Finally the weekend! It’s been a long week of 7 8 hour shifts in 5 days. So I’m VERY ready to relax and hang out with Beau, especially since I haven’t really seen him outside work, while he was awake in about 4 or 5 days. Not to mention my wonderful kitties!

So, I’ve been meaning to post about my new Journal 10+. I took a few pictures a while back when I was learning the buttons for my D90, but never posted them. It only has 4 lines to write on each day, and each day has 10 years worth of 4 line spots. (Did I explain that right?) I’m in love with the idea of writing just a little sentence or two about the day. Something I want to remember about the day.

I used to write in journals all the time before college. And even during my first year of college I wrote quite a bit. But since then I just can’t keep up (guess that’s what happens when you finally get a life + husband + career + house + etc…). So I think this new type of journal will finally be one that works better for my schedule. And in 8 or 9 or 10 years, when I’m writing about my day, I can look up the page and see what I did today.

You can find them here on amazon.com

Alright, off to go bowling with some friends.

Last week, my friend Shanna went on vacation to wonderful California (I’ll admit to being jealous!).  While she was away, I gave her kitty, Gabby, some company.  She was a little nervous to have me around, but I got some cute shots of her eating her food at least.

I love cats.  I don’t know how someone could not enjoy the company of cats.  They have their moments, but overall they have such unique personalities.  I love to see how my own cats react to meeting new people.  My friend Jared visited this past weekend, and all three of my cats took to him differently.  Pacey, is overall pretty social.  But he still kept his distance.  Maebree, who hates Beau and loves me, actually cuddled with Jared one night.  And then there is Rayliegh… Ray Ray is the shyest little kitty in the whole world.  He was completely scared of our new house for at least 2 months.  And when new people are around, or unusually loud noises are present, he runs and hides.

So Gabby, don’t worry, I won’t take offense to your shyness. :)

Just updated our storm chase page with a chase log for yesterday’s adventure.  We had our friend from SCSU with us, Jared.  Three co-workers of ours, Ron, Kris, and Scott came along as well, and Ron even brought his 2 year old son, Dylan.  It was a lot of fun.  I just wished we’d been able to see more.

The Omaha National Weather Service actually just updated their storm survey page and have concluded that a tornado likely occured just west of where we were as we passed through eastern Omaha into the town of Missouri Valley.  Beau is checking out his video as I type to see if we possibly caught anything while we were scrambling to get east.

Reports page in case you are interested.

But, I did get some great pictures of little Dylan.  The youngest storm chaser I’ve ever chased with at least.

Well, I finally got some portrait shooting in with my new camera a couple days ago when we reached 67 degrees in MN!  A glimpse at Spring, which officially starts today.  Blake, Tanya, Beau and I went for a short walk around the block to enjoy the warm temps and I took a few shots.

Still hoping to be able to take lots more with them soon.

Hayden is still the new baby in the family, and we all just enjoy holding him so much still.

Posted below are a few pictures from our family get together this past Sunday.

I’ve got a few more pictures to post of my cousin Jenny (above).

enjoyed a warm shower while half asleep still.

listened to Imogen Heap my entire ride to work.

worked 8 hours while waiting patiently for Beau to bring me a Chipotle burrito when he got there at 2.

drove home with Taylor Swift.

wished for someone I could photograph since the light was almost perfect (compared to yesterday’s warm but harsh light)

went for a run because it finally was warm enough.

hung out on the floor in the living room with the cats and stretched.

did a little cleaning.

downstairs to my computer to edit photos from the weekend.

caught up on Grey’s and Desperate Housewives.

watched an awesome 20/20 special on abc.com about wasteful government spending and other pathetic things.  (a must see)

uploaded pictures of the family.

headed to bed after a quick bowl of cereal.

(promise to add some recent pictures tomorrow!)

Had a little time to play with the Nikon D90 and my new 50mm f1.4 lens.  The kitties were my usual victims and here are a few shots of Maebree.  She’s almost all grown up it seems; so big compared to what she was a few months ago.

Still getting used to the lens, as well as where all the buttons are on the new camera, but I’m already very impressed.  So fast and works so well even inside with poor lighting.

More tomorrow, I’m sure.

I finally decided it was worth it to buy a new camera.  I’ve really wanted to work with prime lenses and do more portrait work, but the Olympus just doesn’t have the selection of prime lenses that Nikon and Canon do.  So I bit the bullet and bought a Nikon D90, along with the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D lens.

I haven’t taken any pictures yet, since the battery is still charging.  The UPS man only arrived with my wonderful new toy about an hour ago.  But as soon as that little charging light stops blinking, I’ll be taking pictures like mad!  Yay!