The Broadbent Family...

Going through some old photos, I came cross this one which I took while on a cruise to Ensenada. This was taken from my window when I awoke in the morning...

Hope everyone has a happy and safe Labor day weekend.

Random photo from a small village in the mountains of Japan...

(Sorry about the links getting in the way, its either smaller photos or dealing with the text. Unless someone knows how to reformat the blog page better than I do??)




Hope everyone has a great day!

Despite going back to school last week was pretty good. Wednesday I spent the day at the beach in La Jolla kayaking, snorkeling and working on my sunburn. I knew I should have put sunscreen on. Luckily its not too bad and I am not suffering anymore until I get diagnosed with skin cancer in 15 years from now. The water was so warm, and was crystal clear too. Seals, tiger sharks, and lots of fish to be seen. The new position at work makes time fly by when I'm working so that's good too. :) I am working on trying to get my fall photography stuff going too so as always, Im keepin busy! Anyway, I wish I had something more to write, but this is all I want to have publicly known I suppose. Here are a couple pics from La Jolla last week.

Well a couple of days ago I babysat my nieces and my nephew. We always have fun as they are definitely a unique fun loving bunch! My nephew is really into computer games and Wii but I was able to tear him away for a lil bit so we could all go to the park. I decided that I should bring the camera since I havn't been able to shoot much lately. Anyhow here are some shots...

The Bunch


Aeralyn


Aeralyn


Aspen


Kanyon

I had a blast! It was so much fun and the sights were incredible. Anyhow, I'm not that great at writing, so I'll try and let the photos say what I can't. P.S. I haven't cropped the photos so a lot of them are probably tilted and a little out of whack.
























Below is the pass where I thought I was going to fall 12,300 feet to my death... I know it doesn't look bad (the incline was roughly 75-80 degrees), but any seasoned rock climber will tell you, you don't know how bad the incline is until you rub noses with it and go cheek to cheek. The trail was impassable so we were forced to climb the last 100 vertical feet or so...











Wow, that's a lot of photos so if your not on a decent high speed line then I probably just froze your computer. Sorry, I hope you saved your work. :)

-Ellis

Well it has been quite a while since I have blogged anything. To be honest, I almost forgot about it. Anyway, I have been pretty busy and am in the middle of summer school right now. I got a 5 day break before I started, so I havnt really done anything exciting this summer so far. Despite having to work my birthday was good and fun too.

I am excited for my lil mini vacation next week. I am going to the Sierra's and I will be going on my longest backpacking trip to date, 5 days. I am so excited! I have been lookng at my gear today trying to decide what to bring and what to leave to keep my pack weight down. Next I will decide my meals and food and then Ill pack it all in and see where my pack weight is. I know this sounds easy, but considering you do not want to carry extra weight, you want to be prepared for adverse weather and other stuff. Trying to fit it in your bag and keep weight down becomes quite a science or scrutinizing task. More or less you basically have to give up creature comforts in order to save weight, and everyone is different on what they're willing to give up. Anyway, my pack weight is at about 27lbs (im definitely not an ultralight guy) right now before food and water (which is very heavy). If possible id like to get it to 25 lbs before food and water.

Well I am off to look at my food options...
-Ellis

I am nearly going out of my mind studying for my finals. I have taken a ton of time these past two weeks from work to study and I am stressin big time. Luckily, my Business law final is over and I was fortunate enough to pull off an A in the class. My computer Science class is also done and I got in A there too. I expect an A in my geology class, but wont know until I turn in my term paper (which is late) I was supposed to turn it in 2 weeks ago, then I pleaded with my professor who gave me the chance to turn it in last week, but with all my studying and worrying I forgot to turn it in. Hopefully, he accepts it when I turn it in tomorrow... My last 2 finals are tomorrow morning starting at 8. Economics followed by Math...

Well I better get back to studying, it will all be over soon. :) Too bad I only get 5 days off before my Summer class begins. :(

My apologies if I have not been available and or around much due to my schedule this semester (last 5 months), but school is my highest priority at the moment, and I have not really taken very much time to enjoy my hobbies this semester either (except for my AZ trip which was a mini vacation, but also part of my geology class). Next semester should be better as I don't expect to take such a big class load. This semester felt like suicide at times.

-Ellis

So I went to AZ last week and got home last night. I left on Thursday and camped in Flagstaff, AZ. I spent Friday walking around the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I was there with some people including my good friends Katie and Matt that I met when I went to the Sierra's and owens valley last year. Anyway we were at Hopi Point when I suggested I should take a picture of Matt pretending to grab Katie's lower leg and throw her over the railing. We laughed and continued to walk around the lookout point. Then Matt handed me Katies camera (a Canon 40D SLR) and asked me to take a picture of them. I said, "of course." I saw him bend down and I thought he was going to grab her leg and pretend to throw her into the canyon for a picture, but suddenly I noticed a ring box was in his hand while he was rested on one knee. I was just as surprised as Katie to see him proposing right here at this very moment. For a second I forgot I needed to start snapping photos, lol. Katie started crying and it was such a special moment that I was so happy to be a part of. This takes my total of witnessed and photographed proposals to 2. One I knew about beforehand and this one was a complete surprise. Anyhow, it was fun to shoot a proposal with such a beautiful backdrop. So a big congratulations to Matt and Katie!

Saturday, we went to meteor crater and I touched a huge meteorite. We walked along the rim and the wind was really blowing hard. It was a bit deceiving, but apparently you could fit 20 football fields at the bottom of the crater. After that we cruised over to Sedona and walked around and ate dinner.

Sunday, we packed up and left for Havasu and hung out there for a bit, walked around and had lunch. The rest of the day was pretty much driving home until I got home last night. I took some pictures with my point and shoot (I didnt bring my SLR, can you believe it!?!?!?) so those will come perhaps later this week.

This week is going to be extremely busy, I am trying to finish the pictures from the wedding I did last month, have a case briefing due Wednesday, another paper due Thursday, and mix some homework and work in there and you have a big bowl of Ellis' life. Yummy!

Well as mentioned yesterday I shot the kids of the Malick family. They are such a fun bunch and each one has such unique personality. More later, but I gotta run enjoy the pics...

So I have been working really hard (in my personal opinion) on all of my classes despite all of the hours I am working with my jobs. Each week is a struggle it seems just to try to keep up with assignments (I am behind on reading and don't see how I can keep up with it). Despite my lifelong struggles with Math I am doing Ok with it this semester. I took a test last Monday, and got it back today and I got another B! I was really hoping for an A, but I guess I can settle for an A. I also had a test in my law class last week. I have to say it was pretty tough. Quite a few of the questions were pretty much the same, but the wording was different and all "lawyerish" sounding, lol. P.S. I am putting a copyright on the word lawyerish. Look for it in Websters Dictionary by 2012. Despite my B's I have been getting, I really want A's. With Mid terms looming on the horizon I am getting nervous. I am really trying to bump my GPA from a 3.4 to a 3.5. I really think the only way I can do it is to work less so I can study a bit more. I think it will provide the extra bit I need to start pulling some A's. I don't think I want to take 15 units again... It is a lot of work and my grades are suffering a little bit because of it. I am impressed that I am doing as well as I am, but it was a bad move I think when I am trying to raise my GPA, taking an extra class and working full time. It might be time to look at my financial situation again and see where I can cut back...

I have been sick for almost a week and when you are already exhausted and then get sick, it really sets you back. Luckily today, I had a quick photo shoot to lift my spirits. We took advantage of some Wildflowers to shoot around and I cant wait to go through the photos! I should have some posted within the next 3-4 days...

So I am a bit sleep deprived at the moment. I have a math test today that I have been studying for, had an economics paper due his morning, and I am sure there is probably something due in my Law class that I haven't got to yet, and wont get to by class time later today. Life has been Work, school/study repeat. Nothing exciting to speak of... I think taking 15 units may have been a mistake this semester especially when I am trying to raise my GPA 1 point by the end of the semester from a 3.4 to a 3.5.

Ok well gotta go study a bit more before my math class.

Here are some random photos from one of my trips to Portland, OR.

Well in one of my posts recently I posted a picture of Kevin and Courtney who are getting married in April. The wedding will be at a hillside restaurant overlooking L.A. Talk about a great location with an awesome couple.... Whooo I can't wait!

Anyway, on Super Bowl Sunday we headed out to do their engagement session. We had lots of fun, some good laughs and finished up with some good mexican food and caught the end of the Super Bowl game. Here are some of the shots...

So tonight I have another soccer game. I love Tuesdays for this reason alone, but once my game is over I get saddened to know I won't be playing for another week. Until next week, where I will start playing on Thursdays as well. This will be good to help keep my butt in shape and maybe get back some of the skills I had 10 years ago when I was playing everyday for hours on end.

I have finally regained my ability to score. The last couple of games I have scored and my ability to connect with the back of the net has not been there since league started 4 weeks ago. I suppose 2 games scoreless isn't bad after coming back after a long break, but I am too competetive not to be scoring regularly. Anyways, I do have to say for being out of shape I have been kickin butt the last couple of weeks. I have been scoring, juking, making awesome runs, and getting lots of assists too! Well we are currently undefeated and and tied for first place with another team (also undefeated). Well we play them tonight and I expect we will have a tough battle ahead. One of our better players has been offered a job which requires going back to Iraq so he is out, and another good player may not continue playing due to other family priorities.

Well It's time to get ready...

-Ellis

I am so excited, I just found my bike light for my Mtn. Bike. I was cleaning out my truck and found it in one of the hidden compartments. Why am I so excited? Its been missing a while, it means I can go Mtn. Biking at night again (riding alone is a bad idea, but its even worse at night), And the thing is HID and super bright. Not to mention the thing costs like $350, so suffice to say I am pretty ecstatic. Now I just need to find the battery and charger for it. It should be around, but I cant seem to remember where I saw it last... Go Figure!

-Ellis

On my way to class this morning I saw a man holding a sign. No he wasn't a sign flipper... Anyways dressed in a full business suit and a smiling as cars drove by him I wondered what the sign said. As I got closer and proceeded to drive by I was able to see his sign and the message he was advertising. He was advertising himself! His sign said "Will work for Salary." Underneath that it said 20+ years marketing/sales/management experience. I thought to myself what a novel idea! Definitely thinking outside the box if you ask me... It did make me a little bit sad though because it just shows the sad state that our economy is facing and the worst part is that we haven't seen the worst of it. I am not big n negativity at all so on the bright side the man was gone when class was over. He must have landed a lead for a job just on his sher creative approach!

On another note, I would like to wish my Dad Happy Birthday. He turns 1/2 a century today... Unfortunately I wont be able to spend much time with him cuz I need to study and then will be running off to my Soccer game tonight. The dinner celebration should be good though since it brings the fam together. :)

Well gotta run. Here is a couple snaps I took from one of my favorite places in the world... (no not the toilet, LOL)

So today I started back at school and believe it or not I was actually on time to my first class at 8a.m. Not only was I on time I was actually early and thats even after I stopped at Starbucks! For anyone that knows me pretty close knows that I am typically on a 5 minute delay of our pacific coast time. Anyways, Im kinda glad to be back in school, but also nervous knowing the impending workoad and lack of social life I am looking at. At least I have set a date for a trip this spring! I am going to the Grand Canyon and I may hit one of the other destinations I mentioned before as well but this will probably be the first mentionable trip for this year.

As I was walking by the bookstore trying to peddle some of my old books back to the school, I saw a young girl struggling to walk in her high heels, look fashionable and sophisticated, and carry her new stack of schoolbooks and purse. Under her heavy load of makeup (in my opinion) I could see that she was getting quite frustrated and I felt a little chuckle rumble from deep inside me. Luckily I didn't let it escape me and she had no idea what I was thinking as she glanced over at me. The cost of fashion and education the ladies go through nowadays, real dedication!

Well tomorrow is day 2 as I am going to be going to school 4 days a week this semester and taking on 15 units. wish me luck!

I feel my blog is bland and boring without some photos so I dug up an old photo from one of my first road trips after purchasing my rebel years ago now (ahhhh memories...) This was taken in Northern California off the side of a highway. I put it through a traditional color version and I also tried to replicate a color infrared image and a B&W image just cuz I love them.



Side Note: Aren't Oak Trees cool??? They just remind me so much of the rolling hills of California...

Color infrared:




-Ellis