Ketchup and Other Condiments

Yeah, maybe let's pretend like the last time I posted on here wasn't 3 months and 1 day ago.  I got a job that I signed a million NDAs for and therefore can't really talk about, Sam got busy trying to graduate, and we kind of ceased to have a life in the interim.

But!  Things are happening again, and while I probably don't deserve it, I hope I still have a readership out there, somewhere, in the wild blue yonder...

So.  Like I said, I got a job.  January 17th even.  It's kind of crazy, but this job, even though the circumstances were and are not perfect in every way, has been a huge godsend.  If I'd gotten a different job ages ago, I never would've gotten this one, and I really feel like this is where I was supposed to end up.  Pay is not what I should be earning.  Hours are slim (based on demand).  But the job is great fun, I work completely independently, all of my "bosses" trust me to do things and figure things out on my own, they ask my opinions on stuff I think is kind of important, and I basically help their companies function at their best.  Well, I'm sure they could make it without me, but I think I make it a lot easier for them.  And the best part?  It's fun.  They tease me, we joke.  I love being around happy people all the time.  And like I said, it's right where I need to be.

And Sam is graduated!  I'm super duper proud of him.  He's been there for me through all of the crummy junk life threw my way in the past couple of years, and so I've been trying really hard to reciprocate these past couple of semesters so he didn't have to worry about anything but school.  It really paid off.  He's done really well in all his classes, and I've stopped worrying so much about his education, and now-- he's all finished!  Graduation feels like a huge accomplishment to us both, and we're both on cloud nine now.

Other things have started happening too.  My older sister had a very cute baby girl last week, whom they've named Juliet.  Also last weekend we had the opportunity to join my parents and my other sister and her husband on a camping trip to Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde.  We even stopped at the Four Corners Monument, since most all of us had never been.  Let me tell you-- that place is a straight up barrel of monkeys.  But they have Navajo fry bread!  And I loved that everybody there felt as ridiculous as you doing weird poses whilst trying to be in four places at once.  Solidarity, guys.  (I'm putting pictures from the trip below, so in case you hate images you can just skip them-- and I think most of them are not ones I put on Instagram)

Oh!  And I also shot my first wedding a couple of weeks ago!  It was hard work and I was really nervous, plus post-processing took way longer than any other shoot I've done, but it turned out pretty well, considering the light was bad all day and night.

That's another thing-- somehow things have picked up a lot faster than I expected them to with the photography thing.  People are starting to ask me to do shoots for them instead of the other way around!  I still feel totally inadequate, especially when I see people with amazingly clear photos or subjects' eyes are all lit up like gems, but...you know what?  I'm trying.  And maybe my style is a little different.  And most of all, I'm still learning, and I'm just really happy that people are actually giving me a chance!  I really love getting out there and shooting people.  It makes me really, really happy.

Oh, and I promise not to be such a troglodyte in the future.  I'll keep posting.

Grinding that stone at Mesa Verde

Yo.  Wasdens at Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon

Cairns and men

Ascending the Pueblo Alto Trail, Chaco Canyon

Mom hearts Chaco

The 'rents

Cold at Mesa Verde

Short at Chetro Ketl

Ok, this was really cool: Dad's signs at Four Corners!  Woohoo!

A case for the FBI: which state was I killed in?

"Mecca lecca hi mecca lecca hiney ho"

...And descending

OH NOES FALLING OFF TEH CLIFF

Oh, Senior Photos!

Layers of Ommmm