Learning to Love You More

And about five years into our relationship, it dawned on me that the only time I get snippy at him is when I'm starving. And no, I don't snap at the waiter (Life Lesson # 6: Never be rude to people who handle your food. Ever.). You know why I don't snap at the waiter? Because he/she wasn't the one who delayed my food intake.

You see, in the comfort of my own home, I would never, ever intentionally starve myself to the point of frustration. But how I do get hungry is if we decide to go out to eat, so I try not to eat anything beforehand because, yes, my appetite can be spoiled! And -- like (sadistically broken) clockwork -- he always delays us in leaving the house and heading to the restaurant.

That boy has some serious problems with leaving his house in a prompt manner.

You know those scenes in romcoms or sitcoms where the guy is sitting at the chair, frustrated that his lady is STILL getting ready? Yeah, that's me.... waiting hungrily (angrily) for him to get ready / finish playing his online chess game / reading Gizmodo on his laptop / pick out another sweater. 

All the while, I am fuming and I can kind of feel my internal organs cooking a little.

Of course, now that we have discovered this little glitch in our relationship, he makes more of an effort to leave the house promptly and I try to refrain from using mean words on the drive to the restaurant. And when I saw the ecard above, I had to laugh. Because, well, that's just about right.... :-D

Blue....

It was blue to begin with, but I made this picture even bluer. (Thanks, Lightroom!)

Some bits of recent randomness:

• I saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol twice. In one weekend. In the theatre. It was pretty kick-ass and didn't feel as long as it actually was (2 hours 12 minutes). If you're too lazy to head to theatres and have Netflix, I would like to recommend Knight & Day to tide you over.
• I read most of I'm Feeling Lucky. It was due back at the library and I had already had the book for two months so, not finishing the last 70 or so pages felt alright. Spoiler alert: Google goes public, its early employees with their stock options make bank... and get the hell out of there. FREE LUNCHES BE DAMNED! It was really fascinating to read about the early days of Google and the challenges it faced. All in all, Larry Page seems like one helluva SOB. In a good way. (Kind of.)
• A good friend of mine is pregnant. Talk about reaffirming our adulthood. So weird. (And so glad it's not me who's pregnant. All's right in the world -- cheers!)
• We've been eating at a lot of Ethiopian restaurants lately and I'm finally coming around on the idea of eating with my hands. Well... I think I'm more cool with it because it's just the two of us. Introduce some new folks into the mix and I'm not gonna feel as cool about it. Regardless, for now, the eats are delicious and fairly affordable, too! Vegetarian Ethiopian is yummmmmmmy. (And two people can easily share the vegetarian combination here and be STUFFED.)
• Speaking of Ethiopian, the name "Injera" would be so adorable: for a baby, a dog, a cat, or even a secret pet project of some sort. 
• I'm tired of dealing with mediocrity. Racing to the bottom is no fun at all.
• On a good note, I made cake pops over Christmas break. I will blog about them shortly....

Until then.

Leaves...

Can't wait until the leaves grow back on the trees again -- the trees are so naked nowadays. Must be cold for the branches. (This photo was taken on 11.19.2011, when the trees were not naked, but dressed in warm hues of gold, orange, and vibrant red. And even green!)

Rainbow Toe Socks

I also have a rainbow umbrella and a rainbow scarf.

But, no, I do not like Skittles.

I Deal in Moments

Two things and a photo:

1. I'm very petite and short (5'nothing") and I feel like after a while, people forget I'm standing there with a camera pointed at them. That's my working theory for how I'm able to capture these candid moments.
2. I don't have a (human) baby but I imagine a photo like this would be tremendously treasured for years to come. Sure, sure, the photos where everyone's looking great and all at the camera are awesome, too. But these moments? These quiet moments make my heart sing and I rejoice in what I do.

From my last portrait session of 2011.

Yes, I love how both of their eyes are just closed for that single moment.

And I especially love mom's left hand, almost over her heart.

<3

How did I get to this moment?

Ninety minutes later I looked up from my laptop briefly and thought, "How did I get to this blog???"

Mental steps retracing and I realized I got to Moment Junkie because of Dooce. (And I got to Dooce a long time ago through Jasmine Star. And found Jasmine Star through... okay, this can take all day....)

I absolutely love love love Moment Junkie and I just found it tonight. It showcases all of the photojournalism that can take place at weddings: a single photograph of a single moment that tells a big story. Don't get me wrong, I adore taking beautiful portraits. But my bread-and-butter, I think, is dealing in moments. Moments that show hilarity, moments that capture a smile or a glance and, hopefully, a lot of love and heartfelt connection.

Yes, I will submit a photo to the site and let you know if I should get featured on Moment Junkie.

In the meantime, enjoy this bit of caketastrophe. Eep!

The Rest is Just Whatever....

WELCOME TO 2012!

• There's nothing quite like the quiet company of a doggy dog.
• I am very rarely desirous of things, but I'm actually contemplating plunking down the $20.12 they're asking for this gigantic bubble calendar. It's a very affirmative maybe.
• My biggest challenge in the goal to post more photos is actually getting the images off the camera in the first place. Baby steps.
• I've heard Train's If It's Love on the radio many times but never really paid any attention to the lyrics. I read the lyrics on Pandora today and they are adorable, causing me to love the song on a different level now. (I've never seen the music video except for right now to share the link here and it's funny how many amateur DSLR cameras they have in the paparazzi scene. Have you seen those guys on TMZ? They carry some very serious camera gear!)
• In other music news, Jessie J's Domino is my current head-bobbing, things-are-gonna-be-alright, lighthearted jam. (I also like her song Price Tag - catchy and adorable.)

This may very well be the last macro photo I shoot with my Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.

• Finally, I resolved a technical (computer/Internet) problem I had this week and it felt so satisfying! I think my independence sometimes leaves me perplexed when it comes to working with people who insist on getting others to help them when they could (very easily) do it themselves. I've come to acknowledge that about 50% of the time, it's not really learned helplessness, but just a desire to reach out to someone. And after that realization, I now oblige and indulge their questions instead of facetiously referring them to this site. :)