confessions of a crazy lady part III

you know the drill........so here we go again

1. tweezing is at the top of my list of least favorite things about being a woman (yes, i have a list. i love lists, remember?). in fact, i haven't tweezed my eyebrows since school let out in june. AH! i know, that's terrible. and for all of you uber observant ladies -- yes, i know that my eyebrows are bushy. and overgrown. and i should probably fix that instead of blogging right now. but i'm not going to do that. ohhh the sweet pain of tweezing. maybe tomorrow?

1a. while i'm on the hygeine subject.........i haven't clipped E's little fingernails since i last tweezed. GASP! yeah, she basically has little claws right now. what a terrible mother i am. but i hate how she twists and yanks her hands away from me, which inevitably makes me miss her nails, and which leads to making her little fingers bleed. such a dilemma. maybe i'll do that when she wakes up in the morning...

2. i am an ellen degeneres fan. and a big one at that. i think she is hilarious. she can make me laugh even if i am fuming mad and even if i am bluesy sad. one time, a few summers ago, some friends and i got to see her in burbanks for her "ellen in the park" show...and i got selected to play musical chairs. i won a coffee maker. and i also got to sit right next to ellen when she came and danced with us. and i also got to sit front row when kanye west sang "i aint sayin' she a gold digga." it was all very thrilling...and i almost felt like a celebrity. almost. and so, i loved seeing her on So You Think You Can Dance this week.

3. when i was little, i wanted to be dorothy. i think i was dorothy for like 5 consecutive halloweens...and then i took a break from being dorothy and was so dissatisfied that i decided to be dorothy again. i used to watch the wizard of oz over and over and over again. my brother hated it. i remember one time he asked me, "doesn't the witch scare you? she's scawwwwwy" (he was like 3 or 4). yes, the witch was scary- but dorothy was my hero so much that i just didn't care. some other interesting trivia is that my favorite song is somewhere over the rainbow, and one of my favorite phrases is there's no place like home. i guess i'm just a wizard of oz junkie.

{photographic proof of my dorothyness obsessions}

i have lots of other things that i considered adding to this confession list...but to save myself from too much embarrassment, and with the hopes that i'll keep you wanting more, i will now sign off..........

as ellie says, night night.

xoxo

my wedding book...finally

so it's been a photography overload day for me, huh!?
sorry 'bout that.
but this is just too good not to post about.
so naturally i'm posting.

i don't know if you remember, but i complained a few months ago that i had never received my wedding photographs/wedding book...
it's been a very long-drawn-out-overly-dramatic process...and i'm so thrilled IT'S DONE!
we received our book today...
and i love it.
(thankfully).

but really, it makes me wanna get married all over again.

anyways.
i'd like to share a few of my favorite pages with you (if you don't mind).

welcome to m&m's wedding day...four years ago:



oh how i love weddings.
don't look so surprised about that. :)

xoxo

trashed the cake...

yes, i'm a lucky duck- we got this amazing photography session for free (mentoring purposes)- but i would've paid gazillions for the many, many wonderful shots marissa captured of our ellie. to see more go here.


makes you wish you were one again, doesn't it?

xoxo

birthdays come but once a year...

it's this guy's birthday again.

not that he's had that many- i mean, 26...it's not that old.
but, it feels like we've shared quite a few of them together...
and each one gets more and more fun...
and with each year, i love him more and more.

{we make a pretty cute team, huh?}

enjoy some pic's from his birthday dinner at the cheesecake factory....i'm salivating for that fresh-strawberry cheesecake just thinking about it...

{E was soooo good. she just ate and ate and ate...i think she's a sucker for the cheesecake just like the rest of us}

{then she started doing this funny game where she was obsessed with our tongues. made us laugh...pretty hard}

{had to include this one just because you know as well as i do how difficult it is to get a picture where both the parent and the toddler are smiling...}

{and they lived happily ever after...eating cheesecake during every single free possible moment}

happy birthday, M.
you've always had my heart.
xoxo

these are my confessions, part 2

welcome to segment 2 of "confessions of a...."

i know, back so soon.
i'm telling you, there's lots to confess.
so i'll stop wasting time...and just cut to the chase.

1. the very first CD i ever owned was Fantasy by Mariah Carey. to this day, i can sing every single word to every single track on that album...and basically every Mariah song, for that matter. now, here's the confession part: when i was little, i used to choreograph lipsynchs to Mariah's songs (i wanted to BE Mariah!). i would be in the bathroom for hours doing my hair all sexy-frizzy-curly (c'mon, i was like 8) and snag some of my mom's make-up (sorry, mom!). i remember on the cover of her single CD "One Sweet Day" with Boys 2 Men, she was wearing these short-short-cut-off-denim shorts with this ballet-top that hung over her shoulder (and the bra strap was hangin out...gotta love the 90's). and so i'd always wear something similar (well....my espirit/jordache versions of those things...and my training bra). then i'd convince my neighbor friend, lindi, to come over and be the lights crew...we'd be in my bedroom for hours deciding just the right beats to make the lights go on and off- and when and how she would be my back-up dancer and singer (poor, poor Lindi). once we had a finished project, of course my mom or sister would have to come watch...and we expected standing ovations and phrases like, "wow, you really could be mistaken for Mariah!" "that was fantastic! can i have your autograph?!" "are you Mariah Carey's sister?" stuff like that. i still giggle thinking of those lipsynchs. and still might even remember some of the choreography......

2. i can fall asleep anywhere....and if i'm really, really tired...i might talk in my sleep. not always. but sometimes. in fact, i have been known to have full-on conversations with M while sleeping. from what he tells me, i have two alter-egos: the first is very sweet and kind and angelic. i'll tell him how much i love him and how much i love heaven and strawberries and other embarrassing things like that. the second is angry and feisty and rude. in this crazy state, i tell him that i'm not asleep and that i am not going to bed. i refuse any and all reason...and i might even insult poor M. the only advantage to this little narcoleptic glitch of mine is that i am convinced M will remember all of our conversations before bed because he most likely will have had them twice (that first time before bed and then again the next morning when he re-tells me what he was telling me then). brains brains brains...why are they so strange!?

3. i have a hard time keeping a neat, clean house. (whew! i said it. sweet, sweet liberation!). now don't get me wrong- we are CLEAN. i don't like germs. i don't like dust. i don't like dirty dishes in my sink. what i'm talking about is the clutter. the mess. the toys spread out across our front room because i just can't bare picking them up for the gazillionth time that day...along with some crumbs that were spilt from a baggie of snacks right AFTER i vacuumed (and put it away). i get really overwhelmed when i see the perfection of some homes and how neat and tidy they are. hopefully i'll win this battle against the messy monster...so that my kids won't be that roommate you had in college (you know, the one who NEVER picked her clothes up off of the floor...or wiped the counter clean...or vacuumed...and you wondered to yourself, does she even know how to operate a vacuum?), and so i may gain a little sanity in this crazy zoo i live in.

so there you have it.
3 more confessions.
3 steps closer to losing all respect for me :)

until next time!

xoxo

ellie discovers the world

{photo courtesy of Blush Photography...i'm DYING to see more!}

it's been a while since i gave an E update.
a long while.
shame on me, since she is my world, my life and my joy these days.

i have to admit, having a little baby-toddler-person is a ton of work....but it also is soo magical in so many ways. my favorite reason is that you really get to rediscover life again (while the little one discovers the world for the first time). it makes you appreciate the little things...things that seem so amazing from those innocent (but feisty...curious...and sometimes crazy) eyes.

with that said, here are some of E's most recent discoveries:
{slight disclaimer: you may assume from these pictures that i only dress her in one shirt...or that these were all taken on the same day. both assumptions are false. thank you.}

the first three have to do with her new-found-mobility....which is arguably her most impressive, influential discovery of the last year of her life...

walking:


walking while holding things:


chasing after things:


the carousel:
(which freaked her out at first...but then she quite enjoyed herself...especially since she got to wave at dadda, gammy, aunt courtney, and bapa}


gammy's turtle:


an explosion of words...including (but not limited to):

• mama
• dadda
• hi
• buh-bye
• night-night
• more
• ball
  
• yummmm
• dog
• cat
• duck
• bapa (grandpa)
• miiimiii (my sista)
• baaaabbbyyy
• NO!
• soofffttt
• book
  
• and the most recent, sweeeet

the fourth of july:


cute boys:



kissing cute boys:


making cute boys blush because of an overly zealous kiss:


and other cute friends:

what it feels like to get a wedgie:


adoring babies...especially her cousin rosalie:


eating real food (all the time):



folding her arms to pray (melts my heart)(when i get a picture of it, i will post it)

swimming pools (water or no water....equally fun):


seeing aunt mimi and saying with the most adoration you could ever imagine: miiiimiiiii


reading books ALL THE TIME


making animal noises:

{case in point: the bunny says "sniff sniff"}

the heat:

{look at those rosy cheeks}

how to make any family photo op impossible:


pigtails:
{and she screams incessantly the whole time i'm knotting those rubber bands...and quite frankly, it brings back disturbing childhood-hair memories...poor lil thing)


burying dadda with all of the babies at gammy's and bapa's house:


how to make the touch-down signal (you can just imagine how proud this makes her dadda):

how to prepare for wimbledon:


and the most recent favorite discovery.....drummroolllllll....
the zoo:

{Ellie was pretty amazed that all of the animals in her books were real. this was her amazed face. i'm so glad we caught it}

{then she started pointing at everything as if to say: mom, are you seeing this? people, are we safe? }


{once she got over that initial surprise and worry, she really started enjoying herself...and couldn't hold back the smiles and gasps. so cute}

and so, my one-year-old has just only begun to discover the world...
and i've just begun to discover how much love i could have for another little person.
stay tuned for many more discoveries to come.

xoxo

for all you music lovers...

i'd like to invite you to this awesome concert/art festival thingie that my cousin paul (an amazing up-and-coming local musician) is putting on. he is trying to get a little extra dough to get his album all finished....and he's reaaallllyyy good.

here are the deets on the event:

Monday July 20
Time:	7:00pm - 10:00pm
Location:	Provo Storage Unit***FOLLOW BARN OWL POSTERS***
Street:	1619 N Riverside Ave PROVO, UT

In association with Northplatte records Pablo Blaqk & Friends brings you an Album Benefit Concert & Original Art Show like you've NEVER SEEN.

*Show Will fill up VERY VERY quickly show early!!
get your wrist bands or JESS SMILEY Stamped certified.

(Cause)
Im finished recording my record, that me & Joshua James have been working on for about 7 months now. finally. :) It's going to cost me an arm and a leg to mix & master it now. So I organized this rad little Benefit Concert to Help pay for most of those costs & with the help of many it's turned into a mini-Woodstock. :}

Intimate lighting with 2 or 3 Acoustic songs by:
-Drew Danburry
-Desert Noises (Kyle Henderson)
-Katie Brandiburg
-Scott Shepard of (New Nervous)
-Mudbison (Spencer Russell)
-Drew Capenar (The Color Gypsy's)
-Joe Castor of ( Mathematics Et Cetera)
& (Boots To The Moon)
& many many more!!!!

Only $3 All proceeds go towards mixing & mastering!!

-Special Guest!!
If you wanna know you gotta show up!!!
2 or 3 Acoustic songs each person
Ill be previewing some songs from the album aswell!!!

-Jess Smiley a local artist has designed pieces specifically for the show & will be selling them in support of the Album

-GALLERY STROLL*showcasing many up & coming local
artist art work all over our walls!!

-Legion Skateboard company will be there working on board designs exct. *Specialists

WILL BE CAPTURED BY: Justin Wymans HD Camera :)

-Other Craft Venders will be present
They will be announced soon!!! Food as well.

hope you can go out and make an appearance...it promises not to disappoint.

xoxo