Ragnar Insanity!!!

This all seemed like a really great idea until about 3 am.  When we were still running.  And then we were done and no one else seemed to want to go to sleep.  Ha!  But I'll admit.  Watching this video does kind of make me want to do it again....maybe.

My best leg was definitely the middle of the night one.  When I fell, ironically. And also ran with a girl who forgot her head lamp.  She was fast.  And I didn't want her to die.  So I guess I've finally found my motivation.  Life or death scenarios. And in my defense about the fall we were running on the side of the road with about 5 inches of pavement.  And nameless fast runner girl fell too.  Ragnar is definitely not for the faint of heart!!

Here I am running the last leg.  When I wanted to die.  But it was through the most gorgeous part of Franklin. And it was really fun to run through my old stomping grounds.

Three falls, one cortisone shot, and one sleepless night later but we survived!!!

backseat driver

We are driving home from preschool and after much discussion on what to name his ice/snow breathing lego dragon "Icicle?" (which he will be bringing for show and tell tomorrow), Bentley started to give me a little advice on my driving. The kind of advice that if followed would result in serious injury or a lot of honking.

me: Are you excited to drive when you turn 16?

B: Excited??? boring.

me: Yeah, you're kinda right about that.

me: So...you'd be fine with me driving you around?

B: Yeah

Hey. I'll take what I can get. Because right now I'm only allowed one kiss per day at bedtime. And this is on condition that I won't bombard him with kisses all day. Those cheeks though. I just have a hard time resisting them.

Pretending to sleep in an attempt to get me to carry him inside. It's not going to work though. The kid is a tank!

Right now I'm sitting in the bathroom while he takes a bath. He pulled a toy cup out of the tub and said, "Who wants a drink of water? Raise your hand!" Ummm. no thanks. I think he just wants me in here to watch his feats of strength. The kid can pump out a lot of push ups in the tub.

fort awesom

I got a new job taking pictures of newborns at the hospital! Super cute job! The moms say, "I bet you have so many pictures of your kids!" Which of course is true...but I feel a little guilty about winter. I have like 2 pictures from all winter. I take tons of pictures outside in the pretty weather. Seeing as how outdoor photography is kind of my usual MO. I'm not usually very inspired indoors. But, I have learned some new tricks with my flash lately and high ISO don't seem like the devil anymore. So in honor of new moms making me feel a little guilty....I captured 'fort awesom' today! Chickie is sleeping in there tonight. Oddly enough she is afraid of ceiling fans and art hanging above her bed but is excited about sleeping between the doors of her armoire with a giant couch cushion over head. Interesting. I did not point out the paradox.

She's something else!

Tennesseans don't drive in snow.

Wow. I kind of can't believe this is what is actually getting me blogging again. But here it is.

This morning we woke up to big fluffy snowflakes coating the ground. We get ready for school, eat our cream of wheat. Grab our coats and scarves and head out to take Chickie to school. The road is completely covered in one thin layer of snow. Snow flurries are whipping under my tires. I can't help but have a bit of irrational fear over these conditions. I think it must have been ingrained in me from an early age. We Tennesseans don't drive in snow. It instantly reminded me of my first year at BYU. A lot of my family lives in Utah. I have spent many

winters there. So I have no excuse for the story that I'm about to tell. Except that maybe it had been a long time since I had been to Utah in the winter at this point. I think I had spent mostly summers there for a while.

Freshman year. First snow. I look out the window and there it is: SNOW! And a LOT of it. The road, cars, everything is covered in maybe a foot of snow. I'm screaming to my roommates, "SNOW! SNOW! No church today! Just pj's, hot cocoa and movies!" They come out of there bedrooms probably just to watch me in my fit of insanity and not really caring at all about the snow. They were all from Utah and Idaho. Then I see it. People. Dressed, not in snow suits, but their Sunday best instead. Hysterically laughing I yell out, "They are trying to go to church!" More hysterical laughter. "They are trying to get in their cars!" I remember feeling slightly mystified that they were indeed knocking snow off of their cars and getting in. But still, to actually try and drive in snow that was sheer lunacy! Then they did it. They drove off. I was in total shock. Completely crestfallen that going somewhere, anywhere, on what had to be one of the best snow days I had ever seen was sad. Sad, sad, sad. Luckily for me I had the best roommates in the world (that, or the laziest) and they agreed to stay home with me and have a snow day! I may remember one or two of them sneaking off to church for a few hours but at least Mindy, Lora, and Kayla were in it for the whole day. Right? Ah, memories. That was a crazy, crazy year. Super, super fun. Just thinking of it makes me crave a girls day out. I can't find any of my BYU pictures. They must all be in storage. So I stole this one from facebook. Thanks Mindy! You girls are the best!

i'm so lucky!

I'm feeling so overwhelmed today! I'm so lucky. I have these two gorgeous children that I adore. And such a wonderful husband who gave me such a great day. My own mom amazes me. I'm convinced she is the cutest grown-up on the planet. Missed talking to my Grammy today. So many wonderful women in my life! Happy Mother's day! Chickie took this great picture of Bentley and I. She said she wants her own camera and she wants to learn how to edit pictures on the computer.

57

(franklin highlights)

So. I finished my quilt top! excellent! My friend Jill is going to quilt it with her long arm machine when we get back. So I'm going to have to decide how I want it quilted. And she lent me some great books to help with my decision making. I was seriously drooling over them.

I am trying to tackle a massive, self imposed to do list before we head out of town for spring break. My papaw passed away so we will be headed to his funeral first. He was always good to us and we will sure miss him. He had this great tradition at Christmas, he would give all of us a box of chocolates. I think that's one I'll be more than happy to carry on each year and be reminded of him. That makes 3 grandparents in the past year. It is so horrible. I hope all of my remaining loved ones stay healthy and safe for a good long time.

And, what else. I'm a horrible blogger right now. And don't expect it to get better any time soon. BUT...I'm kind of expecting my mood and general productiveness to explode on May 26th. That's the big day when we are moving home. I announced it on my photo blog. And I'm so excited. Sometimes a little nervous, because I will miss the awesome, amazing friends I've made here. I'm sure I'll have some sad moments missing them. But I really am so excited about going home!!! I think we have finally realized that it's where we belong. And if we try to move away again I'm asking all of you right now to stage an intervention.

all better

This was my view for 8 days.

I was sick and it was not fun. However, I am about a month ahead of schedule on my quilt.

So that's good!

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting!

Being a ninja is hard work!

P.S. My kids are impossibly cute!

P.P.S. !!!

pin cushion obsession

I finished one row (of three) from my quilt!

And to celebrate I made a cute little pincushion.

I have been wanting to make this forever and I finally ordered the pattern.

I think I will have to make a few family companions for this pear. And then I may have to make some cousins. Ha ha. Is there something wrong with me that I have a mild obsession with pincushions? Every time I get a new crafty book I want to make the pincushion first. I've been drooling over Anna Maria Horner's pin cushion caddy ever since I got the book. But I have plenty others. So I wouldn't make it. But... if I start a pin cushion collection, then I can make as many as I like guilt free!

Today I'm thankful for collections! I knew something key was missing from my life. This must be it.

things that don't go together, things that do

Nail polish + applique=

not good.

Especially because I forgot my topcoat. Or maybe this new brand is not good. The color is a dark purple. But it looks black, right? I'm probably too old and granny-ish to be wearing dark purple (could be confused with black) nail polish. But I think it's kinda fun.

Snow days + applique=

Very good! Look how much I've gotten done! (More than half of the smallest row.) Chris asked last night, "Is that your last row?!" (NO) Well maybe it would be if I hadn't devoted most of my snow days to sleep. Or if I were faster. But I'm pretty sure I can feel the speed gaining!

And well, I did bring dinner to my neighbors, the Birds. And I probably wouldn't have been up to it if it weren't for all the glorious sleep I've gotten.

sleep+good deed doing abilities= most excellent

P.S. I love that I live in a place that can be completely shut down by 5 inches of snow. It's like a spontaneous gift from nature!

sewing a landscape

As promised, here is what I'm working on for my bed! Chris asked for bedding for Christmas (I know, I'm so lucky!) and I used that as an excuse to make a new quilt for our bed. Of course.

I love that this quilt is called Hills 'n' Hollers. The hills are all applique. I am definitely no expert. I sewed on these two hills last night. I'm pretty sure it took me an hour or more. Hopefully by the end I will become a super speedy applique expert. Otherwise, this could take a while.

wish me luck!

Out with it already

My poor, sad little blog. It kind of matches poor, sad little me. I was just asked to talk to the girls at church about how I use my blog as a journal. Super casual just for a few minutes. Still, how embarrassing. I haven't blogged in like, a decade, in blog years (what do ya think...too many commas?). Truth be told...I have three blog posts in draft mode. I keep wanting to share the sad news about how my fabric line got the ax about a week before my Grammy died (yeah, months ago). But I somehow never found the words. So there it is. bleah.

And we have been wrestling with some kinda tough decisions around here. But I think we are finally decided and clearing the air like that really makes way for life to start happening again. Tonight I'm working on this in blues and greens. I'll take a few pics of the very beginning stages tomorrow.

It feels good to be blogging again.

RIP Magnolia Westwood

10 things that make me happy

I found this list on a scrap of paper.

1. paper (Aches 88 is my fav! It's so gorgeously thick and smooth!)

2. mechanical pencils size .5

3. swing dancing

4. baby legs

5. kettle corn

6. my morning runs

7. self help books

8. making something, anything

9. pretty pictures

10. a day of reading snuggled up with a blanket

The pic is from my booth at a local gift fair last weekend.

Going to see New Moon tonight at midnight. So excited!

Finally finished!

I finally finished chickie's quilt. Just in time for her birthday.

Truth be told, the night before her party I stayed up till 5 am trying to finish the binding. I was watching Anne of Green Gables (love!) and I think I must have been half asleep because I only got one long side done. And I was a bit grouchy for a few days. No more all nighters for me. Which means I'm going to have to make this Friday movie morning instead of movie night since I'm going to see New Moon at midnight Thurs with some crazy girlfriends of mine!

As you can she she was very excited about it (the quilt--she's not quite old enough for vampires and werewolves). Actually she really was. I don't know how many 7 yr olds would be excited for a quilt. I think she gets that it's important in our family.

think, think, think.

Is it just me...or have you noticed that since I've become a photographer my blog has been sadly lacking in written content. Maybe because a picture is worth a thousand words?

The other night Chickie couldn't sleep. My great-aunt Jean gave her some bedtime music when she was born. My favorite was the Bedtime Bethoveen CD. So she has listened to it almost every night since she was just a baby to go to sleep. And yes, she loves classical music. Today she was looking for her ipod. She didn't want to listen to mine, she wanted to listen to pretty music with "piano's and flutes" while she painted.

Lately she has been calling me in at night asking if I will restart her bed time music. She said she forgot to listen and she apparently likes to fall asleep during the first two or three songs. She was really upset one night because she said she just couldn't stop thinking. Turns out that first graders have a lot more on their minds than babies do. In the end we decided to turn off the music so that she could devote her last waking hours purely to thought.

I had a similar experience with my Grammy shortly before she died. It was early in the morning and we were getting ready to take her to dialysis. She was all dressed and I needed to go get ready. I asked her if she'd

like to turn on the TV while I got dressed. We flipped through a few channels together and then I left. When I came back to her room it was quiet again. I asked her if she couldn't find anything interesting. She said, "Sometimes when your own life is so full, you don't have any room for that.... Do you know what I mean?" "Yes, Grammy. I know what you mean." We sat there quietly. Sometimes life is so full there are no words for such a moment.

Just a few unrelated thoughts about thought. I've had a lot on my mind lately. But none of it is conclusive. Does that ever happen to you? I think too much in general anyway. At least now I know I'm not the only one.

And I thought I didn't have any pictures for this post until I remembered our recent trip to the corn maze. Yes sometimes in life you end up at a dead end or biff it in the mudd, but it is still quite the adventure! You might as well laugh and enjoy it as much as possible.

first grade

Olivia drew this at school. It made me so happy. She has a good life. It says from left to right: I like my family, I like to watch my show, I like to play dress up, I like to go to my friends house, I like to read, I like to hold my bunny, I like to play tennis, I like to swim.

Today I'm going to her school to be the Friday Friend for the first grade. I am going to read Emily's Art by Peter Catalonotto it is one of our favorite books. And then I'm going to talk about my job. Speaking of which I just posted some new photo shoots on my blog last night. :)

Then (because I know you want the play by play of my day) we are going to buy supplies for making some pretty rockin' Halloween costumes. We have a few days off from school and I am planning on staying home and sewing. I had to go to too many places over the past two weeks and I've realized something about myself that I should have already known. I really would just rather stay home and make things.

Since I'm the Queen of getting ahead of myself...

I have a new photo blog and it's so pretty that I can't stop looking at it! And the sad thing is that I haven't even posted anything on it yet! How funny is that! But guess what! I designed my very own favicon! I think that's the think I'm most excited about!

That's enough exclamation points for one post. I'm going to bed now. And tomorrow I'm going to go to Knoxville for a fun engagement shoot! (ok just one more exclamation point)

You just can't make stuff like this up!

Today I did something I'm not too proud of...but I'm blaming it on the cabin fever resulting from a week of solitary confinement due to Chickie's swineflu/strep combo. How's that for a long sentence?

So we're eating lunch. Bentley says, "Mommy, why is she naked?" I look out the sliding glass doors in front of our kitchen table and see a rather large woman collecting walnuts from under our tree. She is holding a grocery bag. If she had been wearing the bag it probably would have been more modest than what I was seeing. She was wearing what looked like a bra and panty set. And she was bending over. And over and over. The bra was too small and it had a hole in it. I shut my curtains to protect the innocent. I peeked out for a moment trying to solidify if what I was seeing was really and truly real. It was. I contemplated saying something, started to open the door. I stopped myself because I knew it wasn't going to come out very nicely.

At this point I should probably explain that we live in a condo with a big shared backyard. And this naked lady is one of my neighbors. We haven't officially been introduced.

I call my other neighbor and bid her to look out her window. We start laughing hysterically in disbelief. Annie points out that she probably thinks it's ok since she is wearing a sports bra and what might possibly be bikini bottoms. We discuss complaining to the homeowners association and decency laws in our town. We laugh some more and hang up.

I go to my fridge and open the door. I have the sudden thought flash through my mind. I failed the test. When I was a teen/twenty something I was obsessed with magazine quizzes. It all played out in my mind.

Question: Your unsightly neighbor decides to pick walnuts in a makeshift bikini in the fall in your backyard, you...

A. Explain that there are children present, and would she please wear some clothes. Offer her an extra grocery bag and bring her a fresh batch of pumpkin muffins to thank her for being such a great sport about the whole thing.

B. Shut your curtains and laugh it off, people are quirky.

C. Call a friend and laugh at your neighbor together. And blog about it later.

D. Take a video and post it on YouTube.

E. Call the police.

In my mind, when filling out the answers in the magazine, I would think I'd be person A. Maybe B would have been the best thing to do. But no. In actuality I chose C. I'm a terrible person. But in my defense... it was one of those moments so unbelievable that it really had to be shared.

So maybe my neighborhood is kinda worse than I thought it was. And I have never had one moments second thought about moving here. Everything has been really great. Except one thing. I miss living in a town where we can afford a really nice house. Kind of a lot.

I'm thankful for the weather today it was really nice...maybe a little too nice.

So seriously though! What would YOU have done? I really want to know.

my sweet Grammy

My Grammy with her older sister my Great Aunt Jean

My Grammy died on September 10th. We went to Moab, UT to be with family and to help with and attend her funeral services. I felt really proud of my family. The services were perfect. We had a viewing, a traditional funeral at the graveside, and a family memorial service up at Warner Lake. Warner was the place she loved. She said being there filled her soul. We told stories about her. More that made us laugh than made us cry. It seems she made everyone feel like family, and accepted us all in spite of our differences. I loved her very much. She was a huge influencing factor in my life. I feel different now. I have to be more of a grown up now. I am going to take some time and try to make my home look slightly more grown up. That sounds so funny, but I'm serious. Hopefully I'm capable of having a grown up house. I think some of the old college paintings might have to come down. Grammy was always one to get things done. I think I definitely inherited that. But I'm going to take some time to make sure I'm moving forward and getting the best things done. Move forward with a specific purpose. So I may be a little quiet here on my blog for a bit longer.

I'm thankful for many, many good memories. I'm especially thankful that I chose to live with her the summer after my freshman year in college. We had a lovely time together and she taught me to quilt, one of her greatest passions in life.

this weekend

We hunted for treasure, and found it.

We got to be a part of something wonderful! We went back to Knoxville for Addison's baptism.

I had to laugh when I was taking these pictures I told Ryan and Add to just talk to each other and interact. Ryan then gave Addison a hug and then he said in the sweetest, most natural way, "Now hug me on the other side." Now you can tell his wife (my dear friend Heather) is awesome about taking great pictures of her family.

I miss these guys! But I'm glad we live within driving distance.

And I sewed! Finally got a little done on Chickie girl's quilt.

What did you do?