Monday, June 19, 2006

Einstein down on the beach

Counting Crows was FABULOUS!
The only thing that would have made it perfect was if Carl were there.
So I did the next best thing... invited my friend Cara. That's Carl except an "A" instead of an "L". And she's not a guy dating Liane. But other than that, it was as close to Carl as I could get ;).


We had great seats once again. As close to the water as we could be without actually getting our feet wet. :)

And of course the music was fabulous!

Melinda was precious. She was mesmerized!






Hello Adam! ;)
Like his shirt? It says "I hate you" LOL





Happy happy happy times!

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Happy Birthday to Rick!

He turned 33 yesterday... and today we're taking him to see the Counting Crows in concert! It's like 2 years ago all over again! YAY! Melinda, Luke, Liane, Rick, and I all going to the Beach at the Mandalay Bay for the show! It is such a cool venue. You are actually RIGHT AT THE POOL and they are playing right there. It is so so so rad! I am totally going to try and smuggle my camera in! I could take mine in last time, so I am hoping it will be the same. Of course the camera is a little bit bigger now... but I am sure no one will notice, right? hee hee

Thursday, June 15, 2006

I love Brawny Man.

Seriously. This is so hysterical! I can't wait to see all the episodes!!

The Brawny Academy

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Thanks to Danielle

who challenged me to fill in the blanks:

I AM: 30 years old
I WANT: chocolate ;)
I HAVE: two children and a husband
I WISH: I took more everyday photos before I had kids
I HATE: to fold laundry
I MISS: my sisters
I HEAR: my kids singing silly songs in the backseat of my car
I WONDER: if I will grow old gracefully
I AM NOT: as organized as people think
I ALWAYS: stop at a kid’s lemonade stand
I SING: when no one can hear me
I LAUGH: when I see my son’s naked butt
I CRY: every time I watch “Return to Me”
I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: works of art
I WRITE: in journals whenever I travel
I REGRET: not playing Scrabble before my 29th birthday
I NEED: to exercise more
I SHOULD: eat healthier too
I MUST: step into the ocean if I am near it

I'd love to read about you, too! If you do this challenge, let me know!

Thursday, June 08, 2006

color

i was doing a photo shoot at tule springs when this peacock came over to show off for us. such a cool display of color!

Thursday, June 01, 2006

grad photos :)

Kindergarten Graduation was wonderful!
Violet performed a "Piggy Opera" with her class.

She was so adorable, and I was so proud of her!

A couple of her friends with Violet in the Piggy's Brick House...

Violet had a speaking part and delivered her lines absolutely perfectly!!

After the performance, she received her Diploma from the principal!

Violet and her teacher... this lady is by far the most incredible kindergarten teacher EVER.


We also watched a slideshow of the year, set to music... it was wonderful and fabulous and made all the moms (and some of the kids!) cry. Just perfect!

We still have another week of school, but it's all parties and fun. I am volunteering to be there on Monday to help out in the room and have a birthday party for Violet. She reserves the last week of school for all the kids with summer birthdays to have a class party with their friends. Violet and her best little friend Jema are going to have their party on Monday. Yay! :)

Kindergarten graduation

is tonight! I'll be posting photos later :) :)

Thursday, May 25, 2006

The end of June

Rick is going to go to El Salvador on a mission trip with some friends. They'll be there from June 27-July 3rd, building a church in the middle of the jungle. Rick has wanted to go on another mission trip since he visited Costa Rica in 1997... and everything for this one has worked out perfectly. Our friend Kristopher (missions pastor at our church) is organizing this group and Rick loves doing stuff with him. The nicest part is that most of the trip is paid for... we only had to come up with $750... and the day after he committed to go, I got a $150 rebate check from our alarm company and a $350 freelancing check from a magazine! Talk about everything working out! God is really cool. His time off from work is even perfect. Since taking on his new administrative job, he has had to use up some of his personal days from his old position. He hasn't used them yet, but they expire July 1st. So now he will use them for this trip and won't have to use his vacation time even! Man, it's awesome when stuff works out. Just goes to show that when we step back a bit and quit trying to do everything ourselves, God works it out just the way it should go. Coolness :)

Monday, May 22, 2006

Don't you think

Barabbas would make a cute new mascot for Old Navy?



I think so :)
Here's his profile

Monday, May 15, 2006

Thirteen years ago today...

after having sweaty palms all night and acting decidedly awkward, my dear, sweet boyfriend Rick proposed to me at my senior prom. Right after the song, "I can't fight this feeling any longer." tee hee!

It was sweet and precious and wonderful and I couldn't believe how lucky I was that I met my soulmate while I was so young. We danced a bit more while I held up my hand and made the little diamond sparkle in the lights of the disco ball. Then we saw Cirque du Soleil at the Mirage... when it was still in the tent behind the hotel. Then we stood atop the parking garage and looked at the city lights and talked about how we would get married in a few years, after I went to college. I had recently been accepted to school at the University of San Diego, and I couldn't wait to go there. Everything in my life was going perfect.

And thirteen years later, everything still is. :)

Saturday, May 13, 2006

He wanted to be Spiderman.

GREEN Spiderman.
*NOT* Red Spiderman.

So that's how Riley got his face painted at the school carnival...


He loved it! Hee hee.

Violet and her friend opted for a more traditional face painting job - and were matching kitty cats for the evening :)


Lots of fun at the carnival. Games & candy & sugar & sweets. Can't beat that when you're a kid.

Friday, May 12, 2006

countdown

to the last day of school.
june 9th.
yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.

i am so ready for the year to be over.
so ready to have a fresh start at home.
so ready to not grade papers.
to not haul around a cart of supplies.
to not have to drop off my son at a sitter.
to not have to drive for 45 minutes each morning to get to work.

i am SO ready for summer.
for playing in the pool at papa & mamalali's house.
for traveling.
for doing creative things again.
for getting my house in order.
for working out.
for working on projects around the house.

this has been a good experience for me.
and the income has been good for us - God provided money when we needed it.
so thankful for God. :)
and so ready to move onto the next big thing.

freelancing.
working with technique tuesday from home.
turning my photography into a real-life business.
being available for my kids.
being available for rick.
being available for my friends.
going to spin class during the day.
daring to try the triathlon class.

the countdown has begun.
28 days to go.

Friday, May 05, 2006

without further ado...

Take your child to work day:

Rick and his "mini-me"


khakis, polos & sportcoats! riley even got his hair all gelled back!


Riley had a great time being Rick's helper at work, and was soon running all over the office, creating havoc in his wake. He made himself right at home!


The Oompa Loompa Girl:

Before the performance...


She was right up front - and did all her moves perfectly!


Stealing a glance between acts...


Violet took her role very seriously. ;)


Afterward there were plenty of hugs for her adoring fans!

Thursday, May 04, 2006

off to retreat

this weekend. hopefully rick can hold down the fort with the kids. field day at violet's school on friday and a garage sale on saturday. i will come home to the chaos that will be our house on sunday afternoon ;).

have a great weekend - and special congrats to liane and carl on their college graduations! wish i could have been there to see you guys!!

p.s. mel and papa... still waiting!

melinda & papa

get to it. i have friends who want to see the pictures ;)

Sunday, April 30, 2006

upping the ante

not only do i need to post violet's oompa loompa photos still, but also rick and riley from "take your kid to school day" - did i mention that they MATCHED? they both wore sportcoat, polo shirts, and khakis. and if you want to see them - mom, dad, melinda, and liane - you'd better get blogging. cause SERIOUSLY.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Do not go gentle...

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas

I was reading a review of the movie "United 93" in the paper this morning. An excellent review. In fact, all of them on this movie have been nothing but praise and accolades. This movie is already stirring up controversy... Is it too soon? Is it wrong to make money off the deaths of others? Should Hollywood be glamourizing this tragedy?

But the truth of the matter is this. Five years ago a tragedy unlike any our nation has ever seen took place. And from the acts of cowardly terrorists, unlikely heroes emerged. People like you and me, taking a plane ride home to see their family, when their worst fears were realized. But the incredible thing is that they did not go gently. They did not submit to their fear. They raged against their foes. They raged against terror. They raged, and they thwarted the plans of their enemy.

The country will not forget that terrible day. But it's been awhile. And those wounds have begun to heal - the scars are not so visible. And perhaps this story will remind us of the good that is in people. That heroes come in all forms. This movie was not created to exploit the situation... and it's obvious because there are no big-name stars attached to the film. They are actors you don't know - so you can truly experience the situation without thinking about the celebrity. Wherever possible (air traffic controllers, military officers, etc), the actual person who experienced the event was used in the film. How amazing. To create a true documentary of what happened. To remind everyone what happened.

There may be those who disagree, but I want to see the movie. I want to feel it. I want to understand it. I don't want to go gentle.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

why won't my family blog?

isn't it about time for dad's semi-annual blog update? and what about mom? and mimby? and liane??

i have cute pictures of a 5 year old oompa loompa that i am holding hostage until my family blogs. so there. :p

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Personal DNA

A Very Cool Personality Test.
This test did a really good job of gauging me and my personality...

My Personal Dna Report







See what yours is, too!

Friday, April 21, 2006

From Riley's mouth...

after sneezing, "Mommy, my nose was coughing."

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Easter 2006


We went to the Sunrise service at CornerStone... it was nice and small, with worship just the way we like it. A couple guys and their guitars. No big musical productions, no show. Just us & God celebrating His resurrection.


After church we came home and Violet and I made a Bunny cake. I remember that photo of me when I was about this age, with my bunny cake. I think I will need to dig it out and do a little "comparison scrapping"...


Check out Riley's cool Easter duds. Note the shirt - Uncle Yooke - we bought it in your honor. There are skull & crossbones all over it :)



Riley & Michael. Still best buds. So cool :).


The results of the Easter Egg hunt - Violet came out the leader in this one. She ended up with over $12 in cash!!!


Pretty flowers growing in Tish's yard...

It was a lovely Easter. Grandma Jane came, and although her hair wasn't done up perfect and she seemed older than I expected, there were glimmers of her spunky self here and there. So glad to see that side of her again!

And Pam was in town! That was a nice surprise. She's loving Seattle - though apparently it's still pretty dang cold outside, so coming here was a nice, warm change for her. And it was fun having her around.

The Easter Bunny visited our house, too... the kids have new socks and pencils and they even got a golden egg that had a DOLLAR in it!! These kids are so lucky :). Riley of course ate half the chocolate in his basket before we were even awake. LOL

We've been spending our Spring Break time organizing, cleaning, and painting in the house. Our new IKEA furniture is fabulous :) :) :). The garage is clean enough for Rick to park his jeep! :) :) :)... Riley loves his new loft bed :) :) :)... and we are in the process of moving all Rick's computer stuff to the downstairs office and the big room upstairs will soon be MINE ALL MINE... muahahahahaaha!!!!!! We're painting it this week and then... I think... our house will be good (for now! LOL)

A couple photos...

from a photo shoot I did last weekend.
There were lots of really great ones, but for some reason these gave me the giggles ;)


Thursday, April 06, 2006

last weekend in pictures...


we stayed at this cute bed & breakfast in st. george, utah, with friends the Dahirs, the Castillos and the Smiths...


we decided to take a hike to see the beautiful Virgin River.



Not so beautiful - and oh yeah, the random cell phone that rang while we were standing there. kinda freaky!!!! the guys went looking for it in the underbrush... we all thought they'd find a dead body!!


kristopher showing some leg. kind of terrifying.


kristopher and rick acting decidedly gay at Tuacahn. hahaha


Rick "rock climbing"


we took cute couple shots while we were there....


doesn't everyone look so cute & in love? :)


awwwwww...


precious!!!


good lord. this was *NOT* one of the couples shots. dude. guys. DUDE.


the group hams it up. well, except the photographer. :p


lunch at a local deli was the perfect way to end the hike...


and then a fancy dinner that night!


we all ordered yummy food & cocktails!


restaurant is called "The Painted Pony." stop in if you are in St. George!


fine wine, good food, and good company.


and if the waiter thinks you are gay, he'll bring you an "extra special" coffee cup!!

Can't wait till next year!!!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

62 pages.

All by herself.
My daughter read to me Green Eggs and Ham.

My heart.
So full.
So proud.



Monday, March 13, 2006

Ten K.

Ten Grand.
Ten Thousand.

That's how many photos I have taken with my Rebel XT since getting it in May of last year.

10,000 photos.
TEN THOUSAND.

wow!!!! ! ! !!!!!!!!! !!!!!! ! !!

to celebrate, here's one i took of my dear sweet Melaroo...

Friday, March 10, 2006

It's mid-march in Las Vegas

and it's snowing outside right now.
C R A Z Y !!! ! ! ! ! !! !

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

CONGRATULATIONS CARLOS!!!

http://www.printingresponsibly.com/cd2006/winners/

The Winnah!!!!
Woohooooooooo and all that!! SO TOTALLY PROUD OF YOU! :) :)

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Impressive turnaround!

Photobucket heard my concerns and those of countless others and have updated their terms with better language protecting the consumer.

Here's the new update:

March 07, 2006
Terms of Service

Photobucket members,

We recently updated the Terms of Service on our Website with the intent of adding more features that allow you to do more with your photos and content. Unfortunately, our new Terms of Service language was not clear, and did not accurately communicate our intent. We sincerely apologize for any confusion this may have caused. As a result, we’ve just updated our Terms of Service, correcting and clarifying our intent and the limits of the license you grant us in accordance with your use of the Photobucket service.

The initial reason for the change was to address a concern related to members of our site linking their content to other bulletin boards, web sites, and other third parties. When that linking occurs, the content linked is now part of the third party site even if it is still physically on the Photobucket service. The change was intended to protect your content on third party sites. We also needed to add some language to allow you to print your images through our third party fulfillment company Qoop (the MakeIt button). At Photobucket, our members are the heart and soul of what we do – your thoughts, behaviors, concerns and preferences drive our business, and we value your opinion. It is important to us to hear your concerns, and act swiftly and appropriately.

We have revised our Terms of Service to clearly reflect our original intentions. These updated terms are posted
HERE . We want to make sure it’s clear that our privacy policy has not changed, and is linked at the bottom of our Terms of Service – Photobucket will not rent or sell your personal information for use by third parties. It is our sincere hope that these changes clarify the intent behind our revised Terms of Service. Please feel free to pass along this note to any other concerned users with whom you come into contact. As always, we appreciate your feedback.

Thanks,
Alex Welch
CEO, Photobucket


Of course, this is *after* I deleted a large chunk of my photos on there. Sigh.
That's okay - my account was probably due for a cleanup anyway.

If there are any missing photos on my blog that you want returned, shoot me an email and let me know. Putting them back up will be a bit of a challenge, and I will likely miss a few here & there.

Photobucket changed its terms.

And I am not happy.

"User Content" means any videos, photographs, images text, graphics, news articles, charts, presentations, communications photographs, illustrations text, graphics, news articles, charts, presentations or other materials provided by you to Photobucket.com. Photobucket.com does not claim ownership rights in any User Content. In order for Photobucket.com to permit you to use the Services, you grant to Photobucket.com a perpetual, universal, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, license to use, copy, distribute, modify, print, display and otherwise exploit in any manner any User Content and to enable third parties to use the Services to do the same."

So I am currently in the process of deleting my photos from photobucket. This means, most likely, there will be photo errors all over the place till I can change where I host my pictures. How irritating.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Bye bye Buttercup.



We finally did it.

I was tired of the peeing and pooping in our closet. Tired of the peeing in the entryway. Tired of the barfing all over the carpet. Tired of her crankiness. Tired of the last 9 years of dealing with her.

So we got rid of her. We tried to give her away but no one wanted her (no surprise there). She's mean, hisses at everyone, won't let you pet her, and - oh yeah. She is bulimic. And doesn't know where to go to the bathroom. And by now she is just beyond training.

We took her down to the local animal shelter on the 20th. The kids were actually fine with it. They didn't like her either. We dropped her off without incident. I had to pay a $10 drop off fee and we were free. Free from that evil cat. Finally.

Two days later I came home to cat barf on the carpet. Apparently Buttercup wasn't always the culprit. Our other cat, Wes, whom we all love, threw up. And suddenly I felt guilt. A lot of guilt. Rick likes to egg me on so he reminded me of her lonely, scared nights in that creepy animal shelter. So I felt really really guilty.

I went online and checked for her on the "adoptable cats" database - she wasn't there. Had she already been adopted? Could we have been that lucky? I checked under her ID number, though, and there she was. With a sad little photo of her in her cage.

More guilt.

I have been checking every day. She still hadn't been put on the "adoptable" list, but she was in the database. Until yesterday. I put in her ID number and it said "no records found."

I have to believe that means that when she came into the shelter someone saw her and wanted her right away -but they had to get her through a 10 day quarantine or something. Which is why she was never put up for adoption. So she was adopted and is probably making some old lady who likes cranky calicos very happy. Right?

Right?

Friday, March 03, 2006

Did I mention I won tickets to another concert?

Yep.
Switchfoot.
March 16th - House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay.
Oh and a chance to get "up close and personal" at their private "Underground Lounge" recording session that afternoon. SWEEEEEEEEET. :)

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Carl's a finalist!!

Liane's boyfriend Carl is one of the TOP TEN WORLDWIDE FINALISTS in a contest called "Clean Design 2006" (click on the words there to link to the site). The object, according to the rules, is as follows: Each participant can submit up to (3) designs which they feel will best embody the concept of utilizing a clean, concise highly-effective visual/text treatment to maximize the results of printed communications while at the same time minimizing the negative ecological footprint the process of traditional printing leaves in its wake. “This competition is meant to emphasize how a clear simple yet effective message can get your point across more effectively and in actuality, reduce the amount of printing therefore needed for a promotion to succeed”. That‘s where we feel a dual impact will be made, better results, less waste and lower total production costs, states Steven Van Praagh, partner.

The message? Clean Design Gets Better Results.

Carl's, of course, does the best job. You can click on each of the images and see the front/back of the cards. Carl's card is the "flashcard" concept. Of course, vote for your favorites. Mine's Carl's. So very excited that he's getting recognized for his cool design work. That boy is gonna go places.

Go Vote Now. You have till March 6th. Oh - and tell your friends!