You asked for it...

The ring?

From

Charlotte Russe

$4.00

Run, don't walk.

Look at all the other lovlies they have.

Mmmm.

What I allowed myself to do today:

...I bought these.



I never thought I would say that in three weeks I
REALLY
hope to be changing diapers.

Is this really happening this time? Someone pinch me.

Photo courtesy of Leisha Kelsey Photography...thank you Leisha!

Liquifaction

I am sitting here in my office editing a photo session of a friend of mine.

This friend has also been a photography student in the past.
(How we met...kind of.)

My mind is reflecting back to the last time I photographed this family, and the mom, she said,

"Go ahead and "liquify" the crap out of me!"

To which I respond,

"If I liquify you too much then it will make your husband look chubby."

To which she says,

"Everyone knows he is chubby, but they don't know that I am!"

Hilarious.

What does liquify mean?
Well, it is a tool in Photoshop that can make things look...well, smaller than they actually are.

Here is a little crash course in photography cheatery...This pic is from TWO years ago, it is awful...but it is of me...so we are safe (had to DIG to even FIND a picture of me that would work...I couldn't use a picture of just ANYONE).



Here is the SAME photo after a little liquification:



See the amazing difference?
It is like a boob lift and a tummy tuck and a years worth of working out
all in two minutes of Photoshop.

Now, I don't do this for just anyone, I don't even LIKE to do it...because to me, it isn't YOU if you are liquified...but it is a secret that some photographers use occasionally.

I dunno...just still laughing my brains out at this family session and as I do liquify my friend a bit...it IS making her husband a little chubbier...sorry friend's husband.

Tee hee...back to work now.
Have a good day.

"MOM!"

"Now I can't scratch my blanket!"

Cuz I clipped her little nails. I guess it is her comfort...to "scratch" her boo boo.

Also, sometime around Christmas, we were at church and Memms grabs a handful of bread during the Sacrament. I whisper in her little ear,

"Memms, we only take ONE piece of bread okay?"

She looks me dead in the eye:

"Don't whisper to me!"

Dood how I love her.

Family

All week long this one has been so eager for Friday to roll around. I promised him that I would take him to the park today. So, of course when we woke up this morning and it was raining, we had to come up with another plan.

I suggested to him maybe we could go for a ride in the car, maybe see the Copper Mine (it didn't look rainy in that direction.)

As we waited for Hubbs to wake up from his much needed rest, J-Man came up with the perfect plan.

"Hey Mom! I know what we can do today!"

Me: "Oh?"

J-Man: "Ya, let's go to the MOVIES!!!"

Brilliant.

So when Daddy woke up, we went, and we spent most of the afternoon there, and it was bliss.

I loved cuddling with my littles in front of the huge screen, eating popcorn and contraband sour watermelon candies with our Sprite and Hi-C Fruit Punch.

This last week, I am reminded once again how important my kids are to me. How important my Hubbs is to me, and that nothing else matters but them.

Grateful today for the rain.

Oh the mess of tears...

Just heard the news that a little friend I have never met
but through blogging passed away this morning.

So thankful for a wonderful Plan.

Love to Sadie and her family.

Please remember them in your hearts and prayers.

Thank you for helping me learn through your example:
to be a better Mother and for taking the extra time to hug my babies and let them know I love them!

Some funny shee...

...laughter is the best medicine, and heaven knows I need a good dose every day.

Almost two weeks ago, I had THE most smashing time at a blogger lunch hosted by
THIS
woman.

If you aren't reading her/following her, let's do lunch and discuss why you aren't. Because seriously?
I pee myself every time I visit her blog.

Let's not even discuss the ugliness that was me this day. Yard. Sale. Need I say more?

Kristina is the bomb, plain and simple.
She has changed my life.
Sounds silly, but truly, her funny ways and stark truths have me in stitches.
Good medicine.

Anywho, got to have lunch with one of my oldies from Jr. High.
Evonne is a sweetheart, we reconnected last year through blogging and it has been SO fun to hang out with her at blogging events and the like...and lunch this time was no exception.

I introduced her to Kristina...and she is ever grateful.


If you aren't reading her blog, let me give you one reason to...remember this?

It was so great to meet so many new and amazing people and to see some of my new blogging friends again.

And the food?

Delish, it fed me for three days.

Go forth...read.

"Corcunda"

Finally digging myself out of the messy house that accumulated while I was sick. Feels SO good to be back to my old self...and not that I ENJOY cleaning, but to be able to clean my house today was a big blessing.

I love being a good wife, and a good mother.

I love feeling like I have accomplished something, even if it is something small.

I love putting away the folded laundry. (And sniffing it of course.)

I love the smell of my kitchen after I have wiped everything down with Clorox.

I love walking on the floor and not feeling crumbs.

I love walking on the freshly vacuumed carpet,
and feeling my feet actually SINK into it. Ahhh.

Bliss.

It is the little things.

At the beginning of June I put my kids into swimming lessons.
Something I was not able to have myself until I was 11.
ELEVEN!
I am STILL afraid of water and I am NOT a strong swimmer at all.



When the opportunity arose to have my kidlets in swimming...I jumped at the chance.

I only wish I was rich enough to keep them in ALL summer.

They love it, they adore it...and J-Man is SWIMMING...
...he is SWIMMING...Memms is not far behind.

I am amazed at the growth they have made in just three weeks.
This is our last week...and it is bitter sweet.
I am taking my camera on the last day to capture their sweet faces at the actual pool.



For now, feast on these babies...and laugh
as we do each day when we have to put on the swim caps.

When the children (mostly J-Dawg) turn into the
"Corcunda".



What is Corcunda you ask?

Well, The Hunchback of Nortre Dame of course...





Poor Jay...I laugh hysterically every morning when I put his little cap on...



One of him keeping his eyes un-Corcunda-ish.

Oh how I will miss laughing at this every morning
...what a great start to our days this has been!

Want $500 Dollars?

Who wouldn't right?
Well my totally cute and completely awesome friends are trying to sell their condo in
West Valley City, UT.

DEETS:

If you are the one to REFER someone to buy their condo the money is YOURS once the papers are signed and it is a done deal!!

$150 if you refer a Tenant/ $500 if you refer a buyer once the papers are signed.

Newly Remodeled Condo in West Valley City, Utah.
Cheaper than Rent!
Seriously.
$89,500.00
2 bedrooms,
1 bath,
Kitchen Appliances included,
Hookups for Washer/Dryer,
Top level with patio,
Good area.
$800/month for Rent.
Does not Include utilities.

Email us: amylouhou@gmail.com

On the Mend...

...firstly, this eye is all better.
Thankfully.

She banged it up pretty badly, it was bruised all underneath.
The culprit?
No...not me silly, her
"Olhe!...Po'tock...yeeeee'haaaaww!".

Good times right?

Also,
I
am on the mend.

Was on my death bed Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Feeling 85% today.

My sweet doctors, both over the phone and the one I saw at the InstaCare
(they wanted me to go to the ER...what was THAT about?)
both were 90% certain I had this crazy H1N1.

I am not as convinced since I am feeling almost tip top now.
But alas, they gave me the Tamiflu and now I am great.

My concern?
The

103.7 degree

fever I had on Saturday night, which prompted the InstaCare visit the next day.

No one wants a boiled Millz.
Especially
me.

So long story short,
Tamiflu,
Lortab,
and a blessing,
I am well.

My family?
Just as blessed.

Now for this, when I have the baby this will stop and I will cry for days I am sure. She recounts on her fingers who every member of our family is. In this top photo, that is ME...in the bottom photo...

...that is Millz.

Get it?

Have a fab week ya'll, wash your hands.

Guys (and ladies) HELP!

Allison. I stole it from her bloggy blog.

See down there on my links of freaking inspiring photographers?

See Allison C. Photography?

She is the bomb dot com.

I met her last year in March when I went to Hawaii baybee...to attend the
Jonathan Canlas Workshop.

Allison is super cute and WICKED
(I do mean WICKED)
talented.

She needs OUR help.

She is trying to win a scholarship to ITALY.

Go HERE NOW!

Vote for her video.
It is the first one in line, entitled

Me+Italy.

Pretty Please?

Oh how I love this boy...

Crossed

So, the other night Hubbs and I are conversing about some very close friends of ours who are
struggling with some heavy stuff.

I begin to say how awful I feel, I wish I could do more than I have, and how:

"My heart is just broken!"

Memms, (age 3 years five months) who is sitting next to us watching a show on my iPod (ear phones in ears) overhears our conversation and says:

"Mom, your heart is broken because you have no money,
so you can't buy expensive stuff.
But you still can laugh."

I just want you to all remember that no matter how much your heart is aching, or how much your heart is broken, we can, and should
still laugh.

Truer. Words.

Alma 32:23

Beautiful Thoughts

This has been a great topic of conversation lately between me and some of my closest friends.

This has been me.

I felt like she was talking about my heart. WOW.

I have felt this pain, and although our prayers were answered in a different way...families are amazing, and they are forever.

Of this I am certain.

Tears. Tears.

School Daze --"And I Was a B"

James* and me circa 2000
(Not the name he goes by, I love to protect the innocent. Heart you James.)

So, do ya'll recall that time I mentioned about the TI 89 in Mr. Reynolds class?

I am here to further detail the horror that was this particular mathematics class for me. New girl, new school, knows NO ONE...sits next to amazingly cute James.

James and I became SUPER great friends.
I think in some ways James and I were in similar boats, we kind of both left a lot of our friends behind to go to a new school. James started eating lunch with me and my friend Candie.
So we got to know each other really well.

The one thing James had going for him that I didn't...
was that his sister was SUPER beautiful and SUPER popular, and also a Student Body Officer...

...so I think that helped him transition better than I did.

Since high school is SO large and full of SO many people and different clubs and stuff, James and I mostly just talked during our Algebra class.

(I think it was Algebra...James is super smart and just graduated as a Pharmacist...see he was SUPER good at math.)

Anyway, this one particular chapter in the book was a struggle for seemingly EVERYONE in the class.

We had a test coming up and I studied for it and studied for it to no end,
as did James.

The day comes for the test and we all take it with palms sweating and our little index card full of notes.

A few days later Mr. Reynolds, lisp and all hands back the tests to each of us...and I look at my score (it was a GOOD score) and with a HUGE smile on my face turn to James to see how well he had done...

...the entire time knowing he would have it ACED and would have it down.

We concur.

Here is where it went wrong, and hell as we know it broke loose.

I did better than James did on the test.
WHAT?!!
For the first time in months...
...I DID BETTER THAN JAMES ON A TEST?! IN MATH?!

So instead of being the sweet person I normally was, I start RUBBING in the fact that I did better than James.

Even worse, it carries over into lunch time, and my pride gets the better of me, and in front of many people, I begin to declare my smartiness over James'.

It got so bad.
SO BAD.

James has had enough and he yells,

"YOU ARE SUCH A B****!"

...in front of EVERYONE.
(wouldn't you have done the same thing?)

I was crushed.
Yet, I deserved it more than ANYTHING.

James and I didn't talk for months.
I don't even think we talked until the next school year.

I finally fully understood the error of my ways, and apologized for being such a biznatch.

James apologized too, and our friendship was what it was before.

I love me my James.
We are still friends to this day, albeit through facebook mostly.

That is okay, I am thankful to know such a smart and talented young man...
...and through the horror of being called a 'B' in front of many of your friends,
I learned a valuable lesson:

Pride goeth before the biznatch.

Touched.

I had the most amazing morning.

The past few weeks have been really draining on me
mentally as far as work is concerned.

I have been going through that motion of,
"Am I good enough?"
"Why am I even doing this?!"

Just the normal things I struggle with and have always struggled with
(lack of self-confidence maybe? Probably.)
I dunno.

I have been praying about it.
Heavenly Father and I are pretty tight these days.
I really mean this, with no exaggeration.

Take last night for instance.
I am on a session in Ogden, UT...the dark, dark storm clouds
are coming about a million miles an hour.
I commence praying my guts out that the downpour doesn't
happen until the session is over.

I joke with the couple,
"Don't worry, God and I a pretty tight, and it is not going to rain until we are done with our session."
45 minutes later, as I am getting ready to pose the last shot, it begins to rain.
Finish the session, get to my car, and it begins to DOWN. POUR.

Really? REALLY!
So, jokingly during the session the wife says to me,
"Could you pray for my husband? He is looking for a new job."
We both giggle. I say,
"SURE! I will tonight."
She texts me early this morning to tell me her husband got the job he wanted TODAY!
Seriously? SERIOUSLY!

Funny. But true.
I am really being silly right now, but the thing that is not silly is that my faith is strong...
and I recognize the tender mercies Father has been blessing my little family with.

...and today was no different.

I log into Facebook, and a client from 9 months ago posts this to my wall:

"So we finally have the pictures you took up on the walls here. They look AMAZING. My husband said:
"The only problem is they look like they were the pictures that came in the frames."
Last night we had the relief society presidency over to visit and the one said:
"These are probably the most emotionally charged family pictures I have ever seen."
So Thank you!
EVERYONE Loves our pictures, even if they are 9 months old :)"

Tears. This special lady had NO idea that I was struggling with my feelings and abilities, and here she was an answer to my prayer.
I cried for awhile this morning, it was so nice to hear that I have affected people with my photography.
That is what I hope to do, to capture a fleeting moment,
and make it timeless and forever.

Just wanted to share today, how thankful I am.

...and oh if you need me to pray for you, just let me know in the comments.

Kidding...well, kind of, I am just worried the lightening is going to strike.

Why Blogging is the Bomb

You can keep in touch with those who are far away.

You get to meet cool new people who you would have never met otherwise.

There is no better way to laugh your ace off.

The support of people all around the world for someone both you and they have never met.

To be COMPLETELY inspired.

And finally, two fold...
to reconnect with a friend from JR. HIGH! AND to win a
$100 Visa Giftcard.

Have I mentioned how much I heart blogging?

What is YOUR favorite thing about Blogging?

The One I Like to Call: The $30 -Coke- Slurpee

To begin, let me share this piece of Slurpee Bliss with you.

The Slurpee Facts.

You will see the last fact is that the average Slurpee drinker is age 29.
That fits in perfectly with the story I am about to tell you,
as I teeter on the edge and will be 28 soon.

See, back in November of 2008, after reading some articles on the effects of caffeine, I gave it up COMPLETELY.
Cold. Turkey.
I had a few days of headaches, but that was it.

Then...well then I discovered I was expecting a baby, and the ONLY thing that I wanted was a
Coke Slurpee.
So, after much debate and much excuse making, I decided an occasional 20 oz. Coke Slurpee would be okay.
It is mostly water and air anyway right?

Well, for the last six months or so, I have been getting 1-3 Coke Slurpees a week, that is until mid April, when, in my opinion all hell broke loose on the Slurpee front.

Apparently our credit card through our bank was compromised sometime in early spring, along with a bunch of other members' cards, so they turned off our card...and they were SUPPOSE to send us new cards...(which they still haven't...)

...so began the money transfer from our joint checking into MY photography checking.
That way, we would still have a Visa card to use at the store, the gas pump, and well, you know 7-11
for my Slurpee runs.

The cost of a 20 oz. Coke Slurpee in Utah right now is $1.38.
SUPER cheap right?
And let's not forget SUPER DELICIOSO!
Well, one would think, until I get a text from Hubbs one dreary afternoon stating:
"DON'T USE YOUR VISA CARD ANYMORE! THERE ARE TWO CHARGES OF $25 EACH!"

Wha?! WHAT!? Furious I text him back..."HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!"
Apparently he transferred all of the money out of my account without telling me...and guess what wasn't covered?
My Coke Slurpee.

Commence tears.

Did I really just spend $26.38 on a 20 oz. Coke Slurpee?
Tears.

Needless to say, Hubbs claims it was a ploy to get me to stop drinking them.
And I haven't since.
I am too mad at him, and too mad at the fact I could have had a new shirt instead of a freaking Slurpee.
He is forbidden from taking money from my checking account ever again.

Oh man, how I wish I had a Slurpee right now...TEARS.

Although, I must admit this flavor has caught my eye...although I have never seen one here.

What flavor would you spend $30 on?

Postally Challenged

Feeling like a blogging LOSER.

Do you guys ever go through a slump?
I have been feeling like I have nothing good to share.

I am, however cooking up another "School Daze" post,
you will love it.
It is the one I like to call,
"And I WAS a 'B'!"
So stay tuned for that.
You won't want to miss it.

So, cuz I feel like a loser, shall we play some Q&A?
Ask me anything, about life, photography, life, photography, etc...

...and enjoy a study I did of Memms a few weeks back.

I was just playing around with the jpg setting on my camera, these are SOOC
(straight out of camera, 50mm 1.4 @ 1.4 and they are orange...oh well.)

...just wanted to leave you with some goodness.

Feeling Accomplished

I am pretty certain I have some of the best kids on the planet.

(We will not discuss the fact that I have had to take them grocery shopping with me the past two weeks and I reconsider this statement each time I get home...and today is grocery day, wish me luck.)

...but for posterity sake, I really do think they are the best.

Found them like this...they were originally sitting on the same chair, as I quietly got my camera, somehow they had shifted and J-dawg was standing.

Bummer.

But here they were, together, quietly coloring...oh how I love them.

Love finding them in the moments of being best friends.

Then they saw me and the performances began.
"Take a picture of this."

They love depth of field I guess. ;)

Cheeser. Oi.

So anyway,
back to feeling accomplished.

We are preparing for our annual yard sale coming up in a few weeks, and thus I needed to clear out every closet, every room.

"Spring Cleaning" at it's best.

I finally got it done on Friday afternoon although things are looking like I need to re-do them starting today.

A mother's work is never done right?

So you know we were going to go on vacay for Memorial Day.
We ended up staying home all weekend long, which was BLISS.

Hubbs has been working EXTREMELY hard the past few weeks.
I know his list of "to do's" is getting terribly long, so I wanted to focus on him and what he would like to do.

Intermingled, of course with a little of what I would like to do.
(Like go to breakfast and Village Inn...using a coupon...couponing post to come later, or how about last night eating at Cafe Rio? YUMMY...or the trip to Kid to Kid where I found some amazing things. Let's not discuss the number of Root Beer Floats I consumed Let the record show I really don't like ice cream.)

Ya, ya...back to what Hubbs needed to get done.

After Hubbs spent a few hours in the morning organizing the mess that is "the RV Pad in progress.

He and I spent a couple of hours, and I mean that literally, pulling weeds in our front yard.
Our grass is still so baby-ish.
We planted it last fall and it is still struggling to look like a lawn.
We don't have green thumbs.

Anyway, it was the best time we have had in a long time.
We rented a movie for the kids and just had at the weeds.
We laughed so hard and got so scared when the spiders ran up our legs.
(Have you ever seen a 7 month pregnant woman get up so fast from a sitting position? Hubbs has.)

We checked out yard sale after yard sale on Saturday.
One of our favorite things to do, which we haven't done in YEARS. It was a blast.

Yesterday? We woke up early and went to our Stake Memorial Day Breakfast.
Delish! Then we spent the day cleaning out the garage.
Oh gag, how I wonder how it got so bad.
I have vowed to never be "that person" who can't park in her garage because it has become a storage unit...which it had, but it is organized 95% now...and we can park in there again.
Holla!

Best thing? I helped Hubbs cross some things off of his list.
That makes me happier than anything else.
Love you Hubbs!



What was the best thing about your Memorial Day Weekend?

M.I.A

I never meant for the past month to go by like it did.
I meant to be here, blogging as usual, but time and life and
emotions slipped away from me as it sometimes does.

The month of May 2009
has been an amazing one.
One full of journeys and introspection.
It has also been one of being stuck on the outside looking in on people I love who are hurting and suffering, with no way of helping, except to say,
"I love you."
"That sucks more than anything." or
"I am here for you...whatever you may need."

In an effort to try to jump back into my blog, and to actually give you something worth reading and coming here for...here I am.
Hi.
I missed you.
I missed my blog.
My heart is still extremely heavy. Such is life, and somehow we must push forward and find what wonderful things are waiting for us.

Lots have been asking, (oh how I hate...no no...DETEST drawing attention to myself.)
Weird right? Considering this is MY. BLOG.
But it is true. I am shy, and would rather stay in the shadows...
but as per your request this was me and "Millz" (code name for blogging purposes) a month ago at six months.
Millz is a girl. I thought I made that clear? Some of you didn't know.
We are THRILLED, (Although Hubbs is still freaking a little at having two girls to take care of).
This little girl has been waiting A. LONG. TIME. to come to our family, and we have been waiting for her to FINALLY be on her way. FER REALZ!
Only 8-10 more weeks.
Squee!



Puffy and slouchy...oooo SO hawt. (Photo Courtesy of Hubbs May 3, 2009)



Here is my stunning Grammy and me the day my Papa passed away. Don't we look amazing? This lady just had hip replacement! A week after Papa's funeral. Isn't she bomb? Love you so much Grandma...and eat up on those Hershey bars okay?



The last picture of Grandpa. Hubbs took this one (that is why it sucksalicious...you know I love you baby...I am teasing, TEASING).
At first I really hated it...but now I love it.
I love my kids contemplating eternal life.
I love remembering the feeling in that room, although it was heartbreaking, it was very very spiritual.
So glad he is in a better place.
Love you Papa.



And one I took of my little man. Oh how I love him. He is my joy and my buddy.

Hope you are all having a wonderful week.
I am hoping you are all getting away for this Memorial weekend.
We were going to go to New Mexico, but seeing how blasted hot it is here, I am personally skipping out going into EXTREME temps.
Going to the pool today...and sleeping in ALL WEEKEND LONG!

What are your plans?

Coldplay

Can I put this here?
I am anyway.
Go download a copy of their latest album.
Uhm, ya...for FREE. LOVE me them.

Get it here!

Why are they giving me such goosebumps today...oh the live-ness.

Opposition

****
Author Unknown
****

Cripple him, and you have
Sir Walter Scott

Lock him in a prison cell and you have
John Bunyan

Bury him in the snow of Valley Forge, and you have
George Washington

Raise him in poverty and you have
Abraham Lincoln

Subject him to bitter religious strife, and you have
Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The only president to serve four terms in office

Burn him so severely in a school house fire that doctors say he will never walk again, and you have
Glen Cunningham,
who set the world record in 1934 for running the mile in 4 minutes 6.7 seconds

Deafen a genius composer and you have Ludwig von Beethoven

Drag him more dead than alive from a rice paddy and you have
Rocky Blyer,
running back for the great 1970 decade Pittsburgh Steelers

Have them born in a society filled with racial prejudice, and hatred
and you have
Booker T. Washington,
Harriet Tubman,
and Martin Luther King Jr.

Have him born in a Nazi concentration camp, paralyze him from the waist down at age 4, and you have
Itzhak Pearlman,
the incomparable violinist

Call him retarded and write him off as uneducated, and you have
Albert Einstein

Amputate the cancer ridden leg of a young Canadian and you have
Terry Fox,
who ran half way across Canada on an artificial leg

Take both legs away from him and you have
Douglas Bader,
an RAF fighter pilot who was captured three times by Germans and escaped three times on artificial limbs

Label him too stupid to learn and you have
Thomas Edison

Blind him at the age of 44 and you have
John Milton,
who 16 years later, wrote The Great Paradise Lost

Call him dull, hopeless, and a flunk out of school in the 6th grade, and you have the famous statesman
Winston Churchill

Tell a boy who loves to draw that he has no talent, and you have
Walt Disney

Spit on Him, mock Him, humiliate Him, betray Him, and crucify Him, and He forgives you...

****

I am back, after a long week. You have been missed. Have had a lot of things going through my mind the past week, about trials and suffering. I have watched many over the past two weeks. It has saddened my heart but also has renewed my faith in who we are and what we can accomplish and overcome.

To all of my friends who are dealing with opposition right now...please know I love you and I am thinking of you. My heart is truly with you.

Hope you all have a beautiful week!