Catching up...

Wow. I've got a lot to say tonight. And a TON of pictures to share.

First, let me just tell you about my internet woes. I live in a community that is all on some sort of network for our internet. I don't know how it works, just that it does. Well, back when we were having all the crazy storms- (it's been dry for a few days now!)-something got struck by lightning or something. I don't know. Anyway, it affected the internet throughout the community. I've had really, REALLY limited internet availability for a while now. But, I think (keeping my fingers crossed) that I'll be able to get this blog updated tonight!

Second, I just want to thank everyone for all the encouraging comments from a couple posts ago. I take some sort of comfort in knowing that I'm not the only mom with these crazy control issues and irrational fears. It really does mean a lot to me that so many of you were willing to pipe up & share your own personal experiences with me. Everyone always says to trust your mom instincts. Well, in situations like this, when you KNOW you're being irrational, it's hard to stop yourself from thinking, "well, maybe this IS my mom instinct telling me I shouldn't go." You know what I mean? So, to hear that MANY of you have felt like this, gone anyway, and come back safe...it makes me feel better. :-) So, thanks a bunch for that!!!

Third, I'd like to tell you a little about my trip (which is coming up INSANELY quickly!) We'll be going to stay with my parents in the fairly large city where they live in China. While we're there, my parents have some friends that would like me to do shoots for them! I'm SOOOO looking forward to this! One of them is a young couple that was recently married. I'll be doing formal wedding photos for them, and I'm SO, SO, SO excited! I've got my mom scoping out locations. Of course she'll look for the nice, flowery parks that compliment wedding portraits well, but I've also asked her to look for urban locations out on the streets, in allies, etc! I CAN'T wait for this!!! I think it's gonna be the BEST time! The second shoot that we've set up is for a beautiful young woman named Annie. I love doing shoots for adults that can HOLD STILL! Haha! I'm so used to preschoolers & toddlers that move at the speed of light. So, I'm really looking forward to this one, as well. I'll have to stalk Anna Jones' Indie Art Blog for inspiration over the next few days!

We'll also be spending some time in the countryside in a couple small villages. Though this is one of the roughest parts of the trip for me just because there's no Western food (haha!) or all the luxuries I'm used to, I know this will be one of the most enjoyable parts. On my first visit, it really helped to put my life into perspective. Just wait. Just wait for the photographs. The countryside is just AMAZING, and the people are beautiful.

Okay, well...I guess I should get on with this post, right!?! If this hadn't been a smorgasbord of a post, I would have titled it with some smart comment about my neighbor & best little friend, Jenny. You see, Jenny has been HOUNDING me for a week or so now about not being mentioned on my blog. She & I have an interesting relationship...ask anyone who knows us as an entity.

We've lived in the same community for almost 5 years now. (She came one year after us.) But, for some crazy reason, we didn't become friends until a year ago this August/September. And, well, I'm sure our coworkers, neighbors & acquaintances are grateful that they had 4 years of peace! Haha! Jenny & I just clicked. Like, perfectly. I'll just go through a quick list of the things that make me love her. Ready?

• We have the same crazy, warped sense of humor.
  
• The girl LOVES to eat & is unashamed about it. (I do, too.) :-) (How many women try to be prim & proper when you go out to eat with them? I LOVE that Jenny puts on no masks. What you see is what you get with her.)


• We both love Ikea. No, I mean LOVE, love. Haha!


• We can say pretty much anything to each other and no offense is taken. (You know how you can joke & jest with family, throw sarcasm back & forth, and nobody takes it the wrong way? Well, I've never had a friend that I could do that with, but Jenny IS that girl. I tell her ALL the time that she's embarrassing [if you saw her dance in Old Navy, you'd agree!] She truly is embarrassing, but she makes me laugh so much. And, me telling her that she's embarrassing doesn't bother her one bit. In fact, I think it makes her act even more outrageously just to get a rise out of me! I wouldn't change her one bit, though...I do enjoy every minute of her company. I should throw out, too, that she brings out my goofy side. It's just less goofy than hers! Haha!)


• She and her husband Jack have such high integrity. I trust them both so completely.


• We share the same morals & standards when it comes to parenting our children. We're on the same page. I've always appreciated Jenny's honesty when we talk about being mothers. It's a hard gig. I mean, it is obviously so, so, so rewarding, but you hear all that stuff all the time. It's rare that you can find someone to really talk with about your struggles, your weaknesses, your concerns about your own parenting. It's so reassuring to know that another mother that I admire and have always admired is human and real. Don't get me wrong, she is one of THE. BEST. mothers I know. But she doesn't pretend that things are peachy keen in the parenting world at all times, you know? I know I've met my fair share of mothers that pretend all is always perfect in their homes, with their kiddos, etc. You've GOT to know what I mean, right? While I admire mothers that play the June Clever role perfectly, it can be somewhat discouraging talking with them. It only makes me feel worse about myself because I KNOW I struggle now & again. Okay, okay...more frequently than that, really.


• She's always so willing to validate my feelings, to listen, to comfort. I hope I do the same for her.


• We can talk on the phone for hours at a time, day after day. As a grown woman, I never thought I'd make a friend that I could talk to like that. I don't know...I guess I just thought I'm old enough now that if I don't already have a friend like that, I never will. But, ask our husbands...we are OUT of control!

Man, talk about out of control. This list is out of control!!! There's more I can say. Tons more. But, I'll make myself stop. I've got lots more to say in this post, so I've GOT to stop.

The other thing about Jenny is that she has a sweet little son named Anson. Anson happens to be just a couple weeks older than Emma. Emma & Anson are BEST friends. I think they "get" each other, too! Haha! These two have just as much in common, I think. Let's just say they can both be...ummm...hmmm...how to put this? Crankola! No, really...they both can pitch some wicked fits. And, they're both introverted, so they understand & respect each other's need for time alone. Ha! I love to watch them play together. Fun times.

There's a second little one in that family. Her name is Alana, and she'll be two in October. This kid is just stinkin' cute. Poor little thing...I think she's been spending too much time with Jenny & I because she is getting sassier & sassier every day! Haha! She's FULL of personality. I just love her. And, well, she most definitely won my heart the first time her sweet little voice spoke my name. Oftentimes, she spouts it out in the middle of a string of sassiness, but that makes it even cuter! My girls love her, and I think she loves them, too, though they share a collective name of "Emma." (I wonder if she realizes there's two of them! Haha!)

Anyway, last summer Jenny & her family moved to our block. Now we're neighbors! Like, a 30-second-walk neighbors. Bwahahahaha!!! (<-----That's my mischievous laugh!) I've always LOVED where I live, but now I love it even more! We live on the best block. There are five other houses on our block besides mine & Jenny's. One is empty right now, but of the other four, I would trust each & every neighbor totally & completely with my children. That's HUGE because that means my kids get to go outside & play & ride their bikes & run around just like in the "good ol' days." (We also live in a gated community, so no random strangers driving around.) Anyway, that also means tons of fun for our families. So, last night, Jenny & I & the kiddos spent the last hour before sunset out on the block. Oh, another fun thing about Jenny...she's learning photography now, too! That's WAY exciting for me! So, the kids played & acted like maniacs, and Jenny & I chased them around with our cameras. :-) I've got a BILLION shots to share with you. I just love the candid-ness of these. They seem very real to me...nothing glamorous. It's just a day in the life of our kiddos. I feel so very blessed to live here & to have a great family as neighbors...this is a day I'm so glad I captured. :-)

Maya with the bug catcher.
Another thing about Alana...she's mischievous. She spots her brothers abandoned bike. Yeah...she's truckin' that way just as fast as she can. :-)
Climbin' on up. (I wish I hadn't chopped her toes!)

This is Anson. SUCH a handsome little guy!

The little gang minus Alana. LOVE this!
I think they were laughing at something silly that little Alana was doing. Look at those faces! But, again, I chopped her feet. I was snapping fast because a face like that doesn't last long, so my composition is definitely lacking. Ah well...
Anson waiting for the girls. :-)

Funny story here. Well, kinda funny. Emma is sitting at the top of a slight little hill here. You see, she's got some fears about going down this little hill. And, with good reason. Last summer, the first time we let her ride her bike around the block, she was a little over zealous. She was riding quite a bit ahead of us, and as we approached this little hill, Curt & I realized that she probably didn't know how to brake. We started yelling at her to slow down, but she kept peddling just as fast as she could. Well...we live on top of a hill. This little hill is also the corner of the block. If you don't make the turn, you go over the curb & down the hill via the rock garden. Do you see where this is going? Yep. Emma didn't make the turn.

So, we've since gone around this block on the bike multiple times. I had to really walk her through it the first few times, but she did just fine. Well, Emma tends to be high drama. In this particular moment, she was not wanting to go down the incline & around the corner. I was sitting on the curb at the corner trying to just get her to go already. I was there, I would make sure she didn't go down the hill, but she wanted more. She wanted me to get up & walk her around the corner holding the handle bars. Well, I wasn't doing that, so she was pouting. (See picture below!)

Here's where the story gets kinda funny and a little neurotic. See, Jenny & I (me more than her, I think) like to dream of the day that my Emma & her Anson fall in love & get married. Yes, yes, I know it sounds crazy. I'm not trying to marry her off or anything. It's just, you know...how fun would it be if your child married your best friend's child? Wouldn't that be just THE BEST!?! So, yeah, it's just innocent little fun. Well, Jenny is always trying to win my girls over. She's already won them over, but she just keeps at it...giving them treats, coddling them, whatev. When she (Jenny) saw that I wasn't going to go walk the pouting Emma around the corner by the handle bars, she hopped up to do it claiming that Emma would remember this. Thus, she (Jenny) would get the grandkids more than me! My response to that - I know what kind of wicked fits Emma & Anson can throw. Can you imagine what their kid would be like!?! Bwahahahaha!!! She can have 'em! (Okay, okay...I'm SOOO kidding about this. Really.) See...this is what I'm talking about. I can say such atrocious, horrendous things to Jenny about our potential grandkids all in good fun, and she isn't appalled. (I would never, EVER feel this way about our grandkids should it really happen!) Aww...what a great mother-in-law. Haha!

LOVE this one, too! She looks like the little girl from Monster's Inc., doesn't she!?! (Wish I hadn't chopped her toes again.)












That is definitely a DONE with pictures face!
And...I'm done, too! You all should just know it has taken me HOURS to upload this post! Yes, it took me forever to type all this out, but it's taken me even longer to get my internet to cooperate for all these pictures. Plus, I'm super nervous that when I actually go to publish my post, somethings gonna go wonky, and I'll lose it all!