My new reads...

I am reading this new series by Joanne Fluke and it's really fun...

It's about a girl named Hannah who is a self-proclaimed crime solving cookie baker...

it's light and refreshing but still suspenseful enough for me...

and...

there are recipes in each book from Hannah...

totally my kind of read...

and...

I heard there is like 15 books in the series...

Yay!

Grady is Goofy...

So Grady is so weird...

I have this new thing with the kids about getting hurt...

I am sick of hearing them bawl over stupid stuff...

so I told them that for every bruise or cut they get and they don't cry over...

I will give them a quarter...

a quarter for a goose egg sounds like a good deal to me...

and apparently to Grady...

He is such a goof!

He took one of those suctioning thingies and put it on his face for a self-made bruise all for a quarter...

Seriously!

and then he laughed his guts out when I told them what 'those' are called...

hickey is really quite a funny word to say...

try it...

hickey...

see...

told ya it was funny!

Strawberry Chicken Salad....

Okay...

So you HAVE to try this...

I'll admit, I was skeptical at first...

but I love salads and wanted to give it a try...

and it was FABULOUS!

You'll like it...

I promise...

Strawberry Chicken Salad:

Mix together in bowl:

2 bags shredded lettuce

1 cup sliced strawberries
6-8 chicken tenders, cooked and shredded

a small handful sliced almonds

a handful of real bacon bits

Top with your favorite poppy seed dressing and those amazing new tortilla strips you can buy by the salad dressing isle...by the real bacon bits.

So good!

The Green Machine...

So I have been reading a ton of blogs lately about the Green Smoothie...

and I was taken back by how many people swear by it...

so I thought to myself...

why not?

And guess what?

It's not bad and I sorta like it...

some say that soon my body will crave the greens in it and it will become essential for me to have it every day...

I usually have cereal for breakfast and then a green shake for lunch...

and it is super satisfying...

I do mine like this:

About 1 cup ice

About 1 cup milk

1/2 banana

1/4-1/2 cup blueberries

sugar or substiture (1 Tbsp)

2 cups fresh spinach leaves

Blend the ice and milk first until smooth.  Add the fruit and sugar and blend.  Then add the spinach and blend for quite awhile...like 3-5 minutes or until it's totally smooth and you won't have to eat it with a fork.  I divide this in half and drink one half and put the other either in the fridge or freezer for the next day.

For me this is totally cool cuz I HATE to fix lunch...

and this makes it so easy for me...

Don't knock it until you try it!

Apparently it's really good for you too...

Meee Ohhhh Myyyy...

Not to toot my own horn or anything...

But...

This is my Favorite shoot to date...

and...

Yes, they are that good!

These are Amazing!

Let's be honest here...

Becky is GORGEOUS!!!

It's quite obvious that I was adopted...

hahaha

Mi Hermano...

I got to do couple of photo shoots for my brothers over Christmas...

So far I have only had time to edit this shoot...

My SIL is so gorgeous!

Enjoy!

Sage's Birthday

Happy Birthday little one...

We miss you terribly...

Love you much!

Little Letters...

Dear 2010...In a way you were the worst year ever...but you did have some good qualities...I'll explain!

Dear Sage...I miss you!  I miss your sassiness and your silly little run...and I miss your happy face!  Your momma misses you more than you could ever imagine...but thank you for sending Isaac to her...he looks just like you and is silly like you too!  He even laughed when he peed on me, sorta reminded me of you...

Dear Becky...I am so glad you are healthy...your stoopid thyroid threw me for a loop and I didn't like it one bit.  But alas...you are good and that makes me happy!

Dear Mom...I am so glad you are healthy also...your stoopid uterus made me so heart-broken...and I am glad it is gone...good riddence uterus...Boo on you!

Dear Cancer...I hate you...you have changed my life...you have changed how I look at everything...my family has changed because of you, in a good way...but I still hate you!

Dear Ashley...you are a good woman!  And such a strong force that keeps all of us going...thank you for your positive faith during our 'hell' these last weeks of 2010!  Hooray for you!

Dear Friends in my ward...you are amazing...simply amazing...you have inspired me to be better and to live my life better...thank you for that!  Sorry I said 'hell' in that last one...

Dear Photography...I love you!  Thank you for sparking my interest and thank you Nicholai for being my teacher...I love this new found hobby!  And I can't wait for more...

Dear Young Women...you are so beautiful and so spiritual!  Please always remember who you are and where you came from...and please put up with my teaching skills, I didn't inherit any from my Mom if that's what you're wondering...sorry...

Dear Phlebotomy job...I need you...like I really need you...please come around!

Dear Davis Hospital...please hire ME for a phlebotomy job...I am pretty AweSoMe!  (if I do say so myself...heehee)

Dear Period...It's been a LONG BLISSFUL FOUR whole years without you...and I didn't miss you one bit...but since I won't be pregnant or nursing EVER again...I guess I will have to get used to you again...

Dear IUD...I can't wait to get you...and please promise me that you will make my periods go away for good...Thank you in advance.

Dear kids...You are so fun!

Dear husband...You too are so fun!  I feel blessed to have found you...

Dear 2011...you better be a good one!

Love, me

My Lil' Sis...

My sister is gorgeous...

and so is her family...

I had fun with these little ones...

we found some killer backgrounds that totally made the pictures...

Such a fun shoot...

Some of the Beautiful People...

The Ballard Boys...(and mom)

This is my SIL and her handsome set of men...

They were so fun to shoot but it was FREEZING cold...

such good troopers...

I'm gaga over this one...

Long Time...No Blog...

Hey you...

It's me again...

Long time...

No Blog...

Let's just say that I haven't really been feeling it lately...

I haven't really been feeling much of anything lately...

My mom is sick...

my sister might be sick...

and I am tired of all the bad things happening in my life...

When can I catch a break?

Yesterday was not much of a Thanksgiving for me...

it was just dinner with family...

I do have many things to be thankful for but looking for those things amidst all of these trials in my life is particularly hard...

So...

I'm still here...

just not really here...

comprende?

Um....Hello?

How cool is this...

Thanks Nicholai for the tutorial...

For Melanie...

Jenner's Flammy...

So Jenner has this collection...

collections aren't weird for 3 year olds...

but this particular collections is extremely weird...

She collects tiny eye dropper/nose spray bottles...

and she has named them all after members of the family...

she calls them her Flammy...

She plays with them, snuggles with them, and even puts them to bed with blankets over them...

one time when she fell asleep in her own bed (shocker) we found her little Flammy tucked under the blankets beside her...

it's quite hilarious!

Introducing...

From left:  Grandma, Nammy, Sophie, Amanda, Daddy, Mommy, Taylor, Rhett (her self proclaimed best friend), Grady, Jenner, Addison and another Jenner...

There you have it...

the super weirdness of my unique 3 year old...

Hot Couple Alert...

Despite the fact that my world has been tossled a bit...

I am still loving my photography and it gives me something to do rather than just sit around and get all sad about my mom...

This super smokin' couple was so much fun to photograph...

and they make cute kids too!

Aren't they super HOT!

This doesn't look like Mama and daughter...

does it?

Blech!

So I guess it's now public knowledge...we found out on Thursday that my Mom has uterine cancer...and we are all in total shock.  I can't even say it out loud without totally breaking down.  It's so hard to even comprehend what she is going through in her brain, I can't even understand my own feelings about it...we told my kids that very night and they all just bawled with me..Chris was the strong one that held us all together. 

We decided as a family to have a fast for her and my sister (another story) and my SIL (still another story) today and all of my older kids decided to fast with us.  It was so neat to watch them during the fast and their strength is so amazing to me...Taylor put up a note in the pantry reminding us all to not eat because we were fasting. What awesome kiddos...and we also ordered up some LiveStrong wristbands for the whole fam to where to support my Mom. 

As of right now, we don't know much...just that she has cancer...when they do surgery they will know more about what stage it is and if she has to undergo chemo and radiation...but for now, if you find yourself with some extra blessings...send your prayers our way!  It will be greatly appreciated!

On to my sister...she is awaiting surgery to find out if her Thyroid nodules are cancerous...and my SIL is going through a rough patch in her life too...

In a matter of 2 weeks, my family and life have been completely turned upsidedown...Ugh!

More of the O kids...

The beautiful O children...

A special sneak peak of the cutest O children ever...

enjoy the view...