Ebates

In this economy every free bit of money helps. Anyway ebates is great way to earn some free cash  by shopping. Sign up via my referral link and I get a $5 bonus awarded to my account =)

Here's my referral link to ebates. 

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=MLyNDBJ5jgvUXfQ0bBdHUg%3D%3D

Happy Shopping! 

That Day

It's August 13th! Next to our wedding anniversary this particular date holds a special place in our hearts as well. It was this day, we realized we wanted to be more than friends. I received my first kiss from J. Well, I actually I kissed him. He might disagree with me on that one, but I know I made the first move. =) One day, when I have more time on my hands, I will write our "story". It is long.  But for now, I'll just post the video montage I made for J., while we were dating.

Rock Climbing

Last weekend some friends went up to Holcomb Valley, Big Bear, Ca., for some outdoor fun such as camping and rock climbing. Unfortunately, I had to miss out on the fun, because I had so many errands to run that day. I was completely pooped by the time I was finished, that I didn't want to make the 1.5h drive out there. Not to mention, it was J. weekend to work. No fun, sleeping in a tent by myself.  Here is the link to some of the climbing routes in the area. From what people tell me the Valley is a beautiful spot to climb. Personally, I have never been up there. Haven't climbed this year at all. Well, technically I'm still a novice when it comes to rock climbing or boldering. Therefore I only go with my good friends Minnie and her husband Ben. It was Minnie's husband that introduced us to climbing, when they first dated. To be honest, I was quite surprised how much I liked it. Of course J, the mountain man himself has rock climbed before too. But he's more into mountain biking than anything else.
Since J. and I missed out on last weekend's activities, I decided that we're going to head out to the Palm Springs Areal Tram this weekend to do some hiking. It will be great, since J. has never been. Not to mention, it has about 54 miles of hiking trails within the 14,000 acre wilderness.Link to the website.

Palm Spring Areal Tram is part of the Mt. San Jacinto State Park

One of the reasons California is awesome! Plethora of activities to do: plenty of city life and nature just at your front door.

The Long Gray Line

For some reason, I'm having troubles composing a post about the Academy. Guess, it's a case of writer''s block.. Perhaps some word play will help. Hmm, words that come to mind, when I think of the United States Military Academy West Point (USMA West Point): Duty, Honor, Country, Tradition, Impressive, Beautiful...etc.
Go visit! Check it out! It's such a beautiful place. J. and I both come from military families, so we definitely appreciated the history and the tradition West Point has to offer. Naturally, we are also proud of the fact that my sister and brother in law were able to get stationed at West Point. They are both Cpt's in the Army. And typically, most military personnel who get stationed at the Academy are West Point graduates - members of  "The Long Grey Line".

*All photos taken by me, unless otherwise noted.

The Cadet Chapel

 Image from historic-travels.com

Image from fineartamerica.com

Random Facts: 
West Point has several different houses  of worships, for their corps of cadets. While The Cadet Chapel is not the oldest church in use on West Point, some say it's the prettiest. The oldest chapel belongs to the Catholic faith - the Chapel of the Most Holy Trinity. The Cadet Chapel is a non-denomination Protestant Church.
Also, as a cadet at West Point you are not allowed to be married. Therefore, most cadets reserve their wedding date four years in advance. How crazy is that. Apparently all the dates at all the chapel are booked years in advance, and if you don't reserve your date you might not be able to get married in any of the chapels on West Point.

Image from flickr

Battle Monument 

Tibit: This monument was erected in memory of all the union officers and soldiers of the civil war. The canons are inscribed with major Civil War battles.

In addition, this monument serves West Point as a reminder to never fight in another war with one another. When you attend West Point, you forge a special bond with all your class mates and instructors. 

Therefore during the war it was especially hard for all West Point graduates, since they were fighting each other. Brother vs. Brother, Brother vs Father, Comrades vs Comrades. 

The Hudson River. 

Random Tibit: Do you see where the river narrows? That is where West Point constructed the chain to prevent the British vessels from proceeding further up the Hudson. Wasn't that plan genius?!

Below you'll find an image of the remnants of the Hudson River Chain. 

 

Hudson River Chain ~ Image from wikipedia.

Barracks & the Cadet Chapel in the background. 

Isn't the architecture beautiful?! West Point has some great building and many more monuments. However, I could write forever, therefore I will leave you with another random fact of West Point. 

Did you know that West Point, received its name because it is situated at the most western point on the Hudson? So, if you're interested in American & Military history definitely add West Point to list of places to visit.  

Oops, almost forgot to post the most important picture

"Sink Navy" West Point's biggest rival. To be fair, the other side of the roof says: "Beat Air Force"
*Side note" All home football games are mandatory for the cadets.

Vacation

Recap of West Point & NYC coming to a blog near you. Soon I promise.

Duty, Honor, Country

A New Blog

I created a new blog to document my workout regime. The new blog will focus solely on staying healthy, food and fitness. In the past, I attempted to hold myself accountable on this blog. But it never worked out, as I always found other more interesting stuff to blog about. Now, let's be honest reading about what I eat and what exercises I completed is not very exciting. Besides listing my work outs, my goal is to document all items I eat by taking a photo of it. Simple, right?! Generally, I'm a pretty healthy eater, but every now and then I do eat unhealthy (lots of sweets and chocolate during that time of the month). By taking photos of what I eat, I will be able to track how much of unhealthy snacks I need to cut out.

Ramblings...

Hope everyone is enjoying their July 4th weekend. As for me, I'm trying to catch up on my blogging, editing and clearing out my google reader. Oh and enjoying my last few days of my vacation. On Monday, it's back to the daily grind. =/
For now though, I will leave you with another sneak peak of Jesse's wedding. One of my favorites from the day.

P.S.: If you head over to my photography blog, you can see a few more. =) This link will take you there. Feel free to leave me some blog love.

Newlyweds: Jesse & Calvin

Congratulations Jesse & Calvin! Here's a sneak peek of the photos I took at your wedding yesterday. Love you guys!

More pictures will follow on my photography blog soon. =)

En Route...

Thank you Reno airport, for free wifi!! J. and I are finally en route to start our vacation/30th birthday celebration. So far everything is running smoothly. We are currently waiting for our connecting flight to Seattle. From there, we will travel to Missoula, Montana to spend a few days with his family.
In addition, we will be celebrating the marriage of J.'s older sister Jesse to Owen (actually, his name is Calvin, but since he's in the military as well, he's used to being called by his last name). The wedding ceremony will be held in the garden of his parent's home. Definitely a lovely place to get married at, since all the flowers will be blooming. It will be a small intimate gathering. Oh and guess what?! Jesse asked and hired me to photograph her wedding. Eeeeks! Of course, I'm ecstatic, that she thinks I'm good/talented enough. It's still kinda nerv wracking though. Ugh, guess I'll always be my own worst critic. We shall see....For now, I shall leave you readers with these two photos. Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend. We will for sure. Family. Food. Laughter.

Boarding our flight at LAX

Family Friends

It's been crazy hectic at la maison Russell. However, we both still have one more week of work left, before we get to leave on our vacation. Yippie!! Seriously, I've been in vacation mode ever since the month of June rolled around. We will be heading up to MT to visit with J. family and to celebrate the marriage of his oldest sister Jesse. Then we will be heading out to West Point, NY to spend some time with my niece Naomi Li and my nephew Jr. Of course, we will be taking the train into NYC to celebrate my BIG 30! I'm excited and just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it. I'm soo excited.... Ok, enough of me singing. LoL.
This past weekend, we had the chance to spend sometime with my bestie. It also gave us a chance to spend some time with her hubby, before he leaves on his big "D". Naturally, I took this opportunity to shoot some photos of them. Please check out my photography blog as well.

*Pssssssssssh! Posted a different sneak peek photo of the Austin's. So head on over there.

World Cup 2010

Growing up in Germany, I naturally I became an avid soccer fan! To me soccer is exciting,  fun and 1000x more interesting than the MLB or the NFL. And of course, I was one of those soccer fans, who counted down the days to the official start of the South Africa 2010. Today, World Cup officially began.
Everyone who knows me can attest that I'm not a morning person, but I managed to get up at the crack of dawn to see the opening match: South Africa vs. Mexico. It was a great game, made me wish that I was in South Africa at the moment. To experience first hand, the excitement, the crowds, the games, and most importantly the spirit of the world cup. However, one day I will make it to World Cup. For now, I will have to watch the games from the comforts of my home.

*Sidenote: I'm rooting for Germany! Of course! Their first game is Sunday. Woohoo!!!

Practice Makes Perfect

Check out little Brandon on my photography blog. About two weeks ago I had the pleasure of shooting my friends son. He's such a cutie pie and such a natural in front of the camera. It made shooting him super easy.

I must say, slowly but surely I'm improving on my photography skills. Looking back at some photos from a year ago, I can tell a definite improvement. Guess that's why they invented that saying "practice makes perfect". Oh, and I finally adjusted my layout, so that I post larger photos. =)

The Yosemite Adventure

Our one year anniversary fell on Mother's Day this year, therefore we didn't really celebrate. Yet, we still wanted to squeeze in a quick weekend getaway. Nothing to fancy and nothing too expensive, since we were planning on taking a vacation for my 30th birthday day. Camping up at Yosemite National Park, seemed like an ideal choice, especially since we hoped to hike up the infamous Half Dome. During the planning process, we mentioned our plans to our good friend M. Her husband wanted to go camping for his birthday as well. Naturally, we asked them to join us. Not only that, but we would be able to share in the cost. And coincidentally another couple had to go up to Yosemite that weekend as well to attend wedding. What better way to spend  a weekend camping with good friends?! I will say this, it was definitely an interesting time for this self-proclaimed city-girl. But I will let the photos speak for themselves.

Mariposa Groves: As you can till we still had beautiful weather. 

It was pleasant, not quite freezing temperature yet.

We look like midgets next to these gigantic tree stump.

Loved the moss on this fallen tree.

In awe of the width of this tree. =)

Later that evening, the temperature definitely dropped.
I definitely layered up. And ended up looking like a child. hahaha

This city girl, didn't know that the cold would zap my battery, so the next few photos were taken with my trusty iphone. We definitely had some crazy weather at Yosemite.  We actually woke up to snow the very next day, but unfortunately I forgot to take a photo.

On our way to the Chilnualna Falls, we were hit by heavy fogs. 

The fog brought some rain, snow & hail.

 

However when we reached the top of fall, the sky cleared just long enough for us to rest and enjoy some beautiful sunshine. This lasted for about 5 min before the clouds came rolling back in. 

It was beautiful while it lasted.

 Chilnualna Falls

So this wraps up our Yosemite Adventure. =) On a funny note, when J. relayed our trip to his family the first thing they asked and I quote: "Oh wow! Snow huh?! So, how did Nina fare?" Hmm....wonder why they would ask that. lol

Mission San Juan Capistrano

This past Sunday, we met up with my best friend Marlith, and her family down in San Juan Capistrano. It was a belated birthday get together for her husband. Since they hadn't been to the Mission, we thought it would be perfect day to grab some lunch at this cute little restaurant near the Train Depot, and then head on over to the Mission.
San Juan Capistrano is one of the prettiest Mission in California. The Mission holds a special place in our hearts, since that is where we took our engagement photos. It was also one of the first places I took J, too, when he came to visit from Montana.  For some reason, I didn't take that many photos that day. But I didn't manage to capture a family photo of the Austin's.

The Austin's

If you haven't been to San Juan Capistrano Mission, I highly recommend it, especially now. All the flowers are blooming and the grounds are simply lovely. The next few photos I found via flickr.

via an written life

via ladyinpink1

via frogmiller

Last but not least a group photo of us. =)

*Sidenote: Mission San Juan Capistrano was founded by Junipero Serra in 1776. The mission was destroyed by Earthquake a few years after being founded. Definitely check it out! I guarantee it, you'll love it.

365 Days

The Mister and I have been married for 365 days! 

Started out as friends.

To Engaged

To Married.
Except for the 1st photos, all pictures from our talented photographer Christine Farah.

Workout Recap: 4/26-5/02

To hold myself accountable (got a goal to reach), I will try to post weekly recaps of my workout. However, I highly doubt that anyone will be interested in reading these recaps. Not to mention, most will think I'm crazy anyway.
Last week, I finally got back to my regular work out schedule after being sick. Don't you just hate it, when something trivial as being sick, can throw you off your schedule? I do. I was soo mad, that being sick hindered me from working out. And it took days to get my strength back.
However last Monday, I was determined to get my lazy butt back into the habit of working out 5-6 times a week. Drum roll please...I succeeded. Woohoo!!! Believe me, I was completely stoked. Usually I end up falling of the wagon and come up with some sort of excuse as to why I can't work out. I'm my own worst enemy. Argh! Not this time though. Yippie! The BIG BIRTHDAY is around the corner. Eeeeks!!! That is probably the reason, why I didn't slip up. Haha. What ever works right?! Now, on to my work out breakdown


Monday  4/26:
What: Running Date with Mandy
Where: Newport Beach
Goal: Run 4 miles
Success: A big YES. Surprisingly, I had a great run that day. We ran from Newport Beach Pier to Balboa Pier to Newport Beach Pier. Round trip, it's 4 miles. However, we ended up running approximately 4.5 miles.

Tuesday 4/27:
What: Insanity DVD Week 1
Where: Home
Goal: Complete DVD 1
Success: It's not quite a yes, but also not quite a no. This was was my first day starting the Insanity DVD work outs. Boy, and they weren't kidding. It is intense. I'm in decent shape, but lets just say this first DVD whopped my butt. Most of the DVD are approximately 40 min long, but it sure feel like a full hour. This might sound gross, but I was dripping sweat after ten minutes. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to complete the DVD workout. It was brutal. I tried to push myself. To complete the remaining 15 min. Honestly though, I just didn't have the energy nor the strength. My legs were burning. My gluts were burning. My arms was tired. I simply ran out of juice. Still happy though, since I was able to get through most of it.

Wednesday 4/28:
What: Insanity DVD Week 1
Where: Home
Goal: Complete DVD 2
Success: A BIG FAT NO!!! Unfortunately, I had to take the day off. I was too sore to move let alone do another Insanity DVD. But I did manage to take a walk. Walking is a form of fitness, right?!

Thursday 4/29:
What: Insanity DVD Week 1
Where: Home
Goal: Complete DVD 2
Success: I persevered. But boy was I still sore the Tuesday. Initially, I went to the gym and attended my spin class, but the trainer wasn't very good that day. Now, here comes a big pat on the back. Real proud of myself. Went home and actually popped in the second work out DVD.  Ugh, here I was thinking it would get easier. Nope! It was just as hard as Day 1. Silly me. Wishful thinking I guess. After the work out I felt great though.

Friday 4/30:
What: Insanity DVD Week 1
Where: Home
Goal: Complete DVD 3
Success: Of course this day wasn't any different. I was still in pain, from all my previous work outs. It was a good pain. It meant that I was pushing my body to the core. At the beginning, I had some self doubt where I could complete the entire DVD. Once again I persevered. It was hard, not going to lie. There were couple of times, where my mind said: No, I can't continue. In the end I won. I finished the workout. Yippie.

Saturday: 5/01
What: Running
Where: Neighbourhood
Goal 2-3 miles
Success: NO. I didn't work out at all. My day got all mumbled jumbled. Slept in until noon, then I ran a bunch of errands with my sister and mom. I was completely exhausted by the time I came home. Shame on me. I have nothing but excuses.

Sunday: 5/02
What: Insanity DVD Week 1
Where: Home
Goal: Complete DVD 4
Success: A definitely yes. I pushed myself so hard, by the end of the DVD I actually had to vomit. Crazy! Rarely had that happen before. Typically I want to keep Sundays my off day. However since I had to make up for the previous day, I threw out that notion.

Anyway, last weeks work out was pretty good. Of course, I had couple of moments where my laziness got the better of me ie. didn't work on Saturday. But overall I'm quite satisfied how well I preformed. Will see if I can keep it up next week. Oh, and to help me out I scheduled my workout in my calender as appointments.

Click on the image to enlarge.

California Dreamin'

On Wednesday, took a day off from working out, and it was just my luck that J. had that day off too. After dinner, we ventured down to Newport Beach to take a walk. Will let the photos speak for themselves. Enjoy!

Busy, Busy, Bee

Whoa, I've been quite busy. Working, gym, photography, applying to jobs etc...no wonder I've been soo tired and exhausted lately. Perhaps, my energy level isn't quite there yet, since I was sick. While I was on the mends, I was just going, going & going nonstop. Oh well. Life's too short right?!
Anyway doesn't look like I'll be slowing down anytime soon. This weekend I'll be tagging along with my photography friend Aileen to a wedding. I'll be her 3rd shooter for her event. I'm not getting paid, but still looking forward to shooting this wedding with her. It will serve as a great learning tool. And I get to shoot/learn from a friend a peer. John Ruiz is her second shooter. You can check out some of his work here. Must confess though, I'm a tad bit nervous too. What if I screw up?! What if non of my photos turn out? What if Aileen doesn't like any of my photos? Argh!!!!! Can you tell I'm super anxious? Pretty sure, I won't be able to sleep the night before. =/
Almost forgot to blog the most import item. Head on over to my photography blog to see my friend Jenny and her beautiful baby bump. Shooting people is definitely challenging, but I love it.

  Isn't she glowing?! More photos are on the other blog, right here.

Oh, here is also a photo I snapped of J, while we were waiting for my friends to arrive.

Catching Up....

It's been a crazy week! I was sick for a few days and now I'm just playing catch up with everything. Don't you just hate that?! Anyway, while I enjoyed not having had to go to work, being sick is a whole other story.
Here are the few photos from my latest class assignments.

Assignment: Spring Awakening

Assignment: Picture a Canvas

Assignment: A Heart Shaped World

Assignment: Looking Back & Diptych

Left: Take Oct 2009 Right: Taken April 2010

Still have to catch up on a few assignments, I was hoping to complete my outstanding assignments this weekend, but didn't find anything that inspired me. Perhaps tomorrow. 

Sadly, on another note my running/training schedule had to take a back seat, since I was sick this week. And since I don't classify myself as one of those crazy runners, I benched myself. Still not 100%, yet, but definitely looking forward to my Monday morning run.