Beach Bums...2007

Here is a quick slideshow of our Hawaiian fun. The pictures are a compilation of both mine and Scott's (Spencer's Dad).
Enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I've been tagged...

So, while I was in Hawaii I was tagged by my sister Alisa. I'm supposed to list 6 fun facts/habits about myself. I had a hard time coming up with anything worthwhile that most of you don't already know, but here's my best effort.

I often wonder about the places I haven’t been. I really, really want to travel…Italy, Spain, Africa, The Caribbean, Mexico, recently Hawaii, and anywhere the sun shines, there’s a beautiful beach, or there are new things to see and do.

I have always been self-conscious about my hair. It’s gotten better over the years, but I have a lifetime of bad hair experiences, and hair anxiety. It hasn’t been until recently that I can honestly thank my Dad for my curls. They make me me right? So I’m okay with it now, but oh if you could see pictures. My sister used to pay me 50 cents to brush out my hair just to get a good laugh. My hair mishaps range from bad cuts, to chemical burns from relaxers, and sleeping in ski caps for a good chunk of my college, and post college life.

I have a bit of an addictive personality. I like to think of it as drive and ambition, but I’ll admit there are times when it can get out of hand. Once I start something, it’s really hard for me to stop, and it’s really hard for me to think about anything else. Poor Spencer, he knows to steer clear when I’m in “the funk”. There have been many late nights not because of deadlines, but because I can’t physically stop what I’m doing until it’s finished. Be it photo work, organizing, AM2 stuff (our flea market business) etc… I’m a perfectionist, but an efficient worker to say the least.

I’m shy. Not as much as when I was younger, but still a little. It’s funny, I can get on stage and perform in front of 10,000 students, but put me one on one with someone I don’t know and it makes me super nervous.

I love trucks. If I could buy another car, it would be a black or white Toyota Tacoma extended cab pickup. It’s got to be the middle size, not the little Ford ranger types, or the monster truck size. It has to have some good big tires, but not too big; just the right size for a girl. I love ‘em… 4- wheel drive, sitting up high, hauling stuff, camping out. So great!

I’m totally addicted to my sister’s kids Owen 4 and Ella 2. I check her blog almost daily, and am so excited when there are updates and new pictures to see. Even when there isn’t anything new, I love laughing or tearing up to the old posts and videos. Maybe it’s because they are the closest thing I have to kids of my own, or maybe it’s just because they are so darn irresistible, but whatever it is I’m thoroughly smitten!

Thanks, Al

Back from Hawaii

Spencer and I just got back from 10 days in Hawaii. We spent the first 3 in Maui and the rest on the North Shore of Oahu with M&D Marshall. We loved it! I know if I shared all the details you would all be reading for hours, so I'll just list the highlights:
Maui: The Road to Hana, a black sand beach, an obscure red sand beach, swimming in the seven sacred pools(my favorite part of Maui) handmade leis from the roadside, and snorkeling with sea turtles at the black rock at Kaanapali Beach. Oh, and if anyone goes you have to eat at the Pineapple Grill in Kapalua...unreal food, and the setting is pretty amazing too.
While we were on Oahu, we stayed in a house on the beach in Haleiwa. We loved every minute and played pretty hard, but I'd say the highlights were: Breakfast on our own private beach every morning, rainbows in the sky almost everyday. Ted's Chocolate Haupia pie...(was it 3 or 4 different nights)? The Triple Crown Hawaiian Pro surf competition at our beach in Haleiwa. Airbrush tattoos in Waikiki(my mother in-law's idea..how cool is that). "Mochis" at Bubbies in Honolulu, apple bananas from the fruit stand. The Kahuku Farms shrimp truck for M&D, i'm scared of shrimp, but the atmosphere was so fun. The strawberry guava tunnel on our hike to Laie Falls, a pizza picnic at sunset on Sunset beach. Watching the surfers on 15ft waves at the Bonzai Pipeline, taking private surf lessons from Uncle Bryan on the north shore. Finding the beach where they film "Lost" and then seeing the crew cars and trailers across the street...never saw the actors though. Finding the "Other's" village which is actually a YMCA camp on the north shore, and eating at "Lei Lei's" at Turtle Bay.
It was amazing to go and so sad to leave, but we're gearing up for next year and can't wait to go back. I've dreamt of surfing the past two nights, and am so excited to get back in the water! I think it's my new thing...if only I could find some waves...in Colorado...
I've posted a few pictures, but I'm also working on a slide show because there are so many. I'll put it up when it's done.
-aloha

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is just not the same without little ones around to enjoy it. Since Spencer and I don't have any kids of our own, we tagged along at the Leavitt's Halloween party and watched their kids enjoy Trick or Treating. So cute. Ryleigh was "Mother Nature", Kennedy was "Major Flirt" and Emerson was "Elmo." It was so fun to see their excitement and so funny to watch Emerson running in circles after she had a little too much candy.
A quick update on us: Tara and I filled our first wholesale order and delivered it this week. It was a ton of work but we're excited about going down that road. Check out tilliedesigns.com. Our letters and plaques should be on their online boutique as well as in the store in the next few weeks.
I won the "funniest" pumpkin prize at the ward pumpkin carving party...and then someone decided to take it home with them.
Spencer won a copy of "Surfs Up" at the grocery store earlier this week. Super cute movie for those who haven't seen it.
October has been great for pictures appointments. Love those Christmas cards.
and, we're so excited to leave on our first real, and much needed vacation next Tuesday. Hawaii here we come!

One Crazy Week

So last week was crazy busy. Spencer and I were both sick, he worked crazy hours all week and half a day on Saturday. I ran ragged between photo appointments, ward activity errands, holiday market shifts, a haircut in there somewhere, wholesale letter appointments and supply runs, and who knows what else. It felt like there was a lot going on, but I cant think of much to say about it. Just one of those weeks I guess. On a positive note, we wrapped up the week with a fun surprise. My little brother Nate had a job interview in Denver on Monday so he flew in Sunday night and had dinner with us. We hung out in the hot tub surrounded by four inches of snow that had fallen that morning, and I was able to see him for a couple of hours Monday afternoon as well. For those who don't know him, Nate is the best! He's so smart, super fun, and totally cool; rare combination I know. He's graduating in April at the top of his class with a business degree in finance. The company here in Denver wined and dined him well, and we're crossing our fingers that he and Julie end up our neighbors next summer. Hopefully Alisa and Andrew will find a residency here in about a year and then Mom and Dad can come once Dad retires and the rest of the "Freds" can follow. I've got it all figured out it'll be so great, just pack your bags.

Estes Park, Colorado

A couple of months back I got a call from the Stake Single Adult rep asking me to give a photo seminar at their retreat in Estes Park, CO. Even though the logistics changed as the date approached from a two night hotel stay and two days comped meals deal; "a second honeymoon" was how it was phrased. To a "bring your own toilet paper, ear plugs and you might be split up and sharing rooms with the singles campout. We worked it out and ended up having a lot of fun.
We passed on the overnight thing altogether, and went to a Wayne Brady improv concert Friday night instead, and then we drove up early Saturday morning. The workshop went well, we cashed in our lunch tickets at the cafeteria, and then Spencer and I spent the rest of the day checking out Rocky Mountain National Park. It was kind of a misty cold day, but the colors outside were amazing, and we even experienced our first snow of the season when we hit the top of a mountain at almost 13,000 feet elevation. You can see from the picture I shot out the windshield that it was coming down pretty good. Have I mentioned how much we like Colorado.

Our last "Paris Street Market"

This past Saturday was our last market for the season (high-5 Tara.)
It's funny to think of how much better and more efficient we've become at everything since the first one in June... uuugghh that was pretty ugly. We've had a lot of fun, a little frustration of course, and a lot of hard work. We've both been covered in black and cream spray paint for 6 months, and we even have calloused fingers from it. Tara has dealt with a checkerboard lawn all summer, and i think we've surprised our husbands at how much 2 girls can really move around.
It'll be nice to have a break, especially from the 3am market mornings, but we're excited to get going on next years market season, and we're thinking of renting a space at a local antique store between now and then. I just got a call this morning from a lady that has a store at Cherry Creek, that is interested in selling some of our items, and the exposure at the market for my photography has been amazing. I would say 80% of my business comes from people that saw my work at our booth.
It's turned out to be a pretty cool experience.
I've attached some pictures from the September market, so you all can see what our space looked like. I like the one of all the people shopping, that's my favorite part!