Fun with crutches

So I have once again *dazzled* the world with my amazing clutziness. Yesterday after getting home from our hectic road trip from Vegas to Denver, I was in a hurry to get to work and wouldn't you know I would trip off of a step and sprang my ankle. What a winner. Needless to say it didn't pay off to be in a hurry. Oh well...live and learn! So now I'm on crutches for at least a week, and in a air cast...that's what the doctor called it, basically it's just a cast that goes up both sides of my ankle and then is wrapped with an ace bandage for support. it's great fun! I really don't like the feeling of being helpless, but what are you going to do? I guess I need to learn to depend on other people and trust that I'll always be taken care of. My co-workers at work sent me flowers so that was awfully sweet of them! I was surprised to say the least! I hobbled around all over work today so that was great fun, the best highlight of the day was that since I couldn't drive, Lynn had to pick me up from work and I had to go to Courtney and Anna's swim practice with them, and let's just say they're coach is pretty hot!!! hehe He's also a really good swimmer, now all I have to do is get to know him...hmmmm not likely, but whatever! It makes me smile! I'll fill in about the rest of the trip later, I'm pooped! Time to listen to some Jeremy Camp and relax with a good book!

Life is....Weird

So I guess I don't know how to sum up my day. I have this weird feeling that I don't know whether to be happy or frazzled, I'm just both so in reality I'm just numb. I think that's how I'm going to survive the rest of this week, just be numb. Shoot me up with some novicane and I'm set. sigh.....It was mostly an emotional roller coaster at work (for once in a long time though there were more ups than downs - hense the confusion!), then I came home, ate dinner and just kind of vegged out because I just didn't feel like my brain could handle much more for the day. Left over Olive Garden, Kool-aid and pj's -who could ask for more??? [let's not go there] I do have to say whoever decided to put Friends on dvd is a beautiful person! Yay, for them! Now I've got to start thinking about packing for home! Hmmmm...finding the suit case....no there's a challange!

question mark

So I'm on this "let's use all of this negative energy for good" kick. Since work has been driving me insance I've decided to get back into going to the gym. I ran 4 miles today, and did a bunch of ab stuff! It actually helps me avoid thinking about the stuff that is driving me nuts, but at the same time is that simply ignoring my problems and playing just pretend??? I don't know, at this point I'm just going to keep at it b/c it make me less crazy and it has amazing adverse affects on the potential of getting back into shape!!! So we'll see.

My goal right now is simply to keep God as my focus, it's tough because I keep trying to close my eyes, but that's the goal I'm striving for. I really would love a lightening bolt about now, because I just don't think I have the spiritual gift for following God's direction. It seems like every time I'm confident that I do, life end's up happening and the plans change with the chaos of life. I can't decide whether I did the right thing (I guess there's no turning back now), whether I'm doing the right thing RIGHT NOW, and whether what I'm thinking about doing might be the right decision. It all makes sense to me, but does it make sense to God and does it fit into HIS plan? I guess I'm just baffeled at this thing called life.

This summer at base camp, I analyzed my life and basically asked God to take control of my life, I told him I needed his direction, and that if I needed to change anything in my life to better serve him, than I was ready to change it. The whole time I'm thinking, how do I *literally* give everything up to God. I've attempted to do it so many times in my life, but does it need to be taken to the next level? Does it simply mean, quit the job you know you're not happy at, and trust God to provide something better for you, or is that foolish??? Because then what happens when that *something* doesn't come around??? I just don't know how to interpret what the heck I should do with myself. Because it would be foolish to quit my job with out something else lined up, but would it also be foolish to continue to come home miserable every day during the week, get pumped up and refocused at the end of each day or the weekend whatever, and then look for jobs in my spare time??? That kind of drags out this whole process of transitioning and it doesn't require a lot of faith that God will provide for me no matter what happens.

I really just feel like a giant question mark right now. My hope would be that God could straighten me out to become an EXPLANATION POINT!!! I feel like that's how I used to feel about life, and now I still feel that excitement for life, but it takes so much effort to be happy and to think positively; if I didn't have the hope in Christ that I do, I think I would be incredibly miserable and a huge giant grouch! But THANK GOD, I have a hope instilled in my heart that allows me to refocus, and adjust my crappy attitudes.

Here I am, hoping and praying for an arrow pointing me in the right direction! I know it's not that easy, but I know that eventually God will make himself clear in the direction I should go. If I make the wrong discretion, then he'll point me a different way, I'm used to it! Until next time, I'm outta here!

Dare 2 Share

God is Good...All the time! I'm so thankful for the times that God knows that I need a refresher or something to help refocus my priorities that make him #1. This weekend (Friday Night - Now) I was a leader for Bear Valley's youth group at the Dare2Share confrence at the Denver Collasium. There were over 8,000 people there, making it the largest dare to share conference yet! It was a really exciting time, and it was awesome to be reminded about how great our father's love for us is, and how he has forgiven even our most shameful sin, and he is just so amazing. Today the kids were challanged to go door to door asking for donations for the denver rescue mission, and to initiate conversations about what they had just learned about the gospel. It serves as a tool to get them prepared to deal with what they need to know and say when it comes to sharing the love and knowledge of Christ with the world, especially their friends at school and their families. Anyways, it was just wonderful because I've really been needing a reminder of God's power and a reiteration of his true characteristics, and not the one that Satan attempts to feed me when I am weak. The cool things was that collectively over 45,000 lbs. of food (that filled 14 trucks!) was collected for the rescue mission! So that alone was awesome, not to mention the people that were touched my the kid's conversations and enthusiasm! Then to top off the already awesome weekend was a concert with the David Crowder Band, which is ALWAYS A BLAST!!! They are so much fun. At one point they had everyone linking arms and jumping, so the audience looked like ocean waves made out of people. How sweet is that! Anyways, God is truly amazing and he's the reason I'm living. Jesus Christ's love for the world will never fully be understood on this earth, but only when we get to the point were we are being placed in our home for eternity! My prayer is that place would be heaven for everyone I know and love, if you don't have this amazing gift I'd love to chat!

Some days

SOME DAYS i JUST WANT TO DO THIS....

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAA
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

And there you have it...my day

Busy bee

Well I haven't updated this thing in awhile, so here it goes. Work has been going o.k, and I've really been cracking down on getting some school work done, so needless to say I've been keeping busy! I was baptized last Sunday (yay!) and I found out that I'm going home soon!!! I'll be back in cali for a week! Yeah for holidays! I'm coming home to visit family and friends for thanksgiving the 19th-27th! I'm excited.

I can't think of other things that have been going on because it's Friday and my brain is fried, but tonight I'm going to support my friend Chrissy and see her art work on display. She's into graphic and web design. I think it will be cool! Maybe I'll get to see some awesome work, it would be cool to see some photography as well!!!! I'm not sure if there will be any but we'll see, I guess. Anyways, I should be on my way to pick up Michelle D. Yip Skip!!!

the crazy walrus tries sushi...hmmm 

grandma and grandpa at the train museum over the weekend 

lalalalalala.....it's been awhile.

Why, this love that never leaves me
Why are You holding me tonight
Can't deny this love that is given me
Why, this love will never leave me.

All I can say is that when it rains, it pours, BUT God's love some how makes everything o.k. It doesn't change what's happening, but if you truly believe in Him, you know that everything will be o.k, and his love is present no matter what you do. It's truly amazing that God can take care of so many people in so many very different ways.

Today was a little bit better at work, nothing to rave about, and it's not back to normal, but hopefully there's at least a little bit of hope to hang on to. The truth of the matter is, that I'm not ready to get a new job, I still like the job I have, I just need to know that "the management" cares about the job, and the office, it's just not a good feeling, when someone expects everything to be done for them for no good reason at all....that sounds silly but what are you gonna do.

Anyways I went to see Megan and Abby's (kids from small group) in there Jr. High School's Drama play, it was actually good! From what they were talking about it sounded like no one knew their lines or where to go, but they did great, a few hang ups but nothing that took away from the play so that was good! Anyways, that's all for today, hoping for better days ahead, but if they don't come...at least I've got God's love. Yippeeee!!!

If only we could choose our family

I feel like there's nothing to hope for when it comes to my family and all of their incredibly stubborn attributes. I've come to the unfortunate realization that it's going to take a miracle for my family to ever be able to function normally again (I should say normal for us anyways). I'm going to have to get used to the fact that I won't be celebrating holidays or going on vacation with that side of the family anymore. My grandma will finally get her wish, we won't have to celebrate christmas and she can just go to work and escape from the world like she wants to. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I wish I didn't feel so incredibly helpless. I don't understand why any of this stuff is happening, and I can't do anything to help the problem. Why? Why? Why? The never ending question to this thing we call life. I feel like today has been a day of defeat. That's not the case, but it's just been one of those days that it's really hard to see the positive. I can't and never will expect my life to be perfect, but there's somethings that I wish I could skip, I just hope and pray that I'm at least able to learn something from all of this stuff that seems to be going on in my life. I wish I had a fast foward button, but then I know for a fact that I wouldn't learn anything. I just pray that God gives me the strength to focus on him, and not all the things that are going on in my life now. Hoping for happier days to come!

AH HA!!!

I finally figured out how to post pictures! Yeah for technology...This makes me so happy, I could sing a song...but dont' worry, I won't. =P

Scenes from a rainy day 

Adventures with Cake.... 

The Wait is Over

Well Russel and Christina are married! Yippee!!! Congrats to them and their new life together! The wedding was a blast and everything turned out to be quite beautiful! I took a few pics...oh just 8 rolls!!! It was really fun and I'm so thankful that I did, because I have two possible wedding settings, now that Christina has been showing off her album!!! How awesome is that! I would love to photograph weddings on the side of what-ever I end up doing with my life! It would be so much fun! And I'd love to be able to give these couples pictures of their wedding day that they love, by capturing the emotions of the day. I think it's awesome that people enjoy my work, and I love the fact that photography is remaining a part of my life! I'm starting to think that I'd like to be a high school photography teacher! It's all too crazy to think of right now, but I think that would be so much fun...a challange no doubt, but fun and rewarding!

Well life is officially back to normal, now that all the wedding planning is done! Great fun! Now it's time to get started on getting my on-line classes done! ptttt....school....sigh...=)

Good times

Today after work (which went very well by the way) I stopped by CCU to see the old roomies and friends that I made last year! It was really great to see everyone! Such a blessing to be recieved with such open arms! I'm excited that the friendships aren't going to end just because I'm no longer a student at CCU. It's neat to see the bonds that are formed and hopefully the ones that will stay in tact!!!

I'm determined that I really need to take a look at all of the things I'm committing to, and get together a schedule. I have quite a few goals that I want to achieve these next few months, and I need to get an action plan for them!!! I think that after the wedding is over, it will all start to pan out! That's just kind of been my focus for the past few weeks! I know that Russel and Christina will be much less stressed when the day is all over and they will live happily married after! There's just absolutely so much stinkin' planning involved!!! Craziness....anyways, I think tomorrow I'm getting my nails done, and I'm going to try to relax and just take a breather before things get really crazy! Still can't believe it's already here...So long Christina Rich...hello Christina Dains.

Anyways, I've truly been blessed with amazing friends!!! I'm so thankful for so many wonderful people in my life! Praise God for placing them in my life, I only hope that I can give back what has been given to me!

Time's just a tickin'

Well I can't believe how fast the summer has flown by. Christina is getting married in 6 days, and it seems unreal! I'm so excited for her and Russel, because they are definitely ready to be married! They're wedding should be absolutely beautiful! It will be so great to see everything come together! I'm expecting to have a blast! It will be fun to get all dolled up and everything! Sometime this week, I'm going to get my nails done, thursday is the bachelorette party, friday is the rehersal and dinner, and then saturday is her big day!!! I'm excited to help out on the wedding photography! But it will be tough to be in the wedding party and help get all the pictures posed and organized! It's a task I'm willing to handle though!!! Yippee! Anyways, today another one of the bridesmaids and I went shopping to get fun presents for the bachelorette party! We found a couple of gag gifts so that should make it fun!!! I'll keep updating with the latest in wedding details! That's the talk of the town around these parts lately! With good reason, I might add!

Photo Fun

So today was definitely a day centered around photography! I spend most of the afternoon at work, researching digital SLR cameras and all the accessories we would need to take photos of teeth, as well as before and after pictures for cosmetic cases, I hunted and searched for the right stuff at the best price...and finally decided I'd just go to Wolf camera so I might be able to see some of the stuff, so I stopped by Wolf Camera to get an estimate for all of the snazzy stuff we would need because they didn't really have everything in the store, but anyways...that took far too long, because they were swampped with business. (I ended up looking for everything on-line tonight instead...and it looks like you don't have to pay tax / shipping and handling if you buy the camera on-line. Sounds like a cool deal to me. We're getting the Nikon D70 digital SLR...which sounds like It's quite an amazing camera! I'm sure it will be, I've been impressed with my Nikon! I love it!

So...Then I decided I would run to Wal-Mart to pick up all of the prints for Darcy and Ramey's senior portraits. They turned out really nice, and they made like a million extra which I guess will be good for the girls, and good for me because I didn't have to pay extra for them! =) That's always a good deal. Plus the girl who was ringing up all my stuff was complimenting my work, which made me feel good too!

It's such a neat feeling, to know that other people like what I've been able to create in a portrait, or a photograph. I'm really starting to think that this might be it. I can totally picture myself having a career in photography, or at least doing a bunch of it on the side. My dream would be to have my own studio, but I'm sure that will take a lot of patience and determination. It makes me happy when I see prints turn out good, I feel like I have worth, and that I've accomplished something important. Both of those feelings are ones I love experiencing, I don't know...when I think about photography and the possibility of becoming a photographer, it just makes me smile, and I feel good inside. I think the right combination of confidence as well as more education and experience, could yield to a career in photography....HOW AMAZING WOULD THAT BE????

Anyways...I'll dream of someday being able to afford the camera we're getting for the office....ZZZ.......

Been awhile

Well last week to free me from my boredom (I guess???) I got a random phone call from a family asking me if I would like to house sit for the weekend. So I packed up all the important stuff...you know like clothes and stuff to do and headed over there to take care of Sally the dog, a betta fish, and an african chilid fish...suprisingly enough both fish lived through the experience! Yippee! Apparantly I'm only capable of killing my own fish that I want to live. [long story] I'll have to tell sometime. I put all the blame on Pet'smart. Anways, so that went fine. I also babysat for Dr. Z this weekend so him and and the mrs. could get out one last time before they have their new baby. Then on Sunday Christina, Chrissy and I drove up to Cherry Creek to spend the quite afternoon looking at these insanely HUGE houses. We got to walk though one, because there was an open house. It was going for the mere price of 2.3 million I think. No biggie, just pocket change....I CAN'T BELIEVE PEOPLE LIVE IN HOUSES THAT COST THAT MUCH!!! They had their own tennis court, on 4.3 acres, a completely landscaped garden complete with a fountain, a circular driveway, a custom built bar, two sunrooms (one off of the bar/social room, and the other off the master bedroom, 2 master closets, one complete with a center rack (from floor to ceiling) JUST FOR SHOES....it was like Princess Mia's closet from Princess Diaries...or Jenna Rink's, from 13 going on 30 (I've been watching too many chick flicks.) anyways, I don't remember how many bathrooms there were, they were all in random places I think. Oh...there were also 2 laundry rooms, one upstairs and one down. And truthfully the one thing that I couldn't get out of my mind, was that if this house were in California (home to me) then it would be even more expensive. It just baffles my mind that people live on that kind of cash. If people who lived in multiple million dollar homes could just down grade to a million dollar home (or less for that matter) and give the rest to a third world country.....the world would be a better place, and less people would go to bed starving every night. It just blew my mind. These houses were amazing though, beautiful architecture and all that jazz they were all custom built, but I just couldn't imagine all of the money that goes into not only buying a house like that, but maintaining it, decorating it, wow....can't even really fathom it.

Anways, so after we oowweed and awwwed over all the pretty houses, that we would never live in, we grabbed some Jamba juice, dropped Chrissy off at church (she gets there early to help set the service up) then Christina and I picked up pictures from good old wally world, and then went to the door. The service was pretty good, they seem to be getting better and more relavant to my life anyway. It's one of those services that you never know what you're going to get. After the service I went over senior pictures with the parents and kids that I just took this last week, and they narrowed them down to 5 pics, so that made me happy that I only had to deal with 10 pictures (overall). Now that they've made there choices...I just have to get them printed! Yippee! Now I have to get into wedding picturem mode, so that I can hopefully get some good shots at Russel and Christina's wedding! I'm going to put together an album, and I hope I get some good shots, then I can add wedding to my portfolio as well!

Well I guess that's all for tonight, I've got some catching up to do on reading and the most dearly beloved...sleep!

Such a slow week

I don't know why, but I just feel like this week is dragging on. I haven't done anything that exciting, and work has for some reason been slow...I guess it's because I'm finally caught up on all my work (it hasn't been like that for about 4/5 months now) It's a nice feeling, but I miss the rushed feeling. It helps motivate me! OH WELL!!! What can you do?

I signed up for my 2 on-line classes tonight. I'm excited to have something else to work on and a goal to accomplish. I can't wait until I'm a resident and can go back to real school! (you know - where you actually have to go to class!) Talked to mom and dad tonight! Good times!

Oh...I DON'T HAVE TO MOVE! I'm going to stay where I'm at for just 200 bucks a month! Now that's a steal! I'm with people that I like and I don't have to blow all of my dinero! That makes me happy! Now there's room to play and save! Yay!!!

I hope something exciting happens soon! Don't really care what....just something different from the same ole' same ole.

I guess that's all for this extremely slow day of my life, that most likely won't matter in the long run...How devastating.

Work went slow today, but nothing traumatic happened, and for some reason everyone and there mother was bringing us goodies to snack on all day! So my sweet tooth definitely was fufilled! Someone sent us these amazing cookies!!! Yummm! Anways aside from all the food, it was a great day. This last weekend was really fun, on friday I officially became a liscenced Colorado driver, then on Saturday I took senior portraits for two girls I know from youth group. I got the pics back on monday and they look great! I'm really happy with the results! Anways...hopefully they will be happy as well! I've decided that I think I will apply for a second job with Kiddie Kandids, they have all the fun backgrounds and cute kid pictures (usually found in the mall)...if nothing else my schedule just won't work for them and I'll get over it, but at least I'll know that I tried! I just love taking pictures, and think it would be neat to work behind a camera all day! Especially since I would be taking pictures of cute little kids! I was talking to the girls at lunch about how much I love photography, and I found out that one of them really needs to update her family pictures, so I'm going to take pictures this fall when every thing starts to change colors! I'm excited about that, because it's something that I've never done before! It adds another example to my portfolio! And that's always exciting to me!!! Yay! I've got to go see what I can have for dinner, and possibly watch a movie tonight! Yippee!!