Rachel, Day by Day

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 20

Hello! Here is a bokeh photo for you. I had to look up what bokeh actually meant before attempting to take this photo. It’s basically a picture of something clear and close up while the rest of the background is blurred. I think I got it here! I know I’ve posted my engagement ring before, but it’s so pretty, I thought I’d take another photo of it. My brother and a family friend are in the background, too! I was hoping to capture people in the background. It worked!

I went to Arlington Park Race Course today with awesome friends and family. It was a beautiful day for it! In the photo, my brother is reading about the horses in the program. We ate some good food, bet on some horses, and hung out most of the day. It was a good time! I bet on a few races and one of my horses came in second place one time. I won $7.20 out of it. It’s better than nothing! One of Scott’s horses came in first, so that was good! Luckily the rain held off until I got home this evening. I had an awesome time and look forward to next year’s visit! I like how this is turning into an annual thing.

Sunday nights are always a bit sad. It means the weekend is almost over. Only five more days until the next one!

Rachel, Day by Day

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 19

I loved Gilmore Girls when it was on, and I still do! Luckily they have an orange box so I could take a photo of it and write about it. Wow, Lorelai and Rory look so young in this photo. The first season aired in 2000, so that was a long time ago! This show did get weird at the end, especially when Luke randomly had a daughter, but I like the last episode. They did have to quickly end it, so it was impressing. I’m glad they make Luke and Lorelai end up together. And I’m glad Rory didn’t end up with Logan (he wasn’t my favorite). To be honest, I don’t know which one of Rory’s boyfriends I liked the most. Right now I want to say Jess. They fit well together but it wasn’t the right time for them. Dean got weird when they dated the second time around. I miss these girls; they were so funny and witty! Good times. Maybe I’ll go watch it now.

What a nice Saturday! Scott and I met up with Steve and hit some balls at the batting cages. It was good time! But wow, it’s hot outside! I actually turned the air conditioning on in my apartment. It’s 91 degrees in town right now! The pool at my apartment complex is opening next weekend and I’m really excited about it. I’ll try to be out there most days!

I think tonight will be a relaxing night. Maybe some movies and wine will be involved, too. It makes me smile.

Have a good Saturday!

Rachel, Day by Day

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 18

Here are my shoes for you! I wear these black flats a lot; I think they are cute and comfy. I can walk around for a while in them and not complain about my feet hurting! Good times. I do have cuter shoes than this, but wasn’t wearing them at the time. So… what else do you want me to say about my shoes? I think it’s good to wear shoes so you don’t cut up your feet. Alright… I’ll move on now.

Friday night was fun! I randomly got an emergency beer with a friend right after work and that was a great time! Well, we called it an emergency beer when we really had emergency martinis. Good times. Then I went out to dinner with Scott and we got a drink and an appetizer at Boltinis. It was nice hanging out just the two of us; I feel like we haven’t done that in a while. We then met up with people at Blind Pig Brewery for a drink and that was a fun time! It was nice sitting outside; that’s one of the many reasons I love spring and summer!

Yay weekends!

Rachel, Day by Day

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 17

Here’s some technology for you! I hung out with my friend Zach, so I took a photo of our photos together. He has the newest iPhone and I have the Droid. It’s a good photo for technology since smart phones are taking over the world. Since I haven’t had a computer lately, I’ve been using the Internet a lot more on my phone. I’m still not sure if I like that, but this is how our world is today! I like this photo, though; we brought two competing phones together for my blog! Good times.

I had a good time with Zach! We ate Mexican food and walked around campus for a bit. It was such a nice day! We took our usual trip to the English building and talking about the good old days. It’s funny how we live so close to campus but I rarely go there. I guess I’m growing up a bit and now living those college days anymore. I feel too old now.

We had our softball game on Thursday! We didn’t win, but made it through the whole game! I didn’t do so well, but I”m starting to realize I’m way too hard on myself. I did get one hit, but ended up striking out another time and I was upset with myself. Both of the pitches were pretty close to me (and one hit the plate), but the empire called them strikes and I was out. I was a bit angry, but not enough to yell at him. It’s only a softball game! I shouldn’t be so hard on myself! I did have one good catch at third base I guess. And it’s still a lot of fun hanging out with everyone! I just need to relax when I’m batting and not feel so nervous! I’ll get there. I have all summer!

Rachel, Day by Day

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 16

Well, I took two photos for the long exposure, too! This one was a tough one. Basically long exposure is using a longer shutter speed to get photos of blurring or smearing moving elements. When there’s light, it can create cool light trails like in this photo above. See the cars going by? They are more like light trails than cars. I really like how they look in this photo! It captured the effect really well. Scott and I were driving all around town so I could get this photo. The probably was, we went out around 8 p.m. because I thought it would be dark enough to get this, but it wasn’t. We were basically out for an hour while I took photos that weren’t working. I think I got this photo around 9 p.m. when it was dark enough. Yay! Here’s another photo for you:

The light trails didn’t show up as well in this one, but I really like this photo anyway! I got the blurring effect and some light trails, so I pass this round. It was fun running around trying to get photos for an hour. I was determined!

So, anyone watch Revenge? DO NOT READ ON IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOST RECENT EPISODE! I don’t like Jack very much, so I can’t stand the fact that he was kissing Emily. And Nolan was not thinking straight when he went into the white-haired man’s house to spy on him. Come on, Nolan, you are smarter than that. I love Nolan, so I hope they find him in this next episode! Ahh, I can’t believe next week is the season finale! So much has happened in this first season; I can’t believe it. I hope this last episode is good!

Rachel, Day by Day

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 15

I’m back! Sorry I’ve been so behind on posting my photos. As you probably read earlier, I’ve been having some computer issues. My awesome friend Steve is looking into it, though! I should have it back sometime this weekend or early next week, so then I’ll be back on track! Here’s a photo I took this past week of a silhouette. I’m pretty sure it counts since the goose is dark in front and there’s the light reflecting off the water behind him. I like how this turned out! I went to a lake near my apartment when I thought the sun was going down. I did get a little nervous after a while because I noticed the geese had baby geese with them. One older goose started walking toward me and I wondered if he felt threatened. I quickly got in my car and drove away. I don’t want to mess with the geese!

In case this photo of a goose doesn’t count as a silhouette, does this one?

This is my shadow. And yes, I took two different photos just to make sure I had the silhouette! I like the one of the goose more than this one, though. Luckily it was a beautiful day for taking this photos!

Let’s see… Tuesday I had a guitar lesson and I’m going to learn Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day. I’m excited about this one since I love this song! I don’t think I can play as fast as the regular song, but we’ll see.

Stay tuned for more posts!

Sorry, folks, but I’m having some computer trouble and won’t be able to update again until possibly Saturday. I’ve been keeping up on taking photos for the 30 Day Photography Challenge, though, so stay tuned! There are many awesome photos to come. Don’t leave me yet, my regular readers!

Rachel, Day by Day

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 14

Well, here is yet another creepy eye photo for you. I won’t keep you in suspense… these are my eyes. I really really don’t like this picture, but it’s all I have time for today! I took this right after a cardio class, so my makeup is running a bit. And my eyes look exhausted. I guess that sums up the day for me! Yeah… this isn’t the greatest. Hopefully the rest of the photos in this challenge get better! I am disappointed in myself right now. And I’m not really sure what else to say about my eyes. I’ve had people tell me they are like my dad’s eyes (maybe because his were brown, too) and that always made me happy.

I think I’m going to relax tonight, especially since I won’t have my laptop with me! It might be nice to have a night off from a computer. I kind of messed it up and a friend is looking at it for me. I held down the power button to shut it off since the screen was black and not doing anything, and it went a little crazy. Yay, technology. We can’t live without it, but sometimes I really don’t like it.

Have a nice Monday evening!

Rachel, Day by Day

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 13

Oh, man. This post is very embarrassing, but I really don’t want to keep trying to take this photo. Everyone, please forget this post ever existed.  But, here’s a photo of me with 13 things. I am counting the Chicago Cubs sign in the background, my awesome key chain holder on the wall, the hat, the tiara on the hat, my sunglasses, the St. Patrick’s Day necklace, stuffed animal panda, tennis racket, a little stuffed animal key chain, a baseball, the pen in my mouth, the purple purse to the left, and the other purse to the right. These are all very random objects, but sort of all relate to my life. I love the Cubs, I collect key chains (most of them are from vacations, I love tennis and stuffed animals, I watch baseball and play softball, and I love purses. I’m not sure how the hat, tiara, and necklace relate to my life, but that’s ok. They were random additions. Yeah… every time I look at this photo, I regret doing this. I’m moving on now.

Happy Mother’s Day, everyone! I had a great day with my mom, brother, grandpa, and uncle. We went to an amazing brunch at Drury Lane. I definitely ate way too much, but it was worth it! Ray and I gave my mom a nice candy dish that says Life Is Sweet. She’s been looking for a candy dish for a while, so we thought it would be a nice present! I hope she liked it. It’s sad that we only have one day dedicated to our mothers. My mother is so amazing; she’s smart, funny, caring, loving, and wonderful. I don’t know what I would do without her. I love you, Mom!

Now I am going to relax. Have a nice Sunday night!

Rachel, Day by Day

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 12

So, I kind of cheating on this one, but I ended up coloring a picture of a sunset! I pretty much decided to do this because it was a very cloudy day and I never even saw the sun. I know this is not the greatest coloring job, but that’s ok. I’m not really an artist. You get the idea, though, right? The bottom part is supposed to be the ocean and the sky is supposed to be a pretty red orange color. I could have done a lot better with the sun. Does it look somewhat like a sunset? I’m sad I couldn’t take a photo of a real one for you.

I was going to play tennis with my brother this morning, but it was cold and rainy. Sad! I ate a wonderful lunch with my college roommates, though! We went to a place called White Chocolate Grill and it was really good. I ate their famous grilled chicken salad and we all split white chocolate raspberry cheesecake for dessert. Yum! I miss them. It was great seeing them.

My family and I have been into the board game Aggravation lately. It’s a lot of fun! Click here if you want to read up on it. It reminds me of the game Sorry but with dice instead of cards. I think we’ve had this game since before I was born and I played it a lot when I was younger. I’m glad we are getting back into it! Good times.

It’s Saturday night! Woo!!!!