Some Faves

Time for some more Flickr enabling! :) Here's a sampling of current photos I'm in love with over there:

1. reflections of a pug, 2. Grandpa Lenin, 3. True Love, 4. My House in Moonlight, 5. Saksun: Winter vs Summer, 6. Built Ford Tough, 7. That "Shrek" moment again, 8. The art of coming and going, 9. Springtime Slumber, 10. Stella Beauty, 11. the ring, 12. Big Hugs from a Kid to Kids..., 13. Grindin', 14. Can ya hear me now?, 15. On the line, 16. fun with Lightroom

Click through and leave these talented photographers some love!

~Trude

Wow.

It has truly been a whirlwind month! I can't believe we're almost upon Thanksgiving here...where did October go?? I'm exhausted, but also in a great state of mind from all the great things I've been up to since my last post.

Fire-y Experience

The effect of the wildfires here last month was incredible. Red, apocalyptic skies like this:
Gross, huh? We (including the pup) pretty much didn't leave the house unless we absolutely had to all week! Luckily our apartment was never in danger, but we were very close to the Santiago fire (just over the hill, really) and at times we had ash all over everything.

The biggest worry was my uncle's house in Rancho Bernardo, since it was in the thick of the action in San Diego. Luckily his house was okay, although Donna's daughter (now his stepdaughter, yay!) Jen was evacuated in the middle of the night since they were out of town. Poor girl! It was an especially big worry because of the wedding that was coming up, which we just had last weekend. Luckily everyone involved was okay and things are slowly getting back to normal down there.

Pushing My Boundaries

I am happy to report that I have joined my very first creative team, working for digital scrapbooking designer Penny Springmann! (You might have noticed the blinkie to the right, as it's been there for a few weeks now because I couldn't wait to share!) This is really exciting and flattering for me, because it not only means free products (woo!) but also that my hard work at improving my digiscrap skills is paying off. Penny is an awesome designer who recently started selling at Sweet Shoppe Designs, and thus far I'm loving this "job"! I had originally applied for a guest spot for the month of November, but she liked my work so much she asked me to become a permanent member.

For those of you not in the "industry" (haha), a creative team (aka CT) is a common practice among designers as a way of showing off and promoting their products. CTs will create several layouts each month using the designer's newest products and typically post them in several online galleries. Other duties vary, but it's a total win-win situation for everyone. Designers have a team to bounce ideas off of and help expand their business, and CT members get access to great products and also expand their skills and exposure to the process.

Here's a few pages I've done thus far with her products:

"Lil Pumpkin"
"Oak Glen"
"Just How Much"
and "Rock On"For credits and details, click here, here, here and here.

Fun Visit(or)

Our good family friend Cheryl came down again this year to visit us right around her birthday at the end of October. I just love spending time with her! Not only has she known us kids since we were tiny babies, but she's been a counselor for years so you can't put anything past her. ;)

We had so much fun over the weekend just before Halloween! Unfortunately Chris had already booked jobs all weekend so he wasn't able to play with us, but I brought Jacopo along instead. ;) I played hookey on Friday, and she and I met up with my mom to go to lunch and then went to play in Downtown Disney. On Saturday my brother's awesome girlfriend Roseann bravely came along with my mom, Cheryl and me to the Historic Home Tour in old town Orange. I've done the walking tour before and was really looking forward to it, since it's different homes every time. We had so much fun with just us girls! Although after a yummy lunch at Felix's and walking around all day, we were all ready for a nap by 4pm. :)

On Sunday my dad had the great idea of going to the annual apple festival in Oak Glen, and that was a blast! We took a bunch of photos that day, but I think my favorite one has to be this one:
Funny, huh? The best part was I didn't even notice the sign behind us saying "No Dogs" until I was uploading all the photos to my computer! But of course there wasn't anybody saying "get out of here with that dog" or anything. In fact, just the opposite - everybody wanted to say hi to him! I warned Cheryl of how much we might get stopped, but it takes a day of walking with him to fully understand. I must have spoken to 30 different families that day! I suppose I'm used to it by now, seeing as we can't even go to Petsmart without someone wanting to pet him or ask what kind of dog he is. I guess that's the price you pay for having an unusual dog!

But I digress!

Viva Las Vegas

Then I had 3 short days before I left for Las Vegas for a girls' weekend! Since we left early Thursday morning and Chris was working, I didn't bother going out for Halloween; I just spent the night packing and handing out candy. :)

Then we were off! Nikki, Katie, Mindy and I drove together to meet up with Katie's boyfriend Colby, and Heather joined us Friday night. We just stayed at a cheap place in downtown/Fremont Street, but it didn't matter much since we were out and about most of the time. I think it's the best time I've ever had in Vegas, and this was my 4th trip with friends! We're all pretty easygoing travelers and share similar interests, so I'm always up for traveling and vacationing with my girls. :)

We were pretty low-key this time, no shows planned or anything like that. We went to the Hoover Dam, Mindy and I went and saw the baby dolphin at the Mirage's Secret Garden (highly recommend it!), did some vintage shopping, ate at the Bellagio's buffet, gambled, and generally hung out. It was great!

We took a ton of awesome photos, but I have to share some of the highlights from my photos:

Baby Dolphin!
Katie, politely shielding my redness from drinking that ginormous margarita:On the road to the Hoover Dam, we stopped off at a vista point overlooking Lake Mead, and laughed so hysterically at these signs that were posted everywhere that we took this photo in front of one, and I think it's my fave photo that I've taken in a long time!
Such an awesome trip! Thanks gang, for making it great!

Wedding Bells

Then I had a few days last week to try and recover (ha) before my uncle's wedding to his fiancee Donna, during which I had to put together a slide show of over 100 photos since my mom didn't have time. Fun! But it worked out, and I can proudly say I've increased my skills in iMovie and iDVD. :)

So I took a half day on Friday so that I could get my act together, and Chris and I drove down to the hotel we were staying at around the corner from Karl and Donna's house. We met up with my parents, and then we all trooped over to their house for a pre-wedding get together. Which was great! It was a chance to see everybody from out of town, and meet people from her side that I hadn't met before. We (meaning me, my mom and my dad, the unofficial photography team for the weekend) took a few really bad flash-y photos that I just have to share, because I didn't post them in the official Flickr album. :)

I just love how the boys all made the same eyes at the camera in this one (and I really don't think they pre-planned that!):Alex and I getting into the amazing marzipan cake that mom made:
Elissa enjoying the cake:

And the next morning it was THE DAY. Mom and I got up extra early so we could go over to the venue ahead of time with the wedding party (aka Karl, Donna and their kids) and take some photos. We got incredibly lucky with the weather - it had been cloudy all week, but the sun came out for them, without the temperature getting too hot. Perfecto! Apparently the brewery had previously been a Chinese restaurant, so they had this awesome view out onto a koi pond with beautiful landscaping and a little bridge and waterfalls! It was actually a great choice by them, you'd never know where you were and it made the party feel very private and isolated. Plus the staff was really great and helpful.

Anyways, you can go to my Flickr album to see the whole shebang, but here are a few highlights (as always, click for larger).

The table setting:The wedding party:The location, as described above:
The recessional:
The first dance:
It was such a beautiful event! I'm so happy it turned out well for them, since they are two people who truly deserved it. And now I have a new auntie! How cool is that??

And since it was a daytime wedding, we all went back to the house afterwards and had a great time doing an "afterparty." :) I won't name names, but certain people definitely had a "better" time than others!

And now I'm spending a quiet night at home with Chris and the pup, and looking forward to a very subdued weekend...

~T

Scary Motorcycliststststs

I had a scary flashback from my childhood the day before yesterday that totally took me by surprise!

For backstory: I can still remember clearly going to the door in our old house in Norway and being scared witless by my dad's friend standing there, still wearing his full motorcycle regalia (helmet, black leather jacket and pants, boots) and being scared shitless. I must've been about 3 years old, but it's one of the few clear memories I have of living there.

Fast forward to 23 years old: So yesterday I was walking towards the printer at work, when I glanced out the window/wall (it's pretty much a wall made of windows) to see in the next parking lot over a helmeted, black-leather-clad guy (and before you catch me on sexism, I could tell by the walk!!) walking towards me. My heart honestly skipped a beat before I could even think twice, until I realized that it wasn't me he was walking towards, it was his bike.

Yeah, funny how things we experience at such a young age can be so ingrained in our memories as to affect us without us even thinking about it.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Keeping busy this week, although I'm still tired from actually going out late both nights this past weekend. But it was totally worth having some real me-fun-time before the boy gets back (only 3 more days!!). :D

Nikki came over Monday night, because we were missing each other and hadn't gotten a chance to hang out over the weekend. So we splurged on Chipotle (YUM) and rented "The Queen", which was a pretty decent movie. I suppose the only reason we didn't like it more is because Helen Mirren's character is so hard to like. And we both thought Michael Sheen, who played Tony Blair, deserved more credit than he got. On the whole very interesting storytelling, but I think I probably would have liked Pan's Labyrinth more, which we almost rented too.

Jacopo graduated from obedience class on Tuesday night, which made me such a proud mama!! Even though he had been nutty when we first got there (early, so we could have a bit of a walk to burn off steam that he had been gathering at home alone all day), he was a prince for the "testing" and made me so proud. :D Even though you pass the class no matter what, I was still happy, and I'm hoping if we keep on practicing we'll be able to make it through the other classes that are required for him to become a therapy dog.

For some photo coolness, I finally got my parents to sign up for their own Flickr account, seeing as they took some super gorgeous photos on their trip to New England a few weeks ago. If you like looking at random cool photos, you can check them out here. And for a teaser:

And That's It...

Chris gets back on Saturday, so don't expect to hear from me for a while!! ;-)


~Trude

Quote of the moment: "It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this." ~Bertrand Russell

Foreigners, Books, Obedience and More

Where does the time go?? Even though my life has felt a bit quieter than usual lately, I still never have enough time in the day to do everything that I want to. Maybe it's because I always want to get a million things done, but that's besides the point (Chris). :) At any rate, lots of stuff going on, I think it's just because when I get home it's only me and the puppy that it feels quiet.

Photo Favorites

Some of my current favorites from Flickr:
Credits:
1. Heart of Satan - What it looks like when fireworks explode inside of a storm cloud over a river, 2. Girly staff, 3. Sleepy afternoon....., 4. Little Island, 5. more scenery, 6. 20070704_Norway_Day2_2209_Bergen, 7. 20070704_Norway_Day2_2027_NorwayinaNutshell, 8. no parking, 9. Day 180, 10. Anyone got any chips, 11. Happiness, 12. IMG_7338, 13. Hus på Gjendebu, 14. Dan as Art, 15. Pool Pals, 16. Nice Tongues, 17. 00099, 18. night at the Gent's channels/ Noche enlos canales de Gante, 19. Untitled, 20. Quick call the bambulance I'm havin a cute attack, 21. Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770 - 1844), 22. dunstanburgh castle, 23. Fira, 24. Separation Anxiety, 25. storm today

I love seeing what other people are doing, and being inspired by it. And sometimes it's just good for a laugh or a smile - like when I saw the one of the puppy biting the hand that holds him. :)

Visitors From A Foreign Land

Last Saturday my parent's old friends Terje (pronounced Terry) and Liv (pronounced Leev) flew in from Norway. My dad met Terje way back when he was working for Mobil in Norway, and they've kept in touch ever since. Here's a photo of them (on the right side of the table) with us when we were in Norway last summer. They came down from outside Bergen to hang out with us in Stavanger. :)(I just love that you can see the fjord in the background of that photo!) They're such a cool couple, we always love seeing them. And I love milking them for information, since they travel all over constantly and are multi-lingual. :) Plus, it doesn't hurt that they always come fully stocked with all the Norwegian goodies that they know we love and miss. Liv also brought me some super-cute leather bracelets from Spain that are hand painted, so pretty! And yes, Nikki, they brought more Stratos. Saturday night we just had a casual dinner and let them go to bed early to try and beat the jet lag, and Sunday we took them down to Huntington Beach's Main Street to get some California sun, and then back home for a really yummy BBQ. Monday night I met up with them after work to watch Lars' summer league soccer game (since he finally had a night game that I could make it to!), and then we headed to the Whole Enchilada for dinner. Mmm...so I'm pretty sure I gained about 5 pounds this past weekend. :)

New Scrap Pages

I did this one mainly for my mom, as she wanted a cute page to share with everyone at the family reunion that she's (along with my dad and youngest brother) going to next month. Luckily between her camera and my camera we had taken a crapload of photos the last time we went! You can see credits for the layout here.

I also did this one last week, and I based it off of a layout that Jessica Sprague did for one of her Photoshop Friday tutorials (which I read religiously). You can view the original here.


This damn kitten is just so photogenic...too bad he and Jacopo can't help but play rough with each other whenever we go to my parents' house! As always, you can click the image to view larger, and go here for credits.

Obedience, Please!

Last night Jacopo and I went to our first obedience training class together, and he did so well! He's not the A+ student yet, but he's definitely not the delinquent of the group either. We'll definitely be practicing this week, even if the first class was just about training them to walk at heel, sit on command, and generally obey. :) He's a pretty obedient dog to begin with, but sometimes only when I have a treat in hand. And definitely not when there's distractions, so we'll be working on that too. I totally had a "proud mama" episode when class was over. And he was so tuckered out by the time we got home, he was ready for bed even if I wasn't! Too cute. :)

Feeding the Addiction

Last night Nikki and I headed out to see the new Harry Potter movie. Wooo! Just have to say don't believe the stupid critics, it's most definitely the best film version by far! I think they did a much better job of pacing this time, and fitting in as much as they could of an 800-page novel. Plus the filming is just gorgeous. But I'll leave it at that and try not to give too much away! Now my book #7 needs to hurry up and get here! :)

There's A (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell: A Novel of Sewer Pipes, Pageant Queens, and Big Trouble

That would be the title of the most recent book I finished, by Laurie Notaro. Such a great read! I'm definitely going to have to start collecting her other novels. It was a bit over-saturated with metaphors, but I was constantly laughing out loud. The woman has mastered the hysterically funny metaphor, I have to admit. Take this paragraph, for example:

A couple of decades later, Maye sat in Cynthia's living room calling up her "Mikado" memories as three of her neighbors - who were too old to be simply grandmothers without a multitude of "great"s being placed before that title, let alone schoolgirls - pranced and flounced with what marginal dexterity their Edwardian period limbs could permit without simply snapping off like dead twigs and fluttering to the ground.

Hysterical, que no? I really had a good belly-laugh the first time I read that! Next book that I've already gotten about 100 pages into is The Electric Michelangelo, by Sarah Hall. It's turning out to be a good choice, too, and I can see why it was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize! And the author hasn't even hit 30 years old yet! And for those of you that I know like reading historical fiction too, this one is extremely well researched. It's not about historical events, but she does a great job of accurately crafting the world around the main character.

Anyhoo, that should about do it! Time to finally go sit and relax.

~T

Quote of the moment: "The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own." ~Benjamin Disraeli