Happy Days (41/365)

Ava reacting to Katie eating her cake.

Happy Mother's Day! And Happy Birthday to my Dad and Aunt!

Huevos Rancheros and Maya Angelou (40/365)

Technically, I didn't get this one up on day 40, but I took it this morning so survery says...it counts.

My dad made the world's best huevos rancheros this morning. That's one of the best things about living so close to home. My parents make great food and they are (usually) willing to share. I have seriously been thinking about my breakfast this morning all day long. It was so good, it haunted me for the rest of the day. Nothing else I ate all day was ever going to be as good.

So I went to McDonald's for dinner.

If you can't beat 'em, buy something cheap and slightly disgusting. That's what I always say.

Back at it at ARF (39/365)

I was finally able to go back to ARF today to take pictures of the adoptable animals. I've had to miss the last couple of weeks due to work, vacations and other life events. Today was one of those days where I woke up not knowing how I was going to juggle everything I had to do, but somehow the universe aligned and it all worked out, with one little exception: the Sharks were supposed to win!

I promised you a write up of my adventures in babysitting yesterday, so here goes (I only have 11 minutes to write thise, or else it becomes day 40 instead of day 39). I was watching my cousins Annelies (6) and Ava (3) yesterday. I could spend forever with those two girls. Annelies is now in first grade and goes to school, so I spent most of the day with Ava. Ava is funny. For the first half hour you are with her, she has to warm up to you and will not say a single word. She just stares at you with those big brown eyes and gets the feel for what's going on. That's how our morning went until she finally decided she had me figured out. Then she didn't stop talking. She just turned three in February and is now very curious about everything. Her big question right now, "Was you a baby once?" She'll ask you this about every person she knows or tell you "Grandpa was a baby once. Annelies was a baby once." She also tried to inform me that she was a boy when she was a baby and asked me if I was a boy when I was a baby too. "No, Ava," I had to explain. "We've both always been girls." I think she has the belief that all babies are boys because the only baby she knows right now is a boy. And hey, when you're little, you have to figure everything out by deductive reasoning. Very cute and funny to see how kids' minds work.

It was a very fun day filled with Play-Doh, duck feeding, Hannah Montana, Diablo Gymnastics and lots of explaining that yes, everyone was once a baby.

Adventures in Babysitting (38/365)

I'll write something in the morning. My brain is about to shut down from running around with the little ones today. Check back tomorrow! I promise it will be worth it.

Hello Oakland A's (37/365)

Another iPhone picture, I know, I know. I haven't had a second to use my 7D all day today and I'm getting really sick of indoor pictures at night with the icky lighting so I just decided to use the picture I took on my phone while at the A's game with my good friend Stacy. My mom got me great tickets as part of an early birthday present. Thanks Mom!

Stacy had to put up with me constantly checking my phone and craning my neck to try to see the TV in the press box, seeing if I could catch a glimpse of the Sharks game. I promise it was only occasionally because my superstitious self decided that it was bad luck when I looked at anything having to do with the Sharks game. Turns out, they only scored when my phone was away and my eyes were on the A's game. Hey, we all need to feel like we can control the things that are out of our hands, right? Even if it's only a hockey game.

All You Need is Love and Sturdy Walls (36/365)

This is my giant wooden "Live, Love, Laugh" magnetic board that I've never hung up on my wall. To be fair, it's insanely heavy and my walls are "hear my neighbors cough and more" thin. It would probably make the whole building fall down and I doubt anyone really wants that. Someday I'll live somewhere with the wall sturdiness to support it. Isn't that the dream?

Let's Make a Deal (35/365)

I have a proposition for you...

I'm trying to practice taking portraits of people so that (maybe) I can some day make some money off this little photography habit of mine. If you have any portrait needs (i.e. kids portraits, pet pics, pictures for blog profiles, even looking for an engagement session), I'm willing to do them for free for the next month or so. It's win-win! I can build a portfolio and you can get some pretty awesome pictures for free. If you're interested, email me at amandablackwell29@gmail.com. The photos below are of my sister, Katie and her boyfriend, Kai. They were good sports. (Kai especially!)

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