I figured it was about time I shared some of the photos we took while on vacation and from the ill-fated dive that sunk my camera. It’s a bit unfortunate that we only took a few shoots of the other people we went with and the house we stayed in. Both were very lovely. Thank goodness for iPhones, we did use those a fair amount. Perfect in a sunny location snapping shots of your friends.

What I was trying to capture with these dive shots was the way we as divers interact and become part of the landscape. That without trying we create wonderful shapes and openings. Most people take pictures of the fish they see, honestly you can buy a postcard that looks better. You can’t however recreate what it was like to be with that specific group of divers. Each time you go down there is something unique that happens from sort of being a team. Usually you dive with a partner but after a bit others will signal you when see something. Each person trying to make sure that everyone gets to experience that unique. No matter how many sharks, rays and turtles you see each one is awesome.

So this led me into the goal of capturing the scene and not the little fishies. Josh did bring up one point after reviewing my edits. Something is missing about the mood if you, the viewer, can’t see that the divers are looking at. The reefs in Cozumel were teeming with fish but not a single one shows up in my shots. So I guess there is room for improvement, getting a flash with a red filter might help. Maybe I’ll have to add that into my budget this year too.

Now this post may be a bit T.M.I. for some of you, so I apologize now but I’m sure that I’m not the only woman out there with desire to have smooth legs. I recently received a Philips Satin Perfect Epilator kit to try out, if only this was the first epilator I’ve tried.

For those whom have not had the joy of trying one, the pain is worth it. Yes these little babies pull the hair out but they also leave you smooth and rash free. It is more of a stinging sensation than pain, best to start when your unwanted hair is fairly short. One of the first things I noticed about the Philips epilator was that the “tweezers” were plastic, I felt like this was more gentle but I also won’t last as long at one with metal. The set comes with a number of different guards and a razor head. I think it would be a great kit for someone who wanted to try an elipator for the first time. Personally having it be rechargeable is a huge plus. I’m always out of batteries at the worst moments.

;

Courtesy of Scott Dial

I love to make squished penny souvenirs in those crank handle machines. I have been doing it for years, long before I started traveling for work. They are all in my wallet too, along with some foreign coins. They are small, lighweight and each is very unique. My collect was much bigger a few years ago, before my wallet was stollen. If they were only going to take the cash and drop the wallet, why take my worthless squished pennies. Oh well, lesson learned.

So I still continue to make them, every so often pulling out a few to reminisce. What is your collection?

***This is part of a series of posts called “Travel Tuesday“, each covering topics unique to our lifestyle***

Josh posing in front of our Marina's booth

There are two other teams that we work with we consider to be family. The team that helped get us hired, Lynn and Lloyd, and the team with own our boat with, Nathan and Traci. It is rare that all six of us all together let alone with the amazing timing of an event life a Boat Show. Lynn and Lloyd are to blame for getting the rest us into sailing, our boat was owned by them first. They now live aboard a gorgeous vessel in Florida. After seeing each other at the office on Friday, plans were made too all meet up for the Detroit Boat Show on Saturday. Not that any of us really need a new boat but it is still fun to look and even more fun to do it together.

This was just too cute to not try out

Now I did mention that we are all sailing fans and unfortunately this time there was not a single sailboat at the show. Not even vendors that sold things for sailboats. It was just rows and rows of pontoon boats. Very disappointing, so after a couple of hours we all decided that lunch might be a better place to catch up. We really haven’t seen anyone for a year and so much has happened. Houses were bought and sold, relatives engaged and had babies. I can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend in Detroit then with these fine folks.

Enjoying a Delicious meal at Bistro 24

waterskiing Roo

There are actually kids inside those balls, this was about the only exciting thing going on

Filed under: Friend Visits, Sailing ]]> http://thevangelders.com/2012/02/20/all-my-rowdy-friends/feed/ 2 akrsouth 20120220-115315.jpg 20120220-115330.jpg 20120220-115324.jpg 20120220-115335.jpg 20120220-115339.jpg http://thevangelders.com/2012/02/19/coming-this-week-february-19-25/ http://thevangelders.com/2012/02/19/coming-this-week-february-19-25/#comments Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:00:22 +0000 Abigail http://thevangelders.com/?p=5138 ]]> This week we will be spending most of our time wrapping things up at the office for a month long trip back out into the road. We will be arriving in the Twin Cities on Friday to launch. This is just an outline for the trip, check the calendar page for updates. Twin Cities – Feb 24-26; Tomah, WI – Feb 26-28; Appleton, WI – Feb 28-Mar 3; Dallas/Fort Worth/Houston – March 6-11. We have a week of time to travel around then onto Washington DC for March 19-25.

Courtesy of Google Maps

Post of the Week: After telling my buddy Ree over at Rockmad about botching a flight booking, she posted this gem about a much worse incident. Lucky for me I’m only out $75, cheaper than the original flight.

For someone who likes to find new beauty products and loves samples this is perfect. They pick a variety of products that might fit your general interest and others that introduce you to new things. They even have special edition boxes you can send to others, like brides or new moms. Hmmm, I know more than a few of those this year.

One of the reasons I’m so loyal to Sephora is the massive amounts of samples that you get with purchases. Needless to say I frequent the site, spent enough last year to be upgraded to “V.I.B.” status.

While I don’t think that decal eyeliner or garnet tape will become a permanent part of my routine, it is fun to try something new. Thank you Birchbox, I’m hooked.

Courtesy of Ree Ericksen Photography

We were able to work about this little issue and continued taking it down. After a couple of days Josh had a try at it. Unfortunately something went wrong with the housing and it LEAKED!!! Yep drowning my camera. So I will be taking it in this week hoping that the insurance will cover the damage. Otherwise I get a new camera!