Picture Time....

I think I completely forgot that I even started this blog.  Don't think I haven't been posting because I have, just not in this spot. 

A few things I've been working on..... 

Here are my husband with all of our children

A Custom Christmas Card I created, and they loved it and have ordered this design.

 I couldn't help taking this one.... (psst... she's my 8 year old daughter)

Now I'm just trying to get on with Christmas traditions, and hopefully can watch a few Christmas movies this December.  Getting the cards ready, the Christmas letter, getting supplies together to do some candy/cookie making.  It's ALL good, I have no complaints right now.

A while ago I mentioned that I was coaching the volleyball team.  And that all went great!  Now we are onto Basketball, and I coach the girls that are in 7th and 8th grades.  Haven't really started our games yet, but as soon as January comes we'll be on a regular game schedule of Tuesday and Thursdays with practice the other days.  Crazy times, but it's FUN!!

What I meant to say .... (while randomly living my life )

It's time to get a few things off my chest. 

This last week while driving in the van, I was leaving Costco and heading down the hill towards Walmart, yes, I do shop there.  But on the way, I was calmly and politely driving inside my lane, when all of the sudden this huge vehicle like a BIG van or suburban type was drifting FAR into my lane. Luckily I had the "suicide" lane beside me that was vacated and I had to swerve over and then I HONKED my horn. She looked at me like "what, what I do?"

What I meant to say... OH MY GOSH!! Get off of your cell phone and pay attention already! You nearly side swiped me, and then I'd have been down a vehicle while yours may have went untouched!!  I can't afford something like that right now.  Please PAY ATTENTION.

Last week I held volleyball tryouts for the 7th and 8th grades at the school my kids go to.  Now never having to try out while I was in school, I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting myself into.  I had 39 students show up the first day of practice.  Boys and girls in both grades.   Some taller players, some that probably could walk under the net practically.  It was crazy!!  

What I meant to say .... What the heck did I get myself into!??  Oh my, there are a billion kids out here and it's so NOISY!!    So listen up, if you don't think you can practice every day just leave now, and don't come back, and if you currently have grade issues, leave and don't come back. Because I don't want to get excited over your skills just to find out I can't let you be on the team.  That sucks.   And when your name was called out on the last day as someone that made the team if you weren't serious about being a part of it... you should have SPOKEN UP!!   


I was out on a photo shoot last week.  This cute little boy had just turned 3 and was so handsome.  We had some awesome locations that we used.

What I meant to say.... DANG GIRL YOU'RE GOOD!!   Okay, so you never have taken a class, but I think you are a quick learner and you have some natural ability.  Keep it up.   Who cares if every shot isn't completely perfect.  But I do have to say that photo shoot turned out GREAT.    (by the way I was the photographer)  

See if you don't believe me check this out... I created this collage using the photos taken during the above mentioned photo shoot.  What da ya think?? 

I got an email from the director of the school that said the following, "  Just today I heard one of the kids say, "Coach Randolph Rocks".   So I went to practice the next day and said, that I heard I wasn't doing a good enough job and wasn't working the team hard enough. So that things were going to change and that I would be working them harder.   I started hearing some groaning, and then a student asked, "Why do you think you aren't doing a good enough job?"   And then I said, that I got this email, and told them what it said.  Of course, the kid who said it was totally smiling about it.  They all laughed. 

What I  meant to say.... Are you kidding me they like ME?? I never thought they would.  I am really enjoying myself, and I try to switch up the drills so that they aren't doing the same ones every practice.  I was all excited when I first read this that I think I'll never forget it.  Thanks Team!!  I really enjoy working with you guys.

Back to blogging .... this week.

I decided that I'd join in with the SITS ladies and get back to blogging.

Today's theme Monday, September 13: Re-upload the first post you ever wrote on your blog. If interested, re-write that post, showing us a before and after look at the piece.

So I realized that I posted this one back in April of 2009 and have had sporadically posted things on here since then, but I want to get back into utilizing this blog.  I really like this first post. 

Okay so this is a blog I wanted to start all about me, for me, and what makes my day, what drives me crazy, and the things that others do for me that make me feel glad to be ALIVE!!!

Thus the name " My Cliffs of Insanity" was chosen. Because it doesn't take much before I need a break, and if I don't get it...... I'm one step closer to jumping of that cliff. So in a way this is a place for me to "vent" and "rant" and "praise" and "Thank" when it's called for, so that I can keep my feet planted solidly where I'm at.

I'm not perfect by any means, I have a hard time doing all the things I'm supposed to. I'm nearing the ripe old age of (shhhhh 31) in just a few weeks and I'm thinking, what am I doing?? My house is constantly in shambles, I feel used and abused most days. I'm like a maid working for a not for profit organization experiencing the effects of a rough economy.

I'm not a fashion guru. I know, but it's sad too, when my favorite pair of jeans have a hole in the knee and just look completely stained ( with oil stains etc....) And the rest of my jeans ALL have holes in the knees as well. I don't spend a whole lot of time on my knees but apparently enough to wear them out.

I'm not a beauty queen. I wasn't one that you would have thought a HOT BABE in high school. ( At least I don't think I was) I do attempt to wear make up more frequently now, because I'm showing signs of wear and tear. And I feel "prettier" if I have the make up on, but all the time and effort to just forget to wash my face before I go to bed.... blah ---- most of the time I go without the make up though. That' s how I am most of the time and when my husband fell in love with me, I was a plain JANE!! So at least I don't have to try and impress anyone right now. Right??? He loves me and that's all that matters.

I was athletic at one point. Not so much anymore... . something I want to remedy in the near future. Good thing Spring is upon us, and the warmer weather is here. I'm so out of shape now, especially having five kids and not taking anytime for myself to stay physically active. Shame on me.

I try to be a good friend. Heck that's one thing I try to EXCEL at . I think having friends are important. And I don't mean " My husband is my best friend and that 's all I need..." Because he's a man, he doesn't understand the same things that I feel. But you know who does??? Or who might??? My friends of the female kind. They don't judge you, (at least not in your face) they seem to be understanding, loving, and offer advice or suggestions of things to help correct a situation. Not everyone I meet comes across as a genuine person but once in a while I'll find someone like that. Those are the ones I stay connected with. So count yourself lucky if I still have found ways to connect with you. So that's just one thing I can't stand and that's fake people. Saying one thing in front of you.... but doing something completely different out of your sight. I get the vibes, then I wait, I watch, I listen, and then I make the final conclusion.... if all the above add up ... then chances are I don't want to really continue a friendship with you... it's more like an "acquaintanceship". I'll still say Hi, and have casual chit chat, but forget about the deep and satisfying kind of conversation.

I don't like to be mistreated, so I try not to mistreat others. If I do..... usually it's a lack of communication or understanding.

I know that I'm a daughter of God, and that all things I try to do, I hope allow me closer to reaching my end result. To return to live with him again. I know that things are hard, I know that trials are a part of life. But with Him all things are possible.

As time has passed, I realize that this is still what this blog is about.  

What I meant to say ....

Okay so it could be called What I meant to say Thursday because I am getting to this so late!!!  I have good excuses and good reasons. But we won't get into those.... but I want to get it off my chest...so here I go.

• After coming home from a baby shower open house I threw for my awesome sister Amy,  My husband gave me my "mail".  What it contained was a notice to qualify for jury duty.  I know it wasn't a call to do it right away, but just a preliminary questionnaire.  Great, just what I need.  

• What I meant to say.... ARE YOU FLIPPING KIDDING ME???   I don't have time for this in my life. I'm perfectly content just being myself in my little world.  My husband works fulltime, and I have two little boys home during the day. I have to take kids to school.  What the heck, am I going to do with my house cleaning??  Go figure, just as I'm working my BUTT off to get my house decluttered and organized and CLEAN, something has to come along and upset the fruit basket and then I'll be back to square freaking one again!!  NOT FAIR.  

(Seriously, I know some people have always wanted to be on a jury. But me personally, I've never wanted to.  I thought about moving temporarily so I won't have to ever do a jury session ever, but Chris said I couldn't do that. So I've complied and filled out the form, and I'm praying like crazy that I don't have to do that.)

• Telemarketers call ALL the time.  They bombard my phone line for what seems like every day of the week and really heavy between 8-10pm.   I ignore the calls, Thank goodness for caller ID!!  

But if I were to answer the phone... 

• What I meant to say was ....   I'm sorry she's unavailable but if you give me your home phone number I'll have her call you at your least favorite time of day to recieve phone calls.  And for future reference, if you want to get through and talk to a human try calling in between the hours of 4:00-4:05pm and no other time.  She has a life of her own, and can not keep being bothered by the numbers of people trying to call and bug her, and distract her from her daily responsibilities as a wife and mother of 5.  And oh yeah, she's busy chasing her 3 year old so she can finally get him dressed but he's a bit of a booger sometimes, and it's really tiring on her.  So if she has any questions for you guys, or wants you to go over her account to make sure she has the best deal, or wants your supplemental insurance.... she'll give you a call.  Thanks for your time, but please make your calls pretty sparse in the future.    Have a ROTTEN night, since you made ours rotten.  

(Now let me clarify, I know that people make these calls for a living, heck I worked at a market research place and called all the time, I know what it's like.  But not having control over who to call and the time zone really sucked for me.  I'm just saying that I don't want the phone calls, and especially not during dinner time, and not on the Sundays)         

•  My sister in law had her baby the other day. I was happy for her.  Other friends are having their babies.    

• What I meant to say.... So when can I take their newborn pictures?  Cause you know that's what I like to do!!  I'm itching for the photo shoots...so please lets get on with it.  

• I've been busy CLEANING my house this week. Seriously ALL Day long and into the nights, followed by going to bed waking up and repeating only different tasks the next day.  I'm making lots of progress.  

• What I meant to do....  Wake up and lay on the couch either reading a great book, while nodding back off to sleep or watching a movie or to on the boob tube.  Or just running over to a friends house and hanging out.  And sometimes I wonder if I could just throw everything into a can and just BURN it all.  I won't because I know it's wrong, but what if...... ???   I'd rather have made fresh home made rolls to eat on, or good dinners instead of being so tired to do anything about it.  Yeah I know, I need a MOMMY vacation and I need it soon. 

                              

What I meant to say ....

Trying something new today.  I know it has been a while since I've updated on this blog, but I've been plenty busy in the blog world on my other blogs.  Starting this because of Alexes at One Cluttered Brain.  But I think Angel is the "host" of such a meme. Kind of fun to do this.  It is the first time and not sure how to go about it, but I think I'll catch on after a few tries. 


Got an extra charge on my bill. The phone one.  Yes, it was for something strange I didn't know about and it was through a 3rd party biller.

I call the phone company, which says call this other number. Fine. Okay.
Other number goes through and verifies all the info on the account.  (well DUH)
Of course, you have my info the charge is on my bill for my PHONE NUMBER. (hello)

I said I didn't know about these, and have no idea how they got there in the first place.
It was for some Identity theft place and he says, "well no one can benefit from doing this"
I asked if I could get the charges credited back.

• HIM: I could do one of them but not both. 
• I said : Is there someone else I can talk to that could approve this?? 
• He puts me on hold and after a few minutes gets back on.  Yes I can credit both of those charges back. You'll get a check in 8-10 days. 
• WHAT??  Can't you just credit it back to my phone company where the charge was sent to?? 
• I don't want to pay for this charge at ALL.  Please credit back the account thank you. 

Now WHAT I MEANT TO SAY WAS.... 
Hey bozos why do I have a bogus charge that I didn't authorize on my phone bill this month?
And I want you to make it go away because I don't want to pay it. And frankly I'm not going to.
Whatever, no one will benefit from this.  Your company stands to benefit if I didn't notice and just keep paying for it.
And why on earth do people charge things through your phone number anyway, if you're a real business can't you use a "CARD" method of billing or for heaven sakes send out a bill in the mail.

Thanks for my credit... can I have your social so I can keep tabs on you if it doesn't show up.  I'm waiting!! Impatiently. Dummy heads.


EXAMPLE #2
Children are up playing and making loud noise and I've already asked them to start getting ready for bed.

What I meant to say was: 

WOULD YOU PLEASE SHUT UP!! 

You're making my head hurt, plus I'm a cranky old woman that needs some ME time, and because you're intruding on my precious ME time, I don't get a refreshing break from my MOMMY duties.  

Yes I love you, but seriously I wish you came with a power button/mute button.  Now go to bed, did I say I love you? 

Want to see what I've been up to....??? Hmmm???

I know it's been nearly two months since I've posted here, but that doesn't mean I haven't been posting.  I've been busy lately.  And have finally taken the dive into getting myself into photogrpahy and becoming a professional someday.  But here are some different photo shoots that I've done and have really enjoyed getting to photograph all these different babies.   It's been a lot of fun... so if you like what you see and you live in Utah or Salt Lake Counties ... guess who could hook you up with a photo session.  I'm looking for all ages ... and I go on location, until it's cold outside and then I'll turn my living room into a temporary studio when needed.   Be sure and book mark my photo blog so you can stay updated on what I'm working on. 

http://www.creamofthecropdesigns.wordpress.com/

Life is good.

Tomorrow we're hosting a huge family BBQ for Memorial Day.  My husband and I are so excited for this.  School is now over for the summer, and we have less then one week before we head out to Cali to visit with my family.  I'll do a few photo shoots while I'm there.  A huge family session for a friend of mine from high school, that I haven't seen in several years.  But thankfully with the internet, we've been able to communicate still.  I'm a little nervous, seeing how this will be my first large group to work with. But at the same time I'm really excited to get the experience in. 

You see, I'm hoping to own my own photography business within a year or so, and I'm trying to hone the skills that are needed to be a great photographer.  I've done a few newborn sessions for some friends that were gracious enough to lend me their gorgeous little babies to use as a model.   I've edited some of the pictures, and uploaded them to share with others, but I have a few more poses that I need to edit a little and then post them on here. 

It's amazing how much I'm absorbing as I go along. I've always had a knack for learning new things, and I've always had a love for photography, but never had a good camera until a month ago.  So now I have my first DSLR ..simply put a camera that I can change the lens on.  I now have two lens that I can use on my camera with dreams of a few others that I'd like to get.  But everytime I get a chance, I pull out my camera and practice on how to operate it.  And I'm beginning to learn that when I hear that sometimes a photographer will take a dozen or more pictures of the same "subject" and get 1 -2 pictures that really turn out great.  

But it's fun!! Mistakes and all.  The hard part is trying to find out, what is needed in order to start up an official legit business, and wondering if I'll be able to find enough clients that I can really begin to make money.  (crossing my fingers)

Just trying to build up a portfolio for now, so that I have something to show to potential clients.  My next goal is to do a few "patriotic" sessions.  I've got one scheduled with a little baby in about two weeks, and I'm so excited.  I have a session tentatively scheduled ...but it all depends on when he decides to join the human race here on earth.   So I'll be doing that one probably after I return from Cali as well. 

So be sure to check out my other blog HERE to see some of the projects I've been working on. 

But first I'll share on of my own son that I totally adore... of course, it's while he is sleeping.  He's just so darn precious in this form.