Last post of 2007

The last weeks of 2007 have been busy ones. Scott and I flew to Des Moines Iowa the weekend before Christmas. We had good timing since they had a storm the day before we flew in. The runways were snow covered and the wind made the snow blow along the ground, either the snowflakes were very small or it was just pieces of snowflakes being blown along like dust along the ground. I tried to get a picture but it wasn't really possible.

From Christmas

Scott's mom picked us up and we decided that we'd need to stop at Walgreens since Scott's bag hadn't arrived with us despite the 3 hour layover and the fact that my bag made it there. We made the hour long drive to Toledo where Scott's Mom, Susan tried to drop off some stuff in a storage unit. Of course we realized once we pulled into the driveway that it was a solid sheet of ice and that we'd have to do some major manuvering to get back out. Scott and I got out and pushed and we managed to skate our way back out again. Later that night Scott's bag got delivered too, so everything worked out.

From Christmas

From Christmas

We opened presents at Scott's grandparent's house on Christmas eve since we'd have to head back to Des Moines on Christmas day to catch our flight to New Mexico. We had a nice time playing cards with his family and even managed to go for a walk out into the cornfields for a mini photo shoot.

From Christmas

From Christmas

We got to New Mexico with no problem and my Aunt Luella and Uncle Diego picked us up for the 3 hour drive to Farmington. We got to have another Christmas dinner and presents there.

From Christmas

From Christmas

It snowed enough to make the roads slick, but as ususal for NM snow it melted before noon.

From Christmas

My sister Erin will be graduating soon, so she wanted to try taking some senior pictures, but it was so freezing and windy that we didn't get much done. When the snow is outracing the car then you know it's windy. Hair blowing straight up in the air doesn't make for the most attractive pictures.

From Erin's Senior...

It was a short visit, but we also got to have some coffee with Chris and Tammie Billey of Largo Photography. We also got to meet their son Treston who is even more adorable in person than in pictures :) Scott got a mentos and coke rocket launcher in his stocking, but we didn't want to carry the soda so we launched it before we left.

From Christmas

From Christmas

From Christmas

Afterwards we headed back to Albuquerque so we could catch our flight the next day back to New York. I took some pictures of the NM scenery along the way.

From Christmas

From Christmas

From Christmas

Again we got lucky since we flew through Chicago and they'd just had a very large snowstorm the day before. We got home all in one piece and with lots of extra goodies. It was very nice to see everyone. It may have been a whirlwind trip, but it was definitely worth it!

From Christmas

Art Forms

Fall isn't quite in the air with our 80 degree heat, but I think my internal clock knows that I'll be hunkering down for winter soon because I'm feeling crafty. I've always loved creating things and the other day when I was blog hopping/stalking off Tammie and Chris's blog over to a friend of thiers named Raya who has some crafty ideas and a great sense of style. She turned me on to the idea of something called a Gocco printer, which is kind of like a screen printer only more portable. I also found out about a group called Etsy which is a website which sells homemade crafts. Now I totally know where I'm doing Christmas shopping, so people who want to be surprised don't look, and people who are particular, let me know what you like :) The best part of all this Blog/website surfing is that I found out that there is a place called Esty Labs in Brooklyn, a crafting space that I can visit. They even have Gocco classes, though unfortunately I have a different class the day they offer it. But I'm super excited to get back into crafting and making things. Who knows, maybe I'll start selling things on Etsy. Anyway, I'm excited to try to find a Monday night when I can go check it all out. I think Etsy Labs even has a little photo studio set up. I can't wait to start creating. Signing off with a quote... "I always think I don't do the first one good, so I try to do it more." - Andy Warhol. Apparently Andy and I have a lot in common :)

Worst CrossWord Puzzle Ever

Hello. I like this blog thing. It makes me think of other people all day. I walk around trying to see or find something that is interesting enough to write about. It really makes me notice things, or at least appreciate them. When you live in New York City you start to take things for granted, or well you take things for granted anywhere, but the things you're taking for granted are kind of remarkable. Some bad, some better. For instance I take it for granted that every restaurant I eat in has roaches, if I see one scurry across the table in the middle of a bite I don't yell and demand a refund I just shrug and shift away. I do draw the line when I find a little friend at the bottom of my rice carton. Then I stop eating at that restaurant. Yes, that really happened once, and that restaurant is now closed down. Anyway, all this week I've been weaving in and out of police barriers and secret service type men. It's because the UN is in session and all the foreign dignitaries are in town. Since I work across the street from the St. Regis many men in suits with earpieces stare at me as I walk past, and big black vehicles with signs like "Malaysia PM" are parked along the street. I like to covertly observe all the security dudes as I walk past and see how many I can spot, then I kind of get self conscious and worry that they see me seeing them and they're going to take me down for casing the joint.
And now for the picture portion of the blog. I was thinking of all of you today when I couldn't finish my crossword puzzle on the train. I know some of you are excellent puzzlers (by the way I've met someone who makes them as a profession.) and so you will be just as outraged as I was/am when I got to 5 across and realized that the stupid free newspaper can't even get the crossword right, let alone report any news. Now there are two free newspapers that I can get in the morning. One is "Metro" and the other is "AM New York" they're the caliber of papers that regularly sell their front page as advertising. I used to choose one or the other based on which front page story I found more interesting. Then one day I was doing the crossword in Metro and there was a blatant misprint in the puzzle, so I became an ardent AMNYer. But today just leaves me completely at a loss. Not one of the ACROSS clues matched up to the puzzle. Sigh, but the ones I managed to fill in before I gave up the puzzle for lost made me think of you guys. Dali- Hannah just got back from Dali's house in France. Oman- plus its clue, Sarah and I are going to Oman and Yemen some time. Wok- Scott wants a Wok. Ok that's a stretch but anyway, I just wanted everyone to know I think about them all the time. And I took pictures of the puzzle which includes most everyone else who reads the blog because of photography connections. Hah! I win.