I spent the night out on the town last night with 4 of my good friends.

Last weekend at Vicky’s birthday party they all started discussing my birthday and what we were going to do to celebrate. There was talk about getting a hotel room downtown and going out to a piano bar. I don’t know how we pulled it off, but all 5 of us were able to get away without the kids and spend a night out.

We planned on going to a piano bar, but found out that Sunday night was karaoke night. I NEVER do karaoke, but I do enjoy watching others make fools of themselves We decided to go anyway…the options are limited on a Sunday night in Salt Lake City. Before that we went out to the Bayou for dinner. I LOVE the food there. I always get the same thing–sweet potato fries and gumbo with crawfish– and I was looking forward to it all week. I was not disappointed.

After dinner we headed over to The Tavernacle for karaoke. We got there and the place was empty, but it soon filled up. But after a bit we noticed we were the only women in the bar. Apparently it was gay night at The Tavernacle! All of the karaoke was very serious. Many of the people singing looked like they were going to cry and most of them could sing. The best kind of karaoke is when everyone is bad and having a great time. But Yori and Tiffany sang quite a few songs and did it the right way. They were silly and having a fun time while singing. We lasted there until about midnight and that was about the moms could handle.

We headed back to our hotel and all climbed into bed. We chatted for a bit and then fell asleep. It was nice company and fun just to get away for the night.

Look at what we had in our backyard this morning:

I grabbed the point and shoot that was on the kitchen counter and started taking some photos. We went downstairs and there was the mama moose looking in our window! We were literally 12 inches from her. Luckily we were separated by a window.

There was a mama and her 2 babies. We have seen them a few times this fall. This time there was a male with them. He wouldn’t leave the poor mama alone. She kept grunting at him and running away.

We all watched them for at least 20 minutes. Finally the mama had enough of the male and she ran away. The babies left right behind her.

What a nice morning surprise!

I got to enjoy a wonderful morning at the Glenwild Spa with my mom today! They were having a ladies spa event and my mom invited me to go. It worked out perfectly. I went right after I dropped the kids off at school. Scott was home today–for the first time in weeks–and he went to pick up Nora so I could stay just a little bit longer.

We sat in the hot tub and steam room, then I had a great foot massage. At least I think it was great, I slept through most of it. My favorite part was the make up after. There was a rep there from Colorscience and she was doing make up. I loved it! I love make up anyway, but I am a sucker for products that do more than one thing. All of their products are good for you skin and anti-aging too. I ended up with a whole bag of new things. I had a great time opening them all up and playing with them when I got home.

It was nice to just spend time relaxing. I have been so busy lately! Tonight I am quitting early and going to bed. I can’t wait to wear all my new make up tomorrow!

Scott and I went out on an unexpected date tonight!

I had a photo shoot earlier in the evening. My mom came over to watch the kids. Now that daylight savings has ended it gets dark so early! By 5:00pm the sun is down and the light is totally gone. I knew we would be done early and since my mom and dad had the kids I figured it was a perfect opportunity for Scott and I to get a little alone time.

We went out for sushi and then saw Couples Retreat. It started out funny, but went quickly downhill. We really didn’t mind, though, it was just fun to go out. I love those unexpected nights out!

We had a really great Halloween weekend at Disneyland. Unfortunately, today I feel like I have a hangover. I am EXHAUSTED!

I have so much work to catch up on–splash page to create, photography blog to launch, 2 sessions to edit, orders to place and multiple holiday cards to create–but I jut couldn’t do them today. I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation!

It was a gorgeous fall day. I was sitting at my desk while Nora was napping and I looked outside. I knew we weren’t going to get many more days like today. I decided to go out and do my fall yard cleanup instead. A good thing to do when you are too tired to work on the computer, right? But it felt great. I was so warm I ended up just wearing a tank top. I got all my perennials cut down and ready for next year. The leaves still need to be raked, but the weather is supposed to be nice the rest of the week, so hopefully I’ll get to that later in the week.

Hopefully tonight I will get my second wind and I’ll get a lot done! And hopefully tomorrow I’ll have something more exciting to write about

Mountain biking season is in full swing.

Monday morning Scott and I decided to take Nora to the Ark and go on a bike ride together. I wasn’t sure if my legs could handle it after the century on Saturday, but I managed.

We decided to go up Fink Again and head up to Flying Dog. It was absolutely perfect weather, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. As we got started my legs were really tired. Literally within the first 2 minutes I felt tired like I couldn’t go on. But then I got warmed up and things got easier. It’s funny how that happens. I have been on so many rides like that–at the very beginning I wonder if I am going to be able to make it. Then after a few more minutes I get in the groove and things get easier.

We rode up for about 2 hours. The back of Flying Dog is so beautiful. I love it this time of year. Everything is green and the wildflowers are blooming everywhere. The Aspen trees are leafing out and making it nice and shady. It smelled wonderful.

It was a good ride, and I really enjoyed being out there with Scott. We stopped and took a few photos and then headed down to pick up Nora.

This past weekend I completed my second century, or 100 mile, bike ride.

It was the Cycle Salt Lake Century and I did it with Scott and my friend Lindsey. This was a much easier course than the last century I did. However, the last one I did was in the fall. I was in much better shape for that one because I had an entire summer of biking behind me.

This course was essentially flat. We started out at the State Fairgrounds and went up towards Kaysville and out to Antelope Island. I felt great on this ride–until about mile 65. I literally kept thinking that the ride was going great and I wasn’t even tired at all. I felt like I could keep riding all day. Then we started heading out on the causeway towards Antelope Island. The wind picked up a bit and I noticed I was a bit tired. I dropped back behind Scott and Lindsey a little bit, and then I was in trouble. They didn’t notice that I had dropped back so I ended up riding alone in the wind. It really took a lot out of me. Add to that the horrible bugs and I was really struggling. The bugs were swarming. They were hitting me in the face, going up my nose, and crawling around in my hair. I definitely ate a few. Yuck!

From there until lunch at about mile 80 was really hard for me. My quads were really cramping up and my legs just felt so tired. Scott and Lindsey were great. They slowed down to ride at my pace and let me draft for a bit. I had a good rest at lunch. We made one more stop after that, and I seemed to get my second wind. The last 20 or so miles ended up being easier and as I got closer and closer to the finish I got more and more energy.

I had the best popsicle and Diet Pepsi at the finish! We all just sat in the tent for a few minutes and relaxed and then headed to Settebello for the best pizza in Utah.

It was a lot of fun and I was really proud of myself!

I had a great time at the Brianna Graham Photography workshop. I have to admit that when I was getting ready to go in the morning, I was feeling a little bit nervous. I was worried that I would be intimidated and that my skills would be below the other photographers. But I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, some of the photographers were better than me, but I felt good about my skills and where I am at.

We spent the first afternoon downtown in Salt Lake City, shooting amazing models in an urban setting. It was so much fun. There were teens and kids and families just doing whatever we wanted them to do. I was a bit intimidated at first. I’m not very good at telling people what to do. That is one of the reasons I love to shoot kids. They are easy to talk to and usually not too hard to engage. The adults, on the other hand, just scare me

But as things got going, I got more comfortable. I was fun to shoot different people in such a different setting for me. It was great practice, and I really need more practice. It was fun to watch Brianna and the other photographers and just get ideas for how to pose people. One photographer recommended keeping a small notebook with poses in it, so that you can look at them before and during you sessions for ideas. I think I am going to work on putting that together. I haven’t shot very many families, and I usually don’t know what to have them do.

Brianna also taught us a great metering technique. It is one of her secrets to getting great skin tones straight out of the camera. I am so excited to practice and start using it. It is going to take some getting used to, but I think once I get the hang of it my images will be so much better.

I really had a great time and I learned a lot at the workshop. She gave me a lot to think about. I got a lot of ideas about how I would like to proceed with my photography business. I am really happy that I was able to attend! Just getting a chance to shoot all these amazing models was worth it!

I got back yesterday from my annual girls trip to Las Vegas. This year it was just Vicky and I, but we had a great time. I had a much better trip this year–although last years trip was not hard to beat. Last year I ended up in a clinic with and I.V. and 3 liters of fluid. Then I flew home a day early. Not too hard to beat, huh?

We arrived on Sunday and stayed at the Bellagio again. We checked in and then decided to have lunch and do some shopping. The last time I was in Las Vegas I had seen an ad for a place called Stripburger and I wanted to try it. It was a cute little outdoor burger joint. I really enjoyed their signature burger–the blue cheese burger–and sweet potato fries. After we were both stuffed, we did a little shopping. Both Vicky and I found a few cute things. We walked like crazy and we were both ready to head back to the hotel after a few hours.

We both wanted to do some typical Vegas activities, so we got tickets to see Cher and then we scored opening night tickets to see The Lion King.

We saw Cher the first night and it was a lot of fun. She was very entertaining. She was hilarious and looked amazing for a woman in her sixties. She had some amazing costumes and I really enjoyed the music. I thought the show was thoroughly entertaining.

The next two days we parked ourselves at the pool and hardly moved. I read 2 books and totally enjoyed just relaxing all day.

The last night we went to see The Lion King. I love musicals and this one did not disappoint. It was amazing! The costumes were incredible and I loved the music.

Our whole trip was just perfect for me. I enjoyed Vicky’s company. We were perfect together because we both wanted to do the same thing the whole time. I can’t wait to do it again next year!

Here are some photos that I took last Sunday before we left North Carolina to head home. I love the softness of the colors and the cute expressions on the kids faces.

This week at I ♡ Faces the theme was self portrait–no tripods and no timers. I had to be holding the camera. I know some people are really good at self portraits (Like Lotus ) but it was a real challenge for me. I thought I’d post some of my out-takes. I can’t believe I am posting these

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