February 20 - 25

The lighting and settings are off in most of these pictures, some intentional and some unintentional.  My settings must be off because it was hard to get a good picture in low light settings, which usually isn't a problem for my camera.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Location: Long Beach, CA

We celebrated Krystal's 30th birthday with an authentic Chinese meal and salsa dancing.  The restaurant had beautiful decor of fireplaces and candles. Krystal added to the beauty with her creative invitations and party favors.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Location: Long Beach, CA

 After Krystal's birthday Monday night, I celebrated the 6th birthday of the little boy I work with. I gave him a Thomas Duplo train and three beginner reading books.  One of the books was Thomas! A combination of his two favorite things!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Location: Long Beach, CA

"Never underestimate the power of the burrito."  

Enough said, right?  So that the comment is not misinterpreted... The bag was very interesting and funny to read, basically by eating at Chipotle you are making the world a better place because they use naturally raised meats.  By choosing naturally raised meat you are encouraging farmers to change their practices to be more responsible, which may lead to legislation and government changes all because of the burrito you buy.  Didn't know your meal could have such an impact, huh? Neither did I.  I just like their food.

Thursday, February 23, 2012
Location: Long Beach, CA

This picture does not do justice to the cute cupcake flower arrangements that were the centerpiece of each table at the Interfaith Intercultural breakfast I attended. The food was alright. The speaker was amazing. 90 years old and still able to walk onto stage with little help and speak to a large audience. His second career (since retirement around 60) has been dedicated to bridging cultural and religious gaps in Long Beach and southern California. His dedication to the community of Long Beach was very inspiring.

Friday, February 24, 2012
Location: Long Beach, CA

I arranged this small flower presentation from a larger bouquet I received. I wanted to experiment with lighting and angles in this photo, but the settings were still weird on my camera so if I brought the rose into the light it was overexposed. Not my original goal, but this picture is still nice.

Saturday, February 25, 2012
Location: Long Beach, CA

Krystal is making a dress. I am inspired, but not enough to actually make one myself. I'll see how hers turns out first ;)

Palm Desert with the Family

Whenever I go on a trip I take TONS of pictures. At first I was going to break my plan of one picture a day and post a series, but since I struggle with being decisive, I thought it would be healthy for me to choose one. After much deliberation, here are my two favorites not just because of the artistic angles but because of the people in the shots.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Location: Mt. San Jacinto, Palm Springs, CA

On Saturday we took the tram to the top of Mt. San Jacinto and found a beautiful winter playground. We built a snowman, had a snowball fight and trudged around. In the foreground of this picture you see a snow laden tree and in the background you see a classic picture of Scott picking on Jorgie while Achlee and Christian stand-by.

Sunday, February 19, 2012
Location: Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival
Indio, CA

Along with the joy of spending the weekend with my family, I was very excited to go to the date festival.  The festival included ostrich and zebra races, date tasting and date shakes. In this picture is some blue ribbon dates with my date shake and an excited me!