Anniversaries

Today is my 1 year anniversary in my current role (and company). Yesterday was my 12 year anniversary with my parent corporation. I've held four roles: Senior Financial Analyst (3 years) in Knoxville, TN; Plant Controller (5.5 years) in Merritt Island, FL; Director of Finance (2.5 years) in Knoxville, TN and now Vice President/Cheif Financial Officer for 1 year in my current location in CA.

Orphanage, Puerto Vallarta

Today, I received an updated group shot from the orphanage that I went to last April. It's fun seeing an update of the children.

Malibu Creek State Park

Today, I went hiking with a friend at Malibu Creek State Park. The park features hiking, fishing, bird watching and horseback riding opportunities. There are 15 miles of streamside trail through oak and sycamore woodlands and chaparral-covered slopes. Twenty-five-mile Malibu Creek in the park is the principal water-course of the Santa Monica Mountains - from Boney Mountain to Malibu Lagoon.

Visitors

This weekend, I also had a visit from an old friend from college and her family. It was fun seeing them as I hadn't seen them for 12 years.

Kids Photoshoot

Today, I took pictures of a friends child and his cousins.

Avalon

This evening, I went with a friend to hear Avalon. I wasn't real familiar with the songs, but it was fun to go do something.

Photographers In Action!

Here are a couple of pictures of me at Learnfest that one of the other photographers (Veronica Reeve) sent to me. In the first picture, I'm in a pink top and khaki pants and the second picture I'm in a brown sweater and off-white pants (near the center).

Barbeque

Today, I went to a barbeque at a friends house. I didn't take any people pictures, but got a couple of this great dog. When he was born, he was the runt of litter, but now is a healthy grown dog.

New Pictures

I finally got the pictures from my Blackberry that I took at Hearst Castle. They have been added to my September 1 blog. Also, the IT person at work was able to retrieve all the photos that were on my memory card that got formatted, so I have added some pictures to Learnfest, Day 1.

Also, some more pictures with some Photoshop mats that I purchased from Design Aglow.

Bald Head, NC

Here are just a few pictures of the island.

Learnfest, Day 2

My classes today were with Tamara Lackey and Laura Novak.

http://www.tamaralackeyblog.com/

http://www.lauranovak.net/

Today, I had better luck with not accidentally formatting and erasing all my pictures. Here are some pictures of the photoshoot with Tamara Lackey.

Learnfest, Day 1

What a great day. I learned so much today from Audrey Woulard and Lena Hyde. They are both amazing photographers (blogs below) and shared so much with us. With Audrey we had a photo shoot and I took loads of pictures.
http://www.audreywoulardblog.com/
http://lenahyde.com/blog/

So, where are the pictures??? Well, after dinner, I took some pictures of the club house after dark. I decided to drive a little further down the drive and get another one, but when I stopped to do it, my camera was formatting my disk which erased all my pictures. I hadn't turn off my camera, as I wasn't going to drive far down the drive and I guess my camera hit the series of 3 buttons that are required to format a disk...what are the chances of that happening??!!

Hey, our IT person at work was able to retrieve my pictures...so here are a few...

The Oddie Children

Today, I arrived in Raleigh, NC and stopped by the NC Museum of Art so I could see this painting of my ancestors. The Museum was closed and the painting was in storage, but they museum had made arrangements for me to see it the week before. They sent me this picture of the paining and well as the write up below.

Department: European to 1910
Title: The Oddie Children
Classification: Paintings
Artist: Sir William Beechey, British, 1753-1839
Label Text: Before the eighteenth century, British artists often portrayed children in family portraits as if they were small adults. The subject of children at play reflects a new attitude of tolerance for childhood games in the second half of the century, although an opposing puritanical philosophy still viewed play as sinful. This charming picture of Sarah, Henry, Catherine, and Jane Oddie, the daughters and son of a London lawyer, must have achieved some popularity, since it was reproduced as an engraving. Young Catherine, careless of spoiling her white muslin dress, rests on all fours, gazing out as if to invite the viewer to join the children’s activities. The artist simulates the textures of fabrics brilliantly, contrasting the simple white dresses of the girls with their colorful satin sashes and matching leather slippers. He also manipulates light and dark areas to great effect, silhouetting Jane’s brunette hair against the sky and the heads of her fair-haired siblings against the dark foliage.
The Oddie Children was exhibited with six other Beechey portraits in the Royal Academy exhibition of 1791. Appointed portraitist to Queen Charlotte in 1793, Beechey also painted her husband, King George III, and the couple’s sons, and gave painting lessons to their daughters. These services to the royal family earned a knighthood for the artist.
Date Label: 1789
Culture: British
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 72 x 71 7/8 in. (182.9 x 182.6 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the State of North Carolina

Up, Up and Away

Soon I'll be headed to Bald Head, NC for my photography course. The setting looks pristine and gorgeous (not my picture). Can hardly wait...

The Oddie Saga

A few years ago, my dad put together a family photo album which he titled "The Oddie Saga". It had pictures of our ancestors and ended in the mid 70's (okay, maybe it was more than a few years ago!). Here are a couple of my favorite pictures. The first one is when I was 2. I wasn't behaving for the family photo and I'm sticking my tongue out at my sister. The second picture is when we stopped in England on our way from Ethiopia to America. I always liked soft serve ice cream and my sister would always get a popsicle. On the rare occasion that we got ice cream, it was from an ice cream truck called Mr. Softee.