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

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! :)

dear worst day ever,

we are so over. please leave and don't come back. i probably shouldn't sever ties without an explanation, so feel free to read the following.

first of all, you're wednesday. AKA hump day. AKA the worst day of the week because nothing good happens on wednesday. no bagel day at work. no good tv shows. no chicken ranch pizza for dinner. nothing.

my camera baby is not functioning correctly. apparently, it's a problem the warranty most likely doesn't cover, and I have to pay to have it fixed. hey family, looks like no one is getting christmas presents. feel free to call nikon and complain; i'm sure they'll listen. also, not only do i have to pay for it, but it will take 4-6 weeks to have it back. sorry to everyone that wanted me to take family christmas pictures... it hurts my heart too.

i can't even make myself feel better by eating something deep fried and smothered in chocolate because i'm doing a cleansing diet with the sister. (it's completely legitimate, i've heard lots of good things about it, and no, i'm not trying to lose 10 lbs. in a week). but today, an un-fed jana is an unhappy jana. however, if I could eat my feelings, i would have one of two things. a. pumpkin spice donuts from krispy kreme. they are TDF (to die for) and literally one of the reasons why i love fall so much. or b. the pumpkin blizzard from dairy queen. no, i haven't had one, but i'm thinking you can't go wrong with pumpkin and ice cream.

my friendship with the mailman is starting to dwindle. really, somedays i used to sit outside and wait for his arrival. i would even jump up and take the mail from him so he didn't have to walk all the way up to the mailbox - he loved it. but for whatever reason, mail from brazil is taking twice as long to get here as it usually does. for example, i was expecting something today and chances are i'll get it next hanukkah. just another reason why i'm not so much a fan of today.

well, the sun will come out tomorrow.

smell ya later wednesday,
jana

dear alameda creek trail,

you and i have been quite the running duo recently. i know that sometimes i stand you up, but i'm trying to be more consistent. and you should know that i fully appreciate the fact that i can always count on you to be there waiting for me. as we met up yesterday for our 6:00 date, i found myself thinking of various letters that i could send out into the universe. this was probably a means of distracting me from the searing pain in my feet (see second letter below). anyway, these letters looked something like this:

dear cute boy on the bike,

you totally checked me out, i could tell. you can say hi next time - i'm nice, i promise.

dear tennis shoes,

thanks for the year of service, but you're starting to lose your edge and should probably be replaced. we've had a good run (no pun intended), but i think it's time to transfer you to the "old shoes I can wear and get dirty" department. don't hate me for trading you in for a newer, sleeker model, but if i postponed our parting any longer i might end up with some serious foot/ankle injuries.

dear man that gave me the running thumbs-up,

you're probably about 35 years older than me and could smoke me on the track (hands down), but i appreciate the support.

dear cute lady walking buddies,

you're cute, and i'm jealous. my running buddy moved to San Francisco, boo.

dear old indian man that scratched his butt,

that was gross... and incredibly awkward.

dear chicken quesadilla that is calling my name from home,

i'm coming! 3. more. miles...

well, trail, that's all. i just wanted to give you a little shout out so you would feel the love.

see you tonight. i'll wear something special, just for you.

love always,

jana

dear madisyn,

you quite possibly may be the cutest 7-month-old that I know. really, if my little girls are half as sweet and beautiful as you i will consider myself extremely lucky. it was so fun spending time with you; you are a natural in front of the camera! thanks for understanding when all my camera batteries were dead and for coming back again the next day - wasn't it worth it?

tell your mom I'll hurry editing the rest of these and i'll mail them to her next week; i just wanted to give you guys a sneak peek to hold you over until they get there.  hope you like them!

in case you were wondering how you got so cute - here's why!



call me when you're back in december! (actually, have your mom call me.)

love,

jana

dear person that dropped their candy wrapper in the stairwell,

seriously?

first of all, i consider it quite awesome that my place of employment offers an assortment of hard candies to guests of the office. im so glad that you decided to display your appreciation in the form of littering.

as i was taking the mail down today, i saw your discarded Jolly Rancher wrapper and thought to myself, "i suppose that did originate in my office; i should probably do the right thing and dispose of it properly." i quickly regretted these feelings of environmentalism (or whatever you would like to call it) as i picked up this moist wrapper which was covered in, you guessed it, your saliva. now, i am all for the convenience of opening wrapped candies with my mouth, but then again, i also throw away my own wrappers. so next time you decide to leave your trash for me to pick up, make sure you open it with your hands.

with sincere disgust,
jana

p.s. on my way back up the stairs i found another wrapper you, or one of your wrapper-dropping friends, so inconsiderately left for me. i seriously hesitated picking it up, but thought what the heck - my fingers are already infested with your germs. thank goodness for hand sanitizer.

dear san francisco,

i heart you.  i really do.  sometimes i forget how much i do until it has been a while since we have seen each other, but usually it only takes a few minutes with you to refresh my memory. this weekend my mom and I decided to visit you - ride our bikes around the city and watch the blue angels fly. unfortunately, it wasn't the greatest reunion for the two of us.  mom's bike got a flat tire, followed quickly by me taking a graceful spill off of mine.  don't worry - you're not to blame, and no serious injuries were sustained.

luckily, we met up with ryan, melissa, and the boys and it was smooth sailing from there. 

jack was plugging his ears in 99% of the pictures i took.  jets are loud.
and every time i would take a picture close-up he would say something cute instead of cheese like "i love my jana."  hence, his mouth being open.
probably my two favorite pictures of the day.  love nate's bum shot.



yes, my sister-in-law is a total babe.  love you melissa!


i was so surprised nate didn't just dive into that thing.  we love you mr. ghiradelli.

pizza and crab-filled ravioli. yum.
the bump on the left is a lot bigger in real life.  and the ouchie on the right hurts a lot more in real life.
hope to see you soon san francisco..  maybe next time we'll drive.

with love,

jana

p.s.  i'm loving my nikon baby.  only one of these pictures was at all photoshopped.  bet you can't guess which one.