Breakfast of Champions

I'm not much for New Years resolutions, seriously. It is the realist in me. I don't like setting unrealistic goals, UNLESS I am prepared to actually accomplish them. I must say, I actually debated a New Years resolution this morning. This is what I ate.

Christmas So Far

This morning started WAAAY rtoo early. Cierra woke me up a little after six-o-clock... ugggg. Her waking up so early wasn't a problem in years past. I would tell her, "Give me ten more minutes". That single statement would usually buy me at LEAST a half an hour. Now that she can tell time, it is not so easy.

We were up, opening pressies by 7ish. I am oh-so-tired now. Just dragged myself out of the couch after a two hour nap, still sluggish. I think the past month has just plain caught up with me...

Here is a lil collage from earlier, I plan on taking pictures at Azuma tonight when we go get Teppan, yums!

Merry Christmas People!

More from that Sunday Shoot...

Added to me Bloggage

Just made a few little changes to my blog. I added a link to my Photography Portfolio----> over there.

I also added my blogger buddies, "Autobiography of a Material Girl" and "....bygones" to my reads list. Check em' out!


-jen
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Oh! AND I made a Christmas "ElfYourself.com" video of the guys that I secretly posted to the Shops Myspace account. CTC's (Custom Tattoo Company's) Big Gay Christmas Video, featuring Jason Radcliff. I now definitely have a practical joke coming my way, this video officially asked for it. LOLZ~

Copy-cat

This weekend posed a lil bit of a challenge for me. For one of the shoots, she wanted to sort of mimick the Kat Von D PETA advertisement which looks like this:


This is what we came up with:

WHAT was I thinking?

I do believe my mind is in a Holiday/ Homework mushity moosh mush! It was my idea to take TWO online Grad courses over the months of November to February. I claim mental insanity, yes, yes, THAT has to be it!

My List of Things to do today looks like this:

School:
Input more on group project 'Tata Group' for MGMT 672.
Post Case Study for MGMT 535.
Post GM company profile for MGMT 672.
E-mail advisor about February online course submissions (next term)

Photography:
Upload J and K's baby pics from Sunday.
Follow-up with Alex and Stacy (e-mail)

Shop:
Do tubes at shop...
Do monthly balance with accountant for shop by 5pm. (They are closed next week)

My Schtuff:
Buy Crickets for Lizards.
Buy lettuce for pig and lizards.
Buy chocolate chips for cookies.
Bake Cookies for C's Christmas Party tomorrow.
Cut cheese cubes for C's Christmas Party tomorrow.
Finish printing Bingo cards for C's class party tomorrow.

If I can just get through today/tonight, I will be home-free for a few days IN A ROW! Cierra is spending this weekend with her dad. No homework will be due again untill the day after Christmas. The Christmas party will be over, end-of-month will be finished early and I'll actually have a chance to breath!!! YESSSSSSSSSS.....

The Perfect Dress...errrr eh-umm Skirt

So tonight I took Cierra to see Santa at Coronado Mall. Aparently all of Albuquerque had the same idea. After standing in line for five minutes, Cierra struck a deal.

Cierra- "This line is really long huh Mom?"

Me- "Sigh, yes. I thought it would be though"

Cierra "Do you LIKE waiting in lines?"

Me- "No, not particularly"

Cierra- " I have an idea for us to do, wanna hear it?"

(I thought she was going to suggest a Christmas carol or patty cake game of some sort, this WAS NOT the case)

Cierra- "Did you bring money for a Santa picture?"

Me- "Yes.... How come?"

Cierra- "How about if we take pictures togther over there (pointing at the 3$ photo booth) and use the money for a Christmas dress instead. I really want to wear a dress to my Christmas Party on Friday. I can just mail my letter to Santa." (breath)

(Cierra is a typical girl in that she masters the skill of fitting WAAAY too many words in one breath of air.)

Me- "YESSSS! I think that is a GREAT idea!"

It actually made me laugh, and I was glad NOT to stand in that God-awful line. We ended up going to JCPenney's to look for the perfect Holiday dress. After sifting through racks and racks of dresses, we couldn't find any that were perfect.

Right when we were about to give up, Cierra gave out a gasp that even made the people around us look at her.... It was the perfect poofy, sparkly black skirt! Proof that the perfect piece of clothing trumps even Santa Clause!
My little girl is starting to grow up....

Portfolio Update

Updated my portfolio earlier. Here is the link, check itout if you're bored!

http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/Jennylynn/Portfolio

Sunday Shoot II

Here is a sample from the second Sunday shoot.

Sunday Shoot 1

His a small sample of shoot from Sunday... God I have A LOT more to retouch. I'll post a photoshow of completed...

Inspiration

Here are some inspiration/ reference shots for tomorrow....

We'll see what happens...

I WANT...

This is a complete list of "I Wants". It is my blog, and sometimes I forget what I want until I see it. I know I'm not the only one, so whatevs!
Cierra made me write a Santa list with her, so here is it SANTA lol.


I want to have my car fixed (that should be happening this week, coming up).

I want a Dyson vacuum cleaner.

I want a new set of silverwear.... my spoons have mysteriously dissappeared!

I want a light box set-up to add to my photography shit, that I do not have space for!

I want a massively long (preferrbly 60") lizard tank, so I can put the retardo lizard in with the regular lizard.

I want a new printer, because I want to throw this shitty one over the terrace and watch it go splat into a bazillion different pieces...

I want my own Guitar Hero guitar, so I can put the smack down on Cierra all shred style.

I want one of those double papasan chairs from Pier 1.

I want a new laptop, with a nice HIGH resolution screen so I can actually see what I am doing while retouchin photographs.

I want a new tripod, mine broke (tonight).

I want a hanging iron pots n' pan rack thingy-ma-jig

I want the whole CS4 Creative Suite.

I want more Lancome Color Ideal I-30N foundation.

ooooo! I want new frames/ glasses.

I want a new belt for my buckles, old belt finally died. ;o( grrrowls

I want dark brown or grey tall uggs

I want more argoyle knee socks from Dillards.

I want a proper deep tissue massage, my back is ALL messed up.

I want a new bed/ matress, so I can just sell that futon... pretty sure that cintributes to me back issues...

I want an cell phone with a neato touch screen and full keypad.

I want the Maid Brigade for a weekend and a personal launder. ha ha

Okay, at this point, Cierra, told me I was taking too long. SO, SANTA, I do believe my list is complete............................................for now.

Free Samples Link

Seeing my buddies Jenna and Matt today reminded me of the free site that she forwarded to me. I will link it here for you guys!

Jenna's advice was best when she recommended staying in the green box to stay away from gimmicks!

http://freesampleforager.com/

It is a great lil site to keep on your favorites and check during a 'browsing moment' on the web.

First Things First...

First Things First, I feel AMAZING today. Thank God!

*I woke up feeling 100% better than yesterday.

*I did my Photoshop presentation and (finally) aced it! Yaaaaaay!

*Got some stuff actually accomplished at the shop.

*Made a nice huge dinner with pasta/ parmesian meatsauce and french bread. mmmm

*Manny walked in and didn't say two words to me...lol.... he instead planted a big ole' Hollywood kiss on me.

;o)

Excuse Me While I Fall Apart

I'm broken..

Physically, mentally, and emotionally, I'm convinced.

The Physical Part:

Today, at about noon, I got masively dizzy. It felt like being excessively drunk AND having preggo morning sickness all at once. Everywhere I looked moved. My body wouldn't stop shaking. Manny actually closed the shop so that he could take me home, Jason followed to take him back to the shop.

I ended up hugging the toilet for about twenty minutes. I got up and ran to the backyard, I was clammy and hot- the cold air felt divine. After collectively retching everything I ate previously I stumbled to the couch... where I stayed for the next ten hours. I'm not dizzy anymore, but undoubtedly weak. My stomach is still in my throat and I feel like poop!

I have been on an antibiotic since Friday. When I called my Doctor, the nurse asked me a few questions, like:

Have you drank any alcoholic beverages recently? (no)

What have you eaten in the last twelve hours? (yogurt-midnight snack, a 9-grain bagel with cream cheese, big glass of milk, bottle of water and large coffee)

Do you have any neurological disorders? (not diagnosed, but epilepsy does run in my family. I had a brain scan when Cierra was first born, they found abnormal action- but did not want to treat because it wasn't necessarily bad. Apparently, instead of firing from right to left, my brain fires from and to both sides jointly). Whatever, they had never seen it before and didn't even have a name for it. I signed the results over to UNM for research and that was that. I always joke, THAT is why I am a spaz.

BACK to my story; The nurse said to stop taking the antibiotic IMMEDIATELY. She said the Doctor would call me before 8... she never did. Bugs (This, my friends, is what happens to healthcare when you DO NOT have health insurance. You get the cheapest drugs and blatant disregard to medical history- nice).


The Mental and Emotional Part

I feel overextended and mentally exhausted.
I am a very controlled person, when I feel not in 'control' of certain elements of my life it makes me absolutely crazy. This is both a downfall and strength. The fact that my house is detroyed makes me crazy! I have a final presentation tomorrow, that I was hoping to finalize today. I was glad to have today 'off' to get better, but I spent it on the couch tryin to get myself from launching every twenty minutes.

My relationship is a definite contributor to this whole thing. I feel like we are stuck. He is too stubborn, stressed or both to be his Old 'Romantic Idiot' self and I am too stubborn and energy-less to give to him when I don't feel full myself... so here we are... STUCK!

Today he actually asked me if I was getting back with my ex-husband. ANYONE who has truly known me for any period time- knows how ridiculous this is! obviously. My ex has actually been quite phenominal lately! It does NOT mean that I have any desire for him what-so-ever.

I think the ex has finally come into his own. I feel like he is really trying to be a good dad to Cierra. She knows NOW more than ever that SHE is her daddy's priority. There was a time, when she would call me every weekend that she was with him and beg for me to pick her up. It absolutely broke my heart.
There were times that his schedule always trumped mine (even though I was hourly and he was/ is Air Force). I feel for once that we are on an even playing field. I don't feel like that part of my life causes me stress anymore. It is refreshing and I am thankful for that... it took a long time.

On the Cierra note: My family forgot Cierra's Birthday- that pretty much bugs. (Accept for my Grandma B, who religiously NEVER forgets that stuff).

I tell myself that tomorrow is a new day and that there are some things I cannot control, it helps a little. I know there's a light at the end of that damn tunnel!
I think a good uninterupted nights sleep without yacking will help as well. SO I am putting down my laptop and giving it a go....

My Cierra and Her Daddy...

Finally done with homework... I wanted to post pictures from Saturday morning that I took. I snapped a few pictures of Cierra and her dad,(my ex-husband).
It was weird, but cool anyway.

Life Expectancy

http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/HealthAge.html

I took this life expectancy test. I'm sposed to live till I'm 94, based on the results. It was somethin to do... what can I say? Ha!

Left ribcagage....

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this... I'm hoping to get it on my left ribcage... We shall see...

Must Readles

You must read Tia's post about an iHubs. It friggin genius!
Enjoy!

http://www.clevergirlgoesblog.com/2008/12/my-golden-ticket.html

Handmade Sch-tuff

Rosy's cage has been done for some time. I've been meaning to post about it, but JUST got around to taking pictures!



The cage liner is made with carogated plastic on top of a contractors trash bag. I have extra to make a spare, but it sits behind the cage for the time being. Fleece lines her cage, but she'll only poo in one place if I have news paper down, so the newspaper is her bathroom. Her food is on the top level. I made the level with two medium cardboard tubes and an old cabinet door on top. I put felt on the cabinet door for traction. It is held there with velcro, so I can change it out if I need to.


I found this great round table at the thrift store down the street for ten bucks sometime ago. Valency gave me the black metal square shelf pieces. I attached valance, so I can hide stuff under the table. Manny welded AND taught me to weld at the same time. For the record... it is ALOT harder than it looks. Totally fun though. Here is a picture of a jewelry holder I welded all by me-self! woot woot!