Meet Sage

We're madly in love with her.

A million more pictures to come.

Kicking the Cloud to the Curb

Well folks, true to form, here I am a few days later in much better spirits.  I told you I would be.  Thank you all for your kind words and understanding.  And thanks to my husband for that bottle of vodka he brought home earlier this week.  :)  Both were contributing forces in removing that nasty-ass rain-cloud that has been hanging over my head this month.  I'm sure it'll be back, but I'm enjoying the metaphorical good weather while it lasts.  So, while I'm in a decent mood and not contemplating murdering everyone that speaks to me, I thought I'd share some things about my weekend...some really really good things.

I'm pretty excited about my Saturday plans.  I'm going to be spending the day (and I do mean all day), helping out Jodie and Kim of Fresh Art Photography during their Spring mini sessions.  They are going to be photographing 27 families tomorrow, in 20 minute intervals!  TWENTY-SEVEN FAMILIES!  Talk about ambitious!  All the money raised is going to help a very amazing and worthy family adopt a new baby.  I don't even know them, but I'm beyond thrilled to be able to help out and honored to be a part of this. 

Jodie is allowing me to sit in on the sessions and mentor me on how she takes such incredible pictures.  I'm so excited to see how she styles the families, uses lighting, backdrops and props, poses everyone, talks to and interacts with her clients, etc.  I get to help with everything and ask her any questions I have about photography, working with kids/babies/families, camera settings, lighting, etc.  I really think I'm going to learn a TON.  I cannot wait.

As if that wasn't enough (and it's not a done deal yet), but on Sunday, Ryan and I are driving across the state to meet this tiny little ball of fluff. 

Isn't she just the cutest thing you've ever seen in your whole life?  Did you just die of cuteness overload? 

If all goes well, we'll be bringing her home with us.  Eeeeekk!!  I'm so excited I doubt I'll be able to sleep the next few nights.  I'm already madly in love with her and I haven't even met her yet.  I can't wait to meet her and bring her home to meet her new sisters.  I hope Mally handles it well - anyone have any advice on or experience with introducing a puppy to an older (only-child-spoiled-rotten-prissy-princess) dog?

I cannot wait to get my camera on this one! 

A million more pictures to come next week!

Until then, we'll be thinking of a good puppy name and dreaming about our new family member.

Hope you have a great weekend planned too!

Sometimes...

For me, this blog has always been a happy place where I can share my life, my thoughts and my adventures with my friends and family and readers. It’s a little slice of the best of my world and I like to put a positive spin on things. That’s just me – I’m generally a pretty happy person. But sometimes not everything is rainbows and sunshine around here. I have bad days too. So, instead of posting something that feels forced and fake, or instead of not posting at all, I want to post about how I’m feeling today - crummy. Honestly, it’s just not a good day. It happens. Don’t worry, I’m fine, I’ll get over it. I’m just having a bad day and wanted to talk about it. Sometimes it helps to write it down…right?

Sometimes things just don’t work out how you want them to.

Sometimes it’s ok to cry about it.

Sometimes it’s better to suck it up and move on.

Sometimes it hurts so deep in my soul that I think I’m broken.

Sometimes it helps to talk about it.

Sometimes it doesn’t.

Sometimes I physically ache for what I want but can’t have.

Sometimes I’m overwhelmed by just how lucky and loved I am.

Sometimes a month feels like an eternity.

Sometimes a week goes by in the blink of an eye.

Sometimes it’s easy to hide.

Sometimes it finds you even when you’re hiding.

Sometimes I cry out of pure happiness.

Sometimes I scream out of frustration.

Sometimes I have to laugh because I’m so scared.

Sometimes I think I know what I’m doing.

Sometimes I don’t know what I’m doing at all.

Sometimes I’m engulfed in jealousy.

Sometimes I’m reminded that someone out there might be jealous of me.

Sometimes people just don’t know what to say.

Sometimes I hear exactly what I need to get by.

Sometimes rainy days feel like the world is weeping with me.

Sometimes the sun wraps me in a blanket of warm love.

Sometimes friends are the answer.

Sometimes friends are the cause of the pain.

Sometimes it makes sense to just come clean.

Sometimes you have to speak in code.






Anyone else out there having a crummy day?  Margaritas on me tonight. :-)

Ree + Sara = BFF

Guess who I met this weekend?

Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod! 

It was so exciting!  Y'all, she is seriously just as beautiful, sweet, funny and nice as I hoped she would be.  And Marlboro Man was there too!  In Wranglers and a cowboy hat.  I die. 

I'll post all the details later. 

For now, I gotta work to pay for all the PW books I bought to get autographed.

Ski Birthday at Hidden Valley

So, my birthday was last month.  32.  Yep, it was awful awful awful awesome. 

Anyway, to cheer myself up from the dark reality that I am in fact old and only getting older and will probably die soon, I thought it'd be fun to get some friends together and go act like a kid in the snow!  Besides, what else is there to do in the dead winter of January?  So the Ski Day Birthday Celebration Extravanga was born. 

If you've ever been to the Midwest, you're proably baffled as to where in the heck could we possibly ski in Missouri.  Well well, let me tell you...it's not all flat around here.  Don't get me wrong, we've got plenty of flat in Missouri and we're surrounded by flat (hello Iowa, Illinois, Kansas), but we also have the Ozark Mountains.  MOUNTAINS!  Did you hear that?  Ok, so they're not real mountians, they're more like big hills, but really that's all you need to ski, right?  Well, a big hill and snow, of course.  Luckily, we were not lacking in snow this winter, so the skiing was actually pretty good.  No, not Breckenridge good, but good enough.  Whatever.  Moving on.

Our local ski resort, Hidden Valley, is a golf course converted into a ski resort.  I'll use the term "resort" very loosely in this situation, but again, not bad for Missouri.  They've got ski and snowboard rentals, a couple lifts, a dining area, and most importantly, a fully stocked bar!  Score!  Again, what else do you need, big hill, snow, booze.  Check, check, check.

Apparently it was a holiday weekend (one of those holidays I don't get off work so I don't know which one) and the place was packed.  It took us for-ev-er to get our skis, but that gave us time to gather our crew and  come up with a ski strategy for the day.  We figured we'd do 4-5 runs, drink a few pitchers of beer, do 4-5 more runs, another few pitchers of beer, and so on, repeating until we were either too tired or drunk to ski.  We all thought this was an excellent plan.

Here's part of our crew: Andy, me, Stephanie and Erika.  Stephanie and I had just been in Breckenridge over the holidays skiing and Andy and Erika were about to go, so this was a great crew to ski with.

And here I am at the top of the mountain hill with my incredibly handsome husband.

And we're off! 

Ryan took the camera down first to get some good action shots for me.

Erika was a very good and very fast skiier.  

Her husband Andy was...well, not quite as fast, but had exceptional form.  :)

Perfect execution, Andy.

Stephanie was fresh off doing some of her first black diamond runs in Breckenridge and was tearing up the slopes here.

My brother Timmy and his friend David (below) opted for snowboards over skis. 

Snowboards scare me.

And then there's me...going down my first black diamond run.

Hahahahahaha...black diamond my ass.

This black diamond was like a super short blue in Breck or a green in Jackson Hole.

But whatever, it was fun!

And I think I handled it masterfully.

Ta da!!

Here's little brother coming down the hill on a snowboard. 

I had no idea he could snowboard.

Finally I decided I wanted to get some pictures of Ryan, so I made my way down the hill with the camera.  I had yet to fall once all day and thought my chances were pretty good that I'd make it down upright, but oh no.  As soon as I strapped on the camera, I bit it hard and rolled a good 20 feet down the hill, losing a ski and a pole in the process.  Go figure.  Everyone stood at the top laughing at me while I eventually drug myself over to the sidelines and pulled out the camera.  It was ok.  I was fine too (other than a bruised ego) and managed to get off some pictures that made it look like we'd just slalom skied down the mountain.

Nice tuck action, Steph.

And finally Ryan came down in a big group of people, so I didn't get a good shot.  Here he is looking bored out of his mind.  I guess Hidden Valley just isn't as thrilling to him after skiing the T-Bar in Breckenridge.

Whatever.  Time for beer!

Definitely not a bad way to spend a birthday.  Thanks to my friends for coming out and skiing with me.  I can't wait to do it again soon!

Teagan's Carousel Ride

So, do y'all think you can handle two cutie-patooties back-to-back days because I've got another one for you!  Remember Teagan?  Teagan, her mom Debbie and I had another ladies luncheon the other day.  It was pretty nasty outside last week, so we met at the mall by my office.  Teagan and Debbie brought me some homemade fudge and chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine's Day - aren't they so thoughtful?  It took everything I had not to throw my salad in the trash and just eat the chocolate for lunch, but I kept it under control. 

Have I mentioned lately that my friends have the most beautiful children? 

Just beautiful.

I wish you all could meet Teagan because there is something incredibly special about this child.  Not only is she adorable, but she's so genuinely happy that she attracts attention from every single person that gets anywhere near her.  She just radiates cuteness.  I've never seen a kid get so much attention from complete strangers - everyone around us had to stop and talk to her and smile at her, even the other kids.  She's just a delight to be around.  And did I mention that she's polite?!  I'm still in awe of her manners - she says "Thank you Mommy" every time Debbie does something for her.  It melts my heart.  She most certainly has better manners than I do!  Debbie, any and all future children I have I'm sending to your house for manners lessons, ok?

After our lunch, we went down to the center of the mall to take a ride on the carousel.  We had to stop along the way and check out the pig pillows, of course.

I think I know what I'm getting Teagan for her birthday!

But the pig pillows weren't enough to hold her interest with the carousel so close and it was time to ride!

The toughest decision of the day was what to ride.  Zebras, lions, dragons, horses, deer, bunnies, dolphins, giraffes, kangaroos -- so many great choices! 

They finally decided on the elephant, which I thought was an excellent choice.

And then the ride started and Teagan lit up brighter than the carousel!

I walked around the outside and took pictures. 

I got a wave from Teagan every time she passed me.

She doesn't look like she's having any fun at all, does she?

Hi Teagan!

Hi Teagan!

Hi Teagan!

We thought it'd be a good idea to switch it up for the next ride. 

We tried the dragon, but that didn't quite feel right.

The giraffe was cute, but we've done cute. 

We needed something a little more bad-ass.

Hello Tiger.

The tiger was definitely bad-ass. 

I was a little worried it might scare her, but she didn't seem bothered by it in the least.

And I thought the tiger was appropriate since Debbie and my college mascot is the tiger. 

Go Mizzou!

I was accidentally zooming in as I snapped this picture, but I think it gives it a cool effect. 

Don't worry, the carousel isn't really going that fast.

Hi Teagan!

Before we knew it, the music stopped, the carousel came to a stop and it was time to go.

It was a very very sad moment.

We had to promise her we'd come back again soon (and I can't wait!).

Thank you Debbie and Tegan for such a fun lunch!

Next ladies luncheon is on me!