Our New Hobby

Brian hunts, I take pictures. That's how it's been for the past 3 years. I feel naked without my camera at events and I love taking pictures. I'm no photographer and I don't have the greatest camera but I love documenting our life with pictures. Brian doesn't really love my hobby and especially doesn't love being photographed (so I take pictures of the dog). I've wanted a nice camera for quite some time now and Brian used to tease me about it just meaning me taking more pictures than I already do. I don't know what "turned" him but he started to get excited about photography in the last few months and thought a new camera wasn't such a bad idea. I guess you could say he realized you could "shoot" animals with more than just a bow or rifle. So we did some shopping and finally bought us a nice camera. The other day we both came home from work early and went for the camera because we thought the clouds looked neat...litte did we know we were racing each other home for the camera (Brian won). Now Brian goes for drives and takes the camera to photograph wildlife and I think it's great! I love that we share the same hobby! We take turns sharing with each other photo tricks or new things we learned how to do on the camera. We have LOADS to learn and I can't wait! Here are some of the pictures Brian recently took. I think he's a pretty good "shot!"




Until we can really figure out this camera, I'm sure most of our photo taking will be with the good ole point and shoot (I still carry that manual around!). Can't wait to learn all the tricks though and really start taking pictures!

TAG

I got tagged! So here goes nothin'!

8 Things

T.V. Shows:
(in no particular order)
1. Designed To Sell
2. C.S.I. (Latley my dreams have been pretty weird though so I think I need to give it a break for a bit)
3. Dirty Jobs
4. Greys Anatomy
5. Friday Night Lights
6. TODAY Show (It's a morning ritual. Matt & Meredith keep me up to date on the "latest")
7. So You Think You Can Dance/American Idol
8. Prison Break (Thanks to Brian. I think it's about time for it end though. Those guys can only run for so many seasons)

What I did Yesterday:
1. Woke up
2. Showered and dressed
3. Ate hot cereal
4. Went to church & felt the spirit
5. Stayed after for YW meeting
6. Went home and made a snack
7. Visited the in-laws
8. Came home and lounged before going to bed
(lazy Sunday)

Places Love to Eat:
1. Maddox (YUMMY rolls)
2. Olive Garden - ALL You Can Eat Lunch...Love the SOUPS!
3. Juniper Take Out
4. The Petersen's (I had to copy Jes here, ther'snothing quite like your mom's home cooking)
5. Chilis
6. P.F. Changs
7. Old Grist Mill
8. Rumbi's

Looking Forward To:
1. Becoming a mom - Dec. 3 we find out if it's a boy or girl
2. Turkey dinner with family
3. Dec. 8, a day off to shop with my mom
4. Camping this summer
5. Hunting season to end (but I'm starting to wonder if it really ever ends)
6. Christmas traditions
7. The day someone buys our truck
8. 2009 and all that awaits us

Wish List:
1. Healthy baby
2. Very large Christmas bonus (ya right, it's a wish though)
3. Own a house without a mortgage
4. Go back to Hawaii one day
5. All my freckles and moles would vanish
6. Eat all I want and never gain weight
7. New computer
8. Free lazik eye surgery

haLLoWeEN

I don't know about the rest of you but over the years I've gone through spurts of liking or not really liking Halloween and the whole dressing up ordeal. It was so fun and "cool" when I was a lot younger to dress up and go trick-or-treating with friends and for a few years in college we dressed up and just walked around neighborhoods scaring people. Then there were a few years when carving pumpkins and going to a corn maze was the extent of my Halloween celebrating. And I'd go to the ward party but never dress up cause I just felt stupid. Well, times have changed and so has my attitude and enthusiasm about Halloween...I really enjoy it! I pretty much owe it all to my dear friend and previous roommie, Jes! She LOVES Halloween and when you live with someone who loves it you can't very well not love it too! I remember one year we went to the mall and forked out the cash for some great pirate and gypsy costumes - that's where it all began. I LOVE dressing up now and I plan my costume a year in advance! I also love working on Halloween because I GET to dress up ALL DAY! The businesses downtown do a little trick-or-treat thing and I get to pass out candy all day and see all the fun costumes too(of course I take notes for next years costume). I felt so special this year because a darling little girl wanted her picture taken with me! I felt like I was in Disneyland playing a character (Hmmmm that's a job I might consider one day). Anyway, I love Halloween! I love the fun decoration, I love the candy of course, I love the costumes, I love the night itself! Thanks Jes! (and I mean that sincerely)

P.S. Sorry the pictures aren't that great, Brian went hunting on Halloween so I had to take the pictures myself.

Finally...Washington, D.C

I've had these pictures on my computer for some time now, just waiting for blogger to let me post. It hasn't liked my pictures for some reason. Anyway, last month I went with my good friend Jes to Washington, D.C. and we had a really great time. She was there for work but made PLENTY of time for fun!

A few of the days we would meet up during Jes' lunch or inbetween her session but we did have ONE FULL DAY to explore and we sure made the most of it! I don't know how many miles we covered but we walked and walked and walked! We were able to see so many monumnets and places, it was really moving. One of my favorite monuments is the WW2 monument. It was so beautiful and so powerful. I loved that it had water too!


We tried to arrange a tour of the White House while we were there but unfortunately weren't able to do that. We did, however, get to tour the capitol! I noticed while in D.C. there is so much symbolism to everything, as well as history. I loved learning! Here we are with our headseats (below) enjoying our tour of our nations capitol!

We flew in on a Tuesday night and left on Saturday morning and still didn't get to see half of all we could! We were able to check off most of the things we wanted to see though such as Arlington Cemetary, most of the monuments, some of the Smithsonian Museums...and we even took the Metro one night to Colonial Alexandria for a Ghost Tour! That was a fun place to be! There were so many shops and neat places to eat! Like I said, we didn't even see half of the area! Guess we'll have to go back! Next time I'll bring more bandaids for blisters though!

Daisy's New Shirt

Daisy got a new shirt and has been dying to show it off!



Turn around Daisy so everyone can see...



No, we aren't getting another dog...we are having a baby in April!!!
YIPPEE! We couldn't be more excited! I'm 15 weeks and feeling great! Only 25 more to go!

Just Checking In

I finally rounded up some fun pictures and thought I would post a little something but for some darn reason I can't seem to load the photos. I recently returned from a fun trip to Washington, D.C. with my friend Jes and was ready to brag about all the fun we had! I'll get them up soon I hope! I'm sure I've mentioned it before but the only Internet access I have is at work and at my mom's so it's pretty hard to get a post done these days. Sorry for the long absences. Also, I'm starting to think work has "caught on" to me being off task and they are messing with my Internet so I can't post there. Dirty little buggers!

What's on my mind right now (besides being annoyed I can't load photos)...I am so happy fall is here! I absolutely LOVE this time of year. I am a real summer girl but fall is close second. By the time autumn comes around I'm ready to bundle up, turn on the fireplace and start and end my day with a cup of hot cider or cocoa! Everything is so CRISP this time of year too, even the air! I love decorating for Halloween and fall, I love the Pumpkin Walk, I love carving pumpkins, making sugar cookies, taking drives up the canyon to enjoy the colors, going for walks... Fall marks the beginning of the rest of the year and there's so much to do and enjoy from here till Jan. 1. I hope you are all enjoying the fall weather as much as I am! What are some of your fall traditions?

mOrE SuMmER fUn!

We celebrated our TWO YEAR anniversary this summer! I can't believe it's been 2 years! Time is flying! I feel like it hasn't been more than a year, in a good way! We have had a great 2 years and I look forward to many many more! We took a last minute road trip to Jackson and drove through Yellowstone pretty close to our anniversary day...so we kind of called that our anniversary celebration. I've never seen SO many animals in the park! It was amazing! Buffalo, coyote, bear, elk, deer, big horn sheep...and the park was so green too! Of course we took Daisy, she's our travelling buddy. I think she had a great time too. We just found hotels along the way and one night we ended up in a cabin at an RV lot without any bedding and the bathroom about 30 yards away. It was pretty funny. We had to buy our bedding at Wal-Mart...we didn't pack for "camping." I won't ever forget that trip!

We also celebrated Brian's 30th birthday this summer! Isn't my hubby a hottie!!

Girls Camp was quite an experience!!! I haven't been to girls camp for at least 18 years! Wow, I just dated myself there. It was such a good time though and a lot nicer of a camp than we ever had as YW. All the girls camped in our big wall tent and us leaders snuggled in a smaller one. We kept watch at night for escapee's and the girls weren't to happy about that, we thought it was pretty funny. It was a great camp though, full of fun activities and great food! The girls were a blast too. When I got put in YW I felt this pressure to be accepted, like I was a YW all over. It was pretty stressful (sounds silly I know). When the girls called me a "cool leader" it was hard not to shout for joy or get a big head...yah, I'm "cool!"


What's summer without a FEW mother-daughter golf tournaments! Holly couldn't play in the last one and Heather couldn't play in this one...we never got the 4 of us together, darn. Holly, mom and I had a blast though. It was a Hawaiian themed tournament. Once again, we didn't shoot too well but we sure scored great in the laughing and good times department!


AND...one of my most bestest friends got MARRIED!!! It was such a beautiful day and so was the bride! (Bottom, these pictures are for you. Sorry it took so long to get these posted)




Needless to say, it was an action packed summer! I think things are finally starting to slow down. I'm ready for fall...not winter, just fall! Oh...and now it's hunting season and Brian has kidnapped the camera so no pictures for a while. Sorry!
Until next time...

Archives

I was just going through the pictures I've saved to my computer and came across THESE! I can't believe I didn't post about this FUN NIGHT earlier! My mom, sisters and I all went to the A.I. Concert and it was a BLAST! A bunch of people from work got tickets also and we all met at Applebee's before the big event that night! What a great concert! We had such a great time singing along and screaming for our favorites.


MY personal favorite is Micheal Johns! I didn't get any real great shots of him on stage (these of the David's aren't' the best either but you get the picture). Oh that MJ sure is a cutie!!


After the concert my mom (yes my mom) convinced us to go find the tour bus with her so we could get pictures and possibly an autograph or two. My mom is such an Archie fan...she even bought an 8X10 from the souvenir booth for him to sign. We all kind of rolled our eyes at the thought of waiting for the bus...but we ended up getting really into the excitement and waiting with the rest of the fans! I didn't get my picture with MJ (sob) but all of us girls were able to get a pic with Ramielle. She was really sweet!

Some of the girls we were standing by that night told us how they came earlier that day and were able to mingle with the Idols, get photos and autographs. My mom did some sleuthing when she got home and found out they'd be doing the same thing the next day for their second concert. Mom and Holly drove the 2 hours again the next day to get some more pictures and autographs.


Mom has already said she probably won't be watching the next American Idol season because it won't be nearly as good as this one. We'll see...maybe I'll be posting pictures next year of the A.I. concert 2009!