Monday, November 24, 2008

dear thanksgiving,

i know it may not seem like it, but you really are one of my favorite holidays. it makes sense - i love fall, lots of food and any kind of pumpkin desserts. but mostly, i think it is so so important to remember all of our many blessings. however, with christmas right on your heels, i tend to get pretty excited and begin planning the christmas party and listening to holiday tunes before you've even come, as hard as i try not to. so this year, instead of neglecting you and then feeling bad, like i usually do, i decided to compile a list of 100 things that i am grateful for. so thank you, thanksgiving, for the push in the right direction.

here it is, in no particular order:

1. the gospel
2. family
3. good food
4. camera warranties
5. an income
6. missionaries
7. mail
8. friends
9. running shoes
10. cheap gas
11. gyms that stay open 24 hours
12. good health
13. the boy
14. all of his ridiculous phrases
15. christmas songs
16. pumpkin spice donuts
17. the magazine rack at barnes and noble
18. marthastewart.com
19. quesadillas with avocado
20. a warm bed
21. the scriptures
22. the prophet
23. redbox
24. blogs
25. photography
26. nieces and nephews
27. the nursery
28. the temple
29. wonderful sisters-in-law
30. dad's homemade rolls
31. naps
32. walmart
33. football
34. that it doesn't snow in California
35. the beach
36. crunchy fall leaves
37. my new green coat
38. bare essentials make-up
39. prayer
40. the plan of salvation
41. strangers that say nice things
42. paper products
43. rain
44. sunflowers
45. ben & jerry
46. prop 8 passing
47. education
48. fishnet tights
49. the office
50. my i-pod
51. my macbook
52. the geniuses at apple, pretty much
53. paid vacation
54. the christmas dinner to look forward to
55. egg nog
56. movie quotes
57. the candy bowl at work
58. mom's recipes
59. snippet & ink
60. in n' out
61. fall weather
62. hairspray
63. panera mondays
64. family history
65. hershey's limited edition candy cane hugs
66. sales
67. adobe photoshop
68. lists
69. hope
70. patriarchal blessings
71. midnight showings of movies
72. airplanes
73. twinkle lights
74. oversized christmas trees
75. wicked coming to san francisco
76. sunday walks
77. any reason for boysenberry cobbler and homemade ice cream
78. burt's bees chapstick
79. grammatically correct sentences
80. the boy knowing the difference between then and than
81. facebook
82. caramel apple cider from starbucks
83. just less than 6 months
84. leftovers
85. nertz
86. sincere compliments
87. books
88. babies that don't spit up
89. pedicures
90. the grinch movie
91. ashley's grinch impressions
92. pictures in my inbox today
93. charcoal drawings
94. handmade furniture
95. water filters
96. chinese chicken salad from costco
97. the troops
98. democracy
99. personal inspiration
100. creativity

you should try it. it's certainly hard to have a bad day when you realize all that you have to be thankful for.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

dear lizzie,

you sure are cute. we like you a lot. you like to steal our food and you go crazy for candy. don't tell your parents i sneak it to you so you'll like me best.


you know lots of animal noises and you like to tickle us. your scary roar is getting pretty good too.

you have pretty cute parents (mostly your mom). 
you're nice to most people. you like your dad a lot, but i think you like grandpa more. probably because he lets you drink dr. pepper.
sometimes you can be a little sassy, but it's usually funny, so we forgive you. except that one time i was trying to change your diaper and you were being a little stinker (literally). trust me liz, neither of us wanted to be there.
sometimes you get really confused. like you'll kiss my feet because i tell you thank you and you think it makes me happy. or you think car keys are q-tips and try to clean your ears with them. it's funny.
pretty much, we think you're the coolest.
love you lots girlfriend girlfriend,
auntie jana

p.s. i'll spread the word that for christmas you would like a baby brother, just like you told me.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

dear scrapbooking,

oh how neglected you have been.

remember when we first met? i was in 6th grade and i wanted to document my first trip to disneyland. wasn’t that album horrible? now that i think about it, it was probably pretty good for a 12-year-old. i don’t even think i have it anymore.

we went on a break for a little while, then rekindled our relationship when my mom bought us all those stamps. why did she do that anyway? we should ask her. anyway, i actually think i spent more time that year making cards than with you, but hey, it’s all the name of paper crafts.

hey, scrapbooking, remember that time we didn’t sleep for two days straight so i could make enough pages i liked to send into that contest? that was actually a lot of fun, even though we didn’t win anything.

i’m sorry for this hiatus in our relationship. i suppose sometimes i just feel like the events in my life right now aren’t scrapbook-worthy. but i have a feeling that in a few years i might look back and wish that you and i had spent more time together.

so what do you say? date night this week?

love,
jana

p.s. here are some memories of our happier times.




Wednesday, November 5, 2008

dear sister obama,

congrats on the hubby winning the presidency.

and sorry about the serious fashion mishap which everyone keeps making fun of... including me, right now.

maybe you could call sarah palin for some advice.

better luck next time,

jana

Monday, November 3, 2008

would anyone be interested...

in a photo session?

i haven't decided if photography is something i am planning on doing professionally, but it is something that i am loving right now. so much, in fact, that i'm even considering applying to the photography program when i go back to BYU, just so i can keep learning.

i originally thought that having a nice camera and knowing how to use it would be something i would really value, especially once i have kids of my own. however, recently i have had a few people ask how much i "charge" and i was a little thrown off thinking that people think my pictures are nice enough to pay for them. at first, i shyed away from the idea, thinking that i had so much to learn before i could even consider charging for pictures, but i'm beginning to feel like it would be a really good opportunity for me to gain some experience and see if this is something i would be interested in pursuing, while offering families inexpensive photos at the same time.

so here it is:
- a 1-2 hour photo session at the location of your choice (preferably close)
- along with 30-50 EDITED photos from the session - yours to keep!
- at a price that you think is reasonable

it will hopefully only be a few weeks before my camera is back in action, so the pictures would be ready just in time for christmas! feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail(janalaurene@gmail.com) if you're at all interested, have any questions, or would like to tell me that i'm ridiculous.. any feedback is good feedback! :)