Mom & Dad

Mi Familia

Well. I found yet another computer to load a trial version of Adobe products on. Which means, I can convert my RAW images into JPEGS so I can post again! Cause...what's the point of a post if you don't have any pictures?!

Here are just a few for now...because this computer literally takes 15 minutes to open a picture.

My sister, Hope!

(I'm thinking a little too much brightening on the eyes...) Oops!

The famma lamma.

We were all sitting around the house one Sunday, in pretty much our PJ's, when my dad decided we should take a family picture in the backyard. That being said, please ignore my drowned rat hair.

Emma, sister #2!More to come. Computer officially driving me insane now!

Job Update!

Hey everyone,

Thought I should probably do a little update. A couple of weeks ago I got a job! Woo hoo! I'm an assistant manager at Tai Pan Trading. Never heard of it? Me neither. Basically it's the mecca for all Utah Mormon moms who love to decorate EVERY square centimeter of their house. And when I say every, I mean every. Down to every last drawer pull.

It's closer to home, the hours are great, and WAY more fun/less stressful! Love it! Thanks for any prayers you sent our way :)

Also--Haven't been updating the blog cuz all my pictures are in RAW format and I haven't figured out a way to change them to JPG now that my Photoshop trial ran out. Oopsies!

Unemployed

Yep, that's right. Yours truly is in need of a Jay-oh-bee. Anyone got any connections?

Introducing my 1st photo shoot!

I'm SO grateful to these guys for being willing to help me with my very first photo shoot! Thanks D & B! Eric accompanied me and helped a ton!

P.S. I'd like to do two free photo sessions so I can get some practice. I'd really like to get some senior or engagement sessions, so if you know anyone in this category, send 'em my way :)

A text message

This morning I woke up angry. It happens. It was the usual "I-hate-going-to-work-and-I-hate-when-the-alarm-clock-goes-off-and-I-still-have-to-take-a-shower-and-why-don't-we-have-more-money-I-can't-wait-until-I-won't-ever-have-to-work-again" mood. Nothin' new.

Eric is sweet. He is patient with my mood swings. Today I got a text message:

"Hello beautiful. I hope despite the waking up, you have a really happy day. I want you to know I'm proud of you for making those efforts educationally with photography, bettering yourself, and the work you put into our marriage. It never goes unnoticed and I love you for it so much. You're my best friend. Love you!!"

:)

Escalante

Eric got the week before last off of work. I decided I was not OK with going to work while Eric got to sleep in for an entire week, so I got it off, too! We decided to go camping in Escalante. I went a couple years ago and loved it.

A little Escalantian background: 1.9 million acres of pure, untouched nature. There are red rock canyons, ancient Indian petroglyphs, waterfalls, scorpions, tarantulas, and some rugged 4WD high clearance vehicle only backroads. A moutaineer's paradise. I am a little ashamed putting these pics up. They do NO justice to the landscape.

There were tons of cows on the road out to Escalante.

You may not be able to see it, but theres a canyon in the lower right of the pic. Our campground was down in that canyon, to the far left. Coolest campground ever.

That's our tent!

Hiking is to Escalante what mullets and cut off shirts are to monster truck rallies. They both make the experience complete. Here's Eric filling up our Platypus bag. A MUST when hiking in the desert.
Who's excited??

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Hike #1

Lots of cacti and cactus fruit. We were brave and ate some of the fruit. It was actually pretty good. Mildly sweet and refreshing.

About an hour in. Destination: through the canyon you see behind us, eventually ending up at Lower Calf Creek Falls.

But first, Eric sees something on the ground....

....and picks it up.

We also saw some fish. See, there's three of 'em!

Another half hour and we make it.

Seriously, this water was frigid. The guy behind me was crazy. Although I think maybe he thought I was crazy, judging by the way he's looking at me.

All in a day's work.

We headed back for some good ol' R&R around the campfire, where Eric burned a huge hole in his Sanuks.

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Hike #2, 3, & 4

26 miles down an unpaved, 4WD-cars-only road is a wash with some amazing red rock canyons. There are three canyons in this particular wash. Here's the first one:

The second and third hikes are the more famous ones. Peekaboo and Spooky. They are slot canyons. And by slot, I mean, so narrow that you have to take off your backpack to get through some parts. And if you're slightly overweight, you might get stuck. And if it rains, even 2 miles away from these canyons, youre pretty much screwed. As in, dead. Flash floods are what kill people out here. Peekaboo isn't as bad:

That's looking back at where we came from.

This is towards the end of Peekaboo. It's narrow, but not as narrow as Spooky. I didn't even get any pictures of Spooky because the sky was turning gray and we pretty much hiked like the dickens to get out of there so we wouldn't die.

Here's a video showing you what it's like. The first two minutes are in Peekaboo. Right around the second minute is where he gets into Spooky.

Escalante in a nutshell!