The Big 29!

Well, yesterday was my birthday and Chad decided this year that he wanted to do something special for me. We took a trip up north to visit some our best friends from childhood and college in the Sacramento area, then headed over to San Francisco to check out the city...and what an amazing city it is.

We had a great time visiting our friends (thank you Mike, Julie, Mark and Whitney) for the first part of the weekend, then spent Sunday night in S.F. My one request for my birthday was to get up and see the sunrise at the Golden Gate Bridge. Chad obliged, so we packed up quite early and headed that way. We then decided to be the ultimate tourists rented a GoCar, which is some type of car/motorcycle/scooter thing. We spent the day touring the city with a lovely GPS tour guide, who very politely told us when we went off course. I also must say that I have never been laughed at so many times in one day! We apparently looked pretty ridiculous in our convertible motorscooter with our big doofy helmets on....go figure!

Anyway, here some shots that I got along the way.


A shot of the Golden Gate at sunrise


Another of the GG...black and white style


A pier near the Golden Gate at sunrise


More of the Bridge...on our tour later in the day


One more view....it was just too pretty of a day to pass all of these up


The Bay Bridge...which I might argue is even more impressive than the Golden Gate


A shot of the famous Lombard Street...notice the helmet!....Chad claims he was "haulin'" here ;)


A shot out the back of our scooter...just cruisin' down the mountain!


This is Mark & Whitney's 5 month old Golden Retriever, Sawyer....he is still ALL puppy, but very adorable.


And we can't have leave out the cat...here is Bell...relaxing as far away from Sawyer as she can get...she's still not very fond of the puppy...

New Camera Funnness

So I haven't been this enthused about a gadget in, well, ever! I just picked up a new camera the other day and got the chance to put it to work at dusk...which is in so many ways the best time of day to shoot.

Chad and I took our friend Matt to La Jolla to experience the cliffs. It was a beautiful night complete with huge waves, some great cloud textures in thy sky and some very helpful and lighting from the surrounding city. I had so much fun testing the new equipment. What a beautiful night!

Always a good time...

When friends come to visit. This weekend we have Chad's good friend Matt in town and have just begun to show him all the sites of San Diego...and there are so many! Sometimes we forget how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful city.

We took him down to beach today and enjoyed the crystal clear day that we had today...thanks to the rain for washing all the smog away! I of course took some snaps while we were out.

Notice the third...Chad and Matt decided to destroy a sand castle that had been built by father and son earlier in the day. Luckily they had abandoned their castle prior to my mischevious husband and his good friend using it for target practice. Boys will be boys!

Don't Look...UP

UrbanScape

I was downtown shooting a condo in Little Italy and as I was leaving I pointed my camera out a view window in the building and got this shot. Every once in a while, I literally "point and shoot" blindly just to see what I can come up with. I thought this perspective of downtown San Diego was kind of cool. Combined with a little PhotoShop fun, this is what I ended up with.

Day In Temecula

This past Saturday I spent the day in Temecula some of my favorite girls for to celebrate my sister's birthday. Temecula is known for its wineries and for being situated a valley surrounded on all sides by beautiful mountain ranges. The weather was sunny and in the high 70's...not bad for the beginning of January....gotta love So Cal!

2008

With each New Year it seems as though it is harder and harder to believe that another 365 days has passed, and this year is no exception. 2007 was an exciting year full of new adventures, and looking back today it seems to have sped right on by. I'm ready to turn the page however and very much look ahead to the New Year. I am excited and what it has in story for not only us, but all of our friends and family.

Chad and I have spent the past 10 days in Oregon visiting my family for the holidays which has proven to be a great time to relax in a peaceful environment. We have taken some time to reflect back on this past year, and to also look ahead to our tasks when we return home to San Diego tomorrow. We continue to find ourselves more and more blessed with amazing family and friends, and to be given the ability to work the jobs that we do and to experience each day as it comes.

May you all enjoy a happy and healthy 2008!

Micah

I gave my hand at my first baby shoot a couple weeks ago and had a great time. Micah was an adorable and very well behaved baby. He is only three months old and has more than enough hair to get it cut! He was a great subject and very aware of the camera and his surroundings. Here is a shot of him after our shoot when he had just fallen asleep...kind of makes the heart break a little...in a good way of course:).