Coming Soon....

A new line of HOLIDAY CARDS as well as a line of TWIN BOY & GIRL BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS (but mostly BOY because I have had many (ONE) complaints saying I have no boy announcements...) Stay tuned....(don't worry, I'll blog more later! It's too late for me now!! Just wanted to share!)

Miss "B" and Miss "K"

So believe it or not, I spend a LOT of time with these two. Well, not a lot, but about 2 hours a day about 3-5 days a week. (They're Lacey's kids! :) (Oh, Lacey is the head volleyball coach, and she's pretty awesome..) Anywho...We spent about an hour at this sweet little park in Smithfield, and got some really cute shots. "B" wasn't too thrilled about the whole picture taking business (she's the younger one) but "K" was all for it. I hadn't realized how hard it is to shoot kids! Seriously. Lol, it was a fun adventure, and I can't wait to do their family pics!! Hold tight. I will probably be posting more later!


**Edited to add: I tried a new focusing technique called back button focus. I was really nervous to try it, but I think I totally love it! Ya know how when you push the button to take the picture and the camera automatically focuses it? Well, with back button focus (I think that's what it's called anyway...lol) you have to focus pushing a different button. so you push the picture taking button (can't think of what it's called :) and a different button to focus.

Do I Blog Too Much?

So, I have this feeling that some people (AHEM my sister!) think that I blog too much, and have too much time on my hands, so I am able to post 2-3 comments on different peoples' blogs. Well I have this to say...I LIKE BLOGGING!! Okay? But I think you should all vote on my poll to the right! (Haha...I am a Blog-aholic...isn't that the word you used Lauren?!) Anywho. I know I blog a lot, and some of you haven't had time to fully take in my other posts, so be sure to scroll down and take it all in, leave a few comments, and check out all my blogs!

Onto the post...Tonight we had mutual. It was my very first activity to plan. Emily (my advisor) and I did a "Back to School" night. I was actually really worried about it because I thought the girls would get totally bored. What we did was Emily talked a little about organization and study skills, then we had a snack and took a 5 minute break from our "studying" and played spandex. (For those of you who don't know what it is, it's this HUGE Spandex band. You put four people in, and two people run and switch places, and they fling the other two people across and it just goes back and forth. The girls LOVE it.)

After the break I talked to them about eating healthy (yeah, laugh it up...) and self-esteem. The girls totally got into it. I was so surprised. I thought they would think it was totally boring, but they all had comments and were seriously into it. It made me so happy to see that side of them. So I did my talking, then I made them write 10 things they like about themselves. After that we did a relay. We started on one end of the room, and two girls ran down and had to find 4 of their books to put in their backpack, then they ran back to the other end where two other girls folded blankets, then they ran down to the other end where two girls had to eat cereal (with no milk..lol), then they ran back and the last 2 had to make a PB & J sandwich. Kinda like their morning routine type thing. Anyway. they had a lot of fun. What a great group of girls we have. We ended the night with brownies and a "Back to School Survival Kit." Where there was a bunch of random things in the bag, ie tape-to remind them to "stick" to their standards. The idea for it can be found at sugardoodle.net, which is a totally awesome site for ideas. It was a lot of fun. I took a few pics, so enjoy!

**Warning...these pictures may not be the best. I put it on auto because it was happening fast, and I didn't want to mess with my manual settings...***

. here's Maria and Justeena eating the cereal .
. Amber and Kara, our cheerleaders .
. Poor Justeena, she is truly a trooper . 
. Melanie the YW President making her PB & J sandwich . 
. All the girls there to cheer them on .
. haha...does this really need an explanation? .

WARNING: Long post ahead!

Alright, so this could be a long post. First of all, my cousin Lauren had the most brilliant idea ever! She found this idea where you post one picture a day that you have taken for a WHOLE YEAR! Doesn't that sound exciting. It's just pretty much supposed to be a document of your life. How cool is that. I spent all yesterday on that blog, and the links the 3 of us who are doing it is off to the right. Be sure to check them out and leave us lots of comments! I also challenge any of you out there who want to take this challenge to do it! Let us know so we can link to you.

Second thing...I found this awesome blog website eblogtemplates.com where I found both my blog templates for my new photog site, and my new year of photos site, then I totally customized them to how I wanted, and I had SO MUCH FUN doing it! (call me a computer nerd, I don't care!) but I customized EVERYTHING on it, from headers, to backgrounds, etc. etc. So, if anyone out there is need of or wanting a new blog template, let me know. Pick out your template from that site, and let me know how you want it..(I'm being serious!) I get so bored. I changed my photog blog about 50 times I had so much fun...lol...anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there.

Third...Here are some more pics from my Sunday adventures. If you haven't yet, scroll down to the next post and see the rest of that adventure, and try and guess what game my hubby is playing. 100$ for whoever can guess...okay, not really, but if someone actually does guess, maybe I'll give  them something cool...like a free shoot or something...(ha) ...but yeah..ENJOY!

. I love how dark it was. The clouds were so cool. They were moving and swirling so fast. It's a good thing they aren't able to get low enough to make a tornado, cuz that's what it was looking like .

. The wind was blowing so hard, and there was dust going everywhere. It was so cool .

***THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN REMOVED AND CAN BE FOUND HERE! :)***

. More dark clouds .
. There was a little blue in the sky, despite the DARK clouds! .
. Umm some green bushes? .
. This little guy I found in our bushes one day when I was mowing the lawn. It's our little Pixie friend...We now get three wishes .
. Alright, so in my last post I mentioned that Greg "kicked" me out of the house. Well, he told me to go outside and take pictures of the street lights. Here's what I got. I thought it was pretty cool actually .

. Here is a sharper version...Does it look like the moon? . 
. And here are our flowers. I thought this turned out surprisingly well considering it was like 12 or 1 in the morning. NO LIGHT except a little bit from the lamp post. I was impressed it turned out so good. Not way light, but you can see what it is. (okay, so I'm weird...I know! :) .
Last thing. Any doctors out there? I have always had problems with my wrist, and the doctor I went to xrayed it and said nothing was wrong. Well, it comes and goes all the time. I don't know what it is. I can't put much pressure on it without it killing! I HATE IT! It's feeling a little better now, but I hate it. Another thing with it...Right now it really aches. Like it hurts when it just sits there, and when I touch  my hand it's like really sore to the touch. (You know how u get when you get the flu?) Does that make sense? Anyway. I think it has something to do with the cold, cuz my leg used to do it all the time last year when i worked early mornings and it was FREEZING! Is that a possibility or am I just crazy? Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts...ENJOY and dont' forget to check out our other blogs!!

A Few of My Favorite Things...

Alright, so I saw this on Lindsay's blog and thought it was totally cute, and I wanted to do it...but I couldn't think of anything when it came down to it. Here is what I got. I'm pre-warning you. It's late, and I'm, well...wired, to say the least. Greg finally had to kick me out of the house. (I think he was sick of my dancing in front of him while he played his game...teehehe...) Seriously..it's late. These pics aren't the greatest, but it was fun. ENJOY!

Oh...the point of this...10 of your favorite ITEMS. (Nothing seriously important, like family, gospel, etc.) 

#1: MY COMPUTER! I have had this computer since my junior year of HS, and I absolutely LOVE IT! I will cry when it dies. It has been such a good computer, and when it crashes (which I hope doesn't happen anytime soon (knock on wood)) I am for sure getting another mac. okay, crossing my fingers on that one. They're so expensive! :(

#2: MY CAMERA. So obviously this is just the lens cap. I attempted a self-portrait in the mirror, but it didn't turn out, so you get to see the lens cap. I LOVE my camera! It has taken so many wonderful pictures. I love getting it out and learning how to actually use it...(STILL LEARNING!)

#4: MY IPOD! What would I do all day at school without my iPod? I would go nuts, I think...I love listening to music. I got this as an early birthday present because my sweet husband didn't want the mean kids to make fun of me when I showed up to school with an old school CD Player..
(This is still the iPod. I am just trying different angles...etc... :)

#3: (Yes these are out of order) MY PHONE! I would go crazy if I didn't have a cell. Text message is the greatest invention EVER! So much easier than having to actually TALK on the phone. Geeze....(notice the peace sign?)
I wanted to pretend it was a baby wrapped in a furry white blanket. I think it works... (did I mention it's LATE?!)

#5: TV! Seriously...What would I have to listen to all day while I sat on my computer? I have to have the TV turned on while I am at my computer. I hate the silence. I suppose I could listen to music though...hmm..there's a thought...I love watching movies with Greg and playing XBOX on this TV...($100 for anyone who can name the exact game Greg is playing!!)

#6: POST ITS! I absolutely have an obsession with post-its, or any small papers. I probably go through 20 pieces of paper (about that size) each day. I just write random things on them and doodle when my computer is taking forever to load something...LOVE THEM!

#7: PENS! I have had this obsession forever! I bought this AWESOME thing of pens when I was younger. There were about 50 different colored pens. Gel pens were my FAVE. Aubs, do you remember our obsession in like 7th grade? I still love them...I also love this picture...total depth of field shot (for any of you photographers out there!)

#8: ICE CREAM!! (this should be ranked higher) Umm...hello. How can you not love ice cream! It's the greatest invention ever, next to texting! Mint Chocolate chip all the way baby!! (This is about the time Greg kicked me out. He thought it was weird I was taking pictures of food...hmm...really? I think that combined with  my dancing got to him...haha)

#9: FLOWERS! I love flowers. I love getting roses, though I always seem to kill them. Anyone know how to keep them alive? Are you not supposed to cut them at all? I always cut mine so they don't stick out so far out of the vase...Any suggestions? So this picture, I love it. It's totally over-exposed, but I think it works for this. I did it by accident...

#10: (do I really have this many? I didn't think I did...) MY BED! and yes, it is not made, and no, I do not ever make it! But I LOVE IT! It's so comfty...and the sheets, though orange, are egyptian cotton (I think?) so they're super soft. Yeah. I love it, and I think it's calling me...)

I challenge everyone else (mom & dad included) to do this same thing...Post pictures of your 10 favorite things...You don't have to take the pics yourself. See Lindsay's blog for the super cute original idea.