2007 REVIEW

Holy Cow! I'm totally blown away when I stop to think back of all the wonderful things that have happened this year. Of course, the biggest thing was our wedding in February in Puerto Vallarta with all our friends and family.

We continued the party in Mexico with our Honeymoon in Cabo.

Probably the other single biggest thing that happened this years was discovering the world of real photography. As much as I loved photos with my other camera, I realized there was just so much more I could do with a SLR. I took a few classes and spent a bunch of money and I know I can't be without my digital baby. I've had so much fun photographing my married life, Zoe, nature and the crazy construction (or destruction) of the world around me.

I found a new passion in my life in July as I joined the addictive world of blogging July 23rd, just after your long weekend trip to Colorado. Plus it was a perfect place for me to put all my new photos. Stephanie and Ginger came out to Texas for a visit, we hung out with the kidz in Galveston and toured downtown Houston.

I spent quite a bit of time this year recording a little bit of my history, about the stories I remember growing up and the places where I spent my early years. I've enjoyed all these flashbacks and I think they are an alternative way to keep a family journal or make a big album.

I've done quite a bit of travel for work, taking some fun photos from the airplane on my way to investigate car crashes around the country. I also spent 1 evening a week this fall volunteering to tutor GED students. Making a difference even closer to home, we were able to help out some very special boys with their Christmas.

Due to H's job, we made lots of concerts and games. I had the chance to read many books this year and we've even made an effort to watch more good movies. Plus I've posted a few movie clips- mostly Zoe on the blog from my other camera.

We spent our Thanksgiving in Alabama, exploring the deep south and all it's history. Christmas- all 4 parts were just awesome, including spending 40 days before celebrating the birth of Christ to reflect upon his life. Not to mention the new lenses and the Wii.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: A special thanks to my blog-world friends who leave lots of loving- Christy, Amanda, Katie, Rhonda, Liza and Courtney!

MY OLD 'HOOD

WARNING: Boring, flashback to my childhood ahead! Read at your own risk or come back tomorrow! The above Google Earth shot nearly encompasses my entire world for the first few years of my life. The neighborhood, Carriage Lane, is where mom and I lived, with Gram, from when I was just a toddler. The neighborhood entrance is on the left, with a pool and rec area up front. The white square is my Elementary school. Near the center of the photo is the big Bayou that separates the neighborhood.

Here's a closer view of the house where I spent my formative years. The black arrow (which I realize now is itself difficult to see) is pointing to our backyard. I can tell by the covered patio on the back, where we spent many hours on the porch playing.

This is what the house looks like today (well- last week at least). I spent many hours climbing in that big tree that's now been brutally hacked. The are two front windows on the house. The one on the right (near the front door) was my bedroom when Gram lived with us. After mom re-married, Gram bought her own house and I moved into her bedroom.

This is my elementary school, where I attended Kindergarten through 4th grade. Frazier Elementary was a fairly new school when I started there in the 1985, but I can still remember the portable buildings out back to accommodate the extra students.

This is the pool and clubhouse area, with a small park and two tennis courts. I spent thousands of hours at the pool hanging out during the summer and competing on the swim team. It was actually 2 separate pools when we were there- large, family lap pool and a smaller square deep, diving pool. I think, that since the neighborhood was built on a landfill, the ground under the pool continually shifted causing problems with the concrete cracking and leaking on the pool.

Finally, this is a small park near the back of the neighborhood, about a tenth of a mile from my house. I remember riding my bike *ALL* over the neighborhood growing up and spending lots of time in this park. We'd take our big lab Max out to run in the break and I'd sneak down to the railroad track and illegally play on the train cars.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Maybe I'll have some more free time to go take some real ground photos instead of just Google Earth shots.

1,000 Places to See Everyday

Another fun Christmas present I received was a calendar based on the awesome book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. Since my blog post about the book was so popular, I thought I'd share the awesome calendar too! You can find it here on Amazon. (Sorry about the lousy snapshots of the beautiful calendar.)

Each month has it's own theme or locale, with a mini-picture on each day of the week from that area. SO FREAKING FUN! January is all about the Nile River and Egypt area. February, spot-lighting a place on our 101 list, is the Inca Trail in Peru. March is all about China's Silk Road.

April makes me drool with pictures from the Canadian Rockies- a place I hope to be going this fall. May takes me back to our first big trip together with beautiful photos of a Greek Odyssey through Santorini and other Aegean islands.

The photos in June beg me to go back to Alaska on another adventure and see the glorious Klondike, mountains and wildlife. In July, we visit the gorgeous Amalfi Coast of Italy with it's stunning cliffs and classic architecture.

August is probably my second favorite month and some place we will have to go soon- a South African Safari. Just like our trip to the Pacific Coast Highway, September affords some fabulous views of the amazing west coast.

October finds us traveling to the East again on the Road to Mandalay. With it's inclusion of Puerto Vallarta, November highlights the Colonial Cities of Mexico and takes me back to our wedding. December, by far though, is my favorite month with every single day showing breathtaking views of New Zealand. I'm wondering if it's too early to start planning our trip in 2010.

Hope you can pick up a copy for yourself and enjoy the daily trip around the world!

(You can also buy the page-a-day calendar if you prefer. )

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Christmas decorations are all packed up.

BOOK REVIEWS

My favorite librarian often shares with her blog readers what she's reading to her kids and she recently asked for audience participation in what we were currently reading. I've actually been on quite a reading spree lately (mostly on airplanes to Detroit and Los Angeles and Arkansas), and I received a few books for Christmas I am looking forward to reading.

3:16- The Numbers of Hope by Max Lucado

I obliviously just finished this short devotional book and doing the 40 days of meditations. I thought it was, great, simple and focused. Anybody, no matter how busy you are, could do the 1 page daily devotionals. Great gift idea if you know somebody interested in learning more about Jesus.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

This books was on my Amazon wishlist, but I saw it in the airport and grabbed it to read on the plane. EXCELLENT book! I couldn't put it down. In many ways the story of the struggle of the young boys transcends time, culture and geography and could have been set anywhere. However, using Afghanistan as the background for this wonderful novel lets the reader have an inside view of the culture and the country that we only know about from news reports. I can't wait to see the movie and look forward to reading the other book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, when it's out on paperback.

When the Nile Runs Red by DiAnn Mills

This book was for sale at church after our special missions Sunday sermon a few weeks ago. Our church has recently purchased land on the Nile River to build an orphanage for children with AIDS. The author of the book was signing them & all of the proceeds were going straight to Africa. We had also recently watched Blood Diamond, Hotel Rwanda and God Grew Tired of Us. I've learned so much about the civil wars and genocides in Africa that I'm honestly shocked and appalled that these situations continue. This was an interesting fiction novel set in modern day southern Sudan, where there is fighting between the Arab Muslim government from the north and the African tribal, mostly Christian, groups in the south. I really learned quite a bit about the situation and the background on the fighting, and I'd recommend this book to anybody who wants to know more about this on-going tragedy, but finds it hard to read newspapers or academic books on the subject.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Another airport buy! Since this book has been on the best-seller list for months and I *LOVE* travel, I thought I would give it a read. It was pretty enjoyable, although I liked the Italy and Bali parts the best. It was a great introduction to meditation and how you can still use it within other faiths.

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

This was a Christmas gift from my Amazon wishlist that I can't wait to read. After reading the Kite Runner and other books about political happenings in Muslim parts of the world. I'll hopefully start on it very soon and update you when I'm done.

How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth by Gordon D. Fee

I saw this book recommended and thought, that after doing my 40 day devotional, it would be useful to learn more about how to read the Bible. It has great reviews on Amazon and I think, as a Christian, it's vitally important to understand the way the Bible works together was a whole, how it was written and why the authors wrote what they did.

Smart Couples Finish Rich

I did a TON of financial reading in college and my first few years out of school, but then turned more towards reading books about my faith and then of course, marriage and relationships. I thought it was a good time to re-focus on our finances and learn how we can reach our goals (after we figure out what those long term goals are!). We're doing great and will hopefully be on target to reach all our short-term goals.

Frommer's Brazil & Argentina

Can I just say what a great Christmas present!?!? We've already spent at least an hour scouring the pages, sticky-nothing things we need to copy to take with us and resigning ourselves to the fact that we will definitely have to go back to Argentina again to cover the rest of the amazing country. I'm getting so excited about our big trip- just 6 weeks left!

National Audubon Society Guide to Landscape Photography

As you can tell by our Colorado Trip- I love the great outdoors! Most of our travel dreaming places include amazing scenery, so I had to include a book on my Amazon wishlist. I've only flipped through this book so far, but the pictures are unbelievable. I need to add several more places to my "must go soon" list! I can't wait to read all the tips and tricks for taking spectacular photos of God's masterpiece.

A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power

After reading/watching/hearing so much about all the struggles that are going on throughout the world, I think it's vitally important to understand who the American government and the American people have contributed, in both good and bad ways, to the atrocities that are going on in South America and Africa. It looks long and very detailed, but when we are talking about millions of people dying, I don't think you can ever read enough about it.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: So much learning going on- I love it!

Wii Wii Wii

Oh the Wii carnage....This totally cracks me up that my husband tore out every single piece and part of the Wii before actually taking it all into the living room by the TV!

I caved in to peer-pressure and wanted to make sure my husband had something cool to talk about when he went back to work on Wednesday. My brother received his Xbox 360, but that just didn't appeal me at all. The Wii looked like so much more fun & entertainment, a game on my skill level that I could get into.

I knew they were impossible to get, so I searched on Craigslist and found one that a guy very near our house was selling. I had a clandestine rendezvous on Sunday night to pick up the goods. Of course, then I needed to hit up Target to get the extra Wii-mote and numchuck and battery recharger. Have I mentioned, that as an engineer, I'm totally amazed with these wireless controllers- their built in speakers, the gyroscopes (or whatever the heck is inside them) that can detect all sorts of motion and how they vibrate back during certain segments of the game?

He was totally surprised when he opened it on Christmas morning and we squeezed a few riotously funny hours of play in before heading to my mom's house. We hurried home again right after the gifts for another round of boxing and cow-racing. Zoe is not too sure about it yet though- she gets upset when we yell and scream and pretend like we are throwing things for her and yet there is no ball for her to chase.

It's been tons of fun so far, although we only play for short bursts. The Wii Sports and Wii Play games are fun. Boxing totally wears me out and we love being competitive in a fun, silly sort of way. We both have little Mii characters that are our players for the game. You can see that I just won a game of pong (the only game we can play one-handed while sitting on the couch drinking wine!).

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: We haven't laughed so hard in a long time!

HISTORY: My Grandparents

I am trying to clean off my poor, overloaded-with-Christmas-pictures computer and free up some space. I ran across some great old photos of my grandparents that I thought would be good to memorialize on my blog. This was only the 2nd year that we didn't do the big Christmas Gathering at their house, so I had some moments of sadness this year as I realized how old they are getting and what a short time they still have with us. Grandpa turned 80 in September, and Grandma turned 81 in December. The above photo is Thanksgiving 2005.

(P.S. There is that pesky old TV in the background from my childhood!)

This great photo is from their 50th wedding anniversary- so around June of 2002 I believe. We threw them a small party this past June at Dad's house for their 55th wedding anniversary. Grandma wasn't feeling very well, so a small party was all she could manage (below). I asked all of their friends to bring their old photos of grandma and grandpa, and I was able to get some very fun old shots from the past few decades.

You can really see this Christmas that the past 18 months of illness have been very difficult for my grandmother. She initially had a knee replacement surgery in the spring of 2006, which spiraled downward into a staph infection that she battled for over a year. Complications from her weight, her age, diabetes and heart conditions made the whole ordeal very complicated.

Since we're on an anniversary roll, here is their wedding picture. I used it to make the invitation for their 55th Anniversary party. It's an extra special photo to me because that was my great-grandfather's house in Brenham, and I have many fond memories of playing on that porch at every family function and hoilday.

Continuing the wedding theme, here they are with my Dad & Brenda at their wedding on May 24th, 1986.

The photo above was actually taken the same day- after the wedding, everybody went back to my grandparents house for the reception. The two of them cooking in the kitchen is probably one of my strongest memories.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I now realize how lucky and blessed I was to have such wonderful grandparents, whom I spent so much time with when I was a young child.

LOVELY LENSES

OH OH OH! Such a good Christmas for photography! I had succumbed to the dreaded lens lust with my Amazon wish list, so I had a wide array of lenses on there for every occasion. I was lucky enough to receive 2 awesome lenses for my pure photographic indulgences. My wonderful mother in law gave me this beautiful Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 Macro EX DC SLD ELD so I can take some real Macro Zoe shots, instead of just cropping.

Yes- all those letters really are necessary. First, I can focus on fun stuff at 7" and also use it as a normal 18-50mm lens with a fast aperture. ELD & SLD mean special low-dispersion glass- which sounds great, whatever that optically means. EX is their top build quality and I think that DC denotes that it has a digital crop factor for compressed (not full frame) sensors. All that to say, it's a really swell lens! Expect some fun macro shots soon :)

My other treasured gift from Christmas, Part 4 was a super-fast prime lens for everyday and low-light shooting. This sweet piece of equipment is a Nikon 35mm f/2.0 AF lens. I had owned the Nikon 50mm f/1.8, which is an awesome, fast, cheap prime lens, but I'd just found out that it was too much zoom in small places (my house and all the wine bars). I'd asked for this lens to replace that one and give me some wider-angle shots.

OH- I'm in lens heaven. Now I just need more time to go out and shot. Or I need a really awesome vacation to take all my fun gear out on.

And not to forget my other favorite gift of Christmas- a new Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW messenger bag to carry my beloved camera gear. I really needed something that would work well on our trip, but still allowed me easy, quick access to grab my camera every 4 minutes without taking the bag on and off. It's so fun so far, I just need to go out and use my camera on some fun photography field trips and maybe another Photomarathon.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I'm all ready to take some more awesome photos!

ZOE'S CHRISTMAS

We can't forget about Zoe's Christmas!

She's been feeling much better- thanks to everybody for asking.

Now you may ask what is she trying to get in the new pink Kong?

A frozen peanut butter treat!

Zoe only joined us for Part 4 of Christmas, but....

...she really got into helping me out with the gifts.

One of her best friends ~ever~ was there and she *LOVES* Uncle Tony.

Oh, and she loves being the Queen of Sheba laying on the couch.

But then she was worn out....she literally fell asleep during Christmas! I kept throwing garbage her way, but she was more interested in her nap than all our gifts.

It's a rough life, but somebody has to get all that loving.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: My husband, friends and family did an awesome job with gifts this year- wait till you see what I got!