Kayaking and making Apple Sauce

This weekend Aubrey and I went kayaking/ canoeing on her lake. Afterwards she taught me how to make apple sauce. Here are the pics from our events.



Aubs getting her canoe out into the water :)



there she goes



she's amazing! Hahahhahah



the lake is really pretty



Me in the kayak







I'm in the kayak as we take this picture



Aubs in the kayak



there she goes



together in the canoe



how low can you go?



Pretty low



There are apple trees next to her lake



yup, it's an apple



Now that is a wormy apple



Okay, it may not look like much but it was.



We love apples. REALLY!



Almost done



My first time making apple sauce

Arrested Development

Hahhahaha, I love that I can use the title of my favorite tv show in my blog!!!! Oh, some tv shows I want to start watching: 30 Rock, Better of Ted, and The Office (both British and American. I've seen some of both but not sequential). I can watch the first and third on Netflix but the second one is too new. I also want to see "Couples Retreat", "Love Happens", and "When in Rome".

Recently Aubrey and I went to Pacific City for the day. Here are some pics from that.

On our way over it was raining (tried to rotate but it wouldn't. Sorry)

It was a beautiful day even if it was raining in land



reading signs



too beautiful and the view is nice too :)



climbing the dune



Love it!

A bit windy


We had fun over all. Went to the Brown Pelican and had chowder and salad.

Join the military to be all you can be or pay off my f-ing loans

Sorry, for the dirty language in the "title".

Okay, well many of you already know but here is the big bomb shock for the day (ironic choice of words). I'm praying about joining the military. Yup, I can't pay off my student loans and am digging myself into a grave. I'm not getting enough photography work and my seasonal work isn't really helping either.

Trust me I've thought of the alternatives;

more school= more debt . . . no thanks.
marry someone to give them their green card= don't know anyone
sell an organ = illegal and if I did the black market if something went wrong then I'd be screwed
sell drugs = markets inflated as is
sell my eggs = no health history
be a surrogate = haven't had a baby and would like at least the first one be my own
flee the country = LAME

Well, as you can see there aren't many options. If you didn't get it I'm mostly joking about all these options. If you thought I was serious. . .then contact me at (503) . . j/k.

I am looking at the Coast Guard, Air Force, and Navy (yup, Brian it made the cut). To be honest I"m too stupid to get into the Coast Guard because I need an SAT of 1100 or an ACT of 23 and neither of them did I get. I will be willing to go and retake them if need be. I'd hire a tutor in the fall and study my butt off and take it in the winter. The officer's training is twice a year I believe and the next one is in February so I'd most likely start later on in the year if that's the case unless by some act of God I got everything together for February. But if the Coasties are like the other military branches then. . .it takes FOREVER to get stuff taken care of.

I like the Coast Guard because they are homeland security and deal more with disaster relief, import, drug trafficking, and stuff like that. It's the defense, unlike the rest which are more offensive. I like that the Coast Guard has a higher stander (too high for me apparently) too.

Air Force, well I hear it's the cream of the crop and the elite. I also heard their boot camp was the easiest. I hear that it's the MOST family focused branch and that they really take care of it's soldiers.

Navy, it's what I know. My grandpa and uncle were both in the Navy. My friend, Brian, is in the Navy. My uncles' wife grew up as a Navy kid. Etc. I've grown up hearing about it. In Japan I basically lived on a Navy base for the last month with Joy and Brian. Also I've seen about 100 ads for Navy photographers.

With both the Air Force and Navy there will be greater opportunities since they are larger org but with the Coasties I would most likely get to stay in states and that is nice too.

I still have a lot to find out. I've called both the Coast Guard and Air Force. I need to get a hold of the Navy and make an appointment.

Please keep me in your prayers and please let me know if you know of any women in the military.

Thanks,

melody

Male friendships

So today I was at work. If you're wondering where, I am working as a seasonal photographer for a school portraits studio. Anyways. . . today at work I had an interesting convo about male-female relationships with 2 of my male coworkers and one of them brought up the theory, he thinks is true, that most men have at one time or another been attracted/ been interested in their female friends. Maybe they aren't anymore but at one time they were interested in dating their friends who are girls.

I am wondering. . . is this true? What do you guys and girls think?

The Stenger Family

Today I got the pleasure of photographing the Stenger family. I haven't had this much fun in a long time. I love photographing people who are creative and up for a few different ideas. The Stengers are just these type of people. Here are some pics from that shoot.

































The next ones are their christmas pictures :)

Insomnia

It is currently 4:09 am and I am listening to Imogen Heap on Pandora, whishing I was a sleep. Sigh. . .and this is why you shouldn't work out at night because it causes you to not fall asleep. Ofcourse it could have to do with the 16 hours of sleep I got on the way back from CA to OR the other day.

Aveda Salon Institute

So. . . this may come as a huge suprise but I'm praying about going back to school to become a hair stylist. In Portland there is a good Aveda Institute. It is 14-16 months and I'm really considering it. I feel that it is something I can do with photography and will bring in more of a steady income. I know it is something I should have done before photography school but hell. . . hindsight is 20/20 and I've never had good vision anyways.

If you could pleas keep me in your prayers. It does mean more loans and that's scary but it is something that would help with a more steady income while starting photography. I could also do photography while at school. I'll meet with a counselor from the school in a week and ask her all those important questions. If I did I would start September 8th so that is pretty soon.

Thanks for all your prayers.