Photography Challenge Day Three

Day Three.

Is it only Day Three?

It's going to be a looong 30 days I think. :)

As I type this my boys are out back in the rain, kicking a soccer ball, yelling, grunting....just boy stuff that I will NEVER understand. But whatever, cause they're loving it:)

So day three is Clouds. And boy am I glad I snapped some pictures an hour ago. As we were leaving Target it started to rain and is one big gray cloud cover now. Whew! Glad I took along my camera at the last minute.

So I'm sitting here wondering when inspiration is going to strike. Sitting and waiting....sitting and waiting....thinking about the pizza I have to preorder for Andon's soccer party tonight....hoping the boys don't maim each other before said party...all the stuff that needs to be done between now and Thanksgiving... but no inspiration about clouds is forthcoming. It's just not coming. So I guess I will just have to leave you with some photos of some OK clouds. And that's just going to have to be ok. However, at the bottom of this post you can click on a link that will take you to another cloud post I did a couple of years ago. Have I been blogging that long????





It's suddenly gotten very quiet which usually means something bad for me. So ta ta till tomorrow!!

Click here for the "other cloud post."

Photography Challenge Day Two

Day Two of the Challenge: Take a picture of what you wore today.

I was tempted to go buy an outfit. Just for this post. I would wear it again of course! Sheesh. I'm not wasteful:)

The Hubbs didn't think that was a very good idea. Even if I was just kidding. Mostly. Remember, I am married to an accountant.

:)

But there has to be SOMETHING good in my closet. After all, this blog does get printed and just for the sake of my future self, I'd like to do it with the least amount of embarrassment as possible. So I've been thinking all morning of what to wear. I mean, there has to be SOME thought that goes into it, right? So the question bears answering, "Do I post what I WISH I wore all the time, or what I ACTUALLY wear every day?"

Secretly, in my head, I will always be 18. I looked pretty good at 18. Not bragging AT ALL, it's just the youthful exuberance of THINKING that one looks good. :) I sometimes long for that exuberance, that utter confidence, that shameless parading of trendy clothing that now gets laughed at by my children and never ceases to stop amusing them as they look through my year books/scrapbooks. It's the "I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU WORE THAT!" or the "What were you thinking! Bwahahaha!!" (I swear I had flashbacks when my siblings and I laughed hysterically at our parents and their yearbooks.) If you really want to eat humble pie...have children. But at the time, when I was wearing belts through my belt loops and tucking in everything, and perming my hair no less, I knew I looked good. But even if I didn't, in my youthful denial, I still THOUGHT so. :)

Now because I do actually have a latent, sometimes unclaimed, vain side to my personality, this next picture is me wearing what I would wear if I had somewhere to go. A girls night out, a nice dinner with the hubbs, a party.... oh who am I kidding. I've gone to the movies in slippers before! So this picture is me wishing my kids saw me more dressed like this.

Warning: I did shamelessly edit these, cause let's face it,
a: I love to edit
b. when do I ever take pictures of myself?
c. they just looked better. Remember, this is for my future self that I do not want to embarrass. :D

You'll have to piece this outfit together. I tried to get my shoes in the photo but those ones turned out blurry. And still you can't see the shoes!







Alas, this outfit is just not conducive to sitting on the couch, watching movies, and eating Andes Mint Cookies while the kids are in school. NOT!! Okay...sometimes:)

And by the way, NEVER stand straight on facing the camera. It always makes your hips look bigger. I swear the camera does weird things to your body, cause there are so many times when I see a picture of myself and think, "that doesn't look like that in the mirror!! Does my butt look like that normally?!?" Like in yesterday's post, I swear that my arms DO NOT look that big in real life.

Time to up the weights I think.

So here is what I actually wore today. Though I like to dress up, and I try to find any excuse for doing so, most of the time I am all about comfort. I especially love yoga pants cause you can't feel that extra 10 pounds like you can in jeans cause, (whispering) "jeans aren't all that forgiving!"





Phew! Day two complete.

Photography Challenge Day One

Honesty.

One should really be honest on one's own blog. Really. If one can't be honest on one's own blog, then... well... I don't know. It's just not good. :)

So here's some honesty for you. I almost forgot to post about Day One. I mean, it is DAY ONE. DAY ONE and I'm already forgetting. Ah well. What's new in my life. And in all honesty (see, there's that word again) I should really be a spokesman, or is it "spokesGIRL" for Gingko Beloba. Don't they advertise that if you use it, your memory improves? Well bring it on Gingka Beloba makers! Let's prove your theory with a year's worth of tablets! (cause I really don't want to pay for them. Honestly.)

So Day One of the challenge says to take a picture of oneself. This actually works out really well for me since I've been wanting to update my Facebook profile. I am no longer a blonde. I am back to being red. And yes. I really do love it. So this post actually kills two birds with one stone.

Whoever coined that phrase should really have not coined it. It's awful! And I keep using it all the time!! It's like when you find out that the fun childhood game we all played, "Ring around the Rosies" is really just a song about some sort of plague. Really!?! Is this what people did back then without TV or radio? They invented songs about deadly illnesses, babies falling from the trees (you know that one right?) Honestly!!

I digress.

I found it a bit difficult to take a photo of me. Here's one of my first attempts. Not to bad. Kind of boring, but at least it's in focus. And the lighting is not half bad. It was just me staring at the camera to see if I had it in the right position. And by the way, I refused to give in to my burning desire to edit. These are strictly SOOC. That's keeping it real right?



Oops. Too blown out. But not horrible.



These next two I actually would've liked, but they're not in focus. So frustrating when you can't see what you're doing! :)




Success! In focus! Woop woop! That's my front entryway in case anyone was wondering. Or if no one is reading this....weeelllll.... oh well.



I decided to resort to my bathroom. The lighting is just better. Of course I had to remove all the clutter off the counters first...and the towel hanging on the wall behind me. That would be a horrible backdrop! Which reminds me, I think it's still sitting on the floor where I flung it. I'd leave myself a mental note to pick it up, but we know that's not going to work.









I DEFINITELY won't show you my "come hither faces" as I would not dare publicly humiliate myself like that, but mostly because I couldn't see them either. They were much too blurry. But just for my own sake, I don't think I'll be giving Doug them anymore. :D





And there you have it. It was actually rather fun. And I may be looking forward to Day Two. Maybe. :)

30 day Photography Challenge

Because I love Pinterest so much, and because I know I get sucked into it like nobody's business, I usually try to get on there between the time when Brittnee leaves for school, and the boys get up. It's usually about 45 minute. That's enough time right? That's enough time to completely distract myself with all the things I'll never get around to doing? :)

Well, as it happens, I came across a pin of interest. (Ha! Hence the name Pinterest. Yep, I just put that together. Just now. :)) It is a 30 day photography challenge. FOR MYSELF. And since this blog is supposed to be a BIT about me, I decided I would try it. I cannnot say I will be blogging every day, as I have tried that before and it just doesn't happen so I will make myself no high expectations. However, I will say that I will FINISH it, and hopefully post every day. And I might change a few of the "to do" things. Cause I can, and I just might:)

There.

Now I've said it. And now I have to do it.

So here's the challenge.

Source: Uploaded by user via Kristin on Pinterest

I have to say that I am super excited about this! See you tomorrow!

Hastleton Family

When Jennifer asked me to take some pictures of her kids I was super excited! Totally loved hanging with her boys, and the girls... well they're just too darn cute. Elliott's eyes are the most amazing blue color...and Nathan, that kid is just so photogenic. I think I must have snapped a good 50 pictures of just him!....Grant is the best big brother and did everything I told him to, even when he thought I was crazy when I asked him to lay down on the gravel...Charlotte is at the best age. Not only is she super cute, but at this age, they fidget and move and that makes for the BEST photos! This is why I prefer to photo toddlers. So Jen, here's your sneak peak. I hope you like them!!

Heiney Family

I just got a chance to photo the cutest, completely photogenic family! Every picture Keith and Mattie looked amazing. They just kept smiling no matter what the boys were doing, and really, they just look so good on camera. And their kids... those are some seriously cute boys! I had so much fun with Brandon and Dillion. As I was looking through the raw photos for the first time after the shoot, I came up on one of Dillion's that just made my heart beat a little bit faster. I'll let you know which one it is, but you might be able to guess:) Thanks Mattie for asking me to do them! I had such a good time!






This next picture is the one that made me say, "Awwwww!"

Dowd Photoshoot

It is always a pleasure to shoot family, especially my nieces and nephews.... and these just turned out so dang cute that I am going to share quite a few. Some Melissa has seen, and some she hasn't. Unfortunately, it was really cold when we got around to family pictures, so poor McKenna was sure feeling it. :)

NOTHING

It's 6:10 in the morning.

I just got Teaghan off to seminary, and with that comes 30 minutes before I have to get Brittnee to the bus. So basically I have some time to kill, cause this momma does NOT get ready until EVERYONE is out the door. It's just that way. That's just how it works:)

Everybody has their routine when it comes to turning on the computer in the morning. We all check our email, our favorite blogs, Facebook if you have an account.... and this morning is no exception. You know how your brain just randomly reminds you of things that really have no bearing on any part of your day, but you remember them suddenly anyway? Well, that happened to me as I was checking my email. Someone reminded me this weekend that they enjoy reading my blog.

My blog.

The blog I haven't updated since August. Ohhh the shame.

I'd somehow forgot. I do really blame it on Facebook. No longer do I need to check other blogs because most of the people I would keep current with are on Facebook. And if you're not on Facebook, well, I probably haven't checked your blog to see what you've been up to. And here's the thing...they Facebook more than they blog. Consequently, I haven't been on mine. It's all Facebook's fault. Truly it is. :)

So I decided to randomly post about, quite literally...nothing.

Nothing.

You know when you haven't seen anyone for a while and they ask you what you've been up to? And you suddenly frantically search for a really great response so they can see that your life is so full, and how could they have possibly not wanted to hang on your every move every single day??? Okay, so maybe you're not an extremist. As nor I, but my brain synapsis shoot super fast trying to come up with a response when asked this question. And sometimes I have a good one. We went to Hawaii... Andon scored a goal... Zak didn't light the house on fire when he threw matches into the toaster... I didn't have to take a trip to the ER for a head wound (man those things are bleeders!)... things like this that make good conversation starters.

But sometimes, after all that brain workout...sometimes the answer is just nothing. Nothing much.

So here's what I decided about Nothing. (And yes I am capitalizing that word because it is a state of being sometimes.) Nothing means that everything is going smoothly. Nothing means that no one is sick, no one has lost his job, no one has broken any body part. And maybe you say nothing anyway when you've had that trip to the ER, or your son actually burnt your house down, but not me. I WILL TELL YOU if any of the above has happened, cause I need my friends' support, and honestly, I feel so much better hashing it out with someone else. But if I say nothing, that means that life is going great. That the sometimes mundane, calibrated, scheduled day is a blessing.

A blessing I say!

Because everything is running smoothly. Because life is good. Because I managed to get my hair cut after 2 plus months and my roots were seriously offending other people. Because soccer season, as crazy as it is, makes me so very happy to see my boys get better and better. A blessing because in all the crazy day to day fuss there is peace underlying all of it. Because life is just so very good. And I'm grateful for every millisecond of it.

So yes. Nothing much is going on with me. And I love it.

Time

I watched the sunrise this morning.

Not because I got up for that very purpose....not because I'm suddenly a morning person...and certainly not because I had the will power to get up for myself.... but because I have to get my Freshman out the door for seminary.

But whatever the reason, I was up. And it was good. And I wondered again..."Why do I never do this?"

I think about her in high school. I think about what she will face. I wish I could save her from all the bad. I realized again, for the upteenth time, that this is what Heavenly Father must feel for His children.

15 minutes later, I got up my sweet middle schooler. My middle schooler who is a middle schooler for the first time. Unlike her sister, she has to ride the bus in the morning. I sometimes wonder if she feels shafted. Last year Doug took Teaghan to school in the morning. Teaghan didn't have to get up really early to get on the bus. But my Britt does. Does she mind?

I watched her get on the bus and I felt like I was watching my kindergartner take her first baby steps. Never had to do that so I'm wondering if that is where all this nostalgia is coming from. Britt has risen to the occasion. She is organized, at least for the time being, and one can always hope that it will only get better. I worry about her making friends. I have such opposite personalities in my girls.

With this early morning comes a lot of time... time to read my scriptures...time to think and ponder... time to blink away the tears as I watch my girls head for school where I am not. Time to wonder where all the time went.

Now onto getting our boys ready, first and second grades respectively. It's almost like starting over. I feel like Doug and I get the best of both worlds.

So yes, I think I will enjoy this time in the morning. :)