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This weekend Jen and I took the plunge. Spending A LOT of money we purchased most of the professional photography equipment I need to really get into the field. If you know anything about photography you might understand when I say I got a Nikon D300 with a Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5 lens, a Nikkor fixed 85mm f/1.8 lens, a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens, a Nikkon SB 800 flash, a 72mm polarizor and some standards like a tripod and a bag. The reasoning is three fold: A. I can’t shoot anything for personal use on government equipment. B. I’m a professional photographer, I may as well have the gear to act like one. C. The army won’t make a foolish man rich, but a wise man can use the army to make himself rich. By this I mean that although my salary in the service will never provide much in the way of comfort, I can use the skills the army has trained me on to help myself. I intend to start shooting jobs (most likely weddings) as soon as possible. The going rates in this area for photography are high and I’m hoping to pay off the gear and start making some decent scratch.

Jen has been absolutely incredible by patiently (and a bit timidly) allowing me to film her every waking moment and has even allowed me to drag her into the woods and onto a running track in makeup and interesting costumes to help me build my portfolio of work. For your viewing pleasure I’ve included some of the shots. Stay tuned to our Flickr account to see more in the coming weeks, months, and years. Let me know what you think, the more feedback the better.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY from the nation’s capitol! What better place to commemorate our nations birthday than Washington DC? Yesterday Jen and I saw the Parade and then waited six and a half hours to see A Capitol Fourth, which is an annual concert of the West lawn of the Capitol Building facing the National Monument. After waiting about four hours, mother Nature decided to spit on our endeavor and rain quite a bit. It rained so much people decided to go home even though they’d waited so long to see the concert.

WE on the other hand stuck it out, and well worth our efforts proved the show. We saw such talents as Jerry Lee Lewis (amazingly still alive and more amazingly still able to play the piano and sing), Huey Lewis and the News, and American Idols Taylor Hicks. Lastly the National Symphony Orchestra played the 1812 Overture while the biggest fireworks show in the country went off right over the National Monument. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Afterward, the Metro was so crowded that we had to stand huddled together in a corner of the train all the way back to our car. Check out our flickr account for lots of pictures of the parade and the Capitol Building.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY from the nation’s capitol! What better place to commemorate our nations birthday than Washington DC? Yesterday j

Nick and I have been keeping ourselves super busy the past few weeks/weekends. Weekend before this last one we went to D.C. on Saturday to check out a few museums. After going through the sculpture garden and the museum of natural history, we discovered a Bar-B-Que festival being held on Capital street. Nick (of course) decided that this was much more interesting than any of the smithsonian museums and took a detour for the day. Right before entering the festival we were given a flyer about pigs being kosher (courtesy of Jews for Jesus)…very interesting read if I do say so myself considering that I work with orthodox Jews every day. We had Famous Dave’s BBQ sandwiches and then stopped at the aquafresh booth (complete with sinks and free toothbrushes/paste) we brushed our teeth in public!

Yesterday we went to six flags using our wonderful military discount. Neither of us have been to a six flags before so we had pretty high expectations which weren’t quite met. The park was comparable to Lagoon in Utah, in fact it probably had less rides than Lagoon even. The very first roller coaster we got onto, Nick was wearing his hat. Right before take off I said to him “You should probably take that hat off!” His reply was “You sound like my mother.” After the first upside down spin, sure enough, his hat was gone. I guess mothers know best eh? It was pretty hot out and Nick’s haircut being the lovely military buzz that it is, he needed that hat to keep from frying. We located the hat beneath the roller coaster, not too far over the fence with the signs posted about not crossing the fence. After the coaster had stopped and was loading again, Nick jumped the fence, ran out beneath the roller coaster, grabbed his hat and we ran. We laughed and went on to have a good day, riding all the rides including a super fast coaster called “superman” and one that made you feel like you were flying like a bat called “batwing”.
Later, I read a story in the news that disturbed me. The day before we went to six flags, a 17 yr old boy was at a six flags in Georgia and lost his hat on a roller coaster, went to get it and was decapitated and killed when the roller coaster came by. YIKES! I don’t think we’ll be jumping over any fences at an amusement park EVER again!

Jen and I spent an amazing weekend in Ocean City and Assateague Island. Ocean City Maryland is about a three hour drive away from us and it was absolutely gorgeous. It’s a big long island but it’s only long one direction, so if you go a few blocks east or west of the main road you’re at the beach. It was pretty crowded, and the visibility wasn’t great because of what looked like wispy fog. We stayed for a bit and then decided that a hotel for the night would be too expensive. Luckily Jen had thought ahead and looked up camp sites. One in particular stood out, a national park called Assateague Island. It was just a few minutes from Ocean City and it was AMAZING!!!!!

At Assateague Island they have wild horses and ponies all over the place (take a look at our flickr site for pictures of wild horses on the beach, right next to the water). The camp site was a three mile walk down the beautiful beach and was pretty much right next to the water! The only down side was that in the middle of the night the mosquitoes sneak attacked us. Jen left the tent to get some air and a blitzkrieg attack ensued. Luckily she managed to make it back into the tent while only letting in a few of them. In between the rain flap and the tent was another story. Check out the flickr pics (which don’t really do justice to the thousands of enemy attackers that congregated above our heads).

Since we were so close to the ocean, we decided to partake of the seafood that was EVERYWHERE! We ended up at a little place called Assateague Crab Shack where Jen got the Fish and Chips and I got the all you can eat snow crab legs, shrimp, and corn on the cob. It was great!

Anyway, it was a great little vacation for our weekend. We truly enjoyed the beach and each others company. It was one of the funnest times of my whole life!

This is my third week at my new job. Which is probably why it has been about that long since I have blogged! I am working at an all Jewish nursing home in Baltimore.

So far I love the residents. I am learning a lot about Jewish culture and all the rules of eating kosher. The facility is completely kosher which means that meat can never be prepared or eaten with dairy, no pork or shellfish and there are separate kitchens/fridges/utensils/plates/
pots/tupperware (all of which are kosher) for the meat and for the dairy. The Rabbi comes every friday for the shabbat (Jewish sabbath, which technically starts at sundown on Friday and goes until sundown Saturday). He sings all kinds of Yiddish songs that get stuck in my head and then I help to pass out the bread and wine to the residents. I’m not even Jewish and I get to help pass the bread and wine! Judaism is so rich in culture that I am excited for the opportunity to learn more about these wonderful people!

On the flip side…the actual job has been far from likable. This being my third week one would think that I would have a pretty good grasp on what is expected of me on a day to day basis. To be perfectly honest, I still feel like every day that I go to work is my first day. They have not trained me very well and I feel it is due to a lack of communication between the boss and the staff. Which I have come to an understanding is a common occurrence in this workplace. The boss at this job is not even a recreational therapist. She is an ADC (activities director certified) and yet she supervises three recreation therapists. Which throws a wrench into the whole system really.

Anyhow…long story short, while I love the residents, I’m not sure that I can stand to work for the boss. So I am attempting to find another job, but continuing to work at this one until I find something else.

It’s been awhile since I’ve written and Jen’s been so good about writing frequently so I thought I better throw in some Nicsdom (kind of a cross between Nick and wisdom, just roll with it). Jen and I didn’t do too much today. It’s the weekend so we’ve had some extra time. We took some pictures of ourselves (albeit impromptu ones) like this one:

We went to the movies today. We saw the movie Baby Mama. Jen didn’t care for it much. I thought it was mildly funny. It was kind of a weak plot but oh well.
It’s been kind of a rough weekend for us. Jen’s still getting adjusted and I’ve been pretty sick. I have a fever and I’ve been unhappy all day. Jen starts her new job on Monday I think it will really help her.
I graduated Basic Photography earlier this week. It was nice to be recognized for working hard in the course, but it seems a little meaningless to have a graduation from one class into the next. I guess they have to do it because for the Air Force and Marines just have the one class before they head off for their duty stations.
Anyway, I’ll write more when I get a chance!

Yesterday I attended Nick’s Basic Still Photography graduation. Which makes it official, he is a “photographer” he has earned the right to be called professional! Not only has he finished his training in photography, but he finished it with flying colors and graduated as an “honors” student. Smarty Pants! Good job Nick! I am excited to have a photographer for a husband because hopefully that means that he will photograph our lives in a meaningful and memorable way.

Last thursday I went hiking with an old friend of mine, Abby. She was my roommate when I went to BYU-Hawaii about four years ago. We’ve seen each other a few times since, but it’s been a few years since the last time. She was my hiking buddy in Hawaii, so we decided to keep the tradition going and go for a hike! She has been living in Virginia and working in D.C. for several years now so she knows a few good places. We went on a trail near the Potomac river. We saw a really fat toad, a HUGE water snake and lots of green!

Yesterday I went out with another old friend that lives close by, Hillary. She was a trailwalker with me at Anasazi two years ago and I haven’t seen her since. We went to a lebanese restaurant for lunch then took the metro to the beautiful union station and went to the national botanical gardens. I have never seen so many different plants in one place! It was incredible!

It is always so nice to see old friends…hopefully I can make some new ones soon too!

Thanks to a three day weekend, Nick and I were able to do a little bit of exploring. Saturday we went to Annapolis, the capital of Maryland. We spent time walking around the harbor area and went out to eat at “Reynold’s tavern”. We enjoyed the small town eastern charms of the city and the sea air. When we were all tuckered out from walking we sat on the pier and watched the sun set as the ships docked. It was a beautiful night.

Sunday we went to Baltimore for the afternoon. We walked around the harbor and went to the Hard Rock Cafe. After taking lots of pictures while waiting for a table and then for our meal, we wandered around the harbor area and watched a spectacular street performance. A man juggled a bowling ball, a razor sharp sword, and a torch while balancing on two skateboards on a round pipe. It was pretty impressive. After the days activities we spent an hour helping a rich woman get her mercedes started. We’d never jumped a car that nice and couldn’t find the battery leads at first. When we finally did, there was no black lead, only a red one and we were confused, but managed to get it going while she stood and watched, smoking a cigarette. She shoved five dollars into our hands as we left. Thanks lady.

Monday we went to Washington D.C. to the Arlington Cemetery for Memorial day, figuring it was the most appropriate place to be on this particular holiday. It was also our first experience taking the Metro…not too bad. We took pictures of the graves and honored the dead by remembering their sacrifice. It was somewhat difficult and sobering given Nick’s line of work. Every tombstone we read seemed to remind us that Nick is soon going to be in a dangerous combat zone taking pictures while bullets zoom overhead. We didn’t talk much and wandered hand in hand wondering about how the men and women buried there met there fate.

Also, we took pictures of our home. Our stuff arrived on May 16th and we weren’t expecting it until the 21st, so that worked out very nicely! Keep in mind that we’re not all the way moved in yet when you look at the photos. We’re still waiting for our nice leather sofa and loveseat that are in the mail, and our spare room could use some TLC, but it’s really beginning to feel like home. If you look close, you can see the flowering bush we planted in the back yard.

To view the rest of our pictures, go to: Nick and Jen’s Pictures