Not me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Hi, it's me. I know it's been awhile but I've been busy NOT doing alot of things.

What? You MUST know. Well, okay. But considered yourself warned.

I did not get my husband to smile big in this picture by telling him his head was right in a "certain spot" on the man in the mural behind him. Shame! I'm not cheeky like that!

I did not spend $1,259.72 in just two days. I was not thrilled beyond belief to start nursing school that I have to tell everyone at work...twice.

I did not spend half my day making this instead of studying. Hello! I'm in school. I have hours & hours of important studying to do!

I did not buy a bulk package of 50 (1oz packs) of cream cheese from Costco. I wouldn't ever need that much because I'm the only person in the house who eats cream cheese. I would not do that because that would mean I would be the only one to consume 50 servings of cream cheese over the next few months. I definately have not already eaten about 8.

I also did not make a lovely Sunday dinner in the crockpot and slave over homemade asparagus soup, only to eat leftover chinese wontons with aforementioned cream cheese. Standing at the kitchen counter. Eating. Dinner. Cream cheese. Not me!

I did not get a natural high while visiting my grandma in the ER & ICU this week. I would be focused on my dear grandma, not all the cool procedures I got to watch! I did not spend more time chatting up her nurses, ultrasound tech, phlebotomist & listening to the doctors talk in the hallway than actually with my dear sick grandma. Not me! I am first a granddaughter, then a nurse, right?! Well, apparently, not me!

I did not take this picture of myself before leaving for class on Saturday morning. I did not document my "first nursing school test" day like I'm somebody's little child.

I did not lock my keys in my car and leave my cell phone at home when my husband and I went to the gym. I did not have to call my brother-in-law to come pick us up and come over for dinner 3 hours earlier than planned. I surely did not still have the house a wreck and madly vaccuumed & cleaned while he took my husband to go pick up my car. I did not learn my lesson!

I did not take dozens and dozens of pictures of these things.

I have much better ways to spend my time.

That about sums things up. Thanks for stopping by. This did not take 1 1/2 hrs to complete. I'll try to not use it as an excuse to not go to the gym this morning!

My miscellaneous life

Did I tell you about the 10 state road trip we took last May? I know, Arizona is missing. I regret that now. Our newest addition to the family. Isn't she cute?

Pretty bottle. Pretty tasty. Pretty picture. Pretty buzzed. Pretending to put my foot down on the cement when it's 110 degrees outside...NOT!

Best creation known to man...or at least, to me. Iced coffee!

(yes, i used manual focus! can you tell? of course!)

Last but not least, what has brought me hours & hours of enjoyment lately is only the BEST website I've ever seen. The Pioneer Woman.


This pretty much sums up the frivolities of my life right now...

plants, tequila, coffee, travel, photography, blogs & HEAT (not the heat part but I like the cute- little -summer- dress part).

I promise I can be serious but a girl has to enjoy her life, right?

My weirdness & updates

First we will start with updates. Plenty of weirdness to come.
Here's my pretty new plant. Some sort of succulent, rubber leaf plant. Isn't she pretty? Glistening in the sun after a cool spray of water. Stay tuned to find out if she survives the summer. We are taking care of my mother-in-law's rose bush. The heat got to it while we were on our vacation so we cut it back and have been giving it lots of TLC and it is looking great! Just thought she'd like the update. I know nothing about roses and keep hoping it will flower but now I'm thinking...maybe it's past season? We shall see. You know I will post pics if it flowers!

I have a plant experiment going on. I recently was informed of the beauty of a sweet potato plant. So I've stuck a few in some water and watched them grow.

June 14:

fascinating little creature, isn't it!?

June 27:

June 14 :

June 27:

it's getting tropical up in here! i can't believe how fast these things grow.

why can't cilantro do this??!!

Here's what I had to convince my husband to eat on Saturday morning. Yum, right?

Yes, I said convince him! Sadly, he does not appreciate the pancake like I do.

I felt like baking and made this.

I looks awesome but I found it inedible. (Made it with applesauce instead of using butter, to cut the fat out. I'd rather have the fat.)

Funny how my husband, who resists fabulous pancakes, thinks this Chocolate Banana Bread is just fine and happily eats it with his coffee every morning. Confused? Me, too. (Notice how I put chocolate in everything? It's because that's his love language. I love you, sweetie.)


Am I weird for taking pictures of everything?

I can't help it if I see beauty in everything around me, can I?

I think it's something about looking at life through the lens of a camera.

It focuses my attention on the beauty of details and lighting.

I have to admit, I can't help it anymore... and I'm trying to not be embarrassed about it.

I tell myself that I'm just a bit eccentric and artistic. I know it's not normal.

I mean, what normal person takes a half dozen pictures of this....

I guess I'll end with an update to round things out...

I GOT ACCEPTED INTO THE RN PROGRAM!

I start classes in 2 weeks. Will attend every Friday & Saturday until next May.

I have been a LPN since 2001 and have been chipping away at the requirements to get into school to become a RN. This has been quite a journey and I am BEYOND READY for this opportunity. It's my own fault it has taken me this long because I would often get off track with my goals & motivation. My husband has been so supportive and helped figure out a way for me to finally DO THIS. Thank you, Brian.

Even in this current job market & economy, I know things can only get better for us as I reach this goal.

I'M SO EXCITED!

Manual Focus

I love manual focus. I dream about taking pictures with manual focus. It's just so cool to make a camera do something I've never been able to do before. I've been reading some photography blogs so I know there are even MORE things I could do with a camera...just not the one I have. An upgrade is in my future for sure...in a few years, I guess. Until then, I am making the most of what I CAN do with my current camera.

Here are a few shots so you know what I'm talkin about.

These are the first pictures I took when I discovered how to use manual focus on our road trip in May. I've had the camera since December and couldn't figure out how to use manual focus until now! Oh, the wasted time! All the missed shots! :(

This is my first successful shot. I just love it. Am I wrong? Is this not a great shot?! :)

At my sister-in-law's graduation. We are very proud but it was a graduation ceremony...there was plenty of time to play with the camera!

This is at home the other evening. Practicing focus on something not in the foreground.

Kinda cool.

Tastes as good as it looks.

No manual focus here, just turned the camera around for a sec. Hope my bangs don't look like that all the time. Yikes.



See the subtlety of manual focus. This pic looks just fine at first glance but his face is too sharp. I want to really focus on his hand.

This is what I was aiming for. Sharp on the fingers, slightly blurred face. This statue was about 4 feet above me and it was actually night, so it took about a dozen shots to get it how I wanted.

I probably could have gotten the focus sharper but there was so much sunlight so it was hard to judge. Still makes a pretty pic though. I love how the flower looks translucent.

Wordless Wednesday: Crabs...and beer was involved.

Road Trip '09: My Favorite Photos

So green in Minneapolis. If I ever move away from the desert, it will be to this house which is across the road from the above photo. What a pretty place to live.

Chicago gave us the most BEAUTIFUL clear, blue-sky day. This is a view from the 3 story tall ferris wheel.

I'd need an entire day to check out this building. The Merchandise Mart. 100,000 sq ft. of kitchen & bath Boutiques. 4 MILLION sq ft. of floor space in this building! It's very impressive to see in person. The amazing part is that it was constructed way back in 1930!

I did a search on Chicago buildings and have yet to see better photos than the ones I got during the architecture boat tour we took. Not boasting or anything...I'm just sayin. :)

The view I had of the first several days on the road. ALOT of rain driving through Nebraska & Iowa. Made for a great shot though. Least I got something out of it, besides a nap & a headache.

What you can't tell by looking at this pretty photo....it was in Wisconsin & was 100 degrees & super windy outside. The GPS took us through back roads cutting diagonally through Wisconsin. Is this how most people take road trips? Amazing what you see when you get off the freeways.

My very favorite picture. Leaves me speechless and lost in the moment.

Want more? Don't worry, there's plenty more where these came from. Keep checking back and I'll give you something worth looking at.

Enough is Enough!

I will admit it, I have enough.

ENOUGH:

kitchen towels, hand soaps, socks, hair bands & headbands,

fingernail polish, room air freshener, candles,

plants, tank tops, flip-flops,

dress shoes, picture frames,

books needing to be read, throw pillows, sheet sets,

kitchen utensils, pots & pans, kitchen & bathroom cleaner,

tupperware, cake & loaf pans, mixing bowls, knives,

lip liner, body lotion, shower gels,

measuring cups & spoons, sweaters & scarves, bags & purses,

backpacks, wallets, note cards,

batteries, flash drives, blank cd's & dvd's,

jeans, blouses,

summer dresses, work scrubs, furniture, hair styling products,

earrings, note cards, towels, pots for plants, eye shadow,

lip gloss, sunscreen, clocks, music, car sun shades,

sunglasses, travel mugs & bottles, muffin tins,

shot glasses, coffee mugs, storage boxes.

If you can think of anything I don' t already have ENOUGH of, let me know.

In other words, I DO NOT NEED TO GO TO TARGET. EVER. AGAIN.

Thoughts. Events. Life.

It's Monday. I'm home today. I was supposed to work but they didn't need me.
I don't mind being home except I officially have too much time to think.

Too many thoughts about things happening in the lives of people around me (and a few about my own life).
So many marriages, births, illness, death, job worries, vacations, relationships broken & whole.

It's just life, right?

I guess it's just getting to me today...alone in this house. Waiting for my husband to get home from work and tell me if we have to add "job worries" to our plate.

There is so much GOOD stuff going on in the lives of those I know but there is also so much heartache & struggle. Add the state of our nation to that pile and you get one overwhelmed Olivia.

Too much time to think...I think.

Road Trip '09: The Beginning

We took a 2 week, 4600 mile, 10 state road trip in May.

I'm sure you can imagine the amount of pictures I have and am eager to share.

And travel tips....oh, did I learn alot and have tips to share!

I'll start out slow by sharing these quintessential road trip photos.

To Be Continued...