Surprise Birthday Party on Friday, 8/31/07

I turned 29 this year and had a wonderful birthday weekend. It all begin with this totally unexpected surprise party on Friday (thanks Jason & Mel, et al)!

We got annual/seasonal passes to Disney and celebrated by going back in time to have lunch at the Sci Fi Drive-In Theater Restaurant at Disney’s MGM Studios. This is Tom, our happy Disney server, who was apparently given too large a dose of pixie dust today We had a blast! It is always night time in here, so I was using night mode. As I was taking the picture I laughed at his expression and moved the camera, but I like the effect that it gave this picture.

We had a Girl’s Weekend Getaway this weekend. We went to the mall for a bit of shopping and pampering, then spent the night away from the boys at the fabulous Embassy Suites in Altamonte Springs. We chose this hotel because of their free manager’s reception and made-to-order breakfast. It was a lot of fun. Here we are showing off our newly manicured toes.

We went to see the launch of space shuttle Endevor. This is the smoke trail casting a shadow over the water as the sun began to set.

Even though I’ve lived in Florida for the better part of my adult life, this was the first time I saw a launch; I was a bit disappointed. Perhaps is because it was a day launch, or perhaps it was because I saw most of it through my camera lens as I took video and pictures of it. I’ll give it another try the next time there is a night launch, but I’m not holding my breath.

long exposure + moving car = FUN!

On our way back from a fun-filled day on I-drive and Giordano’s with Sean and Mel, I decided to have some more fun with the long exposure setting in my camera. We had these glow in the dark bracelets from the mini-golf place, so I put them to some good use and got this cool abstract.

The 80s edition of Guitar Hero came out this week and they had an 80s theme party at work. Several people dressed up for the occasion. It was certainly a blast from the past.

We got home from work this afternoon to find the backyard a complete disaster with branches everywhere, tables and chairs turned over, and oh yeah a huge chunk of the fence down! Did we miss a hurricane or something?

These ants somehow found their way inside a water bottle on my desk, and the surviving ones were using the dead ones as a flotation device. They kinda look like they are about to walk a few steps and start a duel.

I vaguely remember seeing ONE mushroom (maybe this one) in our front yard next to the garage on Saturday. By Sunday, either the smurfs moved in and colonized the front yard, or we are blind.

Here is a close up of one of the smurf homes

On our way back from Giordanos, we passed a Kwik-E-Mart (one of the many 7-11s that has been converted to promote the Simpsons movie. Unfortunately, it was dark and the pictures could be better, but it still neat to see how far they’ve gone (e.g. Squishee machine) with this promotion.

See my whole set or view more from various users on Flickr

We had a 4th of July party and Melissa made these lovely, and patriotic, chocolate cup cakes. I actually forgot to have one, because there was an insane amount of food here, but I felt it best represented this day and week. This was taken with the Nikon D50–oh how I love the DoF in this camera.

[More 4th of July pictures]

We had a Picnic and Field Day at work today. Since this is Florida, and is summer, we were encouraged to bring water guns. Here we have Ron Jon Surfer Greg wielding his mighty water gun. Don’t let the size full ya …

I took lots of pictures at the picnic, but I chose this one because I like the way the shot is frame, the colors, and the overall expression on Greg’s face. He is really quite photogenic, especially for candids.

[More CDWS Picnic Pictures]

Marge, our wonderful office assistant extraordinare, was voted UCF Employee of the Month for June. We threw her a surprise party where HR presented her with the award and Kelly, our new marketing specialist, made this awesome card for her. Go Marge!

Even though I did take a (crappy) picture this week, I am going to cheat a little and use this picture instead. It was technically taken in week 25, but since I got the highlights on week 24, I think it’s close enough. I meant to post this earlier, but I kept forgetting to get the pictures off my camera.

I finally went for it and got red highlights again. I actually didn’t think this picture had come out because I can barely see them myself–and most people have barely noticed. But I guess under the sun is the perfect condition for spotting the highlights–oh yeah, and the gray hairs

I didn’t take this picture, but I just had to share it.source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29297284@N00/535350813/

On our way out from dinning out Seasons 52 we saw the space shuttle go off. I was too busy starring at it and telling Jason how she have brought his camera to realize that I had a camera with me. By the time I went to take the picture, all that was left was the trail of smoke.

This is a picture of the tree in my front yard. You can see the part of the tree that was featured in week 9′s photo, which are the seeds I believe. On the left, you can see the buds about to bloom, and on the right are the flowers in full bloom. I never really noticed the changing seasons before, but now that I have a camera and I am always in the look out for a shot, I noticed much more about nature and the world around me.

Week 21 was all about the BABE Rally preparations. Unfortunately, I did not take that many pictures, but here is one of the boys just before leaving on the journey of a lifetime.

This is the awesomeness that is the Nikon D50. I cannot believe I was able to get this shot, and without a tripod (and while drunk). I was going to post a picture of y new furniture for this week’s photo, but I don’t think any of them can even come close to beating this shot.

We finally got the regular lens and macro filters for the Nikon D50. I saw this little guy yesterday climbing the CD tower and just chillin’ at the top, so I snapped some shots. Man this camera is amazing. I can get really close. You can even see some lint that he dragged with him up there. Incredible!I was also finally able to get some good shots of the clownfish and other things in the tank.

I was sick most of this week so I did not take too many pictures. I did buy these knew flip flops that I just adore; they are so vibrant! I took this picture when I was messing around with my new dSLR (Jason who?)! I really like taking shots of feet, I don’t really know why. Maybe is just the simplicity of the shot.*shrug*

Jason’s stepdad got a new camera and gave him his Nikon D50. OMG! I am sooooo in love with this camera! It takes amazing pictures and you can shoot tons of shots really fast. My little SD600 seems so inadequate now, though it is still a great everyday camera. His dad gave him a 50-200mm zoom lens with it, so today we spent even more money and ordered a regular 18-55mm lens along with some macro and other filters, as well as a bigger gorillapod.

I can’t wait for this stuff to come in! I should be able to take some amazing macro shots then. I am salivating just thinking about it. For now, we’ll have to take zoomed pictures of far away objects. This picture is of Jason pouting because I wouldn’t give him back the camera =P

Oh and did you know that Jason is a hobbit?

1. Day 1/30: My Shadow Salutes You, 2. Day 2/30: Food coloring, 3. Day 3/30: Kitty plots his revenge, 4. Day 4/30: Kitty close up, 5. Day 5/30: Gorillapod Arrival, 6. Day 6/30: Webby Cactus, 7. Day 7/30: Jason’s tongue trick, 8. Day 8/30: Sunshine on the ground, 9. Day 9/30: Giant, 10. Day 10/30: Rainy day, 11. Day 11/30: sunset silhouettes, 12. Day 12/30: cowboy silhouette, 13. Day 13/30: Jason, 14. Day 14/30: new discovery, 15. Day 15/30: Fortune Cookie, 16. Day 16/30: Green Star Polyp, 17. Day 17/30: this is not a drill …, 18. Day 18/30: Fountain, 19. Day 19/30: Time Out, 20. Day 20/30: Snail, 21. Day 21/30: Capital Steps, 22. Day 22/30: Beer Ad, 23. Day 23/30: Art?, 24. Day 24/30: UCF Shuttle, 25. Day 25/30: Inside my Fridge, 26. Day 26/30: Jason, 27. Day 27/30: Dale Scooter, 28. Day 28/30: Sexy Shrimp, 29. Day 29/30: Blurry Nemo … erm clown fish , 30. Day 30/30: Ricordia Mushrooms Closeup

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

On my visit to campus for a meeting this week, I found this guy sleeping in the middle of the lawn near one of the buildings at UCF. Seeing students sleeping on “the green” near the fountain is not unusual, but he looked quite out of place in front of the Math and Physics building–or whatever it is called nowadays.

We were supposed to go canoing at Wekiva today, but instead we went to Sean’s parents’ house for jet skiing and a BBQ. The jetski that Jason and I were on was malfunctioning and we stalled in the middle of the lake, then promptly flipped over. I lost a flip flop, which I thought was lost forever, but it turns out that they float–who knew.

Sean and Mel had to tow us back to the dock. After this little incident, I went to prepare the shrimp and Jason went out again and got lost in the lake. When he finally found his way back to the dock, with barely enough gas left, we had quite the feast for lunch: shrimp, chicken, burgers, corn, peppers, and onions … oh and Oreo klondike bars for dessert. Yum!

The fire alarm went off at work today around 2 p.m. As I was taught, I went outside with only my purse. I do not know why I didn’t take that extra second to just snatch my laptop and ipod too, but we figured it was a drill or that someone set off the alarm with their lunch or something.

I started snapping pictures and my co-worker joked (because I kept saying I should have brought my laptop and gone home) that if I had my laptop I could have done a live podcast =) Yes, we are geeks!

Thankfully, it did not seem to be anything serious–but you wouldn’t know it from all the emergency vehicles–if I recall correctly, it was about 5 fire trucks, 2 ambulances, and 3 emergency rescue vehicles. I guess it was a slow day and they all came to see what the fuss was all about.

1. “It’s quitting time. Yay!”,
2. “Where did you park the car?”,
3. “I know the car is around here somewhere …”,
4. “I don’t think our SUV is big enough”

Wednesday was a very foggy day. As I was walking to my car in the driveway, I noticed a spiderweb on the tree in the corner of the house. As I was taking photos of it, I noticed several other webs on the tree. When I got to work, I noticed a lot more in the bushes near the side entrance, so I snapped some more shots–including this one. I suppose they are probably always there, but the water in the fog really helped make them stand out and make them easily visible to the naked eye. Below are thumbnails of the rest of them, but they are best viewed large (click on each thumbnail for bigger sizes).

Finally, I must share the fortune cookie I got at lunch today:

I’ve had gray hairs for a long time (but not as many as Jason–who is younger–and has enough to be considered intentional tips). All my gray hairs seem to congregate together in streaks around my face (though you can’t usually see them because my hair is wet, I have gel on, or I pull my hair back with a clip). So here is a picture of one of the strips. I’ve decided that I won’t ever dye my hair and will just end up with the Cruela Devile look. =)

1. Gorillapod, 2. peek-a-boo, 3. Oh no! The gorillapod got me!, 4. truce

Collage created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

Submission for Story in 4 Frames Challenge

1. the source, 2. cannonball!, 3. almost there, 4. water stalagmite

Collage/Mosaic created with fd’s Flickr Toys; all pictures taken by me.

See more waterdrop pictures

Take a peek at all the photos in the mosaic below, or see the entire annotated 26Things Set on Flickr.

1. Camera, 2. Fancy, 3. Smile, 4. Spots, 5. Curl, 6. Belly, 7. Take Off, 8. Row, 9. Library, 10. Clutter, 11. Love, 12. Surprise, 13. Candid, 14. Button, 15. Apple, 16. Morning, 17. Favourite Beverage, 18. Square, 19. Plastic, 20. Home, 21. Sleep, 22. The great outdoors, 23. Fizz, 24. Family, 25. Glow, 26. Train

I can’t believe it has only been 13 weeks. It feels like I have been taking pictures forever! Anyways …

This week was all about experimenting with shots of waterdrops. I literally took hundreds of pictures of water this week, and uploaded my favorites to the Waterdrops Set. Choosing one to represent the week was hard, but I really love how this one came out. The shape of the waterdrop bouncing off the water looks like a volcano and the red underneath makes it look like its surrounded by lava.

I of course took plenty of other pictures this week (although I am sure that more than half were of waterdrops). Most notably, I finished the 26 Things Photo Scavenger Hunt for March 2007!

Other noteworthy photos from this week:

We went camping at Ocala National Forest this weekend and had a great time. It was the most primitive camping I’ve done. We drove down a dirt road and parked our cars in front of the path covered in palmetto trees that led to our camp site in the middle of the forest. We had a short walk to bring all our gear in, but it was worth it to have the place all to ourselves. Even without the comforts of home, like my laptop or even a bathroom, I still did not want to go back to civilization on Sunday. It is a shame that we live in Florida and it’s basically too damn hot to go camping again until probably October. Here is hoping for a cold front soon

We went on a hike to look for some geocaches on Saturday. I think we underestimated how far it was and how hot it would get by the time we finished. Thankfully I got a new backpack with a hydration bladder so we had plenty of drinking water. I really love that backpack and will come in plenty handy on future geocaching adventures. We found about 4 caches, most were fairly easy, and managed to find a trail on the way back that cut our hike by over 2 miles. It’s a good thing too, because we were all about ready to collapse when we got back to camp–the dogs certainly did. We hiked over 5 miles and then we all fell fast asleep. I usually have a hard time napping, but had a great nap on a blanket under the trees–it was way too hot to go inside the tent. Unfortunately, I did not take as many camping pictures as I hoped because I was too hot to care, but here are a few highlights: