Need. To. Take. Pictures!

So lately people have been asking me to take pictures for them and my answer, while generally yes, is a little too hesitant for my liking. I'm you're average person: things freak me out, make me happy, cause me to laugh, make me cry. All these things. But nothing causes me more anxiety than someone expecting more than I'm capable of. Not to say I'm not capable of certain things, just that I get scared.

Let me use a good example. Let's say you live in Utah, you've been to Lagoon a million times, and you love the Colossus. The thrill of that first drop, the double loops, the fast speed. You know you love it. But this is your first time this year and you're getting butterflies just thinking about it.

Well, that's me with photography. Because my photography is not well known (and that's probably the biggest understatement!) I don't get asked to do too many shoots. But this causes anxiety, or nerves, on my part! I don't know of anyone who has really hated their pictures (please don't tell me now!), and I know once I get out there I'll love it, but I still get really nervous, because I don't do it often enough. It's always a new experience and I'm sorta terrified of it. So in other words, if you have been contemplating getting your photos taken, please get ahold of me. If you don't have my cell or email, the best way is to comment here or on fb. I'd love to take pictures and because I'm not a hot-shot photographer (yet :) ) my sitting fee is $50 (I know some of you are groaning, it had to go up, I'm still trying to pay off my brand new camera - that may I say, takes a.maz.ing photos!). But this includes the rights to all photos taken - and edited - and I will put them on a CD for you to print as many times as you can possibly imagine!

It's almost graduation, c'mon seniors! Any excuse is a good excuse for pictures :)

Welcome to California Adventures: Day Three

So, as promised, I will let you in on our very last day in Disney-everyone-gets-to-be-a-kid day. California Adventures is fun, but only a few rides there do I really, really enjoy. For instance, you could not pay me enough money to get on The Rocket at Lagoon, but I looove Hollywood Tower Hotel Tower of Terror! I love it! I think it all comes back to the fact that Disney just knows how to go above and beyond when they create a ride and the ride atmosphere. I also love California Screamin'. Longest rollercoaster I know of!

Needless to say, however, we were exhausted from the day before. We didn't really do a whole lot and stay a long time, in fact, since the park opened at 10 and we had our own private entrance, we went in did all the rides we wanted to do - twice - and then went back to the room and slept! Then we did do a really nice dinner, shopped a little, and went and saw the World of Color show. That was actually pretty darn awesome and will be the extent of my pictures that I load on here today.

Because it was just Katie and I, you may see a lot of the hold-it-up-smile kind of pictures. We're not so great at it and missed the backgrounds half the time. But it's so not our fault that no one wanted to come and help.

Anyway I'll just let the pictures do the rest of the talking! Oh, and you'll just have to live with the fact that there is a bald guy in like every one of my pictures. It's been driving me nuts.

Scared to go on the California Screamin' - I didn't know the lady in the background was scared too!

I KNEW a picture was coming! :)

People's heads, I tell ya! Oh and I looove Boo! One of my favorites!

Before going on the Tower of Terror.

See what I mean by atmosphere?

This was our second time. The first one wouldn't come in landscape style on the blog so I got rid of it!

Ok very frustrated with these, but I wanted you all to see what it looked like! This is the restaurant we ate at.

Katie got to celebrate her 18th birthday for a week! So not fair!

While waiting for World of Color to start Mickey's head would glow and change colors!

See. Baldy.

Too bad I couldn't get one of Jasmine and Aladdin! But the palace will work!

The pictures that came in really well were gorgeous!

I was so mad! I couldn't get a clear one of Jack because, he's ALWAYS moving!

THIS is what it felt like.

This is how far away we really were!

The only one from the Lion King I was able to get too! :(

Awesome!

Anyway, the rest of my life is back to semi-normal. Hope you enjoy all the pictures - it did only take me about 4 hours to get them all to load! :)

I'm Sorry I'm Lazy

A very apt title don't you think? I'm working very hard (or not so much) on getting the pictures from our last day in California onto my blog. But at the moment I have no time. None at all. But I felt the need to tell you all this. School has sorta been a bust this week. Not that I don't mind not doing work in return for more active activities (Field Trip, Earth Day, Presidential Fitness Tests), but I feel very, very stressed about finishing all the things that need to be finished before the end of the year.

26 school days to be exact.

That's all!

My life, as of late, has been a never-ending battle of stress versus conscience. See I am a people pleaser. Always have been, not that I won't get up in someone's face and tell them how I feel, I will; just that I don't like to piss people off - unless they've given good reason :) However, sometimes I wish, that for once, my conscience and my need to help EVERYONE in the freaking world would just take a rest.

I'm only asking for one day.

Please.

I'm so very tired of being an adult. I just want to be a kid again. Maybe this longing will prompt me to post my Disney-be-a-kid-all-the-time pictures :) we'll see. For the time, you'll just have to wait!

Oh and Mel (aka Lizzy) you need to be a follower if you're going to blog-stalk might as well do it in person! :)

I'll leave you with this wonderful picture. Love you Katie!



A REAL smile, that's hard to get! :) You two were so cute for Prom!

Rants of a Daughter

So Disneyland has been a blast, don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed almost every minute of it! That is, until I realized tonight as we were all walking home that I think I may have spent like $400 in 3 days.

$400...

3 DAYS!

Sheesh. Well when I brought this up my mom was like, "wow how'd that happen?" Well, let's see mom. I know you booked this (but really the army did), I know you paid for the tickets (I DID offer to buy my own), I know you paid for the car ride (but, again, if we're being that specific, the army did), I know you gave us $40 a day to spend (with ridiculously strict rules to go with it, by the way). But still, who bought Katie things when she wanted them? Who bought drinks when we needed them. Who JUST bought all the souvenirs for EVERYONE (to include Kate's boyfriend)? ME! I know you did your best, but $40 a day would never cover what it costs just to eat lunch and dinner for 2, let alone drinks or snacks. You tell me how I was supposed to pay for it if it didn't come out of my own account? I know I bought some things on my own, but I'm a big girl. I work for my money and I feel it's ok for ME personally to spend my own money, but when I'm not asked beforehand and then have to pay the extra $46 for dinner (after using what was left of the $40 for that day), that's when it gets frustrating.

Now don't those of you who may, take this the wrong way. I love my mom, always have, always will; in spite of her flaws she's an amazingly strong woman. I just needed an outlet to rant to, and this just happens to be it.

I didn't ever promise everything I wrote would be happy. In fact, I said that some of you may never like what my personal thoughts are. If you feel the need to tell me how bad of a daughter I am, please do so to my face and don't leave it here. I get it. I am a bad daughter. But nobody's perfect. Not even you.

Welcome to Disneyland: Day 2

I realize that my title can be a little misleading. But even tomorrow's will get us mislead as well. See, I didn't want to name today "Welcome to the California Grand Hotel: Day 2" because, well, just for the shear fact that uh, we spent all day in Disneyland.

At the entrance.

 Our day started off great! We got to enter the park an hour early because we're staying at the hotel! The wait limits were like 10 minutes and it wasn't because you had to wait, but because, as most of you who've been to Disneyland before can attest to, the walk TO the actual ride took 10 minutes! Disneyland has always astounded me at the amount of effort they put into their overall ride asthetic. It makes you feel like you're actually in that time or place.

Here's my cheapo picture of our picture!

First, we jumped on Space Mountain; my all-time favorite ride! Aside from Pirates, Indiana Jones and Star Tours. And Thunder Mountain. Ok so maybe I love it, but love others too! They always take your picture when you go on the rides that are going to make you scream, but we're too cheap to actually buy any of them. So I took a picture with my phone! So much cheaper in the long run!

I hope they appreciate this! Not that I'm telling the price I paid for these!

After that we went to do Star Tours, which has really been revamped! It's now in 3D which just seems to really work well with Star Wars. I mean honestly probably the best 3D I've ever seen (even beats out Avatar). I've always loved Star Wars, ever since I was a little kid (I grew up on the 70s ones, not the "first" ones!). At the end of the ride it, of course, they send you straight into a Star Wars gift shop. I was tempted all day long to make my own light saber. But I settled for just buying these books for my class - my boys LOVE them!

Since my mom's conference didn't start until 9:30 am, she tagged along with us. The last ride we did with her was the Finding Nemo Submarine Ride. It was pretty awesome. I wish I had the umph to actually upload some pictures. Maybe later. But here are some of some "starfish". I had hoped for real, I'll settle with real-looking fakes. The picture of my submarine will not load landscape wise so sorry! That'll have to just go into facebook and not here. But here are the cool starfish!

Ohhh look how real!

Once my mom left Katie and I were on our own. We just started going everywhere! We tried the whole take a picture of yourself thing and it didn't really work out too well. But here are a few:

Aboard the Mark Twain Paddle Boat!

It told me if I rubbed the lamp, I would receive my future! It didn't work.

Hats are always in at Disneyland. Looks like headbands are also!

Inside the Mad Hatter shop, Kate styling a Mad Hatter Hat!

After we messed around we finally made our way over to Fantasyland/Storybook Land. I really wanted to see the Princesses, and since you know me and all, you'll know I'm obsessed with Disney Princesses - have been since I was little. But when we got there this is what we ran in to!

Who waits for 75 minutes?!

I love Tigger!

Plus they didn't even have my favorite Princesses (Jasmine & Aurora if you were wondering). SOOO we left. I did get to pose with some of my other favorite characters! And pictures are all thanks to my mom (whom we met back up with at lunch). For some strange reason, my sister HATES anything dressed up. Hates it. So she kindly refused to take any pictures with or near any of the characters. We had to have a discussion this morning about how everyone who comes to Disneyland is here because they want to be a kid again, so it's ok to wear kid-looking clothes and hats and be silly and dorky and all those other fine words. Doesn't look like it sunk in. But I do love her anyway.

This was a.w.e.s.o.m.e!

So towards the end of the first part of our day (meaning before our feet finally said "Hey, we're down here and we are blistered and tired") we were back over in Tomorrow Land and I ran into these strange guys (note: I really do love Star Wars). My mom was in line with my sister and I made her come out and take a picture. You could only get your picture IF they chose you out of the random crowd. I begged to get picked lol jumping up and down at my age is not attractive, but if it gets results, so be it! The guy on my left (in the picture not in real life) kept trying to push me over! So not cool Storm Trooper. So not cool.

So not much else really happened but I will say we got to eat at the Blue Bayou, some place I've always wanted to eat. Since like forever. Katie got a cute little pudding/candle for her birthday (which by the way, is so awesome, anyone who works here will be like HAPPY BIRTHDAY! just randomly!). We watched Fantasmic. We rode space mountain again. We got Katie a graduation hat. We went back to the hotel. I wish I had the energy to write more, but I'm tired. I don't want to take the time to edit photos and I just want to shower and sleep. So a random listing of photos will just have to do! I'm done being crafty with my photo placement for tonight.

Waiting for our table at the Blue Bayou.

Katie TRYING to come up with her wish.

An upclose look at her pudding. It even had Mickey Mouse sprinkles!

This one's for Amy.

This is after! :) new camera, sorry!

This was before I decided it was a good idea to turn the night photo on!

Main Street, USA, leaving the park



This time, I tried to smile, but then my scarf flew into my face!



Katie's graduation Mickey Mouse ears!

Well I would say "see you tomorrow" but my pictures would not all upload. So I'll just say see you later today after California Adventures!