Teenagers part two:

Today this happened:
-At the pool I was swimming next to one of my girls and she gave me a blank look and asked:
Guess what?
I answered, Tell me
she nonchalantly said:
I just peed.
and then promptly proceeded to take a big gulp of swimming pool water and yelled:
I JUST DRANK MY OWN PEE!

-While herding my kids to various activities, locations or events I often yell: LETS MOVE KIDDIES!(which gets plenty of annoyed and angsty teenager looks. Kylie! We are NOT kids!)
So I decided to start calling them kitties. Today I yelled LETS GO KITTIES and my herd of teenagers started meowing and trying to lick me.

-and then there's this video:

Hanging with hooligans

Ever wonder what it's like spending every day with middle schoolers?
There were only a couple of kids left at work today so I decided to turn off  the radio and plug in my phone and play some of my music. Immediate teenager response: screaming, eyes poping and plenty of begging to turn off my "drunk hippie music." Refusing to give in, I continued my drunk hippie dance moves until giggle fits took center stage and they escaped with their mommas.  Ohhh the glory of embarrassing hormonal kiddies. 

desert living

it's been nice exploring the desert hills from a whole new perspective. aka: hauling booty and channeling my inner daredevil.

Luck.

i went camping over the weekend and on my way back from peeing in the woods i found these gems. gross and definitely too much information, but hey, what are blogs for?

louis l'amour wannabe.

learning to love the ways of western desert cowboy camping (aka: trucks, guns and camo)

sentimental much?

i've always loved handwriting. there are some people whose handwriting represents as much about them as their faces do. or some handwriting which i would recognize anywhere, anytime for the rest of my life. i have a friend who has multiple distinct styles which is hysterical and utterly unique. i have another friend whose handwriting is so simple and matter of fact that i can perfectly imagine him sticking his tongue out in concentration while writing it. and my other friend whose letter "a" reminds me of whales and the ocean. goodness, i could go on forever. i think it's really why i'm such a sucker for postcards and pen pals. i think it also explains why i got all cheesy sentimental when my grandma sent me a package of seeds for my garden, all in bags with notes and advice written on them. 

reminders:

I had forgotten how exciting and nerve-wracking film photography can be. i was dancing the whole day, and then more on the way to the developer, and then three times that on my way home after picking up the negatives. then it progressed to straight-out squealing when i saw the photos. 

so embarrassing. 

Good Karma.

last week we had a "pay it forward" project at the club. we spent all week planning, calling,  organizing and getting everything ready. come friday, i drove our 15 person van all over town, full of squealing and squirrelly teenagers. i would pull over discreetly (okay, almost discreetly) on neighborhood streets and seconds later, the van doors would be thrown open and one of my kids would bolt out, sprinting down the sidewalk, giant pinwheel in hand. after reaching the house of one of our cute grandmas, volunteers or single moms we had in mind, they dropped off their pinwheel with a little note on kindness and paying it forward. they would make it back into the van with a face flush with excitement and adrenaline and i would peel off into the sunset. the night was full of heart busting random acts of kindness and i loved seeing my kiddies have fun and feel good helping others.
postscript: four hours in a van with 13 teenagers is one heck of a trip. whining, complaining and farting, oh my!

anyways, after driving around town with my hooligan children for hours and keeping my cool, i felt like i was home free in collecting my month's worth of good karma points. and i was right. i met the sweetest man at a photography gallery later in the weekend and he let me test out one of his cameras! i then promptly bought some film and took to the mountains. and these were the results.
what would i do without the kindness of others?

Meet Penny

The penny farthing bicycle that I found in Aztec, New Mexico and promptly bought. The penny farthing bike that was stuffed into my car and then seven hours and over 400 miles later was revealed to my beyond elated grandfather and ridden by every family member up and down the street. The penny farthing bicycle that is now prominently displayed in my grandpa's front room for all the neighbors to see.

hoodoos and goblins

 Visited Goblin Valley State Park in Utah and couldn't help but imagine it being the best place in the entire United States to play hide-and-seek. and capture the flag. and sardines. and to have a picnic. and in that order preferably.

The Ultimate Procrastinator

I should be packing. I should be doing a million things. But all I seem to be doing is watching the olympics and editing photos. So productive, huh? Maybe I'm just avoiding the inevitable fact that I have to leave the best apartment in the entire state of New Mexico. Farewell 200 S. Main. I will miss your glorious windows, hardwood floors and 7 billion bedrooms.

also a million thanks to all the friends and family that visited me in my own personal hotel. (also, tylah & juan kill me every time .)

Sometimes I come up with really weird/fantastic photo ideas.

Please ignore the fact that i have posted more photos of myself in past few weeks than ever before and focus on how good of a photographer my mother is. considering my mom sees more of my freaky faces than anyone else, she timed these shots perfectly catching non-freaky faces and you can't even tell how much of a weirdo i am. what are moms for huh?