We have been talking bout making this card for a few years now… and it finally came together this year, YAY! Todd is amazing with Photoshop! Cards will go out in the mail tomorrow, weeeee 
December 22, 2011
Merry Christmas From Our Family To Yours! 2011
November 25, 2011
Thanksgiving 2011 ~ Some Favorite Holiday Recipes
This year we are having two Thanksgivings, one with family and one with friends! The one with family (yesterday) was great, we had a delicious Turkey feast, and visited with family at Todd’s moms house. I made clam dip, some delicious cranberry sauce, and a Hershey’s Boston Cream Pie (with the help of my 7 year old that loves to bake) that turned out better than I thought it would. Our friend holiday party will be tomorrow and I plan to make some carrot cake, + round two of cranberry sauce, as well as a yummy apple cider, maple glazed turkey, YUM!! So I am going to share and link to recipes in this blog post.
Homemade Cranberry Sauce:
One Cup Orange Juice
One Cup Sugar
12oz pkg of fresh cranberries.
Dissolve sugar in orange juice over medium heat, add cranberries, and cook or about 10 min. until they start to pop (skin breaks). At this point, you can add any optional ingredients. I added blueberries, pecans and a little bit of allspice. Chill in fridge, sauce should thicken. Serve with turkey, mmmm! Optional: Pecans, orange zest, raisins, currants, blueberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice.
.
I didn’t get a picture of the Boston Cream Pie, There is a good one on their website along with the recipe at the following link: http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/5005/All-Chocolate-Boston-Cream-Pie.aspx
Everyone loved it, and I am pretty sure it is a new family favorite It is super rich, so small servings go a long way.
.
For the Clam Dip, I used my mom’s recipe… not sure where she got it, but it was definitely one of my favorites for the holidays during my childhood.
1-2 Cups Cottage Cheese
4-8 oz Cream Cheese
2-3 TBSP Grated Onion
4-5 TBSP Mayo
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 – 1 can Clams
1-2 Large Minced Garlic Cloves
.
Maple Roast Turkey and Gravy
I am going to try this recipe from allrecipes and will let you know how it goes
.
Apple Cider
I used 3 parts Apple Juice (I like fresh home made apple juice)
1 part water
Lemon Zest
Small slice fresh Ginger
Several cloves (too many will make it taste bitter)
Cinnamon sticks
Simmer apple juice, water, and spices (except for the cinnamon stick) for 15 min. Pour through a small strainer, or pick out chunks of spices.
.
.
Candied Pecans:
Pecans, 1 egg white, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 TBSP Cinnamon, pinch of allspice, 1 tsp salt
Add egg white into bowl. Mix sugar, cinnamon, allspice and salt in a separate bowl. Roll pecans in egg white, and then sugar mixture. Place onto greased pan, and back at 250 F for 55 min stirring every 15-20 minutes.
.
Sweet Potato Casserole: http://southernfood.about.com/od/sidedishcasseroles/r/bl90911u.htm
.
Last but not least, I am going to make Carrot Cake, I am going to try the recipe from this blog: http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com/2011/01/07/the-best-carrot-cake-recipe-ever/
It looks delicious!! UPDATE: It was fantastic!!
November 4, 2011
Bella, Our New Little YorkiePoo Puppy :)
She is pretty cute! She is a Yorkshire terrier/poodle mix. Bella is super soft, cuddly, fluffy, and friendly… loves us and the girls so much already, and we love her too. Todd and I are spending every second with her around the house (while outside of her kennel) making sure she stays potty trained to the outdoors. *I will keep this post updated with cute pictures and stories.
Here is a little video of her playing with my daughter:
12-2011 Bella got her first stylin haircut I didn’t like the boxy chin, so I cut it off when we got home, hehe. She seems so much littler now… I kinda miss her fluffy hair… we might get it styled a little different in the future, plus her hair on her ears and tail will be longer for the next time too.
An updated pic (17 weeks old):
01-2012 I decided to do an oil painting of Bella (pic to the left)…. she looks a little mad, LOL. She doesn’t look mad at all in the picture I used to paint from!
02-2012 We recently had her spayed, so now she is wearing a plastic cone for 10 days… its been tough keeping her calm. She wants to run around and play! You can tell its been a while since we had her groomed… she is getting super fluffy
September 14, 2011
The Green Smoothie Craze
So my brother and sister-in-law, Nate & Stephanie, introduced us to green smoothies not too long ago… and I was amazed that you can put spinach in a fruit smoothie and not taste it, GENIUS!! Todd and I went with Stephanie to a “Green Smoothie Girl” free class, and it was awesome… there were actually quite a few people there, and I also found out I have several friends already into it. This is all starting to remind me of the juicer craze in the 90′s, LOL.
This is me demonstrating how to make a green smoothie (hehehe):
Todd and I recently noticed that we pretty much eat meat every day, and started looking for ways to add vegetarian meals to our eating lifestyle. It’s a super good thing too, because, you can’t argue with the fact that the typical diet of Americans today is why our cancer and diseases are off the charts. Who knew that it could be as simple as changing our diets an exercise. Wait a minute, everyone knows that, right? LOL. I think it is one of those things where you can be told, but just because you know, doesn’t mean you have had a spiritual awakening about it. And really, unless you have watched some of those food movies, you wouldn’t know that they are pumping chickens full of hormones, offsetting their balance so they can’t even walk and raising them in the dark their whole life, treating them horribly because at that point they are not looked at as a living animal, but a piece of meat. Even after knowing this, I still eat meat… and I think its an addiction.
After starting the green smoothies (one or two a day), I noticed an immediate change what what I want to eat. Not only that, but I think my body has started detoxing and I have been lightheaded for about 3 days now. I hear it goes on for about a week, and some people go back to their old eating habits because of it… but I want to stick it out. I look forward to loosing weight and having more energy. Plus the thought of being healthier and lowering my chances of future disease sounds incredibly awesome. I am glad I found this now, and not any later in my life. Hope to be one of those grandmas alive and kicking at 90 years old, hehe.
Our girls also love smoothies! Here is a shot of them about to drink a smoothie on the way to school…
Here are some inspirational food quotes:
“The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.” -Thomas Edison
…“Our food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food.” – Hippocrates
…“Those who think they have no time for healthy eating, will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” – Edward Stanley
Todd and I will be working on a whole green smoothie stock photography series… here is a shot I took today:
August 31, 2011
Eric and Zoey’ Beautiful Wedding & Family ~ August 26th 2011
Todd and I took a quick trip up to Seattle to shoot my brothers wedding last weekend. We spent the first few days at their house, and then the wedding night at the Salish Lodge and Spa which was awesome. I love my family in Seattle… It was great visiting with them, and the wedding was absolutely gorgeous. We also got to meet our new little nephew Skyler (5 months old), who I could not stop taking photos of! What an adorable, happy baby!
Eric and Zoey getting married (August 26th 2011) at the Salish Lodge & Spa in Washington
Bridal shot of Zoey, just before she is about to walk down the aisle:
And some family shots..
Skyler:
My nephew Aedon and their lucky dog (so loved), hehe
My gorgeous nieces Hannah, Roxy and Elvis:
July 25, 2011
iStock Minilypse ~ BTS of the “Bettalypse 2011″
I have run several other “minlypse“ events in the past (pretty much one ever year since 2006). We have worked with hundreds of models, amazing makeup artists, wicked talented designers, etc. Some of the locations we have shot at in Utah are Saltair, the Alta Lodge, a mortuary, the downtown Library, business offices, the Salt Flats, a court room, and the Utah Arts Alliance. And then there was Hawaii at the Byodo-In Temple, the North Shore, and a sunset sail! Some of the concepts we have included are devils and angels, skateboarding, vintage circus, business, winter sports, and that is just to name a few.
This year, we have decided to make our minilypse event more artsy by transforming our basement into several different photography sets including large foam gears for steampunk, a fashion set, a spaceship, + zombies and monsters! We will have stocky family shoots going on in our home upstairs, and all the artsy stuff going on downstairs. In order to pull this off, we had to create a makeup room in the basement for all the artists, hair stylists and models, etc. Photographers coming to this event had to be exclusive contributors to iStockphoto with a certain amount of Vetta files (top notch work!). I can hardly wait to see the images that will come from this event!
First, we will start with the BTS shots of us preparing for the event 
Large Foam Gears
Half way through his project, I looked over at my husband and thought (out loud) we are so random, haha. I mean, who wakes up one day and thinks… lets make some gigantic gears out of foam! It turns out that foam props are ridiculous expensive, so the only way to make this happen is to make them ourselves anyways. And it was a great idea, the gears are turning out really cool. Here are some photos:
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
(slideshow will include gear images + all other images I am using this post)
We were super excited to see how it translated on camera… so here is a quick shot of Todd wearing steampunk goggles holding an antique blow torch…
Steampunk Hat
If you try to buy things like this online, you might pay something like $200! Top hats are expensive, and so are the gears & goggles, etc. I put this together for around $90-$100 bucks…
Makeup Room
In order to host an event like this, we needed a room where models could get ready! There is no way that 50+ people over the weekend could get their hair and makeup done in my little bathroom, lol. So we converted a room in the basement on a budget with $2 2x4s, 2 $20 closet mirrors off of KSL, and some discontinued track lighting. Then we decorated with a little paint, curtains and poster that we had lying around. It looks great! I am glad that Todd just happen to be great working with wood.. he will be building two changing rooms that we will wrap with fabric some time today. Here are some pictures:
SPFX Artist Chris Hanson
We are just plain lucky to get the chance to work with Chris Hanson… he is a wicked talented artist who works on movie sets and usually much bigger jobs than our little event. In the picture below, he is sculpting an alien prosthetic for our spaceship shoot!! A M A Z I N G!!
Wardrobe and Artist Rachael Domingo
Anything Rachael does is gold… she will be creating a fashion set, bringing in her wardrobe designs and is currently making aliens to bring as well. This is going to be the coolest weekend ever, lol.
Update: The event was a success!!! What an awesome collaboration of art!!
Here are a few of the BTS shots of the event:
Some of my final shots…
July 7, 2011
Todd + Renee Sitting In A Tree… K I S S I N G! ~Happy Anniversary Love!
It is our one year anniversary tomorrow on 07-07-2011. One year ago, we were in Belano Italy, staying in a hotel named Hotel Horrid, haha. This last year has been amazing… and we have accomplished so much together. Todd is an awesome person, husband, and such a wonderful daddy to our girls. He spends time with us every day, listens, is compassionate, loving, caring. supportive… you name it! He kisses me every night before bed, and still opens the door for me too, so cute, hehe. I am really happy, and life just keeps getting better and better!
My gift to Todd (one day early) was a saxophone along with a dozen red roses. Its amazing how life can change so quickly… one minute we were non instrument people, and now we are constantly practicing and our house has become loud & noisy, hehe. We plan to create a band one day, and maybe play in the streets for fun. I can’t wait until we are good enough to jam together. I am working on learning the violin and soon, the Djembe drum.
I plan on taking some couple photos of ourselves every year on our anniversary, so I will update this post within the next few days.
July 5, 2011
4th of July 2011
Todd has the most wonderful family, and we usually get together for all holidays, birthdays, and special occasions. I love them all!
Here are pics from our 4th of July party 2011:
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
And a cute video…
May 7, 2011
Our Move to Utah County
It is beautiful out here, and we absolutely love it… I feel so lucky to wake up in such a beautiful family in such an amazing house, with such a beautiful view! The old house in the Avenues was really great while we were there… and it was fun to entertain in, but it was ultimately too dark for my taste. Fortunately, our new place is so bright… and all of my plants are super happy. It feels like a dream! I am hoping we can buy the place one day. We had so much stuff to move, and it was so exhausting, I never want to move again… and why would I want to live anywhere else, check out the view!! Hopefully we will have a nice big swing set sitting in that back yard within the next few weeks.
During our move I noticed that we kept collecting certain items over and over… from things that we needed, had bought before, but couldn’t find. Those items included light bulbs, and lemonade (boxes of packets from Costco, lol), and there is more, but I can’t remember what they were. We had SO much stuff… I think we are officially hoarding (lol), and I really need to go through everything as we unpack. We are so thankful to all of family and friends who came over to help us move, even in the snowy, cold weather… seriously, couldn’t have done it with out you. I hope we can be there for you as much as you were there for us!
Our first big purchase was a lawn mower, because it ends up being cheaper doing it yourself in the long run. Fortunately, I have built up my credit enough to charge it on some Home Depot credit, haha. I had to make sure to get one that my 11 year old could use. Todd taught her how to do it, and by the time I came out to help, she was a pro. We took turns mowing the backyard, although she hardly let me handle it because she was having so much fun. We filled up 7 bags of grass, and managed to get it thrown out on garbage pickup day. Come to find out, everyone just dumps it in the back desert area behind the houses, lol. One day we will have a 4 wheeler to ride out there… maybe for Christmas? hehe.
I have been planning to take some stock images, but we have been super busy unpacking, and working on a big commercial client body paint shoot. I free handed a pattern that was a lot harder than it looked. For a while, I wasn’t sure if I was going to get through it… but I did good enough, and the rest will be fixed in post. They said, they might want to fly us out to Chicago to do it again, but we will see. They would have to pay a lot of money for that, lol.
Our first big family party will be next week for my daughters 7th birthday party… so we are super excited for that! And the next one will be the following week, for our house warming and friends to come over. Glad we have friends that will come all the way out here just to see us! It is pretty far from the city (about 45 min south… far for Utah, haha).
Update: 05-11-2011 – Here is a shot from my first stock photo shoot (of Todd and the girls) in our new house!
April 15, 2011
Random Places I Would Like To Visit One Day
Today I had a great idea to keep track of all the cool,crazy, random places I would like to go see one day… I am sure this will grow to a massive list over time!
Ohio State Reformatory (where The Shawshank Redemption was filmed) : http://www.mrps.org/ “The cornerstone laid on November 4, 1886 evolved into this magnificent Chateauesque structure. Cleveland architect Levi T. Scofield designed the Ohio State Reformatory using a combination of three architectural styles; Victorian Gothic, Richardsonian Romanesque and Queen Anne. This was done to encourage inmates back to a “rebirth” of their spiritual lives. The architecture itself inspired them to turn away from their sinful lifestyle, and toward repentance. This grand structure is comprised of more than 250,000 square feet and houses the world’s largest free-standing steel cell block.”
San Jose, California Winchester Mystery House: http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/ “Winchester Mystery House™ is an extravagant maze of Victorian craftsmanship – marvelous, baffling, and eerily eccentric, to say the least. Tour guides must warn people not to stray from the group or they could be lost for hours! Countless questions come to mind as you wander through the mansion – such as, what was Mrs. Winchester thinking when she had a staircase built that descends seven steps and then rises eleven?’”
