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...