The benefits of being sick.

I finally had an excuse to watch movies that I have bought from costco, but never have found time to watch. I would have found time way earlier if I knew just how good they were. My Grandma and I have not been able to leave the couch for 24 hours, we were so engrossed. Both of these are so incredibly good, you don't want them to end! You get so caught up in the characters and their story. Great acting, intelligent conversation, no crude humor, tragedy, romance, they have it all. I would be so sad that they are over, except that I still have a huge stack of more movies compliments of the BBC!

So feeling sick all day and all night, does have it's bonuses. Although, the down side would be i am eating horribly, and dragging my Grandma down with me. ha. I ate half a bag of tostitos "hint of lime" chips and now since my mouth is so sore, I can only eat popsicles. Instead of complaining about gaining back weight after I finally lost it all, I am just going to be grateful that I didn't get pregnant and start gaining with that additional 20 lbs in tow. At least, that is what i keep telling myself.

In the mail Shelby

I just loved photographing this couple from my workshop down in San Diego last November. Thanks guys! Let me know if you ever tie the knot. smile.

They're in the mail kell.

Here are a few more that I edited from my sister's shoot over Thanksgiving. I am happy to say that my "to do list", is done. Everyone I owed pictures to from family, to neighbors, to kid's teachers, is done. Yeah me! I love the look between Kelly and Grant above, very typical. love it.

little cute girl.

have you seen this?

http://hillel.harvard.edu/media/videos/550

If you have 20 minutes to spare, watch this. If you have a teenager, definitely have them watch this. Jacob loved it.

It is a 20 year old young girl who is a student at Harvard that was asked to represent the mormon church on a panel of students of many different faiths. It is excellent.

PS. i promise i will post portraits soon. i am kinda in survival mode right now.

Capitalism rocks!

If you don't think so, watch this. It makes it perfectly clear, and Donahue's face is priceless in it. My brother had this on his face book and I really really like it. What do you think?

PS-you guys are all awesome. I can't wait to try all the new recipes. and yes, kami, I discovered the lovely side effect to zofran. In fact, just this evening I had dave look up the side effects to zofran due to how I was feeling. The trade off is worth it though. I didn't make it to my daughter's church program though tonight. I am sad about it. Sorry if you called tonight. I was dead on my bed, and just the little girls home telling everyone that called, "she says she's asleep." I was finally able to rest, and they wouldn't stop waking me up with everything under the sun that they thought was important. Leah even tried leaving a note on my chest. This after being threatened in every way possible. ha. Have to get up anyway and prepare a seminary lesson. 2nd Thessalonians tomorrow.

i heart zofran.

i can now stop my current mantra.
"i feel good, i feel great, i feel wonderful!" repeat that thousands of times. My inspiration?

You guessed it. Bob. I love that guy. We have so much in common. For one, i love hand shucked corn as well!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to my dear friends who have offered to help me. We really are doing OK. I have been really blessed. My kids have turned angelic and help like crazy. I am actually kinder and more patient than usual, and my doctor prescribed me zofran (an anti nausea), so I actually might be able to sleep tonight!

I think teaching seminary every morning is the best blessing of all. I can't tell you how much I love these 9th graders. I am so proud of them, and that they get up every morning and come to learn about Jesus and his gospel. They inspire me! Their favorite is to try to get me off track and telling stories. At least they think I am off track. I am trying to teach them that the gospel of Jesus Christ is real life, and the central theme of every story of my life. I wonder what they will ask tomorrow. Today it was, "how did your husband propose to you?" It's a good story. Don't worry, I worked in Colossians. And they get a treat tomorrow if they read on their own the four chapters. I wish I knew how to make really good cinnamon rolls. Never mind, I wish there was a Cinnabon near by. Does anyone have their recipe?

my angel of a grandma.

(my grandma and rachel watching a movie at kelly's in Utah last summer. Rachel was named after my grandma. Her middle name is Margaret, which is my Grandma's first name. Notice her red toe nails. We had gone and gotten pedicures that day. smile.)

It is 10:16pm and I am eating my leftovers from my delicious mexican feast for lunch today at macayos. My Grandma and I are so naughty. She is worse than me about going out to eat. It is so fun though, to eat something yummy and talk and talk.

How cool to have my Grandma (who is 88) all to myself. I have never met someone like her. She is the least judgemental person I have ever met. She enjoys absolutely everyone. It is impossible to not feel comfortable around her and accepted no matter who you are. When you talk to her she always has a kindness in her eyes and a constant chuckle that we all adore in our family. Grandma's laugh is all the goodness, warmth, and comfort in life wrapped up into one sound.

She is proof that there is truth to the term, "young at heart." I remember visiting her one time and we were both laying in bed together reading our books and talking. I was lamenting that I couldn't believe that I was already 26! I still felt 18 inside. Her reply was, "How do you think I feel? I still feel 21!"

I love how she loves children. Many elderly people are done with kids and are irritated by them (which I understand). She loves to be in the midst of kids and just laughs and laughs at every little thing they say and do. One of my favorite memories of her when I was little was being at her house and watching cartoons with her like bugs bunny. She just laughed and laughed when she watched them. I just couldn't believe even than, that an older person could enjoy cartoons like that.

I have always equated her with unconditional love and comfort. Being at her house was like being wrapped up in a warm blanket. We always looked forward to going to her (and grandpa's) house on Sundays. They lived in a home that my grandpa designed and built up at the top of Mt. Baldy in Southern CA. It was such an awesome place. A work in progress. We had so many fun places to roam and explore. I loved playing barbies with the vintage barbies that my Grandma had saved. We really really looked forward to her cooking. I remember my dad's favorite being homemade noodles with a sauce over mashed potatoes. I loved sitting at the bar in her kitchen watching her and my mom talk and laugh as they cooked together. My mom was always happy when she was with her mom. Grandma says that they had the same sense of humor and always called each other with new funny stories to laugh about.

After a wonderful afternoon and evening at her house we would all pile into the station wagon with full bellies and happy hearts. My Grandparents would send us off with such love. It felt so good. As we drove away I would always stay awake to see all of the city lights below as we drove down the mountain. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. Than I would drift off to sleep with the pleasantest of thoughts.

I am so happy that my kids know my Grandma. That they love her like I do. They are all begging her to live with us. She has talked about assisted living, so tonight as we sat down to watch "murder she wrote" reruns (we are having a marathon), she mentioned that she needed a pillow for her chair. Jacob runs over, grabs a pillow, and plops it where she needs it and says, "There you go, assisted living, for a lot less money." I don't know who my Grandma is more in love with Dave or Jacob. She hangs on their every word and giggles like a school girl at their every joke and quip. They are just soaking it up and are using all their charms for which they are richly rewarded. Grandma was saying today at lunch that her girlfriends will just be so jealous when she tells about being so catered to by a handsome doctor. Yeah, Dave is loving it. Jacob is fighting for position as number one though, and told her he is taking her on a hot date golfing this weekend. He wants her to see him golf. My Grandma loves golf, and until recently golfed weekly.

Yep, she is finally slowing down, and we are all frantic to spend as much time with her as possible. She is so worried that she will be a burden. I tell her over and over what an honor and privilege it would be to have her with us. To be able to share even a portion of the love she has shown to me. Life is all about loving and caring for our family. I can think of nothing more important. She has been one of the sweetest best parts of my life. I want to make sure that her last years are some of her best and sweetest.

no title.

I am starving, after looking at so many blog posts talking about food. I think I will die if I don't have mexican food right now. It is 10:42pm and I have to teach seminary tomorrow. I am so scared that I will wake up sick, I just want to stay up all night eating. Except for the fact that I have serious bodily function problems. Wanna hear about them? of course you do. Did you know that taking a lot of narcotics makes you insanely constipated? So, this morning I could take no more, and sent Dave to the store. Bless his heart, he is perfection in a husband. You should have seen his list... enema, fiber one bars, Metamucil etc. A weaker man would have refused to gather such a list of items and be seen in public, but not my man. A fun morning of using all of these products, leads to a fun afternoon of the opposite of constipation. Why do I do everything in the extreme? There is absolutely no middle of the road for me! If I am hot in the car, I turn it full blast cold, than I am too cold and turn it full blast hot. Please stop the madness. DAve has been trying unsuccessfully for years.

Dave and I finally had a chance to talk today and catch up. He told me about my two days on morphine that I missed, and had a good laugh. I remember nothing. I am glad he didn't take pictures. Believe me I don't want to remember my "morphine face" as he called it.

I am nauseous, and need to go to bed. So it begins. This journey we call pregnancy. May the force be with me......always. Especially when the alarm goes off at 4:45am tomorrow.

PS The picture has nothing to do with this post. Did you catch that? Or did you think I was being deep? Like it shows how i live by extremes. Actually, the post just needed a picture and this is one I took randomly in Utah as I was walking into a store. Whenever I am in Utah, I go crazy wanting to do photo shoots everywhere. Every street has so many cool things. Unfortunately, it is just too dang cold there for me my friends. I am a fair weather photographer. Anyway, i have a million ideas just for this wall. There was a door store also that i never made it back to. Too little time. There are so many places that I have to eat when I am in Utah. I wish I had a pork sandwich right now from Rumbi Grill. oh dang, there I go on food again.

who says things don't get wild in utah county!

They do if my family lives there. Front and center is my sister in law Julie. She has her own belly dancing troupe. She is amazing! She also teaches classes. This was the finale of their recital. It was very entertaining, especially the beginners classes, bless their hearts.
The picture below is of my niece Alex doing a scarf dance. She has William's syndrome, which is a chromosomal disorder like Downs syndrome. She is incredibly gifted at dance. I guess, that is what happens when you have Julie for a mom.

afterwards, we go to Kneaders. Another restaurant in Utah that I never miss going to. Get there before 10am for breakfast and you can have all you can eat french toast with their day old specialty bread with whipped cream, strawberries and a special homemade cinnamon syrup. It is so good you can't believe it!!!!

i like how they put chairs on the wall for decorations (see above right).
oh, and make sure you don't leave your camera sitting on the table where grant can get a hold of it, or you get pictures like thisabove. ha ha.

PS things have been a little crazy around here, we bought a new house that was in foreclosure, but needs a lot of work, I started teaching seminary this week. Tuesday, I picked up my grandma from the airport to stay with us for 3 weeks. She is one of my favorite people on earth, and we are trying to get her to live with us permanently. Wednesday morning I took a pregnancy test and it was positive, wed. afternoon I entered the hospital, in total pain ,that came on very suddenly. I spent three days there passing a kidney stone. Yes, it was worse than child birth. But with child birth, you can't have all the morphine you want! SMILE! That is why I didn't call you on your birthday kenny! sorry. I just got home last night and I'm trying to regroup and recover. It's been a crazy week I'd say.

Dear Lizzie.

I never fail to go to this cute little shop/cafe called "Dear Lizzie" when I am in Utah. Let me just tell you here and now that it has the best sugar cookies you will ever taste. Kelly keeps telling me that everything else is amazing too, but I just can't ever get past the sugar cookies. They also have the yummiest salad. It is the best just browse and look at everything store. So many cool things. Their baby items are to die for. I guess they just opened another store just for their baby and small children clothing and things. I didn't make it over, no sugar cookies. smile. But if you ever need a blessing gown especially, this is the place. Usually, I fall in love with some unique piece of jewelry that is too expensive and I can't bring myself to buy it, but not this time. This time, my little Lizzie got the jewelry bug. She found a little charm that had a Victorian "E" on the inside (for Elizabeth), and another charm that was a diamond solitaire, but it fit her little finger. She was in love. She sang for hours everywhere we went, "I like the E and the ring, i love the E and the ring, i want the E and the ring." She has a tune that she likes to sing it with. Kelly laughed and laughed every time she sang it (incessantly the whole car ride home). I was over it after 2 minutes of it. Today, she was singing it again, so I guess she hasn't given up hope. I have never known her to like something that much. Kell, you better go get the "E and the ring" for me, for her birthday. I don't know how much longer I can stand hearing the song. ha.

I may make these frames someday. Since I will never pay the ridiculous price of $120 dollars. Scratch that, how much will you charge me to make them kell? ha ha. I really don't enjoy making things if the truth be told. I take no additional pride in having made something myself. I am more proud when I find a smoking hot deal on something that is awesome and I didn't even have to make it! smile.

did you notice?

I left for Utah looking like this.

I came home looking like this. Who would have thought that bangs could make such a huge difference. Seriously, people don't recognize me. I've been wanting to try bangs for a while, but I only trust my sister Nicole. She is so amazing with hair (and make-up, I might add). I don't know if she will approve of how my hair looks in the pictures since I did it on my own the next day. You know how that goes. I so wish she lived closer so that I could offer her hair and make-up services to the people I photograph. She has the coolest little hair salon, and also works at a skin place called derma chic. So if you see me defying my age, you will know why. I have connections. Every time I go up to Rexburg she hurts me real bad burning things off my face, but it is worth it. She has introduced me to the most amazing skin products that hurt my wallet real bad, but again worth it (at least at a deep discount. love you cole.) Nicole is 12 years younger than me, and kelly is 8 years younger. They think I should look like them. Or maybe they are experimenting with me to calm their anxieties over getting older. ha ha. The first thing that Nicole said to me when I got to her house and she got a good close look is, "you need botox." and pointed to where. While botox is pretty sweet, photoshop is even sweeter. smile. After the "new me" haircut by Nicole. Kelly picked out a "new me" outfit from old navy. I now proudly wear stylish scarves with t-shirts, and cool glasses. Just now, I popped over to Nicole's hair blog

and saw a picture of Elle Mcpherson with my haircut, and new outfit. It must have been their inspiration. I just need to grow another foot and loose 20 more lbs. ha ha.

Thank you my sisters. What would I do with out you? Look old and ugly for one! smile. LOve you!

kelly's style

I love my sister kelly's style of simplicity although different from my own. She loves white walls (did we come from the same family?) with splashes of bright color. I love all of her little displays around the house. Here is a peek.

she loves to sew.

she has an amazing etsy shop. She had hanging things she needed to mail, as well as a scrapbook page she had recently made. I love her simplicity even in scrapbooking. My favorite style.

But this latest edition took the cake. In Mormon culture the phrase "return with honor" is widely used. Whether it be to explain returning with honor from a mission, or returning to our Heavenly Father after this life is over. Only Grant (kelly's husband) would come up with this idea and actually make it for Kelly for her birthday. You won't see that in every house in Utah county! ha ha. I love it. I know you all want one now. I sure Grant could fulfill your order. ha. Maybe Kelly should sell them in her etsy shop.

More on our spring break trip to Utah and Rexburg, Idaho later. I have to get up REAL early tomorrow...and the next day.....and the next day......etc. etc. Guess who was asked to teach early morning seminary for the rest of the school year? I am really excited. Not only because I love these 9th graders, and i love teaching the gospel (we are studying the new testament this year). I am always wanting to follow the wise counsel of "early to bed, early to rise." Hoping that I will be "healthy, wealthy, and wise." smile. Well, when it is up to my own undisciplined self, it just never happens. But when it is to do something that God wants me to do, I somehow muster the strength. So, the only times in my life I have ever gotten up early, are when I went to seminary in high school, and on my mission. I hope I can rack up some more health, wealth, and wisdom in these last 8 weeks of school. ha.

Kelly did a post on our trip up to RExburg and there is a link to her etsy shop on her blog here.

I'm back from Miami & way more relaxed.

I didn't realize just how stressed out I was until I got to Miami and completely crashed. The first night and day I spent mostly in this fabulous bed below. I was so exhausted. It was so wonderful to not have to think about anything, do anything, or make any decisions. I didn't even take my camera. All of these pictures, I either took with my phone, or my sister took them. But why would I leave my bed with a view like this from my room. I could see the ocean while laying in my bed and with the doors wide open it was so very fabulous. The shower was even set up so that you had this view while showering. Do you see it behind the bed? How awesome is that?

Going on a walk on the boardwalk. That's my brother in law mike.

We got our best laughs just people watching. South beach is a whole other world. A wild one. And let's just say, no one is afraid to show some skin. Gloria and I were dying over these two guys above. They reminded me of two toy dogs. They primped and preened themselves non stop. They never just sat there. It was great entertainment. And the bathing suits as you can see were.....interesting. Our first day there, Gloria got in the elevator, and the only other person in there was a young guy wearing just a speedo. He said to Gloria, "I love your shoes." Yeah, it's true. I have never seen so many gay men in my life in one place. They were also filming for America's next top model in the hotel while we were there. It was walking around in an US magazine.

This guy is a look a like of my brother Kenny. We just couldn't get over it. Our best laughs were gotten trying to sneak and get these pictures without them noticing. ha.

So, there is the low down on the trip. And yes, I did gain a couple pounds, and it was very worth it.