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

Vancouver LDS Temple

i had these two black and white ones requested and i masked the gold moroni back to gold even though it's hard to tell. the top photo has a texture run on top then again i removed the texture from the temple so it's just in the sky.

I had a few people ask me if i was going to sell some photos of the vancouver temple i took. so i thought i'd put a few up here if anyone is interested. i have a reallllly cool edit that i'm working on right now that i'm hoping will be similar to the Raymond Design temple photos (maybe?!). if anyone is interested i can post a price list for different sizes. i'm too tired now but hopefully i'll finish that other photo tomorrow-ish and post it. if you are interested let me know so i can put together some info for you.


also i'm hoping to go up one night after it gets dark and take some cool night photos. but that might have to wait until crazy july is over.

EDIT: If you would like a CD of one of the images to do what you want with we'll say that's $5.

Drowning on Dry Land

cheesy? mellow dramatic? possibly. probably. all signs point to yes. i literally made 4 pages of excel spreadsheets this week for all the things i have to get done. i am learning how to say no. i am learning that it's ok to not be able to figure out everyone's issues. i am learning that i can't do everything for everyone. i can't tell you how many times in the last 2-3 years i've heard something along the lines of "she doesn't have kids, she has time to do it". that's EXACTLY why i DON'T have time to do it. i am deciding my mental health is more important than being everyone's "go to" person. so sorry if i'm not able to do something for you. i really wish i could but sometimes it might not be possible. i really only have one whole day every other week "off" and i use the term off loosly b/c by 6pm i'm back "on" but whatever ;).
it's ok for me to make "appointments" with myself in my schedule book and when people ask me for something that day, i don't have to give them my life story as to why i can't, i can just say, i have plans. those plans might just include me in my pajama's on the hammock with a book, but they don't need to know that. sorry i'm rambling but for my sanity i needed to vent for a few minutes. thanks for listening. sorry to be so dramatic and oh woe is me. tomorrow i have a date with my pj's and Holden Caufield (The Catcher in the Rye, it's a book lest you think i have a real date haha) I probably won't take a shower until noon when I have to get ready for a meeting and really start my day.

i hope you all can take a mental health day soon too! it's a growing epidemic!

alright off to make 1 or 2 more spreadsheets....yipppppy!

Food Storage Dinner

I have always had this thing about being prepared. I always have a purse full of stuff (tooth brushers, hand sanitizer, first aid items etc...) sometimes i get made fun of for it but it seems like the ones who make fun of me are the ones who need those items. ANYWAYS. when i was a kid i read this book, Z for Zachariah and a few years ago i read the book, The Road and both these books have just made me more of a preparedness freak. With all the natural disasters happening around the world in the last several years it makes me even MORE of a freak. Food storage is something our family has always had and we try to use up the old stuff before it goes bad. Here is a fun recipe to help use up some of that food storage that might need to be replaced soon.

Mexican Corn Chowder:
2 cans refried beans
2 cans corn (include the water)
2 cans precooked chicken
2-4 Cups Chicken broth
1 can black beans (drained)
Taco seasoning
onion powder
garlic powder
chili powder
sour cream
cheese

basically what you do is throw everything into a pot (except sour cream and cheese) and let it simmer until hot. at the end, add the sour cream and cheese. you can also top it with tortilla chips (if you're into that sort of thing ;)).

it's pretty good. very hearty. i made it tonight for dinner and brought some to my grandparents in the nursing home and by the time i got home i just wanted cherries so i'll save my bowl for tomorrow.

I want to be her

http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/


go here. you will see why i want to be her. her DIY section is unbelievable and her photography is amazing. p.s. she also has an etsy store....


i claim no responsibility if you spend the next 2 hours searching her site.

FYI:

Update, I've reopened my blog we will see how things go. It's hard to block it because of the cocoon pattern i posted a couple years ago can't be accessed and there's several links for people. Oh well. It might need to be private again but I'll undo it for awhile.

My Name is Amanda and I am a Geek....

I have blog layout ADD, it seems like I change my layout every 12 minutes. haha. oh well. anyways...this week will be a crazzzzy one for sure. there are several things going on everyday so hopefully it will be a good week. it will be. i decided.

let's get onto it then shall we?

i have made a list (albeit somewhat juvinelle) of the things i am looking forward to in the coming months. don't judge.

first is the 3rd and final "Hunger Games" book is being released August 24th! I already have it preordered...preorder guarentee from amazon, can't beat it. if you haven't read them i suggest you start now.

also coming out August 24th, would be the complete series of LOST on bluray. i give you permission to be jealous. we ordered it for my dad for his birthday yesterday. ty's a little disappointed he won't have enough time to watch it before leaving sept. 8th. i tried convincing him he could watch it straight through but he declined. probably a good idea. don't need to be doing that 2 weeks before your mission.

next on my list is the 1st part of the 7th Harry Potter movie is going to be released November 19th! i loved the deathly hallows so i am suuuuper geeked out to see this. the 2nd part of the movie won't be released until next June or July, can't remember.

and last but not least, you knew it was coming, it was inevitable:

Twilight Saga: Eclipse comes out June 30th. I haven't bought tickets yet or anything and overall i'm pretty disappointed in the movies but i still have to see them. i'm team jacob in case you were wondering, well for the movies at least. team edward for the books. wow i really am 22 and i really did just say what "team" i was on. awkward.....

well that's it for now. gotta be up early for work tomorrow.

p.s. i've been thinking i might make this blog private? i ask it as a question b/c i'm not sure if i will, i probably won't end up doing it but it's been in the back of my mind just in case you were wondering. we'll see what happpppens.

ANOTHER blog?

well i started another blog, one that is private to everyone but me. i'm trying to be real good about keeping a journal but writing cramps my hand REAL bad. pretty sure i have early onset arthritis. way to go double jointed joe. anyways. i really don't know what the point of this post is...i just don't know what to blog about anymore. i'm so weird and random. i neeeeeeeed ideas. i love how this was supposed to be more of a crafty blog but now it's amanda's mishmash of weirdness blog.

update: deleted said blog. its harder to type than to write i guess ;)

on another note. i need to stop eating!!!!! i got this recipe for some delicious monster cookies made with almond meal and stuff i can actually eat. the problem is, they are the perfect pop into your mouth size and i want to eat 10 of them. old habits die hard i suppose. my goal is to be size 6 by my birthday so i gotta get back to jogging and maybe sign up to thrive and stop eating those dang cookies.


speaking of my birthday that is only a month and a half away, oh gosh that means girls camp is only a month and a half away and guess who's in charge)?! this will be my 2nd birthday during camp... anyways i will be 23!!!!! i feel like i might as well be 68 phew. while we are on the subject, i wouldn't mind this little camera bag with this little cover. just saying.


since i want a camera bag for my birthday i suppose i should post my spiffy new pricing sheet i made up. i really have no idea what to charge people for my photography so i haven't really been doing a whole lot with it but hopefully my prices are fair and people feel they are getting a good product for their money.

oh it was the LOST season finale last night, BTW stillllll confused. i feel like it is a smart show and i guess i'm not smart enough for it. i watched it for 6 years and i'm not quite sure what happened in the finale still. all i know is i went to bed way too late and had to be up by 7:30 this morning. yuck.


we got our new couch on saturday after ordering it in JANUARY. it is a beast. seriously it's so big but it's the most comfortable couch i've ever sat on. it's all about the recliners baby.


well i like how i said i have nothing to talk about then ramble on for 8 paragraphs about NOTHING. so i'll be done now, my stomach hurts and i want to (read: still won't) go to bed.


do i even make sense when i type? i'm beginning to doubt it.


i will feel really bad if people actually read this and wasted their time. sorry i can't give you the last 5 minutes of your life back.

Santaigo Chile North

That is where my brother is going to be spending 2 years of his life starting in September. He's going on a mission for our church. the mail lady came today and honked the horn. when we got the mail i asked if there was a large white envelope and my mom said no, then she looked again and there were 2...not sure how she missed that. well one was my edward jones investment stuff and the other was his mission call. i'm not quite sure how she lasted 2.5 hours without opening it but she did and we went to the nursing home where my grandpa is staying and opened it with the grandparents, our family, joelle, steve, stephanie and haley pratt. he lied and said billings, montana and i believed him then someone said liar and he read the real thing. anyways, it's pretty exciting that he will be there. added bonus: guess who gets to go pick him up when he's done?! heck yes! also not to brag, but next summer i'm going to russia so i'll pretty much be a world traveler by the time chile comes around ;).

out of allllll the countries i guessed, i didn't even get close. my dad guessed south america so he was closest. i guessed Eurasia (it's a real thing!) i didn't guess euthanasia...whatever. i guessed pretty much everywhere BUT south america. we've been looking at an atlas for the last couple hours. i think i'll see if the library has some books too. i looked on wikipedia and it's pretty interesting. it gave some statistics and it said .9% of the population is LDS compared to 68.7% Catholic so he'll have his work cut out for him. he's also going to be closer to antartica than here. weiiiiiird. since he's going to be on the opposite side of the equator the water will flush the other way and his summer will be our winter and vise versa. besides, unless he's in the mountains, it shouldn't drop below 62ish in the winter.

BTW, this is the world's largest swimming pool and where is it located...why chile of course. AWESOME! toooo bad he can't swim while he's there.

Cupcake CRAZY

let's get one thing straight, i cannot eat cupcakes. i guess technically i CAN i just choose not to, weird i know. however, i CAN decorate cupcakes still. i have always enjoyed decorating cupcakes but i haven't ever decorated them like this before: (p.s. sorry for the terrible pictures, they are all from my phone :\)

these spaghetti and meatball cupcakes were for april fools day. it's really just frosting and ferreo rocher dipped in raspberry jelly. pretty fun.

these little guys were for my neighbor's 11th birthday party. they have a marshmallow pillow and body, nilla wafer head, rolled out star burst blanket, teddy graham teddy's, flower sprinkle mouths and frosting hair/eyes

and a close up.

my neighbor also had a swimming party, enter twinky sharks, donut life preservers, pretzel and gumdrop buoys and sweedish fish swimming on marshmallows

i just want ONE bite, pleaaaase?!

these ones are pretty boring compared to the other ones but oh well. i made about 75 big and small cupcakes for my mom's RS mothers day treat. some had a little chocolate heart that didn't really turn out too well.

i think there was 3 types of cake and 4 types of frosting going on here. the kitchen was a disaster.

and these little guys we made last night. they are monsters and boy are they fun. they each have half a marshmallow then they are covered in frosting. the eyes are dum dum suckers with a black M&M "glued" on there wrapped with a peach ring. and the nose is a small hard candy.

i really wanted to eat one of these guys....sad.

anyways now i'm looking at different elmo cupcake ideas ;) i love cupcakes.

p.s. do you know how hard it is to NOT lick your frosting covered finger? hard i tell you. it's almost an unconscious decision, one that's made before you realize what's happening. however, i refrained every time.

p.p.s. who knew that marshmallow was spelled with an A? i didn't. thank goodness for spellcheck!