Pictures

The Man Cave

July 7th, 2010 Classmate Blogs No comments

We have Batman in our bedroom.

Let me explain a little. When Jason and I were first married, I wanted to make all the decisions with him 50/50. Equal partners and all. And I mean ALL the decisions. Oh, there were the biggies like money, college, family. Then there were the others. I’d take the man grocery shopping with me. We’d chat about where to put the couch, how to decorate, what colors to paint the walls, if we should have chicken for dinner, how to do the laundry- everything. I soon learned that this is not a good idea. It actually began more disagreements than good feelings about being equal. I think we both realized this and started into the whole, “I trust you to choose the best TV for our family” or “I know you’ll choose the perfect thread-count for our new sheets.” This system works well for us.

Well, except for the decorating department. Truthfully, it has taken quite some time for our ideas about our home decor to jive. Jason wants orange on pretty much everything. I want sunny Better Homes and Gardens rooms. He thinks nothing of a TV being the main focus of the room. I always want to incorporate the TV into a hutch or mask it as a picture just hanging on the wall. He hangs pictures really high on the wall. I want them at eye level. My eye level. I win about 93% of the time.

This is why we have a “Man Cave” in the basement for Jason. The Man Cave is a happy, manly room where Jason’s stuff is displayed proudly. The TV is right out there with all the cables for the X-Bow showing. The bookcases are full of Clive Cussler novels and comic books. All the drawings and paintings he did in high school are framed and hanging high on the walls. The golf ball collection is displayed prominently over the Love Sac. It is truly a man’s room. And my sweet, awesome hubby doesn’t complain about being banished to the basement.

Soon, I felt a slight twinge of guilt for relegating all Jason’s stuff to the basement while my do-dads sat out proudly. I began to choose some of the more “safe” items to bring up to the living room: his grandmothers tea cups, little ivory elephants his mom had from South Africa, his grandpa’s ceramic leprechauns come out on St. Patricks Day. Now, I feel like we have a pretty good blend of “ours” not just his or hers. Hey, our living room walls are orange after all!

So about Batman. My mom gave Jason two 5×7 prints of Batman for Christmas one year. They are sort of graphic, old school prints- pretty neat actually. When he opened them he said, “I’ll have to find a spot for these in the computer room.” Guilt blow to the head. “Hey,” I said “Why don’t we hang them up in the bedroom.” Blank stares and amazed silence. “Really?” “Yeah,” I said casually, “I think they’d look great next to your lamp, sort of staggered. What do you think?” We hung the pictures the next afternoon. I think Jason was shocked that I’d agreed to it for a few weeks. But now, Bruce Wayne is just a way of life. I wanted Jason to know that things that are important to him are important to me. I just didn’t realize that I would show him that by having the Dark Knight in our bedroom.

And so that is how we have Batman in our bedroom. I go to bed every night, snuggled up next to the man I love and looking over at the framed pictures of the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder.

To tell you the truth, it’s pretty awesome.

Hope Kids

June 26th, 2010 Classmate Blogs No comments

We are finally part of an organization called Hope Kids. Hope kids his for families who have children with life threatening or chronic illness. We have heard about it for a while but I just never signed up, just lazy I guess. They put together activities for the kids and their families that you can sign up for. Today was our first event which was a private showing of Toy Story 3. It was nice to be around other families who are going through similar things, who trek around the same equipment and don't have to explain to people what it is when they look at you weird. The fun part about the event was that Lauren is a Hope Kid now too so we were able to attend the event together. Since we have a wheelchair we were there early to ensure a wheelchair spot, so we weren't able to sit next to them but I was able to snap their pictures. Riley really enjoyed the movie. He was laughing and talking, but mostly I think it's because everyone else was laughing and talking. He loves to be social with other kids and was way excited. I can't wait to sign up for more events.

sisters, sisters…there were never such devoted sisters…

June 24th, 2010 Classmate Blogs No comments

Sure I’ll take a picture of you and Millie Bear. Hold on let me get the camera ready. Smile! Say cheese! Lyvia, look at the camera. Not with a silly face, use your happy face! Ok- cheese! Wait, Millie….Millie….Amelia Bear- look at Mom! Oooh, Lyv can you scoot over just a little bit. Stop! The other way- careful not to bang Amelia in the face with your elbow. No, that is your knee not your elbow. Your elbow is on your arm. Alright, I’ll put a bandaid on right after this picture. You are being so soft to Amelia- that’s so nice. Look at me now- say cheese! Oh dear. You guys are so silly! Yes, you can see the pictures…hold on….Yup, that’s you and Amelia. I agree- totally darling!

Categories: Blog Postings Tags: amelia mae, camera, careful-not, elbow, happy, hold-on-let, jpg, look-at-mom, lyvia elaine, picture, pictures, sisters

Shame.

May 24th, 2010 Classmate Blogs No comments

Not the kind that you are embarrassed about. More like the kind you laugh about and then deep down inside wish it weren’t so. I haven’t put a single word or photo here for over 2 months. No good excuse. Not too busy. Just doing other things. Staying in my pj’s all day. Traveling to visit family and friends in three different places. Salt Lake. Denver. Rochester. Refashioning t-shirts. Making baby gifts. You know how it goes. But I must say I was kicked in the pants when I realized that my sister-in-law can post amidst moving her family of four almost a thousand miles, not to mention while being basically 7-8 months pregnant. Forget it!

So in my attempt to have some self respect I am going to catch you up on our year. Here are few pictures of our recent and not so recent past.

Warning: There are twelve posts including this one so don’t feel pressure to read them all. Skim the pictures. I would.

The Perfect Goodbye

April 18th, 2010 Classmate Blogs No comments

The past 10 days have been a blur! Last Thursday I was in pinewood derby mode when I got a phone call from my dad at about 4:00 pm. My dad told me Grandma was finally on her way to heaven and she might not make it through the night. Without hesitation, I booked a one-way ticket to Arizona so I could hopefully say goodbye to my grandma before she left this life. By 5:30 I was in a taxi on my way to the airport (with a haphazardly packed suitcase). I prayed and prayed that I would make it to Arizona in time to say goodbye to my sweet Grandma. Lucky for me and my family, Grandma held on for 5 days. This wasn’t really a surprise since Grandma was one of the strongest and most stubborn people I’ve ever known.

I never imagined saying goodbye to my Grandma would be a beautiful event, but it was. She was surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We sat around her bedside and told stories. We took turns holding her hand. We all got to tell her we love her (like a million times). We also had a very special moment with her on Saturday when she woke for a few hours. While she was awake, we all got to tell her we love her and we were thankful for all the ways she took care of us. We also told her it was ok for her to rest and we would be ok. It was a perfect goodbye.

I’m glad I took my camera to Arizona to capture a few moments from Grandma’s goodbye party. In case you can’t tell from the pictures, the mood was calm, happy, and sometimes silly (just like Grandma). I flew back to Chicago on Monday night, just a few hours before my Grandma finally went to heaven. Thanks to my super helpful and generous husband, I flew to Arizona again for her funeral. Poor Marshal wasn’t able to leave work on such short notice, but he held down the fort while I was gone.

Here are some pictures from Grandma’s goodbye party:

This is my dad and Grandma at the nursing home.

My dad was Grandma’s baby.

Me and Dad

This is my cute Aunt Judy. She and Uncle Bill took care of Grandma after she moved to Arizona about 10 years ago.

Here is my awesome cousin Tammy. She and my other cousin, Abby, also took care of Grandma. They made sure someone visited Grandma at the nursing home every day.

The boy cousins are so much fun.

This is my handsome Uncle Bill (my dad’s brother, Judy’s husband, and Abby and Tammy’s dad).

My sweet mom came out too because she and Grandma were always close.

I am so glad my mom was there! She has a the most calming voice. I don’t even know how to explain it. I can’t imagine hearing a sweeter voice before going to heaven. My mom is pretty special.

I made Grandma do the peace sign.

Here we are before the funeral

Here we are again (Marshal, Melissa and Kevin couldn’t make it but we can Photoshop them in later)

Ryan and Amy after the funeral…they are so cute!

My brother is doing his Zoolander face in this picture

I love you, sweet Grandma! See you soon

California 2010

March 28th, 2010 Classmate Blogs No comments

the pictures are in the reverse of our trip but oh well!! we started out in vegas for two days and we had a great time staying at the bellagio. then we met my parents, grandma and kel in california and went to disneyland…jake loved it and did great all day. we stayed until 11:30 pm and jake was still going strong so we stopped at in n out. even at 1 am jake was the happiest kid and kept us all laughing! the last day with my parents we went to newport and spent the afternoon there… it was beautiful and jake loved pushing his stroller on the pier. after we said goodbye to my parents (tear) we drove down the coast on highway 1 and i LOVED it!!! the beach towns were awesome especially luguna. we have seaworld season passes so we went there 3 days in a row and jake was in heaven and asks to go back every day! we had a great vacation and the kids were little rockstars
jake not too sure of meeting elmo

loved the ‘bounce house’

loved the ‘block house’

jake on the pier doing his thang

newport

the halster

john lovin the flip

disneyland

goin strong at 1 am

checking in at the bellagio

Becah vs. Walmart

March 18th, 2010 Classmate Blogs No comments

For my birthday this year Marc gave me a camera. I've been needing a new camera for a while and I've been researching them for quite some time. I wanted something that had good picture quality along with good video quality. So I decided to get this particular Kodak camera. I've been very happy with my current Kodak camera so I thought I couldn't go wrong. It had good reviews and it takes HD video which I was excited about. So I get the camera and it's terrible. I went through 3 batteries and all the pictures had weird coloring or they were blurry. The only thing good about the camera was that it did take killer video! So after a few weeks of trying to figure it out I decided to just return it for a different one. As luck would have it I couldn't find the receipt. I figured, it's Walmart they are usually pretty good about it. So I take it up to the customer service desk and I told them it was a birthday gift and I don't have a receipt. They scan the barcode to find out when it was purchased. There return policy is 30 days and it had been 31 days! The bitchy lady told me that I couldn't return it but I could try calling Kodak because the camera did have a year warranty. Well, I called Kodak and they wouldn't take it back because it was a 2008 model so technically the year warranty was expired! What a joke! After a few choice words were said I decided to call the corporate office of Walmart. My efforts paid off because they called the store I purchased it at and made them return it for me! HAHAHA I beat Walmart! So now I have a new and improved camera and so far it works great. I'll post some new pictures soon.

Fun Randomness and Back to the Books!

January 5th, 2010 Classmate Blogs No comments

{click and save}

I am in YW and teach this Sunday. I prepared this little handout for the lesson. It is sized to a 4×6 so if you want on of your own just click on the image and save it. Then you can print it off at any photo place or just on your computer. So fun, I know.

Another fun thing is I got my ABC Gospel book in the mail! Hooray! The boys LOVED it during sacrament last Sunday and it kept them quiet for a very long time

Cal could easily point out the letters and he loved looking at the pictures that had his family…especially the page with Grandparents. If anyone is still interested in getting the template just send me an email and I’ll customize it for you. I ordered the book through Shutterfly and I think I paid $12-15 for each book.

kdphotography@live.com

My friend and ol‘ pal from Southern Virginia University, who now lives in Ogden is selling headbands. They are super cute and are on sale for a super price right now. If you don’t live in the area you can visit her website www.whimiscalheadbands.com

On another note, that’s not so fun but is still somewhat fun…

Timothy will be taking the Utah Bar this February. {HOORAY} I am stoked that we are finally to this point but feel like we’ve slipped back into student life. The boy studies around the clock. Wakes up, works out and then studies until 5pm, takes a dinner break and then heads off to class from 6pm-9.30pm. Comes home exhausted, sleeps and does the same thing again the next day. This includes Saturdays! It is bringing back some haunting memories from law school, but now I feel extra lucky that we are here in SLC and surrounded with family. Makes the days less long ya know. But single mom-hood is still a killer, especailly when it comes to bedtime. I’ve been trying to put the boys down since 7.30pm and it’s now 9.45pm. If there is anything that makes my blood boil, it’s having my beautiful children refuse to go to bed! ARGH. Thank goodness for blogs where I can unwind and forget about my stresses! The house is quiet now, let’s hope they’ve met Mr. Sandman.

Thanks for listening

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Fun Randomness and Back to the Books!

Categories: Blog Postings Tags: book, boys, does-the-same, family, free downloads, image, law-school, loved-it-during, pictures, university

India… Part 2

January 4th, 2010 Classmate Blogs No comments

For the last part of the trip we went to Bhuj. This is where we stayed and had a 3 day field trip around in the state of Kutch. Bhuj is a smaller town and not touristy.

Day 5

We had been working with Dr. Biswas who has done a lot of work in Kutch. We also worked with a geologist named Dr. Tucker from the Kachchh University. The university had a welcome and lecture, then

they hosted a dinner for us back at our hotel.

Day 6

The first day in the field was great. I loved seeing all the things that I had been studying the last year.

The people were so beautiful. So many times we would be in what felt like the middle of nowhere and this beautiful woman would just come walking down the road, with wood or pots on their heads.

In the morning of the first day in the field we hiked our way up to the highest point in Kutch.

The highest point just so happened to be 25 Km from the Pakistan border.

There was a cute little village at the top.

After lunch we went to the lowest point in Kutch, which is the Bay of Kutch.

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

It was just Rasoul, Sudeep, Dr. Biswas, our driver and I. We were going to see the oldest civilization in India and Asia. It was a long drive but it was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

This little boy was so sweet. We had stopped at a tea shop, Rasoul and I took pictures of him because he liked looking at the pictures on the back of our cameras.

This is Sudeep and I in the little Runn of Kutch. The salt flats felt like home.

For lunch we stopped at a hotel.

This woman is making one of my favorite Indian foods. It’s called naan bread.

These are the rooms.

This is one of Dr. Biswas’s friends that we just happened upon as we were driving back for the night.

I told you this boy was sweet. He had changed his clothes and dressed up for us coming back through his town.

So I’ll end this trip with someone famous. This is Parvin Dabas from Monsoon Wedding. It’s a very good movie. Parvin was staying our hotel and left on the same day too. I took this picture in the Bhuj airport.

From Bhuj we flew to Mumbai, then Sudeep and I flew to Delhi then I flew back to the US. The last 2 days, I spent on a plane, or in an airport. It was so much fun and I will never forget this trip. I still can’t believe that my bosses took me with them, but I’m so thankful that they did.

Merry Christmas from Chicago

December 25th, 2009 Classmate Blogs No comments

M E R R Y_C H R I S T M A S !

Marshal and I are warm and cozy inside our condo. Christmas is lovely this year because we get a quiet 4 day weekend to spend with each other.

Last night we ventured out for Christmas Eve dinner at The Signature Room. I made the reservations last minute but we had the BEST table in the whole restaurant. No joke. I couldn’t have picked a better view of the city. Soooooooooooooo gorgeous.

It is very difficult to take pictures at night especially when I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m perfectly happy if my pictures are a little blurry but maybe someday I’ll learn how to make it work.

Here’s the John Hancock building on a cloudy night…no stars just clouds reflecting back all the light from the city

I took this picture from our table! What a freaking view!

One picture with a flash

Blurry is hot

Back on the ground safe and sound (with a rain drop on the camera)

Happy Holidays to everyone! Here’s an adorable picture of Marshal to brighten your day. Love this guy so much.

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Merry Christmas from Chicago

Categories: Blog Postings Tags: city, cloudy-night-no, happy-holidays, make-it-work, picture, pictures, reservations, very-difficult

a view from December

December 10th, 2009 Classmate Blogs No comments

My sisters, Dad and I went to sing at the “Fun Bunch” Christmas party this past week. The Fun Bunch is a group of older, single people in the ward who get together a few times a month. They are totally sweet people from my childhood and it’s always fun to see them. Especially because they say the darndest things! During dinner all the ladies were “encouraging” the others to take more food- “You can’t eat just that- that’s all a bird would eat!” And veggies aren’t veggies unless they are mixed with a) a cream sauce, b) cheese and crushed cornflakes or c) butter/bacon. Then there are the funny generational things that always get me- “I bought a CD the other day, but I still haven’t heard it. I can’t get the darn thing open.” “Oh, I’ll tell you what I do- I just break the plastic case, then the CD comes right out.” Oh dear!
Lyvia is loving Christmas! (I’m not too surprised as she comes from a long line of Christmas lovers!) She loves turning on our tree lights, reading the holiday stories, frosting cookies, singing Jingle Bells, pointing out all the lights to me as we drive. But I really think her favorite thing is going to Target and seeing the little village they have set up there in the Christmas section. I know- strange but true. There is a train that goes through a tunnel, a big Christmas tree that spins and ice skaters really skating on a frozen pond- not to mention the whole thing lights up. She asks to go to see the “Santa Train” just about every day!
I have odd mixed feelings about Cedar leaving our home. On the one hand- I know she can’t stay with us anymore. But I want to find her a loving home where she can be happy. (Please let us know ASAP if you know anyone who needs this sweet dog.) These dogs were our “kids” before we had kids. One of my favorite things is when Cedar snuggles up next to my legs and leans in, as if she is giving me a big hug. This whole ordeal has been tough for me but I think even tougher on Jason. We both get teary whenever we talk about it! Why does the right thing and the hardest thing have to be the same?
Speaking of emotional- the pregnancy emotional roller-coaster is on a steep incline right now! I’ve been trying to scrapbook- but the cute pictures and memories make me cry. Who knew the pictures of our summer vacation would spur me on to weepiness? TV commercials are no good either- especially the Hallmark ones. Or the baby ones. Or even those crescent roll commercials. I cry during our family prayers just about every night- even blessings on the food! After the “amen” I look up at Jason and start to laugh- “I’m not even sad or anything!” I say. He just smiles and shakes his head at me. It’s getting bad, people.
The best day at church for me would be one where I didn’t have to carry anything. I think on an average week we carry: one “Lyvia” bag (diapers, snack and books, etc.), one “Bryttin” bag full of all my Primary chorister paraphernalia, one “Jason” olive green briefcase (that he thinks it way awesome and retro) with all of his stuff, various coats/hats/scarves, Primary visual aids/posters, and last, but not least, one child in arms (or holding hands) namely Lyvia and one child in utero- namely…well, she doesn’t have a name yet. Will this dream ever be realized? Time will tell…

Houston Trip

December 5th, 2009 Classmate Blogs No comments

Since I wasn’t going to see much of the family anyway, Carolyn and the boys went down to Houston for a week and a half prior to Thanksgiving this year to visit Grandma and Grandpa Newbold, as well as Great Grandma and Grandpa Stevens, as I finished my hospital service in obstetrics and gynecology. While they were there Grandma took them on a Texas ’safari’ during which Davey found himself bait to many of the animals there. Click the picture below to see all the pictures in the gallery.

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We are outta here

December 2nd, 2009 Classmate Blogs No comments

I am happy to announce that Eric has found an internship which will hopefully turn into a full time job. He will be working as a Forensic Accountant and CBIZ in Bakersfield, CA. If you don’t know what that is you will have to ask him. It has something to do with investigating fraud and working with the legal system, or something like that. You will have to ask him.
We will be moving right during Christmas time. I have a feeling that we won’t have much of a Christmas this year. Eric has been applying for internships all semester and when CBIZ came to campus a couple of months ago Eric wanted an interview. He couldn’t sign up for an interview though because he did not meet the GPA requirement so he just showed up and asked the guy for an interview. The interviewer gave up his lunch to see Eric and he had a great interview. He was so excited about his interview that when he came home I was out in the dorm doing clean checks and he found me so he could tell me about it. After waiting for almost 2 months he was sure he wasn’t going to get the internship because he knew that hundreds had also interviewed for four positions. We even considered staying in Rexburg when Eric was offered an internship here with a local accounting firm. A few weeks ago Eric received a phone call letting him know they were considering him for the position. Then later that week Eric got a letter offering him the position.
I am so excited for Eric that he was able to get the internship that he wanted. If he does well with this internship then he will most likely get a job offer. In today’s job market that is so nice.
Over our thanksgiving break Eric and I took a trip to Bakersfield, CA to look for a house to rent. We looked at 5 different houses and the very last house we looked at we knew we wanted it. We are so excited that we were able to sign the lease on the house before we left. It was a quick trip but we got a small taste of what the next chapter of our life will look like and we are so excited. We will arrive in Bakersfield on December 20th. Here are some pictures for our friends and family to see although I don’t think the pictures give the house justice. I think it is beautiful and the perfect set up for our situation right now. It is at the end of a cul-de-sac so it is very private. It has a big backyard for the kids and Sugar (we get her back!!). It has 3 bedrooms so I don’t have to worry about the kids waking each other up until the next kid comes. It has 2 bathrooms and a big kitchen that over sees the living room and the sink looks out to the backyard. It also has a lot of counter space. I am also excited to have my own laundry room again. I am also happy that the dinning area has tile and not carpet so my kids can be messy and not mess up the carpet. The living area is carpeted so I can get on the floor with my kids and play comfortably. Okay, I will stop and just say that we are sooooooooooooooooo excited to be in a house again and out of the dorm.

New family photos…

November 28th, 2009 Classmate Blogs No comments

The magical Katie took our pictures this week! Here they are:

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving! Hurray for the Christmas season!

Updates on the 101 in 1001 project:It's been more than a week

November 16th, 2009 Classmate Blogs No comments

Updates on the 101 in 1001 project:

It’s been more than a week since we got back from Disneyland, but I still haven’t sorted through all the photos yet. Luckily, I haven’t been procrastinating in all my endeavors. I made an original goal to accomplish one of my 101 every single week and I’m still going strong. (It’s true that I’m doing all the easy ones first, but can you blame me?)

I’ve read my third memoir. This time I picked Sippy Cups Are Not For Chardonnay, which is a memoir of first-time motherhood. The writer is a blogger and the book is very popular, so I was excited to read it. It was actually pretty good, although not fantastic, and her constant humerous references to alcohol are sort of unfunny in light of the fact that she revealed to her blog audience that she’s actually an alcoholic. It’s all fun and games until there actually is chardonnay in the sippy cup.

The daily goals of photoblogging and drinking water are still things that I’m attempting, but it was so annoying to have to log in every day and update it that I’m not longer keeping a strict count. I’ll just have to give myself a thumbs up or thumbs down when the project is over.

I sent my random care package, but I don’t know if it’s been received yet…

I joined a gym with fitness classes included and it shouldn’t be too hard to find one that I’ve never taken before. I’ll let you know when I pick one.

We’re at 80% on the church we want to join. We’re only hung up on the fact that it’s a 30 min drive every Sunday morning.

I’m taking Kyle to see Les Mis at Riverton High School this Thursday, which fulfills both my musical requirement and seeing a creative arts production where I don’t know anyone in it.

I woke up and photographed the sunrise, but apparently I was really sleepy because I can’t figure out what I did with the camera after that. When I find it, I’ll share the pictures.

We’ve been invited to Universal Orlando but I don’t know if we’re going. I’d really like to see the opening of that Harry Potter land, though…

I’m at 97 followers on the wedding blog…only three to go!

And last, but definitely not least, I’ve met three of my five people from the internet. While we were in California I had lunch with Hope, J.Darling, and Luis, who are all long-time readers from the days of wedding planning. We had such a fun time and it was really great to meet them in person, since I feel like I know them all so well. I also met Hope’s fiance Mike and his friend Andrew, but I’m not counting them towards my five since they aren’t blog readers. Plus, they were sort of dragged along, much like my sweet husband. (Kyle: “You want to have lunch with internet people? Did the Craigslist killer teach you nothing?!?!”)

J.Darling, Me, and Luis

Hope, Mike, and Me

So, all in all, the project is going strong. I’m actually really happy with it and I strongly encourage everyone to start their own list and share it.

Categories: Blog Postings Tags: book, california, church, craigslist, fact, internet, photos, pictures, project, random, school, thursday, time, wedding

October 1st, 2009 Dan No comments

It was that time of year again: FAMILY PICTURE time.

While we were at it, we got Camden’s 1 YEAR pictures taken too!

I am not going to post the family pictures. You will have to wait for our Christmas card, but I will give you a sneak peak:
CAMDEN

and of course we had to sneak a few of LONDON

www.impressionsbysydney.com

PS: Do you like London’s outfit? It is MATILDA JANE. I am having a trunk show at my house Oct 15th. Let me know if you want to come and snag a few of their ridiculously cute fall clothes. Oh and they come in children, Tween, and Women sizes.

FaLl LeAvEs!

October 1st, 2009 Dan No comments

We went up the canyon the other night to take some pictures with the fall leaves. So we went a little overboard on the pictures, but I just think they turned out so cute!

Xi’an City Wall Panorama

September 28th, 2009 Classmate Blogs No comments

This is a shot that I took on the southeast corner of the Xian City Wall during a trip to China in 2008. It was near dusk and we had rented some bicycles on top the wall to bike the 13.6 km around the entire city perimeter on the cobblestone top wall. Catching a short breather an eighth of the way in I snapped these series of pictures. This image captures the haze and the smog true to life of urbanized Xian but I like it because of the juxtaposition of the old and the new. You can see it larger here – click on the image below to zoom in!

Oh yeah, by the way, those pagodas that you see at the end of the wall? There’s like 3 of them on each side of the city wall, so that’s about a third of the length of the wall. Here’s some satellite imagery courtesy of Google to help orient you

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Xi’an City Wall Panorama

Categories: Blog Postings Tags: article, china, city, cobblestone, image, juxtaposition, like-it-because, people, permanent-link, pictures, story, travel, xian

The Well-Documented Life

September 3rd, 2009 Dan No comments

First, thank you to everyone who left comments or sent notes yesterday. Although I was not intending to hold a roll call of all remaining readers, it was nice to see that so many of you stopped by. Thank you for all the kind words! And I completely agree with the comment left about the fact that my blogs still aren’t linked very well and I’m hoping to fix that in the next couple of days.

Although I enjoyed the love fest that ensued, yesterday’s post was just a continuation of my rambling search for purpose and meaning, etc. (I am so the main character of Avenue Q.) After I blogged yesterday, I went downstairs and set myself up on the couch, since I still don’t feel that hot. I spent the day catching up on season two of True Blood and scanning a bazillion photographs into my computer in an attempt to save them from my mother.

This is the part of the blog entry that my mother will later call “that part where you threw me under the bus”, but my mom is terrible about photographs. She’s gotten better, I’ll admit, now that everything she takes is digital and she knows how to get them off the camera, but when it was all 35 mm film, it was every man for himself. Pictures would be taken, the film would be developed months or years later, and then the occasional snapshot would end up in a frame somewhere in the house. The rest of the pictures would go into the vacuum of pictures-never-to-be-seen again, a place that ultimately condensed itself into a giant rubbermaid tub in the basement. You know, the kind you use to hold sporting equipment.

(…little do my brother and I know, but we won’t see this photo
for another fifteen years…)

Funny thing, but my mom was not always like this. All of the photos from before 1990 are in albums, along with clippings from my parent’s days in junior high and high school and all the little paper scrapbook type things associated with their existence. My mom saved everything and carefully organized it into books and even had little captions and headings for special vacations, etc. I don’t know what happened to her…it’s like she woke up one morning and gave up and the next twenty years went straight into the tub.

I wonder, sometimes, if my compulsiveness about photos and documentation has to do with being afraid of the day that I’ll wake up and give up, because my grandmother has the same pattern. She has lots of neat, tidy albums with baby pictures of my mom and her sisters…and then she has slightly less neat albums about their adolescence…and then she managed to get most of the 80s into albums, although the pictures aren’t always in the right order…and now she has baskets and folders and boxes and stacks of pictures that are from who knows where and who knows when.

(…my mom and my Aunt Carole, both destined to a life of
not being able to keep track of their photos…)

If my mom is the person that makes you want to go “why is an entire decade of pictures missing?”, my grandma is the person that makes you want to go “why am I looking at this stack of pictures of someone’s garden and someone’s feet and why did you think you needed to get doubles of this particular roll?”

So yesterday I scanned in about 500 pictures. I scanned in pictures from when I was a baby, when Randy was a baby, when my sisters first moved in with us, when my stepfather was in the army, when my stepfather was in the seventh grade…it was pretty comprehensive. And as I sat there scanning and sorting and labeling and vowing to always keep my photos under control, I realized that it’s not going to be any great victory if my photo albums are always up to date and in the right order if I don’t do anything in life worth taking pictures of. Between the blogging and the journaling and the photographs and the ticket stubs, my entire life is going to be mapped out for anyone who cares to look. But what am I doing?!

Am I in some sort of quarter-life crisis flow chart? Why do all activities lead back to the question of “what am I doing with my life?” and “is that enough?”