why are things weird on here???

understanding quality

after my incredibly enjoyable trips to LA and NYC, i am dying to spend more time behind my lens. that being said, i have been studying up on 35mm professional film manuals and reviews. i never really paid much attention to the quality of the film i would select, just opting for the cheapest, yet fully understanding what the consequences would be....and many of my pictures reflect that. i always had a basic understanding of different films and different film speeds, but like i said, i would always opt for the cheapest options.

i really want to take more quality pictures and enjoy them afterwards. i am understanding more and more. (too bad all of it is ridiculously expensive...)

i should update this more often. i promise....i will get better. =P

August Adventures

it has been a while since i have updated. a lot has happened. first of all i got a job in the middle of july, so that was good. enjoying that thus far. been going through some training, and almost have that completed.

as of the beginning of august i have been back in california. mainly because i completed my college requirements by taking an ASL class. i was able to sign up for a program at CSUS (Sac State) that covered the courses ASL 3 & 4. it was an immersion program which consisted of an intensive two week class that fully immersed in ASL. we had deaf teachers and commnicated in ASL ONLY. no verbal communication was allowed at any time between 9am-9pm. i must say it was a very challenging, yet rewarding experience. i had excellent professors. i learned so much about the language and the culture. it was flippin hard, i must admit, but i have gained so much through it. anyways, i completed that just this last friday evening and feel very happy about it.

last weekend i got a very wonderful brief 24 hours with my dearest friends. the girls drove up from LA in the middle of the night to visit with me. we checked in the hotel at 2am...chatted for a bit...fell fast asleep...and then woke up just in time for some breakfast at Hobies at 1pm. after that we couldn't make up our mind on what to do next only to find ourselves in bridal shops helping michaela find that special gown. after that we had to say our goodbyes. it was awesome seeing them again. and i already miss them.

in the mean time, i was able to spend the past couple weekends with my brother and sister in law (Jared and Mary Lou) while they anxiously awaited for the arrival of their new bundle of joy. well, as of late last night (Aug. 15th), Adalyn Grace Lumiqued Koopman finally arrived. i spent most of today at the hospital visiting with the new little one. and she is so precious. i am a very happy auntie. see www.koopmanohana.blogspot.com for more info and pics.

so, to say the least, it has been a very busy yet rewarding end of summer. i spend one more day out here in california then on tuesday i fly back home to colorado. i start up work again this wednesday afternoon. anywho, i think that is it for now. as they say in ASL (*hand motion*). =)

sorry for a such a delayed update. anyways, a lot has happened in the past few weeks. my class has started this month and have been studying my book and preparing myself for the online quizes. will be doing that the rest of this month before i leave august 1st to fly out to sacramento to do the in class portion. real excited and nervous about it, but i know i will learn a lot.

after about 40 days of job searching i finally landed a job! i applied at this company called Mosaic, it is a non-profit organization that cares for patients with developmental disabilities. the patients they serve and care for live in homes throughout the cities and Mosaic hires workers to help and care for them 24/7. i will be working in one of the homes. i am very excited about it and have high hopes for it. sounds like a good start on a career.

let's see, what else is going on....well i am definitely excited to see my niece who is due to arrive this early august. the whole family is excited about that. i look forward to seeing her this august when i am out there.

i discovered yesterday that i seriously need to start visiting the gym or find a way to get in shape. i actually have been good about eating well (with a few exceptional visits to dairy queen...god i love those blizzards), but nevertheless i need to start working out...again. after my lifting/strength test i took yesterday afternoon, for my new job, i found that my muscles need a little more movement. haha

anyways, glad it is the weekend again. don't know what i will do. oh well.

update

so....i need to update. today's is father's day. we spent the day going to church in the morning. then we went to a park to grill some burgers and chill there. it was nice, the weather was very pleasant and hardly no one was there. afterwords we went to a summer greenhouse party. got to munch on some really good food, sip sangria, and look at plants/flowers. we spent the rest of the evening watching australia (it is finishing up right now), and i have been uploading pictures to the internet.

tomorrow starts another day/week of job searching. i had an interview last friday, that i felt went good. i hope to get called for a second interview, which they implied would be done this tuesday/wednesday. so....hopefully i will get called back for that. the job would be at a local downtown coffee shop which was a real nice. it is located in a bookstore which is awesome. non the less, i will continue applying at places, hoping something will come through.

as for other things going on....not much. i spent the day yesterday hanging tings in my room and putting together pictures. that was fun to see my room come together and feel more like home. mom has been working hard on our ever growing garden of plants/flowers/veggies/&herbs. it is coming together real nice and it is fun to grow some stuff for our use. the yard around the house has improved much, which is great. the grass is growing in like crazy, which is weird, yet great!

not much else is going. things have been low key otherwise. the weather has kept us entertained though, so that is good. we usually get a daily storm (rain/lightning/hail/etc...). it has been nice to be free all day to do whatever i want. although, i find that i am getting anxious for a job and an income. i am completely broke and find myself bored at times. i spend most of my day online searching job posting and sending in my resume to numerous places.

goals for this week:
--go for a run at least 2 times. (next week will be 3 times, and then the following 4, & etc...)
--put more job apps in
--visit more places around town
--wake up before 8am (i, for some reason, cannot wake up before 9am for the life of me)

so that's it for now. =)

so today i am continuing my desperate job search. not much luck so far. i have applied to about a dozen jobs and no word yet. i guess that is how it goes.

i am getting my haircut this afternoon....finally after like six months of not having one. i am looking forward to that.

it has been quite stormy here in colorado. we have had several tornado warnings in the neighboring county. lots of rain and lightning and thunderstorms. last weekend we were at some friends place outside of town and we just sat on there backporch and watched the lightning storm off in the distance. it was great! i am actually enjoying living in a place that gets exciting weather. the rain is refreshing and the thunderstorms are exciting.

this is definitely going to be an intersting summer. getting everything squared away for taking this class this summer. i am kinda excited about it. it is going to be fun. meet new people and learn a lot.

anyways...not much else is going on. will keep you posted of anything exciting. =)