kristin's blog

52|2012 Week 8 - Romance

2012-02-24T07:29:00.005-08:00

We will celebrate 16 years of wedded bliss this summer. I am lucky to have a husband who is romantic in the sense that he plans little getaways for us and brings me a flower just because but to me romance is so much more than that. It's the little things. I try to show my romantic side as well but the little things seem to always mean more!

Plugging in my cell phone because he knows it's about to go dead.

Driving so he can play with whatever new gadget he got.

Washing a sink full of dirty dishes because he knows how much I loath doing them.

Dipping strawberries in chocolate because he saw some and thought they looked good.

Helping kids with homework because I loathe that even more than the dishes.

Bringing me a hot chocolate...just because.

Letting him spend all night playing his guitar in the back room, even though I would like to spend some time with him!

See it's about anticipating the needs or wants of the other person and meeting them. That is romance to me!

**With a very sick husband this week I didn't have an opportunity to take the photo I planned so I took a page out of Michelle's book and grabbed one from the archives.

Don't forget to check out how the other gals in our Linked group interpreted the theme for this week.Michelle, Heather, Jenn, Heather. Rhonda, Tracey, Stacey, Andrea, Jessica, Amanda, Sarah, Janet, Lesli, Carla, Lena, Rose, Naomi, Tracy, Heidi, Veronica, Amy

No linked today

2012-02-17T08:40:00.000-08:00

No linked blog post for me today girls, I have no internet due to a cute boy in some very heavy equipment digging up our yard trying to fix the septic tank problem who then subsequentially hit the phone and power lines, good thing he's cute! I'm posting from my phone! Hopefully it will be back up soon!

10 on Tuesday

2012-02-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

1. Happy Valentines Day

2. I have been sick for over a week and it just might be the death of me.. Why of all months of the year did I have to get sick on the busiest one??

3. Being sick I totally have neglected to blog about 2 birthdays. One of which i didn't ever get out my camera.

4. Brett turned 14 last week, I will do a proper post when i feel better.

5. Saturday was Sam's Solo & Ensemble festival. She participated with her advanced orchestra group. I though they did well and it was fun to finally connect with some violin moms in the valley.

6. 5 out of 6 of us have been hit with this nasty virus that the doctor said will probably hang on for 3 or so weeks...fun stuffs!!

7. I was a lame valentine mom this year, no celebrating happenin in this abode, we did piano lessons instead!

8. I only have one kid in elementary school this year so that kinda let some of the pressure off. I had fun making these colorful cookies for Colby's valentines.

9. Me and my boys had In-N-Out for dinner after lessons, I got a shake for a valentines treat...big mistake!

10. I went reminiscing valentines on years past, I need to be better about documenting what I do for these kids so they don't think I am a bad mom . You can see 2010 and 2008's valentines here & here.

52|2012 Week 6 - Quiet

2012-02-10T07:39:00.000-08:00

You may not necessarily think quiet when you see a 14 year old playing the guitar but surprisingly it is. He likes to play when the house is quiet and he can play without plugging in. He is a quiet soul, as well, especially at this time of day. After school when homework is done and piano is practiced. It's not at all what I imagined having a teenaged boy in the would be like. Brett is not social, he'd much rather stay home than hang out with friends (I'm afraid when 2 introverted extroverts breed you get an ULTRA introverted extrovert) We love our sweet quiet boy.

Don't forget to check out how the other gals in our Linked group interpreted the theme for this week.

Michelle, Heather, Jenn, Heather. Rhonda, Tracey, Stacey, Andrea, Jessica, Amanda, Sarah, Janet, Lesli, Carla, Lena, Rose, Naomi, Tracy, Heidi, Veronica, Amy

52|2012 Week 5 - Sleep

2012-02-03T08:51:00.000-08:00

Ahh sleep, the thing I love most yet somehow seems to be eluding me more and more these days. I have never struggled with sleep. I have always been able to sleep deeply and restfully. I now live in a tin can where the slightest movement shakes the whole place and forget it if anyone has to get up and pee in the night. I try to go to bed at a decent hour knowing that I will have to be up at 5:00 to get Sam up and going for cheer but somehow when 10:30 or 11 o'clock rolls around I just can't get to sleep. I try to go back to bed after I drop her off at the middle school at 6:00 but most of the time i regret it. I alway wake up groggy and feeling like garbage! Someday I will have a lovely, quiet bedroom and kids who will get themselves up and won't need to be reminded to brush their teeth so for now, I will just be tired.

Check out how the other gals in our Linked group interpreted the theme for this week.

Michelle, Heather, Jenn, Heather. Rhonda, Tracey, Stacey, Andrea, Jessica, Amanda, Sarah, Janet, Lesli, Carla, Lena, Rose, Naomi, Tracy, Heidi, Veronica, Amy

Thankful Thursday

2012-02-02T21:20:00.000-08:00

1. Hulu Plus, it's my new best friend. We have signed up and cancelled twice but I think it's back for good.

2. Yummy recipes that are super easy and cook fast. Thank you McCormick seasonings.

3. The girls basketball team won tonight making it not a total loss since the boys lost!!

4. Warm slippers.

5. Teachers who are willing to stay after to help my kids who are struggling with algebra!

6. 2 very nice non solicited compliments I received about my new bangs, NOT from my husband!!

7. The thing I am most thankful for on this Thursday evening is my bed....g'night!!

**this is my pre trailer bed. I miss it but I'm thankful we are where we are!!**

calm

2012-01-31T00:36:00.000-08:00

*I mentioned before that I am collaborating with 2 fellow photographers and friends Heather and Lesli for a once a month photo project. We each have the same word and will post them together each month.*
As I was deciding how I wanted to convey the theme in a photo when I think of the word calm I tried to think of when there is calm in my life. It's not much you can imagine with 4 kids and living in really cramped space as well as going in all different directions there is not much calm. For me the calm comes when I take the time to kneel in prayer. The calm I receive from my daily prayer is a blessing beyond measure, even if it only lasts for a short time.

Our Family Laws

2012-01-29T08:18:00.000-08:00

If you are a parent and haven't read 5 Spiritual Solutions to Everyday Parenting Challenges stop right now...follow this link....and buy this book. It has been amazing and has completely changed the way I think about my role as a parent and I've only gotten through the first 3 solutions.

When I read a book like this I like to take it a little bit at a time, work on one thing, then move to the next. If I read the whole book in one fell swoop it would have entered through my eyes and out my nose as I slept (nice visual huh) So I break it up into bits. The first solution was completely eye opening. The second solution is where I learned about Family Laws. The Family laws that you all seem to be so interested in since I keep hinting about them. The same family laws that have completely changed my family.

They Eyre's (the authors of the book) talk about how they set laws rather than "rules" in their family. Breaking a law sounds like a bigger deal than breaking a rule and I believe that to be very true. Each law comes with a consequence for breaking it...a very specific consequence. I have for a very long time been struggling with being the type of parent I want to be. I have this vision of what I should be but when it comes down to it, I suck!! So through much prayer and fasting this solution came to me through pure inspiration and this book. When I read the chapter on family laws I was hit with inspiration that we needed to do this. It took me a week or so and some very sincere prayer and thought.

We sat down to Family Home Evening on Monday almost 2 weeks ago with the intent to set up some family laws complete with consequences. The book suggested the kids help set the consequences so I just followed along. Now I could have just copied the laws they had but I knew that wouldn't work. We needed specific laws for what we struggle with as a family. These are what we came up with, the Conk Family Laws and Consequences

So what is the law that changed us totally? The first one and I totally believe that is is through divine inspiration that the idea came to me. So a little history here. I'm a yeller, yep sweet little quiet ol me is a yeller, I know you are falling off your chairs right now in disbelief! (totally kidding here people, I claim no ignorance of my volume problem, it's genetic, but I digress.) So this yelling problem has gotten so far out of hand that i just couldn't take it any more and I knew that the problem began with me and had to end with me. So these laws and consequences apply not only to my kids but us parents as well. In the last 2 weeks we have had to crack the scriptures open probably once or twice each member of the family but O MY GOSH the yelling is almost totally gone. The Repentance area is also a suggestion in the book and we have used it and it has really helped the conflict resolution between the kids. They are getting along so much better. If you want to know what the heck a repentance area is you really have to get the book!! The kids were a huge part setting the laws and consequences., and since they help set them they have been more likely to follow them.

So there you have it, The Conk Family Laws. (is it everything you ever hoped it would be??) My best advise about setting your own family laws is to pray about the things you need to work on as a family and the spirit will guide you on your journey to becoming the best parents for YOUR kids!!

52|2012 Week 4 - Winter

2012-01-27T02:32:00.000-08:00

***Apparently there are 2 lists and I was unaware I was going off the wrong list!! So I will try to get back on track for next week!!***

This is what winter should look like, unfortunately (or rather fortunately) we usually have blue skies. I like real weather, especially rain.

I made the long drive into Vegas for my bi-weekly trip for music lessons. It was the girls turn today, violin. We stopped for hot chocolate before we had to go in. Hot Chocolate with my girls...perfect winter day!

Don't forget to check in on the other gals joining in on the 52 week challenge! The list just keeps growing and growing!

Michelle, Heather, Jenn, Heather. Rhonda, Tracey, Stacey, Andrea, Jessica, Amanda, Sarah, Janet, Lesli, Carla, Lena, Rose, Naomi, Tracy, Heidi, Veronica,

Thankful Thursday

2012-01-26T10:28:00.000-08:00

*A random list of things I am thankful for today*

1. Downton Abby - if your not watching...you should! You can watch season one on Netflix and Season 2 has aired 3 episodes. You can watch those if you follow the link!

2. Access to 2 washers and dryers. Makes laundry day go so much quicker!

3. 2-3 hours naps 4-5 days a week.

4. The new Tinkerbell movie I downloaded for Bonnie that has kept her entertained for 3 days now.

5. These curlers so I can put them in at night and then I don't have to curl hair at 5am on game days.

6. Starbucks hot chocolate in a can. I'm down to my last can and Costco doesn't have it anymore. I may have a meltdown!

What are you thankful for??

What is a Mormon?

2012-01-25T11:55:00.000-08:00

So with the current state of our union and the political race that is causing a lot of uproar about the mormon religion I thought I'd just shed a little light for those of you who really have no idea what it is that we believe. Joseph Smith who is the one who restored the church on the earth in this time wrote out these Articles of Faith. How cool is that. So if your wondering just what is it that us crazy mormons believe, here it is!!

1 We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

2 We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.

3 We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

4 We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

5 We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.

6 We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.

7 We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.

8 We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

9 We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.

10 We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

11 We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

12 We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

13 We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

If you have questions about any of these things I would love to try to answer them for you. Or you can also go HERE and read more about it!

10 on Tuesday

2012-01-24T19:39:00.000-08:00

1. I bought $150 worth of meat and 75 lbs of flour at Costco yesterday. Every once in a while I just feel the need to stock up!

2. I'm reading The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged) again, for the 3rd time. It gets better every time!

3. In 4 weeks my little girl will graduate from Primary into the Young Women's program. I'm so excited and sad all at the same time!

4. Our Family Laws have completely transformed our family....crazy I know but it's true! I am going to get on writing the post to tell you all about soon, I promise.

5. Harry Connick Jr. was on an episode of Law and Order:SVU...he's not nearly as handsome as he used to be.

6. Bonnie started violin last week. Her violin is a 1/16th size. It's tiny.

7. February is shaping up to be the craziest busiest month in the history of life EVER!! but i digress.

8. Bonnie gave herself a manicure while I was at piano tonight. With black sharpie. How in the heck do I get black sharpie off fingernails??

9. Lisa Heuer is one of my favorite people in the whole world!!

10. It's almost Wednesday so i better get this posted. Have a great night ya'll!

52|365:Week 3 - Breakfast

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Well Second Breakfast anyway (or maybe third breakfast) Bonnie is a grazer. She starts minutes after she wakes up, literally, first words after she wakes up are I'm hungry. She goes all day wanting to eat. Until dinner, that she refuses to eat! Today second breakfast (and third) was Clementines, I love me a sweet tangerine!!

This wonderful project has caught fire and our numbers have grown. Check them all out here...

Michelle, Heather, Jenn, Heather. Rhonda, Tracey, Stacey, Andrea, Jessica, Amanda, Sarah, Janet, Lesli, Carla, Lena, Rose, Naomi, Tracy, Heidi, Veronica

Thankful Thursday

2012-01-19T16:50:00.001-08:00

(sunrise on the mesa)

p.s. I hate that I see the sunrise 2-3 mornings a week. Every once in a while would suffice for me!!

I am thankful for so much, these are just a few!

1. The scriptures that start my day out right.

2. Recipes found on Pinterest - I look like such an awesome cook lately!

3. Good friends who can relate to exactly what I am going through and can commiserate with me.

4. Answered prayers and tender mercies.

5. Helpful Children

6. Chapter 3 in 5 Spiritual Solutions. Our Family laws are making my life so much easier! (I will do a whole separate post on our new family laws)

7. Cookies and a mother in law who hears the word and jumps up to make them.

8. Crock Pots - deliciousness is wafting this way as I type. French dip? yes please, thankyouverymuch!

9. Space heaters, warming my tootsies as I type because my father in law like to keep the house roughly the temperature of a refrigerator!

10. This blog, my kids will someday get to look back and see that I really did care about them and it wasn't just about holding the title of Meanest Mom EVER!!

Listography | Books That Changed the Way I Think

2012-01-14T09:26:00.000-08:00

I have read a lot of books...a lot, but there are a few in my life that have impacted me enough to change the way I think or do things. Some may be obvious, other you will probably be like "what?"

1. The Book of Mormon - changed who I am as a person

2. The Book of Mormon Institute study guide - so helpful and explanatory changed my view on a lot of things I already knew!

3. The Secret - changed my way of thinking entirely about energy and positive attitude.

4. How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk - Changed a lot of my day to day parenting skills (and I always know what I should be doing, even if I'm not)

5. 5 Spiritual Solutions for Everyday Parenting Challenges - changed how I view my children and my role as their parent.

8. Pride and Prejudice - changed my view on how love can develop, it's not always a lightning bolt!

7. Here Be Dragons - introduced me to a love of historical novels and expanded my genre of what I love to read and watch on television.

8. The Outlander series - changed my view on what love SHOULD be like!

52|2012 Week 2 - Cold

2012-01-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

It was a cold walk to the bus stop this morning, 27 degrees to be exact. That may not seem cold to you northern folk, but it's dang cold here.

There has become quite a list of gals who have joined into this fun 52 week project, it is so fun to see all the different takes on the same theme! Go check 'em out!!

Michelle, Heather, Jenn, Heather. Rhonda, Tracey, Stacey, Andrea, Jessica, Amanda, Sarah, Janet, Lesli

Hopefully I didn't mis anybody, Leave me a comment if I happened to leave you off the list and I'll be sure to add you! It's not to late to join in the fun if you want to as well!

Christmas Eve 2011

2012-01-08T03:40:00.000-08:00

Food was eaten, presents opened, chimes were rang, love was shared. A good night with the Conks!

52|2012:Week 1 - Newness

2012-01-06T13:51:00.000-08:00

In an effort to get to my goal of taking more photos for this year I have joined in with some of my WSPA (Wendy Schulz Photography Alumni) girls for a photo challenge. 52 photos in 2012. One a week, each with a theme. This weeks theme was "Newness." Bonnie is like a new girl today. For the last 3 days she has been throwing up and had diarrhea. I have really missed that tiny smile.

**Lets hope that blogging about this new challenge doesn't put death to me completing it like it did the last one!

Cousins Camp 2011

2012-01-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

Stuff was done, things were said, food was eaten, laughs were had. it was fun!

12 in 2012

2012-01-01T18:15:00.000-08:00

My sister in law was talking about the statistics of writing down goals and how just writing them down greatly increases your chances of success. I usually don't go for new years resolutions but this year is going to be different for me. I have been on a self improvement kick lately so why not make it official with actual goals!! I'm not as crazy as my bff Michelle who did 111 in 2011, I'm just sticking to 12 in 2012.

1. Learn to use serious power tools - if I can't get Terry to build it I better dang well learn how to do it myself and I have a big list of things I want to build.

2. Be able to wear a swimsuit in front of people...it's been 3 years since I've worn one in public.

3. Take lots more pictures - I feel like my photography is sucktastic lately and I'm sure it's because I'm not shooting enough, or challenging myself!

4. Throw parties - I miss parties. I love going all out, I'm not going to let not having a house stop me anymore!

5. Stop Pinning - Start creating (ok maybe not STOP pinning, just create more of what I do pin other than food!)

6. Show more gratitude to others.

7. Serve more.

8. My always goal of being a fun mom - why is this so hard for me?

9. Finish the Book of Mormon and read it fully again by the end of the year.

10. Finish my 2009, 2010 and 2011 Blog books

11. Get True Photography up and running.

12. Stop yelling at my kids...unless they are eminent danger!

Well there you go, and here I go!

2011:A year in Review

2011-12-31T13:07:00.000-08:00

Well, I made it through a rough one. This year has brought some highs and some lows. Lets take a minute to remember both...

January -

Started working out with Jillian Michaels and lost 6 lbs.

Decided to move to Logandale into a travel trailer...gained 6+ lbs.

February -

Went to WPPI and had a wonderful time

Realized the I probably won't be able to do much business growth in Logandale

March -

Simplified.

Sold 90% of our possessions.

Got rid of most of our bills.

Moved into a trailer at the in-laws

Kids started at new school, made lots of friends

Girls texting my boy...not cool!

April -

Sam makes cheer squad

Cheer practice is at 6am.

The fair was here!

The weather was awful

May -

Took a VERY quick get away to California with my sweetheart

Stayed in the skankiest motel ever!

June -

The kids got out of school for summer.

The kids got out of school for summer

July -

Headed to Oregon for 3 weeks

Terry had to stay home to work

August -

Had an amazing girls trip to Seattle

Came home with a limp that lasted for 3 months and a few weeks on crutches

The kids went back to school

September -

Created and started executing "responsibility" charts

Gave up on raising "responsible" children

October -

Awesome family trip to California

November -

Trip to Oregon for Thanksgiving

Terry was broken back for a month after the drive!

December -

Enjoyable Christmas

Not so enjoyable Holiday break from school because kids were on restriction due to poor grades.

So with the good comes the bad. Not that I have any doubt that my kids will remember the bad (because seriously, there's LOADS of that) but I think it helps give balance! I try to keep it real here on the ol blog and as you can tell my my blogging frequency lately, I am in a not so great place right now. I'm trying to look at the positive side of things and getting back to doing what I love most. I am hoping that the new year will bring a renewed excitement and attitude for life.

Oh goodness I sound depressed!

I'm workin on that!

I hope you remember to document your year...the good and the bad because they both make us who we are.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-31T07:23:00.000-08:00

I spent a week in Oregon and took like 5 pictures. This is the only one I would care to share. we had a great time!

Veterans Day Parade

2011-12-29T19:10:00.000-08:00

I am so far behind on blogging, I just now uploaded my photos from November and December so I will try to post regularly to get caught up!

California Adventure Part 3 | Beach

2011-12-17T16:40:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot about our quick stop at the beach. The kids had so much fun during our quick stop at the beach on Saturday so we decided to make a quick stop before we headed home. We had the most delicious doughnuts on the foggy beautiful morning at the beach.

California Adventure Part 2 | Long Beach Aquarium

2011-12-14T14:36:00.000-08:00

We started the day Saturday at an early 5:30 in the morning. The time before the sun was spent curling hair and ironing clothes. We headed up to El Segundo to have our family pictures taken on the beach by THE amazing Amy Shertzer. It was difficult as alway to be on the other side of the camera but Amy was great and if you are looking for a photographer in Southern California you should definitely look her up! You can see the rest of the session on her blog here.

After we finished with our session we grabbed some breakfast and headed over to the Long Beach Aquarium. We've been to the aquarium probably 6 or 7 times over the years and it's fun every time. The kids love the Lorikeet exhibit, but man they have jacked up the cost of the nectar for the birds. It is still very fun to have the opportunity to feed the birds.

The aquariums are awesome, the marine life is so colorful and amazing!!

After the aquarium we headed back to the hotel and left the kids for a bit to have some alone time at dinner, just us grown ups. It was nice and relaxing not to be wrangling kids for the first time all weekend! We headed home the next morning. It was a fabulous trip and I hope we made some memories that will last a lifetime!

California Adventure Part 1 | Disneyland

2011-11-15T11:17:00.000-08:00

The last time we went to Disneyland was November 2004. So it's been awhile. We wanted to surprise the kids with this trip but Brett being the eavesdropper that he is, he had precariously positioned himself as we were discussing the upcoming trip so he was in on the secret. We wanted to tell them on the way down but Brett blew the secret the. We were a little bummed but it didn't take the sweetness out of their excitement. With the 4 day weekend we (and the rest of las vegas) headed down to Anaheim on Wednesday after the kids got out of school. We stayed walking distance to the park which was nice not to have to pay for parking, not so nice when we had to walk over a mile home with really tired legs and feet!
I debated whether or not to take my big camera into the park or not. I'm glad I did, I just with i had carried it both days! THe second day we hit the California Adventure park and I missed so great photo ops!

The dumbo ride is always a favorite. Brett was too cool. I will always have fun on any ride that flies me through the air!!

The girls had to ride the carousel.

The teacups is one of my favorites. I love when I catch true emotion and motion in my photos.

Autopia was fun, Brett freaked (like he did on most rides, sometime his anxieties really put a damper on my big plans) as you can see from the photo he did not want to drive by himself but that was just silly. He had fun after we forced him onto the rides, but didn't want to do them again. Bonnie was a trooper and did all the rides she was tall enough for including space mountain, big thunder mountain and splash mountain.

The longest wait we had the whole trip was to see the princesses. Bonnie was so excited but freaked out when it was time to see Cinderella, she thought her hair was weird.

We had so much fun and are already talking about when we go back. I think we are going to start a disney fund for the next time!
Stay tuned for the rest of our trip...

Halloween

2011-11-13T14:56:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a Disney post I promise but I have like 700 pictures to go through so it's going to take me a minute. So to tide you over you just have to look at my stinkin cute kids in their halloween costumes.

Samantha was Belle. This wil probably be the last year she dresses up so I am glad she picked a good one for this year!

Colby was a ninja, can you even tell it's Colby? The facial recognition software on facebook didn't recognize that there was a person there. He had some sweet moves!

Bonnie was "Princess Butterfly" and as cute as she was those damned wings shed glitter from hell to breakfast!

As you can tell we had a pleasant day on Halloween, the weather was a nice 85 degrees and I couldn't have been happier about it!

4 year olds don't take naps.

2011-11-08T01:02:00.000-08:00

Guess what I learned this week....4 year olds don't take naps, or at least they would like to think that they don't. I have shown her a thing or two about who is boss and that 4 year olds DO take naps since the birthday of my spunky little girl. We just had a little quick party at the house. Presents and a 6 layer rainbow cake made for a special day. The cake was delicious by the way, me and my girl Betty made a delightfully colorful tasty cake that please all in attendance!! Favorite presents were Magnetic alphabet, pompoms, stuffed puppy and a mini piano book. I am sad to say that though she is growing up faster than ever. And by my sheer persistence, will continue to take naps. I thought her being my last baby, I would be able to keep her small for longer but she proved me wrong with that one when she started walking at 8 months. She is super smart and fun but man does she have a strong personality, but then again, I don't know how to make kids with out STRONG personalities!! We love this big ol' 4 year old!

Lunch with the Ladies

2011-11-05T00:55:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl I can remember coming home from school and hearing the laughter of my mom and her mom and sisters. I just knew that they had spent the day playing and having fun and i had been stuck at school LEARNING...yuck! Well know I am grown I get to join in the party while my kids have to go to school and LEARN, muahahahaha!! (that was my evil laugh by the way just in case you were wondering) My mom picked me up on her way and we continued on to St. George to spend the day with my Grandma, Aunts and some of my cousins. It was nice to get to spend the drive just visiting with my mom, we don't see all that much of each other since I moved and I miss the time we used to hang out! It was so much fun to catch up with these wonderful women as well. I wish I lived closer so I could hang out with them all the time!! You don't think Terry would mind if I added another hour onto his commute do ya?? (J/K mom, I know I would really never see you then!!)

p.s. The only thing missing is my baby sis, she had to stay home with kids, maybe next time Stac!!

A Boy and His Bike

2011-11-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

It's important when you are a boy with a bike that you keep it in top running performance by regularly scheduled maintenance.

A Month of Mornings

2011-10-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

I have hesitated to write about this new project that a few of the girls from my photography group and I have been doing because it seems a sure fire way to make sure i don't complete it. This has been a real challenge for me for a number of reasons. I guess I should start by telling you what the project, if the post title didn't give it away that is. Inspired by these amazing ladies, who did a YEAR of mornings, we though we wouldn't commit more than we could accomplish so rather than a year of mornings we are just doing a month of mornings. Now you wouldn't think that it would be that difficult to take a photo a day for a month in the morning but I have found it quite a challenge. First of all 3 of my 4 children are gone by 8:20 in the morning so that means unless I want a month of Bonnie's then I need to get my night owl butt awake enough to take a photo before I can put a cognitive sentence together! I am up early during the week, I take Sam to cheer at 5:45 so it's not that I'm asleep just not all "there" if you know what I mean. I have managed to get 13 of 13 days so far, even though some may have been taken at 11:45 it's still technically morning, and although they may not be the most inspiring of photos they are a little piece of my mornings. Here are just a few of my mornings. If your curious and want to follow along, or you'd like to know more about the photos, you can see my set on flickr here.

Listography version1.0

2011-10-08T20:46:00.001-07:00

My friend Mary, who just happens to be an amazing photographer, and all around AWESOME person does this really cool thing on her blog. She calls it listography. A series of lists. I like lists. I make them often. I find that if i wake up in the morning and write everything down that I need to get done, including showering and eating then I am so much more productive. In an effort to record random things about me and who I am that would never otherwise be recorded I will try to do a listography every so often. Today's list:Lists Here are some of the Lists I hope to make.

1. Movies I could watch over and over again

2. Life's best moments

3. What I don't want to forget about my kids when they were little

4. 10 wishes

5. 10 things every mom should know

6. What's in my purse

7. Quirks

8. What I love about being married

9. What I love about being a mom

10. Things I miss about living in a house

11. Favorite songs of all times

12. Places I want to travel

13. Places I have traveled

14. Favorite quotes

15. Pet Peeves

16. Things I fear

17. Things I'm not good at

18. Things I am good at

19. Top 10 books

20. Favorite photos of all time.

So there you have it, not that anyone really cares about this crap, but who knows someday maybe my kids or grandkids will. I mad add to the list as the inspiration strikes! And since i can't leave you without a photo I give you one from my latest attempt at a photo project...more on what the project is later!

This is what I did during General conference. It was fun! Thig smaller one is about the size of half a toothpick!

What I want...in life

2011-10-07T20:30:00.000-07:00

I have been pondering a lot lately on what I want most in life. You know, what is really most important and where should my time and efforts be spent. Steve Jobs said "your time is limited, don't waste it living someone else's life." I often compare myself to others. Their stations in life, their kids, their creativity levels, and all it does is make me depressed. I then saw this quote on Pinterest (such an inspirational place for wonderful words to live by)

So in my quest to decide what I want in life I have had to let go of all the comparisons I find myself making. So what do I want? I have and do give this so much though in my daily life. Especially since I have found myself in a position where we are basically starting over. The interesting thing is, I though that all I would want (especially after living in a 5th wheel travel trailer for the past 6 months) would be to build a big beautiful home. Now while that is still on my list it has really been dropped down the list quite a ways. So cut to the chase...what does Kristin want?
I want to follow the teachings and be a disciple of Jesus ChristI want to teach my children to love the Lord and follow him as wellI want my children to know who they are and where they came fromI want to continue to nourish and strengthen my marriageI want to build a family bond that will be unbreakable and more importantly impenetrableI want to have happy kidsI want to have kids that love each other and are friends with each other and protect each other.I want my kids to grow to be contributing members of society
While on our friday night date Terry and I were discussing common teenage problems and how we can avoid them. Lets face it the time is rapidly approaching when the outside world will be a big influence on my kids. As we talked about drugs and morality issues and how we can protect our kids I just said that I think if I desire it enough and make it a priority then those things will not be an issue with my kids. Terry just smiled and looked at me like I was completely nuts. They are kids with free agency and all we can do is teach them right and hope they make good choices. I would like to think the if I have enough faith and desire that the lord will protect my kids from the dangers of the outside world! Lets pray that keeping my priorities in order and my desires righteous that what I want will become a reality. Some days though, I just want a nap!
So what do you want?

The Little Mermaid at Tuachan

2011-09-25T17:10:00.000-07:00

I took my girls up to St. George to see The Little Mermaid at Tuachan. It was for lack of a better word AWESOME. I am so glad I did. It wasn't cheap and it was a sacrifice to go but it was so worth the time and money and late night of driving. The show was so well done and it you have ever been to Tuachan you will kow how just being up in those amazing red hills is magical, but when the water flowed over the stage it was all completely transformed it to an underwater adventure. We had a yummy dinner at Cracker Barrel before we drove up the canyon. When we got there we had a yummy snow cone that turned our tongues red and we had a little fun taking pictures! I love my girls and I loved spending the evening with just them and me!

Labor Day

2011-09-22T10:12:00.000-07:00

Labor day was delightful. The weather was perfect. The kids had a blast swimming. We had yummy food.

Brock gave it a thumbs up.So did I.

It's that time of year again!

2011-09-14T14:12:00.001-07:00

Cheer Camp

2011-09-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

Moapa Valley Highschool cheerleaders do a fundraiser each summer before school starts where they invite girls from the area to come participate in a cheer camp. They teach girls from age 3-14 cheers and dances. Bonnie and Sam were excited to be a part of it. Though it may not look it from the pictures directly below Bonnie was all excited to be a cheerleader! She took some time to warm up each morning after we dropped her off but once she got into is she loved every minute of it! The third day of the camp the girls wore their Jr. Pirates t-shirts and practiced for a performance at the end of the day. I spent most of the morning there taking over 300 pictures of the cute girls who participated!
Samantha's middle school cheer squad was encouraged to be a part and they even had their own group. The dance was pretty difficult but they pulled it off with a lot of hard work!

Once Austyn came to tell Bonnie they were going to do some stunting she got all excited!

And look at her go!!

make animated gifs like this at MakeAGif

10 on Tuesday....SAY WHAT???

2011-09-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't done a 10 on Tuesday forEVER but i have lots of random thoughts running around in my head so that i feel the need to expunge. (look at me all using big words and stuff) So let's get to it.

1. I have a list app on my phone where i put random ideas for blog posts but i am never specific enough when i put an idea down so when i go back to blog my idea i have NO idea what it was even about!! Apparently there should be a blog post about life lessons that has something to do with Brett's broken iPod. eh...oh well!

2. I really want to take a typing course because i suck at typing and i wish i didn't!

3. My daughter is growing boobs. I'm so not ok with this!  (tmi? sorry dad)

4. When doing laundry whites must be done first. the reasons are trifold
   a. They take less time to dry in the dryer so they therefore shorten the overall time of doing laundry. If done in the middle the extra time they sit in the dryer waiting for the washer to be done washes down the tide scented drain. (maybe only in my head but whatever)
   b. If you wash them not first the left over remnant dirt and color from the other loads may make my whites dingy. *i know probably still totally in my head but whatevs!)
   c. If whites are not done at the beginning of the laundry day cycle then they will forever sit in a basket of unfolded wrinkleness. THE END.

5. Do you think i am crazy for writing out my reasons for why i do whites first? I kinda do. I'm totally questioning my sanity right now!

6. I have started a new "Responsibility Chart" with my kids, I am hoping that by doing this they will grow to be helpful contributing members of this family and eventually society! It is similar to what I have done in the past with chore charts but i mixed it up a little with "freebee" stickers, 2 a week, that they will get to apply to unfinished responsibilities except for homework and instrument practice. They each have a paycheck tear pad where they write what they earned for each day and if they earned a bonus. They each receive $1 a day and if they get all 7 days in the week they get a total of $10. (except for bonnie, she gets $.25) After a whole week of this Samantha and Colby both earned $10 each and Brett for silly reasons only earned $4, he used his freebee's right off the bat, crazy kid! These are the chart and paycheck tablets I made up and will be printing at my lab in tearoff notepads. Cool huh? we'll see how it goes!

7. I kinda think i have to do this post because the last one where I call my hubby sexy needed to be a bit buried because he might read it then I will get grief over it, even though he hardly ever reads my blog. (he is sexy though)

8. The summer in trailer has been brutal. Mainly because no air conditioner seems to be able to keep up with the blistering heat. On average, if the temps are above 105 then we can guarantee that it will be somewhere in the low 90's in the trailer at bedtime! ROUGH but it's much better now. Let's hope we don't get another heat wave!

9. I read a REAL book. And my real I mean not digital. I haven't read a real book in like over a year (since i got my ipad) It was wonderful. I had forgotten how the scent of paper could be so intoxicating.

10. The book I read was "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Phillipa Gregory. I absolutely loved it and would totally recommend it. I am reading one of the other books in the series "The Boleyn Inheritance" which is equally as intriguing though not as intoxicating since it is not a REAL paper book!

kthanksbye!

Manly Man

2011-09-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

Anyone else find it really sexy when your man does manual labor??

Terry has taken to changing his own brakes to save money, the light was really cool so I took pictures, imadork, don't jude me!!

My how they've grown!!

2011-09-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

First day of school has come and gone yet again. This year was the earliest of first days seeings how we had to be up to have Samantha to the school at 6:15 for cheer practice before the morning assembly. I decided I like early morning first day of school pictures, it's amazing light!!

Brett is now in 8th grade...8TH GRADE!!! He will be in high school next year, UGGG! He wasn't to excited for pictures but he did put on his best smolder!! He had a great first day and is really excited for 8th grade, he assures me that it's going to be a great year!

Colby as usual just went with the flow, poor kid didn't have to be to school until 9:00 but he braved the early o'clock wake up time so we could go to the middle school to see Samantha perform in the assembly. Seriously though, 9 out of 10 pictures I take of this kid I get a funny face, good think it's a cute funny face! When he got home he said, "mom, if it wasn't so hot, it would have been the most perfect day ever" I'll give him that, it had to have been 115 with a 50% humidity!

Samantha and I had the earliest wake up time at 5:00am. I had to curl her ponytail for her performance and give her enough time to eat breakfast. She was bit nervous and her little eyes are a bit puffy in her pictures but she did wonderfully at the assembly, we are so proud of her!!

Bonnie couldn't stand to be left out of the photo line up even though she will be staying home with me this year for preschool. I got a bit nostalgic looking back at the past couple years. Check them out here, here & here, please don't judge me on my photo skillz...I know I was a bit carried away with the extreme camera tile and over use of vintage actions (I remember when I took those photos I thought i was freakin awesome!! man how things change!!) All in all it was a great first day of school!

Guess who's swimming....

2011-08-31T18:35:00.000-07:00

We did swim lessons with Bonnie this summer, she is doing wonderfully, my only regret is that we didn't do it until summer was almost over!!

Terry sent me this video while I was in Seattle. My little fish!

She's actually swimming way better than that now, and no Terry isn't wearing a white t-shirt, that is what working in the summer heat of Las Vegas will to to a guy!!

My new BFF

2011-08-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

I was going to blog about this in the "Seattle" post but decided it needed a post all it's own!! This is Michelle. Michelle and I met on the message board that I spoke of in the previous post. We then became Facebook friends and I knew I liked her right away, her wit and humor had me LOLing all the time. We began to follow each other on Pinterest (if you don't have any idea what that is let me know and I will inform you!!) and it became apparent to me that we had similar tastes and i "re-pinned" so many of her pins on pinterest that I knew we were destined to be BFF's. But the thing that sealed the deal was when she used the word discombobulated on Facebook. After a trial period in Seattle I was then approved to be the new BFF of Michelle!! We pondered the mysteries of life together, and even though out Jesus' are different it's ok, no one can break the bond of BFF's!!! Even though she has completely abandoned me and gone off the grid by deleting her Facebook account we will still be BFF's!!

♥ you Michelle

Seattle Girls TRIP WOOHOOO!!!

2011-08-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

I have to say WOOHOOO in the title because that is the only way to describe how amazing this weekend was. For those of you who have no idea what in the heck I am talking about I had an amaing opportunity to meet up with the girls from the Wendy Schulz Alumni group. Now this Wendy Schulz Alumni group is very exclusive, to be apart of of this group you need to have taken a photography class the the amazing Wendy. We all at one time over the past 4 or so years have taken one or more of Wendy's classes. She is amazing and I believe that everything that I know about photography I understood because of Wendy, I read a lot of books and blogs and online material but it wasn't until Wendy that I actually GOT IT!! So after you have taken one of Wendy's classes you then have membership into this exclusive group of snarky sassy hilarious bunch of ladies. The message board where we all congregate is a place to ask questions, share triumphs and complain!! Many of these ladies participated in the 365 project that I did last year. It is amazing how seeing a year of pictures of another persons life can really help you get to know someone with out ever having met that person!! I had met Wendy before this weekend at the Flash workshop she came and taught in Vegas, Lisa and I met at WPPI earlier this year, we are also life coaches...I believe I have talked about her before (p.s. she's awesome) There were 9 of us all together and we managed to make every other gal in the WSAlumni group totally jealous so next year I imagine it will be even greater in numbers. I had such an amazing time laughing and spending time with these ladies! They are all totally awesome and I am blessed to have had the opportunity to spend this weekend with them!

Just a little bit of Seattle, I am in love with Seattle in the summer, I had been there in April a few years back but the summer was absolutely delightful. I want to go back with my hubby!

We kayaked on the Puget Sound and it was AMAZING (you tired of that word yet? hope not because it is all I can say about this weekend) Please excuse the phone photos we were all a little paranoid about taking our good cameras on the water!!

I really didn't take many pictures this weekend especially of people, I have to remember to take more of the girls next time!

We braved the crowds at Pike Place Market which did not make for very good photo taking so we decided that we should hit it in the early morning hours. That definitely has it's benefits. One being that you can ask the guys throwing the fish if you can participate and Lisa was brave enough to give it a try, the photos Wendy took were way better than the ones I got, check them out here.

All in all the trip was more than I could have hoped for, I came home rejuvenated, refreshed and in love with my camera again! I even managed a self portrait!!!

Craftin the day away

2011-08-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

After the masses (everyone but me, Sam, Colby and Bonnie) left the ranch we still had over a week all by our lonesomes so I knew to ward of the plague of boredom we would need to have some projects. With a trip to Michaels and a 25% off coupon we ended up with a bag of craftiness. first up on the docket was painting piggy banks. Well 2 piggy and 2 hippo banks. I decided to paint one for Brett. It was really fun to see my little budding artists. Bonnie even proved to be quite handy with a paint brush. Fun times at the ranch!

Rocks

2011-08-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

I have decided that summer blogging and me just don't mix. I'm too busy NOT worrying about the daily grind of schedules and life to remember to schedule time to blog. But I digress. WHile we were in Oregon we took an afternoon to visit the Rock Museum. It was interesting enough but the real entertainment was the "bag o' rocks" that the kids each got. They spent hours sorting and trading all the different varieties. The rock have shown they have staying power as well because while this was over 3 weeks ago my kids are still playing with those rocks!

Change

2011-07-20T05:26:00.000-07:00

I see it coming, the change from little girl to young woman. She's leaning out and the roundness of her face is not as prominent. The little girl who could care less about wearing 2 different socks or bumpy ponytails has disappeared. Life is now filled with blowdryers and lipgloss. Gone are the days of Littlest Pet Shops. We now have be-bopping to Taylor Swift and talking on the phone. Hair must be curled and clothes must be fitted and not loose or baggy. I know I am in for it with this one but I have to say, I'm kinda likin the new, more grown up Sammy Jo!

4th

2011-07-17T16:52:00.000-07:00

So the 4th of July up here in Oregon is pretty low key. It's not much different than every other day for that matter. We eat, laugh and just hang out. We did attempt to go see some fireworks but they were totally lame and the kids just complained the whole time so we skipped on them!! I didn't take very many pictures on the actual day, I don't know what it is but is seems that I never want to touch my camera during the regular events in life that you would think to capture. I guess I'm more of an everyday, little moments family photographer!!

I often go walking...

2011-07-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

So here I am in MY happiest place on earth aside from the fact that I am separated from my true love. I have taken to going on morning walks for a bit of exercise to burn off the calories I consume on quick trips to the DQ or the pan of brownies sitting on the counter tempting me ALL DAY LONG!! After noticing all the amazing textures on one of my walks I decided to take my camera on my next walk. My quick 15-20 minute walk turned into over an hour. All photos taken less than a half mile away from my parents vacation home that becomes my summer getaway! Man I love it here!

Annie

2011-07-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

My niece Devyn scored a part in the summer production of Annie at Spring Mountain Ranch so My sister in law Lisa and I, with Grandma took our girls to see the play. It was a really fun night under the stars.

It was really fun to see Devyn up on stage and a really great play all together.

It's been a good summer!

2011-07-03T06:12:00.000-07:00

So far........

Last Day of School Ice Cream

2011-07-01T05:45:00.000-07:00

It has been a tradition for a while now to do ice cream sundae's on the last day of school for a while now but since I have completely not adjusted to the whole thinking ahead necessity because there is no Target down the street I was lame and didn't buy supplies for our tradition so we packed up and went down the street to the Inside Scoop for lunch and ice cream. (whew, I think that was the longest run on sentence in the history of time!) Here's how it went....
Smile guys, it's the last day of school...

No really it's ok to be excited...

Well Colby is excited, how about the rest of you...

Really Brett, you are totally done with 7th grade you can't even give me a little smile?

Colby is still super excited! (I think that is what that is)

OK Mom, NO MORE, I'm not going to smile...

Seriously get the dang camera out of my face.

Well he changed his tune pretty quickly when Shannon and the cousins showed up. We sat in the back room and ate our yummy food and chatted about the fun we were going to have this summer...not really the moms talked about all the work we were going to make our kids do this summer MUAHAHAHA! (insert evil laugh here) Maybe that is why Brett won't smile, he knows of the things to come!! MUHAHAHAHA!

5th Grade Promotion

2011-06-29T05:02:00.000-07:00

Not quite sure why we can't call it a "graduation" they really are graduating from elementary to middle school but I guess maybe so when they complete highschool it's more special...whatevs. Anyway Sam has now been "promoted" to 6th grade. Not quite sure how I feel about my little girl growing up but the more time passes the more I come to realize that I have no control over the matter. The only control I do have is to try and prepare them for the things that are to come. Middle school is such a scary endeavor for both parents and kids and having gone through the transition once before, I am really not looking forward to doing it again, with a girl none the less. Middle school can be a vicious, horrid place where kids are mean and disrespectful, gross and perverted. Hey it wasn't that many years ago that I was in middle school and it was bad then, I can only imagine how bad it is now! Heaven help me and my little girl as we set out on the next stage of life.

Blast OFF!!!

2011-06-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

Who could ask for a better daddy to their kids, certainly not me. Terry spent the afternoon building this awesome rocket with the boys. We launched it a few days later and it was freakin' awesome!!

The Sound of Music

2011-06-24T20:55:00.000-07:00

From a very early time in my age of motherhood I knew I wanted to fill my home with music. I took piano lessons on and off throughout my childhood but it never took for me, I didn't have the drive or commitment and my mother didn't have the fight in her to make me stick with it, knowing me I don't blame her, nonetheless as I got older I can remember seeing my friends who did have the drive and commitment and I looked upon them with total admiration at their ability to create such beautiful music. Fast forward a few years, I found myself a man who had an amazing talent for music, lucky me, I snatched him up as soon as I could and began to make babies that would be born with his talent and my desire to have musical children. Visions of family gatherings while we sit around singing and playing together may have crossed my mind but it all meant nothing if they didn't have the desire and commitment. Brett was 5 years old when he began asking for lessons. I held off for a year and I believe that year was crucial, he continued asking for lessons and that made me sure that he would be dedicated. He had never given me grief about practicing (well he gives me grief about how he practices but never wether or not he will practice) and here we are almost 7 and a half years later and he plays beautifully. I do have video of this performance however it's stuck on my phone and who know when I will dig out the cord to hook up my phone to the computer. Samantha began playing violin 6 months after Brett started and she also plays beautifully, the best music they make though is when they play together, it makes my heart leap! When Colby became old enough to pick up lessons I gave him the option of what he wanted to play, he looking up to his big brother decided he would follow in his footsteps and play the piano. He has progressed so quickly, something I attribute to having it around his whole life. I am so proud of my kidlets and look forward to when Bonnie chooses her instrument!

Things I hope Bonnie...

2011-06-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

...never pronounces correctly. (well at least until it's not cute any more, I don't want her going to college ordering a sammich for lunch!!)

Bonnie loves to use the fly swapper.

Bonnie lovers her lellow blanket.

Bonnie loves to swim in the cuzzi.

...never stops doing.

Bonnie calls me mother, I know I have talked about this before but I thought it would be a passing phase...it's not.

Bonnie comes and gets in bed with me every morning to snuggle.

Bonnie takes a 3 hour nap almost ever single day!

Backyard Randomness

2011-06-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since my kids had a real backyard instead of a dirt lot. They are loving it out here at Grandma and Papas, even if the 2 who think they are too cool for pictures aren't showing it!!

PreSchool Graduation...Kinda!

2011-06-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

I would love to say Bonnie "graduated" from Preschool but that would mean she was heading off to kindergarten but we will have 2 more years of preschool. I was lucky enough to grab a spot in the amazing preschool run by my good friend Miss Heather. Bonnie has learned so much and has had so much fun this last year. We are both so sad not to be with her this next school year...if gas prices plummet before next fall we may have to rethink things though! I took a pic of Bonnie on her first day of school just like this, she looked so small...what am I talking about she still looks so small but if you look closely at the pic here you can see that she has grown a few inches!!!

Heather planned a really fun celebration for her little class, they sang some songs and ate so really yummy food.

I have video of this trapped on my phone and when I figure out how I will put the video that goes with this photo series because i tell you what..it's freakin cute!!

Miss Heather planned so much fun stuff this last year, I wish I had photographed all of them but most never made it into the house on cooking days!!

Memorial Day:2011

2011-06-07T09:21:00.000-07:00

I took a total of 4 photos on Memorial day this year, I was just being lazy!! We did have a fun time at my parents and the BBQed corn on the cob was TO DIE FOR!!! Still working on trying to find the right mix for my Italian Cream Sodas. I also must say that I am married to a man that is damn sexy, who else can make walking pneumonia look that good??

The End!

I Know the Scriptures Are True.

2011-06-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

So awhile back I may have mentioned the special "relationship" I have with a fellow photographer turned friend Lisa, and how we have online chats every couple weeks to discuss life and challenge each other in all aspects of life. We dubbed ourselves life coaches!! It has been a great experience and Lisa has helped me in ways she will never know!! Initially we discussed photography most but lately our chats have consisted of just life with a little business thrown in there. ANYWAY, on one of our recent chats we had talked about getting a little regimen of scripture reading that we could discuss and hold each other accountable. I knew that I really wanted to throw myself into it and really study the Book of Mormon, so i searched out different study guides and decided on the institute manual study guide. I bought 2 and sent one to Lisa. Since that time I have found a new love for the words written on those precious pages. I have read the scriptures before but never so fully put myself into them. I just read the stories not really looking at the deeper meaning and never seeing how they really applied to me, but guess what...when they say that these books were written for US they weren't kidding...THEY REALLY ARE!! I'm taking my time and after almost a month and a half I am only 15 chapters into 1 Nephi. But man oh man how much have I learned. I actually look forward to the time when my kiddos head off to school and I can occupy Bonnie so I can sit down and read, no 15 mins of reading for me, I get lost and end up looking at the clock and find I have lost an hour or 2!! If you are interested in joining in with the challenge you can find the manual here in pdf and here is where you can buy, I'd love to discuss with you how the things you read can really impact your life!!

7 years...SERIOUSLY???

2011-05-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

How has my boy turned seven already? It seems like not long ago I was constantly smoochin on those chubby little cheeks. Colby has always been a special boy with a special spirit. He is genuinely sweet and so tender hearted. We often make the comparison of Colby with luggage, you just cart him anywhere and you don't even know he's there. On my last birthday I asked Colby if he could go back to being 4 years old and stay that way forever, his response was "well, I want to get big but if that is what you want mom I will" It doesn't get any sweeter than that! I wish I could keep that boy little forever. Well regardless of my request, time marches on and the boy gets older. This past week he turned the big 7 years old. We celebrated with waffles for breakfast courtesy of Grandma, Angry Bird cupcakes courtesy of a very tired momma, and a delicious dinner of candied chicken. We took the Angry bird cupcakes into class to share with Colby's friends. They thought the cakes were AWESOME!!

We had a little family party with the Grandmas and Grandpas and couple cousins. He got some really fun gifts including Legos, swim stuff a slip and slide and a new bike.

I had a little fun decorating with these zig zag streamers, i would have liked to have had lots more but I ran out of time.

I saw the idea on Pinterest and couldn't resist. This blog is where the i got these original images and idea, next time i will do tons more!!

It was a fun day and a fun party. I am going to get on that birthday interview right now so you all can see little glimpses of my cute boy!

Talent

2011-05-24T03:05:00.000-07:00

Do you have a talent. I do, I have a few talents. Now most of the world may not look at my talents as "real" talents but I have some none the less. I have and uncanny knack for getting us seated by the kitchen at any restaurant I go to (you may have read that in my previous post) I also have a talent for putting off responsibilities until the last minute. I can break the record for longest length of time a load of laundry is left in the dryer. I have a talent for knowing everything (until I realize I am completely wrong and then the talent for backing up comes to play) But seriously, the Lord has blessed each and everyone of us on this earth with talents and it is our responsibility to share them with others not to hide them under a bushel, or something like that. My kids are so different, in every way, looks behavior and personality, their talents are all different too. I have one child who loves to share her talents and has no problem being the center of attention for her talents. I have another child who thinks it is a fate worse than death to have to share his talents. I would hope that my kids can see that the talents they have were giving to them by God for them to share with the world. I a lucky to be surrounded by talented people in my life that inspire me every day. What are your talents? do you share them?

(My mother and father in law have a talent for gardening, not only can they grow food they grow the most beautiful flowers to beautify the world)

Didjamissme??

2011-05-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

I got call from my dad, he wanted to know if I was ever going to blog again. Do your dads read your blog? It makes me feel loved and even if he is the only one reading this ol' thing in makes it worth it! Life has a funny way of getting away from me. I get into the grind of things and before I know it I am missing the things I love the most. Like the smell of my baby girl when she wakes up from her nap, or the dimples in my other girl when she makes a joke not even remotely funny to anyone but her. I started this blog to record life, it has become so much more. I seem to go through spurts where I just trudge through the happenings just to record them, but every now and again i get all nostalgic and realize I didn't record a single quirk that the boy had when he turned 7 (totally need to get the birthday interview done before I blog the party) I am seeing just how quickly life happens and the little girl on my lap is not so little anymore. I want to go back and remember every funny little thing about them (and I mean funny, my kids are freakin hilarious) So I am thinking about a few different ways to feature these little things about my kids, you may see little snippits of things that you could care less about or they might make you belly laugh, we'll see. I would love to have a photo to go with each post to keep it "visually interesting" but lets face it, I have been sucking in that department lately, but I will try!! Today however will not be the day that I start my new plan of how I blog but yet another one of those posts where I am trudging through the happenings just to get them recorded, I am trying to play catchup for my hiatus!!!

A few weeks ago, due to a very needed break, we decided to take a quick jaunt down to California, and when I say quick I mean quick, like 36 hours quick. We had dinner at the Medieval Times(where even there I managed to get us seated by the kitchen, how is that possible you ask? I have an uncanny knack for getting us seated by the kitchen at every restaurant we go to!!) We did a little window shopping at Ikea, a stop at the beach and some more window shopping at the swap meet. It was to quick and I am looking forward to a real vacation...someday!

My camera has been acting funny lately so I sent it in to the shop and am so happy to have it back. These few pictures are pretty much all I got from our quick trip, hey, it's better than nuthin!

Ten on Tuesday

2011-04-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

1. I know it's been F.O.R.E.V.E.R. since I have done a TonT, this oughtta be fun!!

2. Life in Logandale is good, but I'm getting really fat.

3. I kinda like living in a trailer KINDA, my only complaints are as follows...

-No where for dirty laundry to go.

-I have to put all my kids to bed at the same time, then they stay up talking making me want to flip out and scream and yell.

-The microwave SUCKS in here, it overheats everything on one side and leaves little cool spots.

4. I am really trying to be more grateful and believe by doing so I will be blessed so since #3 was all about the things I can't stand about the trailer here are 3 things I like about it.

-It's cozy, I really enjoy quiet afternoons reading on my little tiny couch while Bonnie naps.

-It's really easy to clean, deep clean takes less than 2 hours DEEP CLEAN!!

-I am forced to stay on top of my laundry...(see first bullet point on #3)

5. Spring break was quite possibly the most boring spring break in the history of spring break. Brett was on restriction for bad grades, Sam spent the first 3 days doing her 12 missing assignments. Colby did manage some excitement when he decided to ride his bike with no shoes and ripped half of the skin off his toe. We even went into town to go to Flipin' Out only to have the kids want to leave because they were so bored! Oh well, there's always next year right?!?

6. We got new swimsuits (and by we I mean the kids, you will not be seeing my fat butt in a suit any time soon!)

7. Colby and Samantha ate an entire extra large box of goldfish, in one sitting, EEW!

8. A while back my cousin Melanie talked about what they have used for scripture study and we have on and off but are newly committed to reading as a family. We are using the same study guide by School of Abraham, you can see the Book of Mormon one we are doing HERE.

9. I managed to get through he whole day of Easter Sunday without taking one picture...NOT ONE! But i did manage to snap a few of Bonnie at a little egg hunt some of the girls from church had at the park a week or so before the actual holiday.

10. And if you were wondering that cute little bunny easter basket was an amazing creation by the one and only Miss Heather, I really think she should move to Logandale so Bonnie can have her as a preschool teacher next year (and the year after that too.)

Happy Monday

2011-04-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

created using the animated gifs maker at MakeAGif

Clark County Fair 2011

2011-04-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

We have come out to Logandale to the fair a few times since the family moved out here and we knew it was kind of a big deal for the locals here, I had no idea just HOW big a deal it was. Like pull your kids out of school and of you don't you are on the teachers naughty list big deal. So with excused absences we packed up and headed to the county fair. The wind started to blow right away but we would not be deterred. We started off with pony rides for the girls. I couldn't get a decent shot for the life of me, that seemed to be a running problem for the whole day so please don't judge by the following crappy photos!!

The Camel rides LOOKED like they would be fun but it was the biggest waste of money I spent the whole weekend! It cost $12 for my kids to get on the dang thing only to be walked in a small circle and the dismounted. I got 1 shot then the lady came up to me and wanted me to sign my credit card receipt so I got no other photos. The people running it were rude and ornery and I told anyone who I saw contemplating the camel ride NOT to waste their money. Hopefully I cost them some money!!

We headed over to the fine arts exhibits to see 3 ginormous ribbons on a quilt made by my sweet and very talented mother in law. She won all the top prizes. Best of Show, Best of Class and Champion. I am so proud of her and she worked so very hard on that quilt, it really was a labor of love for her! Can you see the smile on her face, it was so fun to see the elation exploding out of her!

The theme for the whole fine arts exhibits was Somewhere Over the Rainbow and let me tell you it was so dang cute in there!! I wish I had had my flash with me so i could get some more pictures because it was just too dark and my camera would work with no available light!

I think the favorite thing was the small animal exhibits. The chickens rabbits and lets not forget the baby pigs, I think we spent an hour over with the mama and her piglets collectively over the whole weekend. I have to say those babies were pretty cute!

After we saw all the animal exhibits the wind really started to pick up so we stopped in to the big tent to catch the last half of the Allycats doo-wop musical groups show. It was so fun, the kids loved it enough to sit through it again on Saturday! We even went home with a couple CD's and have had fun be bopping to some classics while the kids get ready for school in the mornings!

Friday of the fair I was working in a booth selling tickets and so I just let the 3 older kids loose with their friends to do the carnival. They didn't mind that is was freezing!! Saturday was crazy weather as well, it went from hurricane wind and rain to snow and back to wind, only to come to a complete calm for rodeo Saturday night! Saturday afternoon Colby got to participate in the mutton bustin. I missed it because Bonnie fell asleep but thanks to my big brother Mitch we got some funs shots of the action.

He was pretty excited before hand with no experience he didn't even seem to care!! I tell ya the confidence in these kids is inspiring!! As you can see from the pics below that his ride didn't las very long but he didn't even care that he only lasted about a second and a half!! He got $5 prize money and that bought him a toy gun and he was a happy as can be!! I wish I could have been there to see it!

ll in all the a good time was had at the fair, lets hope next year the weather is a bit more cooperative!

Spring Sing

2011-04-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

The first day of school Colby brought home an invitation to the First Grade Spring Sing. It was by far one of the cutest things I have ever seen. I wish I had had my video camera so you could see this little 6 and 7 year olds sings their little hearts out. Colby had only a week to learn like 10 new songs but that is nothing to the boy whose favorite part of church is singing the hymns! He was right up front and center and sang with such fervor that my heart melted! Each class had a song where they did a dance or some sort of activity but all of the whole first grade sang along with each class. I was really impressed with the music teachers ability to teach all those songs to that many kids! It was really fun and if it is a sign of things to come at this school, I think I'm gonna like it here!

Spit Fire

2011-04-13T06:43:00.000-07:00

There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead,
When she was good,
She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad she was horrid.

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This little thing keeps me on my toes and has me in stitches laughing all day long! Shoes have become completely optional, and dinner is never what I cook, usually it is a bowl of cereal at 8:00, before bed, or a banana. Hair must be totally done with curls and bows or not even touched by a brush. She is so full of sugar but not to be out done by the spice!! I'm sure glad we ended on such a fun one!!

Dream

2011-04-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

The year was 1991, I was 13 years old and dreamed of standing in front of all the world in my cute little skirt and pom poms cheering my team on to victory. Popularity would ensue and life would be wonderful. A week of what I saw as hard work learning cheers and dances and trying my hardest to stretch muscles in a way that surely god had not intended! It would be perfect and I would be happy. The days came and went, flying by in a fog of sore vocal chords and the scent of Ben Gay (I told you I tried everything to get those muscles to stretch) and Friday was suddenly at my door. I couldn't eat and the butterflies were sure to make an appearance if it wasn't over soon. I hadn't learned the dance all the way, I couldn't get those splits all the way and the nerves were sure to make me faint! Then in a blur it was over. The list was posted void of the only name I looked for. I said I didn't care but the sadness was overwhelming!! I would never be a cheerleader. The dream had been crushed. Fast forward 20 years. A text from a niece that cheer tryouts would be this week. No formal training had been done, a few years of clog dancing but a cartwheel was a totally foreign thing to a little girl who shared a dream parallel to her mothers. The anguish I had as I watched my little girl try her hardest to keep up with the moves and tumble around on mats doing things she had never done before. My heart sank as I saw the dream as totally unachievable. With the help of a cousin moves were taught and techniques learned. The improvement was astounding with each hour! I saw a glimmer of light! Then the next day came and the dream seemed to be back to impossible as it just didn't seem important for her to learn the dance moves or cheers, she just wanted to hang with her friend. I said to myself, whatever I don't care, I'll just be there for her when she can't find her name on the list. The following day I dropped her off with a prayer that I wouldn't have to console all night and that she would bounce back as she usually does with her resilient little self!! Those dang butterflies were back but not for me this time but for my little girl! I had a hard time eating and I couldn't think of anything else for the 3 hours she was at the school. As I pulled up to the school I opened the door to hear screaming by a very large group of girls. I couldn't see my little girl but then the crowd of bigger girls parted all patting my little one on the back and the largest dimples I had ever seen came shining through! My heart leapt for her and for me, knowing that this is one dream I wouldn't have to pick up the broken pieces of. I know there will be other shattered dreams, because those are the places in life where we learn and grow the most, but today was not the day for her...or me!! I'm so proud of her and excited for what the next year will bring!!

Ladies Man

2011-04-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to pretend like I never stopped blogging....it that ok? GREAT!! Here we go!

Hey Brett, how do you like it out there in Logandale??

We officially moved on the 19th. The kids started school on the 22. Brett was terrified and adamant that we homeschool him for the rest of the year. I held strong and registered him at the middle school with 7 all new classes and him knowing not one soul at the school. I cried for him as I dropped him of that morning hoping and praying that he would be ok and not hate his new school or have a hard time making friends. At 11:45 the following conversation via text occurred:

Brett: "Mom, I have a lot of friends"

Mom: "See I told you, I knew you would like it here"

Brett : "Yeah I have like 7 girls numbers"

Mom: "WHAT???"

Brett: " I'm not kidding"

Mom: " Well tell them to back off your too young"

The following 2 weeks he texted more on his phone with girls than he has texted in the previous 2 years of having the cell phone. He has been dubbed "Ladies Man" by the girls here, despite the fact that he won't let me near him with a comb, let alone a pair of scissors!!

Seeing Light at the End of the Tunnel

2011-04-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

Do you know how hard it is to blog when you haven't blogged in almost a month? Inspiration strikes all the time (especially in the shower) so I decided to start a "to blog" list on my phone. I currently have a list like 5 posts long however I have no idea what they are about!!

**Note to self, when making a list of blog posts be more specific than "shift" or "skinny"

So here I sit, on a Friday night, Nacho Libre running in the background, a trailer full of stinky boys and a brian bursting at the seams of fragmented ideas and randomness. Do any of you find it wrong or disturbing that I can quote that whole movie?

We are getting settled in here out in Logandale and I am actually in the process of writing a complete update with all the details including the fact that I now have a cheerleader in my home. (how I produced one of those is beyond me, but more on that later) I just busted out my camera for the first time in weeks and boy how I have missed her...not to mention that the light out here seems to be magicial! Now if only I could get my card reader to work so I can show some here! Things should be calming down around here so I can make some more time to blog so I hope you haven't all deserted me! Since I have no photos of my own to show you i will leave you with the link to my new all time favorite website. Pinterest is my new addiction and where I have spent most of my online time lately! So goodnight for now and stay tuned!

kthanksbye!

Ugly

2011-03-07T13:00:00.000-08:00

It's been an ugly cry kinda day. You know the kind, where you get all red and snotty and puffy? While I have had such an outpouring of love and support some days I just want to crawl back in bed and deal with it all another day. I packed up my Christmas plate collection, knowing that one of my favorite holiday traditions would not be celebrated this year. I found a recipe for a really yummy cake I was going to try but I remember my oven is broken. I haven't touched my camera in days and I miss taking pictures! I wanted to iron the ginormous pile of clothes so that I don't start our time in our new home behind on laundry but my dang ironing board is broken. Everything seems to be setting me off today!

WOW...Holy complaining batman!!

Enough of that. I am so blessed and am seeing it in so many ways. I have three wonderful friends that will bring us dinner this week. I have a wonderful sister and brother in law who have paid to do the paint job on my trailer. I have wonderful parents in law that are willing to let us turn their lives completely up side down while we start our new life. I have a husband who works so hard all day then comes home and has to put up with the mess and disarray not to mention fielding whining calls from me all day!! So while I am sad about my Christmas plates, I have so much more to be thankful for! Please pay no attention to the bipolarness of this post, I started with my pity party then had a quick change of heart! I know that the lord blesses us in so man ways that I should never feel lost or forgotten! I share all this because it is very cathartic for me to share, while it is probably sharing too much and letting you all in on a very personal situation it helps for me to open up!! So thanks for reading and continuing your support!!

Casa de [4]conk kids...

2011-03-01T09:39:00.000-08:00

After a serious scrub down to get rid of the 6 inch layer of cat hair and dander our new home is ready to be Kristin-ifyed. It is going to be so cute. Here are the before pics.

We have a new sectional picked out and the futon was delivered yesterday and are in the process of building a bunk bed for the back bedroom. I have been collecting ideas with color schemes for the new look we are giving the trailer. We are painting the cabinets and walls. I will make window valances. I want to go with a light bold color scheme...is that a total contradiction? Who cares, I know what I mean even if the whole world looks at me like I'm Charlie Sheen when I talk! (that poor guy, i really think he has lost it...cuckoo cuckoo) ANYWAY... I found this photo from one of my favorite bloggers and I love what she did with her front room, I love how light it is with the bold pops of color...We'll see if I can pull it off in 350 square feet!!

Anyone want to come help me pull it off? I was thinking of having a painting party!! It's going to be grueling work!! Alrighty now, I best get of the computer and get my butt to work, this week is our "Big Sale" if you are interested in buying anything I own at a REALLY cheap price or you just want to come by and say hi...do it!! I will be blogging pics of some of the furniture we are selling later this week so stay tuned!!

It's Birthday Time Again

2011-02-25T13:00:00.000-08:00

February is birthday month at the conk home. I have 3 birthdays to blog but I just can't wait to blog chronologically. This was the last of the birthday's this month but by far the cutest, therefore I just can't wait to blog it. Knowing that I was going to be gone for Samantha's birthday I decided to break my party rules of only throwing parties on the 3rd, 5th, 8th, 12th, and 16th birthdays. I have this rule because, if you know me you know, I don't know how to throw "small" parties. I love details and all the little extra touches that make a party special. I would love to throw all my family parties every year but that would literally consume my life. So for Sam's 11th birthday we had a Valentines/Birthday party. It was super fun and thanks to my fabulous sister in law Jamie I was able to throw together a pretty cute afternoon.

The girls played "Guesstimation" where they had to guess the amount of candies in the container, there were M&M's, Peanut M&M's and Recees peanut butter hearts. I had to count over a thousand plain m&m's and over 500 peanut ones. It was a bit of a long night, and my will power was definitely tried only to fail to the temptation of all the chocolatey goodness. We played af ew other games including who could build the tallest tower of large conversation hearts and used chopsticks to see who could get the most in a minute. We made really cute necklaces with large gum balls, I'm really mad I didn't get a shot of those!! They were so cute! The girls also split up into 2 teams and dressed on of each of the girls into the queen of hearts using tissue paper, streamers and heart doilies.

The food table was so cute thanks to Jamie's decorations. The apothecary jars filled to the brim with candy and "Be Mine" were the best part! My favorite part of the whole party was being told that my cupcakes were too pretty to eat!

For dinner the girls each made a personal pizza. It was fun but i was very poor in my planning, we ran out of cheese and I even burned the last 3 pizzas because I got distracted. Sometimes ADD really sucks. If you were wondering though when you are in a hurry to have rice krispy treats cool, don't put them in the fridge, they become hard and are never chewy again!! I just noticed in the picture of Sam blowing out her candles you can see the necklaces we made!! All in all it was a really fun party!

Changes--Your Questions Answered

2011-02-18T15:39:00.000-08:00

I have had such an amazingly positive response about our news and want to say THANKS!! I am surprised, (and hope it's just people being kind) by the amount of people that said they are a little jealous but the prospect of simplifying. You guys seem to have a lot of questions about the changes so I thought I'd just do a quick post to shed some light on the whole situation.

1. When? The plan is to be out of here by mid March, that is all subject to change but it is the plan for now!

2. When is the mother of all yard sales? Again tentatively it is scheduled for March 5th

3. What will you be selling? EVERYTHING, pretty much, I have had some call dibs on my kitchen table and entertainment center in the loft but the rest is up for grabs! I'll do a big post with pics and prices before the sale so if you are interested you can see what we will have for sale.

4. Are you planning on staying in Logandale? We don't really know and only time will tell, we have talked about maybe building a house out there eventually but I would like to come back to town...really though we just don't know!

5. What can we do to help? Pray that I can keep my sanity, and that Colby's "aim" improves, because frankly I am NOT looking forward to sharing a toilet with him!!

6. Will you be coming into town? I plan to be in town at least once a week, the kids will keep with their music lessons so I will be in for that and I will come in for lunch if anyone invites me!! (Have I told you about the lack of food out there...UGG)

7. How are the kids taking the news? Brett has known since the beginning, he is really good at eves dropping! He doesn't want to change schools and is telling everyone we will be homeschooling him...little does he know...MUAHAHAHAH!! (evil laugh) Samantha is using this to become the center of ttention in school and church so she's good with it! Colby is the only one that cried and he is sad to leave his buddies and he thinks we are poor...little does he know we will be much LESS poor when we have no rent!! Bonnie is the most excited of all, I hear at least 5 times a day "are we moving to grandmas yet?" So yeah the kids are taking it fine!

8. Please say you are normal and have been bawling about this. I'm not gonna lie, while I may seem all Positive Pam (she's my alter ego who is very rarely seen around here) I have had weeks of roller coaster days and buckets of tears shed. This is a really hard thing for me, I'm tearing up just thinking about it, but when i think about how hard it is I realize that nothing is harder than what I have been dealing with for the last year!

9. What is going to happen to your Photography Business? I will still be booking sessions and I will be doing mini sessions 4 times a year so I can get more when I am in town. I have also started doing in person one on one (or two) mentorships teaching photography, it is really fun and I am really enjoying teaching!

10. Where exactly is Logandale? It is about an hour from Las Vegas and if you want to come see us I would love company!! We can blow up a mattress for ya!! If your heading to Utah it's only 10 minutes off the freeway!!

So there you have it, I don't know if you really are curious about all this but you know me...I'm an open book, ask and it shall be answered!

My boys at Lunch...(doesn't my 13 year old look...OLD!!)

Ch-Ch- Ch-Changes

2011-02-17T14:48:00.000-08:00

Hi, Ya'll!

How's it hanging? Life is one big ball of craziness here but more on that later! I mentioned in my previous post that big changes were in store for the Conk family so I figured I would let you all in on the deal-io!! Well some of you may already know but we are moving...YES MOVING!! After much thought and prayer we have decided to move to Logandale. A teeny tiny little town about an hour out of town. Many of you know first hand or have heard about the struggling economy especially in the construction field. We as business owners have been hit hard and we need to downsize A LOT...and when I say A LOT I am not exaggerating!! We have bought a home to live in out in Logandale next door to Terry's parents. When I say home i use the term loosely, actually it is a 5th wheel travel trailer. We will be going from about 3,600 square feet in our current home to somewhere around 350 square feet. SEE!! I told you I wasn't exaggerating!! We will be staying poolside at the Casa de Conk and while we will have all the amenities afforded us by out generous parents we will still have a place to call our own! We will miss so much about the city but think this really is the best thing for our family. It is going to be a big adjustment for everyone involved but I believe that it will bring us so much closer together as a family and require so much more of us that we can be a stronger family unit.

Since January 1st I have been racking my brain to come up with my word for the year and when we made this decision the word was chosen for me...

We will be simplifying every aspect of our lives, from the amount of clothing and furniture we have to the commitments and responsibilities that cause us to have so much stress in these tough times. A big part of my stress is caring for this ginormous house with very little cooperation from the children! I won't have to scream and yell at the kids to clean their rooms because they won't have a room to clean!! Family time will take on a whole new meaning! We are really excited and look forward to the change and see it as a wonderful opportunity. We have been so blessed in our lives and through this whole experience we see even more blessings coming our way!

So about this trailer, I have big plans for it, I really want to Kristin-ify (totally a word!) and make it a place I am excited to spend time in. We are going to paint and do some refurnishing, as well as some rockin accessorizing!! I plan to document all of this here if I can in between getting ready to sell my entire life at the moving sale of the century (which, if you are local, should totally be on you calendar because I have some really nice stuff that we will be selling CHEAP!) and packing the rest of our belongings away to be seen another day! Again we are so thankful for the love and support given to us by the friends and family that have supported us through all of this and know that the Lord will bless them for their kindness! I love my blog readers and I will not abandon you, I'll be here, probably more that usual, with totally random, lame, to much info, personal, soul exposing posts since I will be living no where near a Target I'll have lots of free time! I hope you'll stick around and love me even though I may be saying ya'll a lot more (it's a small town thing...right? I want to fit in!! haha!!)

Love you!!

♥Kristin

p.s. since I have been absent so much here is a list of posts in the works, i expect you to hold me to getting them up on here...kthanksbye!

1. Brett b-day

2. Sam's b-day/valentines party (which is what those super cute cupcakes were from)

3. Terry b-day

4. It's a freaking month of birthdays around here so you may end up with 1 GIANT post with 1, 2, & 3 all in one post!

The End...for reals this time, I'm going to bed...goodnight! Seriously stop reading, I'm done typing, this post is OVER!

Oh my I can't leave you without a picture so I give you the cutest 3 year old EVER (well, since Sam was 3)

I'm Sorry

2011-02-15T08:19:00.000-08:00

I know that I have been totally MIA around here, and everywhere else for that matter. There are big changes coming to the Conk family and I haven't been able to share, which those of you who know me know that KILLS me. I am one who is very open with others, I have been know to share birth stories in the grocery store line. I am working on a big announcement post but I just wanted to pop in and let you all know I am still here and kickin'. I have so much to blog about too, namely 3 birthdays one AMAZING Valentine/Birthday party and Some of the cutest class Valentines I have ever made!! So stay tuned, if there are any of you out there that even still read this ol' blog!!

10 on Wednesday the "What has Kristin been up to edition"

2011-01-19T08:19:00.000-08:00

1. I miss 10 on Tuesday, don't you?? I wish I could say I have been so busy I don't have time to blog. I'm just in a bit of a funk. I think I have a bad case of the Januaries!!

2. You know that post I did about Justin & Mary's shoot out?? Well I won a spot!! YIPEE!! I am so excited! I get to shoot with the very best! I can't wait!

3. Grandma Zobrist had a birthday and my amazing cousin LaRae suggested the granddaughters that live in town should take her to lunch, there are only 5 out of 18 here locally but we got it together and took her to Tony Romas! It was really fun to spend some time with the girls!!

4. Back in November I hooked up with a photographer friend to be peer mentors/life coaches to each other. I don't know how much I am helping her be she has been an amazing help to me. She has helped me get my act together and accomplish some goals that i have been wanting to do for a long time! Every 2 weeks we chat online and set goals and talk about how we did on previous goals! It's been great!

5. So I am trying really hard to stay on track with my photo a day for 2011, it has been really hard, there has been a lot of cheating, but I am making a fresh start today! I am going to shoot EVERY DAY!!!

6. I finally got new pictures up on my picture wall, they photos were only like 2 and a half years old!! I think they look pretty great, and a big thank you to Heather for taking them!!

I wish I had gotten a little bit smaller of frames and did 9 pics so I could have more on the wall. terry thinks its not feng shuey (is that how it's spelled?) I like it the way it is!

7. I have been spending a lot of time working on my new website. I forgot how much work it is. Especially having to dig out hard drives.

8. I have also gotten myself in gear and am working with my mentor/life coach to loose some weight, she is heading to Hawaii and wanting to loose a few so we threw our hats in together and are being each others support system, making menus and counting calories! It is so much easier when you have someone to do it with!!

9. Jillian Michaels is kicking my butt!!

10. I just read though this whole post and it is really boring. I'm sorry, i want to give you all something super compelling to read but like I said, I'm in a funk!! Any ideas how to get me out of it??

Shoot Out with Justin & Mary

2011-01-17T14:23:00.000-08:00

Last Year was my first year at WPPI. I had one class that I can say was the the single most influential class in my WHOLE WPPI experience. I was a little wary as to what I could gain listening to a couple of wedding photographers but I came away from this class completely ready to take on the WORLD!! I loved hear so many ideas on setting myself apart and marketing ME!! I believe that because of the things I learned from this class I had a very successful year. Now that I am embarking on the adventure of doing weddings (kinda :)) I though, when announced on Justin & Mary's Blog, that they would be doing a

I though what an amazing Opportunity!! To learn first hand from my favorite couple in the industry would be a chance of a lifetime!! I am headed to WPPI again this year and Justin & Mary were the class I was SCOURING the program to make sure I could see them again!! I saw right away that their class is going to FABULOUS!

In this tough economy and with work not being as great for the hubbs, I need all the help I can get. If you are heading to WPPI this year meet me Thursday morning there...

It is going to be the perfect ending to an awesome experince!!

A World of Contradiction

2011-01-11T12:58:00.000-08:00

I love when my house is clean.

I hate that in never last more than an hour.

I love chocolate.

I hate that it makes me fat.

I love the wealth of information on the internet.

I hate that it sucks all my time away when I get lost reading on the web.

I love that Bonnie calls me Mother

I hate that she is growing up so fast.

(3 is my favorite)

I love snickerdoodles.

I hate that they make me fat.

(I just ate 3)

I love that my kids play instruments.

I hate the contention caused when trying to get them to practice.

I love being a mom.

I hate that I'm not as good at it as I'd like to be!

I love french fries.

I hate that they make me fat

I love summer.

I hate that it is so far away.

I love traveling.

I hate that we never get to anymore.

I love watching chick flicks.

I hate that the lead female is always so freakin skinny I finish the movie feeling really bad about myself.

I love that Brett is composing music.

I hate that he only has 8 measures and he keep playing them OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!

I love sewing.

I hate that my desk is so covered in crap I can't sew without spending a hour cleaning first.

I love that I have this record of my family.

I hate that I feel guilty when I don't blog ever single thing that happens.

I love that I have some many wonderful things to be thankful for.

I hate that there are so many contradictions in my life!

I guess it's good to have balance, you know the whole we need to know pain so we can know joy and all that jazz!!

Favorite project:365 photos

2011-01-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

I decided to narrow it down to one favorite a month.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

project:365 December Recap

2011-01-05T20:20:00.000-08:00

So I took some time off this month and only ended up with a little over half the month but I'm totally OK with it. It gave me a bit of a break to gear up for...

wait for it...

That is right, I am absolutely crazy enough to throw my hat in for another year of one picture a day. I was really excited to be done with this whole thing but then I read this post by my favorite photographer of all time and I knew i had to go for it. Because things are changing so fast around here, babies are dancing with pretend princes and having pretend kisses, little boys can't drive by a propane tank without thinking of how many ways he could blow it up if he only had a hand grenade, because girls are turning into teenagers with talk of mascara and kissing boys (don't tell her father about that one) and young men are starting to stink in ways that mommas boys should never stink! I want to remember the passing of time with all of the laughter and tears and what a better way than to do that through my favorite medium...the LENS. But I digress (I do that a lot around here don't I??) On with the December Recap

Christmas Magic

2011-01-04T19:07:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was spent with the Zobrist clan. Staci & Tony's crew was stuck home with the croup so it ended up just being just us, Brandon and his fam, Grandma Z and Mom and Dad. It was a really quiet night with such a small group but fun none the less.

We came home early so we could make sure we were snug in our beds before the man in the big red suit made his debut, which was apparently before 1:30 in the morning. I know this because that was when I was ripped out of my very peaceful slumber with sugar plums dancing in my head (or maybe sugar cookies) to find a crying Bonnie and 3 kids trying to wake her up. After some very stern words about NEVER EVER EVER waking up the Bon at 1:30 in the morning they went back to bed and stayed there until 6:30, a much more acceptable hour for waking up the girl!! When she did wake up happily she came down stairs to see a princess overload!! I am now crowned the official worst mother of the year because I seriously ended up with 1 picture of each Terry, Sam and Brett and all of the rest were of Bonnie and Colby, which wasn't much. Remind me next year to take more pictures of my kids opening presents!!

After some delicious crepes enjoyed on our super fun Christmas plates we cleaned up and headed out to Logandale. Please don't judge, my photo skillz were left with my dancing sugar cookies because dang, I was having an off night!

ANYWAY...

Grandma Becky gave all the kids pillows and blankets which prompted some fun times, fake sleeping, pillow fights and who will ever forget the blanket hats donned by Becca and Amy? NOT ME!! Good times at the Conks!

All in all it was an amazing Christmas followed by a fun trip to Oregon, stay tuned for a blog post with all the super fun shake weight details!!

December Happenings

2011-01-03T18:11:00.001-08:00

In all the business of the holiday season I realized that I may have not fully captured the events and goings on of the month. Between lessons, homework, shopping, recitals, photo editing, print orders, and such I didn't really take as many pictures as I would have liked but I did get a few shots from Sam's Deseret Strings performance at the Springs Preserve as well as some video of the boys piano recitals.

The Deseret Strings had a fabulous group this year as always and Samantha was one of the older kids in the group. It is weird to see her so grown up but we are so proud of her and even though she NEVER practiced she pulled out flawless performances as always...if only we could all have that gift!!

I haven't done video in a while so bear with me if it doesn't work!!

This is Colby playing Up on the Rooftop

Brett played is very own decomposed version of What Child Is This. Don't worry only his piano teacher and I knew, it was too late to fix and so we just went with it!

More Cousin's Camp

2010-12-31T10:13:00.000-08:00

I edited all those cousin camp pictures and then found another memory card with a whole bunch more pictures. I can't wait for next year, the wheels are turning!!

Cousin's Camp

2010-12-30T11:46:00.000-08:00

We had a fabuloulamous cousin's camp this year! The kids worked hard on the service project and I was so proud that they were excited about giving service and working to help others less fortunate. We did about 350 hygiene kits and about 160 school kits. It was a beautiful, warm day and lots of playing and bonding went on outside as well as the fun inside the house. There were amazing gingerbread houses and trains decorated with great talent and gusto! Such clever kids! Pizza for lunch and then a Dollar Store gift exchange...which, ironically, seems to be more fun-filled than just exchanging bought gifts! We ended up with Hex-bug madness! We didn't explain them to the kids who weren't Hex-bug savvy.....we just said to figure them out...then it got really fun....AGAIN! Now, what can we come up with for next year???? Grandie

Gift

2010-12-19T21:41:00.000-08:00

I teach the CTR6 class (for one more week anyway) and for Christmas I wanted to get them something that will help them as they move into senior primary and prepare for baptism. These CTR rings are just little symbols to remind them to Choose the Right and follow the teachings of Christ. We have really focused on choosing the right by following Jesus Christ this year in our lessons. My sweet little primary class has been so fun even with as rowdy and wild as that bunch of boys and 1 girl could be, I will miss them as I go into the new year and a new group of kids. I will be teaching the 5 year olds next year, which is a little bit of a daunting task, I am used to kids who can read and have a little better understanding of the scripture stories but I am sure that I will love them as much as every other age of primary kids I have taught!

Thanksgiving '10

2010-12-13T19:46:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving this year will go down it history as the year of the most delicious turkey EVER!! We have been frying turkeys for the past few years but this year Brandon was in charge and he used some cajun injection on the fried turkey and it was so absolutely delicious I have been dreaming about it since that wonderful day. It was the coldest Thanksgiving in Las Vegas (well, Logandale...same diff right?) that I can ever remember. We froze unless we stayed in the house. it was cold and windy! We played quite a few games of the Monopoly card game, we had a blast!! Family is the best! If they aren't pictured they either hide from the camera or were too spaztastic to hold still for a picture!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2010-12-11T20:31:00.000-08:00

2 Questions...
1. Is Christmas really 2 weeks away?
2. Can I blog about Christmas when I haven't blogged Thanksgiving yet?

Forget it, I'm breakin' all the rules because my house is all decked out and I had so much fun taking pictures of all my fun stuff! I'll get to blogging Thanksgiving, I promise!! I hate that this season just seems to fly by, it really is the best time of the year but it doesn't last long enough. Last week I was surprised by my sweet brother and sister in law with a tree. Knowing that my artificial tree had seen it's last days and that things are a bit tight around here, they decided to bring us a tree to force us into the Christmas spirit. I am so thankful they did, not only did they get our tree they brought in all my bins of holiday decorations. We got the tree set up that night and then the next day I got the rest of the decor set up. I started with my North Pole Village, I just wish I could shrink down and walk around in there!!

A few years, well maybe more like 8, a friend of mine told me about a tradition she has of collecting different Christmas plates each year and they eat on them all season, no two are alike and it is fun each night at dinner to pick out which plate you will eat on. It is definitely one of my favorites traditions, along with picking out one or two to add to the collection!

Everybody loves mistletoe right? Catch your honey there and just see how much fun it can be!

I made these stockings a few years back and still love them to death!! It never ceases to excite me when I pull them out of the bins! This darling bell rings when ever we get a visitor and makes me smile every time! The advent calendar has been a Conk tradition since Terry was a little boy. The kids get to take turns opening a small gift! The trick is finding prizes small enough to fit in the pockets! I never have trouble waking kids up when it is their day to have the advent!

My tree and banisters make the whole house look amazing. The whole house glows and you can see my tree from the street in my front room windows. I always wanted front room windows so you could see a lit tree in the window!!

I have had the rest of these decorations for years but I want to document them because when my kids are grown they will look back at thesse pictures and say remember the wooden nativity that we played with and the trees that always sat on the piano! I have memories of decorations from when I was a kid and wish I had photos of them to cement the memories.

When all was said and done I kicked up my polka dot santa sock clad tootsies and sipped some home made hot chocolate. I plan to do a whole other post on that recipe but I better blog Thanksgiving first!

Parenting by Kristin

2010-12-02T17:45:00.000-08:00

Guilt is such a powerful tool as a parent. 10 minutes ago I lost it and I mean COMPLETELY LOST IT. I actually resigned as a mother with my parting words before I shut my bedroom door being "And when you all grow up to be complete losers it won't be my fault." Now I feel it necessary to give a little background here, It is currently 5:45 on Thursday afternoon. My children have been home from school for more than 3 hours, more than enough time to complete the simple tasks of homework and instrument practice, YOU'D THINK!!! But not my children NOOOOO! Examples of how effectively they killed time this afternoon to follow in bullet points because they look so official and I like them, who cares if this is not the appropriate time for them.

• Brett stayed after school and did get his homework done so that is one positive but when it came to piano practicing he sat a the piano, played though his recital piece for like 3 minutes and then proceeded to sound out the theme to "The Office" now while that is awesome that he has the talent and ability to play by ear so easily it gets us no closer to polishing a song that needs to be performance ready in 16 days.

•Samantha rather than do her homework during the week a little each day decided to leave it all to Thursday night to complete, and rather than actually work on her homework she has squandered the entire afternoon on eating me out of house and home, leaving bits and pieces of her clothing strewn about the house and sitting at her desk "pretending" that she was doing her homework. Now here we are tears, a few slammed doors, LOTS of yelling (by her I may add not me) and coming quite close to blood and she is still not working on it.

• Colby sat in his room at his table with his homework out and actually built some pretty impressive lego creations, oh and managed to smash pizza into my carpet in between building projects.

So that brings you up to speed as to my reason for resigning as a mother, I am so tired of nagging my kids to do the things they must EVERYDAY, seriously you'd think Brett would not be surprised when I ask him to brush he teeth...HE'S 12 years old for heavens sake, this is not a NEW thing!! After having all I could take I told my children I quit...they could never brush their teeth again, never to their homework, eat whatever and where ever they wanted and that when they grow up to be complete losers it won't be my fault. Now 10 minutes later, Piano is being practiced, homework is being worked on and rooms are being cleaned with out asking. I love guilt, well except when it comes after telling my kids that they will grow up to be losers without me!

On a side note Yesterday was the first day a Christmas and somebody brought to us a Partridge in a pear tree! How cute is this and it totally brightened our day! Now I just need to get my Christmas decorations up so he doesn't look so out of place in this bahumbug looking house!

Has it really???

2010-11-29T06:49:00.000-08:00

I just pulled up my blog and it must be lying, it said I haven't blogged in 10 days...TEN DAYS! How is that possible? I think it must be the complete lack time that is causing it. I feel guilty blogging when I have so much to do (like the 2 weeks worth of laundry pied up) but it is important for me to blog for so many reasons. In my last post I talked about how blessed I am because my photography business was doing well, that busy-ness however, is a double edged sword. I need to work but I need to be there for my family. how do I find the balance? I am just hoping that this busy season will end and things will get better when the holidays are over. But again that double edged sword rears it's ugly head and I am missing this wonderful time of year. I told myself in a effort to enjoy my holiday season I wasn't going to take any sessions passed the Thanksgiving weekend, what ended up happening was that I packed the entire weekend with photo sessions and the whole time instead of enjoying the time with the family I was stressing about photo shoots! (I do that by the way, I get that yucky pit in the stomach, self doubt and stress every photo session, but that is a completely different blog post.) So back to balance...seriously i don't know why I have blog readers because i am so all over the place and completely random in my writing. UGGG...BALANCE>> I need to find it, where do I get it? I read blogs all the time that talk about finding the balance between mommyhood and the business world but nobody ever gives me any answers. I think the key to balance is organization. Something which I have none of. So if you, out there in blogland, have any help that could keep me sane and my family happy help a girl out!!! And because I know you all care, here is a shot from the hardest family session EVER!! Probably because I was in front of the camera and behind it simultaneously, as well as it being like 30 degrees and FREEZING wind!!

Being behind...

2010-11-19T20:33:00.000-08:00

Some days it seems as though I will never catch up. Scratch that...every day it seems as though I will never catch up. Every time I cross something off my new handy dandy "To Do" app on my phone, I add 2 more....

Two steps forward..3 three steps back, we come together cuz opposites attract.

Sorry, I totally just went Paula Abdul on you. Please forgive me. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog post. OK now what was I saying, o yeah, I'm behind, AGAIN. Why does it have to be this way? So I had such grand intentions for this month, a blog post every day and that would motivate me to keep with my photo a day lul that I am in. Not to mention that I think my camera is tired of being used and abused. I have come up with a thankful post every day but not having the motivation to snap a shot to go with it has gone out the window with all my grand intentions. I am going to still share my thankful's for this week, just all in this post and with few pics...so here we gooooooo.

11.16.10 Tuesday

Today I am thankful for Netfilx. While sitting at my computer for 8 hours editing I was able to have constant streaming of videos to keep me going.

11.17.10 Wednesday

Today I am thankful for Technology. It has kept me some what sane in these past few weeks.

11.18.10 Thursday

Today I am thankful for the fact that my photography business has been doing well. I was able to go to costco and buy groceries with out stressing about how to pay for them!!

11.19.10 Friday

Today I thankful for my knowledge if hair cutting. Bonnie chopped the sides of her hair. This is the 3rd hair cut she has given herself. This one is by far the shortest. I was able to work with it and it did turn out cute. She is pretty bummed that there will be no more ponies and princess hair. Now to grow it out, uggg!

11.15 & 16.10

2010-11-16T19:55:00.000-08:00

Sunday-

Today I am thankful for it being cold enough to wear my sassy boots to church. I always freeze in church but it's too hot outside to wear them. Well there is one positive thing about colder temps and that's that I get to wear my sassy boots!! I should have taken a picture because I was seriously sassy in my boots today!

Monday-

Today I am thankful for amazing music teachers, They are such a blessing in my life and are instilling such a great love and appreciation for music that I could never do. Than you Miss Jenny and David!!

11.14.10

2010-11-14T18:03:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for my 365 Project! I just went back through and printed some pictures for my mother-in-law for her scrapbooks and it was so fun to see my year in pictures. I love that I have documented this whole year, something I don't think I have ever successfully accomplished, at least for the last 6 years since I quite scrapbooking. It is so fun to have just one shot that defined each day (minus about 25 or 30 days that I have missed) I never blogged my pictures for October so here they are, and for those of you out there who think this is too small here is a link to my Flickr Photostream!

11.13.10

2010-11-13T10:38:00.000-08:00

I am combining my thankful posts for yesterday and today. All in one picture, I got a new phone yesterday and took a picture of what my thankful thing today is...So I am thankful for my new phone and fuzzy socks because my feet are freezing! The camera on this little baby takes pretty good pictures but my favorite thing about it is the fact that I can use it to accept credit cards!! It's not an iPhone but it's the next best thing!!

11.11.10

2010-11-11T16:47:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for those who fight so we can have the freedoms we enjoy.

11.10.10

2010-11-10T15:05:00.000-08:00

Today I'm thankful for this kid...

How many 12 year olds do you know that would see that mom was having a hard busy day and just clean and vacuum the entire up stairs? SERIOUSLY! He is so sweet and loving. How did I get to be such a lucky mom? I think I getting the payback for the 15 lbs I lost puking while I was pregnant with him. I'm still waiting for the payback from when I was pregnant with Samantha. I might have to wait until she gives me a few grandbabies for that one!

Today...

2010-11-09T19:37:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for this little spitfire. She keeps me on my toes and reminds me everyday why I became a mom. She is so fun and loving. I have never know a more polite 3 year old. She has always been quite self entertaining but lately she has been wanting me to play with her and I am so thankful for that because I want to engrain the mental picture of her and I playing dolls at her doll house and the way she talks with them like they are real. I want to keep her three forever.

I know I went a little overboard with the texture and what not on this photo but it's fun for a change.

Catching Up

2010-11-08T18:26:00.000-08:00

I have been crazy busy this weekend and had big plans for my thankful posts for Saturday and Sunday but hence, as most things in my life, it didn't go as planned. Then today was taken up by sitting in front of the computer screen editing my little fingers off. (2 weddings to be precise!)

I did have a great weekend filled with photoshoots on Saturday that were super fun and church on Sunday. Which leads me to what I am thankful for...

11.06.10 - Saturday

Today I am thankful for the one and only Heather Abbott. I have had the pleasure of working quite closely with Heather over the past few weeks in doing these Holiday and Halloween Mini Sessions. I can honestly say she is one of the nicest people I have ever met. She is so genuine and sweet. I am so lucky to have worked with her and my Bonnie is lucky to have her as a preschool teacher.

[Insert photo of Heather Here]

11.07.10 - Sunday

I woke this morning to sunlight, yes sunlight, but I didn't have to get out of bed, it was a beautiful thing. To wake up at a decent hour and not have to get out of bed. I love when the time changes to "fall back" strangely I love it when we spring forward too, weird huh, I guess it's the same way I can be so excited for short sleeves and sweaters all at the appropriate season. So daylight savings made for a wonderful morning but and I am thankful for that however, I am more thankful for the lesson I had to plan for my primary class. My lesson was on The Sacrament, more specifically remember Christ while we take the Sacrament. It was a great reminder of how important is it to think about Christ while we partake and why we partake of the sacrament. It was a bit hard for my little class to think about sitting still and thinking about Jesus during that time but I tried to give them some help in that but suggesting things they could think about and things not to do, like talk to sibling and bug parents. All to often I find myself dealing with kids instead of thinking about the Savior. I challenged my class to try to do that but I also am taking the challenge myself. I hope I can be a good example to my class and more importantly to my children.

11.08.10 - Monday

Today I am thankful for the discovery of Adobe Lightroom. I edited 2 entire weddings today, TWO, that's almost 700 images, in a matter of about 5 hours. Life is good! I really wish I could show some images here but unfortunately I can't, maybe when I start doing my own weddings you will get to see them!

**Totally Unrelated Photo But AWESOME none the less, am I right??**

11.05.10 Today I am thankful for...

2010-11-05T16:38:00.000-07:00

Stretch Jeans.

See yesterdays post for why!

Today...

2010-11-04T19:22:00.000-07:00

I am thankful for hot fudge and chocolate sprinkles. Tomorrow I won't be. The end.