would probably frown upon my non-existence had I not gone. That's the way that they are unfortunately.
So today I am rightfully blessed with a cold. Of course I can't travel, not get any sleep, eat crappy food, and come back to work without getting sick. And since I was out so much last week, there's no way I could take a sick day to get better, so who knows how long it'll take me to recoop. At lunch I'm off to Wal-Mart to purchase cold pills before we head to AAA to get our documents for Italy.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Getting artsy with fruit...and accomplishments
Sometimes I'm just looking for a muse...last night it was an apple and banana. And then I didn't like the colors, so I decided to drop it into post and cross-process it. I rather like the way it turned out. We'll just call it "retro fruit" ha ha.
One month from today I will be wondering the streets of Rome, hopefully with a few scoops of gelato in hand and of course, my camera in the other. I can't even begin to explain how excited I am about going to Italy. I set out when I left for college to accomplish quite a few things before I settled down with kids. I've accomplished pretty much all of it:
1.) Get my degree - although I'm not using it, I like to think I'm paid accordingly for it.
2.) Find my future husband - accomplished that while in college.
3.) Get a cat - I love my baby Belle
4.) See more of the United States - did a lot of that last year with all of my work trips. In 2007 I went to New Orleans, Seattle, Memphis, Baltimore, Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, Virginia, Walt Disney World (Orlando), Ft. Lauderdale, Denver, and San Diego. Wow, say that ten times fast.
5.) Go to Paris - the top city on my list was conquered during our Honeymoon in Sept 06. Six successful days of trekking through almost every arrondissement that exists. And the icing on the cake was also making it over to London for 4 days.
6.) Build a better relationship with my parents - the trick was to just move out! Move out and move away and things will be great!
7.) Find a hobby - so the celeb stalking thing was getting way too teeny for me, especially after finally meeting Shania. When I turned 22 I got my first digital camera and it was love at first sight. I've been hooked on photography ever since.
8.) Lose weight! Did that and I'm still working on it! Lost 69lbs originally and I've gained about 10 pounds back, but I'm currently working on it.
9.) Get healthy! - ties in with the items above. I now go to the gym 2 - 3 times a week, eat healthy, and drink more water.
10.) Besides Paris and London, see more of the world. Italy was next on my list and off we go next month!
11.) Make friends that will last a lifetime. So I've had trouble with this in the past and really only have 2 friends left from when I was younger. I don't need a load of friends, but I want friends who are supportive, understanding, and are going to be there through thick and thin for the rest of our lives. Love me for me sort of thing. So my lonely 2 has expanded over the past year and now I may only be up to maybe 5, but that's ok. I finally have a small group of people to go out with, text with, email with, and people who are just as silly and nerdy as I am. And who amuse me by looking at my photography which is super important!
There's only a few more things I'd like to accomplish, but they can be before or after we have kids. I definitely want to see more of the world. The British Isles/UK, Australia and New Zealand, Scandinavia, the list goes on and on. I suppose at some point I should take some kind of "beach" vacation too. Instead of trekking all over major cities and wearing myself out, but it's just so awesome to see the world!
I'd like to do more with my photography. Work freelance or sell my images eventually. That's years down the road as I still have so much work to do in becoming a better and more all-around photographer. I'm a perfectionist at all that I do, so I won't stop the learning process probably ever.
And I'd like to advance more in my career. I've been lucky to be where I am only 4 years into it, and I've done very well. But eventually moving into management would be a great goal.
And so there it is. My little rant about wanting to pig out on gelato and roam the streets of Italy has turned into a list of accomplishments. Makes me feel better for the day...
One month from today I will be wondering the streets of Rome, hopefully with a few scoops of gelato in hand and of course, my camera in the other. I can't even begin to explain how excited I am about going to Italy. I set out when I left for college to accomplish quite a few things before I settled down with kids. I've accomplished pretty much all of it:
1.) Get my degree - although I'm not using it, I like to think I'm paid accordingly for it.
2.) Find my future husband - accomplished that while in college.
3.) Get a cat - I love my baby Belle
4.) See more of the United States - did a lot of that last year with all of my work trips. In 2007 I went to New Orleans, Seattle, Memphis, Baltimore, Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, Virginia, Walt Disney World (Orlando), Ft. Lauderdale, Denver, and San Diego. Wow, say that ten times fast.
5.) Go to Paris - the top city on my list was conquered during our Honeymoon in Sept 06. Six successful days of trekking through almost every arrondissement that exists. And the icing on the cake was also making it over to London for 4 days.
6.) Build a better relationship with my parents - the trick was to just move out! Move out and move away and things will be great!
7.) Find a hobby - so the celeb stalking thing was getting way too teeny for me, especially after finally meeting Shania. When I turned 22 I got my first digital camera and it was love at first sight. I've been hooked on photography ever since.
8.) Lose weight! Did that and I'm still working on it! Lost 69lbs originally and I've gained about 10 pounds back, but I'm currently working on it.
9.) Get healthy! - ties in with the items above. I now go to the gym 2 - 3 times a week, eat healthy, and drink more water.
10.) Besides Paris and London, see more of the world. Italy was next on my list and off we go next month!
11.) Make friends that will last a lifetime. So I've had trouble with this in the past and really only have 2 friends left from when I was younger. I don't need a load of friends, but I want friends who are supportive, understanding, and are going to be there through thick and thin for the rest of our lives. Love me for me sort of thing. So my lonely 2 has expanded over the past year and now I may only be up to maybe 5, but that's ok. I finally have a small group of people to go out with, text with, email with, and people who are just as silly and nerdy as I am. And who amuse me by looking at my photography which is super important!
There's only a few more things I'd like to accomplish, but they can be before or after we have kids. I definitely want to see more of the world. The British Isles/UK, Australia and New Zealand, Scandinavia, the list goes on and on. I suppose at some point I should take some kind of "beach" vacation too. Instead of trekking all over major cities and wearing myself out, but it's just so awesome to see the world!
I'd like to do more with my photography. Work freelance or sell my images eventually. That's years down the road as I still have so much work to do in becoming a better and more all-around photographer. I'm a perfectionist at all that I do, so I won't stop the learning process probably ever.
And I'd like to advance more in my career. I've been lucky to be where I am only 4 years into it, and I've done very well. But eventually moving into management would be a great goal.
And so there it is. My little rant about wanting to pig out on gelato and roam the streets of Italy has turned into a list of accomplishments. Makes me feel better for the day...
Monday, August 18, 2008
Hollywood
It's been a while since I've stretched the legs of my camera in the city. I've been mostly shooting nature or landscapes over the past year or so. Going to Hollywood with Jeanine gave me a great opportunity to try and apply the things I've learned on DPS over the past 2 months. I felt it was a huge challenge with the amount of people, the hot and humid weather, and where the sun was mid-day. With all of those challenges I think I did pretty good! I did have some trouble in post, but all in all I think I got a good handful of pictures. Please see my Flickr page for more from Hollywood...
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