Can Someone

Please tell me how to edit the links on the right side of this page? I don't know why, but I can't freakin' figure it out, and it's driving me crazy!

The Greatest Show on Earth

Friday night we took Payton to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus at the AAC. We had a GREAT time! Payton just loved it. She laughed and danced and just had a grand old time. I am so glad that we took her. Oh, we even bought $10 cotton candy! LOL. Here are some of the pictures I took.



Isn't this Arabian Gorgeous?



My Silly Goose, and the hat she got with the cotton candy.




I must admit, I thought the ringmaster was a Hot T! He had a rockin' bod!

Update on Class

As I told you earlier, last night was my first night of Photography Class. It was GREAT! I really enjoyed it, and learned a lot in three hours. Our instructor, who Christinenamed "the big fat greek wedding instructor" is really good. He has many many years of experience, as does his wife who has shot the likes of Patti LaBelle and Oprah. It was great to hear their advice and pointers regarding peoples' photo's too. I am really looking forward to the next 5 classes, and sit here wondering if that will really be enough?

We do have some assignments based on our class last night. We are instructed to tape our lens at 50mm, and only shoot at that setting. Yikes, that will be quite different for me. But, I'm willing to give it a try. We are also supposed to use the Rule of Thirds for all of our pictures, and shoot in RAW format; which I have never used. It kinda scared me before! :-) I guess now I will be thinking about how to get my hands on a copy of Photoshop CS2, as he says we all need to have it. Hmm, anyone out there want to buy it for me? Anyway, I will post my assignments here for your viewing pleasure, and you can let me know what you think! I've been trying all day to think of something really interesting to shoot, but haven't come to a conclusion yet. It's too hard to shoot my 2 yo, she's way too busy!!

Starting Tonight

I will be a school girl again! Hee hee. Too bad I don't look like a school girl again! :-) Actually, I signed up for a photography class at the local community college, and I'm really looking forward to it. I really hope to learn a lot, as I only know a little! I have this very nice, expensive camera that I am not taking full advantage!

I have a couple of friends taking the class with me, so it should be fun!

So this begs the question, should I really go back to school for my Masters? It kills me that I didn't just keep going after I got my Bachelor's....

Work Stuff

I really don't talk about my job much on this blog, but here goes. I have a great job. I work in sales for a very large corporation, and I work out of my home -- which is the best part. It's very flexible, and I'm able to do other things I need to do as well; long as I'm selling stuff and meeting my objectives. Well, I have quite a huge quota that is kinda daunting. I have some good accounts, and some great opportunities pending, but some great stuff that I have lost for this reason or that. Well, I am waiting to hear back this week on a big account that I have been working on for a while. I started out cold-calling this customer last year, and after many many unreturned phone calls, she finally agreed to meet with me. It was a good meeting, and she was very open with us. She told my bosses (who were there with me), that we wouldn't even be sitting there if it weren't for my persistence. Good, right? So anyway, we finally got the opportunity to bid on their business. What's funny is, they weren't even looking at this stuff before I started calling them, now they've got at least three companies bidding on it! Anyway, I know that our pricing was very competitive, and some were below what they are currently paying. One of the guys accidentally sent me their current pricing when sending me their usage info (oops! good for me though). I am hoping to hear something this week. This account is worth about $500,000 and I REALLY need to win it. I love this job and want to keep it! So, please everyone keep your fingers and toes crossed for me! And if you're the praying kind, that wouldn't hurt either!!!

Oh, and, if I am 110% of my quota come Dec. 31, I get to go on an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii in Jan. and bring Jeff with me. That is HUGE, and I SO freakin' want to go. So, if anyone has any connections with restaurants or retailers, have them call me so I can sell them some paper rolls.

The Cows

Yes, we live out in the country. Yes, I see cows everyday when I am come and go to my house. But, though we have 2 acres, we don't have any cows of our own. Yesterday as I went outside to feed Bella, she was barking like crazy at something. So, I peek around the house to see what it was, and sure enough, there were about 15 cows in my front yard. Nice! See, I have not a clue who these cows belonged to, or who the heck to call to have them come get their darn cows! For those of you who don't know, we have a pond. A pond that Jeff has spent a TON of time on, and lots of money on. When we first bought this land, it was pretty much just a big hole that would fill up when it rained, and dry up when it didn't. So, we have spent a lot of money, and Jeff has spent a lot of time getting it to hold water. He tried everything from rock salt to sodium bentonite. Finally, we bit the bullet and bought a HUGE fish safe plastic liner. This baby wasn't cheap. So, when Jeff heard about the cows, he was like "You cannot let them get in the pond." Easier said than done, right? Well finally the owner shows up, and tells me he has family members on their way to help round up the cows. Meanwhile, here I am trying to get the cows away from the pond. While I grew up on a ranch, I was no cowgirl. I haven't quite learned yet what cows respond to, but it's not "Hey!". Those damn things just straight up ignored me, and one of them walked through the pond anyway. I was freakin'! I still have no clue if it damaged the liner; there's no way to really tell aside from strapping on some scuba gear to take a peek. I am just crossing my fingers and toes that they didn't. Those damn things weigh a ton though, so I don't know how it 'couldn't. Ugh, anyway, I got the guy's name and number, just in case. We'll see!

Stuff

Justin and I took Payton to her first real movie last week at the theater. We were going for a $1 showing of Curious George, but after waiting in a monstrous line, they had sold out two theaters. So, we opted to try Cars. Payton did pretty darn good for a 2 year old in a 2 hour movie. She definitely got antsy towards the end, but all in all, did great. I don't think she was that thrilled with the movie though! LOL.

Next, we had a playdate at my friend Krysta's house last week. We had a great time, as always. There were a few new folks there, so that was exciting. Payton played with her friends and we ate and talked. See pic's below.




Miss Sassy Britches


Oh, what her daddy would say if he saw this!




We decided to go on one more vacation this year, not that we should be, but you know how that is. Anyway, we are very excited! We are going on a cruise with Traci & Chris the first week of October, and we can't wait. Payton is going to stay here with Nana, so hopefully we'll get some good relaxation while we are there.

Payton got the pleasure of going with me to my annual gyn appointment. Fun, yes, I know. She was a very good girl though. She chatted up the doctor and nurses, and learned a new phrase, "pap smear". Yes, she will know that all too well one of these days. Anyway, it was so cute, the dr. asked her something about her friends, and she said, "My friends are Jacob, Lucy, and Ashlyn". Awww...

And last, but not least, my 2.5 year old now has a 4-wheeler. Not an electric, buy at Wal-Mart 4 wheeler, nooooo, a REAL one. It is really cute though!! Jeff got a slammin' deal on it, so he couldn't pass it up. We are going to keep it boxed/locked up for a good while though. Probably until she's at least 4. It's really cool though--it has an alarm (not sure why), and it has remote start and stop. So, if she decides to head for the creek or something, we can kill the engine with the push of a button! Oh, and did I mention it's pink camo? So Cute!




So, that's the excitement for us lately. I'll "try" to post more often! Anywho, here are the pics.

My BIG Girl!

For about the past 2.5 weeks, my BABY has been going on the big girl potty. I really thought this day would never come, but WHAMMO! She just decided one day to do it, and a week later she was even pooping too! Now she is wearing big girl panties everyday, and very RARELY has an accident. I'm so proud of my big girl!

Fourth of July

Happy Birthday America!

We had a great 4th of July weekend. We left on Saturday morning, and went up to Grand Lake in NE Oklahoma to spend the weekend at Jeff's family's lake house. It is so beautiful up there, and I love hanging out with Jeff's cousin's and their family's. They are so much fun! We took our tent (equipped with A/C), our blow up bed, and camped for two nights. We spent the days on the lake, chatting with family, and eating. Man, do they have lots of food up there. I bet I gained at least 5 pounds. Thanks a lot guys! Payton had a great time as well. She really liked sleeping in the tent, and she got mad when we took down her trampoline (aka bed). Here are some pics from the long weekend, as well as some from the weekend before when we went to the Allen USA Celebration (I'll post those first).








This is the "lake house" where we stayed. Isn't it pretty?










Danny, Bryan & Justin getting ready to go out on the "Doo"


This is me, hanging on for dear life!



....And the wipeout -- I think I did about 4 barrel rolls!


This is her "model" pose


Walking with Daddy


This is about 1/4 of the crew