Days 286-292

The following pictures are from the week of March 14-20.

Day 286: Too Cool for School

Katie loves those sunglasses.  She wore them during her entire visit at our house today. Too cute!

Day 287: FAIL

Oh guys...saddest day ever.

I forgot to take a picture yesterday.  Completely spaced it!  I remembered around 3pm TODAY that I never took one.  I double-checked my phone, my iPod, and my camera for stray pictures, but there was nothing.

So SAD!  But since I'm so very close to the end of my journey with this project, I've decided to keep going anyway.  So here is a picture I took this evening that I will use as a filler for yesterday's screw-up.  I call it: Walk on By

Day 288: Headless

Self portrait number...whatever.  I still feel awful about missing yesterday's picture so I'm portraying that frustration by cutting my head out of the shot here.

Day 289: Old School

The two most used cook books in our house: Grandma's Betty Crocker cook book and the Better Homes and Gardens cook book we've had forever.

Day 290: One of These Things is Not Like The Other

I didn't stage this.  I found the cans perfectly lined up like this in our food storage shelves.  Pretty cool.

Day 291: Fun and Games

Hyrum and Esther trying to play Foosball tonight at the family dinner.  It's a good thing they're both on the same side because they were slamming those rods back and forth and were sure to poke somebody's eye out.

Day 292: Movie Food

Yum!

Days 279-285

Hey guys,

Sorry for the incredibly, ridiculously, embarrassingly late posts.  Hopefully I'll get back on track with these pretty soon.  This is a great indication of how I get easily overwhelmed and shut down.  It's amazing that I've made it this far on the project without giving up entirely. :)

The following pictures are for the week of March 7-13.

Day 279: Playdate?

Some cute cards my friend Kimmy gave me for my birthday last year.  They're so cute, I don't have the heart to use them. I know it's silly, but I'm weird like that.

Day 280: Pre-spring sunset

One day I might count how many sunsets I took at work during this photo challenge...I bet it's in the double-digits.

Day 281: I'm toast

Trying to get creative with bland-looking food by putting pretty plates underneath it.

Not sure it worked.

Day 282: Reading Party!

We like to have reading parties in our family.  They mainly consist of us all sitting around in silence, reading different novels.

...It sounds cooler than it is.

Day 283: Snow-capped Mountains

Some days I'm just struck by the beauty of this place!

Day 284: The Chocolate!

Coolest little bakery I've ever been to!  I'm going back.  Soon.  Who cares about that stupid, "no sugar" rule anymore.  Life after this place will never be the same!  There is so much I want to say about it...the awesome pictures on their website, the quaint atmosphere of the shop, the friendly staff who know how to joke around with customers, the AMAZING vanilla cake with chocolate ganache, the TO DIE FOR hot chocolate with spices in it that really make you feel like you're drinking Christmas in a cup all year round...

SO GOOD!

Day 285: My Triumph!

Inspired by that awesome bakery from yesterday, I decided to make a cake of my own...

After a fiasco with the first cake, Christine made a great red velvet from scratch so I could still use all of the awesome decorating stuff I got for my birthday.  This is what we made as a result!  I'm so proud!  I can't believe it looks almost presentable!  Cake decorating is easier than I thought it would be!

Days 272 through 278

Day 272: Inundated

This is the pile of mail that greeted us when we got home last night.  It's about half as big as the pile of paperwork on my desk when I returned to work.  I am thoroughly overwhelmed.  I have no idea where to even begin with everything I have to do now that I'm home.

Help!

Day 273: Glory in Imperfections

I got this penguin at the flea market in Cabo.  I picked him out amid a bunch of other, better looking, trinkets because I liked his little gimpy fin.  Being unique is something of which we all have the capability.  But here's the secret: you can't be unique when you're trying to be.  You can only pull it off when you are truly yourself - when you are no longer concerned with how you compare to others.

That is the challenge.

Day 274: The End of Something

Month 9 is complete!  That's right, I only have 3 months left!  The end is near...finally.

Today as I took pictures of the sunset, I was sad to know they would be the last pictures I took with this awesome lens I rented from Borrow Lenses.  I rented this same lens last summer for my family reunions, and I can't express how much I wish I didn't have to give it back.  It's too expensive for me to justify the purchase, but if I rent it any more times I will completely nullify that excuse.  The rentals aren't cheap, and soon I'll have paid the same amount in rental costs as I would have if I'd purchased the dang thing.

One day...

Day 275: The "Little" Things

I'm so glad RoseAnne came over tonight for our regularly scheduled girls night!  She was all dressed up for an appointment she had before she came over, and she looked so cute!  Jack was his usual adorable self, chasing the cats around the house in his speedy crawl, making faces at us, and being generally captivating for the camera.

I really love my family!

Day 276: Red Trees

I'm used to seeing trees turn red during the fall, but I'm not familiar with red trees with no leaves.  I saw these today in a parking lot and had to stop and capture them.  In the slanting winter sunlight, the bark on these trees shone a vivid red - almost fuchsia.  I wish I still had that lens I rented because it would have been able to capture these better.

Ah, well.  No use thinking about it.

Day 277: Note to Self

Note to self: put makeup on before taking an extreme close-up of your face.

If I had taken any other pictures today, I would have posted one of them instead.  This picture required an obscene amount of touch-up to make it even slightly acceptable, when all I needed to do was dab on a bit of cover-up and eyeliner before I hit the shutter button.  I guess I'm still shell-shocked from my return to work this week.  I can't believe how busy I was, and yet how little I got done!  So frustrating!  I guess all I can hope for is to do better next week.

Day 278: The Old Standby

Whenever you see a picture of my cats on here, you can almost be certain it's because I forgot to take a picture until right before I went to bed.  The cats seem to be my last resort subjects.  If I'm too tired to think of something original, I just run upstairs and snap a few of the cats and call it good.

I need a new standby I think.

Day 271: The Long Road Home

Somewhere in Arizona.

We drove home today.  There's not much to say about it.  That's how it usually goes for the return trip of a vacation though.  The trip out is so much fun and there's so much excitement and anticipation for the upcoming fun, but the trip back is usually tainted with sadness since it's the end of the fun.

At least the drive went by fairly quickly this time, and at least we were blessed with good weather.

I'm not excited about returning to reality and the mess that is waiting for me at work tomorrow.

Not at all excited.

Day 264: Sailing Away

Christine and Ryan

It's approaching sunset and we are on the ship, setting sail for Cabo!

We were on the deck to watch as we left the harbor (and to be cheesy and wave at the doc like people do in movies).  It was chilly and windy...really windy.  Christine and I both had dancing hair.  Christine's looked cooler of course because it's longer.

I love this shot because it looks like her hair is reaching out to grab Ryan.  Also because they both have genuine laughter faces which makes me smile every time I look at it.

Who cares that the subjects of the photo aren't in focus.  It's not like I'm a professional or something. ;)

Day 257: Confetti Stuff

A close-up of a cat toy.

Today I felt better than I have all week.  It's like the cloud lifted a bit and I can see the end in sight.  Maybe it's because we got so much done yesterday, or because I caught up a little on my blog posts tonight.

In any case, I'm glad for the respite.  I'm glad to feel happy and excited about my upcoming vacation, and I'm glad to go to bed! :)

Day 250: Breakfast for Dinner

My dinner (part of it)

I don't know what's wrong with me lately, but I am so stressed out!  It's not like I have a great excuse as I did at Christmas when everything was hectic.  I mean - yes - I'm swamped at work, and I have my church calling that I'm behind on, and my vacation prep that I'm behind on, and my household chores that I'm behind on, but all of that is the result of me being stressed to begin with.  I'm behind on everything because I couldn't face half of it at the time - for no good reason - so, of course that means that I'm even more stressed now because I've let everything slip and because I'm just playing catch-up on everything.

But how did it start?  What made me so wary of my every-day tasks in the first place?

It's things like this that unnecessarily keep me up at night.

Day 236: Magic Top

Christine spinning a top on her hand.

Danni came over tonight to give us our belated Christmas presents.  She got to spend her Christmas in Belgium with her parents and she came back with some awesome, authentic, gifts.

Both Christine and I got a top from Amsterdam and these things are amazing!  They spin on the weirdest things!  I couldn't get mine to spin on the tabletop when we first got them, and as we all sat around chatting in the living room, I tried to spin mine on the couch arm rest and it balanced perfectly!  Then I tried to spin it on my knee, and again, perfect balance!  So Christine decided to try spinning her top in the palm of her hand and it was so cool!  Every time we spun it in our hands, it would dance around our palms.  I got this shot as the top was spinning right off the edge of Christine's hand.

So cool!

Day 229: Quizzical

Jack

Tonight was RoseAnne's birthday party, and a bunch of the family got together at her house to help her celebrate.  It was so fun to hang with the family and see all the babies.  I was so stressed out all day, and even though the thought of the party stressed me out, I knew once I got there I would have a great time.

And I did.

Knew it.

I laughed until my face turned purple and I lost my voice!  We traded the funniest stories that only my family knows how to tell.  My favorite one was the story Mom told about Dad embarrassing her to death on their cruise to Alaska.  I promised her that I wouldn't re-tell it though, so tough luck.  I doesn't translate well in writing anyway.  There were hand gestures and facial expressions that were crucial to the story.

Day 222: My Momma

My gorgeous mom.

She did not want me taking this picture, but since it turned out so well, she gave me permission to use it on my blog.  I think the reason I don't take more pictures of people lately is because I know none of them want me to take pictures of them.  They always get that panicked look when they see me aim my camera at them, with the immediate hiding of the face with their hands or ducking behind someone.  It's very disconcerting and doesn't encourage me to take pictures of people.

I blame the blog.  Apparently none of my friends or family want to be famous. :)

But mom was a good sport.  She laughed and said, "Don't you dare!" But she still smiled for the picture and didn't hide.  That's nice.  But then again, mom is always a good sport about stuff.  She is so kind and always willing to help everyone all the time.  And I never tell her enough how much I appreciate her or how much I love her.

So Mom, this one's for you.  Love ya!

Day 215: Month 7 is Here!

A button I have that says, "Kiss me before another year goes by!"

So, month six is complete, and we are on to month seven!  I don't know if I should be counting myself as successful on this little project or not.  I may have taken a picture every day, but I was horribly neglectful with the blog posts last month.  Sure, I made excuses, but they weren't very good ones.  I have resolved to be better this month and the rest of the project.  Let's hope that resolution lasts.

Day 208: Sunday Puzzles

A jig-saw puzzle

I gave Mom a card table for Christmas.  It's something she's been asking for the last few years.  So today after church, she set it up and started a jig-saw puzzle on it.  It was fun to sit together in quiet and work on the puzzle.  Especially after the hectic day at church, and the loud (but very fun) Christmas.

Remember how I mentioned getting a cold a few days ago?  Well it's here to stay and so annoying!  I couldn't sing at all today, which was a problem since I had to lead the children in Primary.  Oh well, I guess.  At least I won't have to miss any work because of it since I have this next week off.

Day 201: The Santa Connection

My mom's Santa collection.

Another Sunday gone, with little to show for it.  Except for the awesome scarfs I finished.  But I couldn't take a picture of those and ruin the surprise for the people to whom I'm giving them.  I'm just glad I actually accomplished something for Christmas.  Yesterday's shopping trip was a bit of a bust, so this makes me feel a little better. 

Now if only I can not get overwhelmed by everything else I haven't done yet...

Day 194: Strawberry Shortcake

Esther.

I love my nieces and nephews!  RoseAnne and her family came over for dinner tonight, and it was so fun to hang out!  I was being a bit of a recluse for most of the evening because I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, but I did hang out a little bit, and I got to hang out with the kids downstairs.  Because we won't see RoseAnne or her family before Christmas, we exchanged gifts tonight (I wish I had realized this, because I'm not finished making my gifts yet).

RoseAnne gave me these awesome homemade soaps, and mom gave the family a card game.  Mom also gave each child a coloring book and it was so fun to see their reactions!  RoseMarie was my favorite.  She kept hugging her book of Minnie Mouse coloring pages and saying, "Ohhhh!  I love her!"  She thanked mom at least twice for her Christmas presents.  It was adorable!

Hyrum and Esther loved their coloring books too...especially the stickers in the coloring books.  Esther's coloring book was of Strawberry Shortcake, and RoseAnne told Esther it was a coloring book just for her since she was Strawberry Shortcake.  The second RoseAnne said this I realized just how much like Strawberry Shortcake Esther actually is.  She's got the hair and the cute personality to boot!

What a fun night!

Day 187: A Case of the Sundays

Lauren

Today is quite possibly the closest I came to quitting the photo project.  Not that I was contemplating failure in any way today.  I simply didn't feel like picking up my camera, and when I did pick it up, I couldn't bring myself to take anything.  I completely spaced the fact that I have to take a picture every day to keep up with this project.  I would have been lost completely if I hadn't taken one, pitiful shot of Lauren tonight when her family was visiting.  I tried to take better, clearer shots of her, but like I said, I lacked motivation.

That's not to say that I didn't have a great time with Lauren around.  In fact, I think I was so busy cracking up at her playing house with our toys and making up stories that I forgot about my camera.  Shocker, I know.

At any rate, I did survive the photographic lethargy of the day, and I'm still on track with the project!

Day 180: Endless Driving

A view from the road.

Today was endless.

The beginning of our drive home was beautiful: snow-laden trees by the thousands lined the road like a guard of honor saluting us home.  The fog was laced through the tree-filled mountains and the snow provided a beautiful contrast to it all.  The landscape around us made the trip so exciting and fun, but by lunch time it faded into barren, rolling hills that felt like an arctic wasteland.

And this is saying nothing about the storm that seemed to follow us from Washington all the way to Utah.  The storm was no fun.  The traffic was no fun.  The roads were no fun.  The 13-hour-long drive that stretched into 21 hours was no fun!

Day 173: Great Grandma is My Friend

Mom and Baby Davis.

Robert and Lindsey came over to visit tonight, and mom got a hold of little Davis and wouldn't let go.  He was perfectly content to stay on Mom's lap all night as we made faces at him and visited with one another.  I was lucky to get this shot, when he suddenly  leaned in to Mom and grinned right at me!  What a happy boy!  He loves his great-grandma.

It was so fun to hang out with the family tonight and talk about nothing, really.  Sometimes the best evenings are spend doing the most normal things.

Tonight, I am grateful for quiet evenings at home with the family.

Day 159: Goodbye Old Friends

The bush in my front yard.

I'm saying goodbye to the plant life in my front yard because it's all fading away, and I'm certain it will all be gone by the end of the week.  The leaves pictured above are just barely hanging on.  One strong wind, and the little bush holding them together will take one small shudder and drop them all at once.  I'm sad to see them go, but I'm trying to get excited for the next season.

I just wish I had more time to really enjoy the fall colors.

Day 152: Happy Halloween

Our Jack-O-Lantern.

Again, I'll update tomorrow with specifics.

UPDATE 2 Nov:
So Sunday was Halloween.  I was so tired from celebrating the holiday on Saturday night, that I didn't enjoy much of the day.  In fact, I ended up leaving church a little early because of a migraine, and taking a very long nap which only served to make me feel groggy and slightly nauseous when I woke up in the evening.  Still, I had so much fun on Saturday night, I didn't even mind the pain on Sunday.

It's been a really long time since I've been able to say that about an evening out. :)

Day 145: Pani Popo

Rolls baked in a coconut pudding.

Christine made our favorite rolls for dessert tonight.  She first discovered these when she went to school in Hawaii.  They're called Pani Popo (I think that's how you spell it), and I believe it's a Samoan dish.   We all just love this stuff!  It's too rich to eat more than one serving at a time, which is good because they're not exactly healthy.

Sorry that I was late on the posts again this weekend.  It's becoming a bad habbit of mine to put off posting Friday and Saturday pictures until Sunday.  It's just that my weekends are so full lately, and by the time I get to my room each night I'm too tired to stop and take an hour to write my blog posts.  Plus, I usually have a bit more quiet time on Sundays to work on them.  Still, I shouldn't be slacking off like this so I'll try to be better.