Few days late but not coming up short...well maybe a little bit

Well this week's pictures are more about my life than anything. These are some of the things I see every  day and I just thought maybe my viewers would like to see through my eyes for a moment.

I bought a lamp for my desk specifically for my new terrarium. The ambiance that it emits is awesome though. Why didn't I buy one sooner? Well, I don't have a good answer for that question.

Time to start the shakes and get lots and lots of good vitamins.

I took this picture because I can't believe it's the end of January and there are ducks swimming in the pond. Normally this time of year the pond is frozen, there is snow everywhere and the ducks are long gone. Are we getting new seasons now? Either way, I like not having snow, I just wish it was 10 degrees warmer.

So here is a quick peak at my desk. My cubicle. My cubbyhole that I spend 40+ hours a week at. Do you think its homey like?

And another shot. I really do like plants now. Like I'm adopting more and more as the days go on.

Here is the team unity tree. I love this tree. It's so creative. It might be time for it to come down now though. Time for a new team unity project.

Oh Taj...this silly cat. There needs to be noise with this picture. Like the one lion for MGM movies that goes RAR...yeah I think that's what this picture needs.

Look at that tongue! I took several pictures to get a good shot of her  tongue. She moves that think like a stealth plane. She's such a princess too. She's always cleaning herself.

Okay, most dogs look totally excited when they have a bone in their face. Right? Well I think more than anything he is pouting because I'm not paying attention to him. Sorry, I had a lot of homework to get done. He just looks so sweet though.

After he realized I wasn't gonna play, he decided to nap. At least he kept his bone close by. Taj is known for playing with his stuff.

That is all for last week. Busy week, lots of pictures, and hopefully this week will be much better!

Plants, Animals, and that's it this week!

Hi Y'all...

I'm kind of boring this week. I have pictures of plants, Buddha and a koi, plants, and animals. I was pretty excited about all the plants I handled this week. I made Rob a terrarium for his desk, I made one for home and I made one at work. I wish I had thought to take pictures of every one's terrariums at work but I totally spaced it! So here are this week's pictures (all on the same post Nutella)!

I took this picture because I thought it was just too funny that they were both sitting on the table looking out the window. They both do this. I wonder if they wish they were out there or just waiting to see something interesting. I never thought in my entire life I would love cats the way I love these two. I wasn't even a cat person. But somewhere along the road I found that I love these two more than anything. They entertain me and they make me wonder what's going on in their heads. Maybe I should've been a veterinarian?

Here is the terrarium I made for Rob. I'm totally addicted to the idea of putting a plant in a container and letting it help take care of itself. It's so easy and so much fun! I am definitely going to make a few more terrariums for home. 

Buddha! Koi! Oh how I think you're so awesome! I got these two things to go in my terrarium for work. I thought Buddha was going to be smaller and when he showed up all I could think was "shit, he's too big." Oh well, I still think he is awesome. I'll post a picture of my terrarium next week. I'm going to try to find a small Buddha for my terrarium, like the koi, but I'm keeping the giant Buddha next to it because it just looks cool! Yeah, I think I'm turning into a Buddhist. I'm interested in that way of life more than the regular religion's suggestions, although they have many similarities.

Okay, this was just too funny. Moose and Taj hanging out in the tub together. I'm not sure why but it was cute. I actually took like 15 pictures of them in there. I just liked this one the most because Moose looks like he is smiling.

And another picture of Taj. I was doing homework yesterday next to the Taj Mahal box and Taj decided he wanted to hang out. This was his pose. As my dear friend Fred says, he looks so regal. Yes he does.

I know I have other pictures of my money tree but I took a new one to show how good he is doing. I have a new love for plants. I don't know about gardening just yet but the idea of having a bunch of house plants gets me excited. I like learning about how they grow and react to certain things. I like taking care of them and seeing them flourish. It's just really interesting. I'm actually realizing that plants are living and live happily when you nurture them. I never thought I would turn into a lady who likes cats and plants. Am I a weirdo?

Well, here is the terrarium I made at home. I put way too much dirt in Rob's terrarium the first time, so when I took it out, I took one of the extra stems because his terrarium was pretty crowded and made a terrarium for home. I had this little gnome sitting on a shelf looking kind of sad he wasn't in a garden. I got him from one of those little tiny garden gnome box kits they had at Barnes and Noble one time. I really love gnomes. They're so stinking cute! If I were able to decorate my yard with flowers and such, I would have to have gnomes everywhere. So I had this gnome hanging out on a shelf looking lonely and knew he was perfect for this terrarium. What's your thought?

January 15th Post

Sorry Natalie, but this week the pictures are all going on the same post. It's because they are all so similar.

This week's pictures are kind of boring. School started this week and quite honestly, I was exhausted. Needless to say, I have a few pictures to share. Let's start with the plant pictures. On Monday, I had this great idea that we could do terrariums for craft day. I got everyone on board to do this so I ordered all the plants. The next few pictures will be of the plants that I ordered on Amazon that arrived. They are all so cute and now I have about a billion ideas on different terrariums.

I took all the pictures with my phone so the pictures are not the greatest quality. Sorry!

The first plant is a Jade plant. This is the plant that I wanted, and have been wanting actually. A few other people also picked this plant. The Jade plant is called the good luck plant, the friendship plant, and the money plant.

 This picture is to show you the size comparison. Tiny huh!

 This next plant is the Venus Fly Trap. I have to admit that after seeing this guy I wanted one! It's so stinking cute!

 And another size comparison.

 Here is the adorable fern that Natalie picked. I'm definitely going to get me one of these down the road. I'm planning on doing a giant terrarium for fun and after seeing this, this fern is a must have. I totally love it!

 Taj was napping and I thought it was so cute how he was using the arm rest as a pillow. If you notice, he also has his front paw curled. That's how he sleeps, he always curls his front paw up. Goofy cat.

 Okay, this picture had to be posted. Taj always torments Ava. The fact that they were laying next to each other is a miracle. The fact that they were somewhat cuddling...now that is an angel's doing. It didn't last for long, but long enough for me to get a picture and enjoy it. I think they're both trying to make this kitty-living-together arrangement work finally.

That's it for this week's pictures. I'll hopefully have some funner pictures next week. Especially since we'll all have our terrariums done. Have a good week!

Weekly Updates Instead of Daily

Natalie has suggested that we update our blogs weekly rather than daily. Our daily lives are just too busy for us to remember to update every day. I agreed. Therefore, I will update my blog every week with at least 7 pictures.

I have included pictures from the last few months as well as the last week for this update. I'm pretty proud of some of the pictures I took in my photography class and can honestly say I hope that my photos for this blog start getting better. In the meantime, here is this weeks update:

I took this picture at Thanksgiving Point when they were doing all their Halloween stuff. I was taking pictures of pumpkins that day. I love pumpkins, they're cute, weird, ugly and make great pictures.

 For the color assignment, I was driving in the canyons hoping to get pictures of the awesome fall colors. Yeah, that didn't happen. I was about a week too late. When I was driving out of the canyon I saw a kid's playground and thought to myself, what the heck...I have a ton of pictures to take still.

I climbed up the playground having a new respect for these jungle gyms to get some fun shots. I don't remember these playgrounds being that hard to climb, so either I'm not in great shape or I was monkey like as a child. Hmmm.

Anyway, I took this picture looking up at the sky. If you can't figure out what it is, I'll tell you. This is the rooftop to the slide. Pretty neat perspective huh?!

Ahhhh, the bloody final for photo. I hated this assignment. I couldn't think of anything I really wanted to do a photo journal on. I was honestly pissed. So I decided to do it on hot beverages. Lame!

Even though I hated the assignment, I liked this picture. The coffee beans smelled fantastic as I took this shot. And even though the color is a little boring, I like how the picture turned out.

I took this picture for the final as well. I think its so cool how I was able to get the details of the tea flakes in this shot.

Natalie signed me up for a cookie contest even though I told her I don't bake. But seeing how I am down to learn a new skill, I decided to take on the challenge. If I was going to be in a contest, then by god I was going to do a good job.

These are fudgy cappuccino crinkles and they were divine. I didn't win the contest but I'm glad I did it anyway. I learned how to make cookies that are 5 thousand times better than any store bought cookie there is.

I was given 2 books on cookie recipes after the contest, which means I'm definitely going to be making cookies throughout the year now. I don't even feel guilty about eating them because they really aren't that bad for you. Shhh, the lies I tell myself. Okay, but honestly, they don't have preservatives like store bought cookies or all that extra weird stuff they put in them. They have simple ingredients which make them real food.

NAM NAM NAM Call me the cookie monster now!

The holidays this time of year are not my favorite. I never really was a fanatic about Christmas and now Thanksgiving has kind of lumped itself in there. This is personal feelings and I don't have a grand explanation about it.

I was trying to be festive though. I made this miniature fireplace for my desk to keep me in the holiday spirit. And it worked to an extent. Actually, it's after the new year and I still haven't taken it down. It's just tooo cute to take down. I will this week though. I promise.

A little while ago, Natalie's daughter came to work with her. I asked her to write me a song and this is it. This is my song! Enjoy!

The Taj Mahal...this is Taj's house. He adopted this box when the ham arrived. This is the cat who thinks he is a dog until a box shows up. He loves all boxes; small, large, long, short, skinny, etc. He is a box master. I have trained him to go inside his box to show it off too. It's just too cool, I can't throw the box away. Maybe I'll decorate it just for him.

For the last few years I have been doing a vision board. I do this to narrow down the things I really do want to accomplish for the year. It's so rewarding when the year is up and I'm taking it down to put new stuff on it to see what I actually did accomplish. It's like putting it out there and seeing it everyday validates my goals and I actually do it.

I completed my vision board 2012 last night. Yeah, I know it wasn't right at January 1, but it's still the beginning of the year. When I was done I just smiled at it. I felt good about what I put on there. I am focusing on myself (still) in multiple ways as well as getting fit. I have the Spartan Beast race in June that I'm training for. I also put on there some decorating things that I'd like to do and some fashion stuff because I need new clothes.

Even though I don't get everything I want for the year, I still get at least 50% of it. And you know, I'm honestly happy with it. It doesn't mean I won't get those other things, it just means the time isn't right. I'm so glad that I started doing this a few years ago. It gives me a good reason to be proud of myself for the direction my life is going.

Posting

Hi All,

I plan to post pictures within the next week or two.

Thanks!

Updating Pictures

Barbecues are by far my favorite thing to do in the summer. Even better, charcoal grilling food. I snapped this picture and just loved how retro it felt.

 This next picture is from the 4th of July. Fireworks are so much fun. I was so glad when my friends all wanted to go in together to split the cost so we create our own awesome firework show.

For my birthday I got some cash. I know that I should have been responsible and bought some clothes, but my heart was calling out for this. I got a tattoo. The symbol is qi (pronounced chi) which represents the flow of energy or the energy of life. It's to remind me to stay positive because my energy effects everything I do. The lotus flower represents leaving the negative behind and growing into positivity, the example is the flower grows from the muddy water and blooms into something beautiful. The blue represents knowledge and overcoming obstacles. The white is for enlightenment and self reflection. This tattoo is more than just art work, it's a reminder of where I came from, where I'm going, and where my mental state should be. I love it!

I went out to Salt Air the other night to regroup, take some pictures and enjoy the sunset. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from that evening.  

Look At Me Now - Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes (Cover by @Karm...

Updating - Lots of Pictures

Hello! In this post, I have added a few of the pictures I've taken over the last 8 weeks. I wasn't taking a picture every day mainly because I wasn't doing anything. My life was consumed completely by homework, so I'm sure you don't want to see a picture of textbook stuff that I was reading everyday. I'm giving you fair warning that the quality of some of these pictures is not the greatest, I took all of these with my phone.

The first picture is a nice little fire we had going. We like to sit outside to enjoy the weather and visit with friends. The chimney this was in is quite small but can really put out the heat. I don't think it's been used since this night, which is fine, it's been way too hot for a fire. I hope to get a bigger fire pit in the future because it's nice to just sit outside to listen and watch the beauty. One word, relaxing.

I can't tell you enough that Salt Lake has the most beautiful sunrises. I feel so blessed that I can drive to work and see this every morning. It's like a painting, something that deserves to be in a book or hanging on a wall. If I ever move away, the sunrises here will be one thing that I deeply miss.

Fruit smoothies are a great way to get the vitamins you need all in one stop. The bonus about a fruit smoothie is they taste fabulous. Our Blendtec blender is the master of blending anything you want. In fact, if you don't believe me, YouTube "Will it Blend?" That is evidence enough to show that the Blendtec blender is one powerful mama-jama. The soon to be smoothie was one to snap a picture of. If you look at all the different textures, densities and colors, it's impressive to know that the blender is going to mix all of that. Yes, that's a lot of sugar but that also had a lot of nutrients I needed. Will it blend? Why, yes it will. Golf class. HAHA! I think my teacher only left his cart 3 times the entire semester. He always had a helper do his teaching. Overall, the class was fun and now I have a new hobby. These are all my plants at work. It's hard to believe that a year and a half ago I didn't know how to care for a plant and didn't want to. But a couple of ladies at work thought otherwise, and they introduced me to the joys of plants. I love my plants now and I'm trying to get friends interested in them as well. It's like a jungle of joy! Sometimes I think we just need to be lazy and eat something sweet. The day that I had Ab's was the perfect day for that. I don't remember exactly what I got but it was damn good. They make the best shakes. Another beautiful sunrise. Enough said. While at the nursery, I wandered over to the water plants. I love that they have a pond with koi and waterlillies. I could honestly sit next to this pond for hours and watch the fish swim around. It's so beautiful. Definitely a gift from mother earth.Alright, I'm not sure what this is. If you know, please tell me. This bug was huge. In fact, it was so big I saw it laying in the grass when I got out of my car, 15 feet away. Poor thing, died face down in a forest of lawn. Sunsets in Utah are extraordinary as well. I took this while driving home one evening and I wish I had my nice camera to set up the picture. It was breathtaking. The mountains truly look like they were painted in place with the puffy, soft looking clouds. Sunsets remind us to wind down for the day, sometimes the perfect medicine for me. This picture is of a freak rainstorm. It was so odd, it was hot and sunny, then all of a sudden it starting hailing. I was kind of in shock about it really. I had to have a picture. Our first level of the patio is finished, and it was a lot of work. I will be honest, I didn't do that much work to it. I like to look at it though. Driving to work on my lovely path, I saw this car. I know to most people it would mean nothing, but it gave me a quick glimpse at my past. The car was a green Honda Civic with California license plates. I had a car like that when I lived there--green 4-door Civic with Cali plates. I don't miss the car but I sometimes miss living there. I miss my friends from California. Recently, we went to a wedding. This wedding was highly anticipated too. Rather than getting a regular gift, I made a gift basket for the bride and groom. The basket included Godiva chocolate, a picture frame, a memory box and some IOU tickets to a Jazz game. The couple thought it was swell! Here is the patio all set up. Barbecue time! Now we need to finish the lower level and the rest of the yard. Walking out of Best Buy, this sunset is something I had to have a picture of. It was absolutely gorgeous and I was completely mesmerized by it. Not only do we have beautiful sunrises, but our sunsets are equally impressive. Ah, vino! I bought this for myself as a reward for making it through a very tough summer semester. This wine was good, but sadly not the best I ever had. Oh well, rewards are always nice!

Waterlilly...oooo. So we have a little tiny pond in the backyard. I think it's so cool how these flowers only come out for a few hours of the day. The are sun slaves, like myself.

This picture concludes this post. I hope you have enjoyed the pictures.

It's been awhile

It's been well over a month since I posted a new picture. I honestly feel horrible for slacking so much.

The good news is I have a little time off including time away from social networking. My school schedule shouldn't be as busy this semester, so I'm definitely planning on posting every day.

Sincerely,

Lissa