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

I Gave Up

Ever so long ago... it was so long ago that we were living in Newton and Cooper wasn't even born yet... Brandon made me this armoire. It is supposed to have doors and a drawer. As you can see, it doesn't. I decided that it probably never ever will, and I should enjoy it as is. So, yesterday I painted it. I don't know where I got the stain that I used to antique it, but I realized after the fact that it was NOT water based, and I had no idea where the paint thinner is. Just in case any of you run into this problem in the future, and you have stain all over your hands... nail polish remover will work. :) Anyway, I think it looks much more finished now, and I'm excited for the stain to dry so I can put everything back in it, instead of all over my living room. Oh... and the tv fell off of the couch today, so it might be toast. I wasn't even in the room (in fact, nobody was, because I was the only one home!) so I have no idea how that happened. I just heard the crash. It was sitting on the couch for a whole day, so I don't know why it all of a sudden decided to jump ship. My only idea is that it wanted to get back into the lovely newly-painted armoire, but it just couldn't make it past the floor by the couch.

Most of All

Today when Melissa, Hannah and I were having a girl's lunch and chatting away about music... what? You said Hannah's in Texas? Melissa is in la la land? Whatever. Fine. When I was sitting in my sweats waiting for my jars to wash so I could can grape juice, and I was chatting online with Melissa and Hannah... I hate coming out of my fantasy world! Anyway, Melissa asked me who sang a song that I showed to her awhile ago. This song is fantastic, really! And, I bet most of you have never heard it before. I'm betting this because I had a hard time even finding it online. It's called Most of All by Mac Davis, and it's the sweetest, most tender love song ever. Ever! Okay, I can't hold a straight face anymore. It's a love song... I'll just say that. Listen to the clip of "Most of All", and then you should buy it. I dare you to listen to the whole thing without smiling. Then I dare you to listen to the whole song with your lover without... smiling. ;)

Middle School... Oh Boy!

I had the wonderful privilege of substituting at the middle school yesterday. I was the sub for some computer class stuff. They were working on cashiering. It was pretty easy, but I'll tell you what... those middle school kids THINK I'm dumb, but THEY are the ones who are really dumb. So neener neener on them. Or something. I caught so many of them playing computer games, and they tried all sorts of tricks. "Oh, that just popped up! I have no idea how!" And I was born yesterday. They'd also have both windows open, and hurry and change it to the cashiering when I came by. And I never use a computer, so of course I would have no idea what the button at the bottom that says "games" means. I also won't notice when a well-meaning friend hurries and changes his friend's screen, because he's talking to the girl next to him and doesn't notice me. I also totally believe that the teacher lets one kid do one screen, another do another screen, and then lets them copy off each other. This is why I hate subbing. I don't want to babysit a bunch of brats, who think the most fun they can have in a day is to see if they can pull one over on the sub. I was also shocked at how little some of these kids understood BASIC concepts. There were a few who could not even add dimes, and I'm not kidding. It makes me scared for our world.

Dry Fork 5 Mile Race

I ran this race today, and beat my goal time by a little over a minute! AND I did it all with a pulled muscle from 2 days ago in my left calf! (It was killing me the whole time, but I couldn't just stop! ;) My time was 38:52, so less than 8 minute miles! (That's good for me... I know other people would kick my pants!) It was a gorgeous morning, with gorgeous views, and nice friendly people. I'd definitely do it again. I WISH that I had a picture to post, but my wonderful husband and kids forgot the camera, even though I specifically told them that I wanted ANY picture of me running, since I have none. Well, maybe next time! Brandon did take some with his phone, so I'll see if he can upload those to here. This race is mostly downhill, so it's pretty easy... I would LOVE to have company next year, and there is even a walking division!

Oh. LAME. So, this is the ONE picture that Brandon got. He had the phone pointed at me forever, so I thought he was doing a video or something, so I did a little "woot", and that's when he snaps it. The ONE picture I have of me running, and I look like this. Oh brother!

Hip Hop is For Young'Uns

I went to the Hip Hop class at the gym today, and let me tell you... I could not make my moves look like the teacher's! I looked like some weird person trying to bust a move. Napolean Dynamite can dance circles around me! I was actually looking in the mirror thinking that maybe I'm too skinny to do hip hop (the teacher had nice curves), because there has to be some reason that I CAN'T DANCE!

We Love our Great Grandparents!

This past weekend we decided to do a quick trip to visit our Grandparents, and get away for a day. It was a fun-filled trip, and we were so glad we went! I found out that Grandpa and Grandma Howell would be at my parents' house, so it was a perfect opportunity to see them! We had a wonderful visit Saturday morning. Grandpa showed Aubrey lots of fun math tricks. Some were even useful! ;) Aubrey even learned that half of 12 is 7. You'll have to ponder that one for awhile. If anyone figures it out, you'll win! I don't know what you'll win, but you'll win!
Grandpa Howell with my Dad. It took a few tries to get a picture with Dad smiling and not blinking. I think he must be out of practice. I'll have to take more pictures of him. Grandpa looked great in every picture, of course!
Four generations of girls! Aren't we all beautiful?
We didn't get to do much there, but Mom fed us a yummy garden veggie lunch (without deviled eggs... thanks, Mom! ;) Oh, we also got ice cream, of course!
Brandon was being his usual model-y self. He loves to have pictures taken. Any opportunity that he has to jump in a picture... he's there. He's constantly begging people to take pictures of him, and sometimes cries if he can't be in every single picture.

After we visited at the Howell's, we went down south and visited Great Grandpa and Grandma Jarvis. It was so much fun to see them, and visit with them for awhile. I wish we could see our grandparents more often! Cooper sang them a beautiful song about worms... it took us a few minutes to get him to start singing, but then he didn't want to stop. He sang it a few times before he finally quit.
Grandma didn't think she was picture-ready, but I think she looks absolutely beautiful!

We also got to wander around Cabelas, Brandon's favorite place in the world. I went to Deseret Book and bought my temple case, so you can all cross that off your list for me for Christmas! ;) You'll just have to get me something else. Then we met up with Holly and Adam at Target. Target. Target! I like that place! I sure miss it. I bought some more of the headphones I like to run with, because I can't find them anywhere here. Then we just wandered around. It was fun. Holly had fun telling people who didn't know her what they should and shouldn't buy. ;) After Target, Holly and Adam shared a wonderful restaurant with us. We went to Mimi's, and it was delicious! It was fun to spend time with them, and be able to go to a "real" place to eat. After awhile, Winger's as the "fancy" restaurant in town just doesn't cut it anymore. ;) Thanks, guys, for hanging out with us! We hope to visit more family some day soon. We love and miss you all!