I decided to do a little photography website as a mini portfolio. I don't have much time to work on it right now so I am sure it will be a slow work in progress but feel free to check it out when you have time. Check back fro time to time for updates.
http://www.freewebs.com/chellsshots/
I have not been bloggin much lately since my eyes have been in the healing stage but now that they are slowly getting clearer each week I hope to start blogging more for my dedicated fans. LOL
Well it has been 4 ½ weeks since my PRK laser eye surgery and there has been a vast improvement from before surgery but I am still having trouble with my vision and at my appointment this morning they said it will be at least another 4 weeks. Apparently my close-up vision will be the last to stabilize. That has made reading for school and working a bit more of a challenge but hopefully it will get better soon.
This is my last week for the 2 classes I am currently enrolled in. So that will be another 6 credits completed and 46 more to go before graduation. (then I need to decide about going for a MBA or some other graduate degree but I am guessing I will pass on that since I will be pretty burned out by then.) Then next Monday I start my new class which is class #3 for the fall semester. I have things basically mapped out now through graduation with about 6 credits that I don’t know what I am taking yet to fulfill but have a good idea of which semester I will try to get them completed in. The toughest challenge is spacing things out so that work pays for most of what I am taking. Anything over 2 classes a semester comes out of my pocket and I am trying to not have too many classes that I do that with since it is expensive and I really don’t have it budgeted. So as of right now I have one 2 credit class this fall I am paying for and one 4 credit class I will pay for in the spring and possibly another 2 credit class next fall. The killer will be the one this Spring. The 2 credit ones are a little easier to absorb into the budget.
I took my framed photos down for the art show display here at work this morning. They will be up for 84 days. Thanks to everyone who let me know which ones they liked best. Speaking of photography I have not been doing as much with it since my eye surgery since I just can’t see things as clearly as I would like. Thank goodness for auto focus. I will be shooting a wedding reception in 1 ½ weeks and the following weekend I will be doing the Awards banquet for McNeil. I am looking forward to both.
I am in the process of helping my uncle get his business up online. It is kind of slow going since he is super busy as am I and my father who is also helping him. Plus add in the fact that they both live in Maine and I am in PA and the logistics are not the most ideal but as my uncle funnels information to me I will get things rolling. In the mean time my dad and I are moving forward with our plans to start a business which although slow going is definitely progressing in the right direction and we really are just trying to get everything situated so that we can really run with it come the new year. We are both very busy with our full time jobs and church callings and me with school so we do what we can when we have time and energy. Plus neither of us want to jump into anything without a good solid plan in place. I am hoping this will go well so that I have something that I can set aside for retirement I addition to my other investments. If the people that owe me money would pay me back I would have most of what I need to get things up and running but I am not counting on having that money and am trying to save what I need on the side.
Well it has been a little over 3 weeks since I had my eye surgery and I am still not able to see all that great. I have to admit it is frustrating to say the least. I have had things I wanted to Blog about but just have not felt up to it with the eyes being the way they are. They are pretty tired and mostly too fuzzy to see th computer screen after work, and when I can still see I am trying to get homework done.
If I had any idea I was still not going to be able to see that well after 3 weeks I might have rethought the whole surgery, or at the very least chosen a better time to have it done.
Hopefully in a couple more weeks I will be able to see well enough to start blogging again regularly.
So I thought today would be a good day for a Blog update. It has been 10 days since my PRK laser eye surgery and I just got back from the eye doctor. Apparently there are 2 kinds of patients when it comes to PRK. The type that completely heal in 7-10 days, also known as the ones I despise and want to kick and the ones like me that can take 6-8 weeks to heal up. So that means another 4-6 weeks of not so great vision for me. I was assured though it will get better, good thing since right now my vision isn’t good enough to be considered legal to drive at night. It has been a bit frustrating but I have to tell you after talking to Dr. Grey today I felt a little better about the fact that things are still fuzzy and hazy. She had the same surgery that I did and it took her about 6 weeks to heal completely. Still it is a bit frustrating and it makes doing homework, and working a bit more of a challenge and the headaches are not all that fun. So for anyone reading this considering getting PRK done make sure you know there is a chance you could fall into the group that takes weeks if not months to completely heal. There will be good days and bad days. The last 2 days have been good ones for me, as far as the fact that I am seeing the best I have since the surgery but for some reason on Sunday it was one of the worst days I had, so it will fluxuate.
Aside from that I came out of my house this morning to find my car had been vandalized and robbed. Not a great way to start the day. If I wasn’t going to be out of town this weekend I would be cleaning out my side of the garage to get my car in it. Hopefully mom will at least get started on it so the following weekend we can finish it up.
I did manage to get ½ of my homework for this week completed which is a good thing. Now I just need to get the rest finished up by Thursday. This semester is not going as smoothly as my first two this summer but I am not overly concerned at this point. I will just do my best to get things completed on time. I will have to take some work with me when I go to Maine this weekend but I don’t want to fall behind so it is a necessary evil.
I hope I am able to see well enough to take all the picture I want to take while I am in Maine this coming weekend. Thank goodness for auto focus cause there is no way I could manually focus a camera with my eyes like this. Hmm that reminds me I need to get my submission for the art show sent in. I will post the ones I end up submitting in a blog later this week.
So it has been a week since my eye surgery and my vision is not as good as I thought it would be by now. My vision is very hazy and I am hoping that it is temporary and that it will clear up soon. I still don’t know if I will be glasses free or if I will still need them once my eyes stabilize. I am hoping for the being glasses free option. My right eye is still the weaker of the 2 eyes and I am really hoping it starts to get clearer, and the fact that both eyes are considerable worse than they were yesterday is a bit concerning. I really hope by next Friday my eyes are clearer before my drive to Maine.
Last night I left the house for the first time in a week to go some place other than the eye doctor, granted it was just to go to class but it was nice to be out of the house and driving again. I probably should not have been driving but I made it to school and home safe and sound. Tonight I start another class so I will get to venture out again. I am looking forward to this new class even though it is a Friday/Saturday class but it is only for 3 weekends. I am just glad to be starting to get back into the land of the living. I have been working from home for the last few days but the not being able to leave the house thing is getting old.
So I had my PRK laser surgery last Friday at Kremer laser eye center and here I am at day 7 and still can't see that great and am second guessing the whole thing but I just need to give it a bit more time. Hopefully things will get better soon...
So the actual process felt a little bit like I imagine an alien abduction and eye probe would feel like but hey I survived... So there I was in a slightly darkened room, reclined back in what felt uncomfortably like a dentist chair, with bright lights above me and a masked individual telling me to relax. Before I knew it my eyes were being pried open with a contraption that would prevent me from blinking. Then I was told to stare into the light and they put some sort of drops in my eyes that felt like acid burning them and then I was quickly given more numbing drops so the stinging would stop. Then I was told to stare at the light again and the popping of the laser started. My vision faded out and when it was done they were flushed with water, really cold water. Both eyes were done in less than 10 minutes. It was weird walking around without my glasses and not being able to see anything. I kept wanting to put my glasses on.
For the more technical look at the procedure here is what PRK essentially is. PRK is very specific wavelength of far-ultraviolet light energy which will literally vaporize fractional layers of human cells, leaving an incredibly smooth undamaged tissue surface.. When you arrive for the surgery your eye is prepared with a cleansing solution to help guard against infection. Anesthetic drops, to fully numb your eye, are added to assure your total comfort while they vaporize those cell layers off your eyeballs (I needed some extra of those drops because when they started putting other drops in my eyes they both felt like they had been dipped in acid and it really stung for a few minutes. No needles are utilized which is a very good thing since I am not a big fan of needles. Then during the procedure you are asked to look at a light and hold your eye still. See kind of still sounds like an alien abduction and eye probe to me.
Now the entire procedure takes only a few minutes. The actual laser application takes 15 to 60 seconds per eye to complete. You are then released by the aliens from their mother ship, which is oddly shaped like an office building, about an hour later.
So I returned home and promptly went upstairs to rest my freshly lasered eyes.
Day 1- The day of Surgery Friday was lots of resting and pain medication. Everything was very blurry and I was in a bit of pain. I had on my protective contact bandages and tinted goggles; hmm I thought the point of this surgery was to get rid of eye wear not to have to wear extra...
Day 2 Saturday the vision was a little better but I still could not see well enough to read or even watch TV so there was a lot of lying around listening to music and such. The pain was still pretty bad, and I was beginning to rethink the whole thing. I was still really light sensitive so the goggles or a pair of sunglasses stayed on all day.
Day 3 Sunday was the worst day pain and vision wise. Then add to that the discovery of the small pond in the basement from the hot water heater that was leaking and it was just not a fun day. I could not see well enough to turn the gas off to it and I also could not see well enough to be sure I had actually turned the water off. My mom was out running errands and I could not track her down so I call my grandmother who came over and helped me make sure the water was turned off and then helped me clean up the minor flooding we had. Once mom got home I went upstairs to lie down since my eyes felt like they were on fire and everything was so blurry I could only just barely make out shapes.
Day 4 Monday- no vision improvement but the pain was slightly less. I didn't rest my eyes as much as I probably should have since we had the hot water heater being replaced. I still could not read at all or see well enough to get online; eyes were still really light sensitive. I was starting to get really frustrated and depressed that I could not see and was not really able to do anything of value, or entertaining. I was really bored too since I could not even see well enough to watch TV.
Day 5 Tuesday. Vision in the left eye had slightly improved but the right eye was still not any better. I had a check up with the eye doctor and the contact lens bandages were removed. My eyes felt a little scratchy but I was glad to have them out. My eyes were really light sensitive still and I probably over did things a little in the afternoon trying to read to get my homework done for the week. I finished my weekly assignment but still had my paper to do.
Day 6 - Wednesday Left eye had slightly improved but right eye was still not improving. Still light sensitive and still not even close to being able to drive. Again I pushed it and was working from home during the day and online all day, and had to write my paper for class. I had such a terrible headache and was not able to see well enough by late afternoon to keep going so I sent in my paper as was and will just have to do what I can to make sure my next one is better and that I do well on my mid term and final. I am rethinking the whole timing of this surgery. I really hope it doesn't impact my grades too much. I might lose my 4.0 GPA but as long as I get at least a 'B' I will be happy.
Day 7 - Thursday today. Wow what a difference a night can make. I can see 10 times better than yesterday. Vision is still not great but I think I can probably drive myself to class tonight. Everything has a general blurry haze at all distances. Eyes are still light sensitive, and it is still difficult to read and the left eye is at least 3 times clearer than the right which is so odd since it was the left eye I was concerned about due to the scar tissue I had in that eye. But since I can see some and I promised to blog about this I decided to get an update posted.. I have envy for those people that get to have the Lasik surgery and walk out of the office being able to see. So unfair…
Okay so what does that really mean? I will be “offline” from Friday to probably the following Monday, maybe longer depending how the eyes heal after surgery. I am having my PRK laser surgery done Friday and will not be “online” for a few days while my eyes heal. I am actually looking forward to the forced break. I work on a computer all day, my classes at school require at least some online work, I have 2 blogs, a myspace page, a facebook page, at least 5 active email addresses, and I have various chat programs, (Google Talk, AIM, MSN, and Yahoo). Plus I use the internet all the time for various different things like shopping, research, etc.. It is just so over whelming to keep up with it all. So now I will get the break if only for a few days while I recover. I will also not be driving, reading, working, or watching TV, but if I get bored I might listen to it. LOL Really I am hoping to at least get some real resting done, and get caught up on a little sleep at least, since I will have a lot to get caught up on once I am online again and able to drive again and head back to work. As soon as I am back online I promise an update on the eye surgery here on the blog.
Well I would first like to thank all those that have picked out their favorite pictures from below. I think I heard from about 20 people in total, ½ on here and ½ that emailed me their favorites. I will be narrowing down my entries this weekend. I really appreciate all of your support.
Not much new is happening here. I have decided to go ahead and get laser eyes surgery done. I can’t go with the traditional kind where you can actually see the next day. I have thin corneas (Figures the one thin thing about me is the one thing you really don’t want to have be thin.) So this means I will be getting PRK done so I will not be able to see for about a week and it will take a month before it is completely healed. For those that are not familiar with PRK it basically means they burn the top layer of your cornea (the epithelium) off with a laser, then use the laser to reshape the cornea, the stick a protective lens over the cornea for a few days while the epithelium starts to grow back. Sounds painful and from what I hear it will be for a few days. Plus it means very blurry vision for about a week, and several weeks before the vision is stabilized while the removed layer of the cornea grows back. But I should be able to see well enough to drive and get back to my normal routine about a week after surgery. I promise to blog about it after I get it done. I am still working out the scheduling of it since I will need to take a week off from work while I recover.
Hopefully I will be seeing well enough 2 weeks after for my already planned road trip to Maine for my grandmother's 80th birthday..
Okay readers I need your assistance. The company I work for recently sent out an email asking for all serious hobby artists to submit jpeg’s of their artworks for consideration in an upcoming exhibition “SEI Artists” in the SEI Gallery. Works can be paintings, drawings, photographs, printmaking, wood works, craft pieces, etc.. A focused series of work and commitment to the medium is necessary for consideration. What they are concerned with interesting images, interesting content, etc.
Well I have decided to submit some of my photography and decided to do a nature series specifically flowers. Below are the pictures I have narrowed it down to but I need your help to pick out the top 5 favorites. (I got it down from 62 to 27) So please look below and leave me a comment letting me know which 5 you like the best and think I should submit… Help me pick the most interesting images. Let me know if there are any you do not find interesting at all. I will probably do something in addition to the flowers if I can figure out what I want that to be…. Feel free to add any suggestions you might have.
Thanks and I will let you know which ones I submit and if I get chosen or not. With as many people that work here I am guessing there will be a lot of people submitting things.
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Okay let me know your favorites, if you can't just pick 5 keep it to no more than 10.
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So I decided to see if I ould straighten my hair without too much work and sure enough I found something that works. I bought a Maxi glide and despite the really weird name it works really well on my hair. Here are a few pictures of what I look like with straight hair. Kinda strange to see when I am so used to my curls but it is fun to switch it up from time to time.
So what do you all think???.JPG)
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Well the second Summer semester at ursinus has come to a close. Another 2 classes checked off the list. So now I have 12 credits finished and 52 more to go. (Man that makes it sound like I am nnever going to finish...) I took 2 classes that are pass/fail and 2 that were graded. I received an "A" in both of my graded classes. I had the same teaher for 3 of my 4 classes this summer. Joe Vesey. Excellent teacher, My other teacher was Ron Bywaters who was also a great teacher. I have a class with him this fall, and another one with Joe.
Well Fall semster starts up next week. Guess I better get my book and my parking permit for the year...
For those wondering about what I decided to do about my laser eye surgery well it is still up in the air. I want to get it but I do not know yet if I qualify or not. I go back on 9/5 to find out one way or the other.
I am still working on my digital protfolio but it is slow going since I have so much else going on.
Not much else to report.....
So I made an unexpected trip to Maine this past week. What I mean by unexpected is I was not planning on going anywhere this week, but my dad was sick so I went up to see him. I chose to drive up. I actually enjoy driving, when I am actually moving that is. In other words I hate sitting in traffic that is not moving, and even worse is traffic that is not moving for no apparent reason. You sit in it for miles then all the sudden it starts to move again. I did have lots of good music to keep me entertained though. I listened to quite the variety of things both on the way up and back.
Things I learned during my trip:
- Never drive to Maine on a Saturday. That is when all the Tourists are headed up there for vacations and as a result all 4 of the toll booths at the stop going into Maine are backed up for miles (To New Hampshire who also needs to learn about toll booth management. Yea they might want to look into adding a few more booths to handle all the traffic.
- NY has the worst roads
- NJ still sucks… Ugh the traffic was terrible on the way back, and for no apparent reason.
- It is a beautiful drive up to Maine.
- I could make the trip in less than 8 hours if I didn’t get stuck in traffic.
- Easy pass is a wonderful thing; I have no idea why I did not get it sooner. It would be even better if some states ran it better.
- I want to take more road trips; I forgot how much I miss them.
- Riding on a motorcycle is a lot of fun and a great way to experience things around you. (Okay I already knew that but I was reminded of it this trip.) I am going to have to get my M class license here before long. Maybe in the spring I will look into it once I see what my course load is like at school.
- NEVER point out a guy you think is cute to the rest of the family. They will not think twice about stopping him and asking his name and if he is single or not, some might even go as far as taking a picture when they are not looking. Poor Emily….
- Bobbi can’t go anywhere without running into at least 5 people she knows.
- Porcupines like to eat storage sheds
- When Emily blows her nose it sounds like some sort of wild animal
- When you get sick, doctors make you keep a journal of things going in your body and coming back out. Yep Dad has a poop journal.
- The French have some weird taste when it comes to their houses. The neighbors had a green garage and a BRIGHT purple door on it. Dad’s house was built by a French mason in the 70’s and there is a few really interesting things about it. Specifically the flower in the plaster of the ceiling where the ceiling fan is. Wrong, really wrong.
- My family likes to go out to eat.
- Just because you buy a Finch feeder doesn’t mean they will not come eat from your feeder when the neighbor has 10 hanging up.
- My dad will collect just about anything. He has a Subway booth in his carport.
So here is a brief run down of what I did while up there.
The visit was nice. Dad had no idea I was coming so He was quite surprised when I pulled in the driveway and walked up the front walk. I was glad I could surprise him. We went out to Longhorn the first night I was there. Of course Dad and Bobbi knew all the wait staff and the managers in the place. You could tell they eat there a lot. The food was really good. Then it was back to the house and just relaxing for the rest of the night since dad was still not feeling the greatest.
Sunday was the day Susie flew in. So dad and I went to Portland to pick her up while Bobbi went to teach her Sunday school class. Her flight was late and she was dead tired by the time she got in. She was able to catch up on a little sleep on the way home. Once we got home it was lunch time, and after that Me Susie, and Dad all ended up taking naps. I love a nice Sunday afternoon nap…. For Dinner We cooked out on the Grill and had steak and chicken. Emily came up and Bobbi’s brother and his family came. It was very nice.
Monday was a gorgeous day. So us girls, Susie, Bobbi, Emily and I, headed down to Boothbay Harbor for the day. We could not have ordered up a more perfect day weather wise. We went to See Uncle Brett’s Rock store, It is a little jewelry shop called Harbor Stones. Very cool stuff. We went too a few different T-shirt shops and I got myself 2 T-shirts and a sweatshirt, well I should Say Bobbi got them for me, since Dad told her to buy them for Susie and I. The we walked across the foot bridge to go have lunch. Susie Got her shore dinner which was clams and Lobster, or as we now call it, Clams and Bob. We went on a harbor cruise to see seals, we saw their heads bobbing in the distance, so not many seal sightings but a nice cruise. Everyone but me was freezing when we were out on the boat. Despite freezing while on the boat we all had to go for Ice cream afterwards. Yummy!!! It was a fun day.. So glad Emily was able to stay the night and go with us.
My last night in town we decided to go out to eat at Ruby Tuesday’s. We were able to track down the cute manager that Bobbi says is Emily’s type. They spotted him when they were there having lunch the other week, but poor Emily was having a nervous break down that day. Bobbi wanted her to talk to him but there was no way she would do it. He helped our waitress bring our food plates to our table. So dad seized the opportunity to ask him his name, Chris, and then Bobbi explained why and then asked if he was single, turns out he is engaged. It is a good thing Emily wasn’t there; she would have been under the table hiding from sheer embarrassment. We also found out that night that the cute guy that works with Brett is living with someone. Back to the drawing board…
Coming home was a big let down. But it was great to have a real break for a few days. It was the closest to a real vacation I have had all year. Yes I went to Vegas twice but I really didn’t get to do as much relaxing as I would have liked, or needed to do.
Here are all the picture I took while in Maine..
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