I had a FULL weekend and I have so much to cover on this post, you have no idea! I’ll start with the engagement shoot that I did this afternoon and I’ll cover the rest tomorrow. Man, I act like people actually care about what I did on the weekend when they most definitely DON’T. But I’m cool with that.

Anyway, two of my friends are getting married: Apple and Steve. And I am privileged to capture their love on camera. Congratulations to the love birds as they move on to the bigger and better. I’ve uploaded five photos of the day from this shoot because I just can’t make up my mind on any of them. I’ll have more tomorrow. The shoot was quite effortless because these two have so much chemistry; everything that is staged, looks natural. Thanks for a good time, guys!!!

Enjoy these photos. I’m addicted to couples. If you need your love captured, contact me here.

I changed my theme because the other theme wasn’t the most convenient, since you had to keep on clicking “previous” to go through the photos. Now at least there are ten photos in a page – it looks better, too anyway. I would’ve just fixed the problem on the other theme, but it was hardwired not to post any more than one photo per page and I would’ve turned 65 years old by the time I reversed the codes. So I had to tweak a new theme from scratch and it’s SUCH a headache. Mostly because of Internet Explorer 6. Honestly, just go die. That browser needs to go. I didn’t post a photo yesterday because I was switching themes and dealing with Internet Explorer 6 drama.

Last night, my boyfriend dropped me home at midnight and we’d usually let each other know once we’ve gotten home safely. 2:00am comes around and I hadn’t gotten a call from him. I called his cell phone a million times and he wasn’t picking up. So I called his home and asked his brother if he had gotten home yet. His brother said no. At that point, I was sure he was in a car accident. A friend of mine passed away in an accident back in 2007 and ever since then, I’ve been unhealthily sensitive to things like this. When people are late to meet me or are not where they should be at a certain time, I get worried because I think something has happened to them on the road. GAH. Anyway, I was worried sick, so I got into my car and started driving around in a mission to find him trapped somewhere all alone. I was going to vomit and my stomach felt like exploding just thinking about WHAT IF. Halfway through my drive, his brother calls and says that he’s actually in his room passed out. Oh my god. Do that again and die.

Photo below is option B for Canon’s internal photo contest. Found that mini canvas at the Dollar Store and got my artsy fartsy little sister to draw a shapey robot for me.

The theme is shapes. I doubt that I’m going to submit this one though. My boyfriend’s not a fan. He usually likes all my photos, so if there’s one that he doesn’t like, I really take it to heart. Or when he says “it’s alright”, it usually means that he doesn’t like it. This one got a whopping “it’s alright”. But what if Canon likes it? Anyway, I’ll take a few more. Deadline is October 1st, so we’ve got time.

My after work shoots are always super rushed because I’m always trying to catch the sun before it’s gone for the day. I get home at 6:20, change into sweat pants and a tee, run out for a shoot from 6:30 to 7:00pm and then the sun is no more. Ever notice how fast the sun sets between 6:30 and 7:00??? Really fast. You can literally see it slide lower and lower and lower until it goes underneath the earth. And during those 30 minutes, as it’s sliding down, you don’t get to shoot with the full sun for the full 30 minutes. Timing plays a part because it’s moving so fast that you have to be prepared for when it passes through clouds, goes behind trees, hides behind an apartment building, etc. Sometimes it goes behind 65 trees and by the time it’s done with the trees, it’s gone and you would’ve had a total of about… 5 minutes of sun time. But then comes winter, where the sun is gone way before you even get off work. That’s a story for another day.

Today marks my third month at Canon. My feet are wet. It’s good stuff.

I’m going to take this seriously and try to do a fair bit of the required speeches and get through a few of the (eight) achievement levels. The highest and final achievement level is the Distinguished Toastmaster, which I don’t think comes around for at least four years, unless your whole life revolves around Toastmasters. Anyway, one speech at a time! It’ll be good. :)

Photo below is of my Golden Retriever. Don’t you just want to kiss the screen? I do.

This is what I used to think: to compare yourself to those who are better than you, smarter than you, faster than you, farther ahead than you, because that drives your hunger and becomes your ammunition to work harder, to improve, to move forward, to get better, to BE BETTER. Made sense and still makes sense to me.

But the thing is: comparison will eat you alive. My thought was toxic! Don’t compare at all!!! If you do, then you’re headed for bitter. Fast. You’ll be chasing and chasing and chasing but you’ll never catch it, because each and every time you accomplish something great, someone else has accomplished something greater. Every time you do something big, someone else did something bigger. And on and on like that it goes. Don’t compare at all. Just know and be comfortable and be confident in your own way, your own standards, your own goals, your own happiness, your own beliefs, your own lifestyle, your own self. He is not you, you are not him. She is not you, you are not her. We are all different and therefore, there is no ground for comparison. That’s really it! There’s nothing more to it. :)

Today is September 11. I was in Grade 9 Typing class when the Twin Towers came down. I was fourteen years old and barely understood the magnitude of this tragedy; that it was a moment in time that would be told in history books and studied by fourteen year olds of the future; that it would be the beginning of many wars.

Sending my thoughts to all who’ve lost a friend, a husband, a wife, a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter, a father, a mother, a colleague, an acquaintance, not just from the Twin Towers, but from every day.

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Sorry that the photo below is so out of place. I was drinking milk and eating Lucky Charms cereal this morning and ended up taking photos. You know how it is. Spontaneity.

I’ve also removed the background music on this blog because it’s annoying me now.

Fridays make the world a better place. That’s all I’ve got for you tonight. I’m headed out to Walmart to buy things I don’t need – Walmart is good like that. Make it a great Friday night, everyone!

Former LFO pop group member, Rich Cronin, passed away today. He was 36 years old and lost his battle with Leukemia. I know people die every day but when it’s someone I know of, like a celebrity, it really strikes a chord with me. Nevermind someone I actually know and am close with because I’ll die myself. I have a lot to say about death but I’m going to go ahead and switch gears before I depress you or myself. RIP, Rich.

I am writing a special letter on behalf of our Sales Director at work. This letter is about his vision and his strategy for the remainder of 2010 and into the new year. Today I spent some time writing the first draft and it was strangely stimulating. It felt like I was writing a visionary or motivational speech for somebody important. I like it!

Speaking of speeches, I am going to start back up with Toastmasters next Monday. I love, love, love delivering speeches and presentations. It’s just that my current role does not provide me with as many opportunities to speak in front of people, compared to my former role. I have an obligation to myself to create my own opportunities, so that these skills that you’ve worked so hard to build, don’t start to get rusty. I’ve joined a Toastmasters club right by my home, so it’s just lovely. If you don’t know what Toastmasters is, read up on it. It is a FANTASTIC way to develop your speaking skills and honestly, it is so. much. fun.

Being able to speak effectively is one of the most valuable skills you can have. A good salesman is good at what he does because he can TALK like awesome and grab a hold of your soul just like that. Wear your confidence and talk like a star and it is a done deal.

Photo below has no connection to this blog entry. Just simply mama Wall-e reading a book at the park.