Life As It Is.

Seth's big 3-0!!

Yup, it is my hubby's birthday today!! He is officially a thirtysomething. Welcome to the thirties, honey!! It really is a pretty great decade of life.

We (the girls and I) absolutely love our daddy/husband and we know we are lucky to have him. He works so hard for his family. We are so proud of him and so thankful for all that he does for us.

So feel free to leave Seth some love in the comments as he reads daily! We love you, Seth!!

We grew by two.

Yes, our family grew by two tonight. We've been on the fence about adding members to our perfectly-sized group of four, but the kids have been itching for a pet to call their own.

A few months ago, Sadie asked for a mouse for her birthday. If you have known me for any length of time, you can probably guess my reaction to that. I'm terrified of rodents. You may remember when we were hamster-sitting and I was holding Tobi the Hamster and freaked out when it started to move and little Avery had to rescue me. Yes, my own daughter had to save me from a hamster.

When I was growing up, my dad had this rubber rat that he would use to torture tease me. He would place it in random places throughout the house and I'd be putting laundry away or getting something out of a closet and I'd come across the rat and scream my brains out. I'm scarred as a result. That's the kind of childhood experience that requires therapy. :)

In college, I had to train a rat for a psychology class. That took some deep breathing.

All that to say, when Sadie asked for a mouse, the answer was "no". But she negotiated and we agreed that a hamster might be an acceptable compromise. I can live with a hamster. But as her birthday approached and I would ask what she wanted for her birthday, she didn't mention the pet idea. But I knew she was still harboring the pet desire.

A couple weeks ago, a family in our homeschool group posted a message that they were looking for a family for their two chinchillas. So Seth and I started reading up on chinchillas and found that they are fantastic pets....all the benefits of hamster & rabbits, but none of the drawbacks (i.e. smelliness, allergies...both Sadie and Seth are highly allergic to some dogs and especially cats). So we've kept it on the down low from the girls the past couple weeks while we studied up and mulled it over.

Sadie's birthday is tomorrow, so I made arrangements today to go see the chinchillas tonight. So at dinner, we told the girls the plan and much excitement ensued!! So off we went to meet Rosey and Pepper. (Rosey=girl, Pepper=boy, but no worries, he's been snipped).

Avery took to the chinchillas immediately. She is all about animals and babies...she is such a mothering, nurturing soul. She loves to be snuggled and she loves to snuggle others. Sadie was eager and excited to hold the chinchillas, but in typical Sadie-fashion, she was a bit more timid and cautious. When she is holding an animal that starts to wiggle, she gets really nervous. They were able to spend a lot of time holding and playing with them, learning about them (they were well-loved by their previous owners), listening to how to care for them. and even walking Pepper on his leash.

An hour later, we had managed to wrestle Rosey and Pepper's home into the back of the van, pack up all of their hay, pellets, treats, wheels, balls, leashes, dust bath, etc., and Rosey and Pepper were on their way to their new home.

Welcome home, Rosey and Pepper!!

i heart fall.

Loving the smell of the furnace.

Wishing I could drink a pumpkin spice latte every single day. Twice.

Thinking that everything about fall leaves is wonderful...the way they smell, they're amazing hues, the rustling sound that sings to my ears. I'm so bummed that just since Sunday the leaves have already started falling. I'm convinced that the storm that hit yesterday must have been intended as punishment to me.

Getting used to the new winter boots I bought a couple weeks ago. Wore them for the first time today. I've wanted some for the past couple years and I finally bought some...now I just need to figure out the right way to wear them....tuck pants in? leave pants down? roll pants up? It is a very complicated dilemma. Advice solicited. But do not under any circumstances tell me to wear them over skinny jeans. I'm morally opposed to skinny  jeans.

Definitely need to find my cute little convertible fingerless gloves/mittens. My fingers still aren't working right after a chilly (but wonderful!) photo session up Old Snowbasin Road tonight. Ears and fingers will require some recovery time.

Putting homemade soups on the menu for next week. Yum. Warm comforting soup.

Break over. Must return to packing all of our warm clothes for Estes Park.

Snow, snow, go away.

Do you see those mountains back there? The ones that DON'T have snow on them?

I'd like those back, please.

p.s. Fall sessions are booking faster than I can get them written in the schedule. If you want one, book it now!

The warm before the storm.

I'm incredulous that tomorrow is the last day of September! I love the month of September, and yet somehow it slipped right through my fingers. To add insult to injury, it seems that our first winter storm is at our doorstep. The temperatures have been hovering around 90 degrees the last couple days, but tomorrow we'll be sitting in the 50's. I dread the snow, but even more disappointing is that the snow and wind is likely to put an end to much of the incredible fall foliage we're experiencing. This makes me oh so sad!

I was doing a commercial shoot for Hometown Values Magazine up in Logan today. I went to school in Logan (Utah State, hey aggies all the way. Go aggies, go aggies, hey hey hey!!!) and it was a treat to return even just for a few hours. It takes me less than an hour to drive there, and yet, life gets so busy that I rarely make it up there unless I have a session scheduled there. The drive through Sardine Canyon was AMAZING! It was difficult to not drive myself off the road while taking in all the vibrant leaves.

I drove Seth's car up there because it has Sync technology (like the commercials..."PLAY ARTIST TIFFANY) and I had a photography teleconference both yesterday and today so I was able to listen in over the car speakers while I drove. It was great!

I didn't make it up near campus, but I did cruise down Main St. just to see what has changed. And wow, has a lot changed! It is like a different town in a lot of ways. It doesn't have the small town feel that it used to possess...so many new businesses and development. But I smiled as I drove past some old haunts...Angie's (where everyone went for lunch after church every Sunday), Charley's (an ice cream shoppe), Al's (midnight gear sales), and so many other places. My photoshoot was at Anderson's Garden & Seed (where a couple friends worked back in the day). It was a day of memory flashbacks!

But now it is back to life in the present. So very much to do before we leave town for Estes Park. Like the warmth we had today before our winter storm tonight, Estes Park will be the warm before the busy season storm that I'll be returning to. I'm feeling like I need two of me right now! I did have to make good on a promise to Sadie and make beef enchiladas for dinner (I've been promising for a while now), but now I'm going to settle in with my computer for some marathon photo-editing.

My plate overfloweth with wonderfulness.

So the hubby is being grumpy with me about not updating my blog. So, while my plate overfloweth, I guess I best get updating so I don't further infuriate him. :) There is so much going on that I feel like my head is spinning, and yet I can't seem to think of a thing to blog about!

So, I'm asking myself...what exactly are my days so full of lately?

Well, I'm on day 16 of P90X. It is going well, I'm loving it. Suffered my first little injury yesterday- tweaked my neck. But that'll pass. I think Kenpo is my favorite and yoga is my least favorite.

School is in full swing for Sadie and Avery. It often feels like there aren't enough hours in the day to fit everything in, but they are doing a great job and enjoying it for the most part. Sadie tickles the ivories on a daily basis, and far surpasses the daily practice requirement she has. A week or so ago, Sadie had to answer the question "What is your favorite day of the week and why?" (she called some friends and family to ask them as well...then she had to put their answers on a graph). Anyhow, her response was that she actually had two favorite days of the week....Wednesday because of piano lessons, and Saturday because she gets to stay in bed later reading in the morning. She is doing an excellent job with piano and it didn't take long at all for her to leave me in her dust.

Fall has made a rapid arrival in the last few days...chilly mornings (and days! I turned the heat on at the studio today because I couldn't take the cold any longer) and colorful leaves. Which means the busy season is here in photographyland. The commercial world is already shooting advertising images for Christmas, so my Christmas brain is already in gear. Now is the time to schedule a photo session for your Christmas cards....don't wait or you'll be on my naughty list!

Lastly, we're headed to Estes Park next week, and my brain is just now realizing that I need to get in gear and get ready for that. I'm dreading all I need to do to get prepared, but I'm looking forward to some downtime once we're there. We'll be there with Seth's family and some family friends, and hopefully a whole of elk!

Alrighty, the husband can't complain about my blog not being updated now!! Take that, Seth Charles!

First comes love....

 This is what it's all about. We can't stop the passage of time, but we have the opportunity to capture moments in images that will take us back in time.

One of the things I love about being a photographer is being involved in those special times in people's lives. It really is an honor to be there for those meaningful times and to be a part of recording it. It is amazing to me how quickly life can seem to fly by. One day you're young and in love, the next day you're knee-deep in diapers.

So it is with this young couple. I remember the day Jeremy and Stacy announced their engagement, showed me the gorgeous ring, and asked me to photograph their wedding. A few weeks later we were shooting their engagement photos, a couple months later their wedding, and a year later...welcoming their precious little one to the world.

I love this job.

I've had the idea for this storyboard panel in mind since I first learned Stacy was pregnant, and so don't tell me if you don't like it because you might hurt my feelbads. :)

Family photos.

This cute little family found me at my 4th of July booth. They were visiting from out of town and we were able to squeeze in a session before they returned home. Unfortunately, the dad of the family had to return home right away, so he was missing. Hopefully next time they are in town we can get the entire family together!

You wouldn't know it from these photos (hopefully!), but this little guy wasn't happy about having his photograph taken. Poor mom had to work hard to convince him! But by the end of the session, he and I were best buddies! Anytime his mom has to call the studio to make appointments, etc. this little guy wants to talk to me on the phone. He's a hoot!!

Thanks M family! I hope to see you again next time you are in Utah!!

 

 

2010 Senior Photoshoots available

School's back in session and the class of 2010 is already looking forward to graduation! Now is the time to book those senior sessions! If you are a senior at Ben Lomond High School, Ogden High, or Weber High School, call the studio (801)621-1697 to find out how you can get your senior photo session for FREE!

Miss Sam made good use of her summer break in Utah...she got her senior portraits done at Jen Kappes Photography! Sam's aunt had her senior portraits done with us earlier in the year and she was super excited to have hers done as well. We had so much fun together....by the end of the session, Sam was dancing around the studio in a bright blue tutu with a tiara on her head (and yes, that was one of her mom's fave images)!

I learned throughout the session that Sam has amazing talent. She has the most beautiful voice! Sam and her sister (Julie) sang a song from Wicked for me and it was spectacular! I'm sure people at neighboring businesses wonder just what goes on in that crazy photography studio. They're performance was amazing and I must say I envy their talent! (Of course, now Julie has a newfound desire to be a photographer, so let's hope she's not as talented at photography as she is at singing or I might be in trouble!)

You can see a few more images of Sam here on my facebook.

 

 

Bring It.

I've debated in my head about whether to make this post or not. I have issues with posting about exercising, etc. I don't really know how to explain it, other than to say that I feel good about myself when I workout, and so if I post about it, I feel like I'm bragging or something, so I prefer to keep it to myself. It is weird, but my head doesn't always make sense.

So I may need to give a little backstory to bring you up to speed. Since shortly after Avery was born (she's almost 6), I've tried various methods of getting rid of the extra pounds. We got a treadmill about a month after she was born and I've worked that thing to the ground (it is approaching the end of its life rapidly). But I kept eating the same way I had been (not much stayed down the entire time I was pregnant with both girls, so it was nice to be able to eat again after they were born) and so I really didn't see a huge decrease in my weight. I couldn't seem to get back down to my pre-baby weight.

So I started using www.thedailyplate.com occasionally to get nutritional information about the food I was eating so I could make better choices. I tried keeping a food journal and tracking what I ate but this was incredibly time-consuming. In January, I started using thedailyplate on a daily basis to track my calories and my workouts...I'm a detail-oriented person and this tool really aided me in my anal neuroses. It was a really quick and accurate way to keep track of everything in regards to my health...weight, body measurements, what I ate, my workouts, the whole nine yards.

I also started changing up my workouts. I had been doing a lot of running and some of Gunnar Peterson's core secrets videos, but wasn't looking much different. So I decided to start getting back into resistance training and trying some other things. Seth and I used to hit the weights often before we got pregnant with Sadie, but I hadn't done heavy weights since then.

The first program I did was the Total Body Makeover by Bob Greene. I really started paying more attention to what I was eating, stepped up running BIGTIME, and did weights daily. This was a twelve-week program and by the end, I was feeling better and had dropped some weight.

I had the realization that with fitness, like most other things in my life, I am a goal-oriented person. I work better, harder and I'm more motivated when I have a specific goal to reach. In this case, completing a program. For me, it wasn't really as much about losing a specific amount of weight (though I do have a specific amount that I want to lose) but more about being in the best shape that I can be in, and I know I'm working towards that goal when I'm working a specific program. Having a specific program is key for my motivation.

So after that realization, I knew that when Total Body Makeover was over, I needed something else. So up next was Making the Cut by Jillian Michaels. This was a 30 day program (I did it once then repeated it) and included high-intensity sprints, resistance training, and lots of plyometrics (I also did 30Day Shred).

Around this time, I also started doing a lot more research on nutrition, metabolism, organics, etc. This really made a huge impact on the foods I eat and feed my family. It's a process, and I haven't changed everything, but we've made huge strides and I continue to make changes to our eating habits. I am definitely not 100% clean, but I'm trying to inch my way closer.

I've also bumped up my water consumption to 80-100oz per day and put myself on a schedule so that I could maintain that amount daily. (Which is why I'm running to the bathroom every few minutes....Seth has asked me on more than one occasion if I'm sure that I'm okay).

After Making the Cut, I was mixing things up, doing a large variety of workouts, and simultaneously trying to convince Seth to let me buy P90X. 

I was finally able to convince him, and today is day 7 of P90X for me. I'm loving it. It is definitely intense....if you've heard anything about P90X, that is probably the word you've heard, intense. Very true. It would have had me in the fetal position if I'd done it a year ago. (If you haven't seen anything about P90X, basically there are 13 dvd's and you have a schedule...you do at least one a day).

I have a couple of faraway friends who are doing P90X right now (whoowhoo R&M!!), but I've tried to convince some nearby friends to do it with me. My pleading hasn't taken effect yet, but I'm hoping someone will be convinced (you know you want to!).

So, the reason for the post. Because this program is so intense, I need some accountability. So now that I've shared that I'm doing it, hopefully you'll ask me how it is going and I'll be more inclined to bring my best to my workout every day.