Just some stuff

In my 100 things list I said...

46. I love to get the mail, I always say you never know when you're going to get a real letter, or a cool package...or random money!

And guess what happened? My wonderful Grandma read it and sent me a card in snail mail! And not only that, it was full of nice things about me. (63. My love language is words of affirmation)

And today we went downtown again. This time we visited the Garbage Sucking Goat. Heh. That thing is fun. So I tried to get a picture. It was hard. It sucks fast. The first two pics are me trying to time it right, one it's already sucked up and the other it's about to suck. I finally got it mid suck on the last one.

Tried some new lighting

I love love love the photography by the image is found.

I emailed Nate to ask how he lit a certain award winning photo and he wrote back!

I finally got a chance to try it myself and this is what I got.

Thoughts? (the rest of her shoot is here.)





And a couple of my other favorites from the shoot.

bff's

I got to spend the weekend with my best friend's from High School. We were inseperable then, and for the year after HS when we lived together while we went to the local community college. After that year, as we figured out our lives, we went our seperate ways.

This is us at baccalaureate in 1997.


We stayed in contact through email and occasional visits and this last weekend all three of us got together for the first time in about 7.5 years.

We had a great time! It was like no time had passed at all. Anna commented that it was like she's always known my kids (even though she met them all for the first time on Friday).

We hung out downtown. Did some browsing, then went over to the carousel for a ride. I had Gabe with me and he's never ridden the carousel before.

All of us.


Anna


Traci


Gabe sitting in front of me.


Gabe had so much fun that after we got off he was really sad. He tried his darndest to get back through the gate.





Then when I finally thwarted his hard work, he was a little upset.


Traci, Anna and I spent the evening (after getting the kids in bed and leaving them with their dads) at this really cool jazz club downtown. I can't wait to go back. Good music, good food, very cool atmosphere.

Traci got a picture there, I'll post it after she emails it to me.

The next day we just hung out and talked until Anna had to go home. Now that we're all in the Pacific Northwest again, hopefully we can do this more often!

Love you, girls!

March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb

That saying is very true around here. These pictures are of my kids playing outside. The first two at the beginning of March, the last several are from the last few days. We've been having fun walking to the park!

Aria's photography

In Kindermusik this week, Aria's assignment was to take pictures and make a little book of the pictures she took. We went to the park because it's one of her favorite places to go.

I just wanted to share a couple. She's got a good eye! I admit I helped with the timing of the second one. But she was holding the camera and pushed the shutter release!

BAAAAAA (100 things about me)

This is me, being a sheep.

Apparently folks in the blogosphere are posting 100 things about themselves. So, I'm following along. It took for.ever. But, here it is.

1. I'm often motivated by guilt
2. I hate to exercise
3. I'm the oldest of 5 kids
4. I play the piano (started at age 4)
5. I play the flute (started at age 10)
6. I used to play the tenor sax
7. I hate to cook
8. I hate to clean
9. I feel bad for my kids because they have to eat my cooking
10. I want to be a midwife when I grow up
11. I also want to be a psychologist
12. And I want a degree in world religions
13. I wonder what the odds are that I'll do any of those things
14. I've never had a cavity
15. I've been to Japan twice
16. I was the drum major of my High School marching band for 2 years
17. I have a minor phone phobia - just making phone calls. I love answering the phone.
18. If I can accomplish the communication through email, I'll always try that first.
19. I love being choir director at church, it's my favorite calling (shh...don't tell!)
20. I have mild PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome)
21. I feel invisible a lot of the time.
22. 12:34 is my favorite time. Almost daily since I was a kid I've happened to look at the clock at 12:34
23. I'm really bad at small talk
24. I hate Settlers of Catan
25. I like fast paced games
26. My all time favorite game is Nertz
27. I'm a night owl
28. I hate confrontation
29. I've hiked to the top of the matterhorn (tallest peak in the wallowas) several times
30. I'm a hippy at heart
31. I've been working on this list for a week and I'm only on #31
32. All I ever wanted to be is a Mom
33. I didn't know I liked photography until I was a freshman in college
34. I don't do crafts
35. I purposely avoid a lot of Mormon "culture"
36. But, I love Anita Stansfield and a lot of other LDS fiction novels
37. I make decisions based more on feeling than logic
38. I have horrible posture
39. In 6th grade the spine checker person thought I had something wrong, but never told anyone but me, so nothing was done about it
40. I'm a big believer in natural remedies
41. I want to homebirth my next child
42. I don't think I'm a very good decorator. I know what I like, I just don't execute it very well
43. I love jazz
44. I was in 2 different jazz bands in high school
45. I love to read
46. I love to get the mail, I always say you never know when you're going to get a real letter, or a cool package...or random money!
47. I love nature and being outside
48. I don't really like to swim
49. I'm afraid of the dark...more accurately, it's not the dark itself, but the people/animals that roam about after dark.
50. I love to dance
51. I really, really want to take ballroom dance classes with my husband
52. I have a bad habit of procrastinating
53. I want to adopt at least one, preferably 2 kids.
54. I love anything chocolate/peanut butter
55. Tillamook makes the best ch/pb ice cream
56. I'm 5'10" and I love to wear heels
57. One of my favorite foods is Yakisoba
58. I don't have a favorite color, I love them all at different times/moods
59. I don't cry easily
60. Except when I'm pregnant. Then I could be laughing and suddenly I'm sobbing.
61. I've never broken a bone
62. My natural tendency is to follow rules, especially in games
63. My love language is words of affirmation
64. I love change as long as I'm in control of it. Otherwise, I don't like it.
65. I guess that makes me a control freak
66. I'm quiet, especially in big groups
67. People tell me that because I'm quiet, I come across as a snob at first impression
68. In small groups of people that I know well, I talk a lot more
69. I have a lot of self confidence
70. I can not wait for Harry Potter 7 to come out in July.
71. I'm shooting a wedding that day, so I can't stay up all night reading it.
72. I love Smallville and Heroes
73. I'm a dreamer with a vivid imagination
74. I used to sit at the picture window when I was little and if there was a rainbow I'd watch and watch hoping to see Rainbow Brite ride over.
75. I believe in Santa Clause
76. I'm a glass half full kinda person
77. I'm incapable of organizing. It doesn't make sense to me.
78. I do have my own system that apparently doesn't make sense to anyone else.
79. I crack my knuckles
80. I like to study "deep doctrine"
81. Some of my favorite times growing up were talking doctrine with my dad.
82. I collect jewelry more than I wear it. (although, I'm starting to wear it a lot more)
83. Besides a few special occasions, I've worn the same pair of small hoop earrings, night and day, for 7 1/2 years
84. I like big dogs.
85. Not so fond of small ones
86. I've always wanted a horse. Still do.
87. I hate wearing shoes
88. I hate wearing socks even more than I hate wearing shoes. My feet can't breath in them.
89. I definitely can not sleep with socks on
90. I've never not had a music related calling in church.
91. Once I was the Young Womens secretary, but I was also the choir pianist
92. I took three years of Japanese in High School and 1 in college
93. I remember very, very little of it now
94. I've been pregnant 4 times
95. I had a miscarriage between Aria and Gabe
96. I'm a country girl at heart
97. I know I already said I'm a hippy at heart. I'm both. :P
98. I have the oldest child syndrome and like to fix peoples problems
99. I like dark chocolate
100. I love my sisters and want SO bad to have a girl so Aria has a sister

That was a joke

So, uh...just because 10 years ago, I played flute in the pit orchestra for Bye Bye Birdie, and I was good, DOES NOT MEAN that now I could pick up the music and play it again.

In case you were wondering.

Cause I just went to the first practice for a stake production of Bye, Bye, Birdie and I played maybe 1/8 of the notes. lol. Looks like I'll be practicing a lot the next 6 weeks!

PS...Thanks to my wonderful friend Traci, who agreed to pick her clarinet back up after 10 years and join me in the pit. Love ya!

This oughtta be, uh, fun.

Conversations with Gabe

Gabe is 16 months and just starting to try to talk to us. He has a handful of words, but he's entered the babbling stage where he just goes on and on and seems to know exactly what he's talking about.

Like the other day:

Gabe: MA!
Me: What?
Gabe: ah ja baba go di no ba goh nunu la. (all said with a very serious look)
Me: Really?!?!
Gabe: Yeah.

I *heart* that kid.

Inspirational moments

Today at church we had a fantastic Relief Society lesson. It began with one of those inspirational stories you hear about kids. It was true and very sweet.

Since I fasted today, for the first time in I don't know how long, I was feeling rather spiritually heightened. What better time than to read the Friend with Aria and create one of those inspirational "faith of a child" moments to reflect back on, right?

So, we read a story about keeping the sabbath day holy. About a boy who chose to skip his championship baseball game because it was on sunday. We finished, I'm thinking what a nice lesson I just taught her and I say "what did you think about that story?"

She immediately said "bad."

Dave snickered from across the room so I tried to salvage the teaching moment.

"Aria, do you know what that story was about?"
"Yeah, church."
"Well, what did the boy choose to do?"
"uh...the right."

Ok, not going so well. I ask if she wants another story and she picks one. It's a short one about honesty so I decide to try again.

After reading it...

"Aria, what did you think about that story?"
"It was short."
"Ok, but what did you learn from it?"
"Nothing."

Right. We went ahead and read a few more stories, but lost the questions.

Inspirational moments, not so much.

Cute, cute, cute

This little girl was so fun! At one point I told her to throw a snowball at me. I was thinking no way she'd hit me. She's 3!

Nailed my camera. Right on the lens. Good thing I had a UV filter on! Here she is scooping the snowball up!



I love so many out of this shoot. You can see the rest right here.

And here are a few that I loved.

Aria's new exclamation

I don't know where she came up with it. She normally says crap (which I admit, makes me laugh everytime she does it). But I'm good! I don't let her see me laugh, and I usually tell her to use appropriate language.

But the other day she got frustrated and exclaimed "Creckin' Crewsh!" That time I laughed out loud. She's said it several times since then.

At least it's nothing bad...or real...

Book Review - The Kite Runner

I don't normally "do" book reviews. I remember in 5th grade we did this reading auction where we got "money" for reading to go towards this really cool auction at the end of the year, but you only got the "money" if you wrote a book report. And I hated that. I ended up reading way more books than I actually wrote book reports for, although I still ended up with the second highest amount of "money" to spend. Go figure.

I've always wanted to be in a book group, but I'm a little intimidated by them. I was that kid in school that knew the answer but never, ever raised my hand to offer it. Even when the class was silent and the teacher was staring us all down. I was partly protecting myself in case I was wrong and partly just not wanting to talk in a group setting like that. I still get embarassed to say anything in a class. Even at church. Oddly, if you put me in charge or if I'm giving a speech/talk, I have no trouble at all. Go figure again.

Anyway, I'm rambling. The point is, I read a lot of books, and I needed an outlet/discussion place for this one.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

This book is set in modern Afghanistan (from the early 70's to today). Basically, knowing very little about the Middle East prior to reading this, it really opened my eyes to the horror they face every day.

I found myself strongly relating to Amir. He is soft. He is timid and wracked by guilt. He has a stong loyalty, but it is overshadowed by fear and it takes tragedy and life experience for him to grow strong enough to face his demons. There's a passage in the book where he is witnessing a public stoning. He has his head down in his hands because he can't bear to watch. I understood him there.

I avoid the news. I convince myself that I don't need to know. Since I can't do anything (besides pray) at this point, I don't want to know what's happening in the world. I don't want to put those scenes and images into my head to come back and haunt me later. I don't want the weight of the horror that exists to press me down. I purposely read and watch a lot of "happy endings" style books and movies because I want to believe that the world is still basically good. And, considering the content of this book, it does have a rather happy ending.

But when I do allow myself to see what's happening out there, I tend to come away contemplative. I find myself with a new resolve to raise my children as confident, happy people who can make a positive impact on the world. I have more gratitude for how incredibly blessed I am. I realize that knowledge really can be empowering.

Like Amir, I find myself being more willing to stand up for myself and my family as I get older and put more experiences behind me. I've learned a lot about people and understanding them over the last several years. I know I still have a long, long way to go, but I'm looking forward to it!

I love that God set things up so we can learn line upon line, precept upon precept. It's amazing when something that I need to understand just settles into place as if I'd known it all along.

That was all a bit disjointed, I think. But if you've read the book and have any comments, I'd love to hear them!

The cutest little tree - a bright spot in the winter blahs

We are sick.and.tired of winter around here. Every single day when we drive by the park, Nathan and Aria discuss how much they want to play there.

Nathan inevitably reminds me that the groundhog didn't see his shadow, therefore, it should be summer now. (Thank you, Kindergarten, for teaching him that little nugget that he didn't quite grasp)

Aria then discusses the wonderfulness of swings. She looooves to swing. Perhaps I've even mentioned it before, I don't recall. But she is dying to swing again. She goes on and on about how she can't wait for me to give her an "under dog high run". That's no ordinary under dog. It's like and under dog with oomph. She wants to fly! She talks about how swinging high gives her a "tickle in her tummy" and that she loves to laugh while she swings so high. Then she heaves a big dramatic sigh and ends with "I wish it was summer today."

But last weekend we got a taste. I nice little spring-ish day that got up to the 60's! We didn't wear coats, we turned our faces to the sun, we were reminded how much we love spring/summer/fall around here. (winter...not so much).

These next pictures are all from our wonderful spring-ish February day.

I'm in love with this tree. It's little. And cute. Also love the cool mural. And the building opposite it. I can't decide if I like color or b/w better on this one. Feel free to weigh in!

This is the building opposite the cool tree.

And, more shopping with Grandma.

My little chocaholic

Gabe has some sesitivities/allergies. He doesn't do well with milk or eggs. So my Mom found some dairy free chocolate chips and gave him some.

I think he liked them.

The first taste...

Going for another one...

When he couldn't get it off the table with his fingers...

and, along these same lines...Gabe in a candy store. He's got a sweet tooth, this one!

There's nothing like it.

A good sale. And not just a good sale on regular, every day, normal priced clothing (although that's good too), but a good sale on designer clothes. Oh, man. If you've read the shopaholic books...you know how it feels.

Now, I'm pretty good about my shopping. I love new clothes, but I don't feel like I go overboard and I never ever pay full price. Ok, mostly never. shhh. But getting beautiful clothes at a slamming price is euphoric.

So, this last weekend, I was visiting my hometown and we were drawn to this store. It's a store I've been in maybe once before. And that time I walked in, looked at one price tag, and turned around and walked out. But this time, there were racks of clothing outside with giant 75% off tags everywhere. Just inside the door were all these beautiful shoes...also 75% off.

I saw these first and fell in love. There were only 2 pair left and I just knew they wouldn't be in my size. I mean, when does that ever happen? It's usually the teeny tiny sizes and the giant sizes that are the left overs. But they were my size!!! And at 75% off, just $19. I grabbed them and wandered around the store a bit and my wonderfully awesome Mom said she'd buy them for me for a Valentines Day present!

So, I didn't feel badly when I found these shoes for $23. Also in my size! I bought these ones. They're so comfy. Like a foot hug.

Even Aria found something she absolutely had.to.have. A really cute topaz ring. It was normally $55, so I figured it'd be just under $15 and I left it there. I didn't think it was such a great deal right then.

But then my sister got to town and she's even more of a shopaholic than I am so we went back the next day. And that's when I really scored. She found me some jeans. And not just any old jeans. The most comfy, soft, perfect fit, long-legged, make-my-butt-look-awesome jeans.

Citizen jeans.

Oh, they're beautiful. And you'll never believe the price. $40! Oh, man. I may never take them off.

I also found an awesome black shirt, that totally hides my post-3-babies belly, but I don't have pics of that (it's still packed and I'm too lazy to unpack it right now).

And I was good and passed on 2 gorgeous skirts (I'm in this Dave Ramsey money class...so I had to be a little good to avoid the guilt).

Right before I checked out, I noticed that Aria's ring was still there, so I grabbed it to check the price. Turns out it was more than 75% off and only $5! So, it went with the loot. I'll probably save it and give it to her for her birthday or something.

Happy Valentines Day!

I'm notoriously behind, so...I'm a day late. But I thought I'd share my 2006 holiday cards with all of you that I didn't have addresses for. (I know, that doesn't make any sense...why am I talking about holiday cards and valentines day???)

So, here.....I sent them out last week along with a letter full of excuses for being 2 months late. (click the picture to see it better!)

Dance party!

We love dance parties at our house. We crank up the music and dance and spin and hug and boogie...it's the best ever. Gabe even break dances. lol. So I tried to capture it in pictures.

Our current dance party CD of choice is Regina Spektor's latest.

What do you think?