Yup, another blog. I guess that I’m just very indecisive but I have been playing around with the idea for some time. Sorry WordPress & Blogger but I’m moving on to Tumblr. I’ve been using tumblr for quite some time now with a few other blogs and I love how simple and quick it is to use. Take a peek at the Features. I always feel like a bad blogger for not posting often enough and feel silly about making short posts or blurbs on these current blogs but it feels very natural with Tumblr so I think that it will help me post more often. Sorry friends for any frustration but I hope that this will help me be a better blogger because I really don’t want to fall into the habit of not posting 
My new blog is here: http://lifeissopeculiar.tumblr.com/
Moving…….To A New Blog March 19, 2010
Time For An Update February 7, 2010
So it must seem as though I’ve fallen off the face of the Earth since it’s been almost a whole month since I made my last post. I just took a little peek at that post and much has stayed the same. I still really miss the warm weather and hate winter. In fact, right now it’s snowing and is supposed to keep on snowing well into Tuesday, stop on Wednesday, then start right back up on Thursday. It would be so wonderful to be ridiculously rich and build a sort of greenhouse or conservatory around our house and property so it can be warm and green all year round. Of course if I were that rich I guess that I could go live anywhere warm that I wanted. One thing that did change is that I started a new job last week. In my last post I mentioned that I sent in an application to a casino and that’s where I now work. I’ve only been there for a week so I have a couple days left of training and such and then I’m on my own. Sadly I don’t like it at all but I’m going to really try to hang in there for six months until I’m allowed to switch departments because it’s so hard just to get hired anywhere. It’s a pretty tough job because it’s all physical labor the whole day and feel rushed because you have to get so much done during your shift. Not to mention that it’s also disgusting.
Last weekend (1/30) I drove up to Lynsie & Josh’s place to hang out. So we hung out for a bit at their place and then walked to a couple of bars. I really don’t know when I’ll be able to go out with everyone again because it looks like I might get stuck working every weekend 
I set up my camera and a light downstairs because I wanted to do some silly pictures but nobody else did so I just have these of Sadie & Lynsie. After I took only a couple everyone wanted to get going to the bars.
Jessie A. & Jessie W. playing around with mine & Lynsie’s glasses.
Jessie hiding from the camera
Dan & Josh
Lynsie & I.
Restless January 15, 2010
Ugh, I can’t take it anymore! There’s so many things that I feel like doing right now and I’m really missing the warm weather! I am so done with winter. I’m sick of all the white everywhere, everything looking dead, and of course the cold. I immensely miss just being able to slip my feet into a pair of flip flops and hop right out the door without bundling up. I miss the green grass and all of the leafs on the trees, blooming flowers, the sounds of songbirds, the warmth of the sun on my skin, being able to wear my summer dresses & skirts, camping, summer nights, stargazing, and actually just being outside in the sweet, mild summer air. Oh how I would love to lay out in the green grass right now to gaze up at big, puffy clouds! Technically the first day of spring is on March 20th which is only a couple of months away but we all know that it doesn’t work in the ideal way where the first day of spring rolls around the corner and right on that day it automatically becomes lovely outside. As if I wasn’t already consumed by the winter blues I feel bombarded by all of these commercials showing tropical destinations and people joyously frolicking on beaches. *sigh* The other day when I was waking up I lazily drew the curtain back from my window (while still laying in bed) and the sky was so perfectly sunny and blue and for a moment before I stood up and looked at the rest of the scene I had actually forgotten about what season it was.
So besides the warmth I’m really missing photography. I’m so jealous of those portrait and wedding photographers that live out in California and can shoot outside all year long. I suppose that most photographers around here either opt for studio work or just shoot seasonally. But I do really miss it. I feel like I get a bit rusty during the winter. I’m thinking that next time I go up to Jessie’s I should bring my camera and we can do something inside. Really, I don’t care if it’s just something goofy, just as long as it’s SOMETHING!
I think that most of my feeling restless has to do with still being unemployed. I’m just really sick of it. Of never going anywhere or doing anything. It really destroys any traces of self worth I might of had. I hate just sitting around and being unproductive. Even though I don’t have anything to be tired about it seems like I’m tired all of the time. I feel like I could sleep for an eternity. I look for jobs on the internet every night and it just seems like there’s nothing out there or if it’s something good then I’m not qualified for it. I just sent in an application the other day for a casino which I really didn’t want to do (mostly because of smoking in there) but I need something! Let’s just see if they call me or not. I really want to get back out there and live life, especially while I’m young but it keeps coming back to being employed first to be able to afford to go out and do the things I want to do.
Poker Party January 12, 2010
On Saturday Jessie and Max hosted another poker party. I don’t know how to play but I go to hang out and see everyone. I’m glad that I got there early because I got to see Caitlin for a little bit before she left pretty early and because of the whole parking situation. Usually when it’s warm out everyone can just park in the yard but in the middle of winter there’s a crapload of snow everywhere so lets just say that everyone was having some problems with parking and getting stuck. Towards the end when a few people were out of the main game they tried to teach me how to play with pennies. I think I got some of it and won a few hands but I think that I’m ultimately hopeless when it comes to poker. I think that I’m more of a Liverpool Rummy type of person. So anyways here’s a few photos from the night. Lynsie ended up taking a bunch with my camera since I was being lazy with it:
Me & Lynsie sitting at Jessie’s computer goofing around on facebook which usually yields pretty funny results when viewed (the comments & wall posts) the next day.
Jessie W. & Jessie A. I don’t know what they were wrestling about.
me, Lynsie, JW, & Jessie
If Phil won’t propose then Lynsie will!
Brad
The table.
Jessie, Lynsie, & Josh
Jessie A. & Jessie W.
uhm?
My penny poker mentors and I.
Josh & Dan.
Max & Jessie.
Why doesn’t anyone else like banana Tootsie Pops?
The past year = Mostly bad but some good. December 31, 2009
Just for the record I’m counting late November 2008 and later as last year, or at least it feels like it to me because that’s when all of the bad started to happen. I’m allowed to add an extra month in there, right?
Bad:
I lost my best friend (late November 2008)
I lost my job (Early December 2008)
I ended up in the ER twice (in April & August).
ER bills= over $5100 because my shitty health insurance wouldn’t help me. I paid almost half so far but it’s pretty fricken hard to pay for the rest without an income.
Feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, depression, loneliness, & being trapped.
I’ve gained weight
Good:
I finally got to do some traveling (a couple of days in St. Croix, a family vacation in Hawaii, & a weekend trip to South Dakota).
Some good times with friends.
I usually don’t pay any attention at all to New Year’s, it’s just another day. But I really want NEED next year to be better. Please please PLEASE!!!!!! Let 2010 be the year that I find happiness!
I need to find a job, hopefully one worth while that doesn’t make me miserable like my last one.
I want to spend more time with friends and be more social.
I want to do more traveling.
I want to be more self-sufficient and independent.
I need to lose 20lbs.
I want to be happy.
Old B&W Negatives December 27, 2009
The other weekend my aunt Kathy gave me a folder full of family stuff including a bunch of old b&W medium format negatives. I get really excited about old family photos so I knew that I had to find a way to scan them for free. So here it is, I positioned one of those daylight lamps above the scanner and put a piece of folded/boxed inkjet paper over the negatives as a diffuser. It works! No paying for a film scanner! Once they’re scanned use the “invert” filter an voila! beautiful black and white photos!
The simple setup:
The photos are a bunch of old travel photos of my grandmother’s. Some places include Arizona, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, and the Badlands. The only person that I recognize in them is my grandma. I’ll have see if any of my relatives know who the other people are.
Here’s just a few of them:
My Grandma at Mt. Rushmore
Grandma again
Grandma on a beach (in the black coat).
Grandma on the left.
Christmas ’09 December 26, 2009
Short story: Christmas this year was uneventful. There is no long story. We were supposed to go up to my uncle Paul’s house today to see my mom’s side of the family but we decided not to chance it driving all that way on the slippery roads. So that sucks. I suppose I won’t see anyone now until March. At least I got to see some of my dad’s side last weekend. There is some good news to report though. When my mom called Paul to tell him we weren’t coming he announced that him and Cathy are now engaged! Cathy really does fit in with the family, she’s really great and already seems like one of my aunts 
Also just a few minutes ago I found out that my cousin Jamie just got engaged too! It does seem like lots of people get engaged during Christmas, doesn’t it? So in total that’s three weddings to look forward to because my cousin Dan also just recently got engaged to Mikayla but I’m sure their wedding won’t be for some time still. I’m some sort of wedding junkie. I could seriously go to a wedding every weekend and not tire of them.
Other than that it seems like the storm is wrapping up. Yesterday we got about seven or eight inches of wet heavy snow. Last night and today it kept switching from snow to sleet to rain and left a few inches of slush that is now frozen over into slippery ice. Who knows, maybe I’ll attempt making a snowman tomorrow although I usually lose interest and end up with just one very large snowball/bottom of a snowman. We’ll see.
