Fill me with Positivity

The start of anyone's day can be affected by so many things. It could be as simple as how rushed you are, if you eat breakfast, if catch your bus on time, the bus driver's friendly nod, and oh yes, the weather. Whenever I take the really early go bus (I go on the 6:50am bus on Wednesdays), I always catch the sunrise while I'm on the highway. The feeling of seeing the sun rising, the morning rush hour traffic representing people hustling and bustling another day, and the music I listen to is the perfect recipe for me to think about things and life. Those alone times I get on the bus are actually quite enjoyable--it's a time for me to just wind-down and have some space to myself (even though I'm surrounded by strangers). I think most of you would agree that it's really important to have this alone time to yourself. Imagine if you never had the chance to just stop and reflect - I think a lot of us would be living life quite blindly and aimlessly.

And you know what just makes my day sometimes? The waitress at Timothy's/Tuchners that just can't seem to contain her positivity and cheerfulness. She honestly could make anyone smile, even if they are having a bad day. We definitely need people like that around more! :)

Stickers on my bedroom window

This was my birthday cake - green tea mousse :)

Sunrise

It was 5:14am.

This calms me

I just had the urge to take some pictures after dinner today-but really, it's to procrastinate from studying for my accounting final taking place tomorrow. :) Here's a few quick snapshots.

So I walked out to my backyard...

and saw that cherry tomatoes are planted and will blossom soon!

Ah, summer.

My summer will arrive on June 1, at 6:30pm, when my last exam concludes my third year of university.

The Reader

Okay, not really. I used to read a lot of books, but ever since university, my leisure reading radar has dropped to nearly zero. Recently though, I read several books--all were pretty enlightening, might I add. This probably is just another excuse for me to procrastinate, but much more than that, I felt the need to get in touch with "life" and those words of wisdom. I have picked out some quotes that spoke to me.

From Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan:

“God, grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

“The only true influence you have on anyone else is by your own life, how you act, what you do.”

“It is very important to observe the other members of the group, most especially the person sitting directly opposite you. That person is a spirit reflection of yourself. The things you see in that individual that you admire are the qualities within yourself that you wish to make more dominant. The actions, appearances, and behaviour that you do not like are things about yourself that need working on. You cannot recognize what you deem to be good or bad in others unless you yourself have the same strengths and weaknesses at some level of your being.”

And from The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch:

"Brick walls are there for a reason, they let us prove how much we want something. They are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough."

"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity."

And lastly I'm sure you've all heard of the book the five people you meet in heaven--it really is a great book so go read it! :)

I really am a quotes junkie...

this reminds me of pixar... ;)

My New Love <3

First of all, sorry for the lack of updates! I haven't posted in 11 days. What has happened during this time? Well, I have finally purchased my first dSLR!!! =D My baby is the Canon Rebel XS and I am super happy and excited about it. I just opened it yesterday and have been meticulously searching for online tutorials and reading the manual on how to use it. I have very limited technical knowledge of cameras, so there's a lot for me to learn. I know I will need more motivation to keep on going but because I like taking pictures so much, it shouldn't be a problem! So for now, I'll show you a few of my test shots using the manual mode. Please comment - I welcome constructive criticisms and of course, compliments. ;) Thanks!

My baby ~ Canon Rebel XS
this picture is not edited at all (just resized) to show you the true quality of the camera

Playing around with the aperture

Indoor lighting

And this is my little puppet show... :)

Monkey

the Seal family

Mickey.

There are more pictures to come so stay tuned! :D