Do I have a problem?

Just maybe? Kind of might have a little problem with Starbucks.....
I am giving it up on Sunday. No more coffee for me. I went for almost 2 years without it. Then in a moment of weakness I was sucked in again...it took only a mater of days to be addicted again. Yikes...I got to get away from it! Wish me luck...and don't talk to me on Sunday or the following week because I will be GRUMPY!!

Inside Starbucks in down town Chico

Today was busy for me. I went to my favorite place, Starbucks in downtown Chico for a break. Jerry that works there is VERY nice. Today he accidentally spilled my coffee...and it was the last of what they had brewed. He gave me a free coffee for waiting. Thanks Jerry!

I also added another picture of Mat that I took yesterday. I really like this one.

Mat

This is my nephew.
I love him as much as my own. He is having a hard time in life. More then most teenagers do. He is a sweet, kind and cute boy. He always makes me smile. I love you Mat!

Broken Skateboards are the Devil....

When my son was a teenager he liked to skate. He thought it was cool when his board broke...he kept them...in the closet. Then he grew up and moved out and left them, in the closet.

Today I found them, with my head. I pulled a tub of Lego's down from the top shelf in the closet and the boards were on top of it. They flew down and hit me in the head. I was a cry baby and cried. Can you see the bump on my head?

Now I don't feel good. And I am being a baby.

And now I have yet ANOTHER picture of myself posted here with no makup..ohwell this is me.

Jvan :-(

Get ready to Go Jvan!!!

I am on fire to get stuff done today! This is me just woke up no shower or makeup or even brushed my hair! Sorry...to make you all look at that! hee hee

I feel bad because I didn't go to church this morning, but I feel so motivated to get stuff done this morning, I was afraid if I left the house I would lose it.

I feel like I am preparing to leave, instead of doing yuckie stuff. I can't wait for the next part of my life to start. I am actually getting excited finally in the preparing to leave part. There is a whole new world out there for me to explore...new people to meet, new places to see! Gosh I am excited!!!!!!!

Hope you all have a nice Sunday!

Jvan

I am crazy about my grandson and this slideshow software. I can't talk much tonight cause I am tired

I started a fire in the woodstove now it is hot in here...and I cant keep my eyes open! Night everyone!!

Santa Barbara

I am so very tired. It was a long work week. Now it will be a long work weekend! I made this slide show of my trip to Santa Barbara. I made it for memories, and I made it for pratice. I hope you like it!

People

Today I had my nails done. I know it is such a girly thing to do. Really I am not a girly girl. Well...maybe I am a little.

The lady that does my nails is from Vietnam. Her name is Kim. She is tiny and sweet. She usually is very quite as she does my nails. Today I asked her if her real name is Kim, she said yes. Then I told her I have a new friend from Vietnam and I have a hard time saying his name. I asked her if she would help me learn to pronounce it correctly? She asked me how it was spelled I told her T h u a n. She then helped me to say it. Over and over. She was very excited to be helping me. Then she went around the shop and taught me to say all kinds of things. She did a good job teaching...but I didn't do that good learning. It is hard.

Tonight I saw a different woman then the one that usually does my nails. She was alive and animated, instead of shut down and quite. She was beautiful. So thanks Thuan for helping me see the real her. But sorry I am still having a hard time saying your name. She is going to keep helping me, so next time I see you I am going to say "Hi Thuan!" and you are going to say wow Jacquie you say my name well :-)

I often wonder what it is like to live in different places. What everyday life is like. It interests me greatly. There are people all over the world living day in and day out...and I don't know them or what they do or what they think. I don't get to see their beauty. Kind of a sad thought. But I am trying to make a sincere effort to meet new people, re-meet familiar people like Kim, and learn about them. It interests me greatly.

Bad Manners!!

Wow...I forgot to link back to the site were you can learn about the software I used to make this slide show!! Sorry for my bad manners!!


Showit Software for Photographers!

I finally made a slide show...I don't know if I will use this new software more with weddings or my Grandson! He is too cute. Thanks DJ for this cool tool. I love it :-)

DSN - MX - Google - GoDaddy - Emails - Slideshows - Web Space??

Confused yet??? I am! I am trying to set up a new web site. It is fun, but confusing. I had to learn about DNS and MX. They are confusing and I still don't really understand 100%. This little picture sums it up...if you notice it skips 3). Yep that missing 3) sums it up...confusing! Even if 3) was there...I would still be confused. But that's OK I don't have to understand 100% to make things work.

I think I have everything set up... I wont know for sure for 30 hours they say. That's weird...this is the Internet computers are doing things...why will it take 30 hours!? I don't know.

When I get it done my new address will be www.gojvan.com - watch for it! Have not got to the part were I actually put the website in it's new place...that comes next :-)

I am still reading How to Win Friends & Influence People. It is a bit slower going now that I am back home and working. Hard to find time to read. It is a very good book. If you have the time and haven't read it yet you should - Jvan

School!

I'm going to school...I'm happy can you tell. I am leaving in a few months!
I want to get in my car now and leave!
But I can't yet
I have stuff to deal with!

Crap...that's OK
I am still happy
can you tell?

hee hee

My little grandson came to visit me tonight.

What kind of grandma would I be if I didn't post pictures of the little dude here? He is so cute!

Chico down town park

Tonight I took a picture of the fountain in the park across the street from my office. This park is located in down town Chico. A lot of people in Chico didn't want this park to change. I really tried to form no opinion myself, and was glad it was not my responsibility to make any decisions about this park.

Now I see more people over in that park then I before. Day and night there are always people there, enjoying it. So I think I have to say it was a good move on the cities part.

Back to the Daily Grind!

I am back to work. Yesterday I left my keys at the office, so I had no way this morning to get in the office. I had to wait until someone else got there. So I went to Starbucks...of course to wait.

I really like taking pictures with my mobile phone. It is easy and fun. David Jay taught us how to send pictures to our blog using our phones. I haven't set it all up yet, but I am going to. That would make blogging even easier. Blogging on the fly! LOL

I got to talk to some of the people I will be going to school with last night on line. Jessica Toney is the first person from my class that I met. She is very nice...even if she shoots with Nikon...I guess I can over look it.

So here is to new friends, new places, and new experiences! (Toasting with my Starbucks)

Here is everyone from the David Jay workshop in Santa Barbara. My eyes are closed! I am such a dork some times LOL. Kristin Renee took this shot for us, thanks Kristin!!

It was so much fun!

Hallmark Institute of Photography

It's official!

Some of you know, and some of you don't, but as of today I am officially announcing that I am going to attend Hallmark Institute of Photography in Sept 2007! It must be official because I have a window sticker now!

One of the books to read on DJ's list is How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I took advantage of sitting around airports today to start reading this book. I like it. This jumped out at me today,

"I shall pass this way but once; any good, therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."

I really like this, I thought about how I could apply that to my life. I saw all these people at the airport today. So many of them, people with lives and thoughts and dreams. So many opportunities to be kind. And this would be my only chance to be kind to them, because I would never see them again. I didn't have any opportunity to be nice to them, because they were all just sitting around waiting too. But it felt good to see them this way.

Here are some of the photos I took at the workshop

This weekend has been great! Santa Barbara is beautiful.

I learned a lot about David Jay's work flow today. Very valuable information. It has been getting hard for me to take pictures lately because every click of the button just meant I was going to have to spend a lot of time sitting at my computer "editing". Icky the dreaded "E" word. David's work flow and the way he structures his time is very inspiring to me. Gives me a new way to look at things. Thanks David for passing on what you have learned. I plan on doing the same, every chance I get.

I made it to the beach today. Just before dark. It was nice. I am getting up early tomorrow morning so I can spend some time looking around before I have to fly home.

Every time I leave home my world gets a little bigger. For so long my world has been the little area of Northern California that I grew up in. Today I realized it's all my world, it's all my home. There is so much more to my world then I knew, I have so much exploring to do, so many new things to learn, and so many new people to meet. I look forward to it all!

Another thing I got from David and this weekend is some freedom. I have been so concerned with only producing photos that I think are perfect or great, I kind of lost track of the fun part of photography. Of taking pictures of what ever I feel like taking pictures of. I am posting pictures here that represent things I saw today or this one, that represents how I felt on the beach.

I really don't care if it is perfect, or wonderful, or striking. It was fun taking it, and it will remind me of this day every time I see it, and the little bit of freedom I reclaimed today. I reclaimed that with the help of new friends, new places, and new ideas.

I would like to know, why in Santa Barbara with a population of 421625 there are only three Starbucks and in Chico with a population of 75091 there are five (or six, I can't keep up)? That's weird. I was on a "Find the Starbucks" mission and was not going to give up until I found one. I just wondered around until I saw one. Finally I got my fix!!

The view from my room

OK I don't know if you are supposed to post in these blogs two times in one day, but what the heck this is my blog and I'm doing what ever I want.

This is my view from my room. There are weird noises coming from above me. I can hear the wind and rain too. That is kind of nice.

DAVID Jay at Brooks Institute of Photography

Today seems surreal to me. I just spent the day with David Jay
in a workshop at Brooks Institute of Photography.

I was walking to my car after the workshop and it hit me, I am in Santa Barbara, I flew here by myself, I found the hotel by myself, and somehow, I still don't really know how, but I found Brooks. I say I still don't know how, because my map was for the wrong location. I couldn't even find the wrong location but somehow ended up in the correct location...sounds confusing I know. You should have been there when it was happening, that was confusing too.

I walked into the class room and saw David there! So cool. I really learned a lot today from his workshop, cant wait to see what I learn tomorrow. He is a very interesting person. He seems to be a genuinely nice guy, and very smart.

My hotel room is not the most expensive and definitely not the nicest, but it is near the water. I haven't had the chance to go see the water, but I hope to before I leave.

The way my life is changing seems un-believable to me at times. Like it's not really me, but someone else doing all this stuff. I have been in an airplane 3 times now in the past 3 months. I was 10 or something the last time I flew. Now I am a frequent flyer! LOL

It is all such a rush, to met new people, do new things. Very cool!