About Memories & More

Halloween

It's my favorite "holiday" ever!  Seriously.  I love the costumes...I love the little kids...I love the spirit of the day...it's just good, clean fun!  That said, I don't particularly like to dress up...I'm a little shy for that.  But this year I threw caution to the wind & dressed up for the Halloween Festival that was sponsored by the City of Flagstaff in Heritage Square.

Don't we make a handsome couple?  (that's really my husband's letterman's jacket from high school...he went to Coconino)  We think we were zombies.  Not quite sure.  I had a little boy tell me he was sure I was a vampire & then tossed me a pair of teeth to wear.  Very cute!

I've started volunteering to do the kids crafts for the City.  I've done the Christmas tree lighting & now two Halloweens.  And I LOVE it!  I love the kids, I really do!  When kids are young, they are SO creative...SO free...and so darn cute!  And I volunteer my husband (who's thrilled to help) and daughter (who's not so thrilled to help).  It's just good karma.

We were so darn busy, that we didn't have much time to take photos, so forgive the lack of them...these are not the best.  But if Mindy from Georgia is reading this, the painting behind me on the left is a Joe Sorren (if you want a photo of it, let me know!)

A sweet little Dorothy...

And a very patient dad who let his family dress him for Halloween.

 

It was a GREAT Halloween!

A letter to my dear friend Rachel...

Dear Rachel,

Hi there!  How've you been?  Been thinking about you a lot lately... Hope all is well in the Midwest...no tornados, I hope!  And hey, that new dog of yours is a doll!  Lucky little girl she is!

I see that you've opened up an etsy shop.  I was surprised to see that it was full of all sorts of "old stuff"...you know, the crap we've been purging out of our houses for, like, forever.  (Trying to downsize). And I saw that you had been hanging out at yard sales & thrift shops & I thought "what the heck does she want that junk for?"  I hate those kind of things.  But then I went to your shop & you had these amazing "vintage" goodies...I was so excited, I bought this:

(which, I adore, by the way!)  Oh, and hey, what color is that wall?  Wanting that paint color badly...

Oh, and Madam Butterfly is hanging in the kitchen, next to my prized Kelly Rae Roberts prints.  (Did I tell you we sell those in the store now?  SO cute!)

And then you kept adding stuff...Baby Ben clocks...so tempted!  And these cups...I may just need them..

Why, I don't know.  But now that you sell this stuff it looks way cooler!  Why is that??

And these?  OMG!  Do they happen to be big enough to be dog dishes?

Anyway, apparently, the yard sales & thrift shops I had been to were not as cool as yours.  So I thought to myself that it was time to check out the shops here.  (Can't bring myself to go to yard sales yet...shudder).  Which was hard, because you know, I hate that sort of thing.  But the strangest thing happened...I found some seriously cool stuff in those shops!  I bought a 1965 Royal typewriter for $10 this summer.  It lives in my living room.  Kendall & her friends "text" each other on it.  Best $10 I've ever spent!  And today I found some seriously cool frames & old games at one shop.  Oh, and I bought another typewriter...this one for the store...it's electric with a 12pt courier ball in it...for just $5...score!   And then I found this...for $4.95.  I know, lucky, right?

Seriously, I am in love.  And I want to thank you for opening up my eyes to all that junk around me so I could find a few gems.  And they are all worth it.  Although, my husband thinks I've lost my mind...and Kendall was having a conversation with me today & then looked in the back seat & her conversation was stalled..."you bought another typewriter?"  Um, yeah.  It's cool.

Miss you bunches!  Come visit...please! 

Love,

Kirsten

PS I'm so inspired by my new pedestal bowl that I'm going to paint my craft room to match....shhhhh....don't tell Don....

Fisher Point via Sandy's Canyon

Monday we decided to take a little hike to Fisher Point.  Seems we never actually make it to Fisher Point.  Our usual way takes a long time...which I don't mind...but we always seem to run out of time.  This time we decided to go via Sandy's Canyon...it's a little shorter.  It was so very pretty!  And if we had another hour we would have have made it to Fisher Point.

This is my friend MacKenzie...she's the sweetest kid around!

My sweet husband...

The girls...

I love self portraits...

And lately my other favorite kind of photo...you hold the camera over your head (or under your arm...wherever) & just snap random photos.  Cracked MacKenzie up!

Kendall on the Go

Kendall had her first Photography Show last Friday.  And it was AWESOME!  She & her friend Leah participated in "Teens on the Go" this summer.  It was sponsored by the Bookmobile and The Flagstaff Photography Center (that place is so cool!), so naturally, I thought it was a reading club of sorts.  Turns out it was a summer photography class.  And the best part?  They learned how to use Holga cameras (which I can't wait to try!) and to develop their own film.

Brand new, out of the box...and hers to keep!  Her camera was named "the camera formerly known as Holga" (did you get the Prince reference?  It's purple...)  I thought the girls were so clever coming up with these names for their cameras.  Turns out, Holga was clever.  All their cameras had witty little names on them.  And yes, the duct tape is necessary...the backs of the cameras don't stay on well...but apparently, Holga cameras are pretty dang cool.  You can check them out here.  I'm in love....oh yeah, I was talking about Kendall...

The kids learned how to mat & fame their prints...to see more of their photos (which are AMAZING!) click here to go to the Flagstaff Photography Center website & then click on the Teens on the Go link.  There's one more link that takes you to samples of their work.  You won't be disapointed!

This is pretty cool, too.  It's a sun print using a sheet & some chemicals.   The kids sat in a ring with their legs spread for 1/2 an hour while it "set".  In between each of them are their Holga cameras.

At the exhibit...Kendall, Leah & Audra.  And one last thing.  My daughter wrote this about her photos...I'm still in shock...

 

The Cold War Museum

Last night Kendall's school hosted a Cold War Museum.  I have to say, the kids did an outstanding job!  Their props & costumes were great!  Here are a few highlights from the museum:

Kendall's group represented the Korean War.

Emily was Lisa Brown for Brown vs. the Board of Education.  She had a bit of trouble getting the make up off...

JFK Assassination

Clever & thought provoking.  Way to go, kids!

A hiking we will go...

Kendall & Leah...Kendall "You do NOT have my permission to use any of these photos on the blog...in the store...anywhere!"  Leah "but you have mine!"  Thus began the start of a 5 mile hike that was just breath taking....in every sense of the word.

Since Kendall was having none of the photo taking, I kept my camera in my hand & just took random shots...not looking through the view finder.  My husband caught me doing & said "what are you doing?  Taking photos while jogging?" which is a reference to the movie Yes Man...and frankly the jogging photography class just cracked me up.  So I'd snap away & giggle the whole time.  Were the photos great?  No, but they were fun!  Here's Don's favorite:
 

Kinda fun, dontcha think?

Yes, because everyone hiking up that skinny little trail with a hang glider on their back will see the sign & say dang it, we have to turn around now! 

It's bad & it makes the trees sick, but you have to admit, looks kinda cool....not that I'm endorsing it or anything....

Have a GREAT day!

Cookies for breakfast

It started out a perfectly normal day...up at 4:45 to walk with my friend Kim...home at 6:30, filled with all sorts of good intentions for the day.  Read in the paper that very few women eat 5 fruits & vegetables a day...thought to myself, I'm one of the very few & decided to change that today.  Even thought I might jump on my Wii & get some extra exercise.  Eyed a mango & thought that would make a good breakfast.  Vowed not to eat the heavenly lavender sugar cookie (from the Village Baker) that was sitting in my fridge.  After griping to Kim about how I walk 30 miles a week & still I'm gaining weight I thought to myself that no, I'm not going to eat that cookie.  Today will be a healthy day.  No crap.  No cookies.  Just healthy, non processed food.

Then Kendall came downstairs 2 minutes before she had to leave for school & started screaming at me that I had lost her school book (The Outsiders).  How dare I clean out her bag (it wasn't in there) & she's 100% certain I lost it.  And it's going to cost me $50.  I could go on & on...but I won't.  So she & her dad left.  I went upstairs & poured myself a new cup of coffee & grabbed that cookie & devoured every last bit of it.  And it was worth every calorie.  Maybe tomorrow I'll start the healthy eating, because today, I have a hormonal teenager & need all the help I can get.

Happy Birthday Ray!

My little nephew Ray is turning 4 today!  Time sure has flown by!  My mom makes these cool pages each year for his birthday, that my sister in law can just fill in...on tag per month with a little bit of journaling.  Here's this year's page:

The blank squares are for photos...the tags at the top with the ribbon are for journaling & photos.  Nice to have a year in review, especially when you're the mom of 2 little boys, a research scientist at the Arboretum, and a wife to my very busy brother. 

Journaling

I am entering into a phase in my life where I think I'd better start journaling.  Not necessarily on my pages, but a good, old fashioned journal.  My mom journals & I have to say in the back of my mind I've thought, well, I can always read hers to find out what was going on.  But that's not really effective because her journal contains her memories, not mine.  Her take on the events, not mine.  I'm not saying that's bad...they're just different.

I've been looking through some photos lately & wondering what on earth they're about...and that makes me really sad.  The best advice I could come up with for Sherry at her baby shower was to make notes of what's important & put them in with your photos...that way when you scrapbook them when your kid is 14...or graduating high school...you know what on earth it was all about.  I mean, I can tell you the general concept behind the photos....Kendall's 4th birthday...yee haw!  But what about the feeling?  Who was there?  10 years have passed & I'm forgetting names....  How did I feel when she turned 4?  What was great about that day?  Honestly, as scrapbookers, we're the family record keepers....to not remember these things is discouraging to say the least.

How do YOU remember?  Do you all just have a far better memory than me?  Is it just me who is forgetting the little, important details?  Which would you rather have:  a scrapbook filled with name, date, time, place or one filled with feelings, emotions, memories?  I want the latter....really I do...so I'd better figure out a way to achieve it.  Your comments & suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Find it hard to believe...

that she hates having her photo taken...

I keep finding little gems on my camera.... This is Kendall & her best friend, Leah...since kindergarten!  at the Tempe Music Festival.  Beautiful, girls, really!