it's the 21 kids that are throwing me...

		I will marry Spencer.
		After a wild honeymoon, We will settle down in Italy in our fabulous Apartment.
		We will have 21 kid(s) together.
		Our family will zoom around in a Black Lexus.
		I will spend my days as a Photographer, and live happily ever after.

dear parents,

you know how i always say i got the best of both of you and all my flaws are my own? well at least on a physical level, i finally have proof :)

thanks to heidi for sharing!



for the record, dylan looks 19% more like mom, and kate 6% (also more like mom)

eating my words

i hate the show 'so you think you can dance?' or maybe it's just that mary murphy actually makes me so sick to my stomach that every time i TRY to watch the show, i end up in the bathroom dry heaving.

alright, alright, i'm being melodramatic. but only a little.

that being said, i flipped on the tv in my hotel room last night, and guess what was on? i must have been distracted because i didn't immediately flip the channel. and then i was distracted by the show itself. in fact, i was absolutely mesmerized by this:

there is a story behind it, and maybe that's part of why it was so moving, but watching it again and again, the movement itself is simply magical.

i don't know that i will ever watch again, but there were a couple of minutes there, where i was absolutely transported to a soft peaceful place. and when you're in vegas...that's saying something.

weekend with anne

well i'm back in vegas (107 degrees. woo hoo!!) but i'd be remiss if i didn't recap my weekend with anne!

her family was nice enough to plan their vacation just a few miles from me, so i kept her all to myself for a couple days before letting them have her. well... maybe not ALL to myself, but i did my best.

having anne here made me feel kind of like i was home again, or, not home, but on vacation. yeah, that doesn't make any sense. it felt good, whatever it felt like. and one of the greatest things about anne is that she is as picture crazy as i am. there is never a time where i would say 'hey, let's take a self-portrait!' and anne would respond 'nah, i don't feel like it.' in fact, if anything it would be the other way around..which should tell you something about anne's mad photo taking obsession!

so, behold the photos.

our first adventure was to the getty villa. the villa is the second getty, and rather than being filled with modern art, is the home of greek and roman antiquities. everything about the getty is modern, and everything about the villa is...not. columns and reflecting pools. bronzes and sculptures.

anne and i were both completely enamored of the reflecting pool and decided to spend some time enjoying it. about a 1/2 hour later, i woke up, and it was time to go:)


i let anne go visit her family while i headed to meet the d's to watch the twins perform in their school variety show. they absolutely did not disappoint. brad performed the big mac rap with a few other boys, and rach sang 'i enjoy being a girl'. gone are the days of hanging microphones and children screaming in to them. no sir. these kids performed on their outdoor stage with their headset mics, and perform they did.

(will update with pics and video when i am back home!)

my next adventure with anne was a near repeat of deb's visit. but of course, we had to spice things up. we started off by actually taking the tour of the chinese theater, and frankly, i'm kind of glad i've seen the inside now. it was amazing! the tour itself was nothing to speak of, but the theater itself was impressive enough, so it was all good.

before and after the tour, i held hands with matt damon and george clooney, and said hello to will smith (the newest foot and handprints) and the harry potter crew.

after all THAT activity, the next stop was the hollywood sign. you know, it's all fun and games until someone starts bleeding. in this case, it was me.


i parked uphill of the dog park entrance (the best place to take pics), and as we walked down the steep incline, my flip flops combined with the gravel on the sidewalk proved a lethal combination, and in no time flat, i was doing my version of the splits. and i think it's obvious. i'm no gymnast.

luckily there was a water fountain, and i was able to clean my wound. but i only had the fountain to myself for a second before i had to share it with the gorgeous black lab that had somehow heard the running water from across the park. we made it work for both of us, and then it was time to take more pics!

after the sign, it was time to head back home, and after a bike ride, we met up with anne's family for some beach time before calling it a day!


it was great to have anne here, and it makes me even more excited that i will be home in august for a week, so i can see ALL my peeps. or at least, the ones who haven't moved away yet!

angels in the nosebleeds

there is a tradition in mormondom, that previously unbeknownst to me, extends beyond the borders of virginia. that of mormon day/night. sometimes an amusement park, a water park, and in this case, a baseball game.

i spent more than one friday night at a nationals game on mormon nights, and when jenny invited me to attend the mormon night angels game, i couldn't pass.

i like baseball. live. but i like that baseball is as much about the company and the junk food as it is about the game.

friday was no exception.

i took off from work a little early to meet up with jenny and the d4, and we headed to angels stadium. we located jenny's ward tailgating party and enjoyed some food. i passed on the hot dogs (i haven't had one in 12 years now!) but enjoyed some veggies and some brownies. my idea of a balanced diet.

as we made our way into the stadium and to our seats, i paused to buy a baseball cap, and we moved on. as we entered our section, we were greeted with the announcement that it was in fact mormon night, and that there were (insert number here) members of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints, in (insert location here...california? the game?), and shortly after we sat, a group of mormon youth, directed by a friend of jenny's, sang the national anthem.

the game was a loss, but all of the other elements were right on target. the company. the junk food. and, yay, fireworks! i do love a good light show.



for the rest of the pics, click here