that means i'm allowed to have my birthday present now:i am sooo excited! i started to really enjoy photography in high school and took several classes. my high school had a dark room, and since i was in the art club, i was able to develop photographs even when i wasn't taking any photography classes. in college i also took some photography classes and loved them, it was a nice (but still creative) break from all of my architecture classes. in grad school i took a class all about photography and architecture and i think it was one of my favorite classes. the camera that i had used in college and high school was a film camera - everything is digital now and it was becoming more difficult to get the photographs developed. i'd been looking at digital slrs for awhile now but never thought i'd actually get one anytime soon. i guess that mike started talking to my parents and his parents about a month ago and they decided to go together and get me a camera for my birthday! i was very surprised! i have so much to learn about the camera, but i spent some time over the weekend in backyard with the dogs and i love it so much already!

**added later - now that i look at these photos on a different computer, i must not have uploaded them right... they are very fuzzy. hmmm, guess i'll have to try to figure out a different way of posting larger photos.