Camping continued

So, I'm finally getting pictures up from camping! Like I said before, it was soo much fun to be with my whole family, sometimes I forget how much I like being around them. We spent a great majority of our time playing in the freezing lake. As you can see from the pictures above, our raft was a little less than seaworthy. I am amazed that we made it across the lake, that's not to say that there weren't times when I didn't think we would. Everytime someone moved, we saw our lives flash before our eyes. Mitch started to freak out a little bit once he realized that we had floated out to where he couldn't touch anymore (he was the only non-swimmer aboard). Our trusty raft held all six of us, with only about thirty feet of rope. (My brother Jeff was the only one who didn't join us, he just sat on the edge and mocked us Laman and Lemuel style whilst we build our raft.)

I just wanted to throw in a couple of Mitch-isms, for those of you that know him, that little guy is soooo funny these days.

Mitch: I'm a pirate of dealing!

Jeff: A pirate?

Mitch: yes, because pirates are horrible at everything!

And another time, Vanessa went over to Mitch's tent to see what he was doing and Mitch said "You're as creepy as livestock!"

Basically, I haven't laughed so hard in a long time after spending a couple days with these folks. Here are a few more pictures I just wanted to throw in.

In case you were wondering, little Mitch is not holding a fishing pole, but a bb gun and he is attempting to blow those fish out of the water.

My momma fell on her way up to the lake and got herself all bloody, good thing we had EMT Annie to clean her up.

And this is the weirdest tent I have ever seen, its a one-man coffin tent. Weird. But it only weighs two pounds and folds up to be the size of a newspaper.

Hey there Delilah

So, this movie is pretty funny.

The Last Hurrah!

Matt and I went backpacking with my fam yesterday, and it was wonderful! I haven't gotten the pictures that my poppa took yet, so I don't want to blog about the whole trip, but I am trying to get into the habit of blogging everyday(so I have good habits for China) so here is a little preview!

PS It was a BLAST! I love camping!

Yet Another

...photoshoot post. One of my good friends Kim agreed to come be my model the other day, and I was so excited to shoot someone new(no offense Annie)! Kim was so beautiful and photogenic, it was just awesome! It was fun to try my hand at actual portraits, because dang, I like taking pictures of people!

Harry Potter

Matt and I dressed up on Tuesday for the Harry Potter movie premiere. We went with our good friends Phil and Robin and my little brother Mitch. It was rad. Unfortunately, no one else really dressed up, and we all felt a little like celebrities when everyone kept taking pictures of us... and the funniest part is that we were dead last in line.

Matt walked around cursing everyone the whole night... and it was really funny.

Can you guess who we all are supposed to be?

Give up? Okay, I'm Hermione, Matt is Snape, Robin is Professor Trelawney and Phil is Nearly Headless Nick. Pretty random eh?

We made our own wands at my parents house in my dad's shop and they were SWEET!

I also got to practice my makeup skills by enlarging Matt's

nose and making Phil 'nearly headless'

It was a great night... sometimes I get a real good kick out of making people think I'm a weirdy

Good News!

Hulu has posted Troll 2, in all of it's complete glory, for your viewing pleasure!

I've got nothing...

except some pictures from sweet runes Annie and I found! I can't wait to go back when it's light outside with my Matt! (two girls+no cell service+darkness+plus a perfect place for hillbilly cannibals to be hanging out=not so smart of us. We actually started to get pretty spooked)

Anyways, we both loved this graffiti:

AND, I got Annie to smile a real smile!!! (I took this right after I asked her about her boyfriend, whom she met via a senior pictures ad in the mail. Yep, right now he's at a perpetual modeling convention in California)

P.S. Sorry this blog has turned into a dump place for mine and Annie's photoshoots, I have been trying to find some new 'models' to mix things up a bit... and I have a new person for Thursday! So mark Friday on your calendars to check this blog, and there might be someone besides Annie here! (that reminds me... if anyone would like to let me practice taking pictures of them, I would love it!)

P.P.S I apologize in general for always posting about photography these days... but I have developed a near obsession.

Dong'an

Physicals for Chinese Visas: $160

Chest X-Rays for said Visas: $162

EKG: $70

Blood Work: $190

Visa Fee: $358

Living in China for a year: Priceless.

If you didn't know 'priceless' was coming, you should be kicked out of America. I thought I would update you all with some news of our Asian Adventure. First of all, the medical exams we had to get were ridiculous without insurance... and I was a little bitter about it, until I started to realize that I am ABOUT TO MOVE TO CHINA! For so long it's always just been the next thing on our list... finish school, move to China, and start grad school, but now that it's getting closer, I am so excited that I smile every time I think about it.

'

We are leaving from San Fransisco August 19th at 1:02 am... and arriving in Beijing! We'll stay there for a few days and then take off to Hunan, the province we will be teaching in. Our school assignments have changed, and we are now in a smaller city called Dong'an... and guess what? We found the blog of a girl, Danielle, who is teaching at the school that we are going to right now! She went through the same program and everything, we are basically taking over her classes! We have been obsessively reading her blog ever since we found it, and I'm so glad that she had one! From the looks of things... Matt and I may be on our own in this little city, which kinda scares me, since our original school was in a city where there would be several other teachers and the program director. Oh well... all you need is love right? hehe

Oh yes... in reading Danielle's blog, we learned that blogger has been banned in China! I was so excited to finally have interesting stuff to blog about! Danielle emailed her dad her posts, and he put pictures with them and published them for her, so maybe I will have to enlist my mom in the same thing. Otherwise, I was thinking that I would just post a link on here to my photobucket, and then just upload pictures and put lots of comments with the pictures... any other ideas? Now I'm not sure what websites will be blocked over there, kinda funny to think about. Hopefully I will still have google reader to keep up with you folks!

Wow. I am really scared, and really excited for our move! (I'll finally get a dumb stamp in my passport!) But, since my blogging may be limited... I am just wondering what people would want to read about whilst I'm there. I, having never lived abroad, think that EVERYTHING would be interesting enough to post about... but I'm not sure you folks would agree! (and I'm not sure my mom would want to devote her entire year to being my proxy blogger) So, you'll just have to let me know! (I think I will post some about lesson plans... hope that doesn't bore you to tears, but I haven't ever been able to get a clear answer out of people about what they actually taught! And, I am a teacher by profession after all :)

Sorry for the lack of pictures... I am sure that will change when I'm in China!