Tracy's Blog – Victoria BC » Tracy Risinger's Photography Blog - Victoria BC

Wow. So apparently when I get a new job, I don’t blog a lot. or ever. There’s a reason for this… I’m still trying to fit into this new routine and I’m not there yet.  I’m just not sure how people get things done when they don’t work from home. There are dirty dishes on our kitchen counter, as well as the kitchen stool, there are dirty clothes on the bedroom floor, as well as the bathroom floor.

So let’s just say… I’m a bit behind. I was thinking I’d get caught up yesterday but the sun was out and the air was warm and I somehow found myself lying on the beach in the sun. instead of doing housework. it’s what I do. So as I was catching some vitamin d, I told myself that I would catch up today, Sunday. But that didn’t happen either and it’s okay because we had a fabulous day watching my cousin’s baby get baptized and then we enjoyed a family dinner. full family day and a pretty good excuse for not cleaning or blogging.

this won’t last forever, I’m getting closer to finding a rhythm. I can feel it. and once I find that rhythm I will be a blogging machine… I just know it. and my house will be clean again. and laundry will be done. and i will share my photos and I will plan all our dinners ahead of time and then there will be world peace and no more hunger and basically I will be able to solve all the worlds problems. Or maybe I’ll just always have fruit in the fruit bowl and we’ll never run out of toilet paper. again.

hang in there for me because this won’t last long. I’ve got lots to share and lots of ideas and a ton of photos. really. I do.

I promise.

If you know me at all, you will know that I am a fairly big sissy when it comes to scary movies. When I was 16 I saw Nightmare on Elm St. at a birthday party…. two friends scared me during the movie and I started crying. yes, I was that cool. and then when I was 19 I went on a date to see Silence of the Lambs.  I. almost. died.

Okay, I didn’t die BUT I did almost pass out. I actually had to close my eyes and lay my head back and I started picturing the movie ‘Grease’ in my head. I barely survived. and that was the last scary movie I ever saw in the theatre and I’ve been riding the romantic comedy wave ever since… and loving every sappy kiss.

So needless to say, I have never seen the movie The Exorcist. and I never will because even my Mom said she had to sleep with the light on after seeing that movie and she LOVES scary movies.

But that’s okay because even though I haven’t seen the movie I still know who Linda Blair is and she is so much more than just the possessed little girl from the movie.

She is an animal advocate who so obviously loves all animals and works hard to get her message out there… when it comes to getting a new pet, Don’t shop, Adopt!

Linda stopped by the Victoria SPCA last month to have a tour and spread her message and she had no problem getting comfortable on the floor with these four legged friends…

This next little face cracks me up…. he looks so serious.

and this beautiful little face is Angelina… so pretty. so sweet.

It was my first time at the SPCA and it didn’t take long for me to see how much they care about animals. So, if you’re thinking about getting a new pet, why not check out the SPCA… you never know who may be waiting for you to take them home!!

Smile. Laugh. Enjoy

It’s Friday night and I’ve got a bottle of red wine all ready to celebrate the end of my first week of my new job… once Jonathon gets home!! (in the meantime I’m celebrating with some sour cream and onion potato chips with my emma… and loving every. single. one.) so fancy.

I’ve had a fabulous week, I’ve learned so many new things and probably forgotten twice and much but that’s okay because I know it will all eventually sink in. I feel truly lucky because every single person at my work, is lovely. seriously, lovely. and funny and sweet and helpful and they’re all great dressers… which is good for me to be around because I’ve been rocking the yoga pants/bare feet look for far too long

oh but to keep it real, now that it’s Friday night and I’m at home… I am SO rocking my yoga pants. and a hoodie. and bare feet.

If I was a cat, I’d be purring.

It’s time to get off the computer and jump into the weekend but before we go crazy by eating pizza/drinking wine/watching movies/eating popcorn and going to bed by 11pm because we can’t keep our eyes open anymore… here’s a little Red Red Wine for all of you.

Happy Weekend Everyone!!

Smile. Laugh. Enjoy

So remember this post? I talked about being positive even though things are up in the air because my perfect job plan hadn’t worked out and I was about to become unemployed. It’s not easy to always focus on the positive but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.

For me, focusing on the positive means being grateful for the many things in my life that bring me happiness. The big things and the little things. I think of each of these things specifically and acknowledge why or how they bring me happiness or comfort.

The biggest things that I am grateful for are my family, my friends, my health and my home. My family and friends give me so much love and support and laughter and for that I am so thankful because all my favourite memories and all of my happiest moments throughout my life have been shared with family and friends. Big time gratefulness right there.

So for me, that’s how I stay positive even when things are topsy turvy and suddenly not at all how I planned. Just be grateful and focus on the positive.

that’s what I did and you know what? It worked.

I was officially unemployed for all of two days. I start my new job on Wednesday and I couldn’t be more happy!! And even though I haven’t actually started yet, I truly feel that I’ll be in a better place than I was before which will be one more thing to add to my grateful list.

Don’t waste time thinking about what you don’t have or what you don’t want, use that energy and time to think about what you DO have and be grateful.

I’ve said it before, many many times and I will say it again, many many times… my top two reasons for being grateful are my daughter and my husband and they will always be at the top of the list.

♥ so lucky, so happy and so grateful.

Smile. Laugh. Enjoy.

Happy March 1!!! and what a beautiful day, seriously friends, the sun is shining, the air is warm and this morning we heard the sound of our neighbour mowing their lawn. It felt dreamy and I can’t enough of the feeling that Spring is just around the corner. Daffodils lead to tulips which lead to tourists on scooters which lead to cruise ships docking and then suddenly we’ll be sitting in the backyard smack dab in the middle of summer with a beautiful tan and a cold drink. *sigh*

Can’t wait!

In the meantime, I’m going to post some random questions and answers because hey… why not? Haven’t you always wondered what my favourite ice cream flavour was? Oh sure you have…. THIS is exciting stuff.

wine. red or white? RED. shiraz. yellowtail. $12/bottle. easy peasy

chocolate. milk, dark or white? all three my friends. BUT since I have to pick a favourite, white. and yes it’s not ‘technically’ chocolate blah blah blah,  the cheap stuff is gross. the good stuff is amazing. and added bonus, it’s white so there CAN’T be any calories in it…

summer. fall. winter. spring? I truly appreciate all 4 seasons but if I HAD to live in just one season it would be summer. I’m a big fan of easy peasy lemon squeazy and summer is all about dinner at the beach, safe tans and just putting your flip flops on and heading out the door.

last movie to make me cry? I’m gonna keep it real and give you the most truest of all answers. even though you will laugh and possibly mock. ‘Never Say Never‘ the Justin Bieber movie. Emma and I watched it on Netflix when she was a sick a few days ago and the moment when they’re giving out tickets to kids who couldn’t go otherwise and then when they pick girls to bring on stage… oh man, that boy is sweet and it makes me teary and embarrasses my daughter who was even more embarrassed when I cried in the movie theatre the first time we saw it. don’t judge.

most listened to song on ipod?  Love Interruption by Jack White. I can’t get enough of this song. Emma hates it so I try and play it as much as possible in hopes that it’ll grow on her. it hasn’t happened yet and I just keeping loving more and more. Can’t wait for the album to come out.

and here’s something pretty cool I found on a fabulous photography blog I follow: Everything Everywhere They have a pretty great penguin photo with a March calendar you can download for free and use as your desktop wallpaper. cool and lovely and I think it’s fantastic when people have rad things like this that they give for free. If you download it, why not leave a quick thank you note in his comments section!

Okay, my husband is a bit totally under the weather today and he’s hiding under the covers and has lost the ability to breath through his nose. poor guy. I think it’s time I put on a gas mask/rubber gloves/hazmat suit and head back to take care of him.

Another post without a photo… bad bad blogger. But don’t worry, this weekend I’m working on some photos to share next week.

Smile. Laugh. Enjoy.

It’s Monday, it’s the very last Monday at my current job and the sun is shining in through my living room windows and it feels good. Yep, things are still up in the air, not sure what lies ahead but this week is FULL of opportunities and I’m going to make the most of each one.

I’m also going to share something with you that I came across on one of the blogs I follow. It’s called Project Life and I think I could fall in love with it. I need to read more about it, and stare at the pieces a little longer but it’s something that I can totally picture buying, using and enjoying for a long time.

I take photos, a lot of photos. I take photos of our big events but I also take lots of photos of the little things, the ‘take a picture or you’re sure to forget about this’ type picture. These tend to be my favourite photos because they’re quick little snapshots of the day to day unscripted moments that happen.

and all of those photos are hiding on my computer. some get posted on my blog and on facebook but that’s where they stay. I’ve made photo books which I love and I will continue to make those but they tend to have a theme, like a vacation or a trip.

and that’s where I think Project Life will fit in perfectly. It’s a fabulous and EASY way to document your everyday life photos. quickly. easily. creatively. LOVE IT.

I love how it has a scrapbook’ish feeling, without having to actually scrapbook. because friends, I am not a scrapbooker. I don’t have the patience or the attention to detail that you need to make a pretty cool book. and with this idea, you don’t have to be a scrapbooker. easy peasy lemon squeazy.

and you can make it as crazy or as simple as you want. I love simple, I love clean lines and I love open space so I think my album would be as simple as can be.

If you want to take a peek, I recommend going to the creator’s blog here and then you can check out the actual order pages which are here.

Seems fun and easy right? I know, it’s not cheap but when you think about how long you’ll be enjoying it, I think it’ll be money well spent.

If you take a look at their site, let me know what you think. Do you love it or hate it? Would you choose Clementine or Turquoise?

I think I’d choose Clementine.

because Orange is happy.

Smile. Laugh. Enjoy.

Three cheers for a rainy Friday!! It’s okay that it’s raining because:

1. I love the sound of rain on the roof

2. Poor Miss Emma is home sick today so I don’t have to worry about her standing at the bus stop in pouring rain while NOT using an umbrella or     wearing a rain coat.

3. It’s super cozy in here.

4. I don’t feel guilty being so comfy on the couch with my laptop going through all my favourite blogs.

5. It’s making the grass even greener, on both sides of the fence.

6. I’m sure that the rain will magically stop just in time for me to hop on the scooter and head to my acupuncture appointment this afternoon. I just KNOW it will stop. *insert Faith here*

Speaking of George Michael and the 80′s and really terrible Sun-In’d hair, here’s what I looked like when that song was popular:

Oh those bangs. They make me gasp and die of embarrassment and jump for joy all at the same time.

The one thing that’s for sure, they make me laugh. so hard. plus the bumble bee coloured bathing suit pretty much rocks my world.

*bonus points for anyone who recognizes where this photo was taken. It was our family’s favourite summer swimming spot way back when.

How are you enjoying this Friday? I’m thinking that Emma and I might decide to watch a Twilight movie or two, make some soup and I’m guessing we’ll have to listen to a little 80′s radness at some point… sounds like a fabulous friday to me.

Smile. Laugh. Enjoy.

The thing about writing a blog is that you never really know what people want to read. I DO know that many of you, enjoy my blog because it’s a very positive place to spend a bit of a time… and I love that! I’ve even been told I’m motivating, which is amazing! So when something happens that puts me in a different kind of mood, well I usually stay away from blogging. Which is why I haven’t blogged in a week.

but ‘not blogging’ gets boring, so here I am. and I will explain in one quick sentence why I’ve been worried/stressed/exhausted/disappointed/discouraged/nervous and then finally excited.

My perfect lovely work plan hasn’t worked out and in one week, I will be jobless. in ONE WEEK. *faint*

I always try to not focus on the negative and I’m actually very good at it but sometimes it’s hard when things are so far up in the air. like outer space far.

But once the initial shock wore off, I realized just how far away from my comfort zone I truly am and it dawned on me that THIS is where great change happens. Being comfortable and ‘used to’ a job doesn’t mean it’s the right thing for you and while I wish I wasn’t forced into this situation, I absolutely know it’s the best thing for me.

and YES, I’m still freaking out a bit but it’s more of an excited freaking out because who knows what lies ahead. Maybe George Clooney will hire me to be his personal assistant? I know, not likely but maybe I will find a job that I truly enjoy. and that’s all i really want.

oh and benefits. i want benefits too because a girl needs to get her massage on every once in awhile.

The ‘unknown’ can be scary but ‘NEW’ is exciting and that is what I’ve decided to focus on.

new really is exciting.