*Well, ladies and gentlemen, it has finally happened.

I BOUGHT A CANON 5D MARK II!!!

Whew. I have been waiting to blog that ever since last Friday when I made the purchase. I have been waiting for this update for nearly four years. I have been ready as a photographer but too poor to make it happen. This year is different for me. I am seeing the fourth year of my maintained weight loss, I have made my debt manageable, switched to a new (higher paying) job, etc. It was time- especially since I heard Canon is discontinuing this model.

I could go into the details of how and why but they’re boring and ultimately the important part is that it happened! I am still getting used to all the new settings (and reading (and re-reading) the manual). I could not wait to take photos though, so Saturday morning Erika and I headed to Empress Tea Room for some high tea and photos. It was a blast.

I’m not one hundred percent thrilled with all the photos and like I said, the settings are new to me. I had Dante (my old XTi) for going on six or seven years. This is a big change for me. One I couldn’t be happier about, but it’ll take some getting used to. Look forward to sharing my progress and enjoy the view of our tea time. :)

* In this week’s get-to-know-me edition we have the final installment of Jason’s birthday events! Just a quick note, I do want to preface this post with the following: it’s only in the last two years or so that I have developed a taste for beer and Jason has liked it for an even shorter time than that. So this entire post, this whole excursion, was going out on a limb. It was a risk to be sure, but it’s a risk that’s paid off. So onward! Into the heart of things.

For the last of Jason’s birthday outings I got him (read: us) passes to a beer making instruction class at the local Booth’s Brewing. We had an absolutely fantastic time. I was surprised by how much fun it really was to be honest. I mean, instructional courses never seem like they should be really enjoyable. If you’re teaching me to do something I should have the ability to actually do whatever it is you want me to learn, but with a group of nearly forty people that’s not really possible.

Even through all of that I did get some great photos, we tasted some delicious home brewed samples, against all odds we actually did learn how to make beer and thanks to Erika and Jared we already have a home brew kit! We have one or two more pieces of equipment that will be necessary to start but hopefully by next weekend we will be able to start the brewing process. The fermenting does take about two weeks (and in many cases much longer!) so it might be a while before you hear about this project again, but I am so excited. When you calculate the costs it’s a billion times cheaper to make your own (okay, that’s an exaggeration) and Booth’s offers clone kits in some of my favorite flavors (including Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA and Punkin Ale!). Overall it should be a fun thing to do and I look forward to sharing the results!

Photos 8, 9, & 12 taken by Jason
Photo 11 taken by Erika
Photos on Flickr and Google+

Stardate -309324.0

I’ve gone back and read through a few months worth of entries and realized most of my readers don’t know anything about me. Additionally I removed nearly five months worth of the beginning entries recently in hopes of truly putting to rest a stage in my life that is a constant reminder of just how far I fell. I figured it was time to open up a little to everyone, share my journey and make this blog a little more homey than it’s been up to this point. I want to share with you my ups and downs, my failures and successes and the rational behind what I do and what makes me tick.

Firstly, I always hate writing introduction/get to-know-me posts. So this first one is going to be a little awkward and uncomfortable and I apologize in advance.

Whew! With that out of the way let’s continue. The beginning of 2013 has been rough for me, especially since I was coming off such a high in 2012. I had so many amazing and wonderful things happen to me, I started traditions and founded solid relationships that have been crucial in my movement forward. On January 2nd of this year, though, my paternal grandfather passed away. It led to a family reunion of sorts and while it was a sad time I am thrilled I got to see so many of my extended family for the first time I in ages. I am sad for this loss but Grandpa was getting up there in years (91) and had many children (11). He had a full life and I am more than happy to have been a part of it. I carry with me great memories that will be cherished for my whole life.

All of that aside I am moving forward and letting 2013 wash over me. I’ve got a number of projects in the work and hope to make at least five blog posts a week. Meatless Monday, Tasty Tuesday, (introducing) Weekly Wednesday, Sample Thursdays and 52 Fridays! It’s going to be a lot of work and I think I might not make all five every week, but I’m excited to try. Additionally I have a fitness goal on Runkeeper, a few financial goals (including paying off all my credit card debt) and a few relationship goals with my friends, family and amazing boyfriend. I will also be participating in NaNoWriMo again in November (hopefully to keep up my winning streak!) and work on my e-cookbook that I hope to publish by year’s end.

Sometimes I feel like I stretch myself a little too thin. Like I’m trying to go-go-go way too much, but when I reevaluate all of these goals I cannot tell which ones I want to cut. I wrote in my journal yesterday about my goals (reading, walking and cookbook writing):

So far I’m two and a half books read, 1 recipe being tested and just over eight miles in. I believe all of these things are possible, but I’ve got a lot going on and I don’t want to stress myself. If I ‘fail’ any of these they won’t be true failures. Reading, moving and cooking are passions. These goals just encourage me to keep them up.

I feel good about where I am and what I’m doing and I’ll do everything I can to keep it all going for as long as possible.

Anyhow, now you know what I’m up to and what I’m doing. I’m dorky, geeky and ridiculously busy but I’m fun and this life will be as exciting and even more rewarding than any of those that have come before it. My name is Nicole Leigh and I am happy to know you. Thank you for being part of my journey.