Nicole Young: Blog and Photography

New blog website

2007-04-25T20:45:00.000-10:00

I'm trying out a new blog on Vox. It has a lot of the same community that I work with on iStockPhoto, so I'm going to try it out for a bit and see if I like it. If you'd like to check it out please go to the following link:

http://nicolesy.vox.com

Cheers!

Eric Francis

2007-04-21T06:49:00.000-10:00

My wedding photographer, Eric Francis, was the 2003 Photographer of the Year for the Wedding Photojournalist Association. I came across this article and realized that one of the images used in the article was from my wedding! The image above is the image used, and here's the link to the article. Eric also just recently contacted me for a testimonial, and so I think some more of our wedding photos will be featured on his website.

Another photo in use!

2007-04-02T18:12:00.000-10:00

I just was emailed about another photo of mine (above) that was used ... click here to see it "in action". ;)

I also hit an important milestone on iStock today as well: I have sold a total of 500 photos and made it to the Bronze level, meaning I can contribute more photos per week, and I also make a little bit more money per photo sold, too!

The above photo is Copyright 2006 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for more information.

Photo in use

2007-03-31T10:41:00.000-10:00

Just yesterday I found out that one of my photos (see above) has been used in a catalog! Here's the link to the site on iStock, and the link to the catalog it was used in (scroll down to page 6 of the pdf after it loads).

The above photo is Copyright 2006 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for more information.

TWS

2007-03-24T19:51:00.000-10:00

I was checking my "Together We Serve" profile (it's kind of like a "military" MySpace) and noticed that the former MCPON had viewed my profile! I thought it was kinda cool so I copied a snapshot of the screen. :) (I'm such a geek!)

Work and fun

2007-03-11T18:26:00.000-10:00

This week was busy. Regular work was busy as usual, and then I had mid-watch last night so my whole weekend is shot (I woke up at 2pm today ... I'm just hoping I can fall asleep at a normal time so I'm not dead all day tomorrow!)

To balance out the busy-ness I have had some new "toys" to play with. I just got a new camera, a Nikon D200 with an MB-D200 battery pack to give it some more power and the bulk of a pro SLR I'm very much used to. To top it all off I also got a new video iPod. I'm a bit overwhelmed with stuff to do right now :) I also have a whole bunch of photos that need processing (I had around 100 ... about 1/4 of the way through them so far). The photo above is one of them I took last weekend withe my new black background.

The above photos are Copyright 2007 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for more information.

Sold!

2007-02-21T16:51:00.000-10:00

Angie sold for the first time today. Yay!

The above photos are Copyright 2007 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for more information.

Drip, drop

2007-02-19T19:59:00.000-10:00

I attempted to photograph water-droplets today, trying to capture them as they hit the surface. I got some cool shots to start out with, and I'm going to keep trying throughout the week to see what else I can get.

The above photos are Copyright 2007 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for more information.

Jump!

2007-02-18T22:13:00.000-10:00

Did another photo shoot today with Amy's kids. What dolls! We had so much fun. She gets free babysitting all day, and we both get a bunch of great photos in the end. :)

The above photo is Copyright 2007 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for more information.

Certificate

2007-02-17T16:51:00.000-10:00

It's official! I finally got my finisher's certificate in the mail for running in the Honolulu marathon. :)

Before and After

2007-02-10T10:48:00.000-10:00

Here's the before and after image of my desk with my old and new monitors. Okay, so I'm a geek ... but it's so great! I can have two near-full-sized browsers open one my monitor side-by-side! :)

Famous Fuji

2007-02-09T19:50:00.000-10:00

A photo of my cat, Fuji, was purchased for the first time today. What a cutie ... I'm so proud of him ;) I also got my 22" computer monitor in the mail. It's huge! It will save me some eye-strain, for sure, and I'm not arching forward at my desk anymore.

Work is going really well. I'm always busy, but I'm finally organized and things are running smoothly. It's a lot more work than I had before, but I enjoy the job more so it's a nice balance. :)

The above photo is Copyright 2007 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for more information.

Monitor

2007-02-03T08:46:00.000-10:00

I finally decided to get a new monitor for my computer. The 15" I have now is really all I've known, but I'm realizing that I could use some more work-space since I sit at my computer so much doing photography stuff. Sooooo, I did some online research, read some reviews, and bought an Acer AL2223Wd 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor. I'm so excited! I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas :) This will be an enormous upgrade to what I have now; I'll probably even post "before" and "after" photos of my desk when I get the thing!

The photo above is from Val's tee-ball game on Saturday; I thought it would be fun to take some photos. There wasn't a whole lot of action, plus it was windy and cold, but it was fun :) It's so cute seeing little kids learn how to play ... like the kid in the photo to Val's left -- I don't think there's any kick-boxing in baseball ;)

Busy!

2007-01-30T09:27:00.000-10:00

This photo is starting to be a really good seller. Val and Araya are so cute! I plan on doing some Easter-themed shots with them, as soon as I get some Easter eggs :)

Work is keeping me extremely busy. I have today and tomorrow off and I plan on relaxing as much as possible. I need to run to Office Max sometime this afternoon, and I'm going over to the Bell's house tonight to watch American Idol, and tomorrow I have no plans. Ahhh ... just how I like it!

The above photo is Copyright 2007 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for more information.

Gerbera

2007-01-12T20:25:00.000-10:00

I bought some flowers last weekend and had fun in my studio. My portfolio on iStock is really soaring, too! I'm also in the process of changing my user name on the site, but it isn't official yet. I'll post the new link to the site when it changes for those of you that are interested ;)

In other news, I'm going to be submitting an application to be cast on the tv show Lost. They basically will just collect my photo and some info about me, and if I happen to fit in with a character they want to use as an extra then I'll get a phone call. Cool, huh! Wish me luck, everyone :)

The above photo is Copyright 2007 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for purchase information.

Oh no!

2007-01-04T22:33:00.000-10:00

More fun with photos ... this is my friend's kid, Araya. I babysat her and her brother, Val, and my "payment" was that they got to be my models for the day :) Such cute kids! Once again, this is in the "queue" waiting inspection and approval at iStock. I'm crossing my fingers!

The above photo is Copyright 2007 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for purchase information.

Studio Fun

2007-01-01T18:42:00.000-10:00

Angie was willing to be my model for a day while she was here, and we got some great shots. Here's one that's awaiting approval right now (all photos go through an inspection process before being accepted to the iStockphoto website). Hopefully it will get approved and be on the website in a week or so :)

The above photo is Copyright 2007 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for purchase information.

New Year's Breakfast

2007-01-01T13:08:00.000-10:00

My favorite breakfast is what you see in the above photo - Eggs Benedict. They are usually just a treat when we go out to eat for breakfast since it's not simple to make, but I recently decided to try making them at home and now I think I've doomed myself to fatness cause not only can I make them at home, they tasted so good! Well, maybe it will still only be on special occasions that I whip them up, like every New Year's day morning ;)

Beach

2006-12-29T10:43:00.000-10:00

Angie made it to iStock :) This is a photo taken at the beach near where we live. What sexy legs!! ;)

The above photo is Copyright 2006 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for purchase information.

Marathon!

2006-12-23T14:21:00.000-10:00

Here's one of the photos of me running the Honolulu Marathon a few weeks ago. I bought a whole CD of all the photos they took of me, which ended up being about 15 images. This is my favorite one, cause I look like I'm really running. The other ones I'm smiling and waving at the camera, which is nice, but this shows the real deal ;)

Pay it Forward

2006-12-17T09:09:00.000-10:00

So, I decided that today would be a good day to mow my front lawn. So I get the lawn mower, weed-wacker, rake, broom, and blowy-thing and head on out. I get about half-way done, just after raking the leaves and doing the initial mowing, when my neighbors come by (who happened to be doing their lawn too) and was like "can I trim the edges for you?" I was like "do they look that bad! Okay, if you want to!" So he proceeded to trim the edges. Then, after he was finished, I started sweeping up the grass and leaves, but then they finished with theirs and started picking up mine too! I was like "no, it's okay, I'll do it!" But they just kept it up ... they were so helpful ... it was so sweet! So, I raked my other neighbor's leaves from her yard to pay it forward ;)

Done!

2006-12-16T20:16:00.000-10:00

Aaaahhh ... finally done with my college class. I'm having a nice relaxing weekend, my house is (mostly) clean, and aside from finishing my college today, I did a whole lot of nothing. I've been playing around with my photo equipment, and I'm realizing that I really do need at least another AB-1600, stand, and soft box. My "wish-list" doesn't stop there, but that's my first priority! In time, Niki ;) Gotta save up some $$, cause this stuff isn't cheap!

I took a quick video of my cat Kashi, if you're interested. He likes to jump in our sink and drink water from the faucet, but the water fills up all around him at the same time. You can check it out here.

Yay!

2006-12-14T13:32:00.000-10:00

Such a good week :) First, I ran the Honolulu Marathon on Sunday -- my first one! I finished in 5:11:38, which is a lot better than I was expecting. My goal was just to cross the finish line, and I'm really happy with how I did. It was so much fun! I can't wait until next year :)

Just yesterday I found out that I'm getting a new job at work! I'm going to be one of the people in charge of physical fitness for the command. It seems to be mostly an admin job, but I like that kind of work. I start on Monday ... I'm so excited!

Just today I finally got the last thing I've been waiting for to finish off my mini-photo studio. These photos are my first attempts at taking photos with all of my equipment. I still could use another light to balance the shadows on the right side of my face, but for now it works great :)

Busy week

2006-12-03T20:28:00.000-10:00

This is now my best selling image on iStock, even though it's been on the site the least amount of time (compared to my other photos). I guess it's just that time of year! I actually took this photo a few years ago while sitting in the back of a limo on a tour of Christmas lights in Richmond, VA with Andrew and a bunch of friends. :)

I'm back in Hawaii now. It was nice to be home and visit with family again. It was especially nice to see my nephews, since they grow up so fast and I miss it all! Andrew is still gone, but hopefully will be home before Christmas. I expect work to be kinda crazy the next week or so, too ... I "applied" for a new position at work and really hope to get it. I'm not sure what my chances are, so I'm really anxious about finding out, which might be sometime soon. I'm also attempting the marathon this upcoming Sunday, so I have a lot to be nervous about this week!

The above photo is Copyright 2006 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for purchase information.

Hunter!

2006-11-21T19:34:00.000-10:00

Check out Hunter (above), my very my cute nephew here, playing in his bouncy chair.

I'm home now and for another week to spend time with family. My grandma recently passed away so I was able to fly home to see everyone and attend the funeral. It's been bittersweet ... home for a sad occasion, but good to see everyone and stay for the holidays. It is nice to see my baby nephews ... I miss out on them growing up and so it's good to see them as much as possible :)

Almost there ...

2006-11-11T17:31:00.001-10:00

I'm alone, once again. I dropped Ace off at the airport this morning for another journey out to sea. He's supposed to be home by Christmas ... I'll be crossing my fingers and toes until I hear from him ;) Angie, my sister, will be here too! I'm excited ... only a month and a half until the holidays :)

I should be getting the rest of my studio gear in the next week. I'm just waiting on the background stuff, and then I can take people pics! I took the above photo today; it's my version of a "Christmas" martini ... it's really just water with food coloring ;)

I've been rethinking the marathon thing, and I think that I'm going to go ahead and do it. I just want to finish, that's my only goal (oh, and not being the very last person to finish too!). So, wish me luck :)

Someone commented on my last post that my blog was hard to read ... if you were that person (or have any insight on the matter) could you please be a bit more specific? Is it the font size? Colors? Maybe it's just your computer/browser's settings that don't mesh with mine. Hmm.

Dilemma ...

2006-11-02T18:23:00.000-10:00

Well, here's proof that I can run 18. 6 miles :) I look pretty good, considering I ran that far in pouring rain and an earthquake ;) I'm not so sure that I'll make it to the marathon, though. I'm trying to find a hotel to stay in the night before and the night of the race, and silly me I waited all this time before making my reservation. It turns out that every single hotel room in Waikiki is booked -- seriously. I live about 30-45 mins from the race, which means that on race day I'll have to:

1) Get up around 2 am, drive downtown to the finish area ...
2) ... find parking (much more difficult than it sounds) ...
3) ... hope that I find parking and make it to the finish area before 4 am so I can make the shuttle bus to the start area ...
4) ... start the race at 5 am ...
5) ... run 26.2 miles ...
6) ... hopefully finish in under 6 hours ... and then finally ...
7) ... drive myself home, exhausted.

I'm not sure if I'm willing to do that. This year I have once again neglected to train myself properly, so I might just have to wait until next year ... again :( If I find a hotel room then it cuts out a lot of the process, and it's just a matter of making to the start line in time for the race. I haven't given up hope yet ... the worst that could happen is I try and don't finish. I guess it's just getting to the starting line that is the toughest part of all ;)

Lights!

2006-10-29T18:40:00.000-10:00

Here is my first official photo taken with my Alien Bees lights. I'm still waiting on the rest of my studio gear to arrive in the mail ... after that I should be able to start taking people photos. :)

Last night was the Navy Ball, celebrating the Navy's 231st birthday. It was okay ... it seemed to be lacking in a lot of the typical traditional ceremonies that you usually see at those events, which was disappointing. I got all dressed up in my dinner dress uniform, and Andrew wore his tux. I even got to meet the MCPON, who is the most senior ranking enlisted member in the Navy -- that was pretty cool, he even gave me a coin! I have a bunch of photos of last night and I'll be posting those a little bit later in the week.

Image Copyright Nicole Young, 2006.

2006-10-17T21:47:00.000-10:00

I've posted this image here before, but I learned a new trick on Photoshop from a magazine and just tried it out. Kinda cool, huh! I really need to update my Photoshop skills, and so I'm using a magazine called Photoshop User to try and get better.

If you've seen the news lately you all know that there was recently an earthquake here in Hawaii! I didn't feel it, cause I was in the middle of a 30k race (that's 18.6 miles). I noticed all the power going out but figured it was just the pouring rain I was running in that knocked it out ;) I actually was a little bit nervous about that run, since I've been a little bit sick (okay, and a little lazy) and didn't train at all for it. But I finished it in a decent time and didn't hurt myself in the process :) Now I just have a 5k this weekend, another half-marathon in a few more weeks, and then the Honolulu Marathon on December 10! I'm just hoping to cross the finish line, and not worried about time at all, which means it will probably take me more than five hours to do :)

Miracle Grow

2006-10-03T17:33:00.000-10:00

Back in May, my mother-in-law was visiting and happen to spread some tomato seeds in our "yard", or should I say the rocky area next to the garage (see the photo above). Somehow those little seeds sprouted into a full-grown plant, and they even managed to grow a full-fledged tomato! I was so surprised to see it there, amazed that it grew on its own and also that the birds hadn't eaten the it yet. There were plenty of tiny bugs flying around it, but the tomato seemed to be in one piece. Wow. God is really amazing ... I guess it's really true about building on a rock :) The tomatoes seem to like it!

Run!

2006-09-25T19:03:00.000-10:00

I just went on the best run I've had in a while. It felt so good, the sun was a beautiful deep red, setting behind the clouds and just absolutely gorgeous. Ah, I feel great.

Also, here's what my new business cards look like ... not too flashy, but I didn't want to start out too crazy ;)

Minty Fresh

2006-09-25T16:47:00.000-10:00

This is a photo of some of the herbs that Andrew has grown so far in his garden. He has mint and basil growing beautifully, and there are some small peppers starting to emerge from one of the other plants. I think he'll be happy to see how they've done when he gets back ... they are full to the point that I can probably start cooking with them. Yay!

I'm still dreaming of a beautiful portrait studio ... I can't wait to start getting the equipement! In about three weeks (hopefully) I should be able to start getting the stuff I need and get it up and running. I'm hoping that it won't be too frustrating setting it all up. I just recently bought a new accessory for my camera that (theoretically) allows me to transmit the images directly to my computer via a wireless network and FTP. I am having the most difficult time trying to set it up ... I think I have the wireless connection down ??? but I don't know a thing about how FTP works. So, this has been totally frustrating me and taking up a lot of time with trying to figure it out by trial-and-error ... and lots and lots of error!

I got my first set of business cards in the mail today :) Once I get my studio set up then I'll feel like a "real" photographer. It's only a matter of time :)

Photo Copyright Nicole Young, 2006.

Success!

2006-09-17T16:34:00.000-10:00

I managed to complete everything I wanted to this weekend. I finished my online psych quiz for class, ran 4 miles this morning, and mowed the lawn (that's usually Andrew's job ... I hate yardwork!). I guess that the psych class I'm taking is helping me out -- it's a class on motivation ;) So, I'm feeling pretty good right now. I still want to clean the house up a bit, but that's not too pressing. It's only 4:30 pm so I have all evening ... but the new season of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition starts tonight. I'm doomed ... I got into way too many t.v. shows last year and now I can't take myself away from them! This summer has been a nice break from t.v., even though I am looking forward to the new season ;)

The above photo is Copyright Nicole Young, 2000. (Sunset in Monterey, California)

In the works

2006-09-14T03:50:00.000-10:00

I've decided that I am going to build a small portrait studio in my house, after I talk to my hubby about it when he gets back, of course. I guess there's not going to be much building, but more buying of lots of equipment. I'm already starting to save up to get what I need ... I even have "clients" already willing to let me take some photos of them and/or their kids! I'm doing it for free, or in exchange for their signature on a model release so I can post the photos to iStock and try and sell them. I'm still new to portrait/studio photography so I'm going to use a lot of guinea pigs until I feel I'm well established. Right now it's all I can think about ... my brain is so obsessed with photo stuff right now I can hardly sleep without dreaming of taking photos! Ahhh! Well, it's what I love to do so it's not so bad :) Hopefully one day I can make it my "career" and do it full-time :)

(The above photo is Copyright Nicole Young, 1997.)

Burnin' the midnight oil

2006-09-09T02:53:00.000-10:00

I started taking an online psychology class this week. So far it's going well ... I'm not looking forward to writing the two papers I have to do later on in the class. I've never had to write a paper for any college class I've taken (all four of them!) and so I'll probably screw up the format and reference stuff. It's an upper-level class, too, so I probably won't get much slack from the teacher!

Ever since I've finished working the 12-hour mid shift, my sleep has been all messed up. I go to bed at 6 pm, wake up around midnight, and then stay up until I have to go to work. I'm hoping that this weekend I'll be able to nap in the afternoon and maybe get back on track. (It's Saturday morning at 3 am right now ... I've been up for two hours already!)

I'm still busy with photos ... I'm almost 1/3rd of the way done scanning all of my film. I guess it's going a little bit faster than I expected. It's fun going through all of these photos ... I haven't looked at some of these in almost ten years so it's brining back a lot of good memories :)

(The above photo is Copyright Nicole Young, 1998)

Studio

2006-09-04T18:56:00.000-10:00

I've been slowly working on reorganizing my house. It's a slow process. But, I was very relieved to find my Nikon F4 in my closet. It wasn't downstairs with the rest of my photo equipment, and so I was really worried that it "disappeared" somehow. I'm so glad I found it!

Speaking of photo stuff, I think I'm addicted to my computer. Now that Andrew is gone for a while I find myself sitting here all the time! I'm either scanning photos (like the one above I scanned in yesterday), uploading them to stock sites, editing them on Photoshop, or all of the above at the same time! I definitely need to make this my job, since I love to do it so much!

I've recently been pondering the idea of actually putting a small portrait studio in my house. It will be on the main floor and I'll have to move some things around (which I've already started to do!) but I think it will fit. I might need to take the ceiling fan down though ... I'm going to have to consult with Andrew on this when he gets back! I can't really start building it anyways, since it will cost me at least $800 for the basic materials and I kind of don't have that much money right now. If I actually make enough money selling stock then I think it will go towards my new photo gear, but I've got a long way to go before I make a significant amount of $$ (plus the ironic thing is that I need a studio to shoot the kind of photos that sell, but I need to sell photos to get the $$ for the studio!)

(The above photo is Copyright Nicole Young, 1998)

Weekend

2006-09-02T19:24:00.000-10:00

It's been a slow weekend for me. Andrew's out again, so I have some time to myself. I was working 12-hour-mids the last two weeks, and so now I'm finally getting back to a day schedule. I don't mind working those hours, but it sucks having a day off and being awake at those hours. Well, I'm back on schedule now.

I'm running in a 20k tomorrow (12.4 miles). It's not too far from where I live so that's nice ... most of them are downtown or on the other side of the island. That's probably the only productive thing I'll do this weekend! Well, not if I can help it, I guess. I sit at my computer so much nowadays, getting photo stuff scanned and stock photos uploaded ... I enjoy it but it takes up so much time. Too bad I can't get paid for doing it yet ;)

(The above photo is Copyright Nicole Young, 1997.)

Relaxin'

2006-08-22T13:04:00.000-10:00

This is a photo of Amy's daughter on the beach after their wedding ceremony ... what a doll!

I've been super busy at work ... 12-hour shifts with no days off until labor day. It's not so bad, and I should get some comp time after it's done. Thankfully I'll have a 4-day weekend to relax after it's all over (oh, except for that 20k I'm running that Sunday ... but I guess that I'll enjoy that!)

The above photo is Copyright 2006 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for purchase information.

2006-08-18T16:52:00.000-10:00

Ah, memories. That was ten years ago, in 1996.

I've still been a busy-bee getting as many negatives scanned as possible. Tomorrow I'm shooting a friend's wedding ... beautiful beach with leis and sand and water. I'm excited and hope the photos turn out wonderful :)

Money

2006-08-10T17:13:00.000-10:00

I'm having all sorts of money issues this month, with both good and bad results so far. The good news is that I made my first profit on BigStockPhoto with the above photograph (not too much though ... it is microstock after all!). The bad news is that for some reason the Navy wanted to pay me exactly $0.00 on the 15th of this month. Thankfully I will get paid and got it temporarily fixed, but they still think I owe them money for something that the Navy actually owes me money for. Typical, eh. Well, it will get resolved in my favor in the end (hopefully), I'm just hoping it doesn't take too long for them to figure out what I already know ;)

The above photo is Copyright 2006 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for purchase information.

Star

2006-08-05T17:35:00.000-10:00

Ben, my cousin, brought along his friends he is staying with here in Hawaii to the swap meet today. It turns out that their son, Bobby Coleman, is famous! He's been in a few movies, including one I just saw called "Must Love Dogs". I just thought it was kinda neat, especially since I'd seen that movie just a few weeks ago. He's going to be in another movie with John Cusack coming out soon, initally titled "The Martian Child", but I think that name's supposed to change.

Reunion

2006-08-05T07:39:00.000-10:00

Today I'm going to the Aloha Stadium flea market, and I'm meeting my cousin there. He's on island helping out some friends and watching their kid while they do work to their house. It think the last time I saw Ben was at my wedding in Dec '03! I'm looking forward to it. The flea market was his idea, but it's perfect cause I've never been to it either, so it will be fun for all of us.

Last night I went through all of my negatives and organized and labeled them all with numbers. I have this number system I'm using to file them all away on my computer. I'm also in the process of creating a website to show all of my work ... it's just with a free site with Bravenet, but I figured I needed to start somewhere. One day when I'm actually making money doing this stuff I'll get my own domain name on a new site. But for now I think the next thing I'm going to do is start designing a business card ...

(The above photo was taken in Lincoln, NE and is copyright Nicole Young, 1996)

Lessons

2006-08-02T08:34:00.000-10:00

I learned something "new" the other day -- don't drop your bluetooth hands-free ear-piece device on the ground *twice in a row* or it will break. Yep, I'm definitely smarter now.

I'm still plugging away at the film scanning. I counted that I have over 350 rolls of film to scan, and if I go at the same pace I've been going at (which is basically scanning film whenever I'm home) then it will take me about 4-5 months to get through all of them. It sounds like a long time, but it's not so bad considering it would have cost me about $5 per roll to take my film to a lab to have them scan it for me, equalling about $1750, almost three times the amount my film scanner was. Plus, they don't scan them at the same quality I can get from my scanner. Sooo ... I think I made a good purchase :)

(The above photo is copyright Nicole Young, 2006. I'm still having fun with my "ghetto"-studio!)

New Stuff

2006-07-29T19:56:00.000-10:00

I just got my film scanner in the mail a few days ago, and it is sooo nice! I'm very pleased with it so far. It's very odd scanning through old negatives ... I usually only remember the few "good" photos, and never remember the ones that got tossed aside, so looking through them all is going to be very nostalgic. It takes about five minutes to scan a strip of 4-5 negatives though, so I've got a lot of catching up to do. (The photo above was taken in 1997.)

This weekend I went out and bought another computer too, since the one I have is super old and slow. I'm still gonna use both, just the new one will only be used for photo/internet stuff, and the old one will be used for everything else. It even comes with a feature called "LightScribe", where I can "burn" a label on the CD/DVD. Very useful, especially for keeping my disks archive friendly :)

Stock

2006-07-24T20:43:00.000-10:00

I've finally decided to delve into the world of stock photography. I was reading through my Popular Photography magazine and found an article about it, and though I'd heard of this in the past and even slightly considered it, I thought that now would be a good time to start. I searched around and found this great site on how to make my own cardboard box studio to shoot small objects, and it works like a gem! (The photos above are a few I've taken in the last couple of days.) I'm signed up at a great stock photo site called Shutterstock but I haven't quite gotten started. They review ten photos of all new photographers before they allow them to officially join, and I haven't submitted my photos for that quite yet. I'm kind of waiting on the new Nikon Coolscan V ED I just bought online the other day so I can put some of my earlier work on the site ... it will allow me to scan all of my negatives into digital form. Yay! I've been procrastinating way too long on getting it, and now it will be here within a few weeks :)

The above photos are Copyright 2006 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for purchase information.

Fireworks

2006-07-05T06:28:00.000-10:00

This is one of the many photos I took at Oak Lake in Lincoln, Nebraska on July 4th. It was a little bit windy out, so the fireworks tended to drift to the left a little right after they went off, but I still got a few good shots. This one above is one of the ones that the fireworks explode in the sky, and then little ones fly in all different directions.

Photo copyright 2006 Nicole Young.

Baby

2006-06-28T07:37:00.000-10:00

This is my cute little nephew, Christian, and my brother Nate in the background :) I had the pleasure of babysitting both of my nephews today. I'm actually still at their house watching the boys so Jodi (my sister-in-law) can get some sleep :) Pretty much everyone is sleeping right now, except for me, which is quite all right. My sleep cycle is getting all messed up from staying up late, and today is a nice kick-in-the-butt to get me back on a normal schedule. I really hate sleeping in waayyyy late. A few hours is okay, but sleeping until noon is just icky. Well, most of the time it is ;)

Colorado

2006-06-22T10:22:00.000-10:00

I've been on leave for the past week to the mainland, spending most of my time in Nebraska. Right now I'm in Colorado with my parents on a mini-vacation. My dad and I hiked up a steep canyon to a place called Hanging Lake. It was so beautiful and such a good workout! This morning I went running on a trail that runs right in the canyon next to a river. It was beautiful ... I wish I could run that every day ;)

It's been so nice spending time with my family. I've been able to spend a lot of time with my baby nephews, too. The next time I see them after I leave they will both probably be all grown up! Hopefully I'll get to make it out here before they grow up too much.

The top three photos are Copyright 2006 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for purchase information.

Half-way

2006-06-14T15:41:00.000-10:00

This last weekend I ran in the Hawaiian Half Marathon. It was the first half-marathon I've ever done, and the longest race I've run so far. My feet are still healing (I had quarter-sized blisters on each foot, in the instep) and my throat is scratchy, I think from all the breathing! But other than that the run was great! I feel like I ran it really strong and steady ... I can't wait for the Honolulu Marathon in December :)

I leave tonight for Lincoln, Nebraska. I'm visiting my family for a good three weeks. I'm so excited! It always feels good to be home, and I'm brining my camera and tripod to document the whole thing :)

Baby Nephew

2006-05-26T07:57:00.000-10:00

Meet my new baby nephew :) What a cutie!

Hunter Maurice Newcomer
Born: May 24, 2006
Birth Time: 7:31 pm
@ Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center
Weight: 5 lbs 14 oz
Length: 19.75 in.

Babies

2006-05-13T14:40:00.000-10:00

So, it seems like everyone I know is either pregnant, has a pregnant wife, or has a cute little baby. Everyone at work is convinced that I'm next ... well, not if I can help it! Unless their definition of "next" is "three or four years from now", then they're right :) (Even the baby birds in my backyard are adorable!)

Andrew is in Las Vegas right now, while I sit at home and attempt to clean and de-clutter our house. So far this morning I ate breakfast, went running, and then had lunch. I've done a little bit of cleaning, but right after I got out of the shower the cats decided to knock over one of my framed photos, and they shattered the glass all over the floor. Then just a few minutes ago I started to hear one of our smoke detector beeps go off, which means I have to change the battery or I'll just go insane with all the beeping. Then, I called Office Max cause we were expecting a delivery, and it turns out that even though they tried to deliver yesterday, left a "Sorry we missed you an we'll try delivering again" note, it wasn't there when I checked but they have it in their system as having delivered it. Hmm.

Car

2006-05-07T09:57:00.000-10:00

Here's a photo of my new car. I've been having a lot of fun driving it around. I'm really happy with the purchase so far ... which is good since I'll be making payments on this for the next five years :)

Work is going great. Last week was the first week of my new job within my building, and I really like it so far. It is such a change from my last job, which includes switching to "regular" hours and days, and now Ace and I are on the same schedule. (This is good cause we can carpool to work, since gas prices are soaring ... it was $3.29 out in town yesterday, and only a little bit cheaper on base!) Hopefully I will be moving into a Navy leadership position soon as well, which I am looking forward to.

Andrew leaves for Las Vegas this week to attend our friends' wedding -- Jen Kidwell and Brian Schooley. I'm not going since I already have plans to take more than three weeks of leave in June. Well ... at least I'll get the house to myself for a few days to do some major cleaning :)

Spring

2006-05-02T09:00:00.000-10:00

I made an amazing discovery today. My cats have been peering outside our back door at some birds that have been hanging around lately, and so I decided to check it out. Just to the right of our back door we have a hanging basket filled with silk flowers, and it seems that some birds decided to make it their home. I took this photo today after I found the nest and baby bird ... I'm probably going to peek in regulary to see the other babies hatch out of their eggs :)

Andrew and I bought a new car this weekend, a Honda CRV SE. Actually, it's "my" car, since he just got one this last December :). I needed a vehicle with 4-doors, since mine was a small two-door coupe, and eventually we'll have kids and need to stow them in the back easier. Plus, if we get the cars now, then they'll be paid off while we have two incomes coming in ... I'm not planning on working when we start having kids ... preferably after I get out of the Navy in about 4 or 5 years.

I started working a day job this week. It's going to be so nice to have "normal" hours, and I'll have the same time off that my husband does, which is definitely the best part. We're planning on starting to go to church regularly now, since I won't have to work on Sundays, and we'll probably make going to the beach a semi-regular weekend routine. We went to a beach lagoon in Ko'olina with Dave McLaughlin and Eric Schwarze last weekend (an extremely beautiful resort not too far from where we live) and had a really good time. It's probably one of the best locations to see a beautiful beach in Oahu, since it's not near Waikiki and so there aren't nearly as many people.

The above photo is Copyright 2006 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for purchase information.

Milestone

2006-04-12T08:20:00.000-10:00

This last weekend Andrew and I went over to a friend's house ... we saw a lot of people we hadn't seen since we were in Japan. This is a photo of Bear and Patrick's little girl, Katie ... the last time I saw her she was just a tiny baby! We had a great time and even got to see a side of the island we rarely venture to :)

This week I hit a milestone in my weight-loss endeavor. I am halfway to my "goal" ... I've lost 14 pounds since January! My "goal" is to lose about 30 pounds, but I'm not really going to know if it's my goal or not until I get there. Who knows, maybe I won't want to lose that much, or maybe I'll still have some left to lose. I'll find out in a few more months!

Rain!

2006-03-23T13:42:00.000-10:00

Just recently I have finally discovered something that I've had for a very long time, but never took advantage of -- podcasts. Wow, this is definitely one of the coolest things around. Not only are podcasts cool, but I can download TV shows onto iTunes, and then eventually onto an iPod. Hmm ... it seems it might be time for me to upgrade to the new iPod with video, since mine is just a little out-dated. ;)

I've had a lot of time over the last few days to find things out like this. I'm usually so busy working and trying to relax, that I never have time to do random things I wish I had time to do. Monday I had gum/tooth surgery ... I'm having my fake front teeth redone (I knocked them out on an ice pond when I was 15 and it's been a struggle ever since then to get them to look good) and on Monday they went in and had to move my gumline up and chisel out some bone so my new teeth will fit better. So, I've been SIQ the last few days so it will heal up, and I've had a lot of uninterrupted time to relax.

The weather here has been great ... it's been rainy everyday for the last few weeks! I am getting so sick of the constant sunny, hot, humid weather and welcome this change of pace. You all might think I'm crazy, cause I'm sure that for at least half of the people reading this it's freezing or snowy where you are and you all wish you could be in Hawaii. Trust me, you don't know how lucky you are!

The above photo is Copyright 2006 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for purchase information.

Smile!

2006-03-19T13:28:00.000-10:00

These are some of our many attempts to get a "cute" photo of us while at the Cheesecake Factory last night. And, in the end, we succeeded :)

Good Times

2006-03-09T21:21:00.000-10:00

Last month Ace and I ran the Great Aloha Run for the second year in a row. It's an approximate 8-mile run starting off in downtown Honolulu at the Aloha Tower, and it finishes at the Aloha Stadium. We took our time and just ran at a steady pace ... both of us finished at 1:32:34. I love stuff like that. I'm seriously considering running in a half-marathon this summer, too. I better start training!

Things seem to be going well overall, almost. It seems like everything is going great, but then there's that one area that can just put a downer on everything ... but then again who is completely satisfied with their work environment and leadership? This place is so odd and complicated to me. I hate work politics. Hopefully things will take a positive turn for me in the near future -- I put in for the fitness-leader job at the command, and with a little luck I might actually get it. There are some forces working against my chances (mainly my division trying to keep a tight grip on all of their workers and not letting anyone leave), but ya never know. I should find out next week. That will improve my quality of life sooooo much if I land that position! I hope karma doesn't work against me on this one ... I've accomplished everything I've gone after this year so far, so I'm thinking that maybe I've reached my limit on fortune. I sure hope not ... wish me luck!

The Verdict is in ...

2006-03-02T19:35:00.000-10:00

The whole past year of studying and busting my butt in class really paid off. Not only did I pass my test (yay!) I got a 2+/2+!! (The actual numbers only really have meaning to my past- and present coworkers ... but trust me, it's an extra $150 in my pocket each month so it's definitely a good thing!) This is the first time I have ever gotten scores like that. I went from a 2/1+ (43/38 respectively) to a 2+/2+ (46/46). I think I'm in shock ... it hasn't quite sunk in yet. I'm so happy that I have a whole year of so much less stress, plus now I have even more motivation to keep on studying. Life has been so blessed this year for both me and Andrew, in many ways, and this was just the icing on the cake :)

(I took the above photo in Pusan, Korea back in 2003. I thought it was appropriate, given the topic of my blog.)

Judgment Day

2006-03-01T15:12:00.000-10:00

Today I took my dreaded language test. I don't find out until tomorrow how I did, but I feel like I did alright. It's hard to tell, though, cause I usually feel okay after that test but it doesn't usually mean anything when I get the results. I even bought myself some pink roses to brighten my day and make me feel better, cause I'm real anxious about finding out my scores tomorrow. Oh well, I'm glad it's over with at least! Now I can just relax and give myself a well-needed break from language for a few days :)

I'm down another few pounds from my "diet". I feel so healthy and energetic ... I can't wait to see how I look in another few months! I can definitely keep this up. It's so easy, and the rewards from doing it are so much greater than just eating my heart away to lardness :) Hee, hee, hee.

Tomorrow is the start of getting my teeth fixed. When I was 15 I broke out my two front teeth on an ice pond, and I've had them re-capped since I've been in the military, but I need to have them redone again. I can post photos of the before, during, and after if you want ... maybe not the "during", though ... I look kind of scary with a metal rod instead of a front tooth when they have the caps off!

The above photo is Copyright 2006 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for purchase information.

Enchiladas!

2006-02-21T20:28:00.000-10:00

Once again, I've been neglecting my blog. I was in a class all last month and the first half of this month, but now it's over and I'm back to the regular grind of monotonous work, waking up at 2 am, not getting enough sleep, breathing recycled air that gives me a dry cough every night ... oh, and not to mention I've been studying for my language test I have to take in a week that will literally determine my work evaluation for entire next year. After that I will either be in a really good mood, or a really bad mood ... tune in at the end of next week to find out! :) Things aren't really that bad, it's just a quick update of the stress I've been putting myself through for about a month or so. But I've been doing a lot of studying, and I have a very good feeling about it so I'm praying and crossing my fingers that I will do well :)

On the lighter side of things, I just got my new Casio Exilim digital camera in the mail today. Yay! I was playing around with it and thought I'd take a photo of tonight's dinner ... turkey enchiladas. They were quite tasty, yet remarkably healthy, despite their appearance. I've been trying to lose weight over the last month or so. It sounds kind-of silly, but I'm actually using Weight Watchers Online to do it, too! I'm steady at 1 lb per week, which is perfect. I never feel too hungry or deprived, and I'm learning a lot about how to eat healthy. I was never really overweight, and I didn't eat bad at all, but I've been maintaining the same weight for the last 6 years and thought I'd try and trim down a bit. So far so good :) In three or four months, if I keep it up and I've reached my "goal", I'll post some photos so you all can see the difference.

Book

2006-01-18T15:56:00.000-10:00

Just last night I finished reading (for the second time) my absolute favorite book: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. If you like to read, you have got to read this book. Anything I can say about it can't even come close to giving it the amount of praise it deserves, but here goes ... it's a love story and a suck-you-in drama, with a twist of sci-fi, that will make you laugh and cry (and any book that can get bawling-my-eyes-out emotion out of me is a keeper!). You get so involved in the characters, and the story is just so darn good and amazingly put together that it's unlike any book out there. I have seen online that it might be made into a movie, which would be a very good movie if it's done right (or, it could be really bad in comparison ... have you ever read the Michael Chrichton book Sphere ... and then seen the movie?) I am just putting this out there like you would a box of delicious cookies your mom made -- you know they taste soooo good and you just want to share them with all your friends! I hope you all get the chance one day to experience this novel.

Coach

2006-01-16T17:05:00.000-10:00

I've never been one to buy things just for the name-brand and high-price tag, and this is no exception. I was out shopping, and this purse caught my eye. It is so beautiful that I had to share it with you, and, of course, buy it. It's my first designer bag. I feel so, I don't know, impuslive! I have to enjoy these things while I can ... dropping $$$ on something I want without thinking about it. One day we'll have kids, I'll be staying at home, and all these things will be but memories. Oh well, at least I'll still have my new purse :)

Patio

2006-01-14T11:44:00.000-10:00

Here are the final photos of our patio "before and after". Ace and his buddies cleared out all of the old cement and dirt, and I helped him lay the sand and bricks. It was our first project together! We both think it turned out quite nice, especially for never having done anything like it in the past :)

Tonight Ace and I are celebrating our anniversary ... a little late. Our actual anniversary was last month, but with all of the patio-building and hectic holiday time, we decided to put it off until this month. It will be a wonderful evening of good food and wine (Santa Margarita Pino Grigio, to be exact) and then we are staying at a hotel downtown, since the drive back is around 30-45 mins.

Ace just recently started a new blog, if you are interested. I have it posted on my links as well. Yay! He finally succumbed to our ways!

Good Stuff

2005-12-30T19:49:00.000-10:00

Well, I think I've neglected my blog long enough. Things have been very busy ... I was on leave for a few weeks, and my parents came to visit over Christmas. It was "go, go, go!" every day for a week -- very fun but it's nice to be back to normal in a way! One nice thing about having guests is that I usually see things on the island I haven't seen yet, like the Pearl Harbor memorials (this photo is of the flag flying over the USS Arizona Memorial). I'm back at work now for the next few days, and next week I start six beautiful weeks of training, meaning I don't have to get up at 2 am for a while! As far as other good news goes, I recently found out that I made first increment on the advancement cycle ... this means I start getting paid for E-6 next month for instead of waiting until June :) So, lots of good things going on right now ... life's pretty good!

Good Day

2005-12-10T15:09:00.000-10:00

Today has been a great day. Ace is home (he got back on Monday), we had a good night last night (we saw the new Narnia movie and had some excellent Indian cuisine afterwards with some friends), and today has been a great no-work be-lazy-around-the-house kinda day. We got up real early, Ace cooked a wonderful breakfast, and then sat on the back porch for awhile. After much sitting around and doing nothing, we made a delicious lunch (pan-seared rosemary-garlic lamb chops with garlic-herb fried potatoes and a side salad, and of course a glass of chardonnay), and then sat outside on the porch again. That's when I captured this photo of one of the many lizards that like to call our backyard its home. Ah, what a day. Christmas is just around the corner, my parents will be here soon to celebrate, and I only have three more days of work before I officially go on leave :) I can't wait!

Famous

2005-12-02T17:10:00.000-10:00

That's right! Kashi, my amazing acrobatic cat, is going to have his first TV appearance this Sunday, December 4th. A few months back, I submitted a video of him to America's Funniest Home Videos (yes, it's still on the air!), and yesterday I heard the final word that my video is going to be aired this weekend! So, here's the info:

Sunday, December 4th
America's Funniest Home Videos on ABC
(Check your local listings for the time and channel ... it's different depending on where you live)

The video is of my cat (above) chasing after a laser pointer, and then jumping up the wall and falling behind a chair.

I hope all of you get the chance to see my kitty cat star!

Boogy

2005-11-30T14:48:00.000-10:00

This is for you, Currt-dawg :) ...

"I said a hip, a hop, a hip, a hippy to the hip hip hoppin' you don't stop the rockin' to the bang, bang, boogy said up jump the boogy to the rhythm of the boogy the beat."

Ah, the memories.

Misery

2005-11-28T20:14:00.000-10:00

Sometimes things just don't go well. I am having one of those moments, a moment I hope will only last a month. I thought about it, cried, and had a wide mix of emotions ... sad, disappointed, frustrated, ashamed, humilitated, embarrased. I know I am being quite vague, and I don't really want to get into details, but I think that everyone has felt this way at some point, regardless of the situation. But as I was in the middle of these feelings I thought about the good points of my life; things could be worse. I have a wonderful husband (deployed, but still mine), a family back home whom I love to death, all of my limbs are still attached ... yes, things could definitely be much worse. But pain is in the gut of the beholder. Little kids cry when they accidentally let go of their balloon and it sails into the sky ... that balloon was everything to that little kid. They haven't graduated to the stressors that we pride ourselves in as we reach adulthood. I wish I didn't care about my problem. I wish it would just go away. But the reality is that it has to run its course ... a painful waiting game that I don't have much patience for. Also, sitting at home all alone, I felt like I was rotting away in my misery. I had to get out ... and so I did, with the company of a good friend over a bite to eat. I bitched, he listened. And I feel a lot better. I won't cry myself to sleep tonight ... I don't feel so alone anymore. Thank you :)

Photo taken in Paris, France and is Copyright Nicole Young, 1998.

Holiday

2005-11-25T18:35:00.000-10:00

I'm slowly learning what it is I like about the holidays. I've always loved everything about them ... seeing family, all the lights and decoration, and all the yummy food. But, I guess in trying to re-create what it is I feel Christmas should feel like at home, I am noticing all the little things that I wish it could be. I've got the Christmas tree up already (I couldn't wait ... ), some decorations, and a few presents already under the tree. I still need the smell of apples and cinnamon ... I have some potpourri for that but I think it's lacking in aromatic strength. I don't have nearly as many decorations and knick-knacks around the house as I'm used to, but I have lots of lights, so I think that makes up for it (notice the tree lights above ... I think that's what they look like to someone after too much egg nog). But the one thing that I can't even come close to re-creating, aside from having my entire family over, is my favorite of all ... cold weather and snow. I've decided that on Christmas Eve I'm going to shut all the blinds, make sure that the a/c is down to (at most) 60 degrees, and then I'm not going to go outside all day on Christmas so maybe I'll forget I'm in Hawaii. This place wouldn't be so bad if it would only snow every once in a while ;)

Selected!

2005-11-22T12:12:00.000-10:00

Well, it's official, both Ace and I are going to be advanced to E-6! I just found out yesterday, and poor Ace probably won't find out until he gets home :( A lot of people made it this cycle ... congrats to everyone! We'll probably get frocked sometimes next week, and I'm crossing my fingers for 1st increment for both of us! It was definitely good news for me yesterday, since I woke up with a touch of food poisoning ... at least, that's all I could figure it could have been. I'm still in recovery today from it, and lucky for me, I had today and yesterday off from work. Go figure.

( I just got a few more negatives put onto a CD, and this photo is one I took back in '98 when I was in France.)

Photo taken in Paris, France and is Copyright Nicole Young, 1998.

Anticipation

2005-11-18T18:25:00.000-10:00

So I got a phone call from my chief today, and he had the statistics for this promotion cycle. The actual results haven't been released yet, but probably will be in a few days, so I am HIGHLY anticipating the actual results, but so far I think they look good. 81% of the people who tested for E-6 made it this cycle, so I have a pretty good shot. Actually, I have an outstanding shot. Let's just hope I'm not one of the 19% who didn't ...

I was on my front porch, taking some fun photos, and I thought these two looked the coolest. The first one is neat beacuse it looks 3-D, and the second one kind of looks like a robot-dog to me. What do you think?

Photo taken in Oahu, Hawaii and is Copyright Nicole Young, 2005.

Hunters?

2005-11-10T19:54:00.000-10:00

So, I was putting my laundry in the dryer, and all of a sudden I hear the doorbell -- maybe. The washer/dryer is in the downstairs half bathroom, which is immediately to your left when you walk in our door, so it's possible I was just hearing things ... ironically it's harder to hear the doorbell from that room and it's right next to the door. So, anyways, I look in the peephole ... no one there. So I open the door just to be sure it wasn't a neighbor kid (they are constantly throwing balls and other odd objects in our backyard ... we're fenced-in so no one can access it but us) and all of a sudden someting jumps on my hand! I thought it was a gecko ... no big deal, see them all the time. So my cats start chasing around whatever it was, and it happened to be a huge cockroach! Yuck! I turn into girly-girl when I see huge gross bugs and usually I'm throwing out little girl screams while I'm trying to chase/kill/run away from the thing. So I was kind of relying on my cats to "clean up" the mess ... they wouldn't stop playing with the darn thing! I finally had to beat it down with a stick and get it into a cup to throw it outside. Those cats will eat a gecko faster than they will kill a bug ... they don't get outside much. At least it wasn't a giant centipede ... one time seeing one of those things in my house was enough to scare the poop out of me for a lifetime!

Kitties

2005-11-10T13:30:00.000-10:00

Kashi and Fuji came home today from the vet. They seem like they're doing just fine ... poor Kashi has to wear this lovely contraption to keep from licking his stitches, but, other than that little annoyance, they don't seem to be in any pain :) It is kinda funny watching Kashi try and walk around with this thing on! He keeps bumping it into things and tried to push himself into the kennel at one point, even though the guard wouldn't let him fit in it! I'll have to keep them locked up most of the time to keep them from jumping around and possibly opening the stiches. The poor little guys!

Hike

2005-11-08T16:56:00.000-10:00

Yesterday I went on a hike with some of the people I work with. We hiked three to four miles, and saw some beautiful scenes! Since it was my first hike on Oahu, it was an eye-opener to see all the nature that this island still has. Most of what I see are roads, buildings, and pineapple fields, so it was good to see the more beautiful aspect of this island. Today I take my kitties to the vet for their check-up before they get neutered tomorrow. I feel so bad for the poor guys! I'm having them declawed as well, which I feel even worse for doing, yet I feel it is a necessary evil that must be done. They don't wreak too much havoc on the furniture yet (though the furniture we have isn't exactly nice), but I'm mostly concerned with the cats playing with and potentially scratching our future kids. I love my kitties so much (laugh all you want ... if you don't love animals you'll never understand!) and I'd hate to have to get rid of them after we have kids. But I feel so bad for them that they have to go through all the ickiness of the surgeries.

Photo taken in Oahu, Hawaii and is Copyright Nicole Young, 2005.

Away

2005-10-29T19:03:00.000-10:00

My computer is finally back up-and-running again. I re-formatted the entire thing, just to be sure to wipe away all of the nastiness. I didn't lose anything important ... and by important I mean all of the photos I have on my hard-drive that I haven't burned to a CD yet (which I am definitely going to do very soon...).

Halloween is just around the corner, and I don't have anything planned, aside from staying home and handing out candy to the neighbor kids - I still have a pumpkin sitting on my table that needs carving, too. Last year, when we were in Misawa, we forgot it was Halloween and didn't have any candy for the kids. Those poor children ... the looks on their faces when we had to turn them away! We finally just had to put a sign on our door :( This year, I'm hooking them up. Oh yes, I remember being a kid and going through the candy bag, separating out the "good" candy from the "bad". I think our parents actually did that for themselves, though, when they "checked" it for tampered candy. ;) This photo is another one from our vacation. We went to the Maui Ocean Center, and the lady was feeding the fish and the stingrays. There was even a tiger shark floating around ... it pretty much ignored all the action, though.

Photo taken in Maui, Hawaii and is Copyright Nicole Young, 2005.

Vacation!

2005-10-08T13:11:00.000-10:00

Andrew and I got home just a few days ago from our 11-day cruise of the Hawaiian Islands. It was so relaxing! This photo was taken at an island called Fanning Island ... the MOST beautiful of all the islands we saw while we were on our cruise, in my opinion. All of the islands have their own unique beauty ... Fanning Island was more like the type of place I tend to think of when going to a tropical paradise in the middle of nowhere :) We went hiking past waterfalls on Kaua'i, drove along the coast in Maui, and visited a coffee plantation in Kona. It was so much fun! Cruising is definitely the way to have a nice, relaxing vacation (especially if you like to eat!). I am kinda sick of old people, though. There is hardly anyone my or Ace's age on those boats ... sometimes it feels like you're aboard a floating retirement community! Of course, that also has to do with the cruise line we sailed with.

Life after vacation is going quite alright, unless you count all the computer problems we've been having. Our desktop has some weird virus or something that's not letting it work right, my laptop won't let me load a new version of Windows in it to clear the HD, and I'm typing on Ace's new laptop, since he had to get another one because his other laptop is fried. I love computers and technology, but it can be so finicky sometimes ... you never know when you're going to lose everything you had because of a small glitch. But I still love 'em ;)

The above photo is Copyright 2006 Nicole Young. Please visit iStockPhoto.com for purchase information.

Luau

2005-09-24T07:47:00.000-10:00

Andrew, Jon, Nicole and I all went to a Luau the other day ... it was my first one. It was good times -- probably more fun for tourists, though, since the "awe" of the island has already worn off by now for me and Ace :) I'm still trying to master my new Nikon ... my "old" flash and "new" camera don't seem to want to play well together, so I'm having difficulties trying to figure it all out. It seems to have a mind of its own sometimes. Oh well, Ace and I leave today for our 11-day cruise of the rest of the islands, plus an additional one called Fanning Island (I think it was where Gilligan's Island was filmed), so I should have plenty of time to learn to use it better :) I'm still trying to pack all of my stuff with only a few hours before we have to drive to the pier! But, of course, I had to get one last blog entry in (not like I'm consistent about them anyways, but I'm trying to make more of an effort). The photos of our kitchen/office room are still on the way. We haven't quite finished organizing the junk and file folders, so once that gets squared away (mostly it will just take a trip to Office Max) then I'll post the before/after pics.

Photo taken in Oahu, HI and is Copyright Nicole Young, 2005.

Busy

2005-09-08T10:46:00.000-10:00

I'm back to my blog, after way too long of neglecting it. Life has been very busy, yet enjoyable! Andrew's brother, Jon, is visiting us right now, and it's been great having him here. We've been trying to spruce up our house and get it closer to what we want, and so since Jon is here we finally got the guest bedroom mostly done. It has all the necessities, and I'll add things like curtains and pictures after a while. This weekend we plan on taking on the grueling task of taking down the yellow-plaid wallpaper in the kitchen, and then adding some more color to the kitchen walls and the connecting room (I'll be sure to post before-and-after photos when it's all finished).

This photo is of my cat, Fuji. He loves sitting on that chair like that ... my cats are so odd. I actually got some funny footage of my other cat, Kashi, and I sent it to AFV just for the hell of it ... I've always wanted to do that! Ya never know ...

Photo taken in Oahu, HI and is Copyright Nicole Young, 2005.

Party

2005-08-28T07:53:00.000-10:00

Last night Ace and I had our official housewarming party. Lots of people showed up and we all had a great time. Today is Ace's birthday, too, so before the party we had some people over for dinner "Young"-style (if you've ever been over to dinner at our place, you know we aren't messing around!) Plus, we finally got to break in the new patio furniture and had dinner, and the party, mostly outside. Good food, good drinks, good company ... wish you all could have been here :)

Photo taken in Oahu, HI and is Copyright Nicole Young, 2005.

Ginger Cat with Yams

2005-08-13T13:43:00.000-10:00

This is one of my first photos taken with my new digital SLR camera, a beautiful Nikon D2H. I, of course, had to take it out for a test run within hours of receiving it in the mail, and to my delight it works beautifully! (We went downtown and walked through China Town a bit, and found this cat hanging out in the produce.) I'm still trying to figure out all the complexities of my camera. It has soooo many features to it ... a lot more complicated than my rugged F4. It's my new fun toy, and now I will be able to create so many more photos to post in the future!

Photo taken in Oahu, HI and is Copyright Nicole Young, 2005.

Time

2005-07-31T18:00:00.000-10:00

I went home a few weeks ago to see my brother, Nate, and his new bride, Jodi, get married. I had such a great time! The wedding was beautiful, and it was so nice to see so much of my family again. It seems like I waited my whole life to graduate and get out of Lincoln, only to wish I was still living there. I am so glad that I have been able to visit so many places, and I wouldn't change it if I could, but there's just something about home that draws me back. :)

Life here in Hawaii is still going on as usual. I wish it wasn't so hot, though. I work such an odd schedule, and it's hard to find the right time to go for a run. I have to be at work by 3:00 am, and I get home around noon, but at that time of day it's too hot to do anything! I either have to get up at 1:00 am and go running before work (yeah, right!), or take a 4-hour nap after work, wake up to do my regular stuff, go running when the sun sets, and then go back to sleep for another 4 hours before morning. It's really inconvenient, and it will be even more so when Andrew gets back. With a schedule like this, who knows if we'll even see each other when he's actually here! Aah, one day I'll look back on these times and see them as the best days of my life ... I'll figure it out, why worry now? :)

Photo taken in Lincoln, NE and is Copyright Nicole Young, 2005.

Lazy

2005-07-26T18:11:00.000-10:00

I think that my "new" job is finally getting to me. It comes and goes ... some days it's good, but some days I just want to pull my hair out! I think part of my stress is because I have only seen my husband one whole week in the last three months. Comes with the territory, I guess. I've been doing rather well, considering the amount of time he's been gone. Ah well, we've got a vacation planned in late September that we both have to look forward to ... can't wait!

Right now I am sitting at my desk, trying not to notice the huge stack of groceries sitting on my counter, waiting desperately to be put away. My usual routine for putting away groceries is to set them all on the floor when I come home from the store, then let the cats jump around the plastic bags until I put away all the cold and frozen stuff. Next, I take out all the non-perishable items and set them on the counter, throw the plastic bags away so the cats don't suffocate themselves to death, and then I tend to more important tasks in my house ... such as, re-watching DS9 episodes on DVD, reading my new HP book, and sitting down to play my new favorite number-logic game I discovered in the newspaper - sudoku. (For those of you who can decipher my acronyms, you will realize how much of a geek I truly am ... but don't forget the fact that you actually know what I'm talking about!) I really wish Ace would come home soon ... DS9 just isn't the same without him! (Not to mention that he has two seasons of STV to catch up on when he gets home so we can finish off the series! Ah, yes, I am a geek.)

Photo taken in Lincoln, NE and is Copyright Nicole Young, 1997.

Home

2005-07-24T16:16:00.000-10:00

I am back in Hawaii after my week-or-so in Nebraska. It was so refreshing, spending time with my family. My little nephew Christian was one delight of my trip! He is just so adorable ... this photo is of him at my parent's house in Lincoln. I also went to my Nate (my brother) and Jodi's wedding (they are Christian's parents) . It was all just such a blast! Seeing them with their baby boy has made me re-think our plans for when Andrew and I have kids. I'm not sure if I'm so keen on sending our kids to day-care right away ... well, we have plenty of time to think about that before we really need to worry :)

Photo taken in Lincoln, NE and is Copyright Nicole Young, 2005.

Favorite

2005-07-11T09:36:00.000-10:00

This photograph was one of my first attempts at lightening-photography, and it turned out being my all-time favorite photo that I've taken so far. This storm came right after the photo I took of the cloud in my previous post. I took the photo from my back porch in Lincoln, but if I were to take the same photo today, it would look completely different. They've built so many buildings back there, in what used to be only milo fields. There is a huge mall, some office buildings, restaurants ... you name it and they've probably put it in my parent's backyard. It's not too bad having it there, since it's convenient shopping and all, but you can't see the starts at night anymore. I miss places like that. Hawaii is a small island, so I can't just drive for miles out into the country like I used to back home, so I won't be getting many lightening photos anytime in the near future ... but plenty of shots of Hawaiian paradise, instead :)

Photo taken in Lincoln, NE and is Copyright Nicole Young, 1997.

Photography

2005-07-09T20:11:00.000-10:00

One of my favorite past-times, if you can't already tell or don't already know, is photography. I was a huge shutterbug when I was a teenager ... and I've been trying to re-kindle that flame lately. Back then, almost all you could work with was film, which I still love, but the world of digital photography has made so many things possible! I'm in the process now of trying to digi-tize all of my old negatives, but since I have hundreds of rolls worth of negative, it will be a slow process ... mostly because of the cost for that many negatives. Looking back on all of my old photos really brings back good memories, and some of those is just remembering how much I enjoyed my hobby. (I took this photo 8 years ago; it was a huge cloud right before a beautiful lightening storm ... I'll post the photo from the storm later on.)

Not too much is going on for me, right now. It's just me and my cats at home by myself right now until Ace gets back ... I do get to leave in four days for home, though :) It will be a very nice break for me, to get away from this monotony! My schedule has been changing over the last few months, but it's finally settled on a fixed time. I do shift-work, from 0330-1130. It's not too bad, cause I don't mind getting up in the morning ... it's just coming home and trying to stay awake until my normal bedtime that's tough. I'm really not sure why I can't do it. Maybe cause I don't have anyone (but my cats) to keep me company at home. Ah, well ... only a little longer and I will have my husband back!

Photo taken in Lincoln, NE and is Copyright Nicole Young, 1997.

Papaya Tree

2005-07-07T21:48:00.000-10:00

One thing that's great about Hawaii is that a lot of people have fruit trees in their backyards. Well, I wasn't one of these lucky people, so I decided to do something about it. Meet my beautiful, tiny (but growing) baby papaya tree. I got it about a month ago, and it's actually growing! I took these photos a few weeks apart and you can actually see that there are more leaves on the bottom pic. I definitely do not have a natural green thumb, since I've probably killed more plants than ... wait a minute, I think I usually kill all of them ;) But I'm going to change from my evil plant-killing ways and nurture my baby tree to be full-grown and fruit-bearing. Wish me luck!

(Only six more days until I get to go home and see my family ... yay! Hmmm ... I guess I'll need a papaya tree babysitter ...)

Fireworks

2005-07-04T17:22:00.000-10:00

The 4th of July has finally come, and I was, once again, out there with my Nikon, shooting away. The photos turned out okay, not my best, but this was my first attempt at fireworks in Hawaii. I've had a great weekend so far ... I've spent a lot of time with friends, and I also did some much-needed shopping today. (Now all I have left to do is some very-much-needed house-cleaning!)

Only eight more days until I go home! I really miss the little things about Lincoln ... the fireflies, thunderstorms in the middle of the night ... I always used to say I would never settle down in my home town, but after being so many other places, it doesn't sound so bad after all ;) The only problem would be convincing Andrew ...

Photo taken in Oahu, Hawaii and is copyright Nicole Young, 2005.

The weekend ...

2005-06-30T20:45:00.000-10:00

... is amost here! I have been working a strange schedule lately that doesn't give me regular "Monday thru Friday, nine-to-five" work-days, but it works out that I get a nice, long, 4th of July weekend. I don't have too many plans, aside from taking photos of the fireworks and going over to a friend's house. I'll probably just do the regular-stuff-that-normal-people-do-on-the-weekend thing .... mow the lawn, clean the house, feed the cats. Ah, the life.

I lately realized that as I move from place to place, I find myself missing all the places I've been to over the last 6 years. When I was in Japan I couldn't wait to leave. But now that I'm gone I can list off all of the reasons that it would have been nice to stay! The weather was great there (perfect running weather ... aside from the snow!), it was quiet and safe, the people were friendly, and even my job was great. I always seem to see these things too far after the fact, and I'm trying to learn how to appreciate what I have now, instead of waiting until after I move again. Okay, so I do live in Hawaii, and you might think it's easy to live in a place where the sun always shines, the days are always warm, and I can see both the mountains and the ocean on my drive to-and-from work everyday. But, I am a mid-western girl. Give me a few cloudy, cool, stormy days ... I'll be there with my camera trying to take pictures of lightening! I already miss things like cold weather, snow, and the bugs singing early in the evening telling everyone that summer is finally here. But what I need to do is look past all that and just enjoy all of this beautiful weather ... because one day I'll be back on the mainland in the middle of winter, wishing I was still here in Hawaii!

Well, only a week-and-a-half before I'm home on leave :) I'm so excited to see everyone! I'm almost broke now after paying for my plane ticket, but it's well worth it. (Plus, I was able to upgrade to First Class on my trip home ... thank you, frequent flyer miles!) I'm gonna be a picture taking fool ove the next few weeks. I'm taking my "real" camera, meaning my Nikon F4, plus my tripod, on the trip, and I plan on using all of my film up. I have my sights on a new camera, which is basically the digital equivilant to the one I have now ... now all I need is the $$$. After that, watch out world! I'll be looking at life through a lens for the rest of my existence once I have that beautiful camera ;)

I've written enough ... it's time for me to clean the kitchen and go for a walk. Life is full of excitement, don't you think! ;)

Hello!

2005-06-24T15:46:00.000-10:00

Well, this is my first official entry in my brand-new blog ... I'm at a loss for words (yeah, right - like that will ever happen!) Okay, so there's not much going on in my life right now. Ace is, once again, gone for a little while. We saw each other for one whole week before he set sail on his second trip. We, or should I say I, am getting quite settled in our new house (Ace has only lived in it the week he was back). It's still a mess in some areas, and I have way too many plans for painting and decorating, but it feels like home :)

My cute little kittens are still cute as ever. They keep me company, and drive me crazy at the same time. I love having cats again. (The photo above is of one of my kittens, Fuji.)

In less than three weeks I get to go home and see my brother get married! I'm so excited to see my family again, and it will probably be a while until I go home after that. I'm expecting more people to want to come out here and visit, since it's free room-and-board in Hawaii for all my friends and family ;) I wish I could come home during Autumn ... I haven't had a real fall season since before I joined the Navy. Hawaii is extremely beautiful, but I like the changing of the seasons better than just one season all year round.

Until next time ...

Photo taken in Oahu, Hawaii and is Copyright Nicole Young, 2005.