Happy 3.1 Anniversary to Us!

Hard to believe it was three years ago today that Dave and I were in sunny rainy sunny Cozumel for our first wedding celebration. We had a fabulous time with good friends and family surrounding us, a live three piece Mexican band, good food and amazing weather.

The bride - ME! - had nothing but sunshine all day long, but the groom - DAVE! - and some of the guests got poured on coming to the ceremony site from the hotel. It made for some amazing sky backdrops during and after the ceremony. And it bucketed down after dinner at our reception.

I know, you're still looking at the title and thinking "3.1?" What the hell does that mean? We are a two continent couple so we had two weddings - our first was this one on 11 January 2007 and our second was back in Exmouth, Western Australia, on 2 February 2007. Who says you can only wear the dress once?!

It's a little confusing to all involved, but on the upside, we have two chances to remember our anniversary (for the record, we both forgot both last year) I remembered this one this year & tucked a card into the car with Dave as he had to leave for an extended trip to Perth early this morning. His exact words, via mobile phone from 400kms down the track, after reading the card "is it our anniversary today?"

Yes, he had to leave on another Perth trip on our anniversary. Guess I'll be having a toast with the furkids to celebrate tonight.

That's not a camera bag!

Today started as any other day. I got up, went into my office, worked for a while, headed down to the dive shop, came back to my office, worked some more.

I've got the NFL playoffs on but I don't really care about any of these teams so it's just kind of there. Sounds like something interesting is happening so I glance up to check it out. Out of the corner of my eye, something tweaks my brain "hmm, that doesn't look right"

So I lean back and look at the wall behind my tv, the wall where I hang camera bags. Appears hubby's been redecorating for me coz that certainly isn't a boring ol'camera bag!

Dog gone

I was going to tell you all about our phone calls trying to track down the shire ranger (who doesn't exist at the moment), the police (who don't come to work til 2pm and all calls go to Karratha, a town four hours north of Exmouth) and about the incredibly RUDE man who aggressively gave me a super hard time about the dog in the trailer (he told me flat out that I was just going to sit here and watch Doggie die of the heat) but I won't.

I'll just say that Dave and I did get Doggie out of the trailer with a little ingenuity & slices of beef. We tied him on a nice long rope to a tree with lovely shade, a soft spot for snoozing & added a big bowl of water. After cooing at him for a while, he settled down to watch the world around him.

I then went back across the street to the dive shop, answered the ringing phone and looked out the door to check on Doggie. Gone. He'd chewed through the lead and taken off in a matter of seconds. Cheeky mutt.

So now he's wandering around Exmouth sporting part of one of our good leads (it's red, if you see him) and a decidedly girly girl pink collar with pretty bones on it.

Hopefully, he's trekked straight back to his home like our Girls would do.

If you see him, I would really like our collar back :)

Dog in a trailer - what are people thinking?

Today's post was going to be very different (and now I've posted this same thing on both blogs!), but when I got to Exmouth Diving Centre today to get ready for the day's diving, things changed. Because someone has left their dog locked in one of our trailers.

We don't know whose dog it is and Doggie isn't wearing a collar. He's very frightened & stressed: tail tucked way down between his legs, growls whenever a man comes near the trailer and gives me cautious, hopeful looks when I get close. He doesn't like to look at you and tries to stay away.

Whoever left him did put a dish of water in with him, at least. I fed him a couple of slices of ham that he ate eagerly after oh, so very gently taking it from my fingers. He seems to be a good boy.

We are keeping an eye on him as there's no shade over the trailer and we are hoping his owner comes soon. Thankfully it's nice and cool with a breeze blowing so he should be pretty comfortable for the morning - if laying in a steel trailer by yourself can ever be considered comfortable. Of course, now that I write this, he's crying & throwing himself against the sides of the trailer.

Poor Doggie.

Stay tuned for updates.

Thinking out loud Thursday #1

Welcome to the first of my 2010 Thinking out Loud Thursdays. I tried to come up with a better alliteration as it seems to be all the rage, but I've never been a huge fan of it & it shows, I think LOL Pretty much this is going to be a (weekly? monthly? who knows how interested I'll be as the year progresses) random collection of things I've thought or seen or been interested in over the past week. I expect it to be a real hodge podge with no real meaning, but maybe you'll find something interesting, too. So hang on, here we go!

I don't know about you, but my computer is ugly. I think I could be more productive if I had something super cool. I want one like this:

Check out SchultzeWORKS

Sweet Hubby moment: A quick phone call a few minutes after he knocked off work - "I have just enough money in my hand for each of us to have a couple of beers. Would you like some?" and he remembered my favourite choice (a big deal, he tends not to remember details so much!)

Saving mashed potatoes:
Have you ever made mashed potatoes that turned out to be just slightly not the right texture? Really yummy but just a little too smooth? I did the other day. (Yes, I said "I"!) But hubby discovered (by accident?) how to fix them right up so they are darned near perfect.

Pop them in a glass baking dish - we used the lid of one so we had a longer, thinner layer rather than a big mass - and put them uncovered in the oven (set to about 180C) for half an hour or so. Make sure not to brown the top. Perfect!

How about jumping rope to get fit?
Dave and I had a little jump-rope-a-thon the other night. Basically we learned that we suck at it. We're not in grade school anymore, Toto. We probably need a little more practice before we try out for the team.
Now this is jumping rope.
Watch the whole thing coz it's just simply amazing!

I see you visualizing exactly the kind of person using this (from There, I Fixed It)


Treadmill time.
Dave has been super good about jumping on the treadmill for some real running action. I'm taking more of a feline approach, as illustrated by Boof.


I love sharks.
Some super cool research on Hammerhead sharks was released this week.

Women's razors.
I know, weird topic, yes? But sometimes I think about these things. Like the other day when Hubby brought me home my very own Ladies Shaver. I'm guessing he did it coz he's not totally behind my using his all the time.

I'm not a huge razor fan. I mean, yes, I use them as needed, but I've never watched one of those ads for the 14 bladed, ergonomically designed, space shuttle tested, engineered by the tops shaving minds on the planet, add a battery to get a buzz (what the hell does the battery powered razor offer over a non-battery powered razor anyway?), demonstrated by some strong jawed male model with a way past five o'clock shadow and thought "Oh my god, that's it! I must have one of those razors RIGHT NOW and my life will be complete!" or, errmmm, "Oh my god, that razor is just thing my husband needs and our lives will be complete!" Perhaps that's just me and I'm we're missing out.

Anyhoo, so Hubby brings home the lady version. Because, obviously, the razors for men won't work on a woman and I've been deluding myself all these years. It's taken a team of 100s and an R&D budget of millions to create the male version, but it's still just not quite right for the fairer sex. Nope. Better do it all again for the ladies.

So, what's different? Well, the women's version is H-U-G-E. Remember those big fat crayons & pencils we had back in kindergarten? The ones our tiny hands just couldn't control very well, but we were all told "It's OK to color outside the lines. That's creative!" Well, now we can relive that experience in our showers. I'm not sure how being creative with our shaving technique is a good thing or how having a honkin' big handle is meant to help those with presumably dainty hands, but what do I know - I'm not in marketing or R&D.

But at least it's a pretty colour.

How can I be four days behind

Amazing, my skillz. It's January 4th and I'm already four days behind this new year. Must be some sort of a record, really. I do hope there's a cool prize.

I had great intentions of making sure I did a blog post at least every other day. I also had great intentions of taking some photos just for fun every single day. Actually, I am doing OK on those, I just haven't really gotten good at downloading, editing and uploading them to share...baby steps. It's always nice to have room to improve, I guess.

So far our 2010 has been interesting.

A tree jumped out of a driveway while Dave was backing up and hurt the back of the Land Cruiser

We've had a water leak out the back that has turned the patio into a bit of a swimming pool; the air-conditioner in the living room coped with the heat - we've been between 46-49C for days now - by leaking a bit of water down the wall and said water may have slightly dripped into a powerboard so now we're pulling all of our cords (you have no idea the sheer number) out and waiting for it all to dry before Dave goes touching anything; I've been out on the boat guiding customers and yesterday did something painfully bad to my ear; for some reason some of the email I try to send to the dive shop simply comes right back to me & we can't figure out why so I spend more time resending via Dave's address just to get it where it needs to go; our treadmill (Dave's been running almost daily, me, not so much) just had its shock absorbers go kaput so now it works but without any incline. Boof does not seem bothered.

We could all learn a lot from Boof.

Since Christmas we've just been doing what we do. Working at the dive shop and out on the boats, taking the Girlies down to the watery place, trying to stay cool, catching up with friends for a few drinks & conversation.




I'm still getting used to one of my new lenses so have been dragging it to the shop and around the house whenever I can. The other day after getting back from our dives there were three emus across the road from Exmouth Diving Centre. Several of our clients headed over to take some photos and one of the girls got adopted pretty quickly as the emus begged for food. Once they saw the only thing to be had was a camera, they resuming plucking scraps from the grass next to where the food van parks five nights a week.


MatildaLily continues to be a most uncooperative subject and her new thing is completely ignoring me when I have a camera

Lobo puts up with me, but I'm pretty sure it was mostly because it was too danged hot for him to get up and move away


Dora isn't super keen on photos, but she's a smoocher when I try to get a shot up close with her...this is the outtake from the other day, but I like it.

Photography is picking up again and I'm spending a lot of time working with clients, answering new emails and creating new options for my brides & portrait clients. I am so looking forward to everything this year!

Welcome 2010

Two weeks ago I had an excellent plan for my first blog post of the year. Then real life crept back in and most of what I thought about where I'd be on this momentous day turned out to be...well...different.

2009 had its ups and downs and mostly I'm pretty happy to see it gone. Again. Seems like the past couple of years have been like that. But I have hopes for 2010, my 40th year. I don't expect it to be all butterflies, sunshine and fairy dust but I'm hoping for a little more of that mixed in, at least. I've got a few more battle scars thanks to '09, but I also have some more strength, some more character, some more sense of who I am and who I want to be. Those are good things.

I know first posts are supposed to be all about the resolutions we're making so here are some of mine. You know, so there's a record!
#1 I'm going to find some more of my wild child, find some more fun, laugh more. I want to stop comparing myself to others or worrying about what others think so much. I want to be confident that I am actually lovable and valuable as just me, even when I don't fit the mold very well.

#2 I turn 40 this year and I am going to get back to the Fit Me. Maybe not the Fit Me I was when I was 23, but the Fit Me who takes better care of herself so she can get out and enjoy everything in life with those she loves. Yeah, Baby - 40 is gonna be fabulous!

#3 I'm going to be more organized, hoard less stuff and keep things tidier in my physical space. Fierce, that's my new motto. Except for my desk. I have a system.

#4 I'm going to wear clothes that are not work clothes sometimes & not put my hair in a sloppy ponytail or under a hat every day. I know, hard to imagine, but I do own things that don't say "Exmouth Diving Centre" or "Ningaloo Reef". Not many things, but some. I may even wear more pink. I will have to buy new shorts.

#5 I'm going to grow my business, Kristin Anderson Photography. I love it, I love my clients, I love experimenting, I love just having a camera in my hands. I love everything about what I'm creating. I want to do it every day! It's my purrfect job (ok, sorry, I had to try to figure out how to stick this photo of a tiger in here)

OK, nuff of the corny "first day of the rest of my life" post. At least I found a use for some of the photos I'd never looked at that I shot with my then spankin' new Canon 40D & Canon 70-200L 2.8 IS lens at the Denver Zoo back in 2007 - see, I've already started organizing & tossing stuff by cleaning a hard drive today! I think that means I can safely put a tick next to #3 above now, right?

It's going to be 43C here tomorrow, I'm going to be out on the boat guiding divers and who knows what else. One thing's for sure, there will be another post of nothing much at all and another photo or two...that's another resolution I'm aiming for :)

Happiest New Year to You All - bring on 2010!

Day 1 of the new year and Dora's already over the whole Mom with Camera thing!