Hallelujah for Whoops Babies

First of all, I'm not pregnant. Wanted to make sure that was clear right off the bat. Second of all, I love my baby sister Catherine Pearl. Feels weird typing out the name Catherine since I always call her Cat, Kitty, Baby Girl, Bub, Babe, Kitty Pearl, etc. The kid's got a lot of nicknames. I only call her Catherine when she's in trouble. A lot of people get confused when I call her my baby sister since she's almost 8 years old, but she is and will forever be my baby sister. I'm 14 years older than her and I was in the room when she was born. I changed her diaper, fed her bottles, babysat her, etc. etc. I am extremely protective of her and miss her all the time. 

This was when I took her to see How to Train Your Dragon in the park in Springville this past summer.  It was a good day :)

I got to see her today for the first time in what I think has been two weeks. I can't believe I went that long without seeing her. I was really missing her and feeling like crap so I went to visit her at my dad's house and I'm really glad I went. The second I saw her she immediately gave me a huge hug and said she missed me. I almost started crying. We ate dinner together and she saved me a seat right next to her and made sure nobody sat in it. She told me jokes that were actually really funny. She talked like a grown up to me and amazed me with how mature and smart she is getting. We played board games and she made sure she was on my team. When I was leaving she wrapped her arms around my stomach and wouldn't let me go and started crying. While it was sad, it actually made me feel a lot better. Today has been one of those days when I don't feel like anyone gives a shiz about me (we all have those days, you know what I'm talking about) so it was nice to feel like she cares and wants me around, especially since she means the world to me. I really don't know what I would do without this kid. She was a whoops baby but she actually turned out to be a miracle baby and she saves me all the time. I love that baby girl. 

I told her to put together an outfit to wear to school the next day and she came out in this while laughing hysterically. She is the funniest, smartest, sweetest kid I know. 

I told her the cactus was about her size and told her to go poke it, so she did lol. Only barely though, she didn't get hurt. 

Hanging out at the western store in Thatcher, Arizona. Not much goin on in that city....

This was at Temple Square :) She's missing her two front teeth. Adorable. 

2+2=......5?

It's funny how one little mathematical mistake can change your life. I miscounted the number of classes I have left to take before I graduate. Instead of 9, it's actually 7. Since I'm registering for 3 tonight at midnight, that means after April of 2013, I will only have 4 classes left. I'm freaking out a little bit. 

When you're little, all you think about is the next grade you are going to go into. Then once you're in junior high you think about going into high school. Then in high school you think about going into college. Then once you're in college you think about graduating. What comes next? The real world. Careers. The time where you put everything you've been working towards for the past 20+ years of your life to work. No pressure. 

I can't think about that right now cause it's making me crazy lol. Too much at one time. All I'm gonna focus on is the heinous midterm I have on Friday. Wish me luck :)

Sometimes You Just Need a Little Home

These lyrics couldn't be more spot on. Being sick for a month gets you down. And all I want is my family, my home, and my puppy. Luckily that's only a half hour away for me. These past few days with my mom and sisters have been exactly what I needed. Sometimes you just need a little home. 

Drawing With the Moon

Have you ever read the book "Happy Birthday, Moon"? 

If you haven't, you're missing out. That book is one of my all time favorite children's books. I loved it when I was little and I still love it. There is something about being outside on a summer night, perfect temperature with a slight breeze, looking up at the stars and staring at the moon. 

It is the most relaxing thing in the entire world for me. Hearing the wind in the trees and staring out at the huge, open sky. Priceless. Tonight, I thought I would try and get some pictures of some fireworks over the valley and I ended up drawing with the moon and the city lights. 

I tried signing my name using the moon but it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. This is the closest I got:

That last picture reminds me of another children's book called "Sam and the Firefly". Another classic. 

I could've stayed there all night taking pictures but some sketchy guys were coming down the mountain so I decided to leave so my body didn't end up in a ditch. That's one thing that sucks about being a girl.....you can't be out in the wilderness by yourself late at night. Sounds weird but I like being out in the wilderness by myself at night lol. Stupid sketchy men. Anyway, hopefully more awesome pictures to come soon :) 

A Glimpse of the Past

Guess what. I love black and white photography. Obviously I like color photography as well, but I love old black and white photos. Old photos are like time machines that allow us to see what life was like back then, which I am fascinated by. Removing color turns the attention to the lighting, shapes,and composition which are sometimes overlooked when there are colors involved. Here are some of my favorite photographs in one of my photo books called The Photographers Eye by John Szarkowski. These photos are examples of why I am so passionate about photography. 

JACQUES HENRI LARTIGUE: Beach at Villerville, 1908

(My favorite part about this is the boat on the left)

WILLIAM SMITH: View across Chain Bridge, Washington, D.C., c. 1863. The Library of Congress

CLARENCE JOHN LAUGHLIN: The Fierce-Eyed Building, 1938

HARRY CALLAHAN: Detroit, 1943

MATTHEW B. BRADY or staff: Conspirator Payne, 1865. The Library of Congress

BILL BRANDT: No. 43 from Perspective of Nudes, 1957

MANUEL ALVAREZ BRAVO: Eating Place, c. 1940

GARRY WINOGRAND: Untitled, 1963

"There is a terrible truthfulness about photography. The ordinary academician gets hold of a pretty model, paints her as well as he can, calls her Juliet, and puts a nice verse from Shakespeare underneath, and the picture is admired beyond measure. The photographer finds the same pretty girl, he dresses her up and photographs her, and calls her Juliet, but somehow it is no good--it is still Miss Wilkins, the model. It is too true to be Juliet."

                                                            -George Bernard Shaw

MAX BURCHARTZ: Eye of Lotte, 1930. Otto Steinert, Essen, Germany

RICHARD AVEDON: Ezra Pound, 1958. Made for Harper's Bazaar

ROBERT FRANK: Parade, Hoboken, New Jersey, 1955, from The Americans

CHARLES NEGRE: Henry Le Secq at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, 1851. Calotype. 

ELLIOT ERWITT: Fontainebleau Hotel, Miami Beach, 1962

HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON: Children Playing in Ruins, Seville, Spain, 1933

JACQUES HENRI LARTIGUE: Glider Constructed by Maurice Lartigue, Chateau Rouzat, 1909

EDWARD STEICHEN: Sunday Papers: West 86th Street, New York, c. 1922

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I am in LOVE with Spanish Fork. After growing up there for 9 years, I can't wait for more. I spent about 4 hours there today and loved it. My sister Tara played her softball game and I took a bunch of pictures while I watched the game with Britt and her adorable baby. Then we went and ate at Barry's, which was a super cute little restaurant. Then Tara and I went down memory lane and went to all the places we used to go to all the time when we lived there. It was awesome. I love it there. I took about 250 pictures and put them all on Facebook, but here are some of my favorites. I accidentally had the time stamp setting on when I took a bunch of these and didn't realize it until halfway through the day so some of these have stupid time and date stamps, but I was able to crop some of them out.