THE VERY GOOD OLE DAYS

In high school, I was very lucky when I stumbled upon some amazing friends in Drama class. By the end of our Senior year, we were so adorably close, and it was a delight to us all since we were so very different. I've stayed in touch with most of them pretty well over the years, but getting all together is a monumental task, especially considering our friendship spans three states. I love seeing everyone, and I especially love having the rare treat of being all together. It makes me lonely for the days that seem (prepare for cliche) like yesterday. How I loved having my first two periods of class with them, while we wasted away our time on various old dirty couches and an empty auditorium stage. Honestly, high school would have been a pretty dreary place without them. I am so glad that even though our lives are totally different and we are all doing real grown up things like getting books published, getting scripts rejected, buying houses with extravagant recording studios, starting businesses, and having babies, that we still have a tremendous amount of things to chat about when we get together.

I played with the camera to see what kind of pics I could get in my living room without using a flash. Thank you models, thanks to Stef and Nicole for coming to Utah, thanks to Bree and Bricky for providing the meat portion of the meal, and Mistie, we missed your face.

FARM GIRLS

My friend Crystal called me this morning just as Stella and I were dragging ourselves out of bed at 10 am to invite us to go to Wheeler Farm and take pictures. Well, it was of course a beautiful day...and you KNOW that I NEVER turn down the opportunity to take pictures. Some of them turned out simply amazing! (Even though it took me forever to get a smile out of Stella--she was tired and too interested in the scenery.)

We also looked at a few of the animals. I was showing Stella the sheep (or as she knows them, "lambies") and I swear she said "BAA," which is what I tell her the lambies say when she plays with her animal bath toys. I'm sure that she didn't mean to do it, but perhaps she was showing off her genius skills again. Either way, it was super cute.

I had Crystal take a few photos of me and Stella...if only I had time to do my hair--wait, who am I kidding? I never do my hair. But I think these shots of us together are still cute. Thanks Crystal for a fun little outing, and for being such a great photographer.

P.S. If you go to Crystal's blog, you can see the pics that she took of Stella and also some of me and my model (Stella).

CLASS ALL THE WAY

My event coordinator, Stacy, planned an evening of fine arts for us gals tonight. We attended Ballet West's production of Madame Butterfly. It was a lovely evening full of dancing, music, and class. Obviously there is no better way to end an evening such as that than with a quick visit to "freaky" Dees. Did you know that they are letting children out alone with cars these days? I mean, they have to be like 11 or 12, right? We used to always go to Dees when we were in High School since there really aren't very many places you can hang out at late if you are under 21. (Plus they have suckers.) It appears that some things never change because all the youngens were out tonight at Dees as well. Made me feel pretty old pretty fast. Anyway, I had a blast. It is always the best to get together with old friends to feel young again while you talk about how old you are.

EIGHT MONTHS AGO

I would love to be in denial about this, but today is Stella's 8 month birthday. I can't believe how fast she is learning new tricks. It is almost like having a different baby in the house every day. She is suddenly mobile and can roll around and scoot herself pretty much anywhere she would like to go. She of course is crazy about saying "mama," "ma," or an occasional "mom." I have yet to tire of hearing her say her first word. Just last night she figured out how to clap her hands together and it tickles her to no end. It must be so exciting to finally figure out something you have been wanting to do for months! And of course, I still can't believe that she has this innate need to rock side to side whenever she hears a beat, whether the music is on TV, at a restaurant, or in an elevator.

Well, it is true, Brent and I are truly suckers for our adorable offspring. I know we both agree that this has been the fastest 8 months ever...and perhaps the best as well.

THE OTHER BLOG

If you haven't visited my photography blog since I last mentioned it here, check it out to find 3 more posts of some pics I'm pretty proud of.

CAMERA-READY (OR NOT)

So Dad was on TV yet again. This time he was on Channel 2's morning news. Since it is morning news, it means the whole thing goes down pretty darn early. EVERY time my dad has been on television the last like four times I have been sure to be camera-ready just so I can look adorable at a moment's notice. However, I had no intentions of that today, since I had to be there at 6 am. Not only that, but my alarm was set wrong and didn't even go off, so I am lucky I woke up at all.

Anyway, they decided that they wanted to talk about the stained glass windows. Since I am the supposed expert, they decided to have me talk about the windows. I don't know what got me to go on television without a shower, makeup, or barely a comb through my hair. It was either my tremendous confidence or my devil-may-care attitude.(Though Brent did say I looked especially cute anyway...even in HD!) Either way, I was on TV this morning talking about stained glass windows. Dad did a good job, he was crackin' lots of jokes and sounding very smart. Of course, I brought my camera and captured the memories...which is a good thing since it is already an early morning blur to me.

LOVE LETTER

Stella would like to wish all who have shown her so much love in her short little life A HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

By the way, this was the hardest mini photo shoot we have ever had, being that this was Stella's first encounter with a balloon. She was crazy for it, and moved it so fast I could barely focus. Also, when Stella has something new, she gets very serious and grunts a lot. Therefore, it is difficult to produce any smiling pictures. Thankfully she is extremely photogenic and still looks adorable all the time.

HEARING LOSS

Tonight we attended Tyler's gig at High Point Coffee in West Jordan. This was Stella's first time seeing Uncle Tyler play at an official gig. Have you ever been to a concert and seen a baby and thought that the parents were crazy and ruining their child's hearing? Well it doesn't happen often since I am sure that most parents think about that sort of thing and DON'T bring their babies to loud events. Well, we aren't that smart I guess, and as the first few fellows played we tried to put tissue in Stella's ears. She was fine when it was in, but it kept falling out. When we tried to put it back in her ears she would scream. We looked like awesome parents tonight...I am sure of that. (If you look closely at the pics of Stella you can see said tissue.)

Anyway, I was as usual impressed with my brother. He has a lot of stage presence and his songs are complicated, insightful, and many times hilarious. I was making fun of how my dad is hard of hearing the whole night, and I have total proof that he is deaf now. One of the last songs Tyler played was one of my old favorites, "Desert Floor." Just a few songs later, Ty asked for any requests and my dad yelled out "Desert Floor!" It must be hard to be so deaf that you miss entire songs! I hope that Stella doesn't take after her grandfather and have to learn how to read lips now to compensate for her bad ears.

Brent also had some tissue in his ears, but since he has already sufficiently ruined his hearing as well, I think he was only trying to muffle the sounds of the first act.

BOUNCE BABY

Even before she was born, my niece Ava has loved to kick and bounce. When she was about 3 months old, her mom Ashley would spend about an hour a day holding her and lifting her up so that she could jump about. After a few weeks of that she decided that she wanted to buy Ava a bouncer, and she left Babies 'R' Us with the most expensive one they sell. Stella has enjoyed bouncing in cousin's toy from time to time, but I was terribly against spending all that money when she seemed to be existing fine without one of her own.

Well it is no real surprise to me, but Stella is a dancer and just HAS to move whenever she hears a beat. (Even elevator music in elevators!) So last week when I let her play in cousin's bouncer (which has awesome baby beats) she was jumping and doing a little jig with her feet, and she was LOVING it! On top of that she is no longer interested in her overhead toys since she wants to be rolling and scooting all over the living room. So I gave in yesterday, bought it, and Daddy put it together (he actually loves putting her gadgets together). I should have just bought it months ago since it appears to be improving both her and my quality of life. Look how happy it makes her...plus, while in this contraption she can't roll around the room and get into any predicaments.