toes in the water ...

Over the last year or so we've had a few friends move away.
more specifically .. they've moved to the water.
not near a lake or some river .. but to the OCEANS!!

I'm not jealous .. or as my 16 year says 'jelly.'
actually .. I lied.
Sorry about that.
I'm totally jelly.
I'm jelly beyond belief !! (haha ok I swear not to use jelly like that, again)

On our vacation to San Diego last year; as soon as there was a hint of salt in the air - we swore every single hill was going to be the one that would reveal the blue waters of the ocean.

After an hour of  "OOOHHH this is the hill!" we finally laid our eyes on the much awaited coast. :)   Yes .. we were that excited.

I know that there are cool watering holes and places to swim around Moab; but it's not quite the same as the smell of the ocean in the air and the feel of seaweed in your toes making you scream like a girl.

I see my friends on Facebook fishing and boating and swimming and tanning in the ocean breeze .... ahhh!!  :P  Jelly OVERLOAD !!    (sorry about breaking the jelly promise ... lol  I was weak)

my point ?

• I love the smell of the ocean
• I want to go back to the ocean
• one day I'll live close enough to regularly visit the water 
• and I'm a little envious of my family/friends on the coast

why ?
Because life is better at the beach ..

I made this print out of one of my favorite pictures from
our 2012 vacation to San Diego.

ps .. it's Mother's Day in 2 days - don't forget your mamas, grammas, and sister wives.  (LOL)

click here for the print quality version of the print above

Red Rocks and Classic Cars .. yes, please!!

This year marks the (I believe, but could be wrong) 21st annual April Action car show in Moab.
Since moving here in 2008 - we haven't missed one :)

For the record - I always love living in Moab.
However - the car show is my favorite event ALL. YEAR. LONG.
I don't have a jeep anymore - so I could sleep through Jeep Safari.
I don't rock climb, because I'm a big baby ...
we go hiking/biking/camping a LOT .. so it's fun - but not super special.
But car show .. oooohhh car show :)
sexy cars
hot people
money being spent
classic engines rumbling in the distance as far as your ears can hear.
.... what's not to like ?
horribly long lines at the checkout...
bumper-to-bumper trafficmakes you scream, despite the cool cars..
having to elbow your way through the grocery store for a loaf of stupid bread...
... ok fine !
it's not all happy grins and unicorns puking rainbows.
..  but it's worth it - I PROMISE!!

I even have pictures as proof .. :D

Happy Spring, everyone
season is here ! :)

focus on the good

I'm not even in the same zip code as perfect, but I make an attempt to better myself, everyday. 

I've never been a bony little size 3 - but I still classify myself as pretty damn cute.  (if you find me aesthetically pleasing or not .. is neither here nor there - this is about ME :)
I may not have a 'dream job' - but I'm good at what I do and I like it; I don't know that there is much more I could ask for.  ok, other than a billionty dollars - but you get my drift, smartass.
I don't have a billionty dollars & every silly little thing I want; but I have all I need and even lucky enough to even have a little extra.
Besides .. who needs a billionty dollars when you're rich in love?

I guess I'm ranting and made the print below, because I'm just exhausted by all the whining.
I'm tired of people boobing around about how hard life is.  I've had enough of the housewives on tv bitchin about their hard lives; "omg - what ever will I do with all this money and time on my hands?" .... blah blah blah.
Go spend a month in a 3rd world country without your luxuries; then let's talk about how hard your Louis Vuitton drenched life is .. PLEASE.

focus on the good.

just do it.
don't sweat the petty stuff and definitely don't pet the sweaty stuff.it's gross and as far as hand sanitizer goes ... 'I don't have a square to spare.'

I'm happy, I'm healthy, my kids don't run away from me, my husband still wants to hang out with me, my customers at work miss me on my days off,  I even GET days off, I HAVE a job to get days off from, I can read/write/hear/see/smell ... jeez - have a little perspective, people.  

click here for the full size printable of "focus on the good."

don't eat the multi-colored snow ...

Actually, you could totally eat the colored snow in our yard; but I wouldn't suggest it. 

I know the last post I made about the snow was kinda sorta whining about it; but we did have some fun with the white stuff.

There's always the obvious snow play : sledding, snowball fights and snow angels.

Today, we added snow paintin' to the mix .. water bottles with water + food coloring.

 You just know there's hours and hours of fun and/or mischief to be had. ;)

I even got to write my name in the snow ...
why should the boys get to have all the fun ?!?! LOL

 

I don't know what compelled me - but I made this printable.

the picture is from one of our camping trips this year

we all need to remember there IS good as well as BE the good

click here for the downloadable FULL SIZE image

instahooked ...

a few years ago when people started 'twittering' ... I ignored it for 2 main reasons

• I find the word 'tweet' annoying & deem it to be pretty much the dumbest word in the history of ever.
• If I want to know when you're taking out the trash, balancing your checkbook and going to the bathroom, I'll look at your hourly Facebook status updates.

regardless of the judgment first passed upon the tweeterverse - I decided to check out this 'twitter' when I got my new phone.  I can't believe that this has taken over social media.  I'll put it politely ...   I'm enraged about the 6 minutes of my life that I'LL NEVER GET BACK ... :( 

after deleting the crap app (another 30 seconds I can't have back .. ) I stumbled onto instagram.   This was another trendy app at the same time as twooter, but it was only available to hipsters with i-phones and starbucks coffee.

I remember being envious of this app before, as written here.  So, needless to say I was actually kinda stoked to see I could get it on my new android.  I may or may not have pulled over a few times on the way home from taking the kids to school ... snapping pictures in the morning sun with the sole intent of 'instagramming' them. :)

I have to admit though .. I like the program I wrote about here - MUCH better.  It has a TON more choices and cool effects.
But instagram is pretty cool to snap a little 'nugget' on your phone, to go.  ;) 

our 'happy little nugget'

freddy kruger pumpkin found @ IHOP Mesa Mall - Grand Junction, CO

Moab morning sun on the mountains

He loves stuffed animals and freshly cut grass <3

it's here .. it's here !!

You'd be hard pressed to find a day where I splurge on something specifically for me.  correction    "...where I splurge on something new and/or expensive specifically for me."

we'd researched extensively and had our hearts set on getting me a Canon T1I before we go on vacation, this year. It was really exciting for me, because my nicest camera to date was a Kodak Easy Share.  $89 on it's most expensive day. 

I was on the phone with my dad,  who has always shared & encouraged my love of photography.  I informed him about my exciting purchase plan, when he said 'you might want to reconsider.' 

I thought maybe he'd heard bad things about the Canon or had some advice to offer; when he dropped a bomb on me.   

During my parents' visit next month - apparently he'd been planning on giving me his Nikon d40x AND three kick-ass lenses.  oh. my. gosh.   

words just cannot explain my level of gratitude and excitement!

after running around like a kid, screaming with joy ruining the surprise of actually 'giving' it to me .. he sent it all to me, the next day.

It arrived after a mix-up with the Post Office.  By mix-up .. I mean I heard FedEx when he said post office .. then freaked out for 2 hours when FedEx couldn't find the tracking number.   what ?  .. they sound similar.  fed ex .. post office. fed ex .. post office. 

He also sent all his books, guides, and instruction manuals.  It's going to take me at least a year to get through the basics of the camera.         

after realizing how much would be involved with this camera - I made the very adult decision to put off the purchase of my silhouette, until I've got this baby down.   

*pats self on back*









anyway .. onto the point of the post - these are my favorite pictures (of the 243) from day 1

the last, lone survivor of the fishies we adopted in 2008

'one of four'

cutest. dog. ever.

I can't take enough pictures of our foliage 

don't you love how his tongue is the same angle as his neckerchief

how everyone will be seeing my face for some time to come ... smile !

our four-legged baby .. so sleepy

I love the moon coming out while the sun's up

this is her 'take the picture & hurry up' smile

"deer tracks mom, you HAVE to get a picture with your new camera!"

I love random shots like this .. au natural

lol the teen doesn't like 'au natural' .. she 'ducks n runs' or smiles big :P

and this  last picture isn't really a nice picture lol

it's just to compare the size of the 'big' lens to a giant wendy's drink .. that's all.

I love my new camera .. <3

a new love ...

over the last couple weeks while stalking reading blogs, I found myself becoming increasingly jealous. One might think it was over a luxury home or creative crafts or a wicked cool blog layout ... ... it wasn't!  

I'd been seeing all these cute little vintage / retro photos and I wanted some of my own!
 
After a day or 4, I gave in to the bratty, screaming voice inside me and off to google I went.

I found a bunch of the images that were similar to the type I'd become recently infatuated with.  As I sifted through them I noticed a buncha them were tagged/labeled as 'instagrams.'

awesome ...
google : what's an instagram? 

apparently it's an iphone app widely known for it's retro/vintage special effects

- cue inner brat again, screaming this time about not having an ianything -

awesome ... my phone is vintage .. stupid irony.    -__-
google : how would a girl go about making an instagram if she has no stupid iphone?  (wording may have been different ..)

pc world answered the call !! The link showcases 5 free websites with software that will let you 'instagramize' your photos without an iphone.  Yay!

They all have completely different user interfaces and levels of complexity.  I looked through all of them &  found my favorite.

the one that I found to be the best was the very first one they featured -> http://pixlr.com/o-matic/.  

• easy
• fast
• allowed me to use my full-size pictures
• save the pictures to your computer
• free downloadable version for non browser usage

So .. onto the pictures ! :)
as you can see .. I got a little carried away.
I love it ! :))   thanks for reading my ranting .. carry on!

have a coffee and a coke ..

"red rocks are the coolest rocks"  according to the coolest 8 yr old I know

dear snow ..

I only conceded to your visits, 1 day a year ... that day is Christmas.
12 is the number of days you are early.
I fail to see the humor in your appearance, tonight.
go on now ... shoo !

and in the a.m. the Volvo didn't look all too impressed with it, either