saturday goodness

When I woke up Saturday morning I had no idea what was in store us. I figured it would be a day full of shuttling kids back and forth from violin practice to soccer games, when in fact it was the moments in between those two events that shaped the rest of our day.


It started with bagels, of course, like all things start for Adam and the girls on Saturday. It was enjoyable to sit back and watch them, they're pros at it now, each of them ordering for themselves with confidence. This is a new side to bagel day I hadn't seen before. They are growing up.









After dropping Bella off for her violin rehearsal at the Conference Center we decided to stay downtown until Bella was done and after I realized Megan's game wasn't until 1pm it seemed like the perfect plan. We took Tess and Megan to Memory park to walk around, but what I didn't realize is how busy it would be on a Saturday morning. There was family after family and engagement couples running around every where getting their photos taken. In fact there were even people waiting in line for certain spot. It was craziness, but fun to see so many cameras milling around the park.










I enjoyed getting another round of fallness...hope it stays for a little while longer.

Afterward we still had about 40 minutes so we decided to take the girls to one of our old haunts when we were downtown dwellers...Sam Weller's bookstore. It's a quaint little store with a great selection of new, used, and rares books. It smells like what I imagine the forgotten books from the book The Shadow Of The Wind smelt like. Delightful. I was happy to hear both Megan and Tess complaining when it was time to leave.







This part of the day seemed brief, but it's exactly what we needed to make an okay Saturday into a great one. I need to remember it doesn't take much...and to think, I almost didn't go.

xoxo,
amy

request

What started out as one girls request...


turned into an afternoon at the salon.


I guess I need to thank their friends for being unable to play.

Good times!

creative wednesday | week 4

This is a bag filled with dreams & recipes for soup & she's deciding right now which she's really hungry for. -storypeople

I read this yesterday and it made me laugh out loud. I guess you could say I was lying in bed trying to make myself get up and be productive when all I really wanted to do was pick up a book and stay cozy for a little while longer.

What to choose?

You'd be happy to know though, I picked my dream. I got up, did my essential morning activities, and headed straight to my studio to keep my creative Wednesday appointment.


I continued working on the gratitude journals I started last week, folding the signatures and punching holes. Now they're ready to be sewn.


I put together cards made from photographs from my Oregon trip.


Then I added the cards and other photographs onto my etsy site...it's been empty for far too long. It's crazy how much time that takes. Visit my site for more.

It was a busy day, but a very successful creative wednesday if I do say so myself.

--Did you do anything creative today?

reminder

"Life is perfect for none of us. Rather than being judgmental and critical of each other, may we have the pure love of Christ for our fellow travelers in this journey through life. May we recognize that each one is doing her best to deal with the challenges which come her way, and may we strive to do our best to help out."
-President Thomas S. Monson

I've had these thoughts swirling around my head ever since I heard his talk. I can't seem to get it off my mind...I needed it then. I need it now. It's such a great reminder of how similar we all are, how we're all working toward a common goal, how we all deserve the same amount of kindnesses as we go through life, no matter who, what, or where we are. Today while working I listened to it twice more letting he's words sink in a little deeper...hoping if I hear it enough, I will never forget.

"True charity is love in action."

If you'd like to read or listen to the conference talk go here. It's definitely worth your time.

xxox, amy

fall at last

I would never say this hasn't been a good fall, but it has been a strange transition from summer to autumn for sure. At least by now we would have carved pumpkins and had fires and worn sweaters, but we've done none of that. Although when I look up at the mountain it does look like fall, it sure hasn't felt like it. For the majority of September it was hot, summer hot. Just as the leaves were beginning to change colors the heat wave showed up and never really left.

Finally, as of yesterday, it's feeling more like fall out there, cool and earthy, so we went to the canyon last night for FHE to enjoy it.


This is megan telling me not to take any pictures, so I only made them take one.

this one...

and I only got it because adam was entertaining them...we'll leave it at that. :)















We either missed autumn's bloom or the heat messed with the leaves because there wasn't a lot of color out there. I was let down to say the least, but regardless we had a great time and believe me, that was not my last attempt at searching for fall.

--Has it been a strange fall for you?

xxox, amy

celebrate the everyday

because

the common or mundane

moments and interactions

that daily might seem

inconsequential ---are perhaps

among the most critical and

influential in character

development and nurturing

family relationships.

-seeing the everyday

There's a reason I stopped pushing my photography business...my family. It wasn't so much that it was taking too much time away from them, but rather, it stole my desire to document our everyday. The reason I fell in love with photography in the first place was to capture my family the way we are. Starting up a photography business was the catalyst I needed to help me realize what I truly wanted.

So it was then I began to focus on everyday photographs. Photographs that captured us eating together, the girls walking to school, getting ready for bed, our morning routine, night time routine, etc. This change in focus is what had me gravitate toward 365 (photo a day) and 12of12 challenges. Challenges that further helped me to see the beauty in the normal everyday experiences I was overlooking.

I have found focusing on the everyday not only keeps me present in the moment, but helps me to see that even the most basic of activities provide an opportunity for closeness, an opportunity to strengthen my relationship with those I love. It amazing the kind of conversations I can have while doing my daughter's hair or folding laundry together. I guess you never do know when they're going to open up to you.

So today I am grateful for those everyday moments. Moments that keep me close. Moments that keep me present. Moments that help me experience and love the life we have created together.

xxox,
amy

four for friday

01.
I have my brother's girls here with us this weekend so my dear Adam is out numbered once again, 6 to 1. It's kind of nice that their coming falls on Conference weekend because it means we can hunker down at home and have no need to go anywhere. With all of us together it's hard not to imagine what it would be like being the mother of all 5 kids, girls no less...I'm thinking pretty crazy.

02. After scrubbing my nieces puke off Megan's floor this morning, yep she's sick, my darling husband kissed me goodbye and managed to rip half my toenail off. Poor guy was mortified when it happened. I for one couldn't focus on his apology as the pain almost caused me to faint...apparently I don't do good with this sort of thing. It was a strange morning. Strange day really.

03.
Do you know the power of the silly bands? Apparently they are great bribes. My girls will do just about anything for a package. BTW ebay has some great deals if you're in the market.

04.
Spend a good portion of time earlier in the week at barnes & noble pouring over Communication Arts Design Annual. It was loaded with so many idea I kept telling myself to make a mental note of certain projects when in fact I know I won't be able to and just need to buy it so I can use for future reference...Adam you getting this?

I was going to do five, but I only got four in my right now. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

xox, amy

creative wednesday | week 3

I started my creative day making a duplicate of the earrings I made last week. One for myself and then one to sell (I will add it to etsy when I can take a decent picture), a necklace to match, and another pair of earrings (I don't want to share just yet because I have someone in mind for them). It was about the time I was finishing up the last pair of earrings that it occurred to me, Christmas is just around the corner...I better start fulfilling my orders for the gratitude journals before my work gets mixed up with the holiday craziness.



So I spent the rest of my time double checking my design and printing copy after copy of the book. In fact my printer is still going. Crazy how long just that step takes. It involves coming back to the computer about every 20-30 minutes reloading paper, checking the printing, printing the reverse side, etc. But I am thankful for this one easy step because the real work is ahead of me. I'm not complaining though, I enjoy making them and knowing they are going to be enjoyed by someone for a whole year gives me enough incentive to spend my time making them.

I'm hoping to make some extras for my etsy shop, but that will all depend on my timing. I'll keep you posted when I have some available for purchase.

xo, amy

**Did you do anything creative today?

missing one

It's just been the four of us for the last few days. Seems like it's been the four of us for a while now since Adam's been traveling almost every week. It's such a strange departure to what his schedule normally is at work it's beginning to wear on me. It's not that I'm frustrated by his going or that I can't be the only parent for a few days, it's just not seeing him each night as we're winding down the day is, well, sad. I miss him.

I realized something though, this time around, the girls and I not only hold the fort down we have a good time doing it. Once they're home from school we get all the unpleasantness out of the way, like homework, then we play. We make dinner together, take walks, play games, or maybe watch a show. Whatever the activity we end up doing it together. It's like we're all keeping each other company until we're all together again. (Once I write it all out it doesn't seem different than any other day, but I guess there aren't a lot of playdates and friends coming over so they're spending that time with me.)

It's 8pm, the kids are up, and were anxiously awaiting Adam's arrival. We're leaving to pick him up in just a few minutes so the house is all a buzz when normally I'd have 3 already in REM.

ok hate to cut it off there, but we've got to go!

xo, amy

who knew sponge bob could bring us together

shades of gray

I was feeling a little stir crazy yesterday evening and believe it or not Tess is usually the one I can count on to come with me without really knowing what we're going to do ahead of time. Not even I knew where we would end up, just that I had to get out of the house.













I love that she's such a quality time kind of girl. That the desire to be with trumps anything else she might be doing at the time. I understand that need and am grateful we have it in common. It makes it easy in the quiet spaces to know we are happy to be here, walking along, holding hands together.

fives steps....

I believe this list was called the plan of life in five, but I can't be certain. I just know I liked it enough to not want to forget it.



01. Come to earth to grow

02. Can't grow without change.

03. No change takes place without conflict.

04. No conflict is solved without sacrifice.

05. All sacrifice creates some kind of pain...emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

missed headlines

What a weird week. I can't say that I'm sad to see it end, though I am looking forward to today so much. I'm so glad the comments on the photos from my last post were seen as being happy because that's exactly what it felt like....happy and joyful. And then something happened. Perhaps it was the full moon, I don't know, but my emotions heightened and I had a few rough, what I like to term, crazy days that followed. Oh wretched hormones please pass quickly...

I was busy which was one of the reasons why I didn't blog and was staying off the internet, but my state of mind led me to believe it was the best thing for everyone. So here are a few of this weeks highlights I think I would have posted about had I had my wits about me:

01. saturday morning


This is what I woke up to last Saturday morning. The four of them singing along to some song on the internet. They were so content in the moment being together I just took a picture and left them to their business and headed back to bed to read. Not a bad start to the day. Today Jill is waking up to my girls and I hope she is given the same amount of peace, though I have a feeling there has already been a lot of asking for food.

02. game night


And I can't talk about the girls having a sleepover without mentioning the reason it came about in the first place. After what seemed like all summer long we are back...game nights have resumed. I didn't realize how much I missed our nights together, laughing, bantering back and forth, winning or loosing in my case until we started up again. Plus it's fun to see how excited the girls are when they know their going to hang out with cousins.

03. smell of rain


It rained this week. A most delicious rain. Megan had a friend over at the time and they went outside to play in it. As I heard their giggles and ran to get my camera I heard Meg say to her friend, "I love the smell of rain it's so...fresh."

04. create wednesday | week 2


My friend Amy called me Thursday and the first thing out of her mouth was, "what did you do for creative wednesday?" It took me a moment to compose myself thinking, oh man did i do something... I was happy to report that I did, in fact, use my time being creative. I made another pair of earrings for my giveaway, I made 1 earring from 2 different earring sets (couldn't decide which one I liked better), I made raspberry freezer jam, and re-covered two long over do chairs. I still have two to go, but I ran out of staples. It's good to know that someone is keeping me accountable for my time, thanks Amy. Did you do something creative this week?

Have a great Saturday!
xo, amy

delightful fall eve | photos

We played outside tonight until we couldn't play any longer. The great thing about fall is you can enjoy the fading sunset without having to wait up til 9:30pm. I do hate loosing that light, but it does make getting kids to bed much easier. Of course after a full day of school and play falling asleep becomes a welcomed reward.















Happy Fall!

fall = delicious

So we may not have to labor to get our pears, no sowing, no tilling the ground, but what little we do do (picking them out of the tree) is more than worth our efforts. Fall is such a beautiful time of year, but it's also delicious.




Ok so maybe it does take more effort to pick them then I'm letting on. We had to get in some crazy positions to get all the pears and we didn't even dent the tree. Ladders are a must.



Picking our pears this year and seeing the excitement & participation of the girls makes me want to start a garden this spring. I literally think about it every year and every year find some reason not to do it...mostly it's just out of laziness because I don't know what I'm doing. We also don't have a lot of space, but I don't want that to be what gets in my way either. I need to do my research and figure out how to start so it doesn't seem so overwhelming.

Do any of you garden?
Know of any good websites or books to help me get started?
Hannah and Jordan I may be calling you come spring.

For now though, before I get to ahead of myself, I am just going to enjoying what little we do get from autumns harvest. Come tomorrow it will be offical....fall is alomost here. :)

giveaway results

Stephanie that means you're the winner! Please email me your address and I'll send the earrings out to you this week.

penciled in with pen

You know when you don't do something a lot and you get out of the habit and your yearning to do it wanes? I have been feeling like that creatively. I think about creating all the time, learning new things, using my hands, getting deep into a project, but for whatever reason am finding other things to do with my free time and not giving myself over to the creative need inside me. I can't really explain my hesitation, but suffice to say, it feels like years since I've gotten my hands dirty and I'm putting my foot down...i miss it.

Ok, so it hasn't been years, but it feels like a really long time since creating has had a regular occurrence in my life. It's time to change that...and I'm being realistic. I've taken a good look at myself and realize I'm a "schedule" person. I like to believe I'm a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of gal, there are times I spontaneously decide to do something completely random, but for the most part I stick to a schedule. So now that I understand that about myself I have decided I need to pick a day dedicated to creating, cement it in my daily schedule so it doesn't get over looked by other non-essential activities.

After 4 weeks of school we are pretty set in our routine and Wednesday seems to be my one day of the week I don't have anything permanent where I can devote a good portion of time creating. I've penciled it in with pen and have even set reminders so I can't possibly forget. And so creative Wednesdays begin.

I'm so giddy about this my wheels are turning with all the things I want to do and try. The cool thing is I'm already on track and can count this week as week 1. Wednesday I did something creative...imagine that. Remember how I mentioned I wanted to make jewelry, well, I follow through. I went to my friend Amy's, used her knowledge, and made these earrings.


It's not what I had planned to do, but I loved them so much I decided to make another pair and give them away. I figured having a giveaway is the best way I know to celebrating this new commitment I have to getting back to doing what it is I love. Plus, I would love for what I create to have more of a purpose...so giveaway it is.

So you know what to do. If you would like to have a chance to win the earrings just comment. I'll announce the winner Saturday evening.


Have a fabulous weekend. We are heading to game night for the first time in months and no one is more excited then my girls...or maybe their counsin Whitney.

Enjoy!
xxox, amy

one direction

[Oregon coast | Aug 2010]

travelling as fast in one direction as she can go before she has second thoughts & goes back to doing the same old stuff

~storypeople