Just practicing some still life photography…

she was a gift while i was living in England… she has glasses like me… and one of Erin’s old shirts…

how wonderful is this?

well i’ll tell you. it’s really, really wonderful!

edit:: for some reason the link is no longer working for me… but a company is going to re-start making instant film. They’ve acquired Polaroid’s old equipment and factory. It’s called The Impossible Project.

Sooo awesome!

My long-anticipated Polaroid SLR 680! I got it used and have been waiting for it foreeeeever. Literally. Anything longer than a few weeks is forever.

I love it! I’m so happy I don’t know what to do with myself. Now I just have to snatch up some film since Polaroid is no longer making instant film. Darn them. But Polaroids take such lovely, dreamy pictures.

My camera obession is taking hold… next on my list is a Diana F +. This could get out of hand.

I had to take a picture right away but I just bought the film and I’m at work and there aren’t so many pretty things around… so I took I picture of my giraffe mug that I was given from the SB Zoo. It looks like there’s a whitish blob. on the right corner but it must be a reflection from the light. There is no blob.

Waiting for the photo to develop… so fun!

The photo and the camera. It’s much prettier in person but you get the idea.

My long-anticipated Polaroid SLR 680! I got it used and have been waiting for it foreeeeever. Literally. Anything longer than a few weeks is forever.

I love it! I’m so happy I don’t know what to do with myself. Now I just have to snatch up some film since Polaroid is no longer making instant film. Darn them. But Polaroids take such lovely, dreamy pictures.

My camera obession is taking hold… next on my list is a Diana F +. This could get out of hand.

I had to take a picture right away but I just bought the film and I’m at work and there aren’t so many pretty things around… so I took I picture of my giraffe mug that I was given from the SB Zoo. It looks like there’s a whitish blob. on the right corner but it must be a reflection from the light. There is no blob.

Waiting for the photo to develop… so fun!

The photo and the camera. It’s much prettier in person but you get the idea.

I got all my papers together to file my taxes but I kept feeling like there was something else I was waiting for so I haven’t yet. (Yes, I like to do them early)

Then I realized this is the first year in um… 10 years?… that I’ve only had to file one state return. I’ve been in Cali for more than a year! Yippee! Yippee?

I had a surprise dentist appt. this morning. It was a surprise because I totally forgot about it until they called yesterday afternoon. Rats! My dentist is about 45 minutes away so it took a big chunk out of the day that I wasn’t planning on. There are several hygeneists in there and only one that I do not like. Her name is Daphne. When I asked who I was scheduled with they said Daphne. Double rats! I swear she hates teeth and wants to see them die. I asked as nicely as I could if I could please, please, PLEASE have someone else… ANYONE else. So they gave me Chris. He was great and I left without dried blood all along my gum line. But by the time I got home my teeth were sore so I took some Aleve. I think I just have really sensitive gums.

Last night I made beef stew. This was pretty ambitious for me but I think it turned out really well! This is the recipe:

Just sprinkle beef with salt and pepper, roll in some flour and brown in
a skillet on the stove.
Put beef in crock pot with some onions and carrots, thyme, a bay leaf,
two whole cloves pushed into one of the onion pieces, and several
garlic cloves. Pour in some port – not sure how much – maybe 1/2 cup?
and about 1/2 cup water.
Cook in crock pot for 5-6 hours on high or longer on low.
When it’s done, pour crock pot contents into an oven proof baking
dish, make some biscuit dough (I just used the instant kind), drop it
over the top and bake for as long the biscuit recipe indicates.
It’s actually more of a beef pot pie – and it was sooo good!

I’m not sure of exact measurements. I used maybe a little more than 2 lbs of beef. And 2 large carrots. Oh and halfway through the cooking I added two big stalks of celery chopped up because I thought it needed some more veg. Just easy on the garlic… 2 cloves is probably plenty.

One of my favorite things about this stew is that it DOESN’T have potatoes. Blech. And the alcohol cooks right out if anyone was wondering. Buying it however was fun. I spent 20 minutes in the liquer section too embarrassed to ask for help until some nice guy took pity on me.

Oh and I totally blew my no-shopping-this-month goal. I found out last week my car needed new brakes. So after I shelled out the money for that I was mad at being forced to spend my money on something I DIDN’T want and so I needed to rebel and spend my money on something I DID want. I understand that this isn’t exactly logical but there you go. I returned a couple tops to Old Navy that I didn’t end up giving for Christmas and got 2 tops for myself. So really I only spent $6.99 but still.

Now that I’m on a cooking roll I am looking through my cookbooks to find something else yummy!

Now is probably not a good time for me to be blogging.

I just got back from Stephanie’s funeral, I’m a little sad, and have a little bit of a stomach ache. And I spent most of the day with my contacts in the wrong eyes. Whoops that was my fault.

First let me say that the funeral was nice. There were a lot of people at the chapel for the memorial service and even more people at Pepper Tree Ranch afterwards. Stephanie was beloved and it was wonderful to spend the afternoon reminiscing and being with friends and looking at her beautiful photography. It was really beautiful but sad. Very sad. Cammy spoke about her “Mommy Honey” and friends shared stories and memories. Allen’s band played Can’t You See (by Marshall Tucker Band) because when he was learning it she told him it was her favorite song. And the end of the service we were all standing around a grassy area at the ranch and we were told to turn to the person on your right and your left and give them a hug while the song What a Wonderful World played. I love that song and it really is a wonderful world… it’s just sad Stephanie is no longer a part of it.

The other thing is that I’ve been looking back over my blog entries and have realized that maybe many of you are thinking to yourselves, “Doesn’t Vanessa have a life? All she blogs about is puppies and primary and super long random lists.” And I’d want to respond, “Of course I have a life.” But the honest to goodness truth is that over the last year I think I’ve slowly turned into a hermit. I ran into so many old friends this weekend that still live around here that I just don’t see hardly ever. Why don’t I see them? Cause I’m a hermit. Maybe it’s because I have a super long commute every day, maybe it’s because of all of the drama going on in my family, maybe it’s because the singles ward/institute is too far away … I don’t know. But I hate the feeling that I’m drifting away from friends. Especially the ones that are right here.
I don’t mean for this to sound super whiney.. but when the only thing you can think of to blog about is a fish lips planter… you have to wonder.

edited 01/18/09… because my blog can be boring. i like it.