#165

Alright today was THE WEDDING!! It was a beautiful day weather-wise, but very hectic in every other aspect. I was the insane, time conscious, annoying, OCD hairstiylist all day and I'm sure everyone was about done with my attitude by the time the reception started. But you have to understand, if you want ME to do your hair, you need to pay attention to time and be courteous & patient...oh and ON TIME! Once the reception started and my anxiety lowered a bit, I was finally able to relax and mingle. Plus Joe was in the dancin' mood and we boogied all night long! (My feet are now screaming at me!) It was fantastic to just kick back and have fun with Joe though.

I brought both of my camera's along and I was lucky enough to have a few people handle the cameras without me and got some great shots. Worrying about getting a picture of EVERYTHING was not #1 on my priority list, so to have someone do it for me, was icing on the cake!! Two of my sisters took the lead a few times. Plus it was nice to actually get myself in the pictures. That hardly ever happens. Brittany got some great shots of the reception center and Kalie took some silly photos of Joe and I dancing....er making fools of ourselves is more like it! We had fun though and I clearly burned off my fair share of calories tonight!

There were SO MANY photos to look at and go through, like I predicted yesterday. I knew it would be hard picking just one today. But I'm literally falling asleep as I type this, so only 1 picture will make it up. I will post more pictures soon...after I recover!!

#165 - The happy couple! Cory & Jessica Downward . Married & sealed in the Salt Lake Temple 6.14.11

#164

The day has finally arrived. Tomorrow, my baby sister is getting married!! Its been months in the planning, but it has finally arrived. I spent all day with my step-mom and family, shopping to get last minute things. Then us Snow sisters had a get together with the Downwards sisters to put a surprise wedding night/honeymoon gift together. Its been one crazy day, but I know all the stress and anxiety will be worth it. I know I will have many photos to go through tomorrow. I'm excited for all the festivities.

#164 - 6/14 is upon us.

#163's

Today was a fun filled day...half of the things we wanted to do, we couldn't because Joe's on call and unfortunately got called out twice today. Made for an interesting day. But we did enjoy the day together and got some important things done. Man I love hanging out with my husband. Even if is far and few in between, its probably the best thing ever. Love you Joe!!

I had plenty of photo opportunities today, but I didn't make it a priority. Until about 9 o'clock I get a call from Joe on his way home from working downtown and he told me to grab my camera and get a picture of the sunset. I yelled OK, threw my phone on the couch, grabbed my keys & camera and headed out. I didn't even grab shoes!! ;)  There is a corn field just a little bit south of our house that gives a large, clear view of the sky, so I drove straight to it. Sure enough, as soon as I got out of my car I was super happy Joe called me. It was gorgeous!! Plus there was a huge line of planes coming in, so I got a few great shots with an airplane in the sky. (The one positive to living semi close to the airport.)

It was breathtaking. I was standing next to my car, feet aching from standing barefoot on the asphalt and my heart was all warm and fuzzy. The only thing missing was Joe by my side, marveling at Utah's beauty with me.

#163's - An amazing summer day with Joe - and an ever better summer evening sunset. Yay for June!!

#162

Life has been slightly chaotic as of late and the stress has affected both Joe and I. There are many positive things about our marriage (negative ones too) but the one thing we need to survive, is re-connection. We need that one on one time to regroup, communicate and cherish the moments we have together. We have rules, no phones, no TV, no distractions, no other people. Sounds silly, I know, but it is something we both 'need' to continue a successful partnership. When one person isn't being cooperative with this re-connection or one person is consistently busy, it really does affect the other. Like this week, I've been busy from morning to night every day... without even having a meal with Joe, without more than a 5 minute conversation, without any kisses or signs of affection....nothing. Since I've been subconsciously distant, Joe's weekly 'mental' routine has been thrown out of whack and his moods have changed. He only wants to play video games, doesn't want to leave the house, no cleaning or straightening the house gets done. I came home yesterday at 10pm and he hadn't showered since getting off work at 5 and our dogs were still outside in the dog run, he hadn't eaten nor was he aware of what time it was. Its like he immediately went to his 'comfort' place and made himself distant from the rest of the world.

Okay, now you know a little about our relationship functionality - more than you probably want to know - but having that alone time is very important to each of us and we need to make time for it at least twice a week. With our schedules...that makes it difficult. 

Anyway, I had to cancel plans with my family to regroup with Joe tonigh. We desperately needed a night alone (at least for 30+ minutes!) Once I got home from work, we headed to our favorite restaurant for dinner and just sat. Sat for over an hour, just going over the past week, planning the next week, giggling and making fun of each other. It was literally THEE best hour we've had together all week. It was so surprising how different both of our moods were after this brief moment of re-connection. Luckily I really did marry my best friend, because he is the only one that centers me. That helps me get back on my feet. That makes me feel normal, loved and appreciated.

Our lives are going to get busy again over the next few days. The wedding is now only 3 days away and we won't have much 'alone' time until after the wedding is over. But I'm super excited for everything that comes with the wedding. I tried on my dress/shoes/accessories this evening and it felt so great to see it all together. (Thank you Joe, Andee & KJ for letting me give them a fashion show)  YAY for the exciting days to come!!

#162 - A simple re-connection with my one and only. Best night of the week.

#161

T-minus 4 days until operation Downward/Snow wedding. I have literally spent everyday this week taking care of my family's hair needs. With only 1 more work day with one last sister coming in and me jumping in the salon on Monday to do my Grandma's hair, I'm almost officially done! Its surprising how exhausting it can be to completely book yourself out. Not only during work hours, but on my off time as well. Since there is little time before the wedding and a list of things to do, 2 of my sisters and I got our toenails done tonight! Kalie & Andee went for the whole pedicure treatment, but I treated myself to a pedicure last week and didn't see the need for another, so I just went in for the 'glitter toes.' Well after a LONG day of working [non-stop] I decided to treat myself yet again to the best foot rub money can buy.

My sister Jessica's wedding colors are Pink, Yellow and "Aqua." (We've all debated on what to call that blue color...the bride and groom call it 'teal' but in my mind 'teal' is a greenish blue. The color they chose is more like a deep baby blue. So I call it 'aqua.') Anyway, most of the sisters (& mom) opted for pink toenails. Since I was doing glitter, I wanted something with a pink base but a silver sparkle/confetti look. The glitter I picked out looked pink to me, but my friend Anna who owns the nail salon, told me I chose purple. After joking around, I told her I was going against her opinion and doing the PINK (not purple) glitter. The nail tech that actually did my toes giggled with me and decided we should call the color 'fuschia' because it was a pinkish-purple. Once the gel was on all my toes, I had to agree with Anna...they were purple. After my pedicure was over and the top coat was applied to my nails, the pink shimmer shined through and I was once again happy with my PINK choice. The tech actually added a white flower with bits of yellow and pink to it as well.

After showing my toes off to my sister and Anna, they all agreed my toes were purple. Then I asked a few strangers in the salon and they ALL said purple. Oops! I guess I'll have purple nails for my sisters Pink, Yellow & Aqua wedding. Oh well it made for a good laughter-filled, 30 minute discussion with my sister Kalie and all the nail techs. Sorry Jessica - I'll be the only one without a wedding color on my toes...I tried though! Its still PINK in my eyes. What do you think??

My PINK glitter toes as my #161. (Anna told me I was the 'step-child' to all my sisters pink toes. How right she is.)

#160

S Y T Y C D 

That's right people!!
The collaboration that makes up my #160 - is So You Think You Can Dance! Although the season technically started a few weeks ago, tonight marked the night of the TOP 20 Dancers!! It was a great episode, they changed it up a little bit this year and the new version of the 'reveal' episode got my vote! Instead of dragging out the episode, picking the top 20, they showed the clip (recorded previously) of the selections being made and then broke up each clip with a LIVE performance by the dancers that were chosen in the previous clip. It was nice and very entertaining to see a little spice added to the long process of selecting the final 20. All the dancers I loved through the auditions made it to the top 20. All the LIVE performances tonight were incredible. I LOVED the top 10 guys dance. Plus there were 2 Sonya Tayeh routines and she is my FAVORITE choreographer; YAY!

So needless to say, I'm STOKED for this season. This show is one of my favorite things about summer!! I'm excited for the few months of SYTYCD and all the incredible/memorable dances that will come with it. Who's with me??

**Thank you Andee for being my sign language model. (Joe tried to help, but his masculine hands just didn't look as photogenic!)

#159

I added a new feature to my blog, did you notice? After my [attention seeking] blog yesterday, I thought it would be fun to track where all my visitors are from. I set it up last night and to my amazement this morning, I had already have many viewers..from all over! Mainly UT, of course, but a few stopped from California! (I'm not sure if these people actually 'know' my blog, or they are just hitting the NEXT BLOG link and my blog popped up.  I'm sure its the latter.) Before I took the picture, I noticed I had a visitor from Germany, British Columbia AND Boras Vastra Gotaland today (wherever that is!) Haha - that's awesome!

My #159 - Live Feed! 

#158's

Wow. For some reason I'm having a moment of complete shock as I typed the title of this post. #158. You guys, can you believe I've stuck with this challenge? I'm just a little over 30 days away from the big 200 mark. I want to do something special for that day, it'll be in July, so hopefully something exciting happens to me that day or I'll just have to make it happen.

I'm also sitting here, wondering who really looks at this blog anyway? I know my facebook friends all look at it because a few of you will post comments on my blog link. But I'm wondering how many strangers come across this blog? Or how many of my friends have passed this blog address on to someone. I know this blog is no where near as popular as some craft blogs, business blogs or personal blogs, but wouldn't it be cool if it was? I don't know if any of your read Nie Nie, but I follow it occasionally - along with the rest of the nation! She was on Oprah for crying out loud. Then there is the movie Julie vs. Julia that started out as just a blog/recipe site. Wouldn't it be wild if people all over the country stopped by for just a quick peak at my devoted challenge? I know some of my pictures are silly and just for fun, but this blog REALLY is all about my life in 2011. You could learn so much about me just by looking at my pictures. (Which I know many don't actually read my boring stories that go with the photo!) But sometimes I wonder if this challenges is just as silly as some of the photos.

This blog has effected my WHOLE life. Everyday I'm constantly aware of what I could take a picture of, or what is blog-worthy. I'm literally enveloped in this blog. I just wonder if maybe its all just for me. Would anyone really notice if I forgot a day? Would anyone even care if I was late? (Which I have been...twice...and I was NOT happy about it, but did anyone else care?) I'm so involved with it - I'm almost scared for the day its over. What will I do then?

I'm just full of thoughts this evening and dreaming that this blog (and my silly challenge) was a bigger deal. I dream of it being important or inspirational to someone. But I definitely enjoy my loyal followers and their responses to my posts. It makes ME feel important. Thank you to my followers & stalkers!! I'm glad SOMEONE other than me, pays attention.

Okay - enough about my hopes and dreams. Joe played softball again tonight. These are the nights I wish I had a better lens!!! One day..one day. Joe's team won again, but it was a REAL close game! The weather was perfect and we had some great company. Thanks to our good friends Paul & Lynda for coming to visit and support Joe. Its ALWAYS a good time when you're around! :)

#158's - The long walk to right field AND the line up! This first picture kinda makes me sad because Joe looks so lonely. I do love how beautiful the clear sky looks and the colors of the greenery. Then my actual picture for today was the line up. I love everything about softball. Makes me miss my high days of playing.

#157

Alright, my sister's wedding is exactly a week away. I decided I wanted to go tanning 3 more times before next Tuesday. I feel kind of bad, because I've always been against tanning - especially because I'm a redhead with sensitive skin - and also because it can be very harmful, causes skin cancer, it makes you look old...etc. And here I am almost addicted to it! I'm nervous that I won't be able to stop. I'm LOVING the fact that I have color. I love my tan lines, the fact that my freckles stand out more and I like the tone of my face. Plus I've FINALLY figured out how to use the stupid beds. Will I have the willpower to stop once the wedding is over?? Andee tells me we should just use natural sun after the wedding. Now that we are FINALLY getting into summer here in SLC, that might actually be possible.

I need to kick this habit. Not only do I need to renew my vow to hate tanning beds for life, its getting expensive!!! OUCH! If Joe only knew... ;)  So here is my vow. I'm only going to go 2 more times before the wedding and then I'm DONE! I promise.

#157 - The pink goggles make me smile! See all my freckles? I'm so happy they are making a comeback! (Oh and...this is me with no makeup...yikes! Good thing the goggles cover up the worst parts)

#156's

It was PRIDE weekend in SLC, UT. I did not attend, but many of my friends did. The weather was great and after seeing my friends post pictures on Facebook, looks like they all got their share of  'color' today. Many were BURNT!!! :) But it looks like the parade was great and the entertainment was cool.

Although I'm not a member of the LGBT community, I'm a big supporter. In honor of all my friends who are, I decided to dedicate today's picture(s) to them. I love you each of you and the pride YOU stand for. I hope you had fun this weekend! Since I couldn't go downtown today, I sat in my yard and took pictures of all the colors in the rainbow. Here is my PRIDE rainbow!

#156's - ROYGBIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet).  All these items I saw while hanging out in my front yard. It was a beautiful day to take pictures!! Best lighting for vibrant colors. LOVED IT!