Lisa's January Photos =)

Good thing my New Year's Resolution wasn't to be punctual ;)

Week 1:  New Year's Resolution

Making more time for me.

Week 2:  Your Happy Place

Snuggled in a blanket watching something awesome on TV =D

Week 3:  Your Favorite Piece of Flair

You could say my wedding ring and the ever yummy Cheerio are my flair.

Week4:  Bird's Eye View

If a bird flew into the house, he'd see a living room that avoided Cora's wrath...momentarily.

Bird's eye view of Oahu's coast while Matt & I are attached to a parasail.  Obviously Matt's taking this photo...I was waaaaaay too freaked out to remove my hands from the harness!

Week 5:  The Perfect Day

Today was a perfect day =).  Celebrating the day we met 6 years ago at Inca Grill (that's my Paella), then taking a walk and carousel ride with my cuties <3 .="" p="">

Photo of the Week: Birds Eye View

Here's a shot of the Santa Monica mountains near Malibu and LA behind it.  Though, maybe this doesn't count as a "birds-eye view" since any animal flying this high would be a frozen bird popsicle :)

Flair - I don't have flair, but if I did, i'd use this more (than once).

Favorite Piece of Flair

Headbands for those bad-short-hair days.

January Week 3: Favorite Piece of Flair

I usually wear very neutral tones & don't throw in much crazy stuff BUT I think if I am having a good day, one thing I will put on is my yellow sunglasses.

I originally bought them just to wear in Yosemite for Lisa & Matt's wedding but have since grown fond of them and throw them on when it's a good day out.

Photo of the Week: item of flair

Item of flair - thanks to my wonderful wife Lisa, I now am the proud owner of a fantastic to portrait lens! This has doubled my lens collection, and quadrupled the kinds of photos I can take!

Photo of the week: My happy place

I debated this one for awhile; my tastes have changed so dramatically in the last few years of my life.  I considered posting a picture of my wine rack; but, calling a rack full of alcohol my happy place just didn't seem right.  I thought about calling it Vandenberg airforce base, which is actually one of the things I'm most excited about right now (I just got a private invite to tour a NASA facility & watch a satellite launch into space.)  But I haven't actually been there yet, so I can't call that my happy place.  I thought about posting a picture of a southwest airplane which I spend lots of time on lately, but that just wouldn't be the truth calling it my happy place :)  So...  I have to fall back on looking like a broken record and go with:

Home sweet home.

Not a bad choice. 

Photo a week: My favorite piece of flair.

It used to be rings, then watches. Now I find that red lips brings lots of fun and pizazz.

Photo a day, the 19th: Book you're reading

The prose is beautiful. I almost want to commit every word to memory.

Photo a day the 18th: Black and white photo with creative light source

This is Woc. He brings a smile to my face whenever I look into my rearview mirror.

Photo a day: Looking down

I will finish this challenge!!

Happy place

Where I can relieve stress, jump in the jacuzzi, watch sports, grunt, and throw weight around.

My Happy Place

When I am stressed (read, always) I think about happy hour, and all is well. Everyone should have time for at least one happy hour.

January Week 2: My Happy Place

There's many happy places but honestly, in this moment, the best place is snuggled up in bed - surrounded by pillows, covered in a blanket, warm fuzzy socks on & my iPad to keep me amused.

January is super stressful. Grading, final exams & decathlon competition. I just want to be lazy & lay in bed!!

My Happy Place

This is just one of my happy places - Hotel Mac Restaurant and Bar. Delicious drinks and wonderful desserts. Albert and I shared the Sticky Toffee Pudding (with extra Toffee!) last night. I finished the night with a Brandy Alexander. If you guys visit us again, we'll bring you here. =)

Ga baba. (2013 Goals)

Ga ga cog.  Nana nanana na.  La la lah.  Mama mag magma. Beeeuuuuu beeeeeuuuu!  

Translation:
Because my Daddy has boring 2013 Goals (he thinks it's funny to say he wants to *avoid* the gym in January because of all the new years resolutioners who flood the gym), I've taken over the computer as I like to do all the time!  First, here's a self portrait from this morning:

I clearly need to work on lighting, centering the subject of the photo, and also making sure the subject has his/her hair combed.  My goals for 2013 are:

• Lose 10 pounds.  Just kidding!  I'm aiming to gain 10 pounds.  
• Say my first real word consistently.
• Spend more time with Daddy.
• Try out 30 new foods I've never tried before.
• Meet 25 people my size.
• Ride on an airplane for the first time.
• Look at 200 new photos of myself and smile.

Baba waba,
Cora Ayumi

One More Goal.

Complete the previous photo challenge!

Something that made me smile =)

VW Bus

Goals.

Most of my goals this year are the same as any other year that I've been alive.

1. Spend time with friends and family (and pets now too)
2. Travel
3. Stay healthy
4. Do the things that make me happy (photography, cooking, music here and there)
5. Try to do a good job at whatever it is that I'm doing

My three new goals to add to the list are:

1. Learn to cook more Vietnamese food (especially from my mom)
2. Participate in some sort of philanthropic endeavor (tutoring, volunteering, etc...)
3. More camping

I've included a picture of a Banh Xeo, I hope to make one as crackly and crunchy one day.

One Goal For 2013

Be more creative! I can no longer stand my old tedious lifestyle consisting of work, eat, veg, sleep, and repeat. This year I enrolled in a 4-week online photography course (of which I just finished week 1 heh heh...), a 4-week online watercolor course, and a textiles class at the nearby community college. The online courses have homework assignments that are due on Sunday. Homework isn't required to be completed, but if you do the assignment the instructor can offer constructive feedback. This week's assignment was to shoot at varying shutter speeds, f/stops, ISOs, and then do a "day in the life" series following one subject. The photo below is my favorite photo from this week!

***Update***

My photo was featured on Nicole's Classes blog! I'm so happy!

January Week 1: Goal for 2013

I'm not much of a resolution person either. I just try to have a happy life & help others in need.

One goal I have is to try more recipes & maybe cook/bake more. I generally get good feedback when I do cook & it's something I do enjoy.

One Goal for 2013

The first page hasn't been too bad, but page 2 and beyond for sure looks daunting.

My Janurary photo a week challenge!

It's only Jan 5, 2013 and I have already failed at the pic a day challenge. Not to be deterred, let us have a photo a week challenge! A bit easier to manage and take the perfect photo. I have nominated myself to pick the challenges for the first weeks of January, and so without further ado...

• Week 1 (ending 1/5): One goal for the year... I know New Year's resolutions are blase, but you must have at least one goal for the year!
• 2 (1/12): Your happy place
• 3 (1/19): Your favorite piece of flair
• 4 (1/26): Bird's eye view
• 5 (2/2 -- I'm taking this week because January takes up most of it, feel free to object!): The perfect day

Sorry the late post. But you do of course only have one day to complete the first challenge now...