we all know what

we're supposed to do when life hands us lemons.  Guess what.  I had a whole lot of lemonade this weekend.  To make a long story short, I'm going to the camera doctor today.  Yes, everything turned to crap in the middle of the photo walk on Saturday but at least it wasn't a wedding.  Also, I just used my phone for the rest of the day.  I would say it all being operator error is the worst part but as much as I could kick myself, I'm using this as an opportunity to be more aware next time.

Here are some phone pics from Saturday.

Now let's all hope for a speedy recovery because my camera has places to go and people to see.  In the meantime, I've decided my backup needs to be upgraded.  My current backup is... well... let's compare it to the donut spare everyone has in their trunk.  Now let's say that someone who drives for a living needs to use the spare but also needs to keep driving while the permanent tire could possibly take 10 days to be replaced.  That trip would be a lot easier and go a lot faster if they'd just replace the donut with a regular sized tire.  Now I need to get dressed just in case I can get my camera to a doctor in Houston this morning.

Fingers crossed, prayers said, rabbit foot rubbed...

did you hear about

the time I photographed a wedding?  Yes?  Well, click HERE for a look at the bridal portraits we did a few weeks before that.

In other news, I'm meeting up for a photo walk tomorrow.  I'm pretty excited and now I just hope the rain holds off.  Oh yeah, let's hope for no rain the next weekend too.  I've signed up for another photo walk.  Watch out for me... I might just come out of my shell!  (Highly doubtful but it's fun to keep everyone in suspense.)

For now, go check out the bridal portraits and I'll go sweep my floors.

i'm an early

bird.  Sleeping until 8:00 is late for me.  When I woke up yesterday, it was almost 11:00.  Enough said.

I woke up at 3:00 this morning, thinking about the wedding.  I think either I'm scarred or the stress is lingering.  But, the roller coaster is almost over.  I'm slowly editing photos from Saturday's wedding.  My world will soon be back to normal and I will be thankful.

i'd really

appreciate a pause button right now.  Although, if I had one, I probably wouldn't have time to press it.

the photo bug always

seems to bite at the worst times.  I'd love to get out and go for a drive this morning but there are so many things stopping me.  Let's see, oh yeah, first thing is my car is in the shop.  They picked it up yesterday and hopefully they'll call me today with wonderful, inexpensive news.  So my car's in the shop and oh yeah, there are a ton of other things going on.  (hanging my head and sighing )  Coke, anyone?  I think I need another round.

For several years I've thought about going on a photowalk.  It's a worldwide thing.  (No, the actual walk is not worldwide but walks are happening in towns everywhere on the same day.)  I finally said screw it and get this... I signed up for two separate walks on back-to-back weekends.  So there.  I did it.

In the meantime, while I'm wearing myself out on all the other stuff going on, I'll wish I was one of these two.

i'm a picky

person.  My drink of choice is a cold Coke with no ice and a straw.  If I have a fountain drink, I'm okay with ice.  I'd like for them to go easy on it but the straw is a must.  If I'm drinking out of a can or bottle, I don't really need a straw but sometimes I use it anyway.

That's where this next bit of information comes in handy.  (I saw this on Pinterest.)  If you have a canned drink and want to use a straw, after you pop it open, twist the tab back around.  At this point you have a hole over the opening to hold a straw in place so it doesn't bob all over the place.

Like this:

And now I'm off to look for more things so I can continue to blow minds.

yesterday i was

expecting a delivery from UPS.  They needed a signature so when I wasn't sitting in a chair facing the front door, I was pacing.  I was expecting a lens, a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 to be exact.  My plans were made.  I would get the lens and head out to the wildlife refuge way before sunset.  When the lens didn't come until 8:30, the evening at the wildlife refuge was out of the question.... but I did get Strat.

This morning I went out to the beach and got pictures of the sun hitting the water with a little boat off to the side, in true Melanie fashion.

I got a barge about to enter the waterway to the port, I guess.

Then I left and headed to the wildlife refuge.  (Keep in mind I'm not trying to win any awards with these, I'm simply trying out the lens.)

I put my window down to get this reflection off the first puddle of water I came to.

That was a mistake.  Suddenly I was in the car with 37 mosquitos and a large fly. Fortunately for me, I had already covered myself with Off.  Unfortunately for me, I didn't put the windows down again.

I got out of the car so I could get the eyes of this alligator.

And that was it, until I was leaving.  Up by the first puddle of water was a pack of boars.  A pack?  A herd?  A gang?  Whatever.  They took off to hide in the grass.

Then I remembered why I wasn't feeling 100%.  I made bacon earlier and was so anxious to get out that I didn't take the time to eat.  So I headed back home for my bacon.  Maybe I can get out again tomorrow.

the new dryer

was delivered and laundry was done.  Don't judge me here but my last dryer didn't even have anything to let me know when it was finished.  It was just something I was used to.  My grandmother's old dryer, that still works today, has a buzzer.  I was used to that thing as a kid, that shockingly loud buzzer.  Everything now is so dainty-like.  It's all chimes and beeps.  When I went to start my first load drying, I noticed I had the option to be alerted when it was finished.  Sure!  Let's try this!  The clothes were drying and I kept on doing my thing.  When time was up, and my cutesy little chime let out a harsh BUUUUUUZZZZZZ, I jumped.  I immediately knew there would not be a repeat of that.  But the good news is my laundry is getting washed and dried and it's awesome.

I really wanted to get to the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday.  They're open from sunrise to sunset.  We rushed but by the time we got there, the sun was setting and they were in the process of closing the gates.  Oh well.  I told Cosme to pull over so I could at least get a shot of the sunset.  It's a little blurry but I was trying to hurry on a narrow road with cars coming from behind.  So the one blurry shot is all I have but it explains why I couldn't get into the refuge.