Suzanna Coco, 2nd time

She dressed up again for her report, since the first time she forgot her flash drive- slide show at home, this time, the French teacher was absent.  Hard to go through with all that work and STILL not be able to do her presentation!

Grandma Sandy let her borrow her Channel jacket and  No. 5 perfume.

Anniversary Shoes

Our old ones were each over 10 years old.  Mine were 15 years old.  It was time.  We had talked about it being a gift to each other in our attempts to be healthier this year, walk 6 days a week.  John's parents heard about our plan and treated us!

Love the new bright colors in footwear.  These are John's.

And mine.  Very impressed with Charm City Footwear.  The employee made me roll up my sweats so she could see my ankles and watched me walk away and towards her so she could see how I walk, and which shoes to recommend to compensate for my pronation.

After measuring both feet, she brought out 3 pairs for me.  I tried them all on, comparing each one to the other two, in turns.  Comfy walking shoes!  With a 2 week try-it time, bring shoes back if for any reason not satisfied, even bring them back muddy, for store credit.

LBD Inventor

So as NOT to leave you with a bad taste in your mouth, another PICTURE of Suzanna

The assignment was to do a report on an inventor.  So she is giving a report in AP French on Coco Channel, and dressed up:  lipstick, pearls, heels, (modest) little black dress=LBD.  You can't see her hair in this early morning shot, but it looks like she has bobbed it, short and looking historically acurate, just tucked under and bobby pinned.

Warning: If you are squeamish, don't look

Less than an hour after I sat down to read my book, the dental assistant told me things had gone really well.   She escorted me to the back room explaining that the roots weren't gnarly like old-people's teeth are, they were intact, smooth, perfect.   Still silly from laughing gas, Suzanna signed that she wanted to see her teeth.  The dentist-student said that was an unusual request.  He descretely dabbed at them with a towel and uncovered them for our view.  Suzu signed "picture" and I obliged.  Here they are, beautiful!  She has recovered with ice cream and soup, only small swelling and bruising on lower right side where she said the last stitch is still intact, still a little sore.

The marvels of modern dentistry!  Actually, I was really impressed with how well they take care of us at the Dental School.

Take MORE Couple Photos, As You Are

I had an art teacher, Brother Joe Bennion, who assigned the class to create 100 mugs.  And then smash them.  Because those first 100 would be predictable, boring.  The 101st and 102nd would start getting interesting. 

Other art teachers would insist on thumbnails before starting the final drawing/painting, at least 20, so you get thinking of different options, not just the first composition that pops in your head...

Taking consistent photos of the same subject changes how you see the subject.

(Yesterday)

We have hundreds of couple photos.  Many, many more than I have blogged.  Most of them are John holding his long arms in front of us, aiming for our heads.  Some of the photos are of his ear, and we have to redo.  Sometimes we used the timer.  Sometimes one of our children would come help us.

When he lost his job for 18 months, I blogged and photo coupled to keep me feeling united with him.  It was a way to pose, snuggle, show our solidarity visually.  It started out just for me, to keep myself from being angry or feeling too worried about what would happen to us--if I could stand by him and smile, things would be okay.  It turned into something I looked forward to, especially as the couple file increased.   Good memories, fun images.

We have gotten out of the habit since that intense 18 month trial and photo-taking side activity.  But it is something I want to try and weekly update.  Start again.  Return to, redo, remind, remember.

My strong advice:  don't wait for the perfect moment, outfit, body-weight, haircut, health status.  Take a picture today of you and yours.

Trimming out Tray Ceilings

I love the curved corners in our dinning room and living room in our 1950's brick rancher. 

Small change.  See the before above, after below:

My husband shows he loves me by understanding how important it is to me to change things in a quiet house.  Some things are really hard to do if there are people in the rooms.  Or interruptions of family meals and you have to clean up before you are finished...

So for a gift he took all the kids on a working vacation and gave me The Empty House, time to play.  I didn't get the ceiling painted yet with SW "Tansy Green" but that is next on my redecorating list.  Trying for a blue/teal/green + black & white room, so the pink is going to all be edited out.

And here is my big reveal secret for perfect 1 inch border:

I used "clearance" over the hill birthday crepe paper from Target.  I made sure it was bleed-proof first, then folded in half, cut center fold out so I had two long stips of perfectly-sized paper.  Use a small paint brush to brush on regular white school glue, use fingers to press crepe paper down, stretching a little if you want it smooth (you would be suprised at how strong crepe paper is when pulled) but my walls are textured plaster so the bumps blend.

Table was made by bleaching table top, using white glue as a mask and painting the glue on with my favorite phrases and words from The Family:  A Proclamation to the World.  Restaining table (white glue stayed on long enough to keep stain from getting on masqued out letters, but dissolved, wiped off as I removed stain).  Finish with your choice of polyurethane coating.  I tried, and failed at putting on a perfect resin finish.  Learned a lot in the process, should have kept with what I knew=polyurethane.  Resin has a learning curve.  Someday I will sand and restart, but I made this 13 years ago, and we keep using it as is.

Photo Traditions

Years ago I started taking photos of our children with their heads bumping, in a circle, looking down at me.  This was on a cold, Sunday after Church, Maryland sky white with clouds.  They were FREEZING, and complaining, but I got this out of it:

We love to watch the bloopers or end credits after a film, to see the things that didn't make it into the final cut version of the film.  Here are some bloopers, that I didn't print for John's office, but tell a story of what it was really like that day:

Imagine them squirmy cold saying, "It is too bright, we can't open our eyes, it is so COOOOLD!!!"

The hands holding a knee??

Another TOO BRIGHT moment!

It is tricky getting everyone happy smiling and visible...
I should have saved these photos all together, tough going through the years guessing which month I took them, so as I find them, I will add  to this blog post!

I met this really cute guy...

...in a desktop published magazine staff meeting, The Leading Edge.  He was assigned to work on my marketing staff.  The more time we spent together, the more my attraction grew.  I learned he is super affectionate, sweet, smart, thoughtful, romantic, & a great communicator.  He tolerated my whimsy and insecurites, made me feel like a queen.  We put in our Church mission papers at the same time, wrote for two years.

Went hiking.  (Hole in the Rock)

And we faithfully kissed each other, a lot.

We kept plugging away at school, young &  poor.  Graduated from college (His sister is on far left.) Survived medical scares.  And unemployment.  Family trials.  Bought a home together.  Saw our firstborn happily married and employed.  Currently planning for retirement, couple mission, and family reunions that include rocket launches!

I am thankful to be his wife.

We still kiss a lot! Fidelity is "Commitment, loyalty, caring, trustworthiness, having each other as a priority..."-Dr Kenneth Matheson (from above link "Fidelity in Marriage")

Roxie is an Archer (?!) & a Reader

She told me this morning she is in the middle of reading 5 books all at the same time.  I asked her how she keeps the characters straight?  She couldn't explain it, but it sounds like it is a personal challenge, a way to keep from being bored.

The picture of Roxie, Sam (in black hooded coat) Suzanna, and John (blue coat) shows them on the high school soccer field where they set up the target to shoot arrows.  It is terrible if they miss the target and burrow into the grass, nearly impossibly hard to find.  The shafts blend, even with florescent fletches.  We walk back and forth, searching the ground where we thought we saw them hit.  Much better to hit the target.

They started at 10 paces from target, have progressed to 30 paces, and she hits it!  Muscles take time to train, strengthen.  Practice is good.  Her dad is her biggest fan and supporter, sometimes teasing her into practicing when she would rather stay in and read her books...

Samuel is Salt

His initials spell out SEL.

Salt, in French!

This picture was taken 2 Christmases ago, holding two little friends from Church who were waiting to sit on Santa's lap.  He is good with babies, loves to play and talk with them, very affectionate, very patient.

Sam's 2012 birthday cake (I have since painted the dinning room a light grey and moved David's paintings to our hallway).  We of course had ICE CREAM with the cake.  Sam loves ice cream, and could eat it every day, and was for awhile, until we designated Sundays and Thursdays as ice cream days.  He has been concerned lately about fat content, eating more healthily, more fruits.  We had crepes last night, and he and I had bananas and strawberry freezer jam on ours. 

See how tall Sam is compared to Roxie on the far left-she is 5'3", neighbor in the center (Suzanna's old Sunday School teacher).  Sam has nerdy-cool glasses that he picked out.   He is in the welding program at the technical high school, doing well, loving the CAD (computer aided design) section he is in right now.  They rotate the students around, exposing them to the different study areas to see what talents they have, give them experience.  He is also taking SPANISH.  Grandma Jane gave him a Spanish Book of Mormon with her testimony in the front dedicationt to him, best gift, ever!

Looking at Favorite Photos for Dad

This is the day Roxie was baptized in the Susquehanna River four years ago, by her dad.  Beautiful morning, early because Max had to leave for a concert tour.

Your 3 oldest children:  I love that we had family support.  This is me, Jennilyn, Deborah (her family came from New York) and brother John (his family from Virginia). 

Hannah Koehler (on a mission in Panama) and our daughter, Emmalyn (now married and teaching science in Utah) playing their flutes.

Our Man Maxwell

You can see Max's hair, 5th head from the left back row.  He sang in the Maryland State Boychoir, travelled all over on tour with them, starting as a sweet tenor and moving into deep lowest bass.  Strong voice.  Great memory for lyrics.  He sang in stake conference choir last Sunday with Sam & Suzanna.  His beard has lots of red in it.

Student id photo from freshman year, BYU.  He finished one semester.  Currently working at local hamburger fast food restaurant, Gino's.  Working towards getting his own apartment with friends..

Stewart is a Missionary

I should have put these in reverse order.  Bottom one was from before he left, 2 years ago.  We will see him soon, but we are not supposed to count down or distract him.  We love that he is serving faithfully in the Billings-Montana Mission, doing lots of good work, helping in the office with tech support.

Suzanna is a Senior

For Seminary graduation I need to send 2 photos of Suzu, a serious one (her senior portrait) and one showing her doing something she loves.  The top one is my favorite, with her smiling, our redbud blooming in background.  The 2nd is for her first album cover, if she hires me.  I am thankful for the blessing of her music, her talent and hard work!

Domino Decorating

Changing the fireplace mantel to Analagous (in blues, teals & greens) Faux Bois (Fake Wood) made it necessary to find a different place for the Serve One Another sign, so I put it here in hallway and took mirror that was hanging here and put over the fireplace, so the red/oragnes woudn't compete with the blues/greens.  And Roxie really wanted the silver mirror back, so I hung up "Faith" that was still sitting in packaging from going-out-of-business Christian book store near where I work.  That was sad.  (Looking at this picture I want to paint the stairway doorframe red, too, to match the left side.  Love symmetry.)