This on the other hand, is not photoshopped.

Well, not the hair anyway.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

This is what happens when David and I get goofy.

We photoshop.Meeeow!

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Wedding Day! Congradulations LuAnn and Earl!

This past Saturday was my aunt LuAnn's wedding. It was just beautiful. My mom cried through the whole ceremony. I took the photos, which was a daunting prospect, let me tell you. The Bountiful temple is up high on the bench and windy. So windy that my reflector was more of a disco ball and completely useless. PLUS, it was high noon when we did photos and direct, sunny light. Basically, a photographer's nightmare (I know LuAnn reads this, so I'd like to take this moment to mention that I loved doing your photos and I was honored you asked and the rest of this post is meant to be a funny look at me and not a reflection on how I felt. I was actually amazingly calm, albeit confounded at every turn).

So, we get to the luncheon after the ceremony and the pictures. It was so cutely decorated. Loved especially this tower of preservatives and cream:

I love love love those Hostess cupcakes. My favorite part is the white loops of frosting on the top. I have a method of eating them so I have a tiny bit of white loop in each bite. I think if those loops did not exist, I would not eat them. This is a time when being the photographer came in handy, because I only ate one, being all distracted by my camera.

And of course, because this is the day of crazy, Aubrey pukes all over the stage. Twice. Then we clean her up as best we can, put her in a shirt-dress improvised from an extra shirt I brought for the boys, which she pukes on while on the way out to the car, all over the shirt. I needed to stay to take photos at the reception, so David loaded up all the kids and took them home. I got to ride home with my parent's, sandwitched between my two brothers who are over 6 feet tall, instead of in the front passenger seat of my room van. Joy. Although it was awesome to spend some time with my parents and my brothers, even if Ty spent most of the ride home drooling on me and reminding me that my shoulders are made of bone.

Anyway, after the luncheon I headed over to Connie's house to work on the photos. The plan was to get them off my camera, take a look at them quickly, pick one, edit it and then head to Costco to get one printed. I brought up my laptop, my external hard-drive, my camera cord, my battery charger. I thought I had accounted for every contigency. After all, I could always pop in my memory card directly to the kiosk at Costco and get one that way.

I was wrong.

First of all, I tried to get the photos off my camera. The laptop doesn't have the camera driver installed, but I knew I had a card reader on the laptop. I couldn't get them off of my camera, so I looked around for the card reader. Not the card reader I needed. Oh well, I'll just download my driver from Canon's website. Wait, no wireless signal. Ok, find Connie's jack for internet and plug it into my computer. Find Canon's website. Can't find right driver. Try to dowload what looks like driver. 30 minutes later. Not working. Try googling how to install driver, still not working. I didn't bring up my disk because I figured I could always use the card reader. Download something else. Not working. Try something else. Still not working.

Ok, by this time it is getting close to when we need to leave for the reception, so I take my memory card to Costco. I bring the camera, but leave the battery at home. I stick in my memory card. They won't show up. I shot every last photo in RAW and Costco can't convert the files. I think briefly that I may be able to do it on my camera (which was wrong), but guess what? I've left the battery at Connie's to charge for the reception photos. The universe is against me. This is reaching the tragic proportions of Hamlet or Edipus, my tragic flaw being that I put my trust in technology. The poor guy at Costco got to hear my entire camera story. I knew just how he felt. He was smiling and nodding.

I go back to Connie's and try to get them off my camera. Still no luck. At that point, I give up. The good thing about this is that I spent all afternoon trying to get pictures off my camera instead of lugging around tables and chairs to set up the reception.

Another bad side effect is that I planned to delete my card after putting the photos onto the computer. I'm a bit tight for room on there now.

We head off to the reception and on the way there, we see this sign:I did a huge double-take! A closer look:
I made my dad go back so I could get a photo of their names up on the sign. LuAnn used to work at Kirk's. They have excellent food; we all snuck out of the reception for some dinner there so I know it first hand.

It was a wonderful day and the best thing of all was seeing my beautiful aunt so happy. She looked angelic. Funny side story, I was showing Aubriana pictures on my blog the other night and she was naming each thing in the picture and when I got to the bridal photos, she pauses and looks for a minute before declaring them "princess."

If I could have printed one, I might have picked one of these:

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

A Quick Post about an Octopus

Isn't he cute? I made him for my cousin's baby. Shanna is having her first baby, a little boy, and my mom and sister made him a rag blanket with a flannel print with sea creatures on it. I jumped in and thought I'd crochet him an octopus to go with it. I think it turned out so cute. My boys love it. I found a pattern on the Red Lion site, but decided not to follow it exactly, so I could make him the size I felt like making him. And yes, he does have 8 tentacles.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Autofocus or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the To Do List

If you know me, you know I love a to do list. I can't live without the things. This is because I only have a sliver of my original brain and trying to keep track of whether or not four kids have been fed or which have recently had diaper changes takes up most of the space. I also love to cross things off my list, because I feel like even if I can't see a visibal difference in my house, I have concrete proof that I actually did accomplish something besides surfing the net and keeping the kids alive.

However, being that I am so hard on myself, I like to focus on all the things I haven't done on my list instead of celebrating what I did accomplish. And, I have all these restrictions. Like on my list "dishes" means every single dish in my house is clean and put away. If I have a cup on my computer table or a pan that needs to be washed, I cannot cross it off my list. Also, "dishes" does not mean spend 10 minutes on dishes, get distracted by smeared pudding or a sudden need to pee, then forgetting I even own dishes until the next day. This means "dishes" is perceptually on my to do list, without me being able to cross it off.

So, while researching something for school, I found a truly brilliant man named Mark Forster. If I ever meet this man in person, he is getting a kiss. Right on the mouth. He's recently developed this system called Autofocus. A to do list tracking method that rewards you for any time spent on a task, uses intuition and logic to approach your tasks.

First of all, get a notebook. Start writing out your list. Don't worry about if it needs to be done soon or not, if it's important or not. Just get it all out and on the page, one task per line. Then follow this system (from his website):

"The system consists of one long list of everything that you have to do, written in a ruled notebook (25-35 lines to a page ideal). As you think of new items, add them to the end of the list. You work through the list one page at a time in the following manner:

1. Read quickly through all the items on the page without taking action on any of them.
2. Go through the page more slowly looking at the items in order until one stands out for you.
3. Work on that item for as long as you feel like doing so
4. Cross the item off the list, and re-enter it at the end of the list if you haven’t finished it
5. Continue going round the same page in the same way. Don’t move onto the next page until you complete a pass of the page without any item standing out
6. Move onto the next page and repeat the process
7. If you go to a page and no item stands out for you on your first pass through it, then all the outstanding items on that page are dismissed without re-entering them. (N.B. This does not apply to the final page, on which you are still writing items). Use a highlighter to mark dismissed items.
8. Once you’ve finished with the final page, re-start at the first page that is still active.

Each of these steps is explained in more detail below, but I suggest you get going now and read the rest of the instructions later. Don’t forget to put “Read the rest of the instructions” as one of your tasks. You don’t need a huge number of tasks to start with, just add tasks as you think of them or they come up."

You can get the rest of the instructions here: Autofocus System.

Or, you can watch this video (warning: cool British accents ahead):


I can not believe how much I've been able to do using this system. Granted, it's only been two days, but I love how it is so flexible. It's motivating. You can cross things off if you only do a tiny bit of work on it! My right brain loves it. My left brain loves it.

This is what I've found as I've used it, again from Mark Forster's website: "It’s very difficult to focus on what is important with one’s rational mind alone, because what your conscious mind thinks is important may not be what your subconscious mind thinks is important. What I’ve found is that looking back on what I’ve done I can see that the focus produced by the system feels 'right' - right for me in my current circumstances."

Mark Forster, you're my hero.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Hootie-Hoo! This post's for you.

Yeah, I'm a Top Chef fan. Wish Carla would have won the whole thing. Odd, because I wouldn't taste any of their food if you paid me. Maybe that's why I can't look away. Maybe the whole time I'm thinking who would eat that?

Anyway, I thought it would be fun if you introduced yourself, both to me in case I don't know you, and to everyone else who reads my blog. All three of you. :) Ok, just joking. I know there are more of you. I have a site meter after all.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

My Thought for the Day (A Serious Post)

Recently, there was a very interesting thread topic on 2peas (that is twopeasinabucket.com for those of you who don't know). Faith and religion often get discussed there. And as I was thinking about this particular thread, I had this thought come to me this morning and I shared it there and I feel like sharing it now.

Lately, I've been getting a very frustrating answer to all my prayers. Basically, I get the sense that Heavenly Father is saying to me, "I've taught you well. I trust you and I love you. You don't need to ask me this. You are my child, I've given you intelligence and discernment. I trust you to do what you think is best." For instance, I was praying about whether or not I should go back to school and that was the answer I got. Sometimes, I just want him to tell me what to do! But then I realized that if he is a perfect and loving father, then he is doing it the right way. I've been taught and now I am free to make up my own mind and to make my own decisions. I hope that someday I will do as good a job with my children.

There are very few times in my life when I've had a direct and distinct answer to my prayers. One of those times was when I was trying to decide which college to attend. I was trying to decide between BYU and Utah State. Well, the answer was Ricks (This was just before it changed to BYU-Idaho). I was pretty shocked, as I hadn't really even considered Ricks, but it was one of the most important decisions of my life and a rare instance when I needed direct guidance. But for the most part, the answers to my prayers are to use my own judgement.

Anyway, I think sometimes the answer is the same with doctrinal issues, not just life choices. I think he absolutely wants us to find our own conclusions and our own peace with it. The gospel is individualized, because we each find our own understanding of it, in the way that is best for our development and growth. I'm not saying their aren't eternal truths, for instance, I believe the atonement of Christ is fixed and eternal, but yet we all use and apply that atonement in the way we need it in our lives.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Bridal Photo Shoot

My Aunt LuAnn is getting married in a few weeks. She asked me to take her bridals, which made me nervous as I don't trust myself with big occasions. For example, I forgot my battery yesterday and couldn't take pictures up in Odgen. I also drop lenses. I shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a bridal party becuase I'm likely to mess up something important.

My Aunt Connie came down with LuAnn on Saturday. We went to a nearby orchard and to the Provo Library. Despite my fears, they turned out passable. She looks glowing and happy, which is just as it should be. Earl, (the one that is marrying LuAnn and not the one who is already married to Connie) if you happen to read this by some freak accident, back away slowly. No seeing the dress before the wedding.

Here are a few of the shots (well, a lot of shots). I don't know why, but they seem to wash out a bit when I upload on blogger. :P on blogger:

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Pictures of My Girl (Hey, I'm Featured Too)

I just can't resist. :)

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Type A or Watching American Idol

I am a type A personality. This is something you can’t develop, you are just born with it or you aren’t. My parents should have known when I got colic, and screamed for four months straight, that I was trying to be in control and also, I was allergic to milk. They got smart, told me to grow out of my milk allergy, and presented me with my little sister twenty-two months later. She became my first minion. Ahhh, memories.

If you’ve ever taken the color personality test, I am a red/blue. This means I will put my screws into you, bend you to my will, but I feel bad about it. I am a power/guilt machine. This also means that I have the little quirk of wanting to direct all your activities, but I also desperately need you to like me. Lucky for me, my little sister is more of the passive, forgiving, long-suffering type. She was perfectly willing to let me boss her around. In our family, this earned her the label of “peacemaker.” I was “the talented one.” Somehow, the talent was never specified, but I’m guessing it had something to do with my innate ability to boss everyone around and turn them into my personal servant.

Fate made a huge mistake in not having me born as an Egyptian queen, an archduchess, or at least Paris Hilton. I could have done so much with that kind of power. It’s totally wasted on Paris Hilton. I can promise you that I would not have had to create a TV show for myself for the sole purpose of finding a BFF, new or otherwise. I would have organized an application and interviewing process, with alphabetical lists and a rating system. After I picked, I would dread the task of telling the losers that they have lost. On top of my mad organizing/guilt skills—never mind that most of my systems turn out to not work nearly as well as I imagined—I am great at spending money and looking good. Another benefit is that money would have saved my sister from her fate, as I could have had a paid person to boss around. Instead I was forced to manipulate/bribe/bully Melissa into trading me her new Lady Lovely Locks doll for my old headless Barbie, and as part of the bargain, she had to fetch me a cookie. As soon as I had my cookie and my Lady Lovely Locks, I then felt bad about screwing over my sister. But not bad enough to trade her back.

Unfortunately, Melissa grew a backbone in high school and started refusing to bring me water (just a little ice, please,) and occasionally interjecting an opinion on restaurants and ice cream flavors. (Go, Mel! I needed a comedown). Luckily, I didn’t have to exist long in this bereft condition. I met David not too long after that. One of the things I love about him, then and now, is he is just as stubborn and hard-headed as I am. And he is sexy to boot. I love that he can stand up to me. This had been somewhat lacking in some of my previous relationships. One other bonus was that I had the vacant position of lackey filled. He loves me so much that he will gladly cook me dinner and bring it to me in bed and all I have to do is glance at him slightly and he remembers that he needs to bring me a Dr. Pepper. I also feel guilty over this. I am lucky. And spoiled. It’s at times like these, that some time-honored wisdom, passed down through the ages, reverberates in my brain, and I can hear my dad pull out his favorite phrase to use on just these sort of occasions, when I have gone too far in expecting someone to be my personal slave: “ What? Are your legs painted on?” This clearly means, “Get off your lazy arse, use the legs that God was good enough to give you, and get whatever you want by the power of your own locomotion, you crazy, type A, demanding child.”

From this, we can say that we’ve established that I like to be in charge. This is one of the reasons I love being a mom. I rule over an empire, which has the power to spawn thousands. Motherhood has brought me the opportunity to say the second best phrase in the English language: I am the boss. The first is obvious: I am right. David also knows the allure of saying these phrases. He does get the better of me at times. I can admit that sometimes, I am wrong. (I’m kidding, I am never wrong. I just let him think he’s right. When he reads this, he is going to be annoyed and insist that he is often right. I will nod and acquiesce, but in my secret heart I will still be right. Even if I am wrong. He feels exactly the same way. This is why our relationship works).

This brings me around to watching American Idol tonight. I am probably the worst person in the world to watch with. First of all, I have a decisive opinion on each person. I say that opinion out loud. While they are still singing. But that’s not the worst part. The worst part is when the judges agree with me and I get to say that delicious phrase: See, I was right. I am certain that after 12 contestants, this gets old. Especially as my gleeful enthusiasm for being right does not wane after repeated occurrences. And, often the people watching with me have agreed with me in the first place.

Nothing like ruining the enjoyment of watching American Idol for your closest loved ones. Be advised, if I ever invite you to an American Idol viewing, run far far away where the sound of my voice critiquing contestants and agreeing with Simon will not poison your opinions forever. You have been warned.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.