blah (and a farm photo shoot)

So apparently I've decided to neglect my poor little blog in 2012. Unintentionally, but alas...it appears I have.

I am so tired and blah right now. I have a lofty goal of overcoming this in the next hour and twenty minutes and going to Zumba...we'll see how it goes.

We went on a little "retreat" this weekend (leadership team at church annual planning retreat) to a farm in a nearby town. The same farm where the Chili Cook-off is each year, if you recall. The house can best be described as "it looks like Pinterest exploded in there." And it was built in 1790. And it's awesome. So anyway, we spent the weekend out there and it was very peaceful and farm-animal-filled.

It was also OMG OMG BEING SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE 24/7 OMG OMG. Although on this blog I probably sound like I'm the life of every party, in real life that is basically the opposite of the truth and I much prefer to spend my time curled up alone or with Matt on a couch, PRETENDING to be social, versus actually being surrounded by people all the time. I like my people in small to medium-sized doses. So going on retreats is a very stretching experience for Matt and I. 

  See? PEOPLE, PEOPLE EVERYWHERE! And food. Lots of it. Yummy.

 And then we can pause for a little reflection on America. Or something.

Wanna know about a really horrible and miserable game I play in my head that I'm getting really good at? This is a True Life Glimpse into the mind of someone who is probably not the best example of Dealing Gracefully with Infertility and Childlessness. OK, here's how the game works. Find a group of people. Listen to them talk. Guess how long it will take for the conversation to turn to pregnancy/childbirth/child rearing. If you guess 5 minutes, you lose, because in my experience it's usually closer to 30 seconds. Of course, once the conversation has made The Turn, your options as a miserable infertile person are limited. Pretend to be interested? Run off crying? Try to find another conversation to lurk in and start the game over?  Who knows, all of the options are as bad as the next. 

[Necessary addendum: Don't feel bad if you like to talk about your kids or your pregnancy/childbirth. I would, too. It's not you, it's me. Probably if there were a group of infertile girls all hanging out, every conversation would turn to infertility within 30 seconds. I just need to find a better way of coping with life as it is. Especially when I'm sleep-deprived.]

Now that you know about my sick mind games, let's move on to a brighter topic: Farm Photography!

Naturally, every girl with a non-famous blog dreams of being like Pioneer Woman. Fame, fortune, and a chaps-wearing husband? Sign me up. To get me started on the path, I figured I'd better get good at taking pictures of cows, since that's what got Ree started.

Behold, my first ever COW PHOTO SHOOT (with some people thrown in for good measure, just so that you know I do actually LIKE people, despite what it probably sounds like).

 Hello, big ol' cow! (Note: I was using a zoom lens. Although I would have gotten this close if they'd let me)

Mollyanne is a fan of the cows slash a fellow cow-whisperer (they would let us get pretty close to them, since they knew we were friends and not foe. Probably because I loudly declared that I was a vegetarian (a lie)).

 These people were not so much cow whisperers to start with. (Jonathon, Derek, Holly, Matt)

 Then Matt embraced his inner "Matt"ador. (HAHAHAHA I am so funny. Matador? Get it?)

 Awwww...presh.

 Jonathon eventually got in touch with his inner cow lover.

But these two are just not cut out for farm life. I entitled the above picture "Two City People on a Farm." Holly talks on the phone, Derek inspects his shoe for cow poo. Or does an Irish jig. One of these.

 I very much enjoyed our cow-hunting expedition, and after that we spent some more of our free time playing games and chatting. And riding recumbent bikes?

 You just never know WHAT you might find on a farm. Apparently riding them is harder than it appears (I didn't try...SOMEONE has to be the designated photographer.)

 Look at the concentration required!! Hilarious.


So all in all it was a good weekend, but there wasn't a whole lot of sleep involved. Immediately upon arriving home this afternoon, I slept for 2 hours, and have spent the next several hours catching up on important reality TV and blogging. And now I have 30 minutes with which to put on correct apparel and get myself to the gym...as Matt hollers the countdown every 5 minutes: "We're leaving for the gym in 20 minutes!" "We're leaving for the gym in 15 minutes!" Blah. Men.


PS. Question for people who know stuff: I've filled up my first camera memory card. I have plenty more, but my question is...isn't it okay to just delete all the pictures off the current one and use it again? All the pics are uploaded onto the computer and backed up on my external hard drive. Is there any reason to not delete and reuse the card? Is there anything special I need to do other than hit "delete", like reformat the card or something?

PPS. Anyone have any good salmon recipes? Particularly ones that make salmon not taste like salmon, since I don't like how salmon tastes? Feel free to share...