Back to School - Photography!

This has been a crazy year. Personally, professionally and in every other way. It's been a year of ups and downs and lots of life changes. One thing I really wanted for this year was to really learn how to use my camera. Well, I am in the midst of taking a photography class at my alma mater and am happy that I pushed myself to try it.

So far my subject material hasn't been too exciting, but I do feel that I've learned a lot. I'm a hands on person, so learning by doing has always been easier for me. There are a couple books I've picked up that have been helpful to me as a beginner as well.

One is the UnManual, which can be purchased here. It comes with a pdf download that you can look at right away, and a printed copy will be mailed. It's definitely an investment, but if you watch for sales, you can purchase it half off, as I did. A lot of photography instruction books are very dry and technical, but this one is so much more readable. Her blog has a lot of helpful info on it as well.

Most of the other books I've read have come from the library, which is a obviously a great resource too. There are so many online tutorials out there too - all it takes is a little google search for whatever it is you're trying to do. 

I really like Scott Kelby's books. They can be a little on the cheesy side, but they are definitely not dry and technical either. Some of the info is geared more towards people who want to make a career out of photography, but the techniques are helpful to everyone. His website has a lot more information available too. 

My next project is to find a camera bag for all my stuff. Lenses, filters, cords, batteries...lots and lots of stuff.

July Happiness Project - Progress Update

Remember my post about The Happiness Project? This month's focus was on money. Specifically buying things that help contribute to my happiness, but that doesn't just mean buying everything I want to get a rush from shopping.

It has to be things that create a lasting impact on my day to day happiness, the book calls this "needful things". 

- Cupboard Organizer: I have a cupboard where I keep pots and pans that irritates me on a daily basis. This is a cheap remedy I should have bought ages ago.

-Plane Tickets: to Boston! Spending money on experiences instead of things is supposed to be one of the best contributors to happiness. I will write a separate post detailing plans for this trip soon.

- Vacuum: We had one big ticket purchase this month that I'm happy about, but also frustrated with myself about. When I first bought my house, I purchased a very small, cheap vacuum because most of the house was hardwood floors or tile. Well, once we had carpet installed upstairs and in the basement, this tiny little vacuum just wasn't cutting it. We then received another, larger vacuum as a wedding gift, but it was a cheaper one too. Well, recently I was vacuuming the house and all of a sudden it started making this weird noise and spewing dirt and dust bunnies everywhere. Among many other problems we've had with it. So we decided to buy this...

A new Dyson! I've always wanted one, but settled for cheaper options, which in the end, cost just as much as we would have spent on this one in the first place. Sometimes I frustrate myself with my cheapness on things that matter. I don't really enjoy housecleaning (who does?), so every time I pulled out my old vacuum I resented it even more. I just tried out the new Dyson last night and was very impressed by everything about it. 

- Goodwill Donation: After all of this buying, we also made a trip to Goodwill and dropped off a huge pile of clothes, house stuff, and books, etc. that we no longer need or want. It feels good to clear some of the clutter from my life, as well as share my excess with less fortunate people.

- Pay off Debt: I've never read Dave Ramsey's books, but have heard that one of the basic principles he teaches about debt is that it feels good to chip away at the smallest loan or debt you have until it gets paid off first. It gives you a boost in confidence and happiness, not to mention getting rid of a nagging problem every month. Well, we don't have any credit card debt and the only outstanding things we have to pay off every month are our student loans and our mortgage. HOWEVER, we did owe my parents a chunk of money they loaned us for some house projects. We've been chipping away at that for about two years and finally paid it all off this month! I was so happy to write that check and am so thankful to my parents for allowing us to make payments without interest all that time - especially since they paid for our wedding in the middle of it! I am very blessed :)

- Student Loan: Now that we're done with that, we are focusing on paying off what's left of my student loan balance. My debt is peanuts compared to Ted's (med school - ouch!), but it will be great to have one less bill to think about each month, and rather than put all of our extra money towards savings, I'd rather pay down our debt. We'll still save for a rainy day too, but it will be a great feeling to be down to just our house payment and Ted's loan payments each month.


So that was my first month of The Happiness Project. I think it was quite successful. I'm feeling good about all of the purchases we made this month, but I'm looking forward to hopefully being a bit less materialistic for next month's project!

My Day Job

I spend a large portion of my life at work, and I thought it was high time I explained exactly what my work is. First, some of my history.


I have a bachelor of fine arts degree from Kendall College of Art and Design and graduated in 2007. During my senior year, I began an internship at a local office furniture dealership, which eventually turned into a full time job when I graduated. I worked there for three and a half years, during which time I learned a LOT. 

This is a picture of part of the Knoll showroom at the Chicago Merchandise Mart - I worked for the Knoll dealer and gained an appreciation for classic designer pieces

About a year and a half ago I needed a change of scenery and happily got hired by my current employer, Kentwood Office Furniture. I absolutely love it there and have had many great experiences already. We mainly focus on commercial design (banks, schools, healthcare, obviously offices, etc.), but do some residential work as well. I've also done residential work on the side, which is a fun challenge for me. 


Not everyone can say that their work is also their hobby. It's not even really just my hobby, but my passion. A lot of my brain space is devoted to thinking about furniture and design. I'd like to share a project I recently completed for work that I'm very happy with.

This is a local plastic surgery office that I had the pleasure of designing. I would have loved to get in there to take pictures before they loaded it up with their personal stuff, but oh well. I would also love to go back with a tripod and my new camera, but it's tricky to go there on off hours when they don't have patients around. 


So anyway, this is a little bit about my career and what I do every day. I do anything from meeting with clients, to AutoCAD drawings and picking out furniture and materials, to quoting and working on bids. It's something different every day, and it's also a lot of fun!

Wednesday is a weird day for the 4th of July

I'm finally getting around to posting this, but do you agree? Having a holiday right in the middle of the week seems sort of odd to me, but it did make the work week go quickly. We have been having a big heat wave the past few weeks, so it was a very, very hot and sticky day that we spent mainly in the lake. And enjoying good food of course.

My family has a cottage in Newaygo county, MI and I have spent many happy days there growing up. The lake water was in the mid 80's, so although it wasn't as refreshing as I would have liked, we still had fun floating around and taking the dogs for a swim. 

Every year the lake holds a boat parade, with the prize of a watermelon and a trophy for the winner. Almost every year...we WIN!! With my aunt Shelley and uncle John in the family, it's hardly a fair competition for the other people. I mean seriously, look at this thing! Made out of a refrigerator box and paint, we had Michael Phelps leading our Olympic themed boat into victory. Well, we actually came in second, but still got a trophy.

 My parents and Ted watching the boat parade go by. There were some creative ones this year including cowboys and a Disney cruise theme.

One thing we didn't do this year was stay for the fireworks. It's an hour drive from the cottage back home, and with having to get up for work the next day, we didn't want to stay too late. So our day was pretty low key, but it was nice to be with family and have a day off from work. Happy summer everyone!

Meet My New Camera

I have been dreaming of the day when I could get a new digital SLR camera for a very long time. Luckily I have the best husband ever and he finally said I could buy one when the shutter button and zoom function stopped working properly on my old camera. I ended up getting a Canon EOS Rebel T2i and an extra telephoto lens for it, so I'm beyond excited to see what I can do with it. 

So far, the only thing I know how to use is the auto setting, but I really want to learn how to use the manual functions soon. I'm hoping to take a continuing education class at my alma mater this fall to learn. 

Murray is one of my best test subjects right now. We did take a trip up to Traverse City, MI this weekend for a wedding, so I got to try out my camera on some gorgeous scenery. 

This is the tip of Old Mission Point on Sutton's Bay, which is part of Grand Traverse Bay. I had never been to this part of Traverse City before, so it was fun to explore.

So, learning how to do everything this camera was made to do is definitely on my bucket list for this year. Can't wait!

Living Room Refresh

I haven't changed too much about our living room since the day I moved in, except the rug and some things on the shelves.

(here's a phone pic from October 2010)

(and today June 2012)

These shelves have proven to be the most difficult thing to accessorize in the house. They are very shallow - only about 3 inches deep, so it's hard to find things that fit, both in depth and in height. I've had my eye on some Jonathan Adler pottery for some of the shelves, but it's so expensive that I only have one piece so far (my little weenie dog). I also have a random scattering of picture frames and clear vases, none of which really show up against the dark blue paint on the walls. 

The wall color on these got a little bleached out by the sunlight. It's really more like the second picture.

Something I really love in the room is my rug from West Elm, and the mirror over the fireplace has always been a favorite. Other than that, I've removed the brown sheers I had over the front window, removed one of the small black end tables and replaced it with the taller table that was originally in the corner by the fireplace, changed the pillows and changed the things on the shelves a million times. 

The front window is massive and lets in a ton of light. It also lets the neighbors see every move we make in the living room, especially at night. I'm at a loss with what to do with this - the brown sheers I originally hung allowed for a lot more privacy, but they also blocked a lot of light from the room. I don't think white or off-white would look right with the couch, so I've just left the window wide open for the time being.

The TV is just a huge black hole in the room. I'm married to a sports fan. The TV stays.

Other than that, I love the paint color in this room and the way it pops against the white trim. The color is Behr (from Home Depot) Underwater. The trim is just the standard Behr white semi gloss trim paint, and the ceiling is Behr Ceiling white (which doesn't cover as nicely as the other Behr paint). The blue was a paint and primer all in one, and it only took ONE coat to cover the beige that was there before. Awesome.

This is one of my favorite rooms in the house, and it's where we spend most of our time.

Chicken Orzo Salad

Recently I decided to start meal planning. I was tired of coming home from work and staring at my cupboards and fridge, trying to decide what on earth to make for dinner. Some nights I had my act together and had something going in the crock pot, or had ingredients on hand for a recipe, but more often than not I didn't and it frustrated me. Ted works crazy hours at the hospital, so every month I have him make me a calendar of which nights he will be home for dinner. 


One day I was looking at the calendar and it hit me - I needed to make a meal plan. Basically I just plan out two weeks at a time. I write the recipe I'm planning for each day, leaving built in "leftovers" days and date nights where we go out to eat. After that, I make a grocery list of the ingredients needed to complete all the recipes and stock up enough to last two weeks. We still have to make a run for milk and fresh produce occasionally, but for the most part I have everything ready to go. 


This has made life SO MUCH easier. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner. We have a few standby favorites that Ted requests now and then, and I like to throw in new things to try a couple times a week too. One of our very favorite recipes is this one for chicken orzo salad.

Chicken Orzo Salad

Ingredients:
3/4 Cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1 medium cucumber, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
1 small red onion, chopped (we leave this out because it's quite strong, but it's personal preference)
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley (I use a few dashes of parsley flakes and it tastes fine)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese


Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile in a large skillet coated with cooking spray, cook chicken over medium heat for 6-8 minutes or until no longer pink.


In a large bowl, combine the cucumber, tomato, onion, parsley, and chicken. Drain pasta, stir into chicken mixture. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper. Pour over chicken mixture, toss to coat. Serve warm or cold (we like it warm). Just before serving, sprinkle with cheese.
Yield: 4 Servings


We have eaten this as a main dish many times, but it could also be used as a side dish at a picnic or something. It's a great meal for the summer - nice and light and you can grill the chicken instead if you prefer. Yum!

(original recipe from Taste of Home magazine - we added tomatoes, which the original doesn't call for, but I really like the taste)