stratford-deford

A Poem

2012-02-01T18:07:00.005-07:00

I've had poetry on my mind. When Amy and Justin were visiting it was like a creative revival. We talked so much about photography, music, quilting and writing. My writing days seem so far behind me and part of me wants them to come back.

Poetry is a practice, kind of like photography and music. I would need to get into shape to become a poet again. I'd need to write and read. Notice I don't say write and read more. I seriously seldom do either.

I thought of this poem because Wyatt was curious about my brothers that died. This poem contains some of the few memories I have surrounding Richard's death. I was 5 and a half. Also, the other day, Hank found a clear glass rock that I think I had in some kind of scripture study kit for the kids. Retelling the story about the glowing stones* reminded me of my mom. I'm so thankful I was raised in a house of faith.

*story of a prophet in the Book of Mormon who asked the Lord to touch some small stones so they would glow and provide light while they traveled in dark ships.

The White Rock in the Desert

A roadrunner drowned in the pool that morning.

I was too young to understand

why we couldn’t swim with it,

that long tail of brown feathers.

Mom took me for a walk instead, to look at rocks in the wash.

We crawled through a hole in the fence

behind the condos, climbed down

into the dry river bed among smooth ovals and loaves.

The desert was purple in early April.

Shrubs and rocks spread up the slope of Smoke Tree.

When we stopped to notice rabbit pellets and gourds,

I asked if we could really drink water from a cactus.

The rocks in the riverbed were black with silver specks,

and gray like heavy bird eggs.

We picked them over, hefted them through.

And quite naturally, my mom explained

that he had been very small.

About the size of my favorite doll, Sara,

who slept in the top drawer of my dresser.

She said he only breathed for two days, but with help.

She and my dad held him, all wrapped up,

for his final few minutes.

I spotted the reflection of a white rock.

She picked it up and turned it over in her hand.

It was clear and shined in the sun.

She said we would keep it and put it on his casket

along with moss and daffodils.

She didn’t say, but I knew the rock glowed

because it had been touched by Jesus, for us.

Years later, I sit on my parents bedroom floor

with a manila folder, pictures

of a baby taped with tubes,

a hospital band small as a hair tie,

and a paper with his hands and feet

stamped in purple ink, each one with six fingers and six toes.

My thoughts go to that desert walk, so far away,

and the rock still glowing

so far beneath the cemetery grass.

New Year's Thoughts

2012-01-29T21:59:00.004-07:00

Native American Medicine Wheel (to be discussed later)

First, I must do a quick review of my last year's goals to see if I had any success. I would say I did.

One success didn't have anything to do with me, but since Hank started pre-school I have some set office hours at my house and that has helped me keep my work in it's place.

Another success that helped me work less and helped me creatively was to stop building a business as a photographer. I don't do any weddings anymore and only take an occasional photography job. This has helped me balance my life better since I didn't have room in my life to take on another job. This has also helped me creatively to shoot for myself and not to please paying clients.

I hired house cleaners. Why I did not do this earlier, I don't know. Every two weeks I have cleaners come for two hours and totally restore our house to pristine beauty. This helps me because I have to completely put everything away before they come and I try so hard to hold onto the clean house they helped me get. By the time crazy life takes over and things feel helpless again, they come back. Our house has never been so clean.

The Cycle of Life/ Medicine Wheel

This image always comes to my mind when I think about goals. Almost all my Native American Literature books have something like this sketched in it. My teacher always talked to us about connectedness. I had this written in a book with these categories listed along with some imagery. Her point was that when we heal one section of this wheel it heals the whole. Also, when we are lacking in one section if affects the whole. This year I feel like I need a better connection to the land around me. I need more time outside, especially in the mountains. Lucky for me, Willie feels the same, so hopefully we'll make it happen.

community | cattle (family, tribe, ward, neighborhood)

mystical | stars (sky, Gods, religion, spirituality)

environment | mountains (animals, land, home)

self | woman (potential, creativity, talents, art)

This year I have a lot of the same desires as last year. Mostly, to take time for the simple pleasures of life and not get too busy. I want to put what's most important first. Be better spiritually fed. My approach to this year's goals is to make an inspiration board with imagery and some text to put by my desk to remind me of what I want to do more of.

More
spend more time outdoors (camping, hiking, alpine get-away, hot springs)
play more music
practice my instruments more
shoot more film
print more images
save more money
have more meaningful fasts
more snuggling, playing and teaching with the kids
more dates with Willie
more flowers to cut in my garden

Less
teeny bopper tv
facebook
clutter in our home

Do
Give blood (I am a mom of a baby that had two blood transfusions, I have to give more blood)
learn CPR
Finish my Obama quilt

DeFord 2011 Christmas Card

2011-12-22T19:13:00.004-07:00

DeFord Christmas Card Take 1

After putting this card together I realized it was a little too serious for our style. This was just before church a few Sunday's ago and this is what we look like about 3.5 hrs a week, tops.

So I went back to the drawing board and the card below is what we look like the rest of the time. I even added our house and a little desert landscape to round it out. Yes, Hank would totally wear the outfit below to church if I would let him.

DeFord Christmas Card Take 2

(click twice to enlarge)

I have come to terms with the fact that I will never be a successful Christmas card sender. I have about 60 pictures of our family from a few years ago when I went as far as printing the pictures but dropped the ball after that. So the electronic Christmas card will have to do for now until I get a personal assistant. I think the Christmas card tradition is so great and I love getting cards. This year I've vowed to send cards back to everyone that has sent one so I don't get cut off of anyone's lists. So let's get down the business.

Willie

I would coin 2011 as the year of the electric guitar renaissance for Willie. He's back baby. After many years only playing acoustic instruments he bought the electric guitar of his dreams and has since formed a band called Lowlands. They are on the fast track to fame. The band just made their first demo, check it out here.

Willie is still with the same law firm that brought us to Grand Junction and is enjoying his civil litigation work. We are hoping that he will become partner at this firm and that decision will be made in this upcoming year (our fingers are crossed).

Willie and I ran the Moab half marathon this year and are going to run it again in March.

Willie's insatiable appetite for reading is still alive and well, and he built the most beautiful built-in bookcase in our library to house his great collection. This year Willie and I were both published in an anthology of Mormon poets called Fire in the Pasture. It's fun to think that a small poetry group is where we first got to know each other in college.

Sally

For the most part, I do a lot of laundry, picking up around the house, making lunches, and snuggling with my boys, but I also have a lot of out of the ordinary things going on. I started off this year with a bang by going to a week long photography workshop in Santa Fe. It was such a great experience. The workshop changed everything for me (photographically speaking). If you are interested in details you can read about it on my photography blog. Here is my new website. My life is still consumed with photography and I have developed a deep love of film this year and have acquired some great film cameras. I even set up a dark room in our basement.

I'm still working as the finance manager for studioCase and enjoy how flexible my job is and, strangely enough, enjoy crunching numbers. I had a wonderful trip to New York on business in Oct. then went back about a month later as a freelance photographer for studioCase on one of their jobs. It was the real deal and such a great experience.

I'm still loving working out with a trainer 3 times a week and feel the strongest and fittest I ever have.

My calling at church has been the ward community service coordinator and we have had a year of great service together. We did a habitat for humanity construction project, a food drive for the local soup kitchen, and adopted 8 families through the salvation army this Christmas. I'm always overwhelmed by how generous and giving the people in our ward are.

Wyatt

Wyatt started 1st grade this year and is quite the scholar. He has taken off as a reader and loves books. He reads 20 minutes every night and is reading close to a 5th grade reading level. He loves his teacher, Mrs. Tinkle, who is a friend of ours, and has made good friends in his class. Wyatt is quite the gymnast and goes to gymnastics once a week where he does all kind of daring feats and gets a great workout. Wyatt is obedient and helpful. He loves playing with our neighbors. I just asked him what he loves to do and he said play on the computer and watch TV. So he's still a normal little boy. It's not all books for him. He also has a little electric guitar that he like to plug into Willie's amp and make cool noises with a slide.

Hank

Hank is full of energy and loves to dress up. Right now his favorite outfits are his superman costume, a suit with a police badge (secret agent), or his suit with a ball cap (security guard), a darth vader costume and his snow pants. I had to hide his snow pants when it was really hot because he still wanted to wear them as "worker pants". I was afraid he'd get heat stroke. Hank started pre-school this year and loves it. He has made friends and loves the art projects and the playing and being read to. The teachers are totally supportive of the crazy outfits he wears and tell me they can't wait to see what he's wearing when he shows up. Hank is short for his age (1st percentile) but has excellent verbal skills so people always thing he's some kind of baby genius. He is snuggly, affectionate and imaginative. He's just getting into writing his name and recognizing letters and counting. He wrote his name in marker on the wood floor but I got most of it out and had a hard time chastising him because it was so cute. Hank is also in gymnastics and the best in his class. When I just asked him what his favorite thing to do is, he said opening presents.

In general, life is wonderful. If i have any complaints it's that we are a little too busy and don't live close enough to our families. Our house is full of laughter and little feet running around and excitement. There is also a lot of lava spraying, wrestling and jail play. There are neighbor kids coming in and out and friends stopping by. Willie and I still love playing music together and practice on the back porch with the 17th St. Band. We love being involved at church and spending time in the great wilderness where we live. If you read all the way to the end of this, you are indeed a good friend or are totally bored at work. Either way, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

The DeFords

A Rock 'n Roll Miracle

2011-11-20T23:23:00.008-07:00

Last Sunday something so great happened. But first, a little back story.

A while back we found out that Lucinda Williams (a beloved musician in our home) was coming to Grand Junction but the bad news is that she was coming on a Sunday. In an observant Mormon (Latter-day Saint) home what you do on Sunday is an important part of family life. Depending on your family there are different approaches to keeping the Sabbath day holy. When I was little, swimming was totally out of the question on a Sunday. I now realize that it was because my grandma had a pool at her house and our Palm Springs vacation spot had a pool and for a time my dad was part owner of a beach club at the lake where we lived. No swimming was a great way to set Sunday apart from the rest of the week. In our little family, we don't have to worry about swimming. My kids are deathly afraid of the water and we don't have a pool. We do have a few basic guidelines that include the regular no stores, restaurants, and we don't pay to go to concerts on Sunday or run races or participate in sporting events. So I initially just thought we wouldn't go see Lucinda. I don't have any objection to good music on Sunday, it's paying to go see a concert that gives me pause. The last concert Willie and I paid to go to on a Sunday was Steve Earl way back in 2002.

This Sabbath observance subject has recently come up between Willie and I because of BH Photo. B&H is one of the leading sources for anything photo related. I buy almost everything from them. The company is run by Hasidic Jews and they close their store and website every Jewish Sabbath and every Jewish holiday. You can't even place an order online. It's great to see a business put religious observance first, even if it means loosing tons of money. Now we aren't Hasidic Jews but I like their intensity. So when we were talking about Lucinda coming to town, I suggested we go a little B and H and pass on this concert.

In stage two, I tried to win tickets to the Lucinda concert to get around buying them. In a drawing of 13 people with Willie and I both entered, we still didn't win. Then when I woke up in the morning the original person that won the tickets couldn't go and we still didn't win. I had finally accepted that it wasn't going to happen, but I was a little bummed.

Then something wonderful happened. Our friend, Branden Campbell, texted me asking about if we were going to the concert. Branden is a friend from my mission and he married my dear friend Emilie. We have all been on some fun rock 'n roll adventures together. Branden is a real life rock star now, see picture above. He's in the band Neon Trees and I guess he has major connections because he made a call and got us on the guest list for the concert, totally free. We could not stop smiling all day. When we arrived at the concert we had front row seats. I was right in front of Lucinda. It was the greatest concert ever. I don't want to gush, but we had so much fun. I'm all wanting to get back into playing the guitar and learning a million of her songs.

Lucinda Williams is one of the greatest songwriters ever. She's right up there with Bob Dylan and Neil Young. She's part of my musical DNA. When I first started getting into the guitar, I covered a lot of her songs. Once, when Willie and I were dating, we made out to the album Car Wheels on a Gravel road twice through. It's one of the greatest albums of all time. This was my fourth time seeing her in concert. I saw her once at the Bridge School Benefit, once in Boston and once at Red Rocks. This concert was the best. Branden Campbell's name will be honored in our family for generations to come. Now, I'm not saying we got around "breaking the Sabbath". I am saying that I am so glad we went. We had so much fun and it was incredibly thoughtful of Branden to get us tickets. Also, our neighbors jumped right in for babysitting since our pool of LDS babysitters don't work on Sunday. The Nobles watched the kids until bedtime, then Jon Rizzo came over and put the boys to bed. This was seriously a team effort of good friends.

I brought my camera even though concert photography isn't my favorite. I prefer to have the attention of my subjects and there are always things cluttering the picture like microphones and music stands. Plus concert pictures always look kind of the same (unless there is cool smoke). With that said, when I'm excited about something I can't hold back from taking pictures, so that's just what I did. Here are a few. These are taken with a 50mm lens and a 24mm lens. I did not have a zoom. I was actually standing right in front of her.

Depression and Fuzzy Haired Babies

2011-11-13T16:14:00.004-07:00

I've been wanting to write down a few thoughts recently but seem to have really busy days and exhausted evenings. Now it's a rainy Sunday and I have a few minutes. I have wanted another baby for several years now and Willie just came on board. Pregnancy and post-pardum are hard times in our life, I could even describe them as dark times. Despite that, I find myself wanting another child. There are a lot of reason and that's a post for another day but mostly I love Wyatt and Hank so much that the possibility of loving someone else like that makes me willing to go through the hard times just one more time. With thoughts of getting pregnant again comes trying to get off my depression medication which leads me to this post.

I have struggles with depression. I am very open about it and not ashamed. I am not crazy. I do not appreciate the stigma that comes along with metal illness. It so unhelpful. It's very old school. If you had diabetes you would probably take insulin, right? If your brain is not making enough serotonin or your own serotonin is not lasting long enough in your brain then you are depressed. So you take synthetic serotonin or a drug that extends the life of your current serotonin, right? I can't believe the crazy things I've heard related to depression, like "just be happy" or "all depression comes from sin" or "you just need more exercise". You get the picture. Lame. I have a friend who's fiance said he would not marry her unless she stopped taking anti-depressants. There are also a lot of myths about anti-depressants. Here is a myth busting article if you are interested. I have found anti-depressants to be such an answer to prayer for me. I found a good SSRI with almost no side effects (but not being depressed) and there is a generic so it's about $10 a month. This medication has returned me to myself. I feel so balanced, I can feel a full range of emotion. I can cry but I can also stop crying at the appropriate time. The drug I take, Zoloft, has also been linked to birth defects when taken during pregnancy.

After Wyatt was born I almost immediately fell into a dark depression. Part of it may have been from the traumatic circumstances following his birth but it did not lift, even as his health improved. I can seriously say that I barely remember those months after his birth. I cried so much. I felt so angry. I wanted to escape. I had horrible anxiety that included irrational fears about Wyatt's safety. I eventually called the doctor and she had a list of questions she asked me and saw me immediately to treat my depression. After starting on medication my life started to get back to normal and I was happy. That's when my memories start again.

I took medication for about a year and came off it fine. After Hank was born everything came back but I started on my medication the week after he was born so I started to feel better in about a month. I came off the mediation a year after Hank was born and after a few months realized I was not ready and wasn't emotionally coping. Anyone who was present at the Stratford Christmas in Ephraim that year saw my rock bottom. I started crying at one point and feel like I didn't stop for two days. I tried supplements, saw a naturopath and drank fish oil, etc and could not get back to feeling normal. I was very resistant to go back on the medication (a symptom of being depressed) because it meant that I was dealing with something more permanent than post-pardum depression. I finally started back on the medication and have felt wonderful and really even ever since.

Last month I started to come off my medication again and about a week and a half after had a surge of sadness return. The feelings are so familiar. My temper starts to get short. I'm irritated easily. Then I start thinking my life is the worst (my life is so not the worst). Then uncontrollable crying. AFter meeting with my doctor there are a few things I have learned. There is a period of evening out when coming off the medication, like a dip before my brain can get an equilibrium. Also, if I can not function well without my medication he would recommend I take the risk of taking it in pregnancy. The medication is a category C which is in the middle of 5 levels ranging from safe to extremely dangerous during pregnancy.

I'm on my way off the medication again and am coming up on two week and feel good. I will go a month before tapering the rest of the way off. The other day I had the impression to spend time in the sun every day. After researching it a little I learned that sunlight in your eyes is the best way to make your own serotonin. Lucky for me we live in a very sunny place, almost all year round. On top of sun, sleep must be a priority (no midnight releases of twilight for me), good nutrition and fish oils and a multi. Also, a major positive force for me is intense exercise.

I am not a missionary for anti-depresasnts and by all means if someone can find a natural way to feel better, then do it. On the other hand, if someone is suffering from depression and their family is suffering because of it, I think meeting with a doctor and getting some help could really turn things around.

New York 2011

2011-11-02T22:29:00.002-06:00

I am supposed to be catching up on work right now but I thought I'd call it a night and write a little about my trip. It will probably take several posts, and lots of pictures but I have to record it all. It was an amazing experience. I was busy this time which was fun. Last year I felt like Willie and I did a lot of walking around and sight seeing. This year I was always headed somewhere with a purpose. I got 5 rolls of film back today and spent a long time scanning. Getting those images makes it all official. I thought I'd write down what I did every day so I don't forget. I'll delve into details later. I also got some pictures that I just love.

Tuesday:
Up at 4:30am to go to the airport. Hank and Wyatt wanted to come and never went back to sleep.
Slept almost the whole way on both flights except for some free on board facebooking.
Took a cab into the city.
Said hello to everyone at the office.
Walked to the camera store to pick up my Hasselblad rental.
Went to a recommend Indian restaurant with all my luggage on my way to meet Sara.
While having public transportation issues, Sara picked me up in her car (relief).
Sara and I drove to Madison Square Garden to see Neon Trees and Duran Duran.
Had so much fun.
Partied backstage with Neon Trees and had a short but sweet time with Duran Duran before heading home.
Collapsed into bed.

Wednesday:
Phone batteries died so alarm didn't go off.
Rushed to get up.
Ran in Frye boots with Travis to catch our train.
Caught train, but got shin splints and sore muscles.
Headed to meet with the studioCase accountant, still sweaty from run and no makeup or hair done.
Took a cab back to studioCase.
Worked the whole rest of the day in much needed office quietness.
Realized I was getting a head cold.
Went home with Travis and had a delicious dinner Sara prepared.
Cleaned kitchen, unpacked and went to bed.

Thursday:
No running to train, just brisk walking.
Rained.
Bought a lot of Kleenex. So much snot.
Took pictures.
Barely worked.
Work meeting at delicious taco restaurant.
Navigated public transportation to New York Camera club.
Took a 3 hr darkroom private instruction session from the delightful Anders Goldfarb
Had so much fun.
Navigated back to studioCase to meet Virginia Stratford and Travis for a Stratford cousins dinner.
Had so much fun talking to Virginia and talking life, issues, love, family, etc.
Had a 61 minute Chinese massage, drippy nose and all. It only hurt a little and mostly felt so great.
Ate a delicious magnolia bakery cup cake at grand central station.
Walked home by iphone light with Travis through the trees.
Collapsed into bed.

Friday:
Up early to make it into the city for my printing class.
Took a 3 hr digital printing class at the Photo Plus Expo.
So sleepy. Flashbacks of college geology and the temple movie.
Very interesting class. Lots of information. I must get an Epson printer.
Returned to studioCase in time for an in office artisan pizza meal.
Took portraits of the team.
Left en mass for the studioCase fall Gala.
Prepared vegetables and food with Sara and Amy for the party.
Photographed the party while the light was good.
Cleaned up after the party.
Looked through images from the party.
Streamed some TV shows and went to bed.

Saturday:
Slept in until 9am.
Went on a beautiful run with Sara and Enoch in the light snow.
Edited images.
Watched the snow fall.
Chatted with Willie and the kids.
Watched more snow fall and worried that there would be travel complications.
Went to Travis and Sara's ward Halloween party.
Packed.
Stayed up late watching Vampire Diaries.
Slept in my clothes so I didn't have to get up any earlier than 4:20am the next morning.

Hank's 4th Birthday Party

2011-10-01T10:57:00.002-06:00

We've had a really great week around here. Having two birthday's so close together plus the intense excitement of Wyatt and Hank has made it so fun.

Hank's party was last night and the lighting conditions were not my favorite but sometimes you have to take pictures even if the lighting is not good. The subject matter made up for it.

Hank insisted on a strawberry cake with strawberry frosting and ice cream and then didn't have any of it. We had a quick jump on the Noble's trampoline in the dark. Hank got a boat that he loved so much he started playing with it in the bath tub then decided to take off all his clothes and take a bath during the party.

Wyatt's 7th Birthday Party

2011-09-25T20:39:00.000-06:00

Wyatt was so excited about his birthday and his party this year. In general, he is excited about everything but he was counting down the days. Wyatt invited some friends from school and this year decided that he wasn't going to invite girls, except for Kate Rizzo, because she is not girly and a good friend. We had a hard to break pinata. The Nobles (who were out of town) let the kids jump on their trampoline. They had an impromptu jam session and just played and played. Wyatt loved all his gifts and ate so much candy, cake and ice cream.

Wyatt is such a sweet kid. He has tender feelings. He has a strong sense of what is right and wrong. He is obedient and helpful. He is so passionate about reading and getting so good at it. He is such a joy to us and we love him so much. I can't believe he was born 7 years ago. It seems like he's just always been with us. He is a great big brother to Hank. Tonight when I was calling Hank to come get his teeth brushed, Hank said his legs didn't work anymore and he couldn't come. Wyatt went and got him and carried him into the bathroom to me. I love seeing Wyatt and Hank play and make each other laugh. We are looking forward to another birthday party in a few days for Hank.

Marriage and Divorce

2011-09-11T21:10:00.003-06:00

We recently found out that our good friends are getting a divorce. It's affected me on a lot of levels. It's depressing. It has also made me so thankful for my and Willie's marriage. I'm really happy that we have each other. I don't have any recent pictures of us together, so I took a few with my iphone. I think we may need to head over to Justin Hackworth's studio to get some of us. Most of the ones I have are from our wedding and engagement and I love them because I was so foxy in my younger days, but I wanted something that shows us now. I think about how much better we know each other now after so many years of life together. I'm planning on many more.

First Sleep Over

2011-09-07T22:54:00.000-06:00

Last Friday when we were in Utah the boys had their first sleep over at Grandma's house. My mom took the boys so Willie and I could go to the Rooftop Concert Series in Provo. It's a great outdoor concert put on by our friend Justin Hackworth and some of his local friends. It was so fun spending the night with friends and good music and staying up late. The sleep over was harder for me than them. I worried that Hank would be up in the night and miss me and I was worried that they would be cold. I'm kind of a worrier. So I got up first thing in the morning thinking they would be up wondering where I am. Well they were both still asleep and they had a great time. Hank got to sleep in a pretty princess bed. I love my boys and miss them when we are apart, but they were just thrilled to spend the night at grandma's.

Wyatt: The Cutest First Grader

2011-08-30T22:52:00.000-06:00

Wyatt started his first day of school. He has been excited for a long time. His teacher is one of our friends. Her name is Mrs. Tinkle and I took the pictures at her wedding. Hank and I really miss Wyatt during the day. School starts at 8:45 and he's gone until 3:45. Hank starts asking about picking him up around 1pm so it's a long wait. Our neighbor's Liam and Ezra go to preschool a few afternoons which is also hard for Hank. Hank starts preschool next week. Isn't Wyatt the cutest? On the third day of school he lost his first tooth. He got to go to the school nurse and she gave him a little treasure box to keep the tooth in. I love how Wyatt is so excited about everything. He's really looking forward to his birthday party.

Bubble Beards

2011-08-18T18:16:00.001-06:00

Willie took this picture. It's one of many in a bubble beard series, and I just love it. I can't express how much we love our kids.

Post Utah Blues

2011-08-11T16:34:00.004-06:00

I just got back from a trip to Utah that I really enjoyed. I'm so glad to be back home but sometimes I get a bit of the blues. Also, the reason I'm blogging about this is because I want to blog more and facebook less. I'm a facebook junkie. I love it. I hate it. It's my favorite way to waste time. It's just so fleeting and pointless. I think the facebook golden era has passed. In defense of facebook, i've also learned a lot about film photography from a few great facebook groups I'm in. I just think writing down my life in paragraphs instead of status updates is more fulfilling. It lasts. I have two years of blog books to get printed (must budget it in) and hopefully will make one for every year.

Back to the blues. I feel kind of lonely when I get back. It doesn't help that Willie is in New Mexico for work right now but not having constant adult, stimulating conversation makes things seem so quiet. I really like being around family and friends. We laugh so much. We have deep talks. I just don't have that enough in my regular life.

I miss having cake and icecream almost every night. It's hard to get back into a no sugar lifestyle.

A week left me so behind on work. I don't see the end of the tunnel yet.

I miss Midway's climate plus Amy and Brian's AC. It's hot here and our cooler doesn't help much.

Okay, this one is big. When I spend time in my sister's condo and my brother's beautiful new house and my mom's great house with her yard and all her views, I want more. The only way I can explain it is that I feel a wave of materialism. I am dissatisfied with my house. I want to remodel. I want better lighting, more windows, nice tile instead of cracked fake brick linoleum. You get the picture. So the way I deal with this is to come home and clean and de-clutter my house as well as I can and let a few weeks pass. That usually does the trick. I actually really like our house and it just keeps getting better. It just could be improved, endlessly and all with money we need to save.

So right now I am cleaning up my desk in hopes that I can talk myself out of getting a whole new desk setup at Ikea next month. I'm working on the chi of my desk. I think clean and organized will help a lot. I'm not even going to take a picture of my desk because it's so uninviting. Let me paint a picture with words. My desk is the size of a long folding table, it actually is a long folding table, and it has my beloved cinema display screen, a scanner, mouse and keyboard, two external hard drives and piles and piles of negatives, prints, disks and studioCase papers. Stay tuned for a picture of it under control.

Want to see pictures of the lovely places I was just visiting? I'll do a full post on Calder's place. I also got great coverage of my mom's place on film. So we must wait.

Here are two from Calder and Starr's house. All the windows and the excellent lighting and clean layout is so great.

The condo is a beautiful place. Everything is new and top of the line in quality. The linens are soft and of the highest thread count. Evening walks on the golf course are the highlight of the day. I find myself a little annoyed that golfers are on the golf course durning the day. I just wish it was our park. At night you can hear the sound of the stream through the windows.

Riding in Grandma's car with the top down.

Cute Stella after a bath with her cousins. She's such a talker.

Job Chart

2011-07-20T13:39:00.000-06:00

I'm constantly trying to figure out how to help my kids pick up after themselves. I have found the most success with a before bed chart that includes cleaning up their room and putting away toys. It's a lot of work to constantly pick up toys and snack trash all over the house. A friend of mine has a job chart with pictures of her kids doing the things they need to do before bed. I thought we'd try a different job chart to help spice up the process. Our last chart had the whole month listed on it and they put a sticker by each task they completed before bed. After they were all full we went to do something fun like go to Dairy Queen.

The Ranch 2011

2011-07-17T21:44:00.000-06:00

Our friends Jared and Melissa are caretakers at the X Lazy F Ranch up on the Black Mesa and we love going up to visit. Last year a group of friends got together for the 4th of July and I think it started a tradition. We got together again this year with about twice the amount of people, a PA system for playing music and a roasted pig. Who knows what next year will bring.

No back county adventure would be complete without a getting lost/prayer story. Wyatt and Willie took the four wheeler out today and after they were gone for an hour I started to get worried. I thought they were just going for a little outing. Then another hour passed and we said if they didn't get back in half an hr we'd start sending people out to look for them. I was afraid they were either lost or ran out of gas. Well it ended up being both. They took a wrong turn which is easy since there are so many jeep trails and dirt roads. After Willie realized they were lost, he and wyatt both said a prayer and they started to try and find their way back. He said they started seeing things they recognized and that helped them find their way back to them main road. Luckily they ran out of gas after they got back to the main dirt road so they knew what direction to walk back to the ranch. I was worried since it was hot and they didn't have water or food. Willie got a little sunburned but after a good lunch they were just fine.

We had a roasted pig who had been under ground getting cooked for a over a day but it still didn't get cooked enough so they just stoked up the pit and roasted him the rest of the way over the open flames. There was lot of music, fireworks, kids, dogs, jeep rides, picture taking, and socializing. It was great. We also had a mini DeFord church service and with the Bishop's permission we had the sacrament and sang some songs in the shade. It was so fun. Here are so iphone pictures. I took a lot of pictures on film, so you'll see them eventually. I also put some digital ones up on Facebook.

Gratitude

2011-07-15T16:37:00.003-06:00

Sometimes I'm overcome with waves of gratitude. It's usually for different things, and I'm not always sure what triggers it, but I love the feeling. It's so humbling. Here are a few from the past couple of days.

1. I was putting on my makeup before church on sunday and I was so glad my sister has given me such nice makeup. It's true I only wear it about once a week, but when I do I think of her and am glad. She sent me a package of nice makeup right after Hank was born to help me feel pretty. Then after I used that same mascara for about 3 years she bought me a fresh new mascara. So thoughtful.

2. I was looking in the basement for something today and I saw the box for my cinema display (big computer screen). I couldn't help but feel so thankful for the generous outpouring from my brother Travis and his company to me as an employee. With my year end bonus I was able to buy that cinema display and go to a Santa Fe Photographic workshop. This is just so huge. I'll never forget it, ever.

3. During church we were talking about mothers and I remembered when my mom came to help care for me when I was on bed rest pregnant with Wyatt and then right after he was born. I can't explain what it felt like to be under-slept, sick from mastitis, terrified about my child and totally emotional and depressed. I remember Willie and I celebrated our anniversary by coming home from the hospital in Denver to watch a movie and order in some food. Leaving wyatt at the hospital was so hard and the fact that my mom was sitting right by him, getting updates from the doctor made it possible for me to even go home and have a few minutes of rest.

I can't post without a picture. That's a crime.

4th of July 2011

2011-07-08T23:09:00.004-06:00

I put some pictures of our 4th of July up on my photography blog. It was a fun holiday. I just love having little kids that are so excited about everything. They were hyper all day about the fireworks we bought. The whole experience lived up to their expectations and I'm sure they'll be even more excited next year. I'm having a hard time finding a good place between practice, practice, practice on my film cameras and frugality. I'm going to try and develop and scan and print my own black and white. For these rolls I paid to get them developed since I'm missing a few items for developing but hopefully after tomorrow I can start printing in my darkroom.

http://sallydefordphotography.com/2011/07/4th-july-2011/

So I just looked back through some old pictures to our first 4th of July trip to the Mesa and found some cute pictures. That year it was also really hot in Grand Junction and we had amazing thunderstorms up on the mesa. We waited out a few in the car and everything was all wet and green. I can't believe Wyatt was our only child then. I can't believe how fast my life is passing. Wyatt and Hank are growing so fast. I want to creep into their rooms and snuggle up with them right now.

Stake Temple Trip 2011

2011-06-25T17:39:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was our stake temple day and it had become a family favorite. They provide fun activities for the kids while we are in the temple and our ward is there together. We did have one challenge (what I was referring to at the time as a sore trial) in that our car A/C wasn't working. Traveling through the Utah desert on a near 100 degree day was hard. We stopped in Moab and got a water bottle and some bandanas to tie around our necks. Once we were off the freeway we had the windows open and the water spraying. When we arrived my hair was a rats nest and the kids hair all salty from sweat, but we made it.

After the temple we camped at a campground on a mountain behind the temple. Some friends from church reserved a spot for us. We went out to eat at a ranch style restaurant that was delicious then went up to camp. It was so beautiful. There were mature aspen making all kinds of shade, some evergreens and gamble oak. We saw several baby deers that were so adorable. We set up camp and made smores with our friends to the right of us. We also had friends from church camping on the left. I was totally exhausted from one of the hardest workouts ever that morning so I went to bed with the kids around 10pm. Willie stayed up playing music with friends and reading by the fire and star gazing. I took some pictures with film but the wait is long for scans so here are some iphone and polaroid picture. My polaroid film is hanging on for dear life. It's time has passed i a major way. I'm hoping to get a fuji instax camera, the new polaroid, but all in due time. We are frugal again which means I can't up and buy things like I used to.

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-19T16:41:00.004-06:00

Father's Day is a major celebration at our house. For one, cake is involved but most importantly Willie is so beloved by us. I love this picture because it shows how much the boys love him. They always want to be sitting right next to him or on him. They love playing with him, going to his office, throwing rocks in the river, reading with him and eating ice cream on the front steps. They scream with joy and run to him when he comes in the door after work.

I love that Willie has always been an equal partner with me in parenting our kids. Sometimes I witness dads that I refer to as "old school", and act like the kids are mostly the mom's responsibility. This is the most foreign thing to me. I don't know any different than a dad that is completely involved and loves spending time with our kids. For this I am so thankful.

Yesterday Willie spent the day at the Telluride Blue Grass festival and we missed him awful but I was glad he could go out on an adventure by himself. I feel like I'm always off on some fun trip and I know it's hard that he can't miss much work. This morning I was lying in bed after getting the boys cereal and I heard the screams of joy when Willie came in the door from Telluride. I can speak for all of us when I say we love Willie and he is the greatest dad.

Girls Camp 2011

2011-06-15T21:50:00.001-06:00

I only have a few images to show from the 4th year hike so far, but here they are. I brought 4 cameras and shot 5 rolls of film. I even tried to do an hour long exposure for stars but it turned out to be more like a half an hour since I was getting so tired. I had a few frames of black and white left in my holga when we started. A local lab developed these. Though I think the color images will be great, I'm really liking these black and white ones too. In case you missed the memo, ever since Santa Fe, I've started a love affair with film. It's scary, exciting, intense and ridiculously expensive. I'm learning so much.

So, back to the hike. This year I felt a little unprepared and was dragging my feet a little bit but as soon as we got to our camp site I felt like I had come to a place i love. It is so stunning up there. The girls were great. We had a few complaints but less than last year. It wasn't' as hot and no one got lost this year. This is great news. I had a wonderful time. I am so impressed with the girls in our stake. They want to be good. They love their families. They have faith. It's just nice to be around so many good girls, 23 to be exact. The greatest feeling is getting back to camp and having all the rest of the young women from the stake cheer for us. Then we get to take a shower (I love being a leader) and I was able to call home. I was so dirty.

Then first night I had a sleepless night and I'm not sure why. I had some shot blocks with caffeine around noon but I don't think that would keep me up. I kept thinking about bears too. I slept better the second night but it was colder so I was all the way in my mummy bag. This, I think, was what lead to what I think was two panic attacks during the night. I woke up Betsy during the first one. I just remember feeling with urgency that I needed to open the tent door to get some air and if I didn't get it open I was going to freak out. I was having a hard time with the zippers and woke up Betsy to help me. My heart was racing. I was breathing fast and had adrenaline running through my body. Later that night it happened again. Luckily I was able to get the tent door open by myself and didn't wake up Betsy, but my heart was beating so fast. It was a horrible feeling. The only other time in my life I felt something similar was right after Willie and I got married I went down an enclosed waterslide and felt, with urgency, that i was going to freak out right before I shot out the bottom. This was my first clue that I might be claustrophobic.

As usual our priesthood leaders, Sherm and Brandon Straw, were a joy to be around and so helpful. Besides being protection they are also really fun to hike with. They are both great outdoorsman and Sherm is a doctor. They are so helpful. They also had some frozen capri suns that they gave Betsy and me. What gentleman. I really like having them along. The girls did too, since Brandon is young and very handsome. It kept some of our girls at a quick pace to keep up in the front by him. That's what I would have done as a young woman. I was so boy crazy. Funny. I'll share more pictures when I get them back. I'm only 3 days into a two week wait to get my scans back so I'm trying to forget about it so the time goes faster.

Relay for Life: Make a Donation

2011-05-24T12:26:00.002-06:00

I really like the people I work out with. It's fun how you can go from being total strangers to the best of friends after working out so hard together on a regular basis. Over a year ago, my friend Crystal Murphy thought she threw her hip out. Crystal is the woman in the right of this picture holding her weight in the air. After trying to let her hip heal and seeing massage therapists and really babying it, it didn't get better but got worse. It became a bit of a mystery.

Finally Crystal went to the doctor and got an MRI. They found that she had a malignant tumor in her back that was pressing against a nerve, making her hip and leg hurt. Crystal was diagnosed with lymphoma. It was such a shock. She immediately dropped everything and started treatment. She was healthy, young, had two kids and no history of cancer in her family. Crystal had to go through several rounds of chemo and it worked. She is finally in remission. She has started to come back to the gym to get her strength back, her hair is growing back, and she's going to be okay.

Crystal asked Willie and I walk with her Team at the Fruita relay for life. We are going to walk for two hours and we hope to raise $200 to donate to cancer research. Crystal's husband's employer will match our donation.

Cancer seems to affect every family in some way. My uncle died of brain cancer. My aunt died of melanoma. I have no idea who else it will affect in my life. It could have easily been me with the tumor instead of Crystal.

I have been a part of the relay for life the last couple of years with church service projects and I can tell you it is a great event. If you can, please donate a little to this cause. Below is a link to our official relay for life page. You can also donate via paypal by sending a donation to willie_deford@yahoo.com. Pass this along to anyone you think my be interested. Thanks!

OFFICAL DONATION SITE HERE

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T20:42:00.003-06:00

Today I've been thinking a lot about when I was pregnant with my boys. I was looking through old pictures and found one I kind of like. I wish I had a great photographer get a few shots of me while pregnant. I'm not one for a naked belly with gauze etc. I wish I had a simple black and white photo of me somewhere in our home, pregnant (and fully clothed). Something classic, timeless.

Willie and I are in the process of talking about having another baby. I'm not sure what will be in store for our family. Willie uncertain future at his law firm is a big factor for him. When looking at old pregnancy pictures I found one of me the week before Hank was born. That was not a good thing to look at. Then I see baby pictures of Hank and Wyatt and think about how wonderful another baby with fuzzy white hair would be.

I've always wanted to be a mom. My family makes me so happy. Today I've been thinking that I want to be more of a fun mom. I can be kind of strict but I want to let things go more often, let the kids eat out more, surprise them with doughnuts sometimes and play more. I might even allow a few name brand purchases instead of generic. Willie is so good at this.

I'm so thankful I have a wonderful mother who loves my kids and supports me in everything I do. I'm also so thankful for a great step mother and mother-in-law.

Reminiscing About our Boulder Garden

2011-05-07T23:06:00.002-06:00

We planted our vegetable garden today and after getting in all the soil amendment, smoothing the soil and spacing out all the plants, I was planting and Willie was following me watering. We were reminiscing about our garden plot at the Boulder Community Gardens. It was awesome. In Willie's words, gardening was my photography back then. Our vegetable garden is still nice, but a smaller operation. It's so great having it right out our back door, attached to automatic watering. We used to dream about having a garden at our house instead of having to drive to it. Here are a few pictures I dug up from the past. It's so strange to think it was just us back then.

Baby Goats

2011-04-03T14:50:00.002-06:00

Yesterday on my run, I passed a farm with baby goats. We took the boys back today to see them. I have to have a baby goat. They are so cute! I want one that can sleep on the foot of our bed.

We've had a great weekend. Willie and I both went on long runs and took wrong turns that made our run even longer. The sun was out yesterday and I worked in the yard and we made a trip to the dump. We've had great spring rain today. Trees are blossoming and our sprinklers are turned on. I have the attitude that you should love the season you're with, but there's something absolutely magical about spring. I just love it.

Saturday Trail Run

2011-03-30T22:36:00.000-06:00

Willie and I had a great run last Saturday. I ran with my diana mini and it was the perfect running camera. She's actually having some issues. As you'll see from the pictures, it was unpredictable. I also think something is broken because the film is not advancing right, making it impossible to get a single square image. Anyway, I'm digressing. The run was great. It was warmish and sunny and there was still dew on the ground and not soul in sight.

I think trail running may be our new thing now that the half is behind us. It's great to have the hills and you can't beat the scenery. One possible future hitch is that we have three babysitters (sisters) that are moving in a few months.

Moab Half

2011-03-21T22:23:00.001-06:00

Willie and I had a great time at the Moab half. We trained well so we really enjoyed ourselves. We kept saying how great we felt until about mile 9 then we would say things like, "my knee is a little achy but I still feel awesome." Then when we hit mile 11 it was time to reach inside. Mile 11 to 12 was the longest mile of my life. Then when we started on our last mile I had a burst of energy knowing we were so close. When we saw the finish line we ran fast to just get it to over with.

The weather was great. It was windy but warm. Luckily I had been trained well last year by Betsy and Stephen to not be eager to get up the canyon. Willie and I took one of the last buses up the canyon and we still waited around for an hr before the race started. I had my diana mini camera with me and shot a few pics. You never know what you are going to get with this camera, if anything at all. It's kind of fun. So here are a few pictures from our time waiting for the race to start. The first picture was taken with my 5D from the car on our way into Moab from Green River. It was such a pretty blue outside as dawn was starting.

The kids had a blast staying the night in a hotel and spending time with Grandpa and Oma. They couldn't stop talking about the fruit loops from the continental breakfast. They got to go to arches and just loved spending time with their grandparents. I'm really glad my dad and Jewel came out so the kids could be a part of the whole event. Like I said last year, I hope I do this race every year for the rest of my life. I love it.

The little hiker

2011-03-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

Santa Fe Workshop

2011-02-24T21:06:00.004-07:00

I had the greatest time in Santa Fe and I wanted to write down a few of my thoughts. I couldn't decide if I should post about it on my photography blog or my personal blog, but the truth is, this blog feels like home so I want to write about it here. There's actually so much I have to say it's hard to organize my thoughts.

So I went to a Santa Fe Photographic workshop. In short, Justin Hackworth lead me to the Santa Fe Workshops, Money fell out of the sky, Willie really encouraged me and my mom graciously came to watch the kids while Willie was at work. The stars aligned and it actually happened.

The Santa Fe Photographic workshop rents space from a catholic retreat and convent. The location is so pretty. They have classrooms, a studio, a store, a digital lab, dorms, an eating hall, and nice open space all around with junipers and cacti. I had my own room and a shared bathroom but no one else shared a bathroom with me so I had about 8 sinks and showers and toilets to myself.

My teacher was Sylvia Plachy and she's was so wonderful. She is a long time photographer and a great teacher. Her work is beautiful. She was funny and passionate and kind. I'm amazed at how much attention and effort she put into looking through our pictures every day.

She's old fashioned as far as photography goes. When speaking of digital cameras she calls them "toy" cameras or says things like a digital camera work almost as well as a real camera. She didn't like to view our images on screen so every night we sent off film or digital files and waited to get everything back in the morning so we could look through them together. She did spend some time in lightroom with me once when we were preparing our images for our slideshow. She has been taking lightroom training and it was so interesting working on images with her. She knew her quick keys and really had it down. She mostly wanted to see the colors of the images toned down (desaturated) and burn down any bright white parts of a photo. She views every image in black and white. She's a huge fan of black and white and says color can distract from the story of the picture.

So the first day she went through a project we brought and helped us choose the best pictures and then helped us sequence them. Then we tried to think of a project we could work on during the week. I learned a lot by listening to her go through everyone's work. She felt like the project I brought was too concrete. She wanted to see me feeling more and not being so literal. This was hard for me and I wasn't quite sure how to do it. Picking up a Holga and the medium format camera helped me approach my pictures differently. The square frame and slowing down moved me in the right direction.

I made some great friends from our class. I didn't know I would need a rental car so I bummed rides for the first few days before I got my own car. This helped me make friends. A few people stayed off campus, but the rest of us on campus usually ate with each other in the evenings and went out shooting together. I borrowed a twin lens reflex camera for one day. I also shot with a Holga in addition to my 5D. We all ate breakfast together and lunch and most evenings dinner. This might be a good place to mention that the food was so, so good. One evening a class mate from Santa Fe invited us all over to eat at her house. Wow, her house was amazing.

Here are a few things I learned from this experience. Fine art photography is not about how a picture looks but how it feels. A beautiful print should be the goal of every great image. Experiment with different cameras and lenses. Let go. Let yourself be drawn to what interests you and excites you. Something that I really like about Sylvia's photography is she loves using movement, smoke, steam, fog, blur to create feeling in her photographs. I need more training in editing and printing. I need to spend more time working on my personal projects and practice, practice, practice.

The workshop ended on Saturday at noon and I stayed at a hotel in Albuquerque because my flight left at 6am on Sunday. I spend most of the day editing images from Lacy and Ryan's wedding and overdosing on Friday Night Lights episodes. I ate lunch alone in the restaurant and ordered room service for dinner (I was busy watching Friday Night Lights). I also went for a run and skyped with the family. Saturday is when I was really missing Willie and the kids. I finally had some down time and realized how lonely I am without my family. I was so happy to be home to the guys I love.

Hank likes to Dress Up

2011-01-28T19:30:00.005-07:00

Hank has shown some real promise in the dressing up category. My mom has a lot of dress up clothes and Hank fell in love with a Turkish outfit with coins on it. He wore it the whole weekend we were there. He loved how he jingled everywhere he walked and he is also very fond of the color pink.

So I decided to make him a cape for Christmas with jingles on it and I thought making it in blue would be a little more masculine. Well the jingly cape has now turned into a jingly dress. I just had to take a few pictures of him in it. It is so sweet. That is what I would have worn when I was a kid. He's really getting into crazy outfits lately and I love it.

Here is the original jingly outfit at Grandma's house.

Jingly cape turned dress.

This is what he got dressed in the other day: soft church shirt, underwear and snow boots.

Here are a few of my famous outfits as a kid. Sorry about the picture quality. These are iphone pictures of color copies.

A Fresh View with the New Year

2011-01-17T21:11:00.003-07:00

(dawn on New Years day in Midway, Utah)

I love New Years. I like having a reset time where I can think about my life. I love Willie's tradition of a hike at sunrise on New Years. Once we had a bonfire where we burned pieces of paper with things from the past year we were leaving behind. I've never been one to take new year's resolutions too seriously, but I have had a few self improvement victories. One year I finally memorized my bank account number. I've still got it memorized. I've been able to keep up daily (except sunday) exercise for over three years now. On my mission I finally became a full time, thorough flosser. Now even if I forget floss while camping, I use a firm piece of grass stalk to get the job done.

This year my focus is on simplifying my life and putting the most important things first. Elder Uchtdorf's (an LDS apostle) recent talk on "Of Things That Matter Most" really struck me. I want to spend my time doing the things that make me happiest like being connected to God, spending time with my adorable family, getting involved with my community, creating beauty through art.

The other day I was watching the Today Show while i was running at the gym. It's horrible that the family channel changed their schedule around and replaced Gilmore Girls with Full House from 9-10am. I really miss everyone in Stars Hallow. So that's how I ended up on the Today Show. Some kind of goal expert said that writing your goals down was very powerful in making them a reality. So here I am, making these desires real.

Spiritual nutrition: As alone time becomes more and more scarce for me, this becomes increasingly important. I take so much care for what I feed my body, protein shake within minutes after i left weights, only whole grains, staying hydrated, etc. I need to spend more time feeding my spirit. More of the word of God, more prayer, more time pondering, a little less Gossip Girl and E! News. You get the picture.

My home: I have such a hard time keeping my house clean consistently, but I love having it clean and I'm embarrassed when people come over and it's messy. There are several factors that contribute. Two little kids take their toll, plus I have too much clutter, making it a lot harder to have everything in it's place and my days are so busy. It's all about a daily routine and de-cluttering our house. I know how to do it, I just have to make it happen a little at a time, every day.

Quality time with family: Willie, Wyatt and Hank make me so happy. So happy I can't even explain how I feel. I want to spend more quality time with them. I feel like my life is passing so fast and I want to enjoy our life together, every day. This means playing and snuggling with the kids more and working less. I think this is the year I need some childcare for my work. It's official, I'm a working mom. I need a few hours set aside for work (studioCase and photography) so that my work has boundaries. I want to hike more, teach my kids more, play more music with Willie, relax together more. I guess this is a good place to mention, less home improvement projects.

Creativity: What makes me thrive as an individual is creating. It used to be through reading and writing now it's mainly through photography but there are other things that energize me like quilting, gardening, guitar string nests, stained glass, and the list goes on. Photography has been such a powerful thing in my life these past few years that I really want to continue to find where it fits in my life. I need to channel it and find my voice as an artist.

Simplify: To quote Elder Uchtdorf, "If life and its rushed pace and many stresses have made it difficult for you to feel like rejoicing, then perhaps now is a good time to refocus on what matters most." I want remember what is most important, what is lasting and what is real.

Christmas Eve 2010

2010-12-24T23:17:00.001-07:00

We left Grand Junction after several hours of packing up with the kids asking when we were leaving every few minutes. We had snacks, presents, banjo, fiddle, accordion and our two baby turtles. Hank promptly fell asleep after eating almost his whole snack bag.

My mom's house is a Christmas wonderland. I really need twilight to get the best pictures, so stayed tuned for full documentation. Below is the nativity from my childhood that was off limits for playing because it was made out of glass and expensive. This year I bought another nativity set at Goodwill just so the kids could play with it since I have two others that I don't let them play with.

After a delicious dinner, we read Luke 2 and reenacted with little figures. We sang and lit the swedish angel chimes. Poor hank burned his finger.

The Built in Bookcase

2010-12-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

We stumbled into our library remodel. Out of curiosity I called on a drywall quote for our water damaged ceiling in the library. Once I found out it wasn't going to cost that much we decided to get it done before thanksgiving. Once all he books were out of the room we started thinking about buying bookcases from Ikea but couldn't get the right combination to fill the wall right. Then we decided that we (meaning Willie) would build our own.

We had several things going for us that added to the success of this project.

1. Willie is a genius

2. We spent $30 on plans for the bookcase

3. Our generous neighbors let us borrow a table saw and mitering saw.

4. Willie's love of books helped him keep up his project intensity.

Here are some pictures that recount the project story. Like usual, it took way longer and cost more than we planned, but we really like it. The rest of the room needs a finished paint job and canned lighting before it's all finished. We also picture a framed butterfly and possibly a stuffed armadillo to complete the look.

Willie is not only a respected man of letters but has morphed into a total handy man. There won't be talk of any projects for at least the winter while we save money and built up our project intensity reserve. It's time for the return of lazy weekends complete with hikes, watching movies and playing music.

Before:

Nice Evening

2010-12-05T23:04:00.002-07:00

I was kind of stressing out about all the things I need to do tonight when Willie reminded me that Sunday is a day of rest and to worry tomorrow. That was just what I needed to hear. I had great evening working on my granny square blanket and blogging a bit.

We are almost to the end of the library bookcase project. This one has been extra hard because it came right after the roof, so we didn't start with full project enthusiasm and it's right in the middle of the house so there have been tools and such all over in the house for quite some time. We are really close to finishing. Willie has been amazingly handy on this project and worked so hard. There will be a full post documenting the project. I've taken pictures all along the way. Anyway, this is just to say that the whole thing has been throwing off my chi but it will be well worth it. There is light at the end of the tunnel and I foresee the return of saturday hikes and saving money.

Our tree is up and the boys are talking about christmas lists and I've been playing Christmas songs on the piano. Now we just need a little bit of snow. I found our gingerbread house half eaten with a little nativity tucked in it. Wyatt was joking about the gingerbread house being destroyed and the gingerbread people wouldn't have a place to live, there wasn't even a gingerbread homeless shelter.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

Like usual, we had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Willie's parents and his brother Adam came out. We had a great meal and had so much fun relaxing. We had our after thanksgiving hike and found a great cave. We watched movies projected on the wall with David's projector. I learned how to crochet and am in the process of making a granny square blanket. Kathy and Adam went home on Saturday morning and David came with us to the dinosaur museum and down to play by the river. What a great few days. I just love thanksgiving.

Below is a picture of a lamp that we bought from Jon Rizzo. I'm not sure that is going to be the actual shade, it might be too small, but we love the lamp.

We played music with some friends thursday night. The picture of me on the bass was taken by Jeremy Rizer.

We had a great hike in Bangs canyon. We had fun in this cave below. I posted a few polaroid pictures of the hike on my photography blog.

After the dinosaur museum we walked down to the river and threw rocks Wyatt is getting so good at skipping rocks. He's been pleased with how many skills he's been learning.

Wyatt the Mountaineer

2010-11-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

Wyatt has declared that he wants to be a professional mountain climber when he grows up. His first major goal was to climb Mount Garflied here in Grand Junction. This is a steep hike, you gain 2000ft in 2 miles. Willie and Wyatt did a few training hikes and went for it on Saturday. Wyatt was so pleased that he made it to the top. He has now started a mountaineer book and I've attached a few pictures from the book. He is the most adorable little mountaineer.

Here are some pictures Willie took with his iphone.

Homage to Apple Crisp

2010-11-08T10:38:00.001-07:00

I fully realize that my obsession with the apple crisp I made last night might be because of the no sugar goggles I have been wearing for the last month or so, but I loved it so much. Here is the recipe.

2 cups peeled, cored and thinly sliced apples, such as Granny Smiths
2 tbsp sucanat (granulated sugar cane juice)
1/4 cup apple juice
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

oat topping ingredients:

1/2 cup walnuts or almonds, finely chopped
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup sucanat
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 tbsp softened unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 350. Coat an 8-inch square shallow baking dish
with cooking spray. In a large bowl, toss together the apples, sugar,
apple juice, lemon juice, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well
combined. Set aside.

Make the oatmeal topping: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted
with a paddle, gently combine the walnuts or almonds, oats, brown
sugar, flour, and butter at low speed.

Place the apple mixture in the dish. Sprinkle the topping evenly over
the apples and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the apples are cooked
through, the juices are bubbling, and the topping is browned. Serve,
hot, warm, or at room temperature.

New York

2010-11-04T20:07:00.007-06:00

Willie and I had such a great trip to New York. I had to blog about some of the details. This was our first trip away from our kids together, ever. That's right, we finally made it happen, 6 years later. I had no idea how fun this could be. I'm totally addicted. Here is a link to my facebook album of pictures I took there where there is more thorough photographic coverage of the trip.

So I work for my brother and his two friend's company studioCase as the finance manager. I keep the books, invoice, collect A/R, pay bills and all things financial. I'm also the medical benefits administrator, insurance guru and a bit of an executive assistant. Last year they brought me out for the yearly work party and I was so happy to hear that I was coming out again. I have the best job in the world! Since Willie and I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary and we were planning to have my mom come out for a small get away for us, I thought it would be fun to have her come for my New York trip and then Willie could come with me.

I can't thank my mom and David enough for coming out and sacrificing sleep and free time to keep the kids so happy. I didn't worry at all. My mom even let Hank sleep in bed with her for the first few nights. He is a huge fan of snuggling with grandma.

The trip out was great. Traveling without kids is relaxing. We slept on the plane, watched a movies on the plane (documentary on Townes Van Zant on the way out and The Royal Tenenbaums on the way back) and talked at length. We took a crazy cab ride into the city from the airport and met Travis and Enoch at Grand Central Station to ride home with them.

Spending time at studioCase was great. I love how they eat lunch together, family style, at the big conference table. We took a look at several projects they were working on and I got the feel that everyone on the team just loves their job. They are so good at what they do and they enjoy creating beautiful art. I got some portraits of the team, though I ran out of time before we were all catching the train to Scarsdale and missed out on Jeff, Tony and Enoch.

We went to the International center for Photography museum which was so interesting. I'll post on my photography blog about this. We also went to a women in photography exhibit at the MOMA which I really enjoyed. I posted on it here. The night of the International Center for photography is was raining so hard. So East Coast. We ate at good restaurant called Virgil's BBQ. We saw someone get hit by a taxi on our way to eat. The cabby tried to drive away after he hit her and she was lying on the ground. Several people stood in front of the cab to stop the driver from getting away. We didn't see what happened but it was kind of disturbing. Once my mom and sister and I saw someone get hit by a cab in Instanbul. The cab driver just picked up the pedestrian and threw him in the cab and drove on, I'm assuming to the hospital.

I had such a great time taking pictures. Not having kids to chase around, meant I could really spend time looking around for interesting things to photograph. I'll admit, my camera and two lenses were a bit heavy for all the walking around we did, but I don't regret it at all. I'm not surprised since I took my camera and one lens on a 12 mile roundtrip hike at ragged mountain. You do what you have to do to get the shot. This might be a good time to mention, I am TOTALLY in love with my camera and my lenses. I'm so lucky.

The studioCase party was great just like last year. The party was like a family gathering. There were kids running around crazy, games, great food, people talking in every corner and even an impromptu jam session. I think of my past jobs and what a work party was like and it's so different. I just love how studioCase runs their company. There is so much warmth and friendship.

Something I really love about being in New York is all the different kinds of people, everywhere. When I see people coming home from work, I wonder what their story is, what their home looks like, if they are lonely. I'm not a permanent city dweller, but I need a little more city in my life. I came home feeling so refreshed.

Parent Teacher Conferences

2010-10-21T19:37:00.003-06:00

I'm such a school mom rookie and having Wyatt in kindergarten has been all new. Today was our first parent teacher conference and it was so great. Wyatt's teacher is very pleased with him. He listens well and pays attention, is smart and creative. Wyatt missed the cut off for kindergarden last year by two weeks, so he's one of the oldest kids. He scored the highest in his class on his kindergarden evaluation. He read me a book at the conference and we looked through his drawings. A personal favorite was two cyclopses and a man on a unicycle. Wyatt is just so dear. I'm so happy to see him enjoying school and doing well.

Photography

2010-10-20T20:52:00.007-06:00

I have ignored my blogs lately but tonight at a photography group, I had a quick conversation with Cristine Strickland and we made a vow to get back to our blogs. It's really nice getting together with other photographers but that's a post for another time.

So incase you didn't notice, I'm obsessed with photography. It been hard for me to know how to channel the obsession. This trip to New York with Willie was clarifying for me. Sometimes I'm confused because I think I need to have a thriving photography business to channel it, then I find I don't like doing that and think about going to school but can't afford that and Grand Junction doesn't have much to offer education wise. So I haven't really been able to find a good place for photography in my life. I want this energy to propel me somewhere worthwhile and not spin me in circles. Willie and I talked a lot about in New York, we went to exhibits and I shot a lot of pictures and there were a few things that were clear. I love photography. It thrills me to express myself through photography. I want to learn all I can about it. It's here to stay.

Not too long ago, I was looking through my photos to make a few prints for our house and I had hundreds of images of clients and very few of my family and my life experience. My horrible drive failure a while back took with it some very meaningful pictures. At that point, I knew I needed to take more pictures that moved me, told my life story, and captured beauty.

All this is to say, I'm setting up a website, studioCase is working on my branding and I will be open for business as a photographer but this is not where my creative energy is pushing me. I just want to be organized and prepared incase people want to hire me. I want more education. I want to read more books, and go to more exhibits and shoot things/people that excite me. Also, I admit, I recently purchased a few wedding magazines to check out the photography. I wonder if I'll be lead in that direction.

Calder's Baptism and George's Blessing

2010-09-04T13:19:00.001-06:00

We came out to Midway to see family and attend Calder's baptism and George's blessing. It was great to have a baptism outside. My sister Amy was baptized in a lake by our house but everyone else in our family was baptized in a font in the church. The weather was perfect and there was such a great feeling of family, faith and love. I'm so glad we were able to be here for the special day. On a side note, this was also my first time using my new 50mm 1.4 lens and I'm loving it.

Fairview Cabin/Mansion

2010-09-03T14:33:00.000-06:00

On our way to Midway, we stopped in Ephraim to see my dad and Jewel. We spent the night at their beautiful cabin up above Fairview. It is way up on the mountain on a long dirt road and the views are beautiful. We got to cook hotdogs and marshmallows on the fire and watch the sun go down. The boys had fun walking around outside and running through the cabin. Jewel showered the boys with treats and attention. My dad and I got to stay up late talking. The stars were amazing and like usual I forgot my tripod but the deck posts got the job done.

Saturday Morning Hike

2010-08-28T16:52:00.001-06:00

We had a nice cloudy morning today and went on a hike. Now that summer is coming to an end desert hiking will start back up. It's just been too hot. I brought my camera because I'm practicing back button focus and it's hard getting used to something new. Willie has taught the boys some meditation skills as a technique to try and calm them down before bed. They made a few meditation stops along the way.

Wyatt's first day of Kindergarden

2010-08-26T22:12:00.002-06:00

Wyatt has been anticipating the first day of kindergarden since he got out of preschool at the beginning of the summer. He's been so excited. We laid out his clothes last night, Willie gave him a father's blessing and we made cookies in honor of the big day approaching. Wyatt (and Hank) are so excited about everything. Its' really cute. Wyatt practiced riding his bike with his backpack on yesterday and thought he had it mastered.

As we all left the house on our bikes Wyatt said, "I can't believe we are on our way to kindergarden, I feel so alive". He had his first bike crash on the way to school, with a bit of road rash. Some tears were shed but then he got back on his bike and declared "up and away". It sounds like it all lived up to his expectations. He likes his teacher, he got to see the music room and he had one boy in his class he already knew. He did say recess was a little short.

I wasn't emotional because he was just so happy about it. I was mostly scared to see him start spending time with kids I don't know. I'm afraid of what he'll learn from them. I saw one little boy with a pierced ear! Then I remembered that Wyatt is a leader, he'll teach so many good things to the other kids. This little boy is growing up and he is so sweet.

Also, today was also great for him because he had his first chance to break a board in Karate. He said it was "so easy". He broke it into three pieces with his punch.

Hank in my favorite cowboy shirt

2010-08-15T20:23:00.000-06:00

When I was looking through my pictures the other day, I realized that I haven't been taking many of our own life. So today when Hank was wearing this shirt I had to take a few pictures. Isn't he adorable?

Pesto

2010-08-13T14:06:00.002-06:00

It's pesto season. I have three huge basil plants and am on the verge of a major pesto production. I love freezing pesto for the winter. We mostly use it on pasta but the other day I made a pizza with pesto, home grown tomatoes and mozzarella.

I don't really use this recipe anymore. I just wing it with the ingredients below and it is always delicious. It also needs salt. I started my production a few days ago and got side tracked taking pictures of the ingredients. I freeze it flat and pretty thin in a ziplock bag. Then I can break it in half or less depending on how much I need to use, or I can put the whole ziplock bag in warm water to thaw it.

Ingredients:

3 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves (2 ounces total)
3 Tablespoons walnut pieces
3 Tablespoons grated parmesan
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
coarse salt and ground pepper
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

In a food processor, combine the basil, walnuts, parmesan, garlic, lemon juice, and 3 Tablespoons water; season with salt and pepper. Pureé until a paste forms.

With the processor running, add the oil in a thin stream. Process until very smooth, about 1 minute.

The Garden: Early August

2010-08-08T22:00:00.002-06:00

It's been so hot that I haven't spent much time in the garden except to gather our beautiful harvest.

Photography Books

2010-07-20T22:00:00.004-06:00

I've been approaching my study of photography a lot how I was taught to approach writing poetry. When you try to become a good writer you have to write, daily and regularly. You also have to immerse yourself in reading great poetry. It's a practice. That's how I could have been a poet once but now that I don't write or read much poetry I'm not really a poet anymore or at least I'm not a practicing poet. I think I could become one again. Anyway, with photography I feel like I need to be shooting as much as possible and I need to be looking at great photographs and reading about great photographers. The next step will be to let photographers I respect critique my work. All in due time.

So I have been enjoying some great photography books lately from the library. I have found a few to be very inspiring. The first once I read, Annie Leibovitz at Work, was so great. She is very visual in her writing and passionate about her work. She's a true artist. She talks a lot about her life and work and about the things I would ask her if we were in the same room. I'll definitely going to buy this book.

Here's an excerpt from the end of Annie Leibovitz at Work.

I have a small but carefully selected collection of vintage photographs. Pictures that mean something to me. One of them is a black and white picture of a two lane highway stretching through the center of the photograph until it disappears into the flat horizon. The highway was the route families took west, looking for work during the Depression.

The picture was taken by Dorothea Lange in 1938 when she was traveling around the country for the Farm Security Administration. It makes me think of the story Lange told about one of her earliest field trips. AFter spending a month on the road in southern California she was finally heading home. It was raining and she was exhausted and she had a long drive ahead of her . She had been working up to fourteen hours a day for weeks and was brining back hundreds of pictures of destitute farm workers. Somewhere south of San Luis Obispo she saw out of the corner of her eye a sign that said PEA PICKERS CAMP.

She tried to put it out of her mind. She had plenty of pictures of migrant farmers already. She was worried about her equipment, and thought about what might happen to her camera in the rain. She drove for about twenty miles past the sign and made a U-turn. She went back to the sign and turned down a muddy road. A woman was sitting with her children on the edge of a huge camp of makeshift tents. There were maybe three thousand migrant workers living there. Lange took our her Graflex and shot six frames, one of them of the woman staring distractedly off to the side while two of her children buried their faces in her shoulders.

The image of the woman and her children became the most important photograph of Dorothea Lange's life and the iconic picture of the Depression.

When I'm asked about my work, I try to explain that there is no mystery involved. It is work. But things happen all the time that are unexpected, uncontrolled, unexplainable, even magical. The work prepares you for that moment. Suddenly the clouds roll in and the soft light you longed for appears.

Hank the photographer

2010-07-15T22:18:00.000-06:00

4th Year Girls Camp Hike 2010

2010-07-07T21:52:00.000-06:00

My mom came out to be with the kids while Willie was at work, which makes going so much easier. I did have to spend a lot of time cleaning to get ready for her to come, but because of my busy life, my house was in need of a total deep clean. The kids were so excited for her to get here.

I had a great time. I just love backpacking. It is a 3 or 4 mile hike into camp. Then we took a 12 mile hike the next day. It was hotter than I would have liked, but beautiful. On the hike in the majority of the group got lost (about 17 people). One of our priesthood leaders* was with them, Brother Straw, and he instructed them to stay put in the shade while he hiked back to his four wheeler and came back to find them. (non mormon side note, the term priesthood leader is a way to identify a male leader from a woman leader like Betsy and I) So when my group (6 of us) reached camp and saw that they were not there, I started to worry. Now, I sometimes scoff at the boy scout ways, you know having a whistle and compass, liners in your socks and steel wool. No more scoffing, I'm so into whistles. So after an hour or so of worrying, I started to take action. The other priesthood leader (brother straw's son Brandon) and I took turns following trails and blowing the whistle to see if we could find them.

Those whistles are so loud and when they didn't answer I knew they has really gone far from the trail. So I prayed intensely, that they were not walking around in the sun and that I could find them. True to my recent Moab prayer answers, I saw in my mind what trail to take and I followed it for a long time. Finally I heard them reply to my whistle. So I was relieved knowing I had found them but for some reason they would not come to me and I couldn't leave the trail or I would have a hard time finding my way back. It was really just aspens everywhere.

So I ran back to find Brandon and then we ran back up (gym training was really coming in handy at this point). Brandon followed their whistle and found the group and lead them back into camp. All this before brother straw walked 4 miles back to his four wheeler and was on his way to the rescue. I was so thankful when everyone was at camp, safe and sound and hydrated.

The next day we got up early to beat the heat and headed to the falls. We had to cross a river and I must admit, I was scared. I went last to seem like I was taking up the back but I was nervous that I would get swept away and that my camera would get wet. Well I got across, but I felt like the current could have swept me away to easily. last year I crossed barefoot and with no problems. The sudden heat had sent down so much snow melt it was raging.

Later that afternoon we had to cross over the same river but by that time it was not crossable. This was one of the many times I was so thankful for priesthood leaders with four wheelers. Each of us was carried across on the four wheeler, still getting soaked by the current but having a little more power and speed. Last year I was so thankful when it was raining while I was in my tent in the middle of the night and I heard some rustling by our fire pit and one of the priesthood leaders was covering our wood and lighting a fire in our pit to keep it from getting soaked.

So we did a lot of hiking, talking, and sitting in the shade. The girls were great. Most of them didn't like this kind of thing but they didn't complain much and were cheery. They found meaning and teaching moments in things like getting lost or straying from the trail. They were respectful and smart and spiritual. I must say, this is a great calling.

Next year I'd like to see more talk of conservation. Most of the girls are taught to be so politically conservative, that a little talk of environmentalism could be helpful. More wildflower identification and more alone time. We just don't get enough time to be alone, in the wilderness. That quiet time is important and can get lost in all the socializing and devotional and all. I was again, very disappointed, to see the rising generation is almost completely team Jacob. It must be that he seems more there age.

Here are a few pictures. If you want to see more you can check out my facebook album.

Busy

2010-07-07T21:38:00.001-06:00

I remember a few years ago (pre Hank and pre job) I felt kind of bored during the day. Let's just say I haven't been bored in years. Usually life moves at an enjoyable quick pace but this last month or so has been so busy and with so many wonderful things, but I'm happy to be sitting in my favorite chair doing a blog post. This is a sure sign that I'm not too busy. So a quick recap about what's been going on. Then I'm going to dig in and start going into some detail to get caught up.

1. Temple trip to Monticello, Utah. Our temple is about 3 hours away. So it really feels like a journey when we go. Every year our stake has a temple day in which they offer childcare. So this year we knew we needed to go. I'm not one for 6 hours in the car in one day, but I knew it was the right thing to do. We ended up having a great trip. The kids were great. Wyatt was complaining a bit in the beginning and it was a good teaching moment for him and to remind myself that sometimes things are hard, but we will be blessed for doing the right thing. The kids had a great time doing activities with the childcare and Willie and I had a good session. We did a quick hike on our way back to Moab and ate at a restaurant, which for my kids, is the one of the most exciting things ever.

2. Girls Camp: Separate post here.

3. A quick trip to Lake Arrowhead, Ca with my brother: will have it's own post

4. I headed up the Relay for Life silent auction. A lot of work but I had great volunteers from church and we made over $1000.

On a side note, once I had a stake calling that caused my email address to get in the hands of a political conservative forwarder. So I was getting multiple emails a day of the most crazy nature into my spam protected, ever sacred, email account. Mostly I didn't open them but even the subject lines left me with a bad feelings. So I sent an email to this person, trying to be kind and gentle. The man responded so kindly and took me off his list. So we ended up volunteering be each other at the relay for life. I recognized his name. Well, after working all evening together and talking, I loved him, despite his political beliefs and his crazy emails. I loved him. We had so much more in common than we disagreed on. I just think that love can overcome so many things. Don't get me wrong, I'm so glad to be off his email list, but I'm also really happy to get to know him.

Summer Solstice

2010-06-21T21:13:00.000-06:00

Today is the longest/ lightest day of the year. I have to admit, I love this earth. What a beautiful place.

Last night I went out to take some pictures of my flowers. I spread some seeds last spring and I had several come up (a year later) and I didn't know what they were going to be. I've had my eye on them constantly. I thought they were going to be Black Eyed Susan's but I wasn't sure. We'll they finally bloomed and they are indeed Black Eyed Susan's. My mom had these in the our back yard in Provo. I'm happy to welcome a bunch of them into our yard.

We have a lot of lettuce and herbs right now. Everything else is getting big and bushy.

Father's Day

2010-06-20T22:01:00.001-06:00

Willie is the greatest dad and has been since Wyatt was an embryo. He loves our kids so much and he genuinely enjoys spending time with them. When he gets home from work Wyatt and Hank run to him and cheer. I'm so thankful for Willie. I love him.

ps I posted a picture of him yawning because he is underslept right now, like most parent of young kids. We stay up way too late enjoying ourselves and he gets up at the crack of dawn with Hank.

The Garden: Late May

2010-05-30T16:58:00.000-06:00

Moab, a Mini Van and Prayer

2010-05-22T21:44:00.002-06:00

We had a great campout in Moab last weekend. First off, big news, my dad let us borrow his mini Van for a while until we save up enough money to buy our own. I called him to see if he had an extra car around that we could use (he has a lot of cars). I was thinking we could come out and get something up and running. He made all these repairs on his mini van and then drove it out to Green River to give it to us. It was so nice. He really loves this mini van so it means a lot that he would put it in our care. The van turned out to be very handy on this camping trip because of the rain and a wind storm. We moved the seats into our car and hung out in the back for shelter. We have major plans for our mini van/ camping vehicle that include a solar battery for charging iphones, a side awning, and a blow up mattress for the back.

So on our way to Moab from Green River Willie and the boys took the mini van. I was behind in our car and stopped to take a few pictures. I knew the name of the campground and just assumed I'd find it easily. Well, I assumed wrong. After a long time I couldn't find the campsite and couldn't find Willie and the boys. We didn't have cell phone reception or 3G or anything. It was getting dark and starting to rain and I knew the kids were hungry. I was starting to get stressed out. So I said a prayer and as soon as I was done, in my mind I saw a dirt road that I had not turned down yet. It was unmarked and very long, but finally at the end I found our group. Unfortunately, Willie and the boys had not found it yet. So I said another prayer and went back out to find them. The words that came to my mind were, "Wait at the Onion Creek Sign". I kept thinking, no I should drive down the canyon a bit or I should wait at the top of the dirt road. Anyway, i decided I would in fact wait at the onion creek sign and that's where I found Willie and the boys. I'm so thankful for answers to prayer.

This Moab trip was one of our best yet. Hank and Wyatt are getting so good at camping. We had rain on Friday night and Saturday morning but we slept well and stayed warm. It warmed up by the afternoon and all four of us went on the same boat down the river. Hank and Wyatt were great. It took about 3hrs and they just looked around and acted cute. We had a great campfire Saturday night with music and glowsticks and smores. I'm so glad we got to come. If you want to see some more pictures I put some on my photography blog here.

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T20:34:00.002-06:00

I'm thinking about mothers today. How could I not be? I am so blessed to have a great mother who devoted so much time to teaching and loving me. I have a step mother who is kind and nurturing. I have a mother-in-law that raised my husband very well. I'm surrounded by great mothers.

I'm so happy. I love my children and my husband. I love our house and our flowers. This year I feel like I've finally recovered from having Hank ( a long time I know) and now I'm thinking about if I'll have another baby or not. Having my boys was hard. Pregnancy, birth, and postpartum aren't my talents, but it was all worth it. I can't even imagine life without my children. Some times they are trying my patience, interrupting my sleep or pestering me. Most of the time they are making me laugh, cuddling up to me and bringing me joy . I love being a mom.

Domestic Bliss

2010-05-06T22:30:00.000-06:00

Not much has been going on but a whole lot of domestic bliss. Spring has been wonderful. The boys have been playing outside with neighbors every day. I don't have to ration TV or computer time, they just want to be outside, barefoot and shirtless doing what they do. Sometimes I listen in to what they are playing and hear things like "Come on. It's time for evil surgery". They play fight, dig holes, play in water and ride bikes. It's so much fun to watch. The only problem is that Hank is constantly trying to get to our neighbor Jenny's house. He can climb over our front fence and thankfully there is a lock on the front door he can't open, yet.

Everything is growing and there is the constant smell of lilac in the air. I got a new lens for mothers day and I've had so much fun practicing with it. Willie put a huge window in our garage and it's slowly turning into my studio for shooting portraits. We've been playing music on the back porch, eating with friends and just enjoying our longer days. Life is good. We've had a recent cold snap and our garden is growing slow. It's hard to imagine that by the end of summer it will be overflowing with tomatoes and herbs.

Wyatt's Dog Bone Injury

2010-04-21T21:56:00.000-06:00

Long time no post. I have been so busy. So busy. It's a combination of several things. A stressful tax/accountant drama at studioCase got me behind on my work. The weather is beautiful and I have loads of yard work to do. I am in charge of an upcoming relay for life silent auction and am making a quilt for it. Then there are the other things I need to do like be a mom, clean our house, play in a band, take pictures, blog, etc.

Sunday before last we were at a friend's house for a BBQ. I hear Wyatt break into an injury cry. Now if you have been around Wyatt you know he is an emotional fellow. When he gets hurt he really cries. It's loud and alarming, but I've kind of gotten used to it. So when I heard him cry out I went over to him to offer comfort and he was holding his head and said his friend had thrown a dog bone. When I bent over to comfort him I saw blood starting to come from his head. I immediately lost any cool I had. I carried him into our friends house and put him in the sink. He was bleeding so much it was running into his mouth and he was screaming. Willie got a look at the cut and thought we should go see a doctor to see if he needed stitches. So we left the BBQ with Wyatt screaming, in my arms with a bloody rag to his head.

A nurse cleaned his wound, and said a doctor could give the final word on stiches/glue in an hour. She gave Wyatt a headband to hold some gauze on his head. At this point his spirits started to improve. We stopped by home to change his clothes and went back to the BBQ. At the end of a long fast Sunday, i was all about getting some food. When we returned everyone cheered for Wyatt and he was so happy.

The doctor said the wound was more of a puncture wound and the glue would sting and he thought it would be fine. Wyatt was really happy that he got to go to the doctor alone with Willie and I stayed home with Hank. Wyatt loves being withe his dad. After putting medicine on his wound and having his hair constantly greasy, I thought it was a good time for a buzz cut. Hank insisted that he get a hair cut too. I think they look so cute.

Easter in Midway

2010-04-08T21:07:00.000-06:00

Happy Easter

2010-04-01T21:11:00.000-06:00

Having fun in the Front Yard

2010-03-27T08:22:00.001-06:00

It's always so much fun for Wyatt and Hank when Liam and Ezra's cousins come to visit. It means more kids and more fun. I loved watching them play together. I grabbed my camera for some of it but it's hard to catch kids playing together because they move so fast. In the pictures are Wyatt, Hank, Liam, Ezra, Kate, Laney, Lacey and Jesse.

Moab Half Recap

2010-03-21T16:59:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was the Moab half marathon. I loved it. I got up at 4:45am and rode to Moab with some friends. My friends Betsy and Stephen have run this race 6 times so they were able to calm my rookie nerves. If it wasn't for them I would have been the first one on the bus up the canyon with my warm clothes off and in the sweat vehicle, freezing, waiting two hours for the race to start.

After we picked up our packets one of my water bottles spilled in my bag and got my little canon point/shoot camera wet, my ear band, thermal top, holga and my precious iphone. My iphone speakers weren't working after they got wet but miraculously started working again on our drive home. I'm so glad. The little camera is dead and we'll see how my Holga film comes out. That was the only bit of bad luck all day.

I met up with Cary Rogers, on old college roommate and one of my best friends. We ran together the whole time and had so much fun talking about everything. We are the kind of friends that just pick right up where we left off. We kept saying, "I can't believe we have gone 2, 5, 8 miles. I feel so good." Our slow and steady pace, good conversation, great weather, and beautiful setting made it so enjoyable. The excitement of thousands of runners and the caffeine boost in my energy beans and shot blocks gave me unbelievable energy. It was so great to have Willie and the boys at the finish line waiting for me. My dear little family. Cary and I came in at 2hrs and 23 minutes, a steady 10 minute 55 second mile pace.

In short, I'm totally doing this again, every year, for the rest of my life.

Film

2010-03-17T22:53:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I have a Canon 5D

2010-03-15T22:06:00.001-06:00

So through a string of events I now own the camera of my dreams, a Canon 5D. I am a lucky woman. I always planned on buying one down the road, but stumbled on one listed on Craig's list and once my wheels start turning I don't quit until it happens. So I sold my old camera on ebay, got a great price on a 5D body and the seller took my wide angle lens as more than half the payment. The wide angle lens would not fit the 5D body. The seller of the camera and his wife are so pleasant and friendly. We met in the park Saturday for me to try out the camera, then we met at their house today. His name is Larry Bennett and he is a nature and travel photographer. Here is his website.

My next hurdle is to replace the lens I traded, but all in good time. I can survive with my one lens for a while. All this selling, trading, emailing, worrying, etc has left me a bit drained. It's actually not all said and done until the buyer of my camera receives it on Wed. and is pleased.

Also, other good news. Things are growing in my garden. I tinkered around on Saturday and saw bulbs coming up, mint turning green, oriental poppy foliage getting bushy. I just love spring.

After I got the camera today we went to the park and took a few pictures.

Old Videos

2010-03-09T16:18:00.003-07:00

I've been going through some old pictures and videos. I found a few videos that I love. Our stake president has asked every family to write a 1-3 page family history and that has me reminiscing. 3 pages is hard. I could go on forever with all the great details and experiences. What a great almost ten years we've had as a family.

Steamboat Springs: 3rd year anniversary

Willie and I made several trips to Steamboat springs when we lived in Boulder. We spend two anniversaries there. On this trip I was pregnant and in the throws of morning sickness. I can see it on my face. I miscarried this pregnancy at 11 weeks. The fall colors were beautiful and the nights cool and starry. We are planning on returning to Steamboat to celebrate our 10th anniversary, if we can make arrangements to leave the kids with grandparents.

Mt. Timpanogos

I have loved this mountain ever since I was young. We hiked Timp on a monday and it was deserted and so quiet. The weather was wonderful. I'm looking forward to hiking it again sometime soon.

Wyatt Laughing at about 6 months

Wyatt 2 years Old

Saturday Morning Run: March 6 2010

2010-03-06T22:00:00.003-07:00

Last week's run was 8 miles and wonderful. I was on top of the world again and had speed and energy. We ran in Fruita around some great farms. I saw all kind of live stock. My knee started to ache by the end of the run but felt better by the end of the day. After the previous run my knee hurt saturday and sunday. I read a bit about it and I think it might be runners knee from a combination of going too fast (I can't fall far behind if I want someone to talk to), hills, the fact that I have a natural turn out and my second toe is longer than my first. It sounds like I might need to invest in some orthotics.

This morning was a 12 mile run and unfortunately, I had the blahs. I've had them all week. I'm not sure if I'm coming down with something or not. My heart rate has been high this week at the gym and I feel exhausted. It was so beautiful this morning and we ran up against the monument. It was also the first clear morning run in months. I even saw some stars. So not only was I dragging but the run had some long hills and I started off the run with a mild asthma attack. I look it slow and enjoyed myself and only walked about the last half mile (up a steep hill). For the second half I ran with a woman named Heidi and we had a great time getting to know each other.

One part of the run that was breathtaking was when we were running up a hill just as the sun was coming up and there was a light frost on the ground. Everything was sparkling. I didn't have time to try and catch it with my phone but it was so pretty. Also, as I approached the water stop at the top of the hill at the half way mark, the group was steaming as the sun hit them.

We have one 6 mile run next Saturday then race day.

Cute Shoes and Feet

2010-02-26T21:56:00.002-07:00

Wyatt and Hank just got new shoes and Wyatt wanted me to take a picture of his favorite cars shoes before I threw them away. Well I couldn't take just one picture. These boys are so adorable. Their feet, their shoes, their crazy hair. I love everything about them.

Check out my photo blog if you want some more of their cuteness.

studioCase: Colorado Office

2010-02-24T12:32:00.001-07:00

I finally set up a home office. Everything was under $100 until I eventually buy a huge cinema display (screen to hook up to my laptop). The desk is out of Hank's reach and neither child can get into the chair. I can stand and work at the computer, which I often do and I have a great view of the back yard. I already feel more organized and productive.

Saturday Morning Run: Feb 20, 2010

2010-02-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

Today we ran 11 miles and about 2.7 of it was uphill, the rest flat or downhill. That 2.7 was hard, I must say. I had great energy today. I think it was a combination of me sleeping 7.5 uninterrupted hours last night (very rare) and eating the magic combination of half a banana and a no bake cookie. I felt so good. I started to feel a little achy in my knee the last half mile.

Now several hours later, I feel tired. I took a quick nap and I'll probably be a little sore. But with the half marathon approaching, I'm glad today went well. I just need a few more miles in me to enjoy race day. It was so pretty this morning. It was above freezing and only a few patches of ice.

More Jewelry: 2/19/2010

2010-02-19T19:03:00.001-07:00

I shot some more jewelry for Leslie Lewis. Here are a few more things I learned.

1. White is a hard background to work with. It takes some extra editing to brighten it and a smooth white would be easier to work with than a textured white.

2. Setting up to shoot in front of our front door to get the light from the storm door, makes it hard to open the door when someone stops by.

3. That dark grey rock above is so round. I mean really round. I'm so glad I lifted it from Devereaux beach in Marblehead. The rock on the bottom is so flat and from the same beach. Willie and I would spend hours walking up and down that beach looking at and stealing some great rocks.

4. I think I need some more equipment if I ever get into this kind of photography. I was using a disposable casserole dish as a reflector and it's kind of uneven. I think they probably make something that works better. Also, using the music stand to hold the background is a little tippy.

Weekend in Utah

2010-02-17T22:56:00.003-07:00

I'm trying to recount our experiences through pictures on my blog instead of facebook but I'm not sure if I just went totally overboard with pictures. It's so hard to choose. So we went to Utah for a long weekend and had a great time. The two pictures above where on our drive out of town.

A new road trip hobby is to take pictures with my iphone and use apps like camera bag and Lo-Mob to play with them.

Amy and Brian bought this condo in Midway. I knew it would be nice but I had been too busy to internalize just how nice, so I was overwhelmed with excitement when we got there. It's the lap of luxury. We are so lucky that Amy and Brian are so generous.

Poor Hank started to get sick on Sunday and just kept getting worse. Today we found out he has two ear infections and a small pneumonia in his lung. It is so rare that Hank sits still and he just wanted to sleep on us and cuddle. We ate at Calder and Starr's house and Willie and I went to Ikea to get a bed for Hank and pick out my new home office.

David took Wyatt skiing for his first time. He loved it and can't wait to go again.

Two of the local hotels in Midway have ice formations. I spent some time taking pictures of them as the sun was going down.

I took so many pictures of Stella. You can see them at sallydefordphotography.blogspot.com

Here are a few great things I didn't take pictures of:

Watching a ton of 30 rock with Willie.
Running 8 miles with my good friend and Moab half running mate, Cary
A wonderful dinner with friends at my mom's house
A visit from with my Dad and Jewel
Relaxing and hanging out with family.

The Waites: Our Drop by Friends

2010-02-09T21:28:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we had a pleasant surprise. Our good friends from law school dropped by on their way back from Boulder to Orem. Of course my house was a disaster, but with drop by friends, you have to not let it bother you. I remember when we were first becoming friends with the Waites back in Boulder, Willie and I dropped by their apartment unannounced, and we realized that our friendship had moved to a new level: we were now drop by friends. These are the kind of friends you wouldn't hesitate to call in the middle of the night if something was wrong.

They were only hear for a few hours but with old friends you start right where you left off. We really miss living close to them. I have so many memories of hikes, talks in our apartments, church activities, miscarriage scares, miscarriages, hospital visits (we both had preemies), playing guitar and so much laughter. Here are some pictures of their family. Please note, all three of these beautiful children were in-vitro babies. What a miracle!

Sophie

Brain, Lily and Katrina

Wyatt and Mckinley were born about a month apart and both had about a month stay in the hospital. I can't believe that was 5 years ago.

Saturday Morning Run: Feb 6, 2010

2010-02-07T21:15:00.003-07:00

And the winners are:

2010-02-05T11:25:00.002-07:00

Becca's name was drawn first so she can choose which star she wants then I will choose randomly for Starr and Abby. That was fun. Thanks to everyone that wanted a star. Maybe I'll do this again. I do love making them, though I burned my finger on the soldering iron the other night and it hurt so bad.

Stained Glass Star Give Away

2010-02-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, maybe even a year ago, I won a beautiful photo print off of Emilie Campbell's blog. You could only enter the give-away if you vowed to do your own give away. So in order to be true to my word, I'm giving away these three stars.

Here's how it works. Leave a comment with your name. Then I'll write your name on a piece of paper and my beautiful children will draw the three names. Then I'll send it to you in the mail. Anyone can enter, even if you already have one of my stars. I won't require that you give anything away on your blog, but consider it. It makes the world a better place. You can hang the star in a window, give it away, save it as a christmas decoration, etc. We'll draw names tomorrow evening.

Training at the Gym

2010-02-01T12:26:00.002-07:00

I started working out with a trainer around Thanksgiving and it is so fun. Donnie Homles, otherwise known as Coach, is my trainer. He is one of the football coaches at Mesa state and a former NFL football player and competitive body builder. He works us so hard, but is very positive and encouraging. He does strength training with us M, W and F and we are responsible for our cardio. He has me on a high protein diet (that's a post for another time, yuck) I took a few pictures today. It was hard to take great pictures and work out, so these will have to do.

This is the only action shot I could get because I was on a weight machine and when you are on bands you have to do 8 extra reps. So I had an 8 rep break to snap a picture. I like how Donnie always acts like it's hard for him too, when he doesn't have any weights or bands. He just wants us to feel him right there with us.

Behold the water bottle and protein powder. I always have a lot of water and I take the protein powder right after I finish weights. You can also see my ring in the picture. Sometimes I forget and wear rings and it really pinches when doing pull ups and holding on to bars. I thought a picture of the treadmill would be appropriate. This is where I do most of my cardio. I've run 7 miles on one of these treadmills, but I don't prefer to run long distances on it. I prefer to watch The Daily Show, E! news or Las Vegas (classy I know) and run about 4 miles. On weight lifting days I walk uphill and stay in my fat burning zone for about 20 minutes before I go home. I also like spin and kickboxing for cardio but since the Moab half is coming up, I just run, which I enjoy.

Donnie is a stickler about recording weights. If we could get all of our reps, even if it was hard, you put a plus sign by your weight then go up next time. If you couldn't get all of your reps you stay at a minus. If you forget to record your weight he'll make you go up. Also, if he sees your weights are too easy, he'll pull/push on your weights until you are really working. I try to grunt and make extra weight lifting faces when he walks by so he doesn't push on my weights.

Some people think women get bulky when lifting heavy weights. Donnie says that only happens if you are eating to gain mass. One of his sayings is, "if you eat like an ox you'll look like an ox, if you eat like a bird, you'll look like a bird." Genetics plays into it also, some women bulk up with certain muscles. Thankfully, my muscles don't bulk up, they just get stronger.

Here's the gang. Helen is on the left. She is probably my age, if not younger, and has a few young children. Mo is next. Her oldest children are a little younger than me. She and her husband own several restaurants in Grand Junction and she just got back from Hawaii. Jody is to the right of me. Her youngest child is my age. She is a mountaineer and often climbs fourteeners with her husband. She is going to India at the end of the week. Crystal is next. She has elementary age kids and grew up in Grand Junction. These ladies are super strong!

Here is Donnie instructing. He uses the timer around his neck, always has a typed out schedule and clipboard for us and threatens to bring his whistle if we are moving too slow between stations. Here are some of his favorite sayings:

Don't cheat yourself, treat yourself.
Last set best set, it's the set that will make you grow.
No pain, no gain and your body remains the same.

1/27/10: Jewelry Photo Shoot

2010-01-27T22:47:00.004-07:00

I had my first product photo shoot last weekend. It was harder than I thought. Here are a few things I learned.

1. I love my whibal card (helps with adjusting white balance). It's the best $27 piece of plastic I ever received as a Christmas gift.

2. I need to try a live view function next time so I can see the image on my computer screen and check the focus full size. Zooming in out and on the LCD after every image takes a lot of time.

3. Listening to movies while editing images is the best, even though my posture in my favorite family chair is not the ideal photo editing posture. Also, Willie is nice to fill in the gaps in the movie story line in case something happens without dialogue.

4. I need a studio. Our front room had fabric swatches, paper, rocks, my tripod, and lights strewn all over it for a few days.

5. I'm very critical of my images. I keep having ideas of how I could do it different or better. Alas, the jewelry has been sent back and the front room cleaned up.

Here is the link to Leslie's website with all of her jewelry. www.leslielewisdesigns.com

Saturday Morning Runs

2010-01-25T14:00:00.001-07:00

Last year, my friend Betsy invited me to come running with a few of her friends one saturday and that's when I met a great group of runners called Red Fruit FRunners. I'm actually not sure where the name came from. I need a FRunners history course since I'm new on the scene. So depending on the saturday there are at least a few people to about 23 people going on a road or trail run. Most of the runners are young moms. These people are athletic, usually training for a marathon or triathlon. I'm probably the slowest and least motivated and I'm not a slouch by any means.

This Saturday we met at 6:30am and ran the river front trail (along the Colorado river). It was such a pretty morning and warm compared to our recent cold snap. It was probably 33 degrees and foggy and the plants along the river smelled great since it had rained the day before. I think part of why I'm so slow is that I really enjoy the scenery. I think I'm a hiker at heart. I took several pictures and really enjoyed myself. I do need to increase my pace so I can have more people to talk to. I love running and talking. The trail was slippery and I'm really glad I didn't fall. It had rained then we had a freeze then it snowed lightly the night before. The only way I could tell I needed to be careful was when I saw slip-marks on the trail. We went 8 miles and it went great. I didn't get to stop, except to take a few pictures because at the 5 mile mark everyone was already rested and ready to go again by the time I got there so i decided to keep up so I could socialize a bit. I'm really looking forward to the Moab half since it's such a pretty stretch along the river.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy MLK Day from the DeFords

2010-01-18T12:43:00.002-07:00

AFter not sending out our Christmas cards for many weeks now, I've moved on to Plan B: the blog card. I love getting Christmas cards and reading about friends and family and looking at pictures, so that made me really want to send out cards this year. Then a friend game me a coupon for 100 free picture cards. Nothing was holding me back but actually gathering addresses and sending them out. Hopefully I'll have better luck this year. Below is our picture and Christmas letter. If you really want the actual picture, let me know and I'll send you one, I have almost 100 to spare. This picture was taken by one of my favorite photographers, Justin Hackworth, at his studio in Provo.

Dear family and friends,

2009 was a pleasant year that began with a dinner party with our neighbors on New Years Eve, a fire in the fireplace, and guitar picking. This year we remodeled our bathroom, traveled to Yellowstone and Island Park, Idaho to be with Willie’s family, and enjoyed some lovely camping, hiking, bicycling, and rafting in Colorado, Idaho, and Utah. Sally and Willie play in a band called the North 17^th Street Band, which recorded and mixed its first album, Dirt on the Tires, which will soon be printed.

Willie has enjoyed his work as a lawyer, and he has had great success this year in trial and appellate courts. He still plays his fiddle nearly every night. This year Willie raised four hens, two Rhode Island reds (Rosie and Wilma Jean) and two buff orpingtons (Daisy and Buttercup), from day-old chicks to ace egg layers.

Sally led 17 girls from church on a backpacking trip this summer in the West Elk Mountains. There, she got to practice her newfound love (obsession?) for photography. She has made great strides in portraiture and documentary photography. Her job at studioCase took her to New York City for a week to be around her colleagues at studioCase, meet with clients and spend time with her brother Travis and his family. Sally’s zeal for fitness continues and she is working with a trainer and has a new interest in distance running. In March she will run her first half-marathon in Moab.

Wyatt (age 5) advanced to yellow belt in karate. He loves his Montessori preschool, and is preparing for his career as an international spy, inventor, and astronaut. He is such a good boy and so kind to Hank. His current interests are Spy kids 1 and 2 and all spy gear. Wyatt is starting fiddle lessons.

Hank (age 2) has become a world-class talker. He had a short hospital stay this fall from an especially bad case of croup. He enjoyed every minute of the hospital, and asks to go back whenever we drive by. Hank is so affectionate and cheery. He has a great imagination and enjoys carrying a feather duster around as his puppy, talking to friends and family on his cell phone and pretending to be the ward chorister every time he hears music.

We hope you had a merry Christmas and happy New Year, and that 2010 will be full of blessings and health.

Love,

The DeFords

I'm back, baby

2010-01-17T20:44:00.002-07:00

A few nights ago, while starting to compile a photo book for our family for 2009, I started to make a blog book. AFter tinkering with the layout of the book and reading through old posts and looking at pictures, I felt the call of the blog again. It's my journal for my family and any friends that want to come along for the journey.

I do have a journal. I bought it at the Denver Botanic gardens shortly after Wyatt was born. My mom was by Wyatt's bed side so we could get some fresh air and spend some time away from the hospital. I remember lying on the grass with Willie (too sore to sit after just having a baby), waiting for the doctor to call with results on Wyatt's spinal tap. The call came and the news was good. I bought the journal in the gift shop thinking that I needed to start recording my life.

Well, that was 2004 and the journal still isn't full and whenever I take it out and thumb though it, the message is familiar, if not repetitive. I want to be a better mom. I need more sleep. I want to read my scriptures more. I want to shed a few lbs. I want to hike more. You get the picture. It's a place for me to write down all my shortcomings. Having the highlights of our last two and a half year (with pictures) to put in a book for our family says a lot more than the personal struggles I write about in my own journal. So, I'm back. Posting pictures on facebook kind of became my way to share our experience but I still need to write things down here.

So a little catch up is needed.

We spent Christmas in Omaha and it was so fun. We talked and ate and shopped and sledded. The cousins had so much fun playing together. We had a wonderful snow storm.

More pictures are posted on facebook: Omaha Christmas Pictures

We had a wonderful New Year's Eve with our friends at the X lazy F ranch on the Black Mesa. It was a five mile ski in but the boys and I hitched a ride on a snow mobile. We played music, talked, took pictures, ate, laughed and let off fireworks under the full moon.

Here is a link to more new year's picures: New Year's 2009

Happy Birthday Willie

2010-01-07T08:20:00.001-07:00

Today Willie is 33. I thought I'd list some things that Willie loves. These are not listed in any particular order, except for me and the kids first. Please note, this list is not exhaustive. I thought I could list some things he doesn't like but I couldn't really think of any. Oh, he doesn't like big weddings.

What Willie loves:

1. Me, and that goodness for that.

2. Our adorable children

3. playing his fiddle and playing music with other people

4. his cat

5. his chickens

6. books, reading and more reading, and his headlamp he uses to read in bed.

7. candy, his new year's resolution last year was to eat more candy. Mission accomplished.

8. caffeinated beverages (preferably cooled)

9. the great outdoors and anything related to it that doesn't make noise

10. making music mixes for long drives, special occasions, even the months of the year

11. the ocean

12. long walks. He's been know to walk home from work on several occasions (5 miles)

13. trains

14. his iphone

15. Mint chocolate ganache cake (will be served at our house tomorrow evening to celebrate)

Three cheers for Willie. Happy Birthday! I love you.

Necklace

2009-12-29T14:00:00.001-07:00

Kathleen Lewis gave me this beautiful necklace for taking pictures at her husband's funeral. Her daughter-in-law, Leslie Lewis, makes all kind of great jewelry and this is one of hers. I got to explore her studio yesterday and we talked some about photographing her work. I thought I better try it out and make sure I gave her good advice. Also, I'm putting off doing laundry and going to the store and other post vacation chores. Shooting a necklace and blogging sounds a lot better than what I should be doing. Check out Leslie's creations at www.leslielewisdesigns.com.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T14:11:00.001-07:00

Karate Kid

2009-12-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Wyatt's second belt promotion was this week. His last one was the night Hank spent in the hospital. He's had a great time in Karate. He's stopping for a while to try fiddle lessons. Right now I just want him involved in one major activity at a time. I don't want to overbooked my kids.

He's getting a 1/2 size rented fiddle for Christmas and starting after the new year with a teacher.

The Bathroom: Before and After

2009-12-07T20:29:00.001-07:00

Before: We bathed Wyatt and Hank in one storage bin until they got too big to fit together so then they upgraded to their own bins.

After: Toys, bath water colors, more space and lots of baths.

Before: I didn't adjust the white balance on this picture so you could imagine just how horrible the bathroom was. Actually, it wasn't that bad and had a pretty good look. Not having a tub and the fact that the shower insert was not water tight (leaking in the basement), made the remodel a priority. We went down to mostly studs, put in a tub, new window, tiled around the tub, new floor, wired for a bathroom fan and outlet and replaced the wall tile with bead board.

After: I love it. I couldn't get a great angle without taking off the door or knocking out a wall, but here she is. Please note, this is our only bathroom and it's really small, but I am totally loving it. Fist off, I am a bath taker. It's like coming home to have a bathtub. Having a bathroom fan, an outlet in the bathroom and every detail picked out according to my taste is heaven.

A Few Minutes to Myself

2009-12-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

Oddly enough I have a few minutes to myself right now. Hank is asleep. Wyatt is playing at the neighbors and I am taking a little break from work (what I usually do during Hank's nap). I thought I'd post a few thoughts.

Thanksgiving: I love having family come to visit. The kids were in heaven with two sets of grandparents. We had great food, conversation and the annual day after thanksgiving hike. I even went to New Moon with my mom and Kathy and we had a great jam here at our house. What more could a woman want: family, food, happy kids, twilight, live music which includes a handsome fiddler husband? It was great.

Christmas: our tree is up, though not completely decorated. It is so fun having Wyatt and Hank excited about everything. They were so hyper when we put up the tree. Wyatt, despite my talk last year, believes in Santa. I don't mind, it's really cute. So far I haven't done any shopping or even really thought about it. For some reason I feel gloomy when it comes to Christmas shopping. Actually, I'm realizing I don't like shopping much at all, but especially Christmas shopping.

The Bathroom: It's done, except for a few minor details. Pictures will be up soon. It is beautiful. I thought I settled on a color of towels but it turns out I'm going to go back to my first instinct and then we'll do the bathroom shoot. Having a bathtub has been wonderful. I'm pleased with how it all turned out. I'm not sure when we'll be up for our next project. We are a bit depleted on savings and enthusiasm for home improvement. The roof should be next and I think we'll hire it out.

Fitness: AFter several months of wanting to close the deal on my weight loss/fitness goals but lacking the intensity, I signed up with a trainer at my gym. I figured having someone push me along and knowing I was paying for it might help me get what I want. So far I have been so sore that I feel injured. I mean, so sore, can't get out of my favorite chair without help sore. I figured I have to either go for it or get over it (as far as the 10lbs go). *note: I'm not actually fixated on lbs, but that's easiest way to talk about it. I don't care what I weigh as long as I am a bit leaner.

Photography: I'm still obsessed but having some ups and downs. I've had a few recent great classes. I get ahead of myself sometimes and forget that I need practice and be taught and practice some more. Willie reminds me to enjoy photography as a process and not always think I have to reach some kind of destination over night. I thought maybe I wanted to charge for taking pictures, but I'm not ready for that. I just want to have fun and create pictures that make me happy. My newest project is going to be about 17th St. I have a lot of ideas. I really like to look in people's windows in the neighborhood at dusk. The pictures above is our front room the other night.

Politics: Several months ago I declared that I was over politics. I didn't know if that was really going to happen. The good news is that it did. This just means that I don't want any of the negativity that goes along with it (no TV news, conversation with my conservative friends, etc) affecting my life. It's a pretty nasty game at times and I don't like to see people being mean to each other. It's been refreshing not really being into it. Cute Wyatt saw Sarah Palin's picture on the front page of our newspaper and said, "oh, mom, you and dad don't want to read her book". He was right, but I felt bad and told him that she was a nice lady and I was just mad at her because she was mean to Obama but I'm not mad anymore. Kids can pick up so much.

Family Portraits

2009-11-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

When we were in Utah last Justin Hackworth took a few pictures of us at his studio. I really admire Justin's work. I love his style and I think he's such a talented artist. You can see more of his work at www.justinhackworth.com. You can click on any image to make it bigger.

Cold Mornings

2009-11-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

The mornings have been cold. For the past few days when I've turned on the car to heat it up, I've been in awe at the ice on the car window and leaves.

What's still alive in our yard

2009-11-16T17:40:00.000-07:00