Okay, so really, it's awesome. Aside from our house being totally torn apart, of course. And it is. But it is so exciting! We will be moving into a place, rent free, but even more exciting--I CAN DECORATE! Walls will be painted. Furniture will be bought. And hopefully we will stay sane! The whole thing has really been stress-free for me--Kirby loves to pack (mostly because of how excited he is to move... oh, and rip out the hearth...) so he has been doing all the packing! He is much better at it than I am, mind you, and we both know it. He organized our two extra closets in the office, and they were perfectly packed. Very impressive. Everything is organized, and labeled in their boxes, and all that is really left is our bedroom (mostly our clothing), all of our kitchen stuff, and our computers and the stuff littering our desks. :) So crazy. Our living room is barren and mildly depressing. Our closets are empty. My studio equipment is packed away.
BUT--here's an exciting thought! We will have two bedrooms in the basement we're moving to, and rather than put our office in the extra bedroom like we have it now, the extra bedroom will be solely my studio! No more taking down lights, no trying to match anything with that ugly green carpet! And I had a brilliant idea! I am going to paint each wall a different fun color! I have seen some studio shots where the person is just in front of a colored wall--pink, purple, blue... And they are really cute! So I will probably do one pink (because if I want to, that's also easy to change to purple, etc. in photoshop,) and a blue one (easy to change to green), and perhaps an orange one. The fourth wall is really a closet and I think I will try and hang my backdrops in front of that. Then my props will be in the closet, fairly easily accessible, and I will have just expanded my background options by three colors. Really more than three, when you think about all the possibilities Photoshop creates.
Joyful tidbit--Kirby and I bought end tables today. We went up to IKEA and wandered around their dizzying showroom (don't get me wrong, it was awesome, just a lot to take in!), and then left mildly impressed with some of their furniture. A lot of it looked cool, but didn't feel particularly sturdy or quality-y. On our way to stop at Smiths on our way home from Macy's (where we finally bought Kirby much needed Sunday apparel--new pants, five new shirts, four ties, and six pairs of nice thick black socks--they will be his first matching pairs of socks since I have known him! Yeah we splurged. But it was sorely needed.) we saw the RC Willey Outlet store. :) So we ventured in. And in the clearance section we found two matching end tables that we fell in love with! And they were only $40 each! AND they were good quality, and only a teensy bit dinged up, and did I mention beautiful! They are in the corner of our kitchen, awaiting the moving van, so the pictures will have to wait. :) But they will come.
AND--at RC Willey we loved just about every kitchen table we saw, at affordable prices, I might add, as well as some cool desks! And desks will be the next furnishing items we buy. But patience is a virtue, right? Basically, all in all--we are stoked. And we can't wait for Wednesday to come! :)
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Summertime Fun and O-RE-GON
Our friend Brad recently got a motorcycle, and, naturally, Kirby now wants one. Or did. For a day or two his hankering was quelled by something we saw on TV. It was one of those shows that shows painful looking boo-boos or something. Anyways, it showed this motorcycle accident where a car ran a red light, and creamed the motorcyclist. So, at least up until today he had changed his mind. But then Brad came over and they rode his bike around... again. SO, chances are that desire is inching back. But anyhoo! Kirby took me for a ride around the block a few times outside of Brad's apartment. This was back before the TV show reality check when Kirby was still trying to convince me how safe and awesome they are. :) Don't I look tough in that helmet??? This set of pictures makes me sad, too, though. Those cute khaki shorts are now ruined. Well, they may be salvageable, but as of this moment--RUINED. Stupid curb that wasn't dry, and wasn't labeled as "almost dry." Boo I say.
My friend Sarah got married on the 23rd of July, which was a blast. I got to go to the sealing, which was beautiful, and then I got to hang out with these great girls waiting outside!
The last week of July Kirby and I drove up to Oregon, and we successfully put the 100,000th mile on our car. Mind you, we got the car used. But still. A momentous occasion nonetheless!
Once we got to Oregon we spent the entire time hanging out with family. We spent a good portion of our time at Tyler (Kirby's little brother) and Amy(Tyler's wife)'s place. Now, picture in your mind what an awesome house would be like...
chickens? check.
go-cart? check.
mini bikes? check.
BBQ? check.
hammocks? check.
plasma donation lounges? check.
fruit orchard? check.
mini lake? check.
riding lawn-mower? check.
family? CHECK!
This is Kirby's mom, Yani.
And here are the girlies! Megan (top left)--Kirby's little sister, Amy (top right)--Tyler's wife, and that crazy one who can't seem to look pleasant in her pictures--ME! :) But you knew that.
Some pictures of Tyler. On the left he's sitting in one of the plasma donation chairs with a sleeping chicken. Apparently if you hold them upside down they fall asleep. So he did. And it did. Maybe all the chicken blood flooding its tiny little brain causes it to shut down. I wonder... In the middle is Tyler riding the lawn-mower, swingin' his rusty machete. No, he's not crazy. The machete is for chopping branches out of the way when they are mowing... where there are branches. And on the right is on the way to Sand Lakes (more about that later). He's looking hard core in his sunglasses and camel-pak. (If Tyler actually sees this he may or may not yell at me for spelling that wrong. Because I may or may not have spelled it wrong!)
My incredibly charming husband. Maybe I should just buy him a helmet. Who needs a bike!? In the lower right picture you can kind of see the dirt nose and mustache all the riding through the orchard gave him. Pretty rugged. Hot-rugged. :)
And we can't forget Steve! Kirby's dad didn't seem to want to take the go-cart for a spin, but after a little prodding, he hopped in, and--LOVED IT. He didn't want to get out! And when he did get out after several laps around the orchard, he still wanted in on the fun. So he hopped on the riding lawn-mower to chase Kirby and Tyler down (they had the go-cart and mini bike respectively.) Needless to say his attempt failed, and resulted in him getting lapped several times. But what do you expect from a lawn mower vs. a go-cart?
This is Megan's boyfriend Brad. Mmm... those burgers were so good!
And you can't forget Joey! Megan and Brad's adorable little 6-month-old boy. Ironically, he's as big as our other nephew Gregory who is a 13 months! :)
Kirby took me for a spin in the go-cart and you can't tell very well from this picture, but I was hanging on for dear life for most of it! We were going pretty fast, and that thing has no suspension. TALK ABOUT BUMPY! And when we went around the mini lake down the road there were blackberry bushes and the briers would whip past and scratch my arm up. I felt pretty hardcore. :)
We went to Sand Lakes to take the quads, go-cart, and mini bike out. It's part of the Oregon Coast that is especially for that kind of thing. Unfortunately, the go-cart and mini bike didn't really work in the deep, loose sand, but Megan and Brad had both of their quads, so we took turns and it was a blast!
It was so foggy at Sand Lakes! By the time we went home it looked like this! (See the bottom two pictures.) And check out that marshmallow farm! :) hahaha.
Happy birthday Megan! We celebrated her birthday when we got home from Sand Lakes with a delicious german chocolate cake. Devilish. After which all the kids went to Sheri's because we never got dinner. It was there we had some of the nastiest restaurant food of all time. But Tyler sure liked putting it in his mustache. :)
And last but not least--our Oprah experience. At some point during the vacation we were sitting in Kirby's parent's kitchen and for some reason or another, Tyler picked up the Oprah magazine that Kirby's grandma gave his mom and began reading an article about dumb things men do. Or something like that. Basically Kirby and Tyler were a bit miffed at this journalist and decided to get back at Oprah. :)
Phew! You survived! (If you're reading this, at least.) This post was mostly so the family back in Oregon could see some of the pictures I got, but I think they're fun (and funny) for whoever wants to see, so thanks for looking! :)
My friend Sarah got married on the 23rd of July, which was a blast. I got to go to the sealing, which was beautiful, and then I got to hang out with these great girls waiting outside!
The last week of July Kirby and I drove up to Oregon, and we successfully put the 100,000th mile on our car. Mind you, we got the car used. But still. A momentous occasion nonetheless!
Once we got to Oregon we spent the entire time hanging out with family. We spent a good portion of our time at Tyler (Kirby's little brother) and Amy(Tyler's wife)'s place. Now, picture in your mind what an awesome house would be like...
chickens? check.
go-cart? check.
mini bikes? check.
BBQ? check.
hammocks? check.
plasma donation lounges? check.
fruit orchard? check.
mini lake? check.
riding lawn-mower? check.
family? CHECK!
This is Kirby's mom, Yani.
And here are the girlies! Megan (top left)--Kirby's little sister, Amy (top right)--Tyler's wife, and that crazy one who can't seem to look pleasant in her pictures--ME! :) But you knew that.
Some pictures of Tyler. On the left he's sitting in one of the plasma donation chairs with a sleeping chicken. Apparently if you hold them upside down they fall asleep. So he did. And it did. Maybe all the chicken blood flooding its tiny little brain causes it to shut down. I wonder... In the middle is Tyler riding the lawn-mower, swingin' his rusty machete. No, he's not crazy. The machete is for chopping branches out of the way when they are mowing... where there are branches. And on the right is on the way to Sand Lakes (more about that later). He's looking hard core in his sunglasses and camel-pak. (If Tyler actually sees this he may or may not yell at me for spelling that wrong. Because I may or may not have spelled it wrong!)
My incredibly charming husband. Maybe I should just buy him a helmet. Who needs a bike!? In the lower right picture you can kind of see the dirt nose and mustache all the riding through the orchard gave him. Pretty rugged. Hot-rugged. :)
And we can't forget Steve! Kirby's dad didn't seem to want to take the go-cart for a spin, but after a little prodding, he hopped in, and--LOVED IT. He didn't want to get out! And when he did get out after several laps around the orchard, he still wanted in on the fun. So he hopped on the riding lawn-mower to chase Kirby and Tyler down (they had the go-cart and mini bike respectively.) Needless to say his attempt failed, and resulted in him getting lapped several times. But what do you expect from a lawn mower vs. a go-cart?
This is Megan's boyfriend Brad. Mmm... those burgers were so good!
And you can't forget Joey! Megan and Brad's adorable little 6-month-old boy. Ironically, he's as big as our other nephew Gregory who is a 13 months! :)
Kirby took me for a spin in the go-cart and you can't tell very well from this picture, but I was hanging on for dear life for most of it! We were going pretty fast, and that thing has no suspension. TALK ABOUT BUMPY! And when we went around the mini lake down the road there were blackberry bushes and the briers would whip past and scratch my arm up. I felt pretty hardcore. :)
We went to Sand Lakes to take the quads, go-cart, and mini bike out. It's part of the Oregon Coast that is especially for that kind of thing. Unfortunately, the go-cart and mini bike didn't really work in the deep, loose sand, but Megan and Brad had both of their quads, so we took turns and it was a blast!
It was so foggy at Sand Lakes! By the time we went home it looked like this! (See the bottom two pictures.) And check out that marshmallow farm! :) hahaha.
Happy birthday Megan! We celebrated her birthday when we got home from Sand Lakes with a delicious german chocolate cake. Devilish. After which all the kids went to Sheri's because we never got dinner. It was there we had some of the nastiest restaurant food of all time. But Tyler sure liked putting it in his mustache. :)
And last but not least--our Oprah experience. At some point during the vacation we were sitting in Kirby's parent's kitchen and for some reason or another, Tyler picked up the Oprah magazine that Kirby's grandma gave his mom and began reading an article about dumb things men do. Or something like that. Basically Kirby and Tyler were a bit miffed at this journalist and decided to get back at Oprah. :)
Phew! You survived! (If you're reading this, at least.) This post was mostly so the family back in Oregon could see some of the pictures I got, but I think they're fun (and funny) for whoever wants to see, so thanks for looking! :)
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Moving On
Well, the time has finally come. I have a job plan. :) It sure took me long enough! Okay, so only 2 1/2 months, really, but still. The whole summer I've been feeling like a slacker. The only problem was that I didn't get a bachelors in Home and Family Living to get a good, stable job. I got a bachelors in Home and Family Living because it was quick, and I knew I'd enjoy it.
I was originally going to be a mom by now.
So I didn't exactly have career plans ready to go in my back pocket. But finally I have something I'm all fired up about. Ironically, I have to take some online classes in order to get the job I want. I am going to be a Medical Transcriptionist. For those of you who have never heard of it, medical transcription is when doctors dictations are converted into text format via the computer. They make an audio recording of everything they do, and then a medical transcriptionist types it up so that it can go in the medical facility's record database, whether they be an ER doctor, a dentist, or a physical therapist. Thanks to our friend Brad, I was able to become aquainted with the idea, and it caught fire. With a little help from Kirby, we got the information needed to research a couple different online schools, even though I pretty much knew from the start which one I would go with.
So I did it. I took the leap, and enrolled with CareerStep.
They are a little more expensive than other schools, but they are nationally acclaimed, and have great graduate assistance in getting placed with a transcription company. I have a year to complete the program, but if I'm I work consistently I can be done in a matter of months (as in, 4-ish.)
Basically, I'm stoked. This is something I can do from home, in addition to my photography stuff. If I get a full-time job, there is a definite possibility for health benefits, and the faster you can type, generally, the more you get paid! So.... hopefully this will be a great job for me! I'm in the middle of the orientation right now, but I'm chomping at the bit to get to the learning stuff. I'll keep y'all updated on how it's going!
I was originally going to be a mom by now.
So I didn't exactly have career plans ready to go in my back pocket. But finally I have something I'm all fired up about. Ironically, I have to take some online classes in order to get the job I want. I am going to be a Medical Transcriptionist. For those of you who have never heard of it, medical transcription is when doctors dictations are converted into text format via the computer. They make an audio recording of everything they do, and then a medical transcriptionist types it up so that it can go in the medical facility's record database, whether they be an ER doctor, a dentist, or a physical therapist. Thanks to our friend Brad, I was able to become aquainted with the idea, and it caught fire. With a little help from Kirby, we got the information needed to research a couple different online schools, even though I pretty much knew from the start which one I would go with.
So I did it. I took the leap, and enrolled with CareerStep.
They are a little more expensive than other schools, but they are nationally acclaimed, and have great graduate assistance in getting placed with a transcription company. I have a year to complete the program, but if I'm I work consistently I can be done in a matter of months (as in, 4-ish.)
Basically, I'm stoked. This is something I can do from home, in addition to my photography stuff. If I get a full-time job, there is a definite possibility for health benefits, and the faster you can type, generally, the more you get paid! So.... hopefully this will be a great job for me! I'm in the middle of the orientation right now, but I'm chomping at the bit to get to the learning stuff. I'll keep y'all updated on how it's going!
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