Christmas Blues

Ok...so I hate to be a humbug, but I'm just not into it this year. Not sure why...I don't have the excitement or the warm fuzzy Christmas feeling like I usually do. I've been trying to figure it out.

One thing I know is that I have spent more time thinking about Christ and all He does for us. I've come closer to Him than I have been in a while which I suppose is what Christmas is all about.

Life has been pretty full of stress over the past few months and it really has been my Savior who has gotten me through. I'm grateful for that. .)

Hot Chocolate Time!

So I decided to go a little overboard with our office treat this year. I came across this awesome little hot chocolate maker from Bed Bath and Beyond. With a coupon it was only $25 with tax. It heats it up and keeps it warm and even froths it when you dispense it. Amazing!

We had four kinds of chocolate, marshmallows (Michello's as someone calls them), nutmeg, cinnamon and chocolate chips. It was delicious but we were all on sugar overload...but man it was great! Hooray for Christmas treats!

TY is BACK!!!

Yes, "Ty is back" is the text I got at FHE last Monday from my dad. I couldn't believe it. I had to call him to see what was going on.

He left on June 14, 2010 and we hadn't seen him since. The neighbors said he made an appearance a couple of times, but we never saw him. We were SO worried because he has arthritis, so we thought, and a pretty significant limp.

We called all of the Salt Lake County shelters multiple signs with no luck. He is chipped so we had that going for us, and the cute white stripe across his nose, which made him unmistakable.

We gave up a few months later, thinking he had been hit and trying to make the best of the sad situation. Because of the arthritis, we thought he wouldn't have a very good quality of life in our care anyway, even after many vet visits and meds.

Sneakers, our Siamese, was not especially fond of Ty and we thought things might be better for her without him.

Hence we made excuses for why things were ok.

But they weren't.

You're right. It's just a cat...but we missed Ty. My mom hesitated in putting up the Christmas tree because there was an orange tabby Beanie Baby ornament in the box. What does the tag on the ornament say? Ty. That's the brand. Kind of ironic.

So, back to my happy text from my dad. I called him and Ty seemed fine. He hadn't missed a meal it seemed and the limp was almost gone. Amazing. A girl from our neighborhood found him about a block away and carried him home. I was so happy to have my little boy back. He was safe and home and in good shape and...

I wonder why he didn't come home and where was he and will whomever was taking care of him miss him and...

He's home. That's all that matters. I wonder...when the cold set in and he was miserable, our tenative plan was to put him out of his misery. Maybe that wasn't supposed to happen.

Sneaks is very, very bugged that he's back, but a little prayer brought back my orange tabby, maybe a little more will help them get along.

I'm grateful for answered prayers...in the affirmative. :)

Crafty Christmas

So I decided I was feeling a little domestic this Christmas Season...first off, I made a countdown calendar (thanks to Jennie Ferguson for this cute project)...


A very Grinchy colored apron that I just love...thanks to Charisse Medico...




And a cupcake hotpad, which pattern I'm sure will transform into many amazing designs through the year.

And I found out yet again that being crafty is pricey!! Its a blast though and I think I'll do it more often!

Busy, busy!

Wow these last few weeks have been CRAZY! I decided a couple months ago that I wanted to take some continuing ed classes at the U.

I saw a class that taught something I always wanted to learn about: Furniture Refinishing. I know, crazy. I just thought it would be cool to be able to buy a piece at the DI and make it brand new and very usable...plus it would save so much money rather than buying new. Excellent class. It was a month long and I finished it on Saturday. I even found a fabulous coffee table at DI to refinish when it warms up. So there's busy #1. Every Saturday for a month.

Busy #2 is the fact that I am shooting bridals and a wedding next year and I'm pretty decent (so I've been told) but I wanted to get on a professional level so I could make things turn out just perfect. I saw another continuing ed class for Intermediate Photography. I had to score that one too. Every Wednesday and Saturday for about 3 weeks. The same weeks as the prior class. Busy #2.

Pictureline. Awesome photo classes...on Wednesdays from 4-5. I see two that I just HAVE to take. Same nights as the U class. Busy #3.

SO...that equals about 8 hours of classes each week. That's a lot...for me, anyway. I got sick twice. That made things interesting, but somehow the weeks were bearable. Now its time to slow down and enjoy what I've learned...and lots and lots of practice!

More posts to come with pics from my photography adventures...oh and I need guinea pigs...people, rather...who don't mind a free photo shoot with edited pics given to you on a CD...at a location of your choice...any takers? Please... :)

Operation Fin Frenzy

It has now begun. My sweet little 92 year old grandma lives by herself and has decided that she is tired of watching TV. Instead, she has elected to watch a small, fiber optic tree change colors that was left over from last Christmas.

Time for a change.

It's time for a fish tank.

Oh yes and it will be one of the most exciting fish tanks you will ever see. She is going blind, so it needs to be bright, spectacular and exciting.

I went to PetSmart and almost died. The decorations for tanks are pretty amazingly cute. This is my project. It's gonna rock. :)

Pirates and Pirate Booty

Arrr! It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Since church goin' is past I don't have to hide me adopted dialect for the day. On Wednesday me coworker remembered (good lad) that today be ITLPD, so we, bein' sucker for any type grog fest put together quite the to do in the breakroom. It was any land lubber's delight. Pizza, pirate movie watchin' and even a pirate picture opportunity fit for any swashbuckler. Tharrrs were much better, but since we be partyin' at work off shore I best not be postin' any of tharrrr pictures. I posted my pic but it was receivin' way too much traffic on me blog, I thought I was bein' mocked so it be removed but...no pirate lass should be missin' a pink bandana or pink eyepatch.

An' now for the pirate booty. We hit the mother load of treasure. We be servicin' a gent's vehicle at work and he brought us these lovely little delights. Arrr. They be the purdiest bloody cupcakes this pirate ever laid eyes on. In fact, several folk brought us some treats during the day, at random. I told me coworker we're the worst pirates in history because we ain't takin' anything. It's all being given to us. The life of a pirate isn't complete without plunderin.'

Yes, they really be cupcakes. They were amazing! Arrr...I know when the title said "Pirate Booty" ye got all excited. Don't be too disappointed I was only talking about cupcakes. They were worth every calorie.

And now me task of the evening is to be viewin' as many pirate movies as possible before the sun be settin on this fine Pirate Day. Arr.

Jay & Liz

Jay and Liz were nice enough to let me practice my budding photography skills and take some practice-engagements. They already have a fab photographer, but they let me have some fun. My editing skills are still kind of in limbo, but practice will hopefully make perfect. Here's the best of what we were able to capture. Thanks you guys!

First Shot Pics...

So...this is my first SHOT (ha ha no pun intended) on taking portraits. Landscape photography is kind of my "thing" but if you're gonna be good, you gotta branch out a bit. One thing I learned is that taking pics of people is STRESSFUL. Remembering all the rules, poses, etc., etc., and making sure the light is good. I can't wait until all that is automatic. Well, we had fun last Sunday, taking some pics at Murray Park. Thanks, Dave for being patient with me and for being my Guinea pig.

Abercrombie, here he comes. ;)

GQ Pose?


Man, I wish I was this photogenic!

Thanks again, Davey. I know you're the one who is used to taking the pics, but I think this time the tables needed to be turned. :)

My New Baby

So...I have wanted a DSLR for over 4 years. Really. Bad. I have always loved taking pictures and my cute little point and shoot only has so many picture skills. Either the time hasn't been right, or it's too expensive, or blah, blah, blah. FINALLY Canon came out with an entry-level DSLR that had a lot of the features of their new semi-pro, the 7D.

And then the Rebel T2i was born. ;)

Oh, and I love accesories...like an 18-55 and 55-250 lens. Pretty sweet. I love it! I'm so excited. I will be taking classes over the next few months so I can learn all the basics and some of the fun advanced stuff I need to know to take some sweet pics...so let me know when I can come and practice on you/your families. ;)

I also needed a bag for this sweet little deal and here it is...it's still on the way and I'm excited for my camera to have a new home besides the purse it is in now.

I might be in love...maybe. :D This camera might just change my life...

4th of July Rocks My Socks

Ah the 4th...I mean 3rd of July. Gotta love America. Seriously! I am so grateful for the freedoms I enjoy.

I found out that one of my ancestors served in the Civil War on BOTH Confederate and Union sides...weird...he was a Confederate first and was captured. He had to take the oath and fought for the Union.

Also, one of his ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War. It's because of him that I get to live in this awesome country...despite some leadership that well, you know...CHANGE...blah blah. Anyway, I won't let that be my little storm cloud.

I realized that I am a second generation American.

With that, comes the right to paint my toes patriotic colors as shown below.

I think they are very nice. ;)

Here we are at the Murray Fun Days Parade.

There is something that I must get off my chest...I drove by the night before and people had all sectioned off their viewing areas with chairs and cords.

So...we show up and this is one of the last remaining spots on the grass. It's about 30x30 feet. Quite the large area. I hope they're bringing their grandchildrens' childrens' dogs. So I saw the nice pirate booty of parade spots and commented on how they took such a large area. I didn't notice that one of the chairs was occupied by an "owner" of the plot of land. Well, she heard me. Had I known she was one of them I probably would have glared and moved on. So...she's a real peach. She got her two big dumb buddies in on it and they went on about it in their little corner for about 15 minutes.

I recall before I left my mom told me not to get into a fight...oops. Mom and Dad showed up and they thought their reservation was a bit generous as well and were slightly passive aggresively vocal about it. The parade starts and these people are loud. I'm waiting for the rest of the burly crew, but about a half hour into this thing, only 4 of them show. Then they take what few chairs they have and spread them out on "their" area to make it look like they needed the room. They took down their cording and no one else showed up. Joke is on YOU. Morons. See below.

On with the parade! Thanks for indulging my soapbox...

This is Mom and Dad, subdued from the earlier events...

I love this float. The fish was fantastic!

I though this one was quite nice as well. I love the covered wagon. I totally want to climb up into it.

This one was quite clever too, but check out the catcher. He's sitting on a long green stick. That would be slightly uncomfortable. ;) Yes I know it's a support. I like to make something of nothing.

This makes my day everytime I see it.

I

Love

Jeeps.

End of story.

Yes I know they have a crappy reject Mercedes motor, but I love them and one day I will have one. Sigh. They are amazing! Plus I am going down to Moab next week so it just heightens the excitement. ;)

Ok...who called the WAAAAmbulance? I think that's how you get invited to the Pac 10. U fans can be really proud of this fine display. ;)

This is the AMAZING float that my parents' Stake worked on tirelessly. My friend's dad worked on it day in and day out welding the crickets. Wow. Oh and the phrase "Turning Trials into Treats" is pure genius. I'm excited to see if it wins awards at the Days of 47.

After the parade we went to VI for breakfast and I spent some time with some friends and watched the fireworks at Murray Park.

Oh how I love the 4th of July!

Random Thoughts...

Yes, these are extremely random and don't deserve their own post, but they are definitely noteworthy...in my opinion. ;) Time for brain clean out...

*Why is it that working out just causes me to eat more? Not fair.

*The best attention at the gym is NO attention. Trust me, Dear-Girl-Who-Paid-A-Lot-For-Those-But-We-Don't-Need-To-See-Them...expecially while you're using the lying down ab crunch machine thingy where your head and your "girls" are facing the entire cardio floor. I'm proud enough of my body TO cover it up.

*Follow-up to the prior thought: I never thought that body tape might be a necessity at the gym.

*An ipod is the best accessory to bring to the gym. It tells the creepos "I'm busy."
*No matter what, a Skullet always brings a smile to my face.

*I complained about the cold summer weather and cabin fever, but now its warm and all I have to do is work inside. :-/

*Am I getting old, or is Bon Jovi retaining his hotness? If so, why can't Val Kilmer retain the same hotness? I want Top Gun back...

*I am NOT getting old, I need to do something daring just to prove I am still young enough to be stupid.

*Silence is Golden...especially in certain situations.

*Sunroofs are excellent.

*I think I'm getting meaner...I'm pointing out stupidity more frequently and I know its gonna come back to bite me.

*As long as I live, farts will always be funny (not necessary my own because girls don't fart).

*Life is good. :)

*I still hate bananas...even banana flavored Runts.

Photo Contest

The IT department at work is having a photo contest for backgrounds to add with their Windows 7 update. Last year I sent in some pics that weren't quite what they were looking for, but this year I tried to step it up a bit and try to conform. The entry time has expired, so I'm not shooting myself in the foot...

This one is a Window Arch in Arches National Park. I went there last year. It was so fun. I love red rock!



This was also taken last year at Jenny Lake in the Grand Tetons. Loved it.

I took this one earlier this year at the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. I love finding the little things to capture!

This is one of my favorites. They have these amazing flowers on Temple Square and there was a rainstorm just a little bit before I took this picture. The rain makes it look so lush!

I so want to be there here right now. This is a pic of Big Cottonwood. It's along the Lake Blanche trail. It was during the fall when the colors are changing. We drove up the canyon a bit more to watch the snow falling. It was so sureal jumping into a different climate!

Maybe I should take more pictures of people...I love landscapes though because they always stay still and don't blink and don't whine if you sit there with your camera for a while. And its so beautiful, of course!

My New Addiction

So...remember the beginning of the year when we all made goals to lose weight and they basically crashed and burned after about a month (literally)? I say "literally" because I really did crash and burn...I sprained my ankle right before my cousin's wedding on Jan 16th and it took my quite the little while (crutches, a leg boot and lots of pain) to recover. My goal of losing weight was not looking so hot.

Well...it's been a goal of mine at some point to join a gym and get into the best shape of my life. It's just been so expensive and seemingly time consuming that I kept putting it off.

I've noticed I'm getting old...I get more and more tired and I decided it was time to stop! No more trying to stay awake at work. No more following behind the Pack when hiking because I can't keep up. No more getting stressed out over that piece of cheesecake I ate and being self-conscious.

Done.

I found a fabulous deal at Costco for a membership at 24 Hour Fitness. I get 2 years for $300. That's only $12.50 a month. That's AMAZING!!

I finally joined. I thought I would get burned out...I know, it's only been a week, but I L-O-V-E LOVE it. I have a goal I reached even just today. I got to the top of the big staircase at the Institute and wasn't winded. Goal one accomplished. So here are the rest, and in order of importance...why I'm sharing this, I really don't know:

1-Get into better cardiovascular health
2-Have more energy
3-Build lean muscle, especially around my gimpy knees so they will have the pressure taken off'
4-Lose weight

Notice how losing weight is at the bottom of the list...well, the way I see it is that if I am behaving myself and giving the boot to a few cravings...much like the furry, orange, Muppet-like thing on the Weight Watchers commercial, then I'm doing all I can and muscle weighs more than fat anyway. As long as I look good, then I'll consider goal #4 as mission accomplished.

I know I keep going on about this, but seriously...I am so excited about this! Oh...and I'm excited about my new, hot pink ipod Shuffle, which tells all the creepy looking people there that I'm busy. :)

Hopefully I'll have more seemingly-lame-but-important-to-me milestones to report soon. :)

The Perfect Storm

I know, I know. The title is somewhat deceiving. This started out as the perfect, sunny day in the backyard. My little project during the past couple weeks was to put down a small pad of pavers in the backyard and put together a firebowl so we can roast hotdogs, marshmallows, maybe a couple of Starbursts. Yummy! We got things out and finally got a fire started and the hot dogs roasting (see all the manly men around the fire, roasting their latest kill)...


Then it started to rain. See the lonely fire, all by itself. All the chairs and table were taken away and now our somewhat decent fire is getting dowsed.



And here's the silver lining. The storm rolled in fast and displayed some of the most dramatic clouds I have ever seen. I'm just glad I had my camera. We gathered under a tree in our front yard (it's not very tall...I promise we're smarter than to stand under a tall tree) and watched the spectacular storm. Lightning, thunder and all sorts of craziness.

Yes, that is a cloud. Isn't it amazing?

Here's the icing on the cake. We saw a rainbow in these crazy, dark clouds. At first it was one, and then it blossomed into two. It was all-out trippy to see it turn into a triple rainbow. I couldn't believe how amazing it was!

Even though our party got rained out, We were dazzled by Mother Nature's creation. It was pretty exciting. I think it's just a little reminder from up above that Heavenly Father can turn seemingly crummy circumstances into something so delightful! We just need the right attitude. :)

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Heidi and Kristen had the fabulous idea of going to the Bees game. Ah Baseball. How I loathe watching it because it runs as slow as molasses (that's my grandma talking) but how I love sitting on the grass and watching the game and enjoying the fun atmosphere! Playing Softball was my very favorite sport back in the day, but for some reason, watching it is a whole different story...unless I am there. The grass between my toes...the amazing sunsets...occasional home run (unfortunately, it's usually by the OTHER team...oh well) friends/family to just chill with...perfect!

Apparently, Chick-fil-a was the sponsor of the night and they had these giant cows there...not sure what the whole fireman attire is about, but it was interesting, and I just had to get a pic. I'm kinda jealous of how warm the costume must be. It was COLD!


The whole clan there to watch the game. Oh yeah, and the food is great too. Hot dogs usually make me cringe, but I can't pass up a hot dog at a baseball game...fortunately the hot dog went through a major upgrade. :)

And here's the beautiful sunset I was talking about. How picturesque is this? Pretty amazing.

Nothing like a radioactive lollypop to finish off the night...

That's not your ordinary ice cream...

Such a great night! We're going again this Thursday and this time I'm bringing the parents. They need to catch a game. Good times. :)