ask me why I'm awake

Go ahead, ask me why I'm awake at 2 am. Well John is working at the fire station and I tend to stay up way past my bedtime when he's gone, watching things like this... You'll have to full-screen it to get the full effect.

Just thought I would share this adorableness! The older sister cracking up is so great. Can't get enough of this.

happy thursday!

Yes it is a happy Thursday indeed! Remember those self portraits I had to take for my photo class? Well... I definitely had some complications, ran out of time, printed them last night and felt so depressed because I had failed all of my expectations of taking a great photo of myself. Pretty much taking self portraits is more difficult than you would think with a DSLR camera. So... I started ALL over again last night because yes, the deadline is TODAY. I made a little photo shoot in our shabby little home just to get the perfect self-portrait! It was quite the learning experience. I stayed up ALL night shooting and editing, and then working on other homework. Finished just in time to come to the photo lab at 8am and printed off my photos. I am VERY satisfied! I'm still figuring out Photoshop and Lightroom but I think I'm getting the hang of it. So here they are!
I was going for a sort of raw look with a modern and colorful twist. I think both of them express me pretty perfectly.

If you have any questions about the settings I used to take the photos and what editing I did then feel free to ask and I will surely answer your questions. Also, if you're wanting some pics taken I would love the experience and it will be super cheap for you, because I'm still just a baby in the photo world.

And now time for an embarrassing moment... This last week John and I were headed into the grocery store. For those rexburgians, you all know that these obnoxious people stand outside of broulims to try and get you to purchase a "starving student card." Well John and I spotted the obnoxious, so we decided to run to the entrance and avoid confrontation. John's foot caught on the rug in the entrance and lifted it up just enough to catch my foot and send me soaring through the air, gracefully falling to the floor into a double roll! It was super epic... and super embarrassing. We couldn't stop laughing! Unfortunately, neither could the other couple who witnessed the whole thing. Now I have a swollen knee and a pretty nasty rug burn as proof of my complete fail.
That's all for now!

missing our plunger

 One neat thing about living in an old basement duplex is that all of our appliances are just as old. Anybody who has seen our place is definitely jealous of our green refrigerator. But unfortunately our toilet is pretty ancient as well. We're lucky if we can get anything through it without having to use the plunger.
Well this morning we found ourselves in need of a plunger but we lent it out to a friend. I don't think very many people can say they've lent out their plunger but a few weeks ago one of my friends found herself in a little situation. We'll leave her name out of this to save her the embarrassment.

I have learned lots of life lessons from being married and this is one I'm not proud to admit but here it is: if the toilet doesn't flush the first time, don't flush it a second time. If by some chance you failed to read that first lesson and flushed it a second time, don't flush it a third time. All you end up with is soggy carpet, wet feet, and an "I could be happier-husband." Good thing he's so patient with me. Life lesson learned... We did eventually get our plunger back and currently we have a giant fan drying out the damage.

On a not-so-gross note, I'm taking a photography class and here are a few of my photos from my last assignment. While working in black and white, we were supposed to show the effects that natural sunlight has on our surroundings and also how to capture that light in our photos. Unfortunately I haven't been at my best creativity level in this class, and for an art major that can be quite frustrating at times. I'm working on it though and improving with each week. Give me some of your thoughts!

Some of these photos were taken out by Eagle Park Campground in Rexburg, close to what is commonly known as the "duck pond." Other photos were taken outside of our house.
I used a Nikon D3100 to shoot with and a 55-200 mm zoom lens. I'll do better keeping track of my aperture and exposure in the future for anybody who is interested. I don't usually edit my photos very much at all. I usually just bump up the exposure and the contrast a bit. I do this in Adobe Lightroom. It's an awesome program and simple to use. I have Photoshop as well but I'm still learning the tricks on that one.