Nothin But The Water

It seems like good live performers are hard to come by these days. But, Grace Potter.... her recordings do not do her justice.

Listen to this and be blown away. 

She's incredible.

One day, when I grow up, I want to sing like her.

Lately, I've Been Going Crazy

I can't get enough of this song. Still.



Listen. And, love.

Little Reminders

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I stumbled upon (literally stumbled upon... have you tried stumbleupon? Try it.) this list the other day. 45 Lessons Written By A 90 Year Old. I didn't love all 45, so I'm sharing the 41 that I did like. I'd say the 90 year old author of these knows what he's talkin' about.

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short not to enjoy it.

4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.

5. Don’t buy stuff you don’t need.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. Save for things that matter.

9. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

10. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

11. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

12. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

13. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

14. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

15. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful.  Clutter weighs you down in many ways.

16. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

17. It’s never too late to be happy.  But it’s all up to you and no one else.

18. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

19. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

20. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

21. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

22. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

23. Frame every so-called disaster with these words, ‘In five years, will this matter?’

24. Always choose Life.

25. Forgive but don’t forget.

26. What other people think of you is none of your business.

27. Time heals almost everything. Give Time time.

28. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

29. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

30. Believe in miracles.

31. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

32. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

33. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.

34. Your children get only one childhood.

35. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

36. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

37. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d
grab ours back.

38. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have, not what you think you need.

39. The best is yet to come…

40. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

41. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

While I was reading these, it reminded me of my Grandpa. He hasn't had the best of health the last 10 years, mainly suffering with Alzheimer's. Most recently (2 weeks ago) was diagnosed with cancer. Yesterday we found out he has about 5-7 days left. This will be the first grandparent I have lost. I honestly thought it wouldn't be so hard to loose a grandparent. I don't know why I ever thought that, but I did. Losing a loved one is a hard thing.

Because my grandpa hasn't had much to say the past few years, I am thinking of these 41 lessons as lessons being from my own grandpa. Pretty sure he'd add one more in there that says "when in doubt, farm" (umm, I'll never farm).

I think it's always good to have little reminders like these. Even if it's hard.

She's Kind of a Big Deal

Right now my lil' sis is in the process of deciding which University she is going to play basketball for. How did she even get this old? She's got a lot of great options to choose from. Flying all over the place, meeting teams and coaches. Basically just being the big deal that she is.

Check her out:


Basically, Amy Harris is going to be an even bigger deal soon.

I Love What I Do, I Do What I Love

I definitely haven't blogged in a looooong time. Oops!  So many things have happened. Probably. One for sure being that I got a new job back in February. I'm working at a photography studio in Orem. And... it takes up a lot of time! The hours aren't typical hours, so it's really all I've been doing. Especially working all day Saturdays. Horrifying, I know. Oh well. I'm getting over it.  For now at least.

Image of Evan and Sky from tonights engagement session!

Why am I blogging today? Because I love what I do. At work, I take pictures of a lot of kids, families, and missionaries. Yes, it's fun for sure. But, I'm stuck in a studio the entire time. Part of my passion in photography is the new and creative things I get to do - outside. I've gotten a lot bit down lately in the photography area of life lately because it's hard to find my passion for it when I'm stuck in a studio. There are no new things to do, it's just the same routine thing. Over and over again. Which, is fine. But I began rethinking my desire to pursue photography as a career. My own thing - not my current job. I haven't been loving photography like I used to. And it started to make me sad.

But then tonight happened.

I was able to take my cousins engagement pictures tonight. I got to do what I wanted, and I absolutely loved every minute of it. It's one of those things that gets the heart warm and fuzzy and you can actually feel your love for what you are doing. I love showing pictures to those I photograph and see the excitement and emotion they have. Right now, there is no greater feeling than that. (probably because I'm not in love and all that... hmm)

I still have sooo much to learn with this art, but I seriously am in love with what I do. So I'll keep doing what I love.

Now I'm In Trouble

After Devin's funeral, his family had SO many plants that their house looked like a nursery. So they gave me one.

Rewind to last summer when Devin had given me marriage advice AND a marriage deadline. Read about the hysterical details here:

Where Devin finds it necessary to give me marriage advice AND a deadline.

Where Devin finds it necessary to start praying for me - because I'm not married.

So the last time I received pressure from him, he kindly extended my deadline, for the third time, to March 16th. Well, that was about a week ago and... there was no wedding.

Now fast forward to the plant his parents gave me at his funeral. On March 17th, it started looking like this:

Coincidence that it starts dying the day after his deadline?

Maybe.

Devin being disappointed with me?

Probably.

the one that got away

A couple years ago, I dated this guy. Shocker, I know. He was even a guy who met the family which is a rare thing for me. His family knew one of my uncles and his family which kept things a bit interesting - being questioned even more so (which I absolutely hate being questioned about boys I date. Drives me insane.)

Things didn't work out with said boy - clearly.

Now boy is getting married, which is great. I still think he is great and couldn't be happier for him.

Wedding announcements arrives in the mail. Cute. Aunt and Uncle get theirs too. But there's goes missing...

Turns out my cousin who is in 6th grade threw it away. "If he isn't marrying Sarah, then we will NOT be going to his wedding. He's marrying the wrong girl."

I'm over it, but I guess my cousin isn't...

And I absolutely love him for that. My little protector.