Spiritual Sundays

“We know there are some essential things that must be taken care of if we are going to achieve eternal life “To get the spirit and know what that is we’re going to have to read the scriptures, and pray every day, and go to the temple, and fast, and do the things the prophets have told us to do. No woman ever has enough time, enough energy, and enough strength to do all the good things that are in her mind to do, We have to have the help of the Holy Ghost to take care of what is most essential.” - Sister Julie B. Beck, general Relief Society president

Foto Friday: Week 9

In order top - mine, then Mary's, then Heathers. Totally a new thing for me this week, this abstract thing. But I enjoyed it. And My Macro!

List 9: Things I Love to Photograph

hmmm so many things!

1. My kids. Especially when they are just being themselves, not all showy and performing. But really all the time. I get more satisfaction out of a good picture of my kids than of anything else.


2. Weddings. I really love shooting weddings. The more I have thought about why I love taking pictures at weddings it comes back to my own. My little sister died the week before my own wedding and that put a bit of a damper on things (to say the least). And now every time I am helping to make someone else's day special or share in their moments it makes me feel good. Makes me do what I needed others to do for me on my day. (And every time something minor goes wrong and the bride is all upset I think to myself, "things could be a LOT worse" - not that I would ever say that! ;) ) And in a round about way it makes me feel close to Kelly. Add some great dresses and hair and lots of love and you've got a great day!


3. Early morning sunrises. I don't like getting UP For them but I sure love taking pictures of them. I love the light just peaking over the mountains or the coulees. Love it and feel my testimony of an all powerful God every time.


4. Food. I love taking pictures of pretty food. And then I like to eat it. HA!


5. Couples. Newly weds, engaged, married long time. Love to take pictures of couples. Especially when I can catch them feeling the love for each other.


6. I love taking pictures of my nieces and nephews. (and all babies!)


7. Families. Especially in lifestyle mode. Not just sit here, but them DOING something, being themselves. Things that are THEM. :)


8. Artistic Commercial type stuff. Like this shoot. Still one of my favorite shoots cause of all the freedom he gave me to just let me come up with what my mind saw.


Things i'd love to try photographing:

1. "magazine/fashionish" kind of stuff. Sounds totally fun to me!

2. Some "styled" shoots ie with props and a designer and all kinds of stuff. I have a few different ideas I'd love to try!

10 on Tuesday

1. I am in LOVE with this bedroom. I love the vintage/ eclectic / handmade style that IS Ashley. And think it fits in closely to what my own true style would be my own. But... I can just hear my husbands disbelief if I said I was going to hang up chicken wire in our house. hahahahahahah

2. A couple of days ago Lucy brought this upstairs to me. Her own recipe she made up. :) i LOVE that she did this!!!!


3. Seriously I don't know how much more winter I can take!!!! I NEED SPRING!!!!!!!!

4. For our dinner club this month, we hosted and our theme (which Regan picked) was the letter R. So I made homemade Ravioli. It was three cheese mushroom filling with a spinach garlic sauce. Super tasty!


5. I finally learned how to curl with my flat iron and Lucy LOVED that her hair was curly. We will be doing this again for SURE!


6. I loved having Regan home this past week. We really hung out. And a couple days we looked at houses out in Raymond. It was good.

7. Speaking of houses, I need to sell mine - anyone want to buy it? HA!

8. And speaking of selling our house, I have so much work to do and no energy to do it. I need to deep clean, de junk, pack stuff up and currently I am having trouble keeping up the laundry! Can someone send some energy my way??!

9. We finally told our kids last week and we knew once we did the word would get out. sooooo, we are expecting baby #4. In September. Yes I am totally sick again. Yes I feel horrid, but we are excited to have another kid join our family. Lucy keeps saying that their is no way God would send her another brother. For her sake I hope we do get another little girl. 2 of each would be a perfect way to end our family!

10. I've kind of given up on the 6am posts..... does it matter?

Monday, Monday

Regan was off this past week. It was great to get to spend so much time together but it always throws off the whole routine we have going around here. I got some stuff done but really we hung out and I napped. It was awesome.

And cause of that I've not got a lot to say. So instead, go check out baby Oscar for my assignment week 3 over here

Spiritual Sundays

True happiness comes from following Christ’s example and developing Christlike attributes such as obedience, goodness, honesty, gratitude, humility, love, charity, and forgiveness. It comes from serving others and helping them to follow Jesus Christ. It comes from controlling the appetites of our human bodies and following the promptings of the Spirit. It comes from working hard and having a healthy lifestyle, friends, family, and personal achievements.

Foto Friday: Week 8

Not much to say about my picture this week. Just Alden and I thought that light was totally cool :)

list 8: things I do not like

1. rodents. Or anything related to a rodent. GROSS!!!!!!!!!

2. strong coconut flavoring.

3. nosey and/or rude children

4. paying bills (ie utilities, etc)

5. early mornings

6. -23 in February

7. throwing up, pregnancy and childbirth

8. Willie Nelson

9. library fines

10. cigarette smoke

11. trashy famous people

Regan REALLY wants me to put this on my list.....

Photo Talk: Brooke Snow Class Week 2

In my second week of class we learned all about posing. And I need to show at least 3 variations on the same pose. I was lucky enough to have a wedding shoot this week. Peter and Stephanie wanted bridals so we met on Wednesday and then again at their wedding on Saturday. (And it turned out being a good idea since it was FREEEEEEEEEEEEEZING on Saturday. SERIOUSLY COLD!!!!!!!
So here it is.....

Spiritual Sundays

“The longer I live, the more impressed I am with the Lord’s system of caring for the poor and needy. Surely no man would think of such a simple yet profound way of satisfying human needs—to grow spiritually and temporally through periodic fasting and then donating the amount saved from refraining from partaking of those meals to the bishop to be used to administer to the needs of the poor, the ill, the downtrodden, who need help and support to make their way through life.” – L. Tom Perry, GC Apr/86

foto Friday: Week 7

He has been working a lot lately delivery babies. We are on a busy rotation and he got home late the night before I had to post my picture..... I tried other things but I wasn't satisfied. So he told me to get ready and did this jump. This is totally at 11pm. And just so him. That I am taking things to seriously and he is just trying to make me laugh. And he did.

Listography: Movies I can watch over and over

Funny this is the list this week since our yearly tradition is to watch the same movie for V-Day.

1. Return to me (V-Day)

2. 13 Going on 30. Totally cheesy and high school and i LOVE IT! HA!

3. Harry Potter's. Love them. Seen them all many times.

4. Sabrina. (The original with Audrey Hepburn. LOVE THIS MOVIE.)

5. Funny Face (with Audrey Hepburn. LOVE THIS MOVIE TOO!)

How about you?

10 on Tuesday

1. Yesterday Eli got up too early and was just crabby the whole morning. So at 915 am I had had enough and put him in his bed again. He cried for 20 minutes and then went to sleep for an hour. And I thought hmmmm maybe he needs morning naps. And then this morning rolled around and he woke up at 5:40am..... so I guess he doesn't need morning naps!

2. I was a total slacker this year for V-Day. But I did pull out this for dinner.



3. Sunday morning she came upstairs and said "mom, can you take my picture?" Of course!


4. This kid LOVES his baby. Like sleeps with it, carries it around. Sings songs to it, takes care of it. It's soooo sweet!


5. This child is a HORRIBLE eater!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He eats like 6 things. And now add one more - chicken noodle soup!


6. Last minute (as in the night before at 730pm) prep. I should really get with it! HA!


7.Regan caught this of me and Eli and I totally love it. Just us together.


8. I love to hear Regan singing and playing the piano. My favorite one he plays and sings right now is Brick by Ben Folds.


9. My SIL Whitney had a baby this morning. And I can't wait to go snuggle her new little man!

10. I'm still in my pjs at 10:38 am.....

Photo Talk: V-Day and Assignment #1

Well Happy Valentine's Day! Hope your day is lovely. Eli fell asleep again this morning which is working out nicely since he was up early has spent the entire morning mostly crying.

I am taking an online class with a friend and fellow photog Brooke Snow. And I need to post my assignment today.... so here it is!

I was to preplan a shoot (and I had a wedding coming up in Cardston on this past weekend) so I used that shoot for my assignment and post my three favorite images. Well all my preplanning kind of go thrown out the window since the weather was HORRIBLE! Seriously it was the worst wedding weather I have ever shot in!!! We used it for our advantage....

and then changed our plan and found some places indoor to shoot in. Pizzas and Cream in Cardston

and then the Lethbridge Lodge hotel in Lethbridge. We thought we were done and then I noticed the staircase and the mirrors and wanted to try something in here and I really like it!


The whole thing made me think I should know more places indoor to shoot for when the weather turns bad! And good thing that I had thought of shots that I wanted ahead of time too!

Spiritual Sundays

Freedom of religion strengthens society, and people of faith should unite in its defense, according to Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In an interview provided prior to a speech at the Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California, and also in that speech given on February 4, 2011, Elder Oaks defended the right to free exercise of religion.

Elder Oaks made four major points in his speech:
“1. Religious teachings and religious organizations are valuable and important to our free society and therefore deserving of their special legal protection.
“2. Religious freedom undergirds the origin and existence of [the United States] and is the dominating civil liberty.
“3. The guarantee of free exercise of religion is weakening in its effects and in public esteem.
“4. This weakening is attributable to the ascendancy of moral relativism.”

Foto Friday: Week 6

When I saw this upcoming I KNEW I was going to do a food photo. But I wasn't sure what specific food. And then my friend Marie brought us over some cookies and I was thinking that not many people bring us over treats. (I'm not saying that to be like woe is me - just a statement of fact - I think most people think of me as a baker and assume that I usually have treats around the house - which I do!). ANYWAYS, I was thinking that it was nice that Marie thinks to do that for us. That she thinks of us. So, the sweet was a double application. and THAT is why I took a picture of those cute V-Day cookie. And then I promptly ate the rest of it.

Listography 5: 10 things I love about my boys

Alden:
I love...
1. That he is completely himself. In all situations and around all people. I love that he is so comfortable with himself to not be influenced to be how he thinks people think he should be.
2. How artistic and creative he is.
3. that he still sakes to snuggle with me.
4. his laugh and smile.
5. how smart he is.
6. that he knows the Gospel and has strong testimony.
7. I love how handsome he is
8. how much he admires his dad
9. how he plays with Lucy
10. that he is so even tempered and rarely gets mad.

Eli:
I love...
1. how light hearted and happy he is.
2. his cute little voice.
3. how he says my name.
4. his sweet kissable cheeks.
5. how excited he gets when anyone in the family gets home.
6. his sweet hugs.
7. his little laugh.
8. how much he loves his mommy.
9. how easy it is to make him laugh.
10. his beautiful blue eyes.

10 on Tuesday

1. I am reading "Gift from the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindebergh. Such a good book. Easy to read. But such great thoughts in it. A quote from it I really liked..."What a circus act we women perform every day of our lives. It puts the trapeze artist to shame. Look at us. We run a tight rope daily, balancing a pile of books on the head. Baby-carriage, parasol, kitchen chair, still under control. Steady now!"

2. Sometimes I don't do things with my kids outside because it seems like so much work and I worry that it will end up with someone in tears. But today I took the kids sledding with our neighbor anyways.... and guess what all three kids ended up in tears. But it is good we did it anyways. (I need to learn how to not let that put me in a bad mood after though!)


3. I keep putting off getting my kids V-Day stuff ready. It's sad but I'm just not FEELING it this year. LAZY! I'm loving all the free printable online you can find. like this one and this one and this one and this one.


4. Some one stayed in the bathroom after me today while I was fixing my hair (aka putting it in a pony tail) and got into a bit of trouble.


5. I am in charge of the food for a Relief Society Meeting this Thursday night. We are doing a waffle bar with different kinds of waffles (like these and these and these) and lots of fun toppings. That means today and yesterday making many waffles!

6. I have my first wedding of the year coming up this Friday morning and I HOPE it is not freezing out!! It is in Cardston - which means we will be only shooting outside!! Yes she has a cape and yes I will be wearing boots and warm clothes!!

7. A little note to Alden:
I love that you are just you. In any circumstance. When we went to the cub rally tonight, you were so excited. Excited that we were all there to watch; excited that you got to race a car that YOU designed and painted and built; excited to see if you could win! You are one of the youngest boys in cubs right now. And you don't mind at all, you mix right in with all the other boys. When the races got started it was pretty quiet in there. But you cheered. You cheered loud. You cheered for others, your cheered for yourself. Completely unembarrassed like some of the other boys seemed. Instead they did small fist pumps and quietly say "yes". But not you. You are into it. Cheering and happy to be there and to be participating. I hope you stay this way. So just YOU. And no you didn't win all the races. You won one. And that was good enough for you.


8. We booked a trip to Mexico. It's the first week of May. And I am ridiculously excited. I've never been. We are going with our good friends Mark and Jody sans kids. Sooo excited. Haven't figured out what we are actually doing with our kids... but that's a minor detail ;)

9. Regan and I went to the Cardston temple on Saturday afternoon and left the kids at his parents house. A great afternoon.


10. Interesting to note that my readers have gone up (as in over 200 people read this silly thing a day) and yet comments are way down. Interesting!

In the kitchen: Leek and Camembert Tart

Made this last week for our dinner club - French themed. IT was super good and I thought I'd share the recipe!

from Epicurious (one of my FAVORITE places for really nice recipes!)

1 17.3-ounce package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
4 leeks (white and pale green parts only), sliced (about 4 cups)
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup whipping cream
4 ounces Camembert cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large egg
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out each pastry sheet on lightly floured surface to 12-inch square. Stack squares and roll to 15-inch square. Using 14-inch pizza pan as guide, cut stacked dough into 14-inch round. Crimp edge of dough to form 1/4-inch rim. Transfer to pizza pan or baking sheet. Freeze 10 minutes.
Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add leeks and 1/4 cup water; cook until leeks are tender, about 15 minutes. Season leeks with salt; set aside to cool. Bring cream to simmer in medium saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low; add Camembert and stir until melted. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes. Whisk in egg, cayenne, and nutmeg. Set custard aside.
Sprinkle Parmesan over crust. Spread leeks over. Drizzle custard over. Bake until bottom is golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Spiritual Sundays

President Howard W. Hunter (1907–1995) said: “Let us be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people. Let us hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our kindred dead, but let us also go for the personal blessing of temple worship.”



“If we can pattern our life after the Master, and take His teaching and example as the supreme pattern for our own, we will not find it difficult to be temple worthy.”

—President Howard W. Hunter