Christmas Week

 We went up north to see my family last week! Of course my mom had every minute of everyday packed with fun to do's.
Day 1 we went snowboarding!

Brandon, Jared, Ryan on the ski lift. 

 We got Ryan a paintball gun for christmas and since he knew what it was we thought we'd wrap it up real nice :)

 on Christmas Eve we spent all morning making white and dark chocolate/ carmel dipped EVERYTHING! YUMMO!

 Charley wanted to get in on the action and stood right under where we were dipping and got drizzled on a few times in chocolate and carmel.

 Christmas eve party we had the Fondas over as usual! We have a music program and games and presents.

 Christmas day was fun! we opened presents and then went to Grandmas for a big christmas dinner!

 Charleys new Christmas present :)

To: Brandon AND Joe. Love: Santa so of course we had to open it like lady and the tramp?....

Chrismas Break Thus Far..

here is our lovely christmas card for this year! I love to make them but i'm not a fan of the post office OR printing of photos at walmart so i'm a digital christmas card sender. so this is me sending our card to all of you who read my blog :)

So far christmas break has been... I was gonna say fun but thats not the word?.... it's been relaxing..... (there we go) Brandon has been working a ton and I am just doing my photography now so when he works just about every day mine and charleys days tend to get boring. I have cleaned the house over and over (whether it needed it or not) i've burnt myself out on photo editing already and (since I can't watch Lost, Lie to Me or Psych with out Brandon) I've REWATCHED seasons 1 and 2 of Arrested Development and season 1 of Monk... and i've only been out of school a WEEK! I think my bed has a permanent body mark in it from where I've sat editing and watching tv all week! Brandon had yesterday off finally so we got out to do something fun! My husband is OBSESSED with guns. He already has 2 but he claims we need more because "they are such a good investment!" and  "they never lose they're value!" and "what happens when I need to protect our home!!??" (I think I need to remind him that we live in Cedar City  Utah?...) and my favorite, "what happens when the government decides to take away our freedom and there are riots and stores close and I have to hunt for our own food!!" ....  I tell him when he's a rich doctor he can buy as many guns as he wants but until then every extra dollar we have is going towards that new sofa you promised me! Anyway, his dad said he wanted to get him a gun for christmas so we went to the pawn shop and borrowed the 2 he's been deciding between.

This one I could BARELY hold up! I shot it, screamed, flew backwards 4 feet, and bruised my shoulder!

Charley has never gone shooting before and as SOON as the first gun shot went off I couldn't PEEL her out of my lap or under my feet!!  she was so scared!!! (i love this picture can't you tell she's TERRIFIED! ha ha ha too cute!)

we let her sit in the car but she was still shaking like CRAZY! 

so this is where she stayed for pretty much the entire rest of the morning ha ha ha

I COULD NOT throw those stupid pigeons on that stupid thrower!! I tried to throw one from right where i'm standing and it BARELY whizzed passed Brandons face and landed by that yellow trash can!!! I did this 3 times until he wouldn't let me try anymore...ha ha ha It was quiet funny at the time :) so poor Brandon had to throw them and then shoot them himself. It was really very impressive!

ISN'T CHARLEYS PUFF VEST SO CUTE!!!!?

Later that day Brandons dad came up and we went snowmobiling up on Brianhead! It was fun but I was dying of claustrophobia in my helmet and neck guard the entire time! Sadly I didn't get any pictures because It was a WHITE OUT and freezing cold but maybe next time!

That night we had some friends come over and we had a big steak dinner! YUM! We were watching "The Killers" after dinner and a gun shot went off in the movie and charley dove onto my lap SO FAST you'd think the shot went off right in the room!! needless to say she remained curled up in ball on my chest for the rest of the movie....

Happy Holidays!!

on a side note.... This is our family dog Brinklee! We've had him for 3 years and he went missing on the 15th of December :( He got lost in our neighborhood in South Jordan but he's pretty quick and could be half way to Provo by now! He's 3 years old, a Wheaten Terrier, White (obviously), and VERY friendly!! He has a collar on so if he's found PLEASE call the number on the collar! If you have ANY INFORMATION AT ALL please get a hold of me! megvalantine24@gmail.com!! Thanks everyone! We'd love to have him home for Christmas :)

B+!!!!

THE MOST EXCITING THING THAT COULD HAVE EVER HAPPENED TO ME JUST HAPPENED!!!!

 I PASSED MATH!!!! I GOT A B+!!!!! 

5 semesters ago I signed up for 1050 and was told I had to take a math placement test again (mild panic because I haven't taken math since 2005!) so after failing that I had to go back and take 990

-so I worked myself to THE BONE in 990 and failed. 

-So I took it again and got privately tutored from my professor 3x's a week and PASSED!

-took 1010 (again 3x's a week with my private tutor and letting all my other classes fall behind) and guess what?!  failed. this time almost just dropping out of school!!

-thinking I could take 1030 and pass I got permission from the Dean to skip taking 1010 again and go to 1030.... well in 1030 was went 4x's a week with my tutor and letting all my other classes fail AGAIN... I failed again...

-this semester I took a HUGE school load thinking I would have passed math last semester. Since I couldn't drop any of my big classes I had to stack math online on top of my already HUGE work load. I stayed caught up in the class till about the midterm, but then got too busy with other classes and COMPLETELY stopped trying in my math class. I went to the Dean 2 weeks before finals and told him that I was going to fail math again but not because I couldn't do it, but because this semester I simply had no time to try! He told me if I didn't pass math this semester by at LEAST a 65% he was going to send me BACK to 1010!! which was a problem because that means 2 more semesters of math with only 1 semester before graduation... So for the last 2 weeks of my semester I HAULED BUTT and caught up on all of my assignments, took 11 quizzes and 5 tests and studied for HOURS in the tutor center! I have really bad test anxiety, but when I walked a crossed campus to the test center I could barely hold back tears!! I was FREAKING OUT! I knew I wasn't going to pass because I'd only spent about 30% of the time I usually spend on a math class AND I was having a mental BREAK right before the test!!! luckily brandon called me right then and talked some sense into me! So I stayed out in the hall for a minute, took a few deep breaths (thanks yoga) took the test, and waited for my grades to come online! 

I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOT A B+ MUCH LESS PASSING IT AT ALL!!! 

-I'd like to thank my parents who wouldn't let me drop out of school 3 tries ago, and listened to all of my ridiculous fits about how I'll never succeed at anything!

-I'd like to thank my wonderful husband who believed in me so much and pushed me through all the hard days!

-I 'd like to thank my sister who listened to me cry on the phone about it!

-and last but CERTAINLY not least, I'd like to thank my professor Alisha! She pretty much could have taken a part time job with how often she tutored me over the last 3 years! She listened to me have my ridiculous fits, and lifted my spirits when they were low, pushed me through and didn't let me drop out of school every semester for the last 2 years! Thanks Lishy! Your the greatest!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

THE CHURCH IS TRUE!

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Christmas break really could not have come sooner this year. I took WAY too big of a school load this semester and Christmas break seemed to never get here! Usually I turn on the christmas music the day after Halloween and start watching all 4 of my Christmas movies over and over and over but this year I was too busy to even realize that November was almost over! We FINALLY got our christmas stuff up this year after thanksgiving and I could BARELY WAIT to get the tree up! Last year for xmas my mother-in-law gave me an "after christmas clearance sale spree"! (For those who are mother in laws or have newly-wed kids this is a GREAT gift!) Our tree was so little last year, so when I went on my "spree" I only got a few new boxes of ornaments and some stuff to hang around the house! I worked in a consignment shop last year and this guy came in 2 weeks after christmas and asked if we'd buy a brand new christmas tree? I said nope sorry. Then he asked if I wanted it? I asked how much and he said "how much have you got in your wallet?" and I said "15$" and he said SOLD! So this year we have a brand new 7 foot tall christmas tree! I only had enough ornaments for a 3 foot tall tree to the day after thanksgiving we went out and bought a few more big ornaments for our big tree and LOTS more lights! Can I PLEASE just say that my tree is the CUTEST TREE EVER!! We got these glittery christmas balls on sticks that shoot out of the tree everywhere and big wood plaques that say things like "have yourself a merry little christmas" and "merry christmas to all and to all a goodnight" etc.  I LOVE having people come over cause I LOVE my tree! I'm never gonna take it down!

This year for christmas it's my families turn to have everyone and I am SO EXCITED I can barely stand it! My sister and Brother-in-law live in Missouri so we NEVER see them and they'll be here saturday! We can't make it up until monday and it's KILLING ME! My mom got us tickets to see Scrooge at the Hale Center Theatre and I can't wait to do all of our Christmas traditions! Make sugar cookies, go to temple square, watch movies, sit around the tree!!!! This week is going to go by SO SLOW so I booked all of my photo sessions for the whole break this week just to keep me too busy to notice, hopefully that works out for me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

I-AM-AN-ART-STUDENT!

I hate being with Brandon when people ask what our majors are. Theres Brandons response which is... "oh I'm a double major in Business and Biology with a minor in chemistry" ( thats when the impressed faces appear) then its my turn... "I'm a art major, with en emphasis in photography" and faces are interested, but no longer impressed ha ha ha. Unless they too are a "Utah Photographer" (aka someone with a nice camera parading around with the idea that they they have a talent in this field as well) then the reaction is usually much different than Brandons impressive Med School line up.  The worst was when I was single and I'd meet boys moms, it'd seem to be going really well and then they'd ask me what my major was... DUN DUN DUUUN! As soon as nursing major didn't escape my lips I was no longer a competitor for that boys heart (or at least according to his mother I wasn't). I saw this the other day on my friend (and fellow art students) facebook and I just love it!

Except they need a section that says "ohhhh so you're  just gonna live off your rich doctor husband! okay that makes more sense now" I need to tell people I'm an art major FIRST then let Brandon quickly follow with what his major is so the conversation starts with his ha ha ha

A farewell to photography.

Today I hit yet another milestone in my life, I attended my last photography class at SUU. I don't graduate until May but next semester I was told "you have 10 credits left and you may choose any art classes you'd care to take". So after looking over the list of offered photography classes for next semester and being less than impressed with the selection I thought to myself "why don't I take classes that I WANT to take? This will probably be my last opportunity to take them anyways..." So I decided against taking any of the photography classes and for once in 5 years went with what I wanted to do. So heres the line-up
Art history 2 (easy!)
Ceramics 1
Painting 1
Silkscreen
and Yoga!
13 fabulous credits of every class i've ever thought "oh, that would be cool to try" and I can't wait! Yeah, I guess i'm sad that I won't be doing photography with my photo friends for my last semester but most of my friends are graduating next week anyways. My best friend down here in college has been in the photography program for as long as I have and she's graduating this week (unlike me... stupid math...) we usually make our schedules just about the same every semester and I wouldn't have survived half of them with out her. She's so funny and crazy and I'm gonna miss her a lot but her not being there next semester also made me realize I REALLY wouldn't miss photo class that much.
So here is a farewell to photo classes. Your all I've known for the last 5 years of my life and I'm sure in a year from now I'll miss being a student again. Everything from here on out will have to be youtube tutorials and networking. Wish me luck!

Photo taken in Sweden, memorial for an organist.