go me.

so im pretty freaking terrible at blogging now. i have my reasons.
as karma would have it, after i posted about how great our business is going and humble bragged my ass off about how i get to sleep in, geoff and i thought it would be a great idea if i got a "day job" to pay for health insurance and save more money. my very awesome, funny and single friend mark got me a job at Troy Lee Designs. It was an easy job of clocking in, routine stuff, clocking out but i was literally standing on my feet all day long. shoot me. then it started getting in the way of booking more jobs so we realized that if i quit the jobs we could book would make up for TLD. so i reluctantly put in my two weeks. i really liked working there and just started making friends with some of the people there. now we are busier than ever with LPP and started offering photography services as well! But now people want us to do both film & photos and we kind of want to start slowly cutting back on how many wedding videos we book and start booking mainly photos. So we started another company: Orange Owl Photo.

other new stuff that happen:
-we are selling our house in March and moving to Costa Mesa. "Why?" you ask as if i needed any reason to move out of LE. 1. its the land of "-er's". colder. hotter. dirtier. 2. once Jolene goes on her World Race i will have none of my daily girl friends in corona anymore. Even geoff is pumped about this move so you know its a good thing. 3. its closer to the beach. 4. we have a plan to start buying a condo every 2 years and renting them out. its our retirement plan.
-we decided no babies until 2014 at the earliest.
-im turning 28 in a few weeks.
-we are planning to go to alaska, chicago, europe and possibly hawaii next year. i cant freaking contain myself. we are going to make it happen.
-i love the show Girls. (im currently watching it and thats why it made the list)
-i lost 10lbs and trying to lose another 10 more.
-geoff has finally experienced me fully drunk in all its glory so much so that i created a adjective. Tustin Ranch'd (TR'd)
-my high school reunion is this weekend. i will not be attending. maybe the next one?
-thats all i can think of right now.  

im back to staying up way too late and sleeping in until lunch time. 

Geoff's Birthday Week begins

Last year for Geoff's birthday we did absolutely nothing. He was gone on tour, i was renting a room from a stranger off craigslist and we were both broke. By the time he came home it was Christmas and Jesus doesnt need to share his birthday with Santa and geoff. So this year i'm trying to do something more special. That included one of his favorite comedians and favorite food.

Since Dave Chappelle and Bill Cosby werent in town, the next best was Daniel Tosh. He was sooo funny! Everyone was wiping tears from their eyes from laughing so hard. I got us really close seats at the gibson, though any seat there is a good seat, and its crazy to think a comedian can fill up the same gibson theater that weezer just sold out the week before.

Daniel Tosh

We tried Pink's Hotdogs. I got a polish dog with mustard and it was so cold. Gross. So not worth the hype.

Pink's

The next morning i made us heart shaped waffles and bacon while he watched football. I miss eating making breakfast food. I usually dont because of how fattening the waffles, syrup, bacon, muffin, butter, hash browns and all the other extremely delicious breakfast foods are, but its a celebration. So why not?

they kinda look like clovers

We* even hung Christmas lights on our house. Dreams come true people.


Geoff is seriously the hardest working, loving, and funny husband and i cant stop thanking God for giving me him as my husband even though he farts in the bed just to make me uncomfortable. This week hes aiming at working somewhere around 70hrs at his day job. This means he leaves for work at 2am and comes home at 4:30pm everyday. Hes even working Saturdays. Yesterday, im working out to my B.L. dvd in the living room and Geoff's sitting on the couch laughing at me one minute and the next knocked the frick out:

5:30pm. Face down. Limp limbs.

*we = him. i stood there in the rain and took pictures. im helpful like that.

Ford's 1st Birthday

Baby Ford's 1st Birthday on Vimeo.

filmed and edited by geoff.
this video was his crash course in final cut and i think he did an amazing job.

92 years young

This is my Great Grandma Waters (now Dailey, but shes always grandma waters to me). Yesterday she turned 92! Just thinking of what all shes seen in her lifetime is a bit insane. Everything that's changed since 1918... cars, buildings, and toilets, oh my! Its got to be a little bit heartbreaking too. Shes out lived her husbands, children and friends. She is my mom's mom's mom. She may just out live us all.

Great Grandma Waters-Dailey

This is my mom's dad, my "Papa". He is the reason i have everything i have today. My wonderful mom, job, house. He grew up in Massachusetts and met my grandma from his sister. They went on a date once and they didnt like each other. Then years later they ran into each other again and fell in love. He served in the Korean War, never graduated from high school and was an extremely successful businessman. He told each of us grand kids we were his favorite and always encouraged us to grow up and be whatever we wanted. He loved telling stories about his childhood and loved his wife and family. Hes a perfect example of what a man and a provider should be. He always did everything he could for us to prosper.
Hes also in the final stages of Alzheimer's. He got it really young and i was only about 17 so hes never been able to see any of us grand kids succeed or even get married. Its really hard for me to see him like this so i really dont visit him anymore. There's no recognition in his eyes when he sees me and he doesnt talk anymore. My great grandma, who lives with him, talks to him like hes still the same old "Jimmy" and its pretty funny and cute and sad all at the same time. I think this might have been the first time geoffs seen him too. Im really sad that my kids will never get to know him and my grandma but thats life i guess.
I went over to his house last week to drop off some meds and take a picture of my ggma and i was only able to get 2 pictures of him. It was really weird. After the second picture he closed eyes and turned his head away. It was like he knew i was taking his picture and he didnt want me to. The doctors all say that hes unaware of everything going on and he used to communicate through blinking but he doesnt do that anymore. It was really crazy and i kind of just stood there for a second and thought he might actually still be in there. As soon as i packed the camera away he opening his eyes again.

Papa

Hook Line and Sinker

So if you've been follow this blog for a while you might remember me a year ago worrying about where my life was going and what God was gonna do with me. I was worried about my QLC (quarter life crisis) hitting hard! And let me tell you, i have a major case of the QLC's and its still raging. In my post last year i was whining and complaining (it happens)about my wants/expectations for this last year and how they all seemed to be crashing and burning before my very eyes. But, like always, God acceded them.
Another year of reflecting...
-moved out of the SheShack and into a place in eastvale
-started a couple of cake decorating classes
-june killed my roommates dog
-had a panic attack
-moved back into corona and rented a room from a guy named dick
-had a panic attack
-got ENGAGED
-found out dick was a sketchy dude and moved into my brothers house
-that was a bad idea so i moved into Andrews house
-planned the wedding
-had a more panic attacks
-move into our apartment 
-married my soul mate
-got in a car accident
-got a house
-got a bad leak
-got to see my little brother and sister 3x this year
-needed my family more than ever
-got a lot to be thankful for
-finally found that middle ground with my job and am starting to enjoy it
-but i still got a camera and equip and starting my own company
-lots of self discover. always learning something new about myself.


So ya, that covers about all the criteria for a QLC: Married? Check! House? Check! Career? Almost there, Half Check! 
Every year of my life gets better and more chaotic than the last. Maybe its just this season of life. Maybe its just life. I dont know. I love it though. I pray that it keeps getting to be more more. Ive gotten to that point where as much as i like to think i got it all understood, i know i dont. And accepting that made my mind opened up and ive learned and seen to many new and real things. 
Its that whole i havent changed but i know im not the same thing.
Im still me- just in the process of becoming the best version of me.

BIG IT ON 26!

Happy Birthday Natalie

Last weekend was Natalie (natorii, natsnap, natatatat) 25th birthday!
(shes handling the QLC much better than i am)
on Saturday we put on our ponchos and rubbah boots and went to Disneyland. Haven t been there in months, which felt like forever and had so much fun! the rain had scared all the crowds away and the longest line was like 15mins.

sleeping on tower of terror. except for nat.

amelia and nat lovin on the muppet man

then on sunday night 25+ of us feasted at Lucille's
(check out debi getting into it)



and a close up of (the best looking cupcakes ive ever made) the cupcakes i made for her:


i love natalie. she is one of the most beautiful soul + person ive ever met. loyal to a fault to her family, friends and God. always making you laugh. shes always been there for me since ive known her and im so blessed to have her as one of my closets friends.

skate night

to celebrate my 25th birthday we went roller skating. and since dave's california skate closed down we ventured out to this little rink in orange. man, how things have changed since i was a 12. there were so many hood rat little kids doing disgusting things with each other. but i digress...
my friends are awesome and were all good sports and came out dressed in 70's attire. such good times...


they look like they should be on that wall of skating teams

jolene opted for the hippies of 1970

april is amazing.

that would be me photo-bombing, brenda mid word (you guess what shes about to say), and jon & april waiting to catch a treat in their mouths...

meg & cami

mark teaching brenda how to skate



the only photographic evidence that i can actually skate...

my favorite twins

always love me some kelsey!

and just like everything else, geoff is better at skating than everyone else (even though this picture makes him look like a tard)


put lucas pool side with a speedo and he would look like someones cabana boy with this stache...

photographic proof that florida really does have a girlfriend. and not is she a real live girl... but she is really pretty

quick weekend recap

he bit me.

-CONGRATS to Lil' Ryan and Joanna! they got engaged on sunday! so freaking excitedhappystoked for them! and Joanna asked me to be a bridesmaid!

-Disneyland on a week night is the best. no long lines!

-im 25. dude, when did i get so old?

-my bday weekend was perfect. lots of relaxing, fun and love. thank you everyone who wished me a good one and hung out. loved it. pictures of the skate night will be up soon, i think. B's working on it.

-just when i thought, "wow, this august weather aint so bad..." BOOM. 100+ degrees.
can i fast forward to november? i want cooler days and cold nights. hoodies and scarves. baking nights and thanksgiving dinner. over this blazing summer. and im waaaay over sweating.

-i have 11 twisted vertebrae and pinched nerves. xrays confirmed this. the chiropractor said i am either used to the pain ive been having or just have a really high pain tolerance. when she realigned me i had never heard my body CRACK so loud!

-i need to make some investments so i can have my own business one day soon. i want to open a confectionery/coffee & tea & brewery shop that will cater to all different diets and have open mic nights and things like that. do-able.

Friday the 13th!

Happy friday
Happy friday the 13th
Happy birthday Bambi!
last night we alllllll went out to Joe's Sushi in riverside and took over the restaurant. its like the dive bar of Shogun in corona. they played super loud techno music and great musical numbers like "mortal kombat" while the owner walks around yelling, "RIVERSIIIIIDE!" good stuff haha.... oh man, i just posted about bambi's 21st in what feels like only a few months ago! ...finding him passed out on my couch and going to vegas for the weekend. man, time flies... tones and i were just talking about that this morning. realizing where we were last year and recapping on events. its crazy to think one day we wont even go by time anymore. insane.
okay im rambling about nothing...

i really want to step up my efforts on human trafficking. im not buying chocolate from companies who are not recognized by Fair Trade and i really encourage you to do the same. Its something as little as buying a different brand of chocolate you are hurting the companies that are making children slaves in their cocoa farms. Over 35% of our chocolate comes from Cote d’Ivoire, Africa and in that country alone over 200,000 kids are traffiked there and forced to work long hours in dangerous conditions. you can read more about it here. Changes have already happened in the industry from people who are protesting by not buying fair trade chocolate. Cadbury said they would never be able to go to fair trade two years ago and now they have gone completely fair trade! and so much more progress has been made.

places to find fair trade chocolate:
Trader Joe’s
• Trader Joe’s Swiss 71% Dark Chocolate
• Trader Joe’s Swiss Milk Chocolate
Target
• Green & Black’s Maya Gold Organic Dark Chocolate Bar
Wild Oats Market
• Green & Black’s Maya Gold Organic Dark Chocolate Bar
Ten Thousand Villages, Pasadena, CA
• Divine Bars
• Divine Milk
• Divine Dark
• Divine Milk with Hazelnut
Equal Exchange
• Organic Very Dark Chocolate
• Organic Dark Chocolate with Almonds
• Organic Chocolate Espresso Bean
Whole Foods Market
• Green & Black’s Maya Gold Organic Dark Chocolate Bar
Henry's
• Sunrise (i think? haha but its there)
-just look for the FAIR TRADE logo on the back.


another amazing organization: charity: water
100% of their donations go ONLY to building water wells. not paychecks, not utilites, nothing like that.