Friday, March 30, 2012

Happy Friday!


Five things that I'm loving right now
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1. Being done with Hunger Games [my life stopped for awhile reading those books].
2. Bryan getting Monday off for my birthday! Best present EVER.
3. Family time. Talked to the parents on the phone and this 
weekend I get to be with my sister and her fambam!
4. I've started running again. Feels good...except for the next morning, when I can't move.
5. Today two of my dear friends are celebrating their birthday. Happy birthday Jess and Kelcie! So happy you guys were born =)

orange grove


San Luis Obispo was beautiful when we visited [the day we left it started to rain. Lucky us =)]. On our way to dropping off the triathlon equipment I saw this orchard. "Pull over! Let's run through the orchard!" Bryan: "I'm not sure if the farmer would be too happy about that..." Me: "Can we at least take some pictures??" 

money. ew.


Money stresses me out. I think it stresses everyone out. But when I think about our farm, I sometimes feel overwhelmed at how much Bryan and I have to go... financially. Especially since we would prefer to stay close to family, need at least 40 acres to sustain ourselves, and need it all within a tiny budget. This combo seems almost unattainable. 

This has been on my mind on and off for awhile now. Sometimes I feel optimistic about it all, other times I feel a bit frantic. 

Bryan's job right now is amazing. It is preparing him in numerous many ways to start and run an organic farm successfully. It also pays all our bills; something we are very thankful for. But what it doesn't offer us is any saving for our future farm. That is sometimes hard for us to swallow. 

This brings me to photography. I love doing it. I would continue to do it even if I didn't get paid for it. But here's a bit of honesty for you, I have this dream that my business will be able to give Bryan the farm of our dreams. I want so badly to play a part in giving him that. 

We pray often about all this messiness. Because in the end, that's all we can do. And this is all so much bigger than us. 

Bryan has a passion for people and sustainable farming. I have a passion for people and photography. In our personal opinion, we believe these things were given to us for a reason. 

So for now we are putting our faith in that. That God gave us these desires and that they will be used. 

And it's funny because once we've mentally put things back into perspective, things happen. Like a phone call from a friend offering to pay us well over what we make in a week to bring a bunch of triathlon equipment down to San Luis Obispo for the weekend. Getting paid to go on a mini-moon, yes please! Or getting phone calls from friends wanting to hire me to take pictures of them. And that's when we feel a reassurance that things will work out.

...

Here's a few from our weekend. 








Thursday, March 29, 2012

Homemade Pasta

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A couple weeks ago, our friend Peter, who happens to be brilliant at making anything that involves flour [cake, pies, quiche, scones] came over to help us make some homemade pasta. Bryan and I have decided that we will probably make our own pasta from now on because it was so easy to do.

 The best part about this simple recipe is that you can change it in so many ways. Want it with no eggs? Add more water. Want a healthier option? Use wheat flour or add in some spinach.
Bryan and I have a pasta maker, but if you don't, just roll it out as thin as you can and make some yummy ravioli pockets filled with ricotta =) Hang to dry for at least an hour and then cook. If you want to save some, I put it in a baggie and throw it in the freezer.

Voila! You got yourself some pasta!

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Friday, March 23, 2012

Day Twenty-Three: Moon

As you may have noticed, the March Photo-a-Day has been lacking lately. I would like to blame it on this 8 week studio course I'm taking, but it's a bit more than that.

It's been crazy busy in the Pellissier apartment. Bryan is in his busiest month--finishing pruning and spraying (organic stuff, of course). Yesterday, he was gone for work when I got up for class [7am] and came home at around 8pm. Yikes!

As for me, I am taking two classes. One is a business for photographers class, which has been extremely helpful in all the logistics that involve starting my own business and a quickly moving photo class. I have a lot of studio work to get done, hence the lack of photo-a-days.

I think this may be the last photo-a-day, but no worries because now I have the time to post all the other stuff Bryan and I have been up to =)

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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Day Twenty-One: Delicious

Lentil Minestrone soup with Chicken. 
Perfect for the rain we've been having. 

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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Day Twenty: Before/After

Pismo beach watching the stars and the off-roading vehicles go by. 

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Monday, March 19, 2012

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Inspiration draws from everywhere


A little bit of goodness from my day. Good read. Good music.

"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work {and theft} will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don't bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: "It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to."  -Jim Jarmusch


Day Fourteen: Clouds

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Walking on cloud 9

Day Thirteen: Sign

A little humor for today. I hate using gas station bathrooms [who does?] They are creepy and nasty beyond all belief. However, I walked into this gas station bathroom and to my surprise the owner had decorated it pink with cute lotions and pictures of Marilyn Monroe on the wall. Then I saw this half picture frame sign... so good.

Day Twelve: Fork

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Who needs silverware separated? 

Monday, March 12, 2012

Tree Reading

One of Bryan's resolutions is to learn how to use my camera, so we practiced a bit this weekend.
There's this tree back home where Bryan and I both grew up. When we were dating [and even when we were "just friends"] we spent a lot of time reading in this tree. Bryan would sit on a limb and I would lay in the green grass as one of us would read to each other. Sometimes I would join Bryan in climbing, but I tend to be more of a ground squirrel who just dreams of being a tree squirrel. 

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Day Eleven: Someone You Talked To Today


I'm partially cheating on this one. I talked to a lot of people that day, but this guy trumps them all.

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