ashley and andrew.

my uncle david has the cutest little kids named ashley and andrew and they are both so sweet. they make GAP babies look ugly, that's how beautiful they are. so last night i spent some quality time with them to get some good pics.


andrew is such a good big brother. after i took each picture he would say, "can i see ashley?" or "can i see andrew?"
here's andrew!
andrew's cool crocs. he is such a stud.
ashley with her stylish boots. christiaan dressed her that day and i think he did a bang-up job.
drew and i. awww he lobes me!!
andrew said "take a picture of andrew now!" and then he made this face. obviously it was important that i show his face-making skills.
orange blossoms... my favorite smell. i have a tree right outside my bedroom window. lucky!
ashley would throw the ball for ozzy and everytime she'd say: "ONE, TWO, THREE... GO!!" and then throw it right into his mouth. oz was a good sport to play with her so long.
ashley and ozzy.
ah ha! ashley is starting young, taking sips of aunt deb's vanilla coke! and look at the face she's making. she's saying "step off my vanilla coke, man!"
"where's ashley?"
"there she is!!!" i love her. she is my little doll.

family party!

ok, let this be known: i absolutely LOVE my family. i have the most awesome family in the whole world and my favoite thing to do is spend time with them. so you can imagine how psyched i am that for spring break i had family visiting from all over- UT, MN, CA, even Austria! it was so fun and so amazing to have them all in one room again. i was super happy. i also became that annoying woman with the camera taking pics of everything, which is the role that is usually played by my mother. looks like i am taking over.




since nick refused to be in any of the group pics, i got him on his own. i warned him that i would do this and i don't think he believed me, but i am a woman of my word.
from L to R... uncle dave (not looking), wyatt, wyatt's friend (dont know his name, cole? i think?), chase, aunt kristie, and madison.
uncle eric the lone ranger.
(my dad is hiding in the far corner) my mom and her braces, aunt marcia, and grandpa.
my daddy face!! and a sonic drink.

me and aunt kristie! she and i get pretty out of control when we are together, especially if my mom is involved. we usually end up peeing outr pants.
me and my cousin nikki from austria!
mommy and kristie. BFFs since they were 14. that's a long time.
the gang's all here! well, most of us anyways. nick, baby ashley, me, ethan, nikki, dani, erika, noelle, and andrew.
andrew (from CA), noelle and erika (from MN).

me and nick. i kept taking the pic over and over again until he would smile.
me and my favorite auntie jennie. she was like my second mommy growing up. i was a lucky girl!
aunt barbara, nikki, and aunt andrea.
barbara, dave, jennie, debbie, andrea, and noelle.
barbara, me, nikki.

me and ashley. my mouth is the size of the grand canyon and you can see how offensive it is being in this pic b/c ashley is seriously concerned.
and now she is attacking me. the hand of authority in the photo is dave's and he is trying to regulate and teach ash to be gentle. she didn't get the memo.
it's ok because i got her back later.
this is ash pouting after i locked the door so she couldn't escape. i am such a mean cousin!!
i want those boots!!

alcoholiday concert.

on wednesday i had the opportunity to take my cousins to see one of my fave bands ever- alcoholiday. i made sure to take lots of pics b/c it is also my brother stefan's fave band, so he'll want to stay in the loop. it was my cousin nicholas's first concert, and i am so glad that i was the one who got to take him!! we saw a lot of weird people and even got to give a bum some money. it was quite the experience.

happy birthday, dear samantha... happy birthday to yooooooooouuuuuuu!!!

last tuesday (yes, i am behind on my bloggage) we had a surprise party for my best friend sam at flicka's in scottsdale. sam and i have been friends for five years now and it seems crazy to me that i've known her since she was SIXTEEN! that's such a baby! i am very proud of how she has turned out, and really glad that we have stayed friends through all the madness. happy birthday, sam! we love you!!

gabby, sam, erica.

the remains of the birthday cake.

nano and john-john.

BFFL.

i'm this many!

and for fun, here are some of my favorite "sam moments" from our history.

callou, callay! no work today!

"...come and walk with us,

the day is warm and bright.

a pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,

would be a sheer delight!"

- "the walrus and the carpenter", Lewis Carroll.

this weekend was one of my first weekends "off" in a long time, probably since the new year. usually my half days and weekends are spent running errands or doing hair, and i purposely left this weekend empty, scheduling only one haircut so i could have the day to myself. the question is, what does one do with herself with an afternoon off? keep in mind that i have no children, and really, no social life (by choice, mind you). i don't know that there really is an answer to this question, but i do know what my answer was on saturday. i coloured my hair, went to lunch with my parents, and took photos of myself. call it vanity if you will, but in my opinion, it can all be chalked up to boredom and having access to my very own camera. i'm sure none of you can see where i'm coming from on this, because you all have children, therefore you always have a subject to shoot from behind the lense of your camera. but, alas, i do not, as i still reside on spinster lane. so until i do, i shall remain the subject of all of my photoshoots. and for now, that's alright with me.

i just got through watching one of the most depressing movies ever, "Becoming Jane" tonight with my mom, under the reccomendation of my friend cassie jones. she names it her favorite movie of all time and she watches it daily while she works out. while it was very good, i also found it a bit depressing. nevertheless, i'd still watch it again and will probably purchase it since it contains james mcavoy and he has completely, 100% stolen my heart. it was well acted and contains one of my favorite lines of all time "i shall live by my pen". it was really interesting to get to know, in a sense, jane austen or at least a bit of her life, sad as it may have seemed. but, you know, she is kind of this example of "cool" to me in a way. she loved to write, and she did it, even though literally everyone around her told her not to, and even some despised her for it. she was considered by most a "slacker" or a "dreamer" since writing wasn't a profession for many back then. despite all of that she went on to become not only financially successful in her time, but is also widely acknowledged as one of the best writers of all time. her books have been read by millions time and time again, not to mention made into movies, and spawned movies based on her ideas. she didn't compromise her beliefs, not once, though she felt pressure from her parents and society to marry. "Affections is desirable, money is absolutely indespensable!" yells her mother at one point, and yet she still refused to marry for money alone. the ironic thing is, she ended up becoming quite rich and she did it completely on her own, with her silly little dream. that's pretty inspiring. after she refuses numerous proposals from the same man, some "rich booby", she is asked by one friend, "how will you survive?" to which she replies: "i shall live by my pen." and that's exactly what she did.