I went the beach with three of my girl friends for a few days last week. I only took photos with my phone because I did not want to deal with my nice cameras during this vacation.

Here are some of my Instagram photos from our trip:

The weather was not really right for enjoying the beach, but it still was a fun adventure. We got there just after a cold front had passed through. So the water was choppy and red flags were flying. It was also rather cold.

During our stay, we tried seafood, Greek food, went to the carnival, walked on the beach at night, got frozen yogurt, visited the MOCA art festival, etc. Lots to do! Maria and I spent some time sunning by the pool two of the afternoons. I actually have tan lines on my back – gasp!

These two drawings below were drawn in an iPad application called Paper.

For three days this week, I went out to camp with two of my uncles, grandfather, and mother to be part of the work party. My uncles and I put down a new roof above the side bedroom. It had gotten to leaking and part of the plywood had rotten through. So we replaced part of the plywood, laid down Ice & Water Shield membrane, and new shingles. We got rained out after the membrane and finished the roof on the second day. I think this might be the fourth roof I have shingled. The other jobs done were new flooring in the bedroom, windows washed, general cleaning, etc.

Now I must insert a disclaimer here, because the following photos are just snapshots I took to document the trip – I did not bother to make anything look attractive.

Highlights of the trip:

– saw a black bear, a brown snake with a trout fish in its mouth, a newt, a baby mouse

– shingled a roof

– temperatures 20 degrees cooler than home

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Here are a few self-portraits from my laptop’s Photobooth application. Some of them date back to 2010. I thought I might include them because I was looking back through them and thinking about what was going on in my life back then. College, Costa Rica, and life since.

My routine is going to be a bit different for the next few weeks while I housesit for friends. I am thinking I might try cooking some new recipes – maybe I will bother to photograph my efforts. Otherwise, my blog just may end up a bit empty for a while.