We're Engaged!!!!

OMG! He asked me!!! To marry him that is. On a totally normal Tuesday evening, Nov 24 to be exact! I was finishing my day at S P A C E just working late after sending an estimate out and I got a phone call from Aeon.
He wanted to know when I'd be at the house? I thought this was a little out of the ordinary but didn't think too much about it... I let him know I'd be leaving shortly and I was on my way. Well after I got into the car, I accidentally and out of habit drove to our apartment... this delayed me about 15 minutes from arriving at the house. Aeon called again to see where I was. I was thinking Jesus! I'll get there when I get there.
I arrived at our house and he met me outside... he was wearing knee pads from installing the hardwood flooring in the guest bedroom. He had his sweatshirt and beenie on and looked adorably handsome. I was a little frustrated and really wasn't looking forward to working on the house yet another night after all I was in vacation mode and looking forward to heading to PA for Thanksgiving.

As I was walking in to the house, he grabbed my hand and said " I have a surprise for you, close your eyes." So I did+ I actually kept them closed. (That was a 1st)

He walked me through the kitchen, living room and outside near the pool. The whole time, I was thinking to myself that he was going to show me the ceiling fan he installed in the living room and wanted me to see if from outside. I was thinking this is a lot for a ceiling fan, and why are we outside it was freezing.

Then he said " Open your eyes" I opened my eyes and the pool was full of floating tea light candles... it was beautiful! I turned to my right to see Aeon on one knee and he asked " Jana, will you marry me"?

For the first time in my life, I was speechless. I couldn't speak.. nothing came out. After about 20 seconds I said YES! YES ! YESSSSSS!!!!!
We hugged, kissed and I cried. Tears of joy for sure!
It was perfect, and he totally surprised me.

The rings are very sentimental and beautiful. He had them made. Most of all the coolest part is the shape of the rings after the salad bowl he bought in Fiji years ago. The diamonds are re purposed diamonds from his Great grandmother on his mothers side and from his grandmother on his fathers side.

I AM SO EXCITED! WE ARE EXCITED! HAPPY & IN LOVE!
+ its all on VIDEO.

We'll let you know when we decide on a date.

We

Holiday Update + Letter

This Holiday marks our second year together as a couple… and there are many more to come! With life speeding up this year and heading into overdrive, we've decided to send a letter. Here is our year end summary. ;-)

What a busy year we had! December 30th of last year saw us packing up Jana's belongings in Hermosa Beach, CA and schlepping it all in a U-Haul to Fabulous Las Vegas, NV where we were going to try our hand at living together for our first time. So far, so good! After spending the month of January with our brother, Mikey V, we found a cute little one bedroom flat that overlooked a pool and was walking distance to a park. Nice!
BYE BYE HERMOSA, HELLO LAS VEGAS
One of Jana's New Years resolutions was to do more photography and less assisting and production this year. So Jana poked around the local advertising industry, made some great connections to do her photography work and boy did she get it - along with creating some of the best work she's ever done! Jana spent some time renting a small office in the downtown 'Arts District' of Las Vegas until she decided to branch out and move across the street to a bigger and better location that has become S P A C E - a gallery/studio/office set up for creative thinkers, movers and shakers. With the First Friday and Swap Party events, it is becoming a real hub of activity. Jana's photography is expanding and with an influx of assignments from NY and, at the turn of the year, official representation out of LA, she is going to have a busy 2010.

Aeon worked for a short time for the 2010 US Census and, in June, landed a full time job that is helping pay the bills. He continues to work on his business plan and is planning on attending the annual CWA (Climbing Wall Association) conference in Boulder, CO in May to make more contacts in the indoor climbing industry. He is constantly moving towards his goal of being his own boss with the end END goal of owning/running "Higher Ground" - Las Vegas' preeminent indoor climbing center.

Together we have made many, many steps towards our future in the furiously-paced past 12 months. We made our most memorable and adorable purchase in the spring from the Lied Animal Shelter - for the best $150 either of us has ever spent we brought home, on the 24th of April, the cutest addition to our young family; our Schnoodle, Walter. He continues to be a most wonderful and adorable companion, is sharp as a tack and we have pretty much run out of tricks to teach him because he learns them so fast and so well. We are constantly receiving praise for how well behaved he is (thank you Nat Geo for that Dog Whisperer show) and comments on how cute he is.

In May we traveled up through Utah into Wyoming to help Aeon's dad and his girlfriend, Monte, on their newly purchased ranch. We spent a week doing work where a year isn't enough time to get done what needs doing. It was great fun, hard work and a beautiful place where Jana and I shared some truly memorable experiences. It was also our second major road trip together proving, yet again, that we are able to travel together. Very important for that 'next step'.

Early August was our birthday celebrations in the wonderful climbing park of Crawdad Canyon near Veyo, UT. Aeon's parents and many friends from the Vegas climbing community, and even Jana's friend, Janis, were there to help us celebrate.

The end of August found us playing and creating on the Playa of northern Nevada at the Burning Man Festival. For those of you who don't know what buring man is: It is a spiritual, artistic week spent in the company of 50,000 other spiritual creative individuals. Full of art, workshops, parties, music and pure fun. Jana and I shared some deeply meaningful energy there and we are planning on going back in 2010.

In October we made our second most memorable purchase. With the help of our friend, Sarah, we purchased our first home together. YAYY!!!!. We 'closed' in early October and have been working hard to have it move-in ready by Christmas. Both of our families have pitched in to help us get it livable and we have made MUCHO progress on it since closing. BIG thanks to Ron, Audra, Mikey V., Wade, Bobbie, Phyllis and Barry for taking time out of your schedules to put in some long, sometimes backbreaking hours getting this place t

This new house is quickly becoming a home, as we start to make memories there. On November 22, Aeon asked Jana to be his wife. It was a surprise as she had no idea. She actually thought he wanted her to come to the house to help work on it before their surprise trip back east for Thanksgiving. Instead, when she got there, she he had a surprise waiting for her. A pool full of tea light candles and Aeon on one knee. She said YES !!!! (there's video to prove it) and we double surprised her family back in Pennsylvania with an unannounced visit for Thanksgiving dinner and the news that we were officially engaged. Everyone seems very happy for us. Most importantly we are happy, we are excited and we are deeply in love!

Some Highlights – Jana did her first lead climb at NEW JACK City in March; She looks forward to hitting the rock again when we get moved into the house and has a little more time for climbing. We went on a huge canyoning trip in Zion NP and had an absolute blast with friends. Aeon had a small epic on a climb here in Red Rocks with his friend Erik. After several frantic calls to search and rescue, Jana was waiting at the end of the trail with Gatorade and much needed H2o. There were tons of BBQ's and pool parties to attend over the summer living here in Las Vegas... There is never a dull moment!

Forgive us for not sending more than this letter this holiday season. This year the house got the money! It is a really nice house now that we've spent nearly all of the last three months working on it. A decent sized 3/2 with a garage and a pool in southwest Vegas is where we'll be calling home for the next few years. You are welcome to come and visit anytime.

We wish you happy holidays and hope you are surrounded by close friends and family and an abundant new year full of positivity and love!

With Love,

Aeon, Jana & Walter

where it is today! And thanks to Ray for all the tools that have proven so very useful.

LOVE LOVE LOVE !!!!!

One of the best things about US is how much we love each other!!!!! How that is constantly growing more and more and more........

PLUS we have tons of FUN together!!!!!!!!!
Aeon... I couldn't of done it w/o you. THANK YOU FOR ALL your help on my studio!

Burning Man Adventure!

In late Augest Aeon and I embarked on a spiritual, personal, creative and freeing journey together.
We attended Burning Man for the first time this year.
The experience to each individual is different. As a couple we enjoyed couple time, as individuals we enjoyed individual time. We attended concerts, workshops, looked at art, we laughed, I cried, did yoga, enjoyed new experiences with each other and good friends. We made new friends and new family members. We were tired, dirty, and loved every minute of it. What was the most amazing thing to me is how we experienced the adventure with 100 % trust and freedom. With Aeon I am free to be me.

Miniature climbing epic

So I went off yesterday to climb Dark Shadows with my friend, Erik. And it was a great climb, too! The last time I climed it was about 12 years ago with my Mom! And we only did the first 3 pitches.

Well Erik and I go all the way up to the summit of Mescalito via Dark Shadows: a 13 pitch 5.8 traditionally protected route with several bolted belays. It was GREAT climbing! D.S. is one of the best cracks you can climb out at Red Rocks. It's got a 5 star rating and is well worth every one.

This trip with Erik was the first time I was going out the roof at the top of the 4th pitch to do all the other pitches. For the most part it was pretty easy and straightforward climbing. But then we had a jam. Erik took the lead on pitch 7 and we got lost. Blame it on poor eyesight, bad beta or even fatigue, but we missed a critical bolt that led up through the rest of the route. We spent a little over two hours searching for that bolt. When we found it we were, obviously, behind schedule.

We got to the top just after dusk and started hustling down towards the south fork of Pine Creek Canyon. We reached the first big rappel at almost dark. We finished last rappel near the canyon floor about 10:30. And we were late. I was worried that Jana would be worried. I was trying to vibe her not to worry, that we were okay and just late. Dehydrated, miserable, fatigued near exhaustion but finally on the ground.

We hiked around the buttress back to north fork Pine Canyon to search for our bags. After about an hour of hiking, a half hour of searching for our bags, unsuccessfully, and finally passed out due to exhaustion. 15 minutes later we struggled awake and kept searching for our bags.

FINALLY we made it out to the car about 1 o'clock. And, to my big chagrin, there was no spare water in the car. And I've done this MULTIPLE times! I've had water in the car but because we just got back from a weekend trip we emptied the entire car to clean it out (still needs to be CLEANED) so we didn't have the spare water I usually keep in it.

Long story short: we got dehydrated, scratched up and exhausted... but the climb was WORTH IT! Great climbing, a very put together partner and beautiful scenery. Next time I'm pre-hydrating better and taking more water. Then it won't matter if we're 4.5 hours late!

Busy weekend!

You know you've had a busy (aka: successful) weekend when you're in bed by 8:30 on Sunday night.

We had a great time this weekend, and the weekend started on Thursday night! Jana and I went on a date to a Spy On Vegas hosted FREE concert by Toad the Wet Sprocket with FREE beer provided by Fosters! And we had a great time dancing to Toad. We even high-fived just for Fernando when 'Fall Down' was played. We danced almost all of Toad's set (& encore), met some very cool people who added us to Facebook immediately, ran into some friends from the climbing meetup and then went home to bed. We were SORE the next couple of days - Jana wasn't sure from what but I'm pretty sure it was from dancing on that hard pool deck.

Friday saw us doing busies but Saturday was even MORE productive! In the morning we had a video conference with my good friend Nick and his fiancee, Barbara. He asked me to be his best man at their wedding next year in Spiez, Switzerland!
Then we went and had breakkie with my mother, after which we were off to S P A C E to make a ton of pillows for our camp at Burning Man this year. I also made a door for S P A C E as well as filled in some of the seams on one of the desks for her tenants. Busy busy.

Sunday morning 0530 and we're up out of bed, quick breakkie and off to Red Rocks to climb the morning away with our good pals Chris and Sarah. I climbed ok, but Jana's climbing really impressed me! She AND Sarah both were able to do this climb that I had a little difficulty with but which was a really nice line. Good job girls!
After climbing it was a quick nap at home and then off to C&S's for a pool party where we played badminton, ate bbq and dirt and drank some beers. It was a great day and waking up at 0530 was WORTH IT for the climbing.

The whole point of this post isn't to just detail what we did, but to point out that I'm really fortunate to have someone so special which I can share all these things with. Jana and I are such close friends, and I value and cherish that friendship to no end and don't want to ever take advantage of it. I can't imagine NOT continuing to do fun stuff forever.

Aeon

Houses ???

Aeon and I have done our research and its all pointing to "Now is a very GOOD time to buy a home". Coming from LA where home prices start in the mid to low $300,000s, I never thought of owning a home and actually put that thought aside in my head... I thought I parked it... until now. Within a week, we've shopped around for neighborhoods we like, looked at several houses, chatted up residents about the neighborhoods and even pre-qualified for a home loan. Aeon, being a vet, makes a huge difference! TODAY we are making an offer. An offer on our very first home - TOGETHER! What an amazingly beautiful step to do together. I find myself falling more in love with A. everyday we're together. Life comes at you fast... and I wouldn't have it any other way! Stay Tuned


~~~~~~ Jana

Trip to Wyoming

So Jana and I took off for two weeks to go to Crowheart, Wyoming to visit my dad and have a sort of ceremony to initiate his property into our hearts. He called his new property 'Sundance' and said it will be a sanctuary for all of ours and his girlfriend, Monte's, families. And a sanctuary it is! 30 acres of heaven not seen from the highway with a creek running through it and 4 wells. Amazing. Walter loved it the most! One morning he even found a dead fox to roll around in and was happily eating its skull when i poked my head out of the tent to see where he was at. He is a terribly cute and utterly clumsy dog and we absolutely adore him!Jana and I had a wonderful time and even had part of a very special day to ourselves in Dubois. We worked hard, we played hard and, in the end, felt that we hadn't spent enough time there. Perhaps next year we'll get more time to plant trees and set things right.

One of the highlights of the trip was meeting Monte's daughter, Lisa. She is a beautiful and intelligent woman whom Jana spent a lot of time with and who's company she seemed to enjoy.


Not all of our trip was strictly for visiting Pop's new ranch in Wyoming. I also did much research on climbing gyms along the way. One of the gyms I went to was Momentum Climbing Gym in Sandy, UT where I spoke with the owner, Jeff, who seemed very interested in my project. I wished I had more information for him and he more time for me. But this is the great thing about emails... we can take care of that business online.

I really want to model Higher Ground after much of Momentum, particularly the walls made by Walltopia. It was as beautiful an indoor climbing experiece Jana or I had ever had. I'm convinced that putting this type of wall in Las Vegas is the way forward and am actively working on finalizing my plan to do so.
We got back to Vegas and got immediately to work. We moved Jana out of her old office and into the new space, "S P A C E", located conveniently right across the street. We have been working very hard on getting that ready for her to occupy and get back into photography full-time. We've painted walls, floors, done construction and demolition and even had a nightmare of a time with hard-wood flooring & flaky LV people which cost us 3 days and $550 more than it should have.
But it's progressing well and should be completed by First Friday in July so
Jana can showcase the new space to future clientelle / tennants.


Jana here ... Wyoming for me was a chance to see another side of Aeon, spend some time with him and his family and really connect again to nature. It was so wonderful to watch his eyes light up as he drove me around Jackson Hole and showed me where he played as a kid, where he lived even what preschool he went to. When we got to the ranch to visit his pop and Monte... it was beautiful watching Aeon and his dad walk and talk and share moments, it was so sweet watching Walter play with his new friend the Goat. We cooked, planted, cleaned, drank, drummed, walked, talked, played games and just spent time together. I'm looking forward to visiting again, and spending more time @ Sundance. I wanted to add in a few photos of all of us together...

LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

What does it take to be HAPPY
??????
Many times its simple... food, sleep, nature, a good cup of coffee
or a good conversation with a
good friend or a kiss from the puppy.




But what does it take to be TRULY happy with ones self & ones life ????

Last night I admitted openly to Aeon, that I was HAPPY.
That for me is a big thing!

I've found my heart so open, and full of love and HAPPY. Its interesting when you realize that your truly happy!!!! With your life, with your partner, with where you are at a certain point in your life. It's B E A U T I F U L ~~~ I'm so excited to share this love and beauty with Aeon. Each day, we tell each other how we feel, that we love one another. But those words sometimes don't cut it. The words I love you don't come close to scratching the surface of what we share and the energy between us.
I wanted to simply put it out there to the world ... that I've found peace here in Las Vegas and I'm working to put some roots down. With Aeon, with friends and with work.
This is a new step in a positive direction and I'm looking forward to the years to come with Aeon & Walter (the puppy) ....

Live ~ Life ~ Love
Jana

Walter Eyebrowz Jones

You know... we've been itching to get a dog for a while now. Jana's always loved Boxers and I'm a big big fan of Rhodesian Ridgebacks but because of the constraints on our lease in our apartment complex we are limited to a small dog: 25 lbs. or less.

We had never really considered ourselves little dog type people. We don't really like the long hair on dogs and little dogs have the added stigma of being 'yippy'. Throw into that mix that we're both artists and strive to have the beauty of aesthetics in our lives and we were beginning to think Beagles were the only resort. But, of course, Beagles are stubborn animals who get lost in their noses. PLUS they shed!

Our friends, Chris and Sara, found a Short Haired Wheaton Terrier at the Lied shelter (which I can't real

ly say enough good things about here) here in Vegas and they are the most happy people with that dog! The thing we like about Brisket (what they named him) is that he doesn't shed. Let me repeat that - HE DOESN'T SHED! Plus, they are so cute as a puppy that we were sort of set on getting one of those for ourselves.

And the Jana goes to the shelter the other day and calls me up and says "Aeon, you have to come down here and look at this dog".

"Okay." I say "I'll be there as soon as I can".

As I walked up I saw her there in the pen with him squatting down on her haunches to be nearer his head and reading about miniature schnauzers on her phone. He looked like a 'Walter' to me from where I was so I said to her "Is that a Walter?" I then walked him a little and ran a bit with him and he seemed like an okay little fellow to me. I gave Jana the go-ahead and we now have a new member to our growing family.

I present to you Walter Eyebrowz Jones.

And he's a good dog, too! He was picked up in a vacant lot somewhere and brought to the shelter. The shelter people guessed his age at about 1 year and I believe it because he pretty much knew how to sit on command from day one, learned his (new) name in about 4 days and I can already walk around the apartment complex with him and not use the leash! It's pretty amazing. His personality comes out a little bit more every day. We're really excited for the two week timeline for his surgery scar (they castrated him) to pass so we can bathe him! Even though he stinks like vacant lot dog - we are beginning to love him.

Here's to you, Walter - you are very, very welcome here in our home, with us.

Jana Here ~~~~
I'm just adding that since we've got him a week ago, we've stared at him for hours and hours wondering how this little energy came to be in our lives. He is the most wonderful pup ever! We are blessed to have him as part of our family.
We're so happy! & Walter is too!!!!!!

THOUGHTFULNESS

A while ago my best girlfriend and I had a talk about thoughtfulness, and what that means in a relationship. We both agreed that it is one of the most important things in a relationship, however it is also one of those rare things in partner. I have to say that Aeon is be far the most thoughtful man I've been with. It is natural to him, at least with me. He is so considerate, and so loving and SO THOUGHTFUL. There that word is again.... thus stressing its importance. Dictionary.com describes THOUGHTFULNESS as - 1. attentive, solicitous. Thoughtful,considerate mean taking thought for the comfort and the good of others. Thoughtful implies providing little attentions, offering services, or in some way looking out for the comfort or welfare of others: This all stems from our experience last night @ Church. We went to see our good friend Miky V. sing in the choir. During the performance, Aeon noticed a little hang nail on my thumb... he touched it gently and with is other hand fished around in his pocket for something. I didn't notice any of this until he took out of his jacket pocket a small container of climb on bar, (its a salve used for cracks, dry skin ect). There in the church, with full attention on the performance , he started to rub this magic potion into all my cuticles.... very gently. When he was done, I just looked at him in complete awe of what just took place. Here we are ... in a public place, enjoying an evening out, listening to a performance and he notices a need of mine, and addressed it... with out hesitation or a second thought. I was completely taken by this little gesture of his. It struck me as so kind and so considerate and most of all THOUGHT FULL!!! Thank you A, for being so amazing! ~ J

WORKING TOGETHER = FUN & MONEY

The last few weeks have been busy! I was in PA visiting family and as soon as I got to LV I was fortunate to get a really lucrative gig for a large ad agency in Las Vegas. It was such a large gig that I needed a lot of help pulling it off before heading to MEXICO on the 15th of March for a shoot.

The job came in and it was up to me to pull off about 2 weeks of production in 3 days. To shoot on the following Monday & Tuesday. The only way I could do it was to pull Aeon in and have him help me.

Aeon is a natural at production. He is very task orientated, give him a list and he'll get right on it and get things done.

By weeks end, we were in a rhythm working together in the same office. I think we only snapped once, and that was due part to lack of food. (We both get a little moody when we're hungry)

We rocked it, pulled this production off and entered the shoot Monday more prepared then ever and I owe a lot of that to Aeon.

Then, on the shoot, he assisted me. It was fluid and we were professional. The client was very pleased with the entire shoot and it was such a great success. I'll blog more in detail about it on Jana Cruder Photo blog.

After the GVC shoot Aeon and I were able to finish out the week working together on a shoot for a NYC photographer I work with frequently... He was in LV shooting for a NY magazine.

It was a hectic, super busy week, with 18 hour days every day and I realized we work really well together.

Plus at the end of the day we take care of each other. That is something so precious to me. How tender and loving A is with me, I only hope to return such beauty and love to him.

The pictures above are some behind the scenes shots from my shoot for GVC as well as some shots of us standing in for the other shoot we worked on together later that week.

Here's to love and working with those you love!!!!!

Thank you A. I couldn't have gotten through the last two weeks w/o you!

Mammoth Ski Weekend with the Hermosa Crew

from L to R: B-Dub; Jana, & Mikey V makes 3 (or Family on a chair)!

So I haven't been skiing in more than a decade - ever since I took up snow-boarding back in '96, to be precise. Snowboarding was nothing that radical or new by then, and I've never been one to adopt a fad from the very start, but I sure loved that hip-rocking back-and-forth motion you made while carving turns on the slopes WAY more than I ever liked bounding side-to-side on a pair of skis.

But this past weekend Jana and I piled ourselves and a metric shit-ton of winter gear into her car and drove to Mammoth from Vegas via Amboy (about a 6 hour detour down near Joshua Tree in order for Jana to scout out a shoot location) in order to do just that - GO SKIING!

And you know what? I had an absolutely BITCHIN' time! Jana doesn't snowboard and I'd never tried those new 'parabolic' shaped skis that they have out so I thought I'd stick with Jana for the day and give those a shot. And, to be honest, I think I did pretty good. For not having been on a pair of skis for so long, it sure didn't take much for me to get back into it. As much fun as it was, I did miss snowboarding and am really looking forward to going back to Mammoth to do just that!

But it wasn't just the time on the mountain that I enjoyed. The boyfriend of one of Jana's friends, Eric, booked a house right on the ski resort slopes for everyone and we all (24 of us!) fit into this nice little condo with a hot tub (yeah, yeah!). We arrived and Jana went straight to work fixin up Spaghetti for everyone who would be there for Friday dinner. It was good! Big, heaping plates of garlic bread (Mmmmmmm, I looooooooooooooove garlic bread) and pots and pots of pasta and sauce. The best part about bringing all of our crap in from outside while Jana cooked was the smell of garlic and olive oil cooking on the stove. Just simply delicious.

And it wasn't just the condo and the food - the real prize of the weekend goes to Jana's Hermosa Beach friend group. It is a pretty rare event that you can enjoy such a varied and large group of people down to the last person. And it's one of the things that attracted me so much to J to begin with: she doesn't hang out with douche-bags! Hey, it may sound stupid, but it's important.

One shining moment of wonderful companionship that I won't soon forget was on one of the first runs of the day when I got a little overly confident a little too early and hit a small jump on the skis. I went airbound and my feet went airbound even more behind me. So I tucked my head and did a digger into the fresh powder. I stuck a perfect landing right in front of EVERYBODY - and, of course, they all clapped and laughed - what're friends for? But lo and behold, just a couple seconds later here comes B-Dub and he does the SAME STUPID THING! So I did what anyone would do - I told him to pose while I snapped a portrait of him there in the snow. Its the first image on the left, above. And that's what I mean about the quality of this particular group of people: I only met B-Dub the night before at the house - I already knew most of the other folks from HB, and I didn't really even spend that much time with him Friday night because I was getting drunk with Mikey V and being camera nerdy. So really... HOW COOL IS THAT?

Mammoth Mountain is an amazingly huge area and I'm looking very forward to going back there to snowboard it with Jana. I would feel lucky if the HB crew were to come along on that trip, as well.

Jana gets a point for dragging me along.

A~

__________________________________________________________________
Hi Ya, I wanted to chime in here... first of all I wanted to take a second to honor and love my man!!! He's the sweetest most amazing man in the world. That post was so beautiful A.
Now, MAMMOTH kicked some serious ass this year. We had so much fun! Aeon is a really great skiier, I was impressed with his pick up and go ability. Since he hadn't been on skies in over 12 years. It was a treat to bring Aeon around the HB crew. These are the people that have become family to me over the years. It was so great to see everyone, even better everyone loved Aeon (after all who doesn't),

We're looking forward to going again next year!!! Next year I'll take some snowboard lessons and snowboard alongside my sweetie.
~ J

It's worth the wait while this picture loads...

So we're all moved in - FINALLY...  Phew!!!

As much as moving sucks normally... this time was not really any different!  However, we weren't just moving some crap from one place to another...  Oh no!, we were actually CONSOLIDATING all of our crap from several places into one solitary place!  The process of this can be seen in the photo above... if you give it time to load. (go and make a cup of coffee while it does that - trust me, it's worth it)

 I'm glad to report that we did all of this with minimal drama and have settled quite very happily into our new home.  We now have the art on the walls, the didgeridoos on the wall above the fireplace, the bed made, the dishes put away, the rugs on the floor, the closet organized, books arranged in size order on the bookshelf (thank you, Jana) and, finally, after a purchase of a new vacuum cleaner, the floors cleaned up after all of the move-in shenanigans.  And we are nearly completely unpacked, too (I have two more boxes to go through, still - and giving the nature of what's in those boxes means that's going to take some time)!

 Living together is sure to bring about some unexpected surprises along with joys and doubts and, perhaps, setbacks and letdowns.  I love Jana so much, though, that I've got absolutely no regrets about moving in together.  This has been one of the best decisions I could have made.  

 I'm looking SO forward to the next phase of our relationship which J's already blogged about: PUPPIES!

 

Caffiene Makes my Eye Twitch

Moving = Stresses

I'm not sure we realized just how much stress we put our bodies under in our day to day lives, and with "everything" going on in the world ( Obama, taxes, printing $ with no back up, lay offs, rent due, the environment, Las Vegas has a crap recycling plan & much more ) piling on top of our daily life stresses ( work, growing business, maintaining self, supporting friends emotionally, new apratments, expenses, credit card payments ect ) one has to ask.... how much can we possibly take before we give and break down? Well the thing is we're all human, and in this move I've realized that Aeon and I are getting stronger as a couple as the days go on. We're encountering and communicating through things I never thought I'd share with another person. Successes & fears, up's and downs. The best thing is we're here for each other, supporting one another daily in smiles and tears. The report from Las Vegas is optimistic and we're trying to stay positive. I'm so blessed to have such a loving and cherished friend and love in my life.

Here is a pic of Aeon being Aeon ... on a shoot I had last week here in LV. Oh, and I've realized that Whole Foods coffee beans have 10x more caffeine then most other coffees ... that is what was causing the eye twitch ;-)

PUPPIES & Pups

Attached are some pics the beagle puppy Aeon and I looked at in Jan. They were all so precious, and cute as all get out but none of them grabbed us like we anticipated. We're looking for a pup and so badly want a little 4 legged friend to add to our home and life together. We started looking a little prematurely right before my January trip to LA and right before we moved into our new apartment. The little beagle puppy was almost coming home with us when we decided to go look at the shelter...
At the shelter we ran into Sunshine a little mutt with blonde fur, who could run and jump like no other dog I've seen. She was calm and smart and fast and could keep up with us on our adventures into nature. She was precious and absolute perfection... we were so excited and we looked at each-other with tears of joy in our eyes and the dog between us ... and said "we're getting her" and hugged(dog in middle). Sunshine was so so so excited she looked up at us with absolute excitement... she knew... she knew she had found a family. When we went to the front to ask if they could hold her for a few days while we sorted out the apartment and got all the paperwork taken care of to have a pet .. the shelter let us know THEY DON'T HOLD animals.. its a first come first serve facility. We couldn't take her that day. We called and exhausted all resources and we ended up not getting her because we weren't moved into out apartment yet and it was going to take some time to pull the pet deposit $ together... talk about trauma. Word to the wise don't go to the pound and look at pups unless you're ready to walk away with one. I was heart broken and I could tell it really got to Aeon too. Its a no kill shelter so hopefully she went to a beautiful home where she was loved. Soon, we'll start the process of getting a pup.

~ Jana

a HUNDRED bucks per minute!

What would you do for a hundred bucks/minute for work?  

I'll tell you what I did:  I got hired by MTV to play the part of a Paparazzi-style photographer for a new 'gotcha'-type reality TV show pilot called MTV: Spoofed.  

So I show up at noon at the designated meeting place (a park in central west Vegas) with all of my camera gear ready to rock n roll. The call sheet said '12:00 show, 2:45 paparazzi go'.  I'm thinking I'll be done by 3:00 with a hundred bucks in my pocket and all the happier.

11 hours later and two payscale increases later we paparazzi spring into action and work (shooting low res, low size .jpg images with the flash popping to give a realistic paparazzi effect) into the rear sliding-glass door and startle the poor sucker who was gettin' Punk'd.

I worked for exactly 2.5 minutes.  Rounding that up to 3 minutes means I got paid a hundred bucks/minute!  Never mind the 11 hour wait.  JESUS!!!  Is TV always like this???  I was assured it was not.  However, this being my first TV experience, it did leave me somewhat skeptical.

I did get to network and talk shop with a couple of other local photographers (for hours) and got some very valuable information about the photography opportunities here in Vegas.  I also ate very well all day.  That is one good thing about working in television, I suppose - they make sure you're fed.  

~ Aeon

Reno with Family

Over the holidays we headed up to Reno area to visit Aeon's Family and extended family. I have to admit I was a little nervous at first meeting everyone and wondering what they would think of me. They welcomed me with open arms and hearts.

Our visit was full of laughter and good ole' family time. Aeon even said to me afterwards that this year was one of the best years. There were very few material gifts given this year, but everyone ... including all the little ones had a wonderful time just being together and doing what families do. We played games, watched the babies play, cooked, ate, drank, started the kitchen on fire (don't worry it was put out quickly) and told stories.

I have to thank Aeon's family & Aeon my love, for such a wonderful holiday. Looking forward to many... many more.

This was taken on one of our little walks ...

Moving DAY

Arizona Hot Springs

L:R  Mikey V, Murbina, Lanita & Jana

So I decided to take Jana to one of the local hot springs near Vegas, Arizona Hot Springs, this past weekend.  And we thought it would be fun if we invited friends along with us.  Our roommate, Mikey V, and one of the girls that Jana works with and her friend joined us.  

We had a really great time!  Most of the morning was spent sleeping in but noontime found us at the trail-head working our way down the was to the springs.  Once we got there we did what everyone else did.  We soaked!  We soaked to the bone.  

It's a beautiful little hike and I would recommend it to anyone who is a hot-spring-a-phile like J and I are.  Pics up on my Flickr site.

  Not sure what we're doing next weekend.  Maybe I'll have a job by then!!!  Not going to worry about it... that's for sure.  

TTYL,  Aeon

YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN VEGAS WHEN

So I'll start this post with a nice, little, pretty picture I took in Tahoe over the Holiday. So you can stare at that while you read this post. Now I'm here, in VEGAS, getting settled in and adjusting the best I can.

It's dry, windy and, well its the desert! The most exciting thing so far is the realization that at the end of the day I can't wait to go home! This is a totally new feeling for me: I can't wait to get home and see Aeon. I miss him through the day. Its very cute & mushy, I know.

Now I have a little, humble office in the "ARTS DISTRICT" of Vegas. I like my office because it is in a building with other artists and I'm around friendly people who are all working for their dream. I sit in my office working away, most times with my door open. People walk by, stop in and say HELLO and chit chat for a bit then continue on with their days. I enjoy this aspect of my open door policy.

The other day, I was sitting here, as usual, with the door open and a gentleman stopped in. He was an older, slightly balding, gentleman.  He was heavier set and had a friendly demeanor. He mentioned he was looking for a photographer. I was like 'cool.. come on in and have a seat.' He sat on my little black stool and started to tell me what he needed photos for. He was looking to do some "tasteful" erotic nudes. My eyes widened, and I noticed I was blinking a lot. I was calm and nice and as professional as possible. I was happy that he felt comfortable enough to share with me all the info as to why he wanted these photos and what he wanted his poses to be. I uhh huhhhed and smiled, and let him know that I may not be the best photographer for him, that I specialized in fashion and commercial imagery. However I may be able to recommend someone who can help him out.

After our conversation, I sat back and took a deep breath.
The realization hit me.. you know you're in VEGAS when.....

Here's to an interesting start to this new town. ~ Jana

NEW CITY, NEW YEAR!!!

Happy New Year!!!

Jana and I brought in the New Year with a kiss on top of a rooftop in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada! FIREWORKS!!!  We celebrated with some people who live and work where we set up her office - several other creatives (photographers, musicians, etc) from the Arts Factory.  

We also brought our roommate, Mikey V, because he was thinking about staying home.  He seemed to have a good time, too, so I guess it's a good thing that he came with us!  

There were all sorts of interesting conversations going on around us.  I caught snippets of arguments about the current Israel/Palestine conflict, new and emerging music, places to see around the Las Vegas Valley and I even joined in on a few, myself.  (if you know me, you know that I had to!)

No resolutions this year.  Not for either of us.  I guess we're both just darn happy that we're finally together!  I, for one, am really looking forward to all that this year will bring: the trials, the joys, the laughter, the travels, the anguish and the rewards.  

HNY!, everyone - Aeon