Photography: Portrait of a Baseball Player

Recently I was able to get together and take a few pictures of my brother right after his baseball game.  He was covered in dirt and his "war paint" was smudged-the photos turned out wonderful with the lighting and the gritty details.

January Life Udpates

It's been a little bit since I did an update on life, so I figure it's about time to check in and touch bases on where I am and how I'm doing.  Lots of stuff has been happening, but I feel like I've been doing pretty good keeping my head above water... Until the plague hit.  Yep.  I'm sick right now.  It sucks.

Last weekend I headed up to Ken and Kristina's for Courtney's going away party.  Yep, that pretty little blonde girl in the middle there joined the Navy and left for Bootcamp on Tuesday.  She's tough, so we know she'll make it through, but she's also so pretty and petite that we worry about her-but that's what family is for-support and worry.  We love her and it was good to celebrate her before she left.

 

It was also good to see Ashlee again.  It's been such a long time and she's lost like 80lbs.  She looks amazing-I'm going to be using her as my inspiration for my weight loss goals now-she seriously looks so great!  We also got to go to breakfast with her family the next morning.

Also, I got to spend some quality time with the godkids.  Isn't this baby just the most adorable?  Splashing in the bath tub.

That also gave us some rushed time to get family photos before Courtney left, so we all trekked up to Ogden and visited one of my favorite parks, Beus Pond, to get some lovely photos with my camera.  It gave me some much-needed practice also.  If you missed that post, see all the photos HERE.

Aside from the fun, this weekend was one full of memories and weird revelations.  Just being in Beus Pond, and Ogden in general, brings back a ton of memories for me.  MelanieGrace and I used to go wander this park in the middle of the night, trekking through ferns imagining ourselves lost in a fairyland.  We also used to put on our favorite witchy skirts and go run through the sprinklers at 2AM... I miss those days sometimes...

Before we'd gone up there this weekend I learned that my very first ex-boyfriend, from when I was 18/19 years old-the one with all the memories in Ogden, was arrested two years ago for kidnapping.  WHAT?  I mean by Utah law if he was dating a 17 year old and that minor spent the night at his place without parental consent they could actually charge him with Kidnapping-and I don't know the details but WTF.  When I found that out it made me sick-like a gut-punch to the stomach.  

In other "small-world" news... My Facebook "people you may know" section seems to be a graveyard of guys I've gone out with once or twice and then never had anything... Well I noticed one of them that I went out with in August and decided to snoop only to find out he'd recently added Kristina's niece that I know... The sister of our navy girl I mentioned earlier.  I had to know what was up and sure enough now she's dating him!  How weird is that? Small small world...

A few weekends ago I made it out to El Chihuahua for Death Stars with Shawn, Justin, Ron and Vaugn.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with them and drink a bit.  Tomorrow night we have our monthly dinner with a few coworkers and their partners, and an old coworker we miss.  We're going for Indian food.  I'm grateful, because a good strong curry may be just what I need to burn this cold out of me.

Kitty and I are getting on a bit better.  She still drives me crazy in the morning with her meowing, and she tried to make a bolt for it when I walked out the door today and then pretty much screamed at me when I dragged her back into the apartment (what a brat!), but at least she's letting me sleep through the night now.

Tonight I'm meeting up with my French professor and Mandi and Jaek from French class.  Since our French class was canceled this semester we've decided to meet up for dinner every once in a while so we can still practice.  Tonight we're going to The Paris-I want Moules Frites!

  

Instead of French, I ended up taking Photography.  The class and this book are pretty great so far, I'm learning how to control things in my camera I didn't know before-but it's going to be a lot of work with projects every week.

Linguistics seems complicated, but so far the homework hasn't been bad.  Also, I hate Math.  My new professor (this semester) is not as good as my old one-and I'm having a harder time grasping it. Oh well.

Also in case you missed it, I was shopping for school supplies at the school bookstore a few weeks ago and ended up getting interviewed by Fox 13!  I posted the video (and I look like a hot mess) on the blog.

I've gotten my health back on track!  I haven't made it to the gym yet, (trust me I tried but it being January there wasn't a single parking space or machine free!), but I did join Weight Watchers and I've been doing really well on it.  Good thing, because I finally weighed myself and I had reached a new all-time high for weight and that is no bueno.  So, you can find my health updates and information on my other blog Health NOT to Health NUT which is back up and being updated again.

I tried these Traveling Noodles from The Londoner... Mine didn't turn out so great.  And I got horribly ill... I need to try it again soon and try and find out what it was that made me so sick in them.  My guess was the Tom Yum paste-which it turns out I don't like anyway.

When I went to the little Asian market by my house to get stuff for the Traveling Noodles I found this cute little Bento set-which has been awesome for taking vegetables to work with a little ranch dressing.  Since fruits and veggies are 0 points on WW, all I have to count is the ranch and that's not too bad of a meal!

I reviewed a few books this month (and have reviews for the next two Saturday's scheduled also).

• The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch
• The Dark Monky by Oliver Pötzsch
• The Goddess Test Series - Review on Saturday, January 24th! 
• The Beggar King - Review on Saturday, January 30th!

In case you missed it, here are some of my favorite posts from the blog this month:

• Book Title Tag
• My Top 10 Inappropriate Fictional Crushes
• Handmade Love: Love Yourself
• Handmade Love: The Stillness of Winter
• 2014 End of Year Book Survey
• January 12x30 Challenge: Love Yourself

Don't forget to enter the giveaway! 

This is the only time I painted my nails this month-sad huh?  250 bottles of nail polish and I rarely do... But this was the #PinkforLeelah mani I did using Color Club Beyond and Color Club Miss Bliss with ORLY Mirrorball over the top.  So much holo.  So pretty.

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Falkner Family Photos

This weekend I went up to my second family's place for Courtney's going away party.  Courtney joined the Navy, and left Monday morning for boot camp, so we wanted to get some family photos in before she left.  Just look how grown up she is!

So we took the family and my DSLR up to Beus Pond in Ogden.  Man there were so many memories that came flooding back being up there.  Melanie Grace and I used to wear our witchy skirts and run through the sprinklers at 2AM... Many times we trekked up there for a night walk around the pond, or a day exploration through the back paths so full of ferns it looked like a hidden fairy land.  We definitely had some good times, and while it looks much less alive in the dead of winter, it was a beautiful backdrop for photos anyway.

This also follows directly after Ken and Kristina's eleventh wedding anniversary.  Eleven is a good long time to be married!

I am so very far from professional.  I have a nice camera, but I'm seeing where I definitely lack in the skill to take anything that looks professional.  Thank goodness I'm taking a class-we're going to have to do a new round of family photos this summer so that I can compare my skill level.

Confessions & Life Updates

Hey friends!  Man, December was crazy busy wasn't it?  The holidays and end of year always are, so while I feel like I've adequately recapped my year (HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE), I haven't so much talked about what's been happening lately or in December at all.

I confess... At the first of the month my work's corporate office asked Shawn, Blaire, Ron, and I to come down and decorate for their Christmas charity event.  It was a little stressful because they didn't have any idea of what they wanted-they basically just said "create a setting, we have trees and a chair and a backdrop" but then we showed up and they didn't have a backdrop actually.  So we rushed out and found the tree back drop, wrapped a bunch of presents, decorated the tree and it was ready.  It looked really good though, and it was fun to get out of work to do something good.

I confess... Kristina and I got together and made handmade bath salts and sugar scrubs for Christmas gifts this year. We made peppermint, margarita (really just lime), lavender, orange, lemon grass, jasmine, and mixed citrus (lime, orange, and lemongrass).  They were a big hit and fun to do!

I confess... My grandmother gave me some couches.  They're in great condition and really cute, and my awesome family (including my little brother Ryan, pictured above) helped me move them in.

I confess... Meggy graduated with her Master's degree the second week of December and we couldn't be more proud of her!  We went over and hung out for celebration, and it was lovely to see them! 

  I confess... Josh came in from Canada and it was so great to see him!  We had a little get together with some friends two nights in a row to celebrate.  On the second night we made egg rolls for old time's sake and played Cards Against Humanity.  

I confess... I spent Christmas with my family.  Above you'll see me snuggling with my sister's bunny and also my brother's wrapping job.  He likes to give gifts that are strange enough you'll think of him every time you see it.  A few years back it was a heavy stone yard decor turtle (who sits in my plant in the living room), last year it was a gaudy candle holder, and this year it was a hand book end. I actually really love his gifts-I need to get another matching book end so I can use them!  

My mother got me a big ceramic pots and pans set which is amazing and so needed, and my sister got me a super soft Ninja Turtle blanket and some other things.  All my gifts were lovely!  Josh's mom bought me some slippers and a heated scarf, and I've been wearing the slippers ever since.

  I confess... I made these watercolor family portraits for my mom's and Ari's gifts.  They were so fun! The only downside is that I put all this time into it and my brother broke up with his girlfriend (shown to the far right in the first picture) that night... Sooooo I don't know what my mom wants to do with that image. Such a bummer, but I should have been smarter-too young!

I confess... We finally got snow on Christmas! Personally, while I dislike driving in the snow and it was nice not dealing with that, I was starting to get concerned about the drought we're going to have this Summer due to the lack of water. I'm still concerned, but a little helped! 

 

I confess... I brought my cat home with me from my mom's house.  We're... Adjusting.  I don't think I'm a cat person as much as I used to be, and she's been SO clingy.  She follows me around meowing all day long and wants to be held and petted 24/7-including the middle of the night.   It's strange, she wasn't that way before (I adopted her with my first boyfriend like 10 years ago), or at my mom's house where she just slept all day and didn't interact much.  She's been so active and clingy here.  I'm really hoping that she calms down when she's more adjusted to the new living space.  I'm losing my mind.

 

I confess... She LOVES Josh though (but who doesn't?) and he thought she was sweet and loved on her the whole time.  I was glad she did, because in my annoyance I've been loving her less haha! She was his little shadow all week.

I confess... Josh's mom came down last night and we all went to dinner, then the both of them stayed at my place last night, where we had chocolate and watched horror movies, before heading to the airport this morning.  I'm sure going to miss him, but having him in town just showed me how we can still have as good of a relationship and pick up where we left off every time we get together.  I'm also visiting him for sure this summer!

 

I confess... I baked cookies twice this month!  First my peppermint cookies which I like for Christmas, and second I wanted to try homemade ginger cookies.  They turned out great, but I want to try fresh ginger in my recipe next time I make them.  Still tasty, and good and chewy-I'm not a big fan of hard cookies.

I confess... I'm having a sale on ad spots through the 5th-so snag an ad with $10 off before Monday!

I confess... Don't forget the 12x30 Challenge that Kenzie and I announced!  Monday we announce/share the first month's challenge which is to work on loving yourself, and we have so many fabulous suggestions and prompts! 

I confess... I'm all signed up for school this semester and need to go get books.  I'm taking my last French class for a while, Math, and Intro to Linguistics.  Should be an interesting semester.

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