Blogging? What's that?

Wow slackkker much? well i have a semi good excuse, the main computer where i usually blog from capooted and is in the shop, never mind that it just happened 3 days ago. oh well. all the pics i have are from my P&S which i don't have a card reader for- there is a card reader connected to the main computer-so maybe i'll find some pics from my laptop to post?
this has been a busy month just like july. we are getting ready to fly out to Utahrrr to drop my brother ty off at the MTC for his mission to Santiago, Chile (NOT chili:)). he reports on the 8th we will be there about ten days early. UGh i just spilled crystal lite almost on my computer. gosh dangit i hate blogger right now. why the heck did everything just underline and pretend to be a link right now?! OH MY GOSH i'm soooo annoyed. good thing i can't fix it. whatever!!!!! i'm looking into making my own website pretty soon, one that DOES NOT involve blogger. one that would be a site for a blog, my photography and the like. wait for it. it will be awesome. also blogger won't let me change my dumb layout that i've had forever and am sick of. i'm just batting 100 today.


Well...oh that worked....weird. well now that we are not typing like a link now i can get onto the rest of this post which is going to be about...BOOKS. i love to read. loooove loooove looove it. here are 3 books i'm currently reading and one book i will get in the mail Aug. 24th(!!!!!)


if you haven't read the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, please go get it right this minute and read it. i read it right after it came out and couldn't put it down. then i had to wait FOREVER for the next one, Catching Fire now I've waited FOREVER for the last book in the series, Mockingjay. It will be brilliant! it will also be a movie in the year 2011. i just have one thing to say, Kristen Stewart better not be Katniss Everdeen otherwise i won't see it...and i really want to see it.
this is another book i just got from the libaray and started a few days ago. it's about these "aliens" that come from another planet to earth to protect their planet from the bad guys. the only way they can die is if they are killed in order. they don't know where the others are and have to keep moving to stay hidden. every time one is killed they get a circle burned into their ankle so it's about this boy who is #4 and gets the 3rd burn on his ankle. i'm not too far in it yet but i'm enjoying it quite a bit. this will also be a movie in the year 2011 and they have already starting filming.
this book is a different pace than the others. it's about a girl who finds out her dad is a serial killer when she is 15. it's her trying to keep it a secret and finally coming out about it. i will probably have to return this before i finish since i leave soon and i have so many other books but maybe i will get it on CD so i can listen to the rest of it.
this book is almost 800 pages long which isn't a big deal i love long books, especially if they are good but it's taking a while to get into it. the author is really wordy but my dad said it was good. i do have this one on CD so i'll probably stick it on my ipod before i leave so i can return the book to the library. it's about an outbreak of a virus the government was trying to contain and everyone turns into these creatures that they describe as vampires but nothing like the vampires we are used to reading about. it's an end of the world type of book and it follows a young girl who survives and has to learn to keep herself alive. this is the first book out of 3. i'm sure this will be a movie too, it has a lot of followers already and it's only been out a month or two.

Operation: Potential

sometimes i tend to focus on the negative so i came up with an exercise, if you will, to help me see the potential in all things. i went to value village today and bought a few, shall we say, homely dresses and my goal over the next few days is to make them completely different, well maybe not this first one, i think it's perfect just the way it is...

uhhh maybe not so we'll see what i can come up with.

this one isn't quite so, pioneerish but it's still pretty blah. so watch out for some sweeeeet new clothes.

i haven't blogged in awhile because we had family here from utah:

this is what we do with family, paint their toenails...then laugh every time they take their socks off. and laugh even harder when they forget and wear flipflops.

went to a mariner game with nicole. we had an adventure getting there but we made it in one piece....barely ;). we didn't even get really lost!!

this last weekend we went tubing for activity WAY fun. i've only been tubing a few times but i'll have to make friends with someone who has a boat b/c it was a blast. it was raining and freeeezing cold but so worth it. we'd just get in the water when we got too cold since it was a lot warmer. i tried my knees as knee boarding (get it? instead of tried my hand, tried my knees...hahahaha) i could get up on the board just find i couldn't grab the rope though, i was too chicken after being plummeted head first the first 3 tries.
so random post about nothing really. i'm super duper tired.
24 days until I go to UTAH!!

Birthday Wrap-Up

This post is really just an elaborate ruse to NOT unpack my camping stuff or clean my room. it's tooooo daunting ahhhhh. my room looks like a bomb exploded in it, NO good at all. maybe i'll just start throwing stuff away and see what happens.

anyways as the title of this post suggests this is a birthday wrap-up, kind of. my dad said there's still one thing coming in the mail and then we will have the family party at some point after my aunts wedding. i got spoiled this year, i got lots of good stuff i guess when you get older and spend lots of money on others' gifts you get extra good gifts back ;) jk jk. so here is a picture post with little interruptions for my silly captions:

i actually bought this for myself at a street market in snohomish. it's a little funky and not something i would normally wear but i enjoy it. i enjoyed the price tag too ;)
this is a little camera keychain that flashes. preeeeeeety cool

a BAZINGA! shirt from one of my favorite shows, Big Bang Theory.

when in rome is pretty funny to me.

triple combo scriptures with a snap front. super excited. i'm a little sad to leave my seminary scriptures behind but i'll still keep them around.

since i never read it online my mom got me this book

some scrapbook supplies, i just combined them they are from tracy, anita and my mom. there were a few other things too but they are buried right now :\. my mom sewed that grey and yellow bag i can never have too many bags.

another non-bday gift but oh well. this is the dress i got for my aunts wedding. the pic. doesn't do it justice, it has a small bubble bottom and a flower middle. all for $19, thanks Kohls.com clearance! i got the last one.

this was a dress my mom got me but it was too short to be a dress and too long to be a shirt so i cut off the 2 bottom tiers and made it into a shirt. i reallllly like it but i felt guilty cutting it.

at girls camp the night i left the girls and doneva gave me the SOFTEST blanket EVER with a really cute reusable shopping bag.

i love dan brown books and i have all his books in hardback but for some reason i only had davinci code in paperback so i got a hard copy. a set of denise interchangeable knitting needles!!!! pink ones! i also got a set of skull candy ear buds but skull candy does not stay in my ears so i exchanged them for sony's.

my package from RUSSIA came last night while i was at a mariner game so when i got home it was waiting for me. i just love nesting dolls!! i wonder how they knew? thanks aunt jeanie and uncle joe!

sam and my mom picked this scale out for me at an antique shop. i might try to make some sort of photo prop out of it. my parents also got me this cuisinart immersion blender with a whisk attachment and a chopper attachment LOVE it. time to make some soup or meringue or something.

not pictured: ty got me a gift card to Old Navy, my favorite store! a 12x24 paper pack with cool decoration papers.

and last but NOT least, my birthday present to myself. a blendtec blender. ya man i'm so excited to use it. i was gone for the week after i got it so i haven't used it much yet but it makes hot soup and cold ice cream. AMAZING machine. thanks costco!

i defiantly got spoiled. next week i'm going to dinner with a few friends since i've been so busy i haven't seen them for awhile, it will be pretty nice. michelle gets home this week. my cousins from utah are leaving today and will be here tomorrow for my aunts wedding this weekend. busy busy busy busy. so no more procrastinating i need to clean my room in a bad way!

Gurrrrls Camp 2010!

I just got back from girls camp last night. i had to leave a day early because i'm supposed to be packing right now for my retreat that i leave for in an hour...woops. i have never ever been a camper. tents are not my friend, sleeping bags make me claustrophobic, bugs use me as their buffet, campfire smoke burns my lungs...the list could go on about why i am not a camper. but i'll tell you what, this week has been wonderful! i wasn't concerned with my own well being and i didn't care if i got too cold or hot or if i got bit by bugs. my focus was on the girls in our camp and i think that made my camp experience so great. i was able to forget about my uncomfortable-ness and make sure they were warm, drinking their water, well fed and having fun. all the things that are usually an issue for me and camping didn't seem to make an appearance. sure i got a few bug bites and got a little sunburned but that didn't bother me at all.

our theme for camp this year was "I Believe" i love disney movies and this theme made me happy. our wards theme happened to be Cinderella...ummm ask my parents i would watch that movie ALL day long if they'd let me when i was a kid. they would get up Saturay mornings (5am cough) and put it on for me then rewind it and play it again ;). so that was a wonderful theme for our ward. our color was purple which is in my top 5 favorite color list.

we had some amazing girls which always makes it better/easier. we only had 5 girls from our ward come and 2 of them were youth leaders who didn't even need to hang out with our ward but since they are good/nice girls they spent a lot of time with us which was way fun. heidi even slept with our ward which was an added bonus!
i wanted them to have a fun and memorable time at camp so each day i had a little gift for them. the first day i gave them each a journal with their initial on it and a letter from their parents. the 2nd day was the big hike day so i set up a little spa for them. i bought a few cheap pools, filled them with water and scented beads, gave them each a mini manicure set and towel and let them do pedicures/manicures. i gave them their gift for the 3rd day also on the 2nd day at night since i had to leave a day early, i just bought a package of glow bracelets and a quote. then last night before i left i gave them all a glass slipper and a quote to remind them that they are princesses no matter what the world tells them.

our tent was kind of the meeting place for girls who wanted to come hang out. we had the most food and a huge bag of crafts which made us kind of popular. all the girls really enjoyed our nutella...don't ask me why. nasty stuff.

our skit was the BEST in my opinion ;). of course it was cinderella that we made a little more modern (with unmodern clothes). our prince charming was taylor launter which made the audience very happy. we had a full sized cutout of him and he was our "mascot" during camp.

they were great at going with the flow and acting goofy and the did a great job.

this was the first day of camp right after unpacking. it was so nice and organized. we had 4 air mattresses lined up for maximum comfort/body heat....note: the tent didn't stay this organized the whole time but the did do a pretty good job keeping it clean.

this was on our way to the park, still clean and smell free!

overall camp was great and i was so glad to go. packing stressed me out and planning stressed me out but once we got there it was so perfect and relaxing. i'm glad for the chance i had to participate, i hope they all had fun!

One week from now....

....i will be at girls camppppp! despite all the stuff i still have to do, i'm excited. oh man why am i blogging, i need to be doing more important things. yikes. i'm such a procrastinator with some things. there is so much stuff happening in the next few weeks, i'm excited and nervous and anxious and overwhelmed and excited.

haha it will all work out even if we have a banner that looks like a piece of cardboard with permanent marker, which might be what it ends up being. the homemade paper mache pumpkins and tube sock mice might not happen and i have to be ok with that. i can't do everything now that i've waited so long. (our theme is Cinderella...hence the random decorations)

tomorrow i am going to friday harbor all day which might not be ideal timing. then in the evening it's our last YW mtg. before camp! phew. so wish me luck, i'll need it more for the preparations than the actual camp.

i might not blog for awhile. i'm leaving camp a night early and leaving the next day (which is my birthday!) to go to a scrapbooking retreat. the day i get back, i go to work, then the next day go to seattle for a mariner game. work the next 2 nights then head to bainbridge island for my aunts wedding. oh and michelle gets home! how exciting! probably won't have much time to even see her for the first few days though. laaaaaame. whatever.

ok i gotta go cut some fabric for this banner then go to sleep to be up bright and early to head to the fery!

Dresses

once again i am procrastinating on my girls camp duties....woops....and looking at dresses online. my aunt is getting married next month and i decided i needed to buy a new dress to take photos in. really it's just an excuse to browse anthropologie and shabby apple for an hour without getting in trouble ;). i found a few that i like and it seems the photos i saved of a few dresses didn't really save so these will have to do. they aren't all modest so i'd have to modest-ify them a bit. but one good thing about being short is when a dress for "normal" girls goes above their knees, it goes right to mine or even right below. perfect! here are a few contenders feel free to give me more ideas i don't want to spend toooooo much.

this is one of my favorites. i just love yellow dresses. i really wanted yellow and grey but couldn't find one.
this is another one i really like although it might look strange with a tank top under it. but i think it would look super duper with a yellow (or blue?) cropped cardigan. it is going to be a "beach" wedding i think.

i really am digging the yellow theme lately. and this one is under $100!

i love love love this color and this one is modest already! but from nordstroms and a little expensive

i think this is like the yellow one above but purple. i love purple too.....hmmmm

i don't usually like dresses like this on me but i really liked the top part of this dress so it could work with a little sweater or something. ahhhhh so many choices so little time!

in other news girls camp: 13 days away...YIKES! not prepared whatsoever so after i publish this post that's what i'll be working on.

in other other news: going to see eclipse in a few hours....hahaha i'm so distracted geesh but soooooo excited!!

in other other other news: i have never been more stressed out! this month is camp, vacation, photos, weddings, birthdays, camp at work, baseball game, scrapbook retreat....and more. the list keeps getting longer and longer i don't make a habit of wishing time away but starting july 5th it could stand to go a little faster.

ok off to work on camp stuff and my 2 lessons for sunday!

Right Now...

right now i....

love trident layers gum. it's a little waxy but i love the flavor. i haven't actually tried the strawberry one yet but i have a pack, have to finish the apple/pineapple first

love that it's 75 degrees outside and can enjoy a crystal lite Popsicle in the sun for only 15 calories

love that i spent the morning (while the clouds were out) cleaning my room just a little bit. i no longer have the mt. Vesuvius clothes pile going on AND i got rid of a loooot of shoes. now i only have about 50 pairs! yahoo they all fit finally!

love any and all shades of pink/red nail polish on both my toes and fingers. to have my toes painted means summer is here!

love that i got rid of the huuuuge jeans in my closet (that i'm embarrassed to think ever fit me) and replaced them with jeans that are HALF that size. (even if they are paint splattered, they were only $5 though ;))

love breakfast! i have never ever been a breakfast person but for the last week i've been having a "fried" egg with garlic powder, S&P, and chili powder on half a whole wheat sandwich thin. sometimes if i'm feeling risque i have a peach too yuuuummmmmm.

love loreal's new face wash. i have never had "typical" skin. i never really got pimples or anything but i might have suffered a worse fate...DRY skin. sooo dang dry. but this stuff is cool it has a nifty little scrubbing pad that feels like a treat for my face. very enjoyable and affordable.

ahhhh one more thing before i go back outside, i love that my new photography postcards just came in the mail!! yahooooooo! they look a lot better than the first ones thankfully. let me know if you'd like one :).

Time flys (or is it flies? maybe fly's?)

i remember my parents always said time goes by way faster when you are an adult and i have to say i have found this to be true (fortunately? unfortunately? the jury's still out on that one.) i literally feel like it should still be February. how the HECK are we already towards the end of June?!!! seriously when i look back on it, i don't know where all the time went. i guess i was in the hospital with my grandpa a lot, our house was remodeled etc etc....but i am at a loss to where all that time went. i might put my detective gear on and try to find it because i want it back!

July is coming up WAY WAY WAY too fast for my liking. too many things going on next month that i need more time to prepare for example: girls camp (23 days and counting) my 23rd birthday (26 days and counting) scrapbook retreat (also 26 days and counting) my aunt's wedding (i just found out about...34 days and counting). i just don't know what i'm going to do. i feel so unprepared which i hate. i know it will all come together i just need to learn the fine art of delegation and the not so fine art of letting go ;). the girls at camp won't know or care if i don't get everything done for them that i have planned, but i will try my hardest.

anyways i didn't mean to rant there but i just felt overwhelmed. i literally have no idea where the weeks go. it should still be thursday, NOT sunday night.

here are a few photography things i've been working on the last few weeks:

business postcards. the back has all my information on it and prices. i've realized i'm too busy to do "favors" for people i hardly even know when it comes to photography.

here's a gift certificate i still have to print up. not sure if they would ever even be used but they are still kinda fun ;)

in other news, i love this shirt. i think it's really funny. i would wear it. hint hint...


p.s. 80 days til ty goes to the MTC and maybe 76 days (?) until him and i go to utarhhhh