•°o.O The Tater Tots Family 2011 O.o°•

[tristaw.]

I love your pictures, Sophie. They brightened my day

 

[Nela]

Awww Trist I am happy if you got a smile out of them. *Hugs*

 

[JadeIcing]

Guess what my fave pics are....

 

[Nela]

I took them with exactly you in mind :winkThe leopard geckos were hiding, you could only see the tails so I didn't bother. Lol. I figured you have seen tails enough

 

[MiniLopHop]

What wonderful pictures! I love a good zoo too. The three toed box turtle looks so much like my Kate. The aquarium pictures were my favorite. Your such a great photographer

 

[myheart]

Wow!! Such great pics!! I don't even know where to start to comment about them. I can't believe a camera could take such wonderfully nice photos. They all make me feel like I'm right there looking at everything myself.

I might have to steal one of the butterfly pic for the desktop on my computer. They look like spring all over!! I can't believe the amount of fruits and nectar that are put out for the butterflies.

Simply awesome pictures. Looks like you had a wonderful day out.

myheart

 

[Nela]

MiniBrandy:

Lol I call you that so I don't get you two confused with the other Brandy on here Yeah, a good zoo can be enjoyed for sure. I think this one is a good zoo but they need to update - which, from my understanding, they are in the process of doing. From what I have seen, the dutch love animals and are quite involved in many animal rescue organizations. I cannot wait to go visit the other zoos :biggrin:Oh and I have to go to Sea Life too! I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures! :biggrin:I have a good camera. Lol. As forthe role I actually play in it, I have no idea if I make a difference much or not but thank you. Hehehe.

Janet:

I am glad I was able to share the happiness with the pictures. I also love watching animals. I love to try and catch that playful look in their eye, etc. I had wondered at first if they'd be worth sharing but I thought some might enjoy them. We don't go to the zoo everyday anyway right? :biggrin:Feel free to use anything you want for your desktop. Hehehe it makes me happy if it can make someone smile. The butterfly pavillion was great. There were lots of trees, plants, flowers... It felt nice. Watching them fly about freely was a nice thing. I quite enjoyed chasing after them. I actually picked a fight with this goregous blue butterly. It did NOT want to be photographed. It actually landed on my shoulder for a brief moment just to taunt me. It was nice to see them enjoy the fruit that was left out for them. It gave us many oppurtunities for pictures.

 

[Nela]

Nothing too new to report today. On Monday, Jeff worked from home so that was nice. We got his work area setup last week so he was more comfortable. I spent most of the day playing Sims3 really. I hadn't played it in a while. Lol. I felt really nauseated at one point and thought I was coming down with something. ThenI felt shakey, tested my sugar, and sure enough I was in hypo. Bah. I can't seem to get used to it. Lol. At least that's all it was

I was pretty ticked off about my Sims because of a glitch with their latest update. My Sims were always getting depressed. :grumpy:Anyway, I got annoyed and went off on a rant about EA customer service.Hehehe. I managed to install the previous version without messing anything else and was happy again.

Yesterday, I played some more but I also cleaned, ironed, and cooked. It was a pretty quiet day - just how I like it. Lol. I was very sad to hear about the earthquake in New Zealand though. Some things are just so heartbreaking... Things like that really remind me to appreciate whatI have. Things pale so much in comparison towhat 'could be' or 'could come'...

I tried exercising today and got a few minutes done on the bike but couldn't do more. Could they have made the seat any more uncomfortable? :shock:Geez my butt hurts! LOL. I tried putting a cushion but it wasn't enough. I'm thinking of strapping some memory foam on it or something... The problem is, the seat is on the lowest setting and I can barely touch the pedals and anything added only makes it harder to reach... Oh the joys of being short

Over the weekend, we got a pot of Narcissus and they started blooming. Most of the flowers are open now and they make me so happy. I love them. I took a few pictures so here you go:

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[align=center]These are of the plants we got some days ago:[/align]
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[align=center]Some cute ones of the cats:[/align]
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That's it for now! :biggrin:

 

[Nela]

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[align=center]IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!!![/align]
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[align=center]*Runs outside*[/align]
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[MiniLopHop]

:runningrabbit:

Run Away! Run Away! I hate snow

 

[lyndor]

Hello --- I'm new to the forum, and just read your blog there... yes!

It's really entertaining and well written

 

[Nela]

LOL Brandy. Awww snow is so much fun!

Lyndor, I'm so happy you enjoyed our blog :biggrin:Thank you so much for letting me know. Looking forward to getting to know you more.

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I went out by the house for a brief walk and grabbed a very few pictures so here you are:

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[Nela]

Woot woot! I've just opened a package I received allll the way from Australia :biggrin2:Inside I found: tim tams, marshmellow cookies, mint cookies, an autralian scarf, post card, kangaroo stuffie and even a wombat stuffie. Now how many of you can say you have a wombat? Am I spoiled or what! Hehehe. It's made my day. :biggrin2:I've been really blessed with people mailing me here since I moved. Getting mail adressed to me here always gives me warm fuzzies.

By the way, Tim Tams are highly addictive

 

[lyndor]

I have never heard of any of that food :S

 

[MiniLopHop]

PM me your address and I will send you a package. I know the feeling, I cheer every time I get mail and I havn't moved anywhere. Too bad I can't mail a cheese steak, that is what Philly is known for.

I have a duck billed platypus, but no wombat.

 

[JadeIcing]

Love snow.

 

[Flash Gordon]

hey Sof......you ROCK with the camera my friend.!just so ya know....
i have a decent camera but theres too many settings and i confuse easily...what kinda camera do u have and do u change the settings alot or just auto?

 

[Nela]

[align=center]Lyndor:[/align]
[align=center]Lol. I hadn't either really. Vegemite is like marmite although many people like one or the other but not both. It's yeast extract? It kind of reminds me of beef concentrate. The odder thing is people usually spread it over toast with butter, so eaten like that and not used for cooking. I haven't actually tried it yet. Lol. Tim Tams are these cookies that remind me of a chocolate bar. Kinda like Kit Kat I guess, but hmm well yummier :biggrin2:[/align]
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[align=center]Brandy:[/align]
[align=center]Awww lol you are sweet. I've never had a cheese steak. :confused2:Sounds yummy. Hehehe. Ah ah,I don't have a platypus. Hmmm...Hehehe. I love stuffed animals. :biggrin2:I'm 25 but still love them. :embarrassed:We have a room made like a walk-in closet and Jeff put all my stuffies up on some shelves there so when I walk in there they are looking down on me. Hehehe. Back in the day, I had started collecting the TY Pluffies series because I had an idea for a baby's room... I just love those Pluffies. I also have this one bunny wrapped around my table lamp. I should take a few pictures... [/align]
[align=center]Oh speaking of pictures... I have this one picture that Jeff took when we were packing up my stuff. I hate me on it but I thought it was appropriate to share now. Lol. [/align]
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[align=center]His comment was "Yep... They ALL have to come."[/align]
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[align=center]Ali:[/align]
[align=center]I knoooow. Isn't it great? :biggrin2:If we were close to each other we could have so much fun. Hehehe. I have such a hard time finding people who appreciate snow [/align]
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[align=center]Lisa:[/align]
[align=center]Awww thank you. Hehehe I'm not really the type of person to follow tutorials or read manuals so I haven't gotten to all that fancy schmancy photography stuff myself. I have always been like that. Build my furniture without glancing at the instructions most of the time, got into playing on photoshop and stuff the same way too. Jeff? He's the total opposite. He'll sit and read through everything first. Then plan, then execute. Most of the time, I stay away because I get annoyed at all the meticulous planning. LOL. [/align]
[align=center]Really, I just have a point and click camera that does all the hard work for me I'm using the Sony Cybershot T-series camera - in cherry pink (yes, I had to specify that it's pink!) LOL. To be honest, I was quite worried about paying that much for a point and click (was a bit pricier some months ago)but I'm thrilled that Jeff convinced me otherwise. Jeff is the fancy schmancy photographer so he knows enough to make better decisions. Lol. [/align]
[align=center]I believe this is the right one:[/align]
[align=center]http://www.sony.co.uk/product/dsc-t-series/dsctx5r.ceh[/align]
[align=center]Really, usually I don't play much with the settings at all. There is the auto-program which works great in most instances. Sometimes, I do have to go choose another setup due to lighting or something but it's really easy. Aside from that, all I do is decide if I want flash or not (or a soft flash), burst, etc. The only time I have a littletrouble with it is when I'm inside on a rainy day. Also, it doesn't zoom so far so if dealing with lots of far away shots it might get annoying. Again, I haven't read the manual yet so I know that it still has a lot more potential that I haven't tapped into. Since most of the time I want to be taking pictures of animals, I really have no patience nor time to spend fiddling with settings. We all know how hard it is to catch our furbabies in their moments so I love that this camera is very quick in general. I still have yet to get a good ear-grooming picture though. :expressionless[/align]
[align=center]This camera is my favorite toy. It's the best I've ever had and I just love having it. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone that doesn't have the patience or know-how of the fancier cameras. It's also great because it's so small. It's the same size as my cell phone. Lol. So you can easily pocket it and bring it everywhere. Also, like I said, it's very quick to turn on and use so that can often buy you precious time to catch the shot you want. Oh, btw, my camera worked better than Jeff's in the dark settings. :biggrin2:I think he'd have to purchase some expensive add-ons or something to make it work better. For what I want to do with it, it makes me very happy. [/align]
[align=center]Woo that was a long babble! Lol [/align]
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[TinysMom]

Wow - I'm just now catching up on your blog - I LOVE your photos for the zoo and the flowers and stuff.

I've been meaning to ask you (feel free to say its none of my business) - how has it been adjusting to the foods that are available there compared to where you lived before? Ever crave certain things?

I have a friend who is a missionary in Latvia and one of my projects later this year (they come home in March for a few months) - is to send her a care package once a month with little things they miss from the states. Its so interesting the things we take for granted....and don't realize that not everyone can get them!

 

[Nela]

Peg:

I'm really happy you enjoyed the pictures. Don't be silly, ask away!

Oof! Yes, food wise it's been an adjustment. I mean, the dutchies looooooooove potatoes. I have never eaten so many potatoes in my life. Plus, I don't really love potatoes nor are they good for me. LOL.

I miss little things... Skittles, golden grahams, Betty Crocker/Duncan Hinescake mixes (especially golden cake)... What I miss the most? Dill pickles. Gosh I miss those terribly. All the pickles I find here are thesweet and sour kind. I've found small jars of just sour ones but they aren't like the dill so I've resorted to growing my own dill and sticking it in the jars. Lol. It helps a bit... I have to try making my own this summer. No spruce beer nor cream soda here either. I can't make ice cream floats. Lol. I can't even make poutine because I cannot find the bbq sauce nor curd cheese. No Tim Hortons coffee either. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Thank goodness I have found maple syrup! LOL.

My family sent me a care package as my bday/christmas gift in January so I got cake, golden grahams, and skittles in there. It made me really happy. :biggrin2:I think care packages are great. A taste from home is always enjoyable. When my ex mother-in-law used to live with me, her family sent her things from home as well because she was terribly homesick.

Luckily, I love almost everything so I have a lot of fun trying things here and slowly replace home favorites with local ones. I think what gets to me when I receive a care package is just the fact that someone from back home still remembers me. Lol. It makes the food included very enjoyable. I have kept a very few skittles to munch on when I get lonely. :biggrin2:

I'm sure your friend will love you for it I don't know how you'd go about it but you might want to find out what can be sent and what cannot. My friend from Australia had originally sent macadamia nuts in the package so it was sent back to her because they are not allowed through. With postage, it can add up quickly.

It's funny though because sometimes, when you move to a new country, it's really the little things that can get under your skin. It makes me laugh to think how the silly little things can upsetsomeone so much.I know I was terribly disappointed about my pickles

I hope your friend is enjoying Latvia. :biggrin: