38/52 - Photo Project 2014

Week 38 was very photo happy - it brought me an urban sunset, some quality macro time with a dewy dandelion at sunrise and up close and personal with an unknown pink flower at same sunrise.

Tough choice, but I think this is my favorite:

Close runner's ups:

An embarrassment of riches, yes? 

Happy List, Week 39

Happy List, Week 39

1. AH's wedding. I served as wedding day-of coordinator for a friend's wedding - and had a blast. She was a beautiful bride and it was a wonderful wedding & reception. Her family and the family she married into are wonderful!

2. Weddings. Weddings are fun - a lot of my friends are already married so I haven't been to one in awhile.

3. Photo Flood. Explored a park that I don't go to regularly but should. That's why I enjoy this group.

4. King and I. I'm trying to think back if I've ever eaten there - but I highly recommend it. Delicious!

5. PF friends. They're good folk - and hanging out with them is a blast!

6. Crab Rangoon. King and I has the best crab rangoon in town. I'm hooked!

7. Rummage sales. You never know what you're going to find at a rummage sale. I walked away with some beautiful vintage medicine bottles.

8. Efficiency. I can have a pretty big lazy streak when I want to so I love it when I'm uber-efficient.

9. Beautiful weather. Fall is here and it's my favorite season of all. Crisp temperatures, beautiful skies and less sweating while standing still.

10. Sunset/sunrise stalking. I don't always get rewarded but it is still fun!

37/52 - Photo Project 2014

Week 37 wasn't quite the embarrassment of riches that Week 36 was, but it wasn't too shabby.

I was able to get another variation of a foggy sunrise, albeit steam fog off the rivers. Plus, I took photos at a doggy fundraiser and got up close and personal with birds (sorry, Mom!)


This is my favorite of the week - and the favorite of the doggy fundraiser show:

Not always a fan of dressing up dogs but this was a good cause and the costumes & puppy pairings were perfect. Don't mess with Baby! 

Close runner's up:

Someday... I'll stop being behind... promise! 

Happy List, Week 38

Happy List, Week 38

1. New car! My previous one was 12 years old and it was past time to replace it before it was really just a hunk of junk. I settled on a beautiful dark blue Mazda CX-5.

2. Mazda. For still making great cars at a mostly affordable price and some zoom-zoom.

3. On my own. I did this whole car thing on my own - research, to test driving, to researching more, to negotiating to deciding to signing. I did have virtual support but I felt quite grown up doing all this on my own.

4. Advances in technology. Cars have changed so much in the last 12 years. No longer will I be jealous of other people's cars for having what I've always wanted (rear windshield wipers and an auxiliary cable for an iPod).

5. Photo time. I've been still able to sneak a little photo time in this weekend. Hopefully more to come before I publish this list.

6. Fall. Fall is here - it came quite suddenly but it's a welcome respite from the digesting humidity.

7. Catching up. I've fallen behind on this blog - it was nice to catch up.

8. Sunrises. THey're always beautiful, even if they're simple colors. And since I can't sleep in... might as well.

9. Macro. I had a chance to do a slightly different kind of macro and it was a lot of fun.

10. Friends. Good friends are hard to come by and I have some pretty awesome ones in town.

Whoo hoo! Got to 10, even if I posted a day late. The list was completed to #7 before Wednesday, I just forgot to post!

36/52 - Photo Project 2014

Week 36 brought an embarrassment of riches: the Japanese Festival... twice and a stunning confluence of weather riches - lovely sunrise and a foggy morning.

This is undoubtedly the winner of the week:

Second place:

Third:

Fourth:

Fifth:

And really all of them are in second place... I just had to put them in some semblance of an order.

An embarrassment of riches, agreed? I love all these photos equally. And BTW, this is the first time an iPhone photo has been the photo of the week!

35/52 - Photo Project 2014

Week 35 had but one photo opportunity, but it was a major one - the Missouri State Penitentiary. We spent 3 hours there in the high humidity, high temps but it was worth it. I ended up with 80 photos that can be found here, but I had to choose just a few to pick from here. Tough call, because it was a really fascinating place.

We were able to tour into three different buildings on the campus of the now abandoned Missouri State Penitentiary. The grounds are home to a lot of history and some pretty famous faces passed through there.  Opened in 1836 and closed in 2004. Since then, the grounds have only been partially maintained and the decay is amazing. One of the more famous prisoners staged an escape and later assassinated MLK, Jr - the one and only James Earl Ray.

I'd love to go back when I wasn't sweating buckets. I really need to do some more research about the place - it is just fascinating to see a side of things that one hopes one never sees.

I think this one is the winner - it's a really tough call:

Close second:

Third:

Fourth:

More to come... next week is a much, much harder decision.

Happy Lists, Week 36 & 37

Well... Week 36 ran away from me so here's two for one!

Happy List, Week 36 

1. Sheer laziness. It's kind of fun when you get the chance.

2. Haircut. This weather finally got to me - 4+ inches on the floor!

3. Day drinking. Celebrating a friend who is a bride-to-be!

4. Sunday. Sunday was a great day - Japanese Festival (complete with a Teahouse Island tour) and Paint Louis with a friend made for a great day despite the sun and humidity.

5. Monday. Monday was great day - spent almost the entire day with the family and puppies. Japanese Festival part deux including no rain and delicious lunch and then Labor Day BBQ later.

6. Naps with pups. I got a chance to nap with Sgt Pepper on Monday and it was awesome. I missed having a cuddly pup.


Happy List, Week 37

1. Art festivals. St. Louis is lousy with art festivals in a good way. Two for one, one weekend.

2. Clayton Art Fair. I may not make a good patron (too expensive!) but the art there is certainly beautiful. I didn't really wander it too much this year, but there's always next year!

3. Chuseok Festival. I'd recently been jokingly complaining that there's no Korean festival in town. There is a new, small-but-ready-to-grow one in town. I hope it really takes off!

4. Calligraphy (Son Keun Hee). There was a calligraphy artist at aforementioned festival and he wrote my name out in Korean - first time I've seen my name written out outside of my adopted records. I was so pleased with the result that I framed it later that day.

5. Sunrise. Twice in week 37 I had the opportunity to view beautiful sunrises in Forest Park. Two very different sunrises, two beautiful sets of pictures.

6. Storms. We had a particularly wicked storm on Friday of Art Festival weekend and it was incredibly exciting to be out in it.

A Trio of Pups

Ever since we lost our dearest Tommy, back in January - the hole left in our hearts and home has been  sitting large and empty. Even Pippin had seemed more subdued - missing a companion (they never played like some dogs play together).

Enter Rosie and Sgt Pepper. We really hadn't intended to get TWO dogs to replace ONE, but it just happened that way and frankly, we wouldn't have it any other way.

Rosie

Rosie is a 3 year old ginger-colored terrier mix who was found walking the streets of Knoxville, TN. We don't know much about her past, but we do know she is a sweetheart. She immediately plopped in mom's lap when we met her, and she is an instant cuddler. Even better, is that she basically becomes puppy putty (or liquid mercury as we have called it) once she is next to you/in your lap. She can spend hours on her back, all splayed out, and loves best to be cuddled next to the nearest human.

She is SUCH a sweetie, such a cuddler and a cutie to boot. We are not quite sure yet on her heritage either - but she's simply adorable and should make quite the therapy dog if she doesn't fall asleep almost instantly on assignment from connecting with the human.

She's tall, lanky and quite the jumper. She's cleared a 3ft tall couch in a single bound and has (once) snuck onto the kitchen table. Since Pippin is not the cuddling type, I am absolutely loving the fact that Rosie is an insta-cuddler and adores all of her new humans (I barely qualify not being a live-in member of the household).

Sgt. Pepper

Sgt. Pepper is an 18-month old wheaten (that's blond to you non-dog people) Cairn Terrier who is just about the cutest pup on the planet. He is almost as big of a sweetheart as Rosie is but in a smaller package. He is shy, quiet and will kill you with the cuteness of his big eyes. His history is a bit better known in that he was found in a flea market in Georgia and made it through a rescue league to Missouri. His caretakers meant serious business on finding his forever home and did major research on us. He was definitely worth all the wait!

Sgt. Pepper (so named because Pepper sounds a bit like some of Pippin's nicknames) has acclimated to our household quite nicely. He and Rosie play so much that my parents have both joked about giving up the TV because they are so much fun to watch. He's almost as much of a cuddler as Rosie is but doesn't quite have the springs-for-legs that she has. He doesn't like to jump up much but will happily cuddle with, nap with or play with a squeaky toy to his heart's content. In fact, he echoed his big brother Tommy in clearing off the dog toy shelf and installing himself there adorably. He loves having his tummy scratched and occasionally gets the hiccups for no reason at all!

Pippin has taken quite nicely to two new dogs in one week which is pretty incredible. Pippin is not known for being friendly with all dogs - and that was key in whether either dog became part of the family. The grumpy "old" woman (she'll be 11 in late September) will occasionally join in the puppy playing fray and hasn't been too grumpy too often with either of the pups.

We simply couldn't be happier that both Rosie and Sgt. Pepper are now part of our family. I enjoy the fact that there are three happily wagging pups greeting me when I come to visit, and that when I sit down, I sometimes have two dogs sitting next to me or in my lap. And, as a plus - when I come over to watch a movie, no one gets left out in having an empty lap.

Soon, Mom will begin working on training them and hopefully we'll have not one, but two therapy dogs in our midst!