the new love of my life

yesterday.. my new best friend came in the mail.. its a canon EOS 40D digital SLR camera.. ooooomigosh.. it is SOO amazing.. i'm LOVING it !! its so heavy tho'.. i'm gonna have some serious muscle in my right arm by the time i get used to carrying it around !! but it shoots AMAZING images !! i'm SOO loving it :)

tiffany's party !

last night.. naomi & i went to tiffany's birthday party.. we had a really nice time.. the theme was the "roaring 20's" and so just about everyone was dressed up.. i've never been to a party like this before !! hehe

tiffany explaining to us that we all needed to read her "gazette" because later on in the night we would be asked to solve a murder mystery.. and the gazette gave the first part of the story..

tiffany's boyfriend.. cameron.. he's SO funny..

best friends <3

chillin'..

the house was decorated like it was an old speakeasy.. with playing cards.. dice.. poker chips.. candles.. hehe so cool !

i love the look on tiff's face ! she looks SO excited for her dad to be lighting the candles.. LOL

and.. not sure if anyone else noticed ? but tiff stood there and licked just about every single candle after pulling them out of the cake :)
[[oh and her mom is in the background.. almost looks like she's crying :) her baby girl is now an official adult]]

and so.. what's a party.. at a house decorated as a speakeasy.. without some -- ginger ale ? lol it was real organic ginger ale too.. blech..

haha i asked naomi to give me her best drunk impression :)

gathering around to watch tiffany open her gifts..

this is a typical tiffany look :) so happy.. overflowing with joy that she just giggles :)

haha it looks like she's going to poke cameron's eyes out or something !

trying to figure out how tiffany's big camera works..

waiting patiently for tiffany to open his gift.. :)

he bought her this beautiful necklace.. it was so pretty !

then.. like the sweet guy he seems to be.. he put it on her too..

so then.. we all gathered downstairs for the 2nd part of the murder mystery..

which consisted of a skit..

between cam && tiff..

haha this was so funny.. after their skit.. tiffany collected all our guesses at who the murderer was.. and after going thru them all.. she was standing there talking about the whole reasoning behind why it was who it was.. and cam sat down and says "anyone want to play clue while she's talking?" lol

caution: photographer driving

there are different driving hazards that people get up in arms about..

• there's always going to be the people that complain about how older folks drive..
• you've got people who complain about how teenagers drive..
• people who complain about people who are driving and talking on the cell phone..
• women who are doing their make-up..
• and any other odd assortment of things people do while driving..

but i'm here to say.. i think the most hazardous people on the roads.. would be the photographers.. with their cameras in the seat next to them.. [because you never know when you're going to see something you have to take a picture of && its always best to be prepared] who see something while driving that they just can't pass up and they HAVE to take a picture of..

so instead of finding somewhere to pull off of the road and actually set up for a good shot.. that person sees how soon this magical shot is going to disappear.. and so thinking fast they switch the camera to auto ::gasp:: and while still driving.. try to point and shot in the general direction of the amazing image that is just begging to be shot..

well.. that's what happened to me this morning on the way to college..

and laughing to myself about what i had done in the morning.. i climbed back into my car after classes were over.. started driving down the road.. only to realize.. i was going to do it again..

so.. go ahead.. put a ban on talking on your cell phone while driving.. ban texting while driving.. raise the driving age.. take away senior citizen's drivers licenses.. whatever.. just as long as i can still take pictures while i'm driving :)

19 years old

i turn 19 years old today..

i don't feel like i should be 19.. in some ways i feel like i should still be 10 or 11.. and in other ways i feel like i should be turning 21 or 22..

19 seemed to always be the magic number.. i remember playing "house" with my friends when i was little.. and we would always fight over who was going to be the 19-year-old sister.. usually we would end up compromising and pretending like we were twins -- because 19 always seemed like such the perfect age..

i guess i'll let you know in one year if it really is the perfect age -- if the 19th year of my life is the best ever..

i hope it is..

my main gift from my mum & dad was this disney album from creative memories.. and my mum knows how lazy i am and she bought me the EASY album.. that you just slide your photos into the pages !! yay !! i think its safe to say that i will finish this one :) the only problem is.. it only holds 160 photos.. and i took over 2,500 images on my trip to disney !! guess i have some major narrowing down to do..

and.. even tho' i'm now officially 19.. that doesn't mean that i still can't be a little kid :)

photoshop edits :: edition 3

[[as always.. the best way to view photos is to click on them -- which brings them up larger]]

the last weekend at the lake..

CAUTION: long post ahead :)

where in the world does one start ? i guess at the train station.. where i picked derrick up thursday night :)

(photo credit: naomi abbey)
alright.. soo.. i had been told by naomi & derrick that they had a surprise planned for me thursday night so i had to dress up.. i honestly could have cared less about going anywhere.. chillin' at paul & naomi's appartment with derrick for the evening would have been amazing enough.. (btw.. i love this girl more than anything in the world)

(photo credit: naomi abbey)
i kinda sorta guessed where we were going -- DiSalvo's.. which is this restuarant that sits under the train tracks :) we were like.. the only people there.. hehe but it was really nice..

(photo credit: naomi abbey)
and yes.. they forced me to open their presents.. as if dinner and just hanging out wasn't enough.. they felt compelled to buy me presents too.. they're crazy !!

(photo credit: naomi abbey)
haha we have the funniest looks on our faces :)

naomi cooked me this AMAZING cake.. it was SO good too -- with a layer of cheesecake in the middle.. her cakes are becoming so fabulous.. someday maybe she'll make my wedding cake :)

(photo credit: naomi abbey)
this was SO funny !! naomi didn't have any candles.. and so derrick grabbed this big thing off of their hutch cabinet and held it for me to blow out.. except every time i'd try to blow.. he'd move it away..

(photo credit: naomi abbey)
but.. i'd say the highlight of the night was hearing derrick & paul (and naomi) sing 'happy birthday' to me !! they started out "normal"and ended up singing in parts.. it was SO amazing.. i wish we could have recorded it :)

so that was thursday night.. derrick and i left to come home after the movie was over.. and then friday kinda went by in a huge blur.. derrick & i went to breakfast with my gram.. then came back to the house to practice for his concerts in november.. then we had lunch at WEC with my family.. then we ran to the mall to pick up some sheet-music.. back to the house to practice some more.. and then we left for the lake house..

this is the last weekend of the year down at the lake.. it was autumn glory weekend and it was gorgeous !! not only were the leaves all changing.. but we had unimaginable weather -- every day it was sunny with clear blue skies and temps in the 70s !!

saturday morning i snuck down to the lake while everyone was still getting ready to leave for the autumn glory festivities to take some pictures..

the water was SO smooth and clear.. amazing stuff..

i love the look on ruby's face !! sooo cute :)

and i think this is going to be turned into one of my favorite pictures of all time.. totally candid.. yet perfect.. gotta LOVE the robin hood hat !!

like i said.. it was autumn glory weekend.. which my dad reminded us is the number 1 rated fall festival in the country..

the family (&derrick) waiting for the parade to start..

this was SO funny.. we were sitting at the beginning of the parade route.. and there were 2 people on either side of the road with these signs.. letting everyone know what speed to go !

see ? sunny with clear blue skies..

the rest of saturday was spent canoeing.. canoeing some more.. giving little people canoe rides.. hehe.. chillin' with the family.. and playing scene-it :)

sunday was just like saturday.. only better.. if that was possible..

(photo credit: ellen eichelberger)
yess.. i like this picture.. he looks like a model =D

(photo credit: ellen eichelberger)
and this one too.. i have NO clue what we were doing.. LOL

(photo credit: ellen eichelberger)
i think he has to climb a tree every time we're together.. hehe :)

(photo credit: ellen eichelberger)
derrick helping daddy load the wood into the trailer to take home..

hahahaha derrick.. surrounded by girls !! =D

my "competition" for the weekend.. ruby hung all over derrick all weekend long.. it was so cute :)