I saw Katy Perry, and I liked it…

Tyler and I traveled to Indy last week for the Warped Tour at the Verizon Wireless Music Center, and among the acts to perform was Katy Perry. I wasn’t the biggest fan of hers before the concert. In fact, when Tyler purchased her single “I Kissed a Girl” (he’s so going to kill me for writing that) from iTunes a few weeks ago, I was mad at him for not only spending our money on it, but putting the money in her bank account.

But I have to admit, Katy Perry put on a pretty good show. She was by far the act with the most people watching. Seriously, the entired amphitheater was packed. Luckily, we had gotten there early to get a pretty good seat. She brought serious energy to her performance and had a great personality, too. I was able to get some decent pictures of her with my point and shoot…

Katy Perry @ Warped Tour, Indy

Katy Perry performing

We also saw Gymclass Heroes…meh. Not impressed.

Gymclass Heroes @ Warped Tour

Then we saw Angels and Airwaves. You might recognize the lead singer as Tom of Blink182. Angels and Airwaves was seriously awesome, and Tyler is completely sold on their music now.

Angels and Airwaves @ Warped Tour

Tom of Angels and Airwaves

Finally, the band we waited for all day was RelientK. We’ve loved their music for some time now, and this performance totally solidified that. If you know us, you know that we are MAJOR fans of The Office. Tyler and I were totally surprised and in awe when RelientK broke out in a song they wrote about The Office and then played The Office theme song. Awesome!

RelientK @ Warped Tour

Notice that there are not any pictures of me and Tyler. There’s a good reason for that…we were a hot sweaty mess that day. It was 96 degrees in the shade at one point toward the END of the day, so needless to say we had been sweating all day and it wasn’t pretty. The sun completely wore us out and I think I’m still catching up on sleep. It was totally worth it, though. I had a blast seeing some awesome musical acts with my favorite guy in the world. I couldn’t have asked for more!

 

Road Trippin’!

Tomorrow, Tyler and I are taking a day off of work to head to Indy for the Warped Tour! It’s about a 4-hour trip for us to the Verizon Wireless Music Center, but we are fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of people. And everyone says we should do this kind of thing while we’re young…and don’t have kids. So why not?

Plus, the tickets were free! My boss won the tickets on the radio for me (I was trying to call in, but didn’t get through…she did, and I’m so happy!); I’m widely known as the girl who wins stuff on the radio…seriously, I’ve seen live Gretchen Wilson (and met her backstage…I have the picture to prove it), Brad Paisley, Dancing with the Stars and Larry the Cable Guy. All from calling in to the radio. But this time, I owe it to her.

We may not seem like Warped Tour kind of people. I think it’s a little more punk/alternative than we normally would like, but since my husband is a musician, we try to see as many musical acts as possible. It’s good for the creative juices and opens your mind up to other styles to infuse into your own music. Or so I’m told. I’m not the musical one in the family.

Most of the acts, we’ve never heard of. However, one of our favorite Christian bands, RelientK, is going to be there. The “I Kissed a Girl” girl, Katy Perry, is going to be there, too. I’m not crazy about her, but Tyler likes her. Gee, couldn’t imagine why. ; ) I’m also going to try to catch Gymclass Heroes and Angels and Airwaves.

It’s going to be a hot one, for sure, but I love stuff like this. What’s better than being with your favorite guy, hitting the road and seeing some awesome musical acts for free?

And because I love putting pictures in my posts, here’s one from last weekend when my mom and dad were in town. We made our annual trip to Holiday World, and man was it a hot one. We spent a lot of time at the water park, not only because it was hot, but also because my sister is prego and can’t ride rides. Doesn’t she look so cute with her little belly pooch?

Family outing to Holiday World

And here’s one of me…and Tyler groping Santa. What am I going to do with that husband of mine?

The Neffs with Santa

 

Have you ever flown Hawaiian Airlines?

If you have, I’m sure you probably would remember. This sign was outside their terminal in Oahu. We thought it was hilarious.

On the not-so-funny side, we flew Go! Airlines, whose airplane to Maui smelled like a nursing home and/or urine. Tyler repeated the entire trip over to Maui: “We only paid a dollar (for the flight). We only paid a dollar.”

 

We met Famous Amos!

I forgot to mention in my last blog that on our trip, we met Wally “Famous” Amos while on vacation. You know, the cookie guy! We had gone kayaking and snorkeling on Tuesday and on our way to the kayaking/snorkeling company, we saw a cookie companie called “Chip & Cookie” in Kailua, Oahu. We decided to stop by there later that day to grab some cookies. When we walked in, we saw a few posters and books by Wally himself. Then, as we were ordering our cookies, we realize that none other than Famous Amos himself was behind the counter baking cookies! He was a super cool and fun guy. Tyler bought a book, which Famous Amos autographed for me and Tyler. He also took a picture with us…

 

Hawaii Recap

So we’re finally back from Hawaii. It’s been a whirlwind since we’ve been back, at least for me. We returned Thursday night a little later than we had planned because our planes from Honolulu and Houston were both delayed. When we arrived at home, Tyler’s parents were already here. They had graciously kept Lola for us while we were gone, so they dropped her off at our house so we wouldn’t have to make the trip to their house to get her. We were so happy to see familiar faces and be in a familiar place. Don’t get me wrong, Hawaii was great, but there’s just something about home. And then of course, yesterday I had two of my wisdom teeth removed. My face has swollen to the size of a basketball, but luckily I have little pain. Tyler and his mom have been saints in keeping me comfortable. I couldn’t be doing this well without them.

But on to what you really care about, the Hawaii trip. We left very, very early Wednesday morning to catch out 8:10 a.m. flight in St. Louis to Houston and then from Houston to Honolulu. None of us slept very well on the way over. I slept maybe 20 minutes at the most, but seeing the island from the sky was a breath of fresh (okay, more like recycled) air.

In Honolulu, we waited for what seemed like an hour for the shuttle to take us to our rental-car company. We took the Impala to the house we were staying at in Eva Beach, which took us more than an hour with the loooovely Honolulu traffic. We quickly put all of our things in the house and set out to find some food. All of the places we wanted to try near the house ended up being total dives, so we settled on IHOP. Yeah, Tyler and I celebrated our anniversary with a dinner at IHOP. We were so tired that we didn’t even want to take a picture to celebrate the momentous occasion. I’ve never slept so well in my entire life as I did that night.

On Thursday, we were scheduled for a helicopter trip around the entire island of Oahu. We were a little worried that it was going to rain and we wouldn’t be able to make our trip, but we learned that it was not rain clouds in the sky, but vog from the volcano in the Big Island, which had recently erupted. So all of the pictures from the helicopter tour are a bit hazy, but we saw some really cool things, nonetheless. It was one of our favorite things of the entire trip.

This is the actual island where Gilligan’s Island was taped:

This is the Magnum PI house:

We also saw the Dole Plantation and USS Arizona from the air, which we saw later on our trip. We had such a blast!

Afterward, we went to Waikiki to get some beach time. It was hazy with vog there, too, so the pictures aren’t as pretty as they could be.

We also took in some shops while in Waikiki. There were Coach, Louis V, Gucci, and Tiffany’s stores, but this one caught our eye. It had some of the funniest t-shirts in it:

On Friday, we went beaching. The first beach we went to was at the Ko’Olina Resort. It was a little man-made cove with lava rocks all around. It was definitely a gorgeous place. Unfortunately, I cut my foot on a rock while snorkeling with BJ, so I was hobbeling around for the next couple of days. If you look really close in this first picture, you can see BJ and Rachel with their snorkel gear on.

We also went to Hanauma Bay. This was one of the most beautiful places in Hawaii. It’s a sanctuary for fish and turtles; they even close the park one day to give the fish and other sea life a break from the people.

Just down the road from Hanauma Bay was a scenic lookout. The sunlight was peeking through the clouds, and I just loved how it was highlighting the city below:

On Saturday, we decided to visit the North Shore. On our way there, we stopped at the house where my mom and her family lived while my grandpa was stationed in Hawaii for the Air Force. It was on Koi Koi street in Wahiewa, and just seeing it gave me such an indescribable feeling. It was an honor to be able to capture the image of the house and bring home a piece of my family’s history to them.

The first beach we went to on the North Shore was Sunset Beach. The waves were so loud and very powerful, but we loved every minute of it. I took this picture of BJ and Rachel, and just love how it turned out:

After Sunset Beach, we ate lunch and then headed to another nearby beach. It was here that BJ, Rachel and I got to touch a sea turtle. They say that touching a sea turtle in Hawaii is good luck. It was such a cool feeling to have this beautiful creature swimming around us and not being afraid of our presence. After that, we stopped at a Hawaiian shaved ice stand on our way to the Dole Plantation. It was delicious!

The Dole Plantation was a really interesting place. We took a train ride through the plantation and learned about the history of the plantation and how pineapple is farmed. Afterward, we each got a snack: Tyler got chocolate-covered pineapple and the rest of us got pineapple ice cream, which was veeeery tart.

 

On Sunday, we went to the USS Arizona Memorial. It was great to be able to honor all of the men who lost their lives that tragic Dec. 7 in 1941.

That night, we left for Maui. On Monday, we were supposed to go on a 5.5-hour horseback ride into Haleakala crater, but realized if we did, we’d miss our flight back home. Luckily, we were able to get a 1-hour trip around the ranch of Pony Express Tours. It was very educational, but poor Tyler’s horse kept trying to buck him off as we went down hills. Luckily, we made it back without anyone being thrown off a horse.

We also went to the summit of Haleakala, which was 10,023 feet high.

On Tuesday, we went on a snorkeling and kayaking trip. Since I took my waterproof film camera, I don’t have any pictures of this yet. This was right up there with the helicopter tour, though. It was a beautiful day for it. Along the trip, our guide pointed out the homes of Shaquille O’Neal, Adam Sandler, Paul Mitchell, and Shirley Temple. And once we got back, our tour guide found a seahorse in the canal. It was really cool to hold it, especially since these beautiful creatures are becoming extinct.

On our last day, Wednesday, we went back to Ko’Olina Resort because we had so much fun there the last time. It was another beautiful day, so Tyler and I bought some drinks and took a walk out near the marina. Of course, Tyler got a “frosty Monster” and wanted me to take a picture of it. I think he’s obsessed, but it’s cute:

The flight back was not nearly as bad since it was at night and we were able to sleep some on the way home. Hawaii was great, but it’s so true that there’s no place like home.

 

We’re baaack!

We’re back from Hawaii, but tomorrow is going to be a big day for me. I’m getting two wisdom teeth removed, so I have to be up early. Really, I should be in bed already. But I wanted to share this picture of me and Tyler at the BE-A-U-TIFUL North Shore in Oahu, Hawaii…

 

 

Trading in the Indiana weather…

for this in Hawaii. Be jealous. I would be if I were you. ; )

Wed May 21		Partly Cloudy	85°/73°	20 %
Thu May 22		Mostly Sunny	85°/73°	20 %
Fri May 23		Mostly Sunny	86°/74°	20 %
Sat May 24		Mostly Sunny	86°/74°	20 %
Sun May 25		Sunny	86°/74°	20 %
Mon May 26		Mostly Sunny	86°/74°	10 %
Tue May 27		Sunny	86°/74°	10 %
Wed May 28		Mostly Sunny	85°/74°	0 %

 

Opening Day of the Indianapolis 500

As part of our entry to the 500 Festival Mini Marathon, you receive a free ticket to opening day at the Indianapolis 500. I had never been to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before (other than the run the previous day) so Jaimie and I decided to head out to the track. We were able to park on the lawn within the track, which I thought was pretty cool. You never know how big that old oval is until a) you run on it for 2.5 miles or b) you try to find your way around it and then figure out how to get back; it ain’t easy!

The opening day is really just rookie day. All of the rookies try to qualify for the actual Indianapolis 500. We sat on the bleachers in absolutely perfect weather just watching these newbies fly around the track. One rookie that Jaimie and I were particularly fond of is Will Power. I kid you not, his name is Will Power (throw your fist in the air and say his name…it’s exhilerating!). Other than having a cool name, apparently he’s pretty good because he posted the fastest times of the day.

We also got up close to some driver whose name we never figured out, so if you know who it is, leave me a comment and let me know:

The Unsers were also there to give a talk and sign autographs. I know they’re a pretty big name in racing, but I could care less. I just thought it would be cool to get a picture of someone famous:

We had a great time just laughing, talking and learning the panning technique for photography (you get a pretty cool effect, especially with the race cars driving so fast!). After that, we went to Carmel to do some shopping. The entire weekend was a great time catching up with an old friend. I have a feeling it won’t be the last time we get together and hang out! (Please excuse my absolutely frizzy hair)

(All of these images taken with a Canon SD 1000 point and shoot)

 

Venting Session

I’m having a hard time right now and just needed to vent. Tyler was such an amazing support this weekend and did a great job at being so vocal at how proud of me he was for how I did in the Mini Marathon yesterday. More than that, he fit right in with my friend Jaimie and we’ve all had a blast all weekend laughing, watching tv and lounging around.

As great as all of that was, all I can focus on right now is that he left to go back home so he can be at church-band practice and then church. I have to be at work in the Indy office for a couple more days, so I won’t be able to go back home until the middle of this week. It’s so difficult after being married nearly three years to be apart like this. I know I’m being a big baby, but I just feel like a part of me is missing when he’s not around. It was all I could do to not pack up my stuff and go home with him…

Excuse me while I go cry a little…

 

Busy as a Bee

In the next few months, I’m probably going to wear myself out, but I’ll have a blast doing it. I have so many fun things coming up in the near future that I just have to blog about it…because, you know, that’s what I do.

Yesterday, I got my first client for photography. Granted, it’s not a paying client because I’m not ready to charge for my work just yet, but it’s a client nonetheless. A co-worker’s son is graduating and because they haven’t gotten any senior pictures yet, they are running out of time. She only needs a head shot, but I’ve talked her into doing an entire session as well as some family shots so she can give them as Mother’s Day gifts. I’m very excited about just getting out to practice using my camera and finding creative shots.

I got the okay yesterday to work in Indy the couple days before the 500 Festival Mini Marathon. This is so great for me because I don’t have to stress about leaving work the day before the Mini and fighting the traffic (there will be 35,000 runners in this race) to get there on time, get settled in, get dinner, and get to bed early. I’m planning on staying the weekend with my college friend Jaimie, who has been the one who has encouraged me to take on this beast of a race. I’m so excited she did, because I think this is going to be a really fun race. And to top that off, we get tickets into opening day at the Indy 500. How cool is that? I’ve never been to the race track; I’ve only driven by it, so I think this should be a blast! I can’t wait! My training is going fabulously. Last week I only ran 25 miles opposed to the 30 I had planned, but they were some really great runs (even the 10-miler I did on the treadmill). I got in 5 last night and am hoping to do another 5 tonight. This is the best I’ve trained for a race, so I’m hopeful about the outcome.

After that, the biggie is the Hawaii trip. After the whole fiasco with ATA, I was a little worried that we wouldn’t be going after all (one of the guys I work with was on his way to Hawaii on ATA, but made it to Phoenix where he was stranded in the airport after ATA decided to cancel all their flights), but so far, our airline is still in business. I’m praying that it stays that way, too. It’s going to be the trip of a lifetime with some really great people (we’re going with our friends BJ and Rachel). While we’re there, we’re going horseback riding into a dormant volcano, snorkeling, kayaking, and going on a helicopter ride. Of course, we’ll get plenty of beach time, too.

I’m in the home stretch of my photography classes, too. I’m looking forward to being done. I haven’t learned as much as I would like and having class every week twice a week really eats up a lot of my time. I’m nearly finished with one of the two final projects in my Photoshop class and working on my mini portfolio in Basic Photography. I am really excited about my Mini Portfolio, but after being rejected when I asked to take pictures at a family’s home this weekend, I’m a little worried that it might be more difficult than I had planned. My theme is “Aged,” so I’m trying to get shots of anything that looks old and weathered.

On a totally different note, I’m so excited about this fabulous weather! Today is going to be in the 60s, tomorrow in the 70s. Get out and enjoy it…I know I am!