Well I haven't updated lately. I'm currently redoing my main site (kimgilley.com) to make that ready for the business I'm attempting to open. Last week I had two shoots for portraits and they turned out great. Happy customers make me a happy photographer! :)

Anyway more to come soon!

goooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllll

So I didn't take this picture but felt the need to post it in honor of the COOLEST kid in the world's first soccer game! Go get em Kaden! :)

(photo cred: Robbie and/or Beth!)

And he's watching us all in the eye of the tiger

STILL digging through files. I should probably just save these and update this once a day, then I'll look like I accomplished something! Back before football season, I had the opportunity to go tour Ford Field (home of the world famous Lions) for a potential photography job. It was pretty awesome to go to a football stadium and have it be completely empty. You could hear a pin drop. After the tour/"interview" was over, I walked across the street where Comerica Park, the new home of the Tigers is located. It was pretty well locked up because there was a game that day (which I definitely didn't know about did explain the parking situation). These sculptures are located outside of their main entrance and they are HUGE.

On a side note about Comerica Park, my parents are coming up to visit for my birthday, and we are all going to see the Tigers play our beloved Yankees! (Just wanted to gloat about that one sorry!)

Ohhh Canada

Still going through photos and found this one, which was taken in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. We went upstairs in the building where it was being held to this empty room with floor to ceiling windows (and a guy charging his ipod). The river was right outside, and Canada is across the river. This is just a shot of Windsor, and that's the bridge from the States into Canada. Nothing super special, just a shot a I wanted to share.

Three little (dolls) pitch by my doorstep

So it's a lovely Saturday today. I'm spending most of the day in Dundee, Michigan at work with Logan. I have a job interview on Tuesday, so I need to get a portfolio of super excellent photos together that I've taken. This is resulting in me going through two external hard drives and looking through about three years of photos to see what I can find. I came across a folder from this past summer. I bought an antique camera over the summer from a store actually directly across the road from where I'm sitting right now. It was an Argus camera that took 620 film. I modified it to be able to take 120 film so that I could actually use it, and it became kind of a side project of mine this past summer.

One day, Logan and I went on this really long (REALLY LONG) walk around our side of Toledo, and I took the camera and a fresh roll of film. We found this road where they were demolishing all of the houses on this road. This one house kind of blew my mind. It was so... ironic I guess. Beside of the big machine they were going to use to tear down the house was a kid's Power Wheels car. A smiley face had been carved out of the boards that the windows were covered with. The strangest part of this house, however, was the porch post that had three baby dolls arranged on it. It was quite the odd sight, because someone had obviously arranged these dolls and toys around the property. A few days later, I drove past the area and the house had been torn down.

Long entry, but there will probably be more to come today!

Recipe time!

So I started getting this magazine called Simple and Delicious, and after recipe attempt #1 I must say it definitely lives up to its name. Logan and I both decided this was one of the best chicken dishes I had made! I changed it just a little bit because we didn't have the brown sugar, so I just sprinkled a little regular sugar. Anyway, if you decide to make it definitely let me know how you like it!

Applesauce Barbecue Chicken:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (6 oz. each)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2/3 cup applesauce
2/3 cup barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder

Sprinkle the chicken with pepper. In a large skillet, brown the chicken in olive oil on both sides. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 4 ingredients. Pour over the chicken. Cover the pan and cook for 7-10 minutes until done.

ENJOY! :)

Happy ingredients are happy

Logan and I decided to make brownies tonight. When he put the oil and the eggs in the bowl, it made a happy face. Bet it won't be too happy when we eat it!

No photo, just interesting

A while back I cut this article about aspirin out of the Healthy Living newspaper, and I wanted to both share it, and put it somewhere that I wouldn't lose it. It's actually pretty cool, I had no idea aspirin was such a miracle drug!

Some Surprising Uses for Aspirin

Aspirin might not be the best medicine for relieving a fever, especially after the patient has had a viral infection. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't have other non-medicinal uses. Consider these:

• Got underarm stains on t-shirts? Make a paste of two crushed aspirins and 1/2 cup of water and apply to the stains.
• Got stains on your hands? Make a paste of soluble aspiring and lemon juice and apply to grass or nicotine stains.
• Got a stubborn pimple? Make a paste of aspirin, put it on the zit, and leave it on for a few minutes.
• Got dandruff? Add two crushed aspirins to your regular shampoo, leave on the hair for a few minutes, then rinse as usual.
• Got fresh flowers? Add soluble aspirin to the water in the vase to keep the flowers fresh longer.
• Got green hair from swimming pool chlorine? Crush eight aspirins and dissolve them in a glass of water, then rub the mixture in the hair.
• Got mosquito bites or bee stings? Wet the skin, and then rub an aspirin over the bite or sting.
• Got fungus in your soil? Mix one aspirin in one liter of water to treat the soil. Add crushed aspirin with potting compost to prevent fungus from forming around the roots of new plants.
  

anything you can do i can do better...

Who needs a $150 dollar frame when you've got a frame you like and a mat cutter?! Oh by the way, thanks RIT for making me learn to cut mats! You just saved me tons o' cash! :)

Thanks for the pepperoni

Last night, Logan and I went to a pizza making shindig hosted by his brother Nick and his wife Tara. Unfortunately, I was still suffering from the "my stomach hates me" syndrome and didn't get to partake in the eating of the pizza. Oh well. This picture was taken at their dining room table for no particular reason.

As the maples scream "oppression," and the oaks just shake their heads...

The building that I work in is called the Glass Center. It's all glass, pretty cool if you have a room with a window in it because they're floor to ceiling. Anyway, I was on the first floor this morning going to sign in for parking, and the sun was making this shadow of the little tree outside on the wall. Couldn't pass up a photo -- even if it was just a cell phone snap!

grrrowl.

My boss runs a hockey team down in Findlay, called the Grrrowl (when you say it, be sure to emphasize the grr part). They've been short on workers all season, so finally I decided to suck it up and go work the game. These kids are ROUGH. I got to be the merchandise girl, and was quite a good "chuck-a-puck" sales girl. I had never heard of "chuck-a-puck" but the basic premise of the contest is to throw a rubber hockey puck and try to be the closest to center ice. If you were tonight, you got either a free pizza or an oil change. I personally would have taken the oil change. Anyway, I sold t-shirts and couldn't resist taking a picture of this one... looks like the Grrrowl dog had a late night at the bar. BAD DOG!

Hey Mother Nature... about that ice...

So yeah, I know that this is definitely bad for the house. But look at this crazy display of icicles we've got going on here. Stalactites all the way.

Oh Mother Nature, about this snow, you can have it back...

On top of the snow we recently got here in Toledo (why by the way, in case you were wondering, snow does NOT melt at -30 degree windchill factors, just for future reference), it snowed again last night and today. The result... a LOT of snow. Logan shoveled the sidewalk today, and I figured I'd post a few pics from this evening. The ruler is 12 inches, and yeah that's where the shovel pile is, but it was entertaining.

What's new pussy cat... wooooah wooooah woooooah.

As most of you know, I am not a fan of cats... not in the slightest. Kitty, however, isn't your typical cat. Since getting my new camera, Kitty has been my primary model. She basically hates me now because of it, but these were four of my favorites. The top left was actually about the third picture I took with the camera -- the depth of field was awesome. In the top right, I'd like to point out how much she looks like she is going to kill someone, despite Logan's enthusiasm. Bottom left was just cute, and bottom right... I mean really, who can resist a drunk cat picture even when it's not in total focus.

New blog!

So I'm attempting this photo blog. Hopefully I'll keep it updated. The picture above was taken in Detroit at the North American International Auto Show. The night before we went to the show, I had been talking to my dad about wanting to see the new "eco-friendly" cars. Now you have to know my dad for this to make total sense, but he's a Mopar man. Needless to say, green cars are not his forte. He proceeded to inform me that I was a "bleeding heart liberal," which I've been having fun with ever since. The second stop at the auto show was the Toyota section, which had eco friendly flooring. I just had to take a picture of it for him.