Observations During My 743 Mile Drive

Brett and I made it to California. Alive. Always a bonus.

We arrived at my parents in 11 hours exactly. Not the longest I've ever driven by myself, but still...

Never seen as many Ford Rangers in my life, as I did on the Indian Reservation. Maybe 50.

Saw a dead cow on the side of the road. Eew.

I'd rather pee on the side of the road than in some dirty gas station bathroom. I don't care who I bare-ass. When you gotta go, you pull the car over on the interstate and freaking go. Even in a blizzard. me=no shame

Brett watched 5 1/2 movies. Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, half of Lady and the Tramp, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

We stopped twice. I forgot to change Brett's diaper both times. I suck.

Wished Nater came with us. Work? What? Not only did we miss him, he usually drives the whole time and I can nap. Bonus.

Thought about In-N-Out the whole time and was excited to eat it for dinner.

Have you ever passed a cop driving on the interstate? As in, gone faster than him because he's going to slow? Try it. I do it all the time. It's quite exhilarating. I lead a wild, wild life.

Lead foot. Thank goodness for the radar detector. Good call Nater who told me to put my .22 handgun under my seat and not in the glove box. What if I got pulled over and had to get in the glove box to get my car registration which my gun was sitting on top of?!? The officer might have pumped my guts full of lead. (Name that movie)

When I was getting sleepy, I had to bust out my air guitar and play a couple tunes and was then good to go. Favorite air guitar song of the day: Tribute by Tenacious D.

Pet peeve: Slow drivers hanging out in the fast lane. Not only is it annoying, it's dangerous. Stay in the slow lane where you belong. Or get on a frontage road at the very least.

Kept myself awake by taking pictures every hour or so. Safely, of course. Here they are. Try and not fall asleep while your looking at them. Which is funny, because it's what kept me awake.


Weather started out good.
Then, I drove through 2 blizzards. That blew. An hour each. But it could have been worse.Rain storms on and off the rest of the way.You can't really tell, but there are about 7 Porches all in a row.
Yummy dinner. I could have eaten two cheeseburgers, but didn't. This is the In-N-Out by my parents. Lucky ducks!Favorite picture of the trip (so far). Don't let the demon eyes fool you. He was actually really pleasant and a good sport. He just sat there loving all his movies and snacks. And I was loving the snacks.

What's the longest you've ever driven by yourself
{or with your kid(s)}?

And I Thought I Was Just Attending My Cousins Wedding

About a month ago, we went to Utah to attend my cousin Rick's wedding to Merced. The night before the wedding, Rick called me at 11 p.m. and said his photographer "friend" bailed on him, and asked if I would be the photographer. Of course I said yes, but I was nervous. Although not as nervous as the first wedding I did. And luckily for me, he's not that picky. Obviously, because he called me.

Because the bride didn't want the groom to see her before the wedding, we couldn't get any outside shots of them before the ceremony, so I only had indoor shots to work with. Arrrggghhh.

I was frustrated shooting at the ceremony and reception. Not only was the lighting a bitch, the chapel was really ugly inside. The carpet was a kelly/forest green, the walls were a gross creamy yellow-ish, fluorescent lighting and all at dusk/night time made for really bad lighting. The reception hall had a lot of candlelight-type lighting. Since I don't really know what I'm doing, it throws me for a loop.

Anyway, here are a couple of shots.

My really cute grandpa and grandma. 2 of the flower girls.This was in the bathroom before the ceremony. The girls were being so funny. The two on the bottom are my first cousins. The girl on the top is a cousins daughter. This one is for fun. Jen R. had this on her blog. A fun Japanese photo-editing website.

Moral of the story: If your "friend" calls you the night before to tell you they can't take your wedding pictures? Drop 'em like they're hot.

Moral of the story #2: Sacrifice seeing each other before the wedding if you want your amateur photographer cousin to give you better pictures.


The End.



P.S. I'm not bitter. I had fun and I love that he asked me to do it. Really.

In Telluride...

We went to Telluride, CO this weekend. I've always wanted to go. Well, ever since Tim wrote that song. Nate and his Dad wanted to ride their motorcycles up and make a big loop. So that's what we did. Here was our route, in case you're interested.

We stayed at the Hotel Telluride. It was really cool. Lots of character.
Here was Main Street. I really expected Telluride to be bigger. Main Street was maybe 6 blocks.And I picked up these cute red Spy's. Except I only brought a green shirt to wear on Saturday. I almost felt obligated to tell everyone Merry Christmas as I walked down the street. Almost.And this kid was such a stinker the whole weekend. I almost left him there with the hippies. But I'm not that mean.Brett loves when we blow bubbles with gum. He always tries to eat them.
Some nice, but smelly hippie let Brett pet his little dog. Brett was in heaven. And he actually smiled for about 2 minutes out of the entire weekend.Do you see the house on the cliff between the two waterfalls? No thanks. Not my idea of a dream house.Brett and his Grandpa. He loves his Grandpa.Except the little ess-aych-eye-tee wouldn't smile for any pictures.
Here are the boys on their bikes. Just as happy as a fox in a hen house.Then we stopped in Ouray. Pronounced your-ay. Funny, huh.It was awesome. A tiny little town nestled in the mountains. It kind of reminded me of Switzerland. Okay, it didn't. I haven't been to Switzerland. But the sign called it the Switzerland of America. So it must have some resemblance.There were lots of cool little shops. There was an awesome bead store that I got some fun beads to make jewelry with.

And a great toy store with things you really can't find anywhere. Except that the lady that worked in the toy store obviously hated kids, especially mine, so she did not get my business. Just a scowl and a "Smell ya later" as I walked out the door. I sure showed her.

And then a fun spicy food store that sold a variety of dips and hot sauces. I was a little hungry, and I probably pigged out a little too much at the pretzel and dip station. The guy was getting a little nervous that I was going to eat his entire day's sample. But he sensed I was hungry and gave me some of his trail mix. So thoughtful. So, to re-pay him, I knocked over an entire display of bamboo spoons with my purse. I'm such a great customer.

Telluride and Ouray were so beautiful. Even the drive. I'd recommend it to anyone, if you can stand the hippies. And if you are a hippie? Maybe you should look into moving there. Because it's awesome and you'll totally fit it.

One Wedding and No Funeral

My friend Amy asked me to be her second gunman and shoot a wedding this last weekend. I was nervous as all hell, but reluctantly agreed. Photography is just a hobby for me and I'm a total amateur. If I messed up, I didn't want her to hate me. So I hope she doesn't.

The bride and groom's parents are both in our ward. Yeah. I was nervous. I was even sweating a bit. And it takes Phoenix in July to make me sweat at all. And then it's like 2 beads of sweat. Anyway, enough about my bodily functions.

I had an absolute blast taking pictures. Would I do it again? Absolutely.How cute is that cake?The End.