San Francisco

On Saturday Amanda, Jocey, Mik and I set out for San Francisco! We decided to go across the golden gate bridge and were all excited because we thought there was no toll.... $6.00 later we were wrong. That's more than most tolls!


After that we to Pier 39 and walked around. We went into a few shops and tried to dodge bird poop from all the birds flying around. We all made it out safe :)


Can you believe this? lol







From there, we headed to Fort Point. We didn't really know what or where it was but we were all sure glad we went. It's free and it was so cool! It is a half-mile walk from the parking lot down to the fort which is located right under the golden gate bridge (not under the water part lol). It was really cool to see the golden gate bridge that close. Inside the fort they had soldiers and people dressed up to re-enact life during the late 1800's.































Hope you enjoyed all the pictures!

Black & White Wednesday

This week for Black & White Wednesday I decided to use a silly picture of my sister rocking out on rock band! I just love her expressions!

Someone Famous

This weekend while I was in Reno I saw someone Famous!

This person happen to be the speaker for the Safari Club International Event. Unfortunately we couldn't get tickets because they were all sold out.

So this is the famous person I saw....

In his golf cart surrounded by secret service men.


All the people trying to get pictures of him.


It's George W. Bush!


Haha this picture just cracks me up because he looks disgusted!

Sorry I didn't get any better pictures. I didn't feel like fighting through the crowds.

Reno

This weekend my parents flew into Reno for the Safari Club International event.
It was a last minute decision.
My dad called my mom 3.5 hours before their flight was suppose to leave telling her that they were flying to Reno Thursday night.
I was just excited because I got to see my parents.
Me and Trevor met up in Sacrament Friday night and what should have been a 2 hour drive turned into a 6 hour drive! The roads weren't that bad, it was just chaos and people putting chains on and taking them off. Not a fun drive. I kept Trevor awake by telling him random funny childhood stories :)

So we finally got to Reno 1:30 am Friday night.
Saturday we walked around looking at all the booths at the convention center.
The place was huge!
There was a lot of cool stuff but after a while it all started looking like the same thing.
Guns.... Safari trips... more guns :)
I think the coolest part about the event was looking at all the displayed stuffed animals. There were things there I never knew even existed. I took a bunch of pictures of the animal displays. Some of them were so realistic and really cool looking. Others made me laugh...


This is a Lion with a hyena in its mouth


This hyena had some serious drool going on.




The Leopards were so pretty


This display was funny because if you look carefully the bears are fighting over the buried Moose below them


What kind of taxidermy makes the zebra's tongue hang out?


This deer had a massive rack. Very non-typical


Saber-tooth cat (which I guess doesn't exist anymore, the internet was a little unclear though...)


Scary bear trying to attack me and my mom!


Trevor... not to thrilled to be posing for a picture :)



After the event on Saturday we took a little nap and then got ready for a fun night! Since I'm now 21 going to a casino is a little more fun for me! I didn't have much practice gambling so at first I was a little unsure about what to do but after a while I got the hang of it. I played some slot machines and black jack at a table. Everyone had a really good time and I won some money too!


One of my parents friends after her big win!


Me and my mom all dressed up for dinner.

The other awesome part about going to Reno was the yummy food!
I had some delicious steak Saturday night.

I also had some not so delicious stuff... everyone was giving me a bad time because I really don't like to experiment with food.
I stick with the stuff I like.
Well last night I caved into the peer pressure and tried something... they didn't tell me what it was until after I ate it.
I cut a little piece of the appetizer and put it on my plate.
After sniffing it and staring at it for about a minute I finally put it in my mouth.

Big Mistake! It was so gross.
I think the texture was the worst part about it.
Wanna know what I ate???



I ate Goose Liver!
Never again.

Now for a different direction.
This weekend I saw someone REALLY famous!
I'll tell you all about it.... Next Post :)

Ha Ha Friday :)

Black & White Wednesday

Instead of doing Wordless Wednesday posts I thought I'd join in on the Black & White Wednesday's over at The Long Road to China . It's time for a change, and I happen to love black and white photographs! I'm currently taking a black and white film class but haven't started developing actually pictures yet so hopefully in the future I'll be able to share some of those.

This picture is from last weekend. I got to spend some time with my favorite little girls and got a lot of really good pictures. I thought this one was super cute in black and white :)

Weekend Recap

I didn't have school Monday which means it was a long weekend! I spent the weekend with my boyfriend and his family. It was nice to just relax, eat good food, watch movies, and have fun!

One thing on the list to do was fix my truck! Luckily I have an awesome boyfriend that can fix anything! He had to replace the fuel pump in my truck. Here's a few pictures of him hard at work!



Thanks for fixing my truck! Your the best :)

For my next photography project I have to take 3 pictures. One Stop Action (in the air). One Pan Action (Blurry background). One show motion picture. So this weekend I was practicing with my digital camera.


Here are a few more of my favorites :)

Making a difference

People always say how mean kids can be,
never how nice they can be.

This story will either make you cry, give you cold chills or just
leave you cold, but it puts life into perspective!
At a fund-raising dinner for a school that serves
learning-disabled children, the father of one of the school's
students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by
all that attended.

After extolling the school and  its dedicated staff, he offered a
question. "Everything God does is done with  perfection. Yet,
my son Shay cannot learn things as other children do. He
cannot understand things as other children do.

"Where is God's plan reflected in my son?" The audience was
stilled by the query. The father continued. "I  believe," the
father answered, "that when God brings a child like Shay into
the  world, an opportunity to realize the Divine Plan presents
itself and it comes in the way people treat that child."

Then, he told the following  story:
Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys
Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think
they will let me play?" Shay's father knew that the boys would
not want him on their team. But the father understood that if
his son were allowed to play it would give him much-needed
sense of belonging.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and
asked if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance
from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his
own hands and said, "We are losing by six runs, and the
game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team
and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning."

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team  scored a few
runs but was still behind by three. At the top of the ninth
inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the outfield.
Although no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic
just to be on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father
waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential
winning run was on base. Shay was scheduled to be the
next at-bat. Would the team actually let Shay bat at this
juncture and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that
a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know
how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the
ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher
moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could
at least be able to make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung  clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to  toss the ball
softly toward Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at
the ball and hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher.The pitcher
picked up  the soft grounder and could easily have thrown
the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out
and that would have ended the  game.

Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high
arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman.
Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first, run to first."
Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base.
He scampered down the  baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, "run to second, run to second!"

By the time Shay was rounding first base, the right fielder
had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second
baseman for a tag. But the right fielder understood what
the  pitcher's intentions had been, so he threw the ball
high and far over the third baseman's head.Shay ran
towards second base as the runners ahead of him
deliriously circled the bases towards  home.

As Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran
to him, turned him in the direction of third base, and
shouted, "run to third!"

As Shay rounded third, the boys  from both teams were
screaming, "Shay Run home!" Shay ran home,  stepped on
home plate and was cheered asthe hero for hitting
a "grand  slam" and winning the game for his team.

"That day," said the father softly  with tears now rolling
down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a
piece of the Divine Plan into this world."


We can all make a difference. We all have dozens of
opportunities a  day to help realize God's plan. So many
seemingly trivial interactions between  people present us
with a choice; do we pass along a spark of the Divine-love
that God gives to us every day? Or do we pass up that
opportunity and leave the world a bit colder in the process?


Good Friends are like stars, you don't always see them
but you know they are always  there.....

[I got this story in an email so I'm not sure who wrote it,
but I know it touched my heart so I thought I'd share it
with you!]

Wordless Wednesday

i heart faces

This is my first week entering the contest over at http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/ . I love taking pictures, especially of adorable little girls like this one!

The theme this week is "Best Face Photo"!

To see other photos for this challenge just click the little logo button below.