Journey to Vegas

I am out here for the week for a conference for work.  It was quite a journey and an adventure...which we already know I always have.  We (my boss, her husband, and I) made it and are squeezing in all of the fun on Monday because it will be all work starting Tuesday.  The conference is at the Venetian...which is quite nice.  My boss and spouse have never been to Vegas, so it is fun watching them take it all in.  Here are some pictures from getting to Vegas...room pictures to follow.

waiting at the DFW airport

Phoenix airport

Plane broken

at the Phoenix airport

Finally loading our bags in Phoenix

A neighborhood in Arizona...built in a circle

The strip

The other half of the strip

Happy Birthday Sara and Seth

On Saturday, I went to a joint birthday party for Sara and Seth.  (Sara is my little neighbor who turned eight and Seth is one of her good friends who turned six.)  They had this crazy huge water slide, which was a huge hit.  I had a great time and really enjoy all of the festivities.  Here are a few pictures from all of the fun.

Click It Up a Notch: Picture Share Friday

Click on the button and check it out.  Here is my submission for the week.

I am still working on learning to use a different camera, but here is Roxanne.

50mm, ISO 800, SS 125, f3.5

My Fancy Purchase

After writing about my awful camera experience, Taris finally called to check on the girls.  I told him all about the camera and Canon and deciding to get the original one fixed...next month is scheduled to be a super exciting month for us.  To my surprise, he thought that it would be a good idea (and investment) to go ahead and get my camera fixed AND just buy a new one...within the price range he quoted.  I found an upgrade for under my allotted spending cap...thank goodness I only needed the body.  So, let me introduce you to my new camera.

I upgraded to the entry level "professional" grade, the Canon 50D.  It is much more user friendly when using manual mode and I am having to practice a lot to get the feel of this camera, but I am very satisfied with my purchase so far.

With Much Sadness

It is with much disappointment and sadness that I must write the following.  I copied this from my Project 365:

So, here I am in the Rock Your Camera class and what should happen? I am sure you can guess...my camera is broken! Yes. Thank goodness I decided to jump on the wagon and get my first assignment done...kind of. I spent the evening on the phone with Canon. My camera kept giving me this error message about my battery. I did some research, to discover that I needed to update my firmware. So, I did. Now, my camera will not take a picture, turn on, nothing. I was informed by the nice man at tech support that I could send it in and get it fixed for a starting price of $190 or just go straight to the customer loyalty department and upgrade my current digs. I decided to do what Dave Ramsey would want (and Taris) and pay the small fee to hopefully get it back and working. I am just praying to have it back in a week so that I don't really miss any of my class. The problem is that I am going to be out of town all next week and really wanted to take my camera with me to complete my assignment. Oh well. Here is hoping that the issue is an easy fix.

Rock Your Camera 101

I am taking a photography class from Clickin Moms.  I am trying to learn how to get off of auto and jump into that scary and adventurous world of manual!  My photo inspiration, Courtney, loves this group and has really enjoyed everything that she has learned, so I decided to use my monthly stipend and take the plunge.  As I post my pictures on the forum for critique, I will try to post them here as well.  Here goes nothing...

Mason

Mason talks so much more now...once he warms up to you.  He is becoming such a little adult.  His favorite shows right now are Olivia, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Wonderpets.  Mason loves to sing along to the Wonderpets theme song...it is so funny to see him get so excited.