I’m like my dad in many ways.  Mom has told me “you are just like your father” often. I don’t like to gamble, I really don’t like playing cards, I love new cars, I want to buy cars all the time and I always have to have the newest gadget. So it really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that I bought yet another new camera.  Here is a run down of camera that I have in the last 10 years.:

1.    The first digital camera was the Fuji point and shoot that I liked.  It really help me start the website with lots of pictures.  That lasted a couple years until…

2.    I upgraded to a better Fuji with a bigger zoom.  Loved this camera.  I still think it takes the best pictures of any of the camera I’ve owned but the display was only a one inch square. LOL! so I…

3.    Upgraded again to yet another Fuji.  Nothing too exciting with this camera except for the 2.5 inch screen.  It didn’t \take as good of pictures as my older version.  I think I somebody ended with it.

4.    I got a cheap Sony Cybershot for our trip to Mexico, and good thing I did because I dropped it on the beach in water.  Much to my surprise it still worked after that even with sand in the lense!

5.    Then I bought a Nikon…that was a mistake, I hate that camera.  I didn’t use it for very long because the pictures were awful and I was sick of carrying a heavy camera so I got…

6.    A small point and shoot camera with a great zoom.  It was the first Panasonic Lumix.  I really loved this camera but unfortunately it fell in the toilet at Mammoth Cave and never worked again. 

7.    I replaced it with the next model of Panasonic Lumix.  That one got a dust spot on it (which apparently is a common compliant) that you can’t clean and it didn’t  take great pictures so I …

8.    Got the better Panasonic Lumix model.  This camera is great.  The Lumix takes great outside pictures and is very light weight so I’ll still use it. I really like it but in my opinion the inside pictures taken in low light don’t turn out the best.  They can be grainy.  Which lead to my recent purchase…

9.    Canon Rebel T3.  This is a DSLR camera and it was $$$.   But I think I’m going to love it.  It has interchangeable lenses and my old lenses from my film camera from college fit this model!  So far the photos seems to be much better than similar photos taken with the Lumix, especially inside with low lighting (which is the main reason I got it).    With all the Confirmations, Graduations and road trips coming up I wanted something that takes great photos, Below are some very limited examples of my new camera.  I’m so excited to use it.

Easter has come and gone and now it is spring…but the weather got colder.  What gives?

On Holy Thursday I celebrated the end of Lent (per Eric) by making Monster Cookies.  Yum!  They were delicious.  Good Friday I spent relaxing at home, a short bike ride with Eric and a drive to Wisconsin via Mankato (we shall go west to go east).  We picked up Danielle on our roundabout way to Wisconsin.  It was cool because I got to meet her boyfriend, Bradley.  First impression was good.  :-)

We spent Friday night at my sister’s new place in Holmen.   It is very nice.  We are such party animals that we devoured a cheese pizza, drank A&W Root Beer, watched the Breakfast Club on HBO and went to bed early.  We are such losers. 

Saturday morning I managed to somehow sleep until 8:30am.  It is amazing.  I got to see the annoying robin that is terrorizing Nancy and Greg.  I don’t get it this robin bangs his beak against the glass starting at the bottom and flying up the glass.  He falls down the bottom and does it again, and again, and again, and again. I got a 40 second clip of it on YouTube.    Nancy, Greg and I went shopping for Mom’s birthday present. We got her some new clothes (Greg is a fasionista and loves to buy clothes for people) and some sandals.  The sandals were my idea because she loved mine and they had the exact shoes at Rogan Shoes.  Now Danielle, Mom and I have the exact same shoes.  Haha.  Mom loved her new clothes and shoes.  We did good!  Saturday afternoon we had a grill out on Greg’s new grill.  It was some good food.  T-Bone, Chicken, Ribs etc…  After dinner we drove to Mom’s for the night.  Of course we had to watch Molly B’s Polka Party on RFD-TV.  This is a tradition at Mom’s house.  LOL! 

I had a bit of a fright Sunday morning.  Mom’s alarm went off at 6:15am and after 2 minutes she still hadn’t shut it off.  Of course my heart raced and I thought oh dear God Am I going to find my mom dead on Easter morning? I know it is a horrible thought but my mom usually wakes up.  I went into the living room and shook her up.  She didn’t hear it! Scary start to my day.  We went to 8:30 Mass in Whitehall and then went to Mike’s house.  Mom started barking orders again. LOL!  But we got everything ready and it was a good meal.  The whole family was there as well as my aunts Betty Jane and Jackie and my cousin John and his wife Sheri, and some of Mike’s friends.  After we ate we had an egg hunt.  We were put into teams. I had Sheri. Mike gave us clues as to where the eggs were hiding and we had to find them.  Our first one was difficult. “Wind them up and plug them in”  Do you know where the egg was???  Some of the other ones were easy.  We found an egg for one of the other teams, I thought it was Dylan and Greg’s egg so I hid it…bending the rules a bit.  It was fun.  Nancy and John won. Either they cheated or their clues were too easy.  So the answer to the “Wind them up and plug them in” the egg was in a box of extension cords.  UGH!

After all that fun we had to make the long journey back home via Mankato and MSP Airport.  First was the 3 hour drive to Mankato.  We stopped over to DJ’s house for dinner and then drove to Greg and Celeste’s house, picked up there van and drove it to the airport.  We finally got home at 10:30pm.  What a long day.  But it was fun.  I'll put the pictures online tonight.

Per Eric Lent is over so I can indulge in these beauties I made

I don’t really have a lot to say.  I’m still running…I know amazing.  I’m not getting any faster which makes me feel very dejected.  But I’m still doing it and I’m going on three months. I think that is the longest I have ever stuck to a running.  Of course Eric is a much faster runner…in the time it took me to run a mile, he covered almost a mile and half.  Boo.  Hopefully I can keep running but it will be hard with the biking and rollerblading I can do now with this nice weather.  I need to dedicate at least three days a week to it.

Last night was the last night of volleyball. It makes me so sad.  I love volleyball but the days are getting nice and going to a gym to play is getting difficult.  It is bike riding and rollerblading weather! 

Speaking of weather…it has been so warm.  March was the warmest month on record. Actually I think April has been colder than March.  I just hope we don’t get some random snowstorm that we have been known to get…especially Easter weekend.

Easter weekend is coming up.  In four days I can eat American candy and Ginelli’s pizza (my Lenten sacrifice).  Last year I worked out every morning before work.  I was very religious and didn’t miss a day, even when I was sick.  I also watched what I ate and counted calories…I lost almost 10 pounds.  Not bad for 40 days.  This year I didn’t work out any morning, hardly worked out at all except for running, didn’t watch what I ate and ate like a pig (ie. Killer brownie, regular brownie, cookies and non-american candy) and I lost almost 7 pounds.  Was working out every morning last year really worth the 3 extra pounds??? I don’t think so.  I’ll keep running and biking and swimming.  

I originally gave up candy but that last all of two days…however, my candy bar was made in Canada so I decided I was going to give up just American candy.  My friend and co-worker Alice’s sister was in Berlin and she brought me back Maltesers, also not American candy.  Recently I was craving candy so I bought a Toblerone which is made in Switzerland.  I have perfected getting around my sacrifice…I’m so bad!