I Heart Faces... Hands on Fun Challenge

I just love hands... I love looking at hands, I love what hands can do, I love to feel things, I love to touch. When I teach my silver sneakers class I always give them each a little shoulder rub at the end, and they love it. It's amazing what hands can do to show love! This photo is one I took of my sweet friend's son. I love this boy, and knew this was the photo I wanted to use to show hands... creating music is just one of the hand's many ways to show love! :) Click the i heart photos button to see more great hand shots

52 Photowalks: Week 7 ST. GEORGE!

Okay, I totally know what you're thinking... yaaaaawn. A bazillion photos of someone's blah blah blah blah vacation... BORing. So, I promise I'll do my best to make it interesting... but I won't blame you if you click to another blog right.... hello? hello? Where did you go? I wanted a black and white, but none of the photos I took were very good for b&w... except this one. I like this one best in b&w. You know how frustrating it is to try to capture what you see? I mean, there's all of this amazing huge grandeur and a picture just looks so... eh.
Just in case you like your world in vivid color... here it is.
I did NOT want to come back from St. George. I still don't want to be back, really. Who would want to when you've been in perfect weather relaxing with not a care in the world? We had no set agenda, nothing we had to do... just time together doing whatever we wanted to do. The weather was mid 60s and sunny. What bliss. Sigh.
There were running trails everywhere... beautiful, no ice, no dodging cars, no snow, no frostbite... trails. We went running a couple of times, and it was heavenly. We got some good giggles out of the people running with gloves on. Snort. I could've run naked and felt perfectly comfortable... well, you know what I mean.
We ate. And ate. And wanted to eat some more, but we just didn't have enough meals to go all of the places we wanted to. When the main restaurant attraction where you live is Cafe Rio, you go a little crazy in a "city". I had ice cream for lunch three times. Nielsons Frozen Custard... Cold Stone... Cold Stone. Excuse me while I wipe the drool off of my keyboard.
Brandon likes to stand on ledges. I guess that's a good sign that he really really trusts me.
We went to Target. That's like one of the most exciting things I can think of to do. I love Target. We also went to the mall, and the outlet malls, and bookstores, and an urban antique furniture store, and... anywhere we could think of. Our one rule was that we couldn't go anyplace that was also in Vernal... luckily that ruled out only five places.
I like Brandon's creative photography... or maybe I was standing sideways. I can't remember.
I loved just being able to walk around together... no coats, no freezing, no whining... Oh, we needed this trip!
We went to a session at the temple... and what a gorgeous temple this is! It's SO white. I couldn't decide if it was whiter than other temples, or if I was just used to looking at Vernal's temple.
And... we went to church with Brandon's cousin Haley (wonderful meeting with an AMAZING musical number). It was fun to visit with Haley for awhile... and we figured all of that church-going made up for all the drinking we did. JUST KIDDING, NANCY... we didn't touch the beer in the fridge!
We stayed in a friend's 5th wheel all of the nights except the first night, and it was wonderful! Comfy, nice, and the price was perfect. We had to stay in the b&b we had reserved for the first night, because it was too late to get out of it. It was quaint, it was right in town, and the breakfast was delicious... so it wasn't too annoying that we had to keep that reservation.
This house was just down the street from the b&b. I'm SO in love with it. Like head over heels in love with it. Like I should marry it, I'm so in love with it.
We're thinking that we could paint our house the same and it would look very similar. It has kind of the same style. And if we could ever do rooms up in the attic it could look even more like this house. The front door was so cool... it was the kind that open top and bottom separately if you want.
I love the cleanness of it... the freshness, the uncluttered look... the charm. I wanted to go knock on the door to see if I could see inside, because I'm positive that it's equally as charming, but I didn't dare. Plus, it would've crushed me if it wasn't everything I hoped it would be, so now I can just know in my head that it's perfect.
Well... if you're still hanging in there, looking at the bazillion photos and listening to my chatter, you must either be really really bored, or you really really love me.
I really loved our trip to St. George... and I have to especially thank Holly and Grandma Lynda and Grandpa Lauritz, who loved, fed, shopped with, and played with my children. Oh, and cut my boys' hair. THAT was a blessing and a half, let me tell you!
Holly really stepped in and took over when plans didn't go exactly as... well, planned. Thank you so much, Holly! You're an amazing aunt, and we love you!
So now it's back to reality... freezing temperatures, Brandon sleepless and gone, house to clean, kids to feed, clothes to wash. and fold. and put away.
I wanted to cry a few times when we were driving back home.
I guess that means it was a really good vacation. :)

52 Photowalks: Week 6

I didn't put a huge effort into this week's photowalk, but I did one, and some weeks are just going to be like that! :) I got these adorable (I use that word a lot... probably too much) chrysanthemums from a sweet student and friend, and I'm never one to pass up a chance to shoot some flowers. We're leaving Friday morning for a much MUCH MUCH needed trip. Brandon and I are... now, don't be too jealous and hate me... but, we're going to St. George. It's going to be sunny and in the 60s. It sounds so nice that I'm almost jealous of myself. ;) The kids are going to Grandpa & Grandma's farm. Yes, they're sweeter than sweet, and they love my kids. Imagine that!
Tomorrow is Harold's birthday party. Harold is my 96, soon to be 97, year old Silver Sneaker hero. I love Harold. I'm so excited to celebrate his birthday... it's all we've been talking about in Silver Sneakers class for about a month. ;) I'm also excited to go for more training the end of the month. I'm going to learn YogaStretch... yup, yoga for the "silvers". It's going to be fun.
I got a little depressed on my run today... I've really felt fine about turning 35, but I started thinking about how I was 20 just yesterday. That means I'm going to be 50 tomorrow. It comes that fast. You blink, and 15 years have gone by. All of you who are over 25 know what I'm talking about.
Laundry is a relentless opponent. It never sleeps. It never rests. It never retreats. But I shall conquer it. Oh yes. I shall conquer it.

Nice Brains, Tyler

We got a "Diagnostic Report" from Tyler's math teacher today. It says "This student's Grade Equivalent (GE) score is 12.6. His math skills are therefore comparable to those of an average twelfth grader after the sixth month of the school year."

Niiiiice! Another math brain. :) Way to go, TylerO! Oh, he's in 6th grade right now... sorry, but a mom has to brag a little sometimes, especially when she's trying extra hard to ignore the not so great things this same son does. ;)

I Heart Faces... We Heart Kisses Challenge

Who doesn't love kisses? I couldn't resist entering one of my all-time favorite photos for this one. Click on the i heart faces camera to see more great smooches!

Getting Yelled at Can Be Funny

If I told you that we went to Tyler's basketball game this morning and that the other team's coach yelled at one of the parents, would you ever guess that it was me? Yeah, I forgot that I should keep sarcastic remarks to myself. The ref called a foul that the coach didn't like, so the coach argued with the ref, and I said, "It's always a good idea to argue with the ref". He turned around and said, "WHAT did you say?" So, I repeated myself. He proceeded to yell at me that he was right and why don't I just ARGUE with the COACH. It was kind of funny. He did apologize to me later... but believe me, I kept all sarcasm in my head from that point on.

Tyler did a great job, and he made a basket! Yay, Ty! We're proud of you. :)

52 Photowalks: Week 5

Yesterday was bitter cold (isn't every day here in the "ice hole"?), but I couldn't get over how beautiful everything is with sparkly frost-ing.
Ahhh... I can't resist the bokeh.

... or the vintage...

Do NOT stick your tongue on this. ;)

My favorite favorite favorite. In fact, this goes down as one of my all-time favorites.

So, there ya go... a frosty tour of the frosty world that I, the frosty queen, inhabit. Tell me which ones you like (or don't like, if you're so inclined. ;)

I Love Fritos... and "Career Wonderings"

Don't you? :)

I just got back from the rec center, where I became "official" in my Silver Sneakers certification. I had to take an online exam, and I passed... 90%... which kind of actually makes me mad, because I know a few of those questions I missed were tricky little things. You know, the kind of questions they put in there just so nobody will get 100%... The test was kind of strange... it had questions so easy I had to giggle and questions that I think a doctor might have had to answer.

I've been thinking lately... someone said something a little while ago that gave me the impression that they thought I should just stick to one "career/part-time hobby job", and that I kind of flit about from one thing to another. I had never thought of it that way... I've kind of just floated from one thing to another as circumstances and desire led me. I've been a violin teacher for a long time, and had times of my life where that was completely my focus outside of raising kids and caring for a home. I've added fitness classes in there, because the opportunity came up, and I love to work out. When I moved, the violin thing just wasn't really happening, and I was okay with just letting it be, because I was tired of it. I had more opportunities to be a fitness instructor, and jumped on that... and then when I got my camera, and people just started asking... and I love doing it, and it was something new and fresh .... and it turned into another endeavor. I've looked at all of my "jobs" in the past as taking advantage of my talents and letting it lead where it will, and have felt that I'm truly blessed to have multiple abilities that allow me to make money, but now I'm wondering if I'm doing this all wrong, and if I'm supposed to just stick to one thing and make that one thing amazing. Hmmm... just some wonderings I've had lately.

Oh yeah... and fritos have nothing to do with any of this. I just love them.

Sorry...

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

Morning Rant

Okay, let me start this by saying: If you are one of the people who have recently left facebook, that's fine, I don't hate you, and you can do whatever you want, and I'm not specifically talking to only you, because you're not the only one... I only write this because there are a TON of people all of a sudden.

What is up with the recent mass exodus from facebook? Just about every day another of my friends makes the grand announcement that they are leaving facebook, with choruses of "good for you" "you're awesome" "I need to do that too". And I'm left thinking why? What's the big deal? Am I a horrible awful person because I find facebook useful and not completely harmful?

Okay, yeah, it isn't "real"... but it enhances real relationships. I'm a busy person... I don't have time to call all of my friends every day, but with facebook I can find out that a friend has a sick little one, and I can ask her how she's doing the next time I see her, or I can find out that another friend is having a very bad day, and then I know I need to call her. I can make arrangements at midnight to go to a movie with a friend the next day.

Okay, yeah... there have been studies of affairs that started on facebook. Guess what? People have affairs with people they meet at work, at church, at the gym... should we quit all those? It's about self control. You can find that stuff anywhere if you're looking for it.

Okay, yeah... it wastes time. You don't have to spend a lot of time on there, though. And if you're a "time waster" you're not going to magically have hours in your day once you've quit the evil facebook. You know, I know I probably spend too much time on there, but I also probably watch a lot less tv than most people.

So... people can come and go on facebook as they like... I can't make you stay. I just don't understand why it's the noble and cool thing to do all of a sudden. What's up?