Summer Time

Audio Books

2009-09-15T18:31:00.002-06:00

I LOVE audio books. I’ve never been a reader, I always fall asleep. Before I started listening to audio books, I had maybe ten books under my belt. Now I’ve read almost 150 books. I can’t believe how much information I deprived myself of. There is so much knowledge and entertainment in an audio book. The best part is that I get everything from libraries (FREE). Anyone who knows me, knows that I wouldn’t have it any other way! To make it even easier, they’re not just CD’s anymore. It is so easy to download an audio file right to my mp3 player. Most libraries give you free access to sites like Recorded Books/NetLibrary and Overdrive.

Being at home with my daughter is a lot of fun but sometimes I feel like I’m in a pretend world where everyone uses limited adjectives and pronouns. I’ll be the first to admit that I get bored and need something to stimulate my mind besides a three year old. Audio books are perfect to use at the park, coloring, laying down with her at nap time, or during a major ear blistering tantrum. Insert earbuds, problem solved! I even use it when I clean the house. Sometimes, I FIND things to clean just so I can listen.

Anyways, I feel like a completely different person and wanted to share my find with everyone who cares to read this. It would be nice to chat about books with anyone who wants to join in on the fun or learn how to do it. If you already read, you can also be my friend on Goodreads.com. It’s a lot of fun.

Box

2009-08-09T15:01:00.002-06:00

Last night, I was thinking about my pre-child days. I knew I worked in a box all day long but didn't realize how much of my life was actually spent in a box. I live in a box, I would drive to work in a bow, park in a parking garage (box), ride up the elevator (box), sit in my cubicle and stare at a box. I would go back to my home box the same way and either stare at my computer box or my tv box. Finally, I would go sleep on a box. I didn't spend ALL my life in a box, but this was the "normal" day.

What is with our love for boxes?

Now that I have a toddler, I don't know if all that much has even changed. She wants me to get out, go to parks, go for walks and play outside but usually I resist. It's not quite as bad as when I worked, but I'm getting the feeling that I must like the comfort of a box. Sometimes, I'll go outside and bring my laptop (box) and be perfectly happy like I've ventured out of my comfort zone or something. It seems like somethings wrong with this, but I don't know. Do I need to spend more time outside or should I just do what makes me comfortable?

For the Moms

2009-07-22T15:08:00.001-06:00

This is for all the moms who sometimes feel this way.

Janice & Russell

2009-07-12T19:30:00.004-06:00

I got back from St George yesterday. I had the honor of shooting my cousin's wedding on Friday. It was beautiful. Here are some shots.

Her parents are in the background. I thought they had great expressions.

It was probably the cutest wedding kiss I've seen. Too bad it's a bit blurry.

I just thought this one was funny. I didn't mean to get him eating! LOL

Bouquet throw

He was really happy to have caught the garder

I wanted ALL of the family in the shot. I was reminded that I was part of the family. Good thing I brought my tripod.

These are the grand kids on Russell's side. I'm just always amazed at the shots with a bunch of kids. The little girl in the blue dress cracks me up. She was not happy.

This is all of Russell's side. I think this is the biggest group I've ever done, so I had to post it.

They were very cute! Congrats guys I'm so happy for you.
(BTW, Your DVD will be in the mail tomorrow....)

New Bangs

2009-03-29T15:13:00.003-06:00

AGGGHH, 2 1/2 years down the drain! I have been patiently waiting for Audrey's bangs to grow long enough for a cute hair cut. We were almost there and what did she do??? She cut her bangs! I knew I shouldn't have been too excited for her hair to grow out! AGGH. Well here she is, so proud of herself!

Mother

2009-02-14T11:22:00.003-07:00

Here are my latest pictures in my iStock que. I was going for the idea that a newborn is dependent on his mother when he is brought into the big cold world. I played on the warm and cool colors to show the city as big and cool and then gelled the mother and newborn to give it that cozy loving feel. I'm pretty happy with them. The model is my friend and I think her and her new baby are just beautiful. She is a great model, she should get paid for it with her perfect cheek bones and all!

This one was a complete accident. I like how it turned out, even though it's a little creepy. At the time I didn't notice that she was reflecting in the window. I darkened it a little to see her face.

Farmington Bay

2009-02-11T23:05:00.003-07:00

I went to Farmington Bay the other day to see the infamous eagles. I don't shoot a lot of wildlife, I have a lot to learn. It was actually fun just being out there. Just me and the birds.

This one was real respectful. I think he was bowing to ME:

This one is me yelling at Matt:

I don't even know what these ones are:

Crazy Kids

2009-02-03T20:26:00.003-07:00

Here are some pics I took just messing around at my sister's house. Some of them turned out kind of funny.

Alex's Baptism

2009-02-02T16:10:00.003-07:00

Matt's nephew got baptized on Saturday. Im trying to take my camera EVERYWHERE since it's harder than you realize to be a photographer AND a mom. So, I'm just going to be both at the same time.

Audrey wanted a picture too!

Matt

2009-01-28T17:03:00.001-07:00

Here's a shot of Matt. Just thought I would show everyone how cute he is with his tools!

Trax

2009-01-22T16:23:00.003-07:00

I joined another photography group last night. SL Photo Club. We went down town and shot some pictures. It was so much fun to shoot with people. It would have been a little scary taking these by myself alone at night. Here's what I got. I should have worked my flash a little different, but next time I'll know.

This is the sky walk. I used a gelled orange flash for the bottom half.

This one is a little hard to see because the front is blurred over. You can see the front of the train right in the middle if you around the blue circle.

This is the main library. I just shot this waiting for the train. I didnt have my flash out and was surprised I got it this sharp for hand holding the camera.

Welcome Home Tommy

2008-12-29T16:20:00.004-07:00

Matt's brother Tommy came home from his mission in Poland just over a week ago. We attended his home coming talk on Sunday. Afterward we were able to herd everyone outside for a family picture. We have everyone there ....but Ricky. Sorry Ricky (mission in Germany). I tried to Photoshop him in, but the only picture I have of him is on a dark background. I still might be able to do it, but it wont be a 5 minute job. Here are the pictures. Im not very pleased with the lighting so dont judge me too hard. It was a quick and dirty shoot.

Jammies

2008-12-24T15:24:00.003-07:00

So, I went to the DI this morning and found some of these cool jammies:I thought they would be SOOO AWESOME for Christmas. Anyways, I didnt end up getting them because I was too tall. Lets just say a certain desert animal came to mind when trying them on. So, I have Audrey with me and we are in the dressing room. She was being a little pill but after time she just laid on the floor and spied out under the door. Just as I zip the jammies up and take a look at my cool self, Audrey bolts under the door with an insanly fast army crawl. I reach for the door and almost step out to catch her but then remember the not so awesome jammies I have on. I take a look at myself in new eyes and decide I dont want the whole store to see me chasing my little munchkin in long johns. So I hurry and get dressed. By the time I get out of the dressing room, she is long gone. Her favorite game in clothing stores is to sneek in a clothes rack and see if mommy can find me. So I get on my hands and knees and looks for two little legs....nothing. I asked the people that were around me.......idiots. I really doubt they didnt hear me yelling and threatening her when she bolted. Finally, I hear her laughing at me and spot her. There she is, climbing on the clothing rack like they were monkey bars. Needless to say, she was buckled right into the shopping cart and we went straight home. I wish she had a concept of Santa Claus so I could tell her that he is not comming tomorrow!

University Guest House

2008-12-15T20:57:00.002-07:00

Last spring, I had my first commercial job. I was hired to take pictures of the University Guest House and it's affiliated buildings. They were going to use the photos for a new website and brochures. They have finally posted the new website and I thought I would share. A lot of the pictures on the site were taken by me. Especially the interior and exterior building shots. Another photographer did the wedding ones (except, I did one), most of the ones with people (except the Heritage center), and the food ones (I did some banquet ones). It was kind of fun to see them in action. If you want to see, here is the link. You probably wont know which ones I did for sure though.

http://www.universityguesthouse.com/University-Guest-House

Poor Tree

2008-12-14T14:25:00.005-07:00

It finally snowed yesterday. Consequently, people drive crazy.

Someone took our corner too fast and crashed into our tree. Broke the poor thing right in half. Oh yeah, they took off without saying a word! Good thing, and bad thing, my neighbor was out in her driveway. She saw the whole thing. I'm glad it was our tree and not her! After looking at the damage, I got a call from another neighbor who is actually on a different street, but has a high house. Here husband saw the car from their bedroom window. They didn't see the crash but saw the speeding car. They told me who they thought it was and I spent all day trying to decide what to do. I thought it would be better if they came clean on their own instead of getting a phone call from me.

Today, the police officer involved told us that they know who did it. She had called it in but had a slightly different story. It WASN'T who I thought it was. The type of car was right, but not the person. Boy am I glad I didn't accuse anyone. Anyways, she came back to our house at 4:00 in the morning. Called the police and said that it had just happened. She then said that another car was going to hit her and she had to swerve into the tree. Later, the police got the truth from her. OMG! If she would have just stopped in the first place, it would have been a lot easier. We weren't even mad. We just did know what to do so we reported it to the police. Anyways, case closed. I was fully entertained.

Another Book Review: The Golden Compass

2008-12-12T00:16:00.003-07:00

I just finished "His Dark Materials" trilogy aka: The Golden Compass. I saw the movie and then Matt said that there was a huge black listing of the book because the author is Atheist. So OF COURSE I had to read it, LOL! Anyways, I REALLY liked the books. I guess I must like Atheist authors. My favorite author is Ayn Rand (Atheist). Maybe I like them because they dont bind themselves by traditional rules. Even though I dont think everything in a "fictional" book is fact, I like the fresh new ideas. I like to see how they can make them work in a new kind of world. I understand why some people would make a big deal over the ideas in the book but I kind of wonder if the author was baiting for it in the first place. The author was said to be surprised that Harry Potter received more controversy than his books. As if he was looking for the attention to lead to more sells!! Anyways, I think people should be allowed to say whatever they want to say and you and I should then decide if it is fact or fiction. I dont think books should be ignored because they might have a different idea than the main stream. Maybe they are just not worth your time, but there shouldnt be some public strike against it.

To sum it up, this series might be added to my favorite books list. Although, it was a little drawn out in some parts and some things seems to be "a little too convenient". I love the whole idea of "Dust", good vs. evil, and your soul taking the form of an animal. I even liked the religious references. Maybe because I dont think The Fall was bad. Well, you will have to read it to know what Im talking about, or just go to Wikipedia. If you have read it, I would like to know what you thought.

December Photo Discounts

2008-12-04T15:25:00.002-07:00

I know I have some people who read this blog but don't read my others. For those of you who might consider me your photographer, I just wanted to let you know that I am feeling extra charitable this season!! I have decided to waive any subgroup fees for photo sessions booked in December. See my "other" site for details. (www.summerderrickphoto.blogspot.com) FYI

Veges

2008-12-03T20:56:00.003-07:00

Here are some pictures waiting approval from iStock. Just thought I would share

Blog Stalking

2008-12-02T14:18:00.003-07:00

Are you a blog stalker?? Fess up. Let's get it all out on the table. I'm not talking about the creepy illegal kind of stalking. I'm talking about going from blog link to blog link finding people you know from other people you know. I confess, I am officially a blog stalker. Although, if I find someone I want to keep in touch with, I will let them know. I don't care if people stalk my blog, unless they plan on doing something illegal. I would not post anything that isn't free for all to read. I think blogging is an awesome phenomenon. I am able to post my opinion about anything for anyone to read and I don't have to be asked first!! If you don't want to know, you don't have to read it. How many times can you do that face to face? Zero. You have to keep your opinion to yourself, unless you are asked. So this it my tribute to the bloggers who are not afraid to blog about their every thought and to the people who read them, anonymous or not. Although, why be anonymous?? I am dedicating the comments section of this post to all blog stalkers who want to come out of the closet. You shouldn't be ashamed.

Tagged

2008-11-29T09:39:00.003-07:00

Alicia tagged me. Here is my fourth picture in my fourth folder.

This is Matt playing volleyball in 2005, when I was still allowed to play with the boys. We are at Tanner park. Now I tag Tammy, Marie, Shonnie, and Gwami

Arrrrrr........Pirate

2008-11-10T21:23:00.005-07:00

Ok, grandmas and Alicia. Here are your pictures you requested!

Audrey had so much fun trick or treating with Taylor. This was the first year I went with her. We booked it across the whole neighborhood. They were going so sloowwww. LOL Audrey was really brave and faced all of the scary pumpkins. She also said hi to our very scary witch friend. What a big girl!

Fighting for her buried treasure!

ok this picture is just weird but it makes me laugh!!

Matt taught her to hold her sword like a real pirate.

I'm testing out my new lighting toy. Still learning!

Taxes

2008-11-07T21:49:00.001-07:00

I dont know who wrote this, but I like it.

Bar Stool Economics

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar everyday and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings)
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant the men began to compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'
'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I !
'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks !
'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor !

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Halloween Pictures....finally.

2008-11-07T14:54:00.009-07:00

There's more to come. I just tired of waiting for them to load....uhhhh

Lucky Day!

2008-10-25T23:41:00.003-06:00

I was running errands today in the Sugar House area. I thought I would kill some time and run into Old Navy. Inside the store, they were handing out little Halloween gift bags. We were told to check inside to see what our discount would be for the day. To my complete amazement, my card said $150 off your total purchase! I had to read the fine lines to make sure it wasn't a trick...... NOT A TRICK! YAHOO!!!! I really got $150 of free stuff from Old Navy.

Most of you know that I like nice stuff but am usually too cheap to buy it. Hence my regular trips to Plato's Closet. I thought I would spend it all on a TON of clearance stuff. NOPE. I think I bought the most expensive thing in the store. It was an awesome wool coat. I've been wanting one for a long time but could never find a deal.

I got this one, but in gray:I also got some pants and some clothes for Audrey. I would have to say that I've had a pretty goo day.

Oh on top of that, I went into the studio that took my wedding photos. I was going to buy my wedding negatives (since its been 8 years, they were up for sell). I was expecting to pay $150 for them but she only charged me $50! This is the photographer I worked for when I graduated high school, so she wanted to give me a deal. What great people.

Bubble Gum

2008-10-15T16:43:00.003-06:00

Matt was at YM's last night so the girls were able to play. I took some video of Audrey. I think it's cute and the grandparents will probably think its cute, but that might be about all. Take a look, it's my first video to music!!

My iStock Star

2008-10-02T23:04:00.003-06:00

I took pictures of my neighbor's daughter the other day and wanted to show off how cute she is. I just barely got them all uploaded today. In fact, that's about all I did today. Poor Audrey. I uploaded 26 of her and 4 of Desiree's family. So check my iStock page in about a week to see them all. Here are some of my favorites.

Aghhhh, she's so cute!

The Deck Again

2008-10-02T23:00:00.003-06:00

I put my deck on iStock and they actually approved it. So if you want to buy a picture of my deck, you can! I dont know why I think that's so funny. Probably because I need to go to bed.

Finally! The deck is done

2008-09-27T14:05:00.002-06:00

It's been four long months, but we have finally finished our Deck. I still have some decorating to do but maybe I will wait until next summer. I'm just glad to be done.

And......since I never get credit for this kind of thing, Im going to mention how much I actually did. If you know Matt, you know that he likes to be busy. We both got kind of sick of him spending ALL of his free time on the deck, so I decided to take over. I kind of have more time than Matt, especially durring nap times and while Audrey would be playing outside.

Matt did most of the framing and the cutting but I did most of the floor and putting the stuff on. I also did all of the railing except for the areas that Matt had to redo cuz he's a big perfectionist.

TruTV

2008-09-26T15:34:00.002-06:00

I finally figured out how to embed a video to my sidebar. If you missed the TruTv episode check it out to the left. Enjoy

Bike Jump Fans

2008-09-14T21:31:00.003-06:00

OK fans, just wanted to let everyone know that my most embarrassing moment, take two, will be airing on Wednesday (Sept 17th). The show is called "Most Daring" and is aired on TruTV. Hopfully my interview isnt too embarrassing, go easy on me. Go easy on Matt too, they swindled an interveiw out of him this time. He said they made him say all sorts of mushy stuff. This outta be good.

As far as times go....I dont really know. Eastern time, it will be aired at 9:00pm. I looked it up on TVGuide.com and here is what I got for the Salt Lake area.

Direct TV ch 246 7pm

Comcast ch 44 10pm

I dont have either Direct TV or Comcast so I dont really how all of this works. Hopefully you can figure it out.

Book Review

2008-09-03T13:22:00.002-06:00

If you didn't know, Im one of those "Twilight" fans. I just finished "Breaking Dawn" yesterday. Everyone I know finished weeks ago so I guess I'm slow. If you havn't read it and you like chick books, you might like it. I did like it, but I dont think I loved it more than the average person. Most of it was a little gooey mushy for me, but it was a good story.

I also finished "Pillars of the Earth". I actually found out about this book through our ward book club. The book club never happened because the ward split shortly after, but I thought I would check out some of the books anyways. I also heard a bunch of people raving about it on Oprah.

So I got it from the library. I have to say I REALLY liked it, but................. it is NOT for the weak hearted. Let me repeat........... if you have a weak heart, stomach, or bladder..... skip it. I was so shocked that this was on our ward book list. I actually cant stop laughing about it. I wish I knew who recommended it. At least to me, this book was really violent and sexually explicit. Once I realized this, I was already into the story and didn't exactly put it aside . AND to top it off because it was so good, I'm now reading "World without End" which is the sequel. Anyways, I liked it.

Jordanelle

2008-09-03T12:55:00.003-06:00

We went to Jordanelle on Saturday. I'm soooo glad we are friends with the Fawcett's so that we can go boating once a year. OH and they're nice people too.

I was a little worried, because IT WAS COLD! Luckily, it warmed up later. I still didn't go skiing though, cuz Im a wimp. The water was choppy and cold and again, Im a wimp. My favorite part is really just riding in the boat. OMGosh Im old and a wimp. OH well.

Of course I took pictures...............

This is our family picture. There's me in the right with camera and Audrey on the left. This was Matt's idea. Ok it wasn't and I think it's actually Brent on the left, not Audrey.

Dirt.....

I think this is why Audrey came home sick and why I am still sick myself......

Where's your mother!!?

Matt is so sick of me taking pictures of him. I had to remind him to smile.
It's hard to shoot a moving target

Yeah! Website

2008-08-24T21:56:00.002-06:00

I finally have a portrait website! Thanks to blogger, king of the free webspace.

Here's the link or click my NEW button on the left!

www.summerderrickphoto.blogspot.com

Something to kill time

2008-08-21T22:27:00.001-06:00

These shirts made me laugh so hard I cried........

http://www.snorgtees.com/-c-27.html

Grandma Bosen's Birthday

2008-08-06T18:49:00.005-06:00

Matt's grandma's birthday was last month. I thought I woul finally post some pictures.

Grandma

Brad and the band

They had a great playground at the park

Audrey needed a tickle torcher.

I'm Bronze

2008-08-01T14:09:00.002-06:00

I almost forgot...how could I.

I'm sure people arn't as obsessed with my iStock page as I am so I thought I would make the announcement here as well. Yesterday I finally hit my goal of

250 downloads!

Yeah. This means I get a cute little bronze icon by my name. I will also get 5% more commision on my sales and will be promoted though iStock's advertising. Also, one of the best parts is that I will get business cards, like a real job. OMGosh!!! Now I will be able to approach strangers and ask them if I can take their picture without looking like a dork. Business cards make you look unlike a dork.

Matt said I should throw a party for myself, he's such a nice guy. Maybe I will.

Most Daring Interview

2008-08-01T13:22:00.002-06:00

So I think I mentioned earlier that I was asked to be on another TV show for my bike accident. The show is called Most Daring. We were finally able to fit the interveiw in the day after we got back from the Redwoods. I was a little nervous because the day before I think I got a flu bug.

The morning we were supposed to come home, I could hardly stand up. In fact, when I decided to take a shower I stood up, made it to the bathroom and bent over the sink. A second later I found myself on the floor. Matt came in, asked if I was ok and then I almost threw up. I probably would have if I had anything in my stomach. Sadly, I was again reminded what pregnancy was like and decided that kid number two would still be a little while. Luckily Matt was feeling a little better from his flu bug and was able to drive home while I slept.

Anyway, back to the interview. The next day I woke up with a head ache but felt a lot better. I managed to get the house somewhat decent looking and miraculaously by 4:30 I felt good enough to do the interview. It was so hot that day and I had to turn off the cooler because it was too loud for the taping. On top of that Im sure they were using heat lamps to light the scene. Hopefully I dont look too sweaty on the tape. I think the interview went good. This one was different from the CMT interview. They wanted it to be really dramatic and emotional. I had to tell them how I felt about every second as if it wasnt already apparant. One thing I hated on the CMT interveiw was how smiley I was. I dont think this one will be so smiley and should be better.

The twist to this interveiw is that they wanted to talk to Matt as well. He said he didnt like it but a least he got paid. Like any guy, Matt doesnt like to talk about his "feelings", so you can imagine. I wish I could have stayed and listened to his interview but Audrey was being naughty and we had to go outside. Oh well.

So for anyone who would like to see me make a fool of myself, yet again, the show is tentitively scheduled for September 17th at 9pm. It is called "Most Daring" and is on TruTV. BTW, let me know if you have this channel. I sure don't.

Redwood Forest

2008-07-30T22:14:00.006-06:00

We're back from the Redwood forest. It was exhausting.

Here's the beach that was next to our cabins.

Yes, that is a big ol' slug. Agghh!
Audrey Loves her Aunt Emmie

Mom! Why did you bring me here?

Feeling a bit small?

Audrey wanted me to hold her for most of the trip. Sometimes I could sneak her away to someone else, but she was still really clingy.

Vacation

2008-07-13T16:35:00.002-06:00

So we are going to the Redwood forest tomorrow. I think it will be fun. Im worried about the drive though. If Audrey is good, the vacation will be good. Funny how she controls EVERYTHING. At least we are breaking up the trip with a night in Reno. Then on the way back we will take a detour to San Fransisco. I'll post pictures when we get back.

Another thing. My bike wreck just doesnt want to die out. I got a call from the TV show called "Most Daring". They want to do an interview with me. They said the show is like CMT but not as goofy. It will be fun. Im not getting paid as much but it's better than my stay at home mom wage. So, I will be doing the interview on the 23rd. Hopefully my roots dont look too bad since I wont have any time to get them done!

Oh, and I almost forgot. I got a new camera!!!!!!!! I love it so much. It's the D300. My very first brand new camera, since my Dad bought me a point and shoot when I was like 12. It was even only released in March! I love taking pictures with it. It has this great sounding shutter and it's fast. It just makes me happy to hear it!!

Photo Week

2008-06-27T20:42:00.003-06:00

I've had a long and exciting day. A few weeks ago, I was hired for an awesome commercial job at the University Guest House. Many many thanks to Justin for giving the marketing department my name. Anyways, I've been trying to fill this massive commercial order. I did an few on monday but got the bulk of them done today. I was there for about 5 hours. I forgot what it was like to work so many hours all in a row! : ) I was tired. Luckily, I didn't have to deal with a toddler as well. Thanks again, to my mom. I did realize something though. I actually worked, almost a full day, at something I actually like. Even though it wore me out, I liked it. I never knew it was possible to like work!!!! And now I'm thinking, how stupid was I to waste all of that time cutting payroll checks at my last job. I could have been this at twice the pay and half the time. I guess I've never really been a big risk taker but maybe now I will have learned my lesson.

Anyways, the reason I titled this "Photo Week". For some reason people end up wanting their pictures taken all in the same week. This week I've been shooting like crazy. Twice for the U of U. Wednesday I had a sitting with my neighbor's kids. Tomorrow I am taking pictures of Tammy's cute extended family. Then tomorrow night I get to take some shots of all the rednecks at a Demolition Derby. I'm really excited for this one. I hope I can find some good stock shots.

Overall, I'm loving my full schedule and I couldn't ask for anything better to fill it up with. I say...keep it comming. Here's a peek of what I did.......

St George Summary

2008-06-22T22:07:00.002-06:00

Overall, thumbs up for St George. It was good just to be with the fam. I got a tan, met with some old friends, went shopping (although, I remembered why I always hated shopping in St George. There isnt anywhere to go.), ate lots of junk and watched a lot of Ninja Warrior.

Sand Dunes

2008-06-22T21:47:00.003-06:00

Then, I was somehow talked into going to the Sand Dunes. It was not fun. We got a late start and it was hot hot. I did get some pictures which will make it worth it if I can make them Stock worthy. You will have to look at my iStock site in a few weeks to see if they were accepted.

First item on the agenda: Fill cup with sand

This isnt everyone, but I dont really love getting groups together for "the big shot". I just shot who was sitting there at the time. Works for me
Audrey had a hard time leaving Gramy's side the whole trip. She would say "Granny, Granny". Mom thought it sounded like "Rodney, Rodney"
It was HOT
Matt was such a good model. He actually volunteered this time! Probably, because I'm so mean if he rolls his eyes when I get my camera out. He took his shoes and shirt off to get some desolate looking pictures. Then we took some of his back flips. These are blurry (aagghh), so no stock.
These are the ones I'll send to the iStock people. We'll see if they like 'em

More St George.....

2008-06-22T21:23:00.004-06:00

Somehow I was talked into hiking at Zions. We did Emerald Pools for the kids sake. It was mostly fun. I dont think I had as much fun as a true hiker would have, but I did get some good pictures.

Justin, Tammy and Caden taking a break

We reached the Upper Pools. Audrey fell asleep before the end of the hike. Her head was flopping around so Matt took her out of the backpack and held her for the the last 15 mins..... then held her on the shuttle. She woke up when we got off the shuttle but didnt go back to sleep, I was surprised.

I'm Back

2008-06-22T20:33:00.004-06:00

I'm back from St George. We were gone for a week and now, I am oh so relaxed. I love the "do whatever" vacations. We went swimming every day. Especially for "Adult Swim". One full hour without anyone under 18. Amazing! Then when they kicked us out of the pool, we would sit in the hot tub on our porch.

Audrey insisted on wearing the Gwasses

Yes.....she is licking him....

Watches

2008-06-09T14:51:00.002-06:00

FYI: I made a blog page for the watches I'm making and selling. Check it out to the left. Click on SummerRay Watches. Also, I've decided to sell them for a lot cheaper. Bands will be $14 and faces are $6!!

Scrapbook Pages

2008-06-09T13:06:00.004-06:00

For those of you who are still seeing me with blonde hair, I decided not to dye it dark after all. We decided that after my last "home kit" adventure, my hair just wasnt ready for that much damage. Oh well, maybe later.

Anyways, I wanted to post some scrapbook pages that I've been working on. These are my first for 2008, from January.

Scrapbook Kit credits: Patricia Amaral www.scrap-a-dream.com and GABhappyscrap

New Hair

2008-05-22T22:11:00.003-06:00

Im going to get my hair done on Tuesday. I found this cool website that will let you play around with different hairstyles

http://www.dailymakeover.com/

This is the one I think I'm going to do. Thoughts anyone?

Mini Pool

2008-05-22T19:58:00.003-06:00

Audrey played with her cousin's, Roxton and Brynn, in their mini pool. She didnt really like it. It was kind of cold. The only pictures I could get of her in the pool showcased a tantrum.

We're Building a Deck

2008-05-22T19:15:00.003-06:00

I took these pictures when we first started. Matt has been working on it almost every night. Audrey and I have helped a little bit too. We dug a bunch of holes, some in the concrete even. Audrey was so helpful and tried to fill them back up for us!

Peek-a-Boo

2008-05-17T23:22:00.004-06:00

Audrey plays peek-a-boo with everything that has eyes. The other day she covered the eyes of a picture advertisement in our shopping cart, pulled them away and said "Peek-a-Boo!". It's her favorite game. Here's a sample:

Afro

2008-05-17T23:10:00.004-06:00

I accidentally gave myself an afro when I splept with rag rollers. I thought I would make the most of it and try to get some stock pictures. Only two really turned out. We'll see if iStock likes them! Here they are for yout o alught at. I was going for funky but maybe it turned out a little clowny.

I'm a blogger

2008-05-17T22:50:00.002-06:00

I thought I would join the masses and start a blog. It seems like I am emailing too many pictures to too many people. This will be so much easier. So........ check back often!