Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Latest shoot!
I knew this girl back when we were both at a massage school here in town. (She was there for massage, I was there to teach Pilates.) Lately our paths have crossed again, and I had the opportunity to do her family photos! The shoot was SO much fun--I've never had a family shoot go as well as this--and with a little 2-year-old in the mix! They're funny and sweet and photogenic and comfortable in the camera. Dare I say it was easy? I just felt really blessed, and they're really happy with their photos. So anyway, want to see?
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Necessary relocation....
It is with heavy heart, my fellow Americans, that I address you with this news:
We're moving to Saint George. [post-update: IN JUNE OR JULY]
Okay, okay, my heart isn't that heavy, but I am a little sad. Okay, really sad. I feel like I just hit my stride! A little late, but still....I really love Cedar City, and I'm really loving my friends here, and I just got two more photography jobs, and I've been working out regularly at the gym, and I love my church calling, and and and.....
And the horrid gas prices are just not working for us. $3.59 a gallon and still climbing? Do you KNOW how much it costs to fill our 20-gallon tank? Never mind--don't do the math, it's ghastly. We've usually been able to make it filling it up just once every two weeks, but I got home on mostly just vapors last night. And Phill has to fill up his little Honda all the time because he's commuting back and forth to Saint George five times a week, and sometimes six or seven if he has drill. That means we are spending at least $250.00 on gas every month [post-update: PHILL AND I RE-CALCULATED. IT'S ACTUALLY MORE LIKE $400.00!!!]. And when you consider that we could get into a rental in Saint George for only a little more than we're paying now, well....the logic is undeniable. This move is really the smartest (and most obvious) option. I don't want to. I don't want to pick up everything and move, and I don't want to worry about the kids adjusting, and I don't want to have to change utilities and go to a new ward and get a different calling and go to a different gym and find friends. Every fiber of my being is really annoyed that this is so necessary! I feel very rebellious and I find that I'm just balking at this every step of the way. I really don't want to.
But on the other hand....here are some pros I've imagined will make this easier:
-We do have two families down there who are some really good friends.
-I will be ridiculously tan. (And we'll just discount the dying-of-heat part)
-It will be an adventure. Hold on. I have to write that again because I don't believe it yet. It will be an adventure.
-We will save on gas.
-I might get steadier photography business down there.
-I can visit Cedar still.
-Shopping is very close by. (But this should also go on the cons list, because shopping close by is temptation close by and I get a little afraid of myself when I walk into Ross.)
-It's fun to arrange furniture and decorate a new place. (Provided that new place is nice and not something scary and weird and dysfunctional.)
Okay. My heart is aching a little bit and this post didn't make me feel as good as I had hoped it would. While I'm making my pros list, my cons list is growing ever-gargantuan in my mind. But because I am used to relocation as a way of life (Hi, I'm an Army man's daughter and I married an Army man), I will do what I've always done and plan, plan, plan until the sad sort of goes away. For at least a minute.
Nope. Not gone yet.
We're moving to Saint George. [post-update: IN JUNE OR JULY]
Okay, okay, my heart isn't that heavy, but I am a little sad. Okay, really sad. I feel like I just hit my stride! A little late, but still....I really love Cedar City, and I'm really loving my friends here, and I just got two more photography jobs, and I've been working out regularly at the gym, and I love my church calling, and and and.....
And the horrid gas prices are just not working for us. $3.59 a gallon and still climbing? Do you KNOW how much it costs to fill our 20-gallon tank? Never mind--don't do the math, it's ghastly. We've usually been able to make it filling it up just once every two weeks, but I got home on mostly just vapors last night. And Phill has to fill up his little Honda all the time because he's commuting back and forth to Saint George five times a week, and sometimes six or seven if he has drill. That means we are spending at least $250.00 on gas every month [post-update: PHILL AND I RE-CALCULATED. IT'S ACTUALLY MORE LIKE $400.00!!!]. And when you consider that we could get into a rental in Saint George for only a little more than we're paying now, well....the logic is undeniable. This move is really the smartest (and most obvious) option. I don't want to. I don't want to pick up everything and move, and I don't want to worry about the kids adjusting, and I don't want to have to change utilities and go to a new ward and get a different calling and go to a different gym and find friends. Every fiber of my being is really annoyed that this is so necessary! I feel very rebellious and I find that I'm just balking at this every step of the way. I really don't want to.
But on the other hand....here are some pros I've imagined will make this easier:
-We do have two families down there who are some really good friends.
-I will be ridiculously tan. (And we'll just discount the dying-of-heat part)
-It will be an adventure. Hold on. I have to write that again because I don't believe it yet. It will be an adventure.
-We will save on gas.
-I might get steadier photography business down there.
-I can visit Cedar still.
-Shopping is very close by. (But this should also go on the cons list, because shopping close by is temptation close by and I get a little afraid of myself when I walk into Ross.)
-It's fun to arrange furniture and decorate a new place. (Provided that new place is nice and not something scary and weird and dysfunctional.)
Okay. My heart is aching a little bit and this post didn't make me feel as good as I had hoped it would. While I'm making my pros list, my cons list is growing ever-gargantuan in my mind. But because I am used to relocation as a way of life (Hi, I'm an Army man's daughter and I married an Army man), I will do what I've always done and plan, plan, plan until the sad sort of goes away. For at least a minute.
Nope. Not gone yet.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Green thoughts
I've been somewhat annoyed by this whole "going green" movement. I know that probably sounds old-fashioned and ignorant and unaware and so on, but I should explain why.
I'm not fond of ideas that spread themselves based on fear or panic. Save our world now or you won't be able to breathe in ten minutes!!! And I'm naturally skeptical of ideas that everyone latches on to. Save the world and buy this notebook made of completely recycled materials because everyone else is! Replace every light bulb in your house today with the more efficient ones that cost seven dollars each! I realize that good ideas tend to grow and become worldwide. But so do bad ideas, and so does fear. So I'm apt to be a little bit annoyed (see above) and skeptical (again, see above) when a new movement is born. I guess I'm an eighty-year-old at heart. But I take great joy in thinking and deciding for myself about all these newfangled ideas (newfangled...yes, I'm eighty), and I don't want to like something or believe in something simply because the majority of people like it or believe it. So when this whole green movement started, I decided to watch and wait, read and ponder, and ultimately decide what I think about it.
Here's what I think about it: I don't like the whole fear-based side of things, and I hate the commercialization of this green idea. All the TV stations just fell in love with having a green week, and one by one, they jumped on the bandwagon to get their names out there. That, I don't like. Not at all. Notice me because I'm going green TOO! Like EVERYONE ELSE! (Man, that eighty-year-old woman is cantankerous, isn't she?) But if I sort through all the money-making and name-dropping and hysteria, I like what's at the heart of it.
I like the idea of conservation. I like the idea of being gentle to the earth with which we've been entrusted. I LOVE the idea of being as efficient as possible and saving money. I love most of all the concept of using what you have to get what you need, and trying not to be excessive. I love the idea of repurposing, the idea of working in a garden, of having a house that isn't opulent and ridiculous in its expenses and outputs. I love the green movement--but only in its purest form. I'm not going to run out and replace all my lightbulbs today with more efficient ones, but I will do it one at a time, as our budget can handle it. Isn't that what it's really about anyway? Doing what you can, being smart and not going over the top? Taking your time to do it right and not being hasty and overspending?
Gentler change, more conducive to an eighty-year-old's way of thinking....?
I'm not fond of ideas that spread themselves based on fear or panic. Save our world now or you won't be able to breathe in ten minutes!!! And I'm naturally skeptical of ideas that everyone latches on to. Save the world and buy this notebook made of completely recycled materials because everyone else is! Replace every light bulb in your house today with the more efficient ones that cost seven dollars each! I realize that good ideas tend to grow and become worldwide. But so do bad ideas, and so does fear. So I'm apt to be a little bit annoyed (see above) and skeptical (again, see above) when a new movement is born. I guess I'm an eighty-year-old at heart. But I take great joy in thinking and deciding for myself about all these newfangled ideas (newfangled...yes, I'm eighty), and I don't want to like something or believe in something simply because the majority of people like it or believe it. So when this whole green movement started, I decided to watch and wait, read and ponder, and ultimately decide what I think about it.
Here's what I think about it: I don't like the whole fear-based side of things, and I hate the commercialization of this green idea. All the TV stations just fell in love with having a green week, and one by one, they jumped on the bandwagon to get their names out there. That, I don't like. Not at all. Notice me because I'm going green TOO! Like EVERYONE ELSE! (Man, that eighty-year-old woman is cantankerous, isn't she?) But if I sort through all the money-making and name-dropping and hysteria, I like what's at the heart of it.
I like the idea of conservation. I like the idea of being gentle to the earth with which we've been entrusted. I LOVE the idea of being as efficient as possible and saving money. I love most of all the concept of using what you have to get what you need, and trying not to be excessive. I love the idea of repurposing, the idea of working in a garden, of having a house that isn't opulent and ridiculous in its expenses and outputs. I love the green movement--but only in its purest form. I'm not going to run out and replace all my lightbulbs today with more efficient ones, but I will do it one at a time, as our budget can handle it. Isn't that what it's really about anyway? Doing what you can, being smart and not going over the top? Taking your time to do it right and not being hasty and overspending?
Gentler change, more conducive to an eighty-year-old's way of thinking....?
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Successful Homecuts!!
Finally!! I have succeeded in giving the boys passably nice home haircuts! The second home haircut that I ever gave Reed was my only success until now. Evidence of last summer's horrible flop:
(I know I have a somewhat sick sense of humor, but his expression just begged for it.) That's what happened when I asked Phill to do their haircuts, and instead of using my words like a big girl, I said, "Use the more setting." Thinking MORE hair left over, and of course he thought more CUT OFF. Can you blame him? He took the first cut and I turned around and gasped. We had to finish. The boys looked like they were going through chemotherapy for the first few weeks of summer. At least they weren't hot, right? Rrriiiight?Poor guy. Looks like Samson losing his strength. "Nnnnooooooo!!!!!"
This one is the second haircut I ever gave Reed, and it turned out just lovely. It was just after this, when his hair started to get coarse and grow in five different directions, and I became somewhat addled by the daily toils of being mom to two and then three, that my haircutting skills took a serious nosedive.
But look! Today I have regained whatever I lost--composure?--to cut my boys' hair in a passably nice fashion. It's still wet in the photos, and I can see where I made my mistakes, but at least I didn't have to pay $20-$30 to go get it done. And that's every six weeks! I'm not joking when I say our family needs a haircut fund. Phill gets his hair cut every six weeks, the boys need theirs cut every six weeks, and my hair ought to be thinned every six weeks. Do you realize that that is about $70.00 every six weeks? Ridiculous. So if I can do it this well myself, well, I will. Yay! Yay for my first homecut success in three years. Oh--I ought to mention what helped. We watched a YouTube video of haircutting with scissors, and Reed liked it and wanted to help. He gathered a towel and everything for me, and was very patient and still. Seeing how awesome Reed was, Jaxon wanted in on the fun, and so his went well, too!
(I know I have a somewhat sick sense of humor, but his expression just begged for it.) That's what happened when I asked Phill to do their haircuts, and instead of using my words like a big girl, I said, "Use the more setting." Thinking MORE hair left over, and of course he thought more CUT OFF. Can you blame him? He took the first cut and I turned around and gasped. We had to finish. The boys looked like they were going through chemotherapy for the first few weeks of summer. At least they weren't hot, right? Rrriiiight?Poor guy. Looks like Samson losing his strength. "Nnnnooooooo!!!!!"
This one is the second haircut I ever gave Reed, and it turned out just lovely. It was just after this, when his hair started to get coarse and grow in five different directions, and I became somewhat addled by the daily toils of being mom to two and then three, that my haircutting skills took a serious nosedive.
But look! Today I have regained whatever I lost--composure?--to cut my boys' hair in a passably nice fashion. It's still wet in the photos, and I can see where I made my mistakes, but at least I didn't have to pay $20-$30 to go get it done. And that's every six weeks! I'm not joking when I say our family needs a haircut fund. Phill gets his hair cut every six weeks, the boys need theirs cut every six weeks, and my hair ought to be thinned every six weeks. Do you realize that that is about $70.00 every six weeks? Ridiculous. So if I can do it this well myself, well, I will. Yay! Yay for my first homecut success in three years. Oh--I ought to mention what helped. We watched a YouTube video of haircutting with scissors, and Reed liked it and wanted to help. He gathered a towel and everything for me, and was very patient and still. Seeing how awesome Reed was, Jaxon wanted in on the fun, and so his went well, too!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Just more photos!
Lara and I went to a masquerade ball to benefit Serene Martens, a 7-year-old here in Cedar who has cancer. We had a photography "studio" set up, and although it was exhausting, it was also fun, and hopefully lucrative in the future! In any case, we made a little bit of money for Serene, and that's what mattered most. I got to watch Lara sing a really cool song--kind of eerie and really beautiful--and that was definitely wonderful! And her photography help and expertise were indispensable. So--I'm posting a couple of photos from the event, as well as some recent ones of the kiddos. Enjoy! Oh--p.s.-the event was Mardi Gras-themed, and don't mind my name on each and every one of these photos. I was seized by a fit of possessiveness and I'm still trying to come up with a logo to mark what's mine. :)
Friday, April 18, 2008
Photos
Not really much to say, but I just had to post these photos. Some of them aren't the best-quality, but they all make me smile/laugh. :)
Funny babies!
She could very well be saying, "Well, hello, Mom!! How did you find me here?!"
This one, I asked Reed if he was sleepy because, well, look at his eyes!! And he denied it very defensively.
Her eyes are green/grey/brown! Isn't that called hazel?
She really looks like she's saying "CHEEEESE!!" Doesn't she?
Her cute Sunday dress and the bows my Mom gave me when we visited my sister in Rexburg.
She's pretty good at this picture-taking thing.
Jax loves Savvy's hair.
My little bucket babies! This photo shows their personalities so well. Savvy is smirking, Jaxon is giving me a courtesy smile, and Reed is giving it all he's got.
Funny babies!
She could very well be saying, "Well, hello, Mom!! How did you find me here?!"
This one, I asked Reed if he was sleepy because, well, look at his eyes!! And he denied it very defensively.
Her eyes are green/grey/brown! Isn't that called hazel?
She really looks like she's saying "CHEEEESE!!" Doesn't she?
Her cute Sunday dress and the bows my Mom gave me when we visited my sister in Rexburg.
She's pretty good at this picture-taking thing.
Jax loves Savvy's hair. 
My little bucket babies! This photo shows their personalities so well. Savvy is smirking, Jaxon is giving me a courtesy smile, and Reed is giving it all he's got.
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