Most of the posts on here are from my recent photo shoots (obviously…it IS a photography blog) that I sometimes forget to take time for personal posts. Like the getting to know you posts. Like the posts that you read if you are really, reallllllllly bored. So here’s a list of 10 random things about me. Incase you are bored out of your mind, read on…
1. I am afraid of butterflies. No joke. Something about their crazy antennas just really.freaks.me.out.
2. I’m pretty much obsessed with Mountain Dew’s Baja Blast (sold exclusively at Taco Bell-yes!!!!). Try it. And thank me.
3. My favorite Halloween costume to date was Medusa. Or a thug Girl Scout. Having a hard time making my mind up on that one.
4. I.HATE.MATH. Math seems to be the least strongest gene in my family because my sisters and I all had to beg & plead for our teachers to let us pass. True story. And guess what? I always knew I’d end up in a job where I don’t use fractions on a daily basis-I told you so, Mrs. Baker.
5. Every night at 10:00 I have a bowl of cereal. And even though my sisters & I live far apart from each other, I know that they do the same thing every single night, too.
6. A job that I secretly think would be fun is to be the person who names the streets in a city. Not sure why I think that would be fun, but I do!! (nerd alert.)
7. I’m not Catholic but I try to give up candy every year for Lent. The longest I’ve lasted was ALMOST two weeks. If you know me, you know that this was the hardest thing I’ve EVER done.
8. My voice is loud. So loud, in fact that I used to get in trouble in class even when I WASN’T talking. If we haven’t met in person, be warned. I’m a loud talker.
9. I was named after my grandmother, Mary Ellen. She is to date the most awesome human who has ever walked the planet. I miss her, her bright red lipstick, her polyester bell bottoms & her red hair every single day.
10. My favorite nail polish at this moment is pure glittery gold goodness. I can’t help it-there is a definite weak spot in my heart for all things glittery, gold and gorgeous.
And because no post is good without a photo, here’s one I took at the MOMA a few months back. See? I knew you’d have a weak spot for all things glittery & gold, as well.
I know I’m a couple of days late but lately I’ve been thinking about the beauty of motherhood-being a mother, having a mother, having friends who have mothered me…I feel blessed to be a mother to such a sweet, perfect little girl. I love every moment I have with her. What a beautiful blessing Motherhood is!
Here’s a photograph that I took within a few hours of becoming a mother. What a sweet time in my life that I treasure beyond words…
We were driving in the car. I turned down the radio & our conversation went something like this,
“Hadley-guess what? Mommy is going to take some pictures of someone very special today. Can you guess who it is?”
“Grandpa?”
“Nope.”
“Grandma?”
“Nope. It’s someone even more special than Grandma & Grandpa.”
“Brody? Thad? Margaret?”
“Nope.”
In a quiet voice, she said, “Me?”
As I told her yes, she shrieked & said, “I’m going to be SO EXCITING!!!!!!”
Hadley is starting preschool in a couple of days & I thought that it would be a fun reason to get out with her & take some photographs of the way she is NOW. The sweet, innocent, beautiful, creative girl who lives in a dream world filled with rainbows, princesses, cotton candy & unicorns. She owns the hugest chunk of my heart & since she has been in my life I’ve been changed. I can’t believe that God has given her to us-to raise, love & learn from. She is my little angel & I never knew that my capacity to love someone could be so huge until the day she was born.
My amazing mom always made dresses for me & my sisters growing up…I remember it being so special knowing that something had been made for me. So I made this little dress for Hadley’s photo shoot…we went to this gorgeous field of yellow flowers & I photographed her being herself. No posing, no directions. I don’t want to look back at my photographs of Hadley as a little girl & have them be posed photographs- I don’t want to remember her as a posed three year old. I want to look back at these photographs & know that they truly captured the rainbow, princess, cotton candy & unicorn world that Hadley lives in as a three year old.
So here they are-Hadley in all of her beautiful, radiating three-year old glory. And she was right- she WAS so exciting for these photographs! I am 100% positive that I will never photograph a more beautiful, captivating & amazing subject than my little sweetheart.
Love that look on the right! Cracks me up!
I can’t believe that she held a ladybug! When we came home I asked her what she held in her hand on our photo shoot & she said, “A hamster!” No visible difference between a hamster & a ladybug, I guess…
I’m pretty sure she was singing me a song right here…
And the song apparently had a dance that went along with it…I mean LOOK at those jazz hands!!!
The reward for being such a good girl…
I don’t know what it is. But it happens every six months or so-I think back to the trip that Sam & I took to the Philippines a few years ago. He had lived there for two years in his early twenties, serving a mission for our church. He wanted to take me back & I was excited to go-soooooo excited. We spent two weeks exploring the Philippines (thank heavens Sam speaks Tagalog!), met amazing people…and it was a trip that literally changed my life. When I looked around at the people there whose living conditions were meager, I felt so humbled. And so spoiled. How could I be taking all the clean water back home for granted? How about the convenience of owning a car? How lucky I was to be able to sleep in a bed-with a PILLOW!!! The food in my cold refrigerator back home…the carpet in my bedroom…my closet full of clothes…so many things in my life had sadly been taken for granted. I looked around at the people who in comparison had nothing…and I felt like a horribly spoiled person.
So today I just want to say that I’m thankful. For everything that I have. It’s so easy for us to focus on the things that we don’t have…so let’s try to be grateful for what we do have. Take a look around your house & thank God for your blessings! I’m thankful for the problems I have-because my problems are so miniscule compared to the other problems that are going on in the world today. I’m thankful for a roof over my head, the food in my fridge, & for every.single.thing in my life. So tell me, what are YOU thankful for???
(And because I hate reading blogs if there isn’t a photograph attached, here are a few shots I took (with my point & shoot!!!) back on our trip).
A view of the streets in a city called Tarlac…
Some of the darling kids in Tarlac…don’t judge me by my shiny face-it was HOT there!!!
I will be 100% honest. It all started with my green snakeskin pants. Yes, people-my relationship with my husband all started with my awesome outfit choice on that day in March of 2003. Sam & I had been set up by my dad & his cousin who had been lifelong friends. He flew out to Reno to meet me & I figured that the best outfit to wear when we first met would be a pair of green snakeskin pants. My sisters begged me to not leave the house, “Can’t you just wear jeans like a NORMAL PERSON!?!?!?” The problem was that they were so sexy that I couldn’t NOT wear them! So off to the airport I went, proudly wearing my sexy pants-excited beyond belief to meet Sam for the first time.
We first met in the airport in Reno-I remember him turning the corner, seeing his beautiful smile & my knees turning to mush when I saw him. He liked my snakeskin pants & the rest is history! We hit it off right away & it didn’t take me long to realize that I was head over heels for Sam. We were married in 2003 at the beautiful Oakland Temple with all of our family & friends in attendance. It was the most perfectly wonderful day I’ve ever known. And incase you’re wondering, I still have my green snakeskin pants.
Today is our 7th Wedding Anniversary! I am so lucky to be married to such an incredible, wonderful & fabulous person. He supports me in my business, helps me with so much & I thank him for helping me become the person I am today. I thank God every single night that I found my best friend, my love, the best father for Hadley & my favorite person in the world all wrapped into one person. Sam & I have shared so many adventures together-biking through the streets of Florence on Easter Sunday, scuba diving in the Philippines, late night visits to Taco Bell (Baja Blast, baby!), and our biggest adventure to date-raising our little daughter Hadley. I’m so grateful that I’ve had Sam by my side for the past seven years & I can’t wait for all the years to come!! Happy Anniversary to us!
Here’s our engagement photograph…
Here’s a photo of us taken by my fabulous friend, Brooke!
