Around the World and Still Going!

Catching up with Lets Do 52: Weeks 3 and 4

2012-02-02T00:17:00.001-05:00

I've missed a couple of my "Lets Do 52" weekly pictures...I've been a bit busy! So as a catch up, here are weeks 3 and 4!

3/52 White Space

Taken this past weekend while in NYC with Paul

4/52 Unexpected Perspective

An Arizona Sycamore, taken today while adventuring with my parents in Arizona

Champagne Bon Voyage

2012-01-31T23:23:00.000-05:00

Paul left for South Sudan yesterday evening. He'll be posted there for a year. Here is a picture of us enjoying a glass of champagne at the airport before we had to say our goodbyes.

This past weekend we went to NYC for a last getaway. It was a great weekend filled with Broadway, Central Park, yummy food, and time together. Pictures will be posted soon!

This morning I hopped on my own flight and am now in Phoenix visiting my parents and brother. Will be here till Saturday then it's back to DC for me and a new job starting on Monday!

What To Take For A Year In South Sudan

2012-01-21T10:51:00.002-05:00

So it has begun...Paul will be leaving in one week for Juba, South Sudan. He'll be there for a year as an Economist for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He'll be living in a "hooch", the funner term for Containerized Housing Unit, which is exactly what it sounds like - A shipping container that has been converted into a living space.

Since space is limited he's not allowed to bring much. The post does allow a small consumables shipment though which people typically fill with "comfort food" from home. So what does one take when going to live in a container in Juba, South Sudan for one year?

Paul's comfort food consists of:
- 3 Cases of Beer (which isn't going to last too long!)
- 12 Costco size bags of chips, 21 jars of salsa, and 30 jars of Queso sauce
- Almost 100 cans of soup
- 6 large boxes of gummy Fruit Snacks
- 45 boxes of Mac & Cheese
- 6 Costco boxes of microwave popcorn
- 8 bottles of contact solution
- 8 tubes of toothpaste
- 3 tubes of sunblock
- Costco sized jars of Tylenol and Allergy meds

Any bets on how long this stuff will last him and when he'll be requesting me to send more?

His air shipment consists of his clothes, shoes, a number of books, frisbees, computer games, and duct tape.

I'm trying to talk him into taking my Canon XTi camera (the only camera I will give up, lol) so he can take photo's of everything, but he's not really like me in that way. He will probably just take the little Canon snap and shoot and I will have constantly ~~nag~~ remind him to take pics and send them to me!

2/52 Open

2012-01-16T16:57:00.001-05:00

Open Sesame

Sunshine, Sea Lions and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk with the Gargoyles

2012-01-11T11:19:00.000-05:00

For x-mas my awesome parents got me the Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens. Big Smile! This is a pretty cool little lens, and I mean little! I'm so used to walking around the world with my 24-70mm f/2.8 behemoth hanging around my neck, this little 50mm is like wearing air... it weighs nothing! And it's fun to use, especially wide open at 1.4!

Here are a few shots from the Santa Cruz pier and Beach Boardwalk with my new lens.

Surfing in Santa Cruz. The Wipe Out Sessions.

2012-01-09T19:09:00.000-05:00

While we were home in CA over X-mas we met up with a friend of ours from Peace Corps that we hadn't seen in way too long. We had a great lunch out on the Santa Cruz pier, yummy mexican food and two carafes of sangria. So of course the next obvious thing to do was to go surfing!

I grew up in Santa Cruz, I've spent a lot of time in that frigid water, so I opted to sit this one out...but Paul was all about getting in there and giving surfing a go. I called my parents up and told them that they needed to bring me my camera and get to Santa Cruz pronto to watch the entertainment!

Still pictures are all fine and dandy for surfing, but a video, particularly a video of all of Paul's ~~wipe outs~~ attempts to surf would be much better don't you think? I agree, so here you will find 2 minutes of some pretty entertaining surfing. (To watch the video large in HD, click on the HD icon and it will take you to Vimeo).

I think the funniest part, after all of Paul's wipe outs of course, is the commentary provided by my parents. You'd think that we were professional surfers observing from above, with all the advice we were giving. You might think that, you would be wrong though.

Is one of these surfers Paul? Hmmm....

The next Endless Summer duo???

52 Week Project. 1/52 - Natural

2012-01-09T14:50:00.000-05:00

Big Sur, CA

2012-01-06T10:47:00.000-05:00

While we were in CA over the holidays we went hiking in Big Sur with my Dad. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, the temps were in the 60's, perfect for being out and about in the redwoods and on the beach!

Memories, Dreams and Reflections - 2011

2012-01-04T08:40:00.000-05:00

When the year began we were still living in Jordan, both of us were working, and we were not planning for any big changes, but then Paul got offered a new job and lots of changes followed.
- We said goodbye to friends in Jordan and moved back to DC in early spring. Paul started his new position with USAID and I stopped working all together.
- We spent a lot of time outside hiking, rock climbing, running and just enjoying the green trees and blue skies.
- We were to be able to catch up with a number of friends we hadn't seen in a long time, and we very fortunate that we got to see our families often during the year.

So here is a collection of photos from this year (prompts from Ashley Sisk's Memories, Dreams and Reflections 2011 Linkup)

1. Me

I ran my first half marathon this year and was quite pleased with the experience!

2. I Love You

Paul and I celebrated 5 years of marriage this past September.

3. Still Laughing

Our Old Rag Epic Fail. Damn You Impossible To Find Trail.

4. Winter Wonderland

This is as close to winter as I like to get! Taken on Mount Washington, NH in September.

5. Birthday

Our niece, Kailey, visited us in DC about a month after her third birthday and we had her present ready for her!

6. Friends

This past April, after way too many years, I got to see my friend Anu and her new daughter Asha in Philly.

7. I Was Inspired

I had an inspiration to learn to cook...I would say I was only partly successful. I did increase my collection of recipes I can cook, but I don't do it too often!

8. Spring Fever

Spring was wonderful in DC this year!

9. Travel or Vacation

In September, to celebrate our 5 year anniversary, Paul and I went to New Hampshire to climb Mount Washington.

10. Summer Days

I participated in the Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge.

11. A Day In My Life

Luke, and his sister Leia, are typically in my life every day! ;)

12. All Smiles

Kailey riding her pony!

13. Autumn Harvest

I participated in the Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge.

14. Family/Home

In July I was able to go home to California for a while and went to Yosemite with my parents.

15. Celebrate!

Paul and I celebrated 50 years of The Peace Corps in September by participating in the Walk of Flags from the Arlington Cemetary to the Lincoln Memorial. Uganda RPCV all the way!

16. Let's Do It Again

We did a lot of climbing this year. We climbed at Seneca, WV in July and loved it so much we did it again with our friends in October.

17. I Miss You

We lived in Jordan for over 2 years, but left in March. I miss my friends.

18. Beautiful

Yosemite, one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

19. Dress Up

While visiting my parents in July we recreated our Wild West dress up picture from 1978.

20. Macro

Not taken with a macro lens, but he's pretty micro...

21. Holidays

Turkmas in Iowa with our favorite gal!

22. My Favorite

My brothers visit, and our Zombie Hunt is a favorite memory from 2011.

23. Don't Ever Change

I want to continue having fun and enjoying life!

24. Just Because...So There!

Tubing in Harpers Ferry.

25. Hopes and Dreams

2012 is going to be difficult...Paul is leaving for South Sudan for a year and I am staying in the states. That is not going to be easy. But here is hoping for a safe, quick and colorful year for the both of us!

California Christmas Highlights

2012-01-02T20:55:00.000-05:00

And my favorite...

I've decided that Kimberly and I need our own reality TV show.

2011 Year in Status

2012-01-01T20:17:00.003-05:00

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-23T23:13:00.000-05:00

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

The Cats X-mas

2011-12-23T23:00:00.000-05:00

A little bit of X-mas catnip...and this is what happens...

There was some definite arguing over who got to chew on the new stuffed catnip froggy first!

Portraits of a Friend

2011-12-20T13:41:00.000-05:00

A good friend of mine asked me to take her portrait as a gift for her mother for Christmas. I've never specifically taken portrait photo's before but as long as my friend is understanding about my limitations I was excited to do this for her. I'm quite pleased with the results! It helped that she is a very photogenic model, even when she was making the angry face :)

Taken with Canon 7D, 24-70mm L f/2.8 at 50mm, 100 ISO, 1/60s, with mounted Speedlight 430ex.

Tiny Christmas Tree

2011-12-15T11:35:00.002-05:00

Well it was a long, drawn out process, but our move is finished! We are mostly settled into our new little apartment. There are still cardboard boxes stacked in corners, household items that don't have a home yet scattered around here and there, and all of our art work is sitting on the floor, but it's coming together!

The first priority upon moving in was getting our christmas tree set up. Since all our x-mas stuff is in storage we had to make due with a tiny tree this year, but it's a live tree so I'll get to enjoy it year round. I also found that Target sells little tiny lights, garland and ornaments perfect for a mini tree!

Now I just need to wrap the presents and Paul and I will be able to celebrate our little christmas in our new apartment before heading home to CA next week!

Moving and Shaking

2011-12-07T13:52:00.001-05:00

Okay maybe just moving. Uhg. I hate moving. You'd think I would be good at this by now, I have moved many times in my 36 years (okay well really just from years 19-36). I'm typically a very organized person who is good at multi-tasking, but when it comes to moving, I'm a disaster! I have many boxes more than halfway filled but not quite topped off. I seem to have a tendency to start working on a new box in a different room before I've finished the previous box!

Luke is being very helpful though...

Back to packing....

Just Wanted to Say Hi!

2011-11-30T15:37:00.001-05:00

Turkmas 2011!

2011-11-30T13:53:00.001-05:00

For the holiday weekend we brought back our Turkey Day + Christmas tradition with my husbands family in the midwest. The past couple of years, since we were living abroad, we had to celebrate on NYE but this year it was Turkmas all the way!

There are many requirements for a Pleva Family Turkmas.

1. Dogs. Lots of Dogs.
We are almost out numbered by the canine participants in our holiday (5 dogs : 8.5 humans)! We took the two most active of our four legged friends to a nearby park for some frisbee golf fun. We got a little surprise when Clark, who has never been exposed to a large body of water before, took one look and dove right in, and didn't want to come out!

2. Cutout Cookies.
Each year Paul's parents make the cookies and we "icen" them. It is an art contest each and every year. Over the years the selection of cookie cutters has expanded beyond Christmas shapes and now includes such shapes as a camel, a loon, and a pig. It is important to note that all cookies are eaten by the time the weekend is over!

3. Cutting Down a Christmas Tree.
This is where we head out into the great Iowa outdoors, wear flannel and carry a saw, and cut down the perfect X-mas tree. There are a wide variety of trees, from Charlie Brown trees to Macy's trees. We found the perfect one right in the middle.

4. Decorating the Perfect Christmas Tree.
Not our favorite of activities (we'd rather be eating the cookies), but we made it fun by adding some extra special ornaments to the tree (i.e. dog toys).

5. Opening X-mas Presents with Kailey!
The best event of a Pleva Family Turkmas is opening presents with our 3 year old niece Kailey. The girl loves trains, so boy oh boy was she excited when she got her very own Thomas the Train set. It was fun for the whole family for the rest of the weekend, particularly for the uncles who were determined to set up the best track system ever.

Turkmas 2011 was a grand success!

Shades of Autumn - Finale!

2011-11-29T18:11:00.001-05:00

I missed a couple weeks, but here is the wrap up this Fall's colors - Green, Yellow, Orange, Red and Brown! Another fun photo challenge complete.

My First Half Marathon

2011-11-21T20:52:00.001-05:00

I made the decision a few months ago to run a half marathon and promptly got online and found one in Annapolis for this past weekend. It took me a few weeks to commit, finally pay the money, and sign up but I did it and set out on my official training schedule. All was going well, I was running like crazy and enjoying it. And then about a month and a half ago I got pretty badly injured in a climbing accident which took me out of my training for about 3 weeks (also the reason I haven't taken any new pictures lately). So with only 2 weeks left before the race I hobbled back into my training and got a few more miles on my shoes.

The big day was on Saturday. It was a cold but bright morning. The race started and finished at the Navy Stadium, coursed through downtown Annapolis and over the Naval Academy Bridge. Since I had never run this far before and my training was a bit screwed up, I wasn't sure how it was going to go down...but it was great! I broke my goal of 2 hours and felt good throughout the entire run. I was quite happy with myself. I just may have to do another one!

These are screen shots from the race page (hope this isn't illegal to post these!)

Paul also competed, he beat me by nearly 11 minutes. He's speedy!

Tilt-Shift

2011-11-16T17:02:00.001-05:00

I've been wanting to get a tilt-shift lens for a while, but those lenses cost money and really it would just be an additional "toy" which I don't really need.

So I found the next best thing: TiltShiftMaker. Just upload a photo and select the focal line and wham! out comes your picture with the tilt-shifted, miniaturized effect! Here are some of my miniature creations.

Jerash, the Roman City, in Jordan.

Amman, Jordan

The Sphinx and Giza Pyramids, Egypt

Cairo, Egypt

Kind of fun, huh? :)

Shades of Autumn - Purple

2011-11-07T08:50:00.001-05:00

This weeks Shade of Autumn is - Purple. Purple was a difficult color to find so I had to make do...

Luke loves his purple feather boa. He is such a stylish 3 legged kitty!

Once the temperatures drop the flip-flops get put away and the shoes come out. You can't go wrong with purple Converse!

Next weeks Shade of Autumn is Brown.

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-10-31T12:14:00.001-04:00

BOO!

Sunday Scavenger Hunt - October 30th

2011-10-30T09:25:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since I've participated in one of Ashley Sisk's Sunday Photo Scavenger Hunts. Too long really! Since I hurt my arm two weeks ago in a climbing accident I haven't been able to take any new pictures, but I was determined to participate this week so I hit up my archives and this is what I came up with. This weeks themes were Macro, Found Texture, Home, Cover, and The Tree.

1. Macro

Macro shot of a succulent at the DC Botanical Gardens - 2008

2. Found Texture

Rusty, gritty texture found in San Francisco near Ocean Beach - 2008

3. Home

Home for me is out in untouched, unspoiled nature. Especially California nature! Photo taken in Yosemite National Park - 2011

4. Cover

In Jordan, many women wear a hijab to cover their hair - Photo taken 2009.

5. The Tree

Lone tree - photo taken on a golf course in Salinas, CA 2008

Shades of Autumn - Red

2011-10-28T09:17:00.000-04:00

Here is another Shade of Autumn! This weeks Shade is - Red.

Took this picture a couple weeks ago on Old Rag in the Shenandoah Mountains.

Next weeks shade is Purple.

I've been pretty quiet on here these past couple weeks since I hurt my arm. I'll be going back to the doctor next week and hopefully will find out what the issue is. In the mean time I'm going to go back through my archives and try to find some exciting pictures to put up here so it is not so quiet! I'll also try to pull out my Canon G11 snap and shoot, which I should be able to use 1 handed, and see what happens!

Shades of Autumn - Orange

2011-10-21T15:42:00.001-04:00

I had a bit of an accident last weekend and I hurt my left arm/wrist. I actually tweaked it bad enough that I can't hold my camera up with it and therefore have not been able to take any new pictures recently.

So for this weeks Shade of Autumn (Orange) photo I had to go to my archives. This picture is from 2006 somewhere in New England.

Next weeks Autumn shade is Red.

Shades of Autumn - Yellow

2011-10-14T11:21:00.001-04:00

This is week two of the Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge. This weeks Fall Color Shade is Yellow.

These shots are from last weeks hiking, climbing and camping trip back to Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah.

Next weeks Autumn shade is Orange.

Mushrooms

2011-10-12T13:20:00.002-04:00

It's a dreary, rainy day here in DC today. The kind of day that mushrooms love!

*Pictures taken with my Canon G11. That is such a good little snap and shoot camera (and so much lighter than my 7D)!

Shades of Autumn - Green

2011-10-07T15:13:00.002-04:00

During the summer I participated in the Crazy Days of Summer photo challenge. Now that we are fully into our fall season the same lovely ladies are now hosting the Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge.

This weeks shade is Green.

Stay tuned for more Fall colors in the upcoming weeks! Next weeks shade of Fall is Yellow.

Warrior Dash Virginia!

2011-10-04T14:45:00.001-04:00

This past weekend Paul, myself and our friend Mari, participated in the Warrior Dash down near Richmond, VA. For those that haven't heard of it, the Warrior Dash is a "mud-crawling, fire-leaping, extreme run from hell". Oh yeah!

The obstacle course races are held all over the country (and in Canada and Australia too!). The VA course was 3.56 miles with 12 fun and muddy obstacles including barricades, barbed wire, climbing walls, jumping over fire, and swimming through mud. It was So. Much. Fun!

The race is done in heats of about 500 people every half hour. Paul and I were in the 11:30am heat so we were able to clean up and warm up and be ready to cheer our friend Mari on for her heat at 3pm.

Mari about to start her race!

Way to go Mari! You rocked it!!!

Here are a few more pictures of the costumes!

And the mud! I loved the mud! :)

Warrior Dash. Mud. Sweat. Beer.

Happy 50th Anniversary Peace Corps!

2011-09-29T14:46:00.000-04:00

2011 marks the 50th anniversary of the US Peace Corps. For those that may not know much about the Peace Corps it is a program that was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to promote peace and friendship around the world. The Peace Corps has three goals:

1. Helping people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Some of you may know that Paul and I met while serving as Peace Corps Volunteers in Uganda from 2002 - 2004. Serving in Uganda with the Peace Corps was one of the best things we have ever done in our lives. We would love to be more involved with the Peace Corps community in the US but we haven't been very proactive about getting ourselves involved. To try and remedy that, this past weekend Paul and I participated in some of the 50th anniversary events being held in Washington DC.

There was a beautiful ceremony held at the Arlington National Cemetery Memorial Amphitheater to commemorate Peace Corps and recognize the volunteers that lost their lives during their service.

Thousands of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) from around the country came to DC for these events, including Chris Dodd (Former Senator of Connecticut), Joe and Maeve Kennedy (JFKs great niece and nephew who both served in the Peace Corps), and Chris Matthews (from Hardball). There were also a number of foreign representatives from the Peace Corps Countries including the Vice President of Liberia.

After the ceremony all the RPCVs marched with the flag of their country of service from the Arlington National Cemetery across Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial.

UGANDA!!!

The DC Fire Department gave Peace Corps a water salute from the Potomac which was pretty cool!

Despite the icky weather it was a great day! Met PCVs from Uganda, some from way back, some more recent. Happy Birthday Peace Corps!

Anniversary Weekend - Hiking Mount Washington

2011-09-24T21:29:00.001-04:00

Continuing with the adventures from our 5 year anniversary weekend last week, we got the hiking shoes out and took a little 9.6 mile jaunt up Mount Washington. Up to the top and then down, down, down. The down seemed like it would never end! Here is the play by play of our awesome day...

It's starting to look a bit more like fall is coming. The New England Tree Peepers should be arriving in droves soon!

After about an hour of hiking, starting to get an awesome view of the mountains.
And yes, those are fingerless gloves I am wearing.
I am that cool.

On our way to Lion's Head (left) with the summit of Mount Washington looming in the background (right). It's getting a bit colder up here now that we're nearing the top of the tree line.

At the top of Lion's Head, now to push on to the summit!

There is still a long way up with a lot of boulders to scramble over.

There are cairns marking the trail all the way up. Some of them were taller than me, and once we neared the top they started to be snow blasted on one side.

Panoramic view of the ridge leading to Boott Spur summit, we will be going down (and down and down) that way.

After hiking over 4000 feet to the top of the mountain, what do we find? A parking lot and concessions. Hmmm... But since I didn't take any pictures of those lovely pieces of nature, you all just still imagine it is very rustic and natural up at the summit.

Rustic and natural...with a train.

And a weather and radio station too.

We didn't hang out long at the summit since it wasn't the pretty part of the hike. But heading down away from the summit we were awarded with a beautiful sight. Mountains and Clouds as far as the eye can see.

View from Boott Spur Ridge looking back at the summit and the Lions Head trail.

Photo op at Boott Spur summit on the never-ending hike down the mountain.

Down. Down. Down.
Rocks. Rocks. Rocks.
It never ends.
I'm going down on my bum.

Getting closer to the bottom. One more big rock to climb.

At this point Paul was carrying my camera because I was convinced my knees were going to give out and I would fall and break it, so I don't have anymore pictures. But do not fear, the hike down eventually did end and our knees were still intact. 9.6 miles. 4000+ foot climb. We did it!

For more pictures of the hike (mom) go to my Smugmug!

Anniversary Weekend - Riverbend Inn, NH

2011-09-22T16:35:00.000-04:00

This past weekend Paul and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. For this occasion we returned to where we got engaged exactly 6 years ago - New Hampshire! We stayed in the same Bed and Breakfast, the exact same room even, at the Riverbend Inn. I love this inn, it is up in the White Mountains in the little town of Chocorua, set in the woods, and as the name suggests, on a little bend in the Chocorua River.

In addition to a fantastic breakfast served every morning by the great inn keepers, the inn has so many special little touches that make it a really unique B&B.

We've been to this Inn three times and we always stay in the "Red Room" which has many Asian inspired details which I just love. I didn't have my wide angle lens so I could only take pictures of the details within the room but not of the whole room itself!

After hiking up Mount Washington the day before (post forthcoming), we spent our last morning at the inn enjoying the window seat overlooking the river and examining the many mushrooms that were growing on the property!

Old Rag Epic Hike and Climb

2011-09-19T11:40:00.000-04:00

Since the Tubing in Harpers Ferry was a bit too mild for us we decided to head out to the Shenandoah Mountains and go rock climbing near the summit of Old Rag.

Our climbing books, as well as all the websites, stated that finding the premier climbing crags at the summit could be a very difficult task, especially during the summer, as the trails are heavily overgrown. We read these statements, looked them square in the face, scoffed and said "whatever".

So we all headed out, very confident that we would reach our destination with no trouble at all. I think you can see where this is going...

Preparing the gear for the 2.5 mile hike up to the summit.

With gear equally dispersed amongst the climbers we started our trek to the top. This part of the journey went smoothly, boosting our confidence that this little mountain was not going to throw any curve balls our way. Reflectors Oven (the best climbing crag on the mountain, and supposedly one of the hardest to find) here we come!

Summit!

Oh yeah, Old Rag, try to stop us now!

One more look at the book..."From the egg like rock hike 300 yards down the trail to the tree with three trunks. From here backtrack 25 yards and head off the main trail east onto a bushwhacked trail that may be impossible to find".

Impossible To Find Trail - WE LAUGH AT YOU.

Let the bushwhacking begin.

Putting back on the layers to start the bushwhacking.

A light portion of the bushwhacking.

We laughed at the Impossible to Find Trail, it laughed back. And it was laughing much much harder. We tromped around some pretty dense brush heading in what we thought was the right direction. We split up to cover more area. We crawled, we cursed, we thought we were on the Impossible to Find Trail. We were wrong.

We eventually found this very large granite slab in the middle of the forest. We rested.

And then Paul and Jesse decided to try a different direction stating they would be gone only 15-20 minutes. 2 hours later...Matt, Ann and I were still sitting on this slab. When they finally returned, after a pretty rough adventure with no success of finding our elusive crag, we decided it was time to admit defeat and try to find an easier crag. So back to the summit we went to the easier to find Skyline wall.

We finally found a rock to climb! Looks easy, huh?

So with limited daylight left we start climbing. Matt did an awesome job setting the route. His first trad lead in years and he rocked it!

We all got a chance to climb the 2 routes we set up and then it was time to head back down the mountain.

After a hard days work!

The mountain may have won this time, but we'll be back. And we will find that Impossible To Find Trail!

Paul had his GPS watch with him during the hike (which still didn't help us find the crag we were looking for!). We downloaded the info into Google Earth and upon looking at our trek we discovered we were so close to the crag we were looking for (Reflectors Oven) but yet so far away...
Here is the map of where we hiked (blue line), where we were trying to go (yellow pin), where we did some bushwhacking (green pin) and where we ended up climbing (orange pin).

Tubing in Harpers Ferry

2011-09-18T10:00:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we went with some friends to do a classic West Virginia activity - Tubing! The water was definitely not raging...but it was moving slightly faster than usual...about 1 mph maybe. As our friend so perfectly said "It was fun. But not real fun". I think it was just a little bit too safe and slow for our tastes!

September 16, 2006 - 2011

2011-09-16T08:23:00.000-04:00

Five years ago today I married my best friend! It was a fantastic day - pacific ocean, blue sky, family, friends, me freaking out (just a little), there were even some squirrels that were in attendance. In the past five years we have traveled around the world, lived abroad again, fed our passions, discovered new passions, made new friends, and so much more. We've had ups and downs, we've laughed, we've screamed, we've been stubborn, we've been goofy, but overall we've had a lot of fun. I can't wait to see what the next five years has in store for us!

To celebrate our 5 year anniversary we are heading to the White Mountains in New Hampshire for the weekend, returning to the place where we got engaged!

Update: A number of people have asked me if these pictures are from 5 years ago or more recent...They are from a couple weeks ago (Sept 2011). I did my own photo shoot of us at Bluemont park, Paul was a good sport!

Dancing in the Rain and More of My Favorite Blondie

2011-09-15T11:10:00.003-04:00

More pictures and animation of our super photogenic niece Kailey!

Dancing in the Rain

Many of you probably have figured out by now that Paul and I are addicted to rock climbing, so as a good aunt and uncle should, we are trying to pass that addiction on to Kailey as well! Here is the future climbing world champion!

Riding a Horse

Rooting on the I-Cubs with Grammy and Grampy Pleva and Aunt Melissa

My favorite model

My Favorite Blonde Haired, Blue Eyed Gal

2011-09-14T10:17:00.000-04:00

Over labor day weekend Paul and I went to Iowa to spend some time with the Pleva Clan. It was great to see Paul's parents, brothers and sisters-in-law, but the person we mainly wanted to see was our favorite blonde, our niece, Kailey.

As cute and energetic as ever! We are sending good thoughts her way today as she is having surgery to have her tonsils and adenoids out.

Scott Climbing Some Great Falls Rocks

2011-09-13T08:35:00.000-04:00

More pictures from my brothers visit a couple weeks ago! Climbing at Great Falls.

He's a Rock Star!

Is this not the coolest dog ever?! After, of course, Niki and Ralph (the German Shepards I had growing up)!

Critter Cam

2011-09-08T15:46:00.002-04:00

Lost In A Maze

2011-09-06T15:08:00.000-04:00

I mentioned that my brother and I got lost in a hedge maze, didn't I?

It was a close call, but we made it out. And we solved the puzzle in the process. Nice Work!

To celebrate our escape, Scott and Paul hit a few balls at the driving range...

And then went on to watch the Nationals play the Diamond Backs. My brother was one of three D-backs fans in the entire stadium!

The last picture is not something you would often see on the big screen at the game, but we had a little earthquake that day. Maybe you heard about it?

Turning My Little Brother Into A Climber

2011-09-02T09:49:00.002-04:00

He didn't seem all that excited about it when I told him we were taking him climbing, especially when I said we were going climbing outside not in a gym. But he is a trooper and will try pretty much anything. And try he did! Actually he didn't even have to try that hard, he's a natural!

Seems like he liked it so much we even went for a second day of climbing at Great Falls (pictures forthcoming) and he was talking about joining a rock gym back in Phoenix. Once you start climbing it's hard to stop!

Underground at Luray Caverns

2011-09-01T20:24:00.000-04:00

For years, when hiking, climbing, etc, we've driven by signs for Luray Caverns out on the west side of the Shenandoah Mountains, but we never stopped to check them out. So when my brother visited me last week I took the opportunity and we took a day trip out into the hills to check out what was going on underground.

The caverns are pretty impressive! They were discovered in 1878 and became a big tourist destination soon after. The caverns have a number of large chambers with ceilings up to 10 stories high. There is also a decent size body of water in the caverns, although it is no deeper than 18 inches. The water is perfectly still and reflects the roof above it like a mirror. It's hard to tell the water is even there.

It was quite difficult taking pictures down there as it is pitch black except for the spot lights that are set up to illuminate the key features. I took all these pictures with 800 ISO handheld at f2.8, 1/20. I was pleasantly surprised that a good number of them came out pretty decent.

They even had a wishing well down in the caverns. Over the years they have collected more than $900,000 in coins that they have donated to local NGOs. It's hard to see it in the pictures but the pool is FULL of coins.

After exploring the underground caverns, my brother and I went above ground and got lost in the garden maze...but that will be for another post!

Lightroom 3, Animated GIFs and HD Video. Oh My!

2011-08-29T20:45:00.003-04:00

I just got Adobe Lightroom 3! Whoo hoo! So far, so good. I'm already loving the new noise control, the syncing of initial processing settings, and the interface between Lightroom and Photoshop and Lightroom and Smugmug.

Sorting through the hundreds of photo's I took while my brother was visiting last week is taking me longer than normal since I'm trying to learn the in's and out's of Lightroom at the same time, but I can already see how this program is extremely powerful and should speed up my workflow as soon as I get a little more comfortable with it.

As I weave my way through both my pictures and the program, I get easily distracted (for anyone that knows me, that will not be a surprise).

So last week, in my endeavor to turn my brother into a climber we took him up to Carderock for his first outdoor climbing. With my new handy dandy tripod I set up my camera and took a series of shots of Paul climbing. Here are the 33 shots turned into an Animated GIF!

And more distractions, I spent over an hour in iMovie working on a video I took of my brother climbing (I remembered, for once, that my 7D has video), and as I was trying to figure out how to export it to a size that was actually usable, it crashed. And of course, upon reopening, the video is gone. Grumble.

On the bright side, I did manage to get a small, low quality copy of the video onto my desktop before the crash. Here is a video of my brother climbing. This is his first time climbing outdoors, and he's only climbed in the gym twice. He's a natural!

There's a little bit of No Doubt to go along with the climbing! Note: Don't make the video go full screen, it is crappy quality!

Crazy Days of Summer - Sweet Summer Finale

2011-08-26T16:14:00.000-04:00

It's the last week of The Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge. What a fun way to challenge myself each week trying to find a perfect picture for the weekly prompt. I'm sad it's over but looking forward to when summer rolls around again next year so I can do it again!

So for my final submission here is a collage showing each weeks photo (collage template provided by Project Alicia).

To give you a recap of the themes: Flowers, Refreshing, Water, Yellow, Patriotism, Critters, Summer Treats, Fun with Friends, Blue Skies.

Zombies Have Taken Over the World...

2011-08-21T19:08:00.002-04:00

... and Alexandria, VA was the last safe haven. We (my brother - Scott, Paul and I) were recruited to defend Alexandria from the hordes of zombies wreaking havoc last night. It was Survive Alexandria 2011.

We had to check in to Zombie Land Central at Oronoco Park in Alexandria. There we became registered Zombie Hunter Sheriffs, formed our starting team and got our first assignment. We were to report to Safe Zone B and stay there until humans and/or Zombies started to arrive then we were on our own out in the city trying to get through 6 zones, find the surviving check points in each zone and make it to the End a few miles away.

For over 3 hours we ran through the city, chasing zombies, being chased by zombies, protecting humans, protecting Justin Beiber's reanimated corpse, and even protecting a human banana. As you can imagine there was not a lot of time to be taking photo's while trying to not have my brain eaten by a zombie. Here are a few photos shared on Facebook from the event (Photographer: Koko Lanham).

In the end we almost saved the world, but not quite. About 30 feet from the finish line (after 6.5 miles of running) I was overrun by Zombies. Not only was my brain eaten but I also lost my banana companion and with him our only hope for survival, the vials of blood containing the cure. We did manage to safely bring Justin Beiber's corpse to the finish though and Scott, Paul and the others hunters in our group safely finished with a good number of Zombie brains that could be used for scientific research.

Crazy Days of Summer - Blue Skies

2011-08-19T08:12:00.000-04:00

This weeks theme is Blue Skies. Here are a couple from my recent trip to Yosemite. The sky was an amazing blue, not a cloud in sight!

Only one week of the Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge left. Next weeks theme is Sweet Summer Finale.

Just Because

2011-08-17T10:30:00.000-04:00

Because sometimes I miss the desert.

Crazy Days of Summer - Fun with Friends

2011-08-13T16:05:00.000-04:00

A good friend of mine from Jordan, Rana, surprised me and showed up in DC for a few hours on her way back from visiting her brother in Chicago. Unfortunately we had very limited time but we managed to make a quick trip down to the National Mall so she could see a couple of the sites. Although it was just a couple of hours it was great to see her and spend time with a good friend!

Next weeks theme is Blue Skies.

California - Columbia State Historic Park

2011-08-08T16:05:00.000-04:00

Third and final post of my visit to California a couple weeks ago.

Since we were already up North and staying in Sonora we decided to take a day and visit the Columbia State Historic Park in Columbia, CA, a preserved gold rush town. My dad was born in Columbia and we went up there many times when I was young to visit my Great Grandmother who lived there all of her life. Her house is now part of the Historic Park. It is in disrepair but still standing (barely).

The Historic Park is made up of the main few streets of the town. The main street still has two of the old original hotels from that time, the City Hotel, and the Fallon Hotel. My Great Grandmother, and then my Grandma owned the Fallon Hotel back in the day. Supposedly it is haunted! Also preserved/rebuilt are the Wells Fargo Building, Columbia Mercantile, Columbia Gazette, the Fire House and the Saloon. It's a cute little town to visit if you happen to be in the neighborhood, you can even pan for gold!

A lot of pictures, I know. But it was a fun week visiting my parents! If after all these posts you are interested in seeing the full album of pictures click here.

California - Yosemite National Park

2011-08-07T14:54:00.000-04:00

Part 2 of my trip home to California!

My parents and I took a few days and went to visit Yosemite. It's crazy that I grew up only a 3.5 hour drive from this amazing National Park and yet have only been there a few times. I will admit though, summer in the park is crowded and while I am happy to see so many people out exploring this amazing piece of nature it's also hard to truly enjoy it when you are sitting in traffic for 30 minutes just to get in the gate!

We entered at the Southern Gate and took a little hike through the Mariposa Sequoia Grove. Sequoia Trees! I love trees! I've missed trees these past few years living in the Desert.

And then on to Glacier Point. Oh the view! Half Dome, Nevada Falls, Vernal Falls. Beautiful! Even this late in the season the rivers and falls were still raging, it was fantastic!

And then on to the Mecca of climbing, oh how I wished I had my climbing gear! El Capitan, Cathedral Rocks, Half Dome, Bridal Veil Falls and the Yosemite Valley. I wish I could have trained with Ansel Adams back in the day!

Our second day in the park we headed to the Yosemite Valley for a hike to the top of Vernal Falls, but first we had to marvel at Horseshoe Falls.

After that little jaunt up Vernal Falls we hopped on the biked and headed to Mirror Lake under the face of Half Dome and then it was time to leave (which was another 30 minutes sitting in traffic trying to leave the park!).

Part 3 (the final pictures!) of our day in Columbia State Historic Park coming soon!

For my family or friends that would like to see all of the pictures you can see them here at my Smugmug site.

California - Monterey and Family Time

2011-08-06T20:16:00.000-04:00

Finally! The first set of pictures of my great week visiting my parents in California!

Monterey/Pacific Grove (where Paul and I got married) is a favorite place of mine so we took a drive down and spent a couple hours exploring Cannery Row and walking on the trail along the beach.

I was also lucky enough to get to see most of my family while home as my Mom organized a BBQ over the weekend! I normally only see my extended family at Christmas time, and typically I am suffering from jet lag during our celebrations as I've flown in from somewhere on the other side of the world. It was great to see everyone this time while I was actually awake!

As I was digging around at my parents house I discovered a Victrola that used to be my Great Grandmothers. It couldn't get it to work so I took pictures of it instead!

But I thought the coolest thing was the newspapers that the records were wrapped in. They were Sonoma, CA newpapers from 1948! There were some really interesting articles and ads...

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my California Trip - Yosemite and Columbia!

Then and Now

2011-08-05T22:14:00.000-04:00

When I visited my parents last week out in California we spent a day up in Columbia State Historic Park. My dad was born there and my Great Grandma lived there until she died in the early 1980's. Columbia was a Gold Rush town and now the town is a protected area where a lot of the historic aspects of the town have been preserved.

Back in 1978, when I was just 3 years old, my family took one of those "old time" pictures. So since we were there again we had to recreate the shot. Times have changed, looks like my dad went from a cheating card player to the Town Marshal, while my mom and myself grew up to be "proper ladies".

Crazy Days of Summer - Summer Treats

2011-08-05T13:28:00.000-04:00

It's been too long since I've posted anything. But no fear, almost done sorting through the photo's from my visit to California and those will be making an appearance soon.

I missed last weeks Crazy Days of Summer submission, but I'm back this week with Summer Treats.

There are a lot of summer treats that I enjoy but sunflowers are one of my favorites! When we lived in DC years ago I had my very own garden in which I grew sunflowers. I loved watching them grow and bloom during the summer. We don't have garden space now but I found some sunflowers in the field behind my parents house, which proved that it was summer time even though the temps in Central Coast California thought otherwise!

Next weeks theme is Fun with Friends.

Photo Scavenger Hunt #9

2011-07-24T01:57:00.000-04:00

I'm having a great time visiting my parents in CA and thoroughly enjoying the 70 degree weather (I'm sorry for Paul who is still in DC melting). Here's this weeks Photo Scavenger Hunt!

1. Music To My Ears

My parents have a Victrola that they inherited from my Great Grandmother. The coolest part is that the records are wrapped in newspaper from 1948. Makes for very interesting reading!

2. Hat

When I got home I discovered that my mom had just washed all of my dad's baseball caps and they were laid out on the table just waiting to be photographed for this prompt. My dad has nearly 50 caps, you rarely see him without one on!

And then we were walking around downtown Monterey and I couldn't resist making my parents try out these crazy hats! I tried to talk my Dad into buying the crab hat, but it was a no go.

3. Clear

A beautifully clear hour or so in Monterey before the fog rolled back in and the typical Central Coast CA summer resumed.

4. Out of this World

A funky flower in my parents garden, it kind of looks like it could be from a different world!?

5. Sprinkles

Next weeks themes are:

Walking Empty Streets
Repeating Patterns
Floor
Then and Now
Fingertips

Crazy Days of Summer - Motion

2011-07-23T12:50:00.000-04:00

This weeks Crazy Days of Summer Theme was Motion. With the help of my mom (taking my picturses) I tried my first animated GIF.

Next weeks theme is Bubbles.

California: Happy!

2011-07-22T23:11:00.000-04:00

In California visiting my parents for a week. Got an hour of sunshine today in Monterey!

Climbing at Seneca Rocks, WV

2011-07-19T10:53:00.000-04:00

Paul and I spent a fantastic weekend climbing at Seneca Rocks in West Virginia.

Seneca Rocks is a fin like crag which has the distinction of being the highest technical summit east of Devils Tower in Wyoming. We signed up for a 2-day Intermediate rock craft course with Seneca Rock Mountain Guides to learn some skills of Trad climbing (climbing while setting your own protection) and Multi-pitch climbing.

Our guide/instructor was Matty. He spent his birthday climbing with us, he was the best guide ever.

This is our protection. These pieces of equipment keep us on the rock.

Setting up our anchor at the top of the third pitch. We like protection when we are 500 feet up a vertical rock face. Yes we do.

Almost to the summit now!

Highest technical summit on the East Coast!

Such an amazing weekend! We climbed nearly 1000 feet in two days and learned a ton in the process, thanks to Matty! Can't wait to get back there for more!

Photo Scavenger Hunt #8

2011-07-18T09:08:00.000-04:00

This week's photo hunt was tough, I took a number of pictures but didn't end up feeling any of them. Sunday morning I was really struggling for some photo mojo so we hopped on our bikes and headed down to DC to see if I could find some creativity. It was a great ride, living in the DC area there are always tons of people out and about to watch, but I just wasn't "seeing" any photo opportunities.

So this weeks photo's are mainly from the archives. I'm heading out to CA later this week to visit my family, hopefully some new scenery will help me get the photo mojo flowing again!

1. Black and White

Since I'm heading out to CA this week, and hoping to go to Yosemite for a few days (yay!) here is a pic of Half Dome from the Valley Floor. Taken in December 2008.

2. Reflections in Glass

Reflection of the Space Shuttle in an Astronaut helmet. A little bit hard to figure out, but timely since the last shuttle flight is currently finishing up soon. I guess my dream to be an astronaut is pretty much over now :(

3. Headlights

Okay, so I took some liberty with this one, well there is a Head and some Lights, therefore Head-Lights! Another picture in honor of my upcoming CA trip, this picture is from SF China Town in December 2007.

4. Seeing Double

This is a picture of Luke and Leia when they were small, they were so cute! Still are, now just a lot bigger and even more lazier, if you can believe it!

5. Bare

The only picture from this week that I was content with! My dirty bare feet while climbing this Saturday.

Next weeks Themes are:

Music to My Ears
Hat
Clear
Out of This World
Sprinkles

Crazy Days of Summer - Critters

2011-07-15T12:06:00.000-04:00

This weeks Crazy Days of Summer theme was Critters. This little guy was just hanging out waiting for a snack to fly by!

Next weeks theme is Motion.

North Carolina Road and Mountain Biking Trip

2011-07-12T10:54:00.000-04:00

The week leading up to our the fourth of July weekend Paul was down at Duke University for a conference on Development Economics in Conflict and Post-Conflict countries. Fun stuff. On the bright side that gave us the great opportunity to make a road trip out of it for the weekend and get back on our bikes after not riding for over 2 years.

I drove down on Thursday and thanks to suggestions from Ashley, spent Friday exploring Duke University and the Duke Gardens, which are quite beautiful.

I also spent a little bit of time at the bike shop getting Paul's front tire fixed as it had a minor accident on the drive down, it blew a hole through the tire!

As of early Saturday morning we were on the road headed towards the Blue Ridge Mountains in Western NC! Upon arrival we had to make yet another trip to a bike shop as Paul's tire blew again as did mine! We figured out that our old bike rack on our new car has the tires way too close to the car exhaust. oops.

With that stuff sorted and our bikes in working order again, we finally made it on the trails by 4pm and then had a full day of riding on Sunday!

On our last ride of the weekend we got hit with a huge thunderstorm which added the extra challenge of mud to the single track. It was great fun, and messy!

After two days of great riding we relaxed with our campfire and the all important Smores then it was the long drive back to DC. Fantastic weekend!

For my mom and any others who would like to see all the pictures click here!

Photo Scavenger Hunt #7

2011-07-11T11:39:00.000-04:00

After missing this for a few weeks I am happy to be back to participate in another of Ashley Sisk's Sunday Photo Scavenger Hunts.

I'm posting just a day late but that is okay because we just got back from the most amazing weekend of climbing at Seneca Rocks in West Virginia. Two awesome weekends in a row! That is a lot of photos to sort through, but I'm getting there, slowly slowly!

So here are the prompts and my shots for this week:

1. Things That Look Like a Letter of the Alphabet

The letter C. The letter O. There is a W in there too, but that is cheating.

2. Weather

Sunshine, sunshine and more sunshine. My favorite type of weather! Oh yeah, and those were the rocks I've been climbing all weekend. Couldn't have asked for better weather!!!

3. Bling

Cams, Hexes and Nuts, this is a Rock Climbers Bling!

4. Tangled

Tangled up climbing ropes.

5. Dark

Another shot of our view of the fireworks on the 4th of July!

Next weeks themes are:

Black and White
Reflections in Glass
Headlights
Seeing Double
Bare

Crazy Days of Summer - Patriotism

2011-07-08T08:50:00.000-04:00

This weeks theme was Patriotism. This is a picture of some of the crowds hanging out down by the Lincoln Memorial waiting for the fire works on 4th of July.

Next weeks theme is Critters.

Rock Love

2011-07-06T23:55:00.000-04:00

A couple weekends ago Paul and I went with our friend Jesse to Carderock for some climbing. We often go out on Saturdays and spend a few hours on the rocks and this time I brought my camera along!

Here are a few of the highlights from the climbs. You can see more pics on my smugmug site.

I gots the moves too! Thanks to Jesse for picking up my camera and getting a few of me while I climbed!

4th of July in DC!

2011-07-05T23:24:00.002-04:00

After a 9.5 hour drive back from the Blue Ridge Mountains in NC we had enough time to clean up the bikes (they were ridden hard over the weekend - photo's coming soon!), grab a bite to eat, and then back out we went. We rode our bikes over the bridge down to the National Mall to check out the crowds and the fireworks. Being on our bikes was a great idea, there were hundreds of thousands of people out, most of the main roads were closed and we could just glide on by! We made it up all the way up the mall to the Capital and then back near the Lincoln Memorial just as the show started. There were sooo many people out!

They shoot the fireworks off near the reflecting pool, so that entire area is closed off, but that means that from down on the mall the fireworks are directly over your head. It was really neat, they were huge, and LOUD, and right there above us.

Heading over the Memorial Bridge towards DC, so many boats out in the Potomac to watch the fireworks.

Here are our dorky selves!

This is just a small fraction of the people that were out, they were everywhere!

Our view of the fireworks!

I love how some of the sparks turned into stars. I just recently learned how to do that with the camera and the sun. So exciting to see it happen with the fireworks!

Heading back home over the bridge, looking towards Georgetown.

I took my Canon G11 on this ride and gave it some love. As I learn more about this camera I realize it is a great little snap and shoot camera with the complete ability to shoot in RAW and fully manual mode. I think I'm going to start using it more often!

This firework looks like a nebula!

2011-07-05T13:29:00.000-04:00

The 4th of July Road Trip to North Carolina has officialy begun!

2011-06-30T18:08:00.000-04:00

I'm writing this blog from Durham, NC! Spent the last 4.5 hours driving South rocking out to my "Grad School Days" playlist which included many great songs I hadn't heard in a while! Indigo Girls, Ani Difranco, Melissa Ferrick, Joan Osborne, Barenaked Ladies, Save Ferris, K's Choice, Jonatha Brooke, The Cure, Fleming and John, Domestic Problems, Half Looking, Fleetwood Mac, etc... If any of my grad school friends are reading this you may remember my obsession with some of these bands!

I'm meeting Paul down here as he wraps up his conference he's been attending at Duke, and tomorrow evening we will head West into the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Camping gear - check. Mountain bikes - check. Camera equipment - check. Rock Climbing gear - check.

It's going to be a fun weekend! See you all again next week!

Pleva Family Visit to DC

2011-06-29T19:04:00.004-04:00

I finally made it through the 700+ pictures from the Pleva family visit last week and culled them down to about 120. Whew! Hard work. I won't torture you with all the pictures, although if you are interested you can see them here.

Here are a few of my favorites from the week (in addition to the ones I posted last week)!

We started off the weekend with the all important opening of the birthday presents! Kailey turned 3 in May and every 3 year old needs a fairy jewelry box and butterfly necklace!

We visited the National Zoo and Kailey got up close and personal with some Gorilla hair.

She had her first, of many, metro ride.

We spent a day frolicking at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

We saw mammals, ocean life, and dinosaurs at the Smithsonian National History Museum.

Uncle Paul took Kailey to work, and they saved the world!

We explored the Monuments down on the National Mall.

We paid homage to the space shuttle at the Smithsonian Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum.

We also had fun at home, dancing, playing with the cats, swimming, and our favorite...watching Kailey model her "earrings" in the mirror.

It was a lot of fun to have Kailey and her followers around for the week! Hope you liked the pictures!

DC Metro

2011-06-28T09:49:00.000-04:00

I've never taken pictures inside the metro before but with our visitors last week I had lots of opportunities to snap some shots while underground. I think they came out pretty cool.

Photo Scavenger Hunt - Fail :(

2011-06-26T10:04:00.000-04:00

With the visitors this week, Luke getting sick again, preparation for Paul leaving next week for Duke, and getting our gear ready for our upcoming weekend of mountain biking in the Blue Ridge mountains, I totally failed the photo scavenger hunt. Bad.

So in its place here is a collage of funny paul faces from climbing yesterday.

Crazy Days of Summer - Yellow

2011-06-24T09:01:00.000-04:00

This weeks theme was Yellow. I found these little guys down at the Tidal Basin. It was getting dark and they would not stand still! But I think the blur helps give the feeling of how fast they were waddling by.

Next weeks theme is Light.

Kailey!

2011-06-23T17:07:00.000-04:00

We just finished up a fun filled week of family visiting us in DC. The main visitor of course was our three year old niece, Kailey. Her entourage consisted of her Grandparents (Paul's Dad and Stepmom) and her parents (Paul's brother and sister in law). I took over 700 pictures during their visit so it will take me some time to sort through and process them all. But here are a few of the leading lady!

Photo Scavenger Hunt #6

2011-06-19T08:24:00.000-04:00

Here we are again with this weeks Photo Hunt finds! Paul's family is visiting this week and next so I'm getting lots of photo opportunities. It's Jenny and Kailey's first trip to DC so we are in for a lot of fun adventures.

With this two of this weeks photo's I've used some new processing tricks I've learned from other photo bloggers. Let me know what you think!

1. Emotion

We took Kailey to the National Zoo and saw so many animals. She was very excited to get her very own baby panda.

2. From a Flowers Point of View

I processed this picture using Ashley Sisk's Fairy Garden process and texture. From a flowers point of view the world would always be bright and sparkly, right?

3. Natural Frame

Kind of a natural frame...Paul and Kailey at Monticello.

4. Letters

I got this idea for photo letters from Project Alicia's Crazy Days of Summer Blog.

5. Bliss

Next weeks themes:
   1. Windows/Doors
   2. Eyelashes
   3. Paint
   4. Leaf Vines
   5. Faceless Portrait

Crazy Days of Summer - Water

2011-06-17T16:35:00.000-04:00

The Crazy Days of Summer Theme this week was Water! I tried, but didn't get a shot this week that I thought fit this theme so I went to the archives. This is a picture from our dive live-aboard in the Red Sea (September 2010). This school of thousands of Fusiliers swam around me for nearly 5 minutes. It was amazing!

Next weeks theme is Yellow.

The Washington Post Hunt 2011

2011-06-15T16:22:00.000-04:00

Two weekends ago Paul and I participated in the fourth annual Washington Post Hunt in downtown DC. We've been looking forward to this since we got back to the states and saw that it was going to be in June. When we were living here in 2008 we participated in the first Washington Post Hunt and had a blast.

The hunt is a citywide brainteaser that has participants running around for 3 hours trying to solve five ridiculously hard puzzles which each result in a number. Those 5 numbers are the clues for the "end game" an even more ridiculously hard puzzle that someone will eventually solve and win the game.

Sounds easy right? Ha!

So on Sunday morning we read through our Washington Post Magazine. This is a crucial piece to participating in the hunt, as this magazine holds the map with all the potential coordinates.

The rest of the magazine is normal with the standard articles, any of which could hold clues to the puzzles, but what they might be is anyone’s guess.

We arrived about 30 minutes early to the starting area down near Federal Triangle and picked up our goodie bag. The information that came with the goodie bag was that some of the items in the bag may be helpful and some may just be to throw us off track. So we examined our goodies to see what we got!

At noon the creators of The Hunt, syndicated columnists Dave Barry and Gene Weingarten and the Washington Post editor Tom Shroder, came on stage to give us the map coordinates of the puzzles. Coordinates received and we headed out with the thousands of other hunters.

First puzzle: We arrived at the Navy Memorial and Hunt volunteers were handing out scratch cards with lots of letters. As you were given a card you were told “the pound signs mean nothing” and then on top of the card it stated, “Scratch ONLY where needed”. And those were the clues.

Second puzzle: We arrived to find a group of people gathered around a furniture display. No other clues…except wait, the furniture display is the exact display that was in one of the Magazine articles.

Third puzzle (no pictures due to way to many people in my way!): Outside the news museum there was an acrobat doing different contortions. After about 3 minutes she would stop and say “You didn’t come here to see my show, you came here for a clue. Put on your thinking caps. I’m going to give you a password, text it to 98999.” Then she stood on her head and said “The password is Lemons”.

Fourth puzzle: Back at the main stage, which now had the banner: Government Agencies Providing Solutions, there were three people, each wearing a number, answering questions. The first person always answered the questions with a spin towards paying taxes. The second person answered questions with a spin towards disaster and emergency preparedness. And the third persons answers always discussed farming and agriculture.

Fifth puzzle: Over at the ellipse we encountered a large number of black boxes 5 of which were labeled with these numbers: 1&3, 2, 4, 5&6, 7.

So once we solved those 5 puzzles (ha!) and filled in our paint-by-number grid with the answers, we headed back to the main stage for the final clue which should link all 5 clues for the “end game”.

Final clue: A Beatles tribute band came onto the stage and each Beatle sang a part of a song. We were told one of the Beatles would give us the clue.

Paul – When I’m 64

John – Tea for Two

George – Taxman

Ringo – 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

So at this point we are completely clueless! So we decide to just follow people who looked like they knew what they were doing. We did end up at the first part of the end game, where we called a number and were given another clue, but alas, we had no idea what to do after that.

So back at the main stage we found out that there were actually 4 teams who were able to figure it all out. We thought we had more correct answers going into the end game but we only had 2 out of 5!

SOLUTIONS

First puzzle: The Scratch Card. Man we struggled over this one, we made it way harder than it should have been and we never came up with an answer. So the clue was “scratch ONLY where needed”. What do you scratch? An itch. One of the words on the card spelled itch. Scratch those letters and what do you get the number 0816.

Second puzzle: Furniture display. We really thought we had this one, but we were waaaay off on the wrong track. So the furniture display was the same one as in the magazine, with a difference – there was no mirror in the vanity in the one we were looking at but there was one in the magazine. So you had to remove the mirror. Tear it out of the magazine, and lo and behold you can now see that on the next page there is an article about a 45 speed LP record with the number 45 right smack dab in the middle of the vanity mirror area.

Third puzzle: The acrobat. We actually got this one! We texted Lemons to the number provided and received this message back “Sorry, it’s not that easy”. So since she gave us the password while on her head, we turned LEMONS upside down and got SNOW37. Texted that to the number and received this message back “WE”. Turn the phone upside down a you get a 3M, map coordinates! So look at our handy dandy map and head off to those coordinates and find a big 61. Now 61 is not a number that is on our paint by number grid, so now what. Well turn it upside down and you get 19. Yay, solved one!

Fourth puzzle: Government Agencies Providing Solutions. We were close on this one, but screwed up a bit. If you recall, one of the goodies in our goody bag was a fill sheet of paper that said GAPS – fill in the blanks followed by:

F_ _ _ T _ _ _ _ L E P L _ _ _ _ T E

The speakers were talking about:

Taxes – IRS

Disaster and Emergencies – FEMA

Farm and Agriculture – USDA

Fill in those blanks and you get: FIRST FEMALE PLUS DATE.

The first female on the stage was wearing a number 27 + the date June 5 (6/5). 27+65=92

Fifth puzzle: The black boxes. We got this one pretty quickly. The 7 foot black boxes were lined up in the shape of a keyboard. When you drew out a keyboard and looked at the specific keys that were labeled with numbers: ETIFN and put those letters in the order of the numbers you get FIFTEEN. 15.

End Game: So with those numbers you were supposed to fill out your paint-by-number grid and see what picture appears. It turns out to be a small house with a crescent moon at the top. When the Beatles came on stage and same their songs you were supposed to realize the small house was actually an outhouse, aka a john. A-ha, therefore you were supposed to pay close attention to John’s song “Tea for two and two for tea”. And that of course would be T 4 2, or T4.2 map coordinates. Going there you receive the business card with a number to call, call the number and get the following message “Listen to all the words”. Tea for two and Two for Tea, you were supposed to exchange the numbers of the phone number. T for 2 and 2 for T. On the phone keypad the T is an 8 so all 2’s become 8’s and all 8’s become 2’s. Call that number and you get a new message “Put your phone number on the little white ball and drop it in the hole at the bottom of the sea”. What??? Smart people somehow figured out that you write your number on the ping pong ball in the goodie bags, run all the way back to the elipse to the big black keyboard and lo and behold at the bottom of the block that would represent the C there was a hole. Bingo! You won!

So how well did you do?

Photo Scavenger Hunt #5

2011-06-12T11:05:00.000-04:00

1. Long Exposure

I had to go back to the archives for this one. This picture is from May 2006 from a state park somewhere in North Carolina. This shot was from my first digital SLR (the Canon Rebel XT) after I retired my film SLRs and decided that digital point and shoots were just not working for me. (40mm, f/7.1, 0"3s, ISO 100, processed with The Coffee Shop Blogs Grainy B&W without the grain)

2. Shape(s)

Took this shot at the Post Hunt last weekend (Pictures of the hunt coming soon!). I loved this girls socks and I must find me some!

3. Green

This is Luke trying to salvage his green feather boa toy that completely fell apart this weekend in a green feather explosion, all over the house! It's a good color for him...matches his eyes.

4. Fruit

Fresh raspberries. Yum yum yum!

5. Childhood Memory

I'm recycling this picture from my Dragonflies blog post last week. These speedy, shiny, big eyed bugs take me back to my families waterskiing vacations we took every summer growing up! Those were fun times! Smells like Coppertone sunscreen.

Next weeks themes:

Emotion
From a Flower's Point of View
Natural Frame
Letters
Bliss

Crazy Days of Summer - Refreshing

2011-06-11T15:08:00.000-04:00

Back again this week with the new Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge! This weeks theme was Refreshing.

As many of you probably know we've been having a major heat wave here in the Mid-Atlantic so I have been staying inside in the nice, cool A/C a lot! I bought some great fresh mint earlier this week and have been making my own mint and lemon green iced tea, which is the perfect refreshing drink for the weather!

Next weeks theme is Water.

Bob and Mel Visited DC for Memorial Day Weekend!

2011-06-08T11:48:00.000-04:00

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Bob and Mel were coming to town...well they came, we conquered, and they went! We started the conquering with a 5k race in Bethesda, MD on Saturday morning. I have no pictures from that event, so therefore I can claim that Melissa and I both tied for first place while the boys came in last. That's believable, right? To continue with the energetic activities we hiked the Billy Goat Trail at Great Falls National Park. It was a HOT day, but a very nice hike.

I tried out a few new photoshop tricks (actions and texture) with this picture of Great Falls, not sure what I think about it yet...any comments?

More Photoshop experimentation.

We of course had to do the standard Memorial Day Weekend event and we went to see the Minor League team for the Washington Nationals, the Potomac Nationals. It was a double header against the minor league team for the Atlanta Braves. It was not a good day for the baby-Nats.

And then to round out our adventures we did a bit of disc golf and the most fun of all..DDR.

It was a very fun weekend for all! Bob and Mel you can come back for more fun now!

Crazy Days of Summer - Flowers

2011-06-07T10:10:00.000-04:00

I've found another photo challenge that I am going to try to participate in each week, along with the weekly photo scavenger hunt. It is called Crazy Days of Summer and this challenge only requires one photo per week! This weeks theme is Flowers.

I took this shot last week during my photo shoot with Crystal and Bryce. Purple flowers, some of my favorite things!

Next Weeks Theme is Refreshing

Photo Scavenger Hunt #4

2011-06-05T10:18:00.000-04:00

I didn't do very well with the photo hunt this week, I had so many other photo opportunities going on! But I managed to get 3 of the 5 themes, although they were shot quite quickly just this morning. So here goes:

1. Hot Hot Hot

Not the most creative shot, but I have burned myself on this stove already so I can guarantee you it is HOT!

2. Front Page of the News

Today is the long awaited Washington Post Hunt! Paul and I are heading out the door in less than an hour to participate. I'll be taking my camera so be prepared for some pictures from the event in the near future.

3. Beads

This one was easy, I have tons of beaded necklaces and earrings. These particular beads are called Paper Beads and the women of East Africa make them out of old magazines and newspapers. They are fantastic, very colorful and they last a long time.

Next weeks themes are:

Long Exposure
Shape(s)
Green
Fruit
Childhood Memory

Bryce, Future Baby Ambassador to Burma

2011-06-04T18:35:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week I spent the day with Crystal and Bryce as they took a break from packing for their upcoming move to Burma. It was a super fun photoshoot and I did my best to spend Crystal's future paychecks by letting her borrow my lenses, so now she has to go out and buy some new glass as well! Even with all the heat and the "spending" I managed to get some cute shots of Bryce!

Dragonflies

2011-06-03T15:54:00.000-04:00

I've always loved dragonflies. When I was little my family would go to Whiskeytown Lake in Redding, California for a week of camping and water skiing. During the days we would find a little cove and set up a day camp for picnics and swimming. There were always dragonflies zooming around. I would love when I would be sitting in the front of the boat, reading a book (probably a sweet valley high, hee hee) and a dragonfly would take a break and land on my toes. I would stare at it, probably ask it a couple questions about its day, and then wiggle my toes and away it would go and then I'd wait for another!

I miss those days.

Photo shoot with Crystal and Bryce!

2011-06-02T09:08:00.000-04:00

I got to spend a lovely day yesterday with my good friend Crystal and her little guy Bryce. They are in the process of packing out for their upcoming move to Burma but they took a break from the sorting and we headed out to the park for a little photo shoot. It was almost 100 degrees yesterday but we were able to sweat it out for a little bit!

Today Bryce is throwing a farewell party with all his baby friends and I'm going to go document the festivities! Let's hope the weather is a bit cooler today so we are not all melting!

Photo Scavenger Hunt #3

2011-05-29T16:51:00.009-04:00

I'm in the middle of our visit from Bob and Mel but still managed to capture a few shots for the photo hunt this week! We went to a minor league baseball yesterday (little leagues for the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves) and it gave me some ideas for #'s 3 and 4! More pics from their visit towards the end of next week!

1. Classic Still Life

2. Self Portrait

3. On the Floor

This is one of the very few runs that the little Nats made last night. It was kind of sad.

4. Lines

So many lines here - the bleachers, all the people and the team members lined up for the National Anthem, and the stripes on the blue smurf mascots shorts!

5. Fresh

These FRESH flowers almost killed my cat! It was a very expensive lesson to learn that the yellow "Peruvian Lillies" are toxic to cats. He is doing fine now though, thank goodness.

Next weeks themes:

HOT HOT HOT
Finding Form
Front Page of the News
Chore
Beads

Mel and Bob are coming to town!

2011-05-26T18:52:00.000-04:00

Paul’s brother, Bob, and sister-in-law, Melissa, are coming to DC tomorrow (from Ann Arbor, MI) to visit us over Memorial Day Weekend! Excited! We have lots of fun adventures planned, which will hopefully lead to lots of fun photos to share.

They last came to visit us in Jordan in May 2010 where we had a fantastic 2-week adventure throughout Jordan and Lebanon. Here are a couple of pictures of our trip to Lebanon with them.