Teen Week Entry

Love,

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♥faces photowalk!

This past Saturday I was one of the lucky people who got to attend the i♥faces photowalk across America! I was pretty pumped- I have never done a photowalk or met up with other photographers before and was excited to give it a shot. Although I have a bit of a confession to make... I never would have had the guts to go if it wasn't for my wonderful neighbor and photographer buddy Randi. When I found out about the walk and that it was in a city that is close to me, I thought it would be cool but that was as far as my wishes went. I did not want to go alone...then it dawned on me..maybe Randi would want to go? Lucky for me she did and we bought the tickets the next day.

The photowalk itself was a really cool experience- getting to be around a huge group of people who love taking photos as much as I do, having a beautiful, new place to take these photos and three beautiful models who had the modeling thing down perfect...It was amazing! And despite the nervousness I had the entire time...I would do it again!

Here are some of the photos I took. I took over four hundred photos, but I will just share some of my favorites with you:
That girl was an awesome model. She knew exactly what she was doing and really gave me some wonderful shots. Plus she was gorgeous!

I probably took the most photos of her because most of the other photographers kinda flocked more around the two littler girls and I wanted to get the shots lesser people were getting which lucky for me was this amazing model!

I mostly stuck with the people because that's what I like shooting most but I did get some good shots of the flowers to.

She really was just so much fun.

I like this imperfect flower- sometimes imperfection is beauty!

Of course- being in Ohio it had to rain..... Do you recognize this little girl? =]

This is my absolute favorite shot of the day..I just love everything about it! The lighting was just perfect for pictures despite the rain..I barely edited most of these!

The other model..isn't she just adorable as well!

The prop basket..they had brought plenty of little props for the girls to use!

Have you figured out who this beauty is yet? How about the founders daughter..that's right..

We got to meet and take pictures with Angie! The co-founder of i♥faces! It was so cool to be able to have her lead our walk and meeting her was even cooler! I have met my own blogging celebrity..*big smiles* Living in Ohio that's probably the biggest celebrity I will ever meet (well, I did meet the lady who is on channel 10 news, that was pretty cool) and so I can die happy knowing I met a pretty famous person ;)

Even though the lovely Ohio humidity frizzed and poofed my hair which I had spent the time on to make look nice, I still got a pretty nice photo of the three of us as well as a wonderful experience at the photowalk!

Thank you i♥faces for hosting a wonderful photowalk!

And thank you Randi for being willing to go with me- without you I would have never went!

Love,

PS- I did not watermark my photos so that if the models wanted them they could have them..that doesn't mean anyone is free to take them, so please don't! thanks!

This ones for Amanda!

Who is Amanda might you ask?? Well...I think you should know.. but some of you unlucky (and more than likely hungry) souls may not have come across her blog yet, so I will fill you in. Amanda is one of my amazing blog friends who has a crazy TALENT for making delicious goodies like this and this. And that's not at all even close what she can do!! I mean look at these and these and look at these! Isn't she simply amazing!!! But there is a bad side to the talent she has....she makes it look easy...and she makes you think you can do it to!

And I, being a creative individual who is up for any sort of creative task - fell into the trap. I thought I could be an expert cookie maker to. And to tell you what you may have already figured out, I was wrong. I cannot make stunning cookies like Amanda.

But I tried. And will probably continue to try thinking that maybe one of these days I will get it. I mean it is fun after all. I am just not very good at it and that's why I took so long to post the results of my tries..didn't want to embarrass my self. But then I came to the conclusion that maybe it will make you laugh and maybe it will make another untalented cookie maker like myself feel better about the fact that they also cannot make pretty cookies. Anyways here are the pictures...my first try was in July (I told you it was awhile ago lol) and the second try was in October (for a Halloween party, they liked them)

My first attempt at Amanda's Amazing cookies: When I realized that I shouldn't automatically think I can do something-
I skipped the pictures of making the dough, o well you get the point. But here are the cookies ready to go into the oven!

Then they were done, so I outlined them...which took forever!!!! My hand hurt so bad!!!

Then I filled them in which was not to bad. They looked eh, sorta OK at this point.

Haha. My first attempts at decorating them. Could you tell this was supposed to say Mom??? I think I made the frosting too runny...nope I am sure I made the frosting too runny..

But I tried again the next day and did a little better. I mean you can actually read them this time!

And of course I made some for my best friends and my favorite kids.

The girls helped me decorate..Taylor made this one for her dad...and did better than I did with writing it on there!

Although the whole decorating of the cookies did not turn out how I wanted it to, Jodi and the girls still enjoyed eating their special cookies ;)

My cookie attempt number two: A little bit better I suppose-

The girls helped me make the dough this time..of course Mikayla was in her unicorn costume..I told you she wore it around every chance she got.

They greatly enjoyed liking the dough off the utensils.

The end product, because I forgot to take pictures during the other steps. Not near as good as Amanda's but not near as bad as...well, I don't know...

Well at least Randi seemed excited about the ones I made for her boys... ;)

And there ya go. That's my experience with Amanda's amazing cookies. I plan to give it another go eventually but right now I am making a rainbow cake.....

can you guess who I got that idea from? And can you guess how its turning out...yeah pretty sure you guessed right on that one. lol.

Love,

Want to visit Amanda? Click HERE. And don't forget to leave her a nice comment =]

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,