Shoes, No service

The one huge cultural differnce that we have observed and participated in since being in Thailand is the No shoes policy. According to my travel book, Thais pretty much think of feet as the the dirtiest part of the body. Basically they have a foot phobia. So they hate shoes indoors. Lots of places will expect you to take shoes off before entering, such as our cooking class. There was even a shoe rack outside the door. You are expected to remove your shoes before entering. The one thing I couldn't help but think of is that in the USA if you were to enter a resturant without shoes you would totally get kicked out due to health code, but here in Thailand that is not only accepted, but expected!

Koh Samui

The island of Koh Samui has been real nice, although all the tailors in Chaweng Beach REALLY want to make Dave a suit!One guy even said.. "you look like a business man"...I just had to laugh at the one. Yeah right, my husband goes to work in shorts...even when its 20 degrees outside! Ha.

So here is how our time here has gone.

Day 1: relax, go to the pool, enjoy some drinks, walk around Lamai, eat dinner, go to bed at 9:30 because we were exhausted

Day 2: An island tour that consisted of elephant riding, a monkey show, elephant shows, vistis to a waterfall, some rocks along the coast, teh Big Buddha, a viewpoint on the island, and a temple. The rest of day was spent at the pool and at Chaweng Beach

Day 3: Cooking class in Chaweng at the Thai Culinary Insititute. We ahd a blast here. There were 13 people in the class and we were all from different countries. Yet we all spoke english. The food was so incredibly yummy...now we have the recipes so hopefuly we can make this stuff again. After class we enjoyed a drink on the beach at a table that was literally on the beach! Then back to the hotel for some time at the pool. That night we went back to Lamai. We were still very full, so we really just had desert and a drink.

Day 4: A trip on a speedboat to Agthong National Park for snorkeling and kayaking. It was so gorgeous out there. I really enjoyed this trip. We got back to the hotel around 5pm, and that is where I am at now, typing this post.

Tomorrow we are off to Bangkok and will be meeting up with our frineds. New Years in Bangkok, but we have no idea what we are doing yet!

Have a great New Years Eve everyone!

We Arrived!

So 20 something hours of traveling wasn't all that bad thanks to Ambien! Honestly the 14.5 hour flight went by pretty fast since Dave and I slept a lot. China Air was pretty good. Friendly service, good food, & free wine and beer. They kept us pretty full and we actualy enjoyed the food. The weird thing was they served us breakfast before we landed in Taipei (is was 5am cali time) but when we got on our connection to Bangkok that flight served us dinner since it was 10pm Taipei Time. But for us it was 7am...so it was a bit weird eating chicken and pasta at 7am local time! We adjusted well. Only slept about 5 hours at our hotel last night which got us up about a normal time in Thailand.

Now we are on an island called Koh Samui. Bangkok airlines rocks! They had a lounge for all cleints with free food, drinks, and internet! So far it seems that the service in Thailand is realy good. Today we just rested and didn't do a whole lot. Enjoyed the veiws at our hotel(we have a room overlooking the ocean and the hotel sits on a cliff), went to the pool, and enjoyed some drinks. Tomorrow we are off for an island tour. I won't be posting photos until I get back, but I'll try and post some text updates whenever possible.

Can Never Have Enough Powder

This weekend at Mammoth was amazing! Great snow! Saturday was just beautiful...blue skies, lots of fresh powder, and temps in the 30s. We had a great time!!! Wish we could have stayed longer! On Sunday we had a beautiful morning and then the snow rolled in during the afternoon. We still skied our hearts out though. I never have time to take photos since I'm a die hard skier. But I shot a few form the side of the highway on the way home. Not the greatest, but they get the point across! The eastern sierras are just wonderful.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Thought I'd wait for enough time to go by for everyone to receive their card this year before posting this.

If you didn't get this...sorry, I most likely don't have your address. But let me know and I'll get it right next year! :)

Dave and I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season!

This Morning

This was the view at about 8am as I was trying to get my car cleaned off to go into work. The roads were horrible!!!! But luckily I have our Subaru. Got to work and there were like 8 people there! I stayed til 1 and went home. I'll probably regret that decision when I have to make that time up or take it as vacation.

More Snow Photos

It snowed all day! Dave and I did go out in the backyard and throw snowballs at each other. I also made a snow angel. It was overall a good day in the Schanker household! I measured 5 inches in our front yard.

More photos...sorry these aren't the greatest...I wasn't exactly trying for some award winning photo of our house. :)

The High Desert in Southern Cali

For anyone that thinks we live in a warm year round climate...not quite!!!!

Its supposed to snow until late this evening. Love it!

Now this is why I want to live in Colorado!!!!

Brings back memories of my snow days as a kid in Maryland. I came home for the afternoon.

It's a wet and slushy snow.





I love our Tribeca! Awesome 4WD!But I almost got hit this morning on the highway by someone who obviously doesn't know how to drive in the snow. They spun out in front of me. I was pretty shoken up. But all was good. I'm sure they were pretty shaken too.

Yippee!!!

We got snow!!!!!! I'll see if I can post a photo later.

This is highway that runs through our town!

Second Chance

This is for our area!

Statement as of 10:23 am PST on December 16, 2008


... Winter Storm Watch in effect from late tonight through Wednesday
evening...

The National Weather Service in Los Angeles/Oxnard has issued a
Winter Storm Watch... which is in effect from late tonight through
Wednesday evening.

4 to 8 inches of snow are possible late tonight through
Wednesday... with the highest amounts in the foothills and the
eastern portion of the valley.

A Winter Storm Watch means there is a potential for a combination of
significant snow... strong winds and dense fog that may impact
travel. Continue to monitor the latest forecasts.

Total Bummer

No snow at our house. Just lots of cold and lots of rain. the Mountains surrounding our house, however have lots of snow. Two feet in some areas! It was 39 and raining this morning at our house. This is what we plan on doing this weekend!!! I figure I have all day on the 24th to pack for vacation, so why not get in some time on Mammoth Mountain!

What a Difference 3000 Feet Makes

It's currently 61 in Los Angeles...but where we live we have a wind chill of 37! That is a huge difference. We live 1 hour northeast of LA and at an elevation of close to 3000 feet. Poor Dave...he commutes to work and in the winter his body must go through complete shock. He's told me there are days he leaves in the morning and its in the teens here but by the time he gets to work in Burbank its in the 60s. So crazy.

I love Winter!

I swear every time I check the weather for Lancaster it gets colder and colder! Which is totally awesome! I so love the cold and I love snow. Even if we don't get snow at our house, the surrounding mountains are going to be wonderful in a few days. I'm so looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to being on the slopes with fresh snow. How awesome! This is a big reason why we left Florida...SKIING!!!!! Seriously one of the best activities ever. Can you tell I'm excited! Ok, so enough enough about the weather, right. Sorry, I'm just very excited to see winter arriving.

Dec 15

Rain / Snow Showers

42°
28°

30%

Dec 16

Rain / Snow Showers

43°
28°

30%

Wed
Dec 17

Rain

49°
26°

70%

Winter Has Finally Arrived

From our local weather statement..
ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT IMPACT OF THIS WEATHER SYSTEM WILL BE THE VERY LOW SNOW LEVELS. ON SATURDAY SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO BE INITIALLY 6000 TO 7000 FEET. SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO THEN LOWER TO BETWEEN 3500 AND 4500 FEET BY SUNDAY... LOWEST ACROSS NORTHERN MOUNTAIN RANGES. SNOW LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO BE EVEN LOWER BY TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY... POSSIBLY AS LOW AS 2000 TO 2500 FEET IN HEAVIER SHOWERS

We live at 3000 feet...so I sure hope this comes true! WE haevn't had snow at our house in 2 years. The really good news is Mammoth should get hammered! So I see skiing in our near future.

On a side not I forsee a betteer business buerau complaint coming…I have so had it with ADOBE! They are ridiculous! I've dealt with bad Customer service in the past, but Adobe takes the cake! We thought everything had been taken care of it, right….well apprently not. I still have no software and I don't think they are going to be sending it to me.

I hope this comes true...

Weather forecast for part of next week.

Wed
Dec 17

Rain / Snow

49°
34°

60%

Outtakes

I took some photos of Dave and I via tripod. All of these were done at our house. Which was challenging since our yard looks pretty bad right now. Just hasn't been taken care of in months, since we've been pretty busy. Now that the frost has hit the grass is not looking so good.

Anyway, we are using some of them on our Christmas card for this year. (I'm not into photos by the xmas tree, at all...so blah). I thought I'd share some of the outtakes. In other words the ones I'm not using on the card.I have discovered during this adventure that I am just not very photogenic. Thus why I like being behind the camera.



I think I would have liked this better if Dave was wearing his contacts. And his head wasn't tilted kinda weird.


We tried the patio furniture...but those just weren't working out so well, in my opinion.

There were some others that I really liked, but they came out blurry! Errgghh! You'll just have to wait and see the card to see which ones I picked out. They should be in the mail next week.

Sorry I just have to say it....GO TERPS!!!! They really put a hurting on George Washington today! Only a few more weeks until the fun really starts...ACC play!

I'm in Vacation Mode Already

A quick sneak peak at our upcoming LONG vacation!

1. Koh Samui (this one isn't definite since its not booked, but I'm leaning towards this place)
We'll be snorkeling, zip lines, enjoying the beach and pool, and possibly renting 4WD vehicles


2.Bangkok Hotel & Pool
Sightseeing in the city and day trips to the tiger temple, Lopburi, and Ayuttha. Should be seeing lots of mokeys in Lopburi!
3. Chiang Mai Hotel (the mini bar is free!)
Elephant Riding, hiking, shopping, tribal visit, etc...


4. Phuket Hotel (oceanview room)
More snorkeling and beach activies

5.Krabi Hotel (spa villa)
Sea Kayaking to the caves, maybe some rock climbing.

Then it'll be time to make the long journey home.

Some of My Favorite Things

Five things I love about running at this time of year
1. The smell of wood burning in fireplaces
2. the crunching of the fall leaves under my feet
3. Seeing my breath while I run
4. The crisp cool air
5. Feeling like I could go forever because I'm not burning up

This is seriously the best time to run. I just got back and it was a crisp 43 degrees outside...one mistake I made was I forgot to wear my gloves. Another reason why I love living at an elevation of 3000 feet!

Fear The Turtle!

Welcome to the ACC baby!!!

As I write this the terps are playing Michigan and winning with an excellent second half!

Anywya if your a terps fan and would like to see some photos, click here for a slideshow!

Thai Politics

In the last two days I have become very informed about Thailand politics and everything that is going on over there. I find it very interesting that the majority of the people are against democracy for their country. They say it brings corruption to their country. Anyway, the court ruled today that electoral fraud did occur and basically dismantled the government. We'll have to see who gets put in to the rule the country and I think it'll be interesting to see what the king has to say on Thursday. Who ever knew I would know so much about Thai politics, huh!

Well, I have a vested interest when I'm supposed to be arriving there in 3 weeks! I certainly don't want to be arriving in the middle of a civil war or something. So we wait and see what happens. But I really need to get my stuff straight and get ready to go on this trip, its right around the corner! I'm starting to wonder if I have enough memory cards…I'm not taking the laptop. I can't even decided what equipment to take with me.

College Bball Season

The time is here and it is now! I just went to 2 Maryland Terps games this week. What a blast, just wish they would have played better in the second game.

Some photos...









So, have you seen the new lately. All the stuff going on in Thailand. I personally don't think its all the bad, except that they took over the airport! We are supposed to leave in 3 weeks and really have no idea what we are going to do. I suspect the airport will be open by then. And hopefully things will settle down. I just really want to go on our vacation. It's like what do you do if you have already planned your entire trip! I told Dave no matter what we will be on a plane going somewhere!

Florida

So the trip to Florida has been kinda all over the place...to Orlando..back to Edgewater...then to Orlando...Deland...back to Edgewater!!! Oh Boy! Dave says he feels like a gypsy....first some time at his parents house, then time at my parents, then to Dave's sisters, now back to my parents. My folks built a second home in Edgewater (yeah, middle of no where) this year. So they spent turkey down here as well so we could see both sides of the family. But its been a back and forth excursion. Tomorrow its back to the west coast to fly back to LA after some brunch and min golf! So far we've been to 2 UMD basketball games, had multiple dinners, spent several nights in the hot tub, went shopping, and wine tasting. It hasn't been a bad journey.always nice to see family. We just wish we could do it in another location. We both just don't liek the Florida weather...it just should never be this warm in November! I think its supposed to be about 78 tomorrow...but soon we'll be back in our 58/34 degeree weather and I can't wait. As much as its been good to see family, I can't wait to get back to Cali.

Go Terps!

Just returned from Disney Wide World of Sports! Go Terps! They totally romped on #6 ranked Michigan State. Will be there tomorrow to see them play Gonzaga! GO TERPS!!!!

Safe Driving

For anyone reading this....please be safe driving anywhere, even in your own neighborhood! Don't let your guard down.

As most of you know I am a runner and I frequent the roads and sidewalks in my neighborhood. Tonight I was crossing an intersection. The light was green, I was in the crosswalk, and I had a walk signal. Everything that I did was correct, yet I still almost got hit by a car. Thankfully I am very cognizant of this kind of stuff because it has happened way to often. The driver decided to not hit the brakes until she was close to the light and ended up most of the way through the crosswalk. I noticed it in time to stop myself dead in my tracks.

Please, Please....make sure you stay behind the lines and crosswalks. They are there for a reason.

Let it Snow Let it Snow!

The forecast is calling for lots of chances of snow next week at mammoth (Tues - Saturday!) !!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed, as I really want to be up there skiing on Dec 6th!!!!!!!!!! Come on snow!!! I can't wait to hit cornice bowl (my favorite single black).I am so itching to be on the slopes!

We will be on a plane Tuesday night heading to Florida. Oh boy! Looks like its going to be right around 70 and 50% humidity….blah!. My coworker said to me the other day "that just seems weird to go to a warm place like that for Thanksgiving". My response "Yup, I wish we could all just meet in Colorado!" . The worst part is its supposed to rain and snow while we're gone. We love it when it rains and snows here, and we're going to miss it. I am looking forward to watching the terps play on Turkey Day though. Both Dave and I will be sporting our Terps gear for the day.

Well, if anyone from Florida actually reads this and you have some free time next weekend and would like to see us, give us a call. Maybe we can meet for dinner or something.

My List of Things To Accomplish

I love Melissa Jill's 101 list, I think its such a good idea to have these type of things written down so you can check them off. So I think I may start my own. But I think I'll edit and let it grow as I think of things. Here's my int ital cut and I'm sure there are lot more things I'll ant to included. Now I am not trying to accomplished this in 1001 days. How nut my lifetime instead. Some of these I know won't be accomplished for a long time! It's not at 101 yet, but I'm sure it will be soon.

1. Travel to Asia
2. Move and settle down for good in Colorado
3. Ski in the French Alps
4. Live in Ireland temporarily (a year or two)
5. Order sample wedding albums
6. Order a sample signature book from Finao
7. Book a destination wedding
8. Travel to all 7 continents (yes, Antarctica too)
7. Run a 5K race in under 23 minutes
8. Complete an Olympic distance triathlon
9. Complete a bike road race
10. Go wine tasting in France
11. Ski a double black diamond at mammoth
12. Install crown molding throughout our house
13. Plant tress in our backyard
14. Learn to cook Thai food in Thailand
15. Hike to the top of Mt Whitney
16. Backpack the John Muir Trail
17. Go dog sledding
18. Get accepted into WPJA
19. Shoot a wedding for a stranger in another state
20. Go on a cruise to Mexico
21. Get some photos posted on a blog or in a wedding magazine
22. Hike to Machu Pichu (sp?)
23. Second shoot at least 3 more weddings for photographers I don't know
24. Complete another half marathon, that isn't Santa Clarita
25. Put molding around all the upstairs windows
26. Get patio furniture and decorate the front porch
27. Order the desk I want from Crate and Barrell
28. Install a recessed lighting fixture in the loft
29. Touch up the paint in the guest bedroom
30. Order prints and gallery wraps to decorate our bedroom
31. Find end tables and a coffee table for the family room
32. Install speakers in the loft.
33. Take Dave to a bears game in Chicago
34. Take Dave to a devil's game in Jersey

Back from Jersey…

and its nice to be back on the West Coast!

I think its pretty cool that my husband decided to randomly post something on the blog while I was gone! Maybe I can get him on here more often!

The wedding was good, check the blog for photos real soon. The rain held off until right before the reception. Although we ran out of daylight for outdoor photos. We tried to capture some with the nighttime scenery. At every wedding I learn something new. Usually something to think about to make sure the next one goes smoothly. It's a big learning process for sure. This weeks weddings lesson….ask your bride if they are having a receiving line!!!! This is the first wedding I've photographed that actually did that, and it took a lot of time away from the photographs. Also make sure you have directions to the correct location. Luckily I found this one out on Friday night. I went to the church for the rehearsal and found that there were no cars and no lights on in the church. This was because they had changed the church.

So I enjoyed Sunday with my mom. We slept in, ate breakfast, and then walked around Philly in the cold weather. We saw the liberty bell and Independence Hall. Then we ate dinner at the Hard Rock Café. We ended the night with some wine in the hotel bar.

When I got home late last night I opened the door to a wonderful surprise! Dave had cleaned up the house. How awesome. Especially since he had told me his plan was to do nothing all weekend long.

The Mysterious Dave

I've never made an entry, and as the title implies, at the very least, I am allowed to contribute, being of sound body and mind and all. (And Michele is away for the weekend, so there).

So I will only say this:

Seriously, T&P Combo is probably the greatest song ever:

"When the going gets weird, you know the weird turn pro"

Dave (Now turned pro)

Update

And the worst customer service award goes to…...…Adobe!!!

Seriosuly I think Dave and I have wasted a combined 3 hours of our life on the phone with these people.

Dave calls me yesterday and the the first thing he said was…"you owe me for dealing with these people".

Gotta love it!

But I'm finally getting The mac version of CS4. Had to pay $100 though, but I guess thast better then regualr upgrade rate.

BTW...check out www.micheleschankerphotogrpahy.com/blog if you want to see more photos from the workshop I was at.

Workshop!

I attended another photography workshop today. This time it was a wedding one. Thought I'd quickly share a photo or two. There will be more coming on my photography blog. Just keep in mind, I was one of 48 people, so I wasn't always in the best position for a great photo. I was trying to capture things, more so I would remember what we were doing throughout the day. But I am totally excited about going to WPPI. Not that I wasn't before, I'm just more excited now!

Faster and Faster

Well I brought my time down again today. I ran another 5K race, the annual City of Palmdale one. This time I finished with a time of 24:10 (about a 7.8 min per mile pace) which is about 40 seconds faster than my last 5K. So that is good. I could have been faster but my shoe lace came untied, not once, but twice. Guess I didn't double knot it like I usually do. Anyway, I'm bringing my time back down do that is good. Hopefully I'll be back into the 23 range soon. I did place second in my age group. I got smoked by the first place runner, she came in at 22 something.

So while I'm talking about exercise I though I'd share a few of my favorite healthy food choices.

1. Carbonara made with fat free evaporated milk and turkey bacon
2. Apples cut up with caramel sauce. I melt a few soft caramels in the microwave and mix in some vanilla soymilk then drizzle it over the apples. Sometimes I put crushed up pecans on top
3. Speaking of soymilk....Vanilla soymilk. It's become a staple around here, I drink it and cook with it.
4. Over fried chicken - ok its not fried, but I dip the chicken in egg beaters then shake it in a bag with breadcrumbs and old bay. Then I bake it. It's really good over salad too.
5. The corn chowder recipe I posted in a previous post - also made with soymilk.
6. My Maryland crab cakes! I mix the crab meat with egg beaters and low fat mayo. Also use some mustard and of course old bay. Can't have crab cakes without old bay.
7. Oh and I can't forget No Pudge Brownie Mix. Seriously, so good! I buy this at Trder Joes. The brownies are made with non fat vanilla yogurt and they are so moist and yummy.

Miscellaneuos Post

What's going on in Lancaster, CA.

1. We're finalizing our Thailand Trip…Yippeee. We can't wait!
2.I'm going to a wedding photography workshop this Sunday. Should be fun.
3. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad the election is over…I'm not the type to get all wrapped up in politics, and I just can not stand the bashing and the horrible ads. Sets such a bad example. I just don't get why people have to be so verbally horrible, just because they don't agree with a persons views. I pretty much never look forward to election years. I definitely wasn't meant to be a politician. Besides I think a lot of our problems reside in congress, but I won't get on that soapbox.
4. The Terps play their first game this weekend!!!! GO TERPS!
5. I fly out to NJ next weekend, then I'm home for 7 days before we both fly out to FL. Then we're home for 3.5 weeks before we go on vacation. The end of the year will be here before we know it.
6. We're taking our skis in this weekend for their yearly tuneups. I'm so excited about being able to ski soon. I wish I could be a ski bum all winter. Seriously how awesome would that be…ski every single day.
7. I decided to join the twitter nation today.
8. Looks like the high speed rail thing passed. I'll believe it when it happens though, as they've been talking about that since before we moved out here. In fact our train station was completed with high speed capability. Although I'm sure our taxes will increase as well.I just wish we could be more like Europe and have trains everywhere. It would be so cool if we could just hop on a train to go to mammoth for the weekend. I just like the way things are done in Europe so much better.
9. I hate the fact that I now have no choice but to run in the dark during weekdays. By the time I get home from work, its pretty much dark (5pm). But I do like the time change, because it means winter is just around the corner.
10. It was 39 degrees this morning when I came into work. Dave though still insists on sleeping with the window open…so our bedroom has been freezing. I swear I'm going to wake up one morning with ice cycles growing off my nose.
11. Oh, and Dave called Adobe. Didn't quite get our way, but a compromise I guess. They are going to give us a discounted upgrade rate.
12. Gee I've been posting a lot lately. Maybe I just like talking to the internet. :)

An Amazing Lady

This was passed around at work today and I thought I'd share it here. If your not familiar with the U-2 and it capabilities, it truly is an amazing plane, even though it s over 50 years old. I'm proud to be a part of what keeps this thing going.

Click below to watch.
U-2: Familiar Sentinel & Useful, Too

Yeah I Voted

...but more for the Props than anything. The nice thing was it took me a whole 20 min!!! Guess my polling place is a good one. And its at the fire station that is seriously about a 1/4 of a mile away from our house. Would have walked but this AV wind in 50 degree weather (wind chill in the 40s) was not to much fun to be in at the time. My first time voting in Cali.

Ready to Ski?

Mammoth is Open!!!!!

Yup one of the best ski resorts in the US is now open!

Wish for more snow!!!!!

WWYD?

So last week I ordered two albums from J Lee. Today I receive two boxes. I was thinking "well , why did they send them separately for". I open the first box and its the 2 albums I ordered. I open the second box and its a bunch of stuff I didn't order. I guess I need to call them or send and email and let them know. I've very sensitive to doing the honest thing lately, especially since we've had 2 incidents of fraud in the last month.

Lovin' It

Just got back from mailing off some prints to a client and buying Halloween candy....its a wonderful spooky day out there. Cloudy, cool , and drizzly! Love it! I wish we could somehow hand out Halloween candy from the back patio so we could sit by the firepit tonight. We should just bring everything to the front porch.

I think I'll be going for a run this afternoon to enjoy the weather some more.

So then I checked Mammoth's forecast and apparently they got 5 inches of snow yesterday!!! The best part is they are expecting more! So Sweet! I'm so excited that winter is almost here. Hope to be on the slopes in early December!!!! I need to enjoy skiing while I can. :)

Busy Busy

My new thank you post cards came today and I LOVE THEM!!!! Pearl paper rocks!!!! Hmm...I think I know what I'll be using for our Christmas card this year! : )

Here's a shot of them...you may not be able to tell but the light blue has a damask background. Love it!


Tonight I shot engagement photos at this tiny cute little park by the library in Palmdale. I think I got some great shots. Hopefully I'll get some time to look at them this week and post a few to the blog. It seems like once I get caught up on photography, I just get behind again. I am flying out in a few weeks to shoot a wedding in New Jersey.

Great Customer Service

On another note, I got some great CS from WHCC the other day. I like to include thank you cards with every print order/CD release that I do for my photoshoots. I've been just using generic stuff from Target, but I finally decided I should just create something on my own. So I sent in an order of postcards on pearl paper to WHCC. I guess I dind't quite size the file right (it was bit small). They noticed it duirng the print process and called to tell me, cancelled the order, and asked me to resubmit. I thought that was nice. At least you know they have some quality control going on. They could have just printed and mailed them.

Dave will be home tomorrow...yeah!!!!! He went to go visit his family for the weekend. Being that I hate Florida (and I was helping to shoot a wedding) I did not go . Besdeds we will both be back there for Thanksgiving. I do miss him so very much. So I can't wait for him to get home tomorrow night. It's just so weird having this big house all to myself. I was hoping to be more productive then I was, but I was very tired today. In fact my run was just awful tonight. I managed to edit my wedding contract, post more photos to the blog, go grocery shopping, cook dinner, do some reserach for our Thailand trip, and complete about 6 pages of a wedding album. At least I'm off on Friday. I know I have a lot to keep me busy! My To do list just grows and grows!

No New Progrees

I'm thinking I should have dropped some of my engineering babble on Adobe. Maybe tell them not having CS3 could be in violation of their configuration managemnt policies, blah blah blah.Just maybe then they'd realize they aren't just dealing with just some Joe off the street but an engineer who is heavily invovled with a software department. Well we shall see what happens when Dave calls on Monday. This stuff makes me to mad so I don't deal to well with it. He's much more cool and calm then me. Their email reply I got is just some form cut and paste email. They didn't even address anything I wrote. In fact it’s the same email I got 2 weeks ago. What great customer serivce…not! After doing some research, I'm apprently not the only one with issues on adobe customer service. They even have an unsatisfactory rating with the BBB. Nice.

Need to Vent

So I have legal copies of photoshop and lightroom. I just got my new Mac, which I first investigated to make sure I'd be able to switch my software over from windows to Mac. Now lightroom isn't an issue since the software is compatible with both systems. CS3 is my issue. So I received an email from Adobe saying yes we do have a program where you can switch platforms. I call adobe today like they told me to, and I get the bombshell dropped on me that they can only give me CS4! And no its not for free, I have to pay the normal upgrade fee! Not even a discounted fee, but the normal fee! I don't even want CS4, I'm totally fine with CS3. They tell me they can't give me CS3,..which is obviosuly just a ploy to get me to spend more money. So here's the funny part...as my red headed temper kicks in (yes I have a bad temper when my buttons are pushed) , I asked the lady if they threw all the CS3 discs in the garbage can. Dave got a kick out of that one. So then I ask to speak to a manager, and of course I get hung up on. I call back this time after taking to the guy in India who is obviosuly reading from a script, I'm on hold for over 20 minutes. I think its rather funny that when I call orinally I get right through, but as soon as I start to complain I'm on hold forever. I finally hung up becuase I had been on the phone for close to an hour. So I am totally unhappy with adobe right now. Errgggh!

Fall Splendor

Warning...long post...lots of photos. :)

Our trip to Mammoth was meant to enjoy fall, but we actually got to expereince some winter too. The lows were in the 20s and the weather was a bit odd. It just made us anxious to get back on our skis. I keep hoping they will get more snow and early season skinig will be decent this year.

So on Friday we traveled up to Mammoth Lakes to celebrate our anniversary. The condo was fantastic. A corner unit that was actually more of a townhouse. It had a flat screen TV with surround sound and amazingly conformable beds. We went to Whiskey Creek for dinner and went for the full thing...appetizer (artichoke dip), Entrees, and Desert (mud pie). Everything was delicious. Desert is always a nice treat for me, since I rarely ever eat it. The downfall with the condo complex was that the hot tubs were apparently closed until 1 Nov! How can you come to mammoth and not use the hot tub! But we figured out a way to enjoy hot tub time anyway!

On Saturday we got up enjoyed breakfast and some coffee and then headed out to the trail head for a bit of a hike. We were planing on doing a 10 mile hike up to Duck Pass and back, but once we got to Mammoth we didn't think we'd actually get all the way up there, because there was a good amount of snow on the mountains! But we decided to try and see how far we would get. Well as soon as we got on the trail it started to snow! Yup, you read that right! It was actually the weirdest weather day..we had snow, rain, hail, wind, and some blue skies. Dave for some reason decided he didn't need to bring a jacket to elevation in October...so once we got to the third lake we ate lunch and turned around. IT was windy and quite chilly up there. So the hike ended up only being about 6 miles.. but we decided to want to go back there and backpack.

A not so good photo of me...but you get the point!

Apparenlty Dave thought it was still summer!

After we got down we were both pretty cold so we decided to go have hot chocolate. Then we drove around June Lake to see the leaves changing. I just love the color of the leaves against the white trunks of the aspen trees.

That night we ate at Angel's, enjoyed the hot tub again, and watched a movie in the condo.

Sunday we got up early and drove to Convict Lake (the place on the nature valley commercial) for morning photos, but soon realized first thing in the am isn't the best time as the other mountains cast lots of shadows. So I took a few shots then we drove back to the condo.

While at the condo we drank coffee and watched skiing on the Mammoth Channel. Then we packed up and then went to some other spots, before going back to Convict Lake.

The next two are at Lake Mary

Then we had lunch at Erik Schat's and drove up Bishop Creek Canyon. Most of the leaves here dieed already due to the cold snap last week, but there were still some pretty spots. Our last stop of the days was Alabama Hills in Lone Pine. We had nver seen the famous arch, so we decided to seek that out. Pretty Sweet!



Now we're home and wishing the weekend was not over!