Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Graduation Day
Graduation day was awesome. Lots of family at the ceremony and even more family and friends at the party later that evening. It was great to know that so many people love and support me. What an amazing day. I will never forget it. Thank you to everyone who made it such a memorable day!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
The Clifford Kids
My wonderful cousins asked me to take their family photos for their pops for Father's Day. I am pretty pleased with the results and of course it was so much fun being with them and giggling with them on a beautiful afternoon at the park. Thanks for thinking of me. I'm always happy when my friends and family choose me to capture their lives.
and now for some of my favorite group shots...
and my personal favorite...
and now for some of my favorite group shots...
and my personal favorite...
Mother's Day
we had a great time spending the day with our mothers. We had lunch with my family and then dinner and dessert with the Bradys. I am so grateful for both of our mothers who have always worked hard for their families in so many different ways. We are so lucky to have such amazing women in our lives. I am also grateful for all women who are mothers, specifically women who have blessed my life immensely through their meek yet profound examples. I am also grateful for my sister Kimberly who is already a better mom than she thinks she is. I cannot wait to meet my niece in August and I know Kimberly will be an amazing mother. I can't wait to see her with her daughter.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
guess who came to greet us?
Brekyn Marie Dickson came to greet the world in all her glory and cuteness on April 25th. We got to meet her and then I got to take her newborn/birth announcement photos. She is such a sweetheart and I cannot wait to see how her little spirit develops. We also got to be at her baby blessing last weekend and it was very special. Her daddy did a wonderful job of pronouncing a memorable blessing upon her. I am so grateful for the priesthood power on the earth and it's power to bring the spirit into my life.
the $ egg
On Easter Sunday we stopped by Tyler's parent's house for some Easter festivities. Aunt Steph and I hid some eggs and one golden egg that contained $1 bill. Aaron found it, Luke was mad and Owen kept dropping all of his eggs. It was great fun.
Happy Days
Seriously? This is just sad. I am seriously posting about Easter. Here are some pics of our annual Stout family easter egg hunt & brunch. It was a pleasure as always to be in the company of such wonderful family from my mom's side.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Counting Down
So... I know I haven't updated in like forever, but I have been super duper busy my friends. For those of you who still frequent this blog I promise I will be catching you up on all of our family happenings, but for now I am just going to spill some of my feelings as of late.
Tyler is almost done with school. We are seriously counting down the days. Lately it has been pretty rough due to the fact that he is taking a summer course and his teacher is insane and assigns like 100 pages of reading every night. It's hard to be living in a one bedroom with the computer and the television in the same room. Tyler goes from reading on the couch to the computer to do his stupid journal entries for each chapter that he reads. Basically it's hard because after a long day of working, then going to the gym, I just want to relax and watch some TV, but I can't because he is studying. It's not like I'm mad at him, of course I know his education is the priority, but I just want this phase of life to be over. He is taking two more summer classes from July to August so it's going to be crazy, but again, I know it's worth it.
Lately I have just been so excited for the future. I cannot wait until Tyler is done with school (if all goes according to plan that will be in December... exactly 6 months from now). I seriously cannot wait. I am so excited for him to get a new job and do something that he is passionate about. I am SO excited to think more seriously about starting a family and moving into a bigger place... with a washer & dryer PLEASE!!! I'm even more excited about actually being able to save $$$$! I am grateful that we can pay his tuition without going into debt, but it sure would be nice if all those thousands of dollars were going into our savings account instead of California's bank account. I don't really know how to explain it, but I just get excited every time I think about it.
But the good thing is that in July, when Tyler registers for the Fall semester it will be our LAST tuition payment ever!!! Well at least until he goes to grad school. :)
I keep telling Tyler, according to him I say it everyday, how excited I am for him to be finished with his bachelors. I'm just ready for a change. I want to move somewhere new, decorate a new place, and be done with school. I feel like life will be so much happier! I Can't wait!
Tyler is almost done with school. We are seriously counting down the days. Lately it has been pretty rough due to the fact that he is taking a summer course and his teacher is insane and assigns like 100 pages of reading every night. It's hard to be living in a one bedroom with the computer and the television in the same room. Tyler goes from reading on the couch to the computer to do his stupid journal entries for each chapter that he reads. Basically it's hard because after a long day of working, then going to the gym, I just want to relax and watch some TV, but I can't because he is studying. It's not like I'm mad at him, of course I know his education is the priority, but I just want this phase of life to be over. He is taking two more summer classes from July to August so it's going to be crazy, but again, I know it's worth it.
Lately I have just been so excited for the future. I cannot wait until Tyler is done with school (if all goes according to plan that will be in December... exactly 6 months from now). I seriously cannot wait. I am so excited for him to get a new job and do something that he is passionate about. I am SO excited to think more seriously about starting a family and moving into a bigger place... with a washer & dryer PLEASE!!! I'm even more excited about actually being able to save $$$$! I am grateful that we can pay his tuition without going into debt, but it sure would be nice if all those thousands of dollars were going into our savings account instead of California's bank account. I don't really know how to explain it, but I just get excited every time I think about it.
But the good thing is that in July, when Tyler registers for the Fall semester it will be our LAST tuition payment ever!!! Well at least until he goes to grad school. :)
I keep telling Tyler, according to him I say it everyday, how excited I am for him to be finished with his bachelors. I'm just ready for a change. I want to move somewhere new, decorate a new place, and be done with school. I feel like life will be so much happier! I Can't wait!
Friday, May 20, 2011
How Did This Happen?
Tomorrow morning I am graduating college. Tomorrow will be a magical day. Tomorrow I will do something I always said I would do. I am so excited. I am so grateful. I am so lucky to have been given the ability to endure the years of endless exams, papers, studying and stress of college. My life is forever changed by the experiences I have had while I attended college. I have been blessed with countless friendships and endless amounts of knowledge. I can't help to think about President Hinkley, who encouraged all of us to get all the education we can. Well Gordon B... I did it. Thanks for your help.
Also, Grandma Sue & Grandpa Jack... I love you. Thank you for helping me get through college. I don't know if I would have done it without your help. I miss you everyday. I know you are proud of me and I wish more than anything that you were here so I could tell you how much I love you.
Who knew that that little girl would grow up and graduate college someday? And Magna Cum Laude? I surely didn't.
Also, Grandma Sue & Grandpa Jack... I love you. Thank you for helping me get through college. I don't know if I would have done it without your help. I miss you everyday. I know you are proud of me and I wish more than anything that you were here so I could tell you how much I love you.
Who knew that that little girl would grow up and graduate college someday? And Magna Cum Laude? I surely didn't.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Ragnar So Cal
First off I have to say... it would take far too long to explain to you all of the craziness that is the past two months and the next two months. So here I am playing catch up on the blog. Hope you enjoy. Hope I don't go another month without updating. We shall see.
Let's start with the weekend of April 15th.
First we did the Ragnar Relay. I will say that I figured this relay would be no big deal. I was wrong. Let me explain. Each team has 12 members, each member has 3 legs and all 36 legs add up to 200 miles. We ran from Huntington Beach to Coronado Island in a matter of roughly 36 hours. I was runner 1. I got to finish each of my legs first. It was grand. Tyler was runner 12. He got to be the one running into the finish line. We had two vans that had to meet every runner at the exchanges where the runner would finish and the next runner would start. We figured we would have down time. We brought movies, books & music. We didn't use any of it. Friday wasn't bad. We all ran well and that night we slept for a couple hours, girls in the van, guys out on the grass. We ran again. We ate a little. I finished my last leg early Saturday morning and then waited for the rest of our team to finish. We slept in a park for a few hours. Ate McDonalds for breakfast. I still feel guilty. Had a bums shower in the bathroom of a gas station. Medicated ourselves before each of our legs. Tyler almost got in a fight with some idiot in an RV ... "You wanna Go?". We all realized it was a lot more intense than we had planned.
I Ran 15.7 miles with a major toe injury and I nearly started to cry on my last leg. The beginning was all uphill, my toe was seriously killing me and I got maybe two hours of sleep. But the amazing thing about the whole experience is that I realized how strong I am. I realized that I can really do anything I set my mind to. I can run without a good nights sleep. I really ran out of any excuse I would typically use when I feel lazy and don't feel like working out. I am a strong person and I need to use that strength more often. I hope I can remember that feeling for the rest of my life.
Our van was awesome. We had so much fun. I will seriously never forget what an amazing crazy experience that was. I might even sign up next year!
Then we spent Saturday night on Coronado. We chilled with some other friends from our ward. Heather and Steve are moving out of state for Steve's residency so we had to party one last time. We stayed at the Marriott right on the Harbor. Ate at little italy. Rode our bikes. Hot tubbed it up. Got fake tatoos. Ate at Phils. Revealed a lot of truths about ourselves on the way home. Our crew is like no other. We seriously all mesh so well. We will miss the Brandon's dearly!
Let's start with the weekend of April 15th.
First we did the Ragnar Relay. I will say that I figured this relay would be no big deal. I was wrong. Let me explain. Each team has 12 members, each member has 3 legs and all 36 legs add up to 200 miles. We ran from Huntington Beach to Coronado Island in a matter of roughly 36 hours. I was runner 1. I got to finish each of my legs first. It was grand. Tyler was runner 12. He got to be the one running into the finish line. We had two vans that had to meet every runner at the exchanges where the runner would finish and the next runner would start. We figured we would have down time. We brought movies, books & music. We didn't use any of it. Friday wasn't bad. We all ran well and that night we slept for a couple hours, girls in the van, guys out on the grass. We ran again. We ate a little. I finished my last leg early Saturday morning and then waited for the rest of our team to finish. We slept in a park for a few hours. Ate McDonalds for breakfast. I still feel guilty. Had a bums shower in the bathroom of a gas station. Medicated ourselves before each of our legs. Tyler almost got in a fight with some idiot in an RV ... "You wanna Go?". We all realized it was a lot more intense than we had planned.
I Ran 15.7 miles with a major toe injury and I nearly started to cry on my last leg. The beginning was all uphill, my toe was seriously killing me and I got maybe two hours of sleep. But the amazing thing about the whole experience is that I realized how strong I am. I realized that I can really do anything I set my mind to. I can run without a good nights sleep. I really ran out of any excuse I would typically use when I feel lazy and don't feel like working out. I am a strong person and I need to use that strength more often. I hope I can remember that feeling for the rest of my life.
Our van was awesome. We had so much fun. I will seriously never forget what an amazing crazy experience that was. I might even sign up next year!
Then we spent Saturday night on Coronado. We chilled with some other friends from our ward. Heather and Steve are moving out of state for Steve's residency so we had to party one last time. We stayed at the Marriott right on the Harbor. Ate at little italy. Rode our bikes. Hot tubbed it up. Got fake tatoos. Ate at Phils. Revealed a lot of truths about ourselves on the way home. Our crew is like no other. We seriously all mesh so well. We will miss the Brandon's dearly!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)