love this one

My friend's shower is this weekend and I just finished up with her gift - and I keep coming back to this photo...I just love it.

Looking up

This was on the road to Hana trip - at one point I looked up and thought it was so pretty.

one from the black sand beach we visited

Aloha!

Just got home from our vacation in Hawaii! We spent 6 nights in Maui and 2 nights in Lanai - made for a fantastic vacation. Some highlights were swimming with dolphins in the wild, snorkeling and diving with sea turtles, driving the road to hana, and being on the same airplane as Sawyer from Lost. Obvs.

It was a great trip and I feel refreshed and relaxed, even though I'm still feeling the jet lag a bit.

Here are some of my favorite pics from the week.

Dave and I before dinner at Mama's Fish House


The condo we stayed at in Maui, Mahina Surf


Cool tree on the Road To Hana


Waterfalls on the Road To Hana


Sunset at the Plantation Golf Course, before dinner


Another sunset picture at Plantation House during dinner


Since we're on the subject of sunsets, the sunset at our condo


First cocktail (of many) on Lanai - the Mango Ginger Mojito...mmm


Overlooking the flowers at the Four Seasons in Lanai


If you want to see the rest of the pics you can check them out here:
Hawaii Pics

Baby is coming soon!

Our good friends Chris and Kristen are expecting a baby girl in August so I got in some maternity photo practice. They were great models and Kristen is such a cute mama to be! Here are a few pics I've proofed before our trip:

End of my photo class

We ended by taking self portraits. It's weird smiling at a camera on a tripod. We had to create our own lighting and meter/set up the shot. The first one was an accident actually, but I ended up liking it. Then the second one was one of my on purpose - self portraits. The only bummer was I ended up accidentally taking off one of my lenses without turning the camera off and I got a big dust particle on my sensor. Boo.

Happy Independence Day!

Spent a great weekend with family in Chicago. Watched the White Sox lose, followed by a fireworks show at US Cellular (Comiskey) Park, plus lots and lots of grilling out. Here's one pic for now - shooting fireworks from hundreds of feet away, over a lit stadium, without a tripod is tough stuff.

new look - and random examples of awkwardness

So I've wanted bigger pictures for a while, but was too lazy to go back through all my old pics and re-upload bigger sizes and change all the code. Then I realized I could just have an awkward blog for a few weeks and mix small and big pics...and ya know, I'm ok with that. :)

I was also told in photo class last week that technically you should keep BOTH eyes open while taking photos. Well whaddyaknow. Perhaps my teacher (who resembles a mixture of Old McDonald and Kevin from the Office) is misinformed, but regardless...I thought it best to switch some things up...one being my blog's header name. So going forward I'm just using my name, hence the S and M initials. Oh and then I added a star b/c I like them, and b/c mine reminds me of a cookie. mmmmm. Ok that's not entirely true...the star is a symbol I've held close to my heart since I lived in Australia. And the cookie thing doesnt hurt.

I havnt decided to change the blog's URL b/c again, I'm lazy and need to take one step at a time here.

So moving forward = New, improved, BIG!

Photo class work

Took this portrait at photo class - would you believe the whole room was dark and this was done with just a flash on a light stick? Pretty groovy.

Rocky's visit

Rocky came to visit last weekend - fun times, but he missed his mom and dad...can ya tell!?

I've been tagged :)

By my awesome friend Daf So of course I'll type this out on my lunch break...need something to distract me for a minute.


1. What did you do 10 years ago?
1998...I was a junior in high school. So that means I was applying to colleges/taking the SATs/etc right? I guess? My only memories of high school were of soccer and boys. :)

2. Five items on your to-do list today:
- go to the gym
- drink 4 more glasses of water
- call my best friend Karen and talk to her about her trip to South America
- change our reservation at the Four Seasons to include breakfast buffet(obviously!)
- watch our newest netflix movie with Dave

3. Snacks that you enjoy
- yogurt
- fruit
- fig newmans
- chips and salsa and guacamole
- fruit snacks

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?
buy the Nikon D3 and every imaginable camera accessory I can find, buy a house in Bora Bora, buy a boat to sail around the world, build a cat farm...you know the usual stuff. :)

5. Places that you would live:
Bora Bora
DC area
Noosa, Australia

6. Bloggers to whom you are passing the challenge:
- Tina's Blog
- Kristi's Blog
- Cat's Blog
- Lindz' Blog
- Christina's Blog