overload->explode

death

2009-06-26T23:06:00.005-06:00

this blog is dead. i killed it.

but i replaced it with this: new blog

please stop looking at this blog and start looking at the new one.

muchos gracias

frustration.

2009-06-10T23:37:00.002-06:00

one of the most frustrating things is not being able to do anything with html-like stuff. because if i knew how to do that sort of thing, i could design all sorts of..things. but i don't, so i can't.

food.

2009-06-07T22:40:00.004-06:00

today i was thinking about the photographs that i have taken. if i could only pick a few, which ones would i chose that makes me not only seem like a better photographer than i really am, but also represents the type of photography i want to do in the future? i couldn't/can't decided at all. then i started thinking about food and my food blog. i haven't looked at that blog in forever. i really want to eat some of that food and not the food i've been eating. whenever i look at food pictures (there has to be a better word for that...food photography sounds wrong too) i always think of how much i love photographing food and how i want to do it more, but then when i'm actually photographing food it's like oooahhhhhh this is so hardddd i can't do thisssss why am i doing thissss???? but that was awhile ago, so maybe i should give it a shot again?

photography and cookies

2009-06-06T13:29:00.002-06:00

so right now i am trying not to work because i know i'm not going to get paid for it, but i'm having a really difficult time resisting. so i thought i'd try to write a decent post instead.

yesterday i photographed a family of 25. that is a lot of people.

everyday for lunch at zion ponderosa they serve cookies. most of the time they're way overdone and definitely not soft. but i still eat them. they probably have drugs in them or something, and that's why i still eat them even when they're gross.

and now i've remembered why i never write on this blog. i just am not a writer.

i realized that i start a lot of things out with "so."

so...i need business cards and a website. and money to pay for both. and clients to make both worthwhile. and photo skills to be able to get clients.

the end.

curse of a materialistic world, pt. 1

2009-06-04T21:56:00.002-06:00

so today while i was cleaning cabins i saw about four ipods, and it made my thoughts float in the direction of i-really-want-an-ipod. if i had an ipod i would listen to music and books all the time and the boring parts of life wouldn't be so boring. that seems like a pretty good justification for buying one, right?

or i could just say i have to have one because everyone else has one.

zion and me

2009-06-02T20:42:00.003-06:00

so i figure it's about time that i explain what i'm doing this summer. most people who read this already know, so that's why i haven't posted anything so far about my summer.

right now i'm working at zion ponderosa ranch resort. it's right on the east border of zion national park. i'm working as the photographer, but i'm also doing housekeeping because i don't have enough to keep me busy. or so they say. it's a little complicated, but hopefully things will get sorted out soon.

so anyway, if you happen to be staying at zion ponderosa, you should put me to work! i take group pictures and pictures of people having fun doing activities, and i'm supposed to be running around taking random pictures that just might include you.

.....

2009-05-28T22:54:00.004-06:00

...i drove to mt. carmel today because i needed to make a call.

this time i brought my camera.

this is basically what i've seen of zion.

except i don't think it's actually zion:

plants growing in the old road:

random plant:

random tree:

so...i go to the cemetery in mt. carmel to make phone calls. one-because it's nice and quiet. two-i get decent reception.

i really like this grave stone:

ummm...

2009-05-28T21:43:00.003-06:00

...so i took family pictures a while ago and i still haven't done much with them. but i'm working on it. they'll be prints in no time.

(oh, and i guess we now know who i got

the smile-and-they-disappear eyes from.)

meeee

2009-05-24T21:52:00.003-06:00

mom was complaining about me not posting these pictures,

so i thought i'd better post.

taken by my mother:

alyssa

2009-05-23T23:11:00.003-06:00

last weekend i traveled to southern utah where i am currently residing. on the way, i stopped at alyssa's house and stayed for a few days. prom was not very long ago and her and others wanted some pictures. melody came over and did alyssa's hair and makeup, and then i took some photos!:

family

2009-05-13T02:10:00.002-06:00

no, taft isn't trying to do a back flip. he's just falling because dad pushed him.

Drey/track

2009-05-09T11:43:00.002-06:00

2009-05-06T20:05:00.003-06:00

of drey...(film)

drey

2009-04-27T17:36:00.006-06:00

drey went to prom on saturday with jessica. they're cute.

also, i'm cute vain:

and drey is kinda dang good looking:

by the way, i'm in idaho for a few weeks.

finals =

2009-04-21T14:43:00.000-06:00

death

new york

2009-04-08T23:03:00.003-06:00

so i went to new york two weeks ago with the photography department at byu. i really didn't take very many pictures. here are a few:

so the second day i was in ny i was standing, listening to a photographer give a presentation. and then i fainted. the floor was cement. i spent 5 hours in the hospital. nothing is wrong with me. and yes, i had breakfast, and no, i don't faint a lot.

my roommate

2009-04-08T20:56:00.002-06:00

is a seductress. but not really. and this is jello.

i took these

2009-04-08T20:45:00.001-06:00

on a walk to and from class.

...

2009-03-21T21:08:00.004-06:00

i'm sitting in the library trying to pretend like i'm working on a paper.

after about two minutes of working, i've all of a sudden become so very tired....

it's a good thing ariel is sitting across from me and can't see what i'm doing, otherwise she might chastise me. i'm also considering giving up and just playing solitaire....except my paper is due on mondayyy....

2009-03-14T14:30:00.000-06:00

2009-03-08T17:23:00.002-06:00

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=392573366

tearsa=lacks vision

2009-03-08T09:39:00.003-06:00

in my b&w film photography class we've recently been given a lot of assignments that are weird and require pre-thought. for example, using the whole roll of film to make a picture, double exposure, etc.

my ability to pre-visualize anything is about zero. plus i can't come up with great concept ideas. mostly, i just shoot and hope it turns out. maybe this is why i have problems.

example--what is this?:

also, i just spilled nail polish on my esc button. crap.

.

2009-03-08T00:37:00.004-07:00

i drove home yesterday. why? because i can.

and it only takes 4 hours.

my ward went to the draper temple open house this morning. i was a little disappointed to be missing the trip, but i did go two weeks ago, so i decided it was ok to go home instead.

drey and taft and dad went to the temple this morning with their ward. i went with them. it was the first time i'd done baptisms in the twin falls temple.

so....i did end up going to the temple. just not the one i had been planning on going to.

personally, i like the way things turned out.

tavin

2009-03-06T13:36:00.002-07:00

so i felt like posting this series of pictures, but i have nothing to say about them, other than tavin likes to put on a show a strange faces:

...

2009-03-04T17:25:00.002-07:00

that last post was awfully cynical. i apologize.

i really don't have a big problem with family portraits. in fact, i think pictures of your family are some of the most important pictures that can be taken.

also, it's cute when everyone is matching.

on another note, i signed up for housing for next fall. cassie, ariel, alexis, hannah, and i are going to be living in the riviera. (now would be a really bad time to leave a comment saying how awful the riviera is...)

families

2009-02-27T02:40:00.002-07:00

i like families, but i despise family portraits. to me, it just seems like a big contest to see how many people can possible be shoved into a photo. which scares me greatly. even if there are just say...four people, it's still scary. but this time, it's their matching white shirts and jeans that scare me.

people

2009-02-17T15:15:00.003-07:00

so it just occurred to me that there may be some people who are reading this who have a website but it isn't on my sidebar. if you're not on my sidebar, it's not because i hate you. it's just because at some point in time i lost your address or you never post anything so i stopped looking at your blog or something like that. i don't hate you, trust me. so if you want me to put you on my sidebar, just leave a comment with your address. that's all.

drey

2009-02-17T00:57:00.004-07:00

my super great brother drey has started his own flickr site: clickonme.

he doesn't have very much on it, but i'm sure he'll keep adding more.

i really wanted to add this picture too. i think it's funny because it looks like he has a hat of leaves....

ariel

2009-02-16T01:35:00.006-07:00

my lovely roommate ariel needed a picture of herself,

so she asked me to take it. :)

mmmmmmm...

2009-02-14T22:28:00.009-07:00

i took trevor's missionary picture in september, and jericho's picture yesterday. trevor is in the mtc right now and in april will be going to chicago. it kinda bothers me how similar the two pictures are. obviously i stick to the same poses.

trevor

jericho

i had forgotten this picture existed until just recently, so i figured i'd post it too. do i have a small face..or does trevor have a large face? hmm.....(taken by jericho):

design

2009-02-14T22:26:00.002-07:00

ok, so i've finally found a design for my blog that i'm really really happy with. hopefully i will keep this design for a long time...i especially like how it looks like i'm taking a picture of you as you read my blog... :)

...

2009-02-13T12:05:00.004-07:00

Ariel seems to like to take videos of me and then post them on her blog.

http://tsyrisearth.blogspot.com/2009/02/tearsas-true-feelings-ii.html

Alexis, I'm really not a creepster...but c'mon, that little boy has got to be one of the cutest things ever.

Pica

2009-02-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

My friend Pica just started a blog: http://picanagano.blogspot.com/

saturday

2009-02-13T11:26:00.004-07:00

I stole these from Ariel's blog. We had dinner, went to DI and bought clothes for each other, and then wore them to a movie. Great fun. :)

Pica & Jared

Ariel & Allen

Me & Andy

Scans

2009-02-04T22:04:00.002-07:00

Here are some of my film pictures I've developed recently. The scanning job isn't very good. The originals look better. They're not the best stuff, but I'm working on becoming better.

Another Blog

2009-02-04T18:01:00.002-07:00

This is my good friend Allen's blog: http://visiontape.blogspot.com/
My profile is in the second picture. glasses, long neck.

film

2009-02-03T14:17:00.008-07:00

This morning I printed film for the first time. I think I am going to have to buy more paper because I'm already thinking I'm addicted to printing pictures. I'm not really a fan of shooting or developing film, but printing film definitely beats printing digital prints. Once my prints have dried I'll scan some in and post them.

I spent about 4 hours in the darkroom this morning. It seemed like 30 minutes. I'm going back after class tonight. :D Printing is so great!

Bloooogg

2009-02-01T00:40:00.002-07:00

Here is my roommate Ariel's blog:
http://tsyrisearth.blogspot.com/

Cookies

2009-01-31T13:54:00.008-07:00

I made molasses cookies, and they actually turned out really well. I don't know if my oven has problems or if it has something to do with the difference in altitude between Idaho and Utah, but the baking times are always different. Instead of baking the cookies for 11 minutes, I only needed to cook them for 8.5 minutes.

Alexis

2009-01-30T21:56:00.005-07:00

This is my roommate. Yes, she is gorgeous.

♥

2009-01-26T14:12:00.001-07:00

I wish this was mine because it's amazing:
http://www.mattarmendariz.com/

Ciabatta

2009-01-26T14:06:00.000-07:00

I meant to write this a while ago, but I just never got around to it:

A week or two ago I tried the Ciabatta recipe from the book I just bought. It was a fairly time consuming recipe (I even had to start the dough the day before). The end result was good, but not good enough for the work involved. I had the wrong type of yeast, and I don't think I made the substitution completely correctly, so that may be some of the problem.

good intentions

2009-01-10T18:28:00.002-07:00

Tonight I went to Borders and bought The Bread Baker's Apprentice. It's basically an artisan bread cookbook. I really wanted to get it because I really want to learn how to make this type of bread.

Right now I feel kind of like someone who is just starting off on a new project and buying a bunch of stuff that they need to complete the project. And normally I think that this is as far as a lot of people get. And I'm afraid that this is as far as I'm going to get.

Hopefully I do actually make some of these recipes soon.

French Toast

2009-01-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

I never realized that I was so bad at cooking....tonight I made a pb&j with French toast. When I made the French toast, i used the same burner that I made the chicken on last night. Apparently I didn't clean it as well as I thought because halfway through cooking it caught on fire.
And the sandwich wasn't very good. Peanut butter, jelly, and French toast should not be eaten in sandwich form. Good thing I was only cooking for myself.

Plan

2009-01-07T23:51:00.002-07:00

Now that I’ve attempted two recipes, I think I should make more plans. I think that I’m going to organize my list and maybe add some too it. When I created my list of what to learn how to make, I went through all the cookbooks in our apartment and picked out things I thought I should know how to make. I’m sure there are still many things that need to be added to the list, and perhaps I should take some things out of it. I guess what I’m going to do it start putting things in order of when I’m going to make them and/or group things by food types.

#2

2009-01-07T23:50:00.002-07:00

Tonight I made lemon chicken. It was a near disaster, but with the help of my roommates, I survived. The chicken is battered and fried, and I just don’t do frying very well. I didn’t know how to tell if the oil was hot enough, so I called my mom and she said to put a little water in it to tell if it was hot enough. So I put some water in a cup and poured a little bit into the pan. Unfortunately, I put more water in than I thought, and it was pretty explosive. Nothing that couldn’t be cleaned up though. I don’t think I cooked most of the chicken at the right temperature. Making the sauce wasn’t too big of a problem. Overall, I would say that it tasted pretty good, but not good enough for the work involved. Maybe I just didn’t make it correctly. I do know the chicken could’ve been better had I cooked it right, but I don’t know how much of a difference that would’ve made in the overall taste, since I didn’t cook the chicken completely wrong. Because we love each other, my roommates and I ate it for dinner. (We had brown rice, peas, bananas, and Creamies too…)
What was learned:
1. I now have about a 20% understanding of how to fry pieces of chicken.
2. Use a big pan when frying. I felt like the pan was way too full of oil, and I think a lot of the oil mess could’ve been avoided had I used a bigger pan.
3. I need to use a whisk that can reach the entire bottom of the pan.

4. Instant rice is nasty.
5. Creamies are the best.

#1

2009-01-07T23:47:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday I made focaccia. The taste was fine, but it was too lumpy. I’m not sure my yeast is the best, and I think I needed to knead the dough more, but I had to go to a class. Basically, six of us ate it that night, but it still wasn’t the best. I’m not sure if I am going to try the recipe again or look for a better one. I’m considering buying a bread cookbook that would probably have a better focaccia. If I do buy the book then I will definitely not make this recipe again.
What was learned:
1. Kneading bread without Mom’s KitchenAid mixer is much more difficult.
2. Don’t rush bread.
3. Grate cheese in larger pieces when putting it in bread because otherwise it’ll be too mixed in to be very noticeable.

Goals

2009-01-07T23:44:00.004-07:00

For my New Year’s resolution (actually, more of a result of Relief Society on the 4th and then some other things that happened around that time) I’ve decided that I am going to become a better cook. I made a list of things that I do know and can make, and then I made a list of things I feel like I should be able to know how to make. Now my plan is to learn how to make all the things on my list. What I want to focus on is the basic things that everyone expects you to know how to make, learning how to cut vegetables, fruits, etc., and also how to make decent bread. And when I say decent bread I mean mostly artisan bread. Nothing in a bread machine or anything like that.

The few things I can make:

French Toast
Chicken & Mushroom Dijon
Cranberry Chicken
Apple Pie
Blonde Brownies
Snickerdoodle Cookies
Spaghetti
PB&J Sandwiches
Top Ramen
Omelets
Beef Chow Yuk
Chicken Enchiladas
Tacos
Pumpkin Pie

The other list:

Lemon Chicken
Fajitas
Fettuccine Alfredo
Monte Cristo Sandwiches
Waffles
Roast
Pizza
Mashed Potatoes
Scones
Meat Loaf
Real Macaroni & Cheese
Funeral Potatoes
Gunpowder Chicken
Chicken Chowder
Sloppy Joes
Rolls
Cinnamon Rolls
Zucchini Bread
Banana Bread
Poppy Seed Bread
Blueberry Muffins
Lasagna
French Mint Brownies
Molasses Cookies
Sugar Cookies
English Toffee
Caramels
Guacamole
Scalloped Potatoes
Hamburgers
Meat Balls
Sweet & Sour Chicken
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Burritos
Pancakes
German Pancakes
Peanut Butter Cookies
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Rice Pudding
Hawaiian Haystacks
Quiche
Whole Wheat Bread
Corn Bread
Orange Rolls
Biscuits
Lemon Meringue Pie
Orange Julius
Smoothies
Chicken Noodle Soup
Teriyaki Chicken
Quesadillas
Crepes
Potato Salad
Bread Sticks
Shepherd’s Pie
Chocolate sauce
Caramel Sauce
Whipped Cream
Ice Cream
Gelato
Sherbet
Sorbet
Ice Cream Sandwiches

stuff

2008-12-26T12:20:00.001-07:00

i downloaded illustrator and have been messing around with it:

more pictures

2008-12-15T14:43:00.001-07:00

the apartment above me wanted pictures to send out for a christmas card. they asked me to help them with locations...but i ended up just taking their pictures :)
here is one of them:

2008-12-11T23:58:00.001-07:00

the design of this site is killing me. it looks so bad.

2008-12-11T13:46:00.002-07:00

here are some more projects that i never put on here:

it looks so much better than this:

last project for 2-d

2008-12-10T17:26:00.001-07:00

album art

2008-12-08T21:25:00.002-07:00

we had to make an album cover for our final project in survey of digital technology. i redid the keane hopes & fears album. google it and you will see that mine is better :)

happy halloween

2008-11-02T01:14:00.000-06:00

delicious

2008-10-26T16:52:00.001-06:00

I've discovered that cup o' noodles taste 300 times better when you add a ton of salsa to them.

Uncooked & Cooked:

Nacho Night

2008-10-23T00:52:00.002-06:00

Tonight my apartment hosted a nacho night. It was awesome.

Halloween

2008-10-19T18:52:00.002-06:00

Last night my stake has a Halloween party in the WILK. I dressed up as a tennis player. I took pictures of a few people...but not everyone:

Pie

2008-10-19T18:49:00.000-06:00

My roommates and I made pumpkin pie. Twice. Both times it was delicious.

Another Project

2008-09-30T15:02:00.002-06:00

Here is another project for 2-D design. We had to make a mark (or similar/related marks) 1000 times.

Projects

2008-09-24T03:36:00.000-06:00

Here are some more of my projects.

This picture isn't a very good one..so yeah..it looks better than this:

This is another project for 2-D design. I'm not sure if I fulfilled the criteria..but i am pretty proud of it. I did it all in permanent marker :D

2008-09-22T15:07:00.001-06:00

I have orange finger and toe nails. Oh yeah :D

Roommates

2008-09-20T19:15:00.004-06:00

Okay Mama, here is a picture of all of us. We were trying to take pictures as sort of a joke (hence the clothing choice), but it ended up looking really cute. We're going to print them, frame them, and put them up in our kitchen and hallway. It's going to be awesome.

(Alyssa, Ariel, Me, Alexis, Cassie, Hannah)

I love BYU.

2008-09-19T01:35:00.000-06:00

2-D Design

2008-09-16T00:46:00.002-06:00

Our first project was due in 2-D design today. We had to have six different types of lines, no more than three colors, and use no more than three mediums. Mine is the one at the top left with the black, orange, and teal. I'm not really sure how I feel about it... The teacher is the guy in the middle with the glasses and white/teal/fuschia polo.

This is what we do in art class:

2008-09-10T15:16:00.000-06:00

Allen

2008-09-06T02:18:00.002-06:00

This picture amuses me greatly:

Updates

2008-09-02T17:28:00.000-06:00

I debated whether to add pictures to the cell phone posts that they belong to or to just add them all in one post, and I decided to just do some of both. So go ahead and scroll down and stop at the posts with pictures, because they're the ones that've been updated :D

And here are some things I thought I should mention:

I started school today
I'm majoring in photography
I have 4 art classes, Book of Mormon, English, & Food Preparation in the Home :)
I have 5 roommates: Cassie, Alyssa, Ariel, Alexis, & Hannah
I got my laptop from the Heritage Central Building today
My bishop is my BofM teacher

Yeah, It's Pretty

2008-09-02T16:35:00.003-06:00

Hike to the Y

2008-09-02T15:58:00.004-06:00

Yesterday there wasn't much to do since it was labor day so Andy, Trevor, Austin, Ariel, and I decided to walk up to the Y. We started at our dorms, so I think that makes it a more "official hike."

Trevor, Andy, Jericho

Trevor, Jericho, Andy

Ariel, Trevor, Jericho, Andy, Austin, Me

The Y

Jericho

Sorry about the randomness of the pictures. I kinda just pick the pictures I like, and sometimes I like pictures that aren't even that good...

2008-09-01T10:28:00.001-06:00

It's raining. Yesterday and today.

2008-09-01T00:47:00.002-06:00

Had our first BYU church services and also made our first apartment meal. I took a picture, but that'll have to wait until I get my computer.

Me, Ariel, Cassie, Hannah:

And this is a loaf of lemon bread the bishop's wife made for us. I thought it was way nice of her, and it tasted super good too, so I took a picture:

2008-09-01T00:43:00.001-06:00

There was a dance/party last night. Met Andy from wyview. Afterwards Hannah, Jericho, Allen, and I walked him home. I'm quite glad I don't live in wyview.

fb

2008-09-01T00:34:00.003-06:00

Still no mac. Went to a football game yesterday. We won. :D

2008-08-30T13:52:00.001-06:00

So apparently my mac arrived here yesterday morning. But I'm not really sure where and the BYU PO is closed on sat. so I can't check there. :(

VB

2008-08-29T20:23:00.002-06:00

Went to womens volleyball game. We totally won :D

2008-08-29T16:11:00.001-06:00

T-shirts and postcards from the VA department. Yay!

2008-08-29T10:27:00.001-06:00

Went to a devotional this morning and then watched a welcome-to-the-library movie.

2008-08-29T01:44:00.001-06:00

Tradition of Honor was about the Honor Code. It was pretty funny. They had skits and two bands play. At the end a guy sang a song he wrote and proposed with it.

2008-08-28T20:09:00.001-06:00

I'm from Twins Fall. Haha

Finally a post with a title!

2008-08-28T19:49:00.001-06:00

So my computer still hasn't come yet, but I'm in a computer lab. Hannah (roomroommate, btw) and I went to University Mall this afternoon and we got so lost. Just another reason why I'm glad I don't have a car! And I bought my first meal today (I got sweet & sour chicken, Mom). And I really don't have that much else to say. I'm going to "Tradition of Honor" at the Marriott Center in a little bit. Not really sure what that'll be...

2008-08-28T17:49:00.001-06:00

The radio just played a song called "I Shop at DI" haha welcome to Utah

2008-08-28T17:47:00.001-06:00

Maybe it's a Provo thing or maybe it's a Utah thing. Some of the intersections have the regular green light first and then the left turn lane light turns green.

2008-08-28T16:47:00.001-06:00

I miss my computer :( but i bought an ethernet cable so now i can have internet in my room. Yay!

2008-08-28T08:39:00.001-06:00

Day two of orientation is now starting!

2008-08-27T15:31:00.001-06:00

My mac is fixed. Now let's just see how long it takes for them to ship it!

2008-08-27T15:26:00.001-06:00

Mom and I were the Walmart beauty aisle I thought a sign said "Time Travel" (for anti-aging products) but nope...it said "Trial & Travel." Too bad :D

2008-08-27T14:07:00.001-06:00

I'm so glad I don't have a car. I would get in a wreck in no time! Mom has already come way too close to running quite a few red lights.....

2008-08-27T10:09:00.001-06:00

Just bought books. $181.95.

Unpacking & Such

2008-08-27T00:41:00.003-06:00

It's around midnight and we've just finally got everything unpacked! There is definitely not enough kitchen space....

2008-08-26T20:55:00.001-06:00

Mom and I just went to chinese and my fortune says, "Something nice is coming to you in the mail." and think it's right! Possibly multiple nice somethings....

Apple

2008-08-26T20:12:00.003-06:00

The plastic on my mac was tearing so we stopped at apple in salt lake. They're going to fix it for me but now i'm computerless for a few days! Yikes!

2008-08-26T10:54:00.001-06:00

Mom and I are leaving now. Definitely no room for hitchhikers! BYU here we come!

Sushi!

2008-08-25T18:07:00.004-06:00

Ashley, Emily, and I had sushi today. Crab and shrimp. It was my first time eating it, and it could quite possibly be my last! To quote Ashley: "I'm not a sushi person." But it was fun to spend time with friends. The sushi place closed at 2:30 so we went to the park to eat (in case you were wondering why we are outside).

Know Your Technology

2008-08-25T13:08:00.001-06:00

Because of the cookie post and because I give Mom a hard time about using my camera, I thought that I would share my most recent problem with using my camera:

My camera has three focus modes: One Shot (for still subjects), Al Servo (for moving subjects), and Al Focus (for still subjects that sometimes move). I normally have my camera set to Al Focus because it sounds the best (I had to look up what each mode did to write this..seriously, Al Servo?? how am I supposed to remember what that means?) but for some reason I decided to set my camera to Al Servo on Thursday.

So anyway, I'm taking pictures and for some reason I can't get the focus lock to work (you know...when you press the shutter button halfway down, the camera focus on the middle, and then you can recompose your image so every picture you take doesn't have your main subject in the dead center...). At first I though I was just being stupid and not holding the button down correctly or something like that, but after a while I realized that the focus lock wasn't working for any of my pictures!

I started to freak out because I must have focus lock! There is no way I could take pictures without it (without going insane). Sooo...at this point I started getting mentally prepared to send my camera to Canon Services and being camera-less for a week or two. Definitely not what I want to do, but I'll make sacrifices for a functional (functioning?) camera.

Of course before I shipped my camera off, I checked the online support to see if there was just a quick fix or something. And guess what?!? There is!!! Apparently the focus lock doesn't work when the camera is in Al Servo mode...so all I had to do was switch the mode back to Al Focus, and my camera worked again! Yay!

Well that story became a lot more technical than I wanted...but basically I set my camera in the wrong mode, the focusing wouldn't work right, I freaked out, and then I figured out how to fix the focus with just a simple mode adjustment.

So Mom, even I have problems with that camera.

Tilmann

2008-08-23T01:32:00.002-06:00

Plus one of me that Til took:

You should put it on the blog & write "Rising Food Costs" above it. -Taft

2008-08-22T12:29:00.002-06:00

Yesterday "someone" tried to make cookies.

But apparently they mixed the dough up too much (it was the kind where most of the ingredients come in a bag and you add the liquids), and it ended up looking like double-chocolate-yuck cookie dough.

So the "someone" who made the dough decided to just throw it away.

Mom finds the dough in the garbage and pulls it out and makes cookies out of it. (Apparently the dough was on top of some plastic, so it was totally still good, and besides, it's getting cooked. That'll kill all the germs.)

Taft, the kind person that he is, decides that he needs to warn the rest of the family of the potential dangers of these cookies.

So he makes a sign:

And Tavin & Drey felt the need to act out their feelings concerning the cookies (I didn't pose them or anything...they just do this stuff on their own):

Haha we love you Mom!

On an unrelated note: Tavin fell off of a teeter-totter, and his wound looks like a snake bite:

Drey

2008-08-19T22:59:00.008-06:00

Drey made dinner for us today, and while he was cooking I took pictures of him:

His feet are pretty awesome in a gross feet way :D

I didn't take this picture today, but I thought I would throw it in. He's like the chicken whisperer or something...

And this is what Drey made for dinner, just in case you were curious...I sometimes miss photographing food...

Prayer Is the Soul's Sincere Desire

2008-08-19T01:14:00.005-06:00

We sang this song in Relief Society last Sunday. I had never heard it before, and I thought it was nice.

Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed,
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye
When none but God is near.

Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high.

Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air,
His watchword at the gates of death;
He enters heav'n with prayer.

Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice,
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their songs rejoice
And cry, "Behold, he prays!"

The Saints in prayer appear as one
In word and deed and mind,
While with the Father and Son
Their fellowship they find.

Nor prayer is made on earth alone:
The Holy Spirit pleads,
And Jesus at the Father's throne
For sinners intercedes.

O thou by whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way!
The path of prayer thyself hast trod:
Lord, teach us how to pray.

click to play: the hymn

2008-08-18T00:49:00.001-06:00

i can't sleep. i only have 8 more days until i leave...and that makes me excited, scared, and sick...