Merry Happy. 2nd Edition: Happiness

It's Not Over till The Fat Lady Skis [Lake Powell 2015]

8:34 PM

A Not-So-Tiny Cherry Obsession

7:15 AM

In the sake of full disclosure, I will admit that my 30 Day Photo Challenge took a bit of a backseat this past week as I spent time in California with my family. Haha I don't know what I was thinking starting that RIGHT before I went out of town. But now I'm back and I have a few picture-posts in the works, so stay tuned! Like I mentioned before, the main reason I started the photo challenge was to simply get myself taking more pictures, and my mom asked that I compile a little video with memories from the reunion, so I was able to spend some quality time with my camera working on that.

When it comes to family reunions, my mom (the master planner - literally, this woman made a to-scale model of the reception center where we had our wedding reception) does not mess around! Every day had ample activities to keep the 9 children (aged 8 and under) as well as the adults (there are 12 of us now!) entertained and having fun.

Some notable activities included:

+ Adventure Playground in Berkley (a family favorite park for as long as I can remember)

+ A family-history scavenger hunt (that was organized by my sister Sarah, and BOY was it creative! I was blown away with how cool the tasks were)

+ Scandia (the play area was a big hit, even for my older brother, Joseph, and brother-in-law, James, who had a lot of fun throwing the ball-pit balls at each other as hard as they could -- which, I should mention was blatantly against the rules ;))

+ Swimming at a family friend's house

+ Sealings at the Sacramento LDS temple

+ A service project (aka tidying up the property by moving/laying mulch, and laying a brick path, which if you know my Dad, this shouldn't come as a surprise ;))

+ Sunsplash Water Park

+ Learning about Family History through activities and devotionals

+ Flinders vs. In-Laws basketball game (which was taken seriously by some and not-so-seriously by others, I won't say to which group I belonged baha)

+ Family Olympics (an opening ceremonies parade was, of course, necessary)

+ Country Dancing

And more!

Here's the little video I made showing snippets from the week. If you're going to watch it (which, I'll be honest, I don't know how interesting it will be for people outside of family) I HIGHLY recommend changing it to HD because it will do wonders for the quality of the video.

Hopefully the video can show just a small part of how much fun we have together as a family. I am so lucky to have such great siblings, in-laws, parents, and nieces and nephews! It's crazy to think that at the next family reunion in two years, Stephen and I will have a little baby of our own! Except, she'll almost be a toddler! That's a weird thought. A weird, happy one. haha.

_ _ _

han.

Everyday Life

Lately.

12:19 PM

When school ended and summer began, I was worried that I was going to be bored out of my mind with nothing to do. Happily I report, I was 100% wrong!!! So far, I have been LOVING it. I feel a little bit guilty since I spend my days literally doing whatever I want (except hanging out with Stephen, whose work/commute schedule has him out of the house 65 hours a week right now...). I finally have had time to run all of the errands/do all the projects that I felt like where hanging over my head for the last 10 months while I was teaching!

So far, I've spent time with family in California, reorganized the kitchen, gone to the DMV 3(!!!) times, deep-cleaned the bathroom, discarded clothes and things that "did not spark joy" ("purge-atory" as Stephen has been calling it hahaha), accompanied a photographer friend on an engagement shoot and a bridal shoot, read the first and most of the second Harry Potter books, and de-cluttered & reorganized the living room - which for the first time since we moved in (almost two years ago) feels like a place I actually wouldn't mind spending time in in addition to the one Sunday a month when our home teachers come over, haha. This week I am in the process of sanding, staining and finishing a dresser I found on KSL! (Before and after pics will be posted when the project is complete. :))

I feel like I've been finding the perfect balance of being productive and also finding time to relax (and by that I mean...I watched Netflix while doing 85% of the list of things above hahahah). I know that BabyGirl won't be here for another 4ish months, but I just gotta take advantage of being able to relax while I have the opportunity! Plus, I feel like being pregnant gives me permission to sleep as much as I ~~need~~ want, so I'm taking full advantage of that too!

The one thing that I have not been good at this summer, however, is taking pictures and along with that, blogging. Blog posts aren't very much fun if there aren't at least a few interesting pictures to look at, and since I have no pictures, I have no blog posts. See the pattern? A lot of the day I'm by myself and I would feel silly posting pictures of me just going about my daily tasks, so in an effort to improve my photography, take more pictures, and blog more, I've decided to take on a 30 day photography challenge. I found one online that I thought looked interesting (link found here) and am starting today! Don't worry, I won't post everyday haha. I don't think I'm ready to take on that kind of a commitment. I'm hoping to start blogging AT LEAST once a week, so I'll probably just put up a week's pictures at a time (or choose my favorites, I haven't decided).

Before I go, here are a few pictures from our Sodalicious outing with the Sheffield's last night. It is seriously the worst/best thing to live within walking distance of that place! At least when I walk there I don't feel quiiiite as guilty for drinking soda with copious amounts of half and half. 😁😁😁 heh. heh. Kinda.

^^It was surprisingly difficult to take pictures while walking and drinking soda (shocking, I know) hence the blurry, super dark picture of Stephen above. He's just so stinkin' cute though I had to post it. 😊

_ _ _
han.