I'm a teen,

and i♥faces is having a special just for teens week. Where only teens can enter. I was so pumped.

But because I am a teen, and teens like to hang out with their friends- I missed the deadline and didn't get to enter this week.

I'm so very sad. Next time I shouldn't assume the deadline is at midnight like it usually is. I should've read it and then I would have known that the deadline was at noon. That way I did not come home expecting to enter only to realize that it is over.

So very sad. =[

I had more than one of you tell me that you were looking forward to my entry or thinking of me since its teen week and I am very sorry that I let you down. I didn't mean to, really.

This is when I would say there is always next year..but there isn't. Unless they do another by March, I will be too old to enter. It's quite sad.

But oh well. I guess it made the decision on which to enter easier. lol.

Since I can't not show you some pictures, here are the three I was debating between for the challenge.
I did a photoshoot for my neighbors about a month ago. It was a lot of fun. I was nervous though because Randi is big into photography and very good as well. I wanted to do a good enough job that she would be happy with them. The good news is- she was. And I was to. The above and below shot were from that shoot. They are my two favorites I think. Aren't they just the cutest family?
And then I have this one of Mikayla I took. I love her expression and the way it looks like she has quite the secret. It is an all natural shot to- no posing. And I love the colors as well.
Well anyways, there ya go! I am still pretty sad that I missed the challenge this week but Oh well- I was out having fun with my best friend. And in fifty years I'm pretty sure I'll be thinking back on those memories instead of wishing I would have been at home to enter the contest.

Good luck to all the teens!

Love,

I am thankful

for so many things not just on thanksgiving but everyday. Since its Thanksgiving though, I want to share with you some things I am thankful for:
My family of course. I am so lucky to have such a great family. I know I can count on them for anything because they are always there. I am also lucky to have such a loving family as well. I am also thankful for all my extended family but I don't have permission to put all their pictures up on here so I will have to settle for just saying it.

My dog. I love my dog, shes such a good and faithful dog and things wouldn't be the same without her around!

The girls. They have helped me grow as a person so much. They love me unconditionally as I love them unconditionally right back. They are just a light in my life, always shining and helping me in ways they don't even realize.

My amazing best friends. I couldn't ask for better best friends, they are like sisters to me. They are always there for me when I need them, when its convenient and even when its not. They make me a better person in so many ways. I know I am never alone and can always count on them. These girls are also very important to me and also part of my closest friends group they just were not in the other picture. They also mean the world to me and help me in many ways.

My neighbors. I am so glad that I have such awesome neighbors, we used to have some pretty crazy ones (and still do, but at least we have one set of cool ones to make up for it) its so cool to have such amazing people living next to you. Landon and Gavin are so cute and so fun to be around and by being around them I learn so much. Brian and Randi are awesome role models and they are always so helpful and great to talk to.

I have so much and so many more people to be thankful for but if i kept going this could go on forever, plus I can only share the pictures of people who have given permission for me to do so.

I am so blessed and ever so thankful for all the blessings in my life even if I don't show it all the time. I have it good and to everyone who has helped make it that way, all my gratitude goes out to you.

And to all my readers- thank you for reading and being some awesome blog friends, blogging wouldn't be as fun without you!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Love,

Halloween festivities!

I have to tell you, usually not much happens around my house for Halloween. We simply observe the holiday by wandering around with my sister and a few other small children to receive candy, then call it a night. This year was different though, and it was a very wonderful change to celebrate and enjoy the holiday more in its entirety. Having the girls living closer has certainly made a difference because having children around to enjoy holidays with makes them much more enjoyable, especially the little holidays where if they were not around it would not be as big of a deal. Its so nice that they are closer, not just in distance but in heart to. They have been permanently embedded into my heart and my family, along with my actual family (of course) as well as the other people that are near and dear to me. I am so blessed to have the people I have in my life and more so to be able to spend even the littler holidays like Halloween with them.

Here are some pictures of my wonderful Halloween:
The night before we carved a pumpkin! And then cooked the seeds. And just so you know, Mikayla wore that costume every chance she got, she really liked it! Just a new picture of me and the girls after the pumpkin carving!
Kelley and Me! She is one of my best friends. She took the pictures and helped bake the seeds.
TRICK OR TREAT! The girls all dressed up for trick or treat!
Taylor was a kangaroo. Here she was holding up her candy bag, signaling that she wants to go get candy and not stop for a picture lol.
Mikayla was a unicorn, and boy did she love that costume!One of my favorite boys! My neighbor boy Landon who made the cutest cop in the universe! The other of my favorite boys! Gavin who is also my neighbor makes the cutest koala bear!Dana did not allow me the chance for an individual picture of her so here is my lovely sister with Taylor.

Then comes the big kid fun!

Here is me, Jodi, and Whittney all ready for a Halloween party we attended. Don't you just adore our costumes? We wanted to do a group thing so we went as a cheerleader, football player and a Ref. We were the most awesome themed group there! I must say, I was so very filled with pride and thankfulness as we trouped up for that party together. Most of my life I have struggled with friendships and have never had a true friend I could could count on, the ones I did have decided I wasn't good enough for them. I hadn't had a friend who would do the things a real best friend would do (like coordinating Halloween costumes) until these lovely ladies came around and I am ever so thankful to call them my best friends. It was the greatest feeling in the world to be able to enter that party feeling apart of a tight group of friends- to feel accepted, loved, and knowing that I have two best friends who will stick by me no matter what. I have realized these things quite often but walking in as a group was just another bittersweet moment when I realized how truly blessed I am.
Because Jodi has problems with getting her picture taken (yeah, I don't know either. I mean I don't like getting my picture taken either (despite how it looks the opposite with all the pictures of myself on my blog) but i love the memories pictures give me so as long as i am in the picture with people i love i don't mind it as much) well she ran off after we took the one of all three of us. So I asked Randi (my lovely neighbor) to get in a picture with us and so she did. Which made my night ever so more the wonderful because Randi is another person I am so very thankful for- another great influence on my life and i am so very glad she is my neighbor!

Boy am I blessed and even a Holiday deemed Satan's holiday couldn't make me think otherwise! I have terrific family and friends and I had a great Halloween as well. I hope yours was spooky and wonderful!

Love,

If you play with fire,

you will get burned. Translation: If you try and take pictures of fireworks you will not get the wonderfully perfect picture you desired.

That would be what happened to me this fourth of July. I decided to try and get some awesome firework pictures with that new Nikon i got. I thought, how hard can it be? Then Stephanie posted some tips and how to set your Nikon on her blog, so i set up my camera using her recommended settings and set off with a big smile on my face.

Then we got to the place where we would be viewing them from. My first thought: its kindof far, but o well. So me and Randi set up our cameras and prepared for the show, both of us, still smiling ear to ear, expecting some great shots. Then the fireworks started and we started shooting, or should i say, we tried. Very quickly our sounds of cheer turned into "arghhhh" and "ughhhhs" and "ahhhhhs" and "OMG i missed it, its blurry, how come it wont take!!!!"

And when the fireworks came to their conclusion, you could see Randi and I watching, with our cameras nicely packed into the case, talking ourselves into thinking it was the distance that caused us so much trouble and not our skills. ;)

On that note, would you like to see some of the pictures i did get out of this not so great experience? ha ha, that's what I thought! So here you go- my attempt at fireworks, year one newly retitled- "It was my first try so its no big deal that I failed I mean the camera is new and all and I need to get used to it better so maybe next year I will get better ones...."


This first picture is not cropped at all so that you can see how far we were from them. My standard lens was zoomed in all the way and that's as close as I could get.
All the rest have been cropped in picnik.
My picture of the grand finale.Fireworks at the "after party" And i think i actually like this one, lol.

And last but certainly not least: My favorite picture of the night, the ever so cute, Landon!

This year was a pretty fun fourth of July, but next year when I play with fire I hope to be more prepared, as so I won't get burned ;)

Love,

A blur of time.

Wow, this week has went so fast its left me breathless. It sure does seem like I haven't even had the time to breathe.

But Saturday I did have time to take Landon to the park and we sure did have fun! I got a picture with him so that I could frame it and put it in my room because he came up to my room to play and he just started looking around so I asked him what he was looking for he replied with "I am looking for a picture of Landon, wheres a picture of Landon" Too cute! Boy did I feel bad for not having one! But I actually have some from prom that are going to be framed but I haven't framed them yet.

So just for you Landon, here's a picture of Landon!

Isn't he just the cutest!

After that I went to Randi Kays sweet sixteen party. We had a lot of fun there! I haven't uploaded the pics for that yet so I can't post any =[ sorry!

The next day we went shopping because our freezer broke and now all our frozen foods have taken up residence in our neighbors freezers. My parents ended up finding one yesterday instead, and its pretty cool. I am excited to be able to not have to take a trip to find the waffles! When I got back from there I went to Courtney Cs. house where I ended up playing a game of "cat and mouse" with my friends, guess who was the mouse...yeahhhh. lol.

Yesterday I got to spend time with one of my closest friends, Whittney. We certainly had a lot of fun.

Then today I went back to school...=[ Which ended up being worse than usual because of *gasp* Drama. Ughhh I hate drama! I try and avoid it all all costs because I am more mature than that, seriously. But the cat and mouse game lead to some things I guess and now one of my best friends is very angered at me. *sigh* I don't know what to do. I hate it that I always get the brunt of the anger, even if I wasn't even involved it tends to fall on me, and that sucks.

Well, I don't want to dwell on that anyways so moving on...

but I am not going far because I have to go address more graduation invitations. So I hope to post again tomorrow for IheartFaces if time allows me to breathe long enough to do so ;)

Love,

Yesterday I skipped school.

But technically, not really. But it just sounds cooler than what I really did. I really took a Voucher day because I have had perfect attendance since eighth grade. Dumb goal let me tell ya. Don't know what I was thinking. Well actually I was thinking that after having perfect attendance in eighth grade and ninth and after seeing two kids get money for having all through high school I figured I could do it to and get money.

Dumb,dumb,dumb.

I have been to school sick, tired, and totally worn out. I have missed vacation opportunities (actually I would be on my way to Disney at this moment if I didn't have perfect attendance) as well as opportunities to just skip and have fun with my friends.

And you know what will probably happen? I will go up for that reward at the awards ceremony and they will tell me that due to economic downfall, they don't have anything to give me. Blah.

But I have made it this far...

Oh I forgot to tell you how I got out yesterday. Well I passed all five OGTs on the first try so the school rewards kids who do that with three days you can take off without them counting against you, so I used one of those.

And boy was I busy.

First of all, I went to the trike-a-thon. The kids at the preschool do this every year (and I did it when I went there, a long time ago!) Landon and Mikayla were in it, and I decided I would love to go watch them. Plus its not like I had anything cooler to do than go and see two of my favorite kids run there tricycles around a track.

Landon and Mikayla happened to be in the same holding box (yes they put the kids in big boxes until it was there turn...?!) And I think Mikayla saw me taking this picture, lol. I don't know the kids in the back, let alone have permission to put them on here so that's why they have pixelized faces lol.

Mikayla giving us a wave as she rides on by! Check out her racing stripes =]
There she goes!

The second thing I did was do a second picture session with my friend Kelley. I am taking her senior pictures for her and we took some back in the winter and she wanted some outdoors. So we went to this pretty field and got a few shots, but Kelley couldn't be out for long so we didn't take a lot. Kelley found this idea on the Internet and asked to get on like it. The grass was so long we had to pat down a spot for her, then for me. Then I had to yank out some grass so I could see her and as you can see there is still a big blade right on her face. Trying this didn't last long because the sun was "burning her pasty white skin" and bugs didn't help either.
This would have to be my personal favorite that I took yesterday.
I also like this one, I edited it to look this way and I like the turn out.

Well my neighbor, Randi, let me borrow her Nikon D50 for Kelley's pictures since my camera isn't as awesome as hers. After Kelley left I was asked to come to the softball game cause the girls were asking to see me, so I went and took them to the park and photographed them playing.

Climbing the rock wall.
They loved the big camera. It made them smile every time I turned their way. Usually they will ask me to stop taking their pictures, but they were all to willing yesterday! Ahh, the magic a Nikon can do.
The lil monkey climbing again.
A big smile from the beautiful Taylor.
Mikayla posing with a baseball.
Shes just to cute!
Them together. This is usually how they look when I ask for a picture of them together. Taylor usually will say no and run away and Mikayla will usually chase her and be like Taylor please! And then I beg and they give me a goofy picture where Taylor is trying to get as far away as possible. And that's why I only have a few good pictures of the both of them together. I actually got a perfect one earlier in the week which I will post another time.

Well, how bout that for a summary for one of the longest days in my life? I would not have traded it for anything though. And as for the day off where I did more than I would usually do? It was very much needed!

Love,

PROM!!!

wow. prom was amazing this year. I can even begin to describe the fun in words and I know that you didn't come here to read about it anyway so I will just use pictures. The descriptions will be underneath, so enjoy and comment! This is Me with Randi, my wonderful neighbor. She took all the beautiful pictures of us before prom. She did such a wonderful job and I am so glad to have her as my friend/neighbor/role model/photographer buddy! (PS, you can find her over at Mymomentsastoldbyme.com)

This would be me.
This would be Jodi, my twin =] We are so much alike its crazy really.This is me with Gavin and Landon, Randi's boys. Aren't they adorable?
Us again.

My family and I.

One of my best friends, Kelley, and me.

My best friends! In order shortest to tallest- Me,Kelley,Lizzy,Brittany.

Jumpin!

One of my favorites, where did my legs go?

Another favorite. Well actually all the ones on here are my favorites lol

My best friend Brittany and I, shes the best!

My group, Kelley,Me,Brittany,Courtney,Lizzy

We spotted some boys! lol.

Actually at prom, waiting on the food.

All my best friends! From top to bottom: Jamie,Brittany,Me,Lizzy,Rochelle,Katie,Courtney.

Jamie and I!

Whittney and I

Melinda and I, Her mom handbeaded that dress, isnt that amazing!

Jodi and I again, Love this girl!

Katie and I! aww!

Mirror shot, shes so much taller!

And then, after prom we had to stop at wall mart cause that's the cool thing to do!

Well anyways that is a picture summary of my Senior prom! Well some pictures anyways, I have so many more but I had to limit it down to my favorites (which you see I had a hard time doing anyways lol) Hope you like them and please comment!