Portraits: my niece, S

It's hard to believe, but my oldest niece is a senior in high school! We took time, during my recent trip to Albuquerque, to do some senior portraits. Thanks to my sister, R, for cheerfully driving us around to various pretty locations.


I got to see some areas of Albuquerque that I'd never been to (that I can recall). This was a really pretty winery called Casa Rondeña in Los Ranchos Village. I could've done the entire session here--there were lots of pretty photo spots.


Look at how pretty she is! And yes, her skin is that smooth.







A really pretty seating area with a pond. I'm sorry it's a little too blurry to see.. I was feeling kind of self-conscious taking pictures while people were out drinking wine (I didn't want to disturb their tranquility!), so I tried to be quick.



I did take a few building photos before we left, though.



Beauty!


Back to S. :) Here she is with her little sister, J, who tagged along. Maybe in ten years I can do her senior portraits, too! If I haven't forgotten everything.



Not the typical New Mexico scenery. I loved it here!




I meant to turn a couple photos black and white, but I liked the colors too much.






And we had to get photos with the balloons the next morning! I'm so glad we did, even though I'm sure S was pictured-out by then. Anyway, it was a perfect time of year for portraits and I had a good time. Thanks, S and R (and J!). :)

Oh here

I made this graphic back in 2009. Why not get more use out of it?


Have a nice last day of October! Eat some candy, play games with the family, and take a night walk. At least, those are things I used to do on Halloween when I lived near my family!

Clever Subject Line

What's this? I am looking at my laptop screen and I can actually see what's on it? That's right, my laptop is fixed*!

I don't have time to post a set of photos for you tonight, so I'll just give you some really important updates:

1. The above photo was one of my birthday presents that I put together during my laptopless (scandalous!) evenings. Thanks again, Dania! There were a lot of tiny pieces in that project.

2. I have also finished one puzzle (of hot air balloons--thanks, Jennifer!) and started another (of a seaside town, Wysocki-style), also a gift from Dania the Generous.

3. I have many generous friends and family members, actually. Thanks, all!

4. Last night I managed to trap a big ugly bug in a plastic cup and successfully bring it out to the dumpster without it touching me.

5. I know it's sort of uncool for Christians to like Halloween, but I do! I like the smaller holidays that don't last 6 months (*cough*Christmas*cough*). I don't dress up or do anything major, but I do enjoy some of the festivities, mostly in small ways, like the decor, kids' costumes, jack-o-lanterns, candy (of course), and how my phone games have special Halloween features right now. In fact, I just caught a ghost on Sims Freeplay, and now you are jealous.

6. Now that my laptop is working, I can catch up on my banking! I always feel better when I know exactly how much I have and what bills are coming up. Thanks, AceMoney Lite!

7. My monitor is dying on me as I type this!! :( There are three white stripes across it. Awesome news! :| [EDIT: Closing and reopening the laptop has helped it for now.]

8. I don't want to end this post on a sad note, so happy Halloween! And don't worry, I'll get it fixed somehow. Maybe it's just a loose cable!


*Although it's a bit dim. I'm not sure if the new screen is just this way naturally, or if something isn't plugged in tight enough. I did adjust the brightness to as high as it can go, but I feel almost like I'm wearing sunglasses. I'll have to investigate, but if you have thoughts, please share.

Checking in

[Sunrise from the other day.]
Oh hey! Just thought I'd check in to tell you that my laptop has been broken, hence the blog silence. Have you enjoyed it immensely?

The light in the monitor went out this past weekend. I ordered the parts I need so my coworker can fix it next week (I'm so thankful for my work offering up free help on my personal computer). In the meanwhile, I don't enjoy staying very late at work just to use the computer, and at home I can only check in online with my phone. Thank God for that, but it's not exactly a great way to post to my blog.

The nice thing about not having a computer to distract me is that I've gone to bed much earlier this past week, and should be doing pretty well on sleep. I'm so happy it's Friday, though.

Tomorrow I have a photo shoot and Sunday I'm headed to the pumpkin patch (assuming the weather cooperates). I'll probably have some photos to show you from both events, but I still have several New Mexico pictures to share as well.

Last Thursday was my birthday and I got lots of great gifts, cards and birthday messages. Thanks to those of you who said something! It really made my day. :) I owe several people thank-you notes but haven't gotten around to it yet. You'd think that without my laptop at home, I'd be more on top of something like that, but I've been very tired and lazy this week.

How are you? What are your weekend plans?

Mass Ascension

Here are some of my photos from the first mass ascension of the fiesta on Sunday morning (Oct 7). There are several, but it shouldn't take too long to scroll through this post, as I'll try to keep the words to a minimum.



The "show" began with a handful of Dawn Patrol balloons preparing to fly up before the others. As I mentioned before, this was a very exciting time. I used my sister's tripod for many of these photos so I could do 1-2 second exposures. I only wish I had rented a better lens for this event, since I just had to use my kit lens for its wider angle.




The balloons did a bit of glowing for a pretty light show.


Then they began taking off one at a time to cheers from the crowd. An announcer told us the balloon names as they lifted off.




As it started getting lighter, other balloons were being inflated.




This balloon went up and the national anthem was sung.



More and more balloons were ascending. They say the balloons leave in two waves, but it seemed more like they just went up at all different moments over the course of an hour or so.


My sister (who appears in a couple of these since I kept stopping to take pictures while she walked ahead) and I really liked that swirly one.





R and I were kind of making fun of the fact that lots of people were holding up their iPads to take pictures. I guess it's a sign of the times, and my dad was saying that it makes it much easier to email the photos to people, but it seemed kind of silly like there's got to be a better way to photograph the event. I don't own an iPad, though.



Lots of cute balloon designs and shapes. I tried to include several in this post.






It seemed like every time we turned around, several new balloons were being inflated. It was impossible to keep up with all of the different styles.





That zebra had a little trouble with his nose falling toward the ground. It took awhile before it could actually take off.




A butterfly that I think I photographed better that night.




I really liked this one for whatever reason. My sister got me one of the cards (balloon pilots hand cards out to the kids who collect them).



On the left, someone is trying to take a creative photo of their friend "holding" the penguin's camera, I guess.




The people who direct the balloons for takeoff are called zebras because of their striped outfits. Some take the name literally in how they dress.


And that's my summary of mass ascension! It was a great morning. Next up I'll post photos from the evening events. Thanks for looking!