whatever

ice ice baby.

All right STOP. Collaborate and listen.

(dorkiest title E V E R but i did listen to that song on my first date with mr. duerksen) 

yesterday i wore a skirt and flip flops.
we woke up this morning to a blanket of ice.
it was wrapped around everything in site.
kansas is going off the deep end!






these are icicles!!
icicles on every branch and leaf and blade of grass.
and it was still raining.






i took all these pictures in my yard while i waited 20 minutes for my car to warm up enough for the ice to melt off the windshield!
SOMEONE took my ice scraper this morning before she left for school even though she got her own ice scraper in her stocking this past christmas... a NICE one with a fur glove from eddie bauer!  

the ice was so thick over all the windows that i couldn't see out AT ALL.

this was my view from the driver's seat out my front windshield!!!

seriously!

and if you have never experienced an ice storm...
it has a very weird sound.
it seems quieter because of how the ice must absorb sound? maybe 
but then all the branches and bits of ice touch together when there is wind and it makes a crackley sound.
and then big tree limbs fall off all over town because of the weight of the ice on old heavy braches.
very exciting!  
not.

for now... we have power so that is good.
this happened 8 years ago when annie was a new baby and we lost power for 8 days!
so i am hoping this ice junk (even though it's pretty) will be all melty by tomorrow.

besides... i have running to do!
that little 13.1 mile run is only 18 days away!
ugh.

i wish it was 18 days ago.
i am ready to stop thinking about it.
i want it over! 

i put bbq ribs in the crockpot this morning.
then drove very slowly to the craft house for a hot bath because the hot water was out at the farm.
for reals.
the washing machine is broken too.
a tree limb knocked down the fence in the yard.
and the glass in the back door shattered last night.
AND for some reason this storm makes everything smell like the lagoon in the back. 

so yeah... a hot bath was happening no matter what.

and now a blanket and a movie?

yes.

that.

 

 

 

 

blue lily is my fave.

hello.

our last day of GoPro we had a session of discussing business plans & ideas, a flash seminar, camera cleaning, personalized critiques (that's a good thing) and two more shoots.

some of our group went up on the gondola and hiked around.
but i could barely walk around the house and up the stairs so i wasn't up for a hike.
i stayed at the house and we practiced on each other and did headshots.  :)






 


i am thinking my editing looks funny on all of these....hmmm.
it's hard to learn something new!


there was a fox that was all around the house during our stay.
he was wild but seemed to really not care that we were there.
we were all very close and he ignored us.
weird.
and cool. 

i promised the girls that if he attacked i would be sure to take lots of pictures of that.
and then of course i would try to help save them. 

 

we had our group photo very impromptu... with some taxidermy.

                                         

coolest group photo ever taken....NO OFFENSE.

 

we went out in the evening to practice some harsh lighting shots.
wendy and tyler had us turn our backs and then when we turned around this is what we saw!


how crazy cute are those masks?!!
so so funny.
these are their kids...not wendy and tyler in the masks.  :)

(ps...their kids are so lovely...i want to squeeze them.)




they said the masks were ordered from amazon.


not as cute on a grown up....

my new friends.  :)

we went on to our last photo shoot of the weekend.
i was so excited.
i was going to be one of the models!!


everyone was helping wendy set up.
it's looking cool already....

well....i don't have many pictures yet since i was IN the shoot....but it ended like this.



that's my kind of modeling job.
 
we had a big paint war!!!

6 of us threw paint on each other while the other 16 people photographed it.
it was washable craft paint mixed with water to make it fly faster. 

it was SO MUCH FUN!!!

and you can see our photo shoot last year with colored powder here.

i can't say which one i liked better....they were both AWESOME. 

you can read about it here on the Blue Lily blog and see when the next GoPro workshop is.

if you are considering going to a workshop....DO IT.
you will learn so much.
you will be encouraged.
you will meet people who love what you love and have great ideas.
you will be SO glad you took the leap and tried something BIG.

and check their travel schedule....they take pictures ALL OVER THE WORLD.
get signed up for a photo session with them near you! 

you will be so happy you did it.

thank you AGAIN wendy & tyler.  
i loved my time with you.

 

last day of summer F U N!!!

i was really ready for school to start but feeling like this summer was missing some FUN.
you know...REAL fun.
i felt tired and busy all summer.
and a bit checked out.
at the store i got the last minute school supplies i had forgotten before and as i grabbed the shaving cream that was on my grocery list...i had the idea.

                                

shaving cream fight.
it's been two years.
we needed to bring it back.

after dinner that night i called them out for a surprise.
i was nervous they were going to think they were too old for it.

           
 


clearly they were not too old for this awesomeness.
well, scott was...but you could tell he really wanted to come out.  
isn't it a bummer to get older and put all these "rules" on yourself?
because are you really ever too old to be in a shaving cream fight?
the answer is no.

       
 



 

 
i keep a few wet rags nearby for when someone gets it on their eye or mouth.
there were no tears this year or fighting.
YAY!!!



        





the yard smelled amazing.

         







waffle really wanted to come out and play.







        

                      





she did throw it at me.
it wiped off my camera.
and i had it all over my shirt....but that is no biggie.


best picture ever!!!



i sent them to the trampoline which was like i told them to get a third scoop of ice cream!
they were so happy.
         









THEN i turned on the sprinkler under the trampoline and they cleaned most of the shaving cream off of them.
they eventually went in one at a time and showered while i sprayed down the deck.

                   

it was the pefect last night of summer activity.
they said so many times how fun it was and how awesome all that shaving cream felt.

smile.

at least we ended on a good note.

goodbye summer.
you were too hot and kind of sucky.....autumn i expect more from you!

my advice today:

GO BUY TEN CANS OF BARBASOL AND TELL YOU KIDS TO GO NUTS!

............................................................................................................................. 

craft weekend post is coming on monday!
did you think i forgot?
no way.... those posts just always have so much goodness they take a long time to write.  :)