Photography

My mother loves to take photos. More specifically, she loves to take photos of clouds. Here in the desert, she gets plenty of opportunities to do so. Daily.

My mom got started into photography several years ago, somewhat casually. She got a Nikon Coolpix and used that for a while. When it ceased to meet her needs, she got a more advanced camera. She has gone through probably 3 or 4 models from Nikon, and settled on the D90 (for now haha). And since she first started taking photos, she has focused more on the things she likes to take photos for: nature type things (like clouds, our pond) and church happenings.

My mom's dive into photography rubbed off on my brother first. My brother would often sneak off (around the house) with one of my mom's camera's to take his own photos, which irritated my mom when he didn't ask, but showed her and my dad that he had an interest. They gave him a D70, and around the same time he got involved in yearbook at school. He has since gotten much better with his photography skills, and has upgraded to the D90.

I didn't into the whole photography scene until much later. I had a digital camera that I would use for major events, but I didn't just take photos for the sake of taking them very often. I thought it a bit overkill that my mom takes her camera with her everywhere. Then last fall, as I was preparing for Germany in the spring, I decided that I should maybe invest in a better camera so that I would be able to get all the photos I want while in Europe. I bought a used Nikon D60 used for a very reasonable price, and it served me well. While in Europe I became a little bit of a mini-Kelley (my mom): I didn't take my camera with me everywhere, but I did often take it with me. And I took so many photos while in Europe; the count on my computer is a little over 4400, and that doesn't include any photos that I deleted from my computer that were no good (obviously). I didn't ever dream that I would take that many.

The count would be considerably higher had my camera not begun to malfunction 10 days before the end of the semester. I was so upset. Not necessarily because the camera itself was broken, that could be replaced or fixed, but more because I knew that there were things happening in the last week and a half that I would want photos of that I simply wouldn't be able to get. When my parents got there I was able to use my mom's camera with my own card every now and then, for which I am grateful, but it was a bit of a hassle.

Last week I finally replaced my camera. We called a camera store in Bakersfield to see what the cost would be to fix my camera, and it would have been almost equivalent to replacing it with another D60. We decided to think about it a bit, and searched around the internet to read what other people said about the problem my camera was having. We found a lot of information, which told us it was a common problem with the D60. That meant that yes, it may be fixable, but was it going to happen again? Or would I have other problems down that road that would need fixed? Many people spoke of other problems with the camera. We ran into someone that told us about her D3200, which is the camera line that replaces the D60, and she had a glowing report. I read up about it various places online and found that it is one of the best cameras that Nikon has out right now. Wow. Not bad for a small non-professional camera. We found a refurbished one on eBay and bought it, and it arrived the day before I left for Mexico!

So, that whole long story was actually unplanned. I was just going to tell you about my mother's love for taking photos of clouds in order to lead into what we did this morning: took photos of clouds. Well anyways now you know about my new camera.

Looking south, showing a bit of sky through the dark clouds.

Creosote close-up. When this bush is wet from rain, it gives the desert a marvelous, unique smell.

The Sierra Nevada Mountains, to the west of Ridgecrest.

Sometimes even the ugliest things can be beautiful.

One of the features on my camera is a self timer! Me, my mom, and our dog, who actually looked at the camera.

I've heard it said, "It's a long and lonely road." But sometimes, there is beauty in solidarity.

That spot on the bottom of the mountain that looks lighter than the rest is the only spot where the sun poked through the clouds

Chrissy was SO happy to go for a ride and run around in the desert.

We have been blessed this week with more rain than usual, giving the desert that lovely petrichor smell. It rained again this morning as mom and I were leaving the house. When we came home we found that the rain lilies are blooming... How fitting!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Grace and Peace,
Suzannah

Grilled Pizza

Wow, two posts in one night!

I know, I just couldn't help myself :)

Today I was at Wal-Mart with my mom, and we ran across Naan bread for sale. Now, at first, I thought it was pizza dough. It sorta looked like it. Either way, it looked delicious, and it made me think, "Hey, we should do grilled pizza again soon." We had it about a month ago, and it is by far my favorite way to have pizza. I was first introduced to it by friends last summer.

Anyways, it was an idea for later this summer, what little there is left, until about an hour later when my mom asked what we should do for dinner tonight. I suggested grilled pizza, and met no opposition from her or my dad. It became a plan!

I decided to actually document it this time, since I got a new camera to replace my malfunctioning D60 :) Grilled pizza is made by first grilling individual size pizza dough for a couple of minutes, then topping it to your heart's content and cooking it on a hot pizza stone until the cheese is melted and cooked to your own desiring.

So, get your homemade pizza dough and divide it into small enough bits for individual pizzas...

Roll it out... (or take an artsy photo before you do so)

Grill it. I used my handy-dandy grill pan.

Dad used some cherry tomatoes we have, although they are more orange than red.

grilled pizza dough

Then cook them on a hot pizza stone to your own liking! Quite delicious, I must recommend it!

Finished pizza: Yum!

Happy weekend everyone!

Grace and Peace,
Suz :)

We Built a Church

Last weekend, I went on a short mission trip with my church! My church belongs to an organization called Rancho International Ministries, and we are working on building a church in Rosarito Beach, Mexico. A team went a month ago in June to lay the foundation, but I'm not sure if any teams went before last month. Anyways, when we went the goal was to built and raise the framing, put the siding on the building, and put up the trusses for the roof. I am happy to report, we met most of our goals!

We left at 5 AM on Thursday morning, and drove straight to Rosarito. Rosarito is about 20 miles South of the border, and the church is on the southern side of Rosarito. To get to the church we left the main road (which isn't the highway, I think, but is a major road) and turned onto a small dirt road, which eventually headed directly East, away from the ocean. We were greeted by the pastor, Manuel, and his wife Brandy, and the roosters that run around the compound where the church property is. I went with four men from Ridgecrest: Chris, Victor, Jim, and Barry. Jim and Barry have done construction work their whole lives, and really know what they are doing. Chris and Victor joined the last group that went to lay foundation. I have never done a day of construction before in my life. So Jim and Barry went straight over to the foundation to check it, and Victor, Chris, and I got to work setting up camp. We arrived at about 10:30, and before we left for lunch Jim and Barry had laid down chalk lines for the walls, and Barry had laid out the first truss as a jig for building the rest.

So, here it is: what we started with. A bunch of lumber, 5 people, and a bare foundation.

After the chalk lines we down, we went to lunch. Delicious. I must say, one of my favorite parts of missions in Mexico is the food!

So, we worked that day after lunch until we got this done: the first wall! I worked with Victor cutting wood for the frame, and then when it was all put together on the ground I stepped back and let the people who could actually help raise the wall. And I snapped a few photos of the process ;) The wall is 66 feet long and 12 feet tall and all one piece, which translates to VERY heavy. Not really liftable by only 4 men. Luckily, the Mexican people have an amazing work ethic, and not only were several parishioners helping with the construction, but we were able to ask a few other people nearby to help us raise this wall. 

After this we were pretty much done for the night. The ladies that live nearby cooked for us all weekend, so we didn't have to worry much about food.

Before dinner, Brandy showed us around a bit. The sun was going down, and presented a lovely beach sunset.

We slept in tents that night, and thanks to both my wonderful ability to sleep like a rock and earplugs, I didn't hear any of the local parties, dogs, animals, or snorers nearby and slept quite well :)

The next day a group of 8 arrived from the church in Rancho Cucamonga, and work was sprung into high gear. We continued framing walls. A team assembled trusses and made significant progress on Friday. By lunch we had this done:

Near the end of the day on Friday I hiked up the small hill next to the church location with Victor to get some better photos of the church:

We got up almost all of the exterior walls; the only two remaining had a slope due to the shed roof that was going on that side of the building.

I also took a panorama of the valley the church sits in. It extends out towards the east (on the left), and opens to the Pacific Ocean on the west (on the right). The valley sits in just the right spot that the temperature is pretty controlled. Brandy told us that they don't need heating or air conditioning for their house because of the temperate climate. If they are hot in the summer, they can sit under a tree and the temperature is 20º cooler.

Saturday the last two bits of the exterior wall was built, and work was started on putting up the siding on the building. The plywood used for the siding is 8 feet long, so on most of the building we had to cut pieces in half in order to reach all the way up. Most of the plywood we used had guidelines drawn on so that the person nailing them would have a reference for the stud. It got tricky when we ran out of that plywood and the rest didn't have guidelines. I refused to use the nail gun because there were people finishing up trusses behind the sheeting we were putting up, and if the nail gun missed the stud, the flying nail could easily seriously injure or kill someone if it hit them. I didn't want to be responsible for someones death, and I didn't trust myself with that thing.

At lunch we went back to the same taco stand we had gone to on Thursday. It was just as delicious the second time around.

Mexican tacos are the best!

 After lunch the beams for the shed roof over the classrooms went up, and most of the siding was finished that night. We really wanted to finish before the sun went down, and we got really close, but we didn't quite make it.

The classrooms and the hallway. The trusses that were built will go over the sanctuary, and the classrooms will have a shed roof.

So, Sunday morning we got up and started working at 6, so that the siding could be completely finished, and work inside could be started on. Also, the plywood on the roof over the classrooms was being finished as the Ridgecrest group was leaving.

This is what we woke up to Sunday morning:

Here is the hallway and the classrooms. Some of the sheeting inside the classrooms went up before we left.

Below is a view of the inside of the church from the front corner of the building. I was standing in the pastor's office. To my immediate left, just outside of the office is the foyer. The front door of the church opens into it. On the right is the sanctuary. On the far left, all the way back is the hallway with the classrooms. I think we ended up with four of them. That is where the shed roof is going, and the wall height there drops down to eight instead of twelve feet.

Here is what we finished with. All of the walls were up, all of the siding was up. Fourteen of us total from the US. We had a lot of help from the locals. Pastor Manuel is standing next to me, and his son (who also does construction) is on the far right.

 It was truly amazing to see a church go up like that in a weekend, and I know it will be a blessing to the community. I was blessed for the opportunity to go!

If you want to see more photos from the weekend, here is the link to my album on Facebook!

Grace and Peace,
Suzannah