BACK TO BLOGGER

so since i cant post any more photos on this blog, i have returned to my blogger.com blog. this is where i will be continuing my update posts…so be sure to replace this wordpress page with the new blogger page. there will also be a link back to this blog if you feel like coming back to it at any time.

thanks for your support and i will see you over at blogger!!

ummmm…now what!?

so apparently i have reached my upload limit…which means i cant add any more photos to my blog without switching to a paid version. im feeling a bit bummed now. i was all motivated to get, and keep, my blog updated and even had another post ready to add when i got so brutally rejected! so i will be mulling around trying to figure out how i want to deal with this…but NEVER FEAR…i will be sure to get back on track as quickly as possible!

thanks for your patience ill be with you again shortly!

P.F.T.= photo field trip

so im still catching up on all my missed posts…and probably will be for at least a little while…but to be cliche, “its better late than never,” and i just dont feel right posting new ones before i catch up. it messes up my chronology….and for those who know me REAL well know that i have a bit of an obsession with organization. ESPECIALLY chronological organization! but thats a whole different day

but as for today…well sorta…

back in december…my “bestie”, trish, and i took a little photo field trip up to sedona, az. it was a nice girls day out…beautiful weather, gorgeous scenery, and even a spooky little story that i might share, if youre lucky!

we spent the day just driving around trying to find cool little spots to explore and…well…take pictures! hence calling it a photo field trip. since neither of us are avid sedona trippers (is that even a word? well it is now!), we only knew of about 2 spots that we for sure wanted to go to…the rest of the time was us just driving around hoping to happen upon a jewel.

the first stop was the church of the red rocks. pretty much everyone who’s been there knows about it. its just what it sounds like…a church built into the side of the red rock mountains. being that i myself am a christian…it really reminds me to thank God for creating such beautiful places for us to enjoy!

this is a shot i got of trish…

heres where the spooky little story comes in! as we were drving along the highway, we saw that down below was a creek and if we pulled over we could climb down the rocks and get some really cool shots! so we found a perfect spot to pull over and park the car. we locked up, climbed down, and just started walking along the creek…shooting as we went (thats where trish is in that last shot). well as we were walking, we noticed there were 2 guys, in about their mid 30′s to early 40′s, walking on the other side of the creek, calling something out in spanish. well, since neither of us speak spanish…naturally we didnt know what they were saying, but we were under the impression they were looking for someone they knew since they were too close to us to be needing to shout. but being that we were two young ladies, walking alone, in this very secluded creek ravine…we decided that it was a good idea just to head back to the car. well…as we started heading back, the guys crossed the creek and started to walk in our direction and were no longer calling out whatever it was they were before. getting a little nervous…we started to walk a little faster and progressed to a light jog. then it got scary! the faster we walked, jogged, or ran…the guys did the same! i was now at the point where my adreneline was PUMPING! all i can think about is what is possible if these guys catch up with us…and that no one can see us from the highway. i am yelling for trish to “RUN!” i climbed up those rocks faster than i ever imagined i could…using only my lower body strength, while i held my camera in my hands. as we started up the rocks…the guys, only about 30 ft. behind us, started up the rocks. i finally got to the top, unlocked my car, jumped in, started the engine just as trish was opening the door and put it in drive! just as trish shut the door and the car started to move…one of the guys jumped up to the top of the hill and was standing right at her window! we were so scared all we could do was laugh and freak ourselves out even more by talking about what COULD HAVE happened! needless to say…we didnt go far from the main road for the rest of our trip!

but…just up the road we HAD to pull over again…this time staying visible. this is what we would have passed!

its was like what you imagine a fairytale forest to look like. like a place snow white would go to call all her little animal friends! and i like this one of trish standing in the road to get her shot!

a little later in the day we ended up in the spot that we both knew we had to go! slide rock! there are so many cool things to see and photograph…there just isnt enough blog space…or time, since im trying to catch up on the last 5 months ive missed take a look for yourself…and if you are ever in the area be sure to check it out in person…its majestic!

be careful of this area!! i made the mistake of bending down on my knees to get this shot, and found out very quickly that that isnt just dead grass you see…its a breeding ground for those tiny round stickers!! trish had to come help me stand up because i couldnt put my hands down to push myself up…and not to mention my legs were a little sore from all the climbing and intense running from scary men we had to do!!!

this was perfect for me! im a bit of a hippie at heart and right away when i saw this GIANT wooden wheel i saw the peace sign in it! so i had to do the obvious

this image reminds me of a place a young married couple would have went back in the 30′s and 40′s…and after their spouse died…they would come back here and just sit on the bench and reminisce. kinda sad…i know. but dont worry…thats just trisha sitting there…but it does seem like that kind of spot…right?

and last but not least…slide rock itself!! in summer this place is swarming with kids and families…playing in the water, picnicing, and just walking the edges to get a good look at the scenery. it definitely something worth checking out if you get the opportunity!

thanks for taking my photo tour of sedona…and i hope you enjoyed yourselves! come back soon..and i look forward to catching you up even more of my lifes adventures from the last few months…and those to come!

so im not dead…

i realize i havent blogged in about…oh…4 months! but i just wanted to make an appearance and squash any ideas that i might be dead, or any other extreme excuse for me being m.i.a for so long. the truth is i didnt own my own copy of photoshop so my editing and resizing was limited to specific times when i could use a friends software. but now i have my very own copy…so i am making a vow to be a better blogger and i hope you all will help me keep my promise c: i mean…there are times when laziness is a little to blame for not blogging too…but just a little. ok so now lets get on with it. please bear with me as i post some catch up stories from the last 4 months.

well i left off with my first half of christmas. (geez…i have been a slacker!) so here is a little sneak peak into my side of the families festivities.

last year (2005) we started a new tradition of playing a game where everyone takes a part of “12 days of christmas” and we sing the song…each person or group singing their part when it comes to it. it sounds super cheesey and really lame…but its actually pretty funny when you have a family as goofy as mine!

heres mike and i singing our part. mike is plugging his ear while he sings, just like all the divas do!

this was also mike and alicia’s (my sister-in-law) first experience with a real salters family christmas. they were swimming in all the gifts! it was good to be a salters kid c:

mike is wondering why my parents got us a scrapbooking kit as our JOINT gift! personally…i thought it was a great idea c:

since we celebrated christmas in the bay area (california) we had to make our usual trip to san francisco. on our way there, a semi that was driving in front of us decided to spread the christmas spirit by giving us this little gift!! thank God it didnt come through the windshield!

but we did finally make it! and OF COURSE we had to see all the typical sf sights…alcatraz, the seals, and the GIANT christmas tree!!

oh and i forgot to mention…this was mikes first time EVER to sf!! i couldnt believe it! he has been all over the world…but never been to san francisco! but by the end of the day he was over the cold bay wind and just wanted to go home.

and even though this has nothing to do with our california christmas trip…it still is related to christmas. this was mike and mines first married christmas…so i wanted to take a picture of our first christmas tree! lucky for me, my mom is very crafty and she LOVES holiday decorating…so we made the ornaments and decorated the tree ourselves! sorry you cant see them very well. but isnt the tree beautiful?

not to mention the tree stayed up until almost easter! my family was making jokes about how i should just keep it up all year and re-decorate it for each holiday. mike didnt like the idea…i thought it sounded kinda fun!

well that concludes my holidays post. stay tuned for more catch up posts!!

holidays part 1

i figure since i havent posted anything from the holidays i should at least give you something until i get the rest edited. well this was mike and i’s (?) first christmas married so it was a little more hectic than in the past…but we still had a good time! since my birthday is december 23, we always make sure to have a seperate celebration so i dont get forgotten in the rush of christmas…and anyone with a christmas birthday knows what i mean! this year my family was going out to california for christmas at my aunt brenda and uncle wayne’s house. having out of town holidays makes it a little more challenging to split things up between our two families, but i think we did a pretty good job. my birthday celebration with my family was on the 22nd so they could leave first thing the next day…they drove! christmas and my birthday with mikes family was on the 23rd before church rehearsal. you see, tim (my father-in-law) is the pastor of community of grace and mike plays guitar, jan (my mother-in-law) plays keyboard, and i sing, and we had four christmas eve services to rehearse for! so as you know…christmas eve was spent at church and we did quite well we got home at about midnight and still had to pack for our trip the next morning to california! yes…you read that right! we flew on christmas day to be with my family…the sacrifices you make to keep your mom happy! i will have another short post about that trip once i get all the photos done…so stay tuned! overall we had a great first married christmas with both of our families! i hope your holidays were happy and your new year is full of joy and success!

my early birthday present from mike was a new point and shoot camera…the panasonic lumix lx2! it was perfect cause i got to bring it with me to aspen and to christmas since i didnt have my big girl camera yet. all of these pics are taken with that new point and shoot…i think she did pretty well!

here i am at my parents house for my birthday. im wearing my new (RED) shirt and bracelet i got from mike!!

my mom even made, by special birthday girl request, a pineapple upside down cake!! mmmmm…delicious!

i got mike a new taylor acoustic guitar! how good am i? here i am putting it in the trunk after i bought it at guitar center.

so not to give away the surprise…i took photos (macro photos of the guitar, the guitar center sign, and me putting it in the trunk) and gave them him one at a time before he actually got to have it! its a fun way to present a gift that is unwrappable.

GUESS WHAT I GOT!! my big girl camera!!! the canon 30d!! my in-laws even got me a 28-135mm lens, a 580ex flash, a remote shutter, and a digital wedding photography book! it was great!

here’s the rest of the fam opening their gifts….

alycia…mikes sister. we got her this really nice fleece pullover in aspen!

jan…mikes mom. we got her a new game for her nintendo ds.

tim…mikes dad. funny thing about this is that alycia got him a book about castles too without even knowing this is what we got him! kinda weird!

even billie got a present! its a doggie cookie variety pack. she gets one everytime she poops outside and doesnt eat it! gross i know…but its reality.

and here i am having fun with the christmas ornaments