OH! I MISS MY CAMERA!!!!

Well it's true what they say, "you don't know what you got 'til it's gone." Although in my case I knew exactly what I had, I just miss it so much more now! I'm referring to my camera, of course, haha. Ever since it was stolen during a break in at my residence a few months ago, I have watched SO MANY photo opportunities pass me by and IT SUCKS! I don't even have a simple little "point and shoot" camera to get by with anymore! See this photo below here? I took this while on a bus tour in London, U.K. almost 11 years ago. All I had was a 35mm point and shoot camera - and I shot this out the bus window as we were driving by. I get a kick out of the fact that it won first prize in the first photo competition I ever entered. Who would have ever guessed?!



But it got me thinking, why let photo ops just pass me by like this? The earth is still turning, life is not going to come to a halt until I can get my hands on a new camera! At least my cellphone has a camera on it! Here are some I took with it earlier this year ( in the spring):

So while I am saving up every available nickel and dime - which is a challange when my kids' birthdays and christmas all happen to be around the same time, hehe - I am going to be taking on a second, new challenge: Cellphone Photography!

My Favorite Things ....

These two little dudes are my absolute FAVORITE things in the world. No, they are not "things" persay, but I HAVE been known to refer to them as Thing One and Thing Two from time to time, hehe, Hey, these two aren't always as angelic as they look in this picture, but they are still my Heaven on Earth =)

Some of my other favorite things.....








Mountain climbing. This photo is actually Phase 2 of 3. It was exhausting but AMAZING. Can't wait to climb some more!

The City skyline. Can you guess what city this is? My next photo should give you your answer. But go ahead and guess first, I'll wait...

Fireworks. Yes I admit I'm a bit of a pyro, hehe. This pic was a quick shot I stopped to snap as we ran through the City streets to catch a skytrain after the Closing Ceremonies of the 2010 OLYMPICS. (You guessed the city right by now I'm sure, yes it's Vancouver, BC)

Sunsets. My favorite time of day. (I'm a night owl not a morning person, so sunrises didn't make it on the favorites list!)


The Beach. I am 100% beach bum, hehe. A beach is also my favorite place to run because it's a harder workout and the sand is easier on the joints than asphalt

FOOD!!!!!! I LOVE FOOD. Aaaaand now you see why I have to run all the time ..... =P



Wine tours. And good friends =) Especially wine tours WITH good friends! (Check out the slightly dilapidated umbrella,  haha , courtesy of the winery because it started to pour when we arrived.  It looks like we had an unfortunate Mary Poppins incident, haha)

Halloween - and Halloween costumes! Dressing up as a mobster for a night was a riot!


Christmas. I love decorating my house for christmas. Don"t worry, I'm not one of those crazy people who puts their tree up in the middle of November, hehe I'm a firm beleiver that Christmas Decorating Shall Commence on the 1st of December and Not a Day Before! I also follow the tradition of taking down the tree on New Years Day. Hey, it's a new year. Ar that point I'm already making plans for the upcoming summer =)

Well, I have alot of other favorite things, but I didnt have photos for them on my computer, such as my regular Thursday Night BBQ's with friends.

I'm off to bed now, 'cause tomorrow starts a long day, ending hopefully with me and a friend sipping drinks at the Cactus Club! Have a good night everyone, and watch for details of my Christmas in November giveaway contest starting MONDAY.

Sweet dreams, sunsets and fireworks

-J

How Not To Have a Bad Day

How NOT to Have a Bad Day:

1) Get up with your alarm and don't accidently fall back to sleep. (oops, )

2) Rememeber to set the coffeemaker on "auto" the night before so it's already brewed by the time you're ready to splash some into a travel mug as you're dashing out the door.

3) Triple-check the fridge to make sure the kids remembered to grab their lunches so you don't spend your lunch break bringing them their lunches, hehe

4) G'rocery-shop on your lunch hour sans-kids so you're not doing it after work when they ask you for EVERYTHING in the store (note: this only works if you accomplish #3)

5) Start dinner as soon as you get home from work (this only works if you accomplish #4)

6) Snuggle with the kids and read them a story before hed. ( this works no matter how your day went already!)

And THAT my friends, is how to NOT have a bad day, heehee. Mine obviously didnt go that smoothly, The only thing I DID do was #6.... and honestly it really didnt matter after that how the rest of my day had been going up until then. The rain is coming down hard on the roof, and I`m typing this as I sit at my coffee table in front of a roaring fire (which is in my fireplace, don`t worry) While today was a relatively mundane and easy-to-recover-from day in the grand scheme of things, sometimes it feels like life really does sucker-punch ya, right in the kisser! And hey, sometimes you could swear all the computerized equipment in your office are conspiring against you ( the ones in my office seem to on a regular basis anyways, just ask my boss!) But NO MATTER WHAT, whether it was nothing more than a bad hair day ( hey come on, we ALL have those!) or you`ve spent a night crying tears of heartbreak, please know that you are not alone out there. I`ve had my fair share of heartbreaks in the not-so-distant past, and I also know what an uphill battle it is to pick yourself up time and time again and keep going. But after the darkest hour has passed (and the darkest hour WILL pass) the sun WILL rise again, A new day means the chance to make new choices. For those of you out there whose hearts are breaking right now, I wish I could give you the world`s BIGGEST hug. (And, in some cases, the world's biggest KLEENEX, hehe) For those of you whose hearts are still intact, PLEASE, take time to notice all the hurting hearts around you, as you go about your day. You were there once too, remember., maybe even not too long ago. You have a chance to make someone else`s day a better day today. So here`s a sunrise just for you. in case its cloudy outside your windows when you wake up, to remind you that "this too, shall pass".

awesome-sized kleenex's and even more awesome sunrises,
-J

View From the Top...

... from a lookout point at the lovely Tinhorn Creek Winery. I was there for a Bedouin Soundclash concert not too long ago (they rocked, by the way!) I would post the video I took of them, but the camcorder on my cellphone is REALLY crappy so I'm afraid you'll just have to take my word for it! This pic was taken with my phone on a hike in Tinhorn's 'Golden Mile' trail WARNING: the trail name is deceiving! It's actually almost 10 km from start to finish! GAH! But the scariest part was that when we got to the trail, there were warning signs EVERYWHERE about bear sightings in the area.

*gulp*

Ummm, ya I was scared the whole time, hahaha, even though my friend assured me that she had pepper spray. I wasn't about to get close enough to a bear to use that stuff! Thankfully we made it through our hike without ever seeing one.We did see some incredible views, hence the pic I had to catch on my phone. It was probably a good thing I didn't have a heavy camera hanging around my neck, just in case I had to make a break for it! hee hee