The Truth in Family Pictures

With all the family pictures that have been posted lately, I thought it was about time somebody shared the truth in family pictures. Here's a little demonstration: FAKE

REAL

FAKE

REAL

In No Particular Order...

Another tag by my bosom buddy Marci...

8 things i am passionate about:
1. Brandon
2. my kiddos
3. my faith
4. music
5. family
6. my home/ old things/decorating
7. running/ gym class
8. politics

8 words/phrases i use often:
1. love you
2. did you clean your room?
3. stop fighting!
4. frick and frack
5. do you EVER stop fighting?!
6. see you later, alligator
7. what do you want me to do about it?
8. target those obliques

8 things i want to do before i die:
1. watch my kids grow up
2. watch their kids grow up
3. travel with Brandon
4. run a marathon
5. live in a house I love in the country
6. have thick, long, gorgeous hair
7. make many, many happy memories with my family
8. have lots of friends

8 things i've learned in the past:
1. things aren't always as they seem
2. things don't always turn out the way you think they will/ should
3. it all comes back to family
4. I can do things that are hard
5. everyone makes mistakes, nobody's perfect
6. true friends are hard to come by
7. push on the brake hard before you hit a snowbank/ curb/ pole
8. appreciate what you have, because it might not always be there

8 things i currently want or need:
1. a vacation
2. money
3. love
4. time
5. patience
6. to know where my ipod went
7. to see my husband
8. a new wardrobe

8 places i want to see or visit:
1. ireland
2. vietnam
3. scotland
4. prince edward island, canada
5. australia
6. philadelphia
7. alaska
8. cabo san lucas

8 favorite restaurants:
1. texas roadhouse
2. johnny carinos
3. chilis
4. marie calendars
5. cafe rio
6. mimi's
7. anyplace yummy
8. anywhere not here

8 tv shows i like to watch:
1. veronica mars
2. america's next top model
3. if walls could talk
4. cold case
5. amazing race
6. what not to wear
7. arthur
8. right now... frickin' frackin' politics

tag 8 people:
1. melissa w.
2. brenda
3. hannah
4. jake
5. jason
6. dallas
7. vicki
8. anyone else

I'm a "Real" Photographer!

A real live family let me take their pictures... how exciting is that? I have dreams of being a photographer, but doesn't everyone? ;) Anyway, it was a lot of fun to pretend for a little bit, and I think they turned out pretty good...especially for a point and shoot, and starting at almost dusk. I did have beautiful subjects though, so that made it easy! I didn't put many on here, because I'm thinking Melissa might want to use them for Christmas cards or something, and I didn't want to ruin the surprise!

10 Things I Hate about My House

I thought it was only fair to show this side of my house, too! Plus, I think it's interesting, and somewhat funny (you have to laugh, or you might cry!) I hereby declare this a tag too, so go take pictures of the 10 things you hate too!1. My kitchen floor... the beautiful "marble" stick-on tiles that are worn out in traffic areas and trap grit in between them.
2. Do I even have to say anything? It's been a slow drainer ever since we moved in, and it finally just stopped draining all together. It's been out of commission entirely for a couple of weeks... with no end in sight.
3. The ceiling saga is not resolved.
4. The miniature steam torture chamber.

5. Living on a busy road... the traffic noise is irritating.
6. The houses so close to us... the neighbors are nice, but...
7. The fake rock stuff around the wood-burning stove. It's an eyesore, and I stub my toe on it all the time.

8. The cheesy "stained glass window". Luckily my blinds cover it.
9. Now, I know that this is ridiculous to have here... it was going to be something I changed the very first week, but as you can see, I haven't yet. It's not even a hard thing to fix, yet it continues to plague me every time I flip the switch in the kitchen.
10. The overabundance of black around the window in the kitchen. Too dark.

Whew, well that was fun! Now let's see your hidden eyesores!

10 Things I Love about my Home

Amy had this great tag on her blog, so I thought I'd share mine, too! The only rule is that you take pictures of 10 things you love about your house, and tell about it. Simple enough! 1. I love the arch doorways. There are two from the "parlor" into the living room and into the kitchen.
2. I love the trim! One of my favorite things about old homes is the trim, windowsills, etc.
3. I love the bay window, and I love how my furniture fits with it.
4. I LOVE the wood floors! I adore wood floors with character, and these floors are full of it!

5. I love the built in cupboards in my bedroom (used to be a kitchen ever so long ago), and I love how they match my quilt so perfectly.
6. I love my porch. Porches just make a house feel so inviting!

7. I love the old doors. They are all different... different styles, different colors, and I love 'em.
8. I love the built in cupboard in my kitchen. And you might have noticed that a lot of things in my house that I love are red. Coincidence? I think not.
9. I love the copper tiles behind the wood burning stove.

10. I love the doorknobs. EVERY door in this house has a different doorknob, and it makes me think about all the many years that this house has seen.

Well, that about wraps it up... I know some of the things I love would drive other people nuts (like having all of your doorknobs mis-matched) but that's what draws me to a home. I told you I was quirky! ;)

School Pictures

I just couldn't bring myself to pay $20 per kid for the smallest package of school pictures... plus I knew I could do better anyway. So, this week we went out to a beautiful place I found while out running, and I snapped away. Here are some of my favorites!

Photo Shoot

Aubrey and I went the day after I took pictures of the boys to take her school pictures. We had so much fun together, pretending it was a photo shoot. She offered to take pictures of me, and I think she did pretty darn good! I felt like I looked silly every time she was taking my picture, but when we were done, they looked just fine! She was a good "director"! :)

Quirky Quirky Me

I was tagged by one of my lost and found friends, Alison, to share some quirks with you. I think I've done this before... in fact, I just checked, and yes, I've done it twice. If you can't get enough of reading about my quirkiness, you can check here and here. Luckily I am full of quirks, so doing this again will be a piece of quirky cake. ;)

#1 I like to rub between my toes, especially at night before I go to sleep. I think I carry my tension in between my toes. Unsurprisingly, Brandon thinks this is gross.

#2 I always eat bread and sandwiches from the bottom to the top, so the rounded part of the crust is the last. From what I've seen, most people eat it the other way.

#3 I used to read the last paragraph or two in every book before I started it. Since I ruined many a good book this way, I broke myself of that habit.

#4 I also used to turn down the corners of a book to keep my place... now I couldn't do that no matter what! Even if it's an old book, I can't make myself hurt it that way.

#5 I can "swallow" my tongue. I saw someone do it as a stupid human trick on David Letterman once and I was jumping up and down saying "I can do that! I should've been on David Letterman!" (I just put the end of my tongue behind that little dangly thing.)

#6 My second toe on my right foot is slightly longer than my big toe. It isn't that way on my left foot, though.

As before, I tag six people who have six quirks. I know you have some... if I can think of 19, you can think of six! ;)

Weekend of Blessings

As most of you who read my blog know, it was General Conference this past weekend... and I have to say that it was exactly what I needed. I've been so entrenched in this political stuff, and feeling more and more stressed and despairing. There is nothing like Conference to bring a sense of peace, hope, and love into my life. I love that my Heavenly Father knows me and can give me insight into my life and dilemmas through His prophet and apostles. We were also blessed to have Brandon's parents spend the weekend with us. We had a wonderful time, and I learned so much from them this weekend, too! I feel as if I have been filled to overflowing, and I am so grateful for all that I have.

Just in case you missed conference, or you can't remember, here is MY conference, in a nutshell:

LAUGHTER instead of anger... Simplify... I don't have to know everything, I just need to know enough... Christ is there for ME... Atonement is for trials too... No Revenge, be Anchored in Revelation... Look at YOURSELF first... Find JOY in the journey NOW... Harmony... make pleasant memories for the future... make the most of Today... Welcome to our Homes and Hearts our Savior... See the truth you share, not the differences... LINK Morning and Evening Prayer... SHOW LOVE... Unity... Return to Virtue... Come What May and Learn to Love it... don't overreact... Spiritually Strong... speak generously of others... No Contention... Is it I? ... The will to win means nothing without the will to PREPARE... listen...

One Word Challenge

I stole this from my friend Amy's blog... I hope that's okay. She didn't tell me to do it, but it looked like a fun quick one, so I tagged myself. Anything is legal on my blog, since I'm the boss of it. ;)

You can only answer the question with one word. Even if you don't post it is fun to think of one word that would describe your answer!

Where is your cell phone? purse
Where is your significant other? driving
Your hair? messy
Your mother? friend
Your father? loving
Your favorite thing? happy
Your dream last night? actress
Your dream/goal? contentment
The room you're in? parlor
Your hobby? lots
Your fear? death
Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
Where were you last night? bed
What you're not? ignorant
One of your wish list items? Brandon
Where you grew up? Utah
That last thing you did? gym
What are you wearing? shorts
Your TV? new
Your pet? yuck
Your computer? frustrating
What do you think of Tags like this? interesting
Your mood? stable
Missing someone? Melissa
Where would you rather be? Cabo
Something you're not wearing? shoes
Favorite store? Target
Your summer? gone
Love someone? whole-heartedly
Your favorite color? brown
When is the last time you laughed? gym
Who will participate? everyone