one of the prettiest people i know.

meet alexandra.

my roommate and fellow diet coke enthusiast.

she owns more plaid shirts than any one else i've met.

she's graduating in april with a degree in political science, and is heading down south to louisiana in june to teach middle school english.

she's pretty much one of the coolest people i know.

oh, and she likes to read.

oh, and she's smokin (smokin hot, that is).

following boot photo taken by the boy.

following photo posed and taken by the boy.

disclaimer (sort of): 

my boyfriend is the best assistant/second shooter ever. seriously. i made sure to point out the pictures he specifically took himself, but i have to admit that half of these photos (the better half, even) were posed + styled by him. i was so impressed. and so glad to have him around. just thought i'd  give credit where credit is due :)

the week of never before seen photos.

i take a lot of pictures.

a lot.

there are 10,990 photos in my iphoto library alone. which doesn't include the pictures i started to put on my external hard drive.

anyway.

since i obviously have not posted 10,990 photos (and then some) on this blog of mine, that must mean i have lots and lots of fun + awesome pictures that i've been keeping to myself. my dad actually calls me a picture hoarder sometimes...

anyway.

but don't you worry (i know you were thinking about worrying, but don't). all this week i'll be posting never before seen photos. at least never before seen on this blog, because some other people have probably seen them.

like pictures from this wedding that i took in june (yikes) and more of this sweet baby

and to start off the week with a bang, a photo of me and one of my favorite roomies.

this picture was taken saturday.

my roommate asked if i would take some photos of her for her college graduation announcement. yes, i am seriously jealous that she will be graduating in 2 months. even though i should be graduating also. but that post will have to wait for another day.

back to the picture... 

we got to a fun little location that i had seen when i was running the other day (more like months and months ago when i used to exercise, but i say the other day so it sounds like i'm still in shape). it was just me and the roommate at first, and the pictures were turning out wonderful. how could they not? she's a total babe.

then, the boy showed up.

he was going to be my assistant for the day and hold some reflectors and things for me, because all professionals have assistants that hold things. right? only, there was no sun. which meant i had nothing i needed him to hold. and since he wasn't holding anything, he decided to explore while i took pictures.

that's when he found the train.

and decided he needed to climb on top of the train.

he then decided he needed a picture of me climbing on top of the train.

and i decided i needed to take a picture with my roommate on the train.

and somehow that picture that i needed turned into the two of us thinking we are models and doing jana's sassy face, which resulted in this picture.

when i look at it, i can't tell whether i should think it's really cool, or whether i should laugh. maybe i should do both.

thoughts?

i will tell you one thing, it sure is nice dating a boy that knows his way around a fancy camera. you don't find one of those every day (meaning the boy, not the camera).

thanksgiving for two.

dear alexandra's mom,

don't worry. we ate real thanksgiving food.

xoxo.

jana

ps. really though, it was incredibly exciting to make a thanksgiving meal in it's entirety and not ruin anything. alexandra and i were pretty dang proud of ourselves.

baking our first chicken - check.

[don't shower and wash your face in said shower after chopping an onion and rubbing a chicken down with a clove of garlic. probably common sense, but we all make mistakes. mostly me though].

cooking stuffing for the first time - check.

[thanks for the help, dad].

bacon wrapped asparagus. yum.

we finished our thanksgiving off with 44 oz. diet cokes and julie & julia at the dollar movies.

bring it on december.

life is good.

pss. i brought the music back. if it's really annoying and irritating, feel free to tell me. i know the first 3 songs are probably old news, but i've been listening to them over and over again the last few days. in that order too. not sure why.

i almost forgot.

this got me an A on my lighting assignment.

and a date.

[it was a really good date.]

i'm happy to report

that i didn't need an umbrella today.

unlike yesterday when i took these fun pictures of my roommate. [it poured right after we went inside]

really, utah? it's june. if it's not sunny for my birthday on saturday, i might have to fight you.

in happier news, i turned these photos in for my last photography assignment today and my professor told me i need to reapply to the program and major in photography. it made my day :)

xoxo.

jana

dear utah,

i'm so sorry for the short notice, but tomorrow i am moving to california.  it's not you, it's me.  california just has so much to offer: family, the beach, in n' out, to name a few.  i know that you won't be the same without me, and a part of me will miss you too.  mostly because you are still home to my favorite roomie...
it's for the best - i promise.  one day soon i'll be back and we can pick up where we left off.

until then,

jana