our newest cougar

This weekend Megan got the news she has been waiting months for...she has been accepted to BYU.   I'm not going to lie...I'm already feeling a bit sad at the thought of her leaving but I wouldn't want her to stay.  We are excited for her and all that awaits her as she heads to college in the Fall. Congratulations Megan. We are so proud of you!

yet another harry potter countdown has started

It's no secret we are Harry Potter geeks in this house.  We have conducted countdowns at this house for nearly every Harry Potter related thing...books, movies, last book, last movie, dvd releases, Harry Potter parties, etc.  As Harry Potter has come to an end our last countdown consists of counting the days until the final movie is released on dvd UNTIL NOW...Monday morning at 4am (noon UK time) I got tickets for the not yet opened Warner Brothers Studio London Tour of Harry Potter.  Check out the video...

The tour attraction opens just a few days before Megan and I leave for England and we couldn't be more excited about it.  We knew the tour was opening but we were reluctant to get our hopes up in case it didn't open until after our planned trip to the UK.  It worked out though and we are giddy!!

picture this

Emily has had the fun opportunity to participate in a teen photography workshop taught by the sweet Sandi Gentry.  This workshop couldn't have come at a better time.

Emily has had a desire to learn photography for some time now.  She constantly wants to use my "good" camera and is saving up her hard earned cash to buy her own.  We were trying to figure out some way for Emily to learn the technical in and outs of photography when Sandi's class came along.

The pictures below are from Emily's first homework assignment.  She set up the photo shoot, gathering things from our house (and balloons) that she wanted to use.  She arranged to have Megan serve as model.  I was the driver and holder of props.  I tried to insert teaching comments here and there but my independent little Emily nicely informed me that if she needed help she'd let me know (she really was nice about it so I just tried to bite my tongue)  I'm glad I did...I love what Emily came up with.

She still has technical things to learn and master but that will come.  What I love is that she has a creative eye.  I love what she captured through her lens...what she sees.  

Here are some of my favorite shots that she took.  Her homework shots were unedited, these however are all edited with instagram (our family has a current obsession with the look of instagramed photos)  I'm excited to see the progression of Emily's talent as she continues to explore photography.  Can't wait to frame some of her photography! 

art workshops or using your creative power to get yourself to europe

For any local friends and family with kids ages 4 - 9 check out the art workshops Megan is offering in August. (Some info deleted from flyer since it's being posted on the blog)

Megan is determined to get herself to Europe (and help pay for college) so she is using her artistic talents to help her do that.  I'm proud of her for figuring out a way to make money and I think it is a brilliant use of her talent and skills.


If anyone is interested in the workshops leave a comment here and I'll have her get back to you.  Also, if you know others that may be interested please feel free to pass the info along.

a long night, an even longer day

The girls and I packed up the suburban this morning around midnight and hauled ourselves to the movie theater to get in line for the final installment of Harry Potter.  

We hung out in the back of the car looking all sketchy while we sat in the parking lot until about 1:15am.  We then went into the theater to find out from a manager where our line would be lining up.

The picture below is our no nose tribute to the dark wizard himself...Voldy.

Once we knew were to line up & a few more kids showed up they all hunkered down on the cold hard cement to talk about Harry Potter into the wee hours of the morning.  I, not being willing to sleep on cement, took to the comfort (haha) of my suburban.

After my two and a half hours of sleep (honestly, I'm too old for this) I awoke to a sidewalk full of slumbering kids.  I'm not sure how they could sleep...it was cold and wet.  The world decided to send rain today (or maybe it's dementors)

I left them to sleep for 20 minutes while I ran to pick up cereal and milk.  They are currently all up, enjoying breakfast and chatting with all the other Harry Potter crazies that joined the lines while we slept.

We'll see how the next 14 hours go.  I'm hoping that we'll be awake when the movie actually starts.

senior portraits (kind of - megan's not a senior)

My apologies for the photo overload of this post but these kids are just too cute to not share.

Meg's friend Abbie has a great sense of style...a cute, fun indie vibe.  I was wanting to practice my photography and I knew she'd be a good one to shoot cause she wouldn't expect perfection from me and she likes things a bit quirky and off beat - we'd be perfect together.

We didn't actually end up doing the shoot I envision for her (centered around music - her love, that shoot will happen soon) but we did get some cute shots of her as we walked around San Juan Capistrano.

Abbie (and Megan for that matter) are into a 70's type of editing for photos so thats what I went with.  I think the look and feel of this photos totally captures who Abbie is...cute & fun with a bit of edge.

picture below is one of my favorites...

another favorite below (I have come to realize when I look at pictures I've taken I gravitate toward the detail shots.  I think I like the little glimpse they give you of who the person is and they leave you wanting to know more about them) 

I also did a shoot with Megan because she need photos of herself for a recognition night at church (more on that later)  We went to a tick and rattlesnake infested field right by home and had a great time.

I love the picture below but it leaves me feeling a little sad...soon she'll be packed up and heading off to college.  Miss her already!

Did I mention that in addition to ticks and rattlesnakes there were thorns...lots of them!!  Gotta love this candid shot of Megan pulling some of those thorny buggers out of her body.

I got to go back to that neighborhood field and shoot another of Megan's friends...Travis.  Unfortunatley most of the photos we snapped were lost.  They were on the CF card when we got home but they would not download onto the computer.  Eventually they were lost on the card as well.  Not sure how we messed that all up.  We ended up with only about 15 or so photos.

So here's a few of handsome Travis.  The girls at BYU are gonna love him!

flashback

My uncle emailed me this picture a couple days ago.  It's me.  What was my mom thinking sending me out in what looks like a nightgown?  And that Dorothy Hamill haircut.