Kareh Family Updates

New Job, New Home, New School, New Car, New EVERYTHING!

2009-08-17T14:34:00.000-07:00

Wow, there has been SO much that has happened since my last update, I can't believe it!

New Job:
Ahmad recently was offered a job at Nutraceuticals in Park City. They are a huge international supplements/sports nutrition/health products company. Ahmad is their new Director of International Sales and Marketing. It is a huge opportunity for him and I am so proud of him! He started on Thursday this week and so far is doing well and likes the new job.

New Home:
Since Ahmad got a new job in Park City, we decided relocating is an absolute necessity. The commute, in GOOD weather, from Eagle Mountain to Park City is about an hour and a half. You can only imagine what kind of a commute this is going to turn in to in the winter or in traffic. He would be looking at around a 2 or 3 hour commute ONE WAY to work every day! So, we decided to start house hunting. Our first weekend out looking at houses, we found "the one". It was built in the 60's, but effectively the build date is 2007 because it has been COMPLETELY rennovated. The floors, bathrooms, drywall, paint, kitchen, appliances, EVERYTHING has been replaced. It is a gorgeous house with marble, cherry wood, and travertine floors, granite countertops on every counter, cute knotty alder cabinets, two travertine fireplaces, a huge yard and patio with a cute little fire pit in the corner of the lot, a huge 2.5 car garage for Ahmad, a big movie room for Ahmad, and lots of space. It is a little smaller than our house now, but I will take less space for a better location any day! =) Plus there is only 2 of us so a 2700 sq ft house is plenty enough room, with some space to spare for when our friends/family visit! =) The owners have accepted our offer, and we are scheduled to close on 9/3. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

New School:
Ahmad and I have been attending Westminster College for our MBA, but recently we decided to make the switch to Utah State University. Their program is recognized through the same accrediting body and has just as good reviews as Westminster's program. There is still a big international trip and the program is just as challenging. However, the big difference is that it is much more affordable since we don't believe in taking out student loans, and also the schedule works much better for us. We start in October since we had some transfer credits from Westminster, and then we will be able to go through the program together along with our neighbor and good friend Lance Olsen. =) That should be really fun!

New Car:
Okay, this really isn't big news, but it went along with the "new" theme, so I will share it. =) Ahmad is a sucker for Jaguar's, and his friend happened to be selling a new Jaguar XJ8 that he has had for a few months. Ahmad jumped at the chance and so we are now the proud owners of a Jaguar XJ8. Don't ask me why 2 people need three cars, but the car is very nice and Ahmad looks really cute in it! =) I'm still happy with the range rover, but in winter he will probably trade me since Parley's Canyon is not a fun drive without a 4wd vehicle.

New Kitten:
Ahmad and I are NOT dog people. Dogs are adorable, but among other things our busy, upbeat lifestyle is not conducive to owning pets that need a lot of attention, training, cleaning, and upkeep. Kittens, however, are very self-maintaining and require minimal upkeep. I have finally managed to convince Ahmad to let me get one, and so we adopted Mia from a local breeder. She is a tiny purebred Siamese kitten who just absolutely cracks me up! She is adorable! Plus I am totally baby hungry so having something little and cute that I can take care of is really good for me! lol! Now if I could only get rid of my pet allergies...

New Attitude:
I have decided that I stress WAAAAAY too much over everything. I have made a pact to myself that I am going to deal with stress in a more healthy way. I am starting up Yoga again and am going to not sweat the small stuff so much. I feel better already!

Here's to a new school year, a new outlook on life, and a positive approach to the future! =)

Betsy's Baby Pictures

2009-03-31T22:30:00.000-07:00

Ahmad and I went over to Mark and Betsy's for a BBQ this weekend. They made lamb chops (YUMMMMMM!) with red potatoes and asparagus, followed by grilled pineapple for desert! It was absolutely amazing. While the boys checked out some projects in their house, Betsy and I did a quick little photo session with their new baby. Here are some of the pics from the shoot. What do you guys think?!

Business and Personal Updates

2009-03-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has gotten SO BUSY!

The business is coming along nicely. The new website is up officially...

http://www.vie-photography.com/

Please check it out and let me know what you think!

We have also been working on ordering business cards, fliers for our seasonal specials, etc. It has been fun but very time-consuming!

Personally, Ahmad and I just finished our first MBA financial accounting test. We both did pretty well, comparatively speaking! The class average was abouta 70%. I got an 83% and Ahmad got an 82%. By the time the curve is applied, we will end up with a B+ probably. That isn't bad considering how difficult the course is, trust me!

We are really enjoying doing the MBA. We meet new people and learn something new every day!

We also just finished a presentation for our Creative Strategy class that was pretty amusing. The assignment was to come up with a mission statement for Robin Hood to help motivate his Merry Men. The point behind the assignment was to use and evaluate the electronic brainstorming process and compare it with face-to-face brainstorming. The mission statement was really not important. The point was to get creative with the process and come up with some great ideas by thinking outside of the box. I am my mother's child, let me just say! We came up with some REALLY creative ideas. We used props to illustrate our points and submitted an "old" written paper by burning the edges of our written group paper and baking it with lemon juice in the oven. We inserted pictures of Robin Hood in our powerpoint, and we even managed to work in some Napoleon Dynamite references (I have no idea how! lol!)! We blew everyone away, needless to say. It was lots of fun and has been a really interesting class.

Hope everyone is doing well! We sure are busy, but having lots of fun! I hope you are too!

Vie Photography Website!

2009-03-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

We are still building the flash website (it is harder than I thought!), but in the mean time feel free to check out the Vie Photography Blog and the Vie Photography temp site...

http://viephotography.blogspot.com
http://www.vie-photography.com

Oh, and what do you think of the logo?

Official Beginning of Vie Photography

2009-02-18T09:44:00.001-08:00

So it is official. I have chosen a real name for my photography business and we are in the process of setting up a website, etc. I need some feedback from everyone, if you don't mind, on the name, possible slogans, etc.

Name: Vie Photography
Slogan: Capturing Your Life (?), Capturing Life (?), Capturing Life with a Lens (?), Any other ideas?
Website: We are in the process of purchasing a domain right now. I will post it when we have it and have it all set up.
Flickr: No photos posted on it yet, but the new flickr site will be flickr.com/photos/viephotograhy
E-mail: We will have an E-mail address that goes with the website, but I set up a few alternatives already: viephotography@yahoo.com and viephotography@gmail.com
Blog: I just reserved the name today and haven't done any editing to the blog site yet, but the site is viephotography.blogspot.com, for those who want to add it to their blog lists.
Logo: I'll post our logo today or tomorrow too, it is pretty cool but I just realized I only have the Adobe Illustrator file on my work comp so I can't post it yet. Basically the color is a pretty green and VIE is in a swirly flowery kind of text that is elegant but not overly gaudy. We thought that would go along with the whole "Life" theme.

Any ideas or suggestions so far? Let me know what you think! =)

Headshot Photo Session

2009-02-08T13:17:00.000-08:00

This weekend I took headshots for a friend of mine who is auditioning for a local theater company out here in Utah. We did about a 30 minute session in her back yard, and surprisingly we got a bunch of photos that turned out really great! I thought I'd post a few for everyone to see, for those who are interested. =) Of course, you can always see more on my flickr page (flickr.com/photos/kristalkareh).

First Week as an MBA Student

2009-01-15T20:56:00.000-08:00

So my first week of MBA school is officially over. So far Westminster has proven interesting. Our first class is a Business Philosophy class, which is always interesting. As expected, pretty much everyone in my class has really strong opinions about things they don't know anything about, and they defend their opinions no matter what! Even if that means they look like an idiot, they still stick to their guns. I am all for sticking up for what you believe in, but only if you have an informed opinion.

Besides dealing with a few of my uninformed yet passionate classmates, I am really enjoying the class so far. It is fast paced, but not really challenging yet. I am waiting to be pushed to a new level. Maybe once I get into my upper level classes. I'm not saying that because I think I know it all, just because we are going over a lot of the same things I learned about in my undergraduate degree classes.

Anyway, so far it has been great and I am very optimistic for the future. Go Griffins! =)

I am officially a COLLEGE GRADUATE!!! =)

2008-12-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I officially took my LAST final on Tuesday this week. If I passed all my finals, I am going to be an official U of U Alumni! =) I am thrilled beyond words, needless to say. It has been 6 or 7 plus years in the making, and I cannot believe that it is finally over!

A warm and heartfelt thank you goes to everyone who supported me during my education, especially my loving husband and my wonderful parents!!! I am very lucky to have a supportive circle of friends and family, and they really helped push me to finish.

You are ALL invited to the commencement this May! Details coming soon! =)

December Gallery Stroll

2008-12-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

One of the ways that photographers further their understanding of photography and more deeply explore their craft is to peruse the work of other photographers. By studying another artist’s work, photographers gain additional levels of perspective. They are given the opportunity to see how another person uses the basic tools of light, aperture, shutter speed, framing, or composition to create a piece that is thought-provoking and interesting. This is one of the reasons I chose to participate in the Gallery Stroll in downtown Salt Lake City on Friday, December 5th, 2008.
Before traveling downtown, I viewed the list of artists and galleries on the Gallery Stroll website to try and find the most interesting photography shows. I found several I thought would be of interest. The first was at the Saans Gallery on 300 South in Salt Lake City. The gallery was displaying local artists’ Holga shots. According to the gallery owner, the Holga is an extremely inexpensive and cheaply made medium format 120 film camera. It was originally made in China as a children’s toy, but quickly caught the attention of avid photographers due to the interesting natural effects the camera has on film. The camera’s cheap construction and simple meniscus lens often produces pictures that have extremely interesting qualities unique to each individual Holga. These qualities could be blurring, light leaks, distortions, scratches on the film, or vignetting.
The prints displayed at the Saans Gallery in the Holga show were all 6x6 prints. The interesting thing about this show is that there was no overall “theme” or “series”. Each individual photographer had their own perspective and their own vision for that particular shot. For the most part, apertures and shutter speeds were not taken into consideration as most Holgas do not have a light meter or any way to control aperture or shutter speed other than using the manual bulb mode. Some film was double-exposed to create ghost-like prints. Other shots were simple scenery shots or shots of one subject from an interesting perspective. Although photography is about controlling light to create an image to share with the world, I do like that with a Holga you let go of all control and depend simply on your instincts. What would have been considered a boring or uninteresting shot in a typical film camera is now interesting, creative, and artistic when shot with a Holga. Colors shot with a Holga are vivid and highly contrasted, and even the black and white prints have depth with beautiful grey tones and rich blacks. I am extremely happy I went and saw this show as it reinforced my belief that a large part of photography is using your creative instincts to decide what an interesting shot is, and also that a beautiful photo does not necessarily have to be perfectly taken to have an effect on the viewer. I extremely enjoyed this show and am even considering submitting a shot for next year’s display. However, I am disappointed in the actual quality of the photos displayed. Not only was I expecting a larger amount of photos, but I was also expecting a more creative display. I thought it was somewhat lacking, but still beneficial and interesting.
The second show I chose to go to was within walking distance of the first. This show was being displayed at the front of a second-hand store. The store was called Our Store: Your Thrift Alternative. The show featured the paintings of 2 different artists and the digital photography of a third artist named Stanley Trujillo. The artist does all digital photography work, and therefore he does not develop or print his own photos. The artist’s work consisted of one “base” photo with a second digital image or possibly sections of other digital images molded to the first to create interesting shapes and textures. The artist’s work was completely surreal and somewhat homoerotic, but his work did make you feel something, which I am sure was his ultimate intention.
Mr. Trujillo’s photos were difficult to analyze as far as the exposure, aperture, shutter speed, and other camera settings were concerned because the images had been manipulated to the point that the original “base” image is indistinguishable. I did enjoy the artist’s use of texture and emotion. The colors were beautifully contrasted, and the digital effects used within the photos seemed to be well-placed. The artist obviously spent countless hours in a digital darkroom enhancing his photos, and the effort seemed to be well-placed. However, I personally did not identify with his work due to the obvious male homosexual theme throughout his images. I understand that photography is also about the artist expressing his or her feelings and emotions through a print and helping someone else understand the artist better, but it is also about making a connection with your audience. While I appreciate the time and effort the artist put into his work, the images did not speak to me in the same way that the Holga images did.
The remainder of my Gallery Stroll was spent perusing abstract art or oil paintings on canvas. Overall, the experience was extremely beneficial. Not only was I introduced to professional photography mediums outside the ordinary scope, but I also got a chance to become familiar with the gallery environment. I hope to one day be talented enough to be featured at a gallery and feel that this was an important step in the right direction.

For those who are interested, here is the Saans Gallery's website. They take submissions in November!

http://www.saansdowntown.com/

More B&W Film Photography

2008-11-23T21:23:00.000-08:00

I am just thrilled with the photography class I'm taking at the U. My instructor is really pushing me to get creative with angles, depth of field, light, etc. I think I have improved a lot since taking his class. I definitely needed it, that is for sure!

Anyway, I thought I'd share my latest few projects with everyone who may be interested (Mom!). The assignment was to shoot something showing texture, an architectural shot, something with narrow depth of field, and an abstract shot. This is what I came up with. Let me know what you think! =)

Texture

Narrow Depth of Field

Architecture

Abstract

Viva Las Vegas!

2008-11-09T09:52:00.001-08:00

I just got back last night from a work conference for my new job. We stayed 3 days in Vegas at the Monte Carlo hotel and had all the trainings in the hotel ballrooms. It was quite an experience! Not only did I get to know all my new co-workers, but I got to become really familiar with the corporate culture and attitudes, which is quite an accomplishment for the first three days of working somewhere! So far, I am getting along great with all my new co-workers. A lot of them are my age, and most of them are girls, which is quite a change from my last position! I have a lot in common with many of them, and we never ran out of things to talk about! They are a really fun group and it looks like working with them is going to be really upbeat and positive!

What a relief! =)

Real "training" starts on Monday and I am looking forward to diving into this new position and learning all I can to be successful!

Goodbye Asphalt Zipper, Hello Stevens-Henager!

2008-11-04T09:53:00.000-08:00

Today is a monumental milestone in my life. It is my last day at Asphalt Zipper, the company where I really started my "career", so to speak. I grew a lot at this company over the past 5 or 6 years, and they believed in me enough to give me great growth opportunities. However, I was recently offered an excellent position at Stevens-Henager College in the admissions department that was too good to refuse. There are more opportunities for growth, more investment in training and personal development, better pay, and a barrell full of other good things. =) Of course, leaving Zipper is extremely bittersweet for me as I have grown attached to the company and the people of the years. I will, for the most part, fondly recall the peopl e and the company and all I learned from them. I am very optomistic for the future as I start with this new company and so far am confident that I have made the right decision to leave and start this new opportunity. Change is always exciting! I will keep you posted!

Goodbye Asphalt Zipper...

Hello opportunity!!! =)

Work Halloween Party

2008-10-31T12:15:00.000-07:00

Today has been a great Halloween so far. Most of my work dressed up for the occasion and that was fun to walk around and see everyone's costumes. I posted pics below of the best ones! Then we played some Halloween games and judged the costumes. This year we didn't carve pumpkins at work, but Ahmad's work did and I posted their sales team's submission in his work's pumpkin carving contest. The judge of the contest loves politics, hence the "Vote" theme! lol!

Tonight plans are to watch Interview with the Vampire and maybe a few other scary movies at a friend's house and pass out candy.

I hope everyone else's Halloween has been as enjoyable and fun! =)

Notice the Carve-icature of Obama on the left with his campaign logo on the left, and McCain on the right with his McCain/Palin logo with the VOTE in the middle! lol! =) Since the judge of the contest is very in to politics, they wanted to play on that theme to get more votes! lol! Ahmad made the voting box in the middle and the "I Voted" stickers for those that vote for their pumpkins. =)

This is actually a woman! =) Her name is Donna and she is the cutest! She looked JUST like Charlie Chaplin! I told her not to take off her hat or she might look like Hitler (little Office reference there for those of you who watch it!).

Angela as a Pimp, although I don't think girls are usually the pimps... lol! =)

Jim as a white trash mountain man. You should have heard him do his accent, it was great!

The guy on the left is Bruce who just got back from England... hence the British police helmet. The funny part about this pic is that the girl on the right is dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, and her name is actually Dorothy. =) She is so cute! She had a little basket with a fake stuffed dog in it, but it wasn't in the picture.

Baby Showers and Louisville, KY Trip

2008-10-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a whirlind few weeks!

My good friend Betsy had a baby shower for her new little girl Madeliene? Madeline? I have no idea how they are going to spell it, I can never remember! Anyway, I will call her Maddy to avoid confusion. =) Maddy was born this weekend, but I have just this very minute finally finished editing and converting the photos I took from Betsy's baby shower. Sorry, Betsy! I know this took forever! You can go to my flickr site to see the photos, but here are a few funny ones I thought I'd post on the blog. We of course had to play the chocolate diaper game where you melt a few chocolate bars together in a diaper and try to guess what kind of chocolate bars were used. I was the winner, if you can believe it! I have no idea what that says about my knowledge of either diapers or chocolate! lol! ;)

The baby shower was a blast, but I had to leave early to shoot pics for a friend's football game. It was snowing and miserably cold, but I think I got a few good shots from my vantage point underneath a big tent so my equipment wouldn't get wet!

Then this week I went to Louisville, KY for a work trip and actually ended up really enjoying myself! I thought it would be a bummer because a few plans I had got canceled on me, but Louisville is one of those cities where there is always something to do, and I had a few other friends out there to keep me entertained, so it ended up being really fun! I went to Glassworks and toured a glass-blowing facility where artists create sculputres from glass the old-fashioned way. It was amazing! Then I went to the Louisville Slugger Museum and toured the museum to see how the all-American baseball bats are created for the world's finest baseball players. It was pretty interesting to see how they were made and see all the baseball memorabilia. I had a bunch of work stuff to do to during the trip including a gala event at the Marriott and the tradeshow conference for 2 days during the day. But at night on 4th Street Live right on the same road as my hotel the day before I left, there was a band playing outside that I went and listened to right outside my hotel. It was a very laid-back but interesting trip that ended up being lots of fun, and my friend Stephie from upstate NY showed me all these neat little shopping places downtown that helped to keep me entertained. =) Glassworks was by far my favorite place, though. Here are a few pics...

Now tomorrow I am going to Columbus for another trip and will be gone until Thursday. Hopefully I will have some more pics to post by then, and I hope to see some of my old Gahanna friends while I am out that way! =)

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Black and White Prints

2008-10-13T09:17:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone! =)

As promised, I have posted a few of the B&W prints I have made in my film photography class. I developed my own film, and printed my own prints using photographic developing paper. It has really been tons of fun, and I think I am getting better with each print project! It is way more of a creative process than I ever imagined! There is so much even to just printing a photo (i.e. magenta, cyan, or yellow filters to increase or raise contrast, and how strong of a filter to use, how long to expose the paper with the image, etc.) that it really allows you to get creative and use your imagination.

Here are a few shots I have done. As always, I love and appreciate your feedback! =) Of course, the originals are much more impressive so please forgive the loss in quality due to scanning. =)

Updates and New Shoot Pics

2008-10-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

Not much has been going on since my last post, other than that Ahmad and I applied for the MBA program at Westminster College and got accepted! They have one of the best hands-on accredited MBA programs, and are a highly esteemed liberal arts college. We are both very excited, and start classes in January! Wish us luck! =)

As far as my Undergrad goes, I'm still on my LAST semester at the U, and really having a hard time staying focused now that I am almost at the finish line. I studied all weekend for midterms this week, and I still feel unprepared. We'll see what happens. The one bright spot this semester has been my Photography class, which I have absolutely loved! It's an all-film class, so we develop our own film and develop our own prints. There is way more to that process than I thought, and it has been really fun learning all about the basics of photography. It has improved my photo shoots already! I will scan in some shots that I developed so you can give me your feedback.

Speaking of photo shoots, I did one on Friday with a sweet family who wanted some last-minute family photos while their daughter and her husband were in town from California. Here are a few pics from the shoot, and of course you can always view the originals on my flickr page at www.flickr.com/photos/kristalkareh. Let me know what you think! =)

Citizen Ahmad

2008-09-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Ahmad officially became an American citizen today!!! YAY!

We went down to the Capitol Theatre downtown in Salt Lake City where there were 750 applicants and all their friends and family waiting on the street outside the theater. It was loud, confusing, and insane! We were told to arrive promptly at 7:30am, but they were not ready to begin until 10:00am, so everyone just had to sit around for 2 and a half hours while the officials did goodness knows what.

Anyway, when they were finally ready to start things went pretty quickly. The applicants stood up and took the oath and several words were spoken about the honor of being a citizen, responsibilities and priveleges that come with it, etc.

It is really a relief to be finished with this whole process, let me tell you. It has been amazingly complicated and expensive, but in the end I think it was worth it.

When asked if he wanted to register to vote, Ahmad said "Fine, but what if I don't want to vote for either one of them?". I suggested he vote for me, but he said no because he did not want to be the "first lady"! lol! He is so funny.

BBQ and Billiards Night

2008-08-23T07:17:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty fun night last night. We grilled with some friends at our house. I made marinated lamb kabob, burgers, chicken, hotdogs, and grilled sweet corn. Their three little girls are just absolutely adorable and we tried to keep them entertained while everyone played billiards downstairs in our basement.

Before dinner, I snapped a few photos of them which they thought was great and they started posing like they were models! lol! =)

Here are a few of the good ones, in my humble opinion. Of course the originals always look better on flickr because when they transfer here they lose a lot of quality, so if you want to see the original go to www.flickr.com/photos/kristalkareh.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Midsummer Night's Dream

2008-08-20T07:23:00.000-07:00

Last week on Thursday I went with some family friends to the Sundance Outdoor Theater for their performance of Midsummer Night's Dream, compliments of my work. A large part of my company was there and it ended up being a beautiful evening... perfect weather, and great company!

Before the actual performance there was a little improv troupe called the Thrillionaires. They do improv theater but with a Shakespeare theme. They start their performance by asking the audience for suggestions about character traits in their characters, plot outlines, etc. It was mildly entertaining, but there is something about a parody on an Oedipus complex that just doesn't seem all that funny. Go figure! They were somewhat amusing, but I wouldn't go pay money to see them.

Then after a short break the actual performance began, and I wa spleasantly impressed! Puck was played by a Mary Martin-type woman with a blonde bob and no chest. She stole the show, though. She was an amazing Puck, and Hermia and Helena were also great. I actually ended up knowing one of the actors from Middle School in Mesa, AZ, and he did great! I haven't seen him since before I started high school, and so it was quite the surprise to run into him in this kind of environment. Anyway, the play was awesome and I got some okay shots in before the sun started to steal all the light. I couldn't take any more after that because I didn't want the flash to blind anyone!

If any of you are in Utah, I would definitely recommend this performance, it was great!

Our family friends Pam and Baha sharing a forehead kiss before the show.

One of the opening scenes from Midsummer Night's Dream.

Another shot from one of the opening scenes from Midsummer Night's Dream.

Hermia from Midsummer Night's Dream.

This is one of the actors from The Thrillionaires.

The backs of the benches are made out of this cool old wood so I snapped a quick photo.

Beginning of the End!

2008-08-19T08:25:00.000-07:00

This is officially my last semester at the University of Utah! My last three classes are as follows:

MGT 5700 - Advanced Management - 3 credits
MGT 5510 - Human Resource Management - 3 credits
COMM 1530 - Photography - 4 credits

In the midst of taking these last 3 classes, I will of course be working full time and also traveling for work to Louisiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Michigan. Wow! 4 1/2 months left!

Ahmad and I have also decided to start our MBA programs next year in January, so I really don't get much of a break before we start up our Master's degrees. Our school of choice so far is Westminster because of the awesome 10 day international trip provided for in the tuition, convenient class offerings, smaller class sizes, and challenging hands-on course structure. We are applying as we speak, have sent our GMAT scores, and are keeping our fingers crossed. We will keep you posted.

I will post a few more pics soon of our hike up in American Fork canyon to some gorgeous waterfalls up in the mountains. What an amazing hike!

Have a great week everyone!

Park City Arts Festival

2008-08-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to the Park City Arts Festival with some friends. We had a great time browsing the work of local and international artists. Everything from jewelry to sculpture to paintings to digital images were on display. We saw some really exquisite work. There was also a low-brimmed Roaring 20s hat imported from Italy that I found in a little boutique on Main Street and absolutely fell in love with, but seeing as it was $300 I decided to pass! Local food vendors were selling everything from Thai food to Pizza to fresh fruits and ice cream. A few jazz bands were playing up and down the street, and there was a kids station with face painting and games.

For any of you who enjoy artwork or even just walking around and people watching for a few hours, I would highly recommend this festival. We had a great time and I'd like to go again next year!

Here are a few photos I took at the festival and on the way to the festival. It was a gorgeous day, as you can see!

Family Reunion Photo Shoot

2008-07-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

I did another photo shoot this weekend for our good friends Mark and Betsy. Their family was having a reunion this past weekend and wanted me to snap some shots of the family all together. Imagine trying to organize a group of 30 people, not to mention that they were the most fun and loud group of Tongans! =) I am not used to being so aggressive, so thank goodness Mark was there to yell and help get everyone organize. It was a great learning experience in the importance of being pushy so that the shots are composed enough. Some of them didn't turn out as well as I would have liked because I wasn't as aggressive as I needed to be, but hey, I learned from it! Thanks to Mark and Betsy for letting me capture their family reunion, I had the best time and their family is so fun and friendly! By the end of the shoot, they were all asking me to come to the family reunion dinner and treating me like they'd known me for years! I just love that about the Tongan culture! =)

As always, comments and suggestions are much appreciated!

Dinner at the Taubs

2008-07-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

Ahmad and I had dinner at Mark and Betsy Taub's house last night. They are such a cute couple and made us the nicest salmon dinner. She is pregnant (7 months along!) and putting together the nursery so the boys went upstairs and put together the dresser for the baby's room while Betsy and I made chocolate fondue and chatted.

While Betsy was upstairs checking on the boys' progress, I snuck outside to take a few photos. The sky was so pretty and the light was so perfect through the clouds I had to catch a couple. I only took about 10 pics, and only a few of them turned out, but I liked the few that turned out. =)

What do you guys think? Any feedback for me? =)

My 25th Birthday

2008-07-20T20:57:00.000-07:00

Today I officially became a quarter of a century. =) Wow!

Ahmad has spoiled me beyond belief. He took me to see The Dark Knight, which I have been HIGHLY anticipating. We went with some friends and then afterwards went out to dinner. We came back to our house and played a few rounds of pool and stayed up until 3am playing the new Mario Kart Wii. I know, we are so mature. ;)

Also, last weekend we celebrated my birthday and our friend's birthday at the same time and the boys took us to the Park City outlets on a shopping spree.

For a present, I am getting a "nifty fifty" (50mm with f/1.4) lens for my camera to do portraits. I am very excited and have been wanting this lens for quite some time. (I will also be getting a new dishwasher as a side-birthday present. But that is another story altogether! Ahhh, the joys of home ownership!)

I am very lucky to have a hubbie who puts so much thought and effort into making my birthdays special! =) It has been a great day! =)

Desert Star Theater

2008-07-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend Ahmad and I went with some friends to the Desert Start Theater in Murray. It is a Western decor-themed dinner theater that puts on cute little spoofs of popular plays or movies. Right now they are doing a spoof on Indiana Jones called "Indiana Bones". The script is original with lots of references to Utahns, Mormons, and the local community. There was your typical German and Arab bad guy, and even a bit playing off of Johnny Carson's Karnak character. It was very funny stuff, and Ahmad and I had a great time! A few times I thought I was going to have an accident in the theater I was laughing so hard! For those of you who enjoy a good comedy and want to support local businesses, I would definitely recommend this place!
http://www.desertstar.biz/

More Vacation Pics

2008-07-13T08:46:00.001-07:00

Okay these are probable the last I will post of the vacation pics. I have hundreds, but let's be honest... you know you don't want to see all of them! lol! =)

Overall the trip was amazing. We started in Jordan and spent about 2 weeks there. While we were there we took at trip to Petra again so I could get some cool pictures for our house, and we also went to the Red Sea again to relax for 2 days and celebrate our anniversary.
We spent a lot of time with Ahmad's family and visiting friends and relatives. We also had the opportunity to go to his best friend's sister's engagement party. Both families were from Karak, a city in Jordan with very distinct cultural traits, and it was so fun and interesting to see the dances and hear the music from Karak. We had a great time!

After Jordan we stayed in Athens for 3 days and had an AMAZING time there, too. I am absolutely nuts for ruins and historical sites so I dragged Ahmad all over Athens to see everything, but we did get to spend a day by the pool on the roof at the hotel and at night we walked around the city and people-watched which was really fun. The Greek people are some of the nicest people I have met anywhere in the world! No one minded when we stopped them and asked for directions, and people seemed to go out of their way to help us. The culture just seems so friendly and inviting, it was great!

Anyway, the vacation was great but it is definitely nice to be back home again with friends and family we love! =)

This one is looking at Athens from the top of the Acropolis through a hole in one of the ruins.

Cool-looking columns at a museum on the Agora.

Of course, the breathtaking Parthenon!

Some houses walking on our way to the Tower of the Winds in Athens.

Ancient theater in Petra, Jordan where Indiana Jones was filmed.

Column on the Temple next to the Parthenon.

Ladies holding up the roof of the Temple next to the Parthenon.

The Ottomans cut the heads off of most of the statues when they took over the area so there were lots of lone heads and lots of headless statues everywhere. They believe you can't make statues or representations of humans or animals because then you would be worshiping an idol or causing future generations to worship idols. It was very interesting to see.

A headless body on the Agora.

Another beautiful statue destroyed by the Ottomans. This one looks like it was really beautiful at some point.

Cool-looking bench near the Tower of the Winds.

View of Athens from the top of the Acropolis.

Theater of Dionysus in Athens.

Full view of the temple next to the Parthenon on the Acropolis.

An ancient house with a staircase in Jerash, Jordan at the ruins of the city there.

Beautiful old church on the Agora.

My niece pretending she is Rapunzel from the Barbie movie. Typical! =) She is such a cutie.

My nephew making a funny face. Also typical! lol! They are adorable.

View of the Temple on the Agora from the top of the Acropolis.

Crumbling engravings on the top of one of the temples. It looks like it was once a battle scene, but obviously that pigeon is not afraid! lol!

That's it for now! More updates later... probably after the GMAT is over! =)

Vacation Pics

2008-07-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

I started going through the pics of our vacation to Greece and Jordan and thought I'd start posting some. As always, feedback is much appreciated! =)

This was a tree growing out of the side of the cliff at Petra in Jordan. I was amazed that somehow a tree found roots, water, and soil enough to flourish in a situation like this!

Hallway inside an ancient theater in Jerash, Jordan.

This was a pipe system based on intricate carvings and gravity that the citizens of Petra used thousands of years ago to bring water into the city. This system lines the cliffs on your way down into the city. What an ingenious system!

This was a fountain thousands of years old in Petra that I thought looked really cool in Jerash, Jordan.

More to come! =)

GMAT and Birthday - 9 Days and Counting

2008-07-10T19:30:00.001-07:00

Ahmad and I are taking the GMAT on July 19th, for those of you who don't already know. We are both studying and doing everything we can to prepare. It is exhausting, for Ahmad especially since it has been so long since he graduated, to try and re-learn all the old math, grammar, composition, and critical reasoning techniques that you memorized and then forgot. We are both nervous, and will keep everyone posted on how things go. In the mean time, any advice you have posted here or in E-mail form would be greatly appreciated, for those who may have already taken the GMAT, MCAT, LSAT, CFA, etc. We would love any you are willing to give! =)

On a more minor note, I turn 25 on the 20th, the day after taking the GMAT (another reason to celebrate!). How weird to think that I will officially be a quarter of a century. Many of you I know from some of my earliest childhood memories. It is so strange to think of how quickly life has flown by and how much has changed in 25 years! I have found that you never end up where you think you will, but for me at least, things have turned out better than I ever expected. Here's to continuing to learn and grow and hopefully get better with age! =)

Another Photo Shoot

2008-06-23T06:53:00.000-07:00

I did a photo shoot again yesterday for a work friend, John Reese, and his family. They are all absolutely adorable and they were a pleasure to shoot! I took them yesterday and haven't really had much time to edit except for a few, but initially I think they are looking much better than my last ones! As always, I'd appreciate any feedback you'd like to give. =) To view the entire photoshoot and to see bigger files, go to my flickr page at http://flickr.com/photos/kristalkareh/.

Hope everyone is doing well!!

Saturday Morning Softball

2008-06-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

Ahmad has been playing softball in our neighborhood softball tournament, and has been doing fairly well considering he hasn't played baseball or softball since high school, I think. Today was a rare day when I did not have to get up early and study, clean, etc. so I decided to go and watch the game. I got some fairly decent shots considering I have never done sports photography! Ahmad struck out twice, but had some base hits and brought a few runners home, too, and he is getting better every game! Our neighbor Lance had some really good hits and got a few runs as well. Go Lance and Ahmad! =)

My Mom... The Graduate! =)

2008-06-02T12:47:00.000-07:00

I just have to brag about my mom for a second...

I have been going to school for like 10 million years trying to finish my degree and have been pulling my hair out every day of that 10 million years. Working full time, taking care of a house, and school at the same time just seem so overwhelming. Well my mother has just graduated with her Bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland, and I have no idea how she pulled it off. While still in school, she took care of kids still living at home, moved across the country, worked, had a killer commute every day, took care of the house, dealt with a HORRIBLE landlord/rental situation, and still managed to take care of my dad and meet family obligations. On top of all this, I think it was really hard for her to go back to school after having been out of high school for so long. She is an amazing inspiration and I am so incredibly proud of her!!! =)

Congrats to you, mom! You will make an amazing teacher! =)

My First Photo Shoot!!! =)

2008-04-13T09:56:00.001-07:00

So I have been studying photography now for a while and finally decided to test out what I have been learning on real people. I put up an add in Craigslist that said basically I want to build up my portfolio so I'll take any pictures for dirt chip. The next day I got an E-mail from a girl saying she wanted to do an engagement picture session on Saturday (yesterday). They were a Canadian couple who are getting married in July up in Alberta and wanted to get engagement shots taken while he was in town visiting her this weekend.

I was so nervous! She wanted ME to choose the location, which flustered me, but after I thought about it I decided on Centennial Park in American Fork where there is a really cute bridge, some old cute towers, and a cute old lighthouse looking thing that we could work with. There is also a dock nearby and a huge field with really cool-looking tall weeds.

I made it through without breaking down from nervousness! Yay! =) It was actually really fun and the couple I was working with were really great and understood that I was new at this. They really liked the pictures, and they only had to pay me $40 for a 2 hour session and 3 different locations! They got a smoking deal, but since the pictures are probably only a few steps above a WalMart session I really can't say whether or not they were worth the price! lol!

Anyway, here is what I shot. I would LOVE some feedback from you guys about the pics, even if you know nothing about photography. I am open to any and all criticism! =) Keep in mind they haven't been edited or cropped yet so they may look different once I start doing all that. A few I have started to play around with, but they are mostly just the raw images.

Hope everyone is doing well!

By the way, you can see the rest of the pics at http://www.flickr.com/kristalkareh

Funny Text Conversation Between Me and My Mom

2008-02-14T12:30:00.000-08:00

This interchange was amusing to me today so I thought I'd share it with everyone. If you know my mom, you'll probably think it is amusing too...

Mom: Okay, kids are rude! I am wearing my fun valentine's day sweater and some kids laughed out loud at me when I took my coat off then tried to pretend they weren't laughing at me.

Me: lol! Well that's what you get for earing an ugly sweater. ;)

Mom: It is not ugly!

Mom: Sent picture message with a picture of her sweater (shown below)

Me: lol!! Yes, that is ugly. You look like you are wearing cake beads on your squishy buttons! lol! It's not as bad as I thought though. I was expecting something more 3d.

Mom: It is a very cute and festive outfit and kids r just synicle. (yes spelled it synicle, and yes she's going to be teaching your children someday! lol!)

Me: Whatever makes you feel comfortable with your ugly outfit mom. (I of course was kidding on this one!)

Me: By the way, is it synicle or cynical? Are you sure you should be teaching? ;)

She hasn't sent a response yet. =) I think she is sore that no one likes her outfit. =)

We love you mom!

I hate snow!

2008-02-14T07:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a horrible weather day, let me just say. I already had oodles of things to do with school, our family business, the house, work, etc. and then I left for school almost 3 hours early (it usually takes me about an hour to get there) only to arrive 5 minutes late (6:05) because of the horrible snow storm! It was the worst snow storm I'd ever seen. Semi trucks were stuck in the middle of the highway unable to move because of the instantaneous dumping of huge amounts of snow. I was only able to continue because I engaged the 4wd on the Range and just pushed through it. It was horrible!

Then on my way home I hit the traffic described in the article below...

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695253032,00.html

It took me HOURS to get home. I think it was well past 1am when I walked through the front door, and I had hit the traffic at about 9pm. It was crazy.

Anyway, for all those in Utah County, I hope you made it home safe and sound.

Boo to Utah weather!

Kindness

2008-02-11T08:19:00.000-08:00

My mom is a brilliant writer, and a few times a month sends me E-mails filled with thought-provoking prose about the world and its people and her place among them. Her latest is really sweet and I thought I'd share it with everyone...

"One of the classes I am taking this semester has been quite troubling. It is African-American Literature: 1945 to Present. We are reading stories – fiction – about a time in American History that I wish did not exist. I am not sure that anyone can ever really capture the hatred and fear that was in people’s hearts during the Jim Crow era. It is something that is very disturbing to read about whether as fiction (based on factual information and experiences) or as biography.

The first novel – a collection of short stories – was written by Richard Wright. Wright grew up in the south, was educated in the north, became involved in communism, disillusioned by people and prejudices in America and moved to Europe where he lived out the rest of his days with his family very happily. His stories are full of bitterness, hate, fear, and hopelessness. I do not doubt that those feelings were prevalent at the time and I am sure that life in the south was quite a challenge – to put it mildly. I feel uncomfortable reading his work, not that that is a bad thing. I feel disturbed with the tone and perspective. I do not like it. It makes me so sad.

We have moved on to a collection of stories by Ellison. We were given our first writing assignment to compare the styles of the two writers. I was afraid I would have nothing to talk about. I read a story in Ellison’s novel titled I Did Not Learn Their Names and was moved.

It is a natural thing to read a text and look for one’s self. Readers find a place to gain perspective, judge others, and feel anchored when they can relate to someone or something in a text. I had not found myself in anything that Wright had written, but I found that in Ellison. There was kindness in his story and I could relate to it. There was not one bit of kindness in Wright’s stories and I could not believe that it didn’t exist somewhere; even if it was difficult to find.

I like to believe that kindness is always lurking somewhere even in the most unkind situations. The Jim Crow south was certainly steeped in cruelty and fear, but even then there had to be people who showed kindness when it was difficult and not expected. I am sure kindness was not rewarded and often those who showed kindness has as much to fear as those who were being persecuted.

Even today, on some days it is difficult to find kindness. I live in a city that is very competitive. During rush hour on very crowded trains it is difficult to find anyone who is kind, but every now and then you get a glimpse. There are many who shove others to get on the train and find a seat, but just when you think there is no kindness left in this busy world a scary looking teenager with multiple facial piercings gives up his seat to a young pregnant woman.

I also go to school at a highly competitive University. Classes and programs fill quickly with a small percentage of students applying for seats. Most students are a long way from home and often go weeks and months without much support from home. Such a student was in my store on Friday morning. It was very cold and rainy out and it had obviously been a long week for her. She came to mail a cute card to a friend. It was one of those large square cards that require extra postage and she had only put one stamp on it. I told her she needed more postage and she seemed put out at having to buy more postage. She was with a friend and complained to her companion that she was paying extra postage to send a card when she never got any mail except bills!

I put the postage on her card and asked if the return address was her address on campus to which she replied it was. After she left I wrote her a letter wishing her well during her Spring Semester. I told her I knew how much effort it took to go to school everyday without much support, but that I knew it would be worth it to her some day. I enclosed some post it flags and other goofy stuff I thought she could use in her studies and sent it off. I cannot tell you how great I felt. It is Sunday and it still makes me smile to think of her opening a piece of mail that is no a bill.

Even in big cities full of people who are in a hurry to get to work there are people who are kind and look for ways they can help others. The person giving often experiences greater joy than the person who receives. In the Ellison story an old couple shared their lunch with a young black boy full of hate. They didn’t march in a rally or start a protest. They didn’t try to stop an angry mob. They quietly and simply shared what they had. I would like to think that no matter how hard things get, there would always be someone willing to share their lunch." -Valayne May

I had a realization hit me in reading this E-mail that I, for one, am way too self-involved and that may be one of the reasons people have of feeling forever unfulfilled. Maybe the way to feel more whole is to look outside yourself and stop worrying about what else would make "me" happy. Maybe we need to look around and think what would make "my family" or "my husband" or "my friends" happier. Showing out-of-the-way kindness to family and strangers alike and looking less internally may brighten more than just the person receiving the kindness. This may seem obvious to most people, but I thought it was a profound way for my mom to look at the world.

I think that comes with living on the East Coast with all the other intellectuals... ;)

General Update

2008-02-06T07:21:00.000-08:00

As part of my New Year's Resolution this entry is going to serve as a general update for what Ahmad and I have been up to for the past few months...

I am still working at Asphalt Zipper as a sales manager and really loving the experience I am getting here. I have been here for over 4 years now and have really appreciated all they have done for me. For those who are curious what an Asphalt Zipper is... here is our website: http://www.asphaltzipper.com.

I am also still going full time to the University of Utah. This semester I am doing a 3 credit internship (basically going to work and getting 3 credits for it), and taking 3 classes: International Law, International Management, and Corporate Finance. They are all very challenging classes, especially the International Law class, but I am really enjoying them all and learning a lot. After this semester I only have 5 classes left! Yay! I need to take 3 electives, another finance class, and an advanced management class and then I will be done! It is hard to believe that after all these years of struggling through school I finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. I cannot wait to walk across that stage and get a diploma! =)

Ahmad has accepted an offer with a company called PMI after parting ways with StoresOnline recently. He is very excited about this new opportunity and has been focusing a lot of time on his side business, Kareh Consulting. He is doing business development and marketing consulting for a few local businesses, and is really enjoying taking control of his financial destiny! He is one of the most entrepreneurial-minded people I know and with his brilliant business mind I am sure things will continue to progress for him. We are both working hard to figure out all the legal and financial specifics of running our own business, and it helps that I am still in college and can apply a lot of the things I am learning right now. That has been really fun.

For those of you who don't know, Ahmad and I bought a house in Eagle Mountain a few years ago and have loved living out there on the golf course. It is a cute little rambler, which came with an unfinished basement. It has been quite the experience working on that unfinished basement. I have learned way more about construction than I ever wanted to know. We did a lot of the framing ourselves, put in a lot of the low voltage, and hired out the drywall, the plumbing, and the electric work. They drywallers are almost done and we have now hung all the doors and started putting up the casing and the baseboards and putting in the calk. Soon we will be ready for paint and it is all downhill from there! Then we will officially have a new movie room with a built-in projector and peaker system, 3 new bedrooms (really they will be a gym, a spare bedroom/storage room, and a photography studio), and a full bathroom. It will be way more house than we need, but it has definitely increased the value and should make it easier to sell when we get to that point. Now if only I could create a Martha Stewart-esque yard I would feel so much better... =)

We have 2 fairly new additions to our family... no not kids... tortoises! lol! Ahmad and I love animals but being allergic to animal hair is a problem for me so we invested in a boy and girl russian tortoise named Terrence and Tatyana and are having lots of fun being tortoise owners. Trust me, they are cuter (and faster!) than you think! =)

As for my family, my mom is graduating from the University of Maryland in May with her bachelor's degree and then is continuing on immediately for her master's. She is getting into teaching and we are all so proud of her for going back to school and getting her degree!

My sister, Kailee, is at Fordham University in the Bronx in New York on a full-ride scholarship for volleyball. She plays for the Fordham Rams and is absolutely killing! She definitely got the majority of Dad's sports genes because she just absolutely rocks as a volleyball player! =) We are very proud of her accomplishments and hope to make it out to a game some day.

My brother, Ryan, is here in Utah in Provo working full time doing computer programming and is trying to figure out what he wants to do for school and for a long-term career. He started off in the pre-med program but decided it wasn't for him and is trying to find something he truly enjoys and can do while raising a family. He has so many talents I am sure it is hard to focus on just one thing! ;)

My brother, Preston, is in Maryland right now living with my parents and working for my dad doing some IT consulting for my dad's company and will soon be working full time doing the same type of thing. He is also not exactly sure what he would like to do long-term, but is enjoying life and enjoying the process of choosing where he wants to go long-term. I'm sure it will be something with computers and programming, and I think ultimately he'd like to program games. That would be a dream job for him, I'm sure!

My youngest brother, Keaton, is still in high school in Maryland, and he is turning in to quite the stud. He is in a band and plays the keyboards and is quite talented at writing his own music and lyrics. He also plays some volleyball and is definitely the "ladies man" at his school and has a great sense of humor.

My dad is working at a law firm in Maryland in the IT department and is really enjoying that. My family is definitely the east-coast type and I think they are all fitting in really well in Maryland and loving the fact that they are clost to DC, Baltimore, NY, and many of the fun east-coast sites and things to do. I am definitely jealous because there truly is not much to do in Utah after being here for so long! (April, I blame you!!!) ;)

I hope you have enjoyed the update! Feel free to check back often for the goings-on of the Kareh and May families, and check out my flickr page for new updates on my photography progress, and of course if I can ever do a free photo shoot for you let me know because I really need to practice my portrait skills! =)

-Kristal

New Year's Resolutions

2008-02-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

So I have made some definitely "revolutionary" New Year's Resolutions that I am determined to keep this year. Here is a partial list...

1. Keep up to date with the Blog site so all my friends and family can be updated on my news.
2. Finish college (only 5 more classes to go!).
3. Try cooking something new at least once a month.
4. Learn something new about photography once a week.
5. Take at least one picture a day for the whole year.

What about everyone else, did you make any resolutions this year?

New Blog Site!

2007-07-11T14:54:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!! Welcome to the Kareh Family Blog Site. Mostly, it will be just me posting on this website, but I am going to try to keep things current so everyone knows what is going on with our family. I've been horrible with keeping in touch with friends and family, and I decided this may be the best way to make sure everyone knows what's going on with us!

Enjoy, and feel free to comment or send me your blog sites so I can keep up on your news as well!