This Year in Cats

Last September, while Matt and I were driving through the shopping center next to the apartment complex we had just moved into two months before, he did something small that has significantly altered our apartment life.

He pointed to a sign next to the pet store that read, "Cat Adoption Fair."

And so we stepped in, spoke with the Animal Allies volunteers, and got set up as a one-cat foster home. For the past year we've had each of the below cats on average 2 months each, and every furry face brings back memories...

First, there was Sage, the most intelligent, unique, outgoing cat I have ever met. She even figured out how to open our doors. Thinking about her also makes me think of autumn and Hawaii.

Niko purred like a monster. He was with us over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Nora would chew on my fingers if I let her. We only had her for two weeks.

Berry was there for me when things felt tough. He would sometimes lick my face to wake me up.

My favorite memory of Twilight is when I woke up and she was snuggled up against me with her paws in the air, looking at me upside-down. It was just too much cute to handle.

Bebe would talk. And talk. And taaaalk. We had her for a good part of this summer.

Fannie, who is our current cat, does this silly head-nod thing every time she meows at us, something I've never seen another cat do. She'll go fast; even though she's really just a plain-looking tabby, everyone at the adoption fairs comments on what a great, friendly cat she is.

So it's been an awesome year full of cats, and I'm looking forward to another!

The Heartsick Maid, the Curious Explorer, the Determined Warrior, and Fairy Lights

Ever wonder how you can get awesome pictures for free (or cheap) from a professional photographer? You know, besides just being lucky enough to be best buds or family with one (as the two ladies below happen to be)?

One way is to volunteer to be in pictures that the photographer wants to take, where the end product is personally for the photographer instead of a client. 

Well, how do you know what the photographer wants to shoot? How do you volunteer for something like that if you wanted to? The short answer is to research/know your area photographers. I've seen a couple photographers in the area put out a call for volunteers, something like "Hey I want to practice new techniques for posing/lighting/exposure, does anyone want to come model for me for a bit?" Or, just know the kinds of things they like to shoot, and ask if they'd be interested in shooting XYZ with you as the model.

So, I want to let you know, dear reader, that the shoots I want to do for me are like the one posted in this blog. Let's get prettied up and play in nature, just for kicks. 

Tip: This concept applies for weddings as well. Is your wedding really off the beaten trail? Is there some crazy unique element about it? Let your photographer know, and they may be willing to bump their price down a smidge so that they can fill their portfolio with awesome images of unique things. Doesn't hurt to ask!

We assigned 'characters' to Bethany and Nadia to help with their expressions and posing. Then I'd say really helpful things like, "Now look to your left. You see something you're unsure of. Maybe it's a wild animal. Or maybe it's a wild animal that wants to eat you. Maybe you should think about running."

So I had a whole lot of fun with this shoot, and if anyone wants pretty pictures of themselves in 'garb,' please contact me and we can work something out!

Holly

This amazing girl has spent the past three or so years teaching in South Korea, and that means I miss her a whole lot. She was able to come home for the summer before heading to yet another crazy, action-packed year overseas (working in Korea sounds, like, really tough! They apparently don't understand the concept of sick days!), and so I was finally able to do a shoot with this lovely lady who has been my friend since high school.

We're both in a sort of limbo at the moment, thinking about the direction our lives are going in, which was a running theme during the session.

Don't let the pouty face fool you; Holly has a beautiful smile (see below) that she uses a lot.. I just happened to like more of her not-smiling photos for some reason.

And check out that sweet ink! 

September 2013 Goals

I need to make a list of goals for the month of September. Lots of other people do this, and therefore I should too, right? That's the way the world works, isn't it?

Well, truthfully, it's because I should. I made a list of goals, once. Ahh, memories. It was back in February of this past year. I looked back on it recently and chuckled at how adorably optimistic I'd been.

But seriously, if I don't list my goals out, I'll never, ever get things done. Even though that last list was terribly ambitious, I wouldn't have done half the things I did get done without it.

So. For September:

-Figure out/compare health insurance plans. Pick one.
-Come up with monthly budget, to be implemented starting in October
-Book one wedding for spring 2014
-Download Quickbooks, learn how to use it
-Create a personal list of must-watch TED talks, and then maybe even watch them
-Finish Life of Pi
-Kill ONE officer at practice sometime, goddammit (dagorhir reference, if you don't get it)
-Begin to update GTG website
-Create amazing Genre Wars photo collage

I have a few other things I'd like to do as well, but I should learn from my last experience of overly-optimistic goals and just stop there.

And because I haven't posted actual photos in a little while, here's our current foster cat, Fannie. She's more or less the best cat ever.

Happy Tuesday, everybody!