Frozen Moments

There’s no way to really capture nature, sometimes a picture just doesn’t do it justice.  But other times a photo can single out a smaller scene, something left unnoticed or unappreciated, or freeze a special moment in time.  The Grand Canyon will never be the same in a photo because it’s just too large to get perspective from a picture, no matter how great the photo or the photographer may be.  On the other hand, there are moments and details that may be appreciated even more when a photo focuses on these things such as the look on a man’s face when he looks at the woman he loves or a flower in the morning dew.  Photos give us the chance to dissect a moment and to hold onto it.  This is why I love photography.

Our SLR camera purchase was a big decision for us, but something I haven’t regretted for even a moment.  It was something we had wanted for a VERY long time and it was even on my 101 in 1001 list…something I’ve been neglecting a bit lately.  Another item on my 101 list was to get a nice camera bag.  When I wrote that I knew exactly which bag I wanted, even before I had the camera.  Apparently a million other people also wanted that same bag because after I ordered it I had to wait another 2 months to receive it!  Waiting was so worth it though!  So, here’s my bag, the one that makes me feel like I should be a real photographer. 

I was so excited to begin a 365 photo challenge, however the challenge would entail me taking a photo every single day of the year.  That’s a very big commitment and between wanting to actually spend time with Mr. C, keeping up with the zoo we have at our house now, my cooking adventures, and the everyday things like laundry and cleaning and bills, I’m not too confident in my ability to take a photo EVERY single day.  So, instead I’ve decided to do a 52 week challenge.  I’ll pick a topic for that week and take a single photo.  Well, knowing me I’ll take a ton of photos but pick just one!   I’ll be posting these weekly with a little bit of rambling to go with each one.  You’ll also be able to see a running post of these on my new photography page under the Pages box on the right (if you subscribe to my blog emails, you’ll need to actually go to the site to access this page).

I’m really enjoying the camera, when I take the time to use it.  I’m amazed that my photos are finally turning out the way I want!  Apparently a SLR camera has the ability to do that!  I’ve begun editing my photos a bit more but I haven’t touched many, mostly because I have a lot of nature photos and nature doesn’t need editing!  I’m not too confident in my skills at this point with anything other than nature, although I’d love to start taking more people shots.  I guess I should look for volunteers for this!  (If you want to volunteer, please let me know!)

For now, I’ll share a few of my favorites with you.  Most of these were taken in Sedona, a place that seems to have an abundance of beauty.

I didn't want to tell the tree or weed what it was.  I wanted it to tell me something and through me express its meaning in nature.  ~Wynn Bullock

The bear I found in the woods.  Just joking!  We were safely inside our car at a wildlife park.

This photo I of course did not take, however I really fell in love with it after I edited.  Those are my grandparents on the left, looking great as always.  They've been married for over 65 years!

What Died in My Skate?

Last weekend I took my friend Ms. M ice-skating for her birthday. This is the friend who convinced me to go on the ghost tour last year for her birthday.  Let me say this year was much less terrifying, although it was still scary in its own way.  When I say it was scary in its own way, I mean that my germaphobe friend was terrified of the ice skates that smelled like someone with horrible smelling feet had worn them without showering for about a week, and then died in them.  I’m not joking. Or exaggerating.  I never exaggerate.  Anyhow, we walked into the rink and the smell of feet just hit you.  It almost hit us off our feet!  Ha ha, get it?  Anyhow, it was bad, but we got our skates and somehow willed ourselves to put our feet in them.

As we were sitting there waiting until open skate time, someone opened the door and a very, very cold burst of air hit me.  I had worn layers, but only 2 and they were pretty thin.  The air was freezing and it cut through my wimpy little jacket.  When it’s 115 degrees outside it’s hard for me to even fathom that I could be cold ever again.  Apparently it is possible.  Luckily Mr. C was nice enough to drive all the way across town to bring me a sweatshirt – a sweatshirt I may have not even needed when we began skating and it turned into a work-out, but I didn’t really want to mention this since he drove all the way across town to bail me out.

I had been ice skating once and I remember being pretty good buddies with the wall that time.  Ms. M and I took our first steps into the ice and I think our eyes both got big at the same time.  It was VERY slippery and we didn’t stand up quite as well as we had thought.  We hugged the wall about half the way around (well I did at least) and then we eased our way out farther.   Soon we were going faster than the wall huggers but not quite as fast as the 5 year old kids who felt the need to show everyone up.  I seemed to flail my arms around more than everyone else, but I was ice skating!  It was so much fun, and quite a workout!

I also learned a very valuable lesson about future parenting while I was there.  Under no circumstances are any of my children going to the ice skating rink alone.  Apparently, kids tell their parents they’re going to skate but let me tell you there was not much skating going on.  What was going on was some hockey….the kind with tonsils involved.  We did have quite a bit of fun narrating the stories as we skated by.  At one point there was a couple making out when suddenly the guy stopped to check his cell phone.  REALLY?  What could possibly be more important than the high school girl who is probably lying to her parents to make with you?  I wasn’t allowed to stop and ask that question unfortunately.

We were doing awesome, skating pretty far away from the safety zone of the walls.  We were talking, joking around, and I may have been getting a little too sure of myself.  In order to counteract this, I fell.  I actually screamed a bit first, then fell.  Remember my friend, the one I took out for her birthday?  Well she was super helpful when I fell.  She asked if I was ok which was very friend-like and helpful.  She then proceeded to laugh so hard after I stood up that she had to skate to the wall so it could support her while she laughed uncontrollably.  Oh, and the couples standing in that corner taking a breath from their make-out sessions, they saw my fall too.  I sat on the ice for a few minutes laughing and collecting myself and a very nice kid came over and asked if I was okay.  He probably thought I broke a hip or something.  He was nice though; I bet he’s not one who lies to his parents about his reasons for going to the skating rink. 

Overall it was so much fun.  I felt like a penguin at one point (not while I was laying on the ice however).  At the end, we took our skates off and unfortunately realized that the horrible smell was now contained in our socks and most likely our feet (we didn’t smell them directly).  It was so very, very gross.  But, very worth it.  I can’t wait to see what we do next year!

Happy B-day Ms. M!  I’m so very proud to call you my friend!

Oreo anyone?

I’m so sorry for my apparent disappearance in the past few weeks.  Time has just gotten away from me.  I’ve been busy being obsessed with buying cookbooks, looking at said cookbooks, printing recipes from various online sites, and cooking!  Mr. C is loving it except for the nights it takes me like two hours to make dinner.  Last night he came home and couldn’t even kiss me hello because I was THAT focused.  I had 2 pans going, food all over the counter, and at least two cookbooks open.  This is what’s been going on in the Centner house.  I’ll tell you what hasn’t been going on….cleaning.  Need to work on that.  Oh, and there’s one other thing!  Allow me to tell you the long story about this (Lucky for you, Mr. C says long unnecessary stories are my specialty!).

It’s no secret that I’ve been itching to add to our family, but in the furry sense.   I’ve had some suggestions along the way that maybe what I really want is a baby.  Apparently everyone but me knows what I want!  Since we got married, Mr. C and I have been asked when we’re having kids.  While I really don’t mind from some people (friends and family), others I barely know and I want to smack them when they ask because it’s really none of their business!  Don’t get me wrong, I want kids.  But, I know that it will never be the same.  That’s not to say that it’s not great or even better, but it’s different.  I love date nights, lazy Sundays, dinners that take 2 hours to cook, and going to an insane amount of movies.  These are the things I’ve begun to enjoy since I’ve finished classes.  I’m finally to the point of being capable of sleeping in without feeling guilty now.  It rocks.  I don’t like to do things half-assed (for lack of a better term) and when I’m a mommy I’ll try to be the best mommy ever, while keeping some semblance of myself.  For now, I’m loving my “me” time and our couple time.  While one day (not THAT far off) we’ll be ready to welcome another human addition to our family, now is not the time.  Anyhow, that long rant brings me to the next part, and heart of the story.

I fell in love with a dog not too long ago.  I thought it was destiny that we’d end up adopting him but we hit a snag along the way and it didn’t work out.  I partially wanted him because he was old and no one else wanted him, because he needed a home, and become we could give him one.  But then he was gone and I was crying and heartbroken.  Since then I couldn’t stop looking at adoption sites online even though I knew it was just plain bad.  I even found a cute puppy that looked like a mini Coconut.  But, we didn’t need another dog and I wasn’t sure about the responsibility that would entail.  I got over the dog as much as I could because I assumed he had a great home.  And life went on.

Then last weekend we went to Petsmart for some dog treats.  We went to a different location than we normally do and this one had cats.  Of course I had to go look, because I always look when presented with this opportunity.  There in the window was the cutest little kitten.  He’d peek around the corner and bat his cute little kitten paw at my finger on the glass.  He was so little, so cute, and looked like he needed to go home with me.  I watched him much longer than necessary until Mr. C drug me to the front.  We paid for our dog treats and went on our way. 

We talked about the little guy on the way home.  I didn’t want to push it because I didn’t want Mr. C to just agree if he wasn’t on board, but I asked what he thought the next day at lunch.  Without much thinking he said (rather loudly), “let’s get the kitten!”.  And so we finished our guac and took off to get him.  I was worried he’d be gone because he was super cute and that’s what had happened to the dog I fell in love with.  I worked on not getting my hopes up.  We got there to see a couple playing with the kitty through the window.  Mr. C whisper yelled “you better hurry up!” and we scurried over to the adoption lady.  She opened the cage for us and after about 3 minutes of holding him we said we’d take him.  We needed a carrier and every other thing needed for a kitty so we grabbed a cart and loaded it up. Food dishes, food, toys, scratching post.  Then we had reached the cat litter.  We just stopped and stared at it.  It was the hardest decision of the day!  What kind is better?  What brand?  Crystals or not?  Ahhhhh!  We finally grabbed some and threw it in the cart.  Randomly throughout this Mr. C would look at me with the eyes that said “what the heck are we doing?” and I’d ask him if he was ok and he’d laugh and then we’d agree that we were both crazy.  Finally we collected all our stuff, wheeled our crap over to the adoption lady, and after filling out not that many papers, we had him!

He’s 2 ½ months old and his name was Beaker.  Not being fans of that name, we came up with another one.  He’s black with white in the middle and we needed something that goes well with Coconut, so we named him Oreo.  We figure he won’t remember his old name anyhow…

We were so excited for Coconut and the kitty to meet, but apparently the kitty didn’t feel the same way.  Upon removing him from the carrier, he took one look at the dog and dug his super sharp claws into Mr. C’s back after slashing his ear.  Mr. C covered his ears and closed his eyes and I thought he was having a mental breakdown for a bit.  I kept yelling “GET ON THE FLOOR!”  until he finally did and Oreo unlatched and ran off.  Coconut thought this was super exciting and was ecstatic that we got her another furry friend.

When we were sure the animals were okay together we decided to run to the grocery store.  We got home, unloaded the groceries, and Mr. C scoured the house for Oreo.  I wasn’t too worried since I know how cats have a knack for hiding.  After he couldn’t find him I helped him look.  We still couldn’t find him so we looked again.  And again.  We looked everywhere he could possibly be.  Then we feared the worst – we thought maybe he had run out when we left to go to the store.  I was sad and Mr. C was worried and Coconut was pretty carefree.  We looked everywhere and finally after no luck, Mr. C walked around the neighborhood.  Then we drove around, and walked again.  We went back inside disappointed and distraught.  I imagined us being added to the “national list of unsuitable animal adopters”.  I’m sure there’s a list like that somewhere.  Oreo is microchipped but first I worried that no one would take him in if he was found, and secondly then it would be discovered what horrible pet owners we were.

I was so upset I couldn’t even make dinner.  It had been hours and we had found no sign of Oreo.  We sat on the couch, Mr. C threw in a frozen pizza, and we watched TV in silence.  Then we heard a loud thump.  Our eyes lit up and we began looking everywhere in the living room.  Finally I opened the coffee table drawer just in time to see a tail flash by.  Oreo had climbed through the small opening in the back of the drawers and had been curled up inside.  We were so relieved!  This is now his daily sleeping spot and lucky for me he doesn’t even seem to mind the mess.

So far things are going well.  Oreo doesn’t like Coconut as much as she loves him, but it’s okay.  When we play with Oreo or he’s running around, Coconut pretends he’s playing with her and we just let her believe that.  I’d love to come home one day and find Oreo asleep on Coconut, but for now that’s not the most realistic goal.  For now I’ll settle for Oreo tolerating Coconut, Coconut being excited about her new best friend, and us not losing the newest member of our family.  At this point, I’m pretty sure Mr. C is way more excited about Oreo than I am, but that’s okay too, especially since I predicted that :)