A Quick Trip to Nevada
My mom and I just got home from what was probably our fastest trip to see my grandparents on record.
About 2 weeks ago, my Grandma had a mastectomy. She was diagnosed with breast cancer while I was in Bulgaria, and it sucked a bit not being home when that happened.
I am really glad I got to see her before setting off on another adventure.
We drove down with my Grandma’s sister early yesterday morning. The drive from Salt Lake City to Logandale (the small town between Mesquite and Las Vegas where they live) took about 6 hours. I slept pretty much the entire time there and back. My inability to keep my eyes open on long car rides continues.
We spent the day yesterday cleaning the house. My Grandma isn’t able to do much and my Grandpa’s eyesight is failing, so there was quite a bit that needed to be done.
After the marathon cleaning session, my mom and Great aunt cooked a yummy dinner and made sure to leave plenty of food so that my Grandparentals have stuff to eat for another week or two.
It just plain sucks getting to the age where your grandparent’s health is starting to fail. I consider myself lucky as I have grown up with all 4 of my grandparents (I even knew most of my great-grandparents), and only recently did I think about losing them.
It’s a bummer, but an inevitable part of life.
Anywho, I guess my reason for writing this post (other than to keep putting off packing and cleaning) was to share a few photos I snapped on a quick walk around my grandparent’s property. The horrible pic quality of my old point-and-shoot Canon makes me miss my fancy Nikon even more.
**Just a few more weeks!**
(Trying out WordPress’ slideshow photo view for the first time. What do you think? Is this way better than posting all the photos individually?)
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The weather this time of year in Nevada is perfect. However, in a month or so it will be downright sizzling. The summers there are like being in an oven.
Ugh.
Off to my {3rd} “going away dinner” with my family in a few hours. I don’t like to think about the fact that I won’t be seeing any of them for almost 5 months.
It’s takeout Chinese tonight, however, so that brightens my mood!
W.
Another Summer, Another Bout of Craziness
Sorry I’ve been a bit MIA here and on my Facebook page the past few weeks.
Between preparing for my summer move to Alaska, worrying about my sick grandma (going to Nevada tomorrow to see her), and cramming in as much time with friends as family as I can; things have been nuts.
Hopefully I will be back up and running with new posts in a week or so.
I fly to Fairbanks on Tuesday. I’ll be spending 2 nights there at the Princess hotel. I am looking forward to a few days to relax and prepare my mind for the crazy summer ahead. The transfer for all us supervisors and managers to Denali will be on Thursday.
I am still not fully packed. My bedroom needs a good cleaning. This last-minute trip to Nevada comes at a really bad time, but I am excited to visit my Grandma and see how she’s doing (and make sure my Gpa is eating and sleeping).
But…things will work out. They always do.
Talk to ya’ll soon.
W.
P.S. To all you blog lurkers/creepers out there (*ahem–my mom’s friends*), come out of the dark and leave me a comment, will ya?!
It’s Breakup Time!: The Nenana Ice Classic
The Nenana Ice Classic is an annual contest/lottery held each year in the Alaskan city of Nenana (just an hours drive from my summer home of Healy).
Photo courtesy of elmundoenbici.com
The contest challenges individuals to guess the exact date and time of the breakup of ice on the Tenana River.
After the ice forms each winter, a tripod is placed about 300 ft. from shore in the middle of the frozen river. A device is attached to the tripod that records the moment the ice goes out.
Raising of the tripod. Photo by Diane Jensen
It may sound a bit underwhelming to those not familiar with the contest, but for a lot of people (including moi) it’s all very exciting. The winner(s) have the potential to rake in quite the amount of cashola (depending upon how many pick the same date/time, of course–last year 22 people shared the pot).
My Camera Took a Tumble
A few days ago I made the mistake of setting my camera, a Nikon DSLR (and my baby), on my bathroom counter while I did my hair before heading out to spend an evening with some close friends.
Of course, it tumbled off the counter and hit the tile floor. My heart sank into my stomach.
The only damage I noticed right away was a crack in my lens filter. One of the biggest reasons I purchased the filter after getting my camera and lens (which cost almost as much as the camera itself) was because I read so many reviews and tales of people who said it saved their lens after a fall or bump.
So far from what I can tell, it did the same in my case. My lens (an 18-200 mm) seems fine.
My camera, however, didn’t fare as well.
Post-fall, there seems to be some sort of debris in the viewfinder. I tried giving it a quick clean but to no avail. The biggest issue (at least I hope it is the biggest) is that the viewfinder LCD information is not working. It was on for a few minutes after the fall but soon all the numbers turned to 8′s, then they started flickering, and now it won’t turn on at all.
Neither of these two things prevent me from taking photos. I’ve checked the quality and things seem to be normal. But I am just weird and can’t stand not having things in perfect working order.
So, that’s why I am trekking into an unknown area of Salt Lake today to take My Precious *Gollum voice* to the ONE Nikon authorized repair shop in the entire state of Utah.
I have no idea what they are going to tell me, but I have a few predictions:
- “Sorry, we can’t fix it here. You have to send it in to Nikon and wait the million years it takes them to fix things.”
- “We can fix it, but you will have to sell your first-born and a kidney to pay for it.”
- “We don’t see anything wrong with it.” (you know, like when your car is making a funky noise and you take it in to the shop but the second you do the noise stops and the mechanic thinks you are making it all up.)
Whichever one of these comes true, I am not super optimistic about what I will be told.
My biggest fear is that I won’t have my camera back in time for Alaska or that I will just have to deal with the issues, take it with me, and wait for something else to go wrong up in the Great North (where I can guarantee there isn’t a camera repair shop within hours of where I will be).
If money were no object I would probably just buy a new camera and keep my D90 as a backup. But if that were my life, I’d probably be sitting on a beach somewhere being fanned by a bronzed male with a palm frond. We can all dream, right?
Anywho, wish me luck in my adventure today. For the sake of this blog, I hope it can be fixed…and soon!
W.
Randomly Me Monday: Volume Six | 10 Day You Challenge
Previous Volumes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
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I am such a sucker for these “About Me” tags and challenges. Came across this one on The Daily Visual Inspiration and thought I’d do it myself. If you have done it already or start your own challenge, feel free to link it up in the comments!
Let’s get crackin’…
10 “Secrets”:
(some of these may not be so secret to all my readers)
1) I hate loud music or noises. I have really sensitive ears so I never went through that loud, blaring music phase when I was a teen. Luckily, I found a man who hates it as much as me, so we are a couple of oldies in our car with our quiet music playing in the background!
2) Speaking of loud noises (*said in a Brick Tamland voice ala Anchorman*), I cannot sleep with any sort of noise or lights around me. I have to have complete silence and darkness. I sleep with earplugs in almost every night and even an eye mask every so often.
3) I am a big Josh Groban fan (aka, a “Grobie”). I sing at the top of my lungs to his songs. And contrary to secret #1, he is one of the few people I can stand listening to at full volume. That voice of his is beautiful!
4) I feel super awkward going to certain places alone. I have only ever been to one movie by myself and have never gone to a restaurant and eaten at a table by myself. I would feel like I needed a book or laptop or something to distract me.
5) I have a bad habit of getting very excited about something and investing myself (and my money, unfortunately) in it full throttle. Sadly, nearly every time my interest fades quickly. Some examples: many types of arts and crafts, diet and exercise regimes, and learning Bulgarian. I am working on this part of myself. I am proud that I have stuck with blogging and building my photography skills.
6) I am a Christian, but I do not follow any one denomination. I am open to all sorts of ideas and beliefs and am still figuring out my own faith. I do not prescribe to the notion that everyone must believe in one thing/ideal to be a good person. I value differences in people; that’s what makes us unique, after all! I think the world be such a boring place if we all believed the same things.
7) When I think about travel, I almost always think about other countries. In fact, I have been to far more countries than I have U.S. states. It’s not that exploring more of my own country isn’t important to me, it’s just that I find overseas travel more interesting. However, this has begun to change in recent years. There are so many U.S. cities that I want to visit and learn more about.
8) I am not an overly untidy person and in some areas of my life I am compulsively organized. But (and it’s a BIG but) my bedroom almost always resembles the aftermath of a bomb. I am a bit of a pack rat and tend to hang on to things that have some sentimental value to them. My room here in Utah is quite small, so it looks cluttered even when things are in order. Right now, however, it’s just plain messy! I still have my suitcase from Bulgaria wide open on the floor. I leave for Alaska in a week, so I figured it would be dumb to completely unpack and put it away only to get it back out and repack.
9) My parents divorced about 4 years ago. Growing up, a lot of my friends’ parents were divorced, but I never thought my parents would. Now that they are (and considering the way in which it went down), we all know it’s for the best and everyone is better off. I love my dad, but he isn’t the greatest person in the world. Luckily, I have an awesome mom and extended family.
10) I have extremely vivid and in-depth dreams. Some of them are pretty frightening (think Apocalypse dreams, all the time). This seems to run in my family as most of the women on my mom’s side have the same thing, we call them “Workman” dreams, as that is my Grandma’s maiden name. I can still remember full details of dreams I had as a child. Another weird thing, I can wake up and then fall back asleep and go back into my dreams. They are sometimes a bit changed but generally the same as before I woke up. It’s pretty cool, I think.
***
Well there you go, 10 “secrets” I could think of at this moment. Not sure how interesting they are!
Instead of doing this challenge for 10 straight days, I will do one or two posts per week. Once I am done I think my “Randomly Me” posts will be few and far between. I am sure most of you are getting sick of hearing so much about me!
W.
Inspiring My Wanderlust
(Did my best to link all photos to their original sources)
Lots of travels are on the horizon.
I can’t wait!
W.
Eating Our Way Across Bulgaria
On our recent road trip, my husband and I made it a point to experience {devour} some of the culinary delights Bulgaria has to offer.
Trying new foods is one of the best parts of traveling; and while I love Smolyan, it certainly isn’t the gourmet capital of Bulgaria. So I was eagerly anticipating the foods we would eat while we were away.
Luckily, we were not disappointed!
A few of the highlights:
• Fig ice cream in Hisarya. Probably the best ice cream I have ever had.
Wordless Wednesday: Doors Around the World
“I feel very adventurous. There are so many doors to be opened, and I’m not afraid to look behind them.”
― Elizabeth Taylor
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Mykonos, Greece
The Vatican
Sh*t My Bulgarian Husband Says
This is my {adorable} husband, Ventsi:
My hubby, looking like a giant at one of the house museums in Koprivshtitsa.
In case you are new around these parts, I should start with the fact that he is Bulgarian. And while his English is great, he sometimes tosses a few words into daily conversations that just aren’t quite right.
Much to my delight! 
Just one of the many benefits of being married to a foreigner is getting to enjoy the hilarious things that come out of their mouth. Now, by no means am I making fun of my sweet husband.
OK… Maybe a little. But he usually laughs along with me when I point out/question something that he has said. Plus, I am sure he will poke fun at me when I actually start to speak some Bulgarian. I figure it’s fair game.
I am really kicking myself for not keeping a better list of some of the doozies he’s come up with in the nearly 4 years we have been together. Every time he said something that left me in giggles or simply in a bit of shock, I always said “I should write that down.” Unfortunately, I never did.
Until a few months ago…
Ladies and Gents, I present to you: A Bit of Vince’s Vocab.
***
• “I don’t like that shampoo. It gives me dandrain.” (dandruff)
• “You are so spicy today.” (spacy)
• “I love cheese!” (after a computer game of chess)
• To me while I was spying innocently people watching out our living room window, “Why are you being so noisy?” (nosy)
• His bestie from Sofia called him and I asked what he had to say. Vince replied, “He just wanted to hear my voice.” (HA! HA!)
• “You should wear the neckle that my parents gave you.” (necklace)
• “Did you pack your toilet treats?” (toiletries)
and my personal favorite…
• I was telling him about a nose bleed I had had and he said, “Oh, you mean a nose period?”
***
I expect there to be more in this series in the future (that is unless my hubby stops talking to me because he knows his flubs may very well end up on this here blog!).
W.
P.S. L♥ve you, hunky! Thanks for being a good sport.
Kiev in Miniature
No Scavenger Hunt Sunday today, unfortunately.
The weather this past week has kept me cooped up in the house with little desire to wade through the puddles and mud to take photos!
But I did find something photography related that had me very interested this week.
I have known about tilt shift photography for a few years now and it always intrigued me. I think that miniaturized view is so creative.
I came across this time-lapse video of tilt shift photography (or the effect, anyway) over Kiev, Ukraine on Petya’s blog.
I was captivated.
Tilt shift lenses produce a very shallow depth of field. This can result in making a scene look somewhat miniature in scale. Other times, such as in this video, the effect is produced after the fact in post-processing. However it is done, the effect is awesome.
The creators of MiniLook Kiev (Efim Graboy & Daria Turetski) had this to say:
We shot MiniLook Kiev with Canon 550D, during 5 days and 2 nights, shot over 25,000 frames,
from all of them we used about 4,500. The post-production was the hardest part of the creation, it took us a few good months, but finally it’s done!
I am thinking about attempting a video of my own when I get back to Sofia. I have a few months to learn how to produce the effect in Photoshop!
Oh, and how charming is Kiev? Another city on my bucket list!
{hopefully} I’ll be back with a SHH next week.
W.
