Stephanie’s blog

Hi, I'm new to the group. I use a few different cameras. Nikon N60 SLR, Canon Rebel SLR, Sony Mavica Digital Camera (Pretty Old), and last but not least my Canon A540. I use my A540 the most until I save up for the perfect DSLR.

I'm looking forward to comments and constructive critcism. Here's a photo from Sunday. :)

Ecola Tree_BW

Which foods do you eat a lot of? Too much of? 
Submitted by Allishandra.

Eggs. I love eggs. I eat them almost everyday. I think I should probably just eat egg whites to cut down on the cholesterol factor, but I like the baby birdy part.

Now that it’s been a few days since we’ve been back from our week long road trip extravaganza the day to day routine is starting to settle back in. And thinking back on our trip I really appreciate that when you take away all of the stress, obligations, responsibilities, and distractions that after almost five years of almost every day together we still enjoy each others company, make each other laugh, and just have a really great time together. It makes me realize that no matter where we go or what we do, if we have each other we’ll be ok and happy. That is such a great feeling. It’s like coming up for air after being under water. It’s refreshing and fulfilling.

Needless to say, we had a fantastic trip. We saw so many beautiful places and covered a lot of ground. There were a lot of things we missed, but we figure if… when we move to Oregon or Washington we’ll be able to explore in more detail much more easily.

After this trip we’re pretty set on either Portland area or the Northern/Central Oregon coast. We’re thinking that Portland might be the best 1^st move to get settled in with jobs, but then if we find somewhere else and other opportunities it’ll be easier to move once we’ve done the initial move out of Orange County(superficial hell).

Here’s a couple pictures of our trip. That’s an Elk, we found an “Elk Grove” in the Redwoods. There were seriously dozens of female Elk feeding in this grove. It was so cool because I had been saying I wanted to see Elk the whole trip because I kept seeing the “Elk Crossing” signs and then on the second to last day we found this just before dark. So cool!

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This picture is the road on the drive to Crater Lake. We were a little surprised to see snow on the side of the ground.

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These two are of Crater Lake in Oregon. Yes, the water is REALLY that blue. I read it’s because of the depth of the lake and the purity of the water, the combination creates that the almost unnatural bright blue color. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the US. It was formed from a collapsed caldera of a volcano… pretty neat huh?

Crater Lake3

Crater Lake2

And the space needle in Seattle.

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I’ll have a bunch more pictures later. We have a bunch of video too, I don’t know how great it is, but we have it.

Anyway, I can’t wait to get out of California. I’m nervous, but excited and think it will be a great thing.

… oh yeah…. And no ring. I’m not disappointed though. I know will want to do it when I am not expecting it at all… so who knows.

There is so much lately. The good, the bad, the crazy.

Saturday morning I woke up and decided I wanted to make omelets. I didn't have any eggs and it was beautiful out(before the heat set in) and I decided I wanted to ride my bike to the store to get eggs. I don't think I've ridden my bike in about 5 years. Anyway, I called my little brother over to get it out of the garage and once it was off the ceiling I realized it was a little distroyed. This is the same 6 speed Schwinn Cruiser I've had since Jr. High. I did not distroy it, my dad did by loaning it out to people.

The seat was crooked and the spring had sprung. The kick stand didn't kick and was zip tied to the bar of the bike, the breaks were sqeeky and worn, and the bell was half missing. It was a little bit of a disaster. So I ended up taking it to the bike store to see if it was salvageable or if I should just get a new one. They declared it a keeper and said to pick it up Monday. So, I went out and bought Brandon a bright beautiful orange no speed Schwinn cruiser at cost-co for $129... my repairs were $70. We went on a ride when I got home on Saturday afternoon and realized we'd gotten a lot older since the last time we road a bike. That was all fun. We've been taking bike rides all week, which has been a blast.

Ok, for Sunday. Sunday we met with Brandon's mom to tell her that we are officially moving and to tell her our plan. I think the whole time she was trying to save us from running from something in our lives, which didn't make sense because we're not running, we're exploring... but then again when she moved from North Dakota when she was in her 20's she sure as hell was RUNNING away from something, so maybe that was where that came from. I don't know, to each his own... This world is to big to think the LAME Orange County is the one and only, talked about sheltered and small minded. She kept telling us about the LAME Secret (Yes, the Oprah book). I imagine I followed the rainbow to my closest and found the pot of gold there... oh wait, that's just my shoes... let me say once again... LAME. There are people that need to learn how to think positively, fortunately for me I saw enought negative bullshit growing up that it's harder for me to see the negative in things then positive, I don't need a book to open my eyes.

Now, I'm rambling. Oh yes, so we're not moving to Idaho anymore. My dad is moving to Parker, AZ and we're taking a week off from May 25th - June 2nd and going up through Oregon and Washington to scout out areas to live. We've been researching like mad. We've got some friends that live in Portland that have even offered us to stay with them, Brandon has a cousin somewhere in Oregon that we may meet up with, I have some family and friends of family in the Seattle area. I think it's going to be a good trip, I'm actually really excited, I haven't been in about 8 years, which makes me feel really old, and I think that was the trip that opened my eyes for the first time and made me realize that there was something more out in the world for me, that's a good way to feel.  Anyway, I have this feeling we'll end up in the Portland area. We'll see though. I am so excited to get the hell out of here.

So to wrap up my whirlwind of thoughts. I can't find any new good music. My last band I found that I LOVE is Rilo Kiley, but I'm ready for a new CD, that's kind of annoying because it seems finding good music is becoming more and more of a treasure hunt every day. And I haven't taken any pictures in the past two weeks which I'm totally ashamed of. I've been working like no other diligently in Photoshop trying to get some wedding photos done and up on my website, but I haven't taken any. I'm swearing to my self I'll have at least one good photo by the end of the day tomorrow.

And now my last thing. I think I may have a ring on my finger by the time I get home from this memorial day trip. I hate to say it because I'm a strong believer in jinxing myself, but you know what, it's been almsot 5 years, I don't think there's any jinxing left to do.... we'll see.  

reTREAT, originally uploaded by Fervent Photographer.

This is the view from my new lunch retreat. I found this place randomly driving around, it is so beautiful, such a gem amid the monotony that is Laguna Niguel. It just makes me think... "sigh"

Blue Barricade, originally uploaded by Fervent Photographer.

I took this photo for a theme of the week for a group on flickr. The theme was.... can you guess?...... That's right, BLUE!

The Shoe Tree, originally uploaded by Fervent Photographer.

I passed this tree dozens of times on the way to Havasu and Parker... now it's a pile of black dirt & ash. It burned down. I down know if it was done intentially, struck by lightening, or just caught in some desert fire.... its sad.

So, I know I am a huge procrastinator. So being that, of course I waited until last night after work to do my taxes. We always use Turbo Tax. This year we just used the free online version that charges you about $30 for CA state taxes.

Brandon got home first so he started his taxes right away and finished up just after 6ish. Well when my turn comes around, I go through the whole process and it won’t submit my taxes via e-file because of an “unexpected volume of service” or some crap like that. So, I figure, no big deal, everyone got home around the same time as me and did the same thing, I’ll just try back later.

Well, I tried back later about every 20-30 minutes and it never let me file. So finally at 11:10 I freaked out and printed my taxes and flew out the door to to drop them off at the one post office open until 11:59pm in Santa Ana.

I just have to say that I hate taxes, the postal service, and Santa Ana. Ok, I don’t hate Santa Ana , I just always get lost there and end up in the super ghetto…

…Which brings me to two entirely new subjects. I wouldn’t mind taxes nearly as much if when we filed our taxes we had an enormous list of choices to check what our taxes are spent on. And then the easy option of checking “Let the government decide”. I’ll tell you what I would have all my money down for education and very little… uh… other things. Yeah, I know we get to vote on that stuff in a sense, but I’ve learned that our voting system is kind of bunk… it’s almost like it’s just there to make us feel like we have choices and are making a difference. Urgh! Ok, I need to stop because this topic is just a down hill spiral for me and not a very good tone to start my day with.

Ok, second thing I hate, the US Postal Service. Every week I get at least 2 or more items in my mail box at home that are not to my name and not even to my address. You’d think that with a last name like Mocilnikar and living in the same place for over 9 years the mail man would think twice before putting something in my mail box that says Gonzalez or Rodriguez, not to mention they aren’t the right apartment number. That is just my first beef. Not only do I have issues with my home mail, but Twice in the past month I’ve sent out large checks from work that needed to get some where in a week or two, one being southern CA to Northern CA. Both times nothing has ever shows up or is returned so I’ve had to cancel checks and resend stuff fedex overnight which ends up costing my company $20 to cancel the check and $20 to send overnight. Not to mention the time and effort spent calling and corresponding with the party on the receiving end. What happens to these parcels I wonder? They are like the lost sock in the dryer, they just disappear.

With that being said I feel much better. I didn’t end up in bed last night until about one and couldn’t fall asleep because I was all hyped up about getting my taxes out, so now I’m tired and cranky. Why does Friday take so long to get here, yet Monday comes so quickly? 4 day work weeks really should be enforced… it seems only fair, I’d be so down for 10 our days 4 days a week and 3 days off, it makes me smile and visualize hammocks and coronas just thinking about it… damn commercials.

What was your worst cooking experience?

I have 2. Salty Eggs and Eggplant... funny they both have egg.

Wedding Bells, originally uploaded by Fervent Photographer.

Flowers from my friends Jay & Jen's Wedding in Vegas the weekend before last.

The weddings are done finally, now I'm dealing with the aftermath of photos. I so need my digital slr, the time it is taking me to scan these negatives and correct the damage that the film processors create is so time consuming... it's KILLING ME!

At least I'll appriciate it once I get it... my Nikon D80 that is.