Fun in the Sun

I like that even though summer is not quite the same when you are a kid, you seem to value those summer escapes that much more. An early morning walk on the beach, the county fair, cooling down with frozen yogurt, bike rides around town, and nice weather. Here are the last few weeks of photo taken with my iPhone. With 5 weeks of summer left, I hope you soak up every ounce of your very parts!

Catching Up With Coffee

Time for a little coffee date! I have gotten really good with Brent's espresso machine and I am liking the strong espresso taste more and more. In college my drink of choice was an extra sweet vanilla latte or caramel macchiato, now I prefer the not sweet plain latte or cappuccino, nice and strong. But I can make vanilla lattes, macchiatos, mochas, or even peppermint mochas...what can I make you?

If we were meeting for coffee, I would ask how your weekend was. Do anything exciting or just relax? Eat anything yummy? Get in some laughs? Ours was relaxing. Saturday night we saw the movie "The Fighter" and tried out a delicious new burger place...best homemade buns I have had in a long time. The movie was really good, the cast was what made it for me. I had to stand in the back of the theater for half of it though...my back pain was making me squirm around in my seat like crazy and felt bad for the people behind me.

Sunday we met Kaitlin and Jordan at the beach, the boys surfed and Kait and I watched, took photos, and admired the beautiful sunset. Every time I see a pretty sunset like this, it feels like a brand new experience because no two are alike. The colors, the clouds, the clarity, the way it changes after the sun disappears behind the horizon.

Yesterday, I was picking up my uncle from the train station, and I pulled up 5 seconds before the train pulled in front of my view. But for an instant, I could see the ocean on the other side of the tracks as the sun illuminated a crashing wave making it glow bright green. The train came and hid the sight, but it made me appreciate these moments...the moments you see such beauty only nature can provide. The moments that will never be replicated exactly, the moments that build upon each other and string together a mental library of images of how incredible this natural beauty truly is.

If we were meeting for coffee I would ask you if you saw the Oscar nomination list. I get so excited for the Academy Awards every year...my mom and her best friend used to throw a big party where everyone made themed food relating to the movies. Brent and I have done this on a much smaller scale the past few years, but I enjoy it very much. I like that there are now 10 Best Picture nominations instead of 5, and I hope to see them all before the show.

Then I would share with you some things that made me laugh this week:

I saw this commercial yesterday and I could not stop laughing

I was browsing the app store in itunes and found this Girl Scout Cookie Locater App. Haha yes, I did download it. Before you make fun of me, it was free, and curiosity got the best of me. There are none being sold currently, must be off season...but this could be very dangerous...

Yesterday I was watching TV and somehow got completely sucked into the VH1 Behind the Music of 50 Cent. It was fascinating!! Did you know he used to be a meth dealer, and then when got into music he chose the name because it represented a 'change'. Did you know he got shot in the cheek and still has a bullet fragment lodged in his tongue and that is why he kind of talks and sings the way he does? Ohh guilty pleasures...I'm a sucker. Have you been watching Teen Mom 2? If you thought last season was intense...

I hope you have a great week, and thanks to Amy for hosting coffee this morning.

Southern California Winter

It has been more like summer than winter here the last week...incredibly warm, sunny, clear blue skies and beautiful sunsets.

Cracked

I have been taking and very much enjoying Tracey Clark's photography classes. I am in my third now: Picture Winter. Each morning waiting for me like a little present is an email with a prompt and her photo for that day. I usually open it first thing in the morning, mull over the prompt, shoot some different photos throughout the day and choose my favorite to submit.

Well the prompt a few days ago was "cracked open," and I may have unintentionally taken it a bit too literally. Driving home from Brent's house I passed Doheney Beach and it was so beautiful I had to stop to take photos. Maybe I would even find something that would apply to the prompt. Five minutes out of getting out of my car, I was taking this photo of a puddle covering cracked mud, when BAM!

My brand-new, six day old baby of an iphone 4 fell out of my jacket packet, from ONE foot off the ground, and when I picked it up, it looked like this:

Dad, if you are reading this, don't worry, you can stop cringing, this story has a happy ending, I promise. But needless to say, I was bummed. Iphones are NOT cheap and I had a feeling "stupid enough not to put the phone in a tight, safe spot" is not one of the problems covered under warranty. But it's me, I am a photographer who when I see something photo-worthy, I pull over the car, I make Brent wait for me as I fall behind on our walks oohing and ahhing at every little thing with my camera, and it's me, who, as freaked out I was about having to prepare an iphone funeral, I continued on to the beach to take some shots. I was already there dangit, and my phone was shattered, and it felt like someone was throwing softball-sized rocks at my back. I was GOING to get at least one good shot!!

Back to the phone. I went to the Apple store and just as I suspected, "stupid enough not to put the phone in a tight, safe spot" is not covered under warranty. "That'll be $199 dollars" says the apple genius man. But he waited just long enough for it to sink in and allow my eyes and mouth to grow into three gigantic circles before adding "but since you only had it less than a week, we'll cover it for you." OH MY. I had the case on. I dropped it from a foot off the ground. Why did it shatter? Apparently, it doesn't matter even if you have it in the strongest of cases, if it lands on the "sweet spot" it will break. But I think I was rewarded for being patient, for staying at the beach to snap those pretty photos, for keeping my cool and staying calm. Because on the drive home was this amazing sunset:

If this ordeal (I know, I know it is just a phone, but...) had not happened, I probably would have been inside the house and completely missed out on this incredible sunset!! Glad it is over.