Monday, December 31, 2007
happy new years from lake tahoe!
so i’m here in south lake tahoe city, we boarded at heavenly 2 days ago, and then again today. it’s been alot of fun and i have other pictures to show but i’ll just share four of my favorites from today.
here’s a picture i took of allan (whose camera we were using), dean, perry, and marc
and then the pic allan took of me and perry in the same spot
right behind those trees was this awesome view of the nevada valley
anyways, happy new years y’all!!! from lake tahoe!!!
Saturday, December 29, 2007
my new camera is a samsung L730
so i purchased this camera from circuitcity right before christmas, and it was $119. it dropped to $109 a couple of days later and they gave me my money back! yay for circuitcity!
i was a little bit apprehensive before buying this camera because i wasn’t sure what this camera would be like, and there weren’t reviews discussing the features that i wanted to know about. but i think more than any review i saw was the test trial i did in the store - for all the cameras, i picked them up, turned it on, shot a picture of the store, and then turned the camera around and took a picture of myself. for all the other cameras in the same price range, i have to say that samsung had the best pictures, at least on the camera lcd screen. many of the other cameras (ahemkodakahem) had grainy images especially if you tried to look at any detail behind me in the photo. when i was trying out the samsung, there was a guy standing wayyyyy behind me and his head was a little circle above my shoulder, but when i zoomed in on it you could still see much more detail than with any other camera i tried.
although i said i was test-driving the samsungs, the actual model that i wanted to buy was not on display. and circuit city would not open a box to let me preview it. i was actually trying out the L77 (with 7x optical zoom!) and the S730 (which has the same specs as the L730 except that it uses 2 AA batteries instead of a lithium-ion battery).
what impressed me the most (beyond image quality in the lcd screen) was the quickness between shots for the L77 and the L730. both were ready almost immediately to take a picture when you turned it on and then after taking a picture both were ready to take the next one almost immediately. the L730 that i have has performed a little bit slower at home (but that might be due to it already being dropped and spilled on… -sigh-), but in general i’m happy with it.
the only complaint that i have so far is that the camera turns on with the flash in “fill-in/red-eye reduction mode”. no matter what setting i leave it on it always resets, even if i just preview the picture i took and then try to take another picture. i hate having the double flash because you tend to lose the picture so i have to toggle the flash option to get to “auto” flash. also, there is no “on” flash option - you can just toggle between fill-in/red-eye, auto, red-eye, and off.
i would also prefer it to have a super-macro but i realize that most people don’t use this option like i did with the last camera. and with the macro i was able to take the following pictures, so it’s still pretty good…
anyways, i’m pretty happy with my camera. it was within my budget and it takes lotsa good pics. yeah… i like it!
Friday, December 28, 2007
i have to catch up on my posting!
so this last week has been particularly active… AND i got a camera a week (which i will post about soon - but it’s this one for only $109) and a day ago so i documented it all pretty well. BUT due to all the activeness i haven’t been able to post about it. yet. i’ve only been around a computer a few times this week i’ve been on vacation, and i’ve spent time celebrating Christmas with various groups of friends, visiting family in LA, spending time with family in redlands, going to temecula, etc, that i have been building up posts. it’s a much better situation than i had this summer during which i had all the time in the world to post but absolutely nothing to talk about.
anyways, it’s wayyyyy too late right now but i think i’ll be posting more pretty soon. a lot of it might be outdated by the time i get to it, but i have pictures to share, so i’ll still talk about it enough to put pictures up. and make funny comments about the people in them. yup.
but for tonight, my only goal is to actually get this post online. i’ve already started 3 times today to no avail.
anyways, on to some spoiler pics for some posts to come:
my cousins on Christmas eve
Christmas loot addressed to “ms. puen” weird. i’m a miss.
marlene eating a chicken leg in a food 4 less. can we say ghetto? =) hahahhah… even better was watching rita take her picture with the cell phone camera. i love my friends!
our Christmas photo
some of the yammerz at the Christmas eve eve party
and this final pic i leave you with is of me and willis at the aforementioned party - we deemed it blogworthy the moment we took it!
aight… i’ll be posting more pics of the party, the other one with the roomies, jason’s 30-something birthday party, Christmas eve with the cousins, and of course, south coast winery in temecula. all the while i’ll be taking more pictures of us in tahoe.
this Christmas vacation ROCKS!!!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
two thousand and seven
thanks to “i don’t know" for this
1) Where did you begin 2007?
in maui on the beach
2) What was your status by Valentine’s Day?
um… together
3) Did you travel?
i wanna say yeah, but i can’t think of where i went…
4) Did you lose someone or something you love?
yup
5) Did you have to go to the hospital?
nope
6) Did you have any encounters with the police?
yeah… i’m a court mandated reporter so i had to talk to ‘em
and then on kat’s 30th bday the cops were called on us twice!!
7) Did you start dating someone new?
new? try -again-
8) What did you purchase that was over $1000?
my condo cost over $1000
9) Did you know anybody who got married?
rita. and jaylene. and val. am i forgetting anyone else? i feel like i am…
10) Did you get in any car accidents?
nope
11) Did you attend any sporting events?
a bulls/laker game, where the lakers kicked butt!
12) Did you move anywhere??
yup. we moved OUTTA the apartment 5 days before we could move INTO the condo. meaning i moved twice that week. and then 3 months later i helped rita move to newport. that sho’ was a busy time!
13) Did you keep your new year’s resolution?
i don’t really make resolutions, but if i do, it’s something like, “be happy this year” or “travel” or “learn something new i’ll always wanted to learn”. in which case, yes, i’ve kept it.
14) What concerts/shows did you go to?
um, i went to the hollywood bowl 3x this year.... and i think that’s it
15) What movies did you go see in the theater?
transformers. hairspray. simpsons. is that it?!!! i know i missed all the trilogies (pirates 3, spiderman 3, rush hour 3, bourne 3, shrek 3, ocean’s 3 - i mean 13, etc)
16) Did your hair color change?
nope. it’s still black
17) Did you get any taller?
i wish!
18) Describe your birthday?
barbecue at jason & rita’s the night before, salsa dancing at the granada in alhambra the day of. salsa music and mexican food.... mmmm!
19) Did you get any new pets?
i foster parented a chihuahua for 3 days. i thought about getting a plant to ease me into taking care of a pet, but i killed my tomato plant in about 2 weeks. i don’t think i am capable of caring for another being that cannot care for itself.
20) What has been your favorite moment?
i don’t know… i think my favorite moments are when i’m surrounded by the ones i love. nothing big or important, but those are the good times.
21) What’s something you learned about yourself?
i would rather sit at home alone than hang out with people who don’t know me (or who i don’t want to know)
22) What has been your biggest worry?
in january, i worried that we would move into the new place in those 5 days. i also worried about my loan status, etc.
then i didn’t really worry about finding a new job, but i did worry about my finances until my new paychecks started coming!
23) What was your best month?
now is good.
24) What music will you remember 2007 by?
oh gosh. i’m not good with music titles or lyrics or artists. i have no clue what my theme song for 2007 is… although there are some songs from the cruise (umbrella and lean like a cholo) that will always make me remember this time. but those songs are not my songs for 2007
25) Who has been your best drinking buddy?
perry.
26) Have you had to call the police on anyone?
yup. check question 6.
27) Have you gone skiing?
not this year. but i went snowboarding in mammoth early this year and i just made it up to mtn high last weekend!
28) Did you miss work due to illness?
just a couple of days all year long
29) Any like/love interests?
yep. guess who!
30) Get anything new?
new condo, new roommates, new job, and hence, new salary, and a new camera just yesterday!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Christmas tree update
so rod came over to help pull the tree out of the car, and he helped me get it into the tree stand. it was so close that the tree hit the ceiling on the way into the stand. and then i decorated it with lights as soon as it was up, but i waited for jill to come home before we put on any ornaments. we were so excited we took a picture with her iPhone (since my camera is broken)... it now has a star and a ribbon decorating it as well, but those aren’t in the picture.
isn’t it nice and huge!?!??? i love it!
reminds me of "minority report"
now ads can detect when you look at them. if you were raised the same brand of adventist i was, this is just another sign of the times, meaning that “they” are one step closer to finding adventists when we are trying to run for the hills!
i can’t tell if it’s my conservative adventist upbringing or my aversion to ‘big brother’ and movies like minority report that cause things like this to scare me. was anyone raised the same way i was? do you read things like this and think, “oooh! they’ll find me!”?? by the way, i also wanted to take the “wilderness survival class” that was offered during the summer. hahahha…
i think i’m just a dork.
Monday, December 10, 2007
i have a Christmas tree!!! well... sorta...
so i wanted to get a Christmas tree in my new house. this being my place and all, i thought it would be nice if i decorated it for the Holidays. and then i was toying with the idea of getting a fake, lit, Christmas tree. cuz, i mean, look how real and beautiful it looks! but then, y’know, nothing is better than getting a real tree.
so i stopped by on the way home and found a bargain deal on a 6’-7’ douglas fir tree - only $25!!! and then when i lifted it up i realized it’s actually probably 8 ft or so. it was sooo big i wasn’t sure that it would fit into the house! but i bought it anyways cuz it was full and beautiful and awesome looking!
can you believe i was able to fit it in the scion and bring it home that way? yeah, my scion has come in pretty handy!
but this is where we get stuck.
i cannot for the life of me take the tree out of the car. i’m apparently not strong enough, or it’s just at an awkward enough angle. plus, they slid it in from the hatchback trunk over the passenger seat so that the trunk is where the passenger legs would go, so i have two options:
- to either pull it out from the back of the car, pulling at the top of the tree, which really isn’t all that effective.
- and to push it out from the passenger seat, where i have no way of guiding the tree out. plus, i’m pushing all the branches -into- the seat. not that effective either.
it really is a 2-person job so someone can lift the back while someone pushes the trunk out of the passenger seat, but alas, i am home alone.
so i have an 8-ft Christmas tree, stuck in my car! woohoo!!!
Sunday, December 09, 2007
now we're 3 bachelorettes and a married lady!
rita and jason got married this weekend!
yeah, she’s the first of us bachelorettes to tie the knot! a couple of years ago i put up a survey on my blog and asked “which one of the four roommates do you think will be married first?” and well, we definitely had a hard time answering that. but now rita is the first!
marlene and i were some of the bridesmaids taking care of her every need - like scheduling a nail appointment for her at papillon. i have to say that was my best salon experience ever, mostly because the owner and my personal assistant (nail-painter? pedicure-giver?) were talking to us and making us laugh, and not talking to each other in another language. oh, and ps - i crocheted all those hats in this pic. nifty eh?
here’s me with all the other bridesmaids - noelle and janet
we spent a lot of time getting rita ready but she kept on losing her veil. here’s a pic of jason trying to help her fix it
and here are all the ladies together!
gavin was the life of the party at the reception! he was break-dancing and just stealing the show all night long! here’s the cutie himself…
it sure was a lot of fun (and a lot of hard work being a bridesmaid!) but we love rita and jaosn and we’re so happy for them. congratulations you guys!
thanks to marlene for all the pictures!
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
what kind of green am i?
i usually take these quizzes when i see them on someone else’s blog but i rarely ever post them, but i like this one
mostly, because it called me quirky and strange-habited but that my warmness balances that out. yay! i like.
|
You Are Teal Green |
 You are a one of a kind, original person. There’s no one even close to being like you. Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible. While you are a bit offbeat, you don’t scare people away with your quirks. Your warm personality nicely counteracts and strange habits you may have. |
Saturday, December 01, 2007
drayson center, here i come!
so i’d been meaning to get a gym membership since… oh… the beginning of summer. but as you might remember, i had absolutely no money with which to buy a membership. and then i became too busy what with the coaching volleyball and all. and then after volleyball was over, well, i dunno what happened but it just took for-frickin-ever to actually buy the membership.
but i finally drove down to san bernardino on tuesday and paid for the membership at ivbpa, where i got a super discount. nice. what did i do after i paid for the membership? i drove myself home and took a super nap! hahahhaha… yup, it took me about 4 weeks to actually pay for it and then i went straight home and slept!
but i did go and get my membership card at the drayson on wednesday, and i worked the stairmaster for 20 minutes before i had to run off to my next appointment.
and then i went back on thursday night and did 20 minutes on the elliptical machine before cramping up my left calf on hamtractor =)
and then even though i got outta work a little bit late and i only had about 35 minutes before the gym closed, i went again today and burned some more calories on the elliptical before i worked on arms and abs.
yessirree bob you heard me right, after a month of laziness i worked out 3 days in a row! i know it wasn’t that much on any given day, but i’m just proud that i made it there even if it was only for 30 minutes. and even though right after today’s workout perry and i went to thai bowl (where we ordered tom yum tofu, pad see ewe beef, yellow chicken curry, and spicy eggplant - AND we finished everything!) i’m still proud of myself for keeping to my commitment of being active and going to the gym. and i’m also proud of myself for keeping to my commitment of doing something more than sitting on my lazy butt at home.
may i keep it up!
and i’m looking forward to being back in shape!