Remnants of the mind.

The next adventure

2010-11-01T13:40:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard, I no longer live here. I've spent the last two months settling into my new home in Colorado. It's been an incredible roller coaster, leaving everything and everyone on my little island and heading west to a big city. I've gone back and forth between excitement and slight depression and I have to say that it was a much harder transition than I had expected. Instead of finding endless opportunities waiting at my new doorstep, I found job hunting to be exhausting and depressing. I couldn't believe how inconsiderate people could be and how hard it was to simply get an interview, but thankfully things have finally started to fall into place. Now the holidays are coming up and I'm getting knee deep in wedding planning in my new home....

On the water

2010-07-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

Days like these are going to make leaving Maine really difficult. I can't tell you how fabulous the Regatta was this year...the weather was perfect: the sky was clear, the sun was out and there was just enough of a breeze to keep us from baking. There's really no way you can beat a sunny day on the water with a beer and some snacks.

Garden Fresh

2010-07-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

Mmmm
Nothing like veggies straight out of the garden!

I almost forgot how good it feels to cook your own food. I've been so busy getting together a portfolio and organizing bank accounts and checking out caterers that I haven't had time to enjoy some of my favorite things! I keep thinking that I'm missing out on hiking and biking, but I've forgotten about the simple things like cooking.

This weekend Joe and I picked blueberries in the park and made asparagus pizza, blueberry pancakes, grilled shrimp with a grilled veggie and feta salad (obviously not all in the same day), and I just pulled a blueberry coffee cake out of the oven! Yummm!

Happy Fourth of July!

2010-07-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a fabulous fourth of July! I had to work on the official holiday, but was able to sneak out in time to catch the fireworks. We had arguably the best seat in the house, on top of our friends photo shack on the town pier. I've never been that close to a fireworks display before and it was actually a bit intense. You could feel the mortars shake the dock and if the wind hadn't been blowing away from us, I might have felt the need to duck and cover!

Here's your sign...

2010-06-30T05:06:00.001-07:00

Anyone interested in what I've been so busy with this summer? Here's a taste...just two of the 5 signs I painted for the gallery. Still working on the new website at the moment, hopefully It'll be up and ready for input by the end of the week!

Time flies...

2010-06-28T06:21:00.000-07:00

Went to Florida a couple of weeks ago to visit friends and it already feels like it was months ago..I wish I could go back. It was probably the best vacation I can remember having been on in terms of being what I need at the time. I was in serious need of some r & r and that's exactly what I got. We basically lounged around and caught up with old friends. Perfection!

Is it Friday yet?

2010-06-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

...because I'm exhausted!

Yesterday was a particularly long and exhausting day at the paper. I'm not sure if the heat seeped inside me and sucked out all of my energy or if it was just the perfect storm of late ads and odd shaped stories, but I caught myself wanted to get up and walk away numerous times. On the positive, thumbing through my printouts is still extremely gratifying. I feel so accomplished knowing that I can put together an entire newspaper on my own--that's not something most people can say.

Website building is turning out to be incredibly gratifying as well. I'm impressed with how much I actually learned from my online courses. Simply perusing other websites and checking out their code is turning out to be not only helpful but kind of fun as well! It's definitely challenging to build a website from scratch, especially since I don't know a single person familiar with CSS and XHTML, but so far I've managed to solve every problem I've encountered with a little bit of concentration and a few deep breaths. Here's about where I'm at so far...well one of the versions anyway. I've actually got three different versions going at once so I can play with different gallery styles and decide which one I like best. I'll probably be soliciting opinions on functionality and aesthetics a little bit further down the road. For now, here's what I've got! Hopefully I'll have some time to do some work tonight...got get this baby up so I can get myself a job!

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

...to all the dads out there! Including, of course, My Dad!!! Thanks for everything you do! Love you bunches!

Heading west

2010-06-16T04:52:00.000-07:00

Joe recently took a trip to Wyoming to work on his dad's new cabin. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go with him, but he did bring back some pictures to share. I can't express how excited I am to go and see it in person! It looks amazing and cozy and comfortable, just what a cabin out west should be! Good thing we're moving closer to Wyoming so we can visit it more often!

View from the top

2010-06-16T04:42:00.000-07:00

I've fallen behind in my postings, but I suppose that's a typical occurrence these days. My life has been filled with comings and goings and lists that seem to go on for days. I've been trying to wrap up spring projects since we're already well into summer, but new things keep making their way onto my lists and the old ones just won't go away.

BIg projects on hand:
Finishing my web design courses (finished!)
Finding/finalizing a wedding location (almost there...)
Redesigning/painting promotional material for Sagegrass Gallery (should be finished today)
Design my online portfolio so I can....(haven't even started)
Find a job in Denver.

That's the long and short of it.

For now, here's a couple photos of a hike up Parkman Mountain. Beautiful, but extremely windy, view from the top after a strenuous and satisfying hike.

Derby day!

2010-05-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

Kentucky Derby festivities at Leary's! Who knew my garbage bag flower-making skills would come in handy after high school! I do enjoy any excuse to dress up and be silly!

Tulips are blooming...

2010-05-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

May has proven to be unpredictable up until this point as far as weather is concerned. We've been cold and rainy then warm and rainy, then sunny, then cold, then back to rainy again. But thankfully we've had some good days to enjoy all that spring has to offer here on the island - one of those things being the Stewart Estate Bulb Tour. As gorgeous as ever, and for once on a warm and sunny morning, the walk was a nice start to my Saturday. The tulips seemed much fuller than last year, looking more like a bed I'd like to lie down in for a nap in the sun.

How do people find the time?

2010-04-27T20:49:00.000-07:00

I promise I'm not purposely avoiding my little blog, I just can't seem to find the time to sit down long enough to type more than a few quick words. And with that....

Just kidding! Although in truth I really don't have much more time than this. I just got home from work (Yes, it's almost midnight. And yes, I did get to work at 7am this morning) and am having a quick snack to silence my grumbling tummy before heading off to catch a few zzz's. Tomorrow I have almost the entire day off from the paper, but I have about a weeks worth of things to do at the gallery, so I'll be waking up at 7 and heading into there for the day.

Between the two jobs, the start of the tourist season (Yikes! I always forget how much busier and more hectic everything gets.), my online classes, job searching, volunteering for the Y, and on top of that trying to start planning wedding stuff and all of the trips and visits that need to happen this summer....I'm exhausted just thinking about it all!

I think I could use some serious beauty sleep! It's off to dreamland for me!

Brunch with a view

2010-04-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

As usual, I'm late getting these up, but Happy late Easter! Special thanks to Joe's Grandma for sending us to the Inn for brunch. It was delicious as always and you can't beat the view!

Hup!

2010-04-05T17:40:00.000-07:00

The past two weekends have apparently been a struggle for mother nature. It was around 19 degrees two weeks ago and within seven days it had risen to about 65. Unfortunately for Joe and Pete, the first canoe race of the season was two weeks ago. Being the troupers they are, they went ahead and took part in the race in spite of the weather, paddling their butts off to stay warm. In the end, they both claimed to not be cold while I, on the other hand, was frozen, shivering on the bridges, watching them paddle by. And to add insult to injury, I got a serious sunburn that I was not expecting.

The next weekend brought another sunburn, but I suppose I deserved that one since it was bright and sunny. I actually joined in on the race that day and paddled down the river with Pete while Joe and Brian followed behind. It was surprisingly easy -- no one fell in and my arms weren't even tired after paddling for an hour! It was definitely a fun time made even better by a picnic on the water afterward.

First Day of Spring

2010-04-05T17:14:00.000-07:00

The first day of spring on Mount Desert Island was beautiful! The sun was shining and mother nature decided to bless us with close to 70 degree temperatures. Needless to say, a trip to the beach was more than necessary! Thank goodness we have friends with cute babies and dogs we can play with on these beautiful days!

Viva Las Vegas

2010-03-03T07:21:00.000-08:00

I'm a bit behind getting these photos up, but here they are!
Joe and I had a really great time in Las Vegas visiting Dennis & Jeni! It's a totally different world out there, and thankfully it was a much sunnier and warmer world! We did the typical walk around the strip, but spent most of our time away from the typical gambling scene. Freemont Street was as close as we got to your "typical Vegas experience" and I was pretty happy with that being the extent of our gambling/partying. I really enjoyed driving out to Red Rock and climbing around and then touring the Hoover Dam and getting a bit of a history lesson--not to mention a groovy hard hat!

Things have been getting crazy recently with spring showing itself and giving everyone a serious case of cabin fever. I've been getting a serious urge to paint but haven't been able to find much time to indulge. I have visions of attempting to sell my small, framed paintings this summer, but that requires the time to paint them first...so I won't hold my breath. Either way, if I can find the time to sit down and paint even just for myself, I'll be a happy camper.

Weekend on the cape

2010-02-15T17:57:00.001-08:00

Wow...what a weekend! Great to get a way for a nice, quiet couple of days in Cape Cod with our friends Peter and Christina. We had great weather, a great room and an especially great time!

Cape Cod was much more quaint and Martha's Vineyard much larger than imagined. Both were pretty quiet given the time of year, but still bustling enough to have more activity than Bar Harbor. We spend our time wandering the towns and stopping for a drink at different bars. After a few days away, I can't wait to get even more time away in Vegas with Dennis and Jeni! Work has been so overwhelming, I relish any time away to relax with a good book and a cup of tea -- or maybe the Olympics.

You fish now!

2010-02-07T16:34:00.000-08:00

Last year ice fishing wasn't exactly high on my list of favorite activities. Sure, it was fun to huddle in Joe's homemade shanty and play card games while someone dangled a line into the ice, but I'm just not one for the cold--especially when you're spending your time sitting on your butt instead of moving around to keep warm. But thanks to tip-ups and a bonfire, ice fishing is definitely inching its way up on my list of favorite activities this winter. Not only do I stay reasonably warm, but we actually catch fish and get to hang out on the ice instead of underneath a gray tarp.

This weekend I spent the day shuffling around in my snow pants, stuffing my face with hot dogs and sunchips, and watching Joe fly by with Jeff on a snowmobile at a ridiculous speed. Ellie, Ollie and Raven were there as well providing some entertainment, although Ollie was the only one allowed to ride the snowmobile...spoiled little guy :)

A walk on the beach

2010-02-07T15:30:00.000-08:00

This weekend Joe and I ventured out to Sand Beach for a short stroll. The weather seemed to be on our side until we reached the opposite end of the beach and the wind decided to pick up and slap us with bitterly cold air. I was able to snap some pictures, but unfortunately I was limited to one quick snap at a time before my fingers were frozen and had to go back into my pockets.

After our trip to the beach, we stayed in doors until the evening when we headed out to the BANFF in Ellsworth. I'd never heard much about the festival, but Joe suggested we check out Saturday night's selections. It was all really well done (even though I wasn't a fan of a few of the films' topics) and I was left to wonder how they were able to film shots of people climbing up -and falling off of- cliff faces without falling themselves. All in all, a fun night out on the town!

Winter Wonderland

2010-01-28T15:25:00.000-08:00

I've been having some trouble with blogger and haven't been able to upload pictures for some time. Because of this, the snow in these pictures has been melted by a rain storm we had this Monday and unfortunately, the ground has become brown and muddy. We got a soft dusting this evening and are supposed to get even more this weekend, but I already miss the tall drifts!

It reallly is amazing how beautiful it is here when there's a layer of snow on the ground.

We haven't had the opportunity to go cross country skiing yet this winter, but Joe and I were able to go ice fishing last weekend on Long Pond. We huddled around a fire on the side of the lake and kept an eye out for the flags to snap up. It was certainly more luxurious than the ice fishing we did last winter, but it was also a lot more fun with a crowd of people and a bonfire to warm my fingers and toes.

Work has been keeping me significantly busy lately. It's feeling much more like a newspaper office now, with people around every day and police station pagers going off a few times each afternoon. There's never any overly exciting news, but it's kind of nice to have your top headline for the day be one about a woman getting trapped in an elevator for all of 5 minutes. Or like Tuesday, when the big story was that a pair of thick mittens had been found in the middle of the street. Can you imagine living somewhere that is boring enough to make you call the police when you find a pair of mittens in the street? It's pretty crazy, but it's also kind of fun! The winters here are such a nice balance with the crazy summer life.

Finish off the checklist? Check!

2010-01-10T15:08:00.000-08:00

This weekend has been both productive and eventful for us. Joe took the GRE on Saturday (and got a better score than last time! Yay!) while I stayed home to work on my web design lessons and start painting the ice shanty. I had planned to start airbrushing as well, but it was much colder than I had anticipated and by the time I was on my second can of primer paint, it began coming out like silly string instead of spray paint....Yikes! Needless to say, I called it quits for the day.

Today started with a rather large to-do list that actually was completed before 6:00 today. Our shower now has a new sealant on the floor--I can't tell you how much better it looks!--the fireplace is cleaned, as is the stove, and kitchen walls and basement steps. Plus Joe used his new jerky gun and made some beef jerky along with the pulled pork he'd been cooking since Saturday night. And that's only about half of our list! Needless to say, I feel more accomplished today than I have in a very long time.

I also just signed up for the next course in web design. I've decided to take a total of four courses, and hopefully, that should teach me all I need to know in order to build just about any website I could possibly want. I have a feeling I'm going to need to put some of my skills to use pretty soon since the gallery is getting a new website and it doesn't seem to be going well. So not only will I get to use my skills to finally clean up and fix my own website, I'll get to work on sprucing up the gallery's site as well!

Winter Wonderland

2010-01-07T07:45:00.000-08:00

Today officially marks the second day I trekked to work through the snow. Last week I managed to convince Joe to go in a bit later than usual so he could drive me. I think I was doing him more of a favor than myself since he got an extra hour of sleep out of it, but I was definitely thankful to not have to walk through the blizzard that was beating down on us at the time.

Now that the blizzard has passed (after days of continuous snow fall), I'm actually enjoying the walk to work again. It's not too cold, but just enough so I'm thankful for the heat of the office when I walk through the door.

I must admit that it doesn't feel as though we've already started a new year. I'm not sure what event or act officially "marks" the new year for me, but somehow I've missed it this time around. It might have to do with my lack of resolutions, but in all honesty, I've never really made one in the past. Maybe it's because we lost power at midnight this year and couldn't watch the ball drop on TV or have the giant television count down, or maybe it's because we were actually doing something eventful for the night? Who knows.

Speaking of our eventful New Year's Eve, I wanted to share some photos from our night.

We were lucky enough to attend the wedding of our friends Jeni and Jeff. It was a beautiful ceremony of smiles and tears followed by a crazy night of dancing, masks, power outages, a blue moon and champagne! We unfortunately did not have power at midnight, but thanks to the iphone, we were able to count it down and toast on time just the same, and I think we'll probably remember the night even more because of it. It was such a special event even with the power, that the candle light count down made it even more memorable!

It was such a change from last year when we spent the night holed up in our house alone (eee...that makes us sound rather sad). I can't believe how comfortable we've gotten here in just over a year. It feels as though we've been here for so much longer. Oh goodness...there I go. Before I get all mushy on you, here are the rest of the wedding photos!

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-31T13:20:00.001-08:00

Joe and I just got back from Michigan. We were fortunate enough to spend the holidays with our respective families and are now settled back into our own home. We're currently getting ready for a New Year's Eve, extra sparkly wedding. It should be a great night -- hopefully with some good pictures to share later!

I haven't had much time to unload pictures what with our Christmas travels, so here's a compilation of our holidays, starting with cutting down our Christmas tree (without any snow!!!) and ending with my parent's Christmas tree. Happy New Year!

Oh Christmas Tree!

2009-12-17T16:38:00.000-08:00

Finally! I picture of our tree! I've been so busy lately I haven't had much time to snap photos or post them, but here's a pretty decent one of our tree. It's rather large, so it's hard to get it all in the photo at once.

We're packing up at the moment, ready to head to Michigan for the holidays. I couldn't be more ready for a break and I'm so thankful that I have an entire week to spend with my family and friends. Now if only I didn't have to go to work tomorrow... I suppose I shouldn't be greedy!

Let It Snow

2009-12-07T04:57:00.000-08:00

There is officially snow on the ground. Yay! While it didn't snow until after we got our Christmas tree home and in house, but I'll take what I can get. At least I was able to decorate while looking out the window at the snow! Our tree is a bit too large for our little house, but Joe picked it out, so I can't be held responsible! Plus I love that it's just big enough to draw all the attention! I'll post some pictures soon!

Just a little note about my "top secret" work project, I'm seeing my hard work get to use! Not quite in the way I expected, but it's still gratifying as a young designer to see your work put to good use in the real world. Hopefully I'll be able to divulge all the of the info soon.

To finish off, here's a few photos by Fred Lebain that I found recently. I enjoy thinking of them as a way of documenting the passage of time, something I find particularly difficult to capture in my own work.

The Old Man is Snoring

2009-12-03T06:34:00.000-08:00

I have a number of things to share this morning, but I'll start at the beginning. It's pouring outside (or as my friend Sarah says "It's pissing it down"--one of my favorite phrases from our English friends over seas). We're talking torrential rains. I started my walk to work thankful for Joe's over-sized umbrella and my rainboots, but half way through realized that neither could save me from a thorough soaking. So here I sit, with drenched thighs (how unpleasant are wet jeans? ick!) trying to dry out next to my space heater, but instead just finding myself getting over heated and dried out...ugh.

Surprisingly enough I'm still in a rather pleasant mood. The office is quiet today and I'm feeling productive--check back in with me in a few hours on the latter half of that.

On another note, I've been thinking recently about starting another blog -- don't worry, I've decided against it -- but I've been finding all sorts of exciting artists and projects online and have no where to store them for later reference. I thought creating a second blog as an "idea storage space" might be a good idea, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the main problem I have as far as art is concerned is finding a way to balance and integrate it with my every day life. So why not start by integrating it into my every day blog? Seems logical to me. My last post was a bit of a trial run...to see if I felt completely weird posting something I didn't create or photograph on my blog, and I'm feeling okay about it. So why not continue!? I don't know why I feel the need to categorize my blog into separate "personal" and "art" categories, but I think it's time I work to stop that.

That having been said, I'm working on a secret project at work which I'm rather excited about. As everyone knows, I work for a newspaper and newspapers are in a curious position right now. I find myself thinking more and more about what role a newspaper plays in a community and how to keep that role relevant. I've also been doing a lot of research into advertising and layouts as a way to better my ability at creating effective advertisements. I've been doing a lot more on the web lately and I'm finding myself taking note when an ad appears on a random website, realizing what catches my attention and what is able to actually hold it.

Basically, there's a lot going on here...at least on my end. As I said, I've been doing a lot of research, both into other newspapers as well as magazines. I'm finally thinking about what draws me to a particular paper or magazine and why. Here's a few of my favorite covers I've come across.

When looking at these, I have to keep in mind that part of what draws me to them just won't translate to a newspaper. The images themselves are a huge part of the appeal of a magazine, and there just isn't that kind of flexibility in a newspaper - not to mention a difference in printing quality. But the use of text, in both font choice and lay out, can definitely be applicable in both ads and the newspaper as a whole. The interaction of text and image as well as the use of space and brevity to convey the general message are particularly useful. These designs aren't anything radical, but the nuances are important - and the simplicity actually makes them more applicable to newspapers.

With that...I think it's time I get to that productivity I mentioned earlier! Wish me luck with drying out my jeans!

Les Trois Inventeurs

2009-12-02T18:00:00.001-08:00

I stumbled upon this animation today and am completely enamored. I've been looking at a lot of paper works lately and this is definitely one of my favorites. I can't imagine the amount of time that was put into creating this, let alone the entire animation (which I haven't been able to find online...boo). So delicate and elegant.

Woof!

2009-12-02T17:51:00.000-08:00

Just a few more pictures of our holiday house guest, Ollie. He's such a well behaved dog but he's definitely still a puppy and needed lots and lots of play time! Thankfully Joe loves to wrestle, so they had a great time together. I, on the other hand, am a bit too small for a dog of Ollie's size and strength. Wrestling with him felt something like wrestling with a bear. I'm just a little bit too small and a little bit to weak to take on an animal like Ollie. That's not to say I wouldn't keep him if given the opportunity, but I think I'd have to beef up a bit in order to keep him around :)

Gobble Gobble!

2009-11-27T16:54:00.000-08:00

The men of the holiday....each taking a turn in the man chair of the house.

Thanksgiving was low key, as usual, but just as great as years past. Not only did Evy join us, but we had the pleasure of watching Oliver over the holiday. What could be better than a dog on Thanksgiving!?!?! The four of us had a good time, baking turkey, watching football and stuffing our faces--Oliver included!

We couldn't resist taking a "family portrait" for the day.

Joe's turkey turned out as delicious as last year as did everything else!

Out of the Fog

2009-11-27T16:50:00.000-08:00

Foggy days in the park are pretty amazing. Even more fun when you have a dog with you like we did Wednesday!

Surfs Up!

2009-11-26T20:09:00.000-08:00

Recently we had some extreme swells on the island. I was hoping to finally see Thunder Hole thundering, so we drove down to the park and took a peek. We didn't hear Thunder Hole (I think I'm doomed), but we did see some extreme waves--and some surfers taking advantage of the situation on Sand Beach.

Goodbye MDI!

2009-11-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

Here's my latest cake creation! A co-worker was moving home to West Virginia, so I baked him a small MDI Cake, complete with the Cranberry Islands! This was actually the easiest cake. Things went really smoothly, and I even made the whole thing without Joe around to keep me calm and collected. I consider that a sign of my progression in the world of cake baking! Yay me!

Boo!

2009-11-05T04:19:00.000-08:00

Finally, I have a photo of our pumpkin lit up. Unfortunately, there's no picture of Joe's pumpkin....thanks to some mean kids.

We woke up Halloween morning to find Joe's pumpkin smashed in the street and mine impaled on the neighbors old newspaper box post. Luckily, mine was broken into two pieces and could be re-assembled (notice the crack in the photo), but there was no salvaging Joe's. I was rather upset and still can't believe someone would do that; before Halloween even! What if that was some poor little kid's pumpkin and it was smashed the night after he made it? I just don't get how someone could do that.

Oh well. Here's my pumpkin at least!

The Last of the Leaves

2009-11-05T04:13:00.000-08:00

Here are my last leaf pictures!!! I'm sad their all gone now, but it's so pretty, I can't be upset at mother nature.

Good Morning Snowflakes!

2009-10-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up to snowflakes outside my window. It was a bit startling at first, but it made me think a number of things.

First: "Oh no! It's actually winter now!"

Then I moved on to "Well at least mother nature waited until November. Thanks a bunch!"

Next I decided it was time to break out the winter hat, which I of course look ridiculous in.

And finally, I thought, "I'd better get the rest of my fall pictures on line so I can move on to snow pictures"

So here we are...fall pictures.

Last week Joe and I were able to go for a walk around Jordon Pond. It was a gorgeous day and I luckily had the morning off, so we took full advantage.

It's been nice to finally get to spend some time together now that the summer season has settled down. The gallery is just about closed and I'm really appreciating the time to relax and get some much needed things done. I'm not sure that I'm ready for all that winter brings, but I'm certainly glad for the time it's given back to me. Hopefully I won't let the early darkness slow me down and turn me into the sloth that I can sometimes become.

I Once Had A Pumpkin Farm...

2009-10-29T15:19:00.000-07:00

Not really...but last night Joe and I carved our pumpkins! Joe was done rather quickly, while I followed my typical behavior and took way longer than necessary. I just can't help myself! I love to carve pumpkins! And this year I didn't get two to carve, so I had to be extra thoughtful with my one. I even pulled out some sculpting tools to use since we couldn't find our pumpkin carving knives. I think they both turned out great! I'll have to take some pictures when we light them with candles on Saturday.

Smashed and Mashed

2009-10-27T07:17:00.000-07:00

The cider is officially fermenting.

We chopped, smashed, squeezed, juiced and canned. And now the hard earned juice from few pounds of apples are fermenting with yeast and sugar. I'm still not sold on the idea, but I suppose I have at least a month or two of fermentation time to get comfortable with the idea.

In other news, we got pumpkins on Sunday! Unfortunately we didn't get to go to a pumpkin patch (the rain really ruined this year's crop, so the "you pick" places were pretty much empty), but we got them from a really great market just off the island. We've driven past so many times and never stopped before, but I'm certainly glad we did this time. Not only did we get some really good pumpkins, but we went through their haunted house (not bad for a small scale operation), got some excellent cider, and chatted with the adorable man who runs the market. You could tell he was doing exactly what he wanted with his life, his joy was infectious! (the excellent weather didn't hurt either) Plus he made excellent mulled cider!

Anyway...I'm hoping to carve our pumpkins tonight since Halloween is fast approaching. Not sure what I'm going to do yet...should be interesting!

Stick it in!

2009-10-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Joe and I took a little road trip with our friends Michael and Kallie down to Connecticut for the UConn football game. It was great to get away for the weekend and not have to worry about anything! The car ride was a bit long, but we had Kallie and Michael's dog Austin to keep us entertained. He's absolutely adorable, and we learned on the way home that he really loves pumpkin flavor. Joe found out the hard way, having to guard his pumpkin blizzard from sneak attacks!

We had a great time checking out the UConn campus and finally seeing a football game for the first time in the past year. It's a completely different atmosphere down there, but it was a lot of fun. I've never done the official tailgate thing and I enjoyed the "back of a pickup and under a tent" feel. I also had a fun time learning their chants and cheers and such. There was no cowbell, but their red zone chant was pretty priceless! "Stick it in! Stick it in! Stick it in!" Wonder who came up with that one?!?!

Their stadium is obviously a fraction of what Joe and I are used to, but the backdrop of orange and yellow trees more than made up for anything else we might have missed. I was really lax with my picture taking, but here's a couple of the ones I did manage to snap.

Lost and Found

2009-10-22T07:42:00.000-07:00

Having two cameras is rather confusing. You wouldn't think so (I mean it's only two!), but it is. At least it is for me anyway. I try to keep my point and shoot nearby for those spontaneous photo ops and only take my slr when I've got particular things in mind. The system itself works, but I always manage to forget when I have photos on one or the other camera.

The point of my story is this: I found some pictures from probably a month ago on my slr. Joe and I had taken a drive down to Gouldsboro to visit the Bartlett Winery. I've been trying to get over there ever since we moved here and finally found an afternoon. The wine was delicious and the weather was rather pleasant, so we decided to extended our merry little jaunt and drive around Schoodic Point while we were in the neighborhood. Neither of us had been there before and I must say I was rather impressed with the views. The majority of the drive is along the water and the sun was intermittently hiding behind a small group of clouds, providing a sparkling reflection on the water below. Needless to say, I snapped some pictures which were completely forgotten until now.

Normally I would simply post them and pretend it wasn't so long ago, but I realize that it's now fall and the lack of orange or red leaves would give my tardiness away. --actually, now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not sure I'm going to post the pictures that have trees in them, so this explanation is pretty much moot, but I don't feel like deleting it.

So there you have it. A long explanation to accompany a solitary photo.

Caramel Apple Deliciousness!

2009-10-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

Monday night I decided to get going on a long list of apple recipes I wanted to try with our freshly picked apples (all 15 or so pounds of them!). I decided not to dance around with apple crisp or anything simple like that and dive right in with a Caramel Apple Cheesecake.

Did I mention I love cheesecake?

It's been so long since I've had any and I can't say I've ever attempted to bake my own (except one of those no-bake box versions which come out tasting more like pudding than actual cheesecake). The recipe I was using wasn't exactly the best, but apart from a few mishaps -like buying the wrong size can of evaporated milk because the recipe just said "1 can" instead of specifying small and not large; or like saying I should cook the cheesecake for 40 minutes but not supplying me with a method of being sure it was cooked through since my oven is probably not the same as Miss Suzy Homemakers- the thing turned out pretty darn good.

Now when I say "good" I mean it tasted fantastic. Absolutely fabulous. What did not turn out as, however, is pretty. I snapped a few pictures with the intent of proudly displaying them, but Joe and I decided that it looked a bit more like a lumpy fruit cake than a delicious cheesecake, so I decided to pass on the home photos and show you this:

What it could/should have looked like. At least this pictures gives you some idea of how yummy it tastes instead of leaving you wondering if its edible (and in case you're wondering, the picture came from here, which is not where I got the recipe, but maybe this one is easier to follow.)

As if that wasn't enough to quench my thirst for questionably difficult baking, Joe has decided to make his own hard apple cider this fall. Yes...I know what you're thinking. Can he really do that without a giant press and all sorts of chemicals and such? Well wouldn't you know that with the abundant resources the internet provides, Joe has found a feasible recipe and ordered the necessary yeast. Yikes! This should be interesting. I suppose it helps that we usually make a good cooking team (we did make some really delicious egg rolls together the other night), but I'm a bit nervous about this one. Maybe I shouldn't have bought him that home brewing kit after all??

Fall Foliage

2009-10-12T13:35:00.001-07:00

Isn't fall amazing! Views like these make it much easier to deal with the snow that is supposed to be coming already...as in tonight.

Golden Delicious!

2009-10-11T19:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Joe and I finally had the time to go apple picking! I was getting a bit nervous that'd we'd never get the chance to go and that we'd miss the season completely (like we did with strawberries and raspberries) but I'm so glad we waited until now. The apples were perfect! They were all perfectly ripe and the trees were absolutely loaded! Some of the branches were resting on the ground from the weight of all the apples they were holding. I'm guessing the rain helped the harvest and maybe we weren't the only ones who didn't make it out at the beginning of the season because there were definitely a lot more apples left on the trees than there were when we went picking last year. A few of the trees had even dropped what looked like an entire tree's worth of apples on the ground and still managed to have full branches!

It was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon and I'm now spending my time looking up delicious recipes to try. Of course we wound up with a rather large number of apples, so I'm excited to get the chance to try out lots of new recipes with them!

Last of the Catch Up

2009-10-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures from even further back...my trip to DC. I hadn't been since an eighth grade field trip, so I of course had to take all of the required, cliche photos. It was a blast getting to hang out with my old roommates and I'm glad we got to spend the weekend together. We had lots of silly fun and managed to stay out of too much trouble. I do miss my girls!

Over A Month Ago...

2009-10-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

Here's some overdue pictures from Cassie's visit. I'm way behind in posting these, but she came to visit during the busiest month of the summer and I'm content in using that as my excuse.

We had great weather - about the only real summer weather we got - and took advantage by going for a hike. Somehow we managed to get lost and wound up walking an extra hour or so. Thankfully you can never really get lost in Acadia, it's just not big enough. We just managed to get off of the trail we had intended to take and wound up on a carriage road. Either way it was a gorgeous day and none of us minded.

We also went up to top of Cadillac for the sunset which Joe and I hadn't been able to do all summer. It was gorgeous, as usual, and all three of us enjoyed a beautiful display of colors. I also was able to play around with my camera and I managed to some pretty nice pictures.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

2009-09-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

This little guy keeps appearing on the lilac bushes outside our door. He was here a while ago and we hadn't seen him until recently. I'm a bit uncomfortable with how large he's gotten, but Joe is of course fascinated and thrilled. Go figure.

Wedding Pictures!

2009-09-25T15:39:00.000-07:00

As promised!

Say Cheese!

2009-09-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

I don't have the wedding pictures on hand to put up here, but I do have the photo booth pictures (which I think are a bit more awesome!). I think having a photo booth at a wedding reception was such a neat idea! These are some of the favorites that I walked away with.

The wedding itself was really nice. The ceremony was outside, overlooking Lake Michigan, and we couldn't have asked for better weather! It was bright and sunny and the perfect temperature! Karen looked absolutely gorgeous in her grandmother's wedding dress and she and Mark did a great job blending their religious traditions in both the ceremony and at the reception. I was particularly excited to get to help in the breaking of the glass! Everything about the day screamed Karen and Mark and yet was so simple. Basically, I loved the whole thing! Hopefully I'll have some more pictures soon, although I don't have many since I was busy running around the whole day and Joe was off watching the U of M football game...

Relaxing My Butt Off

2009-09-19T17:15:00.000-07:00

Things have finally slowed down around here and I was able to enjoy my first real day off. It was awesome. I watched Michigan play football like a real team and then went and bought some storage bins and such to help organize what should be my art studio but is more like a pit of doom. I haven't quite made it through the whole mess, but I got a good start and am pretty pleased with my progress thus far. Unfortunately I work tomorrow, but I'm not being greedy. One full day off was rather pleasant; I would even venture to say sufficient.

Anyhow, I have pictures from the wedding weekend, but here is a teaser to get you excited!

Off to the Mitten

2009-09-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

I'm headed off to Michigan for a wedding weekend. I should have some fun stories and photos from that, but for now, I thought this was an appropriate "send off" picture! --the flower Joe's parents sent me for my birthday! Isn't that the greatest thing you've ever seen sent from a flower shop?!?!

You Fish, NOW!!!

2009-09-05T13:37:00.001-07:00

Football Saturday's are back! So not only does that mean I get to curl up on the sofa and watch Michigan football (which is thus far looking rather impressive) but it also means more blog posts for you lovely readers! So yes...this is my second post in one day! This has not happened in...we...let's be honest, probably a year. I'm lucky to get a post a week up here now, which is sad. But I'm hoping that after the wedding next week, things will slow down--plus I should have some pretty wedding pictures!

So now I've got some more pictures to catch up...starting with Jimmy's visit to Bar Harbor. We made a fantastic dinner with mussels, clams, lobster and corn--all the good stuff. We started with this:

And wound up with this!

And it was delicious!

I'm not the biggest seafood fan, but I do enjoy a good lobster and some mussels every now and then. I also enjoy actually digging for the clams and gathering the mussels. It's so gratifying to be able to find your own dinner--not to mention it's free! It was a really gray afternoon when we headed out to Hadly Point and the tide was out particularly far-much farther than I've ever seen it. Clam digging was especially easy with more exposed beds, and Jimmy turned out to be a great clam digger, so we wound up with a lot of shellfish.

(notice the matching Michigan t-shirts!)

We also were lucky enough to see some dolphins and a seal swimming around just off shore. It was the first seal I've seen and I couldn't believe how close he was to the shore. We also found some gigantic whelks and a number of baby crabs. Needless to say, we saw a lot of sea creatures in a small amount of time.

It was great afternoon followed by a filling dinner that left us all a bit seafood-ed out. And if that wasn't enough, we went on a fishing trip the next day and came home with 4 more lobsters, about 6 crabs, and a bag full of pollock and mackerel. It was another great day-thanks in part to the seasick patches Jimmy brought for us. The majority of the boat wound up sick from the choppy seas, and we were just about the only ones still fishing at the end of the trip.

All in all, we had a great time with Jimmy! It's nice that so much of our families has been able to come visit. I'm always so excited to share this place with anyone and everyone that wants to come out!

The Final Batch

2009-08-31T17:07:00.000-07:00

Finally...the last of the Wyoming pictures! You only had to wait a month! In this batch you'll find some pretty flowers, some scenery shots, a creepy spider, my friend the squirrel who liked to wake me up in the morning by squeaking at my open window and some pictures from the climb up Mount Teewinot that Joe, his dad and uncle attempted. Sadly they were stopped by a giant snow field, but the view from the height they made it too is still pretty spectacular!

Jackson Rodeo!

2009-08-31T16:54:00.000-07:00

Wyoming photos continue, now with a couple of shots from the Jackson Rodeo. We watched a few of Jimmy and Alicia's friends in my first rodeo experience. Obviously I was extremely excited to see the bull riding, but I enjoyed every bit of it. Joe informed me that the announcers used the same jokes year after year, but as it was my first time, I found them amusing and enjoyed the experience.

Enough chit chat, here are some pictures...

Wyoming Part II: Yellowstone

2009-08-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

Here's another batch of my Wyoming pictures! These are from Yellowstone National Park. We spent the day driving through the park with Jimmy and Alicia giving us their tour guide information. The park is beautiful and I'm glad I finally got to see it.

Obviously I was excited to see Old Faithful, but I have to admit that the stadium seating around the site kind of ruins the experience. Well, I suppose it didn't ruin it, but it certainly wasn't want I pictured. I probably should have known better, but no one likes to imagine one of mother natures wonders surrounded by people crowded on metal benches. Ah well. It was still awesome!

Finally, Wyoming

2009-08-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

I've been a very bad blogger lately...I admit it. But I went from being sick to having company to being just plane busy! Here's the last two weeks in a nutshell:

•My friend "the sinus infection" followed me around for over a week.
•I saw a wacky doctor who told me I was better off sniffing essential oils than taking any actual prescription meds to get better--and for whatever reason, I took his advice.
•The especially annoying tourists started showing up--you know which ones I mean; the ones that think this is mexico and they can barter for anything they want and think the rules don't apply to them because they don't actually live here. I'll be glad when they're all gone.
•I baked an apple-shaped birthday cake which half melted in the ridiculous humidity we've been having.
•Jimmy came to visit!
•I turned 23
•I went on a fishing trip that was lots of fun (thanks for the sea sick patches Jimmy's doctor!)
•We saw lots and lots of sea lions and managed to find two huge whelks that Joe pickled and intends to eat.
•I baked another cake--this one for a baby shower (I'll post pictures soon)
•I attended said baby shower
•Numerous shoreline areas were closed due to the incredible swells that were overtaking the pier, cliffs, etc. and tragically killed a 7 year-old girl. (It's been all over the news, everywhere! It even made headlines in China!)

I'm probably missing lots of important/fun things, but that's the basic gist of it.

Now, I think it's about time I start posting some of the pictures from my trip to Wyoming. Here are some of my favorites from just the first day. Most of them are form our hike to Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls, but the first one is from the top of Signal Mountain. That's Jimmy leaning against the fence. I wish it was a bit brighter, but it's still a nice picture.

I think I need to print and frame some of the moose pictures. I just love those animals! The way they flop their ears is adorable! --and they have the goofy grin too! I could have sat and watched them all day!

If I get things together, I'll hopefully have more photos in the next day or two.

Back to Reality

2009-08-12T08:48:00.000-07:00

I returned from vacation a few days ago with renewed energy, although you wouldn't know it because of something else I brought back with me: a rather unpleasant cold. After an unbelievably freezing Friday morning raft trip, I managed to catch a cold that just won't leave me alone. No amount of Tylenol or sleep has been able to do anything more than simply keep it at bay. Ah well, I suppose we must take the bad with the good.

Since I've had this nasty cold, I haven't felt up to the task of sorting through the 400+ photos I took out west, and thus, have no pretty pictures to share with you today. What I can share is the fact that I absolutely love Wyoming. Now that's not to say I'd want to move there, because let's face it, I don't think I'd survive the winters, but I would love to visit on a regular basis.

I am also pleased to say that this was the most relaxing, albeit physically exhausting, vacation I can recall. I made a serious effort to not stress over what we were doing every day or making sure we did everything. I tried really hard to just sit back and simply go with the flow--of course this was made a bit easier since everyone else knew the area while I did not. I tend to have a hard time relinquishing control of the situation, but for once, I enjoyed doing so. Immensely. Now I just need to make an effort to apply that attitude to my everyday life! Yay self-improvement!

While in Jackson, we got one of those cheesy, old-timey photos taken. I've always wanted one, and I was excited to hear that we could do that. So while I have no pictures of the mountains or the antelope, I do have pictures of us dressed up like characters from a western, which may not be as visually "pretty" but are certainly entertaining in their own right. --Please be sure to note the moustaches you might not get to see them again--

Out of the Mist

2009-07-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

...or fog, rather.

I'm pretty late in posting these pictures from the Hospice Regatta, but here they are all the same. The weather wasn't all that nice, but it didn't rain, and the fog actually scared away enough people that I was able to bring both my parents and Joe on the boat ride with me! yay! So while the weather was a bit disheartening, there were plenty of snacks and wine! And of course the delicious lobster bake afterwards!

I obviously went a bit overboard on pictures, but I promised my mom I'd put them all up for her to steal for herself!

I'm Melting

2009-07-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling rather apathetic. Maybe it's because it's a beautiful day outside and I'm stuck inside working - dealing with a printer that seems to always have a paper jam that I must investigate every time I need to print something - and then when the paper jam is fixed, it claims to be out of paper even though I already re-filled it.
Sigh.

Maybe I'm just thinking about going camping this weekend, or the vacation I get to take in just under 2 weeks--which by the way, could go by really quickly and I promise I wouldn't whine about the summer speeding by. Just get me to vacation!!

No matter the reason, I'm feeling mopey. I feel like I'm melting into a little puddle right here in my chair.

Of course I'm not actually doing that, and I promise I'll stop whining about it because let's face it, there isn't really any legitimate reason for my puddle-like attitude.

So I'll suck it up.

Just for you.

And maybe a little bit for Joe because I'm sure the last thing he wants is to come home after his own long day of looking longingly out the window at the pretty sunshine, and have a mopey girlfriend. So here goes.

I think this first picture is a rather appropriate way to begin boosting my mood.

Yes, those are tennis shoes hanging from the back of my car. They are there because they smell. TERRIBLY.

Joe and I took my parents on a nice leisurely hike last week. About half way to our destination hiking path, my mom and I noticed a rather ghastly smell. We weren't sure what it could be since the boys couldn't smell it from the front seats. Then Joe informed us that he had placed his old, smelly, disgusting "hiking" shoes in the trunk in an effort to keep from stinking up the car on the way to the hike. Well he FAILED! Miserably! The smell had permeated the back seat and was choking out the air.

Needless to say, the shoes rode outside the car on the way back home after the hike.

And unfortunately, despite pleading from both myself and my mom, Joe would not throw out the shoes and has returned them to their stink hole in the basement.

The next are a few more typical photos from our hike, followed by a ridiculous man on a motorcycle at the Quietside Flamingo Festival which my mother obviously insisted upon attending.

And to finish things off, a couple more adorable pictures of my parents....

...Some pretty little boats that match pretty bigger boats...

...a photo from the top of Dorr Mountain...

...and the most poisonous snake the world. Which is actually probably just a gardener snake that tried to fool us into thinking he had a tiny rattle on the tip of his tail. And of course he decided to try to bite me even though Joe was the one who almost crushed him beneath his shoes, not me. Go figure...

Joe's Soulmate

2009-07-19T18:03:00.000-07:00

Joe has officially found his soulmate...and it's a cat. But not just any cat, the best cat ever.

Elvis!
We've always loved our neighborhood cat, but tonight Joe discovered that he and Elvis have a bit more in common than he thought. We were eating dinner on the porch when Elvis trotted up to the door and asked to be let in. He was acting a bit strange, not really wanting to get his usual rubs and scratches. So Joe offered him a piece of the meat he was eating--mind you this was a giant hunk of meat slathered in extremely spicy bbq sauce. To our amazement, he devoured it! And then he devoured about 8 more pieces. So needless to say, Joe cleaned up his plate and then posed for a few pictures with his new found soul mate!

Hello There

2009-07-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

Been a bit busy lately. Lots of visitors--including this rather large seagull. I have pictures to post, but not much time to post them. I promise to make some time soon though!

Off With Their Heads!

2009-06-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love both Johnny Depp and Tim Burton and am extremely excited that they're teaming up again for a remake of Alice in Wonderland. Unfortunately it's not scheduled to come out until early next year, but Joe sent me a link to some sneak peak photos and I'm super excited! Both the Mad Hatter and the Red Queen look fabulous! --As my parents would all too happily share, I have a personal connection with the Red Queen...

The pictures are from abc news. You can check out the rest of them here.

Lobster! Lobster! Lobster!

2009-06-23T15:34:00.000-07:00

These are the last of the photos from my brother's visit. The four of us had a good time even though the weather was rather drab. We managed to find a few non-rainy hours to drive to the hot-spots in Acadia and around the island, and we bviously managed to stuff ourselves with seafood. While the tide schedule didn't allow us any time to dig for our own clams or pick our own mussels, we still ate some, along with some rather large lobsters. After all, what kind of a sister would I be if I denied my seafood-loving brother a giant, fresh, Maine lobster that won't break your bank?!

Our summer of visitors has officially begun now! --Let's just hope the rain settles down for the rest of our guests!

Stroke! Stroke!

2009-06-23T14:50:00.000-07:00

We took Dennis and Jeni kayaking on the one nice day we had during their visit. I was afraid we wouldn't get any sun, but thankfully Saturday was absolutely beautiful! We spent the morning out on the water, paddling around -or attempting to paddle as was the case with Dennis and Jeni- and enjoying the sunshine. Of course I came back sunburned, even though I was the one who instructed everyone else to put on suntan lotion...I should probably be used to it by now, but it still gets frustrating! Ahh well. It was a fun morning, followed by a visit to the meat party, a late afternoon nap, and then a trip to the improv comedy theater. I would call it a successful day!

Purse Cake!

2009-06-15T18:11:00.001-07:00

Jeni and Dennis came to visit for the past few days. Poor Jeni had to take a red-eye flight on the night of her birthday, so I made her a purse cake to celebrate when she got here the next day!

It was rather delicious! And while I thought I did a good job keeping the cake small, we still managed to have cake to eat throughout their entire visit - plus a few extra slices! Not that it's a problem...Joe is enjoying the left overs plenty!

I Almost Lost My Shorts!

2009-06-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

Joe and I have been lucky enough to have the time -and the weather- to go kayaking for the past two weekends. It's the first time I've been in the ocean in our little boat, and it's been a great time! We drove out to our clamming spot to launch and paddled our way out to an island a short distance.

We decided to take a break once we reached the island since the wind had become so strong. The tide was out, and we found a sand bar connecting our island with another small island. They were both quite small, but there were lots of tide pools filled with fish and other small critters.

After wandering around a bit, we headed back to our kayak, thinking the tide had probably come up a ways and might be approaching the height to which we had dragged our kayak on the shore.

Boy were we lucky we returned when we did. Our kayak, which had been a few feet out of the water, was floating in the water, held in place only by a few clumps of seaweed that were blocking its path. I had laid my shorts over the nose of the boat to dry while we wandered around and I nearly lost them. They were sunk in the water a few feet away...good thing it was warm enough to paddle home in just my bathing suit!

Mmmm Delicious!

2009-06-01T18:33:00.000-07:00

Pizza toppings! So delicious on a breezy summer evening!

Happy Birthday Bryon!

2009-06-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

I attempted a rather difficult Fireman's Hat shaped cake for a friend's birthday last week. The pictures aren't all that swell, but the cake wound up looking pretty good and tasting fabulous! Mmmm double chocolate!

Martha's Bulbs--Second Edition

2009-05-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

This morning Joe and I went to the annual bulb tour at Martha Stewart's estate. And again...the woman's estate is as astounding as it was last year. The flowers were just as beautiful as last year, although it was surprisingly obvious that they weren't the same bulbs from last year. I missed a few of the color combinations and a couple of my favorite types from last year, but I can't say I didn't find some new ones to love. Joe didn't quite appreciate the flowers as much as I did, but he was a trooper since we didn't have his mom around like last year. He humored my need to stop and take pictures every few feet and even asked me to take pictures of some of the flowers he liked.

I had an extra fun time taking pictures this year since I have my nice camera. I think I actually cut down on the number of pictures I snapped. I'm going to assume it's because I felt confident that when I took a picture with this camera, it wasn't going to be blurry, so I could take just one instead of 3, "just in case". Don't get me wrong, I still took quite a few pictures. In fact I think I managed to take a few of the same pictures from last year, such as the view with one of Martha's bird feeders. It's my favorite one on the property because it's built to look like one of the actual houses on the property.

Here's an array of the pictures...Do enjoy while I head off to finish painting the bathroom!

Spring Painting

2009-04-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

This is how Joe and I spent the last weekend.

We decided our walls looked too dingy (and yellowed, and dirty and just plain gross), and what better way to spend some sunny spring days-that aren't quite warm enough to play outside-than painting! So now, our house looks like new! Well not quite, but it looks 100% better! We still have some trim to finish up, but hopefully I'll have some finished pictures by the end of the week!

Meet My Friend

2009-04-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

This is Jasper.

I've been playing around with some sculpture and animation and Jasper has been my model. I think I should make him some new friends as a thank you...

To Be a Kid Again...

2009-04-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else love this book as a kid?

I most certainly did, and I just found out that Sony Pictures is turning it into an animated movie. Awesome right?!?! Possibly not.

I watched the trailer and am a bit skeptical. It looks like they've added some hokey back story to it that appears to ruin the charm of the book. BUT, I will go see it in September, and I will keep an open mind. I'm just a bit nervous that such a beautifully illustrated and charmingly written story is going to be destroyed by some cheesy cartoon kid... let's hope I'm proved wrong because this story is fantastic!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T16:36:00.001-07:00

Joe and I had a fantastic Easter brunch here....

Special thanks to Joe's mom and grandma! It was absolutely delicious!!!

Mmmmm!!! More Tasty Food!

2009-04-05T16:54:00.000-07:00

First attempt at homemade sushi! Obviously it wasn't the best, but I think it was actually really tasty! --as you can see, we have some size issues to work on, but I think this could be stored in the success file!

Jelly Mongers?

2009-04-02T06:15:00.000-07:00

Has anyone else heard of these guys? This article about them in the Times is hysterical! They started a company called Bompas and Par (awesome last names!) and they do commissioned Jelly-molds and sculptures! It reminds me of something my class would have -or maybe should have- done when we were in school!

Hunting for Hunter's

2009-04-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

When I went back to Michigan for Christmas, I was stuck in the airport with a family from Maine. We talked for a while, discussing our favorite places on the island. The mother told me about a favorite beach in the park called Hunters Beach. She said it was covered in perfectly smooth stones, and was almost never crowded with tourists. About a week or two ago, Joe and I decided to try to find it.

The stretch of the park loop road we were heading for was of course, closed for the winter. Thankfully, the park road crosses under the main road. So we parked near a bridge and climbed down onto the snow covered park road. It was a bit of a hike to the beach, but it was a surprisingly warm and sunny day, so it wasn't all that unpleasant. We even came across these bikers. I can't say they had a good idea, biking down the snow covered road, but judging by the looks on their faces, I can't imagine they knew what they were getting themselves into either!

When we got closer to the beach, we were surprised to see snow start falling. The sun was shining, it was actually warm, and snow was still falling! If you look hard, you can see it against the backdrop of the dark trees.

The beach itself was beautiful. It was exactly as the woman had described it. The entire shore was layers and layers of perfectly smooth stones. Walking across the beach, you can hear the echo of the stones extending a number of feet below you. It's a bit unnerving thinking that you're standing precariously on layers and layers of stones. When you walk closer to the water, you can hear the stones shuffling and scraping towards the shore and back out to the ocean as the waves roll in and out. I could have sat there all day if the sun hadn't started to trade places with some dark looking clouds.

Stroke! Stroke!

2009-03-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I rolled out of bed before 6am, groggy and a bit grouchy, but positive at the sight of the sun peeking over the horizon. After a quick shower and some breakfast I was sufficiently awake and functional, and ready for the trek out to Appleton.

Joe and his friend were competing in an annual canoe race in a few hours. I know what you're thinking...we still have snow on the ground, why in the world would there be a canoe race? Well...I'm not sure. But it's a tradition here and after arriving to the launch site and seeing a number of father-son teams, I realized it was mostly a family tradition. If your parents raced, you raced. Of course not everyone was a descendant of a canoe racer, I saw a couple of younger guys in their cut off t-shirts, ball caps and sunglasses (even though there was no sun whatsoever). But for the most part there were locals. Lots and lots of locals--somewhere around 100 participants.

Needless to say, I didn't participate. I watched. There's a bridge in the middle of the roughly 3 mile stretch where families and friends gather to watch the canoes go over a small rapid. We saw one poor guy fall out of his canoe after hitting a rock in the first set of rapids. Thankfully he had a light vessel and was able to stand up in the shallow waters and move his canoe to a better spot before getting back in.

Joe and Pete had a rather close call of their own. They came dangerously close to tipping over into the cold water on the same rapids.

Luckily these guys in red were standing watch, ready to jump in after anyone that needed assistance. I though their suits made them look like they were about to clean up hazardous waste as opposed to jump in a freezing cold river, but I suppose the amount of protection needed for both tasks is rather similar.

The boys made it safely to the end. Their legs and feet were mostly numb from the cold waters, but after a changing into some warmer clothes, they thawed out just fine. We're waiting to hear their race time until it's published in the paper, but they're not all that worried. While some participants were in it to win it, they were merely there for a good time. And lucky for them, there's another race next weekend!

Hello Delicious!

2009-03-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

Tried our hand at recreating one of my favorite dishes from a restaurant back home. Calamari a la Florence. And guess what...it was a deliciously, fantastic success!!!

Old Illustrations

2009-03-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

I was poking through some old spot illustration books today. Some of these are fantastic! I'm kind of upset I didn't discover these before! It makes me think about how newspapers were put together in the past...cutting, pasting, taping..it all seems like so much work, and yet it has a certain charm to it that just doesn't exist today.

It's Always Waiting

2009-03-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

We took a hike out to Compass Harbor the other day. It was a pleasantly sunny day and the harbor was a nice reminder of what we've been looking forward to all winter. The smell of the ocean, the crash of the waves, the rocky shore...it's all there, waiting for us. It's nice to know that the shore doesn't go away in the winter. It might get a bit colder, but it's still there, waiting for us to crawl out of hibernation and come visit.

It's also great to be able to climb a tree again!

Happy St. Patty's

2009-03-22T18:20:00.001-07:00

A few days late...

Lightning Balls? Really?

2009-03-07T09:05:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, I work at a newspaper her in my lovely little town. Well this past week we ran a story about some strange weather from back in 1853. It was originally described in the Ellsworth Herald on March 4. I always take the time to read the paper every week, but I must admit that there isn't a whole lot going on here in the winter, so the news isn't always all that exciting. But this story definitely caught my eye. Here's an excerpt from the original article:

“Mrs. E. Holden was near a window, winding up a clock; a ball of fire came in through the window and struck her hand, which benumbed her hand and arm. She then, with all in the house, retreated into the entry. Another flash succeeded, and, in the room from which they had retired, resembled [sic] a volume of fire, whirling around and producing a cracking noise. A similar appearance of fire was seen, and cracking noises were heard in a large number of houses. Some who heard the noise say it sounded like breaking glass.

Capt. Maurice Rich had his light extinguished, and his wife was injured. He got his wife onto a bed and found a match; at that instant another flash came and ignited the match and threw him several feet backwards. John L. Martin received such a shock that he could not speak for a long time.

A great many people were slightly injured. Some were struck in the feet, some in the eye while others were electrized [sic], some powerfully and some slightly. But what was very singular, not a person was killed or seriously injured, not a building damaged; but a cluster of trees within a few rods of two dwelling houses was not thus fortunate. The electric fluid came down among them, taking them out by the roots, with stones and earth, and throwing all in every direction. Some were left hanging by their roots from the tops of adjacent standing trees — roots up, tops down.

The New York Times later quoted a witness: "I don't believe there ever was a worse frightened lot of people in the world than the inhabitants of Bar Harbor were that night. That purple ball [of] lightning flashed about and obtruded itself everywhere. There was scarsely [sic] a house that was not visited by it.”

Apparently this phenomenon has also been a topic in National Geographic..so this stuff isn't a joke. I can't help but find it fascinating! I guess I shouldn't complain so much about our current crummy weather conditions!

If you want to read Nan Lincoln's entire article in The Bar Harbor Times, here's the link:

Great balls of fire: When weather was really frightful

So This Is What They Call A "Noreaster"?

2009-02-23T17:32:00.000-08:00

It's been snowing on and off all day. We got around another 10 inches on top of the snow that was already there. This is ridiculous. It's borderline stupid. There's nowhere else to put the freaking snow. The snow pile is now as tall as joe. Stupid. A giant tree branch fell down in our back yard and is about a foot away from having smashed our back window. It's still attached, just weighed down beyond its capacity. Stupid. Power lines are weighed down with over an inch of snow and ice. Stupid. There's somewhere around 10,000 people without power in Maine. Stupid. I just heard on the news that the governor of Maine is declaring a state of emergency in Maine due to the weather conditions. Stupid.

Okay, I've re-evaluated the situation, and this amount of snow is officially stupid. I've never seen so much in my life. And while I think it's beautiful, it's becoming unmanageable. Maybe if I were a kid getting snow days out of this situation, building snow men and igloos, I might be a bit more tolerant. But seeing as how I still have to go into work and carry on with my daily life and schedule....my patience is being tested.

Winter in Full Force

2009-02-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

It's been snowing like crazy the past few days. The trees are weighed down to the point they've created archways over all the streets. The mound of snow next to our driveway is now as tall as I am...

Can it be spring yet?

Go Fish

2009-02-15T17:10:00.000-08:00

Today was a bit of an adventure. Joe and Bryon have been spending the past few weekends building an ice shanty, and today we took it out on Eagle Lake. The sun was shining and it was actually a bit warm, but the ice was still almost two feet thick, so the boys dragged their collapsible shanty onto the ice and we went fishing.

We spent a good 3 or 4 hours just hanging out in the hut and sliding around on the ice. We didn't catch anything...but I think the fish were all having a secret meeting on the other side of the lake. There wasn't any live bait to be found around town, so we had to settle for lures. We added a bit of hot dog to one of the hooks and seemed to get a few bites, but nothing stuck. Oh well....we'll just have to try again another day!

A Walk On The Beach

2009-02-15T16:51:00.001-08:00

Saturday was such a nice day--relatively speaking--Joe and I decided to take a drive to the park and walk along Sand Beach. It was nice to see the sun again and not feel as though my fingers would fall off the second I stepped out of doors. I hope we have more days like that in the near future.

Tiny Bubbles

2009-02-10T17:46:00.001-08:00

Remember bubble baths?
I sure do. And I miss them!
This whole "shower chamber" thing is getting old...

Mmmmmm

2009-01-27T16:21:00.000-08:00

Oysters Rockefeller...
What a Yummy dinner!

Hey, That's Mine!!!

2009-01-25T14:02:00.000-08:00

This has been up for a while, but I still can't help but crack a smile when I see my work on the banner of the A&D webpage! It's nice to see not only my work, but the work of my peers still popping in the art school even after we've graduated and moved on.

Woah!!!

2009-01-24T08:54:00.000-08:00

Joe and I went cross country skiing the other day. I haven't been for about...oh....maybe 10+ years (and even then it was only once)...so needless to say I was rather awful. But I put forth an effort, and after some time, I managed to ski along and appear rather normal--minus the photo above.

It really was a great time though. It's rather inexpensive to rent skis here, and I'm hoping that we'll be able to go once a week or so....but as of now, it's about 20-30 degrees BELOW ZERO with the windchill here!!! So for now...skiing can wait until my fingers and toes won't fall off!!! I like my limbs. Thank you, mother nature. I'll wait out your wrath.

Sometimes I wish I were a Fish...

2009-01-23T17:17:00.000-08:00

I'm back with the pictures--a bit later than expected, but are you really surprised? I thought not. Well I kept these pictures because I wanted to share how awesome the Boston Aquarium was. If you have the chance to go..you should. Although you should probably try to go during the week when there might be a few less strollers and small children. I did feel pretty awful trying to push past little kids to get to see the frogs and starfish, so it was a bit difficult to get some good pictures or even a really good look at some of the creatures. I would love to get back in there with a sketchbook and some space.

If I'm ever in another funk and devoid of inspiration, I know all I need to do is get back to that aquarium. The colors were beautiful and the weird little quirks that mother nature has developed are amazing. Have you ever seen a grouper before? I hadn't actually seen one, although I did know about their migrating eye. But to see them in person was great! And sea horses? Definitely my new favorites! They cling to rocks with their tails, wrapping along with the different contours. And then they just kind of float back and forth with the currents. It's so simple but still so cool to me!

Plus I've always kind of wanted to be a fish. Anyone ever get that feeling after seeing Sword in the Stone?
Okay...so I'm mostly just a dork. But you can't tell me that stone fish doesn't look awesome!

Stop Thief!

2009-01-19T07:57:00.000-08:00

If you happened to check out my post from last night, you may be wondering where a few of the photos went. Well I stole them. But don't worry--they'll be back.

I decided I have a few things I'd like to chat about in regards to my trip to the Boston Aquarium and I want to save those pictures for a different post. Hopefully I'll get some time to put them up today, but if not, you'll see them very soon. I promise!

Weekend Getaway

2009-01-18T18:18:00.001-08:00

Again with the 'holy snowflakes!' The weather out here is crazy! Joe and I narrowly made it back to Bar Harbor tonight after our weekend trip to Boston. We woke up this morning to snow falling outside our hotel window and spent 8 hours driving through a storm that traveled with us all the way back home. Enough snow had accumulated to force us to shovel out the driveway in order to park the car!

Traveling aside, the trip was a really nice break from the quiet lifestyle we've been living on the island. We were in the financial district in Boston, so it was still a bit quiet since it was the weekend, but it still had some great things to offer. Joe and I visited the aquarium and the Museum of Fine Arts during the day and then hopped from bar to bar at night. We ate oysters (surprisingly tasty!) at Ye Old Union Oyster House, which we found out is actually America's oldest restaurant--Joe just found out it was built some time in the 1700s and the King of France actually lived above the restaurant at some point. We also found a really great market out behind one of the streets. Even with the freezing temperature there were tents and tables set up, covered in fresh fruits and vegetables and along the back sides of the store fronts in basements there were small markets filled with all sorts of meat and seafood. It was really refreshing to see such a traditional event in a well built up city.

All in all, it was a really nice getaway. I ate some weird food -- for the record, never order sea urchin, ick! -- I found a new creature to love -- sea horses!!! -- and I got a pretty good taste of a new city. I would say it was a success! yay!

Who would have guessed!?!?!

2009-01-14T17:52:00.001-08:00

I spent most of today attempting to revamp my website. It's currently acceptable enough to display some work, but it's a bit slow to load and rather bland. In all honesty, I threw it together rather quickly--can we say "graduation deadline"?. I took the time to make it without a pre-made set up, but I just didn't really know what I wanted or what I was doing.

Thinking about it now, I still don't really know what I want it to look like, nor do I know what I'm doing.

Go figure.

But I actually think things are going a lot better. I'm taking the extra step to learn css and html, and I'm creating the website from the codes as opposed to letting a program make the code for me. I'm learning quite a bit, although it's really difficult and frustrating. I'm not that good with computers and technology to begin with, and teaching myself all of this from bits and pieces gathered from different online help sites hasn't been easy. But I think it's coming along; slowly, but surely. In the end it may not look that much more fantastic compared to what I have now, but I'm actually okay with that. I'm learning a lot about what I can and can't do with websites, so I'm taking this as an experiment.

And the best part is, it feels great to be learning again. And I'm doing it on my own--which means I can still learn things outside of a classroom and without a teacher (bet you didn't think that was possible...ha). And it's actually coming together!

For the first time in a while I'm feeling accomplished. I'm painting again, I'm thinking about projects, and I'm learning css.

I guess there's hope for me after all!

What do you see?

2009-01-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

I recently came across a bunch of these berry presses I was experimenting with a couple of years ago. I really enjoy the dialog that seems to take place between the pairs. The tension created by the white space separating the halves was something I toyed around with a lot. I also think I like the reference they make to the old Rorschach inkblot tests.

I'm not sure what I want to do with them-if anything- but I can't keep myself from flipping through them over and over again...

Hmmm

2009-01-10T14:51:00.000-08:00

I wonder who left these behind?

Down To The River

2009-01-05T15:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was one of the warmer days we've had in a while, so Joe and I went down to the creek to bring in some wood for the fireplace. Joe chopped while I gathered kindling. After about an hour we had filled our boxes and were ready to head inside to warm up a bit.

But before I came in, I ran down to the creek to snap a few quick pictures. The creek had frozen and then started to thaw from the bottom up, leaving air bubbles and organic ice forms winding around the rocks.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T11:04:00.000-08:00

It's a new year...time for new beginnings and resolutions.

I can't say that I have any resolutions in particular this year. I usually wind up making mini resolutions all year long, so making one on the first of the year doesn't really have a special impact on my habits. I think my big goal is one I've been struggling with for a while now, and that's trying to figure out where I fit in the world of art--and I have a feeling that might take many more years than just one.

For now, I'm just content existing where I am and surviving and enjoying the real world--which I have a feeling is a common goal for most people these days.

So for now, Happy New Year!

Holy Snowflakes!

2008-12-22T14:03:00.000-08:00

We got hit with a whopper of a blizzard last night! It snowed all day and all night and I woke up to over a foot of snow!!! I can't remember the last time I've seen this much snow! Of course the little kid in me was beaming with glee at the thought of enough snow to cancel school, but unfortunately the same rules do not apply to jobs. Thus I was left with the daunting task of shoveling myself out of the house and then proceeding to my car.

I have to admit I was rather pleased with my shoveling skills. I managed to dig out my car in record time! yay me!

I would like to point out that the snow is three steps deep. THREE STEPS!!!

On a side note...look how pretty the neighbor's house looks so pretty!

Updates...

2008-12-19T17:06:00.000-08:00

I forgot I had these pictures of Joe with his sandwich cake...so fun!

While I'm at it, here's another picture of our tree with all its decorations and our presents!

Sneak Peek

2008-12-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

I tried my hand at making my own Christmas cards this year. I did a combination of printmaking and basic stamping and wound up with some reasonably fun cards. Seeing as how my cards are still traveling around in satchels and mail trucks, I can't very well spoil them completely, so here are just a few snipits from my testing...