Alaska Here I come

In 12 hours I will be on a plane to Anchorage until the beginning of September.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to post during that time as my in-laws have killed yet another computer.  :-(  Once I get back to Hell Paso, I will catch up with pictures from my trip.   

Day 23 - Not Cooperating

:: Day 23 theme is piles of laundry ::

Well I wish we had this theme yesterday as Sunday is my laundry day and I did 5 loads.  So since I didn't have piles of laundry to shoot, I did the next best thing.  I attempted to get Jager, my pitbull, into the laundry basket, however he wasn't cooperating.  So then I moved on to Hoku, my Rottie, and tried to get her to stand in the basket.  Of course she wasn't having it either.  Actually she started barking at the basket so I started to play with it.  Here's a picture from our play time with the laundry basket.  Not quite the theme but close.  :)

Day 22 - Crafts Room

:: Day 22 theme is your favorite piece of furniture ::

Honestly I don't have a favorite piece of furniture but the closest thing would have to be my craft shelving unit.

One of my many hobbies is scrapbooking and as you can see I have completed a few albums.  Also located within these shelves are some of my stamping stuff as I love to make cards.  Nothing too exciting except that I also love the room it is in, my very own craft room.  :-)  So now I can leave my quilting/stamping/scrapbooking projects out and don't have to worry about them smelling like smoke or pieces being blown around and lost.  Thank you to my loving husband who found a house to rent where I can have my own craft room.  

Day 21 - It's a Lake Day

:: Day 21 theme is Architecture ::  Pictures taken today are not theme related however I pulled one from my album as the Architecture here is so different than what I'm used to.

Jager and Hoku resting after playing in the lake.

Since it has been too hot lately to take the dogs out for any length of time we decided to take them to Caballo Lake so they could run around and swim.  It's about a 2 hour drive north of El Paso into New Mexico.  It started out cloudy which was ok by me as it kept the temperature down.  After about an hour and a half of playing we broke out the chairs and had a little lunch which is when the sun started to make an appearance.  After lunch it was back in water for Hoku and running up and down the beach for Jager.  He's only 2 and is still figuring out that he can in fact swim.  I think that is why I like this lake better as it gradually gets deeper so Jager wades out farther.  He even paddled a few times but decided that he liked wading better than swimming.  Oh well, it took Hoku a few years to learn to love the water and now any time she is near water, she'll run right in.  Here are some pictures from our outing.

Star and I - Can you tell he wasn't to thrilled about me taking his picture. . . .

Here is a picture of the Socorro Mission I took in June when a friend and I were playing tourist one day. 

Day 20 - Dress up

:: Day 20 theme is a child playing dress up. ::

Well since I don't have any children or was around any today, I decided to play dress up with the next best thing, MY LOVELY DOGS.  :-)  Nothing fancy as I was being lazy and didn't want to hunt for their Halloween costumes.  So here are Hoku and Jager wearing Daddy's ACU top.  I tried to put the hat on but it wasn't working and I didn't want to press my luck.  Don't they look so happy to once again be helping mommy with her daily theme.

Day 19 - Hawaiian Heirloom Bracelets

Day 19 theme is "your favorite piece of jewelry."

After thinking about it for the whole day I finally realized that my favorite piece of jewelry are my Hawaiian Heirloom Bracelets.  I know most of the other ladies snapped photos of their wedding rings.  Yes my wedding ring is special and is one of my favorites but being a Hawaiian, I believe that the bracelets will always be my number one.

If you walk into any shopping mall in Hawaii and study the forearms of all the women both young and old, you will see that the majority of them are wearing at least one Hawaiian bracelet.  Most wear on an average 2-3 however there are a good number of women that have them going up their whole forearm.

On July 5, 1988 I received my very first Hawaiian bracelet.  It was silver and had my middle name on it.  For a couple of years I was only allowed to wear it on special occasions and then it got locked back up afterward.  A few years after that I was allowed to wear it when ever I wanted, so I did.  I never took it off, showered with it, swam with it; it was always on.  Eventually my hand grew and I couldn't get it off so we had to have a jeweler cut it off and extend it.  Now it still fits, with a little help. :)  The thickest one with "Kamala" (which is Hawaiian for Tamara) on it is technically only my second one given to me on Christmas 2000.  I say technically as the other 2 in the picture were my grandmothers and they were given to me when she passed away in Sept of 1996.

A History of Hawaiian Heirloom Bracelets:
"The Hawaiian bracelet first appeared on the scene in Hawaii in the 1860's and from its inception it was a trendsetter, and an iconic symbol of Hawaiian society.  Commissioned by Queen Liliu'okalani, after the death of Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert, the bracelet made in Hawaii, originally was a symbol of the Queens royalty.  The whole Victorian world used black in jewelry designs from the death of the consort, until after Queen Victoria's death in Jan 21, 1901.  At first the style was morning jewelry, then royalty jewelry to popular jewelry.


In Hawaii, Queen Liliu'okalani's first bracelet was engraved with "Ho'omanao Mau" (Lasting Remembrance) and evolved to symbolize the Hawaiian spirit, goodness, and family.  The bracelet appear in photographs of Liliu from 1862 on.  After years of research and investigation, Hawaiian Heirloom Jewelry maker, Philip Rickard translated the symbolic text on Hawaii's last monarch, Queen Liliu'okalani's, original "Ho'omanao Mau" bracelet.  In addtion to the engraved phrase, there were a series of symbols that seemed to simply be symbols of rank and authority.  However from his research, Rickard found that he had trasleted the Queen's century old prayer: "Always remember that guidance from above protects me, and those I protect by my good judgment, and love of perfection, light and life, for I am Royalty."


Thirty years later, after the overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy, the jewelry became a politically powered fashion statement, a "lasting remembrance" of the monarchy which is where a trend was born.  Through the years local artisans have popularized patterns that give the bracelets a decidedly island look which is far removed from its staid English beginnings.  The old-English lettering, however, remains traditional.  As the Royalty and Hawaiians alike passed down these precious bracelets the word Heirloom was added to the name and a momentum of passion and family values had begun."

Day 18 - Honolulu in El Paso????

:: Day 18 theme is a street sign ::

When I read what the theme was this morning the first thing that came to mind was to finally go back and take a picture of Honolulu Dr that I've seen here in town.  I thought it was interesting to have Honolulu in El Paso.  So here's my picture, I even drove down the street until I found one that kind of made it seem tropical.  :-) 

When I got home, I looked at a map to see if there happens to be an Anchorage street here in town.  Sure enough there is an Anchorage Ave.  However its not in my area and I had been running around all morning so I didn't want to go back out. 

I noticed that another lady went in search of her first name as a street.  Hmmm???  That didn't even occur to me so back to my computer to see if there's a Tamara street.  Yep, there is a Tamara Dr, spelled the same and everything.  Unfortunately it's on the outskirts of town in a not so nice part where I would not want to be by myself.  Oh well, maybe next time.

This second picture always cracks me up as I don't think there are any animal drawn vehicles anymore and this isn't Amish country.  It's not the best picture but hey I was driving and trying not to block traffic so I could snap it. 

Day 17 - Score!!

:: Day 17 theme is Numbers ::

I was hoping that today would be another triple digit day so I could take a picture of the thermometer so show how ungodly HOT it is here.  However it's only 95 degrees here today which is good don't get me wrong I hate the 100's.

So for my number's picture I decided to take a picture of my creative memories score I got today.  Everything in the picture only cost me $33.00!!!!  I like those numbers!  For those of you who scrapbook and are familiar with CM know that was a heck of a good deal.  Most of it is the older, can't get anymore stuff but still usable to me.  Now I just need to get back into the scrapping mood.

Another score for me today was a Blue Ray/DVD combo pack of the Last Song.  Regular price was $30.00 but it was on sale for $26.00 and I had a $10.00 off coupon from a FB page so in total it cost me $15.99.  Not bad, huh?  Man I'm on a roll today, we'll have to see if this streak continues.

Day 16 - Insects

:: Day 16 theme is Insects ::

 I grew up in Hawaii and insects there are an everyday thing however having lived in Alaska for the past 12 years I got used to only having to deal with a few here and there (except mosquitoes!).  So now I'm living in a new part of the country and having to deal with the abundance of them all over again. Don't get me wrong I love looking at them and seeing if I can figure out what they are but NOT IN MY HOUSE!  So far we've been lucky and haven't found anything extreme like some of my friends here.  The list of insects or bugs that have been found in houses around town are scorpions, tarantulas, black widow's, termites, ANTS, beetles, and of course brown recluse.  None of those really sound appealing to have in one's house but of them I'd prefer the first 2 since you can just scoop them up and place them back outside away from your house. 

Here's a picture of a desert hairy scorpion that is at the zoo.

I'm always trying to photography bee's and other insects resting on flowers.  This catches one in flight. 

Day 15 - Flora bites back

:: Day 15 theme is Reflection ::

Other bloggers have been taking the above theme is many different directions instead of the obvious one.  So I figured why not?

Reflection at this moment happens to be about 2 plants that I recently purchased (that just bit me) and how it reminded me that at least half of the flora here in El Paso will bite.  Yes I'm only talking about a pin pick or minor impalement but a bite no less.  Having never lived in a desert, I am still amazed at the many different types of cacti here in the Chihuahuan Desert.  In comparison, living in Alaska it's the opposite, fauna bites back.  :-P 

When I brought these home my husband laughed at me as said that I didn't need to pay for them as I could have just gone out to the desert and dug one up.  He doesn't like cacti too much as a few months ago he came face to face with a few cacti.  His platoon was doing a ruck match up a hill and his knee gave out so of course he goes rolling down the hill and on the way down hits several different types of cacti.  Aside from having many spines from head to toe, one of the bigger and thicker spines managed to pierce his lip all the way though.  When he called I laughed, yes I know that was kind of mean, but come on it's funny.  They pulled it out at the clinic and he brought it home to show me.  You know I think it's some where around here, hmmmm?  Wonder if he plans on keeping it?

Day 14 - My new lens :-)

:: Day 14 theme is plastic ::

Due to my new addition to my lens collection today I decided to post one of my practice pictures instead of following today's theme.  As I mentioned in my first post, I'm trying to do more portraits and gain the confidence to "officially" open a photography business.  Although I still have a few things to get the hang of, most of my pictures are good.  My go to models are my 2 dogs so today Jager got most of the attention, mainly because he just laid there looking so sad. 

Since I'm talking about my pictures, let me ask you what you think of the pictures below.  These are a few from recent shoots here in El Paso.

Day 13 - My Choice

:: Day 13 theme is Photographers Choice :: 

Well I spent most of today in orientations so I can start volunteering at ACS.  However I did have a photo shoot this afternoon and while I was sitting in my car I snapped a few pictures of a flock of finches enjoying a meal.
 

That is until something scared them.  I like this picture as it shows them taking off. 

Day 12 - Movies

:: Day 12 theme is Movies :: 

Well as you can see I love movies.  I will watch a movie over and over mostly while I'm doing other things like scrapbooking, quilting, editing my photos, or even paying bills.  My husband doesn't get it, he likes to watch a movie once, maybe twice if it was really good and then never again.  You really can't tell from the picture but I'm a little Type A when it comes to arranging them.  Regular DVD's, TV Seasons, Blue Ray and workout videos are all alphabetized separate.  However every so often my husband thinks it funny to mess things up but then I just go right back and fix it.


A few of my favorite movies of all times are Legends of the Fall, Little Mermaid, Twilight Series (all so far), Harry Potter Series (all so far) and Star Trek 4.

Day 11 - Combat Boots

:: Day 11 theme is Shoes ::

I really didn't venture out of the house today so I couldn't snap a picture of some of the interesting shoes women here wear.  Instead I decided to torture my dog Hoku and have her model Daddy's combat boots.  

As you can see she wasn't too into it however she tolerates it as I've been dressing her up for years.  :-) 

I know some are wondering why didn't I just photograph my favorite pair of shoes.  Well the majority of my shoes are sensible and boring.  One negative about being Hawaiian is that we have big, fat feet which doesn't fit into cute boots or sexy heels.  Oh well, it doesn't bother me too much as I'm perfectly happy with my Merrells and Dansko's.  

As a side note however, I am bothered and very annoyed that El Paso shoe stores don't carry either of the above mentioned brands.  Maybe the heat or the fact that people down here are cheap might have something to do with it.  I guess it's a good thing I'm going to visit my 2nd home in a few weeks (home will always Hawaii but my 2nd home is Alaska) and then I can stock up on Merrells and Dansko's. 

Day 10 - Rio Grande

:: Day 10 theme is Water ::

Since today's theme was water, I thought it was only appropriate that I go in search of the only water source here in El Paso, the Rio Grande river.  Here is where the river begins to be the boundary between Texas and New Mexico.  

Just a few hundred yards south of where I took this picture is when the river becomes an international boundary between the US and Mexico.  The railroad track runs along the New Mexico/Mexico boarder going west.  If you look middle left you can see the river however I couldn't get any closer because Boarder Patrol was parked just to my left.  Needless to say I didn't stay long as I didn't want them to get the wrong idea about why I was there. 

On my way back to the car I passed these wild sunflowers and of course had to stop and take a few pictures.  I like this one as you can see the bridge behind.

Day 9 - 4 legged children

Today's official theme was Retro however I didn't leave the house and couldn't think of anything "retro" in the house to shoot.  So I'm going on my own today and posting pictures of my 4 legged children.   I admit these are old pictures but I did take them at one point or another.

This is Hoku (Hawaiian for Star), our female Rottweiler back in Feb 2004 when we rescued her from the streets (literally, she was running up and down the street) and an unfit family who didn't want her anymore so they let her go.  She was about 4 months old when we got her. 

Then is Sept 2008 we got Jager (named after the yummy jagermeister), a 10 wk old male Pitbull/Australian Shepard. We adopted him from a local puppy rescues in town.  As you can see Hoku didn't take long to accept him.

This last picture was taken last month on the 4th of July as they both are showing they're patriotism. 

Day 8 - Nature's Beauty

:: Day 8 theme is beauty ::

The colors of this gazania (related to the daisy) were so vibrant that it just drew me in.  Like most places, if you know where to look you're able to see the beauty in nature.

Day 7 - Animals

:: Day 7 theme is animals::

Well time got away from me yesterday so I'm posting my Aug 7th pictures today. This weekend at the El Paso Zoo was their annual Bug Fest where the public got to view about 20 kinds of insects and arachnids.  Through this event the public was able to learn about the "bugs" not only in our area but also around the world.  

The first picture is of a Texas bush katydid. The second picture is the underside of a Golden Silk Orbweaver spider. Both of these are new to the education collection.

Day 6 - The love of my life

:: Day 6 theme is that if you are married/engaged/dating to post a picture of you and your Significant Other::

My husband and I have been together since March 12, 2004.  However we met several years before through a mutual friend while I was attending UAA and would occasionally run into each other around town.  One night at the bar we finally exchanged phone numbers and he actually called the following day and the rest is history.  In the Fall of 2006 I finally wore him down and he proposed. ;-)  We were married on May 26, 2007 in Anchorage, Alaska.  We are for the most part opposites as I'm type A and he flies by the seat of his pants but we make it work and are very much in love.

Star took the above picture under protest as he just got home from afternoon pt when I ambushed him.   It isn't a very good picture as the angle is off and I have no makeup and my hair is not done. 

The above picture is from our wedding 3 yrs ago, man where does the time go?

Day 5 - Fun in the Sun!

:: Day 5 Theme is 'Weather'. . . . You can capture the sun through some trees or weird cloud formations! Go wild and have fun taking those photos!!! :: 

Of course today there were no clouds in the sky and being that we're in El Paso there are hardly any trees.  However another Army wife and myself had a little adventure today so I thought I'd post a few pictures of that.  

 

Our first stop was to the La Buena Vida Alpacas farm.  There they dozens of alpacas, several pygmy goats, a horse and a camel. They also have a studio where a knitting guild meets and a fantastic selection of yarn ranging from regular cotton to alpaca and wool to yarn made from sugar and soy.  

 

As we drove the backs roads in Anthony and La Union, New Mexico we came across an enormous nursery, Sierra Vista Growers, and of course had to stop.  My mother in law would have LOVED this place as she has the greenest thumb I've ever seen.  I do not have luck with many plants so I just took pictures of the beautiful flowers while Beth wondered around.  We were there for an hour and only covered 1/4 of the place.  Here are a few pictures I took.  

The first is a sunflower but unsure of the specific type.  The second is the flowers of a yucca.

Our last stop was to La Vina Winery for a little wine tasting.  All in all it was a great day in the sun!

Day 4 - Joy and Bliss

::Day 4 Theme is Bliss/Joy...what gives you joy and what makes you feel "blissful":: 

 

Well aside from the usual, my husband, dogs, family and friends, one of the few things here in El Paso that gives me joy is volunteering at the El Paso Zoo  I've been volunteering there since March and love it.  Recently I just completed my Animal Handlers training and exam so I am now able to work with only the education animals.  The education collection is fairly big with mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.  Aside from helping the keepers with daily chores in the area I also enjoy assisting with Education programs on and off zoo grounds.  I love the way kids faces light up when you bring an animal out and then a bunch of questions come your way.  "What is it? Will it bite?"  Educating the public, especially kids, is such an important part that zoo 's play.  For example, most people wouldn't know that the Sumatran Orangutan is threaten because of palm tree plantations and that even though we are thousands of miles away we can still help them.  The easiest thing that people can do is not purchase products that contain Palm Oil.  Or if you must buy that product, email the company and ask them to remove palm oil from their product as it is hurting the Orangutan's.  

Yes I would love a job at the zoo and hopefully the things I'm learning will help me however the zoo is city owned so therefore job postings have been very limited.  But I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that maybe it will happen.   

 **As I leave zoo grounds I try to walk our Africa section to see the zebras and giraffes.  Here mom watches over her baby (born in late June)in the sun as she cools off in the shade.  (I don't blame her as the temp was 104 degrees when I left) When we got the zebras the keepers were unaware that she was pregnant until doing routine exams during the quarantine process.  Needless to say it was a happy surprise. 

Day 3 - Purple

Last night after I posted my 2nd day's picture I came across a fan page on facebook called 365-Day-Photo-Challenge and I guess there are daily themes that you can follow or not. 

‎:: Day 3 Theme is...Colors...Find something colorful in your day to take a picture of and blog about it!::

Since most of my day was spent waiting for my car to be fixed I really didn't get to venture out like I had planned.  However today's theme finally made me go out and photography the purple bush by my house.  I'm trying to find out the name of the bush but no luck so far.  I love the shade of purple that it is and see it all over town.  The only down side to this bush is that bees love it too (I'm very allergic to bees).  I tried to select a picture that showed the fuzz on each petal as not many flowers have that feature.    

Picture 2 - Pollution tunred historical????

One of the first things you see driving from East El Paso to West El Paso along I 10 is the Asarco smokestack.  It has recently been in the news as they are trying to figure out what to do with it as well as the smelters and land around it.  Here's a little history time line:

1887 - El Paso lead smelter founded by Robert S. Towne
1899 - Smelter becomes part of American Smelting and Refining Company
1911 - Copper smelter added at a cost of $300,000
1928 - Crushing plant installed
1948 - Zinc plant installed at a cost of $5 million
1972 - Acid plant installed at a cost of $6.7 million
1978 - Second acid plant installed for $15.5 million
        - Ore unloading and handling facility installed for $24 million
1979 - Sinter plant installed at a cost of $18.5 million
1982 - Zinc plant shut down
1985 - Lead plant operations suspended

1993 - Installation of continuous top-feed oxygen process technology (CONTOP). This greatly increased production and reduced sulfur emissions.

1994 - Stainless steel reactors were installed
1996 - Upgraded #1 and #2 acid plant capacities
1998 - Redesigned reactor feed system and increased plant capacity
1999 - Plant placed on care and maintenance status
2007 - Proposal for reopening the copper smelter
2009 - Efforts for reopening end with a bankruptcy settlement and environmental cleanup
2010 - Proposals and hearings around El Paso about what to do with the land and smokestack

Throughout the last 123 years, the plant has consistently been accused of polluting and contaminating the air and soil in El Paso.  So now the debate has started and will probably be left up to the voters of El Paso on whether to restore the smokestack as a historical landmark or bring it down.  Either way it will cost millions.

First Goal

As I stated in my About Me section, I'm coping this idea from a fellow army wife, one post and one picture for the next 365 days. However I'm not sure where to begin.

Lets see, I live in El Paso, TX which is a complete opposite of Anchorage, AK. It's not bad just really, really different. My husband I believe hates it here with a passion. He has his reasons but I really don't feel the same. I mean there are things that I don't like and think are wrong but I can't change them so better make the most of it, right? One thing I keep telling myself is that this is a learning opportunity and I need to find the positive in a negative.

The landscape here is something I haven't gotten use to yet. I miss my trees and pretty wildflowers. Although I have enjoyed photographing and learning the cacti around here. Since work in my field is scarce I've been trying to build my portfolio and client base to possibly opening up my own photography business full time. So far I've done a few small shoot but don't feel 100 % about my pictures, especially portraits. I'm working on it and hope I can one day make a living with it. Being an Army wife and moving all around, your job or career needs to be portable and since most army posts aren't near the ocean, I don't think I can make marine biology a realistic profession right now. Some of the army wives websites say to find something you love doing and are passionate about then turn it into a business. Here is the address to my facebook portfolio - http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Puanani-Photography/125711197469253?ref=ts

My first goal is to start a photography business in the near future.