More of Erik and Kami

Last Sunday, Erik, Kami and I went to Trolley Square to take a few more engagement pictures, this time in a more "dressy" attire. I think they just like getting their pictures taken. Especially Kami. She's really high maintenance like that. Ahem. I mean Erik is really high maintenance like that. So here are a few of my favorites!
Pleast notice Erik's shoes in this first shot. . . They're like elf slippers or something. Granted, they look pretty dapper from the top, but, um, that's about it.


This is one of my favorites. . .too bad Erik has a chicken's claw-grasp hold on Kami. Maybe I shouldn't point that out.




Kami tried on her dress tonight so my mom can make a few alterations, and it's so beautiful! It has this great, ball-gown-ish skirt with the random "gathers" and a full train. It doesn't have any beading or detailing on the bodice of the dress, which makes it look really chic. There is also this great turquoise sash with a little beading that adds a lot. I love it. She's going to look so stunning, I can't wait to do her bridals!

Rock and Roll, Baby!

Ah, girls camp. Stinky, sweaty, fabulous girls camp. That's where I've been all week. Well, since Tuesday night anyway. And good times were had by all. I was asked by the Camp Director to come along for the ride, and I was in charge of food. Wow. I was tired. I need to learn how to delegate. I thought (and boasted about) that I would be under budget, but due to unforeseen circumstances, like not being able to have fires after I buy all the stuff to make dutch oven cobbler, and such, I went over. I don't think it was too bad, though. I did go way over budget on my stress levels, though. Man, was I a crazy person. But, many of you will say, how is this different than normal? I know, I know. But this time, I yelled out the window to the "smart folks" directing traffic at the stoplight-turned-four-way-stop instead of just being secretly mad at them and hoping they would feel the angry energy coming their way. Was that a long, confusing sentence or what?
Anyway. After a lo-o-ong work day, a broken phone, a cheap, craptastic phone from WalMart, yelling at said smart folks, and lots of sobbing on the freeway; I arrived at Camp Everett and was enveloped in the sweet aroma of mountains and peace. Really, it has a scent.
I love girls camp. Always have, always will. These three days weren't any different. I was rejuvenated and came away feeling the desire to want to be better. I was constantly amazed at the examples set by girls 13-15 years younger than me. They were so nice to each other, so patient and loving, which is something I need to be better at. It was remarkable to be there for even one hour without the usual girls camp drama. No drama at all, which was a miracle. If there was any drama, it was me at meal times, trying to provide the best meals in girls camp history while directing first, second and third year girls in cooking, organizing and just staying out of the way.
And now, I'm home; not stinky, still tired, but without the incessant dirt in-between my toes, and still thinking about camp and all I learned there, and how to best implement these new goals into my life. Good times!



The Dutch Oven Solution . . . my first time cooking dutch oven with charcoal. Success! Mostly.

Story Time

Tonight, Victoria, Brayden and I sat outside on the porch swing in an attempt to calm them down, preparing for the ride home.
K- What should the story be about?
V- A princess.
B- And a prince.
V- And a unicorn.
K- Ok. Once upon a time. . .
B- (whispers) And a servant.
K- Ok. There was a beautiful fairy Queen with beautiful silver and white wings.
B- Real fairies don't have silver and white wings.
K- Ok. She was very happy, but she was also very lonely because she didn't have any family. So one day, she decided to go to the royal orphanage and adopt some children. She brought back to the castle Princess Victoria and Prince Brayden. They loved their new Fairy Queen Mother. The children grew up and Princess Victoria had beautiful, long blond hair, big blue eyes and lips like the red, red rose.
V- (giggle giggle, looks down with shy modesty)
K- And Prince Brayden was very handsome. He also had lovely blond hair and big blue eyes and beautiful lips.
B- Gross, not beautiful lips.
K- Very handsome lips. And they loved to play games, and color, . . . Brayden, did you just pick your nose? He rubs his nose and wipes his wet finger on his pants. Buddy, don't pick your nose, it's gross.
B- (whispers, but not creepily) But I like boogers.
K- No, they're yucky.
B- Yummy.
K- Ok, you can't kiss me anymore with a mouth that eats boogers. Anyway. And they loved to play with their servant, Jeff. He was a very nice boy. One day, they went into the magical forest to look for frogs.
V- And unicorns.
B- And a treasure chest.
K- So they . . .
B- And horses.
K- went in search of frogs, unicorns, a treasure chest and horses. They came across a beautiful green meadow full of blue, purple, pink and yellow wildflowers. And unicorns. There were so many of them! Prince Brayden walked up to the King of the Unicorns and said, 'Sir, may I please have a ride?' and he said,
V- Neigh!
K- That's right. So he got on the unicorn
B- I don't like unicorns. Can it be a horse?
K- Sure, what color is the horse?
B- Blue and black and green.
K- So Brayden rides off on the magical colored horse and Princess Victoria and Servant Jeff fell in love. The end.
B- Now it's my turn. Once upon a time,
V- In a beautiful kingdom
B- Once upon a time in a beautiful kingdom, there was a
V- Fairy Queen.
K- Ok, Tor, let him tell it.
B- Once upon a time there was a Fairy Queen who lived in a beautiful castle. And there was a princess. (whispers to me) What's the princess' name?
K- Kat.
B- ok. There was a cat princess. And One day a prince rode up to the door of the castle and
knocked on the door. And the servant answered the door and said, 'Hello'. Then the prince and the cat princess. . .
K- Princess Kat.
B- Then the Prince and Princess Kat fell in love. The end.
V- Ok, now it's my turn. . .

She didn't get to finish because they had to leave. But I personally liked Brayden's story the best, especially after I was changed from the "cat princess". I sure love them!

I heart Dads.

So I don't think my dad reads this, but I want it to go on the record that I heart him. He's the best. He's nice, even though he likes to pretend he isn't, and he can do ANYTHING! I think he's the coolest. And nobody can debate that because this is my blog.

Erik-Bo-Berik and Kamilynner the Winner

We took Erik (my brother) and Kami's (the Special Friend) engagement pictures, well the first installment, tonight after dinner and it was so fun! They are getting married on August 7 in the Logan Temple, which is totally classy. Tonight we just went down to good ole' Temple Square. They are so funny to watch, Trace-face and I were laughing the whole time. Until they did the kissing shots and I begged them to stop. So weird!! I am so excited that Erik has finally found someone that "gets" him. . . he's a special boy. He's definitely one of the funniest kids I know and he and Kami are so alike. She's totally cute; very easy-going and has a great laugh. She's a lot of fun to be around and she fits in with the fam so well. We are glad he picked such a rockstar! So, without further adieu, here are a few of my faves.





This one cracks me up. . .

A Big Day Indeed

Today, Wanda the Honda drove 345 miles on one tank of gas. I guess, technically, it's been since I filled up last (like three days ago) but still, she got 34.5 miles to the gallon! PLUS, when I gave her a drink, I only put in 9.5 gallons, so I think she may have even been holding out on me and could have done more had the Maverick not shown up so fast.

So, I treated her to a bath and a frozen yogurt cone. But then the cone started melting so I had to finish it for her. We were both very pleased.

Happy Birthday Laura!

So, I love sisters. Really, they're fantastic. I used to wish that I had an older sister, who would be cool and play with my hair and buy me stuff, and then I would take out all my anger at not having said sister on my little sister. Poor Little Laura Loo. One day I came to the realization that if I wanted a cool older sister, my sister probably wanted HER older sister to be cool. So I tried to be nicer. I don't know that I always succeeded, but I worked at it a little more. I think that's when Laura and I really began to be friends.
Laura is amazing. She has the kindest heart, and whenever we were in a fight, usually it was my fault, but she would always apologize first. We used to share a room, and she used to talk and talk and talk. She never wanted to sleep, only talk. I don't know if this has changed, really. One of my favorite things to do was to say, "Laura, did you know that I can fall asleep in 30 seconds? Really. Count." Then, I would close my eyes while she counted and then when she got to 30, she'd ask if I was asleep. I just wouldn't answer. It was amazing. We would end up saying a million "night, love you's" because we would always have something else to add to our conversation, and you can't just leave it at that.
Laura has so many talents. She's a great dancer, she's a loyal, fantastic friend, and she is an amazing listener. I'm glad she never charged me therapist fees, because I would be so in debt to her. Don't get any ideas, Laurs. I love to hang out with her, go to lunch, watch movies, go shopping, cause trouble, and lots of other things.
I just thought of another favorite thing about Laura. When we worked up at Oakcrest together, she was a lifesaver. Almost every single meal, she would put something random, saran-wrapped on a plate on my table. Like, a single green bean. Or a conglomoration of matches and other things taped together. Or she would write me little notes and put them in my cookout basket. These were such small and simple things, but they meant so much. It was the greatest having my Chama (Venezuelan slang for friend) up there.
So. This is really long and random, but the bottom line is that I have been blessed to have such a wonderful sister that is also my best friend! I hope your 23rd birthday is the best ever! Because it's the only one you'll have! BSF!!

Baby Audrey

I cannot get enough of this girl!

And a few more.

I heart bridals!

I love weddings. I like to take pictures of them. I even love the pre-wedding stuff, especially bridal shoots. They are rarely stressful, and way fun. I did Katie's bridals about a week ago, so here are a few of my faves.

Music Review

I bought myself a rockin' new cd for my birthday and I wanted to share it with you. So, here is my review of the new Natasha Bedingfield cd, "Pocketful of Sunshine".
The cd, with a very nice yellow cover, has 13 songs. I have found that I really like Natasha, she has a raspy quality to her voice that I dig, and she is really talented as a songwriter. I'll put a link to youtube on all of my favorite songs, so you can hear them too!
1. Put Your Arms Around Me-- This is a fun, upbeat song, very poppy. . ."your's is the kind of love, that makes nothing else feel good enough"
2. Pocketful of Sunshine-- This is the radio release, so you have probably heard it. It's a catchy little tune that brings a smile to your face.
3. Happy-- This isn't one of my favorites, your typical "got fired, have to move, but I'm still happy because the sky is blue" kind of ditty.
4. Love Like This (featuring Sean Kingston)-- I first heard this on a New Years Eve broadcast and really liked it. It was overplayed on the radio, so I had to take a break. But it's good.
5. Piece of your Heart-- I like this one because it's different, it has a unique sound.
6. Soulmate-- Who wouldn't love a song with this title? This is one of my top three favorites on the album, it has great lyrics, "Who doesn't long for someone to hold, who knows how to love you without being told" and a fantastic melody. And I'm a romantic. And that's about it.
7. Say it Again-- I'm not sure what to do with this one. . .I like it, but then, I'm not sure how much.
8. Angel-- This is a fun, danc-ey song, but it can get stuck in your head really easily because it spells out the title.
9. Backyard-- Again, not my favorite. It has nice remembrances of youth, but, eh.
10. Freckles-- This is one of those feel-good, self-esteem building songs, and it's ok. I've heard better songs about freckles. (If you don't believe me, click here.)
11. Who Knows-- I love this song. It is in the movie "27 Dresses" and it's fantastic! This is one of the reasons I bought the cd. . . take a listen!
12. Pirate Bones-- This rounds out my top three, I thought it had a cool title but the song is so much better. It's got such attitude and funk, it's an all around good time. I'm trying to convince Tracie to choreograph a dance to it. Contemporary ballet, baby!
13. Not Giving Up-- This one is ok, but not the best. For a long time I thought it was saying "monkey love," instead of the title, but who knows what that is?!

Wow. This took me a long time. It's a great cd.

This world needs more cheesecake.

Well folks, I am now 28 years old. I can't believe it . . . I don't feel that old! That may be because I still live in the basement. Which, I might add, was never in my plans. But, neither was going back to school when I was 26, so I'm not complaining. It's so interesting to look back and see where my life has taken me. I'm content at where I am right now, and I'll be happy when I graduate in. . . let's count. . . 11 months. Why was that so hard? Blame it on the migraine hangover. We'll talk about that later. I am thankful that my parents like me still and let me live at their house, because it saves me a lot of money. And I like it here. Tracie and I kick it. It's pretty fun. We hang out so much that when I didn't come home right after my photo shoot last night, they called once and Tracie text me twice asking where I was. She asked, "why are you out and about on a Saturday night?" Why indeed. I went out to dinner with my friend Sarah and her husband for my birthday. And I will take this moment to note that Iggy's has the best fries. Tasty!

So, yes, it was my birthday on the 29th. It was a low-key day, thanks to the regular day to day stuff I still had to do, meaning school and work. However, I work with some great people who really made it a fun day. I was greeted with a scented-bubble-filled entrance and we had some rockin' cake and ice cream. Not to mention the amazing decorations and confetti. If you want to see said confetti, I think it may still be on the floor and everywhere because the vacuum wouldn't work and our janitor is not, well, comprehensive? It was fun. I really am grateful to work with such good friends.

Today, my family was all coming over for my birthday dinner where I get to choose the meal. It's always the same: my mom's killer beef stroganoff, green salad (thanks Laura!) with sunflower seeds, homemade bread and cheesecake. Sadly, I woke up this morning with a tension-induced migraine. I skipped stake conference in the hopes that it would go away. Not so lucky. The nausea set in and the headache got worse. By the time my family all arrived, I had slept a lot, thrown up a lot, and it wasn't getting any better. It was torture being upstairs because it all smelled so good. Are you all feeling so sorry for me? Good. It was pathetic. I went downstairs and slept some more, coming up when almost everyone was gone. I finally decided that if I was going to function at all tomorrow, I would have to do something. I have heard of there being shots available for migraines, so I went down to the local after hours clinic and received one lovely shot in each hip for the nausea and migraine and by the time I left about 15 minutes later, I was already starting to feel better. Mental note: do that earlier next time so you can eat cheesecake.

My mom's awesome cheesecake recipe:
one graham cracker crust
filling:
1 8 oz package cream cheese (neufchatel tastes the same and is lower fat)
1 14-15 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla

when creamed together, add
1/3 cup lemon juice

pour into crust and let set, then top with whatever fruit filling you like.
We usually use the canned cherries, but I only like the sauce, so I pick off the cherries.

You will not regret making this. Well, you might because you will want to make it every day. And that probably isn't healthy.