Vacation Update!

I had a little time to kill (not really), so I thought I'd make a quick post to mention that we survived our trip to Florida and that we're heading home to PA today:) We miss fall--they don't have it here. But we loved the t-shirt, shorts, and flip flop weather they're having here:)
I think I'm going to make a series of posts about what we did each day because there's too much for just one. So check back later for photos and "reviews" from the places we visited during our stay:)

Day 16: A Song that Makes You Cry

I don't think there are any pop songs that make me cry...but hymns are a different story. Hymns are sung at our big occasions: dedications, baptisms, weddings, funerals. And Amazing Grace does it for me every time. I've played it, sang it, and listened to it at every funeral I've ever been to, and even if I'm not at a funeral it brings back memories of the people I've heard it dedicated to.

The summer after we graduated from High School, one of the long-time supporters of our high school's band, Ed Taylor, died of a heart attack during a morning run. It devastated the band and was a major loss to the community. Ed was the band booster president, a member of several local organizations, and the caretaker of Biglerville's only park. Between him and his two sons, Andrew and Ryan, their little family knew everyone in town. The high school band and a number of alumni stood in an arc around the church during his funeral and played the most pained version of Amazing Grace I've ever heard or been part of playing.

About a year ago, the band did the same thing for Andrew at his funeral. He committed suicide.

And three summers ago, we sang it for the funeral of the mother of one of my good friends from high school. Two months before my friend's wedding.

It may be a little cliche, but different things speak to different people in different ways.

Day 15: Your Dream House

It's not hard for me to think of my ideal house: 2 floors, 4 bedrooms, 1.5 - 2 baths, nice big yard (maybe fenced in) located in the country, but near a large town. Stone would be nice, but is not required. A garage with a work area. Maybe a shed or small barn. Should have a basement that we can use as a playroom/guest bedroom.

I guess I'm not so concerned about the house itself because whatever we buy, we can make changes to. We're both fairly handy. And I've painted more rooms than I can count. If there's no fence, we can put one in. No guest room or finished basement? If it has an unfinished basement--great! Blank slate. That will be part of the adventure. As long as it's in decent shape and not totally falling to pieces.

I'm more concerned about who and what will be in the house with us. Will there be enough room to have our kids not share a room? Is there room for a dog to run? Or, if we foster dogs for the local shelter, will there be space for them, too? Will Tim be happy with a big yard to play with? Will there be space for all my craft and photography supplies? Lots of walls to decorate? A kitchen big enough for help? Room in the living room for a Christmas tree?

I would love a huge house with a soaking tub that has claw feet and beautiful tile and an outdoor fireplace that over looks a mountain range or a lake, but who has to do all that cleaning? And what am I going to do with all those extra rooms? I'd rather have a normal house that a family of 4-5 plus a dog (and maybe a stupid cat) can be comfortable in.

I would not mind a log cabin to vacation in, though:)

 

Day 14: A Non-Fiction Book

Okay...first: I know I'm behind by like 5 days. And that, in those five days, two of these post topics are rather hefty and will take some time to get through. So please be patient. I'm going to get this done, even if it takes me til mid-November.

We had a long weekend at home (hence the lack of posts) and I've been really busy with work, cleaning, planning, and getting ready for our trip this week. So if there is a severe lack of posts, that's why :-x

So back to today's topic. I can't say as I really have a favorite non-fiction book, but I can tell you which one I'm working through right now.
Since I'm now the owner of 2 SLR cameras (one digital, one 35mm film), I've been doing a lot of reading on photography...composition, light, angles, focusing, aperture, depth of field, inverse square law, etc. And I have two books sitting around. The first is Langford's Starting Photography, which I keep at my desk or in my car to read when I'm early to meetings or waiting for something to load on my computer. The other is Fundamentals of Photography by Tom Ang, which I carry all the time (mostly because I still haven't finished reading it).

And I know they're not books, but I've been following Digital Photography School in my Google Reader, along with a few other sites and forums. The idea being to educate myself as much as I can, network a little with other photographers, and use resources in my community to learn and grow so that, hopefully, I can one day turn this into my job.

I've also been reading books on mortgages and home buying and real estate websites. Lots and lots of research and information trying to get ready for buying a house...my goal with that is to not be totally clueless when we do start looking next year:P

Day 13: A Fictional Book

They don't come much more fictional than the Harry Potter series.
But I have to admit that I really enjoy this series. I didn't catch on to it until, after much nagging and suggesting from Susie, I read books 1-6 over Christmas break my junior year of college.
Susie and I actually went out to a party at Borders and bought Book 7 (The Deathly Hallows) at midnight the day it was released. And we read until we passed out. And we finished it on the beach the next day. And I've read it twice since then. And every time I read it, it makes more sense.

Tim says that the Harry Potter series gets worse as you go along. But I'm going to say that's because he didn't enjoy all the teenage angst that got incorporated in the last few:P

Day 12: Something You Are OCD About

I'm no neat freak. In fact, I will let chores go so long that I can see a visible layer of dust on the surfaces we rarely touch. But I have to have things where I know where they are. I visually categorize things in my head based on where I last saw them, hopefully with other things like them. That way when Tim asks where something is, I can tell him without the two of us turning the apartment upside down searching for it.

At work, I have to have lists. Because there are so many different deadlines for each of my 50 cases. So I keep an excel file listing important dates, the next meeting due, and whether or not anything is outstanding on that file. I also have to keep my files in stacks based on what's next: upcoming meeting, updates needed, and holding.

I guess we each have our own organizational/cleaning systems. But when mine get out of whack, I get distracted and can't work until they're corrected. So...the messy bathroom sink and white tile floor covered in cat hair? I will let go until it's distracting me from doing something else.

Or until we're scheduled to have visitors the next day.

Day 11: A Photo of you Recently

Mom actually took this one on my new Rebel yesterday when we went home for a visit. The bunny is my brother's. Dan calls him Vader, but Mom calls him Bunny. I was told several times what kind of rabbit it is, but I forget. I know it has floppy ears and it's the softest thing ever. A little boring to watch, but fun to pet.

Some more photos from my new camera:

 Jack.

 One of the cups in the bundt-lette pan I inherited from my great aunt.

 Light painting with Tim's laser pointer.

 Uncle Tim with little Zach.

 Dan, Em, and Vader.

 Dan, after recounting his experience last week at his first pro football game in Pittsburgh.

 Clouds over Biglerville before sunset.

Fall mums.

Day 10: A Photo Taken of You Over 10 Years Ago

I thought this photo was appropriate today. That's me, the summer between 7th and 8th grade when we brought Lucy home with us. Dan is on the left, Mom is in the back, holding baby Lucy up so she could lick my ears. This photo is 12 years old.

Yesterday morning, Dan called and told me that Mom had to take Lucy to the animal hospital in Westminster because she'd been having problems with her hips. Mom could tell something was wrong and that she was suffering. The veterinarian that treated Lucy said that she had several tumors and that one on her spleen had ruptured and she was bleeding internally...And they couldn't fix her. So Mom held poor Lucy's head in her lap one last time while they put her to sleep. 

Lucy was a sweet dog. She drove us nuts as a puppy, chewing everything in sight (including table legs and the corners of walls). She loved to "herd" us all into one room. She had springs for legs and would greet everyone at the door with happy barks and growls and a lick on the nose, if she could jump high enough. She liked to trick Tim by pretending to calm down so he would bend over to where she could reach him. She usually slept on one of our beds. She was a horrible begger at mealtimes, but that was our fault for feeding her table scraps. She loved to run. And chase balls and frisbees. But she was good company, too. She would lay next to you with her head in your lap. She liked to be snuggled and petted. When you told her to sit for a treat, she would sit, lay down, and then roll over for the treat. She hated cats. 

The year I lived at home after college, Mom and Dan both worked or were away during the night. Lucy would stay with me and sleep curled up behind my knees until someone came through the door. And then she would happily run off to greet them. 

I'm sad that we'll no longer be greeted by woofs and happy howls and jumping and licking when we go home to visit Mom and Dan. But mostly I'm sad that Mom has lost her little doggie that has been with her through a lot over the last 12 years. We all feel more like we've lost a person than a pet. And I don't know if dogs go to Heaven, but I hope so. There would be no better welcome Home, than to have Lucy there, wagging her tail and doing her happy howl when we got there.

See you again soon, doggie:)

Day 9: A Photo You Took

I took this photo with my new Canon EOS Rebel XSi.
It's through the lens of my old Pentax ME, which my parents bought for me when I was in 6th grade. I went to a Middle-Magnet School in Deer Park, MD for half a year, and photography was one of my classes. I still have some of the negatives and prints that I made. A photo of one of my classmates looking pensive won a little contest.
My Pentax ME is older than I am by about 10 years. My dad bought it used somewhere. But it served me well for that class and a few field trips after we moved to Pennsylvania and I had to finish 6th grade in a normal elementary school.
I broke it out a couple of years ago and started snapping away with it. But when the film was processed, all that showed up on the paper was brightness. So I had 24 pieces of shiny white paper. I was a little disappointed. Upon examination, I found that the dial that allows me to select the film's ISO was broken and stuck on 200.
So now my little Pentax ME sits on a shelf by my desk, reminding me of my first lessons in photography 13 years ago.

Day 8: A Photo that Makes You Angry or Sad

This photo doesn't make me angry. I can't think of one that actually does. I thought about searching on the internet for a National Geographic picture about endangered animals or people, but that doesn't seem to fit the bill for me. So I'm ignoring the angry part and skipping to sad.

This photo is one of the first photos of me with two of my best friends from college. We had just finished band camp and started classes. And we hitched rides with upperclassmen to tailgate at Shippensburg's first away game at Shepherd University. I distinctly remember suffering my normal fall head cold--sore throat, coughing, congestion, etc--and having been told over the phone by my Mom not to go. But when I woke up, all that still bothered me was my throat, so I disregarded her advice and went along anyway:P And I was glad I did. We didn't know each other very well when this picture was taken, and I don't even remember who took it. But Susie and Gerry became like sister and brother to me. (Matt wasn't at Ship yet, but I certainly consider him like a brother as well). And the thing is...we're all graduated, employed, and married now. It's been 7 years since this picture was taken. I guess this picture is sad because I still love them to death, but Gerry no longer lives down the hall, and Susie and I haven't been roommates for 3 years. I do not miss college, but I certainly do miss the people.

Day 7: A Photo that Makes You Happy

This was right after our wedding ceremony. Mom promised she wouldn't cry if I didn't. I think this was the closest I came.

Photo by Kylene Krotzer Photography.

Day 6: 20 of Your Favorite Things

I'm going to twist this prompt a little and list 20 things that make me happy instead:)

1) Tim--my awesome husband of 2 years, best friend for over 8 :)
2) My family--the people who know me best.
3) Tim's family--my second family.
4) Spending time doting on the next generation :)
5) Lucy--my Mom's border collie, who is always happy to see me:)
6) Jack, despite the fact that he is one crazy cat.
7) Music with a good beat.
8) When a parent thanks me at work.
9) When one of the kids insists on giving me a hug or bringing me a toy during their meeting...reminding me that there are more important things than paperwork and regulations.
10) Opening the shades and filling a room with light and fresh air.
11) Sunshine.
12) Swimming.
13) Ducking down and letting waves just roll over.
14) Naps.
15) Stars...and none of this "I'm from the city and 5 stars are a lot." I mean a starry sky out in the country where you can see MILLIONS of stars and the milky way.
16) Taking pictures of people and creation.
17) Playing music.
18) Singing along with the radio while I'm driving alone.
19) Sleeping in on Saturday mornings.
20) Being where the background music consists of wind rustling the grass, birds singing, crickets chirping, and a good sunset ends the day.

I know this post is a day late...I blame Tim, who forgot to remind me yesterday, but remembered today:P

Day 5: Your Favorite Quote

This is a tough prompt for me. I used to be an English major. I loved writing (although I was never very good at creative writing or poetry) and I still love to read. I knew a slew of quotations when I was in high school and college, but these days, I prefer to put life in my own terms when I think or talk about things.

But to satisfy the prompt, here are a couple that have stuck with me:

"There are lies, damned lies, and then there are statistics." Mark Twain. 
How very true...And since taking several statistics courses in college (including one that taught you how to tweak your numbers or the wording of your presentation to make the results sway one way or the other) I have taken anything following the phrase "A recent study has shown..." with a grain of salt.


"When the game ends, the king and the pawn go back into the same box."
Ok. So this is a proverb. But it's a good concept to remember.

---------------------------------------------------

I interviewed for a promotion yesterday at work. There is one other person going out for the same position, but I've been kind of passive about the situation. The competitive jerk in me wants some validation--some proof that I'm the better of the two candidates--but the reasonable part of my brain knows it would be better for the other girl to get it, since she's not planning on moving to a different county in less than a year. Which means less turmoil for the department. And less stress for me taking over a position that oversees 5 people with caseloads at 50 each. Although I guess Mom was right when she pointed out that, in my area of work, the turnover is so bad, no one really cares if you're only there 6 months.
It's business as usual.

Day 4: Your Favorite Book

I read a lot of books. I get it from my Mom:) There's nothing better than a good story, especially on slow summer afternoons or cold winter snow days while warming up from snow-man making. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is one of my favorite childhood books. My Mom and I used to take turns reading to each other, and the old keys hanging in Mom's office at home remind me of that door hidden in the ivy (and, of course, that's what they reminded her of when she bought them).

Of course, these days, my reading list is full of books on photography, home buying, mortgage lending, and craft patterns. I love spending time in book stores, and if I didn't have a full time job and so much other stuff going on, I would take home half the book store to read. Good thing libraries still exsist...

On that note, I'd like to say that I'm now taking suggestions for fiction books to add to the stack next to my bed;)

Day 3: Your Favorite TV Show

My favorite TV show right now is Bones. I like a little humor in my progressive crime dramas:)

In the past, I might have listed things like Bewitched, M*A*S*H, Star Trek:TNG, Lost, or House. But we all go through phases:)

HAPPY 2nd ANNIVERSARY!!!

I know I'm about a week late with this post, but I just wanted to take a moment to recognize our second wedding anniversary, which was on Monday (Sept 27). We've had a great two years, Timmy, and I hope there are many more happy years in our future:)
Loves <3

(Wedding photo was taken by Kylene Krotzer Photography)

Day 2: Your Favorite Movie

Just getting this one in by the skin of my teeth! But I can't blame Tim, since he certainly reminded me:)

One of my favorite movies ever is Love Actually. I have a habit of seeing a movie once, then very rarely (if ever) seeing it again unless it's on TV and I've got nothing better to do. Love Actually is one of the exceptions. I love how the eight different stories cross over and you see everyone come together for one moment in the end.

And how cute is the kid who play's Sam?!

Anyway...my favorite scene is in the beginning--Mark and Juliet's wedding. Mostly because I had a thing for The Beatles when I was in high school And after seeing this, I told everyone who asked what I wanted my wedding to be like that I was going to have all of my musically inclined friends re-enact this scene:



Of course, that didn't happen, but you'll have to wait for Day 18 to hear about that.

----------------------------------------------------

On another note, I'm waiting on a new camera--a digital Canon Rebel XSi--to come in the mail! I've also been doing a lot of reading and looking into ways to improve my photography skills and/or knowledge without going to school. I'm really hopeful that, someday, I can turn those skills and knowledge into supplemental income...so if you need some pictures taken on the cheap, let me know;)

(Photo and contents of the video in this post are, of course, property of NBC Universal).

Day 1: Your Favorite Song

I've been flipping through my iPod all morning while working on getting my paperwork caught up at work, and I can't really pick an absolute favorite song...I like so many songs...And I really don't care too much about who sings them or if they're "good". If I can sing along or it has a good beat, then I'm happy.

But if I had to pick one, it would be "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service. I like Iron & Wine's version as well.



It was one of the few songs that spoke to me while Tim and I were in college and rarely got to see each other. It made me think to the future when we were finally married and could look back on college and be thankful that that chapter was closed.

So there it is...my favorite song:)