Happy Birthday To Me...

First let me officially declare that it is NOT my fault! I know that I ask for snow on Timp every year for my birthday, but seriously people, I did not expect THIS much love this year!!

Also, I am not to blame for the colder (Seattle like) weather and I had nothing to do with the snow pack.
Though I have to admit, it sure is pretty, don’t you think!

My birthday was pretty low key this year, still good though.; as is any day you get gifts, cards and people shower you with attention. But as you know I am not too much of a fan of attention so low key is good.

In years past I have been on the ball and have provided my birthday wish blog with plenty of time to purchase said list. This has been an interesting few months and I am just not quite on the ball this year. Considering I did not provide a grand list my birthday turned out rather good!

Alexis made me breakfast… a freaking awesome breakfast burrito and a bowl of fresh berries… I was in absolute heaven!! It has been 6 weeks since I have had carbs, dairy, or fruit…. So it was bliss!

Work was busy and I played in the warehouse most of the day, so it was nice to return to my desk to a card before I left.

I returned home to more cards, and a surprise from Becky. She remembered that I fell in love with the new Religion Jeans perfume “Hippy Chick” and got me the gift set, along with an beautiful sun dress I tried on a few weeks ago and fell in love with, and a matching necklace. LOVE IT!

The rest of the night was normal, I ran Britt to Kohl’s to pick up the clothing that she and Court had put on hold, we did not get home till around 11. That was when I announced that no one had sung Happy Birthday to me or let me blow out a candle. Court quickly ran to find a candle and a match so that they could do that. It was a good day.

So back to that wish list that never made it to my blog before my birthday… for the record here are the things that were on my list that I did not get. But I am a big believer in “Birthday Months” so you still have a little time. Here is my top 10 list….

1. Patio Set. My dream is the one from pottery barn, but considering the price I am willing to settle for much less. There is one at Target that I may give in and go purchase myself if I do not receive notification that it is in route and to not go out and get one.

2. A red Weber BBQ grill. I don’t know why red, I have just always wanted red. But unfortunately it is not an IN color in grills this year. So I may have to go with copper or some other fun color, but as long as it is able to cook me a great burger or grill me up some chicken I am happy.

3. Knives. This request is more to make my sister happy when she comes over. Apparently all the knives I own suck. Including my Cutco and Ginsu (I know crazy talk- right!) So If you happen across this fine German Forged Steel set (that I am sure will result in a lost appendage) feel free to pick one up for yourself at the same time.
4. A lens, my awesome 24-70mm is having some issues and I want to cry thinking about it. But I need something that is versatile to shoot on vacation that I don’t have to be 500 miles away from my subject. My precious 80mm will not cut it. I will leave the choice up to you, as long as it has a Canon seal of approval I will be OK.
5. If I have all of this then I need a party to put all of these other great gifts to work…. Hint, hint.
6. I could also use a new wardrobe… NOTHING FITS!

7. There is a place in Springdale Utah that has these Wind Sculptures at Worthington Gallery that I have always dreamed about. This little gallery has been there for as long as I can remember and every time I am in the area I stop by and wonder through. I almost always leave with pottery but it is the Wind Sculptures that I love. I have always been fascinated by them and now my yard is to a place that it need something this awesome, so why not.
8. If these things are a little over the top there is always the options for gift certificates for my favorites… Aveda Products, Supreme Nails, Smart Water, Wingers (man I miss their salads!), …oh let’s face it I am happy with ANYTHING that comes from a friend and is sealed with Love! So if you’re not into big lists then the next two are for you….
9. Hugs, I need to get better and giving more hugs, so maybe if I receive a bunch I will give more away. I think that is how hugs work honestly.
10. Smiles, if your smiling it is contagious, and I would love to catch a good smile every now and then. So you can give me one or more of those, that would be appreciated.

Graduation Class of 2011

If parenthood is a test, and I am sure it that it is, then the grade is determined by the worth of your child when they enter adulthood. So far out of my 5 major courses I have an A+.
Alexis Graduated from Pleasant Grove High School this year with an average 3.50 or higher GPA. She has overcome a lot over the past few years and has come a long way. She is a beautiful girl with a outgoing personality. I cannot express how proud I am of her.

Alexis was offered a 4 year full ride scholarship to Dixie College in Southern Utah, and another one to Virginia State, but she has her heart set on attending the Deaf Studies program at UVU. She did get a half tuition scholarship to attend, but will have to pay for the rest. Alexis met with the professor over the program a few months ago. When she interviewed with him he felt that she had enough skill to start with the 2nd year classes, and if she does well in them she can buy out all of the credits for the Deaf Studies courses below… at a MUCH, MUCH lower rate than actually taking the class. Saving her a lot of time and money.

She is looking to go into Deaf Interpretation. She simply lights up when she is signing, it takes her into another world. I look forward to seeing her go through this chapter of her life, I wish her nothing but the best.

Congratulations Alexis
Class of 2011

Ideal Protein

A few months I was down in the dumps, bummed all the time. Celebrating my own pity party. I was struggling with the doom and gloom of the impeding layoffs and not sure how to deal with it. And when they passed and I still had a job I struggled with the fact that I was the only one on the team left. I worried about letting people down and not being good enough. I worried about my kids, as I always do, I had one of those the whole world is all on my shoulder moments.
Then a good friend decided that he did not like how I was treating myself, and he could tell I was not in a very good place. And I am thankful for him for basically yanking me out of a hole. One of the things he said as he went off on me was that “you mind as well get a knife and stab yourself, cuz your just killing yourself anyway!”

Wow.. that had impact! I was. I had gained an obscene amount of weight in the past few months, and I was turning to food for comfort… I was killing myself, my knife was food.
I had had enough!

I knew I could not do it alone, I needed to be accountable to someone. But not anyone in my family or my friends, they were to close and would be nice to me, I needed someone that would be stern. I also needed something where I could see results and was low impact, I had already been to the hospital once that month and I did not need to go again! My mind kept going back to a friend in my neighborhood, Christopher Salmon. He is one of the teachers of Sunday School at church and teaches every other week, I remembered when he started I thought to myself… what the heck, look how fast he changed! He often brought up the diet in his lessons and so I knew he was doing something. I decided to find out more about it and that’s when I decided to try it.

The web site sums up the diet plan as this:
The Ideal Protein Weight Loss Method is a medically designed protocol that results in fat loss while sparing muscle mass. The protocol was developed in France 25 years ago by Dr. Tran Tien Chanh, MD PhD, who focused his career and research on nutrition with a particular emphasis on the treatment of obesity and obesity related issues.
The Ideal Protein Weight Loss Method is an easy 4-phase protocol which helps stabilize the pancreas and blood sugar levels while burning fat and maintaining muscle and other lean tissue. This protocol is also an excellent support for cellulite reduction and has been used in well over 2500 Professional Establishments in North America over the last eight years with great success.

6 weeks into this program and I am down 20 lbs. I am happy with the results so far. I am working to get off for Hawaii and then when I return I may start right back up. It is easy, I feel better, and I eat tons better. To get to my ideal BMI I need to be down another 10-14 lbs, I think I can handle that.

My Other Graduate

Look at this cute kid… my little boy, graduating preschool!
Yes it is true, he will be attending Kindergarten in the fall. He will be among the young pups, but he is so ready to move on that I think another year in a preschool setting would bore him.
Now if I can just get him to stop telling everyone to call him Justin Beiber or telling me to spike his hair so that all the girls will chase him we will be good.

Comments From Kyle

Each day on our way to and from school Kyle tells me awesome stories... I have to admit that sometimes I tune out after 10 minutes of the same thing over and over, but others are rather interesting. Here are three that stood out over the past few weeks.

1. A Kiss and a Wedgie
One morning as I drove to drop off the boys at daycare Kyle was going on and on with one of his stories that involved ninjas and... to be honest I was listening to the radio and I missed the details, a few key words caught my attention "Champion" and "Wedgie". This was the same day that Spring Break started and when Kyle had a break in his story I told him and Cameron that I was going to miss them SOOOoooo much! They were going with their dad for 10 days, that is a long time and I was worried that they would forget me (that was joking). That is when Kyle told me that he would give me a BIG Kiss and a Wedgie, cuz that is what you do when you love someone a lot.

2. Oral Hygiene
After picking up Kyle from daycare he started to tell me that his toothpaste was all dried up at school and that he needed a new one. I told him we could go to the store and get him a new one for school but probable not today. He replied "That's ok mom, I think I am only going to brush my teeth on Wednesdays."

3. Sleepovers and the Witch
Ok, you know how this starts... we are driving home from daycare and Kyle asks me if his dad is going to pick him up, I explain not today and that he proceeds to tell me that the next time he goes to his dads house I can come. I ask where I will sleep, "In my bed, it's big, it has a ladder and everything" ok, that is nice but I tell him that maybe your dad doesn't want girls to sleep over, I got back "Uh, hu mom... Courtney and Brittany sleep at my dads house" small pause "sometimes my dads girlfriend sleeps in his bed and they kiss... it's GROSS!" Ok... so then I explain that "I am not married to your dad anymore, and maybe he doesn't what me to come over and sleep at his house." After a VERY long pause, we are talking a good 3-4 minutes, Kyle pops up with this one "Is it cuz someone told my dad you were a witch?" Why would you say that Kyle?" "cuz if you were a witch I would not want you to sleep in my bed!" Ok, that makes it perfectly clear. Thanks bud!

Camera Bag Dilemma

My new baby needs a nice new home... but I can not decide on the right one! I am so torn. I need your help.

Let me know what is your favorite.

#1 Epiphanie Ginger bag. I love the size of this bag (14x8x10) and the pockets on the outside for keys, chapstick, and other needed items during a shoot. It comes in black or this chocolate brown.

#2 Epiphanie Clover. It looks little, but this is not a small bag (18x6.25x13) it would actually hold all of the gear I currently have. And this little beauty has a bonus! It could hold my iPad! A nice perk when I transfer all of our release agreements to the iPad, clients could sign them on site. But is this aqua or hot pink really me?

#3 This BEAUTIFUL bag is a Dre Hartmanns, I sort of stumbled onto it while on my hunt. I think it is very nice.. but the light color worries me when shooting in a field and I just dump my bag. (15.5x6.5x17.5)

#4 This is the Dre Hartmanns Libby bag.... I have dreams about this one! I think it is absolutely amazing! Outside pockets galore, good looking, a laptop (iPad) spot... oh... it brings a tear to my eye! BUT, it is currently out of stock! It is available in a sorta wild blue berry color or a shiny grey... not really my thing. (13.5x16x6.5)

#5 This Jill*e Medium Bag is close, so close in fact that if there was a spot in the world for ALMOST perfect, this bag has it. Pockets, lotsa room, well made, good padding, but... no iPad spot. Almost a sure winner. (14x8x9.5)

#6 Dre Hartmanns has the cute looks, I don't know how practical they are for what I need, but this one has a place in my heart... it is the Cameron Hobo bag. I know.. I know..everyone should have a Cameron. I mean seriously, it is cute right! This is actually bigger than the bag I currently own (15.5x6x17.5). So stinking cute and would look great on vacation. But I worry about taking this little sweetness someplace dirty.

See my dilemma, I can not decide. If I had a favorite it would already be in the mail. I need your help.. let me know which one is your favorite and why.

Thank you for your impute !

The Perfect Storm

The ER is NEVER a place you want to go, but when you end up in one on a Friday night... BAM!! Your entire weekend is shot! It doesn't matter what plans you have, or what you need to get done, it's not gonna happen.

It has been over 3 years since I have been in the ER with an episode of Costochondritis, a big word for chest pain. I have been able to manage it perty darn good until all of the factors for the perfect storm lined up. First, SPRING, I have no idea why, but when the seasons change from winter to spring it has always been a factor. Second, STRESS... 1-work, I was spared from recent lay offs, but that leaves me to learn a new client, a new system, new responsibilities, and I am scared to let any one down. 2-that other job (Shameless Photography) I love working with my sister... but here too I am scared to let her down, I want to make this work for us. Third, LONELINESS, my kids are gone for 10 days... even Alexis is gone for 6 of those days... I so do not do well without them around. Typically I plan a major project, but with all the shoots this week I knew I did not have time. I miss Kyle's stories in the morning, Cameron's hugs at night, Courtney's new found spunk, Alexis updates on the latest Kolton, and Brittany's daily adventures with Alley and Morgan. Apparently all of these factors were a little to much on me and I was thankful I had Becky willing to take me to AF Hospital. I lucked out too; my nurse Steve was awesome, he let me be sarcastic and he just smiled and thanked me for not getting stuck with the sick 18 year old that came in when I did and Dr Davis rocked! He did not hook me up to a freaking heart monitor and have me take every test under the sun, he actually believed me. so refreshing. All I needed was a shot of Toradol (a mega dose of a anti-inflammatory and pain reliever) and I was feeling better... and then I slept the rest of the weekend. Well almost, I managed to get out of the house to go to a dance, and to church... now that I think about it maybe the weekend wasn't a complete loss.