Photography play time

I got a lovely Canon Rebel T1i from Andrew's parents for a graduation present. I've always loved taking pictures and I've been eying digital SLR cameras for quite some time. I didn't want something super fancy, just something I could change the lens on and take really crisp photos. I think this camera will be perfect for that! I ordered a Dummies book off Amazon last night to help me learn the in's and out's of how the camera works, but I've been able to figure some things out on my own. Here are a few shots I took today and then edited them in photo-shop.

My sweet little Bessie - she is going to be my subject for these photo trials.

I like the look of the black and white with a slight sepia tint.
I think I like the regular version of this one best, I love the snow on her nose and the little bit stuck to her ears.

We are going to the zoo this weekend for the Christmas lights and I hope to get some good photos there and I'll be sure to share those as well!!!!

All I want for Christmas.....

Is a job that I love where I make enough money to pay off my student loans....

Some things I know I won't get: an iPad, Fish-eye lens for my digital SLR, new HTC phone at Sprint with 4G and a Wii (I know I'm a little behind on wanting one of those)

A Basset Hound with bows on its ears.

Clinique Clinical Dark Spot Corrector to help with my acne scars.

A pair of black flats.

A magical weight loss pill that will make me drop 40lbs.

This is really the first time in a long time I have been this happy, but at the same time there is so much more I want out of life. I am anxious, nervous and scared about finding a job and paying on all of this debt I owe to my college. Don't get me wrong, I feel so wonderful for finally graduating, but there is so much more I still want to do.

This weekend was a bit of a wake up call on all of my debt. We went to look at a car for me to replace our early 90's Volvo only to realize my loans have put the idea of a car loan on hold. I feel silly for getting my hopes up.

So what are some of the outlandish things you'd love for Christmas?

No words are needed for this post

But I'll still write a few! Bet you can't guess what's inside of this lovely leather case! I was beyond thrilled to get my diploma yesterday. We went to my parents house last night with a bottle of champagne to celebrate and Andrew's mom took me to lunch as well. Tomorrow night, Andrew and I are going out to celebrate since work has been nuts for him lately and he's been doing 10-11 hour days.

I've been spending a lot of time applying for jobs lately and networking with Alumni from my college.

I also got a fancy digital camera for a grad present so expect to see some photos soon!!!!

Post-Graduation Goals

I've been officially done with school for one week now. Later in the week I can get my transcripts and by Christmas I'll have my actual diploma! I've got a lot I'd like to and that I'm starting to accomplish now that I have more free time.

• Find a job! I need to have one by March when the student loan payments start coming due again. I've been applying for jobs since Halloween and I have a few networking meetings lined up in the coming weeks.
  
• Get my Christmas cookies made (I'm planning to start on that later today or tomorrow morning).
• Get the house well organized.
  
• Take my pile of Goodwill stuff to the Goodwill.
• Clean out my kitchen cabinets.
• Start and finish my Christmas shopping. All I've done so far is order some things from bookorder through my mom.
• Go through all of my school stuff and decide what I really want to keep, and possibly have a math bonfire.
• Try some new recipes or get a new cookbook.
• Go thrifting for winter clothes, which I'm planning to do on Wednesday.

I'm giving myself till New Years to get most of this list done. I think that it should be easy to do if I can accomplish one or two things per day. Today I'm getting laundry caught up since we weren't home all weekend and getting the bathroom cleaned. I've also been making lots of phone calls making sure everything is lined up for getting my diploma and making some appointments for after the holidays.

It feels so good to be done with school, but now I don't know what to do with myself. I really hope to get a job sooner rather than later.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I've got my tree up.

My table is all decorated.


The 50 free photo cards I won from Shutterfly are going to arrive today according to the UPS tracking website. (I'm not positing a pic of them because I want them to be a surprise)

I'll probably do some baking this week and maybe start getting ideas for gifts.

The outdoor lights will most likely go up this week once Andrew figures out why the outlet doesn't work.

There is a chill in the air and I've already seen snowflakes a few times.

I adore Christmas time, I would say that and Halloween are my two favorite Holidays because they both involve fun parties and decorating. Its so fun to have my own place to decorate but sometimes I miss getting a tree with my parents and brother though its still fun with Andrew. I have some new cookie recipes I want to try this year and have a few white elephant gifts chosen from my "basement junk" for the gift exchange with Andrews family.

Are you excited for Christmas?