GMA

GUESS WHAT?!?

Remember those pictures I took for the Amber Alert GPS project?

Well, my Aunt, who is the co-inventor I guess you would call it, (My cousin invented it, and they work together on it) is going to be on Good Morning America tomorrow (Friday) at 7 am! She said if they show any of their brochures or packaging, my photography will be on it!! Yay! I'm gonna be famous! haha.

If you haven't checked out the website yet (which soon my photography will be on that too!) , you should! It's a way cool product. I know they have a fan page on facebook too.

Way cool! I am so proud! My family is going to be on TV!

(They're putting this cute pic on the front of their packaging!)

Up-date

Amidst me taking photos like these,

Other stuff HAS been going on. I'm promise. I've just been really bad about it and really, really busy. I will try to fill you in on all the little and BIG occurences that have happened lately at The Talbot house.

First of all, we did move. And it was hot and crappy to move this time of year, but well worth it. We've made the goal to actually stay here a long while. I'm pushing for it to be the longest stay of my whole entire life. (We'd only have to top like 4 years.) Yes, I am so so so very sick of moving.

Story of my life.

And here she is. Our beautiful new townhome. No, we don't own, but this is the closest to a house we've ever had. It's not new either. But it looks like it. It's barely barely been lived in.

And what's this??!?! A GARAGE!! Yes, it's true. We have a GARAGE!

Here are a few other details I'm quite fond of:

The blinds. Now notice that these blinds are white. Not yellow. or brown. or dusty. or bent. or thrown up on. or who knows what else had really happened to our blinds in our last place. Whatever it was, it wasn't good and it wasn't pretty. I am so very thankful for these beautiful , clean blinds.

The cabinets. Once again, they are not yellow. or brown. or stained. Or stinky. or dusty. Or cock-roach infested. Or cock-roach poop infested. Nope. I actually stuck my nose inside and took a big whiff. All I got was the nice, comforting smell of new wood. Can you believe that? I'm still having a hard time believing it.

Vaulted ceilings. I used to consider these as something only rich people had. They're SO nice. They're so pretty. AND they make the place look bigger.

No this next picture was not taken on accident. I did indeed point my camera at the floor. I LOVE that we have tile. Yeah, what? You heard me, TILE. Real, live tile too. At least it's fooling me if it's not. And I don't really care. It's awesome. AND the carpet. The carpet is that short almost shaggy kind. Oh, it makes me happy. It's not the cheap kind. Once again, if it is, I don't care. It looks nice.

Here is Jaxon in our backyard without pants on. Yes, backyard!! We have our own space, shared with absolutely no one at all. Right here, I told Jaxon to pretend like he's playing. He's not really. It's waaaaaaay too hot for that. Maybe in a few months.

And here's the gate that keeps that stinky kid in. He can't escape! I don't really plan on leaving him out here in the St. George sun for too long , unattended, but I could. And that's the beauty of it. He can't get out! Am I mean? Nah.

Our new place didn't come furnished with a big-boy bed. We bought this. We thought what better time to get Jax started in a toddler bed? He's done pretty well in it so far. Well, with the exception of last night when I found him on the floor sleeping without blankets in this very same position! Cute bear!

During the moving process, I left for Richfield to take a gazillion pictures. Those can be found on my photo blog if you are interested.

While in Richfield, we celebrated the 24th! And again, another father-less 24th it was for Jaxon. Andrew had to stay in St. George and work. We went to the parade and saw some fireworks, both legal and illegal ones.

Here is a picture of the latter:

Sorry, this was the best I could muster up being tripod-less. No, still haven't figured out the human-tripod thing. Maybe next year.

And the parade.....

There is great fun to be had in small towns. Check this out. This was one of the many CLASSIC sights to be seen in the Monroe parade this year. Little old woman on a little wagon with a miniature horse to pull it.

Gotta Love it.


Uncle Tanner and Jax.

Lastly: Friends & the pool. Yeah you heard right, POOL! We have one. Ok, we share one with hundreds of people, but hey, what's the difference!?! We have access. No more sneaking illegally into pools. Not that we ever did that...


WHAT A BLAST! Many more FUN days to come involving this pool!

Now here is a very very Ultra gay photo of Andy and his friends. I thought they'd all enjoy this one. I can't possibly even imagine what is going on here, nor do I want to try. They're all very happy though, and thats what matters.

Here they are racing. Cause that's what guys do.

Here are all the cute boys havin some guy talk.

Here's Jaxon. This is definitely not one of his finer moments. His diaper was so full of water, and it somehow shaped this little bubble on his butt, making it appear quite big.

And that is the last of it for now. I will try to be better about up-dating like I used to, so that I won't always have to post 400 pictures all together like that.

Hope you are all doing well!

We're Alive

I'm such a bad blogger. Here it is 3:19 am (I am an insomniac, I swear), and I am finally deciding to fill you in on our mysterious lives.

First of all: WE MOVED. There are no pictures. YET. Give me a few days, I'm working on it. We LOVE our place. LOVE. It's not as big (or doesn't seem like it) as our last place, but I don't care. We have a garage. And our place feels brand new. New carpet, new tile floor, new blinds, vaulted ceilings, CLEAN, scent-free kitchen cabinets, etc. It's amazing. I'll take a little smaller rooms and kitchen, if it means things are nice, new and bug free! We have a cute little back yard with a fence. We even have a pool. I am so happy. SO HAPPY. *A special thanks to all our friends and family who helped us move!!

Second of all: Andrew broke our back window. I mean shattered. the WHOLE thing. He was kindly trying to load some of my photography props in the back trunk part and it didn't wanna fit. He slammed it a little too hard, and bam. It happened. It didn't help that I HAD to leave that very instant to Richfield for my week long photo session. It also didn't help that I STILL don't have a valid Drivers License. I've been driving illegally since last Feb. It's a long story. I need to go to the Doctor and get it taken care of , but don't have the money. If I did get pulled over, I don't wanna even think of what would happen. SO , Picture me and Jaxon driving down the freeway without a back window. Yep, we got a lot of weird looks. But I made it safely, and hey, we're only out $328. Geez!

Third of all: I don't really have a third of all. My third of all is that I really need to go to bed. Oh man, I wish I could! What is the deal?!?! I'm gonna go try this again. Don't worry, pictures are sure to come. I need to get on that. If you need to see pictures, I have all sorts on my other blog, which is about to be overloaded with them this week! Yipee!!

OK. Just wanted to give a little up-date. As boring and picture-less as it was. We are all well. Sort of.

My Cooking Blog!

UM, WHAT?

Yeah , you heard me! I made a cooking blog. It's for culinary challenged people like me. It's mainly for own personal growth. But every week, I plan to post a new EASY recipe that I have tried. It's a plan to hopefully get me into cooking, and maybe even liking cooking.

It would be cool if there was a place where people could submit their own EASY recipes. I don't know how to do that, or if it's even possible.

I am a nerd, I know. Here it is:

http://ifaleciacandoit.blogspot.com

you should take a look! All EASY dinner ideas are welcome there too!

Andrew is 26!

Andrew turned 26 on Saturday! Yikes, can you believe that!?!? Right now, he is 4 years older than me. Until next month, then he'll only be 3. Still, though. He's gettin old! He loves to be teased about it too!

He is such a great husband and Dad. I hope he had fun, because I did!!

I made him a cake, which I did get a picture of , I just don't feel like getting it off the other camera and putting it on here. Maybe later. After all, it was pink, and worth showing because of that.

We woke up and went to Sand Hollow Lake. One of mine & Andrews fave places ever. (Well, before we had Jaxon. Now, it's not quite as fun!)

Jaxon of course followed his usual pattern when faced with a different situation:

1) Scared and whiny for about a half hour 2) Begins to warm up to it very very slowly

3) Loves it 4) Loves it so much that he cries and cries when we make him leave.

After this, we got rid of Jaxon for the day! Oh, IT WAS NICE!

Then we went to Outback! Yes! It was SO exciting to go to a nice place and eat!

Just love the quality my little digital camera gives me!

After dinner , we went and saw transformers with some friends! Fun times. not my favorite movie but Andrew couldn't have been happier.



Then the next day, we went to his parents house for a family dinner. His older brother's Birthday was the day before Andrews.

I didn't get many pictures while there, but I did have to get this one:

Lizzie, Jaxon's cousin, still thinks Jaxon is a baby. She likes to try and carry him around and treat him like she is the mom. It's SO FUNNY! Jaxon weighs as much as she does!






It was a FUN weekend! I wish we could celebrate like that every weekend! Happy Birthday Andrew!!

THANKS, guys.

Hey , everyone who left me a comment on that last post, THANKS so much!!

You all had tips and advice for me, making me feel tons better, AND most importantly, helping me realize that I AM NOT ALONE! (too many commas for one sentence, I know.)

THANK YOU!

I am looking forward to trying new routines and new recipes.

I knew I could count on my blog buddies!!

Tell me

Since I've quit my CNA job, and usually stay at home all day, I have reluctantly taken on the role of a "house-wife". Cooking, cleaning and being a homemaker does NOT come natural to me. At all. I know it's what I should be doing, but that whole mind-set that the womans whole purpose in life is to stay home and serve her family all day, doesn't sit well with me.

Maybe that 's why I've never had the interest to learn how to be domesticated. I've been trying to avoid it, but I can no longer.

I. AM. A . STAY. AT. HOME. MOM.

There I said it. It's like admitting I'm an alcoholic.

Well, I admitted it, NOW how the HECK do I do this???

How do all your wonderful stay at home moms stay sane? How do you have motivation? How do you enjoy life when it gets monotonous??

AND last but not least, WHAT ON EARTH do you cook for dinner EVERY SINGLE night?? I've made dinner 3 nights in a row now, and I feel like I'm totally out of ideas & have lost interest and motivation.

Please, give me some SIMPLE dinner ideas. What do you make? Remember : EASY & CHEAP. But most of all Easy. I have the mentality of a 7 year old in the kitchen.

Thanks!!! I appreciate it!

The 4th

Ok, so I am beginning to be a rotten blogger, and even crappier family event picture taker! What's wrong!??! Oh wait, I know, I've been doing photography non-stop! Which don't get me wrong, has been a big huge blast and my dream come true....BUT that means that when I do get a spare minute with my fam, I'm not the camera crazy girl I used to be. SAD. Plus I think I have a case of the blogging blahs. I've heard about those, and I thought it would never happen to me. But it has. I am blogging like once a week now, almost like a regular person! Yikes!

A-NY-WAY.

We had a pretty good 4th. We went to Richfield, which I have concluded has the BEST celebration in pratically the entire state. I got like 4 hours of sleep the night before, so I was basically an ornery zombie person. It sucked a lot because the 4th of July is almost my favorite holiday! Or used to be, till I grew up!! Why does that have to happen?? Nothing is the same ever again. Traditions die down, the excitement and anticipation disappears, and before you know it, you're the old person complaining about the parade being too early or the park being too crowded. Oh, sad sad times. I don't want to think about that anymore!!

All those things considered, it was still a good day. Kind of. Well. The middle of it was almost as sad as that last paragraph.

We started bright and early at the parade. Which, it could be my old age, but I swear it's gone down-hill. Jaxon had a blast of a time. He was thoroughly entertained through about all of it. He was a little frightened at the loud sirens that go off with no warning, but other than that, I think he loved it.

After the parade, we dilly-dallied at the city park until we just couldn't take it any longer. (like 15 minutes). Waaaaay too many people.

Then I did this:

took family pictures for my Aunt Kenda.

Then we went here:

jax & I were too frightened to move a muscle. (I tipped over a kayak once, not fun.)

I don't have many pictures of this particular part of the day because of what happened next. Some very mean, dark clouds started surrounding us. Then it started to rain. Then it rained harder. And even harder. Then I was pretty sure I hadn't seen that much rain for at least 10 years. But, then it got worse. The rain started to freeze into sleet. Then, the sleet froze into hard little balls of ice. Then, before we knew it, we were trapped in our cars for about an hour while it hailed so violently, I thought the windows would break and we would all die. To make matters even worse, my camera happened to be in the car I wasn't. So, no cool pictures will help tell my story or show you how dreadful the amount of ice surrounded us that day. It was actually kind of cool. But not on the 4th of July. Not when it was a perfectly happy, sun-shiney day. Fishlake was definitely NOT the place to be on July 4th , 2009. At least we got about 10 minutes worth of canoeing in. Andrew was bummed because he got zero fishing time. Sad, sad story.

We left that dreadful place to come back to some of this:

A train ride. Yes, that is my mom driving that tractor and pulling this little train that my Grandpa made!!

THEN:

FIREWORK TIME! Jax thought that was pretty cool. His face says it all.

Tanner (my bro) got a little Jealous of the love, so we included him in for a bit.

Jaxon looked like this for about have of the firework show. The other half was spent trying to run off. Apparently it wasn't enough entertainment.

It was a fun and memorable 4th. I hope everyone had a fun one too!!