Cold Snap!

So we came back from Florida to find S. Cali in a big cold snap. The day we flew in was rainy and cool. Once the rain passed the cold lingered and got colder! So last night was a low of about 16! This morning I went to work in my very warm long brown coat and used the automatic starter to warm the car because the wind chill was 5! Yup, 5 degrees. See we live at an elevation of about 3000 feet. Therefore it gets cold here. And in the high desert the wind blows, resulting in a nice little wind chill factor. Don't think we're complaining because both Dave and I love it. Although I don't think Dave would have uttered those words after playing softball on Tuesday night! So for all you folks that think S. Cali is all warmth and sunshine, think again. The worst thing is we have all this cold weather but no snow!

Turkey Day Trip

For Thanksgiving this year Dave and I headed back to Florida. My folks drove down from Maryland, and joined us for turkey at the Scahnker’s house. Diane (my niece) came with them. While she was down there I decided to use her as my photography guinea pig. I took lots of photos of her so I could practice and get a good feel for shooting people. She even got to ride a horse while she was down there. We had a lot of fun going to parks and stuff during the weekend to take photos. See Diane's photos and feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think. While we were there I also got to see my brother, Trent, and my sister, Trina…along with all the nieces and nephews. So I again practiced my photography using the kids as subjects. On Saturday I ran a 5K race in Cocoa. There were not a ton of people so I managed to finish as 3rd overall female! Who would have thought? My time wasn’t even that great since I was really feeling the humidity down there (23:58). Sunday we spent with the Schanker family. We played miniature golf in Port Canaveral and then headed down to Melbourne for dinner with a few friends. It was really weird to be back in that part of Melbourne, since we were right by my old house. Sunday night we hung out and played some games, and then it was off to bed so we could get up at 4:30am to head to the airport. It was a nice trip, but we are glad to be back at home. We came back to cooler weather. The highs are in the 50’s and the lows are supposed to drop into the teens and 20’s. This weekend we will be home, but the following weekend is our first ski trip of the year! I can’t wait.

Wonderful Photos

While Dave and I were on vacation for our 2nd anniversary in Northern Cali, we had some photos taken in the city. The photographer has a wonderful style and I really admire her work. (I put a link to her blog under my photogrphy links). Anyway the photos turned outgreat. So take a peak if you want.

The link for the photos:
http://web3.sendtoprint.net/proofbook/DavidMichele/Cover.asp?sets=DavidMichele

The link to the slideshow:
http://www.jenniferskogphotography.com/darkroom/share/?client/DavidMichele

Red Rock Canyon

After a long and kinda stressful week, I told Dave I wanted to do something fun during the weekend. So Saturday after I returned from my routine gym workout, we drove up to Red Rock Canyon State Park. It's only about an hour from our house. It was really neat there. Mostly desert, but lots of unique rock formations. We hiked along some of the trails while I took many photos (of course)! We even climbed up along some of the rocks. It was so amazing to see the red rocks up there. We were thinking it would be neat to go up there and camp one night. Anyway, here's a few photos I took while we were there.

Weekly Update

Last Sunday dave returned from kentucky. We met in Santa Clarita (the next big town below us). Down the hill as us southern Californians call it. We then headed over to 6 flags for the afternoon. We got to ride the new roller coaster, Tatsu, but it wasn't as thrilling as I was hoping. You get to ride superman style so you at least feel like your flying. But with my shin splints, it was kind of uncomfortable for me. After leaving the park we went to anaheim to see the BMG concert. It was awesome as usual. Very much like the 1st Rock concert they did, but they added some new things to it. I really love BMG, they are so entertaining and the music is sweeett! This week was pretty much a normal work week, except that we got our accessories installed on the new car. We now have a ski rack, subwoofer, xm radio, and an automatic starter. The Automatic starter will be nice to have in the winter months!!! I went to my sprint workout on tuesday and boy was I fast! I love that I have so much speed right now, but my shins don't! I've been in pain ever since tuesday. I was averaging about a 7:10 pace at the workout! This weekend dave and I did not make it to red rock canyon as expected, so that is a trip for next weekend. I did make it out o shoot some photos for a little bit on sunday. We have also decided to use some of our AMEX rewards points and go to Salt Lake city right before XMAS to go skiing. I think we're going to spend 3 days there and ski at Alta and Park City. I was out there 3 times last year for work, and it is so nice. The city is so convienet to all the resorts. I can't wait to go back. Plus the snow there is great. I'm so excited to go skiing. I'm hoping for some local snow soon, as we have plans to head up to mammoth the weekend of Dec 8th.

Photography 101

Well, after buying my photography book last weekend. I decided that I would head out somewhere local today to take some photos using only manual mode. It was kind of an experiment or learning assignment for me. I think I did pretty well, but I did learn one thing. I learned the lesson of digital noise being introduced to high ISO speeds. So tonight I downloaded a free tool to help process the images. Besides the noise, I think I did well. Here's some examples of photos I look at Lake Elizabeth up in the hills. See more photos on www.schanker.smugmug.com

5K Heaven

Dave is out of town this weekend in Kentucky for Breeders Cup. So I'm on my own. I decided to run a local 5K Saturday morning. Even though I'm still fighting through the shin splints, I was able to run really well. I iced both legs prior to the race and took some ibuprofen. I wasn't sure what to expect. The course has a bit of an upgrade so I wasn't expecting a PR (personal Record). The gun went off and I took off. I ran my first mile (up the upgrade) in about 7:10!!! Wow I was flying! I then slowed myself down a bit in fear I'd burn out. But at the same time I knew I could have a great time. My second mile was about 14:50 and I finished the race at 23:12. My final time beat my previous PR by 9 seconds! Go Me!! I'm so close to my goal, it's in reach. I really want to be able to run a 5K in under 23 minutes! So I'll keep at it and maybe in a month or so I'll be able to achieve it. (sorry no pics this time, since Dave is out of town). Anyway I finished 1st in my age group and 5th overall in females. I also finished 23rd overall (male and female)! Can't be disappointed with that at all!

Tomorrow morning Dave will be back. I am planning on meeting him in Santa Clarita. We are going to spend a few hours at Six Flags and then it is off to see the Blue Man Group Concert. I can't wait to see BMG. Anyone who attended our wedding knows how much we love the BMG. I hope the concert is just as good as the last one.