Dana – ImNotEd

Pine Glen Condo Part I | Summerlin

Here we are smack dab in the middle of pandemic. I’ve never experienced a crisis this directly before. The weird thing is, EVERYBODY is experiencing it. This is not one of those “That only happens somewhere else.” situations. This is happening worldwide simultaneously. Never before has the world been so connected by a common effort, to defeat the coronavirus, or COVID-19.

I’m staying optimistic throughout this ordeal as long as I possibly can. We all know the economic hardships that are coming down the pipe. Will the worse case scenarios come to fruition? Sure, there’s a very real possibility that my job is on the line. Vegas doesn’t do well in downturns. And, man do we have a downturn coming! Right now every casino in Las Vegas is closed! The bigger casinos are taking care of their people, for now. The smaller one’s, not so much. This will take awhile to dig out of this hole.

The last recession Las Vegas had was in 2008. Home prices finally reached their pre-recession prices in the last two years. That’s nearly ten years of recovery! So, what did we do? We bought a f*****g condo, in FEBRUARY! I’m not sitting here shitting the proverbial brick, yet. Besides, there’s no toilet paper anyway.

I’m cautiously optimistic, however. I have some skills to offer in the digital world. I’m not going to create the next Twitter. But, I can compete graphically and I have my real estate photography thing. I also believe this downturn is going to rebound much faster than previous recessions. This isn’t an isolated dip where another market or economy can step in and fill the gap. This is a lowering of all markets on the same level, more or less. Sure, some markets will gain faster than others, but everyone is in the same bucket on this one. Every market will have demands and surpluses once the coronavirus clouds part ways.

Instead of a time looking outward into the darkness, it’s time to take a look at the light within. We have nothing in this world except the love of those within our little bubbles. I’m loving every single moment of this home buying journey with Dana and Feiya. I’m being real conscious of how we, as a family, make decisions and contribute to our new home. We do pretty damn well together. I’m so fortunate.

It’s not always sunshine and unicorns. We have our moments. But we’re always aware we’re three individuals working together for one common goal. Living in peace and happiness. We except each other for who we are and we elevate each other with our little quirks and nuances. Always seeking calm waters.

If these times have shone me anything, it’s to pause, breath, and enjoy the moment. I am so grateful for having these two humans in my bubble.

This is a song Feiya and I listen to in the car. It just seams to be a good song for a day like today.

The camera I used today was my Ricoh GRII. I should have used my A6000. Next time.

Snowy Mountain Pics | Lovell Canyon, NV

Feiya was invited over to her friend’s house over the weekend for an overnight stay. That left Dana and myself to ourselves for 24 hours. We dropped Feiya off and headed to the best Asian buffet in Vegas- Krazy Buffet. Delicious as always! It snowed in the higher elevations around Las Vegas the before and we wanted to get some photos of the snow capped mountains.

After lunch we made our way out of town. We drove along Highway 159 leaving Las Vegas and went by Red Rock Conversation Area. It’s a beautiful place and Dana loves it. However, I wanted to show her a secret spot I found earlier this year. As we drove by Red Rock traffic was backed up and they had actually closed the entrance because it was so full. Everyone wanted photos of the snow and Red Rock was no disappointment. We could see from the highway how beautiful it was, but I knew my spot was going to be good as well.

We took a left turn at Highway 160 and headed up the pass (sorry, I can’t remember what the name of the pass is) toward Pahrump, NV. The snow was getting deeper on the sides of the road and I started to get nervous. Not about driving on the pass, NDOT had deiced the highway and roads were clear. But, looking at the side roads into recreation areas I could see some issues. The roads were snow covered and muddy under the snow. My van would not stand a chance in those conditions. I kept driving anyway.

I reached Lovell Canyon Road and we were elated to see it was clear and dry. It’s a small one lane blacktop road that drives straight into the back face of Mt. Charleston. Clear road, no crowds, and beautiful weather. We were excited. Another miracle was the wind had died down in the canyon too. I had brought my drone and there were several wind advisories in Vegas and it was really windy for most of the dive. I thought I wasn’t going to get any drone flights in. That wasn’t so. The first stop we made, a makeshift camp site, the wind was next to nothing. So, fly the drone I did!

We spent a couple of hours exploring Lovell Canyon before making our way to Pahrump. There we refueled the van and stocked up on some coffee drinks. Our next goal was to get some sunset shots. We drove Northwest toward Highway 95. I didn’t like the light conditions and I pushed on to road that leads to Crystal, Nevada. I had stopped here once on my way back from a shoot I had in Pahrump for work. I knew it would be an excellent spot for some sunset photos. It didn’t disappoint. The sky could have been a little better, but who cares, right?

I love spending days like that with Dana. It takes me back to the time I spent in South Dakota and North Dakota. Not knowing anyone I would run around on the back roads listening to music, drinking cheap coffee, and chasing sunsets. I always wished I had someone with me that would find the joy in those adventures. Well, here I am and I’ve found her!

Dana’s 40th Birthday | Las Vegas, NV

Dana will turn 40 years old this coming week. We celebrated this weekend by going to a Chinese restaurant and going for a walk in a park nearby our house.

We tried a new place to eat that was recommended to Dana by her coworkers. SK Seafood didn’t disappoint. We had ordered 4 dishes- Mongolian Beef, Sweat and sour Pork Chop, Fried Shrimp and Green Beans. We also had a big bowl of Wonton Soup. All dishes were very tasty. They were a little on the spicy side, however. Feiya didn’t like that. Can’t really blame her. So, I bought her a boba tea on the way home.

After dinner we went to a park/walking path near our house. We’ve been there a few times and it’s a nice place for walk. The weather was near perfect. The trees still have a lot of color in them as they continue to cling to their Autumn leaves. I took a lot of pics.

I used my trusty Ricoh GR II point and shoot today. I readjusted the focus back to spot focus. It worked much better today than it did our last outing in California.