New Years + Old Years

Where do I begin? So many things to say about ringing in this new year.

I don't think I've ever been this excited. This is going to be a bit of a long post...

This year I got to spend yet another New Year's with one of my very best friends, Chenoa.

Our third New Year's together in fact.

We have changed hairstyles, apartments, significant others, and Flaming Lips show seating arrangments...but our friendship still remains the same. She is one of those friends you can spend months away from but then when you see eachother again it's like no time has passed at all. I hope we get to ring in more years together.

This year we got all gussied up for our 3rd Lip's show in a row.

But this year was a special show.

This year the Lip's played "The Soft Bulletin" in it's entirety after midnight.

If you aren't familiar with that record, I recommend you go buy it now.

The record is one of the very few that will always touch me, there are songs about the fragile nature of life, overcoming adversity, dealing with losing someone you love, and maintaining your sanity through all the insanity that life has to throw at you.

And even with all those subjects, it makes you want to move on and conquer the world.

The show moved me to tears.

And even in spending time with old friends,

I got to spend time with a special new friend as well.

You might notice that all these pictures were all taken with an Iphone. Let me first apologize for the quality, but I also want to say that because the record and the entire night was so special to me, I decided not to bring my camera.

Some might think that decision was absolute madness considering how many photo-ops would be available at such a show. But I really just wanted to lay back and enjoy the show through my very own eyes and senses and not through those of my camera lens. I also got floor tickets and decided not to chase down VIP passes through friends or friends-of-friends or my old bosses at my internship. I just wanted to be a fan in the audience with nothing between me but people I love and gorgeous life changing music.

With all this being said. It is time for the good stuff... resolutions. And since I have this oldyear/newyear theme going here I might as well revisit some old resolutions. I was shocked at how uncanny some of them had become fulfilled... without being realized.

My resolutions from last year included:

Invest in more camera equipment. Check. Bought 2 lenses and a flash.

Journal everyday. Made some improvement but trying again.

Blog more often. ;) The quality of my posts have gone up.

Take pictures everyday. Trying this again one but once a week. Everyday is a lot of editing!

Get faster at editing photos. Check!

Don't settle for less than I deserve. In all matters of life. Oh man did I fulfill this one.

Explore doing freelance photography and design work more often. Check! Did my first weddings and other freelance.

Travel somewhere entirely new. DING DING DING! When I wrote this I think I had somewhere like San Francisco in mind. If only I knew what was in store...

My resolutions for 2011:

Write/Journal at least once a week.

Blog more often.

Get better/faster at web design.

Do more freelance work.

Cook more and shop locally more often. (maybe join a co op)

Run/do Yoga more often.

Save up for a new camera.

TRAVEL!

Spend more time with my grandfather.

Take pictures at least once a week.

Meditate meditate meditate.

Be in the present moment.

Last year was my first year to make any resolutions. And it worked out beautifully. I dont feel that resolutions are meant to be broken anymore. Or meant to be harshly followed. But can serve as a loose guideline for goals you want to at least come close to touching. Wish me luck!

A very Happy 2011 to all of you!

-Angela

Season Spirit.

Has it really been over two weeks since I updated? This month has really flown by.

Well since this is the day before my 12 day weekend, I wanted to share some holiday festivities and some recent picture snapping.

After receiving my Grandmother's ornament collection from my Grandfather last year, I was all too eager to break out my tree and decorations again this year. So I dug out the charming boxes from the back of my closet, put on the cheesy christmas music, warmed up eggnog and got to decorating. I even baked some apples for the occasion. Not to mention I got to put up a new special ornament from my favorite non-christmas-celebrating person. (his first experience ever making a Christmas ornament). <3

The further I get away from my many years I worked in retail through college, the more I am becoming ok with kind of loving this time of year. I still hate the consumer over-spending side of the holiday. But I can't help but secretly love the warm drinks, fuzzy socks, time with family, oh and the food...cant forget the food. And I suppose I don't really celebrate the holiday in a traditional way but more in a cultural way.

Last year Oklahoma City got hit by the worst ice/snow storm so I didn't get to spend any time with my family because the roads were so bad. After being trapped in my car for several hours, I ended up spending the holiday with friends and friend-of-friends and making the best of it with Wii and wine. It was actually a great time, but I have to say I really missed having that time to goof off with my nieces and nephews and watch holiday movies with them. It's just not the same exchanging gifts in the summer that you didn't have the opportunity to give them at Christmas.

Well here is to hoping for drivable weather and good times with family and friends. I hope you all have a lovely holiday.

-Angela

Gratitude 2010

-Angela

The Sahara.

Some entries don't need words.

-Angela

Thankful.

Thanksgiving is coming up next week and I am already feeling thankful.

I took this picture last thanksgiving of my Grandfather who is now in his mid-eighties and I just feel so lucky that I am getting to spend another holiday with him. Because I credit him a lot in the formation of who I am today.

It is getting to be that time when one feels more and more pressure to tell the people you love how you truly feel about them, because who knows if you will have another chance. Not only because of maturing age, but just realizing that at any moment there are a whole myriad of things that can happen. Not even a millisecond of life is really guaranteed.

Nothing in life is really ever guaranteed.

I guess that is why sometimes I feel as though faith in an afterlife is really a cop out for not living your current life to the fullest, saying the things you need to say, being the person you need to be.

Perhaps that is a rather judgmental way to view it....

So let me back up to say that honestly, even if someone proved to me today that I would see everyone I love again, I would still want to go on living my life as though I might not.

We humanoids take things in life for granted far too much, especially people.

----

"And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know

You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning 'round"

-The Flaming Lips

-Angela

Holiday Postcard!

Happy Monday! I am having a particularly great day at work today so I thought I would share a recent piece I put together for our annual Christmas show. The look of this postcard we send out every year hadn't been drastically changed in a long while so I was thrilled that they loved this vintage inspired woodcut look. :)

Happy Monday everyone!

-Angela

108 breaths.

108 Mala beads. A gift my boyfriend brought back for me from Singapore when we first started dating.

The number of beads on the Mala is meant to help keep track of breaths or mantras done when practicing.

Sometimes things come along right at the times we need them.

Just when you have lost faith in happiness, faith in kindness and compassion.

Life proves you all wrong.

You never saw it coming.

And it's better than anything you were planning.

I always thought that if something wasn't happening...

well then gosh darn it I would make it happen.

It is how I approach most things in life.

It works out well with a career, goals, dreams.

But there are two things I know for sure don't work this way.

Love and Growth.

I am glad I sat still in the quiet long enough to let them find me.

Counting my breaths.

Instead of continuing to circle the labyrinth in vain.

-Angela

Reminder.

Sometimes it's good to leave reminders for yourself

around the house.

Happy Friday.

Happy Friday everyone.

Someone asked me in the comments of my last post

...what I've been up to lately...

As I tried to summarize my answer I realized it isn't easy to answer such a question in a few sentences when you life has changed so much over the course of just a few months.

So maybe next week I can get to it all. Or maybe just a little.

All I can say for now is that I've been up to... growing.

-Angela

What I found in my mailbox.

(Morocco is next.)

-Angela

New Year - Part 2 - Dark Side of the Moon

Part 2 of the show. After Midnight. They played Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in it's entirety. It was fantastic. There are so many more pictures on my flickr if you want to check them out. Just click on any of the photos to be redirected. 

Some of my resolutions:

Invest in more camera equipment.

Journal everyday.

Blog more often. ;)

Take pictures everyday. 

Get faster at editing photos. 

Don't settle for less than I deserve. In all matters of life. 

Explore doing freelance photography and design work more often. 

Travel somewhere entirely new. 

I don't normally believe in resolutions. Because I've always felt they were meant to be broken. But this year I thought I would give it a go. So I am starting out with just a few simple, realistic ones. 

Happy late New Year. 

-Angela

The New Year. - Part 1

  

  

  

Just wanted to share some photos from my New Years experience. 

For 2010, me and my bestie, Chenoa, decided to go to the show The Flaming Lips put on every year here in OKC for New Years. But this year was a very special year... a new decade! 

So they decided that, after midnight, they would play The Dark Side of the Moon in it's entirety. It was sooooo awesome and I took a TON of pics. So many that it took forever to go through them all. But here are a few favorites from the first half. Click to go to my flickr and see more. 

Happy (late) New Year! Hope you guys are having a good one so far. I can't believe we are almost done with the first month!

-Angela