I Am A REAL Photographer! LOL! My dream comes true.

My photographs made it on to the news' website!!

So, click THIS link. Then, you will see the little window you can click to watch a video, and RIGHT above that video is a tab that says "images". Mine is not the first one, but the next three are all mine!

GO LOOK! GO LOOK!

I Love My House, I Love My Nest! In All The World My Nest Is Best!

I'm moving.

Or, at least, I WISH I were. These homes really ARE "for the birds"! (Red Fred Bidoni, you might like one of these places as much as I do!)

Look HERE.

WIWW!!

It's time again for...
WHAT I WORE WEDNESDAY!

I am not very good at remembering to take pictures of myself/what I am wearing, so this week only has a few pictures. Sorry.

We went to Utah this week...what a BLAST! Anyway, my camera battery died our last day there, and I didn't get more batteries until the night before last, so some of the week I didn't take pictures. Sorry...again.

Shirt: Handed down (This shirt is getting some SERIOUS mileage! HERE and HERE)
Tank: Target-- $5.00
Capris: Target-- I think they were about $20.00

I wasn't loving the pants I had available to wear today (meaning, the only ones CLEAN!), so just ignore them, really. (But I will still list them, don't worry.)

Shirt: Handed Down (but the tag says "Forever". Where do they sell THAT brand? Any ideas?)
Tank: Old Navy(I forgot how much, but I assume around $5.00, knowing my budget for these things.)
Boy Cut Jeans: Old Navy $20.00

Dress: Old Navy (about 6 years ago!) $35.00
Cardigan: Target $15.00
Socks: (Taigers!) Target 5 pair for $4.00
Shoes: Aeropostale $20.00

And since I didn't have many pictures of what I wore this week, I thought I would post a picture of what I BET I would have been wearing this week had I been born 90 years ago. :)

These two lookers were waiting at the crosswalk with us while we were walking to Temple Square in SLC. I really did love their vintage style and wish I could pull it off, especially the one in the blue dress. I decided this is a picture of my sister and myself in years to come. I am the one in the blue, rocking the sunglasses. Don't I look fabulous?

What did YOU wear this week?

And Then The Unspeakable Happened...

I always have all these things I want to do, but I never get them done. I have all these good intentions...paving my way to You-Know-Where. :)

Every Monday, I have three tests for school. They are hard. I usually spend ALL. DAY on Monday studying for them (I told my boss I need Mondays off because that is my "school" day). Today, I had to work. I didn't get everything done. At 11:47 the panic set in. You know what I mean...the college panic. The panic where you know the clock is winding down and you aren't done with whatever you are supposed to turn in, and you want to cry, but you don't have time, and you start to shake, but you don't have time for that either, so you try and will your eyes to read words in the book faster, your hand to write the answers to questions faster...you even kind of think if you don't look at the clock, maybe the time will somehow NOT run out.

All three tests are due BY MIDNIGHT each Monday. I was half way through my second test, totally stumped on question eight, with only 13 minutes to finish that test AND take the next one.

Panic.

I submitted the last test when my computer clock read 12:01, but the kitchen clock read 11:59, so hopefully my professor's clock matches my kitchen clock and not my computer clock.

Anyway, it was ugly. Very ugly. By the end, I was just randomly clicking answers to the multiple choice questions, sometimes without even completely reading the question. I got some pretty low scores on my tests, as you could imagine.

Ugly. Really, really ugly.

Every day, I have so many things I want to accomplish and every night I am hoping it is really only 11:59 and not 12:01 because I still need time to finish. To finish cleaning. To finish studying. To finish working. To finish watching my FAVOURITE show. To finish unpacking. To finish reading. To finish some things I have not even yet started, like figuring out what to teach Taiger in homeschool, or corn rowing Taiger's hair, or helping Taiger with his gymnastics, or playing with Taiger, or homemaking something healthy and yummy to eat, or taking a walk to enjoy the weather, or taking the time to look at the changing leaves, or helping Taiger practice reading, or going to the store to get some much needed groceries, or writing in my journal, or helping Taiger write in his journal...

Oh dear. The list goes on. And it is 3:00am, and I still am thinking, "Don't we have just a few more minutes in this day?"


(By the way, I love Taiger. :) )

I Think I Would Have Prefered to be Stood Up Again

Soooooooooooo....
I met this awesome guy.

We texted and talked on the phone and really connected.

Went on a date with him two weeks ago.

Had a BLAST.

Didn't talk much the past two weeks, but set up a date for this week in Utah on Thursday.

Felt all week like he wasn't interested, but then thought maybe I was just being paranoid.
Confirmed Tuesday that we were still on for Thursday.

Thursday he texted me. I asked how his day was...

He said he felt like he was maybe starting to feel sick.

(DUM, DUM, DUUUUUUM. Enter horrible excuse stage left.)

I asked if he was feeling well enough to still do something, knowing the answer would change everything.

He said no, he thought he should stay home and rest.

That's when I knew. I mean, if you are totally smitten with someone, you don't "stay home and rest" because you feel like you MIGHT be STARTING to get sick.
So, I asked him point blank if he was interested in me, or if he just kind of wanted me to leave him alone.
His answer?


(Take a big hand, as demonstrated in image found above. Use it to give yourself a backhand across the face. Now you know how his answer felt. Now, I will tell you what he said.)
"I am only slightly interested in you...".
I kid you not. All "polite" and "gentlemanly" like that and everything. (That was sarcastic, by the way. He could have just said he wasn't interested, he didn't have to say "SLIGHTLY". RUDE!)

He said some more things that were really hurtful that meant he wasn't interested, and closed by saying we could be friends if I wanted.
I replied that I can take a hint.
He thanked me and I haven't heard from him since.





So, I pose two questions:
First, where are all the good guys? The ones with manners. (I mean, if he wasn't interested, why did he act interested on the first date? He could have been polite and had fun without flirting and making me think he liked me. Furthermore, if he didn't want to have a second date, why did he confirm only TWO DAYS before? He could have told me then he wasn't interested instead of waiting until I drove from Idaho to Utah?)

Second, (and this one you aren't going to want to answer, but I am asking you to, as dear blog-world friends, so PLLLLEEEEAAAAASSSSSSSE do answer) (and I know it is going to hurt, but I am ready for it, so don't hold back!), what is wrong with me? And I don't mean that in some self depreciating way. And, of course, I wouldn't change my personality, or beliefs, or anything major, just for some guy. But really, honestly, maybe I am doing something "wrong" that I just do not realize I am doing, but that I could really easily change! Any suggestions or insights would be appreciated. (I promise I won't block you from my blog, or "unfriend" you on facebook.) AND, if I use your advice and get second date with a guy, I will give you some cool prize. Like, a tracing of my hand. Or a bouquet of dandelions. (Now, tell me that isn't incentive to really try and help a sister out?!)

Parade Hair??

Did you think Mr. T's hair looked a little crazy in the Spud Day pictures?

That is because just before watching the big parade...




He was in the KID'S parade. Yes, they have a kid's parade at Spud Day, and any kid who shows up can ride his bike, skateboard, scooter, or his good ol' feet the length of the parade route, and have the entire town cheer and clap as he walks by.

Taiger rode his little 4-wheeler. His cousin rode with him on the back. Taiger was dressed in his super hero getup. Everyone knows ALL Super Heroes make an appearance at the local, hometown parades! Not to be mistaken for a villain, Taiger's cousin put on Taiger's old batman mask to take his ride. A sign on the front of the 4-wheeler read, "Mr. Power and Batman: Shelley's Own Super-Duo!"

Because they didn't get the turbo going on the 4-wheeler right off, they were last in the parade. And let me tell you, they were none the worse for it! They rode down the street with no other kids around, and boy were they the center of attention! They waved at their adoring fans as they drove along. The onlookers clapped and cheered and shouted, "Yay Mr. Power!"

And what was the excuse for my hair?

...

?

Yesterday was Spud Day here in Small Town, Idaho. Spud Day is when all of the 3,000 inhabitants here come out to celebrate the potato. Yes, the potato. Now, that might sound really stupid to some of you city folk, but I'll tell you what! If it weren't for Idaho's potato farmers, we all would be in a world of potatoless hurt! So, each year we faithfully come together to say a collective THANK YOU for the potato. And thank you for the farmers and their families who work the fields and grow the delicious root we all know and love.